Casa de Carle Craftsmanship

A while back, Ian and I were perusing the aisles of Target and stumbled upon this entryway table.

The size was perfect for our entryway, put the price was not perfect for our budget.  Ian made a few measurements and took a few pictures and voila!

Over Spring Break, I gave it a few coats of paint and we purchased the knobs at Anthropologie.

The best part, we saved about a hundred dollars with this DIY project!

For the past two years, I have enjoyed decorating our fireplace mantle for the holidays.  I think that it looks its best at Christmastime. 

I love how the white window stands out against the dark bricks.  Thankfully, we had another old window up in the attic.  I painted the trim white on this window, and then painted a tree onto the window.  The finishing touches were two love birds.

 

I found this cute little saying on Pinterest, and Ian turned a king and queen chess piece for the trifecta!

Any Home Can Be A Castle When the King and Queen Are in Love

Finally, over the Easter weekend, we added three new pieces of furniture to our front living room.  It sat empty for the first two years.  We just weren't sure how we were going to decorate the room.  Then, we found this while shopping for a lamp at World Market.

Ian had the great idea to put a drafting table in front of the bay window.  It is a perfect fit.  It fills the space without blocking too much light or the air vent.  We saw some industrial-looking shelves that we really liked, but decided to sleep on it.  We thought that Ian would be able to recreate the shelves at a fraction of the cost.  However, when we woke up the next morning, we decided that the metalwork on the shelves would be hard to duplicate and made this purchase.

We finally have a vision for this room.  Our design style is industrial.  We hope to add some leather club chairs in front of the fireplace sometime in the future.  This room also needs some lighting options.  Until then, we'll continue to watch HGTV for ideas and inspiration.  We have enjoyed scouring the vintage stores downtown for industrial finds.  We found these two items earlier this summer.

Tea for Two

Sew Much Fun

Since our last blog post, I have spent countless weekends and snow days in my sewing sanctuary working on a quiet book for my nephew, Cline.  I purchased the pattern book for the project late Christmas evening and assembled it during our most recent snow day.  I have enjoyed every minute of this project!  I cannot count the number of visits to Jo-Ann Fabrics.  I absolutely loved scouring the bolts of fabric for just the right material.  Even though Little Man is only six months old, I cannot wait for the day when he can sit and play with his book.

Quiet Book Cover

Fun on the Farm

Fun on the Farm Barn Animals

Eye Spy

Each picture has a matching magnetic piece.

Snow Business

The snowman melts when you pull the ribbon.

Busy Bees Buzzing

Here are the five busy bees buzzing around.

Little plastic coins can be placed in the piggy bank, come out the bottom, and are stored in the 'wallet'.

The cookie dough is on the left and the cookie tray is on the right.       Cline can practice matching shapes and learn his colors.

Counting Carrots

Hut, Hut, Hike

Mailbox

You've Got Mail

It's the Most Wonerful Time of the Year

Casa de Carle's 2nd Annual Countdown to Christmas To-Do List

1.  Listen to Christmas music

2.  Buy a new Christmas picture book

3.  Wrap Christmas gifts

4.  Make a new Christmas decoration for the house

5.  Sip hot apple cider

6.  Make a treat and take it to a friend

Poppy Seed Bread and Peanut Butter Balls

7.  Watch a Christmas movie

8.  Drive around and look at Christmas lights

9.  Put a puzzle together

Peaceful Prince

10.  Make a gingerbread house

 

11.  Add a new ornament to the tree

We bought this ornament at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, New Mexico this summer.

12.  Attend the Advent Party at church

13.  Make a gift for someone (Jen)

Casserole Carriers

14.  Make a gift for someone (Ian)

15.  Attend a holiday party

16.  Participate in Operation Christmas Child

17. Volunteer at Harvesters

An Attitude of Gratitude

As the Thanksgiving festivities come to an end, Ian and I are filled with gratitude.  We are so thankful to have our families close.  We are proud of the roof over our head that we get to remodel and update together.  We are so fortunate to have jobs that we enjoy and that allow us to spend breaks together.  We are blessed with good health.  We are thankful for a loving and supportive marriage.

I recently had some Pinspiration for the holidays.

Burlap Utensil Holders

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Carle Table for 6

This weekend, Ian and I made a quick trip to St. Louis to pick up some dining room furniture.  Our brother-in-law's generous parents gave us their old dining room set.  We tripled out seating and gained a beautiful hutch!  It could not have been more perfect timing since we are hosting my family at Thanksgiving.  Here's a look back at our dining room transformation.

This is the dining room when we moved in.

We lived with the dining room looking like this for a year!

 

 

This summer we had the walls refinished and then painted them parakeet green.

On Friday, Ian and I loaded up a truck and brought home this dining room set.

We are so thankful for this new set of furniture!  We look forward to being able to host more gatherings now that we have a place for guests to sit!