.my 'ruffle around me' top.

I love coming across great sewing tutorials on blogs. I have a whole folder saved under my "favorites" tab full of links to great tutorials that I can't wait to try my hand at. A few days ago I came across a tutorial for this "Black Ruffle Around Me Top" from Sarah's blog, Welcome to the Good Life.

I have a pretty good collection of solid, fitted tees so I couldn't wait to make one of these cute shirts for myself! I went into my closet and found an old white tee from Old Navy. I can't even remember the last time I wore it. I wanted to use supplies I already had on hand, so when I found a long roll of white lace in my sewing stuff stash, I was excited to create a top with the same loopy design as Sarah's but with my own twist added. Here is how mine turned out:

I love the results! I also love how a neglected shirt from my closet has immediately become such a versatile must-wear piece of my wardrobe. I can't wait to pair this top with skirts in the Spring. I wore it this past Sunday to church with dress pants and a cardigan. I even got to wear it to Olive Garden for my husband's and my V-day dinner.

Imagine all the different embellishments you could add to your plain old solid tees to give them a new life! I can't wait to make more like this.

Click here for Sarah's Tutorial

.epic.

A few days ago I posted about a blizzard. Today I have experienced even more epic awesomeness: more snowfall than this part of Arkansas has seen in 80-90 years!!!! I haven't been out to measure it because I don't own a yard stick; all I know is it came up to my knees an hour or two ago. And it's still coming down!

Hubs even got released from work around 8:30 this morning. He almost didn't make it out of the work parking lot with his 2-wheel drive truck, but by the grace of God he made it home safely and is now parked comfortably on the couch with his work laptop and all that jazz.

I couldn't let this epic snowfall pass without a fun mini photoshoot taking place. So I grabbed my colorful umbrella and matching red rain boots (which were unfortunately hidden by all the snow) and threw in a funny pug for extra accessorizing. Husband stood inside and took pictures through the window on our back door. LOL

A huge bonus to this day is all the time I've been able to spend browsing a few of my current FAVORITE blogs. These are my top 2 right now:

Ruffles and Stuff: So full of creative inspiration and amazing tutorials. I have had this blog open for hours because I can't stop looking at it. I don't want to miss anything! I'm getting so many great ideas for new sewing projects.

House*Tweaking: This girl's decorating style is right up my alley! Her home is awesome and her posts are always fun and informative. I can't get enough of this one either!

Well, I'm off to... do exactly what I've been doing. Absolutely nothing and loving it!

.anti-aging creams.

The time has come for me to realize that I'm aging. Wrinkles are beginning to appear. We won't even get into the UV-induced spots on my face from the years I used to tan in a salon. In an attempt to try to cover up my imperfections, I used to purchase my make-up shades darker than what I really needed. Yeah, more color is always great for this naturally pale girl, but orange hairlines and splotchy streaks are not so great. Recently, I purchased make-up more true to my natural skin-tone. I'm still getting used to flaunting my pale skin; however, I need some help covering up my un-even skin tone, under-eye darkness, UV damage, etc. Actually, instead of just "covering it up," I'd like to reverse some of these problems if at all possible. I'm sure there are some pricey products out there that would surely get the trick done; problem is, I can't afford them.

I'm on a drugstore budget but am resolved to the daily application of daily moisturizer with spf along with a nightly anti-aging cream. Here is what I've purchased for my days:

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30.

Claims to even skin tone and texture with the help of a soy complex...

I'm going to wear this every day under my make-up.

My nighttime anti-aging cream:

Burt's Bees Naturally Ageless Skin Firming Night Creme

It's all-natural and claims to fight damage caused from free radicals.

Retails for around $25 but scored a bigtime deal by purchasing off ebay.

My price: $7.75 (including s/h)

I'm no skincare expert by any means. I did some online research before purchasing anything, and both of these products have good reviews as far as the affordable stuff goes.

I will be putting these products to the test and hoping for miraculous results. I would take a "before" shot of my face sans make-up, but no one wants to see that.

If anyone out there has ANY advice at all about anti-aging creams, blemish removing techniques, etc, please share the love right here!

.day four.

I haven't left the house in 4 days.

"Oh, looky there, Simon. It's snowing...again."

On the bright side:

• I've gotten lots of new things sewed the past few days
• I haven't worn a pair of jeans since Monday
• I've gotten to sleep in as late as I want to
• I get to eat whatever/whenever I want to with no witnesses

However there have been some negativianos:

• Minimal human contact. I might be forgetting essential social skills.
• I might forget how to drive my car
• My feet stay cold, even with socks on
• I eat whatever/whenever I want...
• Ran out of soda yesterday
  

Oh, and there's a photo contest going on at Angel Perry today. The theme is "Yellow." Here is my submission. I call it "Pug Mug."

.bedroom entrance alcove.

Today I want to share pictures of a small portion of our house that I actually feel is "complete." Sadly, after living in our house for a year now, this one tiny area is the only one I feel satisfied with (despite the crooked silhouette pictures).

This is the "alcove" or semi-hallway that welcomes you into our master bedroom:

I love to mix vintage with contemporary, and I love bright colors. The black table was given to me by my mother-in-law (a very exciting day that was!). The orange vase was a Christmas gift from my sister this year. It was a flea market find. The yellow picture frame was bought on clearance at Target and it holds a picture from my wedding day. The greenery was a thrift store find; the white ceramic bird was a flea market find, as well as the Readers Digest book. I made our silhouette pictures using black construction paper glued onto Hobby Lobby scrapbooking paper, and the black oval frames were also purchased at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.

A very inexpensively decorated portion of our home that I love and I feel suits the future vision I have for our home's style just fine.

As finances allow, each other room in our home will be "spiffed up," and I promise to share pictures as it comes along.

P.S. I apologize for the blurry pictures. :-)

Linked to: Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

.the great blizzard.

Yes, today in Arkansas we had a full-pledge BLIZZARD. I can now honestly say I've not only lived through one but now understand what constitutes a blizzard as opposed to just a really honkin' amount of snow. (Wind speed and amount of snowfall, etc.)

I didn't go outdoors once today. Sent Simon out only three times throughout the whole day. The poor thing was buried from belly down out there. The weatherman said we got 6-7" of snow accumulation, but we had drifts of over a foot.

I got a snow day off work (one of the MANY perks of being a teacher) and get another one tomorrow! Hubs came home from work early, about 11:30 am and took a nap before doing some work from home on his laptop. He's getting over a stomach bug, which speaking of that - I have to give the man major props for being one tough sucker. He literally threw up mid-shave, shaving cream all over his face, then immediately went right back to shaving as soon as he was done. That's a man right there, people. ;-)

I took pictures of some of the snowfall outside. These were taken about 1:30 pm, and the snow kept falling the rest of the day. Oh, and yeah the first two were taken while looking out a window.

Whilst stuck inside, I finally found the motivation to attempt my first homemade apple pie. My mother-in-law has the best recipe, and, even though I've surrendered to the truth that no matter how closely I follow her recipes, my results will never be as picture-perfect as hers always are, I can't help but try my hand at them and make sure the hubs gets some good eats from me every once in a while. ;-)

A few hours, a very messy kitchen, and a sore hand later (I hate peeling anything, period), the masterpiece was completed. Not to toot my own horn, but I nailed it. I mean, it doesn't photograph worthy of a Southern Living mag, and the crust was a little doughy as a result of being a tad too thick, but I'm still saying I nailed it. The flavor was right, and that (I've decided) is really the most important thing anyway! Here is my pie:

{a feat worth documenting every step of}

I am a fan of snow. Getting a day off from school/work because of snow never gets old.

Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful snowfall today and for keeping my family safe.

Here's to another Winter full of fun memories!