Snow flakes that stay on my door until summer

What?! Those aren't the words to the song?! OK, so I knew that already. : P But it seemed fitting. Is it just me or is the winter-fever still going around because I just can't seem to get the urge to take down my seasonal decor. Well, the tree is down finally, if nothing else, but this baby's staying up till at least spring I just love it so much!

 I couldn't believe how simple it was to make when I snagged the idea from these two chicks over at {Beautiful Nest}. For me, it was also free! I fallowed the same steps you can find on Bella and Sparrows blog but I used a white hanger instead of a brown one because it hide the parts that aren't quite covered by the fabric better. For the wreath itself I used an old Renaissance costume that was thrown in with a slew of fabric my mother gave me (and yes, my family is that nerdy). The texture of it is firm enough to keep its shape and I adore the not-quite-cream-or-white color it has.

I was just informed that this fabric is called unbleached muslin... thanks mom! <3

After cutting (my fabric was too thick to tear like they did) my long strips I just put it on like they did. Instead of making a little strip of fabric to hang it I just used the loops from the hanger. I just LOVE how it turned out!

I even love the frays in the fabric and how after I fluffed it up a little it almost looks like feathers until you get closer. But most of all I love the little snow flake.

This was actually one I already had and then just tied it on using some hemp I had laying around. So I may get laughed off the block for keeping this lovely up 'til summer but I don't mind. It’s worth it for me until I decide to make a summer wreath. Who says you don't need a wreath for each season?!

moving in and up!

I have wanted to post this for a while now. Unfortunately, the only Internet we can get out here (read in the middle of nowhere) is satellite and our server is so poor that I'm having a heck of a time trying to edit photos. This is about the time I wish I had Photoshop! So I am really sorry at the poor quality of these photos. These are all prime examples of  SOOC (straight out of camera) photos at their best. :(.

I think I forgot to mention were we moved to in my last post. Well folks, we moved to Luray!

Yeah, as in Luray caverns. In fact, the caverns are only about a half hour drive from our front door and the Shenandoah national park is in our back yard and its river is accessible by a quite three mile walk down the road.

It’s funny I  say that because I remember thinking a three mile walk to the grocery store from our old apartment was a pain and "why not just drive". I like it here though. It gets me going and staying active. Pepper has even taken quite a liking to getting some fresh air. So much so that he cries to go out even once he’s been out all day! A big pulse does not have to use a leash or put him on a dog line like we did in our old apartment. There is so little commotion that he hardly has to use his leash (other than when we take the main road to the river or lake).

  I think he likes the freedom and I like that I have a dog that comes back when I call! It’s so immaculate here and every day I wake up to birds and the sound of God’s creation outside. No fake neon, over manicured lawns, no cars, ambulance, or police sirens in the distance (though the occasional gun firing is a little hard to get used to), no rude, polluted, time-natzied people running around and honking cars at you. No, just fresh air, ruffling leaves, birds singing, and the occasional deer calls and mooing across the river were a farm sits. I wake up to hazy mountains and fall to sleep under a sky of stars I never knew were there. And in a way, I feel closer to God and to how life 'should' be here. As though things like TV, twitters, fashion, and time have been bundled up into a wild mess of industrialization and thrown into a cesspool of city to leave the rest of God’s creation untouched. Untainted. Natural and almost holy in a sense. I think back at how hard people worked to make trees bloom in the winter and flowers to grow and grass to stay green and cover trees in lights. I look around now and see forests of brown lifeless trees. But they are more than that. They are like weaved baskets crossing between each other’s branches, leafless, so that for a short moment you can see the glory of nests and critters jumping about and chirping in once hidden branches. So that snow may lay on each tree like a blanket of white.

You can see the purpose of the leaflessness and you know that God did that on purpose and I know I am blessed.

So Crazy

 Life really never seems to slow down for even a second around here and I find myself looking back and thinking “there was a month between November and January"?  We'll, the good news is that we have moved! It’s not a permanent place but with a cheaper rent, more room to grow, and lots of charm, it’s hard not to feel right at home. It’s a little crazy to think that this is just the beginning of My Darling's and my life together. I sit huddled under a bundle of blankets in bed as I type this because it turns out, a log cabin built by an amateur (i.e. no insulation in the roofing, walls, cracks in the sealant between the wood walls that you can see light though, and wood floors that you can see the sub floor though) and the combination of propane to heat the place equals a hefty monthly cost. So, as for now, we run the heat just until its warm enough not to start feeling numb and then shut it off and run electric space heaters here and there though the little house. But there's loads of charm to make up for the heat and sometimes I find myself actually getting some work done and unpacking. It makes me wonder how on earth we kept all this stuff in a one bedroom apartment and how on earth half of it hasn't been thrown out yet! With all the commotion it’s easy to forget the most important holiday of the year. Luckily, we actually did get our tree set up (and it is STILL set up) and I even found the time to make Christmas gifts for everyone. Unfortunately, though I was bright enough NOT to pack away my camera, I found out later that the battery had been charging when we moved and I DID pack it along with the charger. So no Christmas photos :(.

 While my Sweet and I stayed at my grandparents place over new year’s weekend, we even had a bit of time to enjoy the break and get a little DIYing in and crafting in ... but I think those deserve posts all to their own. Oh, and while all this has been going on, dare I say it? We're trying for a baby. Yeah so like I said before, crazy. It’s not the ideal life for everyone, shoot, its sometimes not even the idea life for me, but I can't help thinking that one day, when Hubby and I are all old and raisinesc, we will look back and think " man those were good days"... well, we might actually thing "where did we get all that energy from"! But I'd like to think we'd think the first. lol. I will try my best to get a post done for each thing we got done and are getting done shortly and it should have lots of photos because I found the box with my camera charger in it. Haza!