Hope...

Back to 'fluff' again...one thing that gives great hope is celebrating the joy of Christmas.  The birth of our Savior, to save the world.  I do get caught up in decorating and planning for Christmas, I'll admit, but it is because the season brings such joy and peace.  We can always have hope for the world when He lights our way.

Here are a bit of random light and bright images...

New listings on Etsy for Christmas:

A peek at a chair I am working on.  It was found at my favorite outlet store, outside in the rain.  I've lightened it up with paint...

...and plan to make a new seat with this grain sack:

I'll show the entire transformation when I'm finished.

The best part of the day at the outlet was spending it with my 7-year old son.  It was the first time he tagged along with me on a vintage treasure hunt and I loved seeing what he experienced (he had a keener eye than me for some little things).  I hope he'll always want to tag along.

Another thing that got painted lighter was this antique urn we had outside (which was black).  I'll be putting ornaments in it for Christmas, but here's the fall look:

Ornaments will look great in this $2 thrift store bowl, too...

The last thing I want to mention is how much I've been enjoying the Creatively Made Home e-course with some of our favorite bloggers.  One of the big things I've taken away from this course is how these bloggers really speak to the reality of our home life (and with a dose of humor thrown in).  Glossy magazine photos of perfect homes, as well as amazing images from admired blogs can leave us all feeling a bit discouraged when we look around our own day-to-day homes that are lived in.  Although these images are meant to inspire, we have to remember all the staging that went into them.  I can attest to tossing a lot of 'reality' off to the side as I take photos to post.
The most important thing is to feel comfortable and content in our homes and to not take decorating too seriously.

That being said, another source of great insight lately has been this book by Miss Mustard Seed:

Marian Parsons truly keeps it real when she shares her humorous struggles and the satisfation of DIY hard work.  I own (too) many decorating books, and this by far has been the most well written and relatable.  Truly. 
So off I go into my little corner to read...

I'll leave you with one last image, which was inspired by a photo in Marian's book.  It is a reminder to unlock your potential and be hopeful about what lies in store.

Sharing with Blissful White Wednesday next week.