Wowee! Thanks for all your thoughts on our Christmas cards! I haven’t tallied up the opinions yet, but we appear to be almost evenly split between the five designs :)

In other news, you may recall that one of my September goals was to paint a chalkboard wall in our kitchen. John was actually not pleased when he saw this goal, because he was not yet on board with the idea of a chalkboard wall at all. However, we discussed, and realized that his hesitation was not about the wall itself, but about whether it would a) take a long time to execute and/or b) require his manual labor. Once I assured him that neither of those concerns were warranted, he was on board :)

I loved the idea of a chalkboard wall because I loved the idea of an easily-switched-out art installation in a casual part of our home. I wanted somewhere to practice my lettering, to record our weekly menu, to count down to exciting events, and to post a weekly scripture verse. The scripture verse has by far been the best part: it takes me so long to write them out that by the time I finish, I’ve memorized them. Committing favorite verses to memory has been something I aspired to but never made happen, so I’m especially thankful for this chalkboard by-product.

One of my favorites! A few thoughts for those of you looking to make your own:

— There are lots of Pinterest DIYs for mixing custom color chalkboard paint. I love these in some applications, but we decided to go with classic black and white.
— Choose your spot carefully. I knew I didn’t want a potentially messy-looking space where it would be part of a guest’s first impression (say, in our foyer), so the little sliver of wall between our kitchen windows and pantry was perfect.
— Be prepared to roll on lots of coats… and then a few more. I think I did five coats in the end. I used a mini foam roller and Valspar paint, both of which I would recommend.

Do y’all have a chalkboard wall? Any verses I should consider for our weekly installation? :) I’m looking forward to choosing favorite hymns/carols in December!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! Congratulations to our randomly-selected winner, RachelC!

Y’all know I’m the last person to breeze right past Thanksgiving on the way to Christmas (I believe my opinions on appropriate holiday music start times are well-documented). However, it is definitely true that preparing in advance makes the season itself so much more enjoyable… which is why Christmas cards have been on my mind! I LOVED sending out our first photo cards last year, and am looking forward to doing so again. Sadly, I don’t think it’s socially acceptable to use another wedding photo, so 2013 will have a hard time beating 2012. But I’m willing to give it a try! We are of course using Minted again, and here are the top five designs we’re considering:

We’re still deciding on a photo, but big thanks to our friends Graham and Meredith for these happy options!

1. Hand-Painted Branches | 2. Merry Scriptmas | 3. A Wonderful Life | 4. Merry and Bright Script | 5. Classic Merry

As usual, I’m loving the script and hand-lettered options! This year, I especially appreciated the ability to move almost every design element around in Minted’s software — it was so helpful when working with our photos. They also have some amazing foil-pressed options (I love this one, but it wasn’t a good fit with our photos) and lots of die-cut shapes.

Now for the extra-fun part: I have a $200 Minted gift certificate to give away!! To enter, just comment below with either your favorite option from our Christmas card finalists, or the Minted design you’d most like to order for your family! (Or both!) I’ll randomly choose a winner next Monday!

Minted has graciously gifted us our Christmas cards, but I chose to write this post, and the opinions are my own! I have loved everything about Minted — especially their crowd-sourced designs — for many years, and I love sharing what they’re up to with y’all.

Whew!! October sure ended with a bang — just this week we hosted two friends overnight, had two more friends over for dinner, attended small group, had five more friends over for pumpkin carving and soup, and then participated in what was basically a neighborhood block party last night for Halloween. We had 109 trick or treaters!!

I am excited for November — we have much to be grateful for, not the least of which is my all-time favorite meal at the end of the month :)

How did I do on my October goals? Let’s see…

— Refinish dining room table. So. I did not complete this goal. However, I did make progress! We decided to buy a hand sander instead of rent one. I thought they’d have the one we wanted at our local store, but since we had to order it online, I missed the day I had set aside to work on this project. The sander is now in my possession, and I’m planning to tackle this to do this weekend!
— Volunteer at our church’s ham biscuit booth at the State Fair. Check! So fun.
— Deck out our mantel and front steps with fall goodness. Check! It’s hard to keep mums alive.
— Photograph and post about how + why I use my planner. Let’s call this one tabled. And hold me to it — I’m planning a series of three posts for the week of November 11th.
— Finalize and print our household maintenance tracker. Check! This will be covered in the planner posts, too.

On to November!

— Refinish dining room table :)
— Prepare for Christmas — specifically our cards and our gift giving. More about both of these topics soon.
— Organize our miscellaneous paperwork (it’s kind of been a mess since our move)
— Plan a Thanksgiving celebration a deux — John and I will be on our own for the first time!

I would love to hear what you all have planned for this month!

My sister is having a baby! Have we discussed that she and my brother-in-law are not finding out whether it’s a boy or girl? (I actually think the pendulum is swinging back this way — I’ve noticed more and more people going this route.) She came to me back in August with a request for some help on the nursery, and I was more than happy to oblige! I love having loved ones in different stages of life — there’s always something new and fun to create around :)

When Kate requested my help, she already had a crib, a dresser, and bedding picked out. The bedding is gray and blue, and she was looking for an accent color that would help the overall design feel less boy-y. She tossed out yellow, orange, or aqua. I countered with coral, since orange isn’t that girly, I wasn’t feeling yellow, and I thought their Minnesota locale needed something warmer than aqua. I also suggested that if they end up having a girl, they can layer in some light pink for a slightly girlier feel. We agreed, and purchased this print as the basis for the color palette.

She was also considering a striped wall, but we agreed that gray walls and striped curtains would be a better option. We chose Harbor Gray by Ben Moore when we were together for the baby shower, and it looks SO good! It’s a beautiful light gray that doesn’t read too blue, gray, or brown. Highly recommended.

Here’s what we ended up with!

A lot of these pieces K + C already have, but this boat mobile isn’t one of them. However, I think they should buy it :) So sweet! Their dresser is from Ikea and their crib from Target. Aside from the bedding, we pulled in stripes in the curtains (yes, that’s a shower curtain, but it’s fabric and we’re going to use it on the window!). I’m also recommending they pick up some of these or these striped storage cubes — they’ll be perfect for sorting toys later on. This shade is a great hit of coral. Finally, Kate picked up some Ikea spice racks and painted them coral for book storage!

Does anyone else have trouble making a multi-color palette look cohesive? It can be tricky to find pieces that incorporate different combinations of your chosen colors, and to make sure that just the right amount of each color is represented. I know it’s something Kate has trouble with, so we brainstormed different pieces that could potentially tie together the gray, coral, pink/peach, and blue as she finishes the room. The short list? A rug; fabric for a pillow or curtains; vintage books for a book shelf; simple toys; a blanket for the glider; artwork (like our print!); stuffed animals (love this one for K+C); vintage metal letters; a felt, fabric, or crepe paper garland (one example); a fun light fixture; or a little painted table and chairs… just to name a few. Finding the pieces with the perfect palette can take a while, so if you’re in the same situation, just keep your eyes peeled and be ready to pounce!

What do you think: would this design work for a girl or a boy? And just for fun, what do you think my sister is having? Family consensus is it’s a boy, but my vote is girl! :)