Decking the Halls with Between You And Me Signs

The holiday season is in full swing and I can feel that buzz of energy starting to fill the house. Its only a tiny humming right now but in the next couple weeks it will turn in to full blown jingle bells!!

I can't help but deck the halls because well, its my most favorite part of the holidays. 

That and watching the excitement grow in my little ones as the days become fewer and fewer until the big man arrives!

This year I want to keep things simple. I want the house to have the warmth of the holidays but not lose itself in all of those decorations! Thats why we have decided to scale back on the three trees we usually put up and the word "simplify" is what I keep repeating in my head. I want the girls to grow up in a home where we celebrate the season by being together as a family, welcoming in friends, eating, drinking and being truly grateful for the gifts we receive every single day. It is so easy to get caught up in it all....the wants are poison for the soul and this time of year can be especially challenging.

That is why when I saw this sign from Between You and Me I knew it was perfect for our home. 

Love grows best in little houses. Oh this is so true for us. I speak from real experience here. If you are new here and you don't know my story, well then you should know that this is our seventh home. We have had our fair share of houses and all different. Some were much bigger then our home is now and some were smaller. But our happiness has never changed with the size of our home. I want my kids to always be close to me. I want to hear their laughter from the other room and yes, I even want to hear the arguing...it helps me, help them, solve the issue a little faster...not always but most of the time. I like living in a home where I don't need a monitor to hear if my baby needs me. Now, please believe me when I say that I by no means think my house is tiny! We are quite blessed with our home but again its no mcmansion either...its just simply perfect for us.

Its the perfect message for our family and exactly how I want us to be...so close we can't help but talk to each other. So close we don't miss a thing. My babies are growing faster than I would really like to believe so keeping them close to me is more important to me than anything else!

If you haven't heard of Between You and Me Signs, first I can't even believe that, but you must visit their shop. They are making some truly beautiful pieces! I have a running wish list in their shop and I'm hoping that one day I have a house full of their amazing work!

Another piece of their work is hanging in our family room. It is a custom piece and the lyrics to one of my favorite Mumford and Sons song Below My Feet.
It's one of those songs that you listen to and it moves you. It speaks about what so much of us experience during our early years. Being young, not worrying about the future, not needing anything but yourself to rely on and then one day you wake up and you can't handle it all by yourself, you never could. You realize that you need more, you need Jesus. This song speaks to me because I too needed my savior. I needed to know that God really loved me! What I didn't know was that he had been with me all along, I just needed to come to him. When I did, I was greeted with open arms and he wrapped them around me and has never let go. It always makes me a little teary eyed when I hear it because I'm so thankful to know Gods grace. Now I have those lyrics hanging on my wall to remind me of this everyday.

I'm so happy to have found their shop! I have these two amazing signs in my home, both of them bringing so much joy and reminding us of the things that we hold dear as a family. 

I'm getting ready to order another sign for a friends house warming gift and now is a perfect time for you to do some shopping of your own because Between You and Me Signs is offering all my readers a 15% off discount today through December 31st!

Just use promo code HOUSESEVEN15 

Enjoy!

 XOXO

Garland Table Setting

We kicked off the holiday season this year with a house full for Thanksgiving and it was simply awesome!  We had family from near and far with old friends and new ones all gathered around our table. We spent the day as a family lounging around, first watching the parade, cooking and finally welcoming in our guests as they arrived. What a better way to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving and help us kick off the holiday season. It was a pretty perfect day!
Anytime I know we are going to have a house full of guests, the wheels in my head start turning and all I could think was what kind of table setting we would have for our guests.
I knew I was going to have a giant table to set and I wanted to keep everything simple yet festive!
So I went with a 13 foot garland made from fresh eucalyptus, sage and evergreen.
Oh it spelled so good!!

Our place setting was a mix of old and new. White linen napkins, antique plates, new white porcelain plates and of course our little feather bunches. I also added a little rolled up piece of craft paper for our guests to write what they were all thankful for this year. This is a little tradition we do in our home where we all write down what we are thankful for, drop it in a pitcher and then during dessert we pass the pitcher around the table and each person takes one out and reads it. Its so fun!!

I really was so happy with how the painted flatware turned out! I also
have to update you and let you know that purely by mistake it all went through the dishwasher! OOPS! But guess what...it totally survived! No chipping or scratching! So if you are considering this as your next project, I recommend it as a good one!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family and now we are on to Christmas to do it all over again! Whew this is a busy time of year....it must be, even this little post is a tad late:(

Here is to an amazing holiday season and I can't wait to share a few updates to our home in the days to come....

oh and you're getting a sneak peek right now!!!