November in Review

Happy Friday! How was your week?

I've had a little cold this week :( so it's been a pretty quiet week for me.  But I did get my hair colored & cut and I went to dinner with friends.  We ate at Le Thai West Village in Smyrna.  The last time I had thai was probably 10 years ago!  So I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised!  There were tons of veggies and peppers in the dishes with coconut milk sauces.  It was a little spicy and so yummy! 

Today I am traveling to Kiawah Island to celebrate my friends wedding! 

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend filled with lots of dancing, can we pretend we're at Johnny's Hideaway?!!?!  Congrats Laura & James!


Since it's the last day of November, it's time for a November Recap.  Here are our most popular blog posts from this month:
 

Cocktail's at Del Frisco's

 

 

Last Minute Thanksgiving Tablescape

 

 Turkey Spinach Tortellini Soup

Ultimate Handmade Baby Gift


2 Ingredient Cookies



DIY Personalized Bridal Cardigan

Sofa Table Makeover

 

 

Enjoy the weekend!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sofa Table Makeover

Last week I finally had some time to redo a sofa table I found at Goodwill several months ago.  The sofa table is very similar to the side tables I made over but I wanted to give this table a pop of color.  It's going in a room that has a lot of red and navy accents so I decided to stain the top and paint the bottom red with a black glaze.  I am so in love with how it turned out!!

 

Here's the table before the makeover:

 

 The first thing I did was remove the drawer knob and fill in the hole. 

 

Next I sanded the top of the table.  If you want to stain the wood make sure you sand off all of the old poly and stain.   Since I painted the bottom half of the table I just gave it a quick sand so the primer would adhere better.

 

I used Zinsser Bulls Eye Primer for the bottom half of the table.

 

I reused some red paint that was originally used for the front door for the bottom half of the table.  I ended up painting two coats of red over the primer.

 

After the bottom was painted I stained the top with Minwax Provencial stain.

 

Next I covered the bottom of the table with a blackish glaze.  It's my own concoction so I don't know the real color...sorry :(

 After that cover the entire table with a good poly and you're all done!

 

 

Here's the before and after of the table:

 

 

I love the red bottom and it looks great this time of year with all of the Christmas decorations!!

 

 

I hope you like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Festival of Trees

Morning!  How was everyone's turkey day?

 

I think my favorite part of the holiday was spending time with my family and the time off from work.  I got to go on lots of walks with my favorite puppy & sister, shopped til I dropped, and over-indulged on some tasty eats & drinks. 

 

 

 

Now it's time to talk about Christmas!  I decorated my apartment over the weekend.  This is my first year in this apartment (last year's apartment), so it was fun figuring out where to put all my Christmas knick knacks and holiday garland.  The BF and I still need to get a Christmas tree and then we'll be all done!

 

To get us in the holiday spirit, the other week we went to the Greensboro Festival of Trees & Craft Show.  It was fun to see all the Christmas decorations and get inspiration. 

 

There was an upside down Christmas tree, called the "Topsy Turvy Tree" - it was decorated in traditional red & green ornaments.  We also saw a children's Christmas tree decorated elves and toys. 

 

There was a booth of mesh wreaths, just like Julia's.  

 

The Christmas trees and speciality wreaths were being autctioned off with proceeds going to Boys & Girls Club of America. 

 

I loved this UGA wreath, but the top bid was $250, eek! 

 

The BF's Aunt made mantle and table centerpieces.  We took home this set of twig trees.  I can't wait to decorate the apartment with them!

 

Have you put up your holiday decorations?

Turkey Spinach Tortellini Soup

Happy Monday Everyone!!  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

 I definitely ate way too much food!  We had amazing appetizers and a delicious dinner. If you're like me I'm sure you have tons of leftovers.  Here's a perfect soup for some of your leftover turkey.

Ingredients:
7t chopped garlic
1 pack basil
1 bag spinach
1 1/2 gts chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 chopped rotisseri chicken/ 2 cups leftover turkey
1 small pack of Buitoni cheese tortellini

Serving size: 6 large soup bowls

FYI: I made a double recipe...that's why there is so many ingredients :)

Step 1: Dice garlic and sautee in olive oil

Step 2: Dice basil and saute in garlic and olive oil

Step 3: Sautee spinach

Step 4: Once spinach is sauteed add diced tomatoes

Step 5: Add tortellini

Step 6: Add chicken broth

Step 7: Add chicken/turkey

Step 8: Cook on low heat until tortellin is done (approx. 8 minutes)

This recipe is delicious!! I make it every winter and it's a huge crowd pleaser!  If you don't have leftover turkey just use a rotisseri chicken. 

 



Last Minute Thanksgiving Table-scape

 

Turkey day is tomorrow, are you ready?

 

 I was asked to bring flowers to my Grandparents for our Thanksgiving celebration today.  I thought it would be fun to use my fall pumpkins as the vase.  I stopped by my local Publix and picked up a variety of flowers: lilies, mums, and sunflowers - they had a great deal going on, 3 bundles for $12.

 

To make your pumpkin flower vase, follow our tutorial here. 

 

This time I used much smaller pumpkins, but the directions are essentially the same.

I wanted the flowers to sit low so that you can see the person on the other side of the table.  I drilled 8 smaller holes around the larger middle hole - this allowed me to stick in single flowers and hide the edge of the pumpkin.   

 

Make sure you arrange your flowers from all sides. 

 

 

 Set the table with a contemporary table runner and add candles for ambiance.

 

 

And there you go, a fall inspired table-scape!

 

Enjoy the holiday with your family!

Who is waking up early for Black Friday sales?

 

I'll be sleeping in on Friday and taking it easy.  I might even get out the Christmas decorations ;)