More Silhouette Giveaways!!!

If you want a Silhouette…be sure to visit these sites tonight for a change to win a giveaway.  I am wanting one of these and dreaming of all that I would stay busy doing with it!!!

Brown Paper Packages

Honey We're Home

Life Rearranged

A Silhouette Giveaway at Little Miss Momma

Be sure to stop by the Little Miss Momma blog and enter to win a Silhouette machine or use her discount code to purchase one!  I am quickly falling in love with this machine and will need to make it a priority to get.  There are so many things that it can do and I am preferring it over the similar machines because you don’t have to purchase cartridges that only have one things that you might like.  You simply use it with your computer and purchase only what you like.  The creating possibilities are endless.  The giveaway entries are easy also.  Take a look!

There is a New Etsy Store!!!!

Well I didn’t fall of the face of blogging land, I have been a busy girl. The fall is always a busy time of year for our family.

I will save the pictures for now, but we are a hunting family. We hunt big game, and yes that means me too. I have been decked out in camouflage 14 out of 16 weekends. To be more accurate, I was the only family member to bring home the bacon…oh I mean meat this year. So exciting! I was able to get my first deer and if I do say so myself, he is a dandy buck!

The freezer is full!!!!

Last year I was challenged with hunting 7 and 8 months pregnant (I did it!) and this year we had another challenge of hunting with a 1 year old. Little guy was perfect and loved camping, being in the woods, and seeing the animals. I may post more on this later, but for now I want to get on to my other exciting news.

I now have an Etsy store and am so hopeful for the possibilities that it brings. I love selling on Craigslist, Ebay, and shopping thrift stores, but I really wanted something else to do also this winter.

I love being a stay-at-home-mom and also love making things. When I made the change to stay at home full-time, I wanted to be purposeful in living the life that I love. What more can you ask for than to do what you love everyday!

So welcome to my Etsy Store, The Better Life Pieces

I have really focused on the coming Holiday Season and am excited to now start listing items for other occasions too. So please take a look and let me know what you think. I value your comments!

If you decide you see something you can’t live without, I would be so excited. I need to start building my customers ,so the first person to order a set of tags will receive a FREE set of tags of their choosing.

Little Wonders

I get up each day to read the “31 Days to a Better Dressed Nest” over at the Nesting Place. Some days she has had great tips and some days have been thought provoking inspiration. I especially like this post on Day 19. It is all about what is important and not always apologizing for what is good enough. The comments were great to read.

There was one post in particular by Sharon that resonated with me. She stated that she has a sign that says, “please excuse the mess and noise, the kids are making happy memories.”

WOW! I am going to have a sign like that soon.

Isn’t that what matters. I have a clean home that generally is in good order. By no means are we going to be part of a photo shoot, our home looks lived in on a daily basis. You know what I mean!

There is nothing more important than my family and the memories that we are able to make together. So what did I love most about the weekend?

Watching my little man have fun with his first tomato!

Make sure your making wonderful memories!

Acorn Treats

I did it again. That should be the title of my copycat inspired category.

Aren’t these little guys so cute!

It is super easy. I got my inspiration from Lipstick and Laundry.

Her title was Acorn Treats { remember these}.

NO!!!!!!!!! I have never seen these before. They are super cute, simple and yummy! Just had to make them.

Simple Fall Projects - Part IV Another Wreath

OMG!!! I usually never use OMG, but I have been screaming at the computer. Have you ever seen something that you love and then it gets lost in blogland forever?

Yeah, I just spent the last hour trying to find something that I new I wanted to try the moment I saw it.

Look at this beautiful wreath.

Julie over at Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss made her.

Like I said, isn’t she beautiful? You can see how she made her here.

Well, here I go searching for a way to make this my own. I had dollar store garland. I had wire, ribbon, and spray paint. Ready, set, GO!

First I began making a wreath by winding my garland into a circle and securing each circular pass with wire.

Waalaa…I have a fall wreath. I knew from my inspiration above that I didn’t want to leave it like it was. I also know that although I love heirloom white, it doesn’t work well for me. ORB does though! What to do.

Well, ORB it is and here are my wreaths.

Yes it is ORB, but on the fabric leaves it appears more black in the picture. This lead me to the orange ribbon and a perfect wreath for Halloween.

I have two long windows in the family room that flank the fireplace. I thought the white wood blinds would make the perfect back drop for these wreaths.

The bow is hot glued on and the ribbon is tied on the back of the wreath and the curtain rod.

Never mind the poor or lack of window treatment at the top :(

That will be another day.

What do you think?

If you are looking for other great wreaths, check out this party:

For the LOVE of Wreaths Party at Domestically-Speaking

Halloween Mantle

I recently put some fall touches on the mantle. If you missed it you can see it here.

October is here and it was time to update with some Halloween touches, especially once I made my Happy Halloween sign! It was just in the last post, but if you missed it you can see how I did it here.

Here are the new touches….

We do subtle, not big and scary.

What was added other than the sign?

I love those little pumpkin guys and there faces!

The witch candle lantern was bought on clearance several years ago, and it perpetually lit with a great little flameless pillar candle from the dollar store.

The dollar store also had a these cute little tombstones and busts. I liked this one because it reminds me of the haunted house at Disney World :)

There are so many more cute mantles out in blogland, but as I also think and sometimes say, just do what you love and make it your own!

Happy October!

Easy Thrifty Halloween Sign

I was determined to find another project at the thrift store the other day.

Why? I have no idea since I have a box full of things waiting to be repurposed.

My Halloween decorations had not found there way out of the box yet since I was still enjoying the arrival of fall!

So as I shopped at the Goodwill inspiration arrived….

Here is how to make a cute inexpensive Halloween sign.

(Please excuse the nails if the wall, to eager!)

Do you know what it is was in a prior life?

Yep, a plastic placemat. And 0.49 cents at that.

Then I set out looking for a frame.

Can you believe that someone got rid of this needlework?

I hope you heard the sarcasm!

I splurged more than I usually do on a thrift store frame and bought this one for $5, because it was a perfect fit (top to bottom, that is).

I have never done a tutorial and this is real basic probably missing some steps in the pictures, but here is what I did.

• Take the frame apart.

By the way, genealogy is another love of mine and I find old family pictures, bibles, and such very interesting.

So as I flipped this picture over, it told a story.

Apparently Eva Wilkins from Pittsburg, PA visited Colorado in 1973 and bought this for Ernie and Rosemary Vetter. I suppose this is the story as I found it in a Colorado Goodwill here locally and it was made by the artist in Boulder, Colorado.

Anywho! On to the transformation.

• Spray paint the frame.

These are some wonderful things that help with all my thrift store finds in realizing there full re-purposed potential.

• Clean the glass and placemat.

(who knows where they have been, ewwww!)

• Then cut placemat to fit.

I minimized my cutting by finding a frame that fit the placemat top to bottom, so I only have to cut an inch off of each side.

• Then put everything back together.

I didn’t put a back under the placemat because it changed the white letters and made them darker. I preferred the leaving it so that it could be more translucent if I ever wanted to hang in front of light source or window.

• To secure in frame, use a small nail on each side of the frame.

I nailed my mine right against the placemat on the inside of the frame you could also use nails and bend them over to secure it.

• Hot glue one strand of ribbon on the two top back corners of the frame.

• Tie sweet little bow.

Now this is temporary decor and up out the way of little hands so the picture is hung by a a wire that came on the back of the frame. It does not hang from the ribbon! There is a tiny nail for the ribbon to rest on and hey, the bow isn’t even attached it just rest on the nail :)

Super easy!

If you want to see other great creations from talented people check out the places I party:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Power of Paint at Domestically-Speaking

Twice Owned Tuesday at Creating a House of Grace

Make it My Own

So many friends and bloggers have saved me so much money by showing me how to make it my own. I shop different now and wanted to share with you something that I am sure many of you already know.

• Look past color
• Look at shapes
• Look at things you love, even if you see a flaw

I am sure there are more, but to keep it simple we will start with those. You will see some amazing transformations out in blogland. Don’t be afraid to try it even it starting small.

This is a small example.

We are a outdoors and hunting family and love all things about nature and the woods.

Take this little guy for example.

Looks a lot like a deer with a porcelain glazed top and rough bottom. I think he is cute, but not my style! He would be perfect for a shelf after a makeover.

Spray paint is the easiest way to transform an object.

See potential in the shape, but don’t like the color?

No problem.

If you don’t spray paint, you should :)

Happy Transformations!

Perfect - Imperfect

My two worlds collide on a regular basis.

You know what I mean!

My blog world and my real world…

I wish I had a space that looked like this.

The Nester's.

Even her clutter as she refers to it, looks beautiful to me:)

Or how about this

Make-Happy's.

Isn’t this space so cute, crisp, and clean?

Well these are a few blogs that I follow.

The Nester is currently doing a series called 31 Days to a Less Messy Nest check it out here. It is great and I can’t wait each day to read her posts as there are great ideas and more importantly, the first series that I have followed faithfully that is making me really think and look at our own home.

Marisa at Make-Happy is becoming a wonderful new bloggy friend to me. Not only has she supported me with some kind comments, but she has become a follower of mine. I have to say that I love everything about her blog and have spent hours stalking her blog to read post after post. If you haven’t ever read her blog check it out here. She has great finds, recipes, stories, and a beautiful home. I can’t get enough…good thing I haven’t read all of her posts yet :)

The point of this post is that I have the blog world look at my home like this.

But today in the real world….my house looks like this.

Well, sometimes you have to keep it real and know that your house will once again look like those better pictures. But for today, I have to deal with little mans jumperoo in the middle of the floor and the baby clothes that are getting cleaned out!

On the upside, I have a new space to work with and plan to make it great with so many of the things that I love, have always wanted, or coveted from these other people. I will post more about that later :)

Pickled Zucchini Ribbons

This started as a hunt to find out what I could possibly do with all those zucchini?

I think I showed this before, but we had so many zucchini and some as big as little man.

So today we have pickled zucchini ribbons seasoning in the refrigerator!!!

Here is the recipe that I used from MarthaStewart.com and it can be found here.

2 pounds medium zucchini

2 medium onions

2 tablespoons coarse salt

1 quart cider vinegar

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed

1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Place a colander in a bowl.

2. Mix zucchini, onions, and salt well in colander.

3. Refrigerate mixture for 1 hour.

4. Combine cider, sugar, and spices in pot and bring to boil, simmer 5 minutes, and then cool for 30 minutes.

5. Rinse zucchini mixture well and pat dry with towel.

6. Mix zucchini mixture and cider mixture together in a bowl and then separate into airtight containers.

7. Refrigerate for 1 week and then enjoy for the next 3 weeks.

Well this is my first attempt at any kind of pickling. Not sure if it will be my favorite recipe or not as there are many out there, but I will let you know in a week when we are trying them out!

The countdown is on!

Simple Fall Projects – Part III Wreath

Need a little more fall somewhere?

Well these supplies are inexpensive, but I have to confess that I looked in my craft stash and found all that I needed.

Take a wispy grapevine wreath and some berry sprigs.

Twist the sprig around and in the wreath. No wire or hot glue necessary.

Take a timeout to enjoy the interest that the little man shows in all that I do.

And then voila! A simple cute wreath to enjoy.

It is in the guest bathroom for all to see.

Remember keep it simple and love it!

Simple Fall Projects – Part II Fall Centerpiece

I love to use natural elements in my fall decorations. The center of the table needed something fall-ish. So I pulled out a pedestal hurricane type candle holder that I had and filled it with a variety of mixed nuts.

It is a one time small investment too as they will last for years.

You can be as elaborate or simple as you want, just remember to make it your own and love it!

Setting the table…something nice for everyone to look at during mealtime.

Thifting for Treasures

Could not wait to post all of my great finds. This week was an adventure as I made it to my first estate sale and it was great!

First, let me start with what the little one got as Mister always says that little man gets the most.

I love the little monkey pajamas.

We have recently been wondering if they make thermal underwear for little ones. We thought they might come in handy for the late season hunt this year.

To my surprise, (at the thrift store) there was the cutest pair of green thermals and a brown thermal Henley that would be perfect for layering!!!!

And last by oh no not least in this picture is another cute little pair for Merrell shoes. Mister and I both have a pair and I am sure that eventually little man will want some to be like daddy. We these are hardly worn, in great condition, and a fraction of the cost of a new pair at $2.99!!!

I also found a bell CLOCHE (squealing with excitement), an old LANTERN (been searching for you for the little man’s room), a cute wooden duck, a potpourri bag full of putka pods (or little pumpkins), a glass canister, and a cute “Give Thanks” sign with beaded garland. Love them all!

Have you ever heard of Once Upon a Child?

Love that place and I have to confess that there are several near me that I check out from time to time. Check out what I got below.

Four cute long sleeve onesies for the changing season.

(All are GAP and Old Navy!)

And two more cute little pajama sets.

(Old Navy)

If you haven’t heard of Once Upon a Child check it out here.

Finally, the ESTATE SALE! So excited for my first and definitely not last one. Look at all of my treasures.

Let’s take a little closer look at all the lovely loot.

Four vintage burlap sacks for $1.

A cute little yellow and white quilt for $5

Four vintage metal spiked flower frogs $1

And yes that it a little vintage ruler with all of the early Disney characters (probably wouldn’t have noticed, but the little man did and loved carrying it around).

Vintage packs of paper doilies, flour sacks, and cheesecloth.

A glass flower frog for $2. This will make a great present for my MIL from little man since she collects them.

A bag of old coins from different countries all from the 40’s and 50’s. This will make a great gift for my father from little man as he collects coins.

And on this side of the table… an old scrabble game with all the pieces, a bag full of vintage ribbons, two boxes of wooden thread spools, a small jar of buttons…

And some great old books… some with Christmas hymns, and German writing.

Some of it may not look like much, but just imagine all the crafting possibilities. I have ideas in mind for each thing and hope to share in the near future.

Happy Thrifting, Garaging, Salvaging or whatever is your true love!