$1 Thanksgiving Table

It's beginning to look a lot like... Thanksgiving! On Thursday there will actually be two tables in here  so that we can accommodate 12 adults... but this morning I decided to do a little dry run.

Now with the exception of the pumpkin in the middle of the table, napkins, and the silverware everything is from the DOLLAR TREE!!! Not kidding! I walked in there the other day to grab some plastic pumpkins to spray paint and walked out with an entire cart FULL of stuff! I think this is proof that you can do something nice on a budget!

Just the day before going to the Dollar store I had purchased plates that looked EXACTLY like these... they were four for $9.99 at Homegoods so I spent the $40.00 to get 12 plates... Good deal right??? Not after seeing the same ones at the Dollar Tree! 12 plates... $12.00. Needless to say the Homegoods ones were returned. I also LOVE the Olive tinted wine glasses. They are the perfect color for the table.

The place cards were cut using paper we already had and my Cameo machine.

For the centerpiece I purchased floral moss from the Dollar Tree and clear glass votive holders. In the middle I placed a silver glass pumpkin which was purchased last year from Homegoods for only $12.99.

I'm Thankful!

I am participating in the "Dare to Do-It-Yourself" challenge hosted by Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One!

The challenge for this week is to "Dare to… be thankful!"

The task was to complete a Thanksgiving DIY project as a reminder to be grateful during the season. Ideas included a Thanksgiving advent calendar, artwork and banners.

I decided to make a thankful tree...

My First step was to walk around the exterior of my home and pick up some medium sized fallen branches.. not a hard task with the abundance of trees on our property! Next I brought them inside and stuck them in a glass mercury hurricane that was filled with glass vase filler (IMPORTANT STEP! Originally I stuck the branches in an empty hurricane and well let's just say that all the broken pieces are in the trash... So be sure to weigh down your container so it does not fall over.)

Here is Hunter in his mama Roo While I'm doing this project...

Next I pulled out the AMAZING Silhouette Cameo that Matt gave me last year for Christmas and cut small leaves out of card stock.

The Silhouette Cameo makes this step SUPER easy because it does all the cutting for you and is SUPER exact... While cutting was taking place I was able to multitask and wash all dishes that I plan to use for Thanksgiving and I was able to clear the dining room table out of the room so that I can deep clean the carpeting tonight... With a 2 month old around the ability to have all of my leaves cut for me was invaluable and I would not have been able to complete this project without my cameo... If you don't have one however and if you have  A LOT of time you could always make the cuts by hand....

Anyway... the plan is to give each of out Thanksgiving dinner guests three leaves at their place setting and they will be instructed to write three things that they are thankful for this year. Here is what I was thankful for while doing this project...

Once everyone has written on the leaves we will go around the table during dinner and share what we are thankful for and will add each leaf to the branches with double stick tape.

 

This will be my first year hosting Thanksgiving and I think that this is a great new tradition which will remind all of my guests what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is!

What are you thankful for this year?

2 month favorite items

Our Hunter was 2 months on Monday and we had our two month appointment today and he is looking GREAT! 13.1 pounds and 24 inches! BIG man!

Well at one month I shared our top 10 favorite items but for those of you who have children you know that they just grow sooo fast and their needs and preferences are constantly changing and revolving. so... here is a new list for our second month...

1. Cloth Diapers!!! I absolutely love them! We have now used them for a full month and I am so happy that we made the purchase. A full post will be coming soon but I will say this... so easy!!!

2. Gown sleepers. Matt always exclaims that I put Hunter in dresses but in reality they are the gown sleepers and I love putting him in them each night. They make our middle of the night diaper changes so easy. My favorite are the GAP bundles which are 2 for $24.95 but frequently on sale for $15.00

 3. Seventh Generations Wipes. These wipes use plant-derived ingredients; no alcohol, synthetic cleaners, dyes or fragrances. Hunter really seems to love them and I feel so much better using these on his little cute booty.

4. Gentle Sounds Giraffe Soother. Another great hand-me-down from my sister-in-law Anne. Hunter uses this for every nap and at bedtime. It plays 4 great sounds and can play for 25 or 45 minutes.

 5. Lorex Baby Monitor with a Camera. Now that Hunter is sleeping in his own room we have started to use our baby monitor. The week after we found out that we were pregnant this monitor came in the mail and it warmed my heart to know that Matt had spent hours researching the best product for our growing family. He picked this one for the Night vision, two way talk, and the ability to add up to four cameras as needed. I like that the unit is wireless but my only complaint is that the battery only lasts two hours so during nap time I have to be mindful about putting it back on the charger.

6. Owl Robe. I love our little owl robe that hunter received as a gift from Matt's Aunt and Uncle. Hunter likes to cozy up in it after a bath (his favorite part of the day) I also think that it makes for the cutest photos.

Hunter is 9 Weeks Old

9 Weeks WHAT!!!!!!!!!! Craziness

This week Hunter...

• Slept in his own bed for an entire week! Such a big man sleeping in his own room. I'm sad that he is no longer in our room because that just means that he is getting so big but I know that it is best for everyone.
• Went to the Baltimore Aquarium. He was not too excited about seeing the fish... Maybe next time... we have a year long family pass so we will go a few more times this year.

• Became interested in a toy. While in Baltimore we went to lunch at The Hard Rock and while waiting on our food Hunter became interested in his giraffe. He loved it and smiled every time we would squeak her. Once the food came I just placed the giraffe in his car seat and Hunter just stared. So much fun to see him get so excited about something. 

• Celebrated his Daddy's Birthday! Daddy turned 29 and we had a full day! His gift to Matt was to sleep 6.5 hours that night. (nice gift to mommy as well)
• Turned 2 Months. We will share our 2 month favorite things tomorrow. We shared our one month favorites here.

• Took photos for our Christmas Card. Hunter might be the most photographed baby! Virginia from House of Maps came over to take some fall family photos for our Christmas card.

My Stencil Love/Hate Relationship

A few weeks ago I made the decision that we were going to complete a few home projects that we had left halfway completed. I wanted to get it done already before family came to visit for Thanksgiving.

One of those projects was to complete painting a wall in my basement... Total honestly this is a project that I started in March of 2011! I'm a slacker... don't know why but I had the hardest time finishing the last 1/10th of the project.

Here is what the wall looked like when we first moved in.

Back when stenciling was all the craze on home blogs I had decided that I wanted to give it a try and thought that the perfect wall would be the one that you see when going downstairs to our basement. I even talked about wanted to get a stencil here. So I made the purchase and bought the Zagora Allover Stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils.



I painted the wall Martha Stewart Milk Pail from Home Depot

I did this project the hard way... I first traced the stencil along the whole wall with pencil

After that was complete I hand painted the stenciled area...

which yes took 20 months to complete... to be fair I loved the wall but I was completely over the hand painting for about 18 months.. I mean i literally only had 4 more rows left and just stalled... I just covered the unpainted area with a piece of furniture.

Finally two weeks ago I started back up and I am so happy to say that the stencil has been completed! Here is what the wall looks like now.

Here are a few details from this area

This area is far from complete however as I want to add a window treatment, new light fixture, artwork on the right side of the furniture, and maybe a runner.

This wall to the right between the bedrooms however also look very bare...

maybe I should DIY something like this for that area... Perhaps I could add this to a list of projects that I would like to tackle in the new year.

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