Our Christmas Decor!

This Christmas is extra special to me because it will be the first Christmas for my husband and I as a married couple!  I am very excited for just the two of us to spend Christmas morning together.  I am also excited to start new traditions and create wonderful memories!  Christmas is my favorite holiday and I have always loved to decorate for it!  This year I made several new purchases since I have never had to decorate an entire house before.  Here are some snapshots of our house decorated for the holidays.

 Our tree

 My adorable salt and pepper shakers that my husband bought me when we were dating (I have an obsession with snowmen) they are magnetic at the mouth so it looks like they are kissing

Our towel was an early Christmas present from my mother in law.

Our dining room table 

 Our "mantle"

And our decor would not be complete without the Grinch....my favorite Christmas movie! 

I also made a wreath for our front door.  The wreath only cost me a total of $9 to make! 

My husband and I made Rice Krispies treat houses too!  These however are not still decorating our house as you might imagine! :)  They were very YUMMY!

 My husband's mad decorating skills!

My mad decorating skills!

Well we don't have lots of beautiful decor yet, but I thought for our first Christmas we did pretty well!  After all, the best part of Christmas decor is collecting it over the years and each piece having a special memory or meaning attached to it.  I hope to buy some more decor after Christmas when it is on sale for cheap!  I also really want a nativity scene..I just haven't found the right one yet!  well I hope that your Christmas decor makes you as happy as mine makes me!  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and remember the true reason we celebrate!  Give all the glory to God this special season!

Shopping and Saving...two things I LOVE!

I made a little trip to Rite Aid this week and got a few good deals!  My husband was sweet enough to stop by Rite Aid while we were out running errands and he patiently sat in the car while I shopped.  I do love to save but I hope that I can get faster at figuring out my purchases.  I think I spent a good 30 minutes in the store and only came out with a little...but saving the money made it worth it!  So here is what I bought...

This is the fist time I have done 3 transactions in one visit to the store.  Thankfully the man at the counter was very patient and there was no one in line behind me! :)

1st transaction:
Colgate toothpaste

After coupons (no +UPS) my total = 79 cents
Plus I got back $3.50 in +UPS


2nd transaction:
Visine eye drops
Skittles

After coupons and $3.50 +UPS my total = 61 cents
Plus I got back $2 +UPS


3rd transaction:
(2) Blistex lip ointments

After coupons and $2 +UPS my total = 14 cents
Plus I got back $1 +UPS

Oh and I had a coupon to get Rite Aid's coupon book for free too!

So my total out of pocket expense was...$1.54

Plus I have $1 +UPS remaining

So technically I only spent 54 cents!  You can't beat that!  yay!

It is time that I admit something to you...I am a NEAT FREAK!

I have always been obsessed with keeping things neat and organized and clutter free!  Most of you bloggers out there probably read that and thought...well that is not such a bad thing...but depending on who you ask it may be just that! :)  I take it to an extreme, I must admit.  Even as a child I would be obsessed with keeping my room clean and having things put in their exact place.  For example, I could walk into my room and tell if someone moved a picture frame an inch out of place...literally...I am not exaggerating, you are free to ask anyone that knows me well enough.  I am still this way today.  My family loves to joke with me about what we refer to as my "OCD."  Once when I was still living at home and my sister and her family were visiting, I came home from work to find that literally everything in my room was turned backwards and all of my clothing drawers and shoes were mixed all around.  My brother and brother-in-law did this as a joke.  They told me if I could keep it that way for the remainder of the night they would pay me $50...needless to say my room was straightened within the hour!  I know that is pathetic!

I joke with my husband that if anyone ever breaks into our house, no matter how good a job they do of trying to put things back in place, I will know it!  Well anyways, I literally am not able to rest if something is out of place or dirty.  I will sit on my couch and think about it until I have to get up and clean/straighten it up.  I also obsess with having things look clutter free and covering unnecessary things up in pretty ways if possible.  My loving husband has been so patient with me since we have gotten married and are living together for the first time.  I really thought this would be a more difficult hurdle in our adjusting to living with one another but he has really shown me love by allowing me to continue my obsession with keeping things tidy!  I must tell you that he is very opposite from me in this area, but they say opposites attract! :) 

Ok, well there is a point in me telling you all this.  In our living room my husband has made a home for his lovely ginormous television.  Now I must tell you that I love having a large television but I do not love that it leaves no room for storage to hide things like DVD players, surround sound speakers, and Direct TV boxes, etc...  Here is where my "OCD" comes in.  Since we moved in 6 months ago it has been driving me crazy that I have no cabinet to hide these not so pretty things away in!  I just do not want them to be seen!  Well I finally convinced my wonderful hubby to build me something to house these things in!  I am SO excited!  It is a simple fix that makes a big difference...at least my "OCD" self thinks so! 

All he needed was some wood, nails, black spray paint, and black material!

Gotta love that expression!

Here is the before:

Yuck!  Clutter!

And Ta Da!

I know in the picture you can see through the material a little but I promise it looks better in person!  He made this for me a few days before Thanksgiving so my Fall decor is still up in this picture but pictures of my Christmas decor are coming soon! 

Oh, and I almost forgot...a few months ago I talked him into covering the two black boxes on either side of the TV...those are DVD stands that were open so that you could see every DVD we owned!  Uck! 

Here is a picture before he covered those!

Well I am smiling because it looks SO much better to me!  Oh and I call the new cabinet my "mantle" since we have no fire place, I am going to use that as our mantle!

I don't know if you are obsessed with things being clutter free too, but I promise you that small changes make a big impact.  Look around your home and see what small changes you can make!

Recipe for one of the most yummy dishes ever!

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love food!  I am no chef by any means but I like to try out new recipes. So I thought I would share with you one of my favorite dishes in case you too like trying out new recipes.  I am a newly wed so I am pretty new to cooking on a regular basis.  This dish is one I have found that is easy to make and it tastes wonderful too!  So without further ado, here it is...


Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 pack soft tortilla shells
• 1 jar of salsa
• 1 can refried beans
• 8 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 frozen box of chopped spinach or 1 can spinach
• 1 bag shredded Mexican cheese
• ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning (optional)

Directions:

1. In a 9 by 13 glass baking dish, spread a thin layer of salsa (1/2 of jar)
2. Cut tortilla shells into strips and place on top of salsa, do not overlap shells
3. Spread 1/2 of refried beans in a layer over top of the tortilla strips
4. Defrost or drain spinach and mix with ricotta cheese
5. Spread 1/2 of spinach and ricotta cheese mixture over top of the refried beans
6. If using beef, spread 1/2 of cooked and seasoned beef over spinach and ricotta cheese
7. Layer of salsa again
8. Layer of shredded Mexican cheese
9. Layer of tortilla strips
10. Layer of refried beans
11. Layer of spinach and ricotta cheese
12. If using beef, layer of beef
13. Cover baking dish with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes
14. Uncover, put layer of Mexican cheese on top 
15. Bake an additional 10 minutes, uncovered

             Layer of tortilla strips                                Layer of spinach and ricotta cheese

Yummy!

I always make this dish without beef, because my husband and I like eating it that way and it is faster to make!  This dish tastes great served with sour cream on top (that's how we eat it).  It is also great to serve as a dip with tortilla chips!

So I am sure you are thinking all things turkey for the time being since it is Thanksgiving, but maybe you can try this recipe in the near future!  Let me know if you like it! 

I am linking up to Craft-o-Maniac and Skip to my Lou link partys!

P.S.  Just to give you an idea of how much I love food...my husband and I just celebrated 6 months of marriage yesterday and he gave me flowers, a sweet card, and APPLE PIE!  He knows me well! :)

First off I feel that I should tell you that I love to shop!  It is a bad thing to love...at least my husband thinks so! I try not to go shopping too often because 1. I don't have tons of money and 2. I don't have tons of money...see a trend?  Oh well I cannot complain.  I have more than I need in this life and I am blessed!  Ok well even though I try not to go shopping too often I am not a strong enough person to not go shopping at all, other than grocery shopping. So I think I have found a solution to my dilemma!  The answer to all my shopping woes is....get ready for it...Rite Aid!!!  I have recently discovered how fun it is to shop at Rite Aid...I NEVER imagined myself saying that! 

Rite Aid recently started  a new program that allows their shoppers to save money and earn rewards for shopping with them.  They call it Wellness + Rewards.  All you have to do is sign up for a Wellness + card (very easy and fast to do at your local Rite Aid store) and you are off on your way to tons of savings...I really mean tons!  After you sign up for your card (or before, because you can just sign up for a card the first time you go shopping....that's what I did)  you go to this website and create an account.  On this website Rite Aid has several short videos that you can watch to get coupons.  All you have to do is find the coupon you want and then watch the video for it.  Then each week Rite Aid has new sales and if you look at their add you will see that if you buy certain items you get something called + ups.  I will give you an example...in this weeks add they have the Crest Pro Health Clinical Gum Protection Toothpaste or Rinse advertised for $3.49.  When you purchase one of these items you get back $2 in +ups.  So really you are paying $1.49.  The + ups are used like cash in their stores so when you come back to shop next time you can use them to help pay for your bill.  These +ups print out at the end of your receipt.

I will tell you a little secret, I usually turn on both my computer and my husband's so that while I am trying to see what coupons I need, I can play the videos on his computer and don't have to sit through them and waste my time...because if you try to minimize the videos while they are playing they pause.  They think they are tricky but I am tricky too! Ha!  I hope no one from Rite Aid sees this post...oh well! :)  Oh and if you try my little trick be close enough that you can hear when the video ends because they make you type in a code at the end to verify that you are actually a person!

Anyways, you can wait to print out all your coupons at once after you watch all the videos you want.  They will be saved under the My Rewards tab at the top right corner of your screen.  Another tip: make sure you have enough ink in your printer when you press the print button.  I have learned from experience that once you hit print, that's it, their system will not let you go back and try and print them again.  Oh, and you earn credits for watching videos, once you earn 20 credits you also get a $4 off $20 purchase!  Every month you can get this coupon.

Ok so if you stop there with gathering your coupons and go shopping you will save some money, but I am about to tell you how you really save money!  The trick is to try and use as many coupons as you can on one item.  You are able to use one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon on each item.  The coupons that you print from Rite Aid's website are store coupons, they will say manufacturer coupon, but they are not.  So what you want to do is try and find manufacture coupons that you can use with them to save more money.  Where do you find these coupons and figure out what coupons you can use together?  The answer is Southern Savers!!  My favorite couponing website!  On this website they will tell you every week what the deals are and what coupons you can use together to get the best deals.  They will also list what items will give you + ups.  You are able to print coupons right off of this website. 

So after explaining all that, let me tell you what great deals I got this week at Rite Aid. 

I went to two different Rite Aid stores to find everything I wanted to buy.  At the first store I bought:

• 4 boxes of cereal bars
• Shampoo
• Hair Color
• Facial Cleansing Cloths
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Mascara

I used $28 worth of coupons and I had $4 +ups that I had from a previous purchase.  So after all of that my subtotal came to $1.37 and the tax was $1.44.  So I spent a grand total of...drum roll please...$2.81!!  I also got $5 +ups back so I can turn around on my next purchase and use that money!

Here is a picture of what I bought with my first transaction.  Sorry for the poor picture quality!

At the second store I didn't get as good of a deal but I still got a lot for my money!  For my second transaction I bought:

• Glade Lasting Impressions Kit
• 2 Tea Light Ornament Candle Holders
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Eye Shadow

I used $10.75 worth of coupons and I used my $5 +ups from my previous transaction.  So after all of that my subtotal came out to $5.71 and the tax was $1.22.  My grand total was $6.93!!!  The best part is that I got $6.50 + ups back so I can use those on my next transaction!! 

See I have solved the dilemma of my addiction to shopping!  I can shop for things I like...makeup, candles, good smelly stuff, etc. and not spend hardly any money!  My husband is even proud of me!  What lady doesn't want to come home after shopping and have her husband say "good job honey!"  I know I love it!!!  I especially love the deals that end up being free, and even better are the deals that you actually make money by buying!!  My advice is always go for these items...even if it is something you won't use...give it to someone in need!

Ok my fellow bloggers...I encourage you...especially if you are like me and love to shop...go out and apply for a Wellness + Card today!!!!  Why wait to start saving?!?!

A Little Fall Inspiration

Fall is by far my favorite season!  I have loved every moment of getting to decorate our first home during this season.  I love using pumpkins to decorate because they can stay out all season and and are appropriate decor for both Halloween and Thanksgiving.  My thinking is if you are going to spend time and money decorating, you might as well make your decor something that you can keep out for a while!  I thought I would show you a few things I have made to decorate our home for the Fall season. 

I apologize for not having step by step photos.  I did these projects before I started my blog so I only have photos of the finished products.

I made this wreath for our front door. 

I bought the wreath, pumpkin, and decorative berries from Hobby Lobby.  I love shopping at Hobby Lobby but if things are not on sale they can be a bit pricey.  They usually always offer a 40% off one regular priced item coupon.  You can print it right off of their website, here is the link... Hobby Lobby coupon. 

The ribbon and leaves are from Dollar Tree.  A little hot glue and whala...you have a cute Fall wreath!  I think I spent about $8 total to make this wreath!  Not too bad!

I also made these fun fabric pumpkins! 



I got the idea over at Little Big Nest Blog, if you want to make your own fabric pumpkins she explains how to do so step by step!  They are so simple and fun to make.  All you need is some fabric, a sheet of newspaper and a roll of toilet paper!  I just grabbed some sticks from my yard and added some Dollar Tree leaves, raffia, and the left over berries from my wreath for some finishing touches!  These little pumpkins have found a home on our dining room table along with some acorn filled candle holders!

I think to make all 3 pumpkins I only spent about $11.  You can't beat making your own decor...it is a lot cheaper (usually), you can make it custom to fit the decor of your home, and most of all you will have the satisfaction of knowing you made it! 

It's not too late to make some Fall decor for your house!  You know you want to...everyone has a little craftiness in them!  So I encourage you to try and make something beautiful and fun to decorate your home for the Fall season, and if you go to Hobby Lobby for any of your supplies, don't forget your coupon!  Have a happy Fall day!

Handmade Owls for Sale

I am now selling these adorable handmade owls! 

I will custom make them to the color scheme and/or pattern of your choice.  These owls measure approximately 8" by 8".  I can also make them weighted if you wish to use them as a door stop, etc.

These cute little guys are made using durable fabrics, coordinating button eyes, and coordinating felt accents with a plush polyester fill.

Below are a few of the owls I have made:

Fabrics I currently have in stock:

 multi color paisley (currently out of stock)

 light pink paisley (currently out of stock)

 blue and brown circles

 multi color patterned

 green and cream swirl (currently out of stock)

blue and green flower paisley

Those are the fabrics I currently have in stock, however, I can customize your order with other fabrics if you would like.



Cost for 8" by 8" owl - $20

If you provide the material that you wish for me to make your owl with, the cost for an 8" by 8" owl will be $15.

***Coming Soon***  I will be offering larger owls in the near future and will post when they are available for sale.

Orders will be ready in approximately 5 to 7 business days from date of request.

Buyer pays shipping costs.  I will deliver at no cost if buyer is within a reasonable distance.

Crazy about Couponing

Hello blogworld!  Since this is my first post on my blog I thought there is no better way to begin than to introduce myself.  "Hello.  My name is Katie and I am a couponholic." *bloggers* "Hello Katie."  Ok whew...I feel better now that I got that out in the open! :)  It is true though, I have recently discovered just how wonderful the world of coupons is.  I have two wonderful sisters who have shared some of their wealth of knowledge with me and for this I am so thankful.  Taking the time to research where the best deals are and printing and clipping all of those lovely coupons takes a bit of time, and I cannot say I am loving that aspect of the process, but let me tell you all (I hope more than one person will read this (:) when you check out and and see all the money you save it is all worth it!  So enough of my ranting, I will share with you what I bought a couple of days ago at Kroger...

First off, I never shop at Kroger but I was informed that they were having a great sale so I had to check it out...and I am so glad I did.  I won't take the time to list everything I bought...because honestly I know that is not too fun to read but mostly because I am lazy and I thought a picture would be more fun so that you could just see everything!  So without further ado, I bought 43 items which totaled to $77.52 and after figuring in the store sales and all my handy dandy coupons I only spent...drum roll please...$16.62!!!  Yay!

Ok my fellow bloggers, so now I ask you...are you a couponholic?  If not, I encourage you to try it out!  It may not even seem like you are saving much at first, but remember every little bit helps!

Oh and I have to give credit to Southern Savers!   This is the website where I find out where all the great deals are and I also get all my printable coupons from their site too.  This website is a life saver and it makes the couponing process so much easier!  Go and check them out!