The Fall wreath I created two years ago popped up in my photos over the weekend and upon seeing it and remembering how much I loved it, I was inspired to create another one this year. 

I especially loved the simplicity of it and that's the vibe I'm trying to create on my front porch this year - with hopes of setting the stage for calm + cozy during a month that historically tends to be associated with chaos for our family. (three birthdays, Thanksgiving and prepping for Christmas makes for a crazy November). 

We, (Ella, myself, and a friend of hers), collected beautiful leaves together over the weekend and then yesterday I grabbed my glue gun and created this beauty.

The leaves were gorgeous on their own and I could've left the wreath alone. However, I  really wanted to add a softer element to it and remembered I had some leftover dried florals I had picked up at Fresh Market earlier this month.  I added the plumes and love how it turned out.

It's simple.

It's natural.

It's beautiful.

And it does a fantastic job representing fall in all of its splendor.

I sure hope you'll try this fun, easy, pretty fall wreath.

It took me longer to collect the leaves than it did to put it all together.

PS - Let's stay cozy + connected in-between posts...find me on Instagram for daily inspiration. 

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MATERIAL NEEDED:

1 - grapevine wreath - here's one similar to mine 

     but don't shy away from local craft stores - take advantage of their 40 + 50% off coupons.

1 - glue gun w/glue sticks - similar to mine...simple + tiny

Armful of Fall leaves - quantity really depends on the size of the your leaves + wreath

Dried Fall Florals - I used something like this reed grass

Ribbon, Twine, fishing line, or a wreath hanger - for hanging. I used THIS. 

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat up your glue gun.

Lay your grapevine wreath on a flat surface.

Place larger leaves on wreath to determine placement before gluing. 

Start hot gluing the leaves to the wreath.

Use smaller leaves to fill in any gaps - securing with glue.

Cut the reed grass stems until you've got maybe 1-2 inches of the stem to work with.

Tuck dried florals into the wreath, stem side first, along the outside and inside of wreath.

Use grapevines to continue tucking dried plumes into the wreath to your liking.

No need for gluing if they are tucked well in the grapevines - and will allow you to reuse them.

Use ribbon, twine, fishing line or a wreath hanger to display.

NOTES + TIPS

1. Face your leaves up, down, and sideways to create more character and dimension.

2. Be sure to allow some of the leaves to lay on the inner and outer sides of the wreath to add more

   interest. 

3. Stand your wreath up (or better yet, hang it on something), after you've got most of the leaves glued on. This will provide you with a better view of what it will look like when it's actually hanging and will help with placement of the remaining leaves. 

4. When gathering leaves, don't shy away from the "imperfect" ones. The rips, holes, curls and discoloration adds to the authenticity of your fall wreath.

5. I used raw muslin to hang my wreath by using three flat tacks to secure it at the very top of my door. Tacks cannot be seen and door still closes. Yay!

6. Although it may have been easier to start with the dried fall florals since they are the largest element of the wreath, starting with the leaves allowed me to fill in where necessary and avoid getting hot glue on the dried florals I'm hoping to reuse. 

• • • • •

KEEPING IT REAL

I was super busy with a Harry Potter Classroom transformation last week. (you can see it in my Instagram stories "HP Reveal" saved in my Insta highlights). 

So...I didn't get my Ranch Dressing or Taco Mix Recipes posted yet. Those are coming - and then so is the Chicken Ranch Tacos recipe! Although I'm seriously tempted to skip all of them and get straight to the pies! #pieismyfavorite

FOUND | The Dani Bench

I found a treasure recently that has stolen my heart and I just had to share it with you. 

Introducing the Dani Bench...by Sugarboo + Co.

This bench is such a charming, skinny little piece of goodness - reminiscent of the antique, primitive chinese benches I've been crushing on in the home decor world  - but this one doesn't cost a small fortune. 

  

How or where did I find this treasure? 

I started following @withlovedani on Instagram - cannot remember how or why or who tagged her, but when I discovered her IG account, she was in the middle of moving from Celebration, Florida - a charming town I've always been in love with back in Orlando.  

I was immediately intrigued + connected to her because of the Celebration community and then she hooked me in for good when I realized she and her hubs, (and their two dogs), were heading to Georgia to create a new life and were diving into the renovation of a newly purchased beautiful, historical home. 

Fast forward a little bit and one day on her IG stories she mentions "the dani bench",  shows a picture of it and references how to get one.

BOOM! It was love at first sight.

Here's what I love about the bench.
I love it's simplistic, primitive charm.
I love how skinny it is and that it doesn't take up a whole lot of space but is still a statement piece.
I love that there are only a handful of benches available at a time.
I love the texture and imperfections.
And I love that each bench is unique in color, size, leg style, wood grain, etc.

I also love that the buying process took on an almost underground, black market vibe...lol...with nothing but Instagram conversations, less-than-detailed images to choose the bench I wanted and a final phone call for making the purchase. It was exciting to say the least.

And I LOVED the surprise of unpacking the bench on the day it arrived on my front porch to see what it actually looked like. (see the video here).

Now...I just need to decide on the perfect spot in the house to put it. 

Or maybe I actually need another one... *wink*

If you love it, come see me on Instagram and message me there: @pnpflowers

I'll put you in touch with the right people.

xoxo,

Jess

PS - Let's stay cozy + connected in-between posts...find me on Instagram for daily inspiration.
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PSS- the bench was nicknamed the "Dani Bench" because @withlovedani keeps referring more and more people from Instagram over to Sugarboo for purchasing their own benches when she shares/posts all about the one she personally purchased and loves. (love how supportive she is of small businesses). 

PSSS - Check out all of the other fun things at Sugarboo...soooo many pretties to fall for.

KEEPiNG iT REAL

I was a bit nervous giving my credit card info over the phone to a complete stranger, but I trusted Dani so much I took a deep breath, said a little prayer and went for it. I'm so happy I did.

STYLING | Touches of Spring with a Simple Wreath Refresh

It was 85º here in Florida yesterday...and today isn't looking much different.
So...I'd say it's completely appropriate to go ahead and share some simple "Spring" touches I made in our master bedroom yesterday.

I did a quick refresh starting with adding some simple greenery to my rustic, sparse, winter-ish and otherwise simple grapevine wreath.

I didn't use any tools...just the built-in "harnesses" (aka braids + twists of the grapevine wreath) to secure the green garland.

I used two 6ft. long faux greenery garlands - actually, the same two I used to create my Thanksgiving table garland and my Christmas table garland, and I just tucked the longer ends of each in-between and through the grapevine. Thats' it. And it took me less than 10 minutes to do...maybe even only 5 minutes.

Talk about versatile. The grapevine wreath is one of my favorite multi-seasonal decorative items and now I love that I've been able to move these garlands to various places of my home and for a variety of seasons.

After I made the wreath I was then inspired to make up my bed using a really pretty mix of my Georgina Anthropologie bedding and a new Bamboo Turkish Bedspread from Thimble + Cloth. 

I then added this simple marble tray filled with some of my favorite things - a stack of green vintage books, a handmade tassel from my friend Pamela at August + May Design Company and an adorable handmade pinch pot from Black Oak Art filled with more faux greenery. I'm thinking a live maidenhair fern would look exceptionally pretty in this spot too.

As much as I loved the simplicity of it I was still wanting to add a little more warmth and "cozy" to the bed. Adding a blanket was my first thought but I ultimately decided to use this Turkish Peshtemal from Thimble + Cloth instead.

The peshtemal is technically a lightweight, absorbent towel but I knew it would create the Spring-vibe I was going for vs. using any of the standard blankets I had laying around. *wink*

I think it worked like a charm.

Are you inspired to start adding some simple Spring touches to your home too?

A few minutes or your time and creativity can make such a big difference, am I right?

PS - Let's stay cozy + connected in-between posts...find me on Instagram for daily inspiration.
Subscribe here to have new blog posts delivered right to your inbox.

KEEPiNG iT REAL

Jay continues to remove my gorgeous Georgina duvet cover because of the current duvet insert I have....it makes him too hot. 

I purchased the Bamboo Turkish Bedspread from Thimble + Cloth as a quick fix but I'm currently looking for some new bedding and linens to make our bed extra super cozy and inviting (but simple + timeless), and without the "heat" factor.  Check out my some of my recent pins to see the vibe I'm going for.

If you have any affordable suggestions, please send them my way!!

HOLIDAYS | Simple Woods + Whites Christmas Decor

  
Merry Christmas + Happy New Year friends!!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and are excited about the approaching new year!

Christmas this year was very different for us.

We are in our new home, two hours away from family and my two older girls...

so I had to let go of some old Christmas traditions and try to start some new ones.

With that said, the biggest change I made this year as far as Christmas goes is I kept things REALLY simple when it came to decor: woods, whites and a little bit of greenery.

I didn't even open my boxes of ornaments. 

Nope. I purchased new ones: raw woods hearts, snowflakes and stars I randomly came across the month before Christmas.

I hung them on the new faux, pre-lit tree we bought this year - forgoing our annual tradition of picking one out together at Santa's Christmas Tree Forest back home. 

Everything just felt so new and different. I believe I subconsciously could not bring myself to open the flood of memories contained in all of the boxes of Christmas decor and ornaments.

I bought a new tree skirt (never even had one - previously used blankets or fabric scraps) and new stockings. I knew out of all of my kids Ema would disapprove of me not sticking with the stockings she grew up with...and it was literally one of the first questions she asked when she walked in the house. 

I wanted the house to feel like Christmas but I didn't want it cluttered. And I also wanted it to be easy to put up and easy to take down. And again...I think I subconsciously avoided unsolicited emotions by dodging anything that could conjure up a memory...big or small.

We also started a new tradition...the 25 days of Christ.

I wanted the season to be as chaos-free and as Christ-centered as possible. 

The new daily ritual of reading a passage of scripture and having Ella hang the corresponding ornament from December 1st all the way up to Christmas Day really added a spiritual + sacred element to our Christmas season...one I had regretfully been looking past for far too long.

Even the cookies I made for our annual Christmas Cookie Baking Day matched my whole Christmas color scheme and vibe this year. I love them so much I may only use white royal icing from here on out. I LOVE the tone-on-tone.

The cookie baking was held at my mom's house this year instead of mine...even though when we bought the new house I immediately envisioned the new huge island covered in Christmas cookies. It's just too much to ask the rest of the family to travel so far...it was easier for Ella and I to go. 

Yep. We traveled the two hours and turned it into a 2 day visit. It was nice.

Although truth be told, Ella didn't even participate because she was spending time with her bestie Elise...whom she misses terribly. And I was sad Clara only got to pop in for an hour after she got off of work. Ema was there though...and she even inspired me with a few of her designs.

I just had to include this giant sugar cookie tree cut-out my aunt Susan created by hand. She thought it looked wonky but I fell in love with it's rustic, authentic vibe and asked her if I could decorate it. I love how it turned out. And see...I even added a few splashes of green in the mix of cookies - but I still love the tone-on-tone. *wink*

This year was the first year I realized after all of these years of having my own home and decorating for Christmas I have NEVER had mistletoe as part of our Christmas decor!!
I'd honestly never even thought about it.

I came home with some unexpectedly this year while Ella and I were out shopping together one afternoon. She spotted a package of it and asked if we could buy it. I may have done an eye roll and almost said no and then all of a sudden a rush of memories about how my grandparents always had it hanging at their front door during the holidays came flooding my mind...and heart. And of course we had to bring some home. I find it peculiar after all of these years I hadn't even given it a thought and now I can't imagine not having it in our home.

The Willow Tree créche I've had for years blended perfectly with my simple Christmas decor. 

I intentionally found a place where it could be the centerpiece/focal point of our home - a daily reminder to me of what to keep my focus on. 

Psst...

Do you like that fancy word "créche" I used? I recently learned it while reading a new Tasha Tudor book I purchased and it sounds so much more...well...fancy. *wink* "Créche" is just a word that also means nativity but apparently speaks more directly to the baby Jesus. You're welcome for that random information. *wink*

You know I love our Hot Cocoa Bars every year. This year's Snickerdoodle theme is one of my favorites. I love having it up during the holidays and beyond...warming our tummies and our hearts. 

I think that's a wrap friends!!

I hope you enjoyed a peek at what our Christmas looked like this year.
As different as it was due to our move six months ago and as hard as it was to let go of traditions I'd come to know and love through the years...I can truly say it was one of my favorite Christmases yet because it was one of the most simple.

I will be back soon with my recap of 2017 and the action word I've chosen to focus on for 2018!!

Also...I just had to share that tonight...New Year's Eve night...we are starting a new tradition!!

I've decided to have a candlelight dinner...using the battery operated flickering candlesticks we've had displayed in our windows this Christmas season. I think it's a brilliant way to transition from Christmas to New Year's. 

Love you guys so much. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for sharing. Thanks for supporting. 

Here's to a beautiful year ahead for us all!

xoxo,

Jess

KEEPiNG iT REAL

Stuart, our elf, was back again this year. I think Ella has a crush on him. *wink*

She said she'd like to marry him. lol

And she cried the day he left...she always cries when he leaves.

It rips my heart out - for a plethora of reasons.

Clara and Ema drove up the day before Christmas Eve and stayed the night with us.

We had a nice dinner together and then exchanged gifts that night - including having all three of my girls open their annual Christmas pajamas together - typically done on Christmas Eve night.

The two older girls got to open their stockings as well...which left Ella a little bewildered as to how their stockings were already filled and hers wasn't...*hand slap to the forehead*

We all attended church on Christmas Eve morning and then enjoyed a nice lunch together at Carrabba's before Clara and Ema made the drive back home.

Although the visit was short, I'm so thankful to have been able to see them before Christmas.

Of course all of this change of Christmas traditions tugged at my heartstrings and I found myself in tears a couple of times. 

We even missed having our annual Christmas brunch with my mom and stepdad too. They decided to head to Ohio to make a surprise visit to his dad. That means I still have their gifts to give them.

Again...I will just need to get creative and come up with new traditions for our new life and more Christmases to come. I look forward to that.