Pansies and Purses

Hi everyone! It FINALLY got cool enough in Texas to plant my pansies. I like to plant them in the fall, but if it's too hot, they'll wilt, so I had to wait. I took these pics when it was drizzling, so they're not very bright, but I wanted to remember when I planted them for next year. :)

I just love the yellow ones!

My purple Gomphrena is still doing well, so I left it alone for now. 

Love the happy little purple ones too!

Okay, I have to share this spectacular deal I got on my new purse. 
I had lots of Kohl's coupons I needed to use. After looking closely at the start and end dates on the coupons, I realized there was one day they all overlapped and could be used all at once. So of course that's the day I went shopping. :) I LOVE how they let you stack coupons!

Here's my new purse...you're either going to love it or hate it. Lol! I wasn't even sure if I liked it at first, but the more I looked at it, I realized it was the perfect shape, had the right amount of pockets, had a zipper in the middle (which I require to hold my wallet, phone, and keys) and well, it just seemed to fit the bill. 

Here's a closer look... 

Don't worry, it won't bite you. ;)

So, here's the rundown...

Original Price: $99
It was on sale 60% off
Minus my $10 off $25 coupon
Minus the $10 coupon they emailed me
Minus the $5 coupon I had on my phone
Minus the 30% off coupon they mailed me

This brought the $99 original price all the way down to...

$11!!!!

Yep, ELEVEN DOLLARS, including tax! What a deal!

Have y'all gotten any great deals at Kohl's lately? I love their coupons!

~Lisa

DIY Pillow Covers and Another Cozy Mystery Book Recommendation

Hi there! Remember the pillow covers I was going to make? Well, here they are...

I'm not going to lie. It wasn't pretty. There might have even been some tears involved. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we don't really have some of the standard sewing tools. Like a good pair of scissors, for example. My old scissors made for a jagged cut on the fabric right off the bat. 

The lady in the pillow cover tutorial I watched had this neat little tool. I think it was just a mini iron. After she folded the fabric over for a hem, she rolled this little thingy over it and it kind of ironed it down in place. I think it was plugged in. Anyway, it sure would have made it easier to hold down the fabric while you pinned it. I could have just gotten out my iron, but I didn't want to mess with that big ol' thing. :) She also had a neat little fabric cutting tool that cut through it like butter. Oh my...I just know y'all are laughing at my lack of sewing knowledge! Ha ha! 

 The hardest part was learning how to get the bobbin and spool of thread started. The thread had to go through a whole maze (up, down, over, left) just to get it where it needed to be. If I sewed every week, I'd probably have it down pat in no time, but as little as I plan on doing it, it's going to be difficult every time. 

In the pic below, I turned the pillow over and pulled apart the "envelope" part to show how it's made. There's just this little opening where the fabric overlaps to stuff the pillow into. I still can't believe I made these. Well, with LOTS of help and instruction from my hubby. :)

I do like how they add a pop of orange and fall-like color to my living room. 

I think they compliment my cable knit pillows perfectly. 

Okay, enough about sewing. I don't know if any of you even read "cozy mysteries" but just in case, I had to share these with you. The author is Kate Borden and there are three in the series. "Death of a Tart", "Death of a Trickster", and "Death of a Turkey".

My mom bought these from Abe Books (click HERE to go to their site) so we could have a copy to share. I had her text me this pic to show you what the covers look like...

FYI, if you're ever looking for an out of print, or hard to find book, check Abe Books. They've always had what I'm looking for. 

Anyway, these books were available at my local library, so hopefully yours will have them too. However, we liked them so much, we wanted to purchase a set to re-read over and over. :) 

You can click HERE to go to the author's page on the Fantastic Fiction website where you'll see a description of each book. Do y'all know about the Fantastic Fiction site? It's a wonderful resource for looking up books, authors, etc. It lists the books of a series in order and gives a brief description of each. It also recommends other authors based on the one you searched. I've found so many new books/series to read from this site. 

This series by Kate Borden is definitely a cozy mystery in my opinion. The main character, Peggy Jean Turner, is the mayor of her small New England town and also owns a hardware store. There's not a lot of blood and gore and it takes place in a charming, picturesque town with lots of every day things going on that we can all relate to. This is hands down, one of my favorite cozy mystery series. :)

If you're interested, you can click HERE to see my post where I list some of my favorite cozies. I definitely need to add the Kate Borden series to that list. 

~Lisa

2014 Thanksgiving Tablescape

Hello all! I'm here today to share my Thanksgiving tablescape with you. My mom gave me these pretty plates last year and I forgot to use them. So glad I remembered this year! 

You can see last year's tablescape HERE (and pay no attention to the fact that I forgot to get out my salad forks and spoons for the photo session.) Lol! You can see the diy gold napkin rings I made in that link too. This year, I decided to use the burlap bags I got in the Michael's dollar section for the silverware. 

I love these little burlap bags. So many uses. :)

Y'all might remember I used to have two hurricane candle holders on the buffet below. (you can see them HERE) I tied some pretty fall ribbon around the base of them. Apparently, Holly liked them so much that she would hop up there every night and bat around at the ribbon with her paw. She finally succeeded in knocking one of them over and it shattered all over the floor late one night. Fun times. So now I just have the twig pumpkins up there. :)

I don't know why, but I loved placing a mini pumpkin on each plate. 

I may add a few things or switch them up before the big day, but I'm pretty happy with it. I'll also do a tablescape on the kitchen table, but it'll probably be very similar to this one. 

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

~Lisa

Transitioning From Halloween to Thanksgiving

Hey, y'all! Hope everyone's doing well today. I thought I'd share how I switched out some of my Halloween decor for Thanksgiving. 

I know a lot of people skip straight from Halloween to Christmas, but we host Thanksgiving at our house every year, so I try to hold off on the Christmas decor. But, you can bet that the day after Thanksgiving I'll be hauling out the Christmas stuff! 

So, here's my Thanksgiving additions...

This little frame and owl have made their way around several rooms already. I used to have the "Boo" sign in the basket below for Halloween. 

The frame was just a little project that cost less than $2. I bought the frame at Dollar Tree and I already liked the color, so I didn't have to paint it. Then I bought some Thanksgiving scrap paper at Joann's, popped it into the frame and topped it with a greeting card that was given to me. 

And that's it! Easy peasy! You can get a closer look at the scrap paper below. 

Next, I just brought out my "Give Thanks" sign and put it on this little 2 drawer box in the kitchen.

Here's a closer look...

In the dining room, I replaced the little welcome witch with this "Count Your Blessings" cross. I also replaced the "Trick or Treat" print with my Anne of Green Gables quote. 

The kitchen hutch stayed the same save for a little fall plate I added.

I love this little plate with the pumpkin and fall leaves. 

The living room stayed pretty much the same too. Well, except for that little $1 clearance pumpkin my hubby bought to make a pie with. All the pumpkins at our local grocery store were on clearance for $1, so we couldn't resist. :)

Oh, before I forget, do y'all remember the  Crate & Barrel Mugs I told you about that were only .95 cents? Well, mine came in the mail and I love them! Even though they're technically a child's mug, I still enjoyed my hot chocolate with marshmallow cream and sprinkles in it. :)

Well, that about wraps it up! Do y'all decorate for Thanksgiving or do you go straight to Christmas?

~Lisa

Deal Alert: Christmas Chalkboard Print for $1

Hi y'all! I'm back today sharing another great deal. Just look at this chalkboard print I got for $1...

Yes, you read that right...ONE DOLLAR!!! Here's my secret...

It's a GIFT BAG from the DOLLAR SECTION at Target!!! I just cut the front off and framed it in a dollar store frame I already had! 

So easy and inexpensive! 

Here's a pretty little pic I styled for you. I was getting out my Christmas wreaths to see if they needed freshening up, so I figured I might as well use them in my little photo shoot. 

Below is one of the bloopers from the shoot...see the little cat feet inside the wreath? Lol! She always wants to be part of the action. :)

I just wanted to pass this deal on in case anyone else wants to make one. As soon as I saw this gift bag at Target, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it. I think I'm going back for more tomorrow. They would make great Christmas gifts and you can't beat the price. Even if you need a frame, you could buy one at Dollar Tree and the whole thing would still only be $2. 

I posted this idea on my Instagram feed a few days ago and have since heard from several of my followers that they were able to find the same gift bags and make their own too! Love that! You can always find me on Instagram @texasdecor

Oh, one more thing. A friend of mine posted this quote on Instagram the other day...

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough." 

Don't you love that? I think we all need reminders like that every once in awhile. I told her I wanted to print it out and frame it to keep in my house. :)

~Lisa

I'm joining these parties: Dwellings The Heart Of Your Home, Savvy Southern Style, Imparting Grace, Maria Elena's Decor, From My Front Porch To Yours, Joy In Our Home

DIY Farmhouse Style Wooden Sign

Hello and happy Monday! If y'all researched my little clue last week, you probably figured out I was making a farmhouse style sign for my kitchen. :)

And here it is...

I love it!!! I still can't believe I made this! The great part is that it didn't cost me a penny! I already had everything on hand for this little project. Here's the piece of scrap wood I started with...

I just wiped it down with a damp rag and used a foam brush to put a little grey wash on it. All I did was brush on some watered down grey paint. The pic below is when I first started brushing on the paint.

Then I printed out the letters in the font and size I wanted and placed them on the wood. 

I was running low on black ink, so I just printed out the outlines of the letters.

You can click HERE to go to my friend Selene's blog to see her easy peasy way of transferring the letters to wood. I used her method and it worked perfectly!

After transferring the letters, I used a small brush to fill them in with white acrylic paint. I couldn't wait to hang it above my pantry!

Here's a close up. You can see the wood still had some screws in it and some dings. My hubby offered to remove the screws, but I said to leave them. I figured they added to the "rustic" look I was going for. :)

I'm thrilled with how it turned out! Thanks again, Selene for your excellent tutorial!

I almost paid big bucks for one of these not too long ago. Boy am I glad I waited! 

Hope y'all have a great week ahead!

~Lisa

I'm joining these parties: Maria Elena's Decor, Savvy Southern Style, Imparting Grace, From My Front Porch To Yours, Your Turn To Shine

A Better Homes and Garden's Instagram Surprise, Sneak Peek, and a Ghirardelli Brownie Story

Okay, that's got to be one of the weirdest post titles I've ever had. :) 

So, I just had to share something that went down on Instagram the other day. Better Homes and Gardens asked me if they could repost one of my pics as their "daily favorite!" I was over the moon excited and could hardly remember how to use the phone when I immediately went to call my mom to tell her about it. Lol!

Here's a screen shot of their post of my picture...

So fun and exciting!

Okay, now here's a little sneak peek of something I've been working on...(and yes, that's my little photo bomber again) 

Yep, that's all you're getting! Hee! A piece of scrap wood painted with a grey wash. Hmm...what could I be up to??? 

If you follow my friend Selene's blog Restoration Beauty you probably already know what I'm up to. Gosh, I'm being so cryptic today. Ha! I'll do a post about my little project when it's finished. :)

Okay, now for my "Ghirardelli Brownie Story." First I have to show you how delicious these are...

Here's the box they come in...

I think I've mentioned these brownies before, but I've never told the story behind them. So...when hurricane Ike hit back in 2008, we evacuated to my mom's house. She lives about an hour away from us and even though her neighborhood was hit too, the damage was less severe because she's farther away from the Gulf than we are. We stayed at her house for about 3 days. When the hurricane hit, we lost power and weren't able to cook, do laundry, etc.  It was a stressful time because we didn't know what was going on back at our house. We weren't sure what we would be coming home to. (don't worry though, the only damage we had was to our bald cypress tree...it lost about 10 feet off the top, and thankfully that was it) 

Anyway, after a few days, the grocery stores started opening back up and my mom and I went to HEB to gather a few things. You'd think that we would be stocking back up on nutritious foods for our family (and we did) but the first thing that went into our cart was a box of these Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge Brownies. :)

I'd never had them before and I guess we just felt like we were in need of some serious comfort food after the hurricane debacle. :)

I made them right after we got back from the store and we all enjoyed them immensely! Those little brownies were just what we needed at that time. :) To this day, every time I make them for my family, I think of this little story and how funny it was that my mom and I totally put chocolate at the top of our list that day! Priorities, people. :)

~Lisa