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Happy Leap Day!

February 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I’m interrupting our regularly scheduled weekly inspiration post to talk about Leap Day!
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This year we have 366 days instead of the traditional 365 and today is that extra day!

Some of you may not care, but it only comes every four years so I think it’s worth recognizing and celebrating!

We are always wishing we had more time, and now is our chance. It’s an extra 24 hours to complete that project you’ve been meaning to work on, finish reading that book you’ve been trying to finish for months, or the chance to spend a few extra minutes dreaming about your future. 

Ok, so maybe it doesn’t feel like we’re actually getting ‘extra’ time, but at the least it’s an excuse to do something out of the ordinary.

After doing a little research on Leap Years, I came across some fun {possibly useless} facts/trivia. Here are just a few::

*Dating back to 5th century Ireland, women are traditionally allowed to propose to a man on February 29th {at one time in Scotland men could get into legal trouble for refusing a Leap Day proposal}

*There is a rule that no year divisible by 100 would have a leap year, except if it is divisible by 400. Therefore, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was.
*According to astrologers, those born under the Pisces sign on February 29th have unusual talents and personalities reflecting their special status

*On February 29th, 1984 Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” topped the radio charts

*Ja Rule was born on Leap Day {There’s a blast from the past, huh? Ja Rule brings me back to my high school days}

So what are you going to do with your extra 24 hours??

To learn more about why we have leap year and the science behind it, visit here.

Hope everyone has a Happy Leap Day!!
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Yummy Pinterest Treats & A Recipe For Marble Brownies

February 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
On Friday, I had a few girls over to our place for a little ‘fundraiser.’ A family in our church is trying to adopt 3 kids from Haiti and they are trying to raise the rest of the funds needed to complete the adoption. A lady I know from church sells Mary Kay and has decided to donate all the profits from some of her Mary Kay parties to this family to help with their adoption fees. Awesome, right?

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I loved the idea so I said I would love to host a little party at our place. She came over on Friday and showed us how to do a ‘smokey’ eye with eye shadow and taught us some other fun makeup tricks and tips.

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{Here were our little stations}

I wanted to have some light refreshments for the party so I made these ‘Pinterest‘ inspired treats::

Fruit & Cheese Kabobs

Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls

{Picky Palate}


Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

The mini deep dish pizzas were delicious and apparently are relatively healthy since the recipe calls for whole wheat tortillas.

I also made my favorite brownies that my mom made growing up:: Marble Brownies. They have a cream cheese layer and homemade icing and {in my opinion} are the best brownies! 

I thought I would share the recipe with you guys in case you wanted to see for yourself how yummy they are :)

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Marble Brownie Recipe
Ingredients::
1 Family Size Brownie Mix {with chocolate syrup pouch}
2 3oz. blocks cream cheese 
5 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour (self-rising)
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream cheese mixture:: Add cream chesese & 5 Tbsp. butter and beat. Then add sugar & 2 eggs, flour, and vanilla then beat until smooth. Set aside.
3. Brownie batter:: Empty brownie mix & chocolate packet into medium sized bowl. Add 2 Tbsp. water & 3 eggs. Mix by hand about 50 strokes.
4. Pour half of the brownie batter into greased 13×9 in. pan. Then pour all the cream cheese mixture on top of the batter. Spoon the rest of the brownie batter here and there over cream cheese batter. Pull knife through batter to create a swirled appearance.
5. Bake for 35-40 min.

Frosting:: Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 2 Tbsp. Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa until dissolved. Add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp. milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add more milk if necessary. *Pour over brownies immediately and spread. {The icing will start to harden quickly, so be sure to spread quickly}

Overall, Friday night was super fun and the fact that it was for a good cause made it even better!

Here’s a shot of our entire group.
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Love these girls!

P.S. If you need any Mary Kay products, Heather Cartee is your woman! :)
Did you do anything fun this weekend?

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Tar-jay {Target} Browsing

February 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just like to go into stores and browse.
I have no intention of buying anything, I just want to look around. Maybe get some ideas or inspiration. 

Last week, I was in one of those moods to just peruse. One of my favorite places, Tar-jay {or the boring way of saying it, Target} is super close to where I work so I popped over on my lunch break.

Now typically Target is a place that I’ll walk in with no intention of buying anything, yet come out with $70 worth of stuff including little outfits for my little cousin. They have the cutest kids clothes {especially for little girls}, I can’t help but buy something. :)

But, this time when I went, I actually didn’t buy something. {Patting myself on the back}.

I thought it would be fun to take some pictures not only for myself for inspiration, but also to share with you guys in case you’re wondering what your neighborhood Target has in stock when it comes to home decor :)

*Please excuse the photo quality. I just used my iPhone.
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Isn’t this mirror cute? I actually found a similar shaped mirror at a thrift store a few weeks ago and was planning to paint it white. Hoping it will look similar to this but with an antique touch.

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I’m wanting to buy a new lamp for my nightstand and have been looking around a bit. After seeing the diy carboy lamps I posted about earlier this week, I kind of want to find a glass lamp base. I love this one, but since my nightstand isn’t super big, I think this might be a little too overwhelming, especially with the large base. Hoping to find a skinner version maybe :)

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I love this ceramic horse! I actually went back this week and bought it for our video room at work. We needed to add a few accessories to some of our side tables and this was perfect for the look we’re going for.

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I thought this little pillow was cute. If my new bedding wasn’t all ivory, I might be tempted to snag this for my bed.

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Target has had these baskets with chalk board tags on the front for a while. I’m always tempted to buy one, but haven’t found a use for one just yet. Would be cute to stash blankets in though maybe.

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These wire baskets are another great organizational item. I’ve been pinning a lot of wire baskets that are being used for organization. Once I get settled in the new place, I might need 1 or 2 of these to organize some of my things.

Lot of cute things, huh?

I’m taking my first trip to our local flea market tomorrow and I’m super excited! I’m planning to take a few pictures if I find anything good. I’ll be sure to share them with you guys next week. Hopefully I’ll come away with a few awesome things, without going broke :)
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Inspiration:: Perfectly Styled Photos

February 22, 2012 By 1 Comment
When it comes to this whole blogging thing, good, quality pictures go a long way. You may have created or designed something amazing, but if your picture is dark and blurry, not many will be inclined to linger and check it out. And with sites like Pinterest, pictures have become even more important. Most bloggers are now creating and editing pictures with the hopes of people ‘pinning’ them.
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One of the things I’m trying to learn and get better at is styling my pictures. Not only trying to capture things in the right lighting/angle, but also adding elements to the photo that tell a story and feel real in the hopes that you will want to stay a little longer. 

For today’s inspiration, I thought I would round up a few images that are incredibly styled. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from them.
I love the styling in this photo. The bed looks so cozy and inviting. And the room in general looks very ‘lived’ in.

Love the attention to detail in this photo. Down to the water ring on the counter, the photo feels ‘real.’

Even though this chair is probably facing a blank wall, it makes you wonder what could be in front of it. Is it facing a cozy fireplace or maybe a bookshelf full of books.


{Source}

I love the placement of everything in this photo. There’s a lot of different elements, but they all work. The perfectly placed upside down teacup on the sink makes you think that the dishes were washed recently. And maybe the owners of this kitchen just returned from the farmer’s market with a fresh loaf of bread they are about to prepare.

I think part of the reason that the styling works well in all these images is because they all tell a story. They make you wonder who the owners are and what they are doing. Every element and item in the room is perfectly placed and adds something to the place. Wouldn’t you agree? 

How are your styling skills? Have any tips? Would love to hear!

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Old 2 New:: DIY Carboy Lamps

February 20, 2012 By 1 Comment
A while back I did a weekly series called Old 2 New showcasing things people have transformed that were once old into something new {I’m sure that was obvious from the title, ha!}
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I recently came across a fabulous blog called The Rooster and the Hen. After perusing around, I saw these fabulous DIY Carboy Lamps that they made for their master bedroom and thought I would do another little Old 2 New post today.

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They found these two glass carboys at a garage sale.
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And fashioned lamp shades using craft hoops {found at a yard sale as well}.
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Here’s a look at the finished lamps in their new master bedroom.
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Aren’t they amazing?! I love the look of the blue glass with the burlap shades.

Be sure to check out the full tutorial if you want to make your own carboy lamps.

And isn’t their master bedroom amazing? I looove that headboard! You can see their full reveal and cost breakdown here.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We got our first real ‘snow’ yesterday {it had all melted by the end of the day though :( }

P.S. Does anybody watch Downton Abbey? I’ve gotten hooked and last night was the season finale. I’m so happy the way it ended! {I won’t reveal too much in case anyone watches it and hasn’t seen last night’s episode}.
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