Design Your Budget-Use Your Smartphone!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/108256107/on-sale-now-bling-swarovski-crystal?ref=v1_other_2

I'm all about saving money, but I refuse to spend 2 hours a day clipping coupons to save 15 cents here and a dollar there. My time is worth money. There is one luxury I pay for every month that I don't flinch on because I know it pays for itself many times over throughout the month: My iPhone! If you know how to use it, you can save 15-20% without even trying! I should really keep track, but I probably save an average of $10 per day,(yes, per DAY!) just by Googling coupons.

Google: When you're in line at the store, simply Google "[store name]coupon" and voila! Sites like RetailmeNot.com and FatWallet.com will come up with all kinds of coupons, and the cashier can scan the barcode at the register!

Apps: Coupon apps like the "Coupon Sherpa" have saved me a ton! Just in the last week, I've received a free frozen yogurt, 25% off Ashley furniture, $10 off of $50 at Babies R Us, $10 off of $30 at Bath & Body Works, and $10 off of $20 at Macaroni Grill.
The app "Red Laser" is great for telling what things are really worth, so you know if you are getting a good deal or not. I use this a lot for wines when I haven't heard of the brand. Simply scan the barcode with your phone, and it will display a list of places you can buy it with the price at each place.

Leave a comment about easy ways that you save money from your smart phone!

P.S. How cute is this phone case from Cellcaseworks?!?!
 

Trick or Treat!

For someone who doesn't care for Halloween, I still try to be a little festive for the neighbor kids... Simple, fun projects brought my front porch from the Grinch of Hallow's Eve to an autumn wonderland! I stenciled damask onto pumpkins and glitter glued a spider web! Easy peasy pumpkin tower! Mixed with a $5 garage sale gate and some cheap hydrangeas I'll plant to bloom for next year, it's a Happy Halloween at the Roberts' house!!

Black Powder Room

 

My long-neglected half bath has finally gotten a makeover! After having an entire great room painted black in my last house, I really missed the drama. I went with a flat black with a gloss black stencil, and I am so happy with the results!

 

I love my silver leaf lion head vase I got at the Lamps Plus clearance sale! I've seen these for hundreds of dollars at high end furniture stores, but I got this one for $9.99! Soooo over the top, but so is the whole bathroom. Sometimes you just have to go big when you go home :)

 

The lamps were a HomeGoods purchase for $19.99 each. I'm a sucker for anything with metallic and mirror.

 I'll be honest, the stenciling sucked... It took me a total of 8 hours to paint and stencil! This did not include painting the moulding afterward... I used the Marrakech Trellis stencil from the Moroccan collection.

Before...

After...

Wrought Iron Doors

What's the first thing people see when they walk into your house? For me, it is my glass office doors. Pretty, but BOOOOOORIIIIIIING!!!! I spruced them up last weekend with $40 wrought iron gates from HomeGoods, and I am so happy with the results!!!

 

                       

 

This was the best before picture I could find... Bad blogger!

 I had brackets made at a sheet metal shop(thanks Dad!) and painted them with an acrylic faux finish to make them disappear.

 I simplified the accessories so you could appreciate the beauty of the gate. Love!

A fraction of the cost of custom doors, 20 minutes to install(Thanks, Bubby!), and seductive, high end results.

 

"Wrought Iron" Garden Art

I've been looking for inexpensive iron art for my fence along a large stretch of grass on the side yard. When I came across this outdoor rubber floor mat for $6 at one of my favorite discount stores, I was sold! A little construction adhesive to attach a $2 wooden letter from Michael's, and wha-la! "Wrought iron" garden art!!

Gluten Free Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cake

I am so happy Fall is in the air! Cinnamon candles, Starbucks salted caramel mochas and pumpkin EVERYTHING! Or as we say in my household, "Punkin". When I realized I could combine 2 of my favorite things-salted caramel and pumpkin, I was in Heaven! Pumpkin cake with buttercream frosting and salted caramel drizzle..... Ugh! Now clean up your drool and start baking! This is the first gluten-free, dairy-free thing I have ever made where I had multiple people without dietary restrictions have asked for the recipe!

Gluten-Free Cake:
1 1/2 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/3 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Nutmeg

1/2 Cup Canola Oil
1 1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs or egg replacement
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1/3 Cup Water
3/4 tsp Vanilla

(For the "Glutenous Maximus" version of this recipe, replace brown rice and tapioca flours with 1 2/3 cups all purpose white flour.)

Frosting:
1/4 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread, softened
2 tsp Hazelnut Milk
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2/3 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

Caramel Drizzle
6 Tbs Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Water
2 Tbs Earth Balance Buttery Spread
1/2 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients for cake and bake for about 35 minutes or until it bounces back when you press the top.
Frost with the frosting, drizzle with the drizzle and top with rock sea salt! Enjoy!!

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

Ummm, so strawberries were on sale.....

My husband takes things very literally. When I asked him for some lotion at Victoria's Secret for my birthday when we first started dating, he bought me an entire sample pack with about 5 pounds of lotion, the matching body sprays, and one large of each of his favorites. Needless to say, we've been together 8 years and I still have an entire drawer of lotion. I digress. So I asked him for strawberries yesterday, and I got about 32 million pounds. Strawberry cupcakes anyone?

Ever read something that rings so true you want to tattoo it on your arm?

Start by making cupcakes from the box. Butter recipe is still my favorite! Put about 5 large strawberries in a blender and pulse 3 times, or until straberries are chunky. Mix strawberry pulp into batter and continue to bake folling instructions on the box.

Frost using my favorite frosting recipe!

3-3/4 cup (l lb. box) Powdered Sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup butter (2/3 stick), softened

1/4 tsp. salt

 Dip a few of the strawberries in Nutella, and place on the top of the frosted cupcakes! Are you drooling yet?

 Place sliced strawberries spuratically on top and leave some plain. Garnish all with white or green pearl sprinkles for a touch of fun.

Hanging for Dummies

Do you look at something with 2 hanging brackets and run the other way? No more! This is the easiest way to hang a picture, a shelf, or whatever you could ever hang! Here's what you need:

Hammer

Nails

Toothpaste(preferable blue in color)

A level

 Put a dab of toothpaste on the bracket, right above where the nail would go.

 Lick off the excess if you'd like for minty freshness ;)

 Hold the subject to be hung with a level against the wall and when you get it in the right place, gently press the brackets into the wall, just enough to transfer the toothpaste on the wall.

 Locate your toothpaste marks on the wall, and revel in the simplicity of this method!

 You now have perfect marks of where exactly to put your nails!

 Hang, and use the rest of your free time to laugh about what a pain hanging a picture used to be! :)

 Beautiful!!!

The Apple of my Iris

Last year in my daily browsing of my beloved Craigslist, I decided to check out the "free stuff" section. I'm not going to lie, that section scares me a little..... But 2 days after I had purchased Iris bulbs for $4 a piece, the title "free Iris bulbs" caught my eye. (Rest assured, I am always very cautious when I do my Craigslisting. More on that later.) I showed up at the house with a small spade and a Nordstrom bag. Little did I know.... This guy had 5 beds of Iris the size of my house!! He laughed at my spade and gave me a full size shovel and in 3 hours I had the entire back of my Jeep FULL! I planted them on my side yard so I could cut them and have them inside!

I love being able to go out in my yard and cut as many as I want! My office, friends and family are all receiving flowers this month!!