September Acres

Decorate your home.  It gives the illusion that  your life is more interesting than it really is. ~ Charles M. Schulz

There are so many cute advent calendars out there this year and if you're not careful you could end up spending a small fortune on one of them.  Before you do that, consider a fun DIY advent calendar.  There are many ideas and tutorials out there that are budget friendly and really fun to put together.  In no particular order here are 12 of my favorites - I'd  have them all in my home if I could! The Envelope Advent Calendar - I just love the idea of this because it's super easy and pretty inexpensive.  Most of us have envelopes on hand to make this happen.  This is the perfect type of calendar for 'experience' treats as opposed to toys or candy.  Things like: watch 'Elf' tonight, go sledding or make cookies with mom can be printed out on the computer on paper and tucked in the envelope for a fun activity.  This one from A Few Things From My Life is one of my favorites. A Few Things From My Life Muffin Tin Advent Calendar  - These are all

Are you spending this weekend decking the halls?  Are you thinking of spicing things up with a new color scheme?  Or do you stick with the traditional red and green? I try to do something a little different each year without breaking the bank (of course).  Last year I went with a red and blue theme in our main living areas (family room, dining and kitchen). And pink and green in LM's room. Here are some other great ideas for this year's Christmas look: Source   Blues and Greens.  I love these colors so much. Source  Turquoise and Orange.  How fun is this?  It really creates an exciting and modern feeling. Source White and Brown.   The beauty of this color scheme is that it's easy to incorporate your regular decor into a clean Christmas look.  And it's very White Christmas-y too. What non-traditional color schemes have you used? 

Source As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.   ~  John Fitzgerald Kennedy Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent too many years in retail to ever want to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving shopping.  All that traffic and pushing and waiting in line is great for retailers but not for me.  I actually went to W@lmart one Black Friday about 12 years ago.  I figured I'd zip in at 5 am, pick up the vacuum and TV and be back at home before my husband woke up.  This was before the days of being open on Thanksgiving day and even at 5 am, the store was packed.   Packed with mean, pushy, cart ramming shoppers.  I picked up the two things I came for as fast as I could (which wasn't all that fast) and vowed never to do that again.  Never.  Ever. These days my Black Fridays are more relaxing and fun.  If you're looking for something to do this year besides hitting the mall, consider one of these activities: Put up your Christmas Tree.  This can be a fun family event and if you have relatives in town you even get some extra help!  Take pictures, too, for a fun scrapbook page. Writ

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity.  The order varies for any given year. ~ Paul Sweeney

I recently had the opportunity to review the Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook by Kelly Lester.  I became familiar with Kelly and her Easy Lunch Boxes products by following her on Twitter. I am a huge fan of cookbooks and own too many.  I can also be found with an armful each time I check out at the library.  As with anything, some of the cookbooks are keepers and some are duds.  The Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook (available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon ) is a definite keeper. The eye catching cover is only the beginning of the enjoyment you will discover when you pick up this book. If you are a mom, you will appreciate the fun, easy, fast lunch box ideas.  Each recipe is beautifully photographed and not only shows a picture of the recipe but also sides (fruits & veggies) that would be tasty served with the dish.  I don't know about you but I am always looking for different lunch ideas for my daughter - not only for her main dish but for sides a

I found this black feather wreath at Michaels and snatched it up.  I added an orange glitter spider for Halloween (I had already taken it off when I took this photo.) but really wanted to figure out a way to keep it up until Christmas.  Knowing the orange spider wouldn't work, I started brainstorming. I came up with some fall colored leaves (cut with my Cricut) and paper acorns (using an ornament punch). I finished it up with a tan ribbon. I think it turned out pretty cute and will work Until I bring out Christmas.  Most importantly, I didn't spend any money on this transformation.  Always a good thing for me! Linking up to Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest.

Football is like life,  it requires perseverance,  self-denial,  hard work,  sacrifice,  dedication  and  respect for authority. ~VINCE LOMBARDI

Just like every other month, October was a blur.  With my 31 Days of Home Organization series I really blogged about nothing else. But, believe me, there was a lot going on.  In no particular order: We celebrated my husband's birthday. We decorated for Halloween. We carved pumpkins. We went to our town's pumpkin festival (sadly, it was very disappointing but it was the first year so hopefully next year will be better.  And maybe it won't be 90 degrees out.) LM trick or treated with her friend's family while my husband & I were at a trade show. We made snickerdoodles (yum!) We went to Disneyland for fall break. I have decided that we go there too much since I have been to Sephora twice this year, both times at Downtown Disney.  And my husband & I have the Mouse Wait app on our phones. LM went on a weekend girl scout camp trip.  We watched 4 debates. (Don't forget to vote today!) I went to the dentist and got my hair cut - things I feel lik

Source I've spent this weekend pondering the possibility of helping with our school's winter carnival.  A note came home on Friday asking for help & ideas for the event. I have tons of ideas for the event but I'm from the school of 'if you have fabulous ideas for an event I assume you will also be volunteering to head said event.' And that stopped me in my tracks. Last year's carnival replaced our school's long standing fall fair and I had high hopes for the new event because it would be something different.  Or so I thought.  As it turned out, the carnival ended up being the fall fair with snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.  And Christmas music.  I was highly disappointed but kept it to myself as I am also from the school of 'if you don't offer your assistance, don't complain about the outcome of an event.'  I never even said anything to my husband or LM. So when I heard the group sponsoring the event wanted ideas, I st

"I have done my best." That is about all the philosophy of living one needs. ~Lin Yutang