photo SUPER THIN LINE 4_zps4xjugusw.png  photo ENTER 188X24_zpsan0no3qw.png  photo HOLIDAY 134X24_zpsivdh8utq.png  photo PROJECTS 118X24_zpsmt1mfnap.png  photo RECIPES 112X24_zps5kyaynje.png  photo SHOP 100X24_zpsgecoqzk4.png  photo CONTACT 134X24 SECOND_zps0icpk3so.png  photo PRESS 100X24_zpszfhijryx.png  photo SUPER20THIN20LINE204_zpsq5i2ucyd.png

October 31, 2014

October Top Five

Happy Halloween!  My kids can hardly contain their excitement for today's Halloween festivities!  They are so excited to dress up and collect candy, while in my mind, this day marks the start of my favorite season...the holiday season!  All the baking, decorating, and festive gatherings are what bring me excitement!

So before I get busy with holiday projects, here's a quick recap of October around our home....

 photo 40d1b83b-dd65-44f2-a4f3-b139fd54110e_zpsdb6920f3.jpg

 photo 958d5f78-978b-476e-a180-f78ffe65b304_zps4630ae27.jpg

 photo 8e50a39c-c973-4242-bc0b-d60576f8ccbe_zps37fa1c07.jpg

 photo b64a7fff-373b-4f0d-8373-daf0da11fdf0_zps06f529f6.jpg

 photo 89f6aca9-d6f5-4212-8758-8e541cec5d5b_zpsb10f744e.jpg

So that does it!  You can click the link below each picture for a full post if you would like to see more.  Good-bye October, it's been great!  Bring on the holidays...

Have a safe and happy Halloween!



October 27, 2014

Trick or Treat

 photo a24303bf-493a-4ad2-a523-fbafd510477b_zps34741f1a.jpg

 photo 683a6174-a98f-4ec8-8233-e6f39160d86a_zps9668e347.jpg

I finally put a few decorations on my front porch to get ready for all the little trick-or-treaters on Friday.  I really don't do much decorating for Halloween, but I like to do a little bit here and there.  This was a banner I made last year, but I used it inside.  You can see it here.

Originally, I was going to change out my black planter with mums or other seasonal flowers, but decided to just fill it with a foxtail fern so that I can use it with my Christmas decorating too.  Love the look of solid green by the front door whether it be a fern or boxwood, etc.

 photo 8e50a39c-c973-4242-bc0b-d60576f8ccbe_zps37fa1c07.jpg

 photo bebe3d79-687c-49a6-a336-7c4cd4fbaa4c_zps45ef62bf.jpg

I also added a couple of things inside our home, because my kids love Halloween and get excited to see the house decorated.  But much the same as last year...

So, I put up these lights inside in my entry.

And we made these candy wrapper crafts for their teachers again.

Another batch of these cookies will be made for our Halloween party on Friday as well. 

Have a BOO-tiful day!
XO



October 24, 2014

Fashion Friday | Scarf Crush

 photo scarf2_zps2203503c.png

 photo scarf3_zps479745ec.png
Plaid Fringe Scarf

And this one is cute as well...Oversized Plaid Scarf


Happy Friday!  This week has been a bit crazy, so I'm excited for the weekend to get here!  Are you a scarf lover?  I used not be so much, but this year I'm a bit obsessed with them.  How cute is the middle one?  It's from Target and only $16.99!  I've shared a couple of my favorites on IG already this season and I'm thinking that I would love to add the black and white buffalo plaid one to my collection as well!

Have a wonderful weekend!


October 21, 2014

New Black Doors

 photo 40d1b83b-dd65-44f2-a4f3-b139fd54110e_zpsdb6920f3.jpg

Hi there! We finally finished painting the French doors to our study and I'm so happy with the new look!  Our study is right next to our front entry door, which is also black and it looks so much better.  I also have an entry table and buffet that are both black in this open entry area, so it flows nicely with those pieces as well.  I love the contrast against all the white in this room!  You can see the doors before in the below picture.

 photo 57dbbb4a-5a47-47bb-9589-2ba2d06a8143_zps292939b0.jpg

 photo 33a0be23-741a-411b-80b8-b88a51a950f7_zps62351165.jpg

I ended up going with Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze for my color, which is a deep charcoal as opposed to pure black.   And I'm so pleased with the color!  To paint the doors, we took them off the hinges and sprayed them with our paint sprayer and compressor using the same technique as this project, giving it a nice smooth finish.

 photo 189025ae-79e0-432d-9563-71bb6433fec7_zps2c1d36bf.jpg

This is for sure one of those easy projects that sure makes a huge impact!  And one that left me wondering why we didn't do it sooner...

You can see more of our office transformation and some embarrassing before pictures by clicking here, here, here and here.  It's been quite the journey.

Have a great day!



October 16, 2014

Peanut Butter Blossom Spider Cookies

 photo 958d5f78-978b-476e-a180-f78ffe65b304_zps4630ae27.jpg

 photo a31a71e5-cd3c-4fbc-bda4-54f6620aee40_zpsbcd895d5.jpg

Good Morning!  I hope everyone's week is going well.  After our rainy day nap on our Columbus Day holiday, the kids and I woke up hungry so we made these creepy little cookies. 

Not only is this one of my all time favorite cookies recipes, but it's a super cute, super easy idea for all your Halloween festivities.  Unlike a lot of cute cookies you buy in the store that are loaded with really sweet icing on top of an okay cookie, this cookie is really delicious!!  I shared the original recipe long ago right here.  And by changing the Hershey's Kiss that I normally put on top to a Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffle and adding some candy eyes and icing legs, one of the yummiest cookies is now an adorable spider.

 photo 9275c7fb-4f20-45a0-9b20-7c8b0ccd8460_zpsaf546b09.jpg

 photo a28d4c6a-9bf6-4756-91cc-ee5cf7ebdc05_zps981a92d8.jpg

Peanut Butter Blossom Spider Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffles (or candy of choice)
  • candy eyes
  • black tube icing
Method
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Cream together butter, both sugars and peanut butter.  Add 1 egg and vanilla.  Add flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix all ingredients together until dough forms.
  3. Roll dough into walnut size balls.
  4. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
  5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.  While baking unwrap truffles
  6. Remove and allow the cookie to almost completely cool, then place truffle in the middle of the cookie pressing down a bit.  (If the cookies are too warm the truffle will melt and if too cool they won't stick to the cookie.)
  7. Completely cool cookie, then add legs with black icing and glue candy eyes on with a dab of icing on the back.
 
 photo d55d64b7-90c9-4203-abdc-a8f48f2897da_zpsef5ba92a.jpg

 photo 958d5f78-978b-476e-a180-f78ffe65b304_zps4630ae27.jpg

A delicious peanut butter + chocolate cookie all dressed up in disguise for your Halloween festivities.

Hope you enjoy!

October 14, 2014

A Desk for Lyla

 photo 9681a6df-d04d-4384-89d3-8e5c5cd0b77c_zps7c7bd991.jpg

Good Morning!  Were you lucky enough to have yesterday off?  We had a holiday here and it was a rainy day, so we spent our time at the movies and then home for a nap.  Sometimes it's nice to have a rainy day and the perfect excuse to be lazy.

So are you tired of seeing my daughter's room yet?  I think I am finally calling it done!  The last two projects I wanted to tackled were her pom pom curtains and her desk space.  I finished the curtains a couple of weeks ago and you can see the full post here.  And I finally got her desk in the right spot and added some accessories.  We actually moved this desk in her room from our playroom a little while ago, but it was on the opposite side and I never finished accessorizing it.  She has a nice size space between her bed and window, so I decided to move it there, so she would have lots of natural light pouring in.  Nothing too fancy, but she loves it!  One thing about Lyla is she is a child that will play by herself in her room or playroom for hours and this desk is one of her favorite spots!

 photo a4fd6c58-5522-4175-90f8-027c101c539d_zps527a359a.jpg

I think my favorite part are the flower bookends that I found at Home Goods.  How fun are those?  The bins for her colors, markers and other art supplies are from the container store, and I changed out the knob on the drawer with this pink one from Hobby Lobby.  We added a few old DIYs including the gold arrow, the pom pom garland and the heart clipboard.

 photo b64a7fff-373b-4f0d-8373-daf0da11fdf0_zps06f529f6.jpg

 photo a81ef94c-1275-4fca-b474-98137ccb6d1c_zps494776fd.jpg

So that does it!  Nothing like a 10 month room makeover...thanks for sticking with me while I finished this space at snail's pace ;)

Have a lovely day!



October 10, 2014

Fashion Friday | J.Crew Factory Sale

 photo fallwithjcrewfac_zps1ce356d9.jpg


Happy Friday!  It's been awhile since I've done an outfit collage, but since J.Crew Factory is having a huge sale (50% women's & men's and 40% girls' & boys') I thought it was a great time to put one together.  There are so many pieces I am crushing on right now!  How cute is the iphone case?  I've spotted several really cute horse print tops lately too and I'm a fan.  You?  The quilted purse is adorable and one of my favorite colors this season!

I love a good sale, so I also purchased this tank and these booties...both still on sale!

Have a beautiful Fall weekend!

XO


October 8, 2014

September Top Five

Hello October!  It's always fun to look back and recap my favorite projects for the month.  And despite being a busy month with the start of school and new activities, it was still a productive month around here.  Here's a look at my September top five... 


 photo ead381e7-447d-4965-8779-0d5b9087aaf9_zps1bcd5188.jpg

 photo 94e8dfa3-e592-49ea-9955-e67b8ce0568f_zpsff719b6d.jpg

 photo 64b91b60-df3e-4c48-b7f7-0ae1a93dd8c3_zps6bcc9b83.jpg

 photo fe779260-5d89-4502-a20b-c5b0ad420402_zps6a172b2a.jpg

 photo fc0f4072-eff1-4178-a170-2cddc6d6cb5d_zps9dbf58c3.jpg

And you can click the link below each picture for a full post.  Thanks so much for reading :)

Have a fantastic day!!

October 3, 2014

Fashion Friday

 photo 5f4fcdb0-b64f-42d3-baf7-f57537e6bcf7_zps2a38772f.jpg

Skinny Jeans (love these!) | Gray Tee | Scarf (similar, similar) | Booties (similar & on sale, similar) | Belt | Gold Watch | Bracelet

Happy Friday!  It always feels so good to wake up and know that the weekend is so close.  Is it cooling off where you are?  We are finally supposed to get a pretty nice cool front today, so we should be waking up to a crisp morning. 

Can you tell that I'm really loving blue and this purple/plum color right now?  I am so drawn to it and it keeps showing up in both my fashion and décor.  This was a picture of my outfit last Friday that I shared on IG.  The scarf is from Gap Outlet, so I couldn't find it online, but I found some other really pretty ones to share. 



Have a wonderful weekend!



October 1, 2014

More Fall Around Our Home

 photo a700c9d9-1196-40f9-978a-b6fc5581a227_zpsaf7e91ea.jpg

Hey there!  Today I wanted to share a little space in my home that I gave a mini Fall makeover to yesterday.  A few clippings from the backyard, some mini pumpkins, and a pretty scarf gave our mudroom a perfect touch of Fall.

 photo 46f1d33d-3f5f-4b44-8707-2c1562d7aaee_zpsfc471511.jpg

 photo 7689382d-1cd7-43c3-b7a9-059cd9b6f8ca_zps8ebc69a8.jpg

These purple flowers are blooming like crazy in our backyard and they just so happen to be one of my favorite Fall colors this year.  I love how they pair with the orange and white pumpkins.  It's so nice to have fresh flowers straight out of our landscaping...it makes decorating a lot more fun and super easy!

 photo f42e209f-c795-44ff-bb94-cb48bc6480af_zpsb4fc4d38.jpg

 photo 89f6aca9-d6f5-4212-8758-8e541cec5d5b_zpsb10f744e.jpg

How is your Fall decorating going?  Do you finish it all at once or jump around like me and do a little here and there :)  Here's a look at my Fall table in case you missed it.


Have a wonderful day!