Deck Updates- Easy Ways to Make Outdoor Spaces Cozy
Summer is finally on the way! And we’ve been getting the deck and yard all ready.
Last year getting the deck built was our project. This year making the deck cozy and entertaining worthy is my mission. So we added a few things. Not done yet, but progress!
Plenty of cushions and a new rug make it cozy! Rug is from Mark and Day, our favorite rug place! (You can still use my code at Mark and Day too- JESSI10). AND, they are doing a free rug pad promotion right now too!
Some cushions and Walmart and Dollar General, but old, and the two darker green are new from Target Dollar Spot. Scotch Guard them to keep them longer, and I take in or put in a deck box when weather is bad. 😉
The other cozy trick is to add little areas. When we have company, chairs can get pulled anywhere, but they start out set up in cozy little spots. These stackable chairs we got to have extra seating, are from Best Choice Products. Different rugs also help tie different conversation areas together.
Another easy thing to add for coziness is plants. Plants bring brightness and life to spaces, and same with outdoor spaces! You don’t have to have a green thumb, mine mostly isn’t 😉, even fake plants do the trick.
I like my plants colorful! Plus, remember the rule of three, add a centerpiece, and outer plants that will grow and hang and you will be potting like a pro. These were all recently planted, but will soon be big snd overflowing! 🤩
One more cozy add is lighting and sound. This can be super simple too. My lanterns are all inexpensive and have solar lights in them. We also added this umbrella light from Brilliant Evolution recently and it adds such a beautiful glow in the evening! You can use code JESSICA15OFF on their lighting too!
The quickest, easiest DIY to up your outdoor game!
Right now I use a simple Bluetooth speaker sat on the table too, but we are in process of installing a whole system with speakers on the house wall. Either way, tunes add to the vibe!
What else would you add?!
XX,
Jess
Quick and Easy Halloween DIY
Happy Spooky Season!
Maybe its that we’ve been cooped up way too long and missed too many “normal” things, I don’t know, but we are going all out extra for Halloween this year. Our house, or yard, our decor, even our snacks, have all gone completely spooky. I’m loving it!
If Halloween time is your thing, or even if it’s not so much, but you want to show the kiddos just a little festive fun, then I have a super easy and cute DIY project for you!
Faux Ghost Macrame Wall Hanging!
Supplies: -stick
-yarn and ribbons in various colors and textures
That’s it! Super easy, but such a cute payoff.
I cut the branch from a tree in the yard, even a dowel would work. Mine is a bit over a foot long. I started with it longer and then cut it off as I worked to make sure I knew I liked it. Decide how long you want things to hang. Mine is all random lengths, but around 14-16 inches. When you cut your pieces of yard, double this. You will fold them in half. I eyeball all of this and er on the long side. You can trim them down later.
With the piece of yarn folded in half, lay it over the stick. Bring your looped end under the stick, then stick the ends back through the loop and pull tight. Viola! I glued the ribbon together in the back around the stick instead of this method so as not to crease it. I love the ball tassel ribbon to give texture too and tied these in a knot around the stick.
The ghosts. Also simple. Wrap white yarn around a book about 50 times. Cut the strings on each end of the book and keep them in a bunch. Fold the bunch over and tie a piece of yarn around it. I took black yarn through a small chunk of the white ghost head yarn on each side and tied this together in back and then tied the black to the stick.
There is no right or wrong with any of this! Keep it fun and super simple. You could glue eyes and mouth on the ghosts too if you want! You can add more or less pieces to the stick too.
Enjoy! 😉
Xx,
Jess
Thanksgiving 2012 and Our Christmas Tree
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have been very busy here lately (when are we not?), so we had a quiet Thanksgiving celebration here alone on Thanksgiving day and celebrated with family on the weekends. I thought I would share our simple table for two:
Simple, yet festive. Just what the two of us needed for a quiet dinner at home. 🙂 And, of course, there were antlers.
The rest of the weekend? We got ready for hunting season and found the perfect Christmas tree.
Here is our first Christmas together ornament from last year:
What did you all do for the holiday?
Simple Table Setting For Two
We have been keeping busy around here. Mostly working on wedding projects, and although I would love to show you some of them, I am making myself wait until after the big day. So, here is a tid bit of the fun around here, a table setting just for the two of us. Jeremy even helped me think of the fun center piece! 🙂
What do you think? Simple, fun, and totally us. lol. Hope you are all having a nice early spring!
Easter!
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! We sure did here. We had a small family dinner at our house and then did some yard work. Very festive, I know. I thought I would share with you our Easter table!
Notice anything different? How about that table? Yes, I finally tried the Restore on it! It worked so well, I think I’m in love! It did not removed the weird patterned spot, so the table is still not perfect, and probably never will be. But, it is so much better! The Restore really does a great job on scratches and scuffs. Anyways, how about the Easter setting? Jeremy even helped to decorate some eggs! I blew out real eggs so that we can save them for next year!
Here is one of Jeremy and I:
Here are the three generations of women in our family who came:
What did you all do for the holiday? 🙂
Our Christmas Style
Yes, it’s a little late, but I thought that I would share our Christmas decor with you. Inspiration is good anytime, right?Â
So, here are a few of our first tree together! (we did eventually find the perfect green skirt! ) We went with a bit of a “camo” theme with colors this year. That was my nod to Jeremy. We used golds and greens and bronzes on the tree. My photos don’t seem to do it justice, but it was really pretty.Â
See the antler ornaments? Shimmery pinecones helped add sparkle too!
Our rustic bronze star was really pretty too.Â
Camo snowmen…
My “dance in the snow” pillow…
In the dining room we displayed my grandparents’ jewelry tree. Grandpa made this out of Grandma’s old jewelry.Â
Here is a close up of the sparkle, as this may be the last year for this tree. I might be using the jewelry for another very special project. Might, as in I have not made up my mind to tear down this beauty. Hmmm…
The two of us spent our night alone together quietly, so here’s a peak of our simple blue table.
It was basic but cute, and also easy.
And, although there was no snow on Christmas in Iowa, I took these a bit before hand of the first snow at our new house. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have shared a view of the outside of our home, so here is the front…
The side…
And a view towards our barns…
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
Thanksgiving 2011
What a wonderful thanksgiving (and birthday!) I had! This was the first year I hosted the festivities at our home, thanks to a lot of help from my mom! It was a great break from work to be home on the long holiday weekend with my family. I wanted to share a few quick photos, especially my quick and fun table settings! …
Jeremy and I…
The family…
I also got to do a lot of hunting and trapping and some playing with cows. Yes, thats right. So, here’s one of me petting the giant bull…
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday!
Some Fall Decor
It’s getting a bit late in the season, but I thought I’d share our fall spirit with you.
This is a basket we bought at the Threshers this year. We agreed on it because of the antlers! lol
I filled the basket with gourds. To keep them up towards the top of the basket I stuffed it first with tissue paper. I also kept the tag on the basket to remember who the craft vendor was!
We also each got a pumpkin, which we kept on the porch…
One of our black kittens on the porch too. Meet Patch…
Here’s how our carved pumpkins turned out…
John Deere and a scary laughing face. lol
Happy fall ya’ll!
Touch of Spring
Here’s a quick peek at the bit of spring I brought in today…
And just a little sneak peek into the kitchen and living room. Hope that helps brighten the day!
Christmas Decor For 2009
This year’s Christmas decor at our house is looking pretty similar to last year. But, I did add one project, which didn’t turn out quite as planned, so I need all of your help!
Here is our tree, similar to last year, but always fun!
Here is the feather boa wreath- also always fun!
And the new project for the year was clear ornaments with the blue and peacock feathers in them for the table. (Very cute when Rachel Ray did it!) My problem is that the ornaments were too large to fit more than a few in the cake stand. Also, the feather look a bit blah to me. What do you all think? Hunt down smaller ornaments? Different feathers? New vase/plate? Hmm…
Let me know what you think!
Make Mine Eclectic 