Introducing...

My Etsy Shop is up and ready for your orders!

Mane Street offers headbands for adults and children that feature fabric and felt adornments. Currently, I have 5 designs for sale, but I'll adding some fun kid prints soon. Stop by and look around.

Check out my mini shop in the sidebar -->

New Accents

Again, I am fickle. I always need new visuals in my house to keep me interested. We have longed for a new couch, but it just isn't in the budget at this time, but new pillows are! I search Etsy, HSN, and West Elm and found these new cozy editions for our couch.

Doc was very excited when they arrived.

The beetle pillow is from Etsy. This shop features awesome printed pillows and the navy beetle was the perfect one for me. The knitted pillow covers are from West Elm. I love the texture that they bring to the couch.

The striped pillow is a Nate Berkus for HSN design. It coordinates well with the navy beetle and the pops of orange throughout our living room. All I need now is a new throw to bring it all together!

Do you have any new, low-cost updates to si casa?

Recovery Saturday

I survived another birthday. Yesterday marked my 27th year and I was lucky to spend it with lots of friends at a little house party my wonderful husband threw for me. I'm not really a party girl on the regular, but I had a blast hanging with friends and decorating a pumpkin present.

Thanks to all who helped make my birthday special and this morning hurtful :)

It's Almost Ready...

I have been feverishly working on getting my Etsy shop up and running the past couple days. I have my banner done and am working on inventory. It will feature my fabric/felt headbands that I showed you guys earlier. Thanks again for the sweet comments and encouragement. As soon as it is ready for shoppers I'll let you know. But here is a sneak peek at a couple of the pieces that will be featured:

Stay tuned...

Making Babies

{ My Glory Blue Hydrangea }

Unfortunately I am referring to plants and not myself. I am totally in love with my Endless Summer hydrangeas, in case you haven't noticed. I want a ton of them in my yard, but I don't have the cash to buy 3 or 4 more plants so I did some research on propagating. Basically you are creating a new plant from the stem of an old one.

I found a couple websites that offered various ways of doing it. One site was way to "technical plant geek" for me and another gave info that wasn't really doable, so I combined what I read and tried it the traditional way- put a cutting into water to make it root. This is my way:

1. Find a stem on your hydrangea that hasn't had a bloom on it yet.

2. Cut the top section of the stem right above the 2nd leaf nodes- so you have one section of leaves on the stem and the very top leaves intact.

3. Put that baby in water, and wait... Forever... for some roots to grow!

4. Change and refresh the water every couple days and put it in a sunny spot in the house, near a window works well.

Keep checking your stem for root growth. Again mine took about 2 weeks to get some good roots growing. Once I had about 1/2 inch of root growth I transferred it to a small pot with a 70/30 mixture of potting soil and sand. Keep your new planting in a semi-shade spot outside and continue to water it. Try to keep it well watered.

So far mine is trucking away. I think I'll pull it up this week and replant it to check the roots. I hope this helps some of you hydrangea-lovin people from having to buy more plants! Let me know if you have some success too! I'll keep you posted on mine.

Update: Jasmine Run

{ They're going strong mom! }

I'm back again with my monthly update on my climbing Madison Jasmine vines. I planted them way back in July with the hopes that they will eventually cover the columns that greet you on our front porch. Last month the vines were about as tall as me!

{ Now }

{ Doc is checking out the new sprouts. }

It has been a little more than two months since they were planted and they have reached the top of the columns!! Once all the big vines reach the tops, I think I'll pinch them off to make them grow more off-shoots to fill in around the columns. I'm so happy with their progress. After a poor experience with some Carolina Jasmine, I was hesitant, but they couldn't be any better! I'll be back next month with more updates.

Gravy on Sundays

Sunday mornings have been marked by warm gravy with biscuits lately. Erik and I are trying to recreate one of our favorite weekend pastimes at the house- enjoying a yummy breakfast together. We used to get up and go out to one of our favorite spots to enjoy a late breakfast, but we have been trying to watch our pennies so making breakfast in-house has become our new tradition.

In the past we would do the usual muffins with fruit for me, and eggs and sausage for Erik. But the past two weekends have brought biscuits with white gravy. Holy goodness.

Going out and letting others cook our breakfast, on average, would cost us about $15-$20 with tip. Now a trip to the grocery store for biscuits for 3 breakfasts, gravy, OJ, and eggs runs about $10. Pretty nice, and the biggest bonus, we don't have to get dressed!!

So tell me, what is your favorite weekend tradition?

Our Close-Up @ YHL

Our retaining wall re-do is being featured on Young House love today!! If you want to relive all the dirty details go here! Thanks Sherry and John for the amazing support and inspiration!

New Garden Addition

My hanging baskets were looking sad, so I find this little one to make them lively again. I'm not sure what it is but the progression from star shaped buds to vibrant purple petals is divine.

Any ideas as to what this is?

Garden Blooms

My endless summer hydrangea is popping out its last blooms of the summer. I went out and snipped off a few that had run their course from blue petals back to green.

These are my favorite. They look more natural and weathered. I hope for the day that my front yard is covered in pale green to white blooms. Until then these beauties are freshening up the living room.

Do you have any new garden treasures?

One whole Week

Yes, I know. The last post date is last Saturday. A girl needs some time, sometimes. I have been busy, sleepy, tired, happy, frustrated. Things are growing 'round the house and I promise I will refuel tonight and lots to share tomorrow.

T.G.I.F. - ( I hate the saying, but it is so true!)