Curb Appeal/Flowerbed Inspiration

This Spring, hubby and I have decided to make our curb appeal a priority. When we bought our house in 2011, it already had flowerbeds along the front of the house, but we haven't really kept them up. I do NOT have a green thumb, seriously, I killed boxwoods, I didn't even know you could kill boxwoods. None the less, we are quickly becoming THAT house in our neighborhood. You know the ones... the house that you drive by and judge because their yard is a little unruly and their flowerbeds look like they've never been weeded? Yep, that's us right now.

I have poured over photos of DIY landscaping for about a week and have come up with a few inspiration pieces.

We have a few "ground rules" (pun intended)

1. Must be low maintenance. (due to said black thumb and the fact that I'm not going to remember to water them)

2. Anything planted must be perennial. We can't drop extensive amounts of cash on our beds every year.

3. Must be able to survive full sunlight and crazy Alabama heat.

I am definitely open to suggestions from any of you who garden. We are completely new at this!



I LOVE what Sara from The Yellow Cape Cod did with her front flowerbeds.



I'm also loving black mulch and how it makes the colors of the shrubs and other plants pop. Isn't this lovely from  Dana at Housetweaking?



...... just kidding.....



Hydrangeas have always been my favorite. If only they weren't so hard to take care of... (marthastewart.com)



A rose tree could be pretty between our windows... (pic from brighterblooms.com)



I love the bright colors in this flowerbed (Ronamag)



Simple and clean. (Savyseasons)



 

Handmade Wednesday #8 {Promote Yourself!}

Happy Handmade Wednesday! Thanks again to all those that linked up their fabulous handmade projects and items last week. Here are a few of my favorites:

Linda from Lindapendent Dreams turned this notebook into a work of art! I think I could get a little more motivated to take notes in our staff meetings if I had a stylish notebook like this one :)

How great is this golden horse figurine from Suburble?? Can you believe this was made from a child's toy found at a thrift store?

I can't wait to see what you link up today! Don't forget to grab a button from my sidebar!

DIY Decorative Curtain Rod for under $20!

You may have noticed in previous posts that my dining room window is quite bare. We had the blinds that came with the house, but the window is 10 feet long so we had a hard time finding a curtain rod long enough in our budget. 

 

I wanted something substantial and really loved the look of this one from Home Deopt but I just couldn't justify spending $80 on just the rod. For that price, it better make my curtains too!

The nice Home Depot man escorted my friend Jennifer and I around helping us come up with ideas to make our own. We bought a 10ft rod of 3/4" of electrical conduit (in the electrical aisle) for $3.87 and a can of black spray paint ($4.00).  Of course we didn't think about the 1o ft rod fitting in my SUV at the time, so we sat outside Home Depot waiting on our hubbies to get out of a mission trip meeting and come get us in the truck :)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Electrical Conduit[/caption]

We also bought three standard brackets to hold the rod (Price not included since I would have had to buy those either way)

I picked up these beautiful vintage cabinet knobs at a local antique store for $3 each

To get make the knob stay inside the hollow conduit, we screwed the knob into a wine cork and then inserted the wine cork into the rod. It fits perfectly so you have to do a little wiggling to get it all the way down  and flush with the end.  (I'm not going to lie, I was a little proud of my ingenuity on this one)

We (and by "we", I mean Jennifer, I can't sew to save my life) made my curtains by sewing a hem on all 4 sides of 3 panels of fabric. It took 3 panels of full width to cover my 10 foot window. As you can see we hung the curtains with rings that we got a great deal on at Lowes. They were on clearance for $2.97.

Isn't that so much better than the ugly white blinds?!

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to come back on Wednesday to link up your handmade creations!

 

Easy Mexican Casserole

Before I got married, I rented a house with these two lovely ladies.  (We have GOT to get a new photo ladies!)

We were a little family and cooked dinner for each other most nights. Amy (left) always made this REALLY great Mexican casserole that I LOVED. I brought it back this week and made it for Hubby and it was so good, I decided to share

This is a great casserole for weeknights because it is super simple to put together, it yields several servings, and it is great reheated (this is my second day to bring it for lunch :) )

Easy Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef (you could also lighten it up with turkey meat)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 jar queso
1 jar salsa
1 package crescent rolls
2 cups shredded cheese for topping
Tortila chips for topping

Instructions:

1. Brown ground beef in medium skillet. Drain, and add taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Let simmer on medium heat.

2. While meat is simmering, roll crescent rolls flat to cover the bottom of a 9x11 glass baking dish. Bake at 350 for 10 mins or until rolls are almost done.

3. Remove pan from oven and spread refried beans into a layer over rolls.

4. Add meat layer.

5. Drizzle with queso and salsa.

6. Sprinkle shredded cheese across dish and top with crushed tortilla chips.

7. Bake on 350 for 20 mins or until cheese is melted and dish is heated through.

Enjoy!

 

 

Handmade Wednesday #7 {Promote Yourself!}

Happy Humpday! It's my favorite day of the week because I get to highlight YOUR handmade things. I always get so inspired by what you are doing.

Here are a few highlights from last week:

I love these earrings by ARTdesignsbyannart. They would match what I mam wearing today! Copper is definitely in right now.



I LOVE this nightstand from The Vintage Barn!  Can you believe she made her own chalk paint for this piece?? Not even joking. I've been spending $12 for a 4oz sample.  She posted the recipe, check it out!



Thanks again for stopping by! I look forward to seeing what you link up today!

 

<div align="center"><a href="http://cupcakesandcorndogs.com" title="Cupcakes and Corndogs" target="_blank"><img src="http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h84/mandafaye04/handmadewednesday125_zps13267cd4.jpg" alt="Cupcakes and Corndogs" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Washington D.C. - Weekend Trip

We are back from our short vacation to Washington, D.C. We had a great time, but the only problem with short vacations is that they are too short! I wish we would have had a few more days. Here are a few photos from our trip.

[caption id="attachment_554" align="alignnone" width="576"] White House[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_551" align="alignnone" width="432"] The Hope Diamond[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_553" align="alignnone" width="576"] Marine Corp Band[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_558" align="alignnone" width="461"] World's First Frozen Margarita Maker- Thank you sir![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_555" align="alignnone" width="614"] Jefferson Memorial at Night[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignnone" width="461"] Emeril's Jacket![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_556" align="alignnone" width="614"] T-Rex from Night at the Museum[/caption]

We actually stayed in Fredericksburg, VA with a friend of mine from college. It was great to get to see her and her brand new baby boy :) On Sunday, she took us to see Chatham, an old plantation that served as a hospital for union soldiers in the Civil War. (Read about it here)

Handmade Wednesday #6 {Promote Yourself!}

Good morning! It's finally Wednesday. I'm super glad this week is half over because the hubby and I are going on a mini vacation this weekend to our nation's capital! I hear the Cherry Blossoms are BEAUTIFUL this year. I can't wait!

Welcome back to Handmade Wednesday! Thank you to all of you who participated last week. Lets take a look at a few of my favorites, shall we?

 

I just love how Kathy from A Delightsome Life turned an ordinary storage jar into a chic french country piece! Style and storage! What more could a girl want??



These earrings from GalleryEMW combine my favorite color and my love of pearls. LOVE!



I also HAVE to give a shout out to this precious Breakfast at Tiffany's from Atutudes dress because Audrey Hepburn holds a special place in my heart.



(Halloween 2010)



 

I can't wait to see what awesome handmade things you link up this week!

 

 

<div align="center"><a href="http://cupcakesandcorndogs.com" title="Cupcakes and Corndogs" target="_blank"><img src="http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h84/mandafaye04/handmadewednesday125_zps13267cd4.jpg" alt="Cupcakes and Corndogs" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Spring Style

I really hate to shop for clothes. Send me to Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, or Lowes any day ..but send me to shop for clothes? No thanks. It's not that I can't figure out what goes together, I love to look and match outfits, I just hate actually shopping for them. Unfortunately, I MUST go shopping for some spring clothes.

I've been searching pinterest for days (I'm sorry if you are following my pinterest and have been bombarded with outfits!)  Here's what I'm loving for Spring.

Casual Pants
Sandals

Soft-Wash Striped Linen-Cotton Shirt

Women's Polka-Dot Chiffon Shirtdresses

Spring by honeybee20 featuring skinny leg jeans

green & brown by htotheb featuring gucci sunglasses

orange by htotheb featuring v neck shirts

the grass is always greener by htotheb featuring gucci optical