Book Shop Back Open!

You read that correctly!

My hand stamped book shop is back open on Etsy, following an extensive closure due to a shortage of materials related to COVID-19. These vintage-inspired book sets are stamped and personalized by me, and make a great gift for any occasion. Here are a few photos…

I purchase these books from second-hand stores, so they all sit in my garage for 24 hours before I do anything with them, please allow an additional day for processing for this reason. Also, if you are local, shoot me a message or email prior to your purchase so I can set up a pickup and avoid shipping charges.

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, and I will chat with you soon!

-Rachael

Simple Spring Dining Room

It’s beginning to warm up here, and that means it’s time to bust out the spring decor! I am trying to follow a more simple style this year (less to dust!) and I am really enjoying it.

Speaking of things I am really enjoying, I found a small tray with little glass bottles on Target’s website lately, for a very affordable price (around $23) and I see it is still available online. I decided to add it to my dining room table, here is how I styled it….

As for the greenery that I used, I have a bin of random floral that I have collected over the years and I just cut some of that up and put it into the glass bottles. I tend to like the looks of faux greenery that isn’t ‘shiny’ or plastic looking, and of course that is always the type that costs the most, so buying off season/clearance and keeping them in a tub is a way to offset the price.

Another really good deal that I found at Target in their spring floral area, are their small faux eucalyptus plants. They are surprisingly ‘dense’ and nice looking for the amazing low price of $5. My target still has them available, and I will be snatching up a few more and putting them all over my house!

Here is a photo of how I used these plants on my table (they come in a nice white planter, and I just set them inside a larger white pot that I already had).

Now for a shot of the whole table, so you can see it all together…

And there you have it, my simple and festive dining room! I hope this post brought you some inspiration for your own home, and as always thank you for stopping by the blog today! We really appreciate it! We will chat again soon!

Cheers!

-Rachael

My Farmhouse Christmas Front Porch

I FINALLY finished my front porch this weekend, and it’s a good thing I did because today it’s snowing along with 35mph winds…gross. Iowa always keeps us on our toes! There’s an old saying that if you don’t like the weather here to wait a day and it will change. Well, yesterday it was 50 degrees…

Enough on that, let’s get to the fun stuff.

My front porch came together rather late this year, as you can see, and that was mainly due to me waiting on these two trees I purchased online from Target during their black Friday weekend sales. Personally, I think they were worth the wait! I had my eyes on this pair last year but never ended up getting them, something about the trees being ‘less full’ caught my eye. You can see them below!

These trees came in their own wooden stands, which I did keep, however for this project I wanted them to have more of a vintage vibe so I put them in an old crock and a wooden box. They are pre-lit which made it easy to decide to place them next to the outlet.

For the rest of the items, I simply shopped my house/garage. You might wonder what kind of hoarding situation I have going on if I can simply rummage through my house and find all these things for the porch…well I do have a lot of things, but I use them mostly year round in different capacities each season. I am blessed with a lot of storage options at this house, so I always keep my eyes open for a good deal and constantly add to my collection…y’all know I love a bargain!

For example, this wash tub on the right, it was originally purchased at a flea market several years ago. For this season, I simply snagged it from my front flower bed where it had been on display this fall with a water pump. During summer months I will fill it with flowers or twigs/branches. Currently, it’s holding some over-sized metal ornaments originally from my wedding, over 4 years ago. Reusing decor in different ways drastically reduces the cost of changing things up each season!

Here is a photo after dark, to show the lit trees. I don’t often talk about or recommend products, there are plenty of bloggers out there that do that. I do, however, give my non-sponsored opinion from time to time about certain things that I really like or enjoy, and these trees fall into that category.

Here is another front view of the porch! I posted this image on Instagram today and someone asked if the front of our house had tile on it, which is a good question! It is actually cast stone that is smooth and made to look like tile…each one weighs 130 pounds! We chose this stone for the front door area to give a contrast to the cobblestone look of the rest of the stone on our house.

And while we are on the topic of the front door, this was not our door we had in mind and I cannot wait until we replace it with the permanent door. Until then, white metal door it is!

Hopefully this post has provided you some inspiration to decorate your own house, and as always I love seeing what you come up with so make sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook or whatever platform you share your pictures.

And if you have made it this far, thank you so much for stopping by the blog today! I can see when y’all visit this little corner of the internet that I call home, and it means the world to both me and Adam knowing that you are sharing this space with us.

That’s all for now, make sure to check back soon for more farmhouse renovation updates coming up, or feel free to subscribe to our mailing list if you want them sent directly to your inbox.

Cheers!!

-Rachael