That Village House

Dining Room Reveal {still in progress}

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

I shared with you a week or so ago about how I had big plans for the dining room. Well, I'm here to show you how it turned out {So Far}!

Sorry for the quality. I don't know what I'm doing with my camera! :( And it was taken the night we finished up.

Remember the before?

It wasn't terrible... but just didn't have any character. So, we spent several days/nights working on this room and came up with this result.

I am really excited about how it turned out and can't wait to get the rest of it finished. We still have a ways to go.... new blinds {seriously, how can someone's dog ruin EVER blind in one house? the previous owner must have had quite the dog!}, new curtains, and a new buffet/hutch/something because I sold the piano on Craigslist. You know how much I love craigslist because I talked about it here and here.

Come back Monday to see the Tutorial for my version of Board and Batten.

Kids Puzzle Storage Solution

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

If you have small children, chances are you have a few of these laying around the house.

Well, we had a ton of them and they were starting to outgrow their storage spot. {No before pic...I didn't think this was blog-worthy until after I cut all but two boxes apart!} I decided it was time to fix that and thanks to an idea I saw my sister-in-law using I have condensed their space from one basket to two!

All it takes is a pair of scissors and sandwich bags.

Cut the front of the box off so that the puzzle image is all that's left (it's a good idea to also cut around the number so you'll know how many puzzle pieces you should have for each puzzle). Place that inside a sandwich bag along with all the pieces and Voila!! That's it.

Now all the puzzles are stored nicely in individual bags, with their picture and without the bulky space-consuming boxes.

I went from two of these baskets OVERFLOWING with boxes to one basket with room to spare.

I'm happy to be rid of these things.... and glad to have a free basket to be cluttered up with more of my kiddos things! :)

Saving your Silhouette SD designs to PDF

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-06:00

I'm going to show you something that will change your life! Okay, well it's not THAT big of a deal...but I am pretty excited about it.

I have a Silhouette SD and I've never really used it as much as I think I could. My main issue had been the print and cuts. I love the idea and I love being able to design things and have the machine cut it out EXACTLY as it is on the screen. My problem has been my printer though. It's not a terrible printer, but the quality isn't what I want it to be if I'm designing cupcake toppers, banners, gift tags, etc. Our local copy center does a good job for a relatively great price. But I couldn't figure out how to save my files in a format that could be emailed or opened by their computers. {Silhouette automatically saves things as .studio files}

Thankfully, after literally MONTHS of looking I found a tutorial that showed me how I could save to PDF formats. Hallelujah!! Seriously this just opened the floodgate of what I will create on the Silhouette!

Here's how you do it.

First off... create your design. Make sure you Show Registration Marks

Then go to File. Print.

This should bring up a new window where you can select to print to Adobe PDF
If you don't see that option then you need to load Adobe on your computer.

Once you select "Print" it will bring a new window up where you can name and actually save your file.

And there you have it! A file ready and able to send to a copy center so you can have a great print quality on your Silhouette files if your personal printer isn't doing a great job!

Keep in mind to SAVE your file also as a Silhouette Studio file so that once your ready to cut using the machine you can open it up again and it will know what it's supposed to be cutting. :)

I hope this helps you. If you need the video tutorial that I discovered you can find it here.

Christmas Card Books

2012-01-21T00:01:00.001-06:00

So I realize it's the end of January and everyone is on to Valentine's things (including me!). But honestly, I haven't had a chance to even put up all of my Christmas stuff! Please tell me that I'm not alone??

So if you'll bear with me, I've found a new plan for my Christmas cards this year that I'm really excited about. Christmas Card Books!

Christmas cards are something I just hate parting with. And now I don't have to! This is such a clever way to display your cards, year after year.

I'm thinking the coffee table will be the perfect place for them to all land.

And since so many cards these days have pictures on the back, this is a great way to be able to flip through them with ease.

To download this cover, click here.

Then you'll be able to write in the year, or use stickers. Whatever you'd like.

Print it out on card stock and use a hole puncher on all of your cards. If you have a 3 hole punch (although you only need 2 holes), THIS is the time to use it! Holy moly, my hand hurts. But totally worth it!

Thank you eighteen25 for sharing such a GREAT idea! Check out some of the other ways they've decorated their books. So cute and clever!

Valentine's decor

2012-01-19T00:38:00.000-06:00

I had a few minutes this morning to bring out the rest of my Valentine's decorations. Since I have so little Valentine decor, it really did just take me a few minutes! But here it is, none the less. Full of pink, red & LOVEly things...

These apothecary jars are great for every season. For Halloween, they looked like this. And for Christmas I used J-O-Y with red bows (sorry no picture).

And here is the window frame I finished this weekend. To see how I made it, click here. A big thanks to House of Smiths for the inspiration!

Silhouette Cameo!

2012-01-18T00:12:00.000-06:00

I just ordered a Silhouette machine!

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to get it and start using it!!

Truth be told, I've been using a Silhouette machine (Lindsay's Silhouette machine) for months now. She's been so sweet to let me borrow it and then borrow it again for countless little projects that I've needed it for.

So I'm now on the look out for more Silhouette projects!

How Does She has a ton of ides! 44 to be exact. Everything from clothes and coffee mugs to temporary tattoos. It's all so exciting!

Now if only I could find the time to try out all of these ideas!

Do you have any Silhouette projects that you love??

Valentine window

2012-01-17T00:34:00.004-06:00

Do you remember my $10 window pane from Round Top?

It looked like this for Christmas.

But this weekend I wiped off the "JOY" and painted something more Valentine's-y.

It's a sweet and simple 30 minute project.

I printed off LOVE in a font that I liked and positioned it on the top left corner of the window.

I wanted the word to look a little more whimsical, so with a black sharpie I extended the lines and curve of the L and V.

I then printed off 2 pictures of birds that I found online (rest assured, I did NOT draw that bird!). The 2nd bird is on the other side of the paper and too faint to see here. I then penciled in a VERY basic branch for the 2 birds to sit on. I didn't have a large enough piece of paper to cover the window, so that's why all of these pages are taped together. Not the most professional way of doing things, but it got the job done!

I taped everything down on THE FRONT of the window, before flipping it over.

Then, on THE BACK, I used pink and brownish-grey paint to trace the outline of the picture. I let it dry for 10 minutes and then used a 2nd coat so that it wouldn't look translucent. I'm baffled that you can't see the 2nd bird in this picture. I swear it's there!

There it is! 2 sweet love birds :)

I like it so much that I'm actually sad that I'll have to take it down after Valentine's Day. Maybe I can just erase the LOVE? I'm not sure.

Any thoughts??

Some of my favorite things...

2012-01-13T13:45:00.004-06:00

Do you ever wonder what people use in real-life that they just love!!? Well, I always enjoy seeing other bloggers telling about products that they use and love (that they aren't getting paid to tell you about!). So, today is our first (and maybe only installment, depending on how this goes! ha) of "My Favorite Things". Unlike Oprah, you aren't going to get to win any of these things... but maybe one of these days we'll introduce you to something you didn't know about and would want!
In no particular order...here's my list of current favs.

1. Streaming Netflix to my TV.

We love this in our house so much that we recently downgraded our satellite service to the basic package. We found that the kids shows are all on Netflix and we were not watching cable near as much as we should be...for what we were paying!! Our TV came loaded with Netflix ready capabilities and it has been so great! If you've not tried it...you should.

2. The Jesus Storybook Bible

I work in a preschool part-time at our church. One of the other teachers turned us on to this book and it's really so good! I bought it for every family "set" at our family Christmas. We've all seen other Children's Bibles and day-by-day readings but this is the first one that I've ever read that points to Jesus at the end of EVERY STORY!! How many times have we read or told stories about the Burning Bush, 10 plagues, Red Sea crossing and left it at that. The author brilliantly weaves our ultimate need for Jesus and our need of rescue in every story. If you have small kids, or grandkids, or nieces/nephews, etc this is a must have!

3. Have a New Kid by Friday

Okay, so my kids aren't totally changed...but this book has given me great insights into discipline that doesn't involve me yelling, threatening with consequences and bribes. If you have kids from birth-18 this book is for you!

4. Flipz

Oh dear! They had these (and the white chocolate ones) in the Dollar Spot at Target last week and I bought four bags... They are heavenly!

5. Babyliss hair straightener

I've tried the Chi, the cheapo versions of a straightener and this is by far the best I've used. The Chi broke on me 3 times... (I bought 3 of them before I finally wised up)! If you spend any amount of time using a straightener you know how long and tedious the process can be and if you have partially wavy hair like me then straightening is a must-do EVERY STINKING DAY! This one gets hot enough (some don't!), doesn't pull your hair (some do!) and hasn't broken yet after DAILY use and sometimes HOURS AND HOURS of "ON" time (oops!).

6. Turbie Twist

Okay, so this one seems silly to me. I got one for Christmas as what I think was a 'filler' present (am I right, Mom?). I thought I'd give it a try and I'm telling you this thing works!! It's an absorbent towel that keeps a low profile and stays on your head. How many times have you tried to get dressed with the huge bath towel wrapped around your head?! This one actually allows for that. I put it on out of the shower, get dressed, do my make-up and then dry my hair and it saves me a LOT of drying time.

So, how about you? Any of these your favorites too? Or what's your favorite thing right now?

Beauty & the Beast Birthday Party

2012-01-11T00:02:00.000-06:00

Be our guest, be our guest!!

Welcome to Addison's 4th birthday party!

Our formal luncheon was inspired by the dinner party scene from Beauty and the Beast, my daughter's favorite movie. I decorated with tea cups and hung pearls from the chandelier. All of the girls came in their favorite princess dresses and I served pink lemonade and heart shaped pb&j's. I put fake flowers on the front porch topiaries and hung our spring wreaths with pink ribbon. I made princess tiaras for each girl and put them on the back of their chairs.

After lunch, the girls played dress up and made princess wands. I stocked this dresser full of my daughter's dress-up clothes, plastic necklaces and princess shoes and set out lip gloss and princess dust. The sparkle dust ended up making a mess, but they LOVED it! Note to self: next time, no lip gloss. :)

I set out jewel shaped stickers for the girls to decorate princess wands. We wrote their names on the back once they were done so that they could take them home as party gifts.

My friend Merideth (future event coordinator!) had a great idea of setting up Belle's library! So I laid out pillows and princess books for the girls to flip through. It was a soft landing spot for girls to plop down after all of the excitement and sugar rush.

It was a sweet party with precious attendees!

Thank you to all who helped make Addi's day so special!

Thank you to Lindsay for letting me borrow extra princess attire.

Thank you to Merideth for great ideas and inpiration.

Thank you to Cake Junkie (College Station) for the wonderful Belle cake.

Thank you to Katie for helping me pass juice & cake.

Thank you to Maleigh for helping me clean up juice, cake and princess dust!

And thank you to my husband Ben, for letting me put on silly parties that make me (and my daughter) happy. I truly LOVE doing it!

Links and inspiration:

Belle Breakfast Soiree by Melissa Darst Photography

a sweet friend and awesome photographer!

Princess wands by Lu Bird BABY

Story time by Hostess with the Mostess

Laundry Room Rug

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-06:00

I finally found a rug I liked for the laundry room! Whoo-hoo! Remember when I blogged about the laundry room before? Well I mentioned needing a rug, new light fixture and curtains. So, One down... two to go!!

I think I am going to be okay with the fact that it isn't a "back door" mat... and is slightly longer than the washer/dryer. I have plans for this space here anyway so eventually I'd love to build something like this...

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That would help fill the void and make more sense to have a rug in front of it too. But for now I'm happy that one out of the 5 needed spaces in my home has a rug!

I do have one tiny complaint though...
If you've read our blog for too long you'll notice that we are big fans of Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc. But isn't it just plain annoying when you find something you love there - and they only have ONE but you need TWO, or three, or four?! Also, I'd love to be able to get a matching rug in a different size, but since it was found at TJ Maxx... they only have the one and only, solo runner in that pattern. Oh my! I have scoured the internet looking for the maker of the rug but have come up empty in my search! Woe is me...

For all of you fellow TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods fans... happy hunting! :)

Dining Room Progress

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

Step one of my dining room makeover has been completed!!! Wondering what step one was?

Convicing my husband that we really do need to do board and batten all around the room...and that yes, we really can do it ourselves. Honestly, it didn't take that much convincing. I've got a handy man and one who is willing to put up with my decorating whims.

I've been searching the internet for what I want the room to look like and I've put together a few inspiration photos.... Thank you Pinterest!

Rug... I just ordered a jute rug like this one today from Overstock.com. I debated about going with a floral pattern, but was afraid I'd get tired of the pattern before the rug wore out. This way I can change color schemes without having to change the rug. {I also love the color of the walls}

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I love the tablescape on this table. So, I'll be looking for candlesticks here pretty soon.

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Curtains! I really want to have buffalo check curtains somewhere in my house... and the dining room is great place to start I guess. Not sure of the color I'd go with yet...and these are actually striped (but I think they look buffalo check-ish).
{source}

I am loving the color in these two rooms.

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I want the board and batten to end up looking like this...

{source}

I'm really hoping to get productive this week. But it's the first week back to school for our kids... and me to my part-time job. Soooo.... maybe this is just a good project for January. Oh, let's just be honest... it's a good project for February too!

How I "Envision" Things

2012-01-07T00:01:00.000-06:00

We've lived in our current house for about 6 months now. I have a list a mile long of things to get around to doing. For some reason I have had a fear of commitment in hanging anything on the walls and a case of wishy-washyness...yes I'm declaring that a word...on colors, styles, etc.

So, today I decided that I am going to start making decisions. And how do I do that since I have a fear of commitment and wishy-washyness? BLUE tape!

Yep, that's right...that's my markings of where a 5x8 rug would go. I needed to see if it would work, or if I needed to go bigger. {Decision: BIGGER}

I also really want to add some board and batten to this room. The house is too "traditional" for me so I need to add some cottage-y casualness. So I marked a line on the wall 5' up so I could visualize how it may look. {Decision: I LIKE IT}

Then I found some artwork online today that I liked so I wanted to see how it may look up on top of the board and batten. {Decision: UNDECIDED about the art but I think I like the concept, ha!}

My husband comes home tomorrow from a two-week trip to East Asia. I have two questions: How long will it take him to notice? And, How long will it take him to figure out he's got some work to do?! :) Gotta love a good Mr. Handyman!

Am I the only odd ball? Do any of you do stuff like this to help make your decisions and visualize changes?

Update your contacts

2012-01-06T00:16:00.000-06:00

Use your cute Christmas cards to update your contact list!

Just take a picture of the card and save it to that contact. This is perfect for my friends who I don't already have a picture for or who aren't on facebook.

Love it!

new New Year's tradition

2012-01-03T15:46:00.006-06:00

I've started a new tradition this year~ video interviews of each of my kids on New Year's Day. I ask them what their name is, who their friends are, what their favorite food is, etc. They loved it, and I love that I'll have videos from every year that capture who they were and what they were like. I'm sure as they get older, my questions will change to suit their age. After the first round of this year's basic questions, I kind of just let it go from there. At one point my daughter sang the ABC's and demonstrated her favorite dance moves. And I couldn't help but laugh at some responses I got. Apparently my 4 year old's favorite thing to do is to share her toys with her sister. Ha! What a ham!

I got the idea (and this picture) from How Does She.

She had some great questions to start with.

1. What is your name?
2. How old are you?
3. What is your mom’s name?
4. What does your mom do during the day?
5. What is your dad’s name?
6. What does your dad do during the day?
7. What is your favorite color?
8. What is your favorite thing to eat? (what don’t you like to eat?)
9. Who are your friends?
10. What is your favorite song? Can you sing it for me?
11. What is your sister’s name?
12. What is your favorite place to go?
13. What is your favorite thing to do?
14. What do you like about your Mommy? (Daddy, sister, etc.)
15. What do you want to be when you grow up?
16. What is your favorite book?
17. What does (sister/brother) like to do?

Go ahead, grab your video camera (mine was in the back of the closet) and get rolling! It takes 10 minutes and you'll be glad years from now that you have more videos of your kids.

Best of 2011

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Can you believe 2011 is coming to an end!? I can't. We thought we'd do a recap of the best of 2011. Thanks to you we've had over 100,000 page views. We know that may seem small to some of you readers...but to us that's amazing for two moms who use this blog as an outlet for our hobby!! Thank you!

So, here's our list of your favorite 5 posts we've done this year.
5. DIY Cafe Shelves (Ballard Knock Off)

4. Baseball scoreboard wall art

3.Kitchen Table Redo

2. Cowboy/Cowgirl Birthday party

1. DIY Stick Horses

We hope that 2012 brings with it INSPIRATION (and TIME)! With six kids under the age of 5 between the two of us, Tiffany and I enjoy this outlet to share with you what we find/do/create and are inspired by. Thanks to our husbands who give us the encouragement and allow us the girl time to do what we do!

Getting Ready for the New Year!

2011-12-29T15:07:00.003-06:00

The year is almost over... and I have cleared out all my Christmas decor and I am staring at a LOT of blank spaces.

Oh my... I have a ton of work to do. My hubby is out of the country until after the New Year so I have my work cut out for me with the goal to be done by the time he comes home!! Wish me luck.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:54:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas

We hope that you're having a wonderful Christmas and pray that Christ dwells in your heart today and always!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11

Love Lindsay & Tiffany

MIL Sugar Tea Cakes

2011-12-22T02:12:00.003-06:00

These are the best sugar cookies EVER!

And you guessed it, they're my mother-in-law's recipe.

I've started making them every year for her birthday and this year I wised up and made enough for myself! The best thing about them is that you probably have all of the ingredients already in your pantry. (Maybe with the exception of cream of tarter. What other recipe calls for that?)

Anyway... here ya go!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 sticks margarine

1 c Wesson oil

1 c powered sugar

1 c sugar

1 t cream of tartar

1 T vanilla extract

1 t almond extract

1 t baking soda

4 1/2 c flour

Directions:

Sift together flour, cream of tarter & baking soda. Set aside.

Beat margarine, oil & sugar until creamy.

Add eggs. Add vanilla and almond extract.

Add flour and stir until it becomes dough-y :)

Refrigerate dough overnight. Then pinch of pieces and press each cookie (with a glass dipped in sugar) onto an un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes on 350.

Enjoy!!

Quick Gift Tags

2011-12-21T00:40:00.000-06:00

I ran out of gift tags early this year, so I decided to make my own.

I just used my paper cutter, wrapping paper and double sided tape.

They were cute, different, and didn't require another trip to Target!

Window Painting

2011-12-20T07:38:00.002-06:00

Paint a window!

This is a 10 minute project that can be changed out with the seasons.

I picked up my window from Round Top a few months ago & had great plans for a Halloween "boo" & then a Thanksgiving "Give Thanks", but life & laundry, have been slowing me down. :)

So here is it's debut, featuring JOY!

Just find a font that you like, print out your words & tape them to the front of your window.

Flip the window over & paint/trace your letters.

Try to keep your paint strokes smooth.

Wait a few minutes for it to dry and then go over it a second time so that it won't be transparent.

And when the season has passed or your mood has changed :), just scrape it off and start again.

Chocolate Party!

2011-12-14T00:34:00.007-06:00

Chocolate What a fun excuse to get together!!

We began the night with an open hot chocolate bar.

Complete with wafers, caramels, marshmallows & candy canes.

And then spent the next 2 hours making chocolate covered pretzels, marshmallows and oreos.

Yum!!

The idea was to make goodie bags for girlfriends, neighbors, teachers, etc., but I don't think that many (if any) actually made it into the goodie boxes.

I also got so caught up in all of the chocolate, I mean excitement, that I forgot to take any pictures of us actually making our yummy treats. So... so that you don't have to imagine, here are some of the fantastic things that we made.

Ours turned out EXACTLY like this :)

It was so much fun!

Next year, I'll remember to buy more almond bark!

The difference a lamp can make...

2011-12-12T06:00:00.002-06:00

I am a huge fan of lamps. I can see 5 from right where I'm sitting as I type. If I had a sofa table I'd see two more. But I am still on the hunt for the perfect table. And since putting up my Christmas tree we are more convinced we need a new couch. More on that later...

I decided to spend a little time in my son's room this weekend. It's amazing what a little vacuuming turned into. One area that has bothered me since I made his Hudson Field sign is the top of his dresser.

He's almost four so there's not just a whole lot of stuff that can really be used for decoration without him getting into it. {The basket of baseballs in the picture above were purely for staging! haha} So, for the most part it's sat pretty empty and I just didn't like how it looked.

Enter a lamp...
I moved the lamp that had been on his dresser to this side of the room and like the heigth it brings and love how it looks from the door way {although I'd prefer to have the lamp on the other end of the dresser, but there's less wording to cover on the right side}.

Of course this rearranging has left me with a bit of a problem on the other side of the room!!

So, take a look around your house today... do you love lamps too? Do you have some areas that could use some lamps? TJ Maxx, Marshalls & Home Goods are great places to find some nice lamps (and a lot of times they have matching lamps). Happy Shopping!

Christmas Tour 2011

2011-12-09T06:00:00.002-06:00

It's a Christmas tour! I have had my decorations out since before Thanksgiving...but just now have found the time to upload the pictures to the computer and onto the blog. Without further adieu...

The Dining Room

The Kitchen Shutter (where my Christmas cards will be displayed)

I had this urn on the mantle for the Fall. I decided it needed a new home for the holidays. I added some glittery Christmas picks to make it festive and added it to my entry table.

This is probably the most important decoration I have. My husband even told me that I needed to add "a little Jesus" to my decor before it made it out of the box. On a side note... how do you decorate and incorporate THE reason for the season? I've found most nativities and Christian Christmas decorations aren't that "cutesy".... anyone have any good suggestions of places to look for cute things that focus on Jesus more than Santa?

Remember how I made this chalkboard? I finally changed the verse that had been up there for 2 months or so and made it a little more appropriate for the holiday!

On my kitchen table I used a $10 glass canister from Walmart and two packages of $5.00 ornaments as an easy and cute centerpiece.

The mantle... ah, always the hardest thing to decorate! I used a Santa that is usually on my front porch to fill up some of the height, hung an old window pane my husband found on the side of the road & added a wreath that I made for a little extra dimension. My lighted garland was made from two lengths of garland from Hobby Lobby and a strand of garland lights. Then once it was hung I just went through and added the ribbon and a few picks of color & greenery.

I picked up this hurricane at our last trip to Canton. And lucky for me I already had stockings that went with the red and green theme that I seem to have going on here.

I made these wooden JOY candlesticks after seeing them on Shanty2Chic. I love their simplicity. This Santa has made it's round through 4 houses in the last 7 years...

Well, that's it for now... I hope you're enjoying the weather where you are and that you are looking forward to the Christmas holiday coming up. I still have quite the list of "to do's" for shopping and parties. Take the time to relax and enjoy... and remind yourself what this holiday is really all about.

Linked to these fabulous parties:
Home Stories A2Z
Ten June
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Christmas Photo Cards - Those Village Cards

2011-12-08T06:00:00.001-06:00

Tiffany shared with you yesterday about our future Etsy shop selling some of our goodies.
Today I'm here to tell you about another Etsy store.

Those Village Cards

If you're in the market for custom photo cards, announcements or invitations this is your place! I've just launched it and I'd love for you to stop by and check it out.

Thanks!!

Village House Pillows

2011-12-07T00:01:00.000-06:00

So... do you see the shop tab in our header?

It's for an Etsy shop that we're hoping to roll out ASAP! We're VERY excited about it, it's just taking a little longer to implement it than we had hoped for. So for the next couple of weeks, we're going to be highlighting a few things that we make, that are now available for purchase.

The first (and my favorite) are our burlap pillows.

They come in...

3 sizes:

Lumbar $24

16 inch $26

18 inch $28

3 colors:

Chocolate, Khaki & Cream

3 fonts:

Pharmacy (j)

Century (JOY & NOEL)

Adore (W)

We can mix any combination of pillows, colors & fonts.

Other cute ideas..

Smith

Family

HO HO HO

H J C

Or on 2 pillows...

MR. MRS.

all my all my

LOVE LIFE

Merry Christmas

They would be perfect Christmas presents, wedding gifts or for your friends who loves Pottery Barn! Be creative. We can work with you.

Just let us know what you have in mind!

Until we get the Etsy shop up & running, you can reply here or email us.

Thanks!

Peppermint Cocoa Bags

2011-12-06T11:07:00.007-06:00

Last week I shared a few crafts that we worked on at our Bible study Super Saturday. Today I'm sharing an easy idea that you could use for teacher, neighbor or friend gifts.

You'll need cardstock, little plastic baggies, ribbon, cocoa, peppermint crumbles, chocolate chips.

Follow these directions:

And you'll end up with these cute bags to give away!

Hope your weather is cold enough to enjoy hot cocoa! Our central Texas weather is JUST now getting cold. So, now it finally looks and FEELS like Christmas.

Christmas Topiaries

2011-12-05T06:38:00.002-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around my house! I set up my present topiaries yesterday & love them just as much as I did last year.

I was pleasantly surprised how easy they were to put back together. I had stacked them on shelves in the garage thinking I'd probably have to rewrap them this year. But the only thing I had to do was put them back on the rods and fluff the bows. It was the easiest decorating I've done so far.

I love how they greet my guests at the door!

To see how I made them click here.

Paint Stick Ornaments

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

I told y'all yesterday when I shared with you the cute snowman gift tag that I'd be showing you some of the crafts that our Bible study did for our "Super Saturday". Today's adorable idea was found through Today's Fabulous Finds. Who'd have thought that making ornaments out of free paint sticks could turn out so cute?

You can find the tutorial here. Or if you're really good at figuring things out from pictures read on... haha.

Have your paint sticks ready in various colors (ours were red, cream and grayish silver).

Gather your supplies. The template for the words can be found here.

Put it all together and here's what you'll get. Super cute and super inexpensive ornaments for your tree or for gifts!

Cute Christmas Gift Tags

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

Tiffany & I were a part of a Bible study at our church this Fall called Transforming Christmas. One Saturday this month our leader set up a "Super Saturday" for us to work on a whole bunch of cute Christmas crafts to use for gifts and/or decorating. This week I'll be sharing some of them with y'all. Hopefully you'll be inspired to try some of them out for yourself and take care of some gifts for those teachers/neighbors/friends on your list.

To start with, look at these cute gift tags that some of the ladies created.

This is such a cute way to label a gift that doesn't cost much, and is so much more adorable than the little stickers I have used in the past! I think they'd look so cute on solid colored bags.

Check back this week for some more fun ideas.

Christmas Countdown

2011-11-26T07:37:00.006-06:00

I love this time of year. I love hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls. And Christmas lights & my kids excitement about decorating the tree. I love celebrating Jesus' birth and watching It's a Wonderful Life. I love hanging stockings and singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with my kids for the 100th time that day.

So this year, I'm slowing down my pace so that I can actually enjoy all of these wonderful things. Even if that means NOT doing everything on my to-do list. I vow to mail my Christmas cards, finish Christmas shopping, and decorate my house all early enough to sit, relax & take in the blessings of the season. For the next 32 days, I'm going to enjoy Christmas :)

A Blog Divided

2011-11-24T00:24:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is a very special day for 2 reasons...

Thanksgiving & football.

Lindsay and I will both be spending precious time with our families today counting our blessings and eating pecan pie. I have so much to be thankful for and praise God for all He has provided. As for tonight, the final chapter (at least for a while) of A&M vs. UT will be played out on Kyle Field. While Lindsay and I share SO much in common, you may not know that we will be wearing different colors today. We both have deep passion and love for our respective schools and are excited to see are teams meet one last time. We'll be there tonight together, yelling & screaming, just probably not at the same time. :)

Gig'em Aggies! - Tiff

Lindsay Tiffany

Thankfulness

2011-11-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

I am!

I am thankful for this week and for the time I am going to spend with family.

I am thankful for our sweet readers who humor us with their visits and the occasional comment. We love them!

I hope you plan to have a blessed time with your families as we celebrate all we have to be thankful for.

If you're hosting Thanksgiving this year, here are some really cute ideas for you to check out to record your guest's thankfulness.

Thankful For spiral

We are thankful chicken wire display

Thankful paper chain

Recipe {Stick Bun Breakfast Ring}

2011-11-21T07:09:00.004-06:00

I can't wait to try these this week! I have family coming in town for a couple of days so this will be a great change from the eggs and bacon I usually resort to :)

Here's what you need:

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1/2 C. syrup
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 C. chopped pecans, opt.
1/4 C. chopped almonds, opt.

Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired).

Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.

Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring.

Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. And bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

Yum!! Don't these look delicious?? Thanks Hannah for sharing your recipe!

Fall house tour

2011-11-18T00:20:00.001-06:00

Whew! I just now finished decorating my house for Fall.

Just in time, considering Thanksgiving is less than a week away!

So these beauties will adorn my door, bookcase & counter for a whole week before being replaced with Christmas wreaths and stockings.

Ha! Totally worth it.

Because today, I'm pretending that it's cold outside and that the Texas leaves are changing colors like they do on the East Coast.

I'm drinking my Starbucks & being thankful for all of my blessings in my life.

Work in progress

2011-11-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

As you can tell from the looks of things around here this blog is a work in progress. I told you about how we won a blog makeover giveaway and Elana is working hard at keeping up with all our edits, suggestions and ideas. Bless her heart...

As I started thinking about posting for this week I really was at a loss. I haven't completed anything new and exciting. I have projects that aren't "good enough" to share with you and I have partially finished rooms all over my house that I'm just not ready to show the blog world yet. So, what to do, what to do?

That's when it hit me... I live in a state of "work in progress". Me, my house, my kids, my relationship with my husband. It's all a work in progress.

The other night some friends of mine were talking about our stresses, failures, challenges and successes as mothers to young kids. We questioned "are we doing it well?" "do our kids know we love them?" "am I spending enough time with them?". The answers to those questions change daily. I was reminded that as a mother I am a work in progress. I don't have it all together, I don't do it right every day, I have areas for improvement, and I definitely have quirks that I'm just not ready to show the blog world yet.

I have three precious kids who are also works in progress. The Lord has granted me (and my hubby) the opportunity to teach them right from wrong; how to be honest, caring and trustworthy; and most importantly to teach them about His great love for us and our redemption through Christ. I have to do all this at the same time I am trying to figure out personalities and sensitivity buttons and the right form of discipline for each child. It's a lot of responsibility - but I am up for the challenge.

I have a husband who is crazy supportive of what I do and what I try to do! :) He knows my faults, insecurities, and all my hidden (at least from you virtual friends) quirks and loves me anyway. But I can't ever assume that our relationship is 'good enough'. It needs to always be something I am working to improve and strengthen.

Are you a work in progess too?

So, while I'd like to show you my latest masterpiece or grand idea, it's just not going to happen today. Today is a reminder that sometimes our "work in progress" sign reveals itself. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You are welcome here!

My name is Lindsay, and I am a work in progress. I challenge you to think about it today... what needs improvement around you? Self; relationships with kids, spouse, friends; relationship with the Lord; or maybe it really is your home and surroundings.

Yet you, LORD, are our Father;

We are the clay, you are the potter;
We are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8

Kid's Thanksgiving crafts

2011-11-14T00:44:00.000-06:00

Don't forget about the kids next week!

Here are some easy crafts to keep them entertained at the kids table...

Turkey Treat Holder

Finger Puppets

Mayflower Treat Holder & Place Card

Thankful Turkey

Good luck getting all of your Turkey Day plans in order!

We won!!

2011-11-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Y'all... I just have to share that WE WON A GIVEAWAY!! Tiffany noticed at Something Swanky a whole lot of giveaways... the ones that caught her eye were for blog makeovers. Let's be real honest ... everything on this blog has been HTML'd and adjusted by yours truly... and as much as I want to be, I am NOT a web designer. So, we needed an upgrade.

And guess what?!
We won!!!
(well Tiffany won for us)

So, stay tuned because in a few weeks That Village House will have a whole new look. Tiffany and I have been brainstorming (and blog stalking) to come up with ideas for our new look...which has also led us to think up some new blogging ideas.

We're excited to work with Elena from Three Little Birdies Designs and see what she comes up with.

Thanks again to Ashton from Something Swanky for hosting this fabulous giveaway!

My first Pinterest night!

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

I recently had a fun Pinterest night with some sweet college girls from our church. Everyone brought their supplies, I made Pinterest snacks and we had a nice time getting to know each other. I loved the idea of the night so much that I plan to host more of these.

Everything we made (including food) was something inspired by Pinterest. What did we do with out it!?

Chili's Skillet Queso

Oreo Cupcakes

Danielle made these cute felt flowers.

Amanda & Laura worked on these sparkly glass ornaments.

Taylor made this cute t-shirt scarf

And Meghan & Kate crafted fun braided headbands.

So, what are you waiting for? :)

Gather your friends, your supplies, your snacks and get to crafting!!! I can't wait for the next one.

Master Bedroom Part 2 {Craigslist Corner}

2011-11-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

My master bedroom is a SLOW work in progress. I showed you one half of it a few months back. I've been dying to get the rest of it finished. But life and budgets have kept me from getting it all done. I do have a corner of the room to show you though! It's a small piece of the room, but one that I am glad to have.

This is what I refer to as my Craigslist corner. Both the chair and the armoire were bought off of Craigslist. I love having a chair in the room so that I can do my Bible study, read a good book, take a nap or cuddle with my kiddos. The armoire houses a small TV and some drawers where my husband keeps some of his clothes. Remember I sold all our furniture so this and his nightstand are his only options. :) He's the best!

The next phase of this side of the room is quite obvious (minus the needed window treatments!).

I'm working on it... maybe in a few months I'll have something else completed in this room.

Burlap projects

2011-11-08T00:22:00.001-06:00

If you haven't noticed,

I've been on a serious burlap kick the last few weeks!

Here are a few things that I've been working on...

And with the burlap I had left over, I completed the easiest burlap project yet.

If you can even call it a project.

I grabbed a few pictures frames from around the house, replaced dated pictures with a cut piece of burlap & added a leaf.

I like that it's kind of unexpected.

And feel good about using every last inch of burlap :)

DiY Burlap Wreath

2011-11-04T00:14:00.000-05:00

I finished my burlap wreath today!

I actually started it weeks ago but life, laundry, and dishes turned this easy project into a month long get-to-it-when-you-can kind of thing.

Which is how most things get done around my house.

Fellow Aggie fans, pay no attention to the orange.

It is NOT burnt orange and does NOT pay tribute to UT in anyway :)

Here's how I made it.

(Please forgive the picture quality. They were taken with my camera phone.)

I cut two 3 inch strips of burlap and wrapped my wreath,

using sewing pins at the ends to hold it in place.

I then cut the rest of my fabric into 12 inch wide strips.

I folded each strip lengthwise (so it's now only 6" wide) and

pinned the end of the material to the wreath. With the two rough edges down towards the wreath, I began making big S's out of the material.

So all you see is the pretty folds and not the frayed edges.

There's no rhyme or reason to the width of each S.

Just tried to keep it nice and full.

I added a W and fabric rosettes for color.

To see how I made the rosettes, click here.

I haven't figured out where I'm going to hang this beauty.

I guess that will be this month's project! Ha!

I did it!!

2011-11-03T00:04:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting to hang a door on my wall (ANY wall!) for over 2 years now! My husband thinks I'm crazy, by the way. The only problem was that I couldn't figure out what door and which wall. That was until our recent trip to Round Top. I spotted this blue door for $50 and instantly fell in love. You can only imagine my giddiness after talking the dealer down to $34!! Random I know, but that's what we agreed upon. Yay!!

It now hangs over my younger daughter's bed and pulls in the blue from her comforter and nightstand. The color is off in this picture, but the blues coordinate great together. The black bed is from last year's Round Top trip. Apparently, I can't get enough :)

I think my favorite part about the door, is that I didn't have to paint it or shabby chic it. It was already perfectly distressed, just like I like it. I plan to hang my daughter's initial somewhere on it at some point, but for now it's up and I'm so excited about it.

My older daughter (age 3) just walked in & asked...

"Why is there a door on the wall??".

Apparently she takes after my husband! Haha.

Do you have any crazy wall decor that you just LOVE??

Recipe {Breakfast Casserole}

2011-11-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

I LOOOVE breakfast casseroles. Our normal 'go-to' is so tasty! But, I was really looking to try something new. I wanted to find a good one that included hashbrowns. So, if you're looking for a hearty breakfast {or dinner!} here's a good one to try out.

Ingredients:
16 oz breakfast sausage
1 pkg. refrigerated shredded hash browns
1 doz. eggs
10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
10 oz. can Rotel, drained
8 oz pkg. shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, crumble and brown sausage over medium heat. Drain and set aside. In same skillet, scramble eggs. Preheat oven to 350. In buttered 9x13 baking dish, layer in order: hash browns, sausage, eggs, soup (mix with milk if needed to help spread), and tomatoes. cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese on top. Return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 8-10 servings.

If you have a yummy breakfast casserole with some sort of potato will you please share it? I'm still in search of the 'right' one! :) Put your link down below in our comments section. Pretty please.

Back door guests are the best!

2011-11-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

Since we moved into our new house I have been encouraging my friends and family to "come on in" the back door (which is really through the garage at the front of the house). The problem is the entrance takes our guests through our laundry room. There's nothing wrong with that unless your laundry room looks like this...

Yeah, not exactly the warm welcome I want to give off. Laundry baskets on top, Bibles, journals and binders and other random things from the car would end up here as a first stop from the garage.

So, I made some simple changes and now I think the room does a much better job welcoming our guests (and us after a long day!).

I cleared off the tops of the washer and dryer to get a fresh start. I pulled a lamp from another room in the house that wasn't being used and paired it with a basket from Hobby Lobby that I got 1/2 off. I bought the LAUNDRY sign at Hobby Lobby to fill the awkward space above the washer & dryer. I don't need a shelf because I've got great storage up above so it was the only thing I could think to do. The last touch was the dried flower arrangement to hide the plugs and water line for the washer/dryer.

The basket holds my dryer sheets, stain sticks and the collection of socks without their match.

So there you have it... my new welcoming laundry room. I would still like to do some window treatments and maybe a fun chandelier. For now, I'm much more at ease telling my friends that back door guests are my favorite!

October Wrap Up

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Oh October...where do I even begin! This month has been ridiculously busy for our family!

This has been an unusually busy season for me. That's really my family calendar and looking back there was only one night that both my husband & I were home together with just our family. Because of this busy time I have fallen way behind in keeping up with the blog. Thankfully Tiffany has had some cute projects going on. Let's look back and see some of what she and I have shared.

Burlap Runner

How to easily hang things on the wall

Pinterest inspired bathroom

Fabric Rosette Tutorial

We hope you've been inspired. I'm busy working on a few projects that I'm excited to share with y'all soon. I'm also excited to see that my November looks less 'full' than October!

Pumpkin painting tip!

2011-10-28T20:46:00.002-05:00

If you're painting pumpkins this weekend, consider having everyone use the same color paints. So while your pumpkins won't be designer made, at least your pumpkin patch will be coordinating!

To see how to make the Pumpkin Specimen art, click here.

Giveaway {Navy Mango}

2011-10-28T14:22:00.003-05:00

We have a winner!!

#10 Christi!!

Christi, please email us and we'll set you up with

Lisa so she can make your coasters!!

Thank you again to all who participated! Stay tuned for the next giveaway :)

How to make Fabric Rosettes

2011-10-26T00:22:00.001-05:00

Lindsay & I were challenged last week to come up with a craft that

college girls would want to do with us.

So after careful consideration, we decided on these fabric rosettes!!

They're fun and easy to make, so I thought I would explain how we made them, in case you're interested in making some too :)

Here are a few things you can do with them...

Add color to a bag.

Add personality to picture frames.

I use this chalkboard for grocery lists and memory versus.

Dress up a sweater.

Or use them in your hair.

I put this one on a head band for my daughter.

So here is how you make them...

1. Cut a 1 inch strip of fabric, 1 yard long.

2. Fold one end of the fabric in half (so that the pretty side is on the outside)

& hot glue it together.

3. Roll the folded end 10 times & use another dot of glue to hold it in place.

You've created the center.

It should look like this.

4. Begin to turn the material over itself while twisting it around your center, hot gluing every so often to keep it in place.

Keep the fabric folded as you go, so that the pretty side is all that you see.

Don't stress over making it perfect. Some loops will be bigger than others.

Fight the urge to make your twists too tight. Instead of rolling the fabric, you're really just making nice soft folds.

5. When you near the end of the material, you can either...

Fold it to the back and glue it down.

Or...Glue a piece of felt on the back. Make sure the felt is smaller than the flower so that you can't see it. You can then add a safety pin, a hair clip, etc.

You can add a pearl or button to the middle if you have one on hand.

I've also seen them used on necklaces, wreaths, little earrings, etc.

There's so many possibilities, I may need to get some more fabric!

Oh my goodness!

2011-10-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

I just have to share with you something I stumbled upon on Pinterest! I LOVE LOVE LOVE these customized return address stamps. {I am also totally envious of her adorable handwriting!}

I think I've just added something new to my Christmas wish list. Actually I REALLY would want these to be on every Christmas card I sent. Soooo, that leaves me with a dilemma. :)

Really, some people's talent amazes me. You've got to swing by her Etsy shop and see more of her goodies. As a part-time card designer wannabe I am inspired by her goodies for sale. My personal fav is the Samuel self inking stamp. So pretty!

Ruffled Burlap Table Runner

2011-10-23T00:46:00.002-05:00

I've noticed that burlap is so IN right now.

Our local Hobby Lobby is out of almost every color every time I go. Perhaps it's IN every Fall, and I'm just now realizing it. Regardless, I'm loving it!!

My mom & I made these table runners last week! They were super easy. But I have to admit that I did most of the talking and she did most of the sewing!

Here is the tutorial on how to make it.

It's a great little way to dress up a table without having to use many decorations. If I'm lucky enough to get more burlap from Hobby Lobby, I may just make another one for the dining room table.

Giveaway {Navy Mango}

2011-10-19T12:54:00.015-05:00

We're having another giveaway!!

Yay!!!

These come from Navy Mango and are adorable! I love things that are monogrammed or personalized so I'm crazy about these. They would make perfect little Christmas gifts or (if you're like me) a sweet little gift for yourself! Lisa also sells hand-painted garlands, cute luggage tags and Biblical Christmas Advent Calendars. Check it out!

Giveaway #1 Monogrammed Stone Coasters

Made from ceramic stone tiles and permanent black ink (that won’t melt, freeze, fade or rub away), the coasters are baked in the oven and purposely not glazed or sealed. The stone itself is naturally absorbent. Each coaster has rubber bumpers on the bottoms so not to scratch your furniture. The set includes 3 tiles with one ”Script”, one “Numbers” and one “Seek Joy” coaster. Personalized with a monogram of your choice!

Giveaway #2 Personalized Gift Magnets

What better way to show off your photos (or recipes and Christmas wish-lists)!! These are great because they can be so personal! They’d make great party favors or teachers gifts. Each one could have a different Grandkid’s name on it, so that their artwork could be displayed on the fridge. They could say "Happy Birthday", “laugh”, “relax”, “exercise” or even “put that back!! Get creative with words and colors!

So you want to win?!!!

Here's how to do it:
1. leave a comment here telling us you'd like to win & which prize you'd like
2. become a follower of our blog and leave a comment to tell us you did
3. become a fan on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you did 4. visit Lisa's site and come back to tell us which is your favorite item

The giveaway begins TODAY and runs until Thursday, the 27th! Winner will be announced next Friday! Good luck to you!!

Fall Printables

2011-10-18T00:35:00.001-05:00

Check out the Fall printables that Kristin over at

A Simply Klassic Home has put together!

So cute! They remind me of all of the wonderful things to be thankful for this season! Best part is...she's allowing us to download them for free!! So grab a cute frame and head on over to her blog! Here's the link to print them.

Apothecary Jars

2011-10-17T00:03:00.002-05:00

I love my apothecary jars!

To see Lindsay's turtorial for how to make them, click here. I like them so much, that I made 3 of them! And now I change them out for the holidays...

For Christmas, I'll use peppermints and spell out J O Y.

For Valentine's Day, maybe Hershey's kisses and I ♥ U.

You can get these wooden letters from Hobby Lobby.

So many possibilities!!

I'm BAAACK!!

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well, thanks to Tiffany this blog hasn't been completely neglected! My family has had a whirlwind of a few weeks so while I've had good intentions for blogging but it's just not made the cut.

I've had this wall staring at me since we moved in to our house in June. It's a bathroom... so I feel like I'm pretty limited on what can go up on the walls here. It's also above the tub which gets used rarely and I didn't want the typical towel bar to fill the space. {I don't have a photo of it completely blank. :( That would have been good of me... but do me a favor and imagine it without the basket!}

So, when I came across this photo on Pinterest I knew what I was going to do! {Now you can see where I got the idea for the basket in the previous photo}

So, I took this blank wall.

Built another cafe shelf {see the tutorial here}. I painted it the same color as my cabinets and then got my brain working on what would go up top...

I added a metal and wood piece I picked up from Round Top/Warrenton. Then I searched the frames I had sitting in my guest room for some to create an arrangement on top of the shelf. {Ignore the change in lighting... I have put off taking photos for 3 weeks now so it was 8:30 pm or never!!}

I took some of our family pictures and edited them to be in a sepia tone and had them printed at Walmart to fill the frames.

All this stuff was bought at Hobby Lobby at half off. I used the inspiration photo as a starting point for what I wanted it to look like.

I would still like to eventually replace the blinds to the rattan shades to bring a little warmth to the room but for now I'll live with the white blinds. I will have to figure out way to convince my hubby that replacing perfectly good, functioning blinds is worth it. Ha!

So, there it is... pretty much the ONLY thing I have had time to work on in several weeks. But, I'm happy with how it turned out and glad to have yet another wall checked off the "to do" list.

Stress-free decorating!

2011-10-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

How many times have you hung things on the wall, stepped back to admire your handy work, and noticed it's crooked, off-center, or not spaced correctly? Or, how about those annoying frames that have two sawtooth hangers, or the kind that the screw has to fit into the hole "just so" and to make it even worse there are usually more than one of them? Oh, how I dislike those!!

Well, I'm here to share with you an easy way to make hanging things so much easier and less frustrating!

My first tip is to use masking tape {or painters tape} on the wall to lay out where you want your piece to be hung so you can imagine it there. I did this with my kitchen shelves so I could "live with it" for a day or so, just to be sure.

Next, take your tape and lay it over the top of whatever your mounting method will be. In this case it's the pesky screw holes that have to be exactly right or else you'll NEVER get the thing hung.

Use a pen or pencil to mark the holes. {In the case of other types of hangers you'd do the same concept...just marking where your nail or screw needs to end up}.

Take that piece of tape off and place it on the wall where it needs to go. This is why I love using the tape to lay out the outline of whatever I'm hanging. You can use that tape to measure out where exactly your nail/screw holes should be and there shouldn't be a need for a 're-do' because the height or centering wasn't right.

Nail or screw your holes, remove the tape and hang your piece!

I promise you this has revolutinized how I hang ANYTHING in my house. I wish I'd done this for years. I would have saved myself so many holes. Not to mention the crooked, off centered, & uneven decorations I've lived with just to save myself from doing it all over again.

I hope it helps you too!

Picture frames

2011-10-07T00:16:00.001-05:00

I love open picture frames!

I picked these beauties up at Round Top last week and am SO excited about using them. I'm not even sure how I'm going to use them, but they will, through some shape or form, find their way onto my walls. For $10, how could they not?!

Transitional Urns

2011-10-06T00:32:00.008-05:00

Please ignore the massive amount of spacing on this post. My computer has a mind of it's own right now!

My urns stay hard at work year round!
Today, they look like this...

Which I'm very excited about since that means that Fall is around the corner!

Yesterday, they looked like this...

And in a couple of months, they will look like this!..

They can do no wrong :)

Good Girl Jar

2011-10-03T23:14:00.008-05:00

I've created a good behavior reward system for my 3 (almost 4) year old daughter Addison! I first saw this idea here & thought it would be perfect for her. I've noticed that she thrives on rules & rewards lately. Not that she always obeys the rules :), but she likes to know what's expected of her.

I came up with 6 different activities that she could use encouragement on. Each small jar represents that chore or behavior.

The large tupperware is the rewards jar.

I spray painted the lids black (I used primer first) & cut out circles of different colored card stock. I used white card stock & Lindsay's Silhouette machine (thanks Lindsay! I've put it on my Christmas list!) to make the activities . I glued everything together with a glue stick, which worked fine for Day 1, but may need to be re-addressed with further wear & tear.

With each successful behavior, Addi can move 1 coordinating item to her reward jar. For eating well & asking to be excused from the table, she gets a green pom pom. Brushing her teeth earns her a blue flower. Cleaning up her room and the living room gets her a jingle bell. She gets a pink crystal ball for doing something kind for someone else. And a cross if she can recite her weekly bible verse. We've JUST started working on that one, so we'll see how it goes! And I notice that I'm a picture short. But purple is for bedtime. If Addi goes to bed (and does not get out of bed), than she gets a jewel in the morning.

The rewards jar consists of prizes that Addison loves! A piece of candy. A craft project. A trip to the store to get a new toy. And once it reaches the princess crown, SHE gets to pick the reward (within reason). Maybe a trip to the park or ice cream with Dad. I like the idea of letting her pick, but I'll have to see how that one plays out! The good thing about the reward icons, is that I can change them out if they don't seem to work or if she tires of them. I just printed the pictures on address labels so that I could cut them out and stick them on the jar.

Like I said, this was only the first day, but Day 1 was a huge success! Even my younger daughter (just turned 2) contributed to the jar tonight by brushing her teeth and picking up her toys! So this could be a great way to encourage team work with them! Well see!

My VERY Simple Fall Decor

2011-09-29T00:00:00.002-05:00

It's officially FALL!!! YAY, I am so excited.
But, we live in Texas so there really isn't a 'Fall' season here like in other places. Check out the weather forecast for tomorrow!

Although I am sad about the temperature, I couldn't be more happy about the potential for RAIN! We need it oh so bad. It rained here for a little while this afternoon and my kids had a great time using their umbrellas.

If you haven't heard, Texas has had a terrible drought this year. So, we've only seen rain a handful of times {ALL YEAR LONG}. There have been countless wildfires all over our state. This one broke out just across the highway from our house. Thankfully it was contained quickly and no structures were damaged.

So, I finally pulled out my fall decor last weekend (or I should say my hubby did!). As I pulled it all out I realized how much I disliked what little I had.
I've started working part-time at my kids school so my "free" time is limited. The house won't be decorated like I wish it was... but for this season, here's what I've got.

For the life of me I can't take a good photo of my mantle. The lighting is never right! And every time I look at it on 'film' I realize how blah it really is.

I will add candy corn to this apothocary jar {eventually when I make it to the grocery store}.

I made this Fall frame by cutting out the word FALL using my Silhouette machine, using it as a stencil and spray painting it. That's the lazy way {hence the fuzzy edges}. I'd recommend hand stenciling it with a sponge brush.

This wreath is hung on the mirror using a burlap sash.

I added a few fall colored berry stems to this urn that was already here. More berries are on my Hobby Lobby to do list.

Well, there you have it. It's simple. It's boring. It's lacking the awe factor. But considering it was 100* today it's as "fallish" as I'm able to feel today.

Recipe {Creamy Chicken Casserole}

2011-09-28T00:11:00.001-05:00

This is one of my weeknight favorites!

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded or chopped (cooked) chicken

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 8 oz carton of sour cream

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups crushed Ritz crackers

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine first 4 ingredients: spoon into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Combine Ritz and butter, and sprinkle over chicken mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.

Yum!

Necklace Organizer

2011-09-27T00:06:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited to show you my new necklace holder!

It's been on my "to do" list for FAR too long.

No longer is there a tangled mess at the bottom of my bathroom drawer (where little hands can reach). NOW almost all of my pretties hang nicely right next to my sink. I love it! Did I mention that might kids can't reach them? LOVE it!

Here's how I made it.

I picked up an old shutter at Round Top.

I spray painted it black.

And distressed some of the edges.

I used 2 picture hangers to hang the shutter to the wall & S hooks to hang the necklaces on the shutter.

And "Viola!" Problem solved!

I was worried that it would look cluttered or messy, but I actually think it adds some personality to the bathroom. And for pete's sake, shouldn't your bathroom be functional? :)

Pumpkin specimen art

2011-09-22T00:10:00.002-05:00

Let the Fall decorating begin!

Pay no attention that it's still 95 degrees outside. I'm done with summer.

So I'm bringing out my boots & making new Fall decor!

This project was love at first sight. I copied it almost exactly from here.

It's super easy to make.

And you probably have most of the materials already on hand.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Grab a cute picture frame

scrapbook paper

scrabble letters (or you can just do more pumpkins)

& burlap (or any neutral background)

I suggest using a silhouette machine to make the pumpkins. Or in my case, befriend someone who has a silhouette machine! :) :) Thanks again Lindsay!

I used furniture felt pads under each pumpkin to raise it off of the burlap.

It gives it just a bit more interest.

And then used Scrabble letters at the bottom.

As a side note, what a great use for Scrabble! Ever since I learned of Bananagrams, poor Scrabble doesn't get played anymore. And now that I've officially ruined the game, I guess I'll have to think up more Scrabble projects!

I lined up the pumpkins & PUMPKINS before hot gluing everything to the burlap. The whole project cost me $4 (for the burlap).

Woo Hoo! One more reason to be excited about Fall!

Crock Pot Recipes

2011-09-21T00:26:00.005-05:00

Believe it or not, my hubby found this website for me.

Crock Pot Girls

Maybe that's a subtle hint that my routine dinners are getting a bit routine. Ha!

But seriously, check it out! There's more recipes on there than I can even count. And I tried. I got to 42 under "chicken" and thought forget it! And it's not just chicken dishes. There's beef, mexican, breakfast, desserts. Even kid favorites.

I'm doing the Barbeque Chicken today, so we'll see how it goes!

monday madness

2011-09-19T00:28:00.006-05:00

It's Monday again & I'm trying my best to get organized.

I've noticed that if I start my week intentionally (rather than just falling into it), I'm less stressed and all-around a happier me!

These weekly planners have been helping. Check these & more out here.

They're free to download and print!

And this is my favorite printable grocery list that I've found.

It helps organize your groceries by the area/aisle of the store & makes shopping (even with three kids) so much faster.

Man, I love Mondays!

Round Top roundup!!

2011-09-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again!!

Round Top's Antique Show is only 1 week away! Can you tell how excited I am?

If you're not familiar with Round Top, let me enlighten you.

Round Top began almost 30 years ago (in it's tiny town of now 81 people!) as a TRUE antique trade show. Think estate jewelry, chandeliers, silver and such. But over the years a ton of “me too” shows (featuring anything & everything other than antiques) have sprang up in surrounding areas. 4 small towns: Round Top, Warrenton, Carmine and Shelby now make up the main event. So much that people may say they're going to "Round Top" for the weekend, and not actually shop IN Round Top.

How big is Round Top?? No one actually knows. The last calculation accounted for over thirty-five separate shows hosting over 2,500 dealers! It's absolutely crazy. There are tents and tables set up as far as you can see covered with every household good you can possibly imagine! Furniture, plants, dishes, window panes, iron works, benches, jewelry, road signs, hardware, puppies, clothes, birdhouses, mirrors, rugs, collectables, candles, JUNK, barstools, beds, paintings, old desks...you get the idea! Anything and EVERYTHING.

It's every woman's dream & every husbands nightmare!

But let me reiterate "JUNK". There is a TON of it! You'll walk by some tents bewildered by some of the stuff they're trying to sell. But "junk" is also the term my sweet husband uses for most of the goodies I come home with! Weathered & beaten treasures that I plan to paint, improve or just leave as is.

Here are just a few things that have made it home with me...

Shutters: After power washing and spray painting, they now house artwork

Pumpkins: They were already painted. The urn is from Sam's Club.

Twin beds: Painted and distressed

The blue ladder: left it dressed, just power washed it

The 2 topiaries

Lindsay's dresser: painted and distressed. What a deal!

So when is Round Top? The "antique weekend" traditionally occurs the first full weekend of April and October each year. TRUE antique lovers flock to Round Top in search of their expensive goodies. But the shows in surrounding towns (like Warrenton) actually last for 2 weeks. Years ago, vendors began setting up their stuff the week before the show during what they called the "preview weekend" and so many people showed up early to shop that the name stuck. Here is a link to the calendar, showing which booths are open during preview weekend and which are open during antique weekend. Most of them now cross over into both weeks.

Where to begin? Unless you love real china & silver, skip all of the antique tents and head straight to the new stuff that looks old. That's where the good deals are made. When Lindsay & I go, we spend 95% of our time in Warrenton. Drive straight through Carmine & Round Top and don't even start looking for a field to park in until you get to Zapp Hall.

What to expect: Wear comfortable shoes. Bring cash! Some places take credit cards but will bargain more if you offer cash. Parking is $5. Bring a list of thing your looking for & your measuring tape. Take bottled water. Bring a truck with bungee cords for all your treasures. Bring an open mind. And leave your kids and pets at home. :) It's just too chaotic.

So have I convinced you yet? Do you have it on your calendar?

Get some girlfriends together and make a trip of it. You won't be disappointed!

Recipe {Herbed Chicken & Tomatoes}

2011-09-15T08:23:00.005-05:00

I have {REALLY} been unmotivated lately when it comes to making dinner!

Anyone else go through that?
Well, today I'm sharing a simple crockpot recipe that makes dinner easy & tasty!

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces {I cooked mine whole and cut after cooking}
2 cans (14.5 oz each ) Italian diced tomatoes
1 envelope savory herb with garlic soup mix {for life of me I couldn't find this... so I used herb and garlic pasta sauce mix}
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Hot cooked pasta
Shredded or grated Parmesan cheese

In a slow cooker, combine the chicken, tomatoes, soup mix and sugar. Cover & cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken juices run clear.
Serve with pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

I hope you enjoy this easy meal!! My 5 year old had 3 servings... so it's kid friendly! :)

Party table

2011-09-14T00:45:00.001-05:00

I recently found this party idea on Pinterest! Super cute, right?! You just paint a scene and incorporate snacks and goodies within the picture.

The possibilities are endless...birthday parties, baby showers, a kid's table at Thanksgiving. If your kids are old enough, they could even help you paint it!

We used the concept for our Junior League's September general membership meeting. Our local chapter's signature project is Stuff the Bus, so we had a schoolhouse and big yellow bus full of sweet tasting things. The trick is finding plates and bowls that are the right size and shape.

So choose your serving pieces before you start drawing.

We had backpacks full of chips.

And displayed school supplies in the lemonade pitchers.

As a side note, the pitchers are from Walmart and were only $10.

I love how versatile they are!

I took out the spouts and used them like this for my daughters' birthday party.

All the more reason to celebrate.

Preschool Napmat!

2011-09-12T00:07:00.002-05:00

Yay! It's back to school time! My little one is SO giddy about starting preschool tomorrow, she can hardly stand it! She has a new backpack, her own lunchbox and here's her new napmat! I'm so excited to show her in the morning. Can you tell it's dark? That's because I literally just finished it...10 minutes before midnight. Nothing like procrastinating!

I made just like my older daughter's one from last year. Can you tell that it's bright and sunny in this picture?? I must have finished it days beforehand!

Here's last year's tutorial if you missed it.

Recipe {Fruit Dip}

2011-09-09T00:12:00.000-05:00

I recently made this dip for an event & it's always a crowd pleaser.

It's great for parties, tailgates, showers, etc. and super easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup Cool Whip

1 cup sour cream

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 t kahlua (or chocolate extract)

Just stir it all together & keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve.

It's delicious!!

Inspire me!

2011-09-06T23:11:00.001-05:00

I've had my eye on inspiring signs lately.

As a stay at home mom, I have to give myself occasional pep talks ya know!! :)

So here are a few that I'm debating on doing...

Do you have a favorite??

Love them all!

Decisions. Decisions.

Noah's Ark Birthday Party

2011-09-05T00:23:00.001-05:00

So this weekend was my daughter's 2nd birthday & we had so much fun celebrating with friends and family!! It was Noah's Ark themed so everything was based around animals & rainbows.

These balloons greeted our guests at the door. An inspiration from Martha Stewart. I cut the ears, mane & noses out of tissue paper & used a permanent marker for the eyes. Thank you Merideth, for helping with these cute guys!!

For the snacks table, I tried my best to coordinate each animal with a treat. There were cheetos, zebra cakes, goldfish, popcorn and bananas (my daughter's favorite).

I also made fruit kabobs in rainbow colors.

It may have been the first time my girls had tried kiwi, but they loved it :)

For an activity, we made rainbows out of skittles. Each child had an empty water bottle with their name on it & could fill it with whatever color skittles they wanted. It was a GREAT activity that kept their attention!!

Thanks Lauren, for making the sign!

I found rainbow party circles here and added them to each name tag.

Here's the birthday girl, very focused on which color goes next!

My mom made an INCREDIBLE rainbow cake!!

We got the idea here and kind of made it our own. I love the plain, unassuming white frosting that when cut reveals all of the colored layers!

It took 3 cake mixes & 3 cans a frosting & was wonderfully delicious!!

Thanks again mom!

And thanks to Lindsay who made these adorable invitations!

I love how they turned out :)

Thanks to everyone who came to the party, jumped on the trampoline, helped sweep up skittles, push kids on the swing set, clean up the playroom & pass out cake! It was a wonderful party & we're so glad you could celebrate with us :)

Another find on Craigslist

2011-09-02T00:33:00.003-05:00

Do you like my new end table??

I bought it from a sweet college student a few weeks ago for $10. That's right! $10! It costs me more to eat at Chick-fil-A!

Here's what it looked like when I bought it.

I spray painted the bottom off-white...

and replaced the knob with a $2 one from Hobby Lobby

that I painted & distressed.

And then accessorized with living room knick knacks.

I like the price & my hubby likes a place to set his drink :)

Thank you Craigslist.

Linked here:

Miss Mustard Seed

Baby Boy's Nursery

2011-09-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

I finished the nursery last week!! Better late than never right??

I kept it pretty simple. The walls were already blue & the bottom half was already beadboard, a project that Lindsay helped me with last year.

I'm thrilled with the way the crib turned out. It goes well with the bedding and is a good contrast to the cool walls.

I spray painted a "D" to match the crib & framed a sepia colored picture of my buddy in an old Ikea picture frame.

I exchanged light colored baskets with these darker ones to make the bookcase look more boyish. The top 2 baskets actually hold clothes and blankets, since there isn't a dresser in here. The canister of baseballs is a plastic drink dispenser, minus the spout. It looks close enough to the ones I like from Pottery Barn Kids, but was half the price at Walmart.

The pallet bookshelves have worked out great. (If only I had mounted them lower so that my kids could put the books up when they're done with them!)

It was relatively easy to pull together since I already had most of the furnishings. I used a brown shower curtain for the curtain and borrowed a pillow from our guest room for the rocking chair.

Even if it's 6 months after his birthday,

I love having a little boy's room in our house :)

Fun Fonts {Part Two}

2011-08-31T06:00:00.001-05:00

Like I said in my last fonts post... I'm a font junkie!! So, I couldn't just have one post about cute fonts {and I may not stop at two!}.

Get it HERE

Get it HERE

Get it HERE
Happy downloading!!

Making Blogger photos BIGGER!

2011-08-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm here to share a quick tip with you today on how to make the photos you post in Blogger BIGGER.

First things first... Upload your photos into your post.
Then click the Edit HTML tab.

If you've uploaded a photo you should see something like this.

Find the text shown below in the highlighted area & delete.

Next change the area shown below in the highlighted area to read s520 (you may need to adjust this depending on your margin area that you've got going on in your blog layout. I started with s420 and kept increasing the number until it was the size I wanted).

That's it! You should now see larger pictures when you post your blog (or when you click back over to the compose tab).

Good luck and hopefully this helps you out!

DIY Cafe Shelves...Ballard Knock Off

2011-08-25T06:00:00.003-05:00

Remember last week when I told you I'd figured out what would go on my long blank wall in the kitchen? Well, here they are!!

I was inspired by some pictures on other blogs like this one and this one and some photos on pinterest to build my own knock-off Ballard Designs cafe shelves. I'm here today to share with you how I did it!

Let's remember what I was starting with... {sorry for the dark photo}

I used painters tape to measure out how long I wanted the shelves to be and about where I wanted them to hang so I could live with it for a few days to make "sure" that's what I wanted to do.

Once I was decided it was off to buy my lumber.

I decided on one 3' and one 4' shelf.

So, I bought a 8' long 1x8. I purchased door casing for the trim. I knew I'd need 7' for the fronts of the two shelves and about 8" for each end. At Home Depot you can purchase the trim by the foot so you can buy just the amount you will actually need. I think they come in 12' long strips. I found two that were already cut and in more manageable lengths.

I also picked out four corbels for my shelves to mount on. These were about $6 and the most expensive part of the shelves. I've seen other bloggers mentioning buying 2 for $5, but I didn't find those. :(

The first thing I did was use my mitre saw to cut the 1x8 into my two desired lengths... 4 ft & 3 ft.

Then I measured my door casing along the edge of the 1x8 and marked where I wanted the BOTTOM of the moulding to stop.

I set my mitre saw to a 45 degree angle and cut my wood.

**Important to know***
Cut your wood like THIS...

NOT like this...

I made that mistake and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Laying the moulding flat will give you a great photo frame...but not a box which is basically what you're building.

I used wood glue along the backside of the moulding and used my nail gun to secure it to the shelf. The door moulding I bought (and probably they all have this) had an inset ridge that my 1x8 fit nicely into. See below how I did my moulding.

You could butt the moulding right to the top of the shelf, but I preferred to have a little lip on mine.

Your corners may not be perfect. That's what wood filler is for!
To get these corners you'll have to figure out which direction your wood needs to go and adjust your mitre saw accordingly. When I marked the wood I also made a pen mark diagonally in the direction I wanted the wood to go. That way when I cut my wood I could see the line and make sure my blade was going to cut in the direction I needed to match up with the other piece to make a corner. I definitely made more cuts than necessary all because I messed up the angles and measurements.

Once you have all the pieces cut and nailed together you'll be left with something like this.

Now the fun part... painting (UGH!)... I dislike painting the most. :)

Once it was painted and dried I chose to hang the corbels on the wall FIRST.

When both were hung on the wall and we had them leveled out we just screwed through the shelf into the corbel.

And VOILA!

Then came the truly hard part for me... Decorating them.

I'm really happy with how they turned out!! The total cost was about $47 for two shelves. Not bad when this look would have cost me $189 plus tax and shipping at Ballard.

Linked up here:
Somewhat Simple

Someday Crafts

Fireflies & Jellybeans

House of Hepworths

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Finding Fabulous

The Shabby Nest

French Country Cottage

Fun Fonts {Part One}

2011-08-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a font junkie. I love them!!

I can remember the time when I was first married and I discovered free font websites you could download.

I would annoy (I'm sure!!) my husband by calling from the back bedroom "OH MY GOSH, there's a Krispy Kreme font! OH WHOA, there's a Disneyland font!!"

Seriously, it became an addiction for a while. Once my hubby showed me how to unzip files and install the fonts it was a slippery slope from then on.

I do some graphic design here and there with invitations and such so I use fun fonts all the time. I thought I'd share with you today just a few of my favorites and give you the link to where you can find them. I am a cheapo so all of these were free downloads. Hope you enjoy!!

Find it here

Find it here

Find it here

Find it here

Find it here

Find it here

Bow Organizer {Take Two}

2011-08-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am FINALLY happy with the bow organizer for my sweet girls. I blogged about the first one I made last fall. It served it's purpose, but wasn't ever what I had intended it to look like.

I took the old one apart and was left with the original frame.

I spray painted it using my handy adapter so my pointer finger doesn't revolt on me. You can get these for a couple bucks at Walmart or other hardware stores. I don't spray paint without one of these anymore!

I bought this chicken wire from Home Depot. It was under $7 for a 10' long roll. I stretched the wire across the backside of my frame and cut it to size using my floral wire cutters. Using a staple gun I then attached it to the backside of the frame.

Then it was off to pick the spot.

And gather the bows!

The "roughing" up was unintentional, but the frame was in pretty bad shape and the spray paint was the cheapo kind we already had on hand. Once I sanded down the edges it made the other imperfections look intentional... just the way I like it. Like Peewee Herman said "I meant to do that"!

No, if only ALL the bows for the girls actually fit on here. I guess I'll need another one. How do you organize and store your bows? I'd love to know!! Please, share with us in the comments section.

Photography tips!

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

Is your camera stuck on automatic?? Mine is.

I have this nice new camera that I don't know how to use.

If you want to learn how to use your camera, check out this website.

Marla does a great job of simplifying things! I'm reading up & taking notes!

First Day of School

2011-08-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

I can NOT believe that my oldest child will be starting Kindergarten on Monday! It just can't be so.

I of course will have my camera charged and ready to go for the big event and one photo I know I'll need to take is the First Day photo. I want to make sure that I remember it well since that day will probably fly by in a whirlwind of emotions. She's done Pre-K and all sorts of other "schools" and MDO's but this time it's way different! Am I right? Surely those of you who've done this already can appreciate where I'm coming from.

So, in honor of her first day, I've created some printables to use to document her first day (and your child's first day!).
These are 8x10s and go from Pre-K thru 6th grade.

Get them here.
I would show you a picture of my daughter holding this so you get the idea... but she just got out of the pool with crazy wet hair. So, you'll have to imagine and come back next week to see how the "real thing" goes!

31 Winner!!

2011-08-19T00:05:00.005-05:00

We have a WINNER

for our

GIVEAWAY!!!

57. soonerfans said...[Reply to comment]

I like the Everyday Tote!

AUGUST 15, 2011 6:38 PM

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated!! There are more giveaways in store, so don't venture too far!

Congratulations Soonerfans!! Contact us, using the email link at the top right corner of this page & we'll get your prize to you! And just to let you all know, Lindsay is a Longhorn & I'm an Aggie, so you can imagine how painful this was for us! Hopefully this is the only thing Sooner fans win this Fall :) :)

The little dresser that could

2011-08-19T00:01:00.003-05:00

No piece of furniture in my house has been used & abused quite as much as this little dresser. It's been in all 3 of my kids rooms, at one time was our nightstand & has even served as an entry table.

But this is it's best home yet.

Right between my kitchen and living room. I've been wanting to bring more white into that area & this was the easiest (& cheapest) way to do it.

I removed the bottom drawers hoping that there would be shelves underneath.

There weren't.

No problem.

I purchased a $5 piece of wood from Lowes and made my own.

And I'm very happy with it.

Once again, my little dresser comes through in the clutch.

Coming Soon

2011-08-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

I finally decided what will go on this long blank wall in my kitchen. Stay tuned to see what my blue tape has in store!

I'm pretty excited about it.

You've got to be kidding me...

2011-08-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got a few new pillows for our living room.

I'm loving the light gray/blue background and still some of my 'go to' colors of red and green.
I had my eye on them for a while at Hobby Lobby.
They'd been moved to the 60% off aisle which I LOVED. But I was SHOCKED to see the original price tag.

I thought to myself, "Who would spend $100 on a pillow!!??" Not this girl apparently.
Even 60% didn't help me out here.
So. I. Waited. and Waited.
Eventually they got down to $9.99 and I scooped up three of them.

They are nice, comfy, pretty pillows. Worth $100? Not in my book.

Maybe it's a scam for me to think I got such a GREAT deal. 90% off is pretty stellar. :)