Hi there! Wanted to share a quick post of the Valentine decorations we have up at our house. I love Valentine's Day so I try to always decorate a little bit...a few hearts around the house never hurt anyone! 

The mantel has a few things up that are always there but I added a few free prints that I saved from several years ago, a glittery heart wreath, and the love sign and photo garland are from Target. My sister got me that garland and I love it so much! Before we moved we always had a Valentine party with our friends so I printed pictures from those parties and hung them up. We might not have our party anymore, but it's fun to have the memories up of our buddies. 

Our entryway got a little Valentine spruce too. Another free printable, some little heart sticks that I made years ago, heart paperweight, and a super cute felt garland that I picked up at Target. Oddly enough, I think the only time I feel like this entry table is decorated is when it has holiday things on it! 

Anyway, that's what we have going on here, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a sweet Valentine's Day! Let me know in the comments if you decorate your house or have any special plans! 

Love, 

K

Home for the Holidays

Merry Christmas friends! I'm finally ready to share some pictures of our Christmas decor this year. I feel like I've been fussing with it for weeks now, moving things from one place to another, buying a little something for this corner, etc. But I'm done for now and plan to wait until next year for the rest of my ideas. For holiday decorations, I tend to keep things in the main living areas and don't do anything in the bedrooms. So c'mon in, have a look around.

The entryway got some simple updates for the holidays. Some pre-lit garland on the bottom of the table in front of a set of vintage Santa postcard that my mother-in-law gave me. On the table surface I added a snowman and a little sassy sign from HomeGoods. I had some extra vase filler that I added to the the hurricane.

The formal living room got a new artificial tree for the front window with a set a ornaments from Target. I put some spare ornaments in a bowl on the coffee table and then a little flower on the accent table.

The family room is my favorite area. Our tree with all the fun ornaments that we've collected or been given throughout our relationship. It's fun this year that we actually have wrapped gifts under our tree! To update our media center, I added a garland that I picked up from Target and added some faux wrapped gifts and extra ornaments. Garland and stockings added to the mantel and then some garland along the half wall dividing the kitchen. The best spot is to sit on the couch and look at both trees. :)

The dining room is the final stop on this little tour. I decorated our buffet (that's actually a revamped dresser) the same way I always do with a garland, and contained ornaments. The table got a small red runner, some festive vase filler added to the centerpiece, and some greenery added to the light fixture.

That wraps up our decor for the holidays! Hope you're enjoying the season (and lots of cookies)!

Love,
K

Fourth of July Celebration

We spent the week of the Fourth up north at my cousin's lake house in Traverse City, Michigan. I tried to write up one big recap of the week but it got WAY too lengthy, so I'll do separate posts of the highlights of the trip. :)

The Fourth of July is actually one of my favorite holidays. I love celebrating this beautiful country we live in and when the holiday celebrations end in fireworks!? You can't ask for much more. The guys went golfing in the morning and us gals started the day lounging in the sun.

After the guys got back we headed out on the boat for some tubing and to watch the Blue Angels. We even took Ruby out on the boat for a little bit! She liked being on the boat wasn't such a big fan of actually swimming in the lake (and yes, I make her wear a life jacket).

When it was time for the air show to start, I was excited but didn't expect to be as moved by it as I was. Loren and I have seen the Blue Angels before when they do a show at SeaFair in Seattle but something about seeing it on the 4th was really spectacular. And being in the company of some of my favorite people in the whole world, that was the cherry on top. :) 

We spent some more time in the sun and then headed back for dinner. Once it was getting close to being time for fireworks we headed back out on the water for a party! We had glow sticks and good jams so we danced it up while we waited for the fireworks to start. 

Ruby was over all the excitement and just wanted to snuggle with Dad. :) Overall, it was one of my favorite Fourth of July holidays I can remember. I'm so grateful that we were able to have such a fun day, and can't wait until next year! Hope you had a great holiday as well! Thanks for reading!

Love,
K

Easter Recap

Loren and I had a pretty low key Easter this year. We had friends in town over the weekend (more details on those adventures another time) and they left Sunday.

We got our Ruby girl an Easter basket. It was so cute watching her dig into it. She pulled the new toy out right away and then grabbed a bone and started chomping on it! 

Loren and I had made reservations for brunch at Howells & Hood and it was delicious! Buffet style brunch with everything you would ever want. We were starving when we arrived so I didn't take any pictures of our food because I just dug right in. I snapped a picture outside after our bellies were full and we were walking home. 

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. We took Ruby out for a long walk and then went to spend time Loren's parents that are in town visiting. Hope you had a Happy Easter! 

Love, K

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our little bumblebee!

 

We're having some friends over to celebrate this evening and looking forward to a fun time! I love passing out candy to all the little kiddos in the neighborhood too. I think there's going to be lots of little girls in Frozen costumes this year! Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! Thanks for stopping by!

Love, K

 

Our Easter Weekend

Ahh, Easter weekend was just the break in craziness we'd been waiting for. The past few weeks have been filled with lots of fun, traveling, and house guests (more on that another time) so Loren and I had been looking forward to a nice weekend at home.

Friday night we spent with some super cool friends for an evening of yummy food and fun. Unfortunately I have no photo evidence, but it was a great evening and perfect end to the work week.

Saturday we spent some time lounging around the house and running errands but also made it over to a friend's house for an Easter party. The party was fun and all the kiddos there seemed like they were really having a good time. Loren and I managed to get our picture taken with the Easter Bunny!

Easter Sunday we finally made it back to church. It was a full crowd and wonderful service. We also gave Ruby her first Easter basket. It was the cutest thing ever. The little basket had a new toy, rawhide bone, and an egg with a treat inside. She pulled all the stuff out and then chased the egg around until it finally popped open and she could get the treat inside. Loren and I had lots of fun watching her.

Later in the afternoon, we had a few people over for dinner. It was nice to celebrate the holiday with friends and family but still keep it a small enough group that I didn't pull my hair out. I kept the table setting simple (even used cutesy egg shaped paper plates) and it was a good excuse to get some fresh flowers!

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and prepping for the work week ahead. All in all, a great holiday weekend. Hope yours was wonderful as well!

P.S. Tonight we treated ourselves to some delicious pizza from Elliott Bay Pizza since we'd given it up for lent. So good!!

Quick & Easy Valentine Crafts

Hey friends! I wanted to share some super easy Valentine crafts that I made this week.

First up, a heart garland made from felt. I kept seeing these pop-up all over Pinterest and honestly figured that I'd somehow figure out a way to screw it up but it really was EASY! I used a couple felt sheets from Hobby Lobby (they're four for $1) and cut out different sized hearts. I sort of laid the hearts out in a pattern I liked before starting to sew but made adjustments as I went along. I pulled the thread out a couple inches before sewing the first heart and just kept adding more hearts as close together as I could. I kept a few extra inches of thread on the other end too, I tied a knot on both sides. I don't know if that's right, but it worked and was easy. The whole thing took about an hour. And I don't think I swore at the sewing machine once, which might be a new record.

Next was a little heart "bouquet" on the front porch (here's a similar idea). I painted several wood hearts (and sticks to match) that I found at Hobby Lobby. Once the paint dried, I hot glued the sticks to the back and that was it! I planned to use the pot housing dead ferns on the front porch but the dirt was so ugly. I glued some pink filler, crunchy paper stuff onto a paper plate and used it to cover the dirt. It's not perfect, but it worked and didn't cost anything extra. Win!

Last up, was making some heart shaped crayons. I followed the instructions over on Pink Pistachio except I did use a silicone tray instead of a metal tin. Head over there if you're interested in making some lovey crayons of your own. I will say that while cute, they seem very breakable. I've already broke two out of the eight I made which is a little annoying. But they're cute and I have a munchkin in mind that I'm going to give them to which makes me happy! :) This is also something that kiddos could easily help with.

All of these crafts can be done start to finish in less than an hour which gives you plenty of time to get them done before the big LOVE day on Friday! Loren and I are planning a whole Valentine celebrating weekend and I can't wait! xo, K