Chocolate Wreath

I fell in love with a chocolate wreath that I saw in a catalog a couple of years ago. It wasn't in the budget to buy at the time, so I decided to make one myself.
It was super easy, I promise. All you need is a wreath (you know the naked ones hanging in the store just screaming for clothes), flowers and ye olde faithful glue gun.

I went to Hobby Lobby and Michael's and bought a bunch of flowers in different shades of brown and in various sizes. I went home and pulled their heads off (don't worry, they never felt a thing).

I was so excited that I didn't even remove the plastic wrap off the wreath and just started gluing like a mad woman. I glued the biggest ones down first, evenly spacing them around the wreath. I continued this with all the flowers all the way down to the smallest-making sure to pack them in tightly so none of the wreath showed through.

I hung my very own chocolate wreath with ribbon from the top of my door using two very small nails (the ribbon came tied around a blanket I'd bought a while back).

All in all, this project cost me alot less than if I would've ordered it and had it shipped to my house.

You can do this, too!

Linking up with The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday

Friday Faves

This is one of the first (and only frames) I've made for myself. It's full of the colors I love and says "family of four". The bottle cap at the bottom says: Only Adventure Brand Has That Snappy Flavor and let me assure you, there's always adventure when you live with three men.

The picture was taken by a friend during a Fall Festival two years ago. I love this picture because, well for one, we're all smiling (with true smiles) at the same time with our eyes open. That combo is hard to capture in this house. My husband had just met us after work and the boys were on top of the world. So excited for the jump houses, games and treats. This is a snippet of some great memories and that's why it's one of my Friday Faves.

Fall Is FUN

My favorite time of year is fall. I dream about it all year long. We recently moved from Florida to North Carolina and so I'm very excited to have seasons. Florida was just hot, more hot, a short time of winter-ish, then more hot.

If you get soaked with sweat walking out to your mailbox, you might be a Floridian.

This weekend, I added more Fall Fun to my house. I have had this metal urn thingy for years. It's been this blah beige color since I bought it to use for our wedding reception almost 10 years ago. Well, I finally got sick of the beige and decided to paint it black and sand it a bit.



Doesn't it look sooooo much better? Now it goes really well on this cute stand my Mom got me from HomeGoods.

Pocket Treasures

If you have kids, boys in particular, you know how they can be collectors of all things junk. I have two scavengers here at home and their finds are usually rediscovered by me later in the bottom of my washer.

About a year ago, I decided to start keeping a collection of their finds. Prior to this, I always felt guilty throwing away all that was once stuffed in their pockets. They are proud of the things they pick up in parking lots, stores, playgrounds, school...anywhere one would come across random priceless goodies.

Hence, the Pocket Treasures Jar.



It's just an antique jar that I keep on a shelf in my laundry room. I wrote on a tag "pocket treasures" and tied it with boyish ribbon. This is the third jar I've used. It fills up quickly so I just replace it with a larger one. One day when they are older, I hope my guys will enjoy going through the jar and seeing what they thought to be "treasure".

A Little Bit of This and That

Here's a little of what I've been working on lately...

"MARMALADE"

"PUPPY LOVE"

"BLOOM"

"DELIGHT"

"UNDER THE BIGTOP"

I've also been enjoying getting my house decked out for fall. I am a decorating and design nut. Up until now, I haven't really thought about giving a behind the scenes tour. But I'm thinking I just might start...

Happy fall ya'll!

September Giveaway Winner

What a beautiful morning! A great day to announce the winner of my giveaway.

Congratulations to....

SHANNON

A big THANK YOU to everyone who entered to win this month. I have a giveaway on the first Tuesday of every month, so please check back again.

Cute Buttons

This yummy surprise is all wrapped up and ready to go to a local shop called Cute Buttons ~ Gift and Paper Boutique. They're having their first birthday party this weekend and The Chubby Dove has created something to celebrate the occasion. Wouldn't the store's very first dollar look so nice in here?

If you're ever in the area, stop by Cute Buttons for the prettiest paper, stationery, gifts and colorful wares or visit their website at http://www.shopcutebuttons.com/