I wasn't blogging, but I was still creating...

Despite my lack of blogging, I have still been creating. Here are some of my creations:

Every girl needs a coordinating holiday hair piece!
A turkey clip from felt and ribbon for my baby girl to wear on Thanksgiving.

A Thanksgiving table

Creating a little holiday magic for my kiddos.
I love watching little kids decorate the Christmas tree!

I made an outdoor Christmas tree by wrapping garland around a tomato cage and adding a strand of white lights (an idea I got from Pinterest. You can follow me on Pinterest HERE.)It looks really nice all lit up at night and was made with items I had on hand. Here it is with a light dusting of snow from a winter storm last week:

I'm lovin' our Christmas mantle this year!
Some fluffy garland decorated with glittery, gold snowflakes, gold stars, and
some chocolate brown, sparkly ornaments.
All this highlights the large nativity picture that depicts the reason for the season.
*sigh*
I think it is beautiful.

And I couldn't forget our annual gingerbread house decorating. I was the architect and my son was the decorator. It is my way of conquering my OCD ways by allowing my son to place the candy wherever he wants, in whatever pattern he wants. It is a really great exercise for me in letting go. My son loves it and I love making memories with him!

So there you have it. If you have any questions about the details of any project, let me know. And I will try not to wait so long to blog about my projects.
Happy Holidays!

Mums and pumpkins add some autumn cheer

I am behind on my blogging! I have several recipes I still owe you and I need to post pictures from my Halloween party...until then, here are some pictures of our front porch planters with a little autumn flair. Nothing says "fall" more than a pile of pumpkins and some mums!

My sweet potato vine is still going strong! I love that stuff.
It has been growing like crazy and I had to trim it back to make room for anything else.

This planter just makes me smile every time I walk in the front door :).
I kept the dracaena spikes from my spring planting and added a yellow mum and a cabbage plant. And of course I had to nestle in a little pumpkin to add more color...

Has your front yard/porch/planter(s) been given a touch of autumn?
Happy Fall Y'all!

Some pot froofing...

Froofing...is that even a word?

I have several projects I need to share with you, but since I have been battling the stomach flu, you get this pot update instead. Remember this $1 pot from a garage sale last year?

Here it is full of folliage next to the front door:

It makes me smile every time I walk by it :). I'm not quite sure what I love about it so much.

Maybe it's the sweet potato vine? I have been in love with sweet potato vine for quite sometime and I finally have some of my own! I imagine it spilling gracefully over the edge of my pot as it grows... The other plants I planted: dracaena spikes (the tall, spikey thing in the back), red petunias (love me some petunias!), and a small vinca plant in the front.

Is there something by your front door that makes you smile and welcomes guests to your home?

Favorite Things

Just a few of my favorite things lately...

Scented wax for my Scentsy warmer for $2 a piece at Wal-Mart. Better Homes and Gardens brand near the candles. Mmm...makes the house smell fresh and clean.

Going to Sonic during Happy Hour and finding a free 44 oz. drink offer on the bottom of my receipt! Always check the bottom of your Sonic receipts for this survey offer - your carhop won't necessarily mention it to you. Gotta love happy hour and free drinks!

Donating stuff to Goodwill and getting a 30% off coupon to use at Gap.
Hmm...getting rid of stuff but being tempted to buy more stuff ;)

White Dishes. Love them. Have a slight addiciton to collecting them.
I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize their versatility.

This is no surprise to you - finding a good deal at a garage sale.

I found this 5 piece suit (jacket, pants, white shirt, vest, tie) for Spencer at a garage sale and snatched it up for $3. It is in perfect condition. The woman said her son only wore it once for a family portrait. AMAZING!

I am IN LOVE with this patio decor from Centsational Girl. L-O-V-E.

Maybe someday I will have a space like this... sigh.

You can see the entire patio HERE.

What are your favorite things lately?

Summer Fun Kit

Since Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, I thought I would put together some easy summer fun kits. I always think of things I should have brought with us when we take an impromptu trip to the park and I thought it would be nice to have it all together in one place. I assembled two kits - one for the car and one to be kept near the front door. I mainly used items I found at Dollar Tree or in the dollar spot at Target.

The Car Kit

I put a frisbee, some sand pails and shovels, a bubble wand, sand/dirt digging tools, a bucket of sidewalk chalk and some sunblock together in a red basket from Dollar Tree. Now that I have this stowed in the back of my car, I am ready for any summer outdoor adventure with Spencer.

The possibilities are endless!
You can completely customize this to your family's needs.

Here's a smaller version I put together to be used at home, stored near the front door. It always seems that Spencer asks me for the same things when he is playing outside: sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and something to water the flowers with. Now I don't have to go searching all over the house and the whole basket can be brought outside. I also added a container of sunblock too as a reminder to put some on when playing outside! This is great for when mom isn't home and dad is entertaining the kiddos oustide.

Finish it off with some ribbon and you are ready for some summer fun!

What items would you put in your summer fun basket?

MUM's the word!

What better way to fall-ify your front porch than with mums in gorgeous hues of orange and yellow? I am on a mission to add a little fall decor to the front porch! (Even if it isn't my house! Thanks to my in-laws for indulging me in my need to decorate.) Mums are inexpensive and add such a nice pop of color.

And I will share a little secret with you... Join The Home Depot Garden Club. I joined the email club in the spring and receive periodic emails with money saving coupons for all manner of gardening and yard items. I don't use the coupons very often, since I don't have my own house and my in-laws' yard doesn't need much, but a coupon for mums caught my eye last week. I had seen these stunning mums at the grocery store, but with a $12.99 price tag, those babies weren't coming home with me. A couple days later, a Buy 2 get 1 FREE coupon for mums popped up in my email from The Home Depot!

It was meant to be...

The 6" mums at Home Depot were priced at $2.88 and much more within my price range! So for $6 plus my coupon, I walked out of Home Depot with 3 beautiful mums! What a thrifty way to add a little pizzaz to your porch or yard. And if you don't have a porch or yard, potted plants/mums make great gifts.

So what's the moral of this story? Join The Home Depot Garden Club , by clicking HERE, to help save you some moolaa on all your yard and gardening endeavors. And don't forget that your front porch needs a little fall lovin' too! More porch fall lovin' to come...

Beautifying Some Thrifty Finds

My Saturday mornings have been filled with garage saleing. It is such a thrill to bring home something average and transform it into something spectacular! Here are some of those transformations:

I found this cute, red chair at a garage sale a couple weeks ago for $5!

I loved that it was red.

Red is my color.

I pictured it in a cute display on the porch.

Here it is holding a wood crate I also found at a garage sale.

A little spray paint magic ("Blue Ocean Breeze" by Krylon) and a beautiful, overflowing pot of lantana transforms this porch area into a welcoming, cheerful sight as you come in the front door.


I LUV it!

Here's another garage sale find: a plastic planter for $1

It was quite dirty and needed a little elbow grease to get all the caked-on dirt off!

Add a little Black Satin Krylon for Plastics spray paint and the overflowing lantana pot and you have a sleek, black planter for the front porch.

I am picturing a stack of pumpkins for this pot come October...
Can you imagine?
3 pumpkins in 3 different sizes stacked on top of each other.
Oh the possibilities!

I am completely in love with these thrifty finds!
Lovin' the garage saleing excursions too!
You never know what you are going to discover!