Fall Mantle 2011

Yay!  We definitely have cooler weather today! How about you?  Fall has finally arrived and I sure hope it hangs around for awhile.  Yesterday, I showed you a few fall arrangements I've been working on and I'm still at it today.   I also went to Michaels yesterday and came home with several fall picks of all kinds.  I'll be working on revamping my fall wreaths today.  I just love when I get an inspiring idea, don't you?  But you'll have to come back to see that later.  Today I'm showing you my fall mantle.

I do apologize for the photos y'all!  I am back to using my camera.  I was using the Mr's yesterday because I'm having a few issues with mine, but he has his with him this morning so this is all I got.  If you read yesterday's post you know that I'm feeling very streamline with my decor this year.  

I worked on this mantle for several hours the other day, only to pull much of it right back off.  I think it has to do with where this mantle is in our room (centered on the long side wall) that makes me want to back off of putting too much on it.  It just overwhelms me when it's too much.  Since this is the only den we have, I've got to be able to sit in there without cringing so this is as heavy as it gets. Well, for this year anyway!  :))

I used these black and white plates last year and absolutely loved it so I knew they were coming back this year.

I found these adorable checked pumpkins in the Target dollar isle last year after another blogger showed some she had purchased.  The orange pumpkin with leaves was part of a three pack from Ross? or Marshall's?  The small filigree pumpkins were from Hobby Lobby.

I just recently purchased four of these lanterns on clearance from Lowe's for $1.50 each.  Can you believe that?  I know crazy!  I wanted to buy a whole pallet of them.  LOL!  Anywho, here's a few of the picks that I purchased yesterday from Michaels.  One is a glittery leaf pick and the other is pumpkin and pine cones.

I added a few older small leaves I had and ribbon to my candle sconces.

The other side is basically the same except for the filigree pumpkin is a different color.

Well that's my 2011 fall mantle!

Hop on over and check out more

Fall Mantles at the It's Fall Yall Party.

I'm really getting in the fall spirit now and loving this cooler weather.

What a blessing!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Easy new Fall Decor Creations

The temperatures are dropping, or so I'm told they will be and fall is on it's way.  I  spent yesterday putting out a few of my fall things and putting together a few new fall looks as well.  The candle with shells and the tray of shells on my coffee table has been replaced with a new candle for fall.

I am pretty pleased with this.  You should know I like to keep things fairly clutter free.  This creation fit's the bill for being large enough to be a nice statement and allows me to keep the rest of table clear.

I especially love that I used everything I already had for this as well.  The basket I purchased at a thrift store some time ago and had already spray painted black.

I also had already created the candle last year by adding the small pine cones (prepackaged filler) with the candle wedged in.  I never dissembled it, so was quite pleased to be able to easily center it in the basket.  I used some old books to raise it up level with the side of the basket.

Then I added the beaded fall garland wire I already had.  It is wrapped around the base of the glass.  I gotta have some sparkle and bling in there somewhere!

Finally, I added several branches of fall leaves that I've had forever.  

And there it sits.  I just love it.  Pretty simple, huh?

I put the next arrangement together using mostly everything from the DT.  I am still so amazed at how many cute arrangements that can be put together using things from the DT.

When I found these adorable little metal pumpkin bowls I knew I had to do orange flowers.  I mixed in a few smaller yellow and orange and topped it all off with the brownish pink grass stuff.  Not sure if I am really diggin that so much but it's staying for this year anyway.

And finally, I added a bit of black and white polka dot ribbon to give it one more punch of cuteness.  The ribbon came from Hobby Lobby on sale.  

So there you have it!

Now if that colder weather would just move on in, I'll be all set.

I am linking to the Share Your Creations party at Kristens Creations today.  Be sure and visit the link to see more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Do you have Nuance?

Hi Ladies!

It's Wellness Wednesday here at TDD, and I just have to share this new beauty product line I am switching over to.  Have you heard about "Nuance" from Salma Hayek?  Well, if you haven't let me be among the first to give you a personal review now.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stuff!!!!   That's how much I love it!  Seriously!

I am not sure how long her line has been out but I only heard about it when I  saw her on Regis and Kelly last week.

photo from gossipcenter.com

  I have been wanting to "up" my beauty routine a bit, so the timing of that show couldn't have been better.  It wasn't just the natural beauty of Salma that sold me on her products but it was her heart and sincerity too.  I heard her talking about all the adopted stray animals that she owns and the list of creatures was amazing.  She really seemed very grounded to me, so when she started talking about the beauty product line she created from her grandmothers recipes you can bet I was listening.  Then when she said they are sold at CVS because she wanted to create a line that was affordable for everyone, I was sold!

Be sure and enter the CVS sweepstakes basket giveaway on FB by clicking here.

Because I am so thrifty and also cautious, I started out with just a few products.  I chose things that I knew I needed or was currently out of.  My normal routine is to only use a facial wash and an occasional toner in addition to makeup.  Most of the products I use are Neutrogena.  Because I'm not getting any younger I've decided it's high time to beef up my routine with a few more essentials.  I've been noticing my facial skin seems a little duller then usual.   So as I scanned through several promising looking products (and because I am a skin care minimalist) and then I chose this one product only to start with. 

Straight from my own bathroom I present to you the Exfoliating Facial Gel.   It is fantastic!  I love how it is a gel and not foamy (I don't like foamy) and takes only five minutes to see results.  The first time I used it I saw a difference.  The product was gentle enough to do the job without irritating the skin and my skin literally had a new glow.  I kid you not!  I am so going to buy the facial wash after my current product runs out and am thinking very seriously of adding a few other facial products that I'm not going to mention here.  LOL!  The other product I bought was for my hair as it's been a bit on the dry side lately too.

OMG!  I cannot brag on this product enough.  Y'all, this stuff is sooo good and smells sooo divine!  Seriously, the smell of these products will absolutely do you in.  Ha ha!  The Intense Hydration Hair Mask is to be used occasionally but I think I am addicted to it.  It literally had my hair softer from the very first rinse. I will also be going back for the shampoo and conditioner as soon as I run out of my current products.  

I thought you might enjoy this video of Salma to speaking about her new product line.

I just love listening to her voice as well!

Hop on over to CVS soon though, as they are selling out of her products quickly.  She said on Regis and Kelly that the demand was more then they first expected but that more products are rolling out soon to fill the shelves.  Though I also noticed several blank spaces on a few products myself.

I really do plan to add many more of her products and possibly even try some of her makeup as well.  If you have tried any of her other products I would love to hear from you.  Please let me know what you think.  Okay?

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a great day!

I was in a Regatta!

Wow, what a wonderfully long and exhausting weekend!  I actually participated in my very first official regatta. Let me just say it was super fun! 

  I was basically just along for the ride on this race and was not actively sailing myself, although I did pull a line once or twice maybe.  I am usually not one for racing but this is a very special race that occurs every year around this time.  My husband has participated every year for some time and I've attended all the fun events but never the race itself until now.  It is called the Outback Cup Regatta and is held at another sailing club on our lake, Columbia Sailing Club.  It is sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, yum, and proceeds go to the MDA, Muscular Dystrophy Association.  It begins on Friday night with registration and cocktails and ends on Sunday with the finals of the J24 fleet.  This year we had the most participants from our club attending in quite some time.  If I am correct I believe we had a total of six boats from our club and several members teaming up on each others boats like we did.  We attended the Friday night registration party but I didn't bring the camera for that, only for the race.

This is Columbia Sailing Club the morning of the race.  They have a new clubhouse built two years ago.  Isn't it gorgeous!

The skippers meeting was held at 11:00am.  We had to leave our club at 9:30am in order to motor over across the lake to attend the meeting.  This means I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday AM preparing foods to pack and take with us for the race since we would be out all day.

Here are a few more boats arriving for the race.

This was one of our club members, John. All participants need to attend the meeting and have to tie up to the docks which means rafting up to each other to cross over to the docks.

More of our club members, Debbie and Simon.

They are shown here tying on their "class" ribbon before the race.  All of our members were participating in the Cruising fleet race. There is another division of racer boats which are mostly J-24's.  They are more hard core and race separately from the cruisers.   All the boats in the cruising fleet race are divided up into several different classes based on several things and given a colored ribbon according to what class you are in.

This is my husband making his way back from the meeting towards the boat we were on.

I did not attend the meeting and opted instead to sit on the boat and wait.

We were on our friends boat a Catalina 30, called the Dragonfly.

This is one of the owners, Bud coming aboard.

And the other owner, Ray,  talking to his wife and daughter who were on the way by land.

Time for all the boats to head out to the mark, our starting point and wait for our start.

Here we are all jockeying towards the mark to start.  This is where it get's a little dicey as everyone get's very close together.  I put away the camera  at this point so I could stay focused so I don't have any super close up shots of our competitors.  

Bud and his wife Audrey counting down the seconds before we begin.

And here, we're off!  These photo's were taken of us by another member from her boat.

Another  club member of ours, Frank and his crew.

Other sailors.

This boat was pretty cool.  It had brown sails which is very unusual, kind of reminds me of a boat you would have on your mantle, huh?

It was a beautiful and long day and the winds were very light making it slow going.  Then right after we rounded the island and were on the way back to the finish lines don't you know the wind all but died.  This is where everyone gets very hot and tired but we held in there and finished up fourth in our class.  

After the race we dropped sail and motored back to our clubhouse to shower and change and get ready for dinner back at the other sailing club.  

Ray and his beautiful daughter, Elizabeth are very excited to be going back to our clubhouse to get ready for our steak dinner provided by Outback.   Dinner was at 6:00pm which meant we all had to hustle getting ready and then drive our cars over to the other club.  

Sorry, I forgot to bring my camera back to the dinner.  The food was delicious but I was so exhausted that we ate and made it a short evening and got home around 9:00pm.  What a day!

Looks like we missed all the later fun.  I borrowed this photo of our captain and his wife enjoying the night from another member.  I don't know how they were still going, but I sure wasn't.  LOL!

I spent Sunday relaxing and revisiting all the memorial tributes of 9/11.  Lot of tears and sad memories but I am so thankful to know that we live in a country that is still so filled with love and compassion and the spirit of freedom.  Freedom that allows us to live as this!

Thanks for taking a look with me today.

I hope you enjoyed your visit!