Confession

Today I have a confession to make. Are you ready? Okay. Here goes. I love Duck Dynasty on A&E. There I said it. I love it. Everything about it. Have you seen it? It's absolutely fascinating and hilarious. Talk about simple livin'. They duck hunt, catch frogs, eat frogs, shoot golf balls out of the air, have funny little sayings. And at the end of the day, they thank the good Lord for his goodness. Need I say more?

Via A&E

I mean, you gotta see this stuff. Tell me I'm not alone. Just at least watch one episode, and if you don't love it, we can't be friends anymore. Just kidding.

But seriously. Go watch it.

XOXO 

Insta Friday

No words. Just pictures.

So Blessed!

Hey I Found This

{via the food lovers kitchen}

Going right along with my other posts this week on simple living and family meal planning I found this sweet little chart. How helpful is this?! I found it on Pinterest and now that I have the app on my iPhone, I can have it with me as I shop. I can't wait to whip this baby out at the farmers market this weekend!

Knowing what's in season will help us choose the fruits and veggies that are at their peak of freshness and most likely on sale. Cha-ching!  

If you wanna keep up with my yummy finds via Pinterest? Just follow me here. 

Happy Hump Day Y'all

Meal Planning

{via}

Confession. We eat out a lot. I mean a lot. Once I totaled it up for the month and well, I'll just tell you that is was over half way to the 4 digit mark. {hangs head in shame} But it's a new year over at the Ballard house and we're working towards some goals. One inparticular that I can't share just yet.{wink}Another being that we want and need to eat healthier. I mean who knows what's really in that stuff at the restaurants. 


We've started buying much of our groceries from Earth Fare. It's a little pricey, but nothing compared to what we were spending eating out.{yikes} We get all of our meat there, many fruits and veggies, eggs, and also our milk. And most of it's organic. My dad used to haul fruits and veggies from coast to coast and he could tell you some sick stories. I digress. 

{via}

So...we've started eating at home a lot more and I kinda dig it. Cooking has become another creative outlet for me. I feel so proud of myself when my family really likes something I've made. And let's face it...it's so much easier to stay home and eat with two little ones than it is to venture out. We do treat ourselves on Sundays after church and for special occasions. I mean we can't just go all cold turkey up in here!


I thought it would be nice to share two weeks worth of meals with all of you. Maybe we can swap ideas. I get so tired of eating the same old things all of the time. {ie spaghetti} For breakfast during the week, it's usually cereal or bagels. But on the weekends I sometimes make these and this. Lunch equals leftovers, salads, sandwiches, and Lean Cuisine mac-n-cheese.{wink}

{The Pioneer Woman}

Week 1

Monday- These mini meatball sandwiches from The Pioneer Woman and a salad. *Just a note...it makes like 30 so freeze some for later.

Tuesday- Crockpot Italian Chicken. I need something daddy can serve cause mommy has photography class! Ahhh freedom!

Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner. Yup. We love it.

Thursday- Spaghetti. I know. With the leftover frozen meatballs from Monday.

Friday- Grilled pork chops and baked sweet potatoes.

Saturday- Burgers and asparagus on the grill. 

Sunday- {out for lunch!} For supper we usually just eat leftovers, sandwiches, or cereal. We heart cereal around here.

Week 2

Monday- Grilled chicken and baked potatoes. Maybe a little corn on the cob. Yum!

Tuesday- Taco salad. Nothin' fancy. Just tacos in the salad form.

Wednesday- Baked ziti from a church cookbook. Delish and it makes a ton. 

Thursday- Leftover baked ziti with a salad and some yummy bread.

Friday- Grilled stuffed burritos from The Vanilla Tulip. These are crazy easy and seriously delicious. 

Saturday- We'll more than likely order pizza because I'll be stitchin' my little heart out in last minute preparations for The Big Love Fest. {really cool. sketchy name. come see me.}

Sunday- All day at The Big Love Fest. So probably lots of snacks and unhealthy goodness.

{The Vanilla Tulip}

Oh and because I love y'all so much. I tried to make a quick little meal planning pdf for you to download and use as you wish but I can't figure out how to link it to the blog! Grrrr. So if you can help with that then email me paaleeze!

So, what's for dinner at your house? Let's share some ideas.

XOXO

On Living More Simply

Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong decade. Like I was meant to live black and white in the 50's.  Just ask my family. I am a wanna be June Cleaver. I love everything about the good old days. Mostly I love the simplicity and I wish we could get back to that. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't live without my iPhone or my cable tv. But there's just something special about visiting face to face and spending time with your family instead of being glued to the screen.  


Lately, I've been spending a lot of time day dreaming about changing the way my family lives and does things. Like, I wanna have a garden. We {meaning my husband and father-in-law} did this a few years back and even though I was a brand new mama and didn't get to help out as much as I would have liked, I still found it really rewarding. Picking beans, stringing, breaking, and canning them. Shucking corn and freezing it. Don't get me wrong, it was serious work but when I opened those jars at Christmas and received all those compliments it was more than worth it. 

I also want to spend more time in the kitchen learning how to make things from scratch. Oh what I wouldn't give to have my Mamaw still around to teach me how to make her cornbread muffins, or her meatloaf. I mean it was amazing! I wanna bake pies, and make jam, and teach my daughters how to sew a button. I'm also interested in composting and raising chickens. But those of you who know me, know that I am sooo not ready for all of that. One step at a time Autumn! One step at a time.

It's kind of hard for me to put into words exactly what I mean by wanting to live a more simple life, but I'm excited about it. I wanna slow things down and enjoy what the Lord has blessed me with. I want to share so much with my little girls. I want them to know how to do things for themselves and for others. I want them to know and understand that we're only here for a short time and we must make the most of it.  


So here's to a future filled with homemade recipes, garden fresh veggies, reading about raising chickens, and simple livin'! Won't you join me?

Something Gooood!

So I'm participating in this thing call Send Something Good basically because of three reasons. One, it gives me a reason to shop. Two, I looove getting packages in the mail, especially surprise ones! And three, because it sounds like a great way to make new bloggy friends.  If I had it my way, all bloggers would all live in like a really huge neighborhood, get together for coffee and cupcakes, and talk about bloggy things because sometimes I could so use that!

Anywho....this weekend I plan on shopping for my 'person' and getting a package all pretty to send off. I can't wait to get mine in the mail and I'm even more excited about making some new friends!

10 of my favorite things

1. handmade

2. pink

3. vintage

4. lace

5. magazines

6. nail polish

7. fresh flowers 

8. cupcakes

9. my iPhone

10. lip gloss

Be sure to hop on over and check it out! It's to late to get in on it this time...but next time you soo should. Big thanks to Gentri, Kaitlyn, and Kristy for putting this all together!

Pretty Things Thursday {my first linky party}

Okay. So I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. Thanks so much for joining me for my very first linky party!! 

If you're new around here, Pretty Things Thursday started a few months ago. It's simple. PTT is just that, pretty things that I have found around the web. I choose a topic and then just find some pretty, inspirational pictures and posts. See. I told you it was simple.

This weeks post features all things ice creamy! My littlest sweet pea will be turning 1 in May and I'm thinking a sundae party would be so cute and simple. Here's some inspiration that I've found and I'm loving.

{One Charming Party}

{One Charming Party}

{Karas Party Ideas}

{Amy Atlas}

{Spearmint Baby}

{Shop Sweet Lulu}

Now it's your turn! All I ask is that you link to your post not your blog and that you add the little button from my sidebar to your post. Simple. I can't wait to see all of your prettiness!

Look What I Found {a tutorial}

Okay, so I was so sad when I received an email from Picnik telling me that their site would be shutting down in April. I had finally figured it out. I am for sure not any kind of photographer so editing is my best friend. I've been thinking of purchasing some editing software, but it's kinda pricey and as a blogger and handmade shop owner, I like to keep my costs down. So I Googled "free picture editing" and found PicMonkey. And I'm. In. Love.

Here's my original photo...

I know right...I'm too old for the tire swing, but it was honestly so much fun! Just keepin it young around here.

There are so many things you can do on the site after uploading your pic. Basic edits, frames, bubbles, and overlays. Oh and lot's of effects. Like these...

Cross Process

Dusk

Cinarama

And some new textures...

Smudge

Papyrus

Then I got a little carried away. You can choose the icon that looks like a tube of lipstick and do some touch ups. I got all crazy town and added a spray tan, lip tint, just a little bit more mascara, weight loss, a few highlights, and voila!

I call this one, "A Hot Mess!"

Don't I look lovely? Wait, don't answer that? 

Anyways...I'm loving PicMonkey. For now it's free and you don't even have to register. Soon there will be some new features like collage. I'm excited. Go and check it out. Let me know what ya think!

What about you? What editing program do you use?

Help! How Do I Organize?

I would call myself a fairly organized person. Not a perfectionist, or an organizational freak, but "fairly organized." Most of the time I can find what I need, what the girls need, and most always what the hubs has lost at the moment.{wink}

But when it comes to my blog and business, I just can't seem to get it together. I've tried this...

and this...

There are some things I like about both. I really like having everything in one place. Blog post ideas, product ideas, orders to fill, expenses, income, pricing, etc. I also prefer a notebook rather than loose leaf paper. The problem is that with a notebook, I run out of room between my tabs, so I'm pretty sure I'm going with loose leaf and some sort of 3 ring binder.

Another issue I have is that I would really like to take it with me where ever I go. Like in my bag. But I don't want to carry around some big ole clunky binder. 

This is where you come in!!! I need your help, like really need your help. Even if you're not a blogger or biz owner. I'm begging you.{wink}

How do you do it? Any tips? Helpful links? Please share!

DIY and a Shop Update

Although my little girl doesn't wear them as often as I would like, she does own quite a few hair bows and I wanted a cute way to organize them. I've seen this sort of thing with photos clipped to it, so I thought "Why not hair bows?"

It's very simple. You need a frame, chicken wire, staple gun, and wire snips.

I've had this frame forever just hanging out in my basement. I added a few coats of pink spray paint. You may recognize it from the birthday photo shoot...

Attach the chicken wire to the back of the frame with the staple gun. Make sure to get the wire nice and snug.

Then use the wire snips to trim away the excess.

Voila! There you have it!

I also added these little shelves in her room. But I'm not sure about them. What do ya think?

One more thing...I wanted to make you aware of a little shop update. 

From now on, any purchases made will need to go through my etsy shop. Up until now, I've had many, many purchases through Facebook and phone calls. I will still be able to meet up with you local folks instead of sending your items through the mail. But instead of handing me cash, you will need to pay using Paypal through my site.  As always, I am open to special orders! This will just make it easier for me to keep up with my income and expenses.  Thanks for understanding.
And speaking of the shop, look here for a sweet discount!

XOXO