Special Dates Sign

In the last couple of weeks, our tiny apartment has seen quite a bit of reformation! Let me just say--hallelujah the paneling is gone!  But more to come on that later.

As a result of the changes and the Spring cleaning I tackled, I've felt inspired to finally decorate my living room incorporating colors and ideas that I've been thinking about for quite awhile now.  You've already seen the pillows I made for my couch.  I also bought some new curtains (pictures soon!).  However, there was the issue of this big blank wall behind our couch and what to put there!

For awhile now, I've been loving date signs such as these:

Now, I've already chosen what I want to hang on this big, blank wall--and I thought a sign like this would definitely compliment the look.  But let me show you what I've chosen:

Isn't this bronze/brown letter R sweet?  I loved it as soon as I saw it at Hobby Lobby.  Thanks to a 40% off coupon, I was able to get it for $4.99!

Secondly, I ordered a photo canvas to hang alongside the R.  Can I just say I'm in love with photo canvases and have dreamed of getting one for a long time? I had some walmart gift cards saved from Christmas time, holding out for the perfect thing to spend them on.  When we got our wedding photos, I priced canvases and found out I can get this 16x20 size for only $4 out of pocket (after giftcards).  Um, yes please! 

So anyways, back to the dates.  Don't you think it will look good hanging with the R and the Canvas above my couch? I thought so too.  

I played around on picmonkey (my new favorite site) and came up with this:

I'm so pleased with the design.  Although, I must say I had to print it three different times.  Ahem..first I got Devin's birthday and our engagement dates wrong.  The second time, I got our wedding date wrong.  Yeah...  But anyways, the third time's a charm, right?

To keep everything symmetrical, I wanted to fit this into a 5x7 frame.  I know its a little on the small side, but I didn't want it overpowering anything else.  Here's what it looks like after I popped it in the frame:

What do you think?  I'm picking up my canvas this afternoon so stay tuned for the finished look!

25 Days of Christmas: Day 1--Christmas Spirit!

Nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit like decorating my house!  Devin and I both LOVE Christmas time and have been planning how we're going to rearrange our living room to fit a Christmas tree practically since the day we got home from our honeymoon :).

We bought our REAL Christmas tree last on Monday at Walmart.  If you still haven't set up your tree, I would recommend checking out the ones at Walmart.  We were pleased with the selection they had as well as the shape, height, and price of the tree.  Score!

Earlier on in November, we bought these ornaments for our tree:

We had a fun time putting up our tree and decorating it, as well as bringing some Christmas cheer to the rest of our home.  The only things we had to buy this year were the ornaments and lights for our tree.  I was able to use decorations I had on hand from my classroom last year to decorate the rest of the house.  Here are some pictures of what it all looks like.

I love how cozy the living room is now:

Close up of the tree:

I twisted together some green garland, red berries, and pine cones to dress up our entertainment center:

These two snowmen decorations are from my Grammie Gibbons' collection.  My mom saved them for us after grammie passed away, and this is the first year I get to use them in my home:

Here are stockings hanging on the hallway shelf.  Notice the extremely elegant technique of scratching-name-on-stocking-with-sharpie :) :

I got this cute little plaque for free from someone who was getting rid of it:

And my kitchen! I have a lot of red already so decorating for Christmas was easy.  We put some green garland twisted with lights and ornaments on top of the cupboards:

Here's another adorable plate I got for free: 

I seriously love snowmen! I keep these cute little knives in a glass on my kitchen shelf:

These dishes in Christmas baskets were a gift from Mrs. Foley for our wedding.  I love displaying them...plus it reminds me to use them! :

Devin hung Christmas lights around our windows so others can see our Christmas spirit as well:

We even have a bit of Christmas joy in our bedroom. It's hard to tell in this picture, but you can kind of see the strand of lights around our window:

And that about sums up the extent of our Christmas decor!

What do you do to put you in the Christmas spirit? Have you set up your Christmas tree or decorated for Christmas yet? Comment to let us know, or link up your own blog post below.