august favorite things

At the end of every month I look around the house to see if there is anything I’ve picked up recently that I want to recommend or rave about to you all. I saw these bracelets on Kelly Stamps’ blog—they’re $5 each at Walmart—and since I’m there so frequently, I sought them out and purchased a couple! They also have hot pink, orange, and black with several style varieties of each. So far I have found them to be of a nice quality. They are nice and solid, and they open on a hinge. Kelly also introduced me to the Instagram account @WhoaWaitWalmart. They find some really cute things that are worth searching for at the store. :)


Secondly, I love these $10 simple v-necks from Target. I’ve picked up Peach and Heather Gray. The above picture makes it look really pink, but it is actually faded and coral like shown below. I could wear these tees every day. Just don’t be like me and splash butter all over the front when you’re baking. . . any ideas on how to get that out??
Merona Vintage V-neck Tee.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika!  I can’t wait to see what everyone else posts about!

Follow me on Bloglovin
Find me on Facebook
Instagram: @floralandfudge

Have a great day!

Come back tomorrow for a delicious S’more cookie bar recipe!

friday favorites

It’s time again for my favorites from the week! If we were meeting up over a cup of coffee and a donut right now (I would love that!), these would be the things I’d most likely be talking about :)

1. Almost-three-year-old FUN behavior

We had a box from Target arrive on our porch yesterday, and once it was unpacked, Nolan promptly climbed in, grabbed a blanket and Hammie the dog, and declared it nap time. Unfortunately, there was no real nap, but it was one of those “He’s never done that before!” moments :)
 
While playing Play-Doh, he wanted to keep making little pigs. What was fun for me was the dialogue that the pigs were having. I LOVE listening to him start to make up conversations.
 
2. E attached at my hip

It is the cutest thing that even at 6.5 months, Ephraim thinks he and I are one person. If he is not touching me, or in sight of me, he is in tears. I’ll admit that it’s frustrating when I really want someone else to hold him for a while so I can shower or eat. But for the most part, it’s quite adorable how he giggles to himself when I pick him up and hold him close.

3. Uncle Josh

Uncle Josh joked that he was disappointed he didn’t make it into my day-in-the-life post since he was out of town last weekend. So here you go, Josh. :)  The boys love having him around to teach him things like secret handshakes.

4. BLTs

My mom and I made some oatmeal bread the other day. We started making it at 3, and it didn’t come out of the oven until 10, so it was a labor of love! With some fresh garden tomatoes (from our friend Carol), lettuce, and crisp bacon, the sandwiches were so delicious!

The bacon came from Aldi—it was nitrate free and still very tasty. I am super impressed and excited about Aldi’s SimplyNature line. I came home with quite a few items like grass fed ground beef, sweet potato chips, and Clif bar knockoffs—all that I’ve tried has been yummy!
 

5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

We are celebrating this pretty lady today. Thanks for all that you do for us, Mom! Nolan is very excited to help you blow out the candles on your cupcakes :) We love you, Mormor!

Linking up for Friday Favorites with Andrea, Erika, & Narci.

What are your weekend plans?

Follow me on Bloglovin
Find me on Facebook
Instagram: @floralandfudge

pin-spired

Switching subjects, here’s a recap of the outfits I’ve worn this month. I’m continually inspired by pins I see on Pinterest. This summer I feel like there are so many maxi dresses on Pinterest.

I attempted to share in the maxi love with my new Target racerback and eShakti chambray dresses :) 

Dress: Mossimo Junior’s Racerback Maxi in “Hot Wire Aqua”
Shoes: Troentorp Clogs “O’Keefe” in White

Dress: eShakti  (I did a blog post about it last fall when I was pregnant.)

Earrings: Nickel & Suede

Another pin I found incorporates bright green with floral. I attempted to recreate the idea.

Shirt: American Eagle
Shorts: a.n.a. at JCPenney
Shoes: Crocs A-Leigh Mini Wedge

I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika today for the Favorite Things Party!
Also linking up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for July Pin-spired!

Follow me on Bloglovin
Find me on Facebook
Instagram: @floralandfudge

favorite things May

I have recently become an aficionado of white spray paint. :) I am finding more and more things around the house that I want to give a quick and inexpensive makeover. I love how they turn out with a fresh coat of bright paint!

After we finished off our first can, Steve went back to Lowe’s for more white, and he surprised me by buying Valspar chalkboard spray paint too! I haven’t used it yet, but I am already dreaming up ideas for it! The Rust-Oleum white is $5.37 at Lowe’s, while the Valspar chalkboard paint is a dollar or two more.

The first things I spray-painted were frames from Goodwill. I chose very plain, wooden mis-matched frames—and they took the paint perfectly.

I also covered a couple tin cans to make pots for plants, or pen/pencil holders.

This was our mailbox a few days ago. It was a rusting mess…

In addition to the mailbox, I wanted to spruce up a jewelry holder that Steve made me a few years ago, a basket we found in the basement when we moved in, and some large wooden frames that I bought for cheap at a rummage sale.

Mid-process:

And how they look now:

 
The white frames look really good against our all of our wall colors—blue, dark gray, purple, and even off-white.

What do you think?

Have you spray-painted anything at your home?    

I have one extra item to throw in for under $10—Candace Cameron Bure’s book Balancing It All for the Kindle. I was able to catch it on sale a couple weeks ago for $.99, but it’s usually $9.99. I’m really enjoying it so far. And I’m happy she got 2nd runner up on Dancing with the Stars! :)

 

Linking up with Andrea and Erika today! I tried to stick to the Red/White/Blue theme :) Happy Memorial Day!!

Follow me on Bloglovin
Find me on Facebook
Instagram: @floralandfudge

favorite things

1. Diane Bobby Pins
720 pack for $9.00
 
I got these bobby pins for Christmas after I read a recommendation for them on The Small Things Blog. They are strong, solid pins, and the 720 pack will hopefully last a lifetime! :)

2. Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake.
$5.00 on sale at Target.com

Here’s a photo to show what the color looks like on me.
The lip butter goes on as smooth as it sounds. It’s not scented, and it doesn’t have a bad lipstick taste. Strawberry shortcake is a perfect pink color. I can definitely see myself buying other hues!

3. Goody Stay-Put Elastics 
20 pack for $3.49

I have one of these bands, and I’m not sure where I acquired it from. Maybe my sister-in-law left it at my house a few months ago? For years, I’ve been rocking a low ponytail—not by choice—but because my long hair is heavy and automatically gets weighed down. Then I found this band. It stays put because of the little ribs of rubber along the band. My ponytails can now be off my neck again! Unfortunately, I went to look for my band last night, and I can’t find it anywhere! I checked the hair sections at Walmart and the grocery store, and they weren’t selling them. I’ll be ordering (probably from Amazon) very soon! :)

Linking up with Andrea and Erika today!

Follow me on Bloglovin
Find me on Facebook
Instagram: @floralandfudge

st patty’s day & favorite things

Ephraim says, “Happy St, Patty’s Day!”


We’ve been in the green spirit this weekend.

We made some shamrock shakes by stirring up a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream with milk, green food coloring, and a drop or two of mint extract. So delicious!


When I woke up yesterday, Steve surprised me with green pancakes. :)


And he made Nolan a shamrock! I was so impressed!
 

Also today, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika to share a couple of my favorite things under $10 :)

I saw a 25% off deal on BathandBodyWorks.com and snatched up a few of these sweet-smelling spring scented soaps. I love their cute new packaging in short & stout bottles. Individually, they’re $6.50, but you can get 4 for $18 or 6 for $24. I love that scent brings back memories so vividly. When I smell “Sweet Pea”, I think of my late sister Hannah. When I smell, “Vanilla Berry Sorbet”, I remember the summer that Nolan was born.

 
My other new favorite thing is this water bottle that I found at Walmart the other night for around $8. I wanted a glass water bottle (I find plastic starts to smell after a while). I like the pink rubber grip on the outside, and the rubber cork.

Hope today brings you lots of luck and gold and such ;)

 

favorite things

Linking up with Andrea and Erika again to share a few of my favorite things under $10 :) This is my food edition . . .
 
When I was in the hospital after having Nolan, I was super thirsty and craved a smoothie. My mom went to the grocery store for me and brought back this delicious strawberry-banana drink. I started drinking it in the middle of the night when I was feeding Nolan and eventually I couldn’t go a morning without it. I’ve been addicted for 2.5 years now. :) It’s really similar to “Naked”, but slightly cheaper. And obviously it has huge health benefits because it contains so much fruit.


This Land ‘O Lakes hot chocolate is wonderful. I’ve tried all kinds of cocoa—Swiss Miss, Nestle, Starbucks, even Ghirardelli—but this is the brand I prefer. I drink it nightly.


I’m not a big fan of cafeteria food, so when I was at the hospital after Ephraim was born, I sent Steve out to Sheetz (the convenience store) for some snacks. I wanted a meal replacement bar that was filling and healthy. This Clif Bar has 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and contains high daily percentages of calcium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin E, etc. I eat one every night when I wake up and feed Ephraim at 3 or 4. It gives me something to look forward to when my sleep is interrupted. And then I don’t get hungry before breakfast. Women still need to take in a good amount of calories when nursing.
 
My mom went grocery shopping for us a couple weeks ago and bought us these S’mores nut and granola mixes. I’m not a big fan of eating nuts, but these are like candy.

The prices I gave are all from Walmart. If you haven’t tried any of these, go ahead and pick one (or all four) up at the store. Let me know what you think! :)

“unglued” giveaway & favorite things

Linking up with Andrea and Erika again to share a few of my favorite things under $10 :)
 
I mentioned reading this book last spring—and absolutely loving it. This week, I challenged myself to reread it, because I’ve been struggling again with coming unglued. With so many two-year-old tantrums in my life right now, I often feel like throwing my own fits. I really need to give some solid effort in choosing peaceful responses in my moments of stress. This book gives advice with a Biblical perspective on how to deal with challenging relationships, busyness, comparison, and insecurities.


Lysa TerKeurst places us in different categories when it comes to our unglued moments—encouraging us to identify our behavior and then work on changing our reactions so we can have healthier relationships.

Unglued is under $10 on Amazon, but since I found myself with two copies of it, I am giving one away (see bottom of post)!

I adore these Sharpie pens. I bought some a couple years ago (when they first came out) that were pastel-y—and a little bit too light for white paper. But the black ones are excellent, and I’m excited to start using these new bright colors too. They make my handwriting look good, they don’t run out too fast, and they don’t bleed through paper.
 
Okay, so yesterday I stumbled upon Valentine’s Day M&Ms—in RED VELVET. I just love trying the flavors they come up with! These ones taste a lot like regular M&Ms, but they’re sweeter—almost have a cherry flavor.

To enter the Unglued giveaway, please be a follower of “Floral & Fudge” on GFC, Bloglovin’, or Facebook. Then leave a comment saying that you’re interested in winning. Giveaway closes Saturday night (1/18).

Thanks for stopping by today!