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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Holiday Decorations

Better later than never, right?!

We went the less is more route this year, opting for a smaller tree and fewer decorations. Here's what I came up with....

This lantern usually sits on the deck but for the holidays it found a new home in the entry. A little fake snow some mini nutcrackers and the lantern was ready for Christmas.


My sister knit these tiny stockings for us so they needed a prime spot. Their holiday home was on the ledge above our TV.


The table-top tree is my favorite...

(the happy birthday banner above the door was up for Ian's party...but some might consider it holiday decor)

The mantle is a totally useful space that I don't always take full advantage of it; and it was the perfect place for the tree. A couple of faux sheepskin (to look like snow)....a vintage sled...a tree on top...classic red and white stockings makes for a sweet little Christmas vignette. 

Of course I had to put lights on the deck and the window lights that look like candles.

How did you decorate this year?

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

What we're reading....

I think we have a problem with magazine subscriptions....the picture shows only 10 of the magazines we get each month.


Anyone else have too many subscriptions to count? I blame the amazing deals on amazon.com





Update: I got an email this morning that amazon is having a $5 subscription sale....aww man, I'm in trouble!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Must Have: Thrifty Finds

Happy Election Day! Hope you all made it out the polls and didn't have to wait too long in line. We lucked out and made to our polling venue at just the right time; we arrived after the morning rush and finished in enough time to miss the lunch time lines. After I cast my vote, I decided to do a little shopping.

I'm going to go ahead and call this Must Have: Thrifty Finds edition. Nothing was going to be left behind at the store for someone else to have! Does that sound greedy? I hope not...

First up is something that, well, everyone can have. I found these juice glasses at the Dollar Spot in Target. It's a favorite place of mine and ALWAYS put my total way over budget. How does that happen when everything is a $1, $2.50 at most.


I picked up a few of each design. Can't wait to sit down to breakfast with one of these!

Goodwill was calling my name and since there is a location not too far from Target; I gave in and drove over. This trip did not leave me empty handed. I found this painting for $8. Which is a steal since the previous price marked was $180. Just needs a frame solution and it'll be ready to hang. 


Since updating my desk, I've been in the dark. Literally, I needed a lamp...bad!


This beauty was originally from Ikea. I've got some plans and for $12 and a can of spray paint, I'm down. 

Oh, I'm not done yet. I saved the best for last. An impulse left turn found me at an awesome store in Cockeysville. The front of the store sells gift items; cute dish towels, painted wine glasses, earrings and things. The back consists of spaces that can be rented; most vendors sell painted furniture and reclaimed items. Walking through the different vendor's spaces I found these......


I died. HAD. TO. HAVE. THEM. They set me back $20....beyond worth it!

Anyone else found some must haves lately?

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Celebrate

We are getting ready to celebrate Wedding Week: One year later around here. I thought I'd start by sharing the video of our engagement.


Ian had a video camera rolling and put his video together to show during cocktail hour at our wedding.

I'll be back later with more about our wedding!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

In the Kitchen: Homemade Applesauce

There is nothing more "fall" than apple picking; well... maybe scarfs, boots and Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

In the spirit of fall a friend organized an apple picking outing. On Saturday a group of us drove out to Larriland Farm. The farm has several orchards and veggie patches; everything is "pick your own" and priced per pound. Naturally, we picked our fair share! After we picked our own apples and veggies, we  snacked on fresh apple fritters and shopped for pumpkin butter, apple cider and local jams and jellies in the farm run store. 

It was such a fun afternoon! But what to do with all that apple bounty?!

While we were in the store I grabbed a pamphlet packed with different apple recipes; one of which was applesauce. I have never made applesauce and definitely never thought about making it. Ummm, it is so EASY! 

Sugar, Nutmeg and Cinnamon to taste 

All it takes is boiling the apples, letting them simmer for about 20 minutes, run 'em through a food mill and add sugar and spices. Now I know! It's so quick and easy. AND I can control what goes in to the mix.

Because I used 8 large apples there is plenty to go around. I have loads of mason jars in the cabinets; so I split up the applesauce in to different size jars to grab and go for meals on the run.

Homemade Applesauce 

Up next, figuring out what to do with the beets I picked.

Anyone have favorite Fall recipes? Or made something for the first time recently? Beet recipes?

*All images are my own and taken for LifeLoveAtHome



Monday, September 24, 2012

New desk

Hello Friends!

I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post.  Oops! 

We haven't been up to much around the condo lately. I do have to share with you our new bedroom pieces; some great family furniture. But before I do, here's a desk update for your reading pleasure.

My Mother-in-law's neighbor was giving away a simple black desk. We jumped when she texted a picture. Ian has an office set up in the second bedroom/theater room so I wasn't totally sure what we would do with the new (to us) desk. Once we got it home I decided to give it a little update and call it my own!



It was pretty clear that this makeover needed to happen on the cheap. We had high-gloss white paint on hand so the color choice was already made. I applied a couple coats of oil based primer and a couple coats of what paint. 

Once the paint cured, Ian brought the desk into our sitting room; my new corner office! I added some inexpensive details to give it some personality. The gold corners where order from ebay a while ago so I had them hanging around begging to be used. I also picked up some clearance knobs from Hobby Lobby in a wood tone.



The desk is finished, I think, but the rest of the space needs some love. The chair I use at the desk right now is a pretty, high back Windsor chair ( I'll tell you about it soon). The contrast between the white desk and dark wood is awesome and I love the unexpected combo of the classic chair with the clean lines of the desk. 

What do you think? Have you put your own twist on any hand me down furniture?


Saturday, September 8, 2012

Today...

I am looking at this:


Obviously, I was not prepared for our new bedroom furniture. More to come...

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Rub 'n Buff Makeover

Happy Tuesday!

It's always hard to get back in to the swing of things after a long weekend but man, today was hard! I guess the rainy weather we've had on the east coast did not help. Since it was a long weekend I was able to get a few projects started. Ian even got in on the action during a study break (he takes his real estate exam tomorrow!)


One of the projects we worked on was a quick Rub 'n Buff makeover. After our wedding we were left with loads of white Ikea frames. They were great for the wedding but I haven't put them to much use since. So I decided to jazz them up with some Rub 'n Buff in Antique Gold I had on laying around. Also laying around were some floral prints so this little project was quick, easy and FREE!

Here are the finished frames hanging between the windows in our master bedroom sitting area...

(excuse the hazy iphone pic)

Now we need to replace those charming* mini-blinds...someday.

*and by charming I mean totally awful, really old and gross mini-blinds ;)



Sunday, September 2, 2012

Three months later....

I finally finished painting my Goodwill chair.

The chair was a steal at $10. When I bought it I didn't know what to do with it; I just knew that I couldn't leave the chair behind. The seat is covered in amazing fabric. And if it were covered in anything else I might have passed.

On a quick trip to Home Depot I found two quarts of discounted paints that got me thinking about the chair. And after three months of sitting half painted this is what I ended up with...



I am pretty much in love with the way this chair looks. The paint colors and the fabric are similar but not totally matching. The chair is sitting the corner of our living room. It replaced a slipper chair that is now is our sitting room. The corner feels so much lighter.