Ashley had a great summertime post with an array of links for summer activities and inspiration. I was especially charmed with Martha’s suggestions.

And what about these jars? How fun for the kids’ bedrooms on a summer evening! I need to find some of that glow paint. ASAP

My husband caught the kids in the throes of some serious hunting last week. Perhaps that activity will end up on our list…

How about you? Got any great summer plans or traditions?

Empty frames as decor.

Erasable to do list. (Another great use of frames!) This didn’t even take 5 minutes.

Ruffled curtains for laundry room

A friend, after seeing one of my pinned recipe ideas for a pretty cake a la Twirling Betty, asked me how many banners I have in my house and I had to tell her “none.”  How sad. But, that is no longer the case. Check out my girlie’s simple and fun window treatment. I am starting to really like pale blue and red together.

So that’s it for now, only there are so many projects I just can’t wait to get to.

Now…to try some of my pinning recipes.

After: This is what you see when you walk in the front door.

Looking straight ahead, you can see into our music/sewing/school room area, which I will show you another time.

And here is the other side of the room. I’ve wanted to put guitars on the wall for sometime, for aesthetic as well as practical reasons. Ever since seeing Emily’s displayed in her “small cool” living room,  I have been scouting out the perfect spot for ours. These brackets seemed to be the most cost effective, from what bit of research I did.

I do love the finished product. It’s so fun and rewarding to see the progression from that first picture, then to this, and now the big reveal. Thanks for playing along!

Can I show you my shelves a little closer? When time permits, I’d like to do a little display of the kids’ art work right under that left one. The space there just looks a little empty and I think a minimal, creative display of their art will add some personality and playfulness to the room.

We have been trying to spend as little as possible, so I used some things I already had on hand, or moved some in from other places in the house. I really like the outcome.

And as I was visiting a friend the other day, I noticed that she had used scrabble tiles to write messages on her mantle. Brilliant! I came home and immediately duplicated it. Thanks, Jena! (I’ve seen lots of people crafting with scrabble tiles these days and love the idea, but  have never really wanted to break my game apart. This way, we have a changeable display, and our game is still intact.)

One more little detail I’ll share is this space beside the doorway. I needed something there to add some more color to the wall and to balance the picture on the other side of the mirror. Shelly suggested something round to contrast with all the rectangular shapes I already had on that wall. She was totally right, and as I contemplated it, I remembered these little numbers that I had come upon a good long while ago. Enter the piddly stash of embroidery hoops that I picked up at a yard sale last spring and my ever increasing selection of fabric scraps and BAM. Problem solved. Maybe some wider hoops and a few more bright swatches in the future, but for now, this will do just fine.

So there you have it…just a little of what’s been occupying my time of late. Stay tuned. There’s more to share.

Yes, that was dust you saw on that lamp. Deal with it. Oh, wait…that’s my job. And I already have, rest assured.

By the way…living room tour coming soon!

I love Jennifer’s blog as well as her patterns/tutorials and eagerly await the release of her book! So many of her projects are just right for using scraps. The Mama Chic Wrist Cuff is also one of my favorites because it works up so quickly, turns out nicely every time and makes a great gift. (I should know, because I was gifted one a couple years ago for my birthday and could not have been more charmed)

Her List Takers have been featured in my shop, and I’m sure you’ll see more creations via JCasa Handmade from me in the future!

Carefully preserving as much as I could of those precious threads and the hodge podge of color, I cut into it. It  now serves as a table runner, and has become a lovely addition to our dining table as well as being such a beautiful piece of my heritage. I’m happy we can use it again, although in a much gentler capacity. It has served me well and will continue to do so, instead of being packed away in a musty old drawer.

I can even see patches from dresses and other things that had been made for me when I was a kid…a Christmas dress, a pair of jams. (wonder when those things will make a comeback?)

I am so pleased that we can use and enjoy that old quilt once again. And I couldn’t stop with a table runner. I just had to add some chair pads.

You can be sure that the rest of those precious scraps will find their way into some other project, not to be wasted or forgotten.

I recently needed to come up with a gift for 2 ten-year-old boys. After agonizing over it for a couple of weeks,  I eventually came up with something I was satisfied with. I loved the ideas here, but I knew these boys were both really out-doorsy. I wanted to give them something I was sure they would actually use and enjoy. I decided on a belt, accompanied by some of these. But while looking for a belt, I stumbled on a clearance rack filled with really cheap cargo pants…that came with belts! Hooray! Even better.

There was a little bit of grommet drama, but after some help from my husband, the pouches were done and we decided to stuff all those glorious cargo pockets and pouches with goodies so these boys would be equipped for their adventures.

We decided on:

a magnifying glass

little containers, vials for catching bugs, or collecting rocks

a pocket knife

a bird call

twine

Band-Aids

bubble gum

rubber bands, (along with instructions on turning your hand into a rubber band gun)

clothes pins

notebook and pen

This was really fun to put together and even more fun to watch them open up the gift by searching all the pockets. The little whispered, “This is awesome” from one to another during the process was all we needed to hear to be certain it was a hit. All that agonizing paid off, I guess.

File this one away, in case you are ever in need of a quick gift for an adventurous boy!

There was just something so delightful, during those first few weeks, about having people come to visit and handing them this pretty little bundle to hold. I would swaddle him up, put him in the sack and know that he was warm and happy and wouldn’t be kicking off his blankets or getting cold feet any time soon.(Then I would disappear into the bedroom for a nap or the shower, whichever felt more pressing at the time. Devious, wasn’t it?)

As precious as those new baby days are, very rarely do things feel “together.” When your surroundings are far from neat and pretty, it’s so satisfying to hand over such a charming little package (if you can bear to part with it, that is).

Anyway, I have a dear friend who is expecting a little girlie any day, and when the crochet bug hit me this winter, like it does every year, I whipped one up for her in purple.

But it was so fun that I just kept going. And the result of that little crochet party, in the coziest of greens and blues and hints of teal, waits in the shop for a baby to fill it. So if soft greens and blues are the colors you choose, look no further. But, hurry, hurry. Because there’s only one.

While I don’t know that I can ever let go of  “brown paper packages tied up with string,” I do enjoy the idea of fabric gift bags like Amanda’s. (If you missed her posts about a “week of elving,” go there and be inspired. File away some ideas for next year!) Anyway, I got a jump on this last year and was able to add to our stash in the last week or so.

These are just great, not only because they’re pretty, but because they are kid friendly,

and husband friendly!

(Isn’t he cute? There is a “this is lame” warning on the tag. Just so you know, I love lame gifts.)

And check out this beauty! It’s for Sam, so I can’t show you what’s inside. But I’ll spill the beans next week.

I hope your last couple of days before Christmas are days that you enjoy and not dread. By the way, are you looking for an easy homemade breakfast to serve your loved ones? Shelly just posted a lovely recipe for a pastry braid and I can personally attest to the deliciousness of it.  Pay her a visit over at ModMamas and you won’t be sorry.

Happy wrapping!

I was thinking, too, of taking up Ashley’s tradition on this day. What a sweet way to remember the events of the year and even to exercise having thankful hearts when we see the ways that God has blessed and protected us over time.

Meanwhile, we have to find something to do with all the snowflakes we made this weekend! It was so much fun, we didn’t want to stop. And all the beauty outside just made us want to bring a little of that white wonderland indoors. Paper, scissors, glitter and glue. It was all we needed.