3 Ingredient Meatballs

Looking for a quick and extremely easy dinner recipe? Look no further! These are delicious - delicious like you can eat them any way for days and they're still just as tasty!

Meet my three ingredient Crockpot meatballs. I married a peach loving, southern man, so I wanted to add a little twist to the go-to crockpot meatball recipes and through in some peach preserves. The results were amazing and they're now a go-to recipe in our house. All it takes are some frozen meatballs, a jar of honey chipotle barbeque sauce, and a jar of peach preserves. Throw them together in a crockpot and they'll be warmed and ready in just a few hours. Eat them as appetizers alone or make homemade subs (my favorite way!) by adding some melting cheese and Italian bread. Either way, I doubt you'll be disappointed!

DIY Wood "Be Our Guest" Sign

Throughout my (countless) Pinterest surfing hours, I've been running across more and more "Be Our Guest" themed decor for guest bedrooms. As an English teacher/literary addict, I've always felt partial to Belle and you know the little girl in all of us thrives when we can sneak some Disney decor into our house. Because of this, I knew it had to happen. On my latest craft store trip I ran across this unfinished wooden piece and had "my vision" - fellow crafters, you know what I'm talking about. So this is what it led to, a very easy and inexpensive DIY project that can be complete in less than an hour!

What you'll need:

-unfinished wood board (they come in all shapes and sizes at Michaels or Hobby Lobby)
-wood stain in a shade you like (I mixed two for my color)
-letters to spell out "Be our guest"
-paintbrush

Steps:
1. Arrange your letters how you like them on the wood and stick them on. Make sure you firmly press them down so stain can't leak far under the edges.

2. Paint over the letters, simple as that. Make sure you don't soak the letters - meaning when you first apply your stain to the board don't glop it down on top of a sticker, instead use some of your empty space. This will help it from running underneath and ruining your design. When you're finished, let it sit for about 5-10 minutes, then take a napkin and simply rub the stain off. You can leave it on longer and let it naturally dry if you like, I just wanted to get that rustic look so I chose to rub it in after a few minutes.

3. Carefully peel off your stickers and you're finished! If you have some craft paint that is the color of the natural wood, you can use it to touch up any places where the stain may have leaked through. I was so excited about my sign I grabbed an easel and displayed it immediately! :)

What Love Looks Like

#whatlovelookslike : my new favorite hashtag. Want to be touched by something truly beautiful? Search this hashtag and look at the results on Instagram. People really have shared some moving, poignant stories or daily snippets of what love looks for them.

For me, today, it's this. Back porch reading with my new husband, at our new house, just loving each other's company and doing life side by side. Marriage really is a blessing, and we're just starting to experience it. How exciting!

Stitch Fix Obsession!

For those of you like me who are obsessed with pinterest-esque looks but have no idea where to begin - here's your starting point. It's an incredible subscription box service called Stitch Fix. For $20, you fill out a lengthy survey about what clothes you like/styles you prefer/sizes/etc. and a personal stylist sends 5 articles of clothing or jewelry to your door a month. They even look at your Pinterest board to pick out your stuff - how many of us have wished this would happen? Whatever you don't like, you just send it back for free! If you do keep something, that $20 styling fee is deducting from the cost. I really can't say enough about how much fun it is to receive a box of clothes specifically for me once a month. The hardest part is always deciding what to send back...

If you're interested in joining, check it out through my referral link here! You'll be glad you did!
http://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3561329

Here is a review of my June 2014 box. You can always leave feedback for the stylist or tell them if you're looking for a certain style in particular, so lately I've been asking for lots and lots of florals and pastels. I mean, c'mon, I'm honeymooning in Italy this month and need that romantic flowy look - y'all know what I'm talking about. You can also choose your budget for clothes so you don't end up with something way out of your price range. It's just too good to be true girls, I promise!
***Please forgive my messy hair/no make up self. I'm packing up my house, it's my excuse!

Anyways, on with the box. This is the first thing I saw when I opened the box. This pile = my heaven. My heart really did flutter, I swear.

A personalized note about your fix is also included in your box, along with styling ideas for each piece they include.

Here was my first item, a cute tank top. Very pretty floral design, but for $60 I felt I could buy this design somewhere else for much cheaper.

Second item - this very unique dress. A hodge podge of different floral fabrics sets it apart, but I like it. It's definitely unlike anything I've seen before and I think it'll suit me well in Europe.

Third item - a white polka dot tank top. Very classy and modest, something I could easily transition into the workplace, but it wasn't something I just had to have. Plus it came with a built in tank which I  despise. I threw in a candid for you to showcase "the struggle" - I'm sure most of you have had this 

moment as well. 

Fourth item - Another cute floral top. Loved the summertime colors, the style just wasn't for me. I prefer fitted tops or at least something a little more flattering. It was way too big and I changed out of it so quickly I forgot to take a picture, sorry!

 

 

My 5th item was a pair of pastel mint skinny jeans which (unfortunately) didn't fit well enough for a picture. The first item in four fixes that hasn't fit, that's still pretty awesome!

So there you have it. For only $20 (which counted towards the $40 dress I kept) I was able to have beautiful items sent straight to me, no gas money spent! I love the convenience and just the thrill of waiting to see what's in the box. Here's to waiting for July's to come!

 

Remember, if you're interested in trying it out follow this link:

http://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3561329

You just pay month-to-month, so you won't get stuck in a scheme that doesn't let you out at any time. It's wonderful, promise!

DIY Pallet Easter Bunny

This craft made me so happy.

I've been looking for some new, colorful spring decor to add to our (soon to be) new home. This fit the bill, and even Jake was excited to help me make it.

This is such an easy and inexpensive craft - plus it took very little time. The painting was the most stressful part and even that wasn't that difficult.

 

*MATERIALS*

• Pallet boards
• Saw
• Sander
• Wax paper
• Yellow paint
• Blue paint
• Ribbon
• Paintbrushes

Step one-

Find a pallet. Do not buy these, people. Go behind local stores and just look. They're everywhere, in great shape, for free. Our local stores will beg you to take these off their hands!

Once you have your pallet, you need to take the boards off. We don't have one of those wonderful skinny saws that does this so easily, so instead Jake had to break out the hammer and crow bar and put some muscle into it. It made for a good show! :)

Step two -

We used five pallet boards for this project. After laying them side by side to figure out how we wanted to place them, we measured them off and cut them to our desired length (about 2/3 length of the board). To bind them all together, we flipped our boards upside down and used some spare wood we had lying around, a drill, and some 1/2" screws. We used the wood to connect the boards, then screwed it into each individual pallet. 

Step three - 

Sand those boards down! No worries, you'll still have the rustic look - but you don't want to be picking splinters out of your hand every time you go to move it either. Jake just did a quick 2-3 minute sanding job on the top and around the edges.

Step four - 

While Jake handled the wood side of the project, I started on my artsy side. I used wax paper to free hand sketch the bunny I wanted, then cut it out. Once Jake was finished, I taped it onto the wood and began painting. We used blue, yellow, and pink ribbon - but of course you could do it in any colors you'd like, we just wanted something bright! We also have cotton balls to add for a bunny tail, but I haven't decided yet if I want to add them or just leave my rustic bunny be. 

...and we were way too focused on the painting to think of taking pictures of this last step, my apologies!

 

Easy Sunday craft = FINISHED and CHEERFUL!

Golden Touch

It's been a very busy few weeks. We've been house hunting, decor dreaming, and have finally signed a contract on a dream home we both LOVE. So, now my fun starts!

As I showed in an earlier post, my inspiration for my new office will be everything pink and gold. I love gold everything, and my current house is really lacking in enough gold touches to make me happy. Today I took advantage of the spring like weather and redid some decor pieces for my future craft cave.

First up was a collage frame I have hanging in my craft room right now, boring black and in desperate need of some color. I love this collage frame because it's so different, so I knew it'd be coming with us on the move. I used Rustoleum Metallic Gold spray paint, my absolute favorite.

All it took was fifteen minutes and two coats of spray paint, and this frame is ready for its new home! I'm very happy with the results. Now just to change out those pictures, most of which are 6+ years old.

As I was painting, I used an old shutter I'd bought back when they first started becoming popular decor to keep the grass from being painted gold. I had used it for about a year (and painted it a hideous grandma blue shade I won't even show you out of embarrassment) before sticking it in the back of a closet. Funny thing is, as it started catching the gold paint I was spraying, I started seeing potential for it to be used again. As what? I don't know, that's what Pinterest is for! In the end, it got a new shade of spray too and is sitting in my craft room waiting for its purpose. If you can think of any creative use for it, leave me a comment! I'd love to hear some ideas :)

Picking off the leaves that stuck to the spray paint :)

Wedding Invite Sneak Peek

I've been sketching and designing relentlessly lately trying to come up with a wedding invitation for myself that meets all my requirements from the beginning. Finally, I've got it. And guess what? It's absolutely perfect and the cutest thing I've ever seen! I'm absolutely 100% in love with my wedding invitations. So, today I'm caving to requests and giving out a sneak peek. You're welcome! I can't wait to broadcast the real thing and put them up for sell in my Etsy shop!

Birthday Weekend

First off, for those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing my sweet country fiancé, may I just take a moment to brag that he is honestly one of the greatest guys out there and absolutely the best, most thoughtful gift giver in the world. He seriously comes up with the most amazing gifts for me, and really outdid himself for my birthday this year. Instead of going into all the details, I'm going to focus on the "experience" part of my gift and our date: a trip to see Book of Mormon. Now years ago when we first got together, we made a "to do" list for life and this was actually on it. I love Broadway and anything having to do with plays/musicals. Jake had never seen a play, but had heard that this one was hilarious so wanted to check it out.

100% GREAT idea. Seriously, girls if you're looking to get your guy interested in a play for the night, choose this one. The show was consistently hilarious and never failed to get a laugh. Definitely not for kids though, or for the easily offended. You have to realize it's satirical (pointedly at organized religion), so yes it's offensive and inappropriate - and guess what, that's what's going to keep you laughing, promise!

Here's the opening number from the 2012 Tony Awards (the moment we knew we had to check it out as we watched along):

"Hello!" 2012 Tony Awards

Craft Office Inspiration

Out with the old, in with the bright and shiny! Thank you, Pinterest.

Free Printable!

It's time for free stuff! One of the things I've been doing for my literary inspired wedding is creating centerpiece/decorative art based upon classic literature quotes. I've come to realize as I've been making all of these that the greatest thing about them is the fact that they aren't part of the usual "wedding junk" that look beautiful on your big day, then sit in the garage or attic until you finally decide to sell them or give them away years later. No, these unique decorative pieces will definitely find a place in my house one day. They are in no way limited to weddings - they can be used just as easily in any room of the house! So feel free to download a copy for yourself today! The PDF below contains a 5x7 of both files. Just print them off, stick them in a cute frame, and you've got completely free (and adorable) new decor!

Click here to download!

Organizing The Beauty Army

I love stuff. It's a sad but true statement. I've found that as I've become more and more obsessed with subscription boxes over the past two years, my beauty supply "stuff" (because it's all so random) needed some major TLC and organization. So, of course I DIY'ed it. Thank you Michaels for your always present 40% off coupons and store sales that turned this project from a costly undertaking into something that only cost $40. Yes ma'am, you read it right!

Where the makeup goes:

The top unit houses all the makeup in organized and labeled drawers, and the bottom holds about half of the awesome bags I've received from my subscription boxes as well as my hair styling tools.

I also cut up cardboard to create better drawer organization for my lipsticks. Love this idea, but too bad 90% of my lipsticks live in a lipstick bag in my purse (if you actually have time to put on lipstick before you're running out the door, I'm very envious of you):

The whole shebang. Notice the rolling station under my makeshift vanity. This too is included in that $40 buy (along with the drawer and bottom unit of the makeup holder) and holds my lotions and mani/pedi supplies.

And one of my favorite Pinterest finds, my necklace holder. Been using this method for three years now, and I don't see it changing anytime soon:

DIY Save the Dates

When I began planning my literary inspired wedding, I realized that exactly what I was looking for just wasn't out there. My solution? Create it myself, of course. So that's exactly what I did for my save the dates a few months ago. I created custom save the dates to match my engagement pictures, printed them (for very cheap) at Staples on their thick cardstock, punched a hole, and added a little twine at the top. All in all, it cost me $20.00 - just the printing price for 25 sheets (100 total - a mix and match of different photos/designs). In fact, I got such positive reception and requests for them, I've opened an Etsy store and am now making them for others! The cost is $20.00 for custom bookmarks made for you. I have lots of different designs to choose from, and will work with you to get the colors/patterns you want. It's a time consuming process, but something I've really enjoyed doing! I know that there are lots of other brides out there like myself who weren't looking to spend the big bucks on every aspe of their wedding, so I'm enjoying helping them out one girl at a time! The link to my Etsy shop is to the right of my home page. If you're interested,please check it out! I'm so in love with my save the dates - every bride should feel like this through out her wedding process!

One of my save the dates: 

The most requested designs from my shop:

$10 Treasure Hunt

One thing you should know about me, I constantly buy books. I do mean constantly - as in multiple times a week. I check the book section in every store I go into. I'm one of those people who constantly change hobbies, but I do have one that has stuck with me since I was in middle school and that is buying books for my future children. Yes, I have been buying books for my nonexistent children for thirteen years now. Their collection is, without a doubt, over 300 books now. Ridiculous, I know. Maybe one day I'll give you a peek into my obsession, but until then you'll be able to pick up on it easily from my weekly book treasure hunts.

More often than not, when I walk into a store with a large book selection, I always give myself a budget. This morning I woke up and visited my small town's library sale. Because I could easily get lost in the thousands of books piled endlessly and spend half my salary on dirt cheap buys, I only took in one $10 bill in my back pocket. Can't go over your budget when you don't give yourself the option!

After an hour of browsing through dusty shelves and conversing with the sweetest old ladies in town (because I'm the only person under 50 years old who frequents this sale every month), that $10 turned into this...

So pleased!

1. The Jane Austen Book Club - one I've been wanting to read for a while!
2. The Pinballs - My favorite chapter book as a kid. I literally jumped up and down when I found this!
3. Daphne Deane - For the wedding...more about that later...
4. Dewey: The Small-town Library Cat Who Changed the World - Highly recommended by my colleagues.
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - A middle school must read for my students.
6. Sharp Objects - I love Gillian Flynn mysteries.
7. What is a Pronoun? - My favorite picture book series for teaching parts of speech.
8. What is a Preposition? - and again...
9. You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Railroad - My favorite buy of the day. Jake is going to love the irony of this with our kids and it's such a cute story that gives the history of railroad workers. It'll easily answer the question "What does Daddy do at work?"

Lip Factory January Subscription Box Review

It's here! I made the executive decision after New Years to expand my subscription box obsession, and have been very impatiently waiting on this gem to arrive.

So ta-da! Here's my new Lip Factory box. For $22 a month, this box is completely worth it (based on my one month of experience + all the research I did on past boxes). This month's box boasted an impressive $71 worth of products. And the greatest plus is that I can actually use every product in the box - which for anyone who dabbles in the subscription box world, you know how this is never a guarantee.

I'll break my box down for you so you can see this month's contents.

I'll say up front that I was really surprised with the size of the box. I only say that because other blogs I follow have made it look larger (impressive photography skills I obviously lack). I was actually happy that it was smaller though because it fit in my mailbox! This was what I found upon opening the box, Happy New Year to me!

The red paper at the top is your information packet that breaks down each product with its price and how to use it - basically what I'll be reciting to you in a minute. The black box is your treasure chest, and its contents are pictured below.

Impressive, right? That's four full size products and one sample. We'll start with the samples first.

This is a set of samples from 29 Preserves Skin Care Collection. Although make up is my favorite

thing to receive in my boxes, I definitely don't mind trying out new skin care products from time to

time. This sample kit rings in at $4 and contains products for "brightening, firming, cellular renewal, anti-acne protection,exfoliating, and moisturizing." Sweet.

Next up we have Teeez Trendy Cosmetics Mysterious Crystal Eyeliner. The shade I received was smokey quartz. The eyeliner also contains a sharpener and smudged, which is perfect for my shade. This has a worth of $16.

I was very excited about the next product, which I'd heard has fabulous wear time. It's a mix between a lipstick, gloss, and shade. The product is Bodyography: Electric Lip Slide worth $19. I can't wait to try this out!

The next product will be no surprise to those of you fellow subscription-istas. I think this is the sixth shade I've received from various boxes over the past year and a half. I'm still a big fan though. This is  The One Stick by Be a Bombshell worth $16. I love using it for blush.

And last not least, another TEEEZ product. This is an eyeshadow palette worth $16. I got a bright blue shade, which is out of my normal natural hued comfort zone, but still fun to experiment with. Based on the two products in this month's box, TEEEZ looks like it could definitely be a fun brand.

Life in the Fast Lane

I'm Ashley. I'm 3 weeks short of 25 years old. I'm an English teacher, which means I'm at least moderately insane because I voluntarily choose to spend my time with 65 seventh graders every day. I'm an avid reader, have a passion for cooking, and lover of all this DIY. On any given day, you'll likely find me in a thrift store if I have a few extra minutes to spend. Oh, and I'm currently planning an entire DIY wedding for this June when I'll be marrying my college sweetheart, Jake. So this my life, and this is my blog. Welcome to the life of a book loving, craft doing, penny pinching, future railroader's wife! Hopefully a look into my constantly changing, always uncertain life will give you inspiration you desire as we try to find stability through out this crazy journey we're about to set out on. As those railroaders say, no matter what comes your way - just keep chugging!