How Does a Bibliophile Decorate?

As a family who is constantly collecting books...it becomes a difficult decision sometimes as to where I put all these treasures.  We have six double bookcases in our den alone that are full of books.  My husband, being first a pastor and now a Chaplain, has collected great theological works ever since we were married.  Then came homeschooling, which literally exploded our book collection...and there are other books too... for crafting, cooking, spiritual edification, etc.  What to do with all those books!?  So, I try as much as possible to find attractive ways to arrange our collections.  I like to group books in sets together, so I do not lose sight of them, and then I begin arranging them in different ways, placing various articles on or around them to make them a decorative grouping.

In this grouping, an old chair holds gardening books.  The bench is home to a very old collection on top that works with the primitive touch there and underneath are my Gooseberry crafting books all lined up to give some color.

Here is a shot a little distance away from some of our bookshelves.  I have tried to use my book and basket collections to make groupings and use the space as wisely as possible.

Pictures nearby always add a homey touch.

Some paperback books are just not attractive on shelves.  I like to put those in baskets (which also saves room) and then use these small chalkboard ties to easily let me know what is in them.  I tried using chalk with these and little ones kept wiping them off.  Then I found out about these. However, they can be expensive, but Michael's and A.C. Moore carry them...so if you have those stores, wait for the 50% off coupon! 

Do you have lots of books at your house?  I would love to know how you manage the ever growing collection!!!  Hope you are all having a glorious week in the Lord!

Simple Fall Pleasures

 Fall is definitely one of my favorite times of the year.  I love to see all the beautiful colors that the Lord uses to make this season special.  The leaves turning, the crispness in the air, the feeling one gets when curling up in a warm blanket and sipping on some homemade hot chocolate.  Ah, how warm and cozy it all feels.  There's nothing like getting under a homemade afghan on a cool night with little children on either side of me and reading them their favorite books. 

Here are a few glimpses of autumn inside our home.  The older I get, the more I like praticality mixed with beauty in my decorating.  Some of the items that bring me the greatest feeling of home is seeing food beautifully displayed.  It is useable and beautiful.  The top of my buffet holds three Montana hocking jars with two types of sucanat and onewith beans.  I put simple, inexpensive coffee mugs in each to scoop out the goodies inside when I need them and to look nice when I do not.

I added a simple fall garland and small gourds, pumpkins and squash I picked up from the commissary.

Here it is from a distance flanked by lamps ridiculously cheap at a store that was going out of business and an oil painting that I paid about one-fourth of the original price by getting it on craigslist! 

I like white lights at night.  They make me smile.  So, I keep up this small fir tree year round and change out the decorations for different seasons.  These were fall picks purchased at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. The things I like the most in my home are the ones I waited to purchase frugally.  Here's wishing you a beautiful fall season!  May you grow closer to Him as you appreciate more and more the beauty He has placed all around you!

Easy Oilcloth

I got this idea from The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen book.  Our table is large and since I have a family that enjoys their food very much, I was always washing the tablecloths.  I like having color on my table, but wanted the ease of clean-up.  So,when I saw this idea in the book, I was thrilled!   I bought some oilcloth from a seller on etsy and put it on my dining room table.  The table is large, so the hardest part was turning it over and placing it face down on the oilcloth.

Once we placed the table face down, I began cutting around the shape of the table and then took the staple gun and stapled it to the underside of the table.  The great thing about this is the ease of care.  I just wipe it off and it looks great after every meal.  It gives me the color I want and it is always ready for company!  And, if I decide that I want a different color tablecloth, I can always put one over it for a different look.

This is the small children's table I have in the kitchen.  This table top had been so beat up with children's toys and markings.  I wasn't ready to refinish it since my children are very young and there is still lots of playing to do yet!  So, this was an inexpensive fix.  This is actually the first one I did, so you can see a few more wrinkles in it.  I didn't allow for as much oilcloth on the underside as I should have.  But, I still really like the color and it is so cheery to look at!  There are so many different patterns and colors of oilcloth to choose from too.  So, there is something for most people's tastes.  So, if you are thinking about a new look for a table, why not give oilcloth a try?

Making Home More Comfortable

At just about every possibly check out counter, there is a plethora of magazines telling us how to have lovely homes.  I believe it appeals to the nature of women, the nature that God has given us, to wish for our homes to be beautiful and welcoming.  However, when they fall short of "ideal," it is easy to feel like a failure as a homemaker.  I appreciate looking at lovely ways to beautify my home, but am learning to let go of the "ideals" and replace them with what works best for our family and the way God has designed our family to work best.  Having a beautiful home is not marked by how many untouchables or knick knacks that adorn a room, but if there is love there.  Do our families feel warm and safe?  Do they look forward to being surrounded by the things that make their home special?  They may not mean anything significant to anyone else...and that is okay.  Do they speak love and peace to those with whom God has blessed us?  Thinking of home in a totally different way has caused me to make some changes...and more that are on the way.  We do not own this home, so the changes must be non-permanent and I must work within the confines of the space that is available to me. 

I wrote last time about rearranging the furniture.  I thought I would share some pictures of the process.  This home has a nice separate dining area, but not large enough to accomodate a family of seven comfortably.  Because of this, I began thinking "out of the box" and decided to make the living room the new dining room area.  When we have over guests, it is hard to accomodate them in our small dining space and they did not have an easy way to get up and around the table if they needed to do so. 

This is where the buffet was originally before it was moved.  We were not even able to put the leaf in our table because it would have extended too far into the living room.

As you can see, everyone wants to get into the act.

This is the new arrangement.  Comfortable seating, plenty of room to move about the table...and hopefully a more welcome space for family and friends.

The old dining room area was not big enough to place all the furniture in it...so this grouping is still where it was originally, but I think it ties the two rooms together very nicely.

And here is the room we now call the parlor...formerly the dining room.  My hubby was very thankful I didn't ask him to move all the pictures and things on the wall!  I was actually surprised they went as well as they did with either grouping of furniture.  And what is in store next?  We have decided to do away with our guest room and make it into a crafting/sewing area.  The decision was not an easy one.  But looking at what little time it actually gets used, we decided we could utilize that space so much better to accomodate the needs of our family.  We tried moving a craft table into the den, but little hands have made it difficult to keep it there.  Joy is now taking private sewing lessons, and I am taking private quilting lessons.  Plus, I never get to scrapbook or stamp anymore because of lack of space...oh, and time is a little bit of a factor too!  But, I do know I would have some time once the children are off to bed if there was one area that we had to keep all the supplies together.  I will show you the progress as we go along. Right now it is full of all the clothes bins I am sorting through to change our clothes and such.   Moving things around...which hasn't cost us one thing, has made our home more comfortable for us...more usable.  Why didn't I think of this before? 

Beautiful Autumn!

I don't know about you, but autumn is truly one of my favorite times of the year. I love the color of the changing leaves and the crispness in the air. I marvel at God's creativeness and His wisdom in giving us four beautiful seasons to enjoy. I love autumn even more this year because it is the season right before winter...well, of course that is always the case, but this winter is even more special because that is the season my dh gets to come home for his visit with us. We will have fifteen glorious days with him before he returns to the desert for the rest of his time.

And if you have not noticed on the counter on the right side of my blog, we have officially hit the halfway mark!!! Now, that may not sound too impressive...since we still have six months to go. But, right now we have less days to go than we have already gone and in my estimation, it is downhill from here! So, that is huge! I can't even imagine what it will be like to hit the double digit mark!!! We are praising God for His goodness to bring us this far and to be so good and faithful to us.

I also enjoy fall because it gives me an excuse to put little fall touches around the house. The picture of Joy at the top is one she took of herself holding a bundle of wheat I picked up at a produce stand. The children really enjoyed seeing it. Since we do not have an abundance of wheat fields around us, I thought it would be good for them to see it before it gets to the grain stage where we grind it into flour.

Most of my fall decorations were purchased after the season, so I could get them at 75 to 80% off. I believe in decorating as frugally as possible. And it is always fun to see how much I can get for as little money as possible. I also like the fact that my family appreciates the little touches I try to bring to the home. There are others who are far more gifted in this area than myself, but that is what makes our homes unique. And anyone can achieve their our personal loveliness for their homes.

I have been feeling better lately and I am greatly praising God for that. The weeks have not been without their difficult days, but none that have totally kept me from functioning. I am having a round of tests upcoming so we will see what is uncovered there. Right now, I am just so thankful for the slow, but steady signs of progress I am seeing. God is so good to me.

Here's wishing you all a blessed Autumn season!

Autumn Fires by Robert Louis Stevenson


In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Happy Birthday Joy!

I have been a little silent for the past week for several reasons. All five children caught a cold and decided to share with their mother. That would have been fine except that mine ended up turning into a killer sinus infection that just wiped me out for a while. I had to go in for antibiotics and am finally feeling somewhat normal again. I still have three more days before I finish the prescription. The second reason is my in-laws came down for a visit...arriving on Friday and leaving this morning. We had a truly lovely time with them and they were a great help during the worst part of my illness. And lastly, all my energy was being saved to help pull off a birthday party for my oldest daughter Joy. It was a lovely time and one I pray she will remember for a lifetime.

Joy took this picture of the first part of preparation with the table set. She wanted more of a tea party theme, so we did the best we could. That's me in the background getting some timothy hay for the two guinea pigs!!

These are the flowers sent by her Daddy. Of course, it was difficult not having him here, but he did all he could to make it as special as possible long distance. He sent her a lovely letter, these beautiful flowers and also called during her party....which happened to be 1 am for him. It made her feel truly special and loved by her Daddy.

Joy made lemon poppy seed muffins. We made homemade ranch dressing and had a lovely veggie tray. Aren't the colors so pretty?

This is our first attempt at making an edible bouquet. It was really fun to do. The flowers are pineapples cut from a flower cookie cutter with a cantaloupe center. The rest are white seedless grapes. Ever wonder why they call them white seedless, when they are actually green? The bottom of the bowl has a head of iceberg lettuce to hold the skewers in place with green leafy lettuce to make it look like grass.

I made some turkey salad to serve on crackers. We had cheese and some deviled eggs that my mother-in-law made and a delicious red velvet cake that my Mom brought over. However, since we don't do food coloring anymore...it was more of a cream velvet!!! But, it didn't affect the taste one little bit. We served tea and had a great time.

Joy's friend Olivia came to share the special day with her, along with my in-laws, my mother and the family. It was truly a blessed day.

I am so very thankful for my dear Joy. She has been such a treasure to us and continues to be growing into womanhood so graciously. Thank you sweet girl for giving me some of the happiest years of my life being your mother!

Homemaking

Yesterday, the children and I went to one of my favorite stores, Marshall's. I like it because you can find new items for more than half off, especially on their clearance aisles. I don't go a lot, because we are trying to put away as much money as possible to hopefully buy us some land and begin a more "homesteading" type of lifestyle. But, right now, this is where the Lord has us and we are waiting on Him. I have been looking for some red coffee mugs for several months now. I found these yesterday for $2.99 a piece. And why would I want just two of them? To put in these, my favorite jars! I got this Montana red hocking jar from Amazon.com for free with my Amazon rewards credit card. I pay it off monthly, so there are no late fees, so, it truly was free!

I saw this idea in a magazine and on a few blogs that I frequent and thought it was the cutest idea. This cup will now be used to scoop out my organic green lentils, and the other one is in my hocking jar that holds my Sucanat. The jars provide air tight storage for my foods, keeping them fresh and the cups allow me to scoop out larger amounts at a time, while providing a decorative touch. Practical and pretty and inexpensive. Total for the jars and the coffee mugs? $6.30!! Not bad huh?

More Christmas scenes

Happy New Year! Can you believe it is already 2009? It is time to start taking down all the Christmas decorations. I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season. We have had a great one, and are looking forward to seeing how the Lord is going to work in our lives during the coming year. I hope this next year brings all of you closer to Christ. Here are a few more holiday scenes from our house. This is a close-up of our lighted church.

Here is a bowl with various Christmas scenery...my favorite part being the words "The Great Shepherd."

This is a picture of Julia. She took one of the boys capes they have and decided to put it on her head and wear it like a princess. Don't children come up with the most wonderful ideas with their imaginations? May God bless you all richly.

More Christmas

Here are some more pictures of Christmas scenes at our house.

This is a basket from our den that I filled with ornaments, ribbon and berry picks.

Here is a garland on the top of our baker's rack in the dining room that I decorated with leftover ornaments, ribbon, lights and a few berry picks.

This is a console we have in the living room that has two lovely Lenox pieces that my Uncle Harry (my father's brother) bought. They are gorgeous. You may not be able to see it well, but the sleigh was one of the presents he got for us this year. He always gets the most wonderful presents for the family. He is great about getting educational toys for the kids, and Jonathan and I have appreciated them so much. He came down this year and spent Thanksgiving with us. It is always wonderful to see him. It was especially nice having a part of Dad's family for the holiday. I will try to post more about happenings with the family soon. God bless you all!

Christmas at our house

Here are some scenes from our house this Christmas season. We wish all of you could visit us in person, but since you cannot, we thought we might bring a little of our home to you.

This is a Christmas scene from our buffet in our dining room with some of our Snow Village houses. I didn't get around to putting them all up this year. But, I enjoy looking at them and seeing all the fake snow. I miss being in the mountains of North Carolina where we were sure to get at least one good snow a winter. For now, this will have to do. :)

This is one of the ornaments that we have on our "Jesus Tree." I found a wonderful store owned by a Christian artist when we lived up in the mountains and her store carried these wonderful ornaments with the different names of Jesus found in the Bible. We have about 15 of them. We also put small nails, crosses, crowns, etc.,any ornament I can find that reminds us of our Lord. This is the first tree that traditionally goes up and the last one to go down.

This is a picture of the "Jesus Tree" from a distance in the living room.

This is a small tree we have in the corner of the dining room...mainly red and white ornaments. I move this tree around to a different place everytime we move. That's one thing about the military...it always gives me new decorating ideas! I will post more later.