Thursday, August 18, 2016

Save or Splurge: Curtains

One of the biggest decorating expenses we've had so far has been window treatments.  We ended up saving AND splurging on curtains.

The bedrooms all had blinds, but the rest of the house had virtually nothing.  The family room still had the original traverse curtain rods so we opted to use those instead of investing in new rods.  It took us a while to find curtains that would work on the traverse rods with the pulleys.  We had the best luck shopping on-line at JC Penneys and in store at Wal-Mart for our bedroom. 

// 1 //
Our Gold Curtains were a SPLURGE.
Our living room ceilings are 8ft, we needed the curtains to be lined, they had to be suited to hang on hooks for the traverse rod and we needed them to be wide to cover the big windows.  It seemed after tons of research that our best options were custom curtains or these curtains through JCP.  They were pricey, but I'm so glad we splurged on them.  They help keep the house cool when it's hot and it's so nice to be able to close things up for the night.






// 2 //
Gray Master Bedroom Curtains were an opportunity for us to SAVE.


They were $17.97 for a single panel.  They're really thick, are lined and are great at blocking out the sun.  I am debating spraying the curtain rod silver or bronze, but am waiting to get all the decor figured out before making that decision.  I've been so happy with them that I've debated adding another panel to each window to bulk things up a bit.


 A sneak peek of our bedroom the first week or so after we moved in.  We got new furniture when we moved and we love it.  We picked up a new comforter and I'll share a full reveal when the room is done.

 We still need to buy window treatments for our kitchen, playroom, bonus room and both kids bedrooms.  So I'd love to know where you find great deals on curtains or window treatments.  I'm in the market to SAVE on the other areas of our house.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Unicorns & Rainbows

My sister threw the cutest 6th birthday party for her daughter Allie a few weeks ago.  The theme was unicorns and rainbows.  It turned out to be such a cute party and I'm excited to share the details with you today.  It seems like unicorns and rainbows are everywhere these days so maybe these ideas will help you throw a themed party of your own.

Unicorns & Rainbows
Haley DIY'd the gold unicorn and made a cake from scratch.  She added a horn to a horse, then sprayed it gold and made a mayonnaise chocolate cake.  It was delicious and gorgeous!

We ate the rainbow with a salad bar for dinner.


 A photo op with the birthday girl and her cake!

All 9 of the cousins on my side were there plus some friends.  Olive loved collecting the balloons and loved the rainbow themed treat bag.


Fletcher got to sit in a high chair for the first time and he loved it!!  This was his face when he realized he was eating a spoon and we were all eating some delicious CAKE.  No fair :)  I'm not a big icing fan, but this chocolate icing was delish.

 Haley had this cute unicorn sign on her entry table to greet the guests and then we all tried to figure out what our unicorn names was during the party.  It was funny and we all had some good laughs.


Great party, sis!! 
She posted some more details and pictures on her blog so head over and say hello :)



My sister also has chickens in her backyard.  All the kids were playing in the yard and having a blast together.  She came in to tell me that Olive had been snuggling chickens.  You won't find me snuggling with the chickens with all of my allergies, but looks like Olive is doing enough snuggling for both of us.  She sent me the following pictures of Olive and Cutie.  Looks like she really does love chickens :)







We are always excited when we can head home for a fun birthday party with family.  It's much more doable with us just being two hours away now.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Tuesday Talk: Indoor S'more Bars

Last week was National S'more Day.
Did you celebrate it??

These made up holidays are kind of silly, but I do love celebrating ordinary days with fun things.  The weather was too warm for a bonfire so we compromised and made our S'mores indoors.

They were delicious, super easy and gone in about one day.  My toddler helped me prepare them and my whole family enjoyed them.


Indoor S'more Recipe

6 or so cups of Golden Grahams
1 bag mini marshmallows
4T butter
two handfuls of chocolate chips

Recipe makes one 9x13 pan of bars.

Directions:
Grease pan with 1T butter saving 3T butter for the bars.
Melt butter, 1 handful of chocolate chips and most of the marshmallows in a sauce pan.  Save one handful of marshmallows and one handful of chocolate chips to sprinkle over the bars once they're done.

Heat butter, chocolate and marshmallows until everything is melted and well combined.  Remove from heat and add approximately 6 cups of Golden Grahams to the mix.  Stir until the cereal is well coated.  Dump mixture into buttered 9x13 pan and then spread out evenly with a knife.  Sprinkle handful of chocolate chips and marshmallows on top.  Let cool, slice into squares and serve.


It's time to link up with my favorite ladies this week.
Be sure to join us with your best recent post.

 

Polka-Dotty Place

Monday, August 15, 2016

August $10 Target Haul

I picked out my $10 Target Haul items in record time this month.  I walked into Target, headed straight for the Dollar Spot and it only took me about one minute to gather my haul.  I knew I had to have these wire baskets for my pantry as soon as I saw them.  My only debate was which color - gold, mint or blush.  I thought about getting the mint ones for my master bathroom, but opted to stick with the gold for my pantry.  They're the perfect size, great quality and I'm debating going back for more.

wire baskets = $3/basket = $9
thank yous = $1
total = $10

 I write thank you notes all the time so I loved these.  Polka-dots, cute saying and fun colors.  I should pick up some more while they have them.

I put nuts, pasta and kid snacks in the baskets and could easily buy three more for the pantry.  They're such a great size!


It's time to link up with my Target ladies!
Join us and show off how you spent your $10 budget this month.
I'm curious to see if anyone else picked up these wire baskets and I always enjoy seeing the things everyone was tempted to buy.


Becky at bybmg // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest
Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest
Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest


Friday, August 12, 2016

High Five for Friday!!

This week flew by at my house.  We packed in errands, appointments, rainy days and work around the house.  We made plans for the last few weeks of summer and are excited to get to see as many family and friends as possible.   We are LOVING watching the Olympics.  I think gymnastics, beach volleyball and swimming are my favorite events so far.  I get so nervous watching team USA go for the gold.  My toddler now shouts GO FOR THE GOLD at the TV and it's adorable.  Are you watching?  What are you favorite events??

The best parts of the week were:

// 1 //
SUMMER OLYMPICS
We are wearing, eating and loving all the red, white and blue for team USA!  Olive wants to learn to fly like the gymnasts, swim like those fast swimmers and is constantly showing off her athletic moves to me.  It's so sweet to see her get excited for the olympics and we are really enjoying cheering on team USA every evening.
 I rounded up my favorite patriotic treats in a post this week.
// 2 //
HOUSE PROJECTS
 Pint Sized Picnic Table
Kevin and his brother spent several hours building Olive her very own picnic table.  She loves it and I can't wait to get it sealed, stained & painted so we can use it.  It's such a great size that we can all sit at it and she's already planning to have friends over to eat with her.
 New Dishwasher
I must be getting old because one of my highlights of the week was getting a brand new dishwasher!!  The one in our home was beyond repair so I've been hand washing dishes for weeks.  Turns out that cooking a ton and then having to hand wash a ton is a ton of work.  So I'm really thank we have a new stainless dishwasher :)

// 3 //
OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Target: We don't have a Target in our town (a fact that I've yet to get over after living here for over a year now) so I always plan to go to Target when we are in a city with one.  I loaded up the kids after a night of not much sleep for anyone and strolled around Target.  We got what we needed (and then some) and our moods were all improved.
Haircut: I have been needing a haircut for a while so I was thrilled to make back to back appointments with my sister to get our hair cut.  It felt good to have someone freshen up my cut and we both left vowing to make joint hair cut appointments a thing for the two of us.

// 4 //
 SALADS
I didn't eat quite as many salads as usual this week.  I ate tons of peaches and really enjoyed this BLT salad.  It's got tomatoes, avocado, sweet corn, bacon and a head of romaine lettuce with vinaigrette dressing.  It was so good that I ate it a few different times.

// 5 //
Favorite Kid Pics of the Week
Fletcher got his 4 month old pictures taken and he looked so handsome.  He was pretty serious for the photographer and wanted to save all of his smiles for mom.
 Olive just turned three and I caught a glimpse of teenage Olive while we were running errands together this week.  She's so sassy and funny that I'm mostly enjoying having a three year old.

Best posts of the week:




I hope you have a really great weekend!!
Do you have any fun plans in the works?