This project is fun, fast, festive, and frugal (I know, I know. . . I couldn't help myself). Ironing your leaves will simultaneously evaporate any moisture and press them flat, which will keep them preserved for quite a while.

Step 1: gather your leaves. I'm partial to maple.

Step 2: place leaf face down between two peices of thin cloth like muslin. Dish towels would also work.

Step 3: press with a hot, dry iron until the leaves are stiff and dry. Check periodically to prevent burning. I love this part, it smells like a candle inside a jack-o-lantern.

Step 4: admire cute baby in her bears jersey!

Step 5: use twine, such as this baker's twine, or yarn or hemp to tie the leaves by their stems at about 4 inches apart.

* Tip for doing so: gather excess twine by wrapping around three fingers, sliding off, and pinching and twisting in the middle. Then make a big open knot, slide the knot to where you want it as you cinch it down, and place the leaf stem inside right before you pull it tight.

Step 6: hang and enjoy!

Sorry about the brief hiatus. Monday night I got crazy sick rather rapidly and made a glorious trip to the emergency room. Despite my best efforts to avoid it I caught the nasty stomach bug that had been traveling around my family over in Bartlett (actually I think Indy got it first, as evidenced by her rather enthusiastic puking episode at Wok'n Fire during our Sunday lunch the other day which necessitated a trip home to change both Indy's and my entire outfits, thank you to our extremely gracious server). Anyways, not only was I hyperventilating for the first time in my life because of how sick I felt, but I could hardly nurse Indy, and needing to provide nutrition and fluids for the both of us made me much more worried about dehydration (and my ketones were indeed elevated so its was definitely the right choice to go). So the four of us Millers and Indy spent close to 4 hours in the er waiting room, and finally went home at 4 am after multiple doses of Zofran, 1.5 bags of IV fluids and an IV cocktail of more Zofran, Reglan and Benadryl. Joel and Kate were lifesavers, and Indy was an absolute champ. I spent the last couple days vegging out on the couch and recuperating, but now I'm back, and with adorable pictures of Indy, yay! And look what she's sitting on! Ooooo a new rug! (I'm not truly naive enough to think everyone, or really anyone, cares about our new rug, but since I was under the weather its the only thing worth reporting on around here, so I'm going to tell you about it anyways. . .haha).

The current rug that we had in our living room was a small bamboo thing that I brought into our marriage. . .

It was nice and filled that space, but it made for a sort of monochromatic colour scheme with the hardwood floors and wicker coffee table. . .

With cooler weather and the holidays approaching, we started to brainstorm some ideas to make our living room feel more homey and cozy, and a new rug was definitely the logical option (plus it would provde more space for Indy to comfortably play). We searched for a while before finally finding this craigslist steal: $75 for a huge, beautiful wool fiber, cotton backed rug in really good condition. . .

(for some reason I was in the only full room shot, haha) Much better, right? I think the room looks so much bigger, and it balances out all the greens and yellows that somehow crept into our living room, and is a nice contrast to the wicker table. . .

Ahhhhh. . . so cozy.