Giveaway: Better Homes & Garden Subscription

WINNER! WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!
KimL, you are our winner! Enjoy the magazine, and thank you for your support!


It's time to renew my yearly magazine subscription to Better Homes & Gardens and this time they are offering up a free subscription to a friend. And y'all are all my friends, right?

In the age of Kindles, Nooks, iPads, etc., I'm still an old school gal who loves to flip through the pages of a magazine. I tend to turn each page rather quickly at first glance--I have to see everything that's in there! I make a mental note of what order I want to read the articles as I go along. My favorite features are those highlighting entire houses. I pour over each detail in the photos, looking to see how each person's/designer's overall style is carried out through the various rooms of his/her home. (I try to remind myself that I know perfectly well that the photos are staged and that while the homes are indeed amazing, the homeowner always has some additional help in making it look exquisite!) The recipes and food features are usually the last thing I look at because, let's be honest, we all know I'm not a fan of cooking. However, I have found some easy meals in the magazine that I can actually pull off!

So friends, here's the dealio--
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Like the Yankee Belle Home Facebook page and then share the page via your news feed. Then leave a comment here on this post. Each will earn you a chance in the raffle--do all 3, and get your name entered 3 times! You have until midnight to enter. Winner will be announced on Friday!

And here's the rules--
You must be a resident of the United States, 18 years or older, and willing to share your address with me. The subscription must go to you and you only. No re-giveaways. Winner must respond within 24 hours of announcement to claim the prize.

(*If you have any trouble entering, let me know...this is my first time using Rafflecopter, so please be patient and kind! Thanks!)

Ok y'all! Best of luck!




a Rafflecopter giveaway

What I Bought: Nest & Trading Post Depot

Ready to see what made it home with me from Nest Home Decor and The Trading Post Depot?
(In case you didn't catch it, here's the Shopping Spotlight post.)

As much as I wanted to bring home the salvaged Sunday school sign or the old Post Office window, I stuck to a small budget and small items.

Y'all know I love me some mason jars--new, old, clear, blue...I want them all! This one HAD to come home with me. Seriously, it spoke to me. You know, like those Pier 1 commercials? It said, "You bet your glass I'm comin' to your place!" (I crack me up!) Look at that lid. Could you say no to that?

This canvas bag caught my eye right away as well. While it would make a cute and useful cross body bag for outings, I had a different idea for it in our entryway.

At $1.00 each, I had to bring a few of these little lanterns home even though I have no clue what I'll be using them for or where to put them. My daughter's room, her playhouse? The deck? For gatherings, parties? All of the above? I'm also trying to decide if I'll keep them white or spray paint them gray.

I love it when I come across useful items that I've been searching for when I least expect it! These popcorn bowls are the perfect size for my kiddos. They love popcorn, but not so much when I serve it in small metal mixing bowls. Perfect size, but hot on bare legs! My kids were as excited as I was to see these.

So there you have it! A little of this and a little of that. I added to a collection, bought some useful items, found an item to complete an area, and then picked up a few things that I neither need nor know what to do with...but I'll figure it out!

Did you go shopping over the weekend? If so, where and what did you buy? Please share!

I'm linked up with the Thrifty Treasures party over at Rhoda's 

Southern Hospitality.  Come on y'all...join us! 

Shopping Spotlight: Nest Decor & The Trading Post Depot

A girlfriend and I ventured out to Nest Home Decor and The Trading Post Depot for their Last Friday event, which is every last Friday of the month. We enjoyed live music, a glass of wine, and walked the floor over and over again taking in each and every item. Located at Market at Oaks, the two shops are housed in one warehouse to create one really big retail store.

When you enter the main door, you enter Nest Home Decor, which offers an "eclectic mix of home decor, trophy antique, functional items and seasonal products." The shop is about to wrap up their Christmas in July sale and will begin highlighting fall items soon. (We hear it's one of THE places to be for fall decor!)

As you proceed through the large retail space, the Nest becomes The Trading Pose Depot, which is wall to wall antiques, architectural pieces, custom made furniture, vintage items, and more. The owner, who served as bar tender for the evening, brings in new pieces everyday and is happy to share information about his treasures.

There was a large selection of salvaged doors and shutters. I was tempted to bring at least one home! I hope to eventually replace the door to our laundry room with a salvaged door with lots of character.

The first piece that really spoke to me was this church Sunday school sign. I could see this over a couch, in a dinning room, a large foyer, or the right sun room. With or without the letters, it's an amazing vintage statement piece.

The sign as it once was...

I had a horse very similar to this one when I was kid. I proudly rode that thing in my red cowgirl hat and matching boots! I was shocked to see the price tag...wish I still had my childhood one now!

This simple mint green hutch was just perfect. It was marked as sold and I would have loved to chat with the person who grabbed this gem! Where's it going, what will it hold?

This horse painted on a reclaimed barn piece would be adorable in a little girl's room. I know my little lady would like it!

Are you a Pepsi or Coca Cola fan? 

This metal post office window complete with PO boxes and letter slot was my favorite piece of the night. The green and black coloring, the font of the lettering, the metal, rusting metal...yep, it almost made it into my minivan. Well, until I saw the $2100 price tag.

Want to know what DID make it into my minivan? I'll let you know tomorrow!

Morning Muffins

My kiddos love blueberry muffins for breakfast. And, as a baker who bakes nothing from scratch, Krusteaz muffin mix is usually in our pantry. (This post is not a paid sponsorship. Just sharing what I love!)

I do have a KitchenAid mixer, gifted to me as a doe eyed bride to be with aspirations of mixing up homemade bread for my love and future babies. Truth is, I use it for simple recipes that I can handle that call for several ingredients. When I bake anything only requiring one or two ingredients, I tend to stick to my simple glass bowl and wooden spoon. This muffin mix only requires water and the supplied berries. The "fresh" canned blueberries is what sets the Krusteaz mix apart from others--they make the muffins taste less hurriedly-thrown-together-mix and more made-with-love-from-scratch.

Let me mention my adorable green depression glass measuring cup. It was my Granny's and passed down to me by my momma. Lover her heart, she is amazing in the kitchen and had high hopes for me. But I didn't get an ounce of her kitchen talent in me! But I do love me some cute cookware. This particular measuring cup is such a perfect size--not too big, not too small--and has three spouts. It was apparently a promotional item from Kellogg back in the day.

These scrumptious--EASY--muffins are ready in just 18 minutes.

My kids spend each of those 18 minutes asking if they are done yet. 

Hopefully, my kids will remember that I made their favorite blueberry muffins often, and will have no recollection that they were from a boxed mix. ;)

Flour Sack Pillows

Hello friends.
Won't you pull up a bench, snuggle in, and share a cup of tea with me?

I recently picked up two vintage flour sacks from one of my favorite shops with plans to turn them into pillows. And then they sat in a drawer waiting for me to figure out HOW to make that happen. They sat in that drawer for two months. This is not unlike me. My fear of DIY tends to win out til I get enough of a spark to forge ahead despite the possibility of failure. In this case, my sewing trepidation held up my sacks turned pillows project.

When I stumbled over two down feather pillow inserts no longer being used during a closet clean out, I knew it was time to finally stuff the sacks. I was knee deep in satin bridesmaid dresses, mismatched socks, and grunge era plaid...but I had to make my flour sack pillows RIGHT THEN! That's generally how my spark finally gets lit--when I'm already knee deep in some other project.

I grabbed the sacks and stuffed the pillow inserts in. Now sewing necessary! The first sack was a tall, skinny, and rectangular shape. Since the pillow insert was down filled, it conformed nicely. Unfortunately, a small tear in the sack became a much large tear in the stuffing process. I'm still trying to decide if this adds character...

The next sack was more of a traditional square pillow shape and the stuffing went much smoother. The excess fabric on both sacks were simply folded into the pillow envelope style---hence, no sewing! Yay me!

Now...does anyone know how to line a quilt without sewing?

This quilt was made by my great grandmother. I love the colors and patterns. But it isn't lined and needs to be finished. I'm too scared of screwing it up, and so it usually sits, folded in a basket in our living, waiting for my spark to hit when I'm fulling involved in some completely unrelated project.

About that tea...do you take milk and honey?

I'm linked up with the Thrifty Treasures party over at Rhoda's 

Southern Hospitality.  Come on y'all...join us!