Tszujjing It Up: For the love of fabric: "What is it with me, fabric, and frames? Obviously I love the combo and think it makes the BEST and cheapest art ever but does that give me t..."

For the love of fabric

What is it with me, fabric, and frames? Obviously I love the combo and think it makes the BEST and cheapest art ever but does that give me the right to frame and hang fabric all over the place?  Well... it's my house so I guess it does:) You all remember my living room frames, right?  You know, the set of three that looks like this...

Well look what I found at target a few weeks ago...

That's right... clearance frames with LOTS of possibility!  At $3.74 they were a steal!  I ended up buying them out...and took 5 of these beauties home with me!  

A little proof in case you thought I was yankin' your chain

So, when I was leaving Target I thought to myself, hmm.. I wonder if T.J. Maxx has any cool pictures that I could frame?  So off I went.  Instead of cool pictures I found two sets of tea towels that caught my eye right away and BTW they were also on clearance (except I have no proof for you!  I believe they were $6.00 for each set..no lie).  I didn't get a picture before I cut them up but here is a jumbled mess of the fabric

I decided it was a match made in heaven and began the matting process (um... so basically I cut the fabric and taped it to the mat...very technical stuff).  This is what I got!

I'm in love all over again!  P.S. my camera is not the best... the frames are more the color in the first picture... not as gold as the second picture.   

How bout' that for some thrifty shopping!  OH!  Sorry-- I know you are dying to know what happened to the other tea towels and frames... well they were put together and birthday gifted to one of my friends (who, if a loyal reader- which I am sure she is, cause lets be real, who isn't, now knows that her gift was the result of some thrifty shopping:))

Now I just need to figure out where these pretty little things are going... 

Carolyn 

busy weekend!

Sorry loyal readers (sarcasm) for the lackluster posting this weekend...it was a non-stop busy weekend!

So what did I do?  It was a weekend full of wedding festivities and family! 

Here is the rundown...Friday I headed out of work early for my friend Karen's wedding rehearsal.  I was one of the lucky ducks chosen to be a brides maid!  Here we are at the rehearsal dinner...

Bev (my BFF and fellow bridesmaid), ME, Lauren (friend from high school and fellow bridesmaid)

All the maids! Bev, Karen (BRIDE), Ashley, Lauren, ME, Sandy, Lauren.  We are
showing off our very cool bracelets that we got as gifts! 

 Here are some wedding day pics...

Bev, ME

Bev, ME, Ash

The BEAUTIFUL bride and some friends striking a pose.  AGAIN...WHY must I always be doing something weird?  Scratching my back maybe??

 So the wedding was beautiful and a BLAST! I danced my rump off (which is always comical cause I have NO rhythm!  Thank goodness for liquid courage:))

Onto the rest of the weekend... My sister, bro-in-law, and nephew came up for a visit so my entire family went to a local festival... It was "eh"... I mean I can't lie- it wasn't Ah-mazing like my brother in law said it would be, but as far as fairs go, I guess it was OK.  It was great cause I was with my niece and nephew and I LOVE being with them...but a fair without fried oreo's is not a top notch fair in my book.  I don't have any pics..so sorry!  Then I spent today sleeping in, shopping with the family, and playing super mario brothers with my nephew (its his FAVORITE and he thinks I am the coolest for playing with him!).

That's about it!  Me and the husband are eating some Chinese right now and watching old episodes of Prison Break (hence why I am typing... Prison Break is the worst). 

I *think I am going to head to the store to pick up some mums and pumpkins... I need to get this house all fall'ed up!

TTFN!

Carolyn

Thoughts..STAT!

Please tell me the truth... do I look like an idiot?  And I'm not referring to the idiotic expression on my face, I am talking about the outfit... I need to know (and kind of fast cause I am wearing it Friday night...unless you say that I shouldn't) whether this looks silly or cute.  You wont hurt my feelings... well you might but I need some tough love right about now.  Nothing worse then leaving the house with a false sense of confidence. 


P.S. Yes- Quentin appears to be eating Bentley.    

P.S.S. Between my facial expression in the first picture and my hand in the second picture it is clear that I cannot take a normal looking picture. 
P.S.S.S. Stripes.  I know, I know... Its a daring look for those of us that have heftier portions than others. Whats a girl to do...you know my love of stripes...

What am I doing?  I think I was just getting ready to put my hand on my hip
(you know...a much "cooler" pose...) when Dan snapped the pic... we will blame him..not me.  

So people... which is it? Wear it with confidence or don't be caught dead in it? 


Carolyn

i mean really... target is on a roll

Just another post to express my LOVE for targets really REALLY cheap deals.  Check out what I got for just over $9.00 including tax.... this lovely chair, which I would like to add was originally 35 smackeroos.  So I know its really not THAT amazing... but we needed a chair for our kitchen desk and it will go perfect with my soon-to-be white and black kitchen!


High fives all around!

Could I have cleaned up before taking this picture? yes.  Did I? no

Just in case you think I was pulling your leg

Anyone else find any good deals lately?


Carolyn

gettin my "Martha" on

Look what I just whipped up tonight...

A PLUM CAKE from my good friend Martha! 

I definitely didn't follow the exact directions (does it really matter that I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil??) doubt it cause I thought it tasted pretty delish :)


Here is the recipe I followed:


Open-Faced Plum Cake by Martha Stewart

Makes 2 cakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 9 or 10 large black plums, halved and pitted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, the milk, oil, and egg. Fold into flour mixture.
2. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, and smooth tops. Arrange plums, cut sides up, over batter.
3. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar, and sprinkle over plums. Dot with butter. Bake until tops are dark golden, plums are soft, and a toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool. (Cakes are best the day you make them; leftover cake is great for breakfast the next day.)

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Open-Face Plum Cake - Martha Stewart Recipes 




Off to call my cutest nephew in the whole world-- we are going to get on speaker phone and both play Mario on the wii at the same time.  This is some pretty exciting stuff for a 5 year old and an Auntie that loves her nephew!


Carolyn

makin' it happen

This post contains A LOT of words-- prep yourself! 

I can own up to the fact that I am clearly a slow learner.  Me and the husband have known each other for a total of 10 years (married for 3, dated for 4, friends for 3) anyways...I never really figured him out until about 2 weeks ago. I feel like I just figured out the secret to life.. This is SERIOUS you all... no joking here.

So what did I learn?  Well... I was blessed (sarcasm) with a husband that has opinions about what goes in our home.  I realize that I should count my blessings because I could have a husband that is oblivious to everything and tries to put horrendous lookin' stuff in my pretty home- lucky for me- not my situation.  While I do realize that I am a lucky girl, my husband doesn't always see, what we will call, my "vision".  This is not crazy stuff guys... just a few small ideas to make our home more beautiful.  I am pretty sure that he is afraid to "fix" what is not broken. I have learned over the years that secretly he likes my ideas but he doesn't get on board just in case it comes out sketchy looking he can say "I told you so"  (I know.. what a gem, right:)) 

Anywho- over the past few years I would get a GREAT idea and ask the husband what he thought.  He always thought "NO"  or "I don't think so".  So a few weeks ago I started to just talk about things as if they were already scheduled and going to happen.  For instance- I want to paint our kitchen cabinets white.  I asked Dan about 2 or 3 months ago and he gave an emphatic "NO" to that question and has said no since then.  About 2 weeks ago I just started to tell people about it when Dan was around or I would say things during dinner like "I need to get to Lowe's to figure out what paint to get for the kitchen cabinets" or "thank goodness we have a long weekend coming up- it's probably gonna take me a good 3 days to get the kitchen cabinets done". 

It worked- NO JOKE!  So ladies take note-- don't ask-- just talk about it as if it has already been planned and scheduled.  I'm not sure if they forget that they didn't agree to it or if it wears them down so much that they are too tired to argue anymore.  Regardless, I am getting a WHITE kitchen- whoop whoop!! Anyone wanna help me paint?!?!

Don't these pictures make you happy?  They make me so stinkin' happy I can't take it!


Knight Moves Blog

The Lettered Cottage

  Ahhh!!  LOVE:)

Carolyn

I Heart Target

Seriously- Target has been my ultimate go-to spot for crazy frugal finds over the past few months and I am LOVING it!  Remember I JUST fancied up this lamp BUT I needed a shade for it?

Check out the grey shade that I got for $3.48 on Saturday!!!  I LOVE it! I tried taking the pictures with different settings but the grey color is coming out all funky.  It's a really light grey that is kind of feminine but a little bit rugged- perfect for the ultra girly base. 

In other frugal shopping news I got a super cute dress for $8.00, a cardigan for $5.00, and some frames for $3.50/piece!  I LOVE a good deal! 


P.S. Where are all the pumpkins?  Did I miss something?  I feel like I am not seeing pumpkin patches like I did last year AND the bins at my grocery store are sadly lackluster.  Could it be that there is a pumpkin deficit in the country or is it just me?!?


Carolyn