It takes a lifetime...

... to accumulate seasonal decor, wall art, photographs, etc. We've slowly been trying to add some decor to the house. This is one thing that I am quite patient with. We focused more on smaller projects throughout summer rather than major DIY because of our busy travel schedule (St. Louis, Chicago, Iowa, Marion, Disney, etc.). I realized it's been a while since I shared some of my silly vinyl table cloths...

This first one stayed up for most of the summer sadly. Monkey was quite disappointed to realize those hot dogs were fake (not really, she's smarter than that!). She did snag a tasty treat from Kathy at a pool party earlier in the summer though. :) The best place to purchase these table cloths is Old Time Pottery. This is located just across 275 from Cincinnati Mills. This store has a bounty of great finds, but it's definitely a search to locate specific items (like a Burlington, searching through deals to find the right item).



I also thought I'd share this sweet summertime decor with you. The bright and fun table cloth is from Kelly, my mom's friend. She actually gave this to me for my bridal shower 3.5 years ago! I didn't have the opportunity to use it before now. (Side note: Kelly also gave me one of my prized possessions- a large insulated tote bag with wide shoulder straps. I LOVE this and would gladly buy 5 more if I could find one again!). I love breaking out the items that we got for the wedding and using them now. :)

Meijer has these beautiful flowers often. Unfortunately, I've never purchased such regal flowers. I do love them don't get me wrong, but I naturally assumed that a gorgeous display like this would cost me big. False. I purchased two bouquets at just $2.99 each! That whole arrangement was $6. Shocking, right? The bouquets didn't have a price tag on them, so I'm certain that other shoppers passed them by as I had. I passed a dismal flower section (I normally do my shopping on Sunday nights, not exactly prime stocking time at the local grocery store and they're sold out from a busy two days of shopping). So I decided to do a price check to see just how much they were. Whaddyaknow!? (Notice something new in the photo above? Keep reading to hear more about that!)



If you couldn't tell, I love flower arrangements, but I want them on the cheap. Roses are definitely beautiful, but I carnations are cheaper and more hearty. Win-win. My favorite flower has to be the stargazer lily. This was a featured flower at our wedding.

Thankfully, Don, Tim's dad, painted us this beauty as an anniversary gift and we are delighted to display it in our dining room. This gorgeous stargazer lily is ever-lasting unlike live flowers. Don spends several months working on each painting and we are so happy to display this gallery-worthy piece in our home! We had two other paintings inspired by Aruba in our on-campus apartments and we're definitely glad to have some fine art in our house too.



Finally, we've stolen a page out of our friends' home decor notebooks. The Allen, Bishop, and Jicinsky families all have architectural letter-grams (is that a word?) displayed in their homes. I chose the tiny frames because I didn't want obtrustive frames detracting from the architectural focal points in the photographs. Unfortunately, I don't think the frames fit the scale of the room. At some point, we'll upgrade to 5x7 frames with mats to fit 4x6 photos. We'll definitely maintain the sleek black and white look with a black frame and white mat.