Fabulous Friday #3: A Little Sunshine

A couple of weeks ago, I opened my trunk to get something out and was met with a very pleasant surprise. A few months before, I had seen a bea-u-ti-ful! white ceramic pitcher at Goodwill and bought it for $1.50!!! (I'm telling you, if you do not shop Goodwill...you should!)

So I got really excited when I pulled it from my trunk. I got even more excited when I looked at the bottom and realized it was Pfaltzgraff! With me and my fall decor coming out, I was instantly inspired. I was going to get some big, fat sunflowers and put them in this on our kitchen table.

The day I went to Michael's to get them, the sunflowers were on sale 2/$1! So I got four (the pitcher is not very big)..two white and two yellow. I could not be more pleased with the results!

There is something so cheerful about this look. Its very clean and crisp. I really love the way that the sun picks them up as it comes through the window, too! There ya have it...a new look for the kitchen table that really could work for more than just fall. Cost us $3.50 over the course of a few months! I LOVE Goodwill!

Here is this week's linky party!


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Fall Livingroom

I am finally ready to share the Fall transformation of the living room with you guys! It brings me so much happiness! :) I really do think that Fall may be my favorite time of the year! It is so much fun to decorate for and everything is so cozy. Plus Fall is football time and also comfort food time. I even got an apple cider flavored candle to celebrate the occasion!

I was determined to make this a very cheap sprucing of the room. I tried to use mostly things that we already have around the house. I spent $1 on a bundle of wheat at AC Moore and $4 on little sugar coated pumpkins and leaves at WalMart. Everything else we had!

For our entryway table, I wanted to keep it very simple. We have the little box with our wedding photo DVDs on there. I filled a cylinder vase with dry beans (which we had in the cabinet!) and stuck a few stalks on wheat. Then I stuck a little pumpkin there and voila! Very simple, autumn entry table!

Michael's mom bought him this candle a couple of years ago when she came for her annual visit. It is perfect for fall! And I LOVE the raffia and the little acorn! How cute! I placed this little guy on top of our TV.

For one end of the mantle, I filled a Ball jar with beans and then stuck some wheat into that as well. Ball jars are so "Fall" to me! And we just happened to have that lovely olive green wine bottle sitting around the house as well. It helps to break up the tans and oranges very nicely! It also adds some height to the arrangement.

Here is the book from this post. I put my sweet praying Willow Tree Angel (LOVE those!) on top. I also got the edges of the book a little wet to make it look slightly more worn. I scattered my little pumpkins and wheat stalks all over the mantle in an organized mess. I was really happy with the way that it all seemed to fall together.

I love. love. love. my apothecary jar. LOVE it. Really. We bought it for our wedding candy buffet and it has been a staple in my decor ever since. For this display, I filled it with straw (well...really just the parts of the wheat that did not have the heads on them) that I cut up and one little pumpkin.

I keep calling this wheat, but I really think its Rye. Which is a type of wheat right? Either way, I highly recommend getting some. Super cheap and it really made the fall decorations.

For the coffee table, I did something very similar with my cloche that I did to the apothecary jar. I placed wheat-straw in the bottom, a leaf, some beans, and a little pumpkin.

You can see it better here. I also set it on two pages that were in the front of my book that were just blank. I like the look it created. It helps the cloche not to feel like its swimming on the table.

There you have it! Our lovely Fall decor in all its glory. Do you have any fall decorations already up? Link them to this week's Fabulous Friday! I would LOVE to see what you all have come up with!

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I need to vent!

Okay. I just need the catharsis of writing out my frustration. I feel like Michael and I are constantly going through tests. I know that they will make us stronger and I trust the Lord to provide (and He always does) but the constant stress is so frustrating!

First, all of the drama that we had with the basement 3 months into our new marriage. We are still (and are going to be for quite a while) paying for that one.

There have been various struggles since then, but most of them have hit us within the last month. Our 1 year old John Deere Lawn mower basically blew up. And we lost the receipt. So no warranty. Fail. Fortunately, my dad had one from a flea market that he left us borrow.

Michael's car started stalling (and just plain quit working) 3....almost 4 weeks ago. We have taken it to the Ford dealership and they have given us the runaround. Not called us with updates. Called and said it was done, so we paid for parts and labor only to get it back and it still be broken. $500 later, they still have the car. So for 3.5 weeks we have had to carpool everywhere that we go. Praise the Lord that we got a random bonus last month!

So yesterday, I took Michael to work and ran to get my new parking decal. When I was backing out of my spot, I hit a stop sign and tore up the front right side of my car. Peeled back the bumper, cracked some important looking things inside. I am sure its not going to be a cheap fix. But I am scared to file the claim just yet because if that has to go to the garage, we will be car-less.

So basically, our bonus is gone. I have a part-time job lined up and I am hoping that helps some. Its fun. I will be decorating cakes on the weekends/some evenings. Either way....I am writing to be transparent with you guys, because I love ya.

Please pray for us. That's what we really need. Michael has been such a spiritual leader throughout all of this and never lost his cool or gotten discouraged about money. Kudos to my sweet husband! I just feel like there is a little devilish minion on every corner with his hand out asking for our money. I want to squeeesh them!

.....

Thank you. I apologize if you are asleep right now! I have a fun post coming later today!

Vintage Book Stack

I have always loved the look of old stacks of coverless books sitting around on shelves and have been wanting to make them for a while now. Some of our rooms, I really could not fit this look into without it just feeling out of place. Last week, however, I decided to whip out my fall decor just a tad early. And it was the PERFECT time to introduce page stacks to the living room!

So I rustled around in my craft room and found this old soft-cover book that I had gotten at Goodwill for 75 cents. It was just old and distressed enough for what I wanted. (I really want to go back and get more. They ALWAYS have them!)

 Next, I simply ran a pair of scissors inside of the cover to remove it from the pages.

 And then I had this:

 I wrapped a piece of jute around it a couple of times and tied a bow. And there ya have it. A vintage book stack!

I really do want to get some other books of varying sizes to actually "stack" them, but I will not be doing it just yet. We are trying really hard to be frugal right now and its just not necessary.

 I can't wait to show you guys our fall living room decor! You will get to see where this littleguy ends up! And let me tell you....its perfect!

Packers Groom's Cake

My sister is officially a Cheesehead. And to celebrate her upcoming marriage, I created them a fun Greenbay Packers Groom's Cake. She helped me way more than she should have, too! ;) I am SO please with the way that it came out! Here's the eye candy:

The goal post could not be on it at first. It kept melting and leaning, so at its unveiling it was just the cake. But it still looked good!

 And here it is with the goal post before it was devoured. We did a sour cream chocolate pound cake with buttercream icing.Everything else except the topper and the helmet was made out of modeling chocolate.

 And here is the lovely bride and groom, posing with their cake.

 This is the reason for the ball and chain topper. His co-workers really attached a ball and chain to his ankle at work!

 And here is their Packers photo. I took their engagement pictures, too. They are so cute!

There will be many, many more photos to come from this wedding as well as a home-made gift! Its been such an amazing and exhausting weekend. Happy Monday!!

Handmade Serving Set

My big sister is marrying the love of her life today! I am actually off helping her get ready as we speak! In celebration, I figured I would share one of my little projects that I helped her out with. I have more I can add for sure! (I just didn't get photos of them before we hauled them off to the venue..thus you will have to wait! iknowyourdying...) For her serving set, she purchased a simple silver pair. Very pretty and elegant and she will be able to use them for years to come. But she wanted to spruce them up a bit for the reception.

After fidgeting with them for a couple of weeks, here is what I came up with.

 The white strips wrapped around the handles are actually remnants from her wedding dress. Her flowers are roses...so we decided to add a touch of those as well. And then every girl needs a little sparkle on her wedding day :)

I know that was short and sweet and to the point, but I have places to go...sisters to marry...or...yeah I don't know. :) Hope you guys have a great weekend! I will definitely share photos of this beautiful wedding ASAP!!

Congratulations, Ashley and Mac. I love you both!


Also...Cowboys season opener is tomorrow!!! I am so ready for some football, beer bread and chili!

Fabulous Friday #2! and Features

Welcome to my second Fabulous Friday!! I am so excited to see what you all have to link up! Last week we had some really amazing projects! (Really...I love ALL of them!) But I am going to feature a few here every week. So keep linking up!

First, we had this adorable acorn wreath by Katie @ little things bring smiles!

And then there was this FABULOUS dresser with rope handles by Kristen @ My Covered Bridge

And a supah fly bathroom makeover by Nicole @ Thrifty Decorating. I love. love. love. this shelf. and the color scheme!

And lastly, this precious book planter by Jacky @ Small Garden Love

If you were featured...please grab my button so you can get your bragging rights! Thank you to all of the lovely ladies that linked up! Invite your friends to share this week! :)