Something Old, Something New

Obviously no more wedding bells are ringing around here, but the title for this post is still appropriate. I told you in last week's High Five we had a special delivery Saturday, and I'm excited to reveal it! (I'm probably more excited than any of you will be, but moving on...)

Several weeks ago Jesse and I went home to look at/work on a project. My mom has always had the same dining room table. A chunky, heavy, simple, wooden table that's been around since...maybe before I was born?  I'm not sure, but I remember this table being our dining table my entire life. It's in the background of photographs and home videos. I'm sure I blew out many birthday candles on this very table.  But it's also special because my dad made it. For those of you that haven't known me long, my dad passed away when I was young from multiple sclerosis. Most of my memories of him are in a wheelchair or scooter to get around, so he loved wood-working, for as long as he could, because it was something he could do with his hands.  I remember going into his workshop, where the ground was covered with wood shavings and smelled earthy like pine or cedar.
Recently my mom and step-dad bought a new table and I inherited the table my dad made. I am so excited to have it!  1) because it's a treasure and 2) because I wanted to replace the patio-style table we currently had in our dining area.  And this new old table would fit perfectly in our small space! Here's what it looked like before:

As you can tell, it has places that tell it's been around for a while- with all of it's scratches and dents and scrapes. We knew it needed to be re-finished somehow, and we also thought it would be a good idea to stain it a different color - something a little darker and more modern. We chose a deep espresso stain and went to work one weekend at Jesse's parents' home. They helped us sand, and sand, and sand, then apply the stain, and we left without seeing the final dried product.  Several days later my mother-in-law sent me a picture of the table and I was overjoyed - it looked fabulous! The dark shade was beautiful with lighter areas mixed in that really made the grain of the wood pop!  Then she confessed:  the stain Jesse and I applied looked really bad once dried, so they re-sanded the table and re-stained it - all without stressing me out about it's initial failure! We went home for a final look and it was just as beautiful in person! They applied a poly sealant, then delivered the table and its chairs to us last weekend. (I'm pretty sure I have the best in-laws!)

Ready for the grand reveal?
...
...
...

And it still has all of it's marks of love...

I added a table runner, gray place mats, and napkins to help tie in our black and white dishes (not pictured) with the brown tones. (All of these are from World Market, and I got a great deal on them!) And we finally get to use our napkin rings we received as wedding gifts!

Isn't it gorgeous?!!! We aren't sure what we'll do about the chairs just yet. To stain, or not to stain. Or replace (they weren't handmade)... we'll see.  I'm so thankful to have this piece my dad made. And now it is even more special because my mom loved it for many years, Jesse and I worked on it together, and his parents worked on it to help transform it to its current state. That's quiet the family effort! I will cherish this piece all the years to come!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...  I just realized I could truthfully say that this year. Jesse and I finally both have stockings, and we have a chimney!

I decorated the mantel with Christmas trimmings, instead of a tree again this year. We decided that there's not much room for a tree, and we aren't even there for Christmas anyway, so a tree is not necessary.  Well, really... Jesse has talked me out of a tree for two years in a row for those reasons. I relent at the beginning, but then see his logic and agree. So I made the most of decorating the mantel, reusing a lot of last years decor.

The frame (thrift store), you remember from the fall mantel; the large snowflake and the tinsel were from Christmas 2 years ago in Auburn (when we had a tree); the garland was from last year ("borrowed" from my mother-in-law); I found the stocking hangers this year at Goodwill (they were from Target; I has almost purchased them last year but Jesse had no stocking); Jesse's stocking came from Target this year (a Christmas miracle he found one he liked... I didn't know men could be so picky about a hanging sock), along with the twinkle lights we added to the garland. The ornaments were from last year's Christmas mantel decor, as well as the metal Christmas trees (a yard sale find). The hanging bags are part of an advent set (with a book) made and written by a couple of people in our church.  We had hoped to read the daily message for advent each day, but I'll be honest and confess that we only made it through a few days. I shouldn't be too busy to focus on Jesus each day of December, but that happened. We hope to complete it next year.

I loved being able to pull different pieces together I already have to create something completely different from last year. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Spring/Easter/Summer Mantel

I redecorated our mantel at the beginning of March for Easter/Spring and never shared it with you all. Now that summer is nearly here (at least in Alabama), I'm finally getting around to uploading the pictures. It's probably my favorite yet.  Some things I gathered from around the house and some I picked up at Hobby Lobby.
(Do excuse the blurriness of the images. I was relying on window lighting to reduce the glare from the overhead light, and I was probably rushing.)

A few little eggs (and an improvised "nest"):

A couple of white porcelain birds:

A watering can (from my IKEA trip) filled with a few ranunculus (plural: ranunculi? probably not):

A beautiful cross for Easter:

As well as a verse (the design I copied from a finding on Pinterest) to be a constant reminder of why we celebrate Easter, in case we got wrapped up in things - in this year's case studying instead of egg hunts:

And a picture of from our wedding day, as I anticipated this decor being up for a while = through our wedding anniversary (proved myself right):

All together now:

I included our travels map because I don't have a better place for it, and the colors seemed to blend well.  Also present are cards from Easter and my birthday from our wonderful parents and an uncle & aunt.

I love my mantel, and my sweet husband for making it for us! It is fun to decorate for each season - finding things I already own that fit the "theme" and picking up new pieces to go with it. For instance, in what you see above, the map and jar full of pins is from a prior project; the book underneath our wedding photo was just the right size so I recovered it with some matching scrapbook paper; the tea cup that holds the eggs was from the thrift store long ago (something my mom eventually talked me into getting out of her house); the milk bottle hidden behind the card on the left was also thrifted; and the "B" was from our wedding! Everything else was pretty much found at Hobby Lobby, so of course it was at least 40% off.