{Wordless Wednesday -iPhone/Diptic edition}

Sequins found while thrifting always remind me of this...

...wait until the 31 sec mark!

House Warming on a Budget

My childhood BFF recently bought her first home. She is one of the most amazing people I know and I really wanted to make an extravagant wreath for her housewarming party but it fell in line with my finals; therefore, I had not a lot of time but I still wanted to do something more thoughtful than a gift card. While browsing Pinterest I ran across a moss letter hanging on a door by a burlap bow, and bam! I found what I could manage to make my friend with the time (and money) I could afford. This project cost me roughly $5 per letter and about an hour of time per letter.

Now, I have mentioned Morgan, one of my favorite bloggers, here before and I feel obligated to mention that she has done the moss letter as well and her's is fabulously from her own brain. Me, I need inspiration.

I already had this light cinnamon paint, sponge, and
random piece of bubble wrap.

The letters I found at Michael's were white so I brushed the
paint on them dryly with the sponge brush so there was
practically no dry time.

Each letter was about $3.50 and I also used a 40% off
coupon I printed from Michael's' web site.

All you have to do is use a glue gun ON LOW (I can't stress this enough, I tried using the high setting to rush getting the "P" done at the end of the night and burned the snot out of my palm) and just glue and pat, glue and pat (the moss on, that is).

I bought moss from the Dollar Tree for $1 per bag and I only used a little over a half a bag for both letters combined. I got the black satin ribbon on sale for $1.99/spool at Michael's and thought it added a bit of sophistication to the "green" nature of this project. 

I used a staple gun to staple the ribbon to the back after I tried the bow where I deemed appropriate.

"D" for BFF's last name & included
a 3M Wall Hook w/ Command Adhesive
strip for no-muss hanging and removal.

"P" next to our front door
(I still had a DIY wreath from last year up)

Viola, friends! Enjoy!

Relics of Workout's Past

I was obsessed with Minna Lessig (blonde on the left) back in the day. She was my Jillian Michaels of 2000-2004, I did her tapes religiously and actually saw results. I can't believe it's been so long since I've visited her. 

As I was finishing up day 3 of the 30 Day Shred (again), I found myself reminiscing about the VHS tapes of yore that I used to get in shape during high school... I'm not one to save things so I was pleasantly surprised to find these two in our stash of movies we don't watch! 

I think my best friend Jill actually gave me these tapes and I knew I had bought another tape of Minna's but quickly remembered that I wore that sucker out, so... Amazon to the rescue! For $2.99 flat I will have my missing VHS by Tuesday, I can hardly wait! In the meantime I plan on doing Minna's workout through Quick Fix: Arms & Legs tomorrow morning ; )

My missing tape. $2.99 on Amazon,
free shipping with Amazon Prime trial.

Friday Fancies: Food & Jewelry

This is going to be a shorty, I have a Finance exam on Tuesday so I'm freaking out!

First of all, I've been a smoothie maniac for the last month, averaging one every other day. Smoothies are a great meal filler when, frankly, I have no time to think about making something for myself. I decided to share my favorite thus far with you, I'll call it the Bodacious Banana Smoothie : )

Ingredients:

1 & 1/3 bananas (this is only b/c my daughter had a piece of leftover 'nana)
3 heaping tsp. peanut butter
1 scoop Jillian Michaels' Whey Protein in vanilla
1 handful of crushed ice (sorry no specific measurement, just add enough ice to make the smoothie cold and a little thicker)
Milk (no specifics on this one, I usually use less than a cup of 1% milk because I like a thicker consistency, more like a milkshake; it just depends what thickness you prefer)
Blend!

There was more leftover from after I poured this in the glass. I drank all of it.

Secondly, I have found that I have to force moderation on myself with any "snack" food I buy because I'm a student who munches non-stop when studying, I have zero self control, and I will polish off a container of anything in one sitting. Not good!

Craisins are BOGO @ Publix, making each
bag about $1.25. Thrifty snack alert!

Five servings in ea. bag = 10 snack bags @
$0.25 a pop!

My solution is to split up snack foods immediately so I do not have the chance to keep going, and going, and going... until I have to have my test-proctor-man come and give me my exams at the house because it's too expensive to cut me out of it! 

Finally, the pretties! I've been reaching for these pieces of jewelry that are bargains yet fast becoming staples in my day to day look.

Cupcake earrings from Forever 21: $1.50

These are sweet (haha) and not too bold so the people who would criticize them haven't even noticed and the people who love them have. I love how that works! I looked for them on the site tonight and couldn't find them but I encourage you to look at the rest of the $1.50 earrings on F21's site, they're darling and you can't beat the price!

Crisp White from The Prim Trimmings shop

Not to be cliche but I really do wear this ring quite a bit, it seems to go along with a lot of my wardrobe. I'm also really loving white for the summer, it's so refreshing. 

Well, wish me luck on this mother of an exam and I'll probably post shortly after. Have an awesome weekend!

New Hunting Grounds: Pier 1

Target and TJ Maxx top my list of places I constantly haunt for fabulous clearance items but I'm ready to make an addition to my reprotoire: Pier 1. I've always loved Pier 1 but I am well aware that I can't be going up in there all the time, buying things full-price so I tend to steer clear.


Well, yesterday I decided to take some "me time" before picking up my daughter and I had a P1 gift card in tow. Much to my surprise, I was able to stretch that $20 pretty far!

Here is my P1 Haul:

Red tags make me happy : D

Candle sticks Orig: $3, Marked: $1.48
I bought them out and they will be used to make pretty things

Orig: $35 Marked: $8.68

Bright frame will be used to spice up my
space @ work. O: $14 M: $3.48
Lavender air freshener: O: $5 but
Lavender is the scent of the month,
therefore 20% off!

There were so many deals to choose from beyond what I bought. It was hard to choose but I didn't want to spend much more than my gift card (I went little over $6 beyond the GC). 


Here's a taste of what I'm going to be keeping an eye on...

Floral Coffee Cups w/Stand

Floral Measuring Cups

Watermelon Serving Bowl
This family is OBSESSED w/watermelon!

Indv Watermelon Bowl
Yes, I realize how corny these are!

These are just a few things I loved during my visit, among a trillion more. I chatted up the guy who rung me up and he said things get marked down all the time as new merch gets brought in and this summer they are getting a TON more inventory. Happy Shopping!

Creative/Reusable Gift Wrap

One of the lovely ladies I follow, Morgan, wrote this blog post: Frugal Gift Giving about her obsession of wrapping gifts uniquely and making the appearance just as special as what is inside. I couldn't agree with her more! Along with making gifts look fun and fancy I also like to make the gift wrap reusable.

More recently I find myself staking out cute boxes, containers or reusable gift bags or shopping bags to save for a special gift to fit inside. The last gift I had the pleasure of giving was for a dear friend's baby shower...

I got K some necessities from her registry (hangers,
pacifiers, etc) along with a necklace with her child and
little one on the way's initials. The necklace is from:
Etsy: Elemental Workshop

As you can see I wrapped all the odds and ends in tissue
paper and I put the necklace on a little tag.

I created and added this bright bow for a little more
oomph as well as to hide the necklace.

I thought about myself and other moms I know, always clamoring for storage options, so I decided to find a colorful bin to put everything in. I found this rainbow hearts bin at Target on clearance and everything happened to 'just fit'. I think it turned out very cute, bright, and cheery. 

Birthday Gift

This is one of the finished products that came from all of those thrift store frames I bought. I ended up giving this to my best friend, Jill, for her 25th Birthday. It just-so-happens that Jill is purchasing her first home and plans to make one of her guest rooms into a themed Victoria's Secret "Pink" room. She said she plans on putting this piece on display there.

My trusty little sanding block.
I find I can grip these best when working on little things.
I believe it is a medium grade grit.

There she is, ready for her makeover.

I just LOVE this color!

I got cheap but cute, round push pins at Wal Mart and
painted them them the same color as the frame.

I also got poster board at Wal Mart.
I had to trim it a bit, then used E6000 to glue it in place.
*This picture was taken at night, not the best -sorry!

P.S. I will be posting my other creations shortly. One needs to be fixed and the other still needs to have accessories attached so it can be hung.

Adventures of a Thrift Store Shopper

Shopping at thrift stores has become an obsession for me. I can only compare it to what men feel like when they go hunting, it's the thrill of the kill! Nothing gets me more excited than finding a gem amongst the seemingly endless racks of riff-raff. For example, we have a thrift store in town that has occasional 50% off days and they get hit hard! I find it far too tempting to buy things for $2 and $3 rather than their usual $4 and $6 so I usually make it a point to hit it up with the rest of the thrifty folk. During the last sale I attended I found a perfect L.B.D. How much did I pay? $3!!! AMAZING! 


Usually I have an accomplice to go with me for moral support and to see who can nab the best find. I own a Dior sweater thanks to another 50% day when I was victorious. How much? $5!!! 

Sometimes, I will hit up the thrift store on my lunch break and this happens...

Couldn't quiiiiite get the zipper up myself so I turned that bad boy around to make sure this would be a smart purchase. I think I paid $6 or so, and it is a Dillard's-ish brand that retails between $40-$80. It's in perfect condition and I love it. I wear it to work which means I have to wear it with the correct side in front, paired with a brown cardigan and some flats (in a metallic color like that of the dress) from Target for about $4. 


Stay tuned for more Thrift Store finds. I am currently obsessing over pretty dishes and earrings or other bobbles to make pretty things out of and hope I can feature something soon!