Lovely Lancôme

Lancome Products are my Absolute Favorite.

Although I usually use cheaper makeup from Target or Walmart for my mascara, eyeliner, ect, I love Lancome's Duel Finish Versatile Powder!

It's the makeup survival kit used as a foundation. You can sponge on dry, over daytime moisturizer, for a soft matte effect (this is how I use it). It sponges on damp for a full-coverage, flawless matte finish or you can use it as a powder to puff on dry over any foundation. Although it costs almost $40 after tax, it lasts me between 5-7 months.


Here comes the good part! A few times a year Macy's does an awesome sale where you get several free Lancome products with the purchase of an item worth $35 or more. It's just my luck because Macy's sells this for $36.50.

Check out all I get for under $40!  In addition to my Duel Finish purchase, I also received the following (in bold are the ones I chose):

1: Définicils High Definition Mascara

2: Bi-facil Double-action Eye Makeup Remover

3: Choose your Lancôme Signature Bag:

Black  OR 
White

4: Choice a Serum:
Visionnaire [LR 2412 4%] Advanced Skin Corrector OR
Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate

5: Choice of Cream:

Bienfait Multi-vital SPF 30 Sunscreen High Potency Daily Moisturizing Cream OR
High Résolution Refill-3x Triple Action Renewal Anti-wrinkle Cream SPF 15 Sunscreen OR
Absolue Premium bx Absolute Replenishing Cream SPF 15 Sunscreen

 

6 & 7: Choose a make up look: lipstick & eyeshadow

Nude Look: Color design sensational effects lip color in natural beauty. Smooth hold color design sensational effects eye shadow in daylight, kitten heel, gaze, guest list. OR
Smokey Look: Color design sensational effects lip stick color in all done up. Color design sensational effects eye shadow in pink pearls, drama, pink zinc, & successorize.



Seven Items as a $97 - $126 value for FREE with my everyday makeup I needed to buy anyway!! I always buy my makeup when they are having this sale! Yeah, that's awesome!

Chandelier

A Little Work Goes a Long Way!

Here is one of my favorite and least expensive updates of all.

There were innumerable light fixture and ceiling fans missing that all needed replacing upon moving in.  As the dollar signs started adding up in my head I began to think of ways to keep as many things as possible in the house. Instead of replacing, I thought updating was the better option. This way I still got rid of the things I don't like and got something new at the same time...just not brand new!

There was a not so lovely brass chandelier in our dining room when we moved in. Here is the exact chandelier that I found online so you get the idea of what it looked like before. Not horrible but definitely outdated. 
                      before...

 

After some thought, searching, and shopping at our local hardware stores (which I surprising really enjoy doing with Aus now), I found the perfect solution.

Rustoleum MultiColor Textured Aged Iron Spray Paint

It works great, is only $6.27
at Lowe's and 

imitates wrought iron.

A little work goes a long way.  I had Aus take it down (and put it back up) for me. I removed all the light bulbs and went to town. A little spray paint on the deck (oops) and big stiff finger cramp later and finito! I don't think this picture does her justice but she's a beauty. She's more of a dark brown color resembling the other two chandeliers below. With the addition of some mini chandelier shades, I think she's complete! (will try to provide better picture soon)
                        after...

             

Instead of spending a fortune on a new chandelier...like the ones below...

Pottery Barn Graham Chandelier for $179
                 
                                                                  Ballard Design Talia Chandelier for $299

 ...I updated mine for less than $10!

Dirty Ol' Toilet

By the title I know you are already thinking..."No Way"!  But I say, "Yes Way"!

Our house sat empty for over a year after being foreclosed and my my my it was DIRTY.   After moving into our house and giving it a good deep cleaning, we decided to go ahead and replace one of the old toilets. We were able to clean and replace toilet seats on the others. The old toilet sat in our garage for quite some time before I got the idea to try and sell it on Craigslist (as the garbage men wouldn't take it with them). 

(I unfortunately...and fortunately...don't have a picture of the actual toilet we sold.

Sorry...and your welcome! This is someone else dirty ol' toilet. )

Let me just tell you how gross that thing really was. Not only had it been sitting for a year in our house but it hadn't been cleaned in over a year. The previous tenants left the house filthy. Add a year to that, some hard water stains, some sitting in the garage, and I'll leave the rest to your imagination. YUCK!

We posted it with pictures on Craigslist and to our surprise we had a buyer not long after posting.  That nasty thing sold for $50!!! Fifty buckaroos for a Dirty Ol' Toilet aint bad if you ask me...it's awesome!

Basic White Sofa

Basic White Sofa from Pottery Barn for $1299 to $1899 depending on grade plus $80 for shipping! Goodness Gracious!!  Do people really pay this!!??

Please know that I am a very clean person and would normally not buy a used couch. Who knows what has been on that thing. However, I found an Ikea couch on craigslist for $25. Yes, $25! You initial reaction was probably the same as mine. Gross...that thing must be nasty! After some thought I figured if it's really bad I can resell it for $50 and profit $25 or toss it and only be out $25 bucks!

One great thing about Ikea furniture is that all couches are slip covered. They can be completely taken off and washed or replaced with a cover for a change in style.

Ikea was having a sale on the slip cover for this particular couch. Usually for $150 I got a new slip cover for each cushion and couch for $50.  

After seeing that the couch was not in too bad of shape I went ahead and got the slip cover. After some lysol disinfectant and a good vacuum/shampoo, here is the finished product for a grand total of $75!
What?...Yes, $75!





With a little ironing and some fun pillows, I think this will look great! Add a coffee table and another chair and Brava Britton!

Console Table

 Benedetta Console Table from Ballard Design is $399 - YIKES!

My mom found this exact same table at Marshall's Home Goods for $100. Although I am more of a penny pincher than my loving mom (and probably wouldn't have bought this myself) I absolutely love it. What a great deal. Thanks Mom!

 

Marshmallow Pops

I am helping host a wedding shower tonight for a friend of mine. Austin's close buddy is getting married this weekend and we are celebrating his new wife with a fun girly get together! I LOVE showers! I decided to make some fun bride and groom pops. I got the idea from the below site I found on pinterest and decided to put my own spin on it!

Bride and Groom Cake Pop Recipe

Instead of going through the time of doing the actual cake pops (a lot of work), a great alternative that is cheaper, faster, easier, and more time efficient is to ... use marshmallows.

 Simply place skewers into marshmallows and dip them into melted white chocolate until covered. (Microwave is easiest for melting;about 45 seconds and stir well) Wipe bottom of marshmallow to remove excess chocolate with spoon or side of container.  Place upright on wax paper for 10-20 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.  Then add accessories. For tuxedos, simply dip each side into melted milk chocolate.  Use pointed end of an extra skewer to add the fun details.  Piece of cake!

 Ingredients/Supplies:

-Skewers
-White Chocolate & Milk Chocolate (almond bark works great)
-Pack of large marshmallows

Coffee Table

As you may know (from the "sold it" tab), I LOVE craigslist.  One man's trash is indeed another man's treasure.  I found this coffee table on craigslist for $40.  It was originally a banged up, scratched up mess. It was a cherry wood color (not my fav) with a shiny finish.  There were also ugly silver accents on the bottom of each leg. 
                                                   before...

With a little work and a lot of help from the hubs, we removed the sealant and stain with a removal product from home depot and bought some dark brown wood stain.  We spent about $10 on these products for a total of about $50 for this coffee table.We also removed the silver accents on the legs and voila!

after...

We got, what I think is my favorite project and piece, for a fraction of the cost of buying it new. Did I mention it's an extremely heavy piece made of solid wood. Oh Yeah! That's right!!
Compare:  Morgan Large Cocktail Table for $399 at Ballard Design

Lanterns

Park Hill WindowPane Lantern from Pottery Barn for $179

First off, Pottery Barn will forever be my favorite store.  I love the lantern look and have been searching high and low for one that I love for quite some time now. A few weeks ago, on one of my oh so often trips to Marshall's Home Goods I found the one.  I'm absolutely in love with it and only paid $40 for it!

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Craigslist is incredible and one of my new favorite places to find and sell some awesome stuff. I will be sharing with you the things I have sold on Craigslist that you won't believe people bought.

The story behind all of this Craigslist nonsense is one I really enjoy. As we moved into our foreclosed home with many things outdated as well as some things we no longer wanted after the move, I decided to try and sell some not so nice things on Craigslist. Aus (hubs) continued to tell me that no one would ever buy the things I was wanting to sell.  Without fail, I got this response from him every time. And, without fail, he was shocked, not only that they actually sold, but for how much I sold them for! Hah! I still love his surprised face..gets me every time! 

With that said, I know I will be getting the same responses from you. It truly is crazy and I can't wait to share these with you!

Recipes

Yum!

Enjoy some of my favorites and family recipes! I will also be posting ideas from other websites that I love for showers, holidays, birthdays, ect.  Where there's a party...there is FOOD!

Do It Yourself

Here are some fun and creative DIY projects that I am working on for our house. Join me as we try new things and fix up our foreclosed home together!

Shopping!

This may be my favorite hobby.  Keep up with my economical purchases for my wardrobe, home, and more. Let me show you my ideas drawn from my favorite expensive home and clothing stores and how I shop on a dime!

Just ME

Now that you know a little bit about US, let me tell you a little about myself and why I have decided to join the blogging world.

I'm an almost 25 year old married lady who enjoys the simple things in life.  I was born into a wonderfully loving navy family and have lived moving around the country and world my entire life. These experiences have helped mold me into the strapping young gal I am today. I'm somewhat of a science nerd who's a hopeless romantic and enjoys reading, laughing, family, nature, bargains, and of course shopping.

After becoming first time home buyers with my hubs we found that owning a home was a lot more work than we expected. We bought a cute Victorian style home that was foreclosed and needed some fun updating and style.  Being our optimistic selves we dove in head first with all the joy and excitement of a kid at a candy store.  Come to find that us kids had to use our own money to buy this candy and were too short to reach our hands into the containers. With a lot of work and more than a few pennies, things are really starting to finally come together.  We've lived in our house for 1 year now and have enjoyed every minute of it.

On a budget, we have already remodeled a half bath and full kitchen as well as a ton of small updates. With Austin's manly remodel experience and my touch of style, I think we make a pretty awesome team!

Join me as I share our daily adventures together as well as my DIY projects, fun cooking/baking, bargain shopping, and some entertaining Craigslist sales.

The Beginning

I cannot wait to begin sharing with you everything that has been happening in my life over the past two years as well as what my day to day excitements bring.  Here is the overview with a promise to share more later.  Instead of writing you a novel I thought a picture timeline would be more adequate. Enjoy!

I'm Britton and have been married to the love of my life Captain Austin for a little over 2 years now. Here is our true beginning.




 Our first date where the sparks began was in Naples, Italy in 2004. Here is our homecoming picture; just a couple of kids not knowing where God and life would take us together. A few months later we officially became a couple and it was all down hill from there.



After spending our last two years of highschool together we graduated in 2006. Both having our hearts set on different colleges we parted ways with the hardest goodbye of my life.  Unsure of what God had for our future together, we started a new chapter in our lives apart.












I ended up in Stillwater, OK at Oklahoma State University and Aus went to College Station, TX to attend Texas A&M.  We of course enjoyed our Big 12 rivalry and dated long distance all four years, making each trip to see each other, north or south, a special, memorable adventure in our relationship.




















In November of 2009, (our junior year of college, celebrating our 5 year dating anniversary) Austin proposed, making we the happiest woman in the world!  A wedding was in place and 8 months later we were married in July of 2010.   Best day of my life!!
 











We immediately move to Houston, TX for Austin's job and lived in an apartment for almost a year before buying our first home together in 2011.  Aus bought me a puppy for my birthday in Sept 2011 whom we named Palmer. She's our baby and we are now one big happy family!

2012 has been an amazing year so far that I can't wait to share.

 Please tag along as we spin this beautiful Webb of life!