There once was a day when a tall blonde girl woke up, looked at the deer grazing outside in the dark, and did not think about an idea to share at Making This Home.  In fact, she proceeded to follow this pattern for several days.  So what could a girl possibly do with this sudden extra time?

I could think of a million things.  Here’s what she came up with:

She went shopping.

She sold her laptop and bought a teensy Mac Mini, giving her a little forced time away from the online world.

That was the good part.  But she didn’t stop there.  Oh no.  Then she broke the No New Clothes Challenge.  The nerve!  Last May, she told herself, “We need to stop buying clothes just because we want to or because we can.”  She told her husband, “Let’s go all summer without buying clothes!”  He happily nodded.  (It was not him buying clothes.)

Their perspective on themselves, on beauty, and on the desire for more changed forever.  It’s been 19 months without clothes shopping unless it was something they really really needed – like those wild and crazy packages of white socks.

A relative was so kind and encouraging to this girl (we’ll call this girl.. oh, I don’t know… Katie).  So anyway, this relative told Katie about a great miracle that could keep Katie warm.  Katie can be a little silly, I’d say. She lives on two continents, and both places get FREEZING COLD for several months a year. Why she didn’t choose to pick at least one warm place to live, we will never know.

All we know is that she gets cold.  She goes on long winter walks in places like this:

Then she gets cold.

So this sweet relative and Katie hopped into the car.  They drove and drove.  The relative did not know about the No New Clothes Challenge; Katie didn’t even mention it.  Then Katie spent $40 on clothes she probably didn’t need:

They’re silk long underwear.  Are they any different than the thick tights Katie wears all winter?  Or what about the Patagonia long underwear she received for Christmas years ago?  Will this silk long underwear be any better than those?

Was it worth breaking the No New Clothes Challenge after 19 months?

You know, I think it was!  I say, “Good job, Katie!” Oh… and if she gets a teensy tiny temptation to purchase any other piece of clothing around Thanksgiving, I personally think she should do it.  (I am pretty sure that I just saw her husband nod in agreement from across the house.)  And what the heck.  I’ll even go with her.

I love to incorporate a harvest feel into our home each autumn.

Last year with the original Decorating for Autumn post, we ran into a local farmer on the skirts of Berlin.  He supplied us with plenty of squash, pumpkins, walnuts, and apples.

This arrangement rested on our dining table until everything was slowly eaten.  I love having decor that we don’t have to worry about storing in the off-season!

So what about this year in the United States?

Most of you know that we’re living in a house made out of tires.  The house’s primary heat source is passive.  We rely on the sun for heat.

It’s perfect… until you start to notice that everything you own starts fading!  If the sun is up in the winter, it’s shining into the length of the house.  Our autumn tablescape could no longer be made of edible decor.

So what’s a girl to do?

The local thrift shop came to the rescue with this small wooden tray for 49 cents.

I sanded it by hand, not a power tool (here’s our general sanding step-by-step procedure from building our kitchen & restoring furniture).  Then I added a few coats of white acrylic paint and a glaze coat to give it a glossy look.

And here it is on our table:

The brown squashes were made from old pants (here’s the tutorial).

The folded fabrics are… guess what!  They’re tissues.  We’re shooting for another paperless season of nose-blowing and using these instead of a box of tissues.

No matter where we are, it seems our autumn decor always has one very similar characteristic:  it’s functional.

I like the simplicity of that.

How about you?  What’s on your table?

We lit the fireplace over the weekend.  Now we’re promising anyone who visits us over the winter with some yummy s’mores and this homemade hot cider!

This is what winter in the country feels like.  And I think that this may be what Christmas starts to feel like.  These are our best friends now:

Thick and soft down coats.  Mittens, scarves, and hats are in a basket with shoes.  Long underwear will be making its appearance next!

The last time we spent winter in my home state in the US, Martin was outside making ice cream!  We got this crazy idea about using a mixer outdoors when the temperature refused to go above 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18* C) for a whole week.

(I’m sticking with the warm treats on snowy nights this year!  brr.  Well not that I’m saying a whole lot there… it’s pretty obvious which one of us was inside during the ice cream photo session.)

There’s still time to get your {The Little Things} journal for listing thankful thoughts.  It feels just right for this thanksgiving season.

I love what Lindsay said about {The Little Things}:

It brings to light that it is not always the most noticeable life events that truly make us happy – it is in the small, every day things that can bring us true happiness and we should give great thanks! I can see this journal being something, once filled out, to look at daily to remind ourselves that no matter how bad the day, there is always something on the brighter side.

How do you keep warm when the temperatures drop?

I found the secret to a happier morning!  Okay, it’s not exactly revolutionary.  Yet it has completely transformed my entire day.  It’s like I’m getting up on the right side of the bed every time.  You ready?  Lean in for this one…

The kitchen gets cleaned before bed.

That’s it.  Dirty dishes get put away.  Pots get scrubbed.  Counters and sink are wiped down.

Our kitchens are the places that constantly generate messes.  It’s so easy!  So I figure if I can easily make my day happier, I should.

Keeping the kitchen is a little harder here than in Berlin because (1) a standard dishwasher is just a bit too big for us; in Germany, we have a half-sized washer, and (2) this kitchen is bigger.  There are more counters to wash, more cupboard doors and burners to wipe…

But no matter how big or small your kitchen is, trust me.  It’s so worth the ten minutes of cleanup the night before.  (Well most of the time…  Hey!  We’re only human.)

Do you usually clean the kitchen the night before or wait until morning?  Want to give the nightly cleaning a shot?

Today is a HUGE day at our house.

If you’ve been with me at Making This Home for a while, you know that I have a tendency to forget about this holiday EVERY YEAR (see here and here!).  The good news is that true to male form, Martin usually forgets as well.

But not this year!

Today is kind of like the German child’s Halloween.  Kids parade around town with paper lanterns and sing a little song about St. Martin.  This Saint is known for giving up his cloak to a beggar one chilly, chilly night, only to later discover that poor man was really Jesus.  It’s a day about gratitude, eating sweets, and embracing the coming Advent season.

I love seeing this picture every year.

It’s also Martin’s namesake day.

In many European cultures, your namesake day is more important than your birthday.

So this year, we’re celebrating!

Here’s a picture that illustrates St. Martin’s Day perfectly.  On the surface, it almost feels like Halloween, doesn’t it?

If you have German, Czech, or Austrian heritage, read one of these old posts from Making This Home (here and here) to incorporate a little cultural celebration into your day.

Happy St. Martin’s Day to all of you and to my own Martin!

(Image from Moderately Confused)

I want to create a beautiful home.  Living in someone else’s house made of tires makes this dream rather unrealistic just because my definition of a beautiful home is not that person’s definition.

So turn my focus to little pieces of our home that I can embrace.  This glass dome is my current obsession at only $2.75.

I happened to be at a thrift shop during their 50% of sale, knocking down that $5.50 price tag.  Yippee!

Right now our little glass dome is serving as a charming little cookie jar in the kitchen.  So far, our visitors haven’t been totally digging the cookie jar.  Truth be told, I don’t think they’ve noticed!  Our visitors have mostly been rugged – the pilot and mechanic sorts.  So I’m not winning any beauty awards around here.  That’s totally okay.

Sometimes you just have to create beauty in your life because it matters to you, not because of or for anyone else. (And that’s why thrift shops are so fantastic!)  It’s important to do things for others and fill your life with gratitude and love.  It’s also important to find it within yourself.

What is your very own little piece of joy?