Early Fall Finds: When You Can't Wait For Autumn

Happy late night posting... I'm exhausted. 

Today has been a day of days, to say the least. We're neck deep in crib training, and Alex woke up at 12:30 this morning. And not like wake up and be grumpy for some milk, but the wake up for the day kind of up... she was ready to say yes to play and no to sleep. Mamas tired.

But before I climb into my pajamas and pull the covers up tight, I promised that I would share my Home Goods finds from today! Before we get right to it, I admit I have been trying to find a way to store my books. I liked the idea of painting the covers, but I found that they're all embossed and I was afraid it might make them look funny. But my goodies from this morning were all wrapped in paper, and instead of throwing it all out, I thought "Hey! I can use this!" And thus, an idea was born. I grabbed my exacto knife, and got to work.

 Is this not one of the most awesome, free decor projects you've seen?! I'm contemplating adding some stamping or coloring to the outside... what do you think?

Gahhh I just love it. Almost as much as I love the Autumn goodies I got today. Quite honestly, I'm just too tired to dilly-dally around tonight, so let's just hop right to it.

I styled my sideboard buffet table with little tidbits and things. My trusty owl, a new sign, my flameless lanterns, and a few pumpkins!

This sign has to be the bees knees on this little sideboard. I gave $7.99 for it, and received a whole lot of happiness in return.

Admittedly and sadly, I kill all plantlife... faux flowers are a must for me. I love them. I want 18 more vases of them, of all shapes and sizes.

Honestly I just move this little owl around.... a lot. He's like my little buddy that always has to be by my side. I move him from one table to the next, like he's a real owl rather than a figurine. I took the opportunity today to move him over onto my burlap runner that sits on the sideboard as well.

My last little Fall Finds... mugs!! My favorite! Are these not just the most darling little cups you've ever seen?!

I can practically taste the hot cider that will be coming from this in a few short months.

How did we do?! I'm so in love and so ready for fall leaves, cold weather, pies, scarves, cocoa, pumpkin everything, pies, chilly winds, pies, holiday food, pies.... well... you get it.

  This mug knows what I'm talking about.

You best believe I'll be celebrating the first day of Autumn next month. Anyone joining me? Now it's time for bed... I'm off to dream about pumpkins and pie... and pumpkin pie.

Project Planning: DIY Pottery Barn Eagan Mirror

Good morning, friends!
I think we can all agree that Pottery Barn has some pretty amazing and beautiful goodies to style and awaken your home. Their Eagan mirror is no different story. From the moment I saw it I fell in love and knew I wanted it as part of my home décor. The faux window paneling; the large size frame; the clean sleek lines.... oh be still my heart. But at a price tag of $699 of a "current sale price" of $559, my heart did still too much and broke a little bit. BUT JUST LOOK AT IT!

Ugh. Complete gorgeousness.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't exactly have hundreds of dollars laying around to spend on a mirror. If you do, more power to you... let me know what you do for a living so I can blow tons of money too. But for us poor folk, I am finding an alternate, wallet-friendly version.

I recently sold the little 32" LED TV that has been crowding my dining room buffet piece, and I am so excited to begin styling it! What better place to start than with my own DIY version of this mirror?

Let's begin the planning phase of this build together, shall we?

I started with my trusty excel workbook, and began playing with the sizes. First I wanted to find the mirrors so I knew exactly what I'd be working with as far as measurements, and I landed on these inexpensive 8"x8" beauties and began my planning.



I'm still playing with my coloring options, but I'm liking the idea of maybe a light wood coloring mixed with whites, and a little distressing to give the piece some flair. The end piece will be 41x50 (comparable to the PB's 44x55) with a 3" outside wood border, and 1" inner lines to give the faux window look.


I have an end goal in mind and want to complete this project at a tenth of the PB original cost. I'm setting my ceiling limit to $70 and am so excited to get the mirror pieces in and begin! What do you think?! A worthy competitor in the wallet battlefield? Leave your thoughts below, and check back soon to see how we did! It's going to be glorious - this, I can promise you.


Happy Building!