Love Lives Here

 SO...got my Valentine's decor up this weekend.  The house always looks so naked after Christmas...it's nice to have some extra clutter laying around again.  :-)  The boys brought my Valentine tote down from the attic a good week ago, and we've all been stepping over it while I waited for some free time to coincide with all my good intentions.

First order of business though.  We served shredded BBQ chicken for the game (a Texas twist on the traditional wings) and it was super yummy.  I told my friends I'd share the recipe, so I'm throwing it up for all to see.  If you LOVE chicken, than it will fit right in with my love post. Ha!

Zesty BBQ Crock Pot Chicken

12 ou bottle BBQ sauce (we like KC Masterpiece)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. Zesty Italian bottled dressing

Worcestershire

I had ten chicken breasts in my crock pot at once, so I increased the recipe a bit.  Also, the sauce cooks up VERY liquid.  So, after cooking on high for about five hours, I removed the meat from the crock pot, shredded it with two forks (it was super tender), then mixed up a little more of the BBQ mixture.  I drained the thin cooking liquid from the pot, then returned the meat and new batch of sauce and just kept it on "warm" setting until serving.  I did it like that so the meat would be a little more sticky, and it worked out great.  We served it on buns with chips and queso and a BIG OL' VAT of Nichole's famous guacamole.

I still have a guacamole hangover.

Anyway, nothing like a little party to motivate me in the decorating department.

Welcome to VALENTINE'S 2013!

Table runner new this year from Target

I switched out the quilt on the quilt rack for the first time in years!  See that big "R" up there??  It was a recent flea-market score and I need to spiff it up.  I'm thinking of painting it and breaking out some Modge Podge.  The antique wooden spools and blue ball jars on the other side of the rack were also flea market finds and are the start of a new collection.

The big debate.  Conversation hearts.  Love 'em or hate 'em??  There were two distinct camps among the friends.  (I'm in the love 'em camp.)

Also from the flea market?  Those letters.  I used black ultra fine glitter to outline the edges, then threaded them on sheer ribbon.

Saw this little idea for a felt heart garland on pinterest and strung it together while visiting with friends during the game.

My new little sign that I got for free when I bought a book recently.  Perfect timing for Valentine's.

The only sewing I've done in a very long time.  It was a fun, quick project.

Guess who got tired of following me and my hearts from room to room while I worked??  She decided to park it in a central location so she could just sway her head from side to side and track my every move.  Way to conserve energy.  

What's that?  A close up, you say?  Why yes, of course I will oblige.

That face??  Totally kissable.  Oh I LOOOOOOVE that Doodle dog!  She's totally rocking the new haircut.  Wouldn't you have to agree??

Vintage Easter

Yesterday I pulled the Easter buckets out of the attic. I have a lot of Easter decorations that I have not unpacked the past few years because it seemed a little counter-productive to have an egg tree with dangling eggs with a toddler in the house. This year I thought she was ready, and she really had fun helping me set things up.

We had lots of fun seeing how many ornaments we could cram onto a single branch. :) Here's my Minnie Pearl in her new tee shirt with the tag still on! It was important to have a shirt that matched the ears at that moment.

I pulled a few highly sentimental items from the bucket. Check out these crocheted darlings. You stuff a plastic egg inside of them to get them to stand up. My Mom will have to chime in here, because I don't remember who made these, but I remember them being in our house every year when I was a little girl, and I thought they were so beautiful! :-) I didn't set them out this year, and I don't know if I ever will, but there is no way I'll ever get rid of them. They totally make me laugh.

The crocheted chickens keep these handsome hares in good company in the Easter bucket. These came to me from my Grandmother years ago, and again, I can remember them gracing the Easter dinner table.

This one is my favorite. This little hen was my Dad's toy when he was little. All the paint is wearing off. When you push on her, she lays tiny plastic eggs. I love her! It is fun to have a few "vintage" treasures that bring back memories. I'll be back later to post pictures of the house all decorated. Emma has been busy rearranging rabbits, so I have a little tidying up to do before I can photograph!

Boo! Welcome to My Un-Scary Fall House!

I hate Halloween.

In today's society, I feel that makes me an outcast, but it stems from deeply rooted childhood issues. There was the year my mother made me a Raggedy Ann costume with a red, crepe paper wig, and the neighbor turned the sprinklers on me as a mean joke and my entire head turned red. Then there was the year I was knocked to the ground and mugged for my candy. It was all very sad and traumatic and caused me to shun anything that even remotely resembled Halloween.

Until last year. Emma and I were in Lowe's picking out a pumpkin and she fell head over heals in love with a big, sparkly, black spider which we brought home and hung on our porch. We called him "Mr. Pider" and he was a Very Big Deal. We loooooooved him. But my family thought I had flipped.

When I pulled him from the fall box this year there was renewed excitement over our little entry way guardian. He has once again resumed his rightful spot by the annual pumpkin.

He's part of a whole fall welcome theme we have going on the porch, and without him Mr. Scarecrow would be lonely.

Today I picked up a willow basket from Walmart so Emmie could add her beloved pine cone collection to the mix, and we have now reached (and probably far surpassed) a reasonable quota for seasonal paraphernalia allowed in a single square yard of space. Rest assured, I do my best to squeeze in as much as humanly possible. :-)

Mr. Pider seemed to throw my entire family for a curve. They could hardly reconcile that I had made such a purchase. So, imagine their surprise THIS year when I hauled this little beauty home.

It was mayhem, I tell you.

No one could BE-LIEVE I put a black cat on the mantle. There was much eyebrow raising and tongue clicking and exasperated finger pointing. He was immediately declared a "Halloween decoration" and my family became concerned for my mental awareness.

I beg to differ. To me, Halloween decorations are spooky, and he can't possibly spook because he's so...so...sparkly. He's Mr. Pider's twin!! Plus, I added a cheerful little bow to up the cute factor. And since I couldn't wrap a feather boa beneath him like I wanted to thanks to my cat who I was just sure would wreak major havoc trying to jump to the mantle to destroy the feathers, I instead created a fluffy little nest of fall foliage sprinkled with baby pumpkins for him to frolic in. Darling, right? Not spooky. Sparkles. And frolicking.

My family was undeterred. I took it as an odd personal challenge to really push the Halloween hating envelope, so I stooped to an all new low. I made a trick or treat banner. Just to pull their chain a teensy bit. Then, I went all out and hung spiders from that too. Off my rocker, I tell you.

It's almost as if the red crepe paper wig never even happened.

It really all started because I saw these autumn colored jingle bells on sale and knew I needed to somehow work them into a craft. Ring the bells for trick or treat. Get it? Oh, do stop.

Don't worry. I've pledged to stay non-spooky, so I gave the spiders hair bows. It's all very legitimate and non-Halloweenish.

But really, fall is my MOST FAVORITE time of year, and certainly my favorite season for decorating. Come have a peek at the rest of the house....

The Currier and Ives plate belonged to Buzz's aunt and was given to me from her house.

I love the piece above my piano because it is from my Oma and Opa's house. It always hung in their dining room, and now I have it filled with a few of my Oma's hummel figurines from her collection.

I don't bring the rest of my pilgrims out until the first of November, but I always set these little mice out early. My Mom gave these to me years ago, and they were my very first fall decorations. They are Fitz and Foyd. There is a set of candlesticks and a salt and pepper set. I just love them!
The colors in my Threads of Hope tapestry remind me of this time of year. They are warm and rich and vibrant. I have this hanging in my kitchen.

This is my new addition this year. I found this little house the other day on clearance. It is a fall version of my Christmas Dickens village.

When Aunt Sarah and Papa John moved to their new house this past summer, she passed along this wonderful Harvest sign. It is the perfect piece for my quilt rack, and I love that I think of them every time I look at it! How sweet to be reminded of a harvest of friendship.

Speaking of a harvest of friendship, today was a very special day for us. Hannah's Godmother came and joined us for lunch. We have not seen her in a long while, so it was wonderful to have the chance to reconnect and get caught up on each other's news. She and her husband have been a sweet source of encouragement to me through the years. I invited her to my spooky spot for lunch. She's just beautiful. Boo-tiful. You get it. I know you do. :-)

Oh Drat. Is That a Rat??

I don't take my allegiance to the Pottery Barn lightly. I'm truly devoted, particularly to all manner of seasonal displays. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Barn is surely flooded with gratitude to know that I faithfully fulfill my mission to shamelessly reproduce every one of their ideas in my own home as cheaply as possible using Hobby Lobby coupons by the dozens.

It is not my nature to question the Barn, but rather to accept their recommendations for table-scaping as unbridled truth and to copy, copy, copy. This weekend I made my regularly scheduled pilgrimage to verify proper placement of fall leaves and turkey trinkets, as well as to survey the latest offerings of throw pillows for my still naked leather sofa. I was talking on my phone to Marci when I was forced to stop mid-sentence and question all I ever knew to be true about my beloved Pottery Barn.

For there, in front of me, were rats in glass. In what appears to be a horrific marketing catastrophe, Pottery Barn has made a near fatal err in judgement. I summoned the strength to croak the news to Marci in a barely audible tone.

"Rats."

What was that, she wanted to know?? Glass? Grass?

No, no. RATS. Rats in glass. Also, climbing up candlesticks, peeking out from leaf garlands, perching precariously all over sprigs of autumn bittersweet, and even sitting in cereal bowls on the dining tables. I don't think I've ever felt so betrayed by a retail establishment. No amount of throw pillow cuteness can compensate for this debacle....

I feel it is my civic duty to warn you before your very own copy of the fall catalog arrives in your mailbox. Prepare to be disturbed. Very disturbed. I'm now left to my own devices to fill my apothecary jars, which is uncharted territory to me.

Pottery Barn, you have cheated on me with bad taste. Hopefully, I will recover in time for your show of Christmas finery. Please, no wintery rodents.

Blessings Banner

I hung my Valentine's banner from the mantle.

There is something about celebrating love that makes you want to count blessings, no??

I made the banner by layering scrapbook paper and card stock. I printed the letters on my computer in a large font. I folded the letter papers over a rope for hanging. Then, I decorated little clothes pins with pink and red paint and clipped them on top. They don't actually hold the letters on the rope. They're just for show. Stunt pins. :)

I hid the rope between the letters by knotting several scraps of ribbon. All the ribbon came from the dollar bin at Hobby Lobby.

I love the color RED, so I get a kick out of decorating for Valentine's. Plus, there is something about seeing the word BLESSINGS hanging in my house that makes me feel....well, blessed!

I've also been busy sewing little felt hearts. My vision is to hang them from a little Valentine tree. We'll see if that transpires. My friend Erin and I met for a homeschool skate day. She cut out little hearts and I sewed them together while our boys skated and we gabbed. I got a lot accomplished that day, but now I need to have Erin come back and help me plant my tree!

I'm linking up at Skip To My Lou. Skip on over there to see other Valentine day ideas!