A Little Excited...

Update: DON"T BUY THESE STOOLS! THEY ARRIVED AT MY FRONT DOOR WITH A BIG STICKER SAYING -USING THESE WOULD EXPOSE US TO LEAD! I WILL BE RETURNING THESE! I WISH THE WEBSITE WOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT BEFORE I ORDERED!

We are seriously lacking in the large furniture department now that we've moved into the house. I love old character pieces that are found at antique stores, flea markets and occasionally garage sales...plus it's the right price!

There are a few things that we need to buy new...like matresses, a couch and barstools. The barstools are on that list simply because I need 5.

I've given up on my dreams of some cool vintage industrial drafting stools...as pretty as they are....$2000 for a set of 5 wasn't.

I have ALWAYS liked these stools from Pottery Barn:

But still, $249 each x 5 = not happening

I found unfinished ones for less...like around $90 each.

But today...I was innocently looking on jcp.com in their Outlet section...and came across these lovelies:

Wednesday Deal Only: $39 each!!!!! Already finished...Antique Black!!! I could buy 5 for less than 1 at Pottery Barn! Man, I love knock-offs!

I grabbed the phone and called my husband shouting "EMERGENCY"...I'm sure that didn't thrill him...but he did say I could order them! YEAH!

I can't wait for these babies to arrive!

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Have A Lovely Weekend!

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Have You Heard?

Have you heard of Miley Cyrus?

Have you heard of Brittany Spears?

I have...and I'm no better for it. :)

Have you heard of Cathy Heller?

I hadn't, until today, and I am SO GLAD I did!

For some reason my 8 year old isn't into the Veggie Tale CD's of her "youth" and wants something a little older than singing vegetables.

I don't think she needs to be listening to songs about boyfriends and breaking up.

What do I do?

Pull out my Lawrence Welk records?

Um no...

I'm adding Cathy Heller's new kids CD to our Christmas wish list!

Seriously, go to her site and listen!

I really don't think music gets much happier!

Enjoy!

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Is It Worth It?

On a whim, sort of, I traded in some of our credit card cash back dollars for a Sams Club Membership. After receiving the card in the mail, I started having a little remorse...

was it going to be worth it?

am i going to find things cheaper than shopping sales with coupons?

what will i do with 1000 rolls of toilet paper....

a week or two later I came across this post at the Prudent Homemaker .

I love it when people far smarter than I share their vast wealth of Sams Club knowledge and research!

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Stirring...

Sorry peeps...it's been too long.

I was the lucky recipient last week of a nasty cold, which is really a downer on productivity.

But I'm feeling better, and ready to get back at it.

Needing, um I mean wanting, a wreath for my lovely front door...my decision to "stir" as much as I can of what I already have...resulted in this:

All I used was some of my dried leaves from another dried arrangement I no longer wanted. Some sticks and dried naturals I already owned. An old wood frame. My trusty staple gun. In under one hour I was done. YEAH!

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PRESTO...CHANGE-O!

We have grass! In under 2 hrs. on Saturday morning our entire yard was sodded. Thanks to about 20 wonderful friends who gave up their free Saturday morning! It makes such a huge difference...I love looking out the windows at all that green. Next will be some landscaping in the front.

It's a small change, but can you see another thing that is different from the before picture to the after? Comment if you see it!

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On The Good Ship...

We made lollipop birthday cookies for Hannah to share with her classmates! This was one of those projects that evolved as we worked. It was easy peasy!

1. I made a basic sugar cookie recipe.

2. Rolled into balls and slightly flattened them

(they will flatten and spread out even more as they bake.)

3. Stick a Popsicle stick in the middle before you bake.

4. Bake according to recipe. Normally I prefer my cookies very soft and slightly under cooked, but don't do that because the cookie will fall right off the stick before the kid gets one bite taken...unless you LIKE making little kids cry.

5. Allow to cool COMPLETELY.

6. Mix up a batch of "Shiny Cookie Paint" This layer of icing does NOT need to be colored...unless preferred.

Shiny Cookie Paint Recipe

2 Tbsp. Milk

2 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup

2 Cups Powdered Sugar (Sifted)

Food Coloring

Mix liquid ingredients together in small bowl.

Sift in the sugar.

Add more milk if needed.

This is an icing, not a frosting, so it will be thin and more runny then traditional frosting.

7. Spoon some glaze on each cookie.

It will spread out and level itself. Don't worry about the excess that runs off the cookie...it is easily removed.

8. Allow the white layer to dry completely.

9. To make the color swirls I used a small round cake decorating tip and disposable cake decorating bags. Mix up the Shiny Cookie Paint and add food coloring of your choice. The icing for this step shouldn't be too thin, so that it will hold it's design. Just circle the cookie with the icing. You do not need to wait until completely dry to add the next color swirl.
Before wrapping, allow to dry.

They're wrapped up and ready to send with the birthday girl!


EXTRA TIP:
Another way to use this icing...
Give your kids paint brushes, put the different color icing in muffin tins and let them paint their own cookies!

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Priority

What tops my to-do list today?

Preparations for a very important upcoming birthday!

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3 Things

1. The last week I have been unpacking and hauling from storage...with a detour to IKEA and another to the ER. Our things have been in storage for 2 years, it is so fun to start opening boxes and unpacking! I am trying to be disciplined and "stir what I have"...so use what I have in new ways! The picture below is an example of that...this is the table in our foyer area. It was a painted white nightstand, but I painted it this red color we had leftover from a project over 2 years ago! I changed out the knobs with some extras we had (also from a project many years ago.) A few decorations...and we are done!

I do have a list of things that we will need to purchase...eventually...but for now it will be finding a place for what I do have. (I also have a nice pile started to sell on Craigslist and at a garage sale!)

2. Did you notice what's on the bottom shelf? Probably not...

I was not planning on fall decorations until after Labor Day...but sometimes things just happen ;)

Yep...that's an owl pic and a little ceramic acorn dish...both found at garage sales!

3. Just thought I would share with you the easiest salad in the world! My sister and I saw this at IKEA and it looked so yummy! It's just salad greens of your choice with strawberries, pineapple, blueberries and mandarin oranges spread on top. Serve with poppy seed dressing! My husband thought almonds would also be good with this...and I agree! This one is supposed to feed 20 hungry construction workers at lunch today!

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