Back to Blogging!

It has been A WHILE since I have posted anything. Thanks to Heather Tullos for getting me back on track with my posts!  My new life in Illinois has been a huge change for us and makes me realize how good people have it in the south! Southern living, cooking, and good hospitality are missed terribly! So far, I have managed to survive and spread a little southern charm along the way, but I miss my family everyday. New blog will be posted very soon now that I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY have internet connected.

Garage Sale STEALS!

This past Saturday I participated in one of my favortie activites....GARAGE SALES! The 1st Saturday of every month is when there are tons of sales, and this past Saturday there were two neighborhood sales. Neighborhood sales are my favorite because you aren't having to steadily reset your GPS for the next house. Waking up at 5:00 was totally worth it! Anyways, I found TONS of things at practically nothing! Here are just a FEW:

    I spent $20 for the 3 fabulous stools. I looked   them up and they retai for $70 a piece. That is a  $190 SAVINGS!

One house I went to was a lady with TONS of serving items at rock bottom prices. I got this 15" Oneida

sterling silver serving tray for $2...yes, TWO bucks! It was brand new in the box!

Peyton's Sock Monkey Party!

Well, I did exactly what I wanted to do for his party. SOCK MONKEY! I absolutely love how vintage sock monkeys are and that fact that Peyton gets a huge smile on his face when he holds it :) The party was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but totally worth it in the end. I ended up making just about everything including  Peyton's special sugarfree cake ( I didn't want my 1 year old consuming so much sugar). It took a lot of time, but I ended up saving a ton of money! I used PDF files online for the food labels, cupcake toppers, and goodie box tages and spent a few hours modifying them to fit his theme and personalize it. The party was a success and almost all of the food was gone! Here are a few pictures, and feel free to ask me any questions. I will post the recipe for the cake later on.

Goodie Boxes for Girls and Boys

These are the tage I made using the PDF.

Made the sock monkey banner with a PDF and  ribbon from Hobby Lobby ($2 for ribbon)

Some of the food table. (for the napkins at Walmart for $1 each)

I made the cupcake toppers on my computer and hot glued popsicle sticks.

This was a HIT at the party!

Peyton's sock monkey

Gift table with a pic of Peyton and his sock monkey.

Peyton's special birthday cake.

My New Project!

I picked up this little beauty in disguise at a garage sale for 10 bucks! I did a little research and it appears to be a vintage jewelry box, but nothing came up exactly like it, so we aren't 100% sure. I thought it would be perfect as a side table to hide away magazines and put coasters in the shallow drawer. The box part isn't attached to the rot iron stand. So far, Jeffrey and I have sanded it down and stained the lid. I had no clue how difficult and how much work sanding stain off would be! It will be so cute when we finally get done. I am so excited! I also picked up a mirror at an antique flea market last weekend for free! I will post new pictures of our work in progress with the table. More posts soon!

Meet Peyton

Peyton is 11 1/2 months old and so full of energy! With his 1st birthday approaching there is so much to do and not enought time in the day! As of right now, I am wanting to do a sock monkey theme, but there are no sock monkey themed party supplies anywhere! As always, when I get something in my head I usually don't forget it! That means I get to be creative and make up everything as I go. I will take pictures of the party in a few weeks and post it!