live simply || jewelry edition

so, according to one of my past posts, i have been all about simplifying...and, goodness, it feels good. maybe that's silly, but it's true. weeding out the quantity to keep those fewer well-loved pieces in my home & wardrobe makes such a huge difference in living out peace & order.

i did a major cleaning out of my closet (having capsule wardrobes thoughts) this past fall, which lead to going through all my shoes, which brought me to reorganizing & deciding to sell a lot of my jewelry (and purses and scarves) and now...my wardrobe is so much lighter & brighter. i just love it! i think deep down we crave simplicity. at least, i know i do. we live in such a culture geared towards having it all or always needing the next big thing that it's hard to just be content. 

and now with this new little life on its way (ONLY 15 MORE WEEKS PEOPLE), i am craving order, cleanliness, and well, just less in general. for now, my hands are sort of tied with the whole nursery situation. there are so many larger items (bunk beds, a twin bed, chairs, etc) in that room that i can't really get in there to do much prepping. (grrr) i suppose i'm waiting for some decent weather so i can pull out what's in there for a rummage sale. the waiting is killing me. so until then, i will organize and clean everything else in the house. 

knowing myself...i love to thrift which means i often need to purge. i think of it as a revolving door. new items in = old items out. step 1 to not becoming a hoarder. thankfully, when hubs sees me selling stuff i just got last summer, he has stopped asking questions. i love the feeling of new, fresh & different...and can't help but become inspired by new ideas. by selling unused items, it gives me a means & makes room for those new-to-us items.

i believe your home should inspire you. as william morris said, 

"have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." 

yes, you should be surrounded by things you love. one of my favorite sayings:

a home should feel collected, not decorated.

that has stuck with me because that's what i want. a home filled with items that have meaning. items that belonged to my grandparents. a home filled with pieces from travels. a home that reflects our family. not just a house, but a home. 

i have previously posted the below couple of inspirational images, but since they specifically related to my jewelry display inspiration, i decided to include them again here. i supposed as far as style goes, i fall somewhere between simple & clean and bohemian & eccentric. minimalist bohemian, maybe?? it's a thing. i googled it. 

(also click here for my feelings on google.) 

source here

source here

here's where i was starting from. i know, its a hot mess. real life here yo. i made that necklace board maybe last summer(?) and remember posting about it on instagram. i covered a cork board i had with fabric and pinned the trim with gold thumb tacks. it didn't take long to make but it took an strange amount of endurance from my thumb. i decided it would work better in our daughters' room & moved it in there. they love it. 

from there i started the sorting out process. sometimes giving myself a limit helps. like "pick my top ten favorites necklaces" and so on. if i can't remember the last time i wore something...it normally goes. of course there are exceptions: grandma's ring, that blingy necklace for special occasions...blah blah blah. now, mind you, those items that call for the more rare occasion or maybe aren't in my normal rotation but i still love (maybe they were a gift), i decided to remove from my main jewelry display area. i have a special box for those items and they are stored within reach...just not in plain view. clears up a lot of space physically & mentally when looking for pieces to wear. 

all of my jewelry display boxes, jars, containers & such are thrifted. i paid $.25 to $1 for most items. scoring them from goodwills & rummage sales. the mirrored tray, thrifted, as well. vintage textile on the wall, thrifted. most of my (favorite) necklaces and some of my bracelets are also vintage & thrifted. i love thinking about where they came from. the life they lived before me. giving them new life now. the circle of life. cue lion king music.

be bold leather bracelet by farm girl paints & shop here

lesson:

you can sometimes do more with less.
sometimes limiting yourself is freeing. 

let's make our lives easier for ourselves already.

***disclaimer: since these pics were originally taken, we have since repainted the bedroom (yeah, you guessed it--white). i have also slightly rearranged the tabletop...naturally. current glory below:

also, it's february 18 which means it's my mom & baby sister's birthdays. if you have a sec, wish them a happy birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love you guys.

oh & as of february 15, the blog is officially one year old! yay!

xoxo




all you need is less quote source here

nesting for a nursery

nesting. nesting.

nesting. nesting. nesting.

now, mind you, our "nursery" room was a ready-to-go room as of this past fall as we were going to use it for foster care. more of that here. but since then, the room has sort of become a catch-all. things for baby. things to sell. things to donate. piles, piles & more piles. i have some pretty fun "before" pics that i'll share when there are some redeeming "after" pics. soooo until then, this post is about a couple of fun yarn projects i've been working on for our sweet girl's room.

first, these yarn-wrapped antlers. 

my dad gave us these darling little antlers for her room...mostly, i think, because they reminded him of her name. and that's all i have to say about that...for now. ;) anyway, i wrapped the base of these antlers in cream yarn & then trimmed it with the yellow accent color. i think they turned out great. 

next up, a yarn wall hanging.

let's start with my inspiration. i came across both of these images on, wait for it...pinterest! shocking, i know. anyway, the source for these images are below but i think it's important to remember these are just for inspiration. you may not have the exact color yarn. you may not have a copper pipe. but you should remember to use whatever you have! make it your own. for example...

source here

source here

...our little guy found this stick below while playing outside one day this fall & told me that he thought i would love it. well, he was right. i've saved it ever since thinking i would be able to do something with it. after seeing these inspiration photos, i realized i could use that little stick after all.

on a chance of good luck i found the exact color yarn i had been wanting at a discount fabric store all between $1 and $2. (actually, i decided not to use the brown tone for this project, but i knew the other colors would coordinate perfectly with the nursery.)

below i have included the step-by-step pics of the project in case you are interested in making your own version. 

cut the desired length (start long)

use your first strand to measure & precut the next pieces you'll need

you've wrapped your first strand

continue wrapping

whenever you feel like it, switch up the colors

the strands i cut were obviously a little varied in length

i went ahead & trimmed them into a triangle point...almost done!

add a strand to the top to use to hang

hang & enjoy.

i cannot wait to get this nursery put together.

also, this guy...

always the best helper ;)

& because i don't want to forget: baby girl kicked me the whole time i was working on these projects...it's like she knew it was all for her. smiles.

-----------------------------------

also, it's february 14. happy v-day. i got an orchid that i'm going to try really hard not to kill (i'm just not a fan of the traditional stuff. i.e. roses), some chocolate covered strawberries (i will always accept food that is covered in chocolate), chipotle for lunch (gift to us both) & was told to order this pinafore...

that i've been wanting for like ever. eek! i cannot wait until it's done being made & gets to its new home with me.

anyway,

i hope you know you are loved...not just today, but every day. honestly, i think valentines day is odd & annoying & soooo made up, but i'll leave the wet blanket out to dry for now. ;) happy day to you! sending out the love.

Camp Lincoln || turning 6

i know everybody says this every time one of their kids has a birthday, but...how did this happen?? i seriously feel like he skipped straight from 3 years old to 6. and now kindergarten is on the horizon. barf. he's the only one of our three that i've got to stay home with & it's been hard & wonderful & oh so quick. i say this almost daily...i'm going to miss him next year.

we're still doing the smaller birthdays-just as we did with the girls last year. at our home. immediate fam. we don't have a lot of room to entertain so keeping it small is as much an intentional decision as it is a necessity. it's nice & intimate.

when we were thinking about birthday theme ideas, i realized i had thrifted a pretty good collection of camp-ware...enamel pans, iron skillet, oil lantern & such. i also had a lot of natural items from around our house to add to an overall camp theme...logs & feathers. i have been trying to use items we already have in a creative (and ultimately cost-effective) way. soooo, with all this camp related goodness, we decided to host Camp Lincoln. he loved the idea (thank goodness).

as far as food: camp food. hotdogs (on the grill) & slim jims. we had fun with some of the other food items. emma came up with some creative labels for all our food. grapes = river rock, cheetos = campfire, pretzels = firewood, hawaiian punch = bug juice, oh & the golden grahams labeled "Don't Feed the Bears." she's precious. i love it. lincoln also decided instead of a traditional birthday cake (i am all about trading in traditional) he wanted to have donuts. um, perfect camp food substitute! so we did a donut cake & by special request, he had his own "snowy mountain" donut cake...complete with trick candles. (hehe) and just for fun...a make your own trail mix station.

as far as gifts this year, we surprised him with a helmet just like his favorite football team (marshall thundering herd), gave him a football signed by the football team & took him to a marshall university basketball game. he legit thinks he's part of the team. i guess that's what we get for naming him lincoln marshall.

nerd alert: he was also asking for a star wars lightsaber & a sonic screwdriver like doctor who. yeah. we nerd out. and thankfully his aunt is right there with us. she just got done binge-watching all of the doctor who episodes on netflix. she came up with the idea to actually create his own tardis. if you don't know what i'm talking about...google it.

ya know, it couldn't be easier to find out things you don't know than just googling it. i'm not sure why people don't do this more. people are always asking what the phone number is for this or that. or what time such & such is open. GOOGLE. IT. i flippin google EVERYTHING.

but i digress, she gave the tardis plans to my mom (Mrs. Crafty) & they made it from cereal boxes. painted it tardis blue & everything. ah-dorable. then she ordered him a sonic screwdriver and even played the tardis sound on her phone like the doctor himself had left it for lincoln. he had to go to the back deck to find it. love it. love them. happy freakin birthday, man.

also, please appreciate the lovely photo of lincoln below after he literally ate a mountain of powdered donuts. eh, you only turn 6 once, amiright?

i mean, there's no living with him now.

go herd.

happy birthday bubby.