DEEP IN THE HEART OF...ARKANSAS?!!

Taking advantage of a day off with the Hubs!

2012-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hello 77 friends :) I am sorry I haven't blogged lately but I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for following me. I started the week with 76 followers and then went down to 75. This may sound weird but it made me sad that someone stopped following me. LOL Like "You don't want to be my friend anymore??" But then I got 2 new followers today, so welcome! I hope you enjoy your stay :)

Today I had the opportunity to spend a whole day with my hubby. Thanks Presidents Day!!! We were going to go to Oaklawn Racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas and see the horse races on this beautiful day. But on the way we got sidetracked.

Enter Home Goods

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

I have never been to one but hear all about them from one of my favorite bloggers, Liz over at Savvy Seasons! So of course I asked if we could stop by.

I had a nice time looking around but hit the jackpot with the rug section! I had been looking every where for a new rug. I had found some that might work at Gardenridge. But they are so cheaply made I was hesitant to purchase it, even on clearance!

I found THE most beautiful rug that fits PERFECTLY in our home. It was only 99 bucks. 99 bucks to me is a LOT of money but it really was a great deal for the style and quality.

Here she is in her new home!!!

It is hard to get a good picture of it...

It is a beautiful soft blue that goes perfectly with the other accents in our home. I LOVE the sheen and the pattern. I am contemplating going back to get another one to put in the living room. Decisions, decisions!

I brought some treats and my V Day flowers to the table. I love this Hobnail vase my hubby got for me!!!

I bought this bowl around 7 years ago at Target. I bought it even though it did not go with any of my stuff at the time. I was still in my "warm color" phase. They still carried it along with matching platter at Target until this past summer. Now that we have officially moved over to "cool colors", I have been trying in vain to find the matching platter. The search continues...

I will leave you with a parting shot from our trip today. Hot Springs Village was beaaaaautiful! I could have sat at this 'babbling brook' allllll day :)

Again, thank you for following me!

Life lessons

2012-02-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today I want to share something special with you. I follow Maria over at Raising 4 Princesses and she shared this beautiful story. I have been thinking about it all day. I hope you will visit her and read her entire story. Here is some of it...

Today, I laid 2 beautiful red roses in the center of the concrete table.  The girls "ohh and ahhed" over them.  We admired them throughout the meeting, enjoying their faint scent floating on the breeze.  

After we finished our worksheets, I gently picked up one of the roses, held it to my nose and {dramatically} breathed deep.  "Doesn't a rose just smell heavenly?"  We passed that rose around the table.  Each girl held it to her nose, smelling the red rose.  

Next, I rubbed one of the outside petals between my fingers.  "Don't they feel so soft and velvety?"  Each girl had a chance to rub the rose between her fingers and against her cheek.

The rose made 2 more circles around the table, letting each girl enjoy it's beauty.  After much delicate abuse the petals were droopy and several fell out.  I laid the well-used rose back in the center of our circle, beside the untouched one.  "Now, if you could take one of these roses home with you, which rose would you choose?"  Each girl said the perfect looking, untouched one.

"Today, you are young, beautiful, pure...just like this fresh rose."  I went on to describe in detail how not to turn out like the droopy rose.  

"When Prince Charming comes charging over the hill on his white steed, which "rose" do you think he'd choose?"

Thank you Maria. Thank you for empowering young women. I am going to continue to share this story!

More genius tips!

2012-01-19T20:48:00.000-08:00

Bethany over at In this Crazy Life shared some amazing tips! Visit her to check out all of her ideas. These are our favorites...

Storing your sheet sets in the pillowcase.

We posted about this before and actually did it. It helped our storage SO much! It is organized and more compact! Try it!

Tired of your apple slices turning brown? Use a rubber band to secure it back to its original shape!

Use a rubber band to wipe excess paint and keep the can clean!

Hubby liked this one...

Use a clothespin to hold a nail in place. Save those thumbs!

My FAVORITE that I will be doing ASAP....

Use an extra fitted sheet as a bed skirt!!!!!!!!!

Snowflake Wreath!

2012-01-16T16:18:00.000-08:00

I found some pretty snowflake ornaments on clearance for 10 cents a bunch at Target. I instantly knew that I wanted to make a wreath! I could not the right kind of wreath form so I had to get creative. While at Target, I found these frisbee-ish things in the Dollar isle. I figured I could cut off the fabric and use the foam as the wreath form!

I hot glued alternating layers of snowflakes on the front and on the backside of the foam wreath until I got the 3 D look I was going for. It is even kind of in the shape of a snowflake!

They are so sparkly it looks so pretty!!

I got this circular wreath holder at Gardenridge for 3 bucks! I have wanted one of these for a long time!

I found this today at Goodwill. I have wanted one of these kitchen basket things to store fruit and veggies in. It was only six bucks and I am in the process of spray painting it black to match. It is now perfect and black and scrolly like the rest of our kitchen decor :)

One of my "clients" at work hand made this for me! I found one exactly like this that I wanted BUT it was tiny, tiny and FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS! What the heck??? He made it just a tad to big to put on our door (It is almost 3 ft across!!) so I am going to order another one! I was thinking about getting some black and white ribbon to hang it from. It is so big though, I think it might look kinda weird!

I found these at Target for $1.50! I wanted one when they first came out but they were like 30 or 40 bucks. I bought two :)

Hello lover!

2012-01-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

Hello 54 followers! Ahh, be still my heart! Speaking of hearts...ready for Valentine's Day? We are, thanks to Dollar Tree, Kirklands, and Target...with a twist!

This cute wooden wreath was in the dollar section. But it was $2.50 boo! All of the things I found at Target were $2.50. Still SUPER cheap but I would have preferred to pay one buck!

I found this wreath at Kirkland's a few weeks ago. It was originally a Christmas wreath so it was 75% off and then an additional 25% off of that. I paid around 4 bucks for it.

I got some little hearts from Dollar Tree to make it really V-day ready! The pack of hearts had 6 in all different sizes. I used them throughout our home.

Pardon the poor picture! The white pots are Amaryllis bulbs that I got at Target for two bucks! They are growing so fast! See the heart garland? I used those felt ornaments from Target that I got at 90% off! I bought enough for four garlands and spent about three bucks!

I set the Amaryllis pots on candle sticks to give it some height! The Love sign is $2.50 at Target.

I just stapled the hearts together! I think it is so cute!!! I love garlands!

Be Mine was $2.50 at Target and I filled the little glass jars with conversation hearts!

Another garland! We have three big windows in our living room and I put one over each window.

Another Target goodie!

I also got these sweet pillows for $2.50 at Target!

I wanted to keep with the "winter decor" longer but it has been so warm (THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!) that I was ready to move on!

The best dang Broccoli Cheese Soup ever!!!

2012-01-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

Hello 43 friends! :) I am SO excited you have decided to follow me. I hope you enjoy your stay here!

Today I want to share this recipe for Broccoli Cheese Soup I found from Jen over at Scissors and Spatulas!
I love Broccoli Cheese Soup. But I hate that every time I order it I am underwhelmed.
I hate when it is pureed, I want to taste the broccoli!
So after stumbling across her post, I decided to make my own.

Of course with any recipe you need to make your own tweaks to suit your taste.

I used:

1/2 cup Butter

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp flour

1 lb broccoli (I used fresh)

32 oz chicken broth

1 lb Velveeta, cubed

2 cups milk

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp crushed red pepper

Melt the butter and saute your onions and garlic until onions are translucent.

Add 2 tbsp flour and spices and stir to incorporate.

Add your chicken broth and broccoli and simmer, covered until broccoli is tender (15-20 minutes).

Then add your cubed Velveeta and milk and stir until cheese is melted.

Super easy. SUPER delicious!

Look at that texture!!!!!!!!!!

I really hope you try it!

Time to celebrate!

2012-01-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

For the new year AND because as I write this, we are at 5,037 views! Woohoo!

Due to our work schedules, we celebrated New Years today. We have a tradition that we make a big fancy meal to celebrate. So I made...

Shrimp stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos, wrapped in bacon. (My FAVORITE thing!)

Apple Pie

I had three apples left over that I had already sliced on my mandolin. I didn't want to waste them so I decided to make applesauce. I had never made this before and don't really care for applesauce BUT This.Changes.Everything. I HIGHLY recommend you make this! SO good!!!

This is a Mandolin slicer if you were curious.

It is only 10 bucks at Bed Bath and Beyond (8 bucks with your coupon). Out of everything we have in the kitchen this is hands down the best accessory we have ever purchased.

I also made some raspberry cream cheese but forgot to take a picture. I used the raspberry preserves left over from the Christmas brie and mixed it with cream cheese. Super simple and very delicious!!!

Here is the apple pie. YUM!

The applesauce. I tried it warm and really preferred it like that!

I forgot to add that I winged the recipe. I had some cider on the stove and used a cup of that instead of water and sugar. I think this is what made all the difference.

I served the cider with a slice of orange just to be pretty. We enjoyed sitting on the porch and sipping our warm drink on this cold night!

Here is our cooked dinner on my new platter from Hobby Lobby!

I always use this pedestal dish for the bread. Does anyone know what this pattern is called?

Another MUST HAVE when we grill is veggies. My favorite is squash, zucchini, onions, and jalapenos. Tonight I used zucchini, onions, and red pepper.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh! I just saw I was featured on Uncommon Designs! Thank you!

I'm in the mood for...crafting!

2011-12-27T17:19:00.000-08:00

Aren't random crafts the BEST! My boring lamps had been bothering me for some time. I love the shape of the base and added the drum shades a couple years ago. But, I was bored.

I stumbled across a blog where she had used vinyl decals to make a monogram. I tried in vain to find it today. I ended up improvising.

I could not find a J that I liked that matched our other initials. So I ended up using two different fonts. Shhh!

I typed up each letter in Word and printed them out individually. Ok, now what.

They were too thin to cut out and trace.

On accident, I figured it out.

As I was carrying the shade and the J, it slipped and the J went inside the shade. Light bulb! So I taped each letter to the inside of the shade, held it up to the light, and traced away with a sharpie.

End result..........LOVE!

They looks SO good in person. I was going to paint over the sharpie with brown paint but I think they look so good as is. They look vintage as if they were silk screened on many moons ago. Yay!

PS: Thanks for your help hubby!!!

Turning Christmas decor into winter decor

2011-12-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I am going to be slammed at work the next few weeks so I took advantage of this long weekend. Before we get into crafting, here is the lovely view I woke up to this morning.

She NEVER does that with me! I'm jealous :)

I found these mercury glass candle holders at Kirklands last week.

I ended up using clippings from a Christmas tree and tucked them around the candles and then sprinkled some mini ornaments around them. It looked SO pretty!

I LOVE these!

So now that Christmas has officially passed, I am changing over to "winter" decor. We will still be in winter for the next three months. Much different then my South Texas upbringing where it is beach weather by spring break! This has opened up a whole new world of decor to me.

I replaced the holy with fresh clippings from a Christmas tree and stuck in a few pine cones. I also changed out the red candles to white.

I love this scrolly thing and I have been able to achieve the looks I was going for when I spent a whole TWO bucks on it :) Success!

I moved the mercury glass candle holders to the secretaries desk and replaced the ornaments with pine cones.

Self portrait :)

We are leaving the tree up until Epiphany but the rest of the Christmas decor is slowly coming down.

In other news:

One of the Christmas staples at my parents house is baked brie. I made my first one this year and it turned out excellent.

I laid out a puff pastry sheet, set the brie in the center, topped it with raspberry preserves, wrapped it up and baked it. I topped it with more raspberry preserves once out of the oven.

I got this beautiful ornament at Hobby Lobby the day after Christmas for pennies. It is mercury glass with a black damask velvet decal. Lurve! Oh and I just had to pick up some sparkly cardinals!

spoooooooooooiled!

2011-12-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hello! I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat BUT I want to share what I got for my bday and Christmas! These are just SOME of the things I received.

I was SHOCKED!!!!!

YES! The Mackenzie Childs Courtly Check Teapot and Platter I have been drooling over for months. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I was, and still am, SO EXCITED!

The finishing pieces I needed from Hobby Lobby. I can not wait to host Christmas! I told my hubby that I wanted him to extend our dining room table all the way so I could set it just for fun :)

I got a gift certificate to Bed Bath and Beyond and, along with my hundreds of 20% off coupon, I made out like a bandit.

We stocked up on drink mixes!!!

We also stocked up on Yankee Candles! They had gift sets with 2 to 3 full size candles that were on sale. Then you got another half off, then 20% off!

We also got another set of our silverware as we are missing a couple forks :)

My hubby got me this amazing necklace and had it engraved with our monogram! I ADORE it! He also got me a little silver jewelry box and had it engraved with a super sweet message.

I am going to take some pictures (as soon as I get some more batteries!) and show you some more goodies :)

2011-12-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

Check out these FABULOUS ideas from Crafts Keep Me Sane blog! They are so genius but make me think "why didn't I think of that???"

Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.
Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat.
Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.
Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.
Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.
Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

Even more Christmas!

2011-12-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

My hubby ROCKS! He knows me so well. Look at one of my presents from him. He searched high and low to find that paper :)

He made me this poinsettia out of tissue. I think mu blog is getting to him :)

He gave me a few things already. The funniest thing happened...I collect flying pigs. He was SO excited to find one for me. But whoops. I already have this one! LOL So I get to back to Kirkland's to find something else. Win-win!

Here are the latest treats I made.

Mini candy canes made into hearts then filled with chocolate. It was so funny because SO many people asked me how I made them into hearts. I explained that I just laid them down and turned them towards each other, but they were stumped!

So cute!

I was GOING to make a Christmas tree out of the rice krispies but it didn't work out so well.

Another thing, so many people asked me where did I find green rice krispies! Green food coloring baby. I cut them into small squares and then stuck in mini M and M's.

I made some peppermint sugar cookies (straight from the tube baby) and dunked them in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint. I also did the same to some full size candy canes. I thought that would be a cool way to stir coffee or hot chocolate!

One treat done, several to go!

2011-12-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

I have several projects lined up this week so I decided to get started! First up...MICE! Ahhh! It's ok, they are just sweet Christmas mice.

Chocolate covered maraschino cherry, almond ears, chocolate chip face, and gel icing eyes!

I made TONS! Once I get in the groove, I knocked them out pretty fast.

We got a surprise package when we got home tonight. My brother sent us a Keurig! My husband has been wanting one for a while now, but this was a total surprise. I don't drink coffee so my husband is going to get me all of those other fun drinks that this baby makes.

My bday is in a few weeks and my sweet, sweet Papa (grandpa) sent me a birthday check. I did him proud and bought a power tool. Meet my new jigsaw :)

Oh, I just can't wait to break her in!!!

Snow!

2011-12-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

So we got an (unwelcome) surprise! SNOW. On Monday, December 5th it started. We thought it was a fluke so we went to sleep. What a *nice* surprise to wake up the next morning to THREE INCHES of snow.

Looks so cool over Christmas lights!!!

My poor hydrangeas! I know they will make it but it is nerve wracking!

The snow compacts this Jasmine vine down a foot!

Gracie, being Gracie! She always shoves her head down to see what is going on under the snow. Lab thing?

Yeah, these didn't make it :(

(Sorry for the negativity. Snow was fun the first few times it happened and when I had nowhere to be but home. But now that I have a 45 minute commute over hilly terrain, I hate snow. Snow=ice. Ice on roads=the most terrifying thing ever.)

More Christmas stuff

2011-12-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

Gracie has been such a good girl recently so Santa came to visit her a little early!

She didn't know what to do with this huge bone! She carries it around but has yet to chew on it.

I am trying so hard not to buy any new Christmas stuff. But...when you see a deal you just can't pass it up!

I found these beautiful ornaments for 75 cents! They are so pretty in person. Sparkly but vintage, love it!

This is one my mom passed to me. It is circa 1990 :)

But of course...we need my favorite thing "When Pigs Fly" :) Those are some chili peppers from my mom. She loves to find me "Texas" themed stuff!

Perhaps my new favorite! This felt cardinal is from Khol's. I LOVE him!

An ornament a good friend gave me about 10 years ago and a new find!

One of my Jim Shore ornaments that I got 80% off! I can't find the others. Tear ;(

Some of my faves. A cardinal clip on, a pine cone with some berries, and a sleigh I found for 38 cents!

Our little logo :)

These were 75 cents too!

All of my supplies for my upcoming Christmas treats!

Since my hubby agreed to an artifical tree I found some "Pine" candles to help make up the difference. It was so hard to find plain "pine". Everyone sells all sorts of weird hybrid scents but no traditional pine! Good ol' Walmart came through for us. It was $3.97 and smells amazing!

Have a great week!

Christmas treats

2011-12-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

I work in a "secure" environment. It is hard to bring in treats BUT I will make it work for Christmas time. Here are the treats I am bringing this year.

I am doing This tutorial over at Be Different Act Normal (one of my favorite blogs)

In his grip shared this super cute treat!

What are you making?

Some new finds

2011-12-03T23:23:00.000-08:00

I have come to sad realization that I need to stop shopping! Or buy a bigger home. :) I have been having the best luck on great finds recently.

I found these Kirklands candle sconces for 1.50!

These sunflowers were 1.50 at Kroger. I found this ginormous blue mason jar for 4.50. I have seen them for almost 20 everywhere else. I know this is super summery but I was excited to use them!

This beautiful bouquet was $3 at Kroger. It looks beautiful in my "mercury glass" vase

I love my camera! It takes really good pictures!!!

oooohhh

ahhhhh

I got this HUGE wreath at Michaels. It was 69.99 but I paid 6.99. I could not pass it up. It is really pretty in person. Totally not our style so we will see what happens with this wreath :)

Hello again! Time for Christmas!

2011-12-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been MIA. I have been on vacation with my wonderful family. My awesome sister arranged for us to rent out three houses at a ranch/bed and breakfast in the Texas Hill Country. It was SO AMAZING! We ate, played cards, star gazed, rode horses, enjoyed nature, and spent quality time together. What more could you ask for??

Once we got back to reality, it was time to decorate for Christmas! It turns out that I have way more Christmas stuff than I can display in this house. Honey- time to move :)

Here is our Christmas tree.

I am a clearance shopper. I bought this tree last year at the Hallmark store for 20 bucks! It was a display tree but the lights were not working right. It had colored lights and I wanted white anyways. I thought taking them off would be a breeze. Ha! Three hours and a ruined manicure later, I was done. This is a quality tree :)

I always loathed artificial trees and thought it took the fun out of the Christmas tree. No hunting for the perfect tree and the amazing smell. But as I have gotten older, opinions have changed. Our plan is to one day have a real tree that is our fun, crazy, family tree. We will also have an artificial tree that is the "pretty" tree.

I found this candelabra at my favorite consignment shop in the town I work in for THREE BUCKS! Woohoo! I thought it would make a perfect advent wreath. I already had the candles and swung by Hobby Lobby to get the candle wreaths. I LOVE it!

I added a poinsettia swag to our wrought iron piece. They have these at Hobby Lobby for 50 bucks. I absolutely love these cable knit stockings that I found at Big Lots a few years ago. The holders are from Hobby Lobby as well.

I found this Jim Shore piece for TWO DOLLARS at Goodwill. Her hands have broken off so I am looking for a small garland for her to hold.

My sweet hubby gave me this piece from Jim Shore last year. It is so special to me. We are making an effort to leave out Santa and focus on the real reason for the season. The mercury glass finials are from the Hallmark store at 80% off. They are so beautiful in person!

You can see the Texas themed pieces that my mom gives us :) The tree looks SO SO SO SO pretty with the lights on. We strung two sets of white lights. Then we added a strand of lights that I found at Hobby Lobby. They do all sorts of patterns but I just wanted them because they twinkle. It is so pretty!!!

I LOVE ornaments that have clips! They are so cute and you can put them exactly where you want them. I love cardinals and nature-y pieces.

I found this candle holder at a thrift shop in the town I work in. It was two bucks! I put some candle wreaths under it and I love it! Oh I got the candle wreaths at Gardenridge for like 20 cents :)

Here is the nativity that my hubby gave me a few years ago. He said it reminded him of me with all of the swirls.

About 10 years ago, I bought a set of these for my mother. I have looked for them every Christmas season since. I randomly found them at Dollar Tree. I literally shrieked when I found them!!!! I got the last 4 they had.

I ran out of room so I hung my Jim Shore stockings from the hutch. I got these at 80% off as well. I was SHOCKED that they were on clearance. I love Jim Shore and have several pieces.

I got these stocking holders from Pier 1 on clearance last year. They were originally 20 and I paid 2 bucks for them!

I love that they hold an ornament as well. They were an ugly gold so I painted them, antiqued them, and sealed them. They look like glistening snow in person!

I found this at the consignment store in the town I work for 4 bucks. It came with a really cute fall garland. I added one of my candle wreaths from Gardenridge.

I got the little mercury glass pails at Holiday House in Little Rock. I re used the containters from Dollar Tree that I put candy corn in for fall and put in peppermint sticks. I also put another Gardenridge candle wreath on my favorite candle. It is from Gardenridge and is huge and is 12.99. They smell amazing!

I wrap all of the presents that go to my inlaws house in the same wrapping. I have previously done a winter theme and used blue and silver wrapping paper. I wrapped the packages in white ribbon and attached a snowflake ornament as the name tag. They were SO cute and everyone could easily tell what packages were from us. This year I wanted to use twine and I found this gorgeous poinsettia paper at Dollar General. I LOVE the way they look. It makes me think of "brown paper packages tied up with string" :)

We both absolutely love our angel. We got her at Lowes a few years ago. Random huh?! I need to change out the ribbon. I am thinking about getting some long ribbon that will start at her and run all the way down the tree.

I LOVE poinsiettas! I put the whole plant into my iron stone pitcher!

Found these at the Hallmark store on clearance last year. They are so cute!

Dryer vent Pumpkin REDO!

2011-11-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! I have 25 followers now...how exciting is that?!! Thanks to everyone for joining :)

So remember my post a few weeks ago about Dryer Vent pumpkins?

It was so cute and I am still in love with the idea.

HOWEVER, as a family with limited storage space, I try to get the most out of my crafts and make them last more than just one holiday or season.

So I was more than pleasantly surprised to find this creative idea from Turtles and Tails!

Dryer Vent TURKEY! I am going to re use my pumpkin to make this super cute turkey! Thanks so much for the idea!

I DIE!

2011-11-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

I hate to admit this, because I do not even watch her show, but I just quoted Rachel Zoe! lol

Look what I stumbled upon........

I DIE!!!!!!!

Babe, I hope you are reading this. I NEED this!

One more thing...

2011-11-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

So remember the home store Bombay? Yeah, that Bombay that was SO expensive (for me) that went out of business a few years ago. I heard through the grapevine, aka blogland, that KROGER (of all places) is now selling their line! We have a super Kroger here so I am going to go check it out and will come back with a report for you :)

I found one more craft that I have to do!!! Look at this awesome idea from Over the Big Moon!

Honeyyyyyyyyy- one more thing to add to your list!

Cute ideas!

2011-11-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Look how cute these DIY flower votives are. Check out the tutoral over at Larissa Hill Designs

and how cute are these deer??

Saturday morning blog hoppin

2011-11-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here are the awesome things I stumbled upon that have been added to my favorites! ENJOY :)

Check out this Edible wreath! At first I was not going to look because I am not about to make my own dough and yada, yada, yada. But check out how she made it. You WILL be pleasantly surprised!

Have you seen these in specialty stores and holiday shops? For like 40-50 bucks??

Check out this tutorial on how to make them!!!!

I LOVE this post. I love to use real things to decorate for fall like nuts, squash, and pumpkins. It only makes sense to get all of your money out of them and eat them too!! Like her post is called "From Decoration to Dinner Table"

Have a great weekend!!!!!!!

Milk glass HELP

2011-11-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

Hey bloggy friends, I need your HELP! I have a few milk glass pieces like this but can not find out what they are. Does anyone know the name, style, manufacturer, anything?

My new obsession...Embroidery Hoops

2011-11-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have seen the cutest projects using embroidery hoops. It started with this...

Ahh! Princess Bride! Can you believe my husband has never seen this movie? What the heck??

Gwen Penny shared this adorable idea...

burlap and embroidery hoops= love

Or check out this lovely snowman from Betz White

Surprise supplies

2011-11-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

My World made by hand shared these amazing glitter ornaments. You will never believe the crazy way they made these babies!!!! I am going to bring the supplies to make these for our Thanksgiving family get together!

Earthquake!!!!!!!!

2011-11-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

We just had an EARTHQUAKE! I was laying on the couch watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta (new season starts tomorrow! woohoo!) and all of a sudden I felt shaking. It took me a second to figure out what was happening because who expects earthquakes in Arkansas?!! The picture hanging over the couch started banging against the wall! It lasted about 30 seconds and stopped.

Last year I was on Facebook talking to a friend and all of a sudden I felt like I was on a boat, rocking back and forth. I told her "omg you are going to think I am crazy but I think we are having an earthquake!" Then our headboard started rattling. I tried to wake my hubby up and told him that I thought we were having an earthquake. He responded by telling me "you're crazy!"

I checked the internet and they felt it all the way in Oklahoma City! It was a 5.3 magnitude! Ahhh!

WOW

2011-11-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

You HAVE to check out my amazing friend over at It's a Muegge Life!!

Here is a sneak peak of her latest creation...

Time for Christmas decor?

2011-11-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Not for us!!! We L.O.V.E. fall and want it to last as long as possible. Winter to me means being COLD so I want it postponed as long as possible.

Last night we went to Kirkland's and Target and stocked up on tons of Halloween and fall decor. At 75% to 80% off who can resist. They still have tons of great stuff so if you are in the market, go today!!!

Creepy Halloween food!

2011-11-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this post from Polish the Stars.

She is the Halloween goddess and has made the cutest collection of creepy Halloween food!!!

These are my favorites...

Jello worms

Get out! These look TOO real!!!!!!

Chocolate covered cherry MICE

So cute!

Guacamole (one of my FAVORITE foods)

What a fun, yet gross, way to serve this dish!!

Halloween treats

2011-10-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

I found one treat that nearly everyone loves...chocolate covered pretzels! So this is what I made this year.

Presenting...WITCHES FINGERS!

I dipped the pretzel rods in the green chocolate and added a sliced almond fingernail. I used a toothpick to add the knuckles. They look SO creepy in person!!!

Mummies!!!

I dipped the pretzel rods into white chocolate and then put the chocolate into a baggie and drizzled away.

Happy Halloween!

(Oh, and HOORAY! I found my camera. It was hidden behind something. Thanks to my dear hubby for finding it!)

Fun food crafts

2011-10-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

EMERGENCY! Missing camera! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Waiting for the hubby to come home so he can find it because I have looked everywhere and can't :( Trying not to panic!

I discovered my camera was missing because I made some fun Halloween treats to take to work tomorrow and I wanted to share them with you. So please cross your fingers that I find my camera!

In the meantime...I found this super cute blog called Carol Ann By Chance and she shared the CUTEST food crafts!

All it is, is apples, peanut butter and marshmallows.

Acorns...using donut holes, pretzels, frosting and chocolate sprinkles

I am totally making these acorns for Thanksgiving!!!

Cute Halloween Party food!

2011-10-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Check out this SUPER cute 5 layer dip! What a great idea to Halloween-ize (yeah, new word!) a party favorite!

Here is a simple recipe to make 5 layer dip!

Ingredients

1 (15.5 ounce) can refried beans
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 green onions, sliced
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1 tomato, chopped

Directions

Mix beans, chili powder and cumin; spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.
Top with layers of remaining ingredients.
Refrigerate several hours or until chilled. Serve with tortilla chips.

To make the spider web, fill a baggie with sour cream and cut off one corner. Pipe a spiral starting in the center. Using a toothpick, start in the center and draw straight lines out.

Have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

PS: Thank you Flores family for the idea :)

Pumpkin guts!

2011-10-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

My amazing friend Sharla over at Posh Peony Creative Designs just gave me this great idea on what to do with those pumpkin guts!

"Best smell in the world...!! I took the guts and slime of the pumpkin we just carved, sprinkled about 1 Tbsp of cinnamon, 1/2 Tbsp nutmeg and about 1 tsp of vanilla on top, added water to a small sauce pan and it is simmering on the stove top. Ahhh.... smells amazing!! Wish it were edible, haha... I guess it probably is, but I don't like the slimy part of the pumpkin :0)"

Thanks girl! You are the best!!!

Lunch Break shopping- Take 3

2011-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

So are you starting to see a pattern here? lol I work in an umm... interesting place, to say the least. So you can see that I so look forward to getting the heck out of there for my 45 minute break!! Today I stopped at the Salvation Army and picked up a few things.

I collect Homco and Syroco vintage pieces. I was excited to find these babies. Now, what color should I paint them? I paid 4 dollars for both. I see them all over for at least 10 bucks each.

This super cute satin-y pumpkin with sparkly beads was 50 cents.

I have several of these milk glass vases but could not pass up this 25 cent deal!

Have a great week!

Dinner and crafts!

2011-10-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this project for awhile. I kept going back and adding things to each side so I had to wait for it to dry. I am sure you have seen these burlap footballs in blogland. We sell them at my part time job for 39.99. YIKES! This cost me just a few dollars as all I needed was burlap. I had puff paint in all the right colors.

One side for Arkansas...

One side for Kansas. (I made this for our neighbor/friends)

I went to the local grocery store today to pick up a few things. It is a small store and has an extremely limited assortment of products. But that breeds creativity, right? So I decided to make a strawberry pie. I have never made one before. I used this recipe from The Neely's from Food Network.

Not super pretty but I was in a rush. But that is ok because it will taste FABULOUS :)

I am also making beef stew. Another first for me. It smells amazing!!!

Lunch Break shopping- Take 2

2011-10-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

I had training in a city about an hour away this week. The morning session DRAGGED along because guess what I saw on my way there...GOODWILL! Woohoo! I swung by on my lunch break and found a few goodies.

This cute Fenton Hobnail vase is perfect to add to my collection. I have seen them ranging from 10 to 20 bucks and Goodwill wanted one dollar for it. SOLD.

I also found a GIANT hard plastic Easter egg for one dollar. Why would you buy an Easter egg in October, you ask? They make the BEST dog toys! They are so big and such a unique shape that it is hard for Gracie, our lab, to bite and destroy. (She destroys all her toys in a matter of seconds. Even the "un-destructible" ones) They sell them at Gardenridge for 6.99 and I will buy a few because they are THAT good. It is hilarious to watch Gracie chase it around the yard. She can't bite it and when she tries it flies out in front of her. Then she runs after it and tries again, and again, and again. Hours of fun for her and us :)

I also picked up this sad looking fall wreath that had a few holes. It was three dollars and still had a tag on it from Walmart for 19.99. When I was walking out I found these cute pumpkins that had no price tag. I offered a dollar for three of them and they said ok. So, here she is after some dusting, fluffing, and hot glue!

Love it! It is going on our door come November 1. I am loving fall this year and (I can not believe I am about to say this) I am not looking forward to taking it down to put up Christmas stuff.

Oh, one complaint about fall this year, umm what happened to it Arkansas?? We went from 80s to 30s!!! We apparently skipped fall and went straight to winter. And remember, this girl is a Texan. A South Texan at that. We don't do cold! Pray for me!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

2011-10-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

omg omg omg I just had a HUGE blog moment...I was featured and it was on one of my favorite blogs! AHHHH!

check it out!
http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/2011/10/share-your-creations-party-8.html

Thank you Kristen!!!

Dryer vent...pumpkin??

2011-10-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

I saw this at a thrift store during my lunch time shopping excursions. Here are some examples from bedifferentactnormal (which, I must say, is one of the BEST blogs out there!!!)

So cool!!!

umm...cutest Halloween wreath ever??

2011-10-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

I am totally going to clearance shop Hobby Lobby and Michael's to get the supplies to make this next year!

Cleaning my pots and pans

2011-10-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

I am sure many of you already knew this, but this tip is new to me, so I will share. I got this Paula Deen cookware set for a birthday gift several years ago. They are stainless steel with copper bottoms.

SO pretty to the point that I did not want to use them, pretty. After several years of use they were looking kinda ragged. I heard that you could use Easy Off oven cleaner to get them back to that gorgeous mirror finish. I wasn't expecting much but it was totally like an infomercial. All of the stains wiped right off! I was so impressed that I wanted to come share this tip with you!

Burlap Wreath

2011-10-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

I was SO excited to get to work on this craft. I had seen this gorgeous wreath last winter and bookmarked it for this fall. http://jonesdesigncompany.com/decorate/ruffle-wreath-a-tutorial/

Isn't it GORGEOUS?!!! I had THE hardest time finding burlap. Hobby Lobby told me that they completely sell out within 2 hours of their shipments. I went early on a Saturday morning and got the only colors they had left which were "oyster" (a light cream) and dark brown.

So I finally started this craft and let me tell you, it did not turn out so pretty. First, I had trouble with my string. I would get a nice ruffle going but my string would break. So I had some sisal (like twine but more cream colored) and thought I should try it to stitch through my burlap. It worked great! However, my ruffles were less then impressive when all was said and done. If I ever make another one, I need to make my stitches closer together.

So here she is...

I made some rosettes out of scraps from this project.

Overall, I am pleased and I think she is a nice addition to my fall crafts :)

PS: Don't you LOVE our wall color. It is awesome!

Halloween crafts!

2011-10-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

I need to clean and do laundry. So what do you think I have been doing on my day off? Crafting, of course! :) I have had my fall decor out since the first of September. It is now time to break out the Halloween goodies. I got everything I used on clearance last year or at Dollar Tree.

I LOVE the way these turned out. When I got out my tub of supplies I laughed when I saw the neon green wreath forms. I forgot I bought them and thought why on earth did I buy bright green ones??? They sell for $10 if you can even find them and I got them on clearance for $2. When all was said and done, I actually liked the pop of color!

I also got rolls of black, orange, and black with orange stripes for $2 last year. I got the spider webs and spiders at Dollar Tree. So cute!!!

Hello, spider!

These are SO sparkly in person.

I made three Halloween wreaths today. I wish I had more work wreaths because these could also work for Christmas! So I am officially on the hunt for some new ones.

Since we are on a spider roll, I found these inflatable ones at Dollar Tree. I hung them from some spiderweb ribbon and will use them somewhere on the porch.

I just got this at Hobby Lobby for 66% off because the "Welcome" part was upside down! It had been there for about a month and I was so surprised it was still there. I thought for sure someone would have realized they could have this $20 sign at a discount and fix it themselves. But since no one did, I simply asked the cashier and they gave me the discount.

I untwisted the wire and turned the "Welcome" the right way. I hot glued the wire to the back to keep it upright.

I was at Saver's last month and stumbled upon the flag section. I got this sweet flag for $1.99!!! I cut a "Happy Halloween" Dollar Tree sign into separate pieces and used E6000 to attach it.

Hope chest make over...step 1

2011-10-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

I have had this hope chest as long as I can remember. I feel horrible now because I beat and neglected this antique over the years. There is paint and scratches and dents all over it. Recently, I moved it under a window in the kitchen nook. Unfortunately, our dog has discovered that she can see outside better if she stands on it. It is scratched SO BAD! I placed a long candleholder wrought iron thingamabob on it to stop her from getting on it. I don't know why I never thought to put a cushion on it. Since it is now officially fall, summer stuff is going on sale. So we went to Gardenridge and got some chair cushions! I LOVE the colors and the print!!

One day I plan on painting this a fun color. Maybe turquoise? :)

Candy corn!

2011-10-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

I found these cute little jars at Dollar Tree and filled them with candy corn. I do not have a sweet tooth and do not care for candy corn, but it is so Halloween!

I ran across this tutorial http://www.oasisaccents.com/tissue-paper-candy-corn/ and thought it was SO cute. So when I was at Dollar Tree, I picked up some styrofoam cones and tissue. This was pretty time consuming but it was a nice way to relax and watch tv, while still being constructive.

Playing with the camera...pretending to be a photographer :)

Random $3.75 craft!

2011-10-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

So I ran up to Dollar General to grab some tape and found this framed print on clearance for $3.

Pretty picture but that is not what I was interested in, I wanted the frame. As soon as I saw it I started brainstorming what I can do with it. I thought about all of the pictures I have on my fridge and how sloppy it looked. I looked for cute magnets so maybe I can align them within the frame on the fridge, but no such luck. Then I thought about making "clothes lines" to hang pictures from. I knew I had twine so I picked up some bulldog clips that were also on the clearance isle for 75 cents. And voila!

I love it! This craft cost my $3.75 and took about 5 minutes to do. Now I have a stylish way to display pictures :)

If you don't have anything nice to say....

2011-09-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

Share something nice that someone else said LOL Since I have nothing cool to blog about, I will share cool ideas from the blogs I follow!

This is Liz Marie and she has the cooliest vanity setup. Oh i hope I have a space like this one day. Check out her awesome ideas...

Liz Marie: Magnetic Makeup Board...: As many of you know I blogged for Birchbox last week. I had so much fun working with them, & I wanted to share with you some of the things ...

stuff

2011-09-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have so much stuff. I admit it. I recently purged and organized. I have tons of costume jewelry and craft stuff. I made a little corner in our guest room to organize everything.

Here is a Razorback wreath I made for my friend.

I hung the Flying Pig I made in my little corner. I think it turned out super cute!

TRYING to stay organized...I got the displays at the Container Store. I love this mirror from Gordman's. Great reminder when you are starting your day.

I have a little collection of perfume going as well. My everyday perfume is With Love by Hillary Duff. I really like the way it smells and I get compliments all the time. I also wear Brighton perfumes and Still by J.Lo. They both smell really, really good. My favorites that I use for special occasions are Rush by Gucci (the WEIRD red box) and of course my signature, Mademoiselle by Chanel.

Milk glass tour

2011-09-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

I added three new pieces to my collection today. I got some amazing deals on pieces I really wanted and have been admiring for some time! Yay! :)

This is Vladimir, our new "pet". I have always wanted a Venus fly trap!!! My hubby killed a fly and we fed it to Vlad. I am not sure if you are supposed to do that but he ate him! Of course since he is in OUR family, he add to live in a milk glass vase :)

Got this today. So now I need to be on the hunt for a matching goblet! The damask pieces are from Hobby Lobby.

This piece is huge and I adore it!

My new candy dish that I have seen for almost 100 bucks at other places! I have been admiring this piece for quite some time so I was so excited when I found it for a steal!

I actually got started collecting because of my 4 step sisters. Each sister has a specific color of carnival glass that she collects and I have fond memories of going antiquing with my parents to find pieces for them. One collects milk glass and she has most beautiful shabby chic home ever. She told me to put candles in them as they glow so pretty!

There are just sitting there because I don't know where to put them. I only collect Fenton Hobnail Milk glass. I limited myself so that I don't wind up a hoarder :) I want to use these as planters. I am not sure what pattern this is.

Happy Fall Y'all

2011-09-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a little tour of the fall decor I have put out. Nearly everything is from Dollar Tree or vintage!

I put the little pumpkins on candle holders. I think it is really cute. Don't mind the picture frames without pictures. I am working on it... :)

Was inspired by http://thethriftyabode.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-leaf-initial.html I got those giant gold letters from Hobby Lobby when they were on sale and picked up some leaves from Michael's. I used spray adhesive and hot glue when needed. Oh, this is our family logo, a G, C, and J combined. I am obsessed! We, and by we I mean HUBBY, had to do some construction to make this. We used several different types of glue to get them to stay together.

Here is the little vignette I made for the tray on our ottoman. And hubby sleeping in the background :)

Ah my camera takes some good pictures :) Love it!

I found these at a thrift store but they were NEON orange. I stained them with the same stain I used on the secretaries desk. Then I wrapped their stems with some jute to give them a little something extra. I also wrapped some jute around my boring old candle holders. I think it looks pretty cute!

I painted and distressed this sweet little cat and gave him a jute collar.

I got this at Goodwill for two dollars in the summer. When Hobby Lobby put their fall decor out I was shocked to find this there for 20 bucks! Score!

I have become a flag lady :)

I found this hydrangea for 5 bucks and it is growing, growing, growing! I had never seen hydrangeas, except at the store, until we moved to Arkansas. There are so many gorgeous and HUGE hydrangea plants in our neighborhood. I am so excited that I will have one too :)

I found this milk glass pedestal today and paid 2.50 for it. The next antique store I went to wanted 20 bucks for it. Score, again!

Some place mats from Dollar Tree.

Simple fall arrangement in my Iron Store pitcher. So cute!

I put my amber carnival glass sconces on my candle holder. This piece is so funny because I have had it for like 8 years and I bought it in Texas. I have recently started seeing this in the backgrounds of some friends pictures from all over the country.

Love it :)

&@#^&^#@#& Caterpillars!!!!!!!

2011-09-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

My poor herbs were literally destroyed within 24 hours. I water them every other day and monitor the leaves for any signs of pests. I was beaming with pride at how well my herbs have been doing. You see, I have had a BLACK thumb my entire life. Recently, I tried again and grew all of these herbs from SEEDS and they thrived. I was THRILLED. So I have given them all TLC and then I saw the destruction. Broke my heart! I have treated them with appropriate pesticides but found a new caterpillar tonight :( But here is what my herbs look like now after I picked off all of the damaged leaves.

Thai basil. Wanted to be cool and grow to the side. I have tried to realign it and have seen NO changes. It smells amazing!

Strawberries!!! These babies have grown SO much. I can't remember what the off shoot things are called but we have several of those. I think we are going to get lots of berries next season!

Bell peppers and Jalapenos. We planted them together because I wasn't sure which little sprout was which. So our bell peppers are going to be a little spicy :) I can live with that! Don't you love those metal crate things I found?!! I am searching for bigger planters to fit them.

Two bell peppers!

Two types of basil. The basil on the left ( I can't remember what it is called! It is late, sorry!) suffered the worst damage. It is so scragly now :( The one on the right has been cut in half from all the damage but still has tons of leaves. Oh and Emme wanted to say hi again!

So pretty!

Halloween wreath

2011-09-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

So last year I found some deco poly mesh work wreaths on clearance for two dollars. They were neon green but I figured I could use them for Halloween. I also found black, orange, and black with orange striped deco poly mesh for two dollars. I think it was in February so I got super discounted Halloween merchandise. I was off today so made a quick wreath. I found some cute spider webs from Dollar Tree and attached it to the center.

I am not to sure about this neon green but we are going to work with what we have. I want to make one that is all shimmery black with some spiders mixed in between! I also found some cute "Happy Halloween" cutouts that I will attach. More to come...

Clearance rack flowers

2011-09-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

How do I love thee? I have had such great luck recently with flowers! Gorgeous and fresh and 99 cents? Yes please! I will take everything you have!

But first, Emme says hi. She has taken up sleeping in the center of this deco poly mesh wreath.

Here is a little bouquet I made. I got two dozen pink roses and these green poms for 99 cents. I made three of these arrangements in Fire King milk glass vases.

I got these luscious red roses and eucalyptus for 99 cents as well. I put them in my Iron Stone pitcher and they looked amazing!

We had a mini shower for my friend that day and got a cute little cake that said "Welcome Baby" :)

Ideas for upcoming projects

2011-09-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

So...I have a *great* idea! Since I am always trying to remember projects I see that I want to do, and I don't even want to get started with Pinterest, I am going to leave them here. Then I can have an easy thing to reference back to and I can share them with my TWELVE followers! what what! :)

Cupboard Dividers

Genius!

How you doin?

2011-09-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

Since I finally figured out how to link to parties, I have had so much traffic! SO COOL! Thanks to all of you who are visiting our blog :) It makes me so happy :) :) :)

PS: Hubby said it is time for a GIVEAWAY! Ideas?!!

Don't you just hate when you forget to take pictures!!!!!!

2011-08-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

My camera is out of battery juice and because I ~~am too lazy~~ forget to charge them, I have missed so many pictures!

So, I am the WORST when it comes to giving someone a present as soon as I get it for them. I have started Christmas shopping early to help save money. I have already given two Christmas presents away! I am so bad. Tonight we were visiting with the in laws and I told my MIL that I am going to try so hard to hold out and not give presents early. Not five minutes later I gave my bro in law one of his...

It's a vinyl record bowl!

Have you ever seen these? I remembered seeing these on Trading Spaces a million years ago. Remember Hilde?? So a few weeks ago I bought a few vinyl records at the local thrift stores. My bro in law is in a band and I wanted to make them for him. They were a HIT! I apologized to his wife and told her that I had plenty more vinyl record crafts headed their way :) I will have to wait on those though because they are going to be awesome Christmas decorations that I am determined to wait until at least December!

State Fair!

2011-08-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

♫ I want a big red nose I want some floppy shoes, I want a squirty flower squirt it on you ♫
Little CCR reference there for you TX country fans

So anyways, FINALLY the end of this scorching, 115 degree, record setting, hottest summer ever is almost here. That means two things here in Arkansas 1) Razorback games and 2) the State Fair. I will post about reason 1 later but right now, it is all about the state fair!

In Corpus Christi, Texas, we do not have "fairs" we have festivals down on the bayfront. They are one of my favorite things about our hometown and the whole community comes out. They have amazing live music, food, attractions, and that amazing breeze we miss so much!

I was so excited to go to the state fair when we moved here. I can happily say it was all that I was hoping for. Lots of animals, crafts, rides, and food. A good thing about living in a smaller state is that the whole state rallies behind things. In Texas, someone would have to litterally drive for over a day from most parts of the state to get to the Texas State Fair. In Arkansas, it takes about two hours from anywhere in the state, to get to Little Rock. So the state fair here is a big deal and everyone gets involved. The week of the fair the local news showcases something unique that is new that year. Our first year here I saw a segment about Roast beef Sundaes...say what?

Here is how you do it...
Ingredients
-Mashed potatoes
-whatever meat you prefer (pot roast, beef, chicken, or make it vegetarian!)
-brown gravy
-cheddar cheese
-french friend onions
-cherry tomatoes

In a bowl, place scoops of mashed potatoes to get the desired look. Then drizzle your gravy and meat over the potatoes. Then add your toppings (cheese, french fried onions, or whatever else sounds yummy). Finish with a cherry tomato on top! SO CUTE!

We started an April Fool's Family Tradition where we will make an April Fool's meal! This is perfect as it looks like dessert but is a hearty and savory dinner!

Oh and PS: Guess what the new state fair food is this year? FRIED BUTTER. yikes!

Finally some craftiness!

2011-08-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a fun Sunday afternoon project and stumbled upon this...http://thecreativeimperative.blogspot.com/2011/07/sunflowery-wreath.html

Since it was Sunday, Hobby Lobby was closed. So I stopped by the Dollar Tree to see what I could find. They had felt (albeit THIN) for a buck. It comes in multi color only, so this will be a bright and colorful flower. I thought since I was making a sunflower, I should use sunflower seeds for the center. (and they just so happen to sell those at the Dollar Tree. score!) I bought a hard plastic plate for the backing. It was bigger and sturdier than the instructions called for so mine looks a tad different. But I love it! I will be making this again as a traditional sunflower and as a Christmas poinsettia.

I drilled a hole in the plate with my new found Drimmel tool skills! I tied a length of twine to hang it from and gave it to my MIL.

Here is what I did with the left over deco poly mesh and a grapevine wreath from the Dollar Tree. I am waiting until Fourth of July stuff goes on clearance cheap enough and I am going to suspend something in the middle, I think...

I re did our name on this sign. It was such a pain! I did it the first time a tad off center and I knew it would drive me crazy so I tried everything to take off the paint. I finally had luck with nail polish remover. I re did it using a stencil and a paint pen. (Paint pens instantly remind me of high school drill team. So much fun!) You can see how splotchy the chalkboard has become over time. I think it is over spray from cleaning the counters. Oh well. I love it!

This baby is what I used to refine my Drimmel tool skills on. Well kind of. My hubby did 99.9% of this. I touched up a few areas and drilled holes to run twine to hang it with. Isn't it so cute? I love the meaning behind "When Pigs Fly"! If I EVER got a tattoo, I would want this cute little guy.

Here is a sneak peak of my upcoming project...any guesses?? :)

Milk glass-aholic?

2011-08-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

I have had some awesome luck recently on my treasure hunts. I have been able to find some great deals on some Fire King Milk glass. I have broadened my horizons just a bit when it comes to milk glass. We have opened our home to other beauties besides Fenton Hobnail.

I really, really wanted to plant some real succulents in these Fire King vases. I went to Michael's and got some very real looking artificial succulents. Bonus- They were on clearance, and the manager gave me half off of that price because one was missing a leaf!

I have done tons of googling and have determined that we are in dire need of a diamond tipped bit (to cut some draining holes). This is a win win situation. Me: babe, can we go to Home Depot this weekend? You need a new tool! Hubs: Let's go NOW! :) So we will see how this works...

Here is how my hutch is arranged. Well this picture was actually taken a few weeks ago and I have had the opportunity to add some more pieces since then!

See the white teapot on the bottom shelf? Guess what that Black Damask print is. It is the same vinyl decal that I put on the knife block! I had to cut it a bit to make it stick to a round surface. It looks amazing!

I found this Iron stone vase for $3. I plan to use it for flower arrangements! I love the shape.

Interesting little detail!

FINALLY I have found an elusive Blue Mason jar!!!!!!!! I got it at the "Memphis Flea Market" that is not held in Memphis as the name suggests. It is a vendor show that is in a small town north of Little Rock every so often. I also scored three new Fire King vases over the past few weeks.

Hobby Lobby/Goodwill

2011-06-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

So a couple of months ago I found these wrought iron wall sconce/basket things. They were in the Hobby Lobby clearance section reduced from 19.99 to 4.80. They fit PERFECTLY with my decor and I had to have them. They are over two feet tall so they are pretty big. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with them, but hey, I could figure that part out later, right? :) (that drives the hubby NUTS!)

I did not want to do the typical artificial greenery so I was on the lookout for ideas. I wandered into Dollar Tree on my lunch break and stumbled upon these awesome natural willow decorative balls. They were absolutely perfect and for just a few dollars, I had enough to fill both.

A few weeks later, I brought some donations to Goodwill and went inside. Lo and behold, what did I find? The exact same wrought iron sconce/basket thing! It was a dollar. So now I have three :)

Finally...

2011-06-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

So I have had the materials I needed to make my All American wreath for months now and I FINALLY did it. Working two jobs does really mess up your craft time! :) So without further ado...

I made this one a little different than the one I made for my mother in law. My hubby said he wanted ours not so "fluffy" lol So what do you think?

I tied red, white, and blue ribbons at the pick ups again. I think it is cute and looks like little fireworks!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Ps: Up next...Razorback Wreath!!!

Another Father's Day wreath

2011-06-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

The hubs and I both worked Father's day but we tried to squeeze in some time to celebrate. I made Rosemary Steamed Shrimp and Roasted potatoes off of a recipe from my friend over at http://www.itsamueggelife.com/. YUMM!

I LOVE my plates!!!

Since my father is 12 hours away, he got a card with the promise of future Father's Days to be celebrated. My Father in Law got some crafts. Poor guy. What on earth is he going to do with this?? :)

He is a golfer. I love wreaths. Meet my Golf Wreath! :) I had the crazy idea to run to Home Depot a few weeks ago and get some AstroTurf to make this. I had some golf balls and asked my hubby to cut them in half. Not as easy as we thought so he found some light plastic practice balls and cut them in half. I hot glued them down along with some tees. I made little flags from tooth picks and felt. I made this bow from the cutest golf-y tartan ribbon! I asked my hubs to bring me a score card from their favorite golf course. He wrote in his dad and his brothers names and gave them all fake scores. You can just imagine how amazing his golf game was according to this score card :)

The Astro Turf I bought was the cheapest one they had and was pretty flimsy so I used a wreath form that I found at an antique store to give it some stability. It was UGLY! A wreath shape cut out from plywood that had three geese wearing scarves?? One dollar? Yes, please!

I liked the Golf Wreath SOOO stinkin much that I made one for us to keep. I used a grapevine wreath and glued down the whole golf balls this time.

This one is still waiting for it's score card.

I was lucky enough to find wired ribbon that was still the lovely golf-y tartan so I much prefer this bow!

Happy Father's day to all the awesome dad's (and especially the dad's who didn't have to be) out there!

Nursery projects

2011-06-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

One of my best girlfriends just had her son. They decided on a western theme for his nursery. I wanted to make a custom project and came up with this. This name sign is almost three feet long and about 18 inches. I ordered the wood sign from a wood worker and then covered it with bandanna print fabric. I then outlined it with rope and I LOVE it! So does my friend, so that makes me love it even more!

I had fabric and rope left over so I hit up Hobby Lobby for more things to decorate. We found some picture frames...

A cross...

We also made some wooden blocks into customized Texas blocks :)

We love you Marcy Marc and are looking forward to watching you grow up!

Busy weekend!

2011-05-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

So, I start my part time job tomorrow, after my full time job. I am really excited about it! It is a nice balance to my crazy full time job. As this is my last free weekend, I got to work! Here are some of the projects I worked on today.

Have you been seeing everything jute wrapped lately? I sure have! I ordered a drink a few weeks ago that came in a commemorative glass. Uh, hate those but wanted to save it for this project. I think it turned out really cute. I am into other things besides flowers these days, so I thought these cute berry things would be a good alternative.

On a whim, I made one of those adorable "Lost Sock" boards! I had all the items around the house already so decided to go ahead and do it.

I have been on the hunt for some different lamp shades for some time. I really liked some I saw at Pottery Barn but they are around $50 each. $50 times 3= I don't think so! I had been debating wrapping them in jute as well. I figured, what the heck and tried it!

I think they turned out great! I love the color and the texture.

Wrapping the jute became therapeutic after awhile :) A great project to do while you are watching tv!

My Arkansas basket sure has come in handy. It has become my project caddy! I attempted to Mod Podge a map to the bottom and hated it. I scrubbed it off and will start on my Razorback project soon.

And finally...here she is! What do you think? Funny story behind this one. This wreath is the huge straw wreath I scored for 50 cents. I actually bought a smaller rounded Styrofoam wreath and spent literally hours wrapping it making it perfect. I wanted each wrap perfect and not overlapping. It was ridiculous and I swore I was never making one again. My hubby came home from work and helped me finish. So sweet! I LOVE doing projects with him. He gave me an idea on how to expedite the process so I went ahead and went after the big wreath. On this one, I did NOT stick to my OCD rules and I overlapped like crazy. I actually like this one SO much more.

The rosettes were fun to make. I followed online tutorials and cut a spiral out of felt and rolled it up. I especially like the two tone rosettes!

Love it! I'm sure I will make more...one day.

Father's Day Wreath

2011-05-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

I found this on Be Different, Act Normal and have been on the hunt for the ties ever since! Here is my loot!

If you are not a good hunter, this project can get expensive! Luckily, I was referred to an awesome thrift store where I was able to get ties from 25 cents to 50 cents! So this whole project was under $10 for both the ties and the wire wreath.

I did a huge NO NO and bought something FULL price at Hobby Lobby. You know you should NEVER buy anything full price at Hobby Lobby as everything is on sale every other week. Granted, yes, it was only $2.50, but still!

The original instructions were to get a 14 inch wire wreath, all I could find was a 16 inch. It actually worked better for me as I don't know how I would have fit all 19 ties on a smaller wreath.

First, you have to cut 18 of your 19 ties. (Pick the most appropriate one to serve as your bow. I had a cute red polka dot one that was perfect!) You measure 15 inches up from the bottom point of the tie and cut straight across.

Wrap the tie around the wire wreath until you get the desired length. I think I wrapped it around two and a half times. I secured the first few with a safety pin like the instructions stated.

This totally did not work for me. I ended up using hot glue. But only glue on the last wrap around, as you can still slide the ties around. (The original instructions also stated to sew the rolls to the tie flap when you were done. HA. I knew hot glue was in my future!)

Continue working your way around and be sure to have your ties pre arranged so you can spread out the colors and designs.

Here is a better example of when to put the hot glue.

Woohoo! Now it just needs a bow!

I just wrapped the tie around to get the look I wanted and then hot glued it on. Isn't this tie perfect for a bow?

As soon as I started doing this I was worried about how the ties at the top would stay straight up and not flop over. So I lined the top with hot glue and pressed it together. I didn't fold it over, just squeezed it together, to help ensure that it would stay upright.

Here is the finished back with the "pressed" glue helping them stay upright.

I LOVE it!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Now what to do with the left over tie pieces????

Love it!

2011-05-20T20:22:00.001-07:00

I have no idea what I am doing so let's see what happens when I try to share this awesome post from Lemon Tree Creations!!!

Ok it is not working so I am just going to give the link

http://lemontreecreations.blogspot.com/2011/05/doormat-wall-art.html

She used my favorite scrolly doormat to make art. How cool is that?!!!

Lunch break shopping spree!

2011-05-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

So I work in a SMALL town. It even has an old school Main Street. Granted there is nothing on it except thrift stores and a few boutiques/makeup stores/antique dealers, you know the kind! I went to the shops on one side and found my ties for my Father's Day Wreath. Today I went to the shops on the other side and found a few things! I found an Arkansas shaped basket like this one for two bucks! I can't decide if I should make it red and Mod Podge some Razorback things on it or Mod Podge a map to the bottom. I also found a huge straw wreath to make my yarn wreath on for 50 cents! Time to get to work!

I also got a new banana stand. This is going to sound weird but the last one I had did not work! I swear! The hook was too close to the top and you could not fit bananas on it. Boy was I mad!! Gardenridge does not do exchanges without the receipt so I got to keep a defective banana stand.

But it matches my kitchen decor perfectly don't ya think?

New finds

2011-05-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

I collect Fenton Hobnail Milk Glass and have an ever growing collection. I have recently stumbled upon some Burwood Industries pieces that are plastic replicas of Fenton Hobnail. A few months ago, I found a cute small mirror with an attached sconce at Saver's. It was $1.99 and I had seen it online for about $20. I also found a cute basket shaped wall pocket at an antique mall in Bryant for $2 which I had seen online for about $20 as well.

I had been eyeing this 18 inch mirror but had only found it on Etsy for $69. Today we went to an antique store in Mabelvale and I found it, in mint condition no less, for $4.99! WOOHOO!

I also have been eying this lamp online! Isn't it cool?

I have never seen one like this in person before. I am wanting to change out the lampshades on our living room lamps so I have been looking around for awhile. Lamps are SO pricey! So I was THRILLED when I found a lamp just like this for $4! Even my husband was pleased :)

And since Christmas is ONLY 7 months away (hehe), I talked myself into purchasing an 18 foot lighted pine garland, new in a box for $1.

Upcoming projects

2011-05-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I am not quite sure the proper way to do this but I am going to attempt to show you some of my upcoming projects. I found them from some blogs I follow and I am hoping I can "link" them like you are supposed to!

Ok, so I am trying to decorate for each holiday but this once has stumped me so far...FATHER'S DAY! How do you decorate for that?? I found out thanks to the Father's Day Wreath from the lovely lady at Be Different, Act Normal.

I had THE hardest time finding ties. I immediately went to Goodwill where the ties were $2 each. You need 19 ties so I don't think so. Next, I went to Saver's and the ties were $3.99 each! Yikes! I was about to give up when a coworker suggested a thrift store in the town I work in. Ties were 25 and 50 cents! WOOHOO! So funny that my Tie Wreath will have Yves St Laurent and Oscar De La Renta ties from a thrift store!

Next is this ADORABLE travel map. I have always loved travel and exploration and eventually planned on getting one of those really nice maps that come with the tiny little pins to mark where you have been. Then I found this! From the lady at CRAFT: C.R.A.F.T.: C.R.A.F.T. #78: Interactive Travel Map

I want to do a "Magellan" theme for our hopefully one day little boy nursery! I want to do a whole wall mural of a world map. So this fun map will be perfect!

How adorable are these yarn wreaths??

The tutorial is SUPER simple. You literally wrap yarn around a wreath form. For the flowers, you cut a spiral from felt and then roll it up! When I actually get around to this, I will post a tutorial! (which will hopefully not be for awhile as I am applying for a part time job at a really fun place. So yes, I will have TWO jobs!)

and CHECK THIS OUT from my sweet friend Sharla! She has become the worst influence on me because she gets me SO INSPIRED to create!!!

{It's A Muegge Life}: Tulle Wreath Tutorial

I have one more project to show you, but I almost did something horrible! I almost shared a surprise gift for someone! So that one will have to wait a while. But I promise, it will be worth the wait. One hint...it involves doilies! :)

These are a few of my favorite things

2011-05-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am giving some sneak peeks into our home. Here are some random things that I just adore!!!

I got these at Dillard's 75% off after Christmas. I believe I have 10 and then matching mugs. I LOVE them! How pretty will that look on a crisp white plate?!!

Hobby Lobby cork board. I added a dry erase board so it does double duty for us!

Love this towel holder!

Here is that Kapoosh knife block from my first post. Yes, I am obsessed and added the damask decal to it! I love my little chalk board. I used to have a "chef" themed kitchen and he is my last remnant of it.

Here is the cloche I added the damask decal to. Love it!

Hobby Lobby HUGE cross. It is 3 ft tall and fits perfect don't ya think? :)

One of my "When pigs fly" and my faux cactus garden.

A vintage needlepoint that my sweet friend Ashley surprised me with.

My favorite candlesticks and favorite candles! I am trying to figure out a way to take the solid base off so it will stand on the legs itself. Hmmm.

I will be back soon with more!

Living Room tour

2011-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

This vignette is so special to me. The secretaries desk is an antique from my great grandmother (or is it great-great? I can't ever remember!) The picture frame has pressed roses from our wedding. (I took a rose to Home Depot and had them color match our paint. Our paint is called "Pumpkin Butter" but is actually a really warm and lovely golden yellow. )

I just found this amazing little frame, vase, and wax warmer thingamabobber. (Scentsy here I come!) Right now I am into unpolished silver as I think it looks like mercury glass! Just plop in a fresh rose from the garden and voila!

I found these three boxes at a new market here. I LOVE them!!! They fit perfect under the tv console and secretaries desk!

Here is a quick picture of our living room. SO COMFY!!! My next project is new lampshades! To create or to buy? That is the question!

Picture Overload

2011-05-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful day outside so I just had to snap some pictures :) We are enjoying what will hopefully be our last year here.

This Magnolia, Honeysuckle, and Boxhead tree is HUGE. Maybe about 30 x 50 ft and at least 50 ft tall.

Bloom baby, bloom! I LOVE Magnolias!

Boxhead. So pretty but it drives me allergies crazy!

Honeysuckle! Smells aaaaaaamazing!

Gracie, along for a walk

Some pink and red Honeysuckle

This was hard to get a picture of. You can actually walk into the canopy of the tree. I would love to be a kid and make this like a tree house. It is fun to get inside of there and look up!

Woodpeckers were here

You can see why we have concern for tornadoes!!!

Pecan tree

We planted a small Jasmine plant a few years ago and it has taken off. Please don't mind the overgrown grass. It has been raining like crazy!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2011-05-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Being South Texans and all, of course we celebrate today! We are making Fajitas, Pico De Gallo, Guacamole, and Strawberry Margaritas. Bed Bath and Beyond had these mixes for like 2.99 a couple months ago so we stocked up!

4th of July Wreath

2011-05-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

So, yes, I am aware that it is May but I just can't help myself sometimes! We went to the Hallmark Crown Store last weekend and they had some fun 4th of July wreaths. They were only about $50. No Big Deal. HA! So I bought red, blue, and striped deco poly mesh and created my own. This time I just used a wire wreath form from Michaels as the base. Then I found some cute red, white, and blue ribbon and tied at each pickup. I made this one for my mother in law. We discovered Deco Poly Mesh together and love it. We had all sorts of fun making Christmas wreaths and garlands this past winter. I am planning on making one for each season!

What I have been up to lately

2011-05-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

I had some store credit left over at a furniture store. What on earth can you get at a furniture store for 12 bucks? UGLY clearance picture frames! I had an idea for those ugly, ugly things. Bless their hearts they were bad, but again, no before picture. sigh. I removed the ugly red, orange, and brown circles and stripes that were there and made them picture frames, within a picture frame. I found some lovely scrapbook paper that matched our living room decor and mod podged it in. I am planning on putting some pretty black and white pictures in them!

This is our baby, Gracie. She has been a good girl and got a new toy, Gumby! How funny!

Some more Goodwill finds. The tissue holder and both swirly candle holders were a buck. I found these gorgeous vintage amber carnival glass sconces (50 cents) and turned them into candle holders. I hot glued a piece of our clear plastic cutting board to the bottom so the votives wouldnt leak out. (Speaking of, I got those Yankee votive candles from Target. 4.98 for a pack of 18. Yup, they sold them individually for 1.98 each but if you bought 18 they were only 4.98. mmm k? Needless to say, I bought the last two packs they had. Cranberry Chutney, our second favorite Yankee Candle scent!)

And on a sad note, the weather. I just saw a news brief that said the new death total for last weeks storms is over 300 people :( We made it through ok but that was the most scared I have ever been in my life. Our house is surrounded by HUGE trees that are very capable of smushing our house into the ground. The next morning I saw this, the house across the road from us.

Wow. They were lucky, we were all so lucky. Every day we are so lucky to live another day.

Life is so fleeting. Let us be good to one another!

I heart Goodwill!

2011-05-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, so just a few years ago I would have turned my nose at anything from a thrift store. I gave to Goodwill, not shopped at Goodwill. Then one day, my life changed. I was taking several bags of donated clothes to a local shelter and they gave me a coupon for 30% off just for donating. I said "oh, no thank you" but the worker gave the coupon to my hubby anyways. (So really this is all HIS fault!!!) So we thought, what the heck let's see what they have. I had always been curious if I would find things I had donated inside lol

I stick to looking at home goods and have found some AMAZING things! I always feel guilty as if I am stealing when I find something that is in great condition at an amazing price. Usually that price is 1.99. I have a hard time paying $30 for something but I will easily buy 15 things at 2 bucks a pop. So if I am bored or have an urge to shop, I stop by our local Goodwill, Savers, or Salvation Army! I think of it like this...Many people hunt for animals. I hunt...for treasures! Most times I don't find anything, but when I do, I always find something cool! I also always wonder the story behind the items. I wonder why this person gave something so special away. Did they not know the significance of it or how valuable it was? Well, whatever their reasons were, they helped out the community by donating and helped me too!

My favorite finds so far

-The Better Homes and Garden desk and 2 chairs

-Grapevine Wreath covered in Hydrangeas

-Jim Shore Christmas Angel

-Tons of milk glass

-Vintage Carnival glass pieces

-Silver platters

-Brand new books from my favorite author, Patricia Cornwell

-A glass and bamboo cloche ( I will post a pic soon! LOVE it!)

-Spice rack that fits my kitchen perfectly!

-tons of candlesticks for projects

-random stuff to craft with.

I am going to start posting all my finds on here!

So that brings me to my latest find.

I am sorry that I did not remember to take a "before" picture as I started working on it as soon as I got home! It is a wooden serving piece. It was 2 bucks at Goodwill and was in great condition. I painted it with Krylon Black Satin paint and then mod podged some scrapbook paper to the bottom. It is fabulous!

Does it remind you of anything??? For those of you who know me, you know I am obsessed with these!!! I am planning on giving you a tour of my kitchen soon, so you can see just how obsessed I am with black and white and damask :)

Another great source to give and receive from is Freecycle. I heard about it when we moved to Arkansas and was excited to join. I have given plenty of awesome things that I was tired of but were still in perfect condition. It is a great thing to donate than to just throw away! "upcycling" is fun and I highly recommend it! Do something good for others as well as our environment.

Better late than never

2011-04-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry I have been MIA. One post and then nothing. I am still figuring out how this works, so bear with me! I am having trouble getting the pictures in the order I want!

So here is a follow up of the chairs from my first post. I intended to keep the two tone look and meticulously taped off the chair seat around all the spindles of the chair. Needless to say, all that work was in vain! After sanding them for hours it seemed, I ended up just spray painting these babies. They look great!

So total cost...

Chairs= FREE

Two cans of spray paint =$4.50

$175 in my pocket!

2011-04-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

So today we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get one of those Kapoosh knife blocks. We have been debating getting one for some time but finally decided to do it. We think (hope) this will be best for us because we have a hard time finding a complete knife block set we like. I take that back...We have found PLENTY of knife block sets we love, but we do not love the price!!! So this will allow us to get the individual knifes we want and still have them together in a block! $29.99 minus our 20% off coupon.

On our way back to the house we stopped at this home store called Austin's. Turns out is a "vendor mall" where there are individual booths that people rent to sell their goods. Too bad it is SUPER EXPENSIVE! It is all brand new stuff and cohesive throughout the shop, so I was surprised that it was different vendors!

So this brings me to the $175 we saved. I can not pass up a good thrift store so we had to stop next door at Savers. I found a cute little Milk Glass mirror (I will post about it later when I get it all cleaned up and purty!). We were about to leave when I spotted the furniture section. These darn blogs I follow get me TOO inspired sometimes. I just wanted to "look" and see what I could see. Outrageous prices for crappy pieces and then...

This desk and two chairs!

The desk was marked 9.99 and the chairs 2.99 each. When we went to pay the manager insisted that the desk and chairs were 9.99 together! Ok lady sheesh! :) The desk is in perfect condition but does not have knobs on the drawer. Which means YAY! I get to go shopping for new knobs! I love pretty knobs. Anthropologie here I come! (For inspiration only silly! Then I go find the same thing for only a few dollars some where else!) The chairs on the other hand...that will be another post! :)