Random Act of Kindness #60

Anyone have their Christmas presents wrapped yet? I certainly don't! I don't even have them all purchased. I have a sneaky feeling my shopping may come down to the wire this year. Then, you know what that means...last minute wrapping!

You may not have yours done, but that doesn't mean you can't help out a friend. And, that leads me to this week's Random Act of Kindness Challenge...

{The Penny Paper Co.}

Wrapping presents goes so much faster when you're not doing it alone. So, call up a friend and offer to lend a hand. You'll be gifting them the precious gift of time while sprinkling a little kindness into their heart at the same time.

Now, Go!...Go out and be kind!

Rustic Christmas Moodboard

I shared with you earlier this week that experiencing a picturesque Christmas in the mountains is on my bucket list. I've played around a little and created a warm and cozy room that'd definitely fit the bill for my dream cabin in the woods.

Here's the shopping list in case you see something you can't live without!

1. Velvet stockings, West Elm

2. Striped pillows, Etsy

3. Bird lumbar pillow, Etsy

4. Bear pillow, Etsy

5. Bronze Boot Tray, Sierra Trading Post

6. Coffee Table, Usona

7. Red Cadiz Rug, West Elm

8. Felt Ball Wreath, West Elm

9. Minx Chair, Ashley Somerville

10. Wool Throw, Sierra Trading Post

11. Faux Fur Throw, West Elm

12. Cotton Throw, Horchow

Anyone else share my dream? See anything here you'd like to wrap up in? Now, please excuse me while I grab my coffee and watch the snow fall...

My secret weapon {Transparent Tuesday}

I have a secret weapon that gets me through life. Every Thursday I meet with a group of friends and we pray for our kids and their school. Our group is in its third year together and these women are truly amazing.

{click here for more info.}

We come from different backgrounds, different religions and different cultures but we have one thing in common...prayer. It's powerful hearing other mothers pray for your kids. It's also powerful knowing that many have experienced what you're experiencing and their words of wisdom will help you through. 

Talk about transparency...we often meet without make-up and still in our pajamas! These women know the "real" me. They know I'm not a perfect mom and they like me anyway. Gotta find comfort in that, right?!

One of the things we do each week is pray scripture over our kids. Each child's name is inserted into a specific verse. Typically I mark it in my bible and read it to Bryn or Reed later in the day, but last night I had an epiphany. Why not write it somewhere they'll see it everyday so it'll penetrate their heart even deeper? 

Here's what I did...

They share a bathroom so I used a white board marker to write the verse on their mirror. Each week I'll switch it out with the new verse. 

I love the thought that God's hope, direction and promises will be visible to them on a daily basis.

Mom's in Prayer is an international group and has personally been a great resource for me. If you'd like to find a group, or start a group, for your school click here to learn more.

Unconventional Christmas Trees

Ahhh, we've had a cold front here in Texas and my kids actually had to pull out there coats as they rushed out the door this morning. Such a good thing! We made it out to chop down our Christmas tree this weekend and ended up with an interesting tree to say the least.

Our sweaty experience led me to adding something to my bucket list. One day, oh one day, I hope to experience a snowy Christmas. I'd love, love to experience the picturesque Christmas portrayed in the movies. Chopping down a "real" Christmas tree, not a short and stubby Texas pine that barely smells of Christmas. Then, returning to the cute little cabin for hot chocolate and happy spirits as the entire family can't wait to chip in and help decorate the tree! Oh, a girl can dream...

Enough about my bucket list, check out these unconventional Christmas trees that get an A+ in my book for crazy cool creativity...

{The Art of Doing Stuff}

Karen from The Art of Doing Stuff created a twig tree. This so makes me reminisce of watching Charlie Brown Christmas specials on TV when I was little. Click on over and see Karen's tips for her great idea.

{Lalole Blog}

Snowflake lights, pom poms and sisal rope create this fun little tree. Simple and monochromatic...perfection!

{A Creative Mint}

Leslie, from A Creative Mint, took her tree one step further and added special touches via acrylic paint. 

{RH}

Restoration Hardware jumped on board with the stick trend and used it to promote their starry string lights. I'm going to play Debbie downer here and let you know that these lights come with a rather large battery pack that's difficult to conceal. Cute little lights but they need to figure out a way to make the battery pack cute and little too. 

{Mer Mag}

Merrilee, from Mer Mag, really thought outside the box with yet another great Ikea product. She used  the ribba picture ledge to create her family's Christmas tree. Cute, right? Oh the possibilities this idea presents. It could look different every day!

So glad these creative minds have shared their amazing ideas with the rest of us!

Christmas Glimpses

Hello, Friday, I'm so glad you're here! Any of you share my excitement? We're hoping to go cut down our Christmas tree this weekend. This is a fun tradition we started several years ago but didn't get to do last year due to the drought. They're back open this year but looks like the selection is limited. It'll be interesting to see what we end up with!

The rest of the house is decorated and anxiously awaiting the tree's arrival. I've noticed lots of bloggers saying they've kept it simple this year and I'm right along with them. I've never been one to decorate every square inch with holiday decor. I can appreciate it in the homes of others, but when it comes to my own, I'm very content with little touches.

I love laying wreaths of tables. An easy way to fill up a large space.

I found these pretty little trees at World Market. They always have super cute accessories.

I love miniatures. See the tiny presents surrounding the candles? We had friends over for dinner last night and their little girls couldn't wait to get their hands of these and unwrap them. Too funny! But, so disappointing when they found out there was only a white foam cube inside.

Of course there'd be a few deers as part of our decor. Anyone surprised?

Nothing better than lighting all the candles and soaking in the warm glow.

These trees were my after Christmas sale purchases from last year, marked down super low at Pottery Barn. I thought about wrapping the pots in burlap, but honestly, that meant one more trip to Hobby Lobby and I'd already been there too many times in one week!

Candles, mercury glass and crystal...if that doesn't spell Christmas, I don't know what does.

Don't think candles are the only things that go on candle pillars. In my house, if it fits, it goes.

Thanks for checking things out, friends. If decorating is on your agenda this weekend, hopefully you've seen something today that will inspire you in your own home.

Random Act of Kindness #59

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you're feeling extra kind today because I'm positive there's someone out there who needs an extra dose of love today and you're just the person to spread it.

Speaking of spreading, there are lots of yucky germs spreading during this time of year. The flu seems to be running rampant around here. Luckily, we've been spared thus far, but many of our friends haven't been so fortunate.

This leads to today's RAK challenge...whip up a batch of Chicken Noodle Soup and give it to someone who's feeling a little under the weather.

Here's my favorite recipe that a neighbor once shared with me:

Okay, friends, you know the drill...go out and be kind!

I saved tons of money!

I'm going to mix things up a bit and throw in a little bit of summer right in the middle of Christmas decor madness. Think you can handle it? There's absolutely no red or green, pine or lights, paper and bows involved today. Is that sacrilegious?

It actually feels a bit like summer here in Texas. We've been in the 80's recently. Throw in some lovely humidity and it's summer again, which actually works to my benefit since I just had my outdoor cushions recovered.

I'd say they needed it...what do you think? Look at this craziness...

This, my friends, is what the fabulous Texas heat did to my furniture. It was literally crunchy and falling off the cushions. It was hard to stomach the thought of buying enough high-quality fabric that could sustain the sun, so I continued to put off this task. Not to mention, I knew I'd have to pay for labor on top of fabric. This project was quickly becoming very expensive. Finally, at the end of summer, I ran across outdoor curtain panels on clearance for $9.99 at Lowes. Ding, ding, ding...I can handle that price! Cheap outdoor curtain panels = Cheap cushion covers. 

I snagged up what was left of their stock and had to visit 3 different locations, but I managed to get enough panels to make this project work. Creative problem-solving was necessary since I didn't have enough solid fabric to cover everything. I happened to have enough striped fabric to fill in the gaps by covering the ottoman and accenting the sides of the cushions.

Much better, right? Next up, finding pillows to complete the look.

Okay, so I am going to tie this post into a few holiday tips. Take my advice and stalk the after Christmas sales. Don't take things at face value, put on your creative thinking cap. Try to think of unconventional uses for the leftovers. You may just save a couple hundred dollars by using curtain panels to cover your seat cushions!