I got a few gift cards for Christmas and enjoyed spending a couple of them earlier this week. One was to Amazon, and I splurged on a couple of books, one of them the annotated Pioneer Girl book, which contains the autobiographical manuscript Laura Ingalls Wilder which was the basis for the Little House books. I don’t usually spend so much on a book, but doing so with a gift card seems justifiable. 🙂 Unfortunately they were out of stock, and I don’t know if I’ll receive it in time to read for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge next month, but I’ll enjoy it whenever it gets here.

The other gift card was for Hobby Lobby. I had a couple of spaces around the house I had been wanting to decorate, so I set off to see what I could find. This is what I came back with:

Everything was on sale except the XO picture, and I had a 40%off coupon for that. The item to the right is a shadow box. I wasn’t in the market for one, but I really liked it when I saw it. It was half price and the only one of its kind that was in good shape: otherwise I probably would have waited and thought about it for a while. I do have a place I am planning to put it once I decide what to put in it.

The XO picture I bought primarily for the frame – no offense to the artist. 🙂 One day as I was folding clothes in the laundry room, I thought the space over the washer needed something. I don’t want to put a lot of time and money into decorating that particular room, but I want it to look pleasant as I spend so much time in there. Then at the first of the year when I was transferring all the important dates from last year’s calendar to this year’s, I saw a calendar page that would be perfect for that room. Its size wouldn’t fit a conventional frame, so I’ve been looking around for a frame that would work, and this one looked like it would.

It was a little more tedious to take the backing off the frame than I had anticipated, but eventually I got it done. The calendar page had to be cut down a little, but most of it fit:

The calendar, by the way, is a 2014 one called Living Faith by Joy Hall. Her art is new to me, but I love it and really enjoyed this calendar last year. I’m glad to be able to keep a piece of it out to enjoy year round.

I was originally going to put it on this same wall but further down above the washer. But it just seemed like it would look better down with the other things I had there.

The Precious Moments cross stitch was done by one of my sisters some years ago and says “Loads of Love.” I confess that’s not how I usually feel about laundry, but it’s a reminder to me. 🙂 The piece underneath is wooden and says, “Everything comes out in the wash.” I got it years ago from a catalog. The framed calendar page says, “Clothe yourselves with kindness,” Colossians 3:12, and is another reminder I frequently need.

I was pleased with how it all turned out.

The smaller square piece in the top photo says “Let Your Faith Be Bigger Than Your Fear.” I put that in an empty spot on top of my desk:

The flower arrangement was another Hobby Lobby purchase from years ago and has been there with the candle holders (currently without candles) for some time. The little angel was in a dish garden that my mom had sent me way back in college. The little pedestal I got at a thrift store and just put up with the Faith piece yesterday. I’d had it for a while but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it – it just seems to fit there now. I’ll probably put something else on it besides that leafy stem, but I just grabbed what was at hand.

Unfortunately that side of the desk doesn’t match the other…

…but the utilitarian stuff doesn’t fit into the cabinets and it needs to be nearby.

This little alcove is off the dining area, and this is my main view from where I sit at the table, so I’m happy to spruce it up a little.

I don’t usually get bunny things, but I do like pink roses, and this was just too cute, not very expensive in the first place, and on sale. I put it on a table that sits just past the front door.

Everything on this table was a gift except the flower arrangement, which I got at a thrift store, and the little bunny. I started to wait to put the bunny out til Easter – but I like it too much. 🙂

So there you have a peek into my newest decorations. It was a fun time shopping for them and then setting them out. And I still have $12 left on my Hobby Lobby gift card! 🙂