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Taking expensive ideas & turning them into my own ideas!

{ Painted Pumpkins }

by Filed Under: creativity, fall, fall decor, halloween decor, painted pumpkins, painting, pumpkins 15 Comments

Feeling a little bit giddy about my next project… Painted pumpkins, eek! I really love pumpkins and this year I have the desire to go outside-the-box and personalize them! Painting pumpkins can be a fabulous way to let your creativity shine. No matter your style: spooky, retro, eclectic, or glam, use your favorite colors and designs and get to creating!
 
I can’t wait to share my project with you this weekend! In the mean time here (below) is where I’m getting some of my inspiration from 🙂


Anyone Can Decorate

Alabama Living



Dearest Someday

Alisa Burke: Redifine Creativity
 

Feeling Lovesome
 

Simple, Delicious Chili Recipe+

by Filed Under: chili, comfort foods, delicious recipe, fall, fall foods, recipe-1, recipes, simple recipes 34 Comments

I love me some comfort food for Fall and Winter.. I’ve already made my first pot of chili this Fall season, and it was delicious! So good, I thought, I’d share my recipe with all of you 🙂

This is really a simple recipe so and tasty! Here’s what you’re going to need :

  • Crock pot or large pot
  • 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed
  • 1 can chili beans
  • 1 can stewed tomatoes
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
  • 1 small onion, chopped (optional, I didn’t add because my son doesn’t liked “cooked” onion)
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • salt, pepper, chili powder , oregano and garlic salt to taste

Start by browning your meat in a frying pan. While meat is browning, begin opening and rinsing your beans, then add to crock pot. Also add your stewed and diced tomatoes.  If you chose to use onion, dice it up and add it to your meat for flavor. Add just a couple of dashes of salt, pepper, chili powder , oregano and garlic taste. I don’t measure, I just eye it! Continue to cook until meat is fully cooking and fragrant. Add meat to crock pot and stir all ingredients together. Add a half cup of water. Turn your crock pot on high for 2-2 1/2 hours and cook! If you prefer more liquid, just add an additional half cup of water. You’re all done!

This recipe is a family favorite! It’s quick to put together, simple ingredients and very reasonable! Have fun with toppings for your chili. You can use the traditional shredded cheddar cheese on top, a dollop of sour cream, crushed crackers or do something different! This time I chopped up fresh white onion and green pepper and a few fritos, it was soo yummy!

{ Free Card from Cardstore.com }

by Filed Under: birthday card, birthdays, Cardstore.com, free, free card, sponsored ad 6 Comments

Here’s a little {fun fact}: September has one the the highest percentages of birthdays compared to other months! With that being said, Cardstore.com knows just how important birthdays are, and they want to have a week long shin-dig and let everyone get one free card! Use coupon code CCL2673 at checkout from Monday 9/17 through Sunday 9/23. You are able to personalize your choice of card with pictures, quotes or personal sayings for you and that special someone! Cardstore.com will even send it directly to their mailbox, stamp included! You can even pick the delivery date if you don’t have any September birthdays coming up! Birthdays are a big deal, so head over and pick out your free card to get you started!

This offer is good now through this Sunday, 9/23/12 at 11:59pm ET. Enjoy!

FREE Cards + FREE Shipping at Cardstore.com! Use code: CCL2673, Valid 9/17 thru 9/23.

{ Super Cute Fall Printable }

by Filed Under: fall printable, free printable, pictures, printable 10 Comments

I’m crazy about printables!! It’s such a simple way to change up your pictures for the Holidays, kids’ rooms, bathrooms, etc. And depending on the picture quality and your printer, you can get an (almost) perfect printout right at home ( no one will ever know the difference!! ) I found this super cute free Fall printable at  Craftily Ever After. Head over to her site to save it to your desktop and print it out!

Mine looks fabulous on my formal dining room table, take a look!!

 

 

{ Fall Wreath #2 }

by Filed Under: burlap, burlap bow, crafts, diy, diy fall wreath, dollar tree, fall wreath, michaels, pumpkins 30 Comments

I made my first fall wreath a couple weeks back ( you can view it here ) and I seriously couldn’t wait to make another one! For the price, you really can’t beat playing around and using your creativity! This project cost me a whopping $5! I love it!!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

  • 12 inch grapevine wreath
  • Glue gun, glue
  • Flowers, or Fall leaves
  • Pumpkins ( or preferred decor )
  • Burlap for bow ( this wasn’t included in my cost because I already had it )

Again, my grapevine wreath and all flowers I used were from DollarTree! The orange pumpkins came from Michaels, $1 for a 2 pack. For your flowers, simply pull the flower heads off of the stems and set aside. It’s always a good idea to play around with what you want your design to look like before you begin gluing things into place. Once you’re satisfied, begin gluing your flower pieces in the middle of the wreath and work outward. This will ensure your work from being crooked! Remember, you can add as little, or as much as you want! Use your creativity and have fun 🙂 Once everything is glued into place, it’s time to make your bow! I used ivory burlap for mine. Start by cutting three 2 inch sections of burlap ( or fabric ). With the first piece, tie a knot in the center, keeping the middle loose. Fold the ends into the middle and glue into place. Grab your additional two pieces of burlap and glue the ends together ( forming a loop ). Grab the center of the burlap, fold and glue into place; do this for the remaining piece as well. Make an “X” with those two pieces and put the bow ( the first piece you made ) in the center and glue.

There you have it! It’s honestly, that, simple! You can create wreathes like it’s going out of style now 😉 Give them as gifts, etc!

 

 

Sharing this project on these fabulous sites!
 

{ Incredible Offer from Cardstore.com }

by Filed Under: birthday cards, Cardstore.com, great deal, party invitations 2 Comments

At Cardstore.com, Wednesdays are the new Friday. This week, the Invite Insanity theme is Birthday Party Invites. Today, 9/12, for a full 24 hours, all BIRTHDAY INVITES are 75% off when you use coupon code CAL2136 at checkout! Could it get any better than that?! At this price, you can stock up on invites for upcoming parties for an entire year! You’ll find more than enough inspiration with Cardstore’s selection of Birthday Party Invitations. They offer a great variety of themes, colors and milestones! After you personalize the perfect party invite, you can have Cardstore address and send them for you at no extra cost! Stop by Cardstore.com today and start planning a party that will be that your guests will be jealous you thought of first!

TODAY ONLY! 75% off Birthday Invites at Cardstore.com! Use code: CAL2136, Cannot be combined with any other offer. Valid 9/12/12 Only.

TODAY ONLY! 75% off Birthday Invites at Cardstore.com! Use code: CAL2136

Up-cyled Play kitchen

by Filed Under: Bejamin Moore, chalkboard, diy, fun for kids, furniture, kids play kitchen, paint, Target, upcyle 36 Comments

I’ve just fell in love with the adorable play kitchens I’ve been seeing all over Pinterest this past year. So, I had the itch to make one for my babies ( along with my hubbies help of course!) This is such a great way to up-cyle that unwanted piece of furniture you no longer need. Whether it be a bookshelf, nightstand, armoire, tv stand, etc! In our case, my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law gave us a media stand (he built it in the 90’s by the way!!) and I knew it would be perfect!
We headed to Andersons and bought Benjamin Moore’s paint in Cumulus Cloud. This is such a gorgeous color! It’s a light gray with a hint of brown, which goes with our decor! I opted for a light color so I could make it ‘pop‘ with the accessories!
Here’s what your going to need for this project:
  • Piece of furniture to up-cyle (as suggested above)
  • Preferred paint
  • Chalkboard paint
  • Circular saw
  • Bowl for sink
  • Caulk/Silicon
  • Scrap wood
  • Wood glue
  • Brushed nickel (or chrome) spray paint
  • 4 knobs/handles
  • Scrap fabric
  • Glue gun, fabric glue, velcro
We did not prime our wood because the paint we bought had a primer already in it! This saved us a little bit of time 🙂 Start by removing any doors and hardware and set aside. My husband used a circular saw to cut a whole the size of the bowl we chose for the sink. He used a heavy duty caulking to attach the bowl. I bought all the supplies (bowl, small tins, silverware and chalk from Target dollar corner!). Let the caulk dry completely. We put two thick coats of paint on the entire piece. I couldn’t be more happy with this color!! While the paint was drying, my husband used scrap wood we already had and began to cut two “J’s” for the faucet and a rectangular piece for the faucet to rest on. He glued the “J’s” together with wood glue and and clamped together until dry. I layed out a piece of cardboard and begin to prime all the hardware, faucet and pieces. After the primer was dry, I used Kyrlon’s Satin Nickel spray paint, two even coats on all the pieces.
Once the cabinet piece we were using as the oven was dry we taped it off and begin to spray it with chalkboard paint. I would recommend two or three light coats of this (follow directions on bottle). We grabbed the two cabinet pieces we were using as the refrigerator doors and sprayed the handles with the satin nickel spray paint as well. We let everything dry completely overnight. The next morning we were excited to get this piece finished, and so were the kids!
We began to reassemble all the cabinets and hardware. We had extra knobs from when we moved into our house that we decided to use. The faucet knobs were yellow and white gingham, so cute! We still needed fabric for the “curtain’s” so we headed to Hobby Lobby and I let my son pick out a piece of scrap fabric he liked. We ended finding a super cute, scrolly design in ivory and orange. It was $2.69 for a 1/2 yard. I also picked up a roll of Velcro to attach to the fabric and cabinet. Once we were back home, I cut the fabric and used fabric glue to secure the loose ends. I used the same fabric glue to attach a piece of the Velcro directly to the fabric, and let dry. Heat your glue gun attach the other piece of Velcro together, and glue the backing generously. Attach this directly to the wood of your kitchen, pressing down until dry. There was enough extra fabric to use as a “dish towel” for the kids to play with!
Just add your accessories and your done! I bought two teal tins for $1 each from Target. One holds the chalk and the other holds utensils. I scored a wire rack from goodwill for .34 cents and spray painted it yellow gold. We also had some play food to add to the fridge, but plan to get more!
This was such a fun project to finish! The kids will have a blast playing with it this Fall/Winter!
The total cost for this project was well under $10 for us. Note, we used a lot of things we already had!
                                    
                        
 
Sharing this project on these lovely sites!

{ Dresses- Shabby Apple }

by Filed Under: deal, dresses, Fall Collection, offer, Shabby Apple 4 Comments

Are you a dress lover? I am!! I’m so glad that dresses are all the fad right now.. They’re fun, flirty, and so feminine! I’ll throw on a comfy dress to run errands during the day, and spice it up by wearing a stylish little lace dress at night! Nothing makes you feel sexier than the perfect dress!

With that said, some of my favorite dresses are out right now from Shabby Apple! It’s a total toss up for me between the Alice dress and The Red Queen, wow gorgeous! I’m crazy about lace, Tiffany blue and red. These are stunning! Have you checked out their new Fall Collection?! You better head over there and check it out.. like now!

But before you go, I have a fabulous offer for you to use on your purchase! Use code: favorite10 at checkout to receive 10% off you entire order (code expires 9/14/12)! Go girl, shop!!

Dresses from Shabby Apple

{ Family Vacation 2012 }

by Filed Under: beach, family vacation, hilton head 16 Comments

Well here’s a little recap of our family vacation to Hilton Head, SC.

It was our first time to Hilton Head, so we didn’t really know what to expect! With Tropical Storm Issac out of the way, we were dreading that there would be bad weather, that wasn’t at all the case! We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather 🙂

The first day of vaca we headed to the beach!! The water was like bath water, so warm! We had a great time treading the water and jumping waves! About three hours of us being there, I had my little Isabella on my hip walking about waste deep in the water, when I felt stinging in multiple places on both of my legs, and I could feel something brushing against my legs… I (slightly) started to freak out!! I told my husband, take the baby I just got stung by a jelly fish!! We couldn’t get out of the water fast enough, it was awful, burning pain. My husband ran over the life guard on duty and she gave him a mixture of vinegar and salt water to spray on the fresh stings. It burned for quiet awhile, but all I could think about is how lucky we were that Isabella didn’t get stung too! Needless to say, we left the beach for the day, but I wasn’t going to let this ruin our vaca, not on the first day!!

We spent our days playing in the pool, sunning, building sandcastles, watching the sunsets, walking on the beach, searching for seashells and sand dollars, enjoying good seafood and lots of shopping 🙂

Oh, and Christian lost tooth #2!!!! He was so ecstatic! The tooth fairy even paid him a visit 😉

Christian learned how to swim too 🙂 I was so proud of my little man this trip, he did so well! It just goes to show, truly, how quickly they grow up…

I was soo worried about how Isabella would sleep on this trip. She’s a baby that loves her crib, so I didn’t know how she would do about being away from it. We took a pack-and-play and set it up in our room first thing when we got there. I packed all her babies and ellie and blankets. The minute she saw all her “friends” she wanted to hop in. She blew me away the whole trip.. She took naps mid afternoon for about two-three hours, and slept the entire night without a peep! What a huge relief for Mommy and Daddy 🙂

We were extremely blessed, and had a fabulous vacation with family! I can’t wait to do it again next year, minus the 13 hours car ride, blahh ;(

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