Happy Weekend!

Hope ya'll have a wonderful Labor Day Holiday!  

Promise I'll be back next week with less dog posts :)

Our week has been super busy and a little sleep-deprived, but full of lots of puppy love.

Happy Weekend!

Fall Is Coming!

Are any of you as excited as I am about Fall??  I have plans to start decorating this weekend!  Can't wait to share some of our Fall decor with you guys next week.  I'm kind of a freak and like to decorate September 1st...that's acceptable, right??

Can't wait to dress like this...

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...and do fun DIY projects like this!  I plan on trying this out on some pumpkins this year.  So simple and cute.

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I'm in love with this front porch.  I really like the square wreath as well.

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Can't Wait!  Happy Thursday!

Puppy Life

Life with Puppy update...say a prayer for me...

Will be back when life settles a bit!

Big News!

We got a new PUPPY!  Meet little Miss. Tucker!  She is a Weimeraner and is 8 weeks old!

Tucker Collins ~ 8 Weeks Old

We had been talking about getting a second dog for a few weeks casually, but yesterday, we just decided to do it.  We saw an add for these adorable puppies, and thought she would be a good fit in our home.  We wanted another big dog that was good with children and smart (easier to train!).  We have a huge backyard, and thought Finnley would love a friend...plus we had a little bit of the puppy bug again.  She is precious and already so well behaved.  So far no accidents...is this for real?!?

Sisters!

Happy Monday from our full home to yours!

Happy Weekend!

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Hope everyone has a relaxing and wonderful weekend!

Easy Updates ~ Lampshade Makeover

I totally copied this from Carmel of Our Fifth House, and Courtney of A Thoughtful Place...and I am SO glad I did!  It's amazing what a little ribbon can do to a plain Jane lampshade!

Here is the before...a little too much white that didn't stand out. 

 I used a gray grosgrain ribbon and just hot glued it around the edges of the shade. I only used one drop of glue at the seam of the shade, and one on the opposite side.  It seriously took me 5 minutes!

Our little makeshift entryway is coming together!

I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger lately.  I didn't post the tutorial yesterday on the DIY skirted table cover, because I didn't feel like I took enough pictures during the process to give you a clear idea...plus most of it was improvised along the way :) 

Also, there are some exciting things going on in our business right now, so that has kept me a little sidetracked.  Owning your own business is so fun and rewarding, but lots of responsibility and work!  I will keep ya'll posted on things as they unfold!  Thank you all for your kind comments and encouragement.  I love having this blog to share my creative projects and home with you guys!

Happy Weekend friends!

{DIY} Skirted Table Cover

Today I wanted to share my first DIY skirted table cover.  I fell in love with so many inspiration pictures on Pinterest, and finally got around to doing this.  My grandmother did all of the sewing...I just helped with the idea and ironing along the way :)  It took a while to complete, but I am really happy how it turned out.  I chose a light linen fabric, and we added the greek key trim.  

Here is the before shot of the table when it was across the room.  Too brown and bulky for this space.  I am not a fan of our couches and chair, but we have to make do for now.  So, the table cover was a very easy and cheap way to lighten up this area.

Here are some full room shots of our progress so far.

You can see we hung white drapes in the dining room too.  I love how it brought both of the rooms together so well.

Tomorrow I'll share a quick tutorial for how we did this. Thanks for stopping by!

{DIY} Chevron Bulletin Board

   Today, I wanted to share my latest project with you guys.  This was one of those easy spur of the moment projects that I thought of while shopping at Hobby Lobby the other day.  I saw this cute chevron fabric and thought it would be perfect for our kitchen desk area. We have a built in desk that serves as a drop-spot for our mail, keys, etc....So, I thought a cute bulletin board would be the perfect addition to keep this space organized, but still pretty :)

Here are my supplies:

$5 Fabric

$5 Bulletin Board

Quilt Batting

Staple Gun

Brass Tacks

First, I stapled the batting to cover the front of the board.

Then I stapled my fabric over the batting & trimmed the edges.

Next, I pushed in these brass thumb tacks all around the border.  Since the edges of the board are raised, this framed the board really nicely.  Although it looks tedious, this really only took me about 20 minutes.

Ta-Da!  I was shocked by how much I loved this easy project.  Don't you love when it actually turns out how you had imagined it in your head??  I have had my share of project failures, so I was excited that this was a WIN!

Here's a peak into our living room so you can see the bigger picture.  In the background you can see the DIY skirted table cover that I finally finished this week with the help of my grandmother.  I'll share all about that on Monday!

And this, my friends, is one of my absolute favorite Fall candles from Hobby Lobby.  They have it every year in Autumn Spice & Pumpkin Spice.  I always buy both, but this one is Autumn Spice, and I love it the most.  They smell so good and are only $5 if you get them when they are 50% off...which is every other week pretty much at Hobby Lobby :)  They have been on shelves for a few weeks already, and I restrained myself...but this week, I couldn't pass it up.  Bring on FALL!

I'll be linking up over at Hi Sugarplum! for her "In About an Hour" link party!  It's for any DIY projects that you completed in less than an hour...and this was definitely completed in less than an hour!

Happy Weekend!

Have you tried these?!?! {S'mores Bars}

Who does't love a S'more??  

My sister made these last week at the beach and they were so delicious that I had to share.  You HAVE to make these this Fall!  Of course she found it off Pinterest...what did we even do before Pinterest was created?!?

You're welcome in advance :)

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~ S'mores Bars ~

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.  Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

These are AHHHMAZING!  Enjoy!

Summer Reading

Don't you love going to the bookstore and getting new books?  I sure do.  On Sunday after church, my hubby and I stopped by Barnes & Noble, and I came home with these.  I have wanted the Domino book forever, and have heard amazing things about the devotional, Jesus Calling.  I'm enjoying some much needed down time this week, so these books came at the perfect time.

Happy Wednesday!

Tasty Tuesdays ~ Bananas Foster

Last Saturday before we left New Orleans to head to the beach, we stopped at Brennan's for brunch.  This place is a New Orleans institution and was absolutely delicious.  The service was amazing, and the food was delish...and yes, we did have Bananas Foster at brunch for dessert!  We practically had to since Brennan's is known for the creation of the Bananas Foster back in 1951!  

Brennan's is right in the French Quarter.

Here is the man that the Bananas Foster is named after...

Bananas Foster is not only delicious, but it is surprisingly pretty easy to make too.  Here's the Brennan's recipe for you guys!

This would be a great party dessert for a small dinner party.  Super easy & definitely a crowd pleaser.

I'm linking up to Tasty Tuesdays.

Enjoy!

Back from the Beach!

We had a really great time at the beach last week, but I am glad to be home.  That 12 hour drive home was pretty rough!  We ate shrimp, built sand castles, swam in the ocean, slept a ton, watched the Olympics, and enjoyed some family time.  I didn't take many pictures at all...bad blogger, I know...but here are a few iphone pics to share to prove we were at the beach :)

We spent the night in New Orleans, which I loved.  We ate at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant, Nola, which was AMAZING...followed by Beignets at Cafe du Monde.

We arrived in Rosemary Beach Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately it looked like this and rained most of the week :)  But, we still had fun, and managed to fit in a few days of beach time.

We ate yummy food...

...And built Sand Castles...

(how cute is my niece?!?)

And watched a TON of Olympics!

Had a great time in paradise...now it's back to reality...but I am truly glad to be home.  I really missed this girl...