TOP POSTS :: Best of JULY

     

Hello there and welcome to AUGUST?! Wait a minute. August. For reals? I'm afraid so. 

We just got back from the longest and best vacation ever and I think that's why I can't believe it myself. School starts NEXT week and I will be sad to see my little go back as I love having her home.

But before we start talking about back to school, let's see what was happening in July shall we?! You all love the freebies and some new things I did this time around. I didn't get to produce as much NEW content as I would have liked but hey . . . longest vacation ever took priority ya know! ;)

Let's check out what ideas you were loving on this month and you can catch up and check in on them now, if you missed them the first time around! ;)

So let's see what the top 3 were for last month, shall we . . .  

:: TOP POSTS for JULY 2016 ::

CRAFT :: Nautical Rag Wreath

 FREEBIE :: Oh Happy Day Cell Phone Wallpaper

 CRAFT :: Emoji Coasters [IKEA Hack]

I love this month's top posts . . . getting crafty plus a little hand lettering freebie- doesn't get any better than that! ;)

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what is left of the  summer!!! Cheers to a great start to the school year for everyone!

 
So now you are all caught up on some of the most read posts here on my blog. Hopefully you will take a moment to comment below to tell me what YOUR favorite was this month?

 
Are you loving the "eye candy" here?

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

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Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

RECIPE :: No Bake Chocolate & Peanut Butter Squares

Today’s post is sponsored by Nestle Toll House, but my love for their morsels is all my own! 

The holidays are officially upon us and one of my favorite things to do during this time is . . .baking!!! I love all of the smells that fill my home when I'm baking for the holidays. It's probably because it reminds me of growing up and being at home, since my momma baked all season long and she always made the BEST holiday party desserts and treats for all of our family. She of course would make them for us but she would also plan on creating homemade holiday gifts with her treats, to give to the people she cared about. That's one of the things I love about my momma, she loves to give and giving something she bakes is one of her ultimate ways to show you she cares.

For as long as I can remember I have loved looking forward to her chocolate and peanut butter buckeyes she makes every year so it's no wonder that I have this insane love affair with peanut butter and dark chocolate now! And guess what, so does MY daughter. So every year, even though I am always super busy, I still have all of these grand ideas of baking up wonderful treats for everyone I care about during the whole month of December and then passing them out and everyone just loving them!!! BUT  . . .  that is NOT my reality, so what works better for me is super fast, super easy and if possible, a treat that requires no baking, since let's face it, no baking equals less dishes to wash, am I right? ;)

Well today I am sharing with you one of my favorites for the holidays that just fits that criteria I just mentioned, reminds me of my momma's buckeyes and is the perfect holiday dessert idea. Introducing my no bake chocolate and peanut butter squares! ;) The best part is it only requires minimal ingredients and the trick is using NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE dark chocolate chips.

What I love the most about this recipe is that it has minimal ingredients, is no bake, so easy to make and tastes AHHHHHH-MAZING!!! I am telling you these taste so good that every time I make them they are gone in like 2.3 seconds! lol They also make great gifts for your kid's teachers, a neighbor gift or you can just do like we do . . . keep the whole batch just for yourself. I mean after all, since you are saving so much time by NOT baking, it allows you to spend more time with your awesome family! Just take my word for it, grab these supplies and prepare to have your taste buds throw a party as it IS one easy holiday dessert!

Here's how to make your own no bake chocolate and peanut butter squares!

Ingredients you will need: 1.5 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup of crushed graham crackers, 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, a bag of NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE dark chocolate morsels, some holiday candies (optional) and an 8x8 pan.

1. Mix powdered sugar and crushed graham crackers together in a medium bowl. 

2. Heat butter and peanut butter together in small saucepan over low heat, stirring until it's all melted. 

3. Stir into the crumb mixture and mix together and then press into an ungreased 8x8 pan.

4. Melt the NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE dark chocolate morsels over low heat in a small saucepan, sirring frequently until entire bag is melted. Pour over the crumb mixture and spread to the edges of the pan.

5. Sprinkle some holiday candies or white sparkle sugar (as seen here) over the candy and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until candy is firm. Cut into squares and enjoy!

To celebrate the giving season, I would like to invite you over to follow me on my Instagram page, as I will be sharing a giveaway where you can WIN a Target gift card on me so you can pick up the ingredients to make these yourself and do some #HolidayRemix "no baking" with NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE! 

AND one more thing, to help save you a little money now, grab these coupons available now!
• Save $0.50 when you buy one (1) Nestlé® Toll House® Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• Save $0.50 when you buy one (1) Nestlé® Toll House® Frozen Cookie Dough
• Save $0.50 when you buy one (1) Nestlé® Toll House® Morsels

***These coupons are limited and only available while supplies last!
 


Now what do you think you will make if you win? Let me know below and happy holidays. Merry Christmas!





Thank you so much for letting me share this product with you and for supporting the brands and companies that help support my blog!   

Are you loving the "eye candy" here?

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

 
   

TOP POSTS :: Best Of August

     

 

Hello there & welcome to the 'un-official' start of the FALL season & I am so ready! Although I actually kind of enjoyed summer (for a change) this year, I am so looking forward to this time of year as it is my fave, which is the case with many of us, I know.

Before we move on to September, lets take a look back over what you all were reading in August & viewed the most. I would also like to say THANK YOU to all who stop by to read, comment from time to time & send me emails. I SEE IT ALL! So thanks again. xoxo

:: TOP POSTS for August 2015 ::

 

  WEDDING :: Rose & Gold Inspiration Board

 

 

 

 

 

 ART PRINT :: God is Good All the Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

LETTERING :: Celebration Decor

 

 

 

 

 

HOME :: Chalkboard Wall in Tween Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

ART PRINT :: Save Water Drink Champagne

 

 

 

So now you are all caught up on some of the most read posts here on my blog. Hopefully you will just add me to your BlogLovin feed so you don't miss any posts. =) You can find it on the top right sidebar here - super easy to do!
See you next time!

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 
 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

 
Looking forward to seeing you again! :)

 

HOME :: CHALKBOARD wall in tween room

 

Hello everyone! Today I am finally sharing a special completed project from my daughter's tween bedroom makeover! As you know I have been working on her room and this is one of the requests that she had. She wanted to have a chalkboard wall somewhere in her room when we re-did it so I took the opportunity when she was gone one weekend to get it done and surprise her when she got home. I am not sure if she expected a typical black chalkboard wall, like the one I did on our pantry door, but nothing 'typical' was being done in this girls room! lol I decided to check out what colors were available to use for it and decided on a nice hot pink color. It definitely is anything but 'typical' for this custom chalkboard wall.

I am almost completely done with my daughter's tween room makeover and will be sharing the full reveal here (hopefully) soon as this makeover already seems like it's taken forever. Anyone else feel like that with room makeovers? If you follow me on Instagram, I am always sharing what I am working on at the moment and you may remember seeing a sneak peek of this wall that I did in her room. I LOVE the way it turned out and today I am going to share how I did it, how fairly easy it was and can I just say . . .  she LOVED it! YAY! That's all that really matters right? ;) 

Ok, so this is the space I decided would look great putting a chalkboard in. What you are looking at is a small space between her closet doors on the right and the door out of her room. Would I have loved to do a whole chalkboard wall in this color for her? Sure, but the room already had all of the other wall space spoken for so this is what I decided and I think it's perfect as it was long enough plus I didn't want to make it too tall as she couldn't reach high anyway. So let me tell you how I did it. First the before shot . . .
 

Step 1: I needed to decide on the shape I wanted to make it as I didn't want the typical chalkboard rectangle shape so I opted to mimic a shape that was already in her room just directly across the room next to her window: this vinyl wall decor I did awhile ago: 

Step 2: I grabbed a big piece of tissue paper, a pencil and decided to trace the outline to use as a template for my chalkboard wall design.

Step 3: This is the most important step as you need a way for the outline to go on the wall as an outline. Flip over your tissue paper and heavily color the line with a no. 2 pencil making it thicker than the original line on the opposite side that you traced.

Step 4: Hold up your tissue paper, tape it to the wall, have someone hold it - whatever you need to do to hold it in place and using a pencil trace over the line on the front and it should give you a rough outline transferred to the wall for you to use when you paint this shape in. I purposely darkened this photo below in the hopes that you can see what it should look like. 

In the spirit of 'keeping it real' when I went to transfer my shape to the wall, it was too wide for the space. Doh! So I basically ended up free handing most of it and making it work. Gotta do what you gotta do, am I right? ;)
 

Step 5: Carefully start painting in the outline of your image and then fill in until you have it completed. I usually do 3 coats when I am painting with chalkboard paint but that is my opinion but I am sure you could do less.

 

Step 6: Make sure to 'season' the chalkboard by using the side of a piece of chalk and rubbing it all over the painted surface of the chalkboard design. But please make sure to follow the directions and wait until the suggested drying time is complete before doing this.

 
That is it - you now have an amazing chalkboard wall! One thing I did was hung a small shelf under the chalkboard as it does a couple things: 1. it catches a lot of the chalk 'dust' which is a very good thing as that is easier to clean than carpet and 2. it serves as a place to hold the cute tin of chalk that she can use.

So what do you guys think? She absolutely loved it and I love running in her room while she is at school and writing a message to her plus when she has friends over, they love it too! 

Have you ever created a chalkboard wall in your home? I would love to know, so comment below as I am wanting to do another area as well and would love to hear what you like. Thanks for reading. xoxo

Are you loving the "eye candy" here? 

Then join me over on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Instagram so you never miss out on an exclusive deal or any behind the scenes photos!

Check out my designs, artwork & decor in my Etsy shop! 

Looking forward to seeing you again! :)