Friday Things
1. Joseph turned 9 months old on Monday! He had a great checkup – he’s almost 19 lbs and appears to have inherited my short genes (so sorry little guy!). He’s currently obsessed with crawling and pulling himself up while holding one of his toys.
2. I’ve been making great headway on finishing the rainbow blanket that I started last year when I was pregnant with Joseph. I have almost all of the color squares finished… next is doing the white borders around each, then assembling the blanket. I can’t wait to see what it’ll look like when it’s done!
3. Did you see the video about the penguin in Japan that wears a backpack and walks into town to collect fish? I could watch that penguin waddle around all day!
4. 17 Vintage Hairstyles with Tutorials – I so want to try these!
5. Wednesday was “Back to the Future” day – as in, the day that Doc Brown and Marty McFly traveled to in the Back to the Future sequel – October 21, 2015. Our cars don’t fly and there are no hoverboards, but the Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live (with the Delorean!) was great…
6. I’ll take a Ron Swanson pumpkin, please. So awesome.
7. Have you heard about the capsule wardrobe and capsule kitchen challenges? They’re all about simplifying, minimizing and streamlining. I love the idea!
8. Did you watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” this week? We DVR’ed it and haven’t watched it yet, but I can’t wait! It’s making me crave Christmas movies!
9. I’d love to decorate our mantle with something nice for Thanksgiving, but Pinterest is totally overwhelming and I’m horrible at home decor stuff. How do you decorate yours?
10. TGIF! THIS NOSE!
I have a new mantle this year & couldn’t wait to decorate it since our TV has been above the fireplace for the last 4 years but I wanted something simple. I put a couple of chunky wooden candlesticks on one end with green pillar candles, a medium size pumpkin & a picture frame on the other end, & several small pumpkins in various colors between the candlesticks & medium pumpkin. We watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in Halloween night every year!
I am all about the battery operated candles…especially the ones with a timer! The smell of a real candle is great but I find the safety of the battery ones even greater ;) For quick mantel decor, go to Joann Fabrics or Michael’s Crafts and grab a fall themed garland and intersperse some of those candles. Real candles would be pretty in glass hurricanes and votive holders. Candles of any kind in any type of candle holder would look great.
Or the wire LED light strings are pretty great to wrap around the garland. A visit to your local craft store should provide plenty of inspiration!
I’ve been making a blanket for my (adult) daughter using the idea of the rainbow blanket, but a different pattern and heavier yarn. As it turns out, I’ll be using the same number of squares as the crib size blanket, but the finished blanket will be about 56×72. My goal is to make one square daily including the white border. That enables me to use the magic knot when changing colors, so fewer ends to weave in! Magic knot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHC1FlnmNbI
I don’t sit down and crochet the whole square at once. I generally start and do 2-4 rounds, then stop and do other things, go back and crochet another round or two and so on.
I love the capsule ideas. I had never thought about doing something like that with food — at least the specific foods used. Limiting variety whether it’s food or clothes or something else forces you to be creative with what you have. It reminds me of this quote: “I learned in junior high school that poets choose to work in haiku and composers confine themselves to the sonata because constrictions force artists to be nimble and innovative.” Devra Gartenstein in The Accidental Vegan.
My parents took my brother to an endocrinologist when he was young because he was smaller than the other kids and they wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong. The doctor told them he was perfectly healthy and would probably not be as tall as my 5’10” dad. That small boy is now a 6’4″ man. Your adorable little Joseph will grow up to be whatever God made him to be!
I love your blog!
Joseph is too cute for words! And I’m kinda sad he’s not a baby baby anymore but I also like watching him mature so it’s tough…I like some of the ideas that people have given for Thanksgiving decor – especially Terri’s. I missed the Charlie Brown showing…ugh…I love him and can’t wait for the new moving coming out. There is a Hallmark Christmas Movie Page on Facebook – I got an email about t it last night…lol…here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/CountdownToChristmas?ref=hl
That penguin video was amazing! Thanks for sharing it
Your little guy is the cutest! Reminds me of my son now 34! My mantel is so shallow that I’ve ask my handy hubby to make it bigger, then off to the local Hobby Lobby I will go! They say use an odd number of thing and stick to 2 colors. BTW I made the chocolate scones, oh soo good! I added cinnamon to mine! Froze some and enjoying some:)
Christmas stuff is already out at the supermarket and the local home improvement store. Lights, trees, decorations. It’s all out and I still don’t know what I want to be for Halloween and there is a Halloween party tomorrow that I’m going to…oh dear.
I say don’t stress about the table setting (don’t even glance at pinterest), people won’t notice as long as the food is good and your food is always good. Just make sure they have something to eat and drink it with :D.
Get out a nice glass bowl and put some fall-y stuff in it. And candles, nothing compares to a cinnamon candle.
Your first and last pictures on Friday Things are always the best! The change in Joseph from week to week is pretty incredible. He is just the sweetest, and that nose of Duke’s – well, it has “cuddle” written all over it :) This year my fall decorating was minimal (I had my kitchen redone & the rest of the house succumbed to it the effects of it). I have to say I kind of really like it best. Used real bittersweet I gathered from the woods at a local park on my mantle bookended by a couple of unique gourds and ceramic turkey on one side and a couple of tin pumpkins that I’ve had for years on the other. The simplicity of it this year is what draws me in. I may add a couple of candles . . . the suggestion from a previous comment about the scent of lit candles is a winner in my book. LOVE candles in these cooler months. Happy weekend to you and of course, let’s go STEELERS and PENS!! :)
Ok that’s funny. I thought I was the only one who recorded “ITS THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN” I could watch that over and over and never get bored!
Joeseph is so adorable!!!! ?
..and your little doggys nose, I could just kiss it ?
Have a great day!!
I decorated mine with fall leaves (real or silk), acorns, pine cones, candles and silk ribbon in fall colors. Light the candles 30 minutes or so before your guests are scheduled to arrive. Your house will smell wonderfully of pumpkin spice, cranberries etc. Plus whatever wonderful things you are cooking.
Joseph is getting so big. He’s so cute!
I decorated my mantle for the first time for Halloween this year. I’ll be watching this thread for Thanksgiving ideas. I have a nice mantle and would love to decorate it for each holiday. I just never get inspired.
Joseph is absolutely adorable. I cannot believe he is nine months already. I am sorry I missed Charlie Brown….I wanted to watch it. ?
Christmas movies should be starting on the Hallmark channels any day now. I don’t have a mantle so I decorate the window sill above my sink in the kitchen. Right now it is all Halloween including an old flour sifter painted as a jack-o-lantern and salt and pepper shakers. For a simple Fall mantle I would suggest taking Joseph (such a cutie) to the pumpkin patch and getting a variety of small pumpkin and gourds and mix them on the mantle with some candles of different sizes/colors and then tuck in some craft store fall leaves/berry picks.
Have a great weekend Michelle.
Joseph cannot possibly be any cuter! It’s so fun to see how much he changes each week. Enjoy the weekend. Go Pens!!!