Loving Even the Little Things

Way back in my first or second semester in college, I had a very wonderful Psychology professor that told us that the key to making a home a very peaceful and happy place is to love everything in it. She said to make sure you love even the littlest things right down to dishes and towels. I never forgot that. Don't get me wrong, as much as I love pretty stuff I'm not crazy materialistic or anything. I definitely know that loving your knick-knacks isn't the key to peace and happiness in your home, but I've always thought that it couldn't hurt:) Anyways, it stuck with me and now I try to only put out things I really love. Most of the things I love the most are gifts from others. They are little tokens of affection from the people I hold dearest, and when I see them they remind me of that person and how it made me feel when I received them. Here are just a few little things I love.

This was our engagement album AND our guestbook for our wedding. Isn't that the coolest idea? It's such a perfect coffee table book. I love looking through it and reading what people wrote.

My mother-in-law gave me these two pretty yellow bowls and this wire basket. I have them all on top of my fridge just because I love the way they look together:) There's nothing quite as happy as yellow stuff full of oranges from your grandma's tree!

I think just about everyone with a flare for vintage or who is over 50 has this somewhere. My grandma and my old roommate both had the exact same one and I always admired them. Before we were even together, when we were just friends, Matt gave this to me for Valentine's Day because he knew how much I would love it.

I know I've already made a post about this floating bookshelf that Matt made, but yesterday Poppytalk had the same ones and they had little yellow cups on them so I put a little yellow cup on our's! See their version below.

I think Matt should make a couple more!

This is one of my absolute favorite things. This was another gift from Matt. It's pretty old; I think from the early 50's. I just love it so much.

This was my great-grandmother's. My Memaw gave it to my mom and my mom recently gave it to me. It's a clock and a lamp and it is so gorgeous. I love it so much and I am so proud of it every time I look at it. Doesn't it totally look like something awesome from Anthropologie?

Both of the above were gifts from my mother-in-law. I love that pretty jewelry box, and doesn't every newlywed couple need a "Do Not Disturb" sign? I think little touches like this are darling.

My momma got me this while we were antique shopping one day and I think I will keep it for the rest of my life. It is so pretty. I love the color of the leaves and obviously I am quite the fan of yellow roses. I think this whole post may prove that I fall in love with just about anything that has flowers and/or yellow on it:)

This is such a cute story:) So while we were engaged Matt and I were out and about when I saw this bracelet in an antique shop. I wanted it really bad but it was really pricey so I decided it would be wasteful. At this particular shop everything in the store is 50% off on Superbowl Sunday so all the women can come spend their husbands' money while they are watching the game:) Clever huh? Of course I was living 2 hours away and had to work the Superbowl night so I had no idea Matt missed some of the game just to go buy this for me. It had been such a long time since we had seen the bracelet so I don't know how he remembered it.... But, that's why I married him! He is so sweet and thoughtful sometimes I can't even believe it. He gave it to me on Valentine's Day last year. I couldn't seem to get a photo that does it justice... It is really beautiful in person:)

And last but not least is our wedding invitation. I looked at hundreds and hundreds and these were the only ones that we both loved. I especially like the love birds:) I think every married couple should have their invitations somewhere in their home. I will always have ours out as a reminder of the excitement of that time in our lives!

What special little things do you love that make where you live home?