The Owl Craze

Recently I have been totally obsessed with owls, like much of the world! They are so cute, and a perfect touch to our fall decor. I was prompted to write this after this weekend, when my best friend S was showered with owl decor at her birthday celebration. The next day when I got home, I soon realized how much owl decor I have prettied my house with and wanted to share it with you.

One of the gifts that S had received was an owl spoon rest! My heart skipped a beat..I have been searching for a cute spoon rest for what seems like forever, all that I ever seem to find are just too ornate for my taste. And, this one was perfect! I asked her friend where she got it, and she said TJ Maxx for $2.99!! I went to bed that night dreaming about finding one! So Sunday morning, I got up and somehow easily convinced the hubs to go to TJ Maxx with me! When we got to the housewares isle there they were, an entire stack of them. I bought 3 of them! They will be perfect for parties when everyone brings dishes over and there are serving spoons everywhere, I will now have adorable owl coordinating spoon rests! See how cute they are....I wanted to share with you all the cute little owl's hanging out in our house.

Owl Spoon Rests - $2.99 each @ TJ Maxx

Owl Salt and Pepper Shakers - $5.00 for the set @ Peir 1

Owl Pillow - $9.99 @ Kirklands

Owl Statue - free with Kohls cash

Owl Door Stop - $19.95 @ Peir 1

Owl Statue for my Fall mantle - $5.99 @ TJ Maxx

Thanks for reading! :)

Dessert Kabob's

Hi Everyone! Hope that everyone had an awesome weekend! Ours was very relaxing, trying to enjoy our home this past weekend before we head to Virginia this week! I am so excited about this trip, but I am even more excited that this will be our last trip of 2011 until New Year’s Eve. Whew, we have been like gypsies this year, traveling like crazy. It has been fun but I am so ready to kick back and focus on our home and start some more great projects! Any who, this past weekend I celebrated my best friend S's birthday, and she had a nice get together at her home with all her girlfriends. We were all asked to bring ourselves, a dish, a drink, and some pj's. I knew I'd be eating good because all of the girls that were attending love to cook and make tasty treats!

I decided to make what I am calling, dessert kabobs. I got the idea from pinterest, and just tweaked it a bit. Here are the ingredients.

The original recipe called for pound cake, strawberries, and chocolate. Well, when I went to get the ingredients, I noticed there was lemon pound cake. Hmm..lemon and strawberries, that’s always a good combination, so I went with the lemon instead. When I went down the chocolate isle, I noticed a white chocolate calling my name. So I decided to switch from chocolate to white chocolate. Yum Yum.

Ingredients:

· 1 lemon pound cake

· 2 boxes strawberries

· White chocolate

· Kabob sticks

I cut the lemon into squares and cut the tops on the strawberries and placed them on the kabobs, alternating between pound cake and strawberries. I then melted the white chocolate, I have found the best way to melt chocolate is by steaming in, boil a pot of water and put a bowl that is safe to use on the top of the bowl, add a little oil to help thin it out. After the chocolate was melted it, I moved it into a plastic bag, cut of the corner, and squeezed the chocolate all over the kabobs. Put in the fridge for about 30 minutes and the chocolate will harden and be ready for serving!

This recipe turned out so delicious! And no kabob made it out alive! They were devoured! This was definitely a winning recipe, and ridiculously easy. Nearly impossible to mess up! If you make it, you will not be disappointed!

Thanks for reading! :)

Better Than a Gift Bag - Round 2

I love finding creative ways to present someone's gift to them, you can read about my first round of better than a gift bag here. My best friend S had a birthday celebration this weekend, and although she asked for no gifts, that is no way to treat a best friend! If anyone deserves birthday gifts, it's S. She is an awesome friend and is always there and so supportive of her friends, one of the best people I know. So, there was no way I was following that rule. I ventured out to find a gift for her, and I didn't really know what I had in mind, and I did not have a lot of time, so I didn't plan on doing any fancy wrapping.

As I was strolling through Ross, picking up things here and there, I came across this pot and it just screamed "S" to me! She loves earth tones, she's my little hippy friend, so I knew she would love this. The colors are great for fall too, and at a Ross price, it was a no brainer, in my cart it went. How on earth am I going to wrap this I thought?! Then I realized..duh I'll just fill it up with the other gifts and put a pretty bow on it! So, I added the 2 other gifts I had found, and then I came across a smaller version of the pot that I could not pass up. It fit perfectly within the large pot anyways, so in it went!

Luckily, the Ross is right next to Michaels. So I ran next store and picked up some tissue for $1, and a green ribbon for $1. Total cost of my gift bag $2! And it turned out so cute!

Thanks for reading! :)