Bag Craving

So thanks to the wonderful Jillian Harris...I am OBSESSED with this fringe bag she's been sporting.

I've been wanting a fringe bag for a while but haven't really found the one that I liked.

This one is exactly what I've been looking for and luckily it comes in black as well! Thinking...I might need to have both because they are also super affordable!

The bag is from Aldo and it's only $40!

It's called the Leeton.

You can find it here : Aldo Leeton Bag

If you don't follow Jillian Harris on her blog, please do...she's the designer from Love It Or List It, Too. One of my favorite shows! Her taste is just so impeccable!

Check her blog out here!

Healthy Turkey Chili

The boyfriend and I really try and eat healthy about I would say 80% of the time. 20% being that he is such a little cheater! :)

So, just about every other week or every week I prepare a big batch of my Mom's Turkey Chili that I have tweaked just a little bit.

It makes a ton and lasts us throughout the week. I usually make this and then either have a vegetable or salad to go with it for lunch or dinner.

It's just something that is EASY and tastes GREAT! 

Here's what you will need:

2 lbs. ground turkey

1 bag frozen or canned corn

2 small cans of tomato sauce

1 can turkey chili with beans

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 can kidney beans

2 pkgs whole grain brown ready rice

fat free chicken broth

green onion (chopped)

seasoning to taste

I start with putting the turkey in a large skillet and season it how you like your meat. 

In mine, I add Tony Chachere's and some black pepper. About 2 tablespoons of each or more depending on what you like! 

Once that is done cooking, drain the meat and add to a large pan. Something you would cook spaghetti in because you're about to add everything to it now!

Next, add in the 2 cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of turkey chili with beans, 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, 1 can kidney beads, and the green onions.

Go ahead and mix all of this together and add about a cup of chicken broth. I find adding this keeps the chili really moist for eating the leftovers for the week.

Once you have mixed that together, go ahead and throw the corn either in the microwave or heat it up on the stove. Whichever you prefer, you will then add that to the turkey mix.

I usually cook this for about ten minutes on a medium heat.

Now, I get another large Tupperware container and I heat up one of the 90 second bags of whole grain brown rice and then I place it in the bottom of the container. Now, I will pour the turkey mix on top of the rice and then heat up and add the second bag.

Once you're done, give this a nice mix and you're good to go!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! It'll be great for the winter months!

DIY Fall Wreath

So even though my site is under construction, I just couldn't resist writing a post and sharing the wreath I made a couple weeks ago!

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take as many pictures as I should, but, it's pretty easy to do!

I have watched so many tutorials on how to make a wreath but I just decided to trial and error it. 

I bought:

1-24" Wire Wreath (Hobby Lobby)

2-Rolls of 5" Orange Deco Mesh (Hobby Lobby)

1-Roll of Green Chevron Burlap (Hobby Lobby)

I also had some leftover twine from another project so I decided to use that to tie my deco mesh to the wreath itself. 

Most tutorials will tell you to use pipe cleaners of whatever color the main part of your wreath will be. But, this worked out just fine for me! Only because I forgot to get pipe cleaner! Oops!

The easiest way I decided this was going to work for was to simply tie down the first part of the deco mesh to the wreath in a bunching fashion. I eventually did this ALL the way around the wreath just bunching and tying them down until I reached where I started. I started from the middle, second row. This is what it looked like...

So, of course that wasn't enough so I went around the most outside area of the wire wreath again with the deco mesh. Finally, I got the green chevron burlap ribbon and made a bow out of it to place on the top. So, my bow skills aren't exactly up to par, but I am so getting there! (I think!) Haha.

So here is the finished product.

I definitely think I did an okay job on my first try! It was really fun to make and kind of even looks like a pumpkin so, it would be a good Halloween/Thanksgiving/Fall transition. Was that enough / for you?! 

Under Construction

Hey guys! :) 

As you can see my blog is a little bit of a mess right now, I'm trying to get a new template together and make it look awesome!

I have so many new posts to get to and can't wait to share them with you!

Should be back up and running this week! 

Filling Up An Empty Wall

We have lived in our house for about 2-3 months now and I am slowly but surely filling up all the empty walls I can. It's finally starting to fill up and I am just LOVING it! :)

In our dining room entry way...we have this MASSIVE empty wall space and I could not decide what we wanted to do with it. I wish I would have taken a before photo to show the wall but I completely forgot.

We just got back from Hawaii and I wanted to frame some of the photos that we took there and display them around the house. But, I really didn't have anywhere to put them because I had so many other frames everywhere else...so I decided to tackle the bare wall.

Initially when I went to Hobby Lobby I got 14 of the same frame but different sizes. I thought I would go for a simple look and have all the same frame just turned different ways etc. In that room I have a really beautiful large dark wood dining table with eight chairs and a hutch. Very minimal decoration going on in there. 

So after standing in Hobby Lobby for a while and talking to a coworker...she convinced me to go the rustic route with my frames. I found that my taste at home has turned REALLY rustic. Lots of burlap. She told me that I needed to venture out and add some color. So, I decided to do it!

Here's what I started with...

Make sure you head to Hobby Lobby when these babies are on sale! 50% off was heaven!!! 

I laid them out how I thought they were going to go...and with the help from my boyfriend we went a different route.

I also had some sconces that have been sitting in a spare room since we moved in and I thought maybe it would be nice to incorporate them into the wall...it turned out awesome! 

Here's the finished product...

Not the best picture quality...I was literally almost on top of my table trying to take this picture! Eventually I will add some more to the tops, bottoms, and sides. The wall is still a little empty looking. 

Also, a little tip for hanging...

I used the toothpaste trick. Where you place toothpaste on the back where the hanger is and place it on the wall where you want it. That way you know exactly where to place the nail. Best trick I've ever learned! :)