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Winter

winter, holiday, and christmas home decorating ideas, recipes, and crafts

All Things Home

Holiday Crafts with Walmart

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by .  All words and opinions, as always, are honest and my own.  Let’s make some holiday crafts… I have always loved making things for the holidays…for gifts, for decorations, or just as something fun to do to fill a quiet afternoon indoors.  This holiday season, I find the pull to making things even greater.  I know there will be a lot of time at home as opposed to some of our usual seasonal outings, like visiting family, black Friday gift-shopping, and going to the movies.  Instead, we’ll be doing more puzzles, family games, movie nights, baking, and I’ll be doing a few more holiday crafts.  Since we will be spending the Thanksgiving break at home (as I’m sure many of you are as well), crafting is a great way to get off electronics, gather together, and make some good memories. To share a few

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a slice of life

soup recipe round-up

If you follow my Instagram stories, you know that I make soup almost every weekend.  We usually have it for an easy dinner on Sunday and then I’ll put the leftovers in jars to eat for lunches and quick dinners through the week.  Since we’re heading into soup season, I thought I would do a soup recipe round-up to share some of the regulars in our soup rotation… (Click on the soup titles to go to the post with the full, printable recipe.) Baked Potato Soup Recipe This one is a classic potato soup recipe that I’ve been making for over 15 years.  Believe it or not, I used to substitute teach, and one day a volunteer brought in a crockpot of this soup.  I asked for the recipe the next time I saw her and this is it.  It’s definitely the richest soup in the round-up, so it’s a

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All Things Home

the great Christmas decorating debate

I think this debate has been happening for decades, but it’s been taken to the public forum of social media over the past few years, so it feels like more of a “thing.”  When should you decorate for Christmas?  There is the “pull out all of the decorations when the clock strikes midnight on Halloween” crowd on one end and the “don’t decorate until December 23” on the other end.  I think most people fall somewhere in the middle…starting the Christmas decorating between a few days before Thanksgiving through early December.  In my house growing up, we had to wait until Thanksgiving.  No matter how much I pleaded and begged to put the tree up and usher in Christmas a little earlier, we waited until Thanksgiving and I carried that into adulthood. 2018 Christmas living room When I started my business, though, that changed.  Christmas decorating was dictated by the

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All Things Home

five things | budget decorating for Christmas

I don’t know about you, but I am very excited about decorating for Christmas this year!  I think it’s, in large part, due to the fact that I wasn’t able to fully decorate for Christmas last year due to my healing shoulder.  Everything was harder and took twice as long, so I did a lot less.  I think I can also attribute the anticipation to the fact that we’ve done so many home projects this year and I’m looking forward to seeing my “new rooms” decked out for the holidays.  I know, for some people, it’s completely annoying to even mention Christmas before Thanksgiving, but the stores are already filling the shelves with their Christmas decor and the holiday magazines are already on the stands.  It’s just time to start thinking about it and planning for it (but I assure you all of these photos are from past Christmases. )

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a slice of life

easy creamy potato & ham soup jars

We are just in one of those seasons of life when things are really busy.  I’m sure so many of you can relate.  You get a few months in a row when evenings and weekends are generally quiet and then you hit a stretch when there is something happening every single day.  Jeff has a meeting at church, the boys have climb team practice, I have a women’s event or a planning committee meeting, Jeff has a men’s thing, we have small group, Marshall has a 7th-grade boy’s hangout, the kids have tubing with the youth group…  It’s all good stuff and fun stuff, but it’s meant that we’re either eating early or late.   So, meal prep on the weekends has been key and a big part of that is making soup jars.  I cook one or two big pots of soup (usually a double recipe) and portion it out

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a slice of life

Merry Christmas 2019

Oh, I wish I had a song to share with you this year, but this was a year of saying “no” to things that were too much.  Our (almost) annual Christmas song for my blog was something that ended up on the no list.   I was pleased with the fact that I was able to pick up my guitar and play last week to see if it was possible, but I was only able to play for short periods of time and my shoulder wasn’t happy with me afterward.  In addition, the “Parsons Family Band” was unenthusiastic this year. If you have no idea what I’m talking about or you want to watch past songs, you can find them here… Hope was Born this Night | 2018 Born is the King | 2016 Oh, What a Glorious Night | 2015 The Only Gift | 2013 I actually sang one more

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a slice of life

five new christmas tradition suggestions…

This isn’t a list of musts and shoulds.  I’m pretty sure we all have enough of those on our plate right now and we’re eagerly awaiting the day when things slow down…Christmas is done, the presents are opened, our bellies are full, and we can just have a moment without a pressing must-do or should-do list.  So, there are no obligations in this post.  These are just a few suggestions of new traditions you might want to add to your Christmas this year.  They are things I’ve enjoyed that aren’t as mainstream as caroling, gingerbread, and watching Elf. If I enjoyed them, you might, too… New Christmas Tradition No. 1 | Reading Secrets in the Dark Last week, we had the privilege of attending a Jason Gray concert at our church.  We saw him in February and it was an evening that was good for the soul.  It was worshipful

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Holiday

five christmas suggestions…

This isn’t a list of musts and shoulds.  I’m pretty sure we all have enough of those on our plate right now and we’re eagerly awaiting the day when things slow down…Christmas is done, the presents are opened, our bellies are full, and we can just have a moment without a pressing must-do or should-do list. So, there are no obligations in this post.  These are things I’ve enjoyed that aren’t as mainstream as caroling, gingerbread, and watching Elf. If I enjoyed them, you might, too… Secrets in the Dark Last week, we had the privilege of attending a Jason Gray concert at our church.  We saw him in February and it was an evening that was good for the soul.  It was worshipful and encouraging.  The day of the Christmas concert, though, was on the heels of a busy week and I was fighting a headache all day.  It

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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