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Autumn Leaves Light Catcher

Autumn Leaves Light Catcher

I love Autumn (and Winter. And Spring. And Summer – okay, I love them all …). I love the crispness, the colors, the baking, the lack of mosquitoes, and the way the light changes. It is not quite Winter blueness, but not quite Summer intensity – kind of warm, makes you feel cozy, like you are being wrapped in a blanket.

DSC_0071Our trees are changing colors so quickly, and then shedding their leaves promptly – changing and moving toward Winter. I was looking out our back window the other evening, watching the light stream through our maple tree. The color was just so glorious. Knowing that the leaves would be gone in just another day or two, I wanted to capture a little bit of that gloriousness for a while longer, to enjoy the light in the leaves for a few weeks more. So – anĀ Autumn Leaves Light Catcher!DIY Autumn Leaves Light Catcher materials needed:

  • an assortment of lovely fall leaves (collecting these would be a perfect opportunity for a Nature Walk)
  • a branch – this can be straight or curvy, your choice!
  • string (you could also use fishing line/monofilament to achieve a “floating leaves” look)
  • scissors

DIY Autumn Leaves Light Catcher

step 1:

tie the string to the stem of a lovely little leaf.DIY Autumn Leaves Light Catcher

step two: cut the string to the desired length and tie it to your branch.DIY Autumn Leaves Light Catcher

and continue these until you like the way it looks! I like the way staggering the heights of the leaves looked, but there really isn’t any “Wrong” way to do this. Just enjoy the process. :DAutumn Leaves Light Catcher Project

Once you have the leaves suspended the way you like, add one more string to hang the mobile with and find a place where the light will stream through. After that, just remember to take a moment or two every day to enjoy the beauty, let the warmth of color and light feed your spirit.

This could be altered in all sorts of ways – add feathers! Use paint pens to decorate the leaves! Or glitter! Really, the only limit is your imagination. :)

If you’re looking for other Autumn Inspiration, I have some lovely Autumn and Thanksgiving things on Pinterest.

 

<3

this moment

this moment

A few pictures from this afternoon when Emma was napping:

Also, there’s a woman that writes a blog that I follow who wrote a good – and really long – post the other day about parenting. Here’s a snippet:

“Fear based parenting … is when parents motivate their children to do what is “right” out of fear. Just plain fear. …
Fear is sin. I do not want to parent my children based on my fears.
I do not want to raise fearful children either. I believe if we parent this way we can hinder our children from understanding who God is.

There are a few different types of fear based parenting possibly?
-parenting according to what we FEAR others will think of us.
-parenting where we actually plant FEAR in the hearts of our children [ultimately not trusting the Lord].
-over protecting out of FEAR.
-motivating our children to behave the way we want them to out of FEAR of us, or fear of hell, or fear of punishment.

I think fear based parenting is something that can easily sneak into our relating to our children without even realizing it.”

There’s a lot more too, just her recent thoughts on being a godly mother.


just hangin’ out

just hangin’ out

Today is Baby #2’s due date. And we’re just hangin’ out, waiting.

Yesterday, to keep myself occupied (and my mind off of the fact that I wasn’t in labor), I pulled out some of the fabric that I bought back in March, and finally turned the green and pink pieces into a summery dress/tunic top for Emma. She is wearing it today and loving it!

Today, as long as the sewing machine is out, I might finish up a few more of the sewing projects I’ve been meaning to get to. Emma might get some new clothes out of it, and it will help the time to pass! :)

preparing for Baby

preparing for Baby

As of today, I am 38 weeks pregnant. I have a 46″ waist and am soooo ready for our Baby to arrive!

Yesterday I made a mobile for our little Ian/Kate. Since we’re not completely sure our little baby is a he, I decided to use circles shapes and shades of blue and brown as they would work for a girl too. I posted instructions on how I made it over here.

I really love how it turned out!


"nesting"

"nesting"

I suppose I am officially in the “nesting” stage of pregnancy. Projects that I have been meaning to get done for, well, for a long time are getting crossed of the list. It’s so nice to see some of these things get done! On Friday evening I finally finished the bed skirt for our bed. (You can see how over on the market blog)

We had a bed skirt that came with our duvet cover, but it was the kind that has a flat sheet-like panel that is supposed to be laid in between your boxspring and your mattress.
The bed frame that John made for us has side rails and a solid piece under the mattress (no boxspring), and I really didn’t want to hide the beautiful side rails by hanging the bed skirt over them. So I just folded it up and put it away for later. Maybe we’d have a guest bed that could use it?
John also made the bed nice and high so that we could store our suitcases and so on under it. Which has been just great (they’re not in our closets!) but also a bit of an eyesore (at least to me. maybe no one else noticed?).
I pulled out the bed skirt and started to try to figure out how to make it work. I figured out something that would use Velcro on the inside of the rails, but then got sidetracked and put it away again.

So, on Friday I finally finished the project that I had started about two years ago as I was setting up our home after the wedding. Ta da! So much tidier looking!

new favorite knitting book

new favorite knitting book


new favorite knitting book, originally uploaded by Lizi Beth.

and the beginnings of a sweater vest for Emma (using yarn from a cotton sweater that was just too short on me for my liking).

This knitting book Essential Baby by Debbie Bliss – is just too sweet! It’s projects are all classic and timeless, and range in time consumption from itty-bitty socks to a jumper or lacy blanket.
And the instructions are clearly written, too (a HUGE plus in my opinion!).

projects

projects

Emma’s birthday is just around the corner (where did the year go?!), and in anticipation of it there are a few projects that I am working on.
The napkins are for the party that we are planning to have with the Smillies, and the ribbons might be part of Emma’s first year album that I am hoping to have finished by then.
At the rate that I am finishing pages, though, I will be doing well to have the album done by the time Baby #2 is here!