Aunt Jessa Presents:

My sweet and precious brand new niece:

She is so crazy adorable I can barely stand it.

She has my brother's chin!

While it looks like she's smiling, its just really a fortunate camera moment.  She was 10 minutes old here and I can't even finish my sentence because...look at that face!

Let the spoiling...begin!!!!

Fall Decor: Glitter Pumpkins

Well yesterday I decided it was time to crack out my fall decor.  I have more I just wanted to focus on my table for right now.  Sort of just...ease you in. 

I wanted to change up my centerpiece for fall.  I also switch it up for Christmas too, but I wanted a new fall themed centerpiece so I picked up some stems at Hobby Lobby yesterday and it makes a big difference.

Also something I sat down to do:

GLITTLER PUMPKINS!

They really don't even require a tutorial.  My advice: do this in an area that's easily cleaned up.  I applied the glitter in a brownie pan so I could just pour the glitter back after I was done.

These pumpkins are both real and fake.  The tiny one in the middle and the two on the right are fake (obviously with the brown one) but the two on the left are real.  I picked those up at the grocery store for $.76 each.  I painted one in copper and applied glitter to the other.  

It's such a simple change but it makes a big difference!

Next up: leaf garlands!  Hooray!

Linking up:  See the "I Like to Party" link up top

Happy First Day of Fall!

Even though today is supposed to be in the 80's, it is officially fall which means I get to crack out all my fall decor and work on new fall themed stuff because it'll stay out and up until the day after Thanksgiving...which is when Christmas stuff takes its place.


I"m excited for fall.  I'm just really hoping it doesn't rain the entire season so there's no way to enjoy the fall colors.  The great thing about Utah Autumns is going up the canyon and have a little fire and enjoy the fall colors.  The canyons here are breathtaking in fall.  Seriously - they really are.

These are pictures of Utah in fall.  No seriously - this is Utah:

I googled these.  I didn't take them.  But this is Utah, the bottom is a picture of the Wasatch.  My in laws live in California not far from Napa Valley - which I think is breathtaking, but whenever she visits she asks me, "What is it like to wake up to those gorgeous mountains?!"  I dunno.  They're there.  I take them for granted.


I'm also excited for fall fashion.  I just am.  I like wearing long sleeves and I LOVE boots!  LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

1. Found here. 2. Here. 3. Here. 4. Here. 5. Here.

I'm in love with all of these.

I love the outfits:

Orange & Navy by jessajill featuring crossbody handbags

Crisp Fall by jessajill featuring lightweight jeans

And of course I'm in love with the fall decor:

Paper Leaf Wreath via Country Living

Fall Centerpiece via Shanty 2 Chic

Yarn wrapped pumpkins and gourds via Two Shades of Pink

Pumpkin Accent via Little Inspirations

Then there's the fall favorite treats:

Pumpkin Pie Bites via Bakerella

These are my husband's FAVORITE!

Pumpkin Pie Dip via Taste of Home

Easy Chili recipe via Better Homes & Gardens

Apple Pie Caramel Apple via The Girl Who Ate Everything

These are my favorite treat from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!

Caramel Apple Cider via Our Best Bites

Then there are the fall smells:

 Cinnamon Vanilla

 Pumpkin Roll

Autumn Sunset

*No I'm not a Scentsy consultant.  My sister in law is and she has me HOOKED!  Have you seen the fall catalog?! I want all of it.  Seriously - all of it.  These are my favorites.  Today I get to crack out my Fall Scents and I think I'm going with Autumn Sunset today.  Pretty excited.

Anyways these are seriously my fall favorites.  I could go on and on but my foot fell asleep which means it's high time I uncurled it from under my body and walked away from the computer.  (Or at least try...the pins and needles!)

Happy First Day of Fall Update:  

Just got news that my other sister in law went into labor this morning!  And since my best friend had her sweet baby on Thursday this is gearing up to be an awesome fall season!!

Sarah's Key

I know, you're thinking "Sure she doesn't have time to blog but she has time to read?"

Yep.  I multi task, people.  I take my nook to work with me and read during my lunch break and I take an actual book to the gym whilst I cycle.  (And I use words like "whilst.")

The next actual book I had on hand was another book my Mom lent to me (well over a year ago, it's been collecting dust underneath my bed...oops.) and said that I should read it.  Then she mentioned to me a while back that they were making this book into a movie.  

Hmm, maybe I should read it after all?  Alright.  I had no idea the story would tie back to the Holocaust.  After finding that out I was hooked.  Not to say I enjoy books about the Holocaust, I just find that I can't put them down.  The stories are so compelling, you have to find out, "Is this character one of the lucky few?"  Also there are so many stories of amazing courage and heros who weren't afraid to stand up to what they knew was wrong.  I always end up in tears.  I feel it's something that should never be forgotten - ever.  They're very humbling.

Sarah's Key is historical fiction involving a little French girl named Sarah who lived during the Holocaust in Paris and her story and a present day story about an American woman named Julia living in present day France.  As you would guess these women's stories cross paths.

I'm going to be honest - I was hoping for a happier ending.  The ending left me unsettled.  Not that I should come to expect a happy ending with a story involving the Holocaust - we all know the horrors that happened and finding out whether a person lived or died should be closure enough, right?  I just felt like the story wasn't finished.  Also, it doesn't help my view of French people.  It's written by a native French woman, but she doesn't do much to ease any stereotypes.  I wanted to throat punch half of her characters.  I think it effected my feelings of the book as a whole, which it shouldn't have, I just couldn't get over some of the stereotypical French behavior.

But don't let my feelings on it stop you, this is still a New York Times Best Seller and someone deemed it good enough to try and make into a movie.  Read it for yourself, you might enjoy the story - it could just be me getting hung up on people who have the ability to take themselves out of a bad situation but stay it in anyway.  No, I'm not referring to Sarah's story - she of course was in the worst situation and did the best anyone could ask of her.  She was a very courageous little girl.

Overall I found myself glued to the book anyway, I had to find out what happened - HAD TO!  It was heartbreaking in so many ways and while it was historical fiction, there were families who went through much, much worse.  Its a very sobering book.


Read it for yourself and see - try not to let my feelings stop you!

Craft: Display Stand!

This little stand was inspired by none other than Shelly at House of Smiths.  Who is amazing at making her house look a lot like a house I want to own.  Her house is so bright and breezy!  And she had loads and loads of tutorials that I'm sure you've seen featured all over the place because - well, how could they not be?!

One day as I was reading through my blogs I came across this gem she made and I pinned it for later.  How cute did hers turn out?!  And the simplicity of it!  I can do that!  

So I did:

Only I'm not as cool as Shelly.  I didn't stencil my pattern on - I mod podged paper onto it, but still, it gets the job done, right?!  And with the little white pumpkin - forget about it.

(September 23rd is the first day of fall and the first day I get to put up all my fall decor...you just watch out!)

So this is how I did my version of Shelly's way cute stand:

1. Scapbook paper of your choice.

2. Mod Podge

3. Wooden circle (found in the unfinished wood aisle for cheap-o!)

4. Paints of your choice.  Go nuts.

5.  Paint brushes.

Oh yeah - one of these too:

This old thing used to hang out in the guest bathroom as an accent until it was tipped over and cracked.  I'll show it to you.

Anyways as you can see:

You paint...a lot.  This took about 4 coats.  And yes that's the crack.  After it dried that crack became less visible, even though after the tip was glued on, you'd have to be a detective to know it's there.

See - barely even visible:

While that's drying you turn your attention to your platform/ tray of choice:

Since the paper will be covering the top, you don't have to go all out and paint the entire thing, just the parts that would be visible, I painted underneath too.

Then it's time to measure the top of the wood and cut your paper to size.  And then you mod podge:

After you mod podge the scrapbook paper to the wood itself, you wait for it to dry and then mod podge over the top as well.  Because I'm impatient, I rarely wait until the bottom dries and it creates a bumpy mess:

So as soon as that dried I put a heavy book on top of it to hopefully smooth things out:

Luckily after a good smush the bumps were gone.

Then it was time for the Gorilla Glue:

Always, always, always remember this!

I seem to forget and then find myself cleaning up a bubbly mess of excess glue.  It's not pretty - just trust the bottle.

I put a line of glue along the edge of the candle stick and then it was time to leave it alone...with a book on top making sure it was really on there!

Yes, that's a lot of glue, right?  Well if you can imagine, that's actually after a lot of clean up.  Seriously you guys, its everywhere before you even know it!

The bottle suggests that you leave it like this for about 3 hours.  I left it overnight because I know myself...I'll wait for about two, then test the strength of this stuff because, how strong can it really be?!  And then I have to start all over.  So I found the will power and left it alone.

Which left this:

I painted that little pumpkin - not much of a tutorial because there wasn't much to it.  Find a cheap pumpkin and ya paint it.  Done.

But once paired with the fun new display stand and it's oh so pretty!

Next step: glass to make this baby a cloche!

Well that's all there is to it!

Linking up:  See the "I Like to Party" link up top

Craft! Jewelry Holder!

When we had family in town for the Boise game (they won!) we went to Park City one afternoon.  They had their Park Silly market/ street fair going on and we saw so many cute things!  Jewelry galore and such great ideas.  Both my sister in law and I saw things and thought "I wonder how I could make this."

And one of the things I saw was a jewelry holder.  I've needed one for a long time, I've seen tutorials, but seeing one in my hands and really seeing how it went together really got the ball rolling for me.  So on Labor Day, since I had the day off, I went to Hobby Lobby and got all the stuff I needed.

In hind sight I should have waited and collected things during the half off sale.  Because I really wanted to do it...now so I bought some things full price and would have liked to have made it for less than I did.  I know I should have gone to Walmart for the wire mesh because its two dollars cheaper.  I should have waited for the frame to go half off.  I should have waited for other things - now I know.  But I have one now!

It went together pretty easy, minimal burning of the fingers which is always something to celebrate because I seriously have little feeling left in my fingertips from all the burns from that glue gun.

So I took pictures as I went, I realize this isn't the first tutorial out there on this but this is how I did it.

What you'll need:

1. Scrapbook paper of your choice.
2. Mod Podge
3. Wire mesh
4. Picture frame - mine's from the unfinished wood aisle.
5. Knobs!  
6. Ribbon
7. Paint brushes
8. Paint!

To begin:

I knew I'd need to paint whatever the scrapbook paper wouldn't cover, so I chose a metallic silver color.  After painting it on initially I realized I needed to make it darker - or I would have to do 8 coats.  So I mixed in some black.

So I painted the edges.

Then I had my husband help me drill holes where I'd want to attach the knobs and hang the ribbon.

Then I measured the size of the frame and cut out the scrapbook paper.  Then slathered on the mod podge!  

And then because I HATE bubbles, I waited for it to dry...

 So I threw a heavy book on there for a few hours.

Then it was time to attach the knobs.  I saw so many cute little knobs but the screws were either too long or it didn't quite fit right.  I found these knobs FINALLY after 20 minutes in the knob aisle.  They were $3.99 a piece which was more than I wanted to spend on them, but I was done and wanted to go home.

Then I measured the opening and cut out mesh to fit.  I hot glued the edges and waited for it to cool.

Then the last step was threading the ribbon.  After I measured how much I wanted I singed the edges so they wouldn't fray.

DONE!

Then I went to the enormous task of detangling my clump of jewelry.  It took over an hour.  I nearly threw it across the room twice, claiming I'd just buy some more jewelry...only to pick it back up 5 minutes later, determined that it wasn't going to beat me!  

Then I found the needed brackets/ nails - by myself!  And hung the thing in my bedroom and put all the jewelry on there.  This might seem like a lot, but my Mom and little sister would call this a sad excuse.  

Finished product!  And I can't tell you how nice it is!  I've worn jewelry over this last week that I haven't worn in over two years because it was such a tangled mess.  This is such a nice change!  I can find stuff now!

Linking up:  See the "I Like to Party" link up top