Favorite 'Pins' Thus Far

I'm having a blast 'Pinning' so mo many pretty ideas for my home from decorating ideas, and sewing musts. I wanted to share with you all a few of my favorite Pins. I've been 'Pinning' a lot of built in bookcases, ideas I'm thinking about for our living room. I think built-ins would be perfect for our living room and provide so much additional storage not to mention more places for pretty things. 

{ via here }

I'm all about the floor to ceiling built in bookcases, with cabinets below and room for a flat screen is a must, I love the one below. Simply put floor to ceiling! 

I'm have a major crush on the bookcase below, I love the clean modern lines of each shelf nice and long. A nice twist on the conventional built in style. It feels so me. 

{ via here }

I've also been Pinning kitchens, since our kitchen update is in our very near future. 1st paint, then more cabinets and finally new counters, Hallelujah! The kitchen below is a great example of  using stock cabinets to create custom look. 

{ via here }

I'm also finding so many great crafting and sewing ideas, I can't wait to try out! i just need a quiet moment at home to whip out my sewing machine and get busy. I'm loving this idea for storing fabric, so clever! My little house doesn't have this much room, but I can make the baskets work in a closet { perhaps the sewing closet I want to work on still } on shelves to keep my fabric nice and tidy. I know my husband would appreciate it! lol 

{ via here }

I'm making a bunch of softies for Avery for Christmas and for some of my friends baby boys too! I'm planning on making Avery a cute cloud below, the ribbon makes it so darling. 

{ via here }

I'm sure you've all see this cute idea on Apartment Therapy. Super clever jar + plastic animal + glue + spray paint = fun way to keep the kiddos organized! I'm going to do a few jars for my tween, I know they make him smile and keep him organized. 

{ via here }

As I said before I'm loving Pinterest! All the ideas blow me away, especially the affordable ones { or ideas you can MAKE affordable } because being on a budget like our household is when decorating forces you get creative! If your on Pinterest follow me and include your link in the comments so I can follow you back :) 

What's your favorite thing(s) you've pinned lately?

Homemade Holiday Drinks

I'm a Huge coffee drinker and usually get the same few types of coffee unless its around the Holidays and there's a few more choices . So just a few weeks ago I decided to get the Caramel Apple Spice . I haven't had It since last year and completely forgot about it and Katrina has never had it, when she had a sip of my she loved it. So it quickly became a big deal at Chic Little House lol . As I was waiting in line I happen to glance over and got a chance to see how simple it was to make at home. I double checked with the Barista to make sure I had it right and now I'm sharing it online lol .


Caramel Apple Spice 


You Will Need

1. Cinnamon Dolce syrup - we use the Starbucks brand
2. Apple Juice
3. Cinnamon and sugar
4. Whip Cream
5. Caramel

In a coffee mug or glass depending on how warm you like your drink first add 1 pump of syrup for every 4oz of apple juice .Then add steamed apple juice (I like to stir the syrup and Apple juice at this point but I think it taste just as good if you don't ) ,whip cream on top then caramel , cinnamon and sugar .And that it .If you have had this drink or try it please let us know what you think .

Katrina likes caramel on in the inside of the of the cup (this is optional) I think its too sweet.

Katrina's cup of Caramel Apple Spice - lots of Caramel

My cup less Caramel, but still good!

Another holiday favorite is the classic EGGNOG . Even before I had "REAL" EGGNOG I loved it but I always just bought it from the store and drank it plain and SOMETIMES added Brandy lol. One day I had a few friends over and one noticed the carton of eggnog I had in the refrigerator . He told me that He makes his own and showed me how, so now I make it every year. 


Classic Eggnog


You Will Need 


4 eggs
1 table spoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of sugar
Nutmeg
Pint of milk
2 cups whip cream
1/4 cup rum
1 cup brandy


Stir egg and sugar together in a large saucepan; gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 18 to 20 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats the spoon this is to make sure there's no bacteria from the eggs I heard the alcohol kills the bacteria but I'm over cautious lol . Remove from heat then stir in brandy, rum, and vanilla. Cover and chill for approximately 8 hours. Final step - beat whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form; fold into the chilled egg mixture. Garnish with nutmeg or more whip cream (if desired). This should make about 8 cups

Please share with us your favorite Holiday drinks and/or even your recipes for these same drinks. We would love to hear.

Hasani

Black Friday Shopping

I hope everyone had a fun relaxing Thanksgiving!! I planned on posting on Monday, but decided to extend the Thanksgiving weekend a little bit longer, I hope you all understand. We didn't do a whole lot of  shopping on Black Friday { we didn't leave our house until after 10am! } talk about late, but got some good deals on a few unexpected items that made us smile. Our first stop on Black Friday was Best buy, we mostly looked around at TVs and CD's but left empty handed, then we headed next door to Target. Oh how I love Target, amazing we only bought one thing a DVD of It's Complicated. I love Meryl Streep and loved the movie and for only $3.99 I gladly took it home with us. Do you remember the amazing kitchen from the movie? 

{ via here }

Next we stopped in Hobby Lobby, its my third time there since my first visit a few weeks back. I picked up a few things for Christmas. Then we headed to Goodwill. I discovered last year that Goodwill has half off days on Black Friday. The Goodwill we popped is was buy, people had cart fulls of items. I was super happy when I spotted a large gold paper mache  reindeer and a mini one. Here's the cute set I bought for only $ 3.50. One of the antlers on the large reindeer needs repair, nothing a little hot glue can't fix.

Hasani thought I was crazy was crazy when he saw me pushing our stroller and carrying a large gold reindeer under my arm. Are you thinking the same thing? I'm planning on spray painting the pair glossy white, which will give them an instant modern look, kind of like the West Elm Paper Mache ones at $100 each. So cool, I only spent a little over three bucks to achieve almost the exact same look.

{ West Elm }



Oh and Z Gallerie also sells deer at $ 129 bucks a pop! The Z Gallerie version is white and glittery. It's much larger in person than the West Elm ones are, more like my deer which is over two feet tall!

Then we gabbed some lunch at Boudin SF, they have the yummiest bread ever! I love eating there, especially on a brisk sunny Friday afternoon. Too cute Daddy and Baby matched! Grey on Grey. After lunch we popped in Anthorpoligie, sorry no pictures, I just browsed, because I really wanted to go to West Elm. It's my new favorite store. 

I love West Elm's clearance section, so many goodies!! I took my time and looked though all the bins, they have a ton of pillow covers on sale and tons of dishes. 

I found two pretty green pillow covers, that I'd seen online and didn't think much of until I saw them in person. The green is so pretty and the circle dot print it subtle and delicate it adds a nice textural pattern against the green fabric. I also liked that the back of the pillow closure was done in brown buttons. I bought two pillow on clearance for $ 9.99 each. I also grabbed an egg shaped greige vase, they were only  bucks can't beat that. Do you remember the bathroom hook that I was hoping to buy that matched the Textured Bath Hardware I bought for a steal { each piece was only $ 1.99! } I found the hook in the store for $ 4.99, so I didn't complain. 

I made a few more updates to our living room in the next couple of days. I'm in love with all the changes. It's all coming together so nicely, and I love how the green pillows look in our space. It's feeling more finished & polished. Oh and we did buy one more item from West Elm, it had to be shipped so when it arrives, I'll share. Lastly we popped into Kmart on a whim and I stopped in their Home Improvement section and bought four cans of white glossy Krylon paint for a $ 1.00 each!! They where on clearance so I bought all the the stock they had left! A girl can never have enough white glossy spray paint. I already stared using a can on the picture frame { new artwork for the living room } I'm going to spray paint both the deer today! 

So that was our day out Shopping Black Friday sales, I'm so happy we popped into various stores and picked up a few items on the cheap that made us happy. You know I love a bargain!

Did you go Black Friday Shopping, and great finds? Where you an early bird or did you get a late start like we did, but still scored a few good deals?

thankFUL

I'm so thankFUL for my two boys, I love them beyond words! They bring so much joy to my life every day!! 

{ gratuitous cute picture of my kiddos!! }

Pictured snapped by my husband, his always takes the BEST pictures of me with our kiddos! :) love you Hasani, and so thankful for you:)


 Enjoy your time with you family and loved ones on Thanksgiving. I'm still trying to decide if I'll go out shopping on Black Friday, thanks to a %15 off coupon at West Elm that showed up in my mail, I'm very tempted! I really looking forward to going shopping w/my BFF at Ikea over the weekend :) Whatever I end up doing, I'll share my scores and misses. 


Any plans this weekend? How are you celebrating Thanksgiving?