Date Night

I am so thankful that my husband and I got to go out for a date night. This is a rare treat and it was so nice to be able to go out for a special night.

Leopard print cardigan: Target $15 here

Lace peplum top: Express $12.03 (after discounts)

Skinny jeans: Belk (old) $9.99

Clutch: Express (old) $14.99

Tassel necklace: Jane.com $14.99

Booties: Super old ?

Bracelet: Jane.com (Neon Cactus) $4.33

Total: $71.33

 

 You may have noticed that I have been getting a lot of necklaces from Jane.com lately. They have such cute stuff and very reasonable prices. I recently ordered a grab bag of jewelry for $12.99 that was offered by Neon Cactus.  I knew that there would be at least 3 pieces and of those at least one would be a necklace and one would be a bracelet. Other than that, it was a surprise. Ordinarily, I'm not too big on surprises, but I thought it would be kind of fun to get a package of jewelry in the mail and not know what was in it. Here is what I got:

I wore this on my date.

I don't have very much in red, so this will be a nice addition for Christmas and Valentine's Day.

This one is my favorite! Even if this was the only thing I got, I think it would still be worth $12.99.

I'm pretty pleased with my surprise package.

 I hope everyone has a great weekend.

A Few Sequins...

Lately, I have been seeing sequins everywhere. I was so excited when I found this shirt that has a few sequins, but is not too over the top. I wore it to church today, but it can also be dressed down just to run errands or whatever.

Sequin embellished top: Old Navy $13.96 (30% off) here

Orange pencil skirt: The Limited (old) $20

Leopard print cardigan: Target $15 here

Gold tassel necklace: Jane.com $14.99 (now on sale for $9.99)

Shoes: super old ?

Total: $63.95

I have been looking for a gold tassel necklace for months. I'm so glad I finally found one at jane.com. I have been finding so much cute statement jewelry there lately and the prices are very reasonable.

 

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" Philippians 4:4 KJV

I hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Touches of Fall

So I know I am WAY behind on posting my fall decorations, but better late than never. I have actually had them up since September, but I still had some tweaking to do. I finally decided that they were just going to have to do. Aside from buying some mums and pumpkins, I mostly wanted to use things I already had.

I removed a wooden scarecrow from an old wreath and added it to the burlap one I already had on my door.

I just love pumpkins and mums!

The cushions in my rocking chairs were starting to look a little faded, so I made some covers for them out of burlap that was left over from another project.

I'm so happy to have a table between my rocking chairs now. I actually found this one over a year ago, when we still lived in Alabama. It was a roadside find. After I "rescued" it, I realized that the top is a little damaged and I wasn't sure how to fix it. I decided to just give it a coat of white spray paint and put it on the porch. It's perfect!

I thought about making a banner to hang along the full length of the mantle, but I decided to just keep things easy and make a little one to hang in an empty frame.

Happy Fall Y'all!

 

 

Trunk or Treat

Last night, we participated in the Trunk or Treat at our church. Before this year, I had only been to a Trunk or Treat once, and people didn't really decorate much for that. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I wanted my trunk to be cute and unique, but I'll be honest, I really didn't go all out. I mostly just used things I already had. Here is what I came up with...

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

a Veggie Tales Movie

My son had a pirate party for his birthday this summer, so I already had the pirate pool, flag, and parrot. The lantern and treasure chest (trunk) are items I had around my house, and I also already had the inflatable Bob and Larry (they are sprinklers). I bought a couple of plastic table cloths from the Dollar Tree to use as water and sand.

Also from the Dollar Tree, I bought 2 over-sized fuzzy mustaches. I used one as an actual mustache for Larry the Cucumber and the other I cut to make a beard. I also found a pirate play set that had an eye patch. I just used a piece of fabric from my stash for his bandanna. I don't think Bob the Tomato is actually in the movie, but since he is one of the main Veggie Tales characters, I went ahead and stuck him in the boat too.

For our treats, we handed out "Pirate Booty" popcorn.

(Please excuse my phone that I accidentally left on the bumper.)

Our trunk was kind of plain. My husband sketched out a beach scene, like the one in the movie, on a piece of cardboard and I painted it. I printed out a little sign from the movie and glued it on.

There were some people who really went all out. I was pretty impressed.

I think it's fun to dress up in costumes and get candy, but there are a lot of things about Halloween that I'm not crazy about. I want whatever we choose to participate in to bring glory to God. Veggie Tales always has a great Biblical message and my kids love all the movies.

Now, back to eating my kids' candy. I'm glad they don't mind sharing :)

New Favorites

Over the past few weeks, I have seen a few of my favorite bloggers wear this leopard print cardigan from Target. You can see their outfits here and here. I thought it would be a great layering piece for fall, so I patiently waited for it to go on sale. Last week, I finally found it on sale for $15. I had a coupon for $5 off any women's clothing purchase of $20 or more so I had no problem finding one (or a few) extra things to get me above the $20 mark. My Target has a lot of really cute clothes on clearance right now. The dress I'm wearing is one of the items I found on clearance. You can't really tell from the picture, but it has a pattern woven into the fabric that kind of looks like lace. It think it will be very versatile.

Cardigan: Target $15

Dress: Target $12.48

Necklace: jane.com $14.99

Boots: gift

Total: $42.47

 

This is not a great picture of my necklace, but you may have noticed that it looks very similar to the one Emily from The Sweetest Thing has on with her leopard print cardigan (here is another picture). It is definitely my favorite necklace right now. I ordered it from a website called jane.com. Everyday, boutiques will post an item that they have on special and each one usually lasts 2 days. You have to pay separate shipping for each item, but it is usually pretty reasonable. It's a great place to get statement jewelry.

 

Tonight at church, we sang the song "How Deep the Father's Love For Us" by Phillips Craig and Dean (I think other people have also recorded it). I have sung this song many times before, but the words are so powerful I would like to share them with you. Here is a youtube video with the song. I hope you are as touched by this song as I am.

 

"How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulder
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom"

Running Late

Usually on Sunday mornings (and every other morning for that matter), we are rushing to get out the door on time. I try to have all of our clothes ironed and ready to go the night before. I lay out everything (jewelry, belts, socks, shoes, hair bows, etc.) so we don't have a wardrobe crisis in the morning. Well, despite my efforts last night, I still managed to have a little bit of a wardrobe crisis this morning. At the last minute, I had to change clothes and just throw something on really quickly. When I left the house, I really wasn't even sure if my outfit looked OK or not, but time was up and we had to go. This is what I came up with...

Shirt: TJ Maxx (clearance) $5

Skirt: Goodwill (Target) $3.99

Necklace: Forever 21 $1.80

Earrings: Old Navy $4.50

Bracelets: TJ Maxx (gift) and super old (?)

Purse: Charming Charlie (gift- picked out by my wonderful husband)

Shoes: Target (gift)

Total: $15.29

Once I got home from church and actually had a chance to look in the mirror, I kind of thought my outfit looked like it was missing something. I thought maybe a belt would help, so I tried on like 5 different ones. None of them looked right. Should I add something or do you think it is fine the way it is?

On a side note, we went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze yesterday. You can see part of our goodies in the background. I will try to post more on that this week.

I wanted to share a few verses from today's message:

"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy." Psalm 145:18-20

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

eBay Necklace

I was so excited when my new necklace arrived in the mail yesterday. I have seen a bunch of my favorite bloggers wear necklaces like this, so when I found one on eBay for $5, I had to get it. It definitely adds some excitement to any outfit.

 

Necklace: eBay $5

Shirt: TJ Maxx $14.99

Skirt: Belk $14.99

Shoes: Chinese Laundry (Goodwill) $7

Total: $41.98

 

I hope everyone has a great week!

 

A New Way to Wear It

I got this dress on clearance at Target about 2 years ago. I like the color and pattern, but lately, I have been feeling like the top part shows a little too much skin. I saw a blog post (The Goodwillista) a few days ago that gave me the idea to put a simple t-shirt over the top of my dress. You can check it out here. In her outfit, she is wearing a skirt, not a dress, but I think it has the same look.

I realize that you can't actually see my shoes in either of these pictures (they were taken by my 4 year old. I think he is doing a great job!), but I just wore gold sandals. It's probably a good thing my feet aren't showing because my sandals seriously need to be replaced. They have seen better days.

 

 

Dress: Target (old) $17

Shirt: H&M (Hand-me-down)

Shoes: Old Navy (old)$14

Necklace: Old Navy $1.31

Bracelet: Target $5.35

Bag: Nicole Lee (Target) $22

Total: $59.66

Free Closet Organizing

I have started to prepare our closets for fall weather (even though it's still in the 90s) and I thought today would be a good day to do a little organizing. A few months ago, one of my neighbors was throwing away an old drop side crib and she agreed to let me have it for a project. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I knew I could come up with something. I did a little research online and got the idea to use the spring to organize all my necklaces.

All I had to do was remove some hardware and spray paint it white. I'm so glad to have my necklaces organized now because they were a big tangled mess.

 

 As I pull out my boots for fall, I am putting a paper towel roll in each one to keep them from flopping over. It should help with wear and tear on the boots. I can't remember where I heard this trick, but I did not come up with it on my own.

 

 

On a serious note, I want to thank all those who have sacrificed so much due to the attacks on 9/11/01.

We live close to a large military base and as I was driving during rush hour, I saw a family standing by a major intersection waving American flags and holding signs that said "We will never forget." It was touching to me that this family took time out of their day to make sure they showed their support for our great nation. May we never forget...

New Striped Skirt

I had been on the hunt for a striped skirt for a while. I came across this one at my local Belk store, but they were sold out of my size. I decided to check online and sure enough, they had my size and it was on sale for $14.99 with free shipping. Perfect!

On a side note, how do y'all pronounce the word striped? My husband always says "strip-ed" and I always pronounced it more like "strip'd". I think he is starting to rub off on me now, though. Which pronunciation do you use?

Skirt: Belk $14.99

Shirt: JC Penny (old) $5

Shoes: Marshall's (super old- like 8 years) $?

Necklace: Old Navy $1.31

Bracelet: TJ Maxx (gift)

Clutch: Express (old) $14.99

Total: $36.29

 

I hope everyone is having a blessed Sunday! or is it bless'd ;)

Happy School Year!



We had some friends over today for a little Back to School Party. Originally, I was just wanting to have a little play date, but then I realized that this will be the last lunch play date we'll be able to have for a while with the school schedule. My 4-year-old thinks it's a party every time people come over, so we decided to put together "Back to School" goody bags for all the kids.

 

 I didn't decide until yesterday that we would make goody bags, so it was pretty last minute. I found some super cute back to school printables HERE. The best part is, they were free! I waited to print them off until after I had already been to the store, and wouldn't you know, my printer ran out of red ink. Luckily, I had a red sharpie so I just colored in the apples. I think it looked OK.



 

I already had a bunch of crazy straws that I bought, no joke, like 2 years ago as a birthday party favor, but I ended up not using them. I'm glad to finally get them off my hands. I got the ribbon, bags, and everything else to fill them at Walmart. Each bag had a note pad, crayons, scissors, a glue stick, crazy straw, crackers, and fruit snacks. They ended up costing less than $2 for each one.



I hope everyone has a happy school year!

5 Minutes

So I'm just going to be honest here...there are some days, when I know I'm not going to leave the house, that I just wear a t-shirt, gym shorts, flip-flops, and no make-up. I don't see the point in getting all ready when I'm just going to be cleaning or working on projects around my house. I mean, no one is going to see me except for my family and perhaps a neighbor. I thought today was going to be one of those days, but then I ended up needing to run a few quick errands. I was tempted to just leave the house as I was (Yikes!), but I decided to take 5 minutes to slap on a little make-up (powder fountain, bronzer, blush, mascara, and lip gloss) and put on some real clothes. I already had my outfit ironed and ready to go because I wore it a few nights ago for literally like two hours, and I had planned on recycling it. I had let my hair air dry after my shower, so it was a lost cause. It was definitely a ponytail kind of day. Even though I did not have on my full make-up and hair fixed, I'm glad I at least took the five minutes so I wouldn't have been embarrassed if I had run into someone I know. With preschool and all the other activities we are about to start, this look will probably be making frequent come-backs.

I never thought I would post a picture of myself without my normal makeup on the internet on purpose (haha). Here's another one taken by my 4-year-old. Someone else wanted in on the fun too ;)

Shirt: Forever 21 (Goodwill) $2.99

Skirt: Banana Republic (Goodwill) $3.99

Shoes: Old Navy (old) $14

Earrings: Target $3.98

Bracelet: Target $5.35

Nicole Lee Bag: Target $22

Total: $52.31

 

 

On the plus side...this is the first time I carried my new purse that I got with my birthday money. The original price was around $70 (I can't remember exactly), but it was on clearance and then had an extra 10% off, so it only ended up being around $22. I had never heard of Nicole Lee before, but hopefully it will hold up OK. I think I'm pretty rough on purses.

Self-Confidence?

Today at church, our pastor spoke about something that I think is very important. It has been on my heart for a while. I used to compare myself to others a lot. I would think, "If only I was as good at (fill in the black) as so and so," or "If only I looked like so and so." It was not until after my second child was born (you know, when your stomach looks like a deflated balloon and you feel so blah) that God helped me to see that He made me the way I am for a purpose, and he made "so and so" for a purpose. My purpose is not going to be the same as anyone else. We are here to serve God and do His work. Whether I am tall or short, a professional ballerina or I have two left feet, or my skin is black, white, blue, green, or purple, I am perfectly made to fulfill my purpose.
 We should not be concerned with our self-confidence or self-esteem. Our confidence should be in God, not in ourselves.  If we have "low self-esteem" it is because we are lacking faith in God. Wishing that something about ourselves was different is questioning God, and God does not make mistakes. We need to be content and not want what someone else has (Remember the 10 Commandments, "Thou shalt not covet.") Instead of complaining about what we don't have and making excuses, we need to take responsibility and make the most out of what God has given us. We need to try our very best at whatever we are a part of and be thankful for the way God made us.
Our society is very focused on looking a certain way, having certain things, and being good at certain things. I think if more people put their focus on God, instead of themselves, and took responsibility for things they can change, then we wouldn't have many of the issues we have today.
I could go on and on, but I am trying to sum up my thoughts. I hope I'm not too scatter-brained to get my point across. I am by no means perfect in this area; I definitely need to be reminded I am here to please God, not other people, and he made me special the way that I am. This is something I feel strongly about and something I hope to instill in my children. (If you have young kids, I recommend the Veggie Tales movie "Princess and the Pop Star". It's geared more towards little girls, but the message is beneficial for boys too.)

Speaking of my children... I am teaching my four-year-old how to take pictures with my camera (even though photography is not one of my talents, haha). He took my outfit picture today.

Skirt: Target $11.32

Belt: Anderson Creek Thrift Store $1

Shirt: Old Navy $5 (old)

Shoes: Plato's Closet $6

Straw Clutch: Old Navy (super old) $5

Earrings: Old Navy $1.31

Bracelet: Target $5.35

Total: $34.98

 



 

The reason I do outfit posts is because I feel like God has given me a gift of being able to put together nice outfits for not much money. I would actually prefer to not be in the picture, but it's hard to show outfits without a person to wear them (I pretty much only have one pose. Modeling is not one of my talents, haha). I just try to make the most out of what God has given me.

 I hope you all know how special and wonderful you are and I hope you are thankful for the many blessings and talents God has given you.

 

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14

Jewelry Stock-up

Last week, I went to Old Navy to return something and I got distracted. The clearance jewelry section was calling my name! Does that every happen to you? It's hard for me to resist a clearance sign. Anyway, they had a pretty good selection and it was all marked down to $1.99. I thought it was a perfect time to stock up on fun jewelry. Sometimes, I have a hard time remembering what I need and what I already have unless I am trying to match up with a certain outfit, but for this price, I just wanted to get some fun items.

Here is my stash:

My son picked these out for me. He has such good taste!

 

When I got to the checkout, I discovered that they were also buy 2 get 1 free. So each thing ended up only being $1.31. If I had realized ahead of time that they were on sale even more I probably would have gotten more. I got 6 pieces of jewelry for $7.86.

My Sunday Best

It has been a while since I have done an outfit post, so I decided today would be a good day. Sometimes during the week, I get busy with cleaning and projects and trying to look nice is not really a priority, but I always try to look by best on Sundays when I go to church. I'm not concerned with it being a fashion show, but I see it as a sign of respect. I hope everyone had a great Sunday!

Shirt: Belk $5

Skirt: The Limited (old) $20

Shoes: Target- gift

Watch: Charming Charlie's- gift

Bracelets: Belk (super old) $?

Total- $25

 

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV

 

Today I am linking up with Blissful and Domestic

Pirate Party

Since we ended up having the kids' joint birthday party in Bristol, we decided to let our son invite a few friends who live locally  over to our house on his actual birthday. It was originally supposed to just be a very simple little get together, but pretty much turning into a full blown party. I just can't help myself sometimes when I start getting ideas.

While on vacation a few weeks ago, I stumbled across these super cute pirate swim trunks and a smocked swimsuit at a boutique called the Swing Set in Amelia Island, FL. They were both 40% off, but still a splurge for us. I'm not quite as ...how do you say..."cheap" (haha) while on vacation.

 

 I wanted "H" to have a shirt that would look cute with his swim trunks and regular shorts, so I found a plain white polo on clearance at Belk and had it monogrammed at a little shop called Dogwood Darlins. They only charged $4 and did a great job! I just put it with some red and white gingham shorts he already had.

 

 His breakfast consisted of pirate ship pancakes and cannon balls (blue berries). Although, I don't think he ate much of it cause he was too excited about his party. I found the pirate cup and plate on clearance at Pottery Barn Kids while on a trip to Nashville. (It's starting to seem like I sure do travel a lot.)

So on to the party...





We started the party with lunch. I decided to put the kids lunches in buckets, which would also be useful later on for one of the activities. They each got a cream cheese and jelly sandwich, pretzel sticks (peg legs), grapes (cannon balls), and a juice box. My intent was for the food to go with the theme, but I didn't have it labeled, so I doubt anyone else made the connection. 

The adults had fish tacos, chips, and fruit. I wrapped the fish tacos in red and white striped parchment paper that I found on clearance at Walmart after Christmas for like $.25 for a pack of 40 sheets.

The wrappers for the root beer bottles came from some free printables you can find here.

Umm, yes, my printer cartridge was running out of ink.

 

I am no baker (or really any kind of cook), so I just used a box cake mix for red velvet cupcakes. The cupcake liners came from Walmart, and the toppers were from Hobby Lobby. I love Hobby Lobby, however, I was not impressed with these toppers. They are cute, but the pack was supposed to have 24 and there were only 19. And 2 of those were broken! Maybe I just got a bad batch. I ended up making a few of my own toppers for the cupcakes on the adult table. Crisis averted! Shew!

 

I looked around my house and found some pirate decorations for the adult table. I had no idea I had so many things that looked pirate-y.

I didn't do much for the kids' table. Just put down some red and white striped fabric that I already had and my normal place mats. I just used the cupcakes as a centerpiece. I hung tissue paper pom poms from the chandelier and hung a banner on the curtain rod. 

 

My husband made these great maps for the treasure hunt. I was impressed! He copied the maps onto resume paper, crinkled them up, and burned the edges to make them look old.

We used the costume trunk that is usually in our son's room as the treasure chest. I filled it with tan paper shreds (it was supposed to look like sand) and put all the goody bags on top. The bags were filled with pirate candy (found at the Dollar Tree), sidewalk chalk (dollar spot at Target), a furry stick on mustache (Dollar Tree), inflatable pirate ball (Amazon), and a Ring Pop (Dollar Tree). The labels were from the same free printables I used for the root beer bottles.

 

The banner and flags were also made from the free printables.

 

Everything on the "Dress Like a Pirate" table came from Amazon except the bandannas were from Hobby Lobby. I cut them in half to save money.

 

A baby pool was filled with sand and the kids got to use their buckets and shovels from lunch to search for buried treasure.

 

I found this pirate pool on eBay. It was probably the best $25 I spent. The canon sprays water and a few of the kids thought it was hilarious to spray their parents, haha. We set up 2 baby pools for the younger kids to play in.

I really wanted to try to make the picnic table look like a ship by making a sail for it, but that seamed a little too complicated. Instead, I found a Jolly Rodger flag at Hobby Lobby. I used the stick from a mop that I got at Dollar Tree as the flag pole. The mop head unscrewed right off. I had to use a little Teflon tape to secure it into the umbrella slot.  



Sometimes I let myself get a little stressed out over party planning. Despite a few stressful moments, like discovering a huge (and when I say huge, I mean about the size of a golf ball, haha) wasp nest under the rail of the deck (where a lot of activities would occur) the morning of the party, this one seemed the least stressful of any I have thrown in the past. The kids seemed to have a blast, and I think the parents even had a good time too.