After we returned from our Thanksgiving trip to Shaver, Chad, Maggie and I decorated our house for Christmas. Maggie's favorite item from the boxes was a Christmas item from Chad's childhood. It's an angel candle holder that spins due to the heat from the flame. And as it spins, it dings a little bell. Maggie was fascinated by it and sat and watched it for awhile.
One of our Christmas gifts this year from my parents was money, and with that gift came the stipulation that we had to spend it. Bummer for us, don't you think? After studying our wishlist for a few days we ultimately decided what we most wanted and, put together with some holiday money from my grandma, we ended up with a new dining room table and chairs. We've wanted to upgrade for a while now and we're so excited to finally have a grown up set. Thank you Dad, Mom and Grandma!
For almost two years now I've wanted to get knobs for the cabinets and drawers in our kitchen, laundry room and two bathrooms. Tired of waiting and ready to take action I went ahead and ordered 61 of them last week. They arrived on Monday. Wednesday Chad installed them and I love how they turned out!
I was thrown a baby shower luncheon last Saturday. There were 19 people in my house, all family and friends, and we had a really nice afternoon. First we ate a yummy light lunch, then played a number of games, had cupcakes and finally opened gifts before sitting around and chatting at the end. The theme was "Candyland" and the decorations were candy-themed and super cute. The hosts (my aunts and cousins) put a lot of time and effort into planning my big day and I really appreciate everything they did. I'm thankful for everyone who came to the shower--it wouldn't have been the same without you! 
My dad had a meeting here in town so my mom spent the morning at my house. While she was here she hung the paper lanterns I ordered for the baby's room. As you can see I bought one of each of the main colors in the room: orange, green and white. We hung them with coordinating ribbon my mom brought with her. The ribbons weren't what I originally envisioned for the lanterns, but once we got them hung I decided I liked them. The lanterns are fun and they sway in the breeze which will make for entertaining movement for the baby. What do you think?
I set aside this morning to start working on the crib skirt for the baby and by 2:30 this afternoon I finished it. The project wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be and I feel pretty good to have completed it in only one day. One-day projects are the best--especially when you can add in lots of breaks without falling too far behind. I ended up making a very basic crib skirt and it turned out exactly how I hoped. Not perfect, of course, but pretty darn good for a first attempt. The fabric is the same as what we used for the window valance but instead of orange, you'll see that it's green.
My mom spent the day with me today and we were super productive. We got three things done in the baby's room and together they've made a huge difference in the look of the room. First, my mom found an orange rug in Visalia and it looks darling in front of the crib. I've been looking everywhere for one and hadn't found anything even remotely as cute as the rug she found. It's hard to tell from the photo but it's fleece shag. Too cute. Second, we picked out the fabric for the window decor and then made and hung the orange valance in just a couple hours. Actually, my mom told me what to do and I did it on the sewing machine while she hung the curtain rod. And third, we made a cute green photo board and hung it in the room for future baby photos. Thanks to Michelle for the inspiration and advice on how to make it!
Last night I finally finished the lap quilt I made for the baby. It was a quick one to make but it took me a long time, thanks many stops and starts this past month. The fabric colors in the quilt ultimately became the inspiration for the colors we chose for the nursery itself--citrus with a hint of turquoise (ie orange, green, yellow and turquoise). I love the color combination and think it'll be a super cute room for either our boy or our girl. 
Well, I finally have the entryway to our home how I'd like it. After over a year and a half of living here the front area feels complete and I'm really happy with it. The missing piece was art for the wall, and that we put up last night. I found a print online that I wanted but was too stubborn to pay for shipping to get it here. My parents surprised us by purchasing it at a store in their local area mountains. Pretty neat, huh? 
A couple weeks ago my mom came up to help me look at baby cribs. By the end of that day we were more confused and overwhelmed than we were when we started. It's hard finding a crib when there are so many to choose from out there. I was looking for a crib with a particular style, in dark wood, quality craftsmanship, coordinating dresser--and one that didn't cost a million dollars. Since it had been a couple weeks since our first shopping trip my mom and I were ready to try again. She came up this morning and we were successful! We picked out a crib and matching dresser, brought the crib home and set it up. The dresser is on order and should arrive in the next 12 weeks. I can't wait until it gets here! We also picked out a paint color for the baby's bedroom. We chose a sage green and I think it's going to look great. Here are a couple photos of me with the crib we picked out.
Today is my mom's big birthday and we spent last night at the cabin to help her celebrate it. We went for a walk, had pizza for dinner, played Scrabble and watched the Food Network and American Idol. It was a relaxing but fun day in the mountains. I made my mom this quilt for her birthday. In this photo she's got it folded in half so it's really twice as big as it shows, but you get the idea. It fits right in with the cabin decor so I hope it'll get a lot of use! Happy Birthday, Mom!
Last night Chad and I went to the Pumpkin Carving Party at our friends Jim and Kellie's house. We had dinner, drinks and candy before buckling down and carving our pumpkins. Because we used the pumpkins from our patch we brought three to work on this year. Chad has more imagination when it comes to pumpkin faces than I do so I let him carve two of them. Mine is on the left. 
Thanks to Kellie for the photo from last night.
This afternoon I finished the place mat set I started in a recent quilting class. I thought it was going to be a quick little project when I started but it turns out it wasn't. This class taught me how to make this fancy little block, quilt everything together using my new quilting foot and then bind it with mitered corners. The place mats definitely aren't perfect but I'm happy with how they turned out.
It has been fall for a couple weeks but I'm just now getting around to decorating the house for it. My mom suggested I make a fabric wreath for our front door and I liked her great idea. After thinking on it for awhile this wreath is what I came up with. Chad suggested the raffia bow and I think it was the perfect touch to finish it off.
