Pumpkin ( in pictures....)

I LOVE Pumpkin!!!  and the stores are certainly not in short supply of all things pumpkin right now....some of my current favorites:



             

$15 FREE......!!!

Have you heard of One Kings Lane ? Well neither had I until today.....

It is an online shopping site with AWESOME deals on unique products, and right now all new customers get $15 off any $30 purchase. I used mine for these :

I know two little boys that will be very happy on Christmas Morning! :-)

 

So hurry on over and see what kind of deals you can snag with your free credit!!!

 

 

The last "First"

My baby turned "ONE" on Monday, We marked this final stage of babyhood with a big birthday bash over the weekend. I LOVE birthday's! (actually, I love any excuse to have a party) but birthdays are my favorite....everyone deserves a whole day filled with feeling special. My favorite part of planning a party is picking a theme and incorporating all sorts of little details..(love the details!) I chose a cowboy theme here are some pictures of the party and the adorable birthday boy....

keepsake book all the guests signed
invitation from here



badges, mustaches, and tattoos



cowboy/cowgirl gear

the food table (before all the food was on it) and the photo banner

the smash cake (made by yours truly cake topper from here )

the dessert/drink table

cupcakes and caramel apples for dessert

 

the birthday boy's chair-a garage sale score repainted and the adorable bib $2 clearance find

the "Cowboy" his outfit is from Crazy 8 (LOVE that store!)

the food: pulled pork, cowboy caviar, mac & cheese, baked beans, fruit & cornbread

ready for cake

YUM!!!!

Happy Birthday xo





linking up to: iheartnaptime


West Elm-ish....

I LOVE these hive vases from West Elm, (I first learned of them from one of my favorite blogs YHL  thanks John and Sherry!) BUT I am not a huge fan of their price tag ( $24 and up) so imagine my delight when I spotted this little lovelie at the Salvation Army store for just $.99! No, it is not an actual West Elm vase but a darn good look-a like..I love it more than bee's love honey! (Lame joke, I know...I just couldn't help myself)



before



     

here's a side by side comparison (after I cleaned the stickers off with some goo-gone)



 

After: with some pretty wildflowers from my backyard



Mums the word....

I LOVE all the fall colors, the reds, golds, and browns make you feel so warm and cozy.

I decided to add a little color to my yard with some beautiful Mums...lucky for me LOWE'S had them on sale for a $1 each..so I grabbed a few and some supplies I had on hand and created this:

can you believe I scored this amazing planter for only $1 at a Garage Sale!

 I also picked up these adorable metal buckets from Target's dollar section, they have a cute little chalk board star on them...my boys took these to their teacher's for the first day of school (they looked so cute with the teacher's names on them) of course they were a hit!

 

Back to blogging......

I am starting over with my blog, when I first started I put a lot of pressure on myself to post everyday and have that post be something amazing and when I couldn't do that I got frustrated and stopped blogging then it hit me... the reality is I may not have the time to post everyday and what I post may be incredibly boring....but if I am going to be true to myself and use this blog for what I originally intended then that's how it needs to be...this blog will be "my outlet" my place to document things that are important to me, things that I want to remember, to share a new recipe or diy project...whatever....so my blog will be a little bit of everything...it won't be perfect....but it will be real....so here we go!

Who's your Bunny?

I am PSYCHED for my boys to wake up to these baskets Easter morning... 

This is a view of the two "big boys" baskets (they are 9 & 7)

 The breakdown:
Electronic Monopoly: $5 ( Target coupon $5 and Mfr coupon $5 combined with $15 sale price) M&M's & Snickers egg's FREE ($1.00 off 2 any size Mars mfr coupon)

 Travel Connect 4 & Hungry Hippos FREE (after mfr $5 coupon )

 Hot Wheels ($.50 ea at Rite Aid after $1 RR)

 Travel ipod speakers FREE (with KOHLS cash $9.99 value!)

Old Navy t-shirt $.99 clearance rack

Baseball Cards $.99 TARGET

 Sunflower seeds $.99 Kroger

 KreO Transformer FREE (mfr coupon $7.99 value)

Pringles $.74 (after $1.00 off 4 coupon and Kroger mega sale )

 TOTAL VALUE: $77.92   ACTUAL PRICE PAID: $12.43

                            The "Little Boy's" Baskets (they are 22 months & 6 months)

The Breakdown: (the "littlest" little boy's basket)

Fisher Price Puppy $3.50 (after sale price and $5 mfr coupon and

50% off Target coupon)

SkipHop changing wallet $13.98 (clearance Target ) retail value $29.99 at BRU

SkipHop Meal Caddy $7.48 (clearance Target) retail value $29.99 at BRU

 Bumkins Super bib $2 ea Big Lots retail value $9.99 each BRU

 frog rubber duck $1.00 Target

Peter Rabbit book and Two by Two book $1.00 each Target

TOTAL VALUE: $ 99.96       ACTUAL PRICE PAID: $32.46

The Breakdown: the "toddler" basket

 Elmo bus FREE (after $8 mfr coupon ) clearance $7 at Walmart- coupon was adjusted down value $ 19.99

Crayola first crayons .99 (after $2 Target and $2 mfr stack) value $4.99

Elmo board books 1.00 each at Target

Elmo sketch pad 1.00 Target

Elmo stickers 1.00 Target

Leapfrog Numbers DVD 7.99 (after $2 mfr coupon) value $9.99

Easter goldfish crackers 1.00 Target

Cars book/stuffed McQueen FREE (KOHLS cash) value $9.99

Elmo t-shirt 3.49 (after FREE Children's Place 5gc from FB, & 30% off coupon) value $9.99

Cars t-shirt 1.50  (Meijer clearance) value $9.99

Earths Best Elmo crackers/Cookie monster cookies FREE (Vitacost new member credit) value $3.12 & $3.15

M & M &Snickers Egg FREE (after Mars $1 off any 2 Mars items and a sale at CVS/Walgreen's)
value $2

TOTAL VALUE: $67.22                       ACTUAL PRICE PAID $17.97

So my total for 4 amazing baskets filled with goodies my kids will enjoy and use all year long:

TOTAL VALUE: $245.10    ACTUAL PRICE PAID: $ 62.86 

That's a little over $15 per basket, which in my mind is an AWESOME deal considering most of those "pre made" baskets are $20 and not half as nice, creating these didn't take tons of time or extra money just good use of  coupons, shopping sales and clearance,and of course creative hiding/storage spots! ;-)

It's like Christmas.....

I LOVE getting FREE things in the mail, it's truly like Christmas! Here are some of the great freebies that have showed up the past few days....

On Monday my mailman brought to me....a Yes to Cucumbers gift set from my FREE new member credit here: sneakpeeq

 and this yummy FREE sample of Hot Apple Cider

 On Tuesday my mailman brought to me.....awesome nail polish from Toms & Essie! ( hey that rhymes!)

 and finally today my mailman brought to me.....Purex and Tide samples to do my laundry (hey another rhyme!) and a sample of Simple skincare

Don't you love FREE stuff?!

Soup's on....

It is rainy today, which makes for perfect soup weather, I had a new recipe I have been wanting to try from the Detroit Free Press Quick and Easy Chicken Wonton Soup.

Here are the ingredients:

Quick and Easy Chicken Wonton Soup

2 packages(4oz each) shiitake mushrooms ( I didn't use these as I seriously DISLIKE mushrooms)

2 tsp canola oil (not pictured oops!)

6 1/2 c. low sodium chicken broth

about 1/2 bag (more if desired....I used the whole bag) chicken cilantro mini wontons (I used Trader Joe's)

2 tbsp.low sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil or hot chili oil (I didn't use this since I couldn't find it in the grocery store)

2 cups coarsely chopped Napa cabbage

3 green onions washed and thinly sliced

Remove and discard the stems of the mushrooms. Wipe the mushroom clean with a damp paper towel, cut into thin slices.

In a medium saucepot, heat the canola oil.  Add the mushrooms and saute until soft. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil.  Add the wontons and cook about 3 minutes.  Reduce the heat and stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil, (if using) Nappa cabbage and green onions.  Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

***I added some fresh cilantro to my bowl***

and the official taset tester...........

he ate his AND finished off my bowl!!!

Free Paint Sample......just in time for a DIY project!

Did you take advantage of the FREE Clark and Kensington paint sample available today at ACE Hardware? I did! here is what I chose (the top shade)......

  and here is what it's for.........

Stay tuned.........

Vitacost: free $10 credit, this is what I got....

Have you heard of Vitacost? No? me either, until Collin over at: hip2save 

shared a link for a free $10 credit , I was intrigued....$10 for free??? so curious gal that I am I followed that link and in a few easy steps I in fact did have $10 free. I used my credit for the items pictured above: the two boxes of Earths Best cookies/crackers will go in my toddlers Easter Basket, and how adorable is that mini lollipop container? that will sit on the counter for bribes I mean rewards....so now that I caught your attention do you want your own $10 free? well then follow this link Vitacost  and please come back and share what goodies you choose

Tasty Tuesday and a Target find.....

I decided to try one of the new Kraft Fresh Takes for dinner tonight, if you haven't seen these yet they are cheese, breadcrumb and seasoning mixtures that you use on your choice of meat or seafood...I picked up two this past weekend while grocery shopping for $1 each after sale and manufacturer coupon! Prep was extremely easy, I did use an egg (beaten) to dip the chicken in as suggested on the package,  I set up a little "breading station" by pouring the mix in a large bowl (instead of shaking it in the bag) and coated it that way...much easier. I will be serving this tonight with a side of asparagus.

And on another note......., I found this adorable dress on the clearance rack at Target, by combining that markdown with  a 20% off Target website printable coupon and using my $5 gift card (from a purchase last week) I was able to score it for a whopping $.98! TARGET
***The in store price was $7.48***


P.S. Dinner was DELICIOUS!!!