Another Halloween Home Tour…….Mine

On October 26, 2018

Halloween is less than a week away. Today I am sharing the little touches I add to my fall decor for the holiday. For some reason, this is not nearly as easy for me to share as it was to gush over my momma’s and my sister’s. I have a pretty subtle approach to my decor and a fairly warm, neutral palette….greens, blues and coppers. I especially love to decorate this time of the year because of the traditional, earthy colors used.

Before I get started, I thought I would share a little Christian perspective on Halloween. I loved this post from lifeteen.com that answered a lot of questions for me. My main takeaway is that by participating in this holiday, it reminds us that God ALWAYS wins!! To quote the post, “Love triumphs over death, and…evil has no hold on us.” I will take any chance I get to put Satan in his place!!!

My Loves

We were lucky enough to enjoy our annual trip to a pumpkin patch on our wedding anniversary. Our college guy even joined us!

Our Front Porch

I refreshed my mirror on my front door this year with some new florals and ribbon. I love the way it shines when I pull up to the house.

See how my asparagus fern has turned a lovely golden color.

I am crazy about the layered rug trend. These were both Target finds.

A Few Touches Inside

My entry display on my antique buffet. I LOVE my candy corn garland.

The copper penny tile and golden tones in my kitchen were made for fall decorating.

Fresh cookies, fresh flowers, fresh lemons and a cute little ghost. Does it get any happier?

I usually add one or two new pieces each fall. This was this year’s Marshalls purchase. It was the only one they got. Lucky me! 🙂

One of our first Halloween pieces….probably at least 20 years old!

Another one of my original pieces. We sold these pumpkins and the Trick or Treat plate at our gift store back in the day!

Always filled with our favorite candy pumpkins and trail mix with peanuts and m&ms. By the way, this makes a great hostess gift!

Fun in the Kid’s Space

My kiddos’ trick-or-treat buckets. Mine is the little one at the top. It even has my name written in my young-girl handwriting on the bottom.

Keep them bones clean!!

Well, that’s it for now! I will be sharing some Thanksgiving touches soon, so stay tuned!!!

Be sure to subscribe to my email list so that we can become friends and share ideas!

Happy Halloween, and God bless!!

Week

Use That Wedding Memorabilia as Decor

By Karen Carlson

On October 20, 2018

In GREAT SPACES

This post was written Saturday, October 20th, but I was out of town and having trouble sending it!!

Today is the 23rd anniversary of our beautiful October wedding! By now you have probably all figured out how much I love fall, so planning our wedding during my favorite season just made sense. We are off to the pumpkin patch to go through haunted houses, so I am leaving you with a super simple post. I just wanted to show you how I still display a few pieces of memorabilia from our wedding 23 years later. They all sit atop the armoire in our bedroom, so they are literally some of the first things I see each day.

Fun With Outdoor Fall Decorating

By Karen Carlson

On October 12, 2018

In GREAT SPACES

Have you done some outdoor decorating for fall? It is feeling a bit more like the start of winter around here already! Hopefully all of our wonderful pumpkins will survive the cold for a bit longer. Remember my parents’ beautiful fall home tour full of antiques? Find it here for a refresher. Today I am finally going to share all of their great outdoor decor! They have a lot of fun with bales, corn shocks, pumpkins and gourds. They live just off of a busy highway. I hope that all of the people passing by get as much joy from seeing it as my parents do from creating it.

“…they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest..” Isaiah 9:3

A Colorful Halloween House Tour

By Karen Carlson

On October 5, 2018

In GREAT SPACES

It is almost Halloween! We are in my favorite month of the year…..October. Beautiful October. I have always had a lot of fun with our kiddos preparing for Halloween festivities around here. Now they are BIG and don’t really dress up to trick-or-treat anymore. Oh well, I can still decorate!! You will get a peek at that later. Today, I am actually sharing my sister’s gorgeous home with you. I promised I would, and it is AWESOME at Halloween. She loves to decorate with COLOR….oranges and greens and teal blue….for every season….and it works!! As soon as you step up to her home, you know that fun people live inside. 🙂 I love her little family so much. Check this out! She even made three beautiful babies with fantastic red hair. How is that for color?!? The good Lord knew what He was doing.

Turn Your Skinnies Into Something Groovy With This Simple Costume Hack

By Karen Carlson

On September 29, 2018

In DIY

Need a cute, simple costume idea for you or your kiddo? Here’s a fun little hack that my daughter and I came up with for her homecoming week at school. One of the themes for her class was Arbor Day. Hmmmm. What do you do with that one? She and her friends started with the idea of being tree lovers, and we took it from there. We made a quick stop at Goodwill looking for some groovy pants. We came up empty, but spied this long green paisley skirt that had potential. I don’t remember exactly how the conversation went, but by the time we left, we had a sweet idea!

Our Inspiration Piece

This is not such a hot pic, but you get the idea. Isn’t it groovy fabric?

How We Made “Bell Bottoms”

See the great long ruffle on the bottom of this skirt. It is almost 9 inches long. Basically, I cut it off and made two very small “skirts” with it. You could certainly do this with any fabric, but this was already hemmed and ready for us (which saved a lot of time) and…..BONUS….it was only $3.50!!! Many of you who sew know just how to make a simple elastic waist skirt, but for those of you who don’t, this is what I did.

I cut the ruffle off all the way around the bottom of the skirt about 2 inches above the seam.

Then I folded the raw edge down and pressed it nicely so that I had a nice crisp edge that was even all the way across.

Then I folded it down over the seam and pressed it again.

The next step was to sew a line of stitching along the edge to create a casing for the elastic.

Okay. Here is where I did not really take any pictures. I think I got too excited to finish!! I now had a LONG ruffle with a casing. I measured my daughter’s calf with the elastic and then cut two pieces of ruffle approximately twice the length of the elastic pieces so that it would gather nicely.

Then I closed up the raw ends, being careful not to close up the slot for my elastic to go into the casing.

The last step was to insert the elastic and close up the opening with a few stitches.

Quick tip: Use a safety pin on the end of your elastic to easily thread the elastic through your casing.

Here it is! One of the little “skirts!”

My girl in her costume….Isn’t she cute?

All Julia did was slip those little babies over her jeans and popped on her Berks. Easy peasy!!! On a side note, I also made the t-shirt with some scissors and my Cricut….with which I am starting to become very good friends! This should have been a very fast project, but I may or may not have slit my thumb earlier in the day and then may or may not have kept catching my bandaid with my sewing machine!

Do you have some favorite simple costume ideas that you have tried? I would love to hear about them!! And don’t forget to subscribe to my email list. You will receive a post with fun ideas about once a week.

Have a wonderful day, all!! God bless.

A Fall Refresher For My Flower Pots

By Karen Carlson

On September 21, 2018

In DIY, GREAT SPACES

When you read this, the first day of fall will have arrived!!!!!! YeeHaw!!!!! Today I decided it was time to give my flower pots a little seasonal love. They had done their job making me happy all summer long but were starting to look just plain tired. A little subtracting and a little adding is all it took to make them look fantastic for a beautiful Nebraska autumn.

Fall Home Tour – Papa and GB’s House

By Karen Carlson

On September 15, 2018

In GREAT SPACES

My momma (otherwise known as GB for Grandma Betty) taught me to love fall. We love the colors, the smells, the annual trips to the pumpkin patch, the cooler temperatures, the comforting soups and casseroles…everything. We especially love to decorate for the season. You are in for a treat. This is a tour of a home containing loved belongings collected over time and full of stories. My parents are less concerned with current trends and instead concentrate on what rings true to them…warm, darker colors and an eclectic feel. Even though I did not grow up in the house they are in now, it feels like home. So here we go….

Make a Sweet Seasonal Garland With Your Cricut

By Karen Carlson

On September 7, 2018

In DIY

I love my Cricut machine, and I am nuts about fall. Today I combined the two by creating a little paper leaf garland. This project is EASY. I mean really easy. I haven’t decided where this will end up. Our family made a similar one for Christmas a few years ago. (We like to do a little craft on Thanksgiving.) It hangs above the kids’ bathroom mirror at our house in amongst some greenery. My momma wraps hers around one of her trees. There are so many ways these garlands could be used….even wrapped around a package.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you decide to make a purchase. Thank you for keeping this little blog up and running!

An Updated Shelf Finds a Home in Our Lake House Bath

By Karen Carlson

On August 13, 2018

In DIY, GREAT SPACES

Hi, all! I promised I would share pics of our new and improved shelf all installed and functioning. In case you missed it, you can read about this little project here. It is WONDERFUL to finally have hooks in our lake bath! We even added some to the doors. No more towels on the floor…right? 🙂 We attached the shelf to the wall with long black screws drilled into the studs and decided to let the screws show. I actually love how they add a little rustic touch. And of course, there is a ship in this room. You can read about that here.

A Shelf Goes from Outdated to Farmhouse Cool

By Karen Carlson

On August 10, 2018

In DIY, GREAT SPACES

I have a shelf that has been lurking in my storeroom F…O…R…E…V…E…R. It is a solid, well-built, real-wood piece that was just begging for new life. I am crazy excited about how this small project turned out. First, I have to show it to you in all of its 1996 Americana Country Christmas glory. That was our second Christmas as newlyweds in our teeny rental house. Our kitchen was so small that our fridge had to sit in the dining room, but I LOVED that house. I did my best to make it feel like home with a small budget, but oh my, even though a few of these pieces have transitioned into my current decor, my taste has definitely changed over the years! Check it out.

Category: GREAT SPACES Page 1 of 2

My Loves

Our Front Porch

A Few Touches Inside

Fun in the Kid’s Space

“…they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest..” Isaiah 9:3

Our Inspiration Piece

How We Made “Bell Bottoms”

Quick tip: Use a safety pin on the end of your elastic to easily thread the elastic through your casing.

My girl in her costume….Isn’t she cute?