my favorite time of year

Like so many of you, this is my favorite time of year!  The cool and crisp fall air, the colors, wearing sweaters, endless craft ideas, warm fireplaces, pumpkins, silly Halloween fun, wonderful togetherness of Thanksgiving, and the excitement and joy and peace and love of Christmas time! 
Such a beautiful season that holds so many fond memories, both recent and distant.  I love it so!

One of my favorite things to make any time of year, but is an especially yummy treat in the fall is my grandma's apple pie!  Pie making is truly an artform that needs practice and nurturing (thanks again for the lessons, Mom!).  Each time I make it, it gets a little easier and a little prettier.

A while ago I made two pies, both of which were gobbled up by family (and mostly me) before I even thought to get a picture.

So... I'm left with this photo, which is almost as satisfying as a beautiful pie picture, because at least I know it was delicious too!

As for our house, Noah helped me put up the Halloween decorations in September.  He loves the "scaries" as he calls anything Halloween related.  I truly love my ghoulish decor so hopefully I can get some pictures up soon.

Outside, I used my fall wreath I made from last year because I still love it so much!

Here is our house as of today.

And just so you all know, I planted the exact same flowers in the front flower bed as I did in the side bed on the left.

Just goes to show you what a little sunshine will do.  I guess I need some serious shade-loving plants next spring for the front bed since our house faces north.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I love my beautiful home.  If you'd like, click HERE to see a small history of our 100 year old farmhouse.  The upstairs is still completely stripped to the studs as we haven't figured out the funding to finish it yet.  But not much makes me happier than pulling into our gravel driveway to this beautiful home and knowing that it's ours.  We love it so very much!

noah's room and a feature in TIME magazine

So I know in my last post I said I'd have my next post up in a week, but....  I didn't.  What a crazy month!  My brother has moved in with us temporarily, school has started so I'm watching my niece, Della, again, and... I have some wonderfully fabulous news that's making me go cookoo that I will share with you in the next few weeks!

A feature in TIME

So... first things first, I have to share some very exciting news I woke up to today.  I got a message from a fellow Etsy seller that Etsy was featured in TIME Magazine and my shop was mentioned specifically!!!  Click HERE to see for yourselves!

What happy news and I'm so flattered to be mentioned!  Especially when there are sooooooo many darling shops that fit into the Family & Kids category!  Yay for great publicity!!

A tour of Noah's room

So the other thing I was planning on showing you is a few pictures of how my artwork has been displayed.  Hopefully this will give you ideas and some courage to decorate with fun and happy artwork.

Noah's room is FULL of artwork!  I have the originals hanging all over and he loves it!  He talks and points and names and sings songs about all of the artwork in his room.  Not only is it cute and fun, but it's a real learning tool for kids.

Here are the photos (click on photos to enlarge):

Here I have displayed the construction set.

I used frames made of "reclaimed" looking wood.  Super cute!

Here is the rescue set.

I used matching black frames for these, though I have a friend who framed them in white and that looked fabulous too!

Here are six of the animals.

I LOVE how this grouping turned out!  These originals are 11x14 so they are a little bigger than my usual 8x10 size.  I used unfinished wood frames and stained them with a dark walnut color.

Here's a photo from a lovely customer who was so kind to send me pictures of how the prints she purchased look in her baby nursery.

This is my very favorite way to frame the prints!  With bright white matting and black frames, I think they really pop!

Thank you, Jennifer, for the darling photos!

The sale on sets is still going on at the shop, but not for too much longer!

Only a few more days!!

So head on over to the shop and get a head start on Christmas this year!

{ yard sale and boutique(s) }

We are having a

yard sale and a mini boutique
at our home
tomorrow!

I'm super excited to pass on a lot of fun stuff!  We have a bunch of great stuff that's difficult to part with, but if it's been in storage for a year (or more), then it is time.

We just hope it can all go to happy new homes!

AND

The boutique part will, of course, have my art prints and various handmade paper goods along with some so fun shelves and such from Abe's woodshop!

We will also have a

lemonade

& sweets stand

(source)

So come on over if you're in the area! 

It will be held tomorrow

Saturday, July 17th

8am and go until 1pm
(or later if things are still moving)

We're in Layton
on Antelope Drive a mile or so east of Hill Field Road.

And speaking of boutiques...

We are now featuring my prints, some paper goods and shelves in a brand new permenant boutique up in Logan, UT called

Violet Hill
755 North Main
Logan, UT 84321
1pm-8pm Tues-Fri
10am-7pm Saturday

Darling Alex and Courtney have put together such an amazing assortment of consigners, you just have to see it!

Grand opening is also tomorrow July 17th

And yet another boutique
The Sassy Cupcake
 will be featuring the same affore mentioned goods of ours in South Weber next week!

Here is their blog.

(more details to come)

So lot's of exciting stuff happening!

Please swing by our yard sale / boutique!
Even if it's just to say hello!
We'd love to see you!

spring is in the air

A few weeks ago, my husband's grandfather kindly pruned all of our trees.  (He's 81, mind you.)  He worked very hard on it for days.  I don't know why he works so hard for us.  I hope it's because he's bored and this brings him enjoyment.  It's the only thing I can tell myself that helps me to not feel so guilty about it.

Anyway, he was so cute and thoughtful to save me some of the branches from the apricot tree and told me if I put them in water, they'll bloom around Easter time.  He calls them "Easter Trees".  And sure enough...

So pretty!

Speaking of pretty, look who's pretty in pink!  Well, those pudgy cankles and bread-loaf feet don't belong to any sweet little girl with a pink bow in her hair to match...

They belong to my Noah.

He loves to put on shoes, but he especially loves to put on cousin Della's pretty pink shoes.

He wore them all day.  And she's so sweet to let him.  Good thing he got a haircut later that afternoon, he was looking quite pretty. 

And if you remember this post, we delivered the bed my husband made safe and sound.  Here's a picture of it in their room (sans the bedding).  I think it looks amazing!  He's so talented!  I can't wait for Abe to make us one.  But not until our second floor is finished (remodeling a 100 year old home takes a LONG time) and we have a place to put it.  One day, one day...

A History of our Home

The other day Abe's grandmother Ethel (our next door neighbor) came over to give me this article she saved from the local paper printed in 1992.  It's a picture of her and Harris (Abe's grandfather) in front of our home with a full history of our house!  It was so exciting!  I'm so excited to get it framed and hung for all to read it.  It was built in 1910 for Abe's great-great uncle and has stayed in the family all it's life minus a few short years in the '40's.  Harris and Ethel remodeled the house in 1951 into 3 apartments.  Then we bought it in 2007 and changed it back to a single family home.  We are still remodeling, the upstairs is totally unfinished, but it's getting there and we love our house soooo sooo much!  So this newspaper article was such a treat to have!

Thank you Harris and Ethel for all your hard work and generosity in making this beautiful house our home!  We love you!

First snowfall of the season...

This pic was taken out my back door.  I LOVE how beautiful freshly fallen snow makes everything look.  It makes me feel like brewing up some hot chocolate, starting a fire and reading a book under a blanket.

Although this is not Noah's first snowy winter, he was too little last year to know what the heck was happening.  So this year is fun and I thought for sure he'd dive right in.  I was wrong.  He hated it!  He didn't like it on his shoes and when he touched it, he got mad that it was so cold.  However, that was about a week ago.  Now he likes to tromp through it.  Especially while wearing his boots!

Noah's little angry face.

How lovely the colors of Fall....

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year! Here's my adorable front porch. I love our home so much! I'm so lucky to have a husband who is able and willing to fix up a 100 year old farmhouse and... who loves it as much as I do. But note the cute wreathe....

I got the idea from the October Martha Stewart Living mag. But she had it as a garland to look like witch's brooms. So I just jimmied it to be a fall wreathe. I love it. Thanks Martha!!

Also, the cornstalks... from our backyard. Yes, we pretend to be farmers, but really it's my hubby's (Abe's) grandpa. His grandparents live right next door and are who we bought the house from. But one day, we'll have a garden of our very own.