FUN HOLIDAY OR ENTERTAINING DESSERT IDEA- CREATE A "TOP YOUR OWN CHEESECAKE" BAR!

This post is sponsored by Wayfair. We are just around the corner from allllll of the holiday dinners, parties, and events, it's not too early to get ahead with your planning!  Even if you're not hosting a holiday meal at your home this year, keep this fun idea in mind the next time you're entertaining friends...  why not offer a "Top Your Own Cheesecake" Bar where your guests can choose their favorite flavors?  From a casual dinner with friends to all of your holiday cooking, baking, and entertaining needs... Wayfair has everything you need at unbeatable prices! Cheesecake is such a luscious dessert and I've always had the preconception that it's difficult to make, but it's really not so bad!  Years ago I had a friend share a recipe with me that is really quite simple.  She used to make loads of these cheesecakes and donate them for auctions and raffles at our school, or share one with us in the break room, I remember it being so delicious! This recip......

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PINK AND GREEN THANKSGIVING TABLE

It's hard to believe that we are just days away from Thanksgiving- my kids arrived home from college yesterday and we're looking forward to the week together!  I enjoyed putting this together and am excited to share my pink and green Thanksgiving Table with you today.   (*This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.   Read my  full disclosure policy here .)...

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50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY PARTY IDEAS

Last month my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Although they told us much earlier in the year that they did not want a party or reception, thankfully they changed their minds a few months before the day and agreed to a very small party.  We were so happy to be able to mark this milestone with a celebration! (*This post contains affiliate links, read my  full disclosure policy here .) ...

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HOLIDAY COOKING AND ENTERTAINING KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

As the holidays draw closer, I'm starting to think about one of the best parts other than the family gatherings and the decorations... the FOOD!  As I was making a dish a few days ago I used something that I wanted to share with you all, and that turned into this full blown post of things I consider holiday kitchen essentials for cooking and entertaining.   *This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my  full disclosure policy here . ...

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SPRING ENTERTAINING WITH AT HOME STORES

I'm not sure why, but winter has seemed to be especially long, cold, and dreary this year.  I've never been more ready for warmer weather! We enjoy entertaining often, but when it's cold and dark early it's hard to want to do anything but come home and cozy up for the evening, right?  So, with Spring finally right around the corner and a brand new Dining Room , I'm excited to shake off winter and get back to hosting some gatherings.  Today I've partnered with At Home stores to spiff our home up for Spring, throw open the front door and welcome friends over!   (*This post may contain affiliate links, read my  full disclosure policy here .) First, about that front door... it needed a little refresh from the winter grime and lack of anything green.  I want our guests to feel welcome and know that we're glad they're here as soon as they step on the porch! ...

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FALL INTO THE HOLIDAYS- DIY DOLLAR STORE METAL CHALKBOARD WI-FI PASSWORD SIGN

Hi friends, welcome back to the third part of our Fall Into The Holidays series!  With the encouragement of our organizer Lisa from  Shine Your Light , each week we're sharing simple ideas to get 4 rooms in your home holiday ready now, before the hustle and bustle of the season sets in.  We've already shared projects to get our kitchens and bedrooms in shape for the holiday season, and today we're working on ways to get our Living Rooms ready for holiday guests. Inevitably, when people visit your home this holiday season, at some point they will pull out their phone or other electronic device and need access to your wi-fi.  There's always a good funny video to share with the family, right?  ;)  I thought it would be nice for the wi-fi password to be easily accessible to guests, so I created a simple chalkboard sign to display that information.  This great vintage-looking silver metal tray came from Dollar Tree of all places, so it cost next t......

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HALLOWEEN MIX AND MATCH TABLESCAPE

I typically don't do much decorating for Halloween, but when Ariel from PMQ for Two invited me to create a Halloween Tablescape along with some other talented ladies, I couldn't say no!  True to my style, I filled my table with a variety of mix and match patterns, sticking to a traditional Halloween color palette.   I pulled tons of black and white parts and pieces from around my house.  Even though there are many different patterns, the consistent black and white unifies everything.   ...

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FAVORITE RECIPES TO FEED A CROWD FOR THE FOURTH

Need some ideas for your holiday gathering?  Here are a few of my favorite recipes that feed a crowd... all tried, tested, and approved by my family and friends.  Try a new one to share with your crew! Pink Stuff  Cherry Pineapple Salad ...

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HAPPENINGS ON THE HOMEFRONT...

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!  Today I'm catching you up on a few things that have been happening around our home lately.  We're rapidly approaching the end of the school year (6 more days!) which adds plenty of events to the calendar as we wrap up the year.   I think we're all ready for a change of pace, although with camps and church activities and other commitments summer brings it's own form of busy too! (this post contains some affiliate links) BIRTHDAY GIRL My daughter turned 14 last week.  14!  My baby! ...

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PRETTY PINK AND GREEN EASTER TABLE

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of one of my Easter tables from years past on Instagram, saying that I hadn't come up with a plan for this year's table yet.  One of my followers said that she'd like to see my take on pastels.  My first thought was "I don't do pastels", but the thought stuck in my mind.  So, although there is still some punchy color, I guess this is as close as I get to doing pastels! ...

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TISSUE PAPER ICE CREAM SUNDAE PARTY DECORATIONS

We recently had a ladies' event at our church that I helped decorate for, and I always like to share those events with you in case you're looking for banquet or party decorating ideas also.  I'm usually searching for ways to decorate a lot of tables for a little bit of money.  It's challenging most of the time, but with lots of help from friends and some hard work, things always turn out cute! Our theme for this event was "Sundaes on Mondays", and it was a craft night focusing on making a variety of craft projects to give to others through various ministries in and around our church.   And, a sundae bar was our treat for the evening of course, so it was pretty easy to continue that theme through to the table centerpieces.  I started with inspiration from this photo and we went from there to make these work for our event. ...

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VALENTINE'S DAY TABLESCAPE AND SWEET TREATS

Ray and I usually try to make our Valentine's Day date during the daytime sometime close to the actual day, but the evening of the holiday is generally a family affair so it's fun to make the table a little extra special for the evening. ...

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MY FIVE FAVORITE WAYS TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY

Welcome back to My Five Favorites!  Pam from  Simple Details , Lisa from  Shine Your Light,  Kris from  Driven by Decor  and I are all so excited to share our favorite ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with you today.  If you were really, really paying attention, you might have noticed that in the past we've shared MFF on the first Tuesday of every month.  However, this year we're adjusting our schedules a bit, so look for us on the first Wednesday of each month from now on. We are so happy to welcome Ann from On Sutton Place as our guest host this month.  Ann has such a knack for making even the simplest projects stunningly beautiful.  She also shares mouth-watering recipes and has quite the green thumb!  I think I need to learn a thing or two from Ann, and I can't wait to see her favorite Valentine ideas that she's sharing with us today. Easy Winter Neutral Decor Ideas from On Sutton Place ...

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HOW TO MAKE A STYROFOAM RING SNOWMAN AND CHURCH CHRISTMAS BANQUET TABLE DECORATIONS

Hey friends!  I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend.  Did you get all of your Christmas shopping done?  In store or online?  I actually didn't do too much shopping, I was too busy decorating for Christmas and watching the new Gilmore Girls! (What did you think?  As much as I love GG I gave it about a 7 out of 10... but it was so good to see everyone back together again!)  I plan to wrap up my decorating in the next few days and then I need to get on those Christmas lists! I help coordinate the decorations for the ladies events at our church, and we're usually trying to decorate a LOT of tables on a tiny budget.  So, I always like to share what we come up with because I know some of you might need event decoration ideas too! A few weeks ago we had our Christmas event, and I had the challenge of coming up with decor for around 60 tables for $100 or less.  We wanted to keep things simple yet festive, and were only decorating tables in our Fe......

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OUR FAMILY'S FAVORITE... PECAN PIE RECIPE

Alright, ladies (and gentlemen?)... one week and counting!  Today I'm sharing a staple of our Thanksgiving (and Christmas, and Easter, and sometimes weeknight dinners) menu, my Mom's pecan pie! This is such a basic recipe, I like this one because the filling isn't custard-y or buttery like some.  I like to reduce the sugar just a little bit from the original recipe too, because I prefer it not quite as sweet. Pecan Pie 3 eggs (beaten) 1 cup sugar (I cut back to 3/4 cup) 1 cup white Karo syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla pecans prepared pie crust I've shared this before, but I have no problem using a pre-made pie crust (I like Pet-Ritz deep dish frozen the best).  If you're sneaky, you can even transfer the crust from the aluminum pie tin to one of your prettier pie plates, and no one will be the wiser!  Another trick is to thaw a bit and re-crimp the edges from the pre-made way they come so the crust looks like you have worked it by hand.   ......

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HOW TO ARRANGE FLOWERS LIKE A PRO (TIPS FOR MAKING GORGEOUS ARRANGEMENTS)

In my last post about Restore House, I mentioned a retreat that I attended last month.  Other than hearing from the Parkers about their passion of restoring houses and running their store and event center, we also spent some time learning from darling sisters who run their own florist shop, called The Wild Mother. ...

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BLOGGER STYLIN' HOME TOURS THANKSGIVING TABLE 2016

It's time for another round of Blogger Stylin' Home Tours, and I'm so happy to be helping kick off the Thanksgiving Table tours today! Fall is my favorite time of year, and it's always a joy to prepare for the season.  As always, many thanks to Lindsay at The White Buffalo Styling Co.   for putting this tour together.  If you're coming from her blog, welcome, and I'm so glad you're here!  I always love seeing what gorgeous eye candy Lindsay has for us, and she definitely didn't disappoint this time with that stunning candlelight table! We have had such a mild Fall (still more like summer) that I jumped at the chance to set up my outdoor table.  We finished a patio makeover in the Spring, and are truly enjoying the outdoor living space that it provides. ...

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MY FIVE FAVORITES: TABLETOP ACCESSORIES

Well, we're back in a routine from our whirlwind trip to NYC for the BHG Stylemaker event.  I'll be sharing more about that soon.  While we were gone, the remainder of my Fall tour was on the blog.   I stayed pretty unplugged last week other than sharing social media updates on our trip, but I wanted to thank you all so much for all of your nice comments on the tour, I'm so glad you enjoyed it and maybe got an idea or two! Today it's time for another round of My Five Favorites with Pam from Simple Details , Lisa from Shine Your Light, and Kris from Driven by Decor .  This month, in light of the approaching holiday season, we are sharing our favorite tabletop and serving accessories.  I want to share those items with you that I go to over and over again as I set pretty tables, so that you might add a little to your collection each season and be well stocked with the staples when you're ready to entertain (or just make a special effort for your family!). ......

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FALL HARVEST TABLESCAPE

I have partnered with At Home as a member of the At Home Inspiration Team for this sponsored post and am happy to share some of my favorite products with you!  All opinions are mine alone. Now that we have a great outdoor dining area on  our new patio , I thought it would be so fun to set up a Fall harvest tablescape outside.  I headed to my local  At Home  store for some seasonal inspiration, and I wasn't disappointed! ...

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IF YOU MISSED IT... {JUNE-JULY}

So, my kids have officially started the countdown to school... just 19 more days for us! #booalarmclocks   I can't believe how the summer has flown by. We've enjoyed it and stayed busy for sure, and things have kept moving right along here on the blog as well.  So, here's a summer re-cap, just in case you've been on vacation or living at the pool or binging on too much Netflix! We kicked things off in June with two big tours- the inside of our house for summer, and the reveal of our completed patio that's been in progress since last summer! Summer Home Tour Patio Reveal In anticipation of the Fourth of July, I shared some favorite  red, white, and blue tabletop accessories  from Target, and then used some similar things that I already owned to create my own  red, white, and blue tablescape  for the holiday. I've had a blast as a member of At Home's Inspiration Team this summer and shared some ideas with you to make entertaining ......

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