post halloween post

ooops. did my christmas-y post before my halloween-decor follow-up!

i thought it turned out great.

soon the bats will  be replaced with an autumn wreath and my little ghosts will be filled with chrysanthemums.

have i mentioned how much i LOVE fall?!

christmas craft

brace yourselves…this may be too much to take in {aka long and drawn out for entertainment purposes}.

so… upon receiving my monthly anthropologie catalog, my eyes fell on something amazing.

i know it’s still early, but once it starts, i cannot get away from {control myself of} christmas cheer {decorating}.

okay, back to the story.

when i opened the catalog i of course loved all of what i saw, but then was STUNNED by a lovely LOVELY tree topper!

“a tangle of glitter-frosted branches and a sprinkling of winter stars yield an ethereal crown for firs and pines.” what more could you ask for in a tree topper?!

i mean, do you really think your angels and stars could really compete with the “mystic nest“?!

the best part is the price. it also took my breath away. $389!!! no it’s not a typo.

not $3.89, or $38.99…THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-NINE DOLLARS! haha pretty funny.

after gawking at the limited photos i had from the catalog and online, i decided i could def create my own. especially when they list the materials used to make such a monstrosity!

- cardboard, glitter, plastic, metal, paper, cotton. totally doable.

tomorrow, to michael’s i go.

wish me luck!

p.s. i may go CRAZY and try my luck at a wreath-version as well!

happy birthday, momma

i wish you 50 more fabulous years! ;)

{love you with all my heart}

happy hallooooweeeen

happy haunting to you all!

{from ron weasley}

{and the gang-hermione, ron, harry and ginny}

boo!

fat boy love

when amy and nathan {and maggie} came to play, they introduced us to a charming new film.

see it. it’s great!

amy also whipped out her homemaking skills and taught me to knit!

i have always wanted to learn and thought it had to be tricky or really time-consuming…well the later of the two is true, but it’s wonderful!

it’s something to keep you busy when you are in the mood to also be a couch potato or while riding in the car. thank you SO much, amy. you were so patient with me {okay, it IS a little tricky}, and are very skilled!

now you can all guess what everyone is getting for christmas….well maybe in a couple of years, haha!

{right now i’m working on this}

via blisstree

a lovely weekend

these photos pretty much sum up my weekend.

{my new favorite heels-$12}

{cute cute movie-$22}

{brand new ABSOLUTELY PRETTIEST niece, ever-PRICELESS!!!}

*not to mention the lovely cold weather {not pictured}! simply wonderful.

but you don’t have to take my word for it

this is kind of a NEW idea for me. well, you’ll see what i mean…

::so maybe you love these::

————————>{then you’ll probably like THESE!}<————————-

::or if you covet these::

————->{def check in on these, even in a familiar dark gold!}<—————

::and if you need some of these::

——————>{then be sure to see these, in black, too of course}!<———————

**i also thought these were yum, too {in brown or black}!**

AND

::if you even just kinda like these::

::or these::

——————————–>{you will LOVE THESE} <——————————-

{and maybe add them to your christmas list}

little miss merrell

miss coraleigh made her grand debut this morning @ 3:59 am. she weighed in at a perfect 6lb 12oz and is 20 inches long in a lovely shade of pink.

we are so happy for the new parents and send them lots of love.

here is a little preview!

{coraleigh paige merrell}

{lots more pictures to come once i get to see her sweet little face!}

preperation for celebration

i’m not sure if it’s halloween or just the fall season that has gotten me all excited, but i have been feelin’ extra crafty lately! i mean that literally…like arts and crafts. i think it also has a lot to do with the fact that my kiddies bring home pun’kin artwork on a daily basis now.

any-hoo…i recently received my country living mag {one of my faves} in the mail and it is CHOCK-FULL of crafts and treats. not only do i have a halloween party to co-plan, co-decorate  and co-cook for, but i am also one of those obnoxious folk that LOVES themed decorating…more specifically HOLIDAY decorating!

the BEST part is, almost all of the retail stores providing the essentials have them marked down to 50% off { just my size}! so, i thought i would share with y’all some of my projects, just to give y’all an idea of what kind of crafting i am referring to.

NOW, remember, these are magazine/professionally-styled photos, so don’t judge when i present {later on} my janie-version of the final product!

{these are some of the recipes i’m excited to also try!}

{yum}

{yay for halloween!!!}

how about another shower

as of this weekend passed, i should be all out if showers to attend! i had one more and what a great one to end with. manda’s cora leigh deserved a lovely one, and that’s just what she got. there was brunch, an amazing diaper cake ;) and tons of presents {pictured below}! now all we need is for littlest miss merrell to make her grand debut!

{steph, manda and baby-to-be cora (slightly pictured)}

{cora’s plethera of presents}

{all us kinfolk – (from far left clockwise, shelby davis, manda, me, kira turek, vanessa turek, hannah daivs and jessica turek) *p.s. notice there must have been a ga game the same day?!}

{manda with linds, aka hostess w/mostess}

{and me with my pride and joy, THE diaper cake}

-it has been quite a season for babies, boy i tell you. wait, i mean girl!