$2.27 bracelet

I bought a few of these wood bead bracelets at the dollar store knowing I could pizazz them up somehow. 

 

I figured they would look adorable with a fabric rosette attached. (I told you to be prepared for fabric rosette overload!) I went to the fabric store and bought some silk. Don't let the high price scare you off, you only need a little. I got 4 inches for $1.27 and will be able to make a few rosettes from that.

I tore the fabric to make it fray and made a rosette. I hot glued it right on one of the wooden beads, and as the say, voila!

Cute right? It took all of 10 minutes (3 of which were an interruption to change a wet diaper) and cost exactly $2.27!

T shirt hat

Tonight I turned this 

into this

You can make one too following this tutorial. It was fun, easy and quick (could have been quicker if it weren't for those darn rookie mistakes...) give it a try, the possibilities are endless!

What I Wore Tuesday

We just moved home after 5 months away. I spent most of last week packing and most of this week unpacking and trust me, the combinations I threw on were not worth documenting. I went out with a girlfriend last night and thought I'd better take a picture to show I put thought into at least one outfit this week! So this is literally well, what I wore Tuesday. As always I'm linking up to the Pleated Poppy and Meet Virginia so go and check out what the other ladies have been sportin'. Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!

Tuesday

White shirt and tank - H & M

Green cardigan - Urban Behavior

Zip belt - Forever 21

Skinny jeans - Urban Behavior 

Flats - Superstore

Earrings - Suzy Shier

Tired face - 4 days of too many boxes!

Quilled Monogram

My friend Laura made me this little beauty and I was so excited to get home and put it in it's new home! I've had the plant for years and honestly I've never loved it (it's looking especially sad in that pic...) it just filled the space..... and then filled more space (does anyone else feel like they're always trimming those things?) so I knew exactly where I wanted to put my new initial. Here is a before and after as it sits in it's new home.

I love, love, love it. Thanks Laura!

 

Isn't it beautiful?!

Share A Meal Monday

Well it was only about an hour after I posted this that I realized it was possibly the worst time I could have picked to start this linky party! I posted that on Thursday, spent Friday and Saturday packing up our entire apartment, drove home Sunday and now it's Monday morning and I'm supposed to have something fabulous to share. Well, not one to disappoint I do have a recipe to share and I really did use it last week. This is my go-to meal, it's fast, it's easy and it's really tasty, what more could you ask for right? I'm sure a lot of you have had this before but like I said with the inconvenient timing of my post it's what I have to share. Bu-ut the fun thing is, here's where you come in, hopefully other people's recipes make it worth stopping by this week!

Thanks for linking up, I look forward to your ideas!

Stove Top Chicken Casserole

4 chicken breasts cubed or leftover roast chicken

1 box Stove Top Stuffing

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1/2 can milk

1 cup frozen corn

Cook the cubed chicken breasts in a frying pan and put in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add a layer of corn over the chicken. Mix milk with soup and pour over the top. Make Stove Top Stuffing as directed on the box and spread on top of the mixture. Cook in microwave for 10 minutes and you're donezo! Simple!

Homeward Bound

Well here we are - last day. I'm pretty sure we would have stayed up all night to finish packing so we could go home today but we're staying for a Cuff the Duke concert tonight and it's going to be awesome. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. I'm thrilled but I do have to say the fact that my basement is in shambles and needs our immediate attention is putting a serious damper on the excitement of going home. Ah well, I think we've got things figured out and should be able to put the whole thing back together quickly. Anyone have any tips on restoring a flooded basement, I'm an expert on installing sump pumps... er?
 
See you at home!

I have an idea!

I have really enjoyed doing What I Wore Wednesdays and feel that it really does make me accountable for getting myself put together every day. It has made a difference on those days that I would rather stay in my pj bottoms or swap them out for sweats which is really no different right?

Sooooo ya know where else I really need to be held accountable? My meals. It's so sad but I have to be the most uncreative cook out there. I run out of meal ideas or I think of them when it's way too late and everything is still rock hard in the freezer. So I came up with an idea - I want to do a linky party of my own. I'm going to call it SAMM - Share a Meal Monday. Every Monday I will post my favorite recipe I used the week before and then everyone can link up (assuming I'm smart enough to figure out a linky thing....) and post their favorite recipe from the week too! I really want you all to join in so I can get lots of new ideas of things to make AND because I don't want to be the person that hosts a party that nobody comes to, *me wearing a party hat sitting alone at a table* right?!?!! So next Monday look for the link and PLEASE join in with your favorite recipe or meal idea.

My family thanks you.

WIWW out of the garbage

Ok so I'm not actually wearing clothes from the garbage... but whilst I was cleaning out the photo albums on my laptop I somehow deleted the pictures I'd been taking this week so I did have to go restore them from my recycling bin which is kinda like going through the trash, right? While I was dumpster diving I came across this little gem:

a picture of me pregnant with Rigby last year.... aww. Anyway. Moving on.

Here is what I wore this week, straight from the garbage.

Wednesday

Grey shirt and mustard tank - Shade

Grey cardigan - Wal Mart

Striped scarf - Urban Behavior

Headband - made by moi

Thursday 

Black and white striped tank - Shade

Purple Cardigan - American Eagle

Jeans - Bluenotes

Black flats - Wal Mart 

Friday

White 3/4 sleeve top - Shade

Blue jacket - Gap

Metallic belt - Fairweather

Jeans - Bluenotes

Saturday

White and mustard tanks - Shade

Blue and white striped shirt - H & M

Monday

Black and white shirts - Shade

Yellow leather jacket - Urban Planet

Cream scarf - Ardenes

Jeans - Bluenotes

Boots - Wal Mart 

(Looking at this now I'm going to call it my Amelia Earhart outfit - I sure do look like I'm off to the hanger....)

Tuesday

Black camisole - Shade

Printed top - Superstore

And I'm not gonna lie - most of my outfits ended up in some combination of this -

becauuuuuuse.... this is also what happened this week!

Yay-ah! What a GREAT week!

Go see what other brave gals are posting for their WIWW's over at the Pleated Poppy.

And in the end

As our summer here comes to a close (5 more sleeps) I can't help but reflect on the last 5 months and think about all the things I have loved here and the things I am happy to kiss goodbye.

I've made a little list-

things I will miss

• the girls - I LOVE the ladies I get to spend every summer with, I wish they all lived right in my backyard
•  living close to family I don't get to see often enough, this summer has been awesome to spend so much time with them
• the gym just one floor above me - I'm afraid my physical fitness is going to take a serious turn for the worse
• my PVR, seriously, how did I ever live without one?
• the AMAZING view from our apartment windows
• our en suite bathroom
• the fireplace in our living room, it's beautiful and warm 
• super friendly Edmontonians and this beautiful city in general
• Chantal's neighbors - let's just say they sure kept us entertained

things I will not miss

• the crappiest dishwasher in the world. I have to basically wash the dishes before and after I use it, I'm not sure why I even bother
• carrying children, strollers, carseats, and groceries up stairs and through 2 sets of elevators
• the smells on my floor - we have some interesting cooks around here
• this carpet that shows everything!!
• having to stuff our garbage down a tiny shoot, and trying to do it really fast while I'm holding my breath!
• not having a vehicle (let alone a husband) for the majority of the time

So besides packing up and cleaning my entire house (I've got the stove done, that's a start right?) I'm ready to head home BUT I'll sure miss it here, this has been a fantastic summer for us and I have truly fallen in love with Edmonton.

enter this giveaway!

I think you should head on over to my pal Laura's blog - she is doing an adorable custom giveaway!! I'm not entering because I'm lucky enough to already have one of these creations (that beautiful F is all mine, just waiting for me to come home and put it in the perfect spot!) but YOU should go and enter here!