Free Printable: Halloween Cupcake Toppers

This is a repost from last year, but since I had about 2 followers back then, I thought I'd share it again!

For your next Halloween party...feel free to print these Halloween Cupcake Toppers.  Use a 2-inch circle punch to cut them out.  Enjoy!

To download the file, click here.

Fall Photo Bucket List

I saw this cute idea for taking fall photos on the Simple As That blog.  Perfect for professional photographers or newbies, like me.  Go here to download!

Her blog is definitely worth checking out...SO many adorable printables.  Have fun!

Shabby Apple Sale!

Hello there friends!  I missed you!

I have a great deal for you today.  Have you heard of Shabby Apple?  I've been loving their dresses for quite some time now.  They are an online boutique with a vintage flair, and their clothing is gorgeous.  Don't take my word for it....have a look at some of my favorites!

The Summer Break skirt, from the new Academia line.  A statement skirt!

The Champs Elysees.  Love those peek-a-boo pleats!

The Garden Isle dress.  I could totally rock the 50s housewife look!

Everything about this Gondola dress is perfect.  LOVE.

The Adelaide skirt reminds me of a certain J. Crew bow skirt.  Classy.

Shabby Apple also has an adorable maternity line.  Not that I have any need for an adorable maternity line.  (Deep breaths, Mom!)

Finding Out Dress

And also swimwear...

Isola

And lots more!  Want to hear the best part?  I can get you 15% off your order AND free shipping on all standard domestic orders!  Just enter the code IVY at checkout.  This offer is only good until September 30, so get busy!

Disclaimer:  I didn't receive anything to write this post; however, I am a Shabby Apple affiliate.  All opinions are 100% my own.

A Few Pins

Hi There.

I'm into the second week of a new school year, and we're slowly settling into our routine.  My posts are going to be light for the next week or two...I hope you'll bear with me.  Until then, here are some pretty things that caught my eye on Pinterest lately.

This mantel makes me want to scour thrift stores for platters.  Gorgeous.

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Oh. Em. Gee.  Would you look at this pantry?  It would look like that for 5 seconds in my house before the kids tossed everything out looking for the Smarties.

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I want to have a brunch so I can serve juice in these sour cream glasses.  You can come.

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While we are having brunch, you will chuckle to yourself, because you see this embroidery hanging in my kitchen.  A little DMX with your crumb cake?

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And this tile.  Wow.  I hope one day my bathroom grows up to look like this one.

Enjoy!  :)

Back to School/Work

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I hope you forgive the recent blog silence.  I went back to school this week, and the first few weeks of a new school year are always crazy.  Looking forward to blogging more very soon!

New Work Station

Our house was built about nine years ago.  During the construction, we were so excited about having our own little plot of Earth --our first place--that we neglected to realize there was not a single storage space in our entire house, other than a teeny tiny hallway coat closet with the capacity to hold two coats.  Also, no mud room.  No place to store winter stuff (gloves, hats, scarves).  No place to hang coats.  No place to store towels.  No place to store sheets.   You get the idea.  At the risk of sounding offensive, I'll tell you this:  at least twice a day I curse the man who designed our house.  I'm certain if it was a woman I would have a linen closet, at the very least.

For several years, I've had this cabinet in my kitchen nook.  I've used to hold all of my baking pans as well as art supplies for the kids.

It served it's purpose well, but lately we've been having another problem.  We really have no "family center."  No place to store bills or sit down and pay them.  No place (other than the couch) to work on my laptop or grade papers. And I'm sure that in a few years I 'll need a place to store all of the kids' paperwork from school, and sports schedules.

For two years now, my laptop has been sitting on the kitchen counter next to the stove, so every time I cook spaghetti sauce, I wind up cleaning the splatters off the laptop.  I decided to move this big cabinet upstairs to hold towels and sheets, and create a little workstation here instead.

Remember this desk I picked up at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore?

She was part of my plan, but she needed a bit of work.  First, I used some Goo Gone to get rid of all the tape on the front drawer.  Do you see it there?  I wonder what it's former owner was up to.  There were also some nicks in the wood, but they were easily fixed with some wood filler.  Then I just sanded the whole thing quickly...took about 10 minutes.  I added two coats of primer, and two coats of paint.  Here she is today!

I went big and bold with this one:  Peacock Feather by Behr.  I LOVE how it turned out.  Since the handles are what drew me to this desk in the first place, I wanted them to stand out.  So I used some Rub N Buff in Grecian Gold.  Here's how my little "office nook/control center" looks now:

I've had that little chair for a while, but never knew what to do with it.  It's a thrift store find, too.  I recovered the cushion with some leftover fabric from the ottoman.  Here's a shot of it before, in all it's french toile glory:

The Keep Calm print.  I know, I know.  They are EVERYWHERE.  I'm sure you're tired of them.  But seriously, that's my mantra. This one is from Pressureless on Etsy.  Isn't is gorgeous?  The frame is from IKEA.

Wanna see my FAVORITE thing about the desk?  It was already there when I bought it.  It's the paper that's lining the drawers.  I love it!

Wanna see my other favorite thing?  The photo I found in the drawer:

Look at those fabulous, fabulous girls.  I am certain that they would approve of their desk makeover. Don'tcha think?

Gallery Wall

For a long time, I've been trying to decide what to do with a big blank wall in our family room.  The only thing that was hanging on that wall was an enormous T.V.

Pinterest really came in handy, because I was able to find lots of photos for inspiration.  In the end, I decided to do a gallery wall of photographs and my childrens' artwork.  I kind of wanted the arrangement to be random, but Michael was adamant about it being symmetrical.  I let him win this one.  :)

Hmmm.  That white return vent up there sticks out like a sore thumb.  I'll be painting that the same color as the wall.  Soon.

This Happy Place print is one of my favorites.  I bought it on Etsy, here.  She has really beautiful artwork with positive messages.

I also love this watercolor, created by Charlotte:

Seriously, don't you think this would fetch hundreds of dollars in a gallery?  I love it.

And when I want to cover the TV entirely, I can still use the IKEA-canvas-trick that I stole learned from Maria at John's Journal.

The frames are really easy to take down and switch out.  I have a feeling I'm going to want something different after a while.  Like maybe botanical prints, or black and white photos.  We'll see!

I hope you enjoy your Monday!