Fall Mantle

I move in two weeks so I was putting off decorating a mantle but its fall and its my favorite season! I broke down and did it but it was completely FREE with things I found around my house. I made my $10 fall wreath a couple weeks ago and threw it up on a nail I managed to wedge into a crack in the mortar. I wanted it up higher but I move in two weeks and I am pretty sure the next tenants will thank me for not mutilating the fireplace.

Piece of twine = instant fall candle. I threw a table runner on the mantle for an extra pop of color.

Twine balls are all the rage. I tried several different techniques will post my scientific findings soon.

I had these candle sticks and threw some pumpkins and leftover leaves on them. And once again—twine makes anything fall.

I promise the new house will have something more elaborate but I had to take advantage of the exposed brick one last time.

I Heart Faces- Smirk

These cousins got caught in the act swiping icing from a birthday cake when they thought no one was looking. Thank goodness for zoom lenses and being able to catch these guilty smirks.

Blue Magic

With Halloween around the corner, Black Magic would be a more appropriate title but I need to take a minute to talk about how great Blue Magic is. I found this 18 inch silver tray at a garage sale for $4. It was sitting in the sun when I spotted it and I nearly dropped it when I picked it up because it was so hot and much heavier than I expected. It was pretty scratched up but I loved the shape and details on the edges so I splurged :) and bought it. The owner mumbled something about “magic” and I assumed he was saying…”It’s gonna take some kinda magic to shine that baby up, sucka.” A quick google search showed rave reviews about a product called “Blue Magic.” Transformation in 3…2…1…

Tarnished tray—yuck!

Enter Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream

Would you look at that? Drab to fab. That was cheesy. Excuse me, it is late.

A little scratched in the middle but it will look great on a shelf or to use for cookies during the holidays!

$10 Fall Wreath

I went shopping for a fall wreath last week and was shocked to see that the cheapest wreath that I could find was $25. I love fall… but not that much. I saw that Allison from House of Hepworths created a wreath of her own. I was off to the dollar store and here is what I picked up.

19 inch wreath- $1

3 picks of leaves- $3

Picks of pumpkins/gourds- $2

Cattails, red flowers, and yellow flowers-- $3 (ignore the wheat--- I didn’t use it because that would be an $11 wreath and would require and separate post).

Ribbon- $1

Please take note of the glue gun in the upper right corner. It was a new purchase this weekend and I had a huge smile on my face when I checked out of Lowe’s with it. The guy at the counter probably thought the love in my eyes was for him, but alas, it was for the glue gun that may will change my life.

I picked up some pizza, turned on Swiss Family Robinson and started gluing away and tada… my $10 fall wreath was born.

I don’t have a traditional front door and I wanted to be able to enjoy it so it is hanging on the fireplace until I move.

I am working on a $20 fall mantle which includes this wreath. It will be posted soon!

Have a great FALL weekend!

T-shirt quilt---finally

Ta-da!!! After 8 years of saving t-shirts and 2 years of cutting, arranging, and sewing, it is finally done! The perfect football watching blanket!

Things I love:

1) Awesome fabric. The lady at the store tried to deter me but I don’t think it takes away from the shirts at all!

2) Minky fabric on the back. So perfect for the staying warm while watching football in the fall!

3) The clean look of the shirts and color coordination without looking like it was just thrown together. A little known fact--- I chose a college based on the fact that it matched my high school colors and thus would make a great t-shirt quilt. Ditto for the job and its colors.

No tutorial on this one but in case you are wondering, the squares are 12 inches and it comfortably fits on a twin size bed and fits even better on a couch!

The necklace that made me famous

I work for a celebrity’s non-profit foundation and we were at an event this morning with inner city kids. A little girl asked for my autograph and after trying to redirect her to the 6’7” guy in the room who is actually famous, I asked why she wanted it and she replied, "Because I like yo necklace." Signing the first resulted in a line of 10 more girls wanting autographs... being famous is hard work.

I Heart Faces- My Summer in Review

Click on photo for a closer look

I traveled to Alaska with my family this summer. It was one of those last minute deals so 2 weeks before the trip we found a 7 day cruise for $300 per person. My mom paid for the 3 kids to go so to thank her for taking us, I created a photo collage for her. Be creative when you look at the letters (it is her last name)... each of the photos reminds us of something from the trip.

T- boat anchor from an excursion

E- Eagles-- we saw 86 bald eagles one day and each one was breathtaking

D- yummy food on the cruise

F- dolphin statue in the pool area of the ship

O- life ring from the Aleutian Ballad-- one of the ship's from Deadliest Catch

R- a park we visited while in Vancouver

D- crab measuring table from a crab boat in Ketchikan

It was an amazing trip-- I hope that everyone enjoys getting a quick glimpse!

Beautiful Asheville!

I just returned from Asheville over the long weekend. What an amazing trip! I was amazed by the unique architecture that we saw on our historic trolley tour. Here are a few snapshots of my favorites:

Reason #72- Why I love my Mac…

This morning, my power adapter looked like this. Not safe…

It now looks like this and I didn’t have to pay anything! My Macbook is 4 years old and out of the Apple care warranty. I googled “broken Magsafe adapter” and the result was lots of tutorials of how to fix it. Most of the tutorials started like this… grab a blow torch, a file, 4 sets of pliers, and 3 knives.

I am not trying to break out of prison—just trying to get a little juice to my laptop. I stumbled upon an article about a faulty design and that some models were being replaced for free! I set an appointment and while I was there, the Genius (what a great job title!) realigned my laptop after a little mishap involving a flight of stairs and concrete which left my CD player smooshed.

This concludes my story on why I love my Mac.

Big Plans

I have yet to close but still, I have big plans for this house. I visit her often (good thing its only a mile) and each time, I think of new things that I want to do. It's going to be a busy fall! Now if the bank can just get down to business and give me the keys so I can get to work...