deal alert...striped tray

Thank you all SO much for your sweet comments about the kitchen, my client
 and I were emailing each other yesterday, giddy about her pretty kitchen and all of
 your comments! It makes it all the sweeter having all of you share in our excitement!  
I'll post the tutorials for the botanicals and countertops next week.

Yesterday I was at Michael's picking up some supplies for a project I'm working on. :)
I ran across these cute black and white pieces ~ just marked down 80%!
They're plastic, but look great, and the tray is an awesome size!

Black and White Tray  14" x 19"  $3.59

Black and White Print Serving Set  $1.79

They'd make a cute hostess gift, fun serving pieces for Halloween,
a stylish way to corral kitchen essentials on the counter,
you could even use it as a serving tray! :)

Hurry, before they're gone!

simple sweet treat...

Who doesn't love a surprise so perfectly packaged you hate to open it?
This cleverly presented treat is sure to delight a neighbor, teacher or
what kiddo wouldn't die for this when they got home from school
or in their lunch - oh my! I'd like it for my lunch!
A festive take home favor for a party, or thank you, or surprise your family
and pull this out at the park, or a kind gesture just because...  

Layers of...
 caramel and cream cheese
 caramel
heath bar bits sprinkled on top
YUM!



You can find the recipe and details at Event Trender here.

outdoor fall decor...

Here's my simple outdoor decor for fall...

My summer pots were still looking nice with the cooler weather, so I brought a couple

 to our front patio, I like the bright pink with the orange. I bought a bale of hay when

 I was at Home Depot one day and brought out the plastic faux pumpkins, my urn
with the evergreen topiary and an old sign I've had forever.

 As much as I'd love the real deal I've learned my lesson over and over,

 sadly the squirrels make an ugly mess of pumpkins in no time, so we go faux!

Happy Fall, Friends!

Join me at Savvy Southern Style here 

fall vignettes at primitive & proper...

While you're all casually enjoying your morning latte and blog reading,
(that's what it's like at your house in the mornings, right?)
I'm at jury duty!

Onto something more fun...

I'm also over at my sweet friend Cassie's blog, Primitive and Proper here.
She's the queen of rescuing furniture pieces and giving them new life, her vision
and style make for some extraordinary makeovers. You can always count on a surprise,
 maybe a fun pop of color, classic style and gorgeous hardware, or a bold unexpected
fabric choice.

In honor of her inspiration, I'm sharing the makeover of  'one' of my
 dining room chairs shown in three different fall vignettes here.

Before you head over to her blog, check out some of my favorites from Cassie...
(actually I think it's a surprise, but she might be giving me this one for my birthday!!)

Is she CRAZY talented or what?!

No wonder she's been nominated for Country Living's
Blue Ribbon Blogger Award!



If you'd like to vote for her look for this button on her blog,
there are only a few days left and it would make her day!

HAPPY WEEKEND SWEET FRIENDS!

random details

                                                        ~   Halloween  ~

             One of our favorite neighborhood traditions for over ten years is a Halloween
         get-together. We take turns hosting dinner for four families and all their little goblins,
              followed by trick or treating. We all put baskets of candy on our porches,
         turn on the lights and head out with our ghouls in hopes they'll share their chocolate!
                         The highlight of the evening is the BIG exchange (see below)!

My delightful gangster posing with me!

(Confession: This is last year's photo because my hair looked so bad,

 the sun was shining wierd and it looked like a brassy flaming orange mess and the

photographer and gangster weren't really into taking more photos for my hair to look cute!)

Spooky, Festive, Delicious! 

                                                     The art of negotiation at its best!

                                                                    
                                                    ~   Barstool Progress  ~

                I finished the wood filler and narrowed the fabric down to this, maybe!
       Thanks for the suggestions to stencil on the fabric, but the Ikea slipcovers didn't fit,
                   however, I love a pretty stencil and my entry needs some pizazz....

                                                       Taraz Spring Suzani                                                

                  

                                                      
                                                Today's Goodwill Find  $2.99 
                                I think I'll paint over the scene in black or white.
                                  

                               
                          If you made it this far thanks for listening to my ramblings today!
                                                                     

                                                      

         

                                                            



florals ~ fast & furious

                          mr. simple brought me flowers today from his favorite florist,
                                                            Costco.
                                  He was beaming with pride as he pronounced,
                "I picked a pumpkin color, see they're kind of orange, for Halloween!"
                                                                              
                                       Here's my fast & furious arrangement.

                   
                 ~     Cut stems and place in an 8" cylinder vase
                 ~     Cut your choice of ribbon and hot glue it to the outside of cylinder
                 ~     Place the cylinder inside a large hurricane, I chose this one with
                         black to coordinate with my other fast & furious Halloween decor
                 
                        It gives the popular look of stems wrapped with ribbon.
       After Halloween replace the ribbon with warm fall colors to match your decor.

                           ~   thank you, mr. simple, they're the perfect orange  ~   

       

halloween decor - fast & furious

                                 
                         Since I'm not big on Halloween decorations but still want to appear festive,
                                               here's my fast and furious formula,
                                                spending only about 20 minutes!

                                                 ~ family room bookshelf ~

                              ~   printed letters onto copy paper and put in frames
                              ~   spray painted some sticks from our yard and added to vase
                              ~   stacked orange and black books
                              ~   printed out the word Boo! and put in a mini frame
                              ~   added this fun eye chart saying to our kitchen chalkboard

            To see another fun and clever way to frame letters, go check out this cute blogger,
                                                     Courtney's easy ideas here.

                 

These frames make fun little hostess gifts,

 here I just tied it around the wine bottle.

The possibilities are endless, you can personalize them to suit the occasion, family, etc.

One of my favorite things to do is include a couple of other words or sayings for the next

month or two, just put them behind each other.

I'll tell my friend there is a new message for November, I wrote:

~  thankful for friends ~

               Remember the shelf on my gallery wall ~ it's a nice spot to add seasonal touches,
                                                    these mini-frames fit perfectly.

   

Do you have any fast & furious tips?