Running...

I'm blogging later than usual today because I did this with my morning...

2 miles before 6AM sure makes you exhausted gets you going.  Did I mention I'm HORRIBLY out of shape?  I may or may not have huffed and puffed the ENTIRE way.  =)  Don't forget that today is the last day to enter my giveaway if you haven't already...  Go HERE.

I'll be back with real material tomorrow - including the announcement of something super fun!  Have a Happy Thursday, friends!

Curried Chicken Salad with Garlic Naan

Mmmmm, time for a foodie post!  This is one of those recipes I like to make midweek to take for lunches at work.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast cut into teeny tiny pieces
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Granny smith apples chopped into teeny tiny pieces
• Walnuts chopped into teeny tiny pieces (noticing a pattern here??)
• Craisins 
• Mayo
• Curry
• Garlic Naan (I buy mine at Trader Joe's)

Directions:

• Mix mayo and curry together to desired strength.  I like a soft "mustardy" color.  You won't need too much, as it's just the binding for everything else.
• Saute chicken in a pan with a teaspoon or so of EVOO and add a dusting of curry to the pan to flavor the chicken.
• Combine all remaining ingredients in the curried mayo and toss until coated thoroughly. 
• Refrigerate until cool and serve with oven-warmed naan.  Enjoy!

This is perfect for toting to lunch at work, or for adding to your picnic meal.  Try making a big batch on Sunday night and taking it for lunches during the week.  Or try adding your own ingredient to the mix and let me know how what you did and how it tastes!  Have a very happy Wednesday, and don't forget to enter my giveaway over at Skinnie Piggie to win a chevron Lazy Susan like mine in your choice of colors!!

Linking to: Homemaker on a Dime

Giveaway time!!

Hi all!  I'm over at Skinnie's Blog, Skinnie Piggie, today, helping her celebrate her birthday!  Head on over to be a part of a giveaway, where you could win one of these...

... In two colors of your choice!  You already have one entry, just for being a follower of mine.  Jump on over to enter!  Happy Tuesday, friends!

Fall Wreath

So, our door was lacking a little something... personality... of any kind.  Out entry is pretty "blah," and pretty low on the priority list, but I did manage to give it a little autumn deco this weekend!
 

Here's a little tutorial so that you can make your own festive wreath, based on what I did...
I picked up a few things at Michael's...

I saw the stick wreath on sale for $3, and the rest was on super clearance.  I bought a mini-chalkboard, a spool of autumn ribbon, and two bunches of wired, silk flowers.  All I needed was some space, an hour, and a hot glue gun! 

First things first - detach all flowers from their stalks, and remove excess leaves and greenery...

Next, locate ugliest bit of wreath - mine was where many of the sticks were showing off their dead ends...

This is where the "flower bunch" should go.

Push the wired stalks of the flowers through the wreath in any arrangement that you like.  I tried to keep flowers of the same color from touching one another so the colors would look more energetic.

 
I had anticipated being done after one bunch, but i decided to try making a smaller second bunch on the lower right of my wreath...

...And I really liked how it turned out!  Now, twist the wire bits of flowers together and fold them into the wreath...

Next, I glued my ribbon to the back of my chalkboard...

I was careful to use a LOT of hot glue on this baby doesn't come crashing down on any trick-or-treaters.  Trim off the bits of ribbon that stick out past the sides of the chalkboard.

make sure to give yourself LOTS of ribbon to work with for tying the chalkboard into the wreath...

Bring your ribbon over the top of your wreath (making sure the chalkboard is at the height you want it), and thread both pieces through the back of your wreath and tie it off.  Secure with insane amounts of hot glue...

Good thing no one has to see the back, right?!  I know my hot glue skills are intense, but try not to be intimidated.  As Lady Gaga says, "I was born this way."

Trim off the excess ribbon, and hang it on your door with shouts of glee!

Now I wish our door wasn't so "oaky" looinking... Perhaps another paint project is in my future?? Shhhhh!  Don't tell Eric!

Here's my project run-down:
$3 - wreath of sticks
$1.50 - orange ribbon
$2.50 - mini-chalkboard
$2 - bunches of autumn-colored flowers
TOTAL: $9 and less than 1 hour.  Win!

I originally searched google, blogs, and pinterest for another wreath with a chalkboard hanging in the middle to use as inspiration, and I couldn't find anything, so I had to make it up as I went along.   Could I have done completely something original??!!  I'm pretty stoked with how it looks, either way.  =)

Hope you're having a wonderful Monday, and enjoying the lovely fall weather =)

**PS - Don't forget to visit Skinnie's blog for her birthday week of giveaways!  Yours truly will be sponsoring the giveaway tomorrow!!**

Linking to: Home Stories A to Z, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Centsational Girl, Thrifty 101, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Decor to Adore,  Coastal Charm, It's Fall, Y'all!, Tell Me Tuesday, and

Takin' care of business

So, I finally got around to fixing up one of the tabs I added to the old blog.  The "DIY" tab is filled with all of the project I've done so far, and I'm promising right now to keep it updated.  Take a look below to see what's there, and check out my projects (unless you're my mom and you've seen them innumerable times ;)). 

And don't forget about Skinnie's Birthday giveaway next week!  You can enter on Tuesday to win a Chevron lazy susan like mine!


 

We do a fair bit of "Do It Yourself-ing" around here.  
Check out these projects and see what you think!

Chevron Lazy Susan

Removing Popcorn Ceilings

Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Mint Side Table

Blue Lamps

Bookends

Pinterest Pillow Knock-Off

Green IKAT pillows

Green Patterned Pillows

Pantry Painting

Gallery Wall

Baby Announcement

Fall Centerpiece

Bamboo Mirror

Fall Centerpiece





Goodwill Elephant

Wine Charms

Hemming Curtains

Baby Shower Gift for Twins

Organizing your jewelry

Hope you enjoyed this - have a happy weekend!

Fall is in the air...

Not really - it was 105 here today (ugh!).  But I wish it was in the air, and maybe if I do enough fall crafting, it'll bring on the cooler weather ;)  I can't wait to wear my flannel pj pants around the house.  What a fashionista I am, eh??  During a trip to Michael's (dangerous!) I saw these sweet glass votives on sale for $2 apiece, which meant at least 3 were coming home with me...

 
I also stumbled upon these, which smelled dee-lightful...

So, here I go with my well-titled tutorial: How to Make A Super Easy And Very Cheap Fall Centerpiece That Looks Good and Also Smells Pretty Good Too.

Step one: Fill glass votives with pinecones...

Step 2: Grab you some fall-themed ribbon, preferably from the dollar bin at the craft store...

Step 3: Cut reasonable length of ribbon (second hardest part of the project - not like it took me three tires or anything....) and tie a bow around your glass votive at the skinnier bit.  Try to make the bow look neat (now THIS is the hardest part.  Am I the ONLY terrible bow-tier out there?)...

Step 4: Repeat steps 1 - 3 until you have the desired number of festive fragrant fall votives (how much do I wish "votives" began with an "f?"  What a sweet alliteration it would have been!)...

Yay for easy!  Yay for cheap!  Yay for fall!  Here's what I spent...

$6.43 - glass votives
$1.09 - fall themed sparkly ribbon
$4.00 - pack of smelly (in a good way) pinecones
TOTAL = $11.52 and five minutes of my time.  I did it while I was ironing.
** Special bouns points to anyone who noticed my white ironing board legs showing off their "x" shape in the background of almost every picture in this post.  Bravo, friend.  You are observant!**

I love the way they make the table smell like autumn, even if it still feels like July 4th around here.  *Sigh*  Have you been working on anything fall themed lately?  Do share!

Also, if you love reading great blogs, and you liked my Chevron Lazy Susan project, get excited!  My wonderful friend "Skinnie" from Skinny Piggie, is hosting...

















... starting on Monday!  She's hosting a giveaway every day, and on Tuesday, you can enter to win a Lazy Susan just like mine in the colors of your choice. =) Even if you don't love giveaways (do people like this exist?!), you should pop over to celebrate along with us.  I've known "Skinnie" for years, and she's a wonderful friend, dedicated military spouse, and a fab blogger to boot.  Plan on heading over to show her some love!

And with that, have a very happy Thursday, friends!

Linking to: Creative Bloggers Party Hop, House of Hepworths, Thrifty 101, Centsational Girl, Just a Girl, Home Stories A to Z, Somewhat Simple, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Coastal Charm, Decor to Adore, Tip Me Tuesday, and