Tablescape Thursday

A special welcome to the Between Naps on the Front Porch readers. Thanks for popping by to check out us simple girls!

It's almost Thanksgiving! This is the first year we've been responsible for mostly the whole shebang, so I've been little-by-little getting things together. Since we don't plan to use our formal dining room until then, the adult's table is pretty well set. Minus the whole ironing stuff thing! (How, oh how, did my grandmother even iron people's underclothes? Saint of a woman!)

So glad you're here to check out this simple and affordable tablescape. As many of our other readers already know, this is a favorite combo of ours to be sure. (Forgive the bad lighting as it's a glarey kind of day outside... so much prettier when those blinds are open wide!)

I went with the traditional fall colors grounded by a lot of black, mostly because this speaks to our house in general. Especially the dining room!
The centerpiece is an old urn I found at a local antique store for under ten dollars. I love it and use it for almost all of the seasons. The inside is stuffed with funky gourds, pumpkins, and such... picked up for a quarter a piece at Wal-Mart. Speaking of store finds, I found those napkins several years back at Garden Ridge also four for a dollar!
During the same trip to Wal-Mart, since it's not a convenient stop for me, I picked up two cheap-o packages of split peas and beans. I layered them in tiny juice glasses found at a yard sale for a quarter a piece and popped tiny tealights right in the middles. Each place setting, along with table's center, gets some candlelight this way. And I'm realizing I'm getting a lot of bang for all those quarters!
Each place setting also gets a simple place card... scrapbook paper, letters, and stickers. All I need to do now is add a little hole punch with gold, black, and silver ribbons to tie everything together. A couple of years ago I did this same kind of idea except with little gift tags tucked into brown paper sleeves... inside each one was a reason we were thankful for the guest. We have another thankful tradition I'd like to begin this year, so I just stuck with the names.From the lighting fixture, I hung candle rings turned mini wreathes with two coordinating colors of ribbon. The picture doesn't really show it, but some of the small jewels really pop against the dimmed bulbs and candlelight.
Great places to get beautifully cheap scrapbooking supplies are dollar stores or Big Lots. Same goes for pillar or tealight candles.
As for an adorable assistant photographer, replete with bed head at three in the afternoon, I can be of no further assistance. Except to say that she's at the top of my thankful list. :)

Hope you have lots of joy around your table this Thanksgiving!
Katrina

ps... Check back, hopefully this weekend, for some easy side dish recipes. Yum!

At the Kids' Table

I'll squeeze in a peek at the grown-up's table on Thursday. In case you need any last minute details... in the nick of time, of course. I can promise you it's all simple, cheap, and easy. Have you tired yet of that combination when it comes to us?

I can hardly wait until my niece and nephews arrive next week! They have a twelve plus hour drive to get here, and we appreciate the effort made by their family to spend Thanksgiving with us. Though the kids' table isn't officially set up yet, here are some quick ways to give it personality.

**Fun paper products...
Don't have a pic of this one... but check out your dollar stores! I got some sweet little turkey plates and cups with leaf napkins for a whopping three bucks.

**Opportunities to color while they eat...
http://www.alphamom.com/holiday/2009/11/thanksgiving_day_kids_table_cr.php

**Goofily cute centerpiece...
http://littlepageturners.blogspot.com/2009/11/turkey-day-this-is-turkey.html

**Sweet place cards that make good of all that leftover candy (gonna put just a simple white card underneath each one)...
http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/2009/11/oreo-cookie-turkeys.html

When it's time to make the long trek home, I like to send along a little pack of goodies for each kid. Us Simple Girls have a much more elaborate version done up for our annual weekend away in the mountains (B & S, do you have any pics of those to share?). For the kiddos, I keep the travel bags silly and simple but full of stuff I know they'll enjoy.

Contents: Scribble-Bear (I want one!) and a pad of paper (top sheet has a little see-you-later note from us), candy necklace, box of raisins, bag of Skittles, fruit strip, and a baggie of Goldfish.

For less than six bucks total, there's a final reminder of us to them... and hopefully a little extra sanity for their parents! :)

~Katrina

Water for Christmas

After reading this post a few minutes ago, I just have pass it along.

As we think about our own families and guests... let us remember what ten bucks can do. Let us maybe even give this gift in honor of them.

And, let's do it.

Today!
~Katrina

... see today's original post below. :)

Be Our Guest!

One of our family's favorite parts of this time of year is the visitors who come to stay! We don't have the privilege of living near many family members and close friends, so the holidays provide a chance for some of our favorite people to come to what we hope is their home away from home.

Here are a few of the little considerations that we hope add up to a great, big welcome...

*Fresh, clean smelling linens and towels on the bed

*Chocolates, a favorite candy, or maybe some homemade candy corn cookies on the pillows along with a homemade note, usually from the girls

*A tray full of extras in the bathroom just in case they forgot something (to the pic above we've now added q-tips, an extra toothbrush, etc.-- sky's the limit!)

*When possible, a small bouquet of fresh flowers on the nightstand... a great smelling candle burning while they're settling in for bed doesn't hurt either!

*A fan and/or extra blankets to help the temperature feel just right

*Magazines and/or great reads nearby to help them unwind

*If we don't already know, a simple call ahead to find out about any food allergies or dislikes. I usually make a rough sketch of meals for while guests are visiting and, when possible, cook as much as I can ahead of time so that I don't spend the whole visit in the kitchen. For example, when Brooke and Sarai are visiting I am sure to have lots and lots of tomatoes on hand... their stomachs probably just turned a little even reading that sentence! :)

*I usually also look at what might be going on in our area while people are visiting and then keep those ideas in the back of my mind. Our goal is for people to feel at ease, so we typically don't try to cram in a bunch. It's always nice to have options, though, just in case.

*Big hugs soon as they arrive and some help getting those bags put away so we can focus on the best part... catching up!

Hope your guests feel extra special this holiday season!
~Katrina

Fancy-fied Box

Here's another project for my (hopefully soon) office re-do! I'm getting rid of this HUGE desk and moving to a table. I'll be using a portable drawer system under the table for sroage, but needed to find something for those big bulky items (3 hole punch, tape dispenser, stapler, label maker, etc.) that were taking up too much space. I had organized my mom's office a few years ago and we stored all of those items in a nice basket on her desktop for easy access. I decided I'd try a similar approach. I've seen some really pretty boxes at the Hobby Lobby that would work perfectly, but since I don't live near a Hobby Lobby and didn't want to spend money on this, I had to improvise. Since I like the idea of having all those things tucked away in a box, I went shopping around the house and I found this...


Now, before you think that I've completely lost my mind (I know I'm pretty close most times!) stick with me for a few more minutes! I AM aware that that's a shoe box. I can also promise you that the theme of my new office will not be "Nike"!! I decided that this box could be exactly what I was looking for!

All it took was some glossy black craft paint, some scrap paper, a pretty image downloaded and printed on regular printer paper, Mod Podge and a fun little velvety "S" from my craft closet to turn that boring box into this...

It was simple and cheap (read: FREE!) and will be perfect for my desktop! And it's the perfect size for all those bulky office supplies. I've got my 3 hole punch, tape, stapler, label maker and some address labels ready for easy access!

This project got me thinking (scary, I know!), and this project could easily be modified for Christmas or Birthday gifts! So, don't throw out those shoe boxes! Paint 'em, Mod Podge 'em or decorate 'em for FREE!! That's a price I can live with!

-Sarai

Procrastinator's Pumpkin

We had a lot going on the week prior to the 31st. So whether you are procrastinators like us or hyper organized such that you plan a year in advance... welcome! :)

This year at our fall bash, we gave out a little poem that inspired our simple carving efforts. (Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge the sweet message!)

While I scooped out all the fun insides of the big pumpkin, the girls painted in (or all over, rather) the symbols on the ones they picked from the patch.

Then we cut out our roughly sketched design as we read the poem together.
To celebrate a carved pumpkin finally gracing our front porch, we did what any self respecting artist does... started baking!
These itty bitty cookies are colorful, pretty easy, and yummy! Check out the recipe here.

As for these legendary cream cheese pumpkins... I'll have to work on the specifics. Nana and her lovely assistants baked 'em up. And, I'm sorry to say, Nana never measures a thing!

Thanksgiving ideas coming soon...
~Katrina

A Little Mod Podge Never Hurt Anyone

For years now, I've know the power of Mod Podge. However, in recent days, I've rediscovered just how magnificent a product this is. In case you're not familiar with this greatness, Mod Podge is a white (that dries clear) glue based liquid. You can use is it to adhere paper and fabric and ribbon and all kinds of other things.

I'll insert a brief pause in my "I Love Mod Podge" rant and give you a little background for this particular post. I'm in the middle of a brainstorm concerning a complete home office overhaul. Currently, the room is so full of mis-matched furniture and accessories and would make any interior decorator vomit. And don't even get me started on the piles of stuff in here. I think I've decided on a black and white theme (if you know me, you know this isn't shocking in the least!) with either soft grey or light coffee colored walls. And I'll probably use lots of lime green accents. So, as I'm slowly shifting my brain from current office to new and much prettier office, I'm constantly thinking of ways to store and organize and paint and sew the things I already have so that they'll coordinate when (hopefully one day soon!) the overhaul takes place.

And back to the Mod Podge...This is one of more simple projects I've done so far. I know that in the grand scheme of the world, or even the room, it doesn't make a big difference. But, it did make for a excitingly creative afternoon that would have been otherwise boring. My mom gave me this little notebook, as she is also cleaning out her office, a few weeks ago. Honestly, my first thought was "I might use that" but then it got put in one of the many office piles and was forgotten about. A few days ago, it caught my eye as I entered the office and I thought "Mod Podge"!!! It started out like this:

Practical: YES Pretty: NO

I covered the whole outside of the book with white card stock. I just folded the corners much like a Christmas present.

Still pretty boring, huh?

Then, I added some coordinating black and white papers and some bright green ribbon and turned it into this:

That's pretty enough to make anyone want to organize their software CDs!!

The moral of the story is this:
Mod Podge is your friend!

Need some more Mod Podge inspiration? Check out this blog which is dedicated entirely to Mod Podge-ing anything and everything!

-Sarai