Lovvve is in the air

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I wish I had had the time to decorate for winter. I love what Joy has done for the winter. She is my decorating hero. I would have my house look like hers in a minute. Alas, this week was about an 80 hour week for me. So, I skipped winter and went straight for valentines day. Interesting fact-my V key is on the blink just in time for my VVVVVValentines day post. Here is what I did with my chalkboard and sewing hoops for V day.


This is what I have going on in my china cabinet right now. I really love the rose pink depression class. I recently aquired the candy dish at the flea market and am loving it.I am so glad that I made these books when they started popping up all around blogland. They have sported jack-o-lantern faces, Christmas ribbon and now are looking lovvvvely for Valentines day. I think I need more for sort of a cluster.

This cute little cake plate is one of two that I got from my sister. The other is larger and they stack together. This ivory spray painted frame travels around my home with different magazine clippings that I think are cute and seasonal. I love candy hearts. I need to buy some more to eat and not just look at.


And last but not least here are my two favorite guys. They are the hobbit adventurers Marry and Pippen. Yes, Mary is a boy. I have had Pippen (the siamese mix) for almost 5 years and can't imagine life without him. Mary is a relatively new addition to our home. But, Pippen is showing him the ropes and will kindly swat him if he gets out of line. And in case you are wondering Pippen is not evil, His eyes just dialate more slowly than the average cat.

Tutorial:Versitle Seasonal Decor

Monday, January 19, 2009

I love using sewing hoops to decorate. Fabric is always easy to work with and very inexpensive. You can always find interesting prints in pillowcases and other scraps at your local thrift store. I took these Pictures in December, these were the colors that I used for Christmas. If you look carefully you can see that I kept several of the scraps in place for Valentines day and only swapped out the green ones. I keep all of the swatches tucked away together so that I can reuse them for different seasons. For more examples check out my post HERE (Fall). I also have some wooden ones in my craft room here. In this room I actually used some shelf paper in the hoops, just because I liked it better than any of the fabrics I could find. The hoops are easy to find. All of mine came from either the Avendale Flea Market or the United Methodist Childrens Home Sale. Some of the fabrics came from there as well.

1. Choose your fabrics. and hoops They can come from anywhere. Some of my hoops are quite small and don't take much fabric to fill.
2. Choose the portion of the fabric that you want to "Frame." This mostly applies to fl orals and toilles.
3. Place the bottom of the hoop under the fabric and the top piece (they come apart, these metal ones have springs and cork to cushion them) press down until they firmly hold the fabric in place. You may have to tug the fabric until there aren't any wrinkles. Be especially careful with stripes so that they don't get wavy.
4. Trim around the edges.
   
5. Hang.

Here are the ones that I have up right now for Valentines Day.

Camera Broken

Sunday, January 18, 2009

I hate blogging without pictures. So, I haven't blogged in quite a while. The camera is broke so I am having to revert to my older one. It is charging now and I promise I will post some pictures soon, I have been doing some decorating for valentines day. I have been very busy couponing. My husband even got a little involved today. We went and did half of our Publix shopping after church today. When we were at the register he was cheering as the "ammount saved" kept going up. The total that we spent was $9.23 and we saved $34.86. Joel was very suprised and gushing with pride at my couponing skills. Hope to post more pics soon.

Last day of winter break

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Sundays are my day of rest. My husband and I live 45 minutes from our church and we choose not to go back to church on Sunday nights. We go to the morning service and to Sunday School. When I was growing up we went in the morning and then back at 4:00 for choir practice and then the evening service. We lived three minutes away. Sundays are the beginning of the week and they are important for me to be able to prepare for the rest of the week. Some people may judge us for not spending three hours on the road on Sunday, but I know for us it is the right decision. We have decided that, for the new year, we will have our date night on Sunday evenings and I couldn't be more thrilled. This evening we plan on having dinner...at the table, discussing our goals for the new year and watching Superstars of dance. He and I are both huge suckers for anyone with rhythm. Have a great Sunday

Coupon Bonanza

Saturday, January 3, 2009

There will be 5 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper tomorrow. So, even if you aren't one of the few, the proud, the couponers, you might want to check it out. There is a preview over at Taylortown Preview. The site looks a little scarey, but if you scroll down you can see what's in them. I spent the afternoon clipping them and there are lots to be had. It is good news because a lot of the ones that I had expired 12/31. Happy Clipping!

New Year Resolutions

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Lucy: Charlie Brown, I think you should resolve to be perfect during the coming year.
Charlie Brown: Perfect? Good grief, nobody's perfect! What do you expect of me?
Lucy: I think you can be if you try... I really do!
Charlie Brown: All right, Lucy, if you have that much faith in me, I'll try! I hereby resolve to be perfect during the next year!
Lucy: YOU? PERFECT?! HA! HA! HA! HA!

So, maybe not perfection. But here are my goals for the new year

1. Eat less meat-more omega 3's (More about this at a later time)
   
2. Date my husband once a week
3. Don't let clutter overwhelm my life
4. Spend some time a couple times a week on my relationship with God
5. Start my Master's Program at Liberty
   

What I am doing today

The plan for today

• Laundry
• Test driving a HUGE TRUCK for a 50$ gift card. Check out the details HERE
• Discussing reinstating a Date Night with my hubbs. Read THIS and THIS for more details.
• Going to Kroger with my list of coupons from HERE.
• Taking down Christmas Decorations while watching my new movie

Little Mermaid was my favorite when I was growing up.

Can I tell you how much google reader has impacted my life. I used to have to wait for magazines or all of this kind of info. What are you doing today?

After Christmas...Disapointment

Monday, December 29, 2008

Firstly, I must apolagize for not having posted anything about Christmas. I promise I am not a scrooge and I did decorate. Christmas is my favorite time of year, I just didn't get around to posting anything about my Christmas decorations. Things just got a little overwhelming with school, doing the yearbook, Christmas shopping, and everything else. Something had to give, so I had to back off of the blog for a little bit. But I am back.

My Bunny and I spent some time today shopping. We don't spend very much on each other so we can go shopping together after Christmas when everything is cheaper. I got some great deals at target. Scotch tape for .25 a roll (after coupons), Free M&M private reserve(or whatever they are called) for free plus a .13 overage, and a .24 scotch wrapping paper cutter. I hit the Victoria Secret Semi-Anual Sale and got some of my favorite panties ;), but I couldn't find anything exciting at bath and body works (who is also having their Semi-Annual)

What I have done since I have blogged last:

1. I have finished all four twilight novels-on Audio while working on things around the house
2. I have gotten a good...enough start to the school's yearbook so that I don't feel like it has me in a choak hold.
3. I have welcomed a new kitty into our home
4. I have saved a lot on groceries with a little help from my favorite bloggersand lots of other menial tasks that, no one really wants to hear about
5. Wrote a mother letter and included it in a basket of encouragement for my mother for Christmas
6. and lots of other menial tasks that, no one really wants to hear about

An award and some of my favorite bloggers

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Meg's Musings gave me this award and I am supposed to list six things I love and then pass the award on to some others. I have the special privilege of knowing Meg in real life and she is just as entertaining in person. Her outlook and energy are very refreshing.

1. I love reading (latest fav. is the Twilight series)

2. I love my pets, we have a new kitty and as soon as she comes out from under the bed he will make his internet debut.

3. I love spending time with my friends

4. I love reading blogs, but struggle with the posting

5. I love the feeling of triumph when you get a really good deal

6. Garage Sailing!

Now, I get to pass the award on to some very creative bloggers!
Julie from My life with boys is a missionary mom who is serving in Hungary) She is very creative with her learning opportunities for her boys. I have several of them marked in a mommy folder on my google reader.
Nikki at Project Domestic Bliss. She, unlike me is great at showing us all exactly how to do any number of her creative crafts. She has even been known to throw in a video.
Shynea at Penny Pinching Diva is the one I always rely on for the up to the minute news about where to go to get those hard to find coupons, and when I am looking at a pile of sales fliers and coupons, I always check to see how she combined sales with coupons for great savings.

Christmas Card

Monday, November 10, 2008

This is our Christmas card for this year. The photos were taken my Christina, aren't they fabulous?

I created it on scrapblog.com. It was super easy to create but a little more difficult to actually get it once I was finished. They would like for you to purchase it from them and order the cards for a dollar apiece. A little too much for me. I had them sent to my flicker account and then copied it from there to print. Each year we do Christmas postcards instead of cards. Postage is much cheaper this way. I always order from vista print, their prices are very reasonable. I also ordered thank you post cards for our wedding gifts there. You can type out your message for the year on the other side. I paid $10 for 50 cards and if you are a an ebates member you can go through their site and get some cash back. I have also used scrapblog to make my blog header and desktop backgrounds. Enjoy playing with it.

***A note about ebates***

I have recently discovered ebates. If you go through their site to buy things you are already purchasing online they send you a check each quarter. My husband and I have made $25 this month already (due largely to the fact that we signed up for netflix through them, but we were going to get netfilx anyway). This could add up to some guilt free garage sale money. I tell my husband it is great that someone is finally paying me to be a smart shopper.

Click here to sign up:
http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=iPM5zB2fvMRdRjfHfq1NTw%3D%3D

Happy shopping!