Happy 4th of July!

Pillow talk

Growing up I was never a very crafty type of girl. I started knitting a scarf once. Never finished it. I started a cross stitch pattern once. Never finished it. And the only real sewing skills I acquired was in home economics in middle school. My mom is so talented at all of these things that if I ever needed or wanted anything done, she would simply do it for me. Thanks Mom!!



After Mr. Moore and I adopted a handsome golden retriever,

(notice the jealous cat in the background)

my lack of sewing skills came in very handy repairing stuffed toys that came apart at the seams. Over the past two years with our little boy, my hand stitching skills vastly improved.

One day I came across a blog that turned place mats into pillows. With my newly acquired stitching skills, I figured I could easily take a project like this on. All you need to do is pick up a placemat, take out some of the seam, stuff, and restitch. Easy peasy.

I started with 2 for on our ottoman bench…

Then made one for the guest room, two for the living room, one for the other guest room…

You get the picture. I am hooked on the simple sewing project of “making” pillows!!

It's Alive!

Our little container garden is growing!

Yum! Yum!

From the Beginning…Wedding Shoe Search Part 3

After a quick search online to see what I was getting in to, I began the search for bridesmaid’s shoes in our hometown. Mr. Moore and I scoured every store that might possibly have shoes. We went from the mall and Target to TJMaxx and second hand stores. I know it’s kinda gross to buy someone else’s old shoes. But I was hoping to find something quick and at a low price. Plus I figured over the next three months, I could spray disinfectant in them every day to kill anything that may be living in the shoes.

After completely striking out locally, I began officially searching online for gold shoes around the $20 mark. While searching, I came across Shiekh Shoes. I was thrilled that the shoes were inexpensive and some of them were pretty cute on top of it! Initially I had 20 pairs of shoes in my online shopping cart. Mr. Moore convinced me that I needed to narrow the choices down, because while the shipping to me was free, the return was not.



Here is what was ordered, all in gold, all in 7.5:

All photos courtesy of Shiekh

The second the shoes arrived to my home, I was extremely eager to try them on. However, the second I began trying them on, I could not have been more disappointed. Between the inconsistent sizing and the extremely poor quality, I knew the shoes were not going to work. Four of the shoes barely fit on my feet and the last was entirely too big. The few that I could shove my foot in to (imagine one of Cinderella’s evil step sisters) were so poorly made, that I could tell within 5 minutes of walking my poor toes would be covered in blisters. Granted I really only need to make it down the aisle and back, I was hoping to wear them a good part of the night.

Verdict: return all 5 pairs. And never order from Shiekh again.


On to the next 10 pairs...

How does your garden grow?

Mr. Moore and I have planted a container garden.

Last summer was our first go round and we had quite the successful harvest for our two person household. This year we have increased the size of our garden and variety of plants. Last year we only grew onions and a few types of peppers. This year we again have onions and many types of peppers and we have added in cucumbers and tomatoes.

Our little plants have been growing like weeds…but good weeds. Weeds we plan to eat.

 

This weekend we noticed sweet little flowers on our cucumber plants.

I am so excited to eat the yummy veggies that are growing on our deck.

Wedding Shoe Search...Part 2

I arrived home this evening to this:

A pile of shoes in on my dining room chair!

Numbers 11, 12, 13, and 14 of my shoe conundrum have come for me to try on.

I must say, that number 13 and 14 are awfully promising. I have one more pair that I am waiting on from this latest order, but I will say, that we are getting close and there might even be a winner in our midst. Hopefully this last pair will arrive soon and become a contender as well.  And more importantly, hopefully when I see the bride in 2 weeks, she will like the shoes too!

Stay tuned for the final verdict!

Wedding Shoe Search

This fall I am a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding. The dress process was simple. The bride gave us a line to choose from and wanted the length to be “short”. Here is the dress I chose:

Photo courtesy of After Six

However, the bride did request it in claret, but still, simple enough:

Photo courtesy of After Six

Here comes the hard part...the shoes. She wants us to wear gold shoes. Here are the shoes that my brother’s fiancé suggested:

Photo courtesy of Sears

Now, I am not a rhinestone, strappy, gold shoe kind of girl, but I realize this is their big day, so I am willing to play along with the gold part.

After searching all of the local establishments for an acceptable pair of gold shoes, at a reasonable price, and completely striking out, I was forced to begin online shopping. As of today, I have ordered over a dozen pairs of shoes from various websites with no luck. Unfortunately, since I am trying to keep the price as low as possible, most of the shoes are very cheaply made and are extremely uncomfortable. I cannot see being able to wear them for an entire wedding. Granted, I will probably change out of them at some point.

Here is what I would ideally like to wear, but very unwilling to pay for:

Photo courtesy of Amazon

I am hoping that as summer goes along more gold shoes will come out in stores. Please cross your fingers with me!

Sex and the City.

My mom and I went to see Sex and the City 2 this weekend. There have been many negative reviews for the movie….but we were up for it anyways!

Photo courtesy of LA Times Blog

Was it a good movie? Yes.


Was it a great movie? No.



Being a Sex and the City follower for many years, I am invested in the story and adventure of the ladies. The main reason my mom and I went to see the flick was to simply find out what was next. I was glad to see that the characters had not changed, but it seemed to be missing the spark of the original series.

 If a Sex and the City 3 is made, will I see it? Yes.


Will I wait to see it until it goes to the dollar theater? Perhaps.

Budget Finds: West Elm

The latest West Elm catalogue arrived in the mail this past week. Luckily over this long, holiday weekend, I had some time to relax and peruse the pages. Here is what caught my eye:

1. Metal Picture Ledge

Photo courtesy of West Elm

I keep going back to picture ledges of all kinds. They can be found anywhere from Target to Ikea. But, West Elm is the only place that I have found with metal ones. The question is: are they worth paying over $30 for?? Especially when the ones from Ikea and Target are significantly less? Perhaps I could consider buying afore mentioned, less expensive ones and giving them a coat of metallic paint?? Now we are cooking...

2. Weathered Wood Hanging Strand

Photo courtesy of West Elm

Not only does West Elm have these in wood, but in the catalogue there is also a oyster shell option. Could be cute addition to almost any space, especially if it was DIY'd...which could be a total possibility!

3. Recycled-Glass Lanterns

Photo courtesy of West Elm

I absolutely love these! So much in fact that I purchased ones similar to these last year. But they were not from West Elm. And I did not pay $9 a piece (or in total for that matter) for them. I found my little lanterns in the dollar section in Target. And mine were only $1 a piece (go figure). I rounded up 6 in total last season. I went with all clear glass, but there were colors too (I want to say green and blue ones). They make great table accents for late-night, outdoor, summer get togethers. The lanterns could also be a great addition to a casual summer wedding. For those of you looking for your own budget lanterns, I did see more at Target this season. But it was a while ago, so good luck hunting!

Here are both lanterns for your own judgement:

West Elm's version

My Target find

What do you think? A pretty close match...especially when you are saving $8 each!

Have you seen any great pieces while out and about that could easily be DIY'd? How about more budget friendly options of higher price alternatives?

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Along with the traditional festivities of this holiday weekend comes SALES!!! In line with yesterday’s post, Lowe's and Home Depot are having paint sales. Both stores are offering $5 off gallon cans and $20 off five gallon buckets. Deck, fence, and wood stains are also included in the sale.



The sale ends at the end of the month (5/31), so be sure to hurry in!