Oh yessss....:)

  All my Halloween goodies are out and I'm a happy girl:) Now if only the weather would cooperate:(

 Cute witchypoo:)

Sorry for the dark pics:( my house faces north/south with a wrap around porch. Translation- the darkest house to photograph ever! NO! It has absolutely NOTHING to do with my lack of photography skills.

 My mantle. I'm convinced that everyone has that one thing. That thing that no matter what you do, you feel like it's never right? I'm mantally challenged. There. I said it. I have the worst time with this stinkin mantle! Anyway, here's the result.

 Just take a gander at my china cabinet. I love her:) She's an old beaut given to me by my sis in law. It was her grandma's:) I filled her with my black and white china and whatever fakey pumpkins I had:)

 This little dresser sits just inside my front door.

 And my fav of all- velvet pumpkins. Found at...FOUND! Kristin's having another one of her fab sales October 14-15th! You don't want to miss it! Info here:)

 I planted mums this past weekend:) LOVE the color!

 Put out my Halloween pillows on my porch furniture:) I just wrapped the seats in fabric that I had.

 I bought this vulcher guy years ago and lug him out every year:)

 And last but not least, my daughter Rio gave me these sweet old rusty urns a while back. I filled them with mums and the hubby ran a drip to them so they don't die a slow painful death when I forget to water them:) What a guy:)

Did I score or what???

And she's off and running... :)

Yep. I did it. I got in the garage and pulled out those bins. The orange ones with the black lids:) Why yes of course my bins are color coded!! Psh, why the heck not?? It actually started with this wreath I made on Saturday. It's not quite finished yet, but it was enough to get me going.

And don't ask how I made it. I have no idea. I just cut scraps of fabric, wrapped and glued, wrapped and glued. I have no idea how to make fabric roses. Just wrapped and glued, wrapped and glued.

Glued some feathers on, stuck a bird in it. Done. Kinda. I'm thinking it needs something at the top. Like cute letters that say Boo or something?

This is when I get all Scarlett O'Hara and say to myself- " I'll think about that tomorrow..."

I've got way bigger fish to fry:)

I'm melting... :(

Oh my goodness it's still stinkin hot here:( It's that time of the year when everyone in AZ has HAD IT with the heat. I'm pleading with you Fall. Please hurry up. I just want to open my windows and let in some fresh air for heaven sakes!! I want to turn on my oven without turning down my ac! Is this just too much to ask? I swear this heat is melting my brain.

I bought this new plug is scent and it's fantastic. But man it makes me want to bake a pie!

I tried to wear this sweater today. Tried being the key word here. I started to sweat the moment I put it on, which nearly resulted in me lying in the fetal position crying for cooler weather!! :(

Fall weather can't come soon enough for me.

Until then, can you help a girl out? I'm in need of some blog ideas. Got any? I need em. Like fresh freaking air.

A deal...and a meal!

Last weekend while I was in Cali, I thought I'd take a trip to my fav TJ Maxx in hopes of finding my bird dishes. Sadly, I came home without the birdies. But... holy score! Look what Rio's bf Chase found on clearance and so graciously let me have it:) Yes. All Clad. Huge. For $69!! If you're an All Clad fan, you are totally feeling my joy right now:)

While sitting watching endless hours of Food Network a few weeks back, I saw this episode of Rachael Ray and she made this most scrumptious of dinners:) The episode was called Tangy and Terrific. She made this Orange-Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Lemon Risotto.

If you have the patience for risotto (something I've just newly acquired) it's a must try. It's easy and deeelish:) And just look how happy those chickens are in the awesomeness of that pan:)

Oooh, and it helps if you have a huge crush on your sous chef:) makes cooking sooo much fun:)

The finished product:)

Ta-a-a-sty I tell ya!!!

And go ahead and follow that tastiness up with the bomb of all cookies. Chocolate chip with Sea salt sprinkles. Sweet and Salt. It doesn't get any better than that!!

Yes. I said Gdubb pillows...:)

Ok. So I totally know what you're all thinking. Ewww! Gross! I know. I know! But hear me out. I love me some down pillows. I love them on my porch. I do not however love to pay big dollars for pillows that are going to be OUTSIDE! I mean, come on- there is nothing like a down pillow, and those "outdoor" pillows that you get are crap! Sooo I Gdubb it. I buy them for the insert. I haven't yet come across a gross one. You can tell right away if it's stained or whatever and then you can just trash it and not feel bad that you paid all of $2 for it:)

I had the hubby bring down my sewing machine to the dining room. I hit JoAnn and picked up some remnant pieces of fabric, and used whatever trim I had around to make me up some Halloween pillows for my porch!! Yay!! What you say? Halloween?? Yes! It creeps (no punn intended) up on us so fast and why not take advantage of my forced down time and sew, sew, sew!! The card? Oh I'll get to that!

And check it! How cute are they!! The melted candle? Not so cute:( It's still hotter than hades here:( but hey, a girl can dream and look forward to fall right?

I free handed that cute witches hat and just sewed it on, then trimmed it with some orange ribbon that I've had forever and made that flower by sewing some ribbon in a circle. Whew! Did that ever max out my sewing abilities!!

My sis in law made a really cute Union Jack pillow, so I took that idea and made this little pillow:)Oh, and just to show you how lonely and miserable my front porch looks- yeah, check out those dead plants. Nice.I loved this spider fabric. Neither remnant or cheap:(

Ok. The card. I've had this card for years! I can't think of anyone worthy to send it to?! Geez that sounds awful! But sadly, it's true. Maybe I should just send it to myself?? Anyway, this became my inspiration and what started the entire Halloween pillow madness:)

I found this silhouette at cafepress.com and enlarged it and printed it. I then free handed bat wings to it and used it as my pattern:)

Oh my! I LOVE it!! Times a thousand!! It's truly my favorite little crazy crafty I've ever done:)

And Little Bully completely agrees!!

Cutie cloche... :)

Okay, so a few months back I was trollin my fav Gdubb, (Goodwill) when I came across this beauty! Un huh! Well, minus that doll whatever in the world that is. What the??

For whatever reason, I bought it. Psh! Do I need a reason? Reasoning is just silly! Anyway, I think it was all of $3? I took her home where she took a back seat behind all the pretty girls for a while before I could figure out what to do with her :( I started by painting the base a crisp white. Then she sat like that for a few weeks.Theeeen, this last Saturday I happened upon my little box of misc hardware in the garage. I said, Ooooh hello little lonely beautifully rusty glass knob, I have someone I want you to meet:)

I gave her base a little "bronzer", you know- so she didn't look so pasty white:) Then I used Gorilla Glue to attach the sweet glass knob to the top. Yes, I totally eye balled it, and yes, it's slightly crooked:(

Ta da!! Oh my goodness, I love it! And I'm thinking she's a little smiley too:)

She's keeping safe some vintage books, and my two sweet little bullies:)

And just you wait till you see what I did with all the Gdubb pillows! I know! A cliffhanger?!

Till next week!! :)

Makin do...:)

So last week the hubby decided we needed a little Cali time:) I couldn't agree more. With temps in AZ hovering around a hundred and hell, cooling off in Dana Point was dreamy:) Well one day while the hubbs took himself to the beach, I found myself in rather a pickle. I was starving, alone, without a car, and could hardly stand up straight :( So what's a gal to do? Git to gittin!! That's what!! I hobbled in to the kitchen where my creativity reeeally needed to kick in. I needed yummy and QUICK!! Enter- Garbanzo beans, parm, salt and pepper:)

Drain and rinse one can of beans:)

Add to a (preferably) non stick skillet:)And get to toastin over med/high heat. I took a pic of the flame because that's how I judge heat:)Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper:) And while they're toasting, grate about a small handful of Parmesan cheese:)When the beans get to where they look kinda dry and toasted, throw in the parm and turn off the heat. Shake the pan while the cheese melts, so it doesn't melt in one big clump:)Enjoy them warm:) You can also add chopped purple onion and serve this on top of a yummy bed of greens. Both of which I didn't have:(And then give yourself a high five and celebrate your victory over Mother Hubbard's Cupboard and dish yourself up 2 scoops YES! Two scoops! of this most amazing new ice cream from Trader Joes. Lemon and Triple Gingersnap ice cream. It's seriously going to be the death of me.... :)