Merry Christmas from my family to your family!

First of all I just want to say THANK YOU for all of your sweet comments on my new arrival in May! Blog friends really are the bestest!  I am feeling so much better and am really starting to feel like my normal self. I am almost 19 weeks along and we will be having our first ultrasound in about three weeks.  We have decided that we are going to find out what we are having.  I just can't wait until May! I promise to keep you updated with nursery pictures and my growing bump.

I also wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!  I leave you with a picture of Clark Griswold (the smile on his face says it all).

(Photo Courtesy of: http://screenrant.com)

Special Announcement to Make

Hello my dear blog friends, it has been forever since I have written any posts. Well, I think it is only fair that I share my news with all of you. I am expecting my first child this coming May. My husband and I are very excited and still in complete shock that we are going to be parents.  I am just about through the first tri-mester and am starting to feel somewhat normal again.  I have had morning sickness (no pukes just queasiness) and have been extremely tired.  This morning I woke up and felt the best that I have in 3 months. I had my first Dr.'s appt. last week and was able to hear the heartbeat (so awesome). The heartbeat was 160 which I have heard a fast heartbeat usually means a girl, but I am not sure if I believe all of those old wives tales.  I would be happy with either a little boy or girl.  I am just so happy to be almost done with the first tri-mester.  I am probably going to be needing some advice from all of you mommies out there because I have no idea what to expect!  Please stay tuned for upcoming projects including the nursery. :)

Feeling a Little Overwhelmed

Thank you to all of my new followers and for all of your lovely comments.  I have been MIA lately because I have been feeling overwhelmed. I apologize for my lack of posts and projects but sometimes I just need to take a break from it all.  I am hoping that I can get some projects posted soon but I need to find some balance and just needed a little break.  I love you all dear blog friends and I hope you will continue to read this blog.  I will be back soon!

Gotta Love CSN Stores!

I just love CSN stores!  CSN has given this little ol' blog some great opportunities to give a few of my readers a $40 gift card.  They have just about everything that you can imagine such as cookware, bedroom furniture and dining sets.   Here are a few things that I would love to have from CSN stores.

This mobile kitchen cart would be perfect to bring out for family gatherings and the best part is that you can wheel it anywhere.

Ok, I am a kid at heart! I would love to have this cotton candy machine. It would be perfect for my nieces and nephews birthday parties.

These chair slip covers would be really great to dress up a boring chair.

CSN stores has anything and everything you could ever want!

A Backyard Makeover

Wow! It seems like forever since I have posted any projects that I have been working on. I apologize for taking so long, I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately.  I want to say thank you to all of my new followers and dedicated readers.  Now for the good stuff!  I will start with some before pictures. I am a little embarrassed on how bad our yard looked but that's what makes it a good before and after.

 BEFORE

This was our sad, little fire pit. It seemed like a good idea five years ago, but as you can see it is pitiful pit. LOL!

DURING

We decided that this sad fire pit needed beefed up and it needed to be well round.  We priced out fire rings and mobile fire pits but the quality just wasn't there and some of them were too much money. So, we decided to make our own.  Lowe's has a pretty good tutorial we didn't use as many pavers/stones as Lowes did, but you get the idea. 

AFTER

Aww, much better! Now, that looks like a real fire pit. We got the adirondack chairs for $25.00 a piece unfinished. I stained them with dark stain. I sewed the pillows and used fabric from a yellow table cloth that I had bought from a thrift store. 

The picnic table was white and I painted the top of table and seats brown. I think the brown gives it a little character and goes better with the chairs. 

Now, we can spend these crisp fall nights by our new fire pit. I love looking into my backyard now!

I am linking to:

http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/

Not Much to Thrift About!

Hello blogger friends! I don't have a lot to report from this past weekend of thrifty finds. My old, reliable friend Goodwill had their 50% off sale this weekend and the husband was kind enough to go with me. I only found one thing that I couldn't live without.

Isn't this owl the cutest? I just couldn't resist.

I hope you are all having a great week! Maybe next week I will have more to report.

I am linking to:

 

If The Broom Fits!

I love Halloween decorations! I would have to say Halloween and Christmas are probably my two favorite Holidays to decorate for.  I don't know if you all have seen Matthew Mead's Halloween book or not, but if you haven't you must go get it.  You will not be disappointed! I got this witchy coat rack idea from this book. The best part about it is that I already had all of this witchy stuff and I didn't spend a dime.

This witch is ready to fly out the door. I bought this broom at Target on clearance a few years ago.

 This witch finally was able to get those ruby slippers from Dorothy.

Stockings to keep warm!

Save the date!

A Jack-O-Lantern

And to complete the outfit, a witchy hat!

Ok, now I need to go dig my other decorations out of the basement!

I am linking to:

Thrifty Weekend

I hope you all had a terrific weekend! I don't have a lot to report this weekend but I was able to find a few things. It is kind of sad that garage sale season is ending, but I am really looking forward to fall and Halloween. I also love that this week some of my favorite TV shows are all brand new. Anyhoo, now to show you all of you what I bought.


This is one of my favorite finds this week. I bought this end-table at a thrift store for $25.00. I love the hardware on it and the shape of it.

I found another vintage soda crate.  This pepsi crate cost $8.00....still way cheaper than Pottery Barn.

I do not have very many things to decorate my house with for the red, white and blue holidays. I bought this wreath for $2.00.

And I am sure you have all know how much I love vintage bottles.  This one was calling my name and best yet I got it for .50 cents.  Woo Hoo!

I am linking to:

Going to the Chapel Pumpkins

I was looking at some pictures for my scrapbook and I came across these pumpkins.  I had painted them and decorated them for our cousin's wedding a few years back.  They were so fun to make and quite a hit at the rehearsal dinner.

I used acrylic paints and paint markers to do the faces. I am not very good at drawing but I thought they turned out ok.  The top hat and bow-tie is made from poster board. I just hot glued it right onto the pumpkins.  The veil is made out of tulle and her pearl earrings are little buttons that I had. Oh yes and no bride should be without her tiara.  I know they are a bit on the cheesy side, but I just had to share them.

I am linking to:

It's Fall Y'all!

I have always loved fall and definitely get fall fever this time of year. I love the crisp air, the mums, the pumpkins, the scarecrows and I could go on and on.  I tend to sometimes go over board with my fall decorating. I must say the Dollar Tree has really been a great place to buy fall decorations this year. I got some really great Halloween decorations there too. Anyway enough about my love for Dollar Tree. I wanted to share some of my fall fever with all of you. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable and be prepared to go into picture overload. :)


Let's begin this fall tour with my mantle.  Remember those candlesticks and picture frame that I posted about yesterday?  The frame turned in a chalkboard and the candlesticks got a fresh coat of spray paint. 

The pedestal, candle and glass votive all came from Dollar Tree! I wrapped the twine around the bottom to  give it some fall texture.

I drew and painted the L on the funkin (you read that right funkin not pumpkin).  A funkin is a fake pumpkin that you can carve.  I bought three of them last January at Jo-Ann fabrics. They were $1.00 a piece, the retail tag said $19.99.

I also love mason jars!  These are the easiest thing to decorate with and can be bought almost anywhere. I put some acorns and a votive in mine. 

Wrapped some twine around these mason jars along with adding the acorns and candles.

I stuffed some orange lights into these old, aqua color mason jars (sorry I should have hid that extra cord hanging out).  I think  that this is a 50 count strand of orange mini-lights.  I just love how the color pops in these jars. The white pumpkin also came from the Dollar Tree. 

I bought these little pumpkins at Dollar Tree, too.  The pumpkins were attached to some plastic greenery. I pulled them off of the greenery and added them to this tray.  Does the tray look familiar? Yep, it was a goodwill find from this past weekend.

Just a few more pictures left! This is the centerpiece for my dining room table.  I put the one pumpkin on an iron trivet that I bought from Goodwill.

  

I just love this little squirrel!  I got him at a garage sale this summer. I just had to have him when I saw him!

Last, but not least here is a picture of my front porch. It is a work in progress! We just got the new door and sidelight installed this summer. We want to build a small porch eventually, but until then this is what I have to work with. 

The little pepsi crate wagon was also a product of garage sales this summer. I just love how the mums look sitting in it.

Well, I hope I didn't bore you too much with all of my fall fever pictures, thanks for stopping by!

I am linking to: