Our Gallery Wall

So I started seeing a lot of these things called "Gallery Walls" on the Pinterest a while ago, and I pretty much fell in love instantly. I loved the varied sizes and shapes, the really personal touches and funky pieces, and the eclectic feel.

The decor in our house I would describe as "classic eclectic" if that makes any sense. We have lots of dark wood, leather, and granite, a lot of classic pieces. But we also have some funky stuff, like vintage bakery signs, toys, and brightly colored details.

So I felt like a gallery wall with some pictures and some prints in different sizes, shapes, and colors (without going too crazy) would go well with the feel of our home.

I started gathering a few pieces we already had that I knew I wanted to feature, which was great because not only did I get to finally use some pictures that I had been wanting to hang for some time, it also cut down on the amount of money I had to spend, so a definite win-win!

For the prints and pictures that needed frames, I actually went to the dollar store and got everything I needed for less than $10! For the pictures that needed matting, I used scrapbooking paper I already had in different colors and patterns, and cut them to the size of the frames.

If you need to print some of your pictures, try Shutterfly. They are pretty reasonable, and they have special deals from time to time. They were running a special for a free calendar so I ordered the pictures I wanted in the calendar, cut them out of the calendar, and voila! Free prints. I just had to pay shipping!

So the moral of the story is that you don't have to spend a fortune to create a lovely and meaningful gallery wall.

Some tips I picked up:

1. Start out by deciding what look you are going for. Do you want a more eclectic feel with varied shapes, sizes, colors, and types of wall hangings? Or do you prefer a more uniform look?

2. Determine what you can use from what you already have around your home- pictures you've been wanting to hang, original artwork by you and/or your children, keepsakes and mementos, etc. There really is no "right" or "wrong" way to do it, it's whatever reflects your family and home best!

3. Supplement what you have with pieces you love, whether found online or in a store. There are tons of great free printables online, or you can find some varied and unique pieces in gift shops, antique shops, thrift stores, and more.

4. Don't be afraid to use frames you already have or buy cheap ones at the dollar store- typically in a  gallery wall the frames aren't the focus, so they don't have to be super expensive to get the job done.

5. DO NOT start hammering nails into the wall until you figure out the layout you want! Take pieces of paper cut to the size and shape of each piece and tape them on the wall (with painter's tape) in different arrangements until you get the one you like. This will save you a bunch of extra holes in the wall!

Have you ever done a gallery wall? Do you have any tips to share?

A Hot Southern Mess

Hump Day Confessions

I have 100 cupcakes to bake this weekend and I am so not feeling ready for this. Every time I have a cake job these days I get this "Ugh I haven't done this in a while, I feel off my game" feeling before I start, but then I get going and it's like second nature to me and I pretty much breeze through it. I guess when you spend 2 years baking and icing a case full of cupcakes (among other things) 5 days a week you get efficient at it and when you go back to it, it's like riding a bike.  #icingfordayzzz

I think I found the perfect printable for my kitchen, you guys

Y'all. These shoes that are on my Spring Must-Haves list are on sale at Target, this week only,(because they like to torture me) and I'm supposed to be done with any clothes spending this month. Can I get a rain check on that sale until April 1st? Pwetty pwease? #budget

I feel like I should clarify something- none of these links to clothes and all that I post are affiliate links. I was reading recently about how apparently some bloggers who use affiliate links aren't very clear about it (although all the blogs I read are very clear about it and have disclaimers on every post, so IDK?) but none of mine are at this point. Not that it's at all a problem for bloggers to do affiliate links, I think it's awesome! But I actually have no idea how to even do the affiliate link thing and I don't think I'm cool enough yet. Maybe someday I will but if I do, I promise I will always let you know! #babyblogger

Have you ever had your quads get so sore and tight during a workout that you literally can't keep going? Like, if I do one more of these squats or jumps I'm going to land on my face? That was definitely not me on Monday during Plyo Fix #lies

I get irrationally angry and want to throw things at the TV screen when I get to that point and can't complete a set. It just makes me so mad because I want to be able to do it but my body is like "Girl, please." I may growl at the people on the workout DVD a little but no one can prove it. #Adamcouldtotallyproveit

The "Check Engine" light has been on in our car for longer than I would like to admit. We should really probably get that checked... #oops

I just created a snack consisting of chocolate graham crackers + cookie butter + bittersweet chocolate chips and it's my new favorite snack. I would post a picture but I ate it too quickly and it's gone now. #imayhaveaproblem

What do you need to get off your chest today? 

5 Ways to Earn Free Gift Cards

WARNING- Ridiculously long but hopefully informative post ahead! 

I don't know about you, but with trying to maintain a budget and watch our extraneous spending, I'm always on the lookout for good deals, coupons, and ways to make the most of our money. Of course the ideal is to never eat out or go shopping for anything other than necessities, but seriously, how boring would that be?? Being disciplined is great, but it helps a lot  to have a treat now and then!

That's where gift cards can come in. For my birthday this past year I was so blessed by my lovely friends with several gift cards to Starbucks and various restaurants. I was so excited because I knew that meant some coffee treats and nights out with Adam! It's so nice to have a way to treat ourselves without spending as much of what I call our "Entertainment" budget. As I used those cards I thought about how great it would be to always have one or two gift cards to our favorite restaurants handy for when we wanted a night out or were just too busy with no time to cook!

I had heard of sites where you can earn points towards various rewards, some of which were gift cards. So I signed up with several and have been using them for a few months now. I thought I would share the ones I use in hopes that it might help you earn some freebies too! I know a lot of you already know about and/or use these sites, but hopefully this will help someone who may not have known! These are all free to sign up, and you can start earning points immediately!

I was not compensated for this post, but some of these are my referral link to the site, and I receive credit if you sign up under my link. Thank you! 

One

Swagbucks

 This is probably my most used site for earning gift cards. There are many different ways you can earn "SB's", but these are the ones I use the most:

+Daily Poll, NOSO's, and Encrave- These only pay 1 or 2 Swagbucks a piece, but they are pretty quick and easy, and you can do them once a day.

+Surveys- These pay out a lot more (generally anywhere from 30-200 Swagbucks per survey), but they are more time consuming, and can sometimes be frustrating if you get disqualified a lot. It asks several qualifying questions, and if you don't fit the demographic they are looking for, it will kick you out and you only get 1 Swagbuck for your trouble. Still, surveys are the way I get most of mine.

+Shop and Earn- This is great if you do a lot of online shopping. The amount of bucks you earn per purchase varies by store and sometimes even by season, but typically you are earning around 1-10 SB's per dollar, or 1% to 10% cash back. These also take longer to credit to your account, so you can't spend them right away. According to the Swagbucks website it can take up to 90 days to credit to your account, but I've never had it take that long.

+Coupons- This one's pretty cool, especially if you use grocery coupons- if you print your coupons through Swagbucks, you get 10 SB per coupon redeemed (You don't get the SB unless you actually redeem the coupon, you can't just print it). I'm going to use coupons anyway, so why not get a little reward for it?

+Search- This is when you use the search on the Swagbucks page OR you search through the toolbar, which you can install in your browser if you prefer to not have to go to the website every time you want to search the internet. It's random, you won't get rewarded every time you search, but again, if you're searching the internet anyway, might as well do it through SB and occasionally earn some SB's for it!

As I said there are many more ways to earn on the site, but these are the ones I use the most often and have the most success with. 

Two 

MyPoints

This one I use the most after Swagbucks. It's similar, but there aren't as many ways to earn. It's really more about cash back on purchases.

+Shop- this is set up the same as Swagbucks in that when you click on the link to the site from MyPoints.com, you will automatically get points credited to your account when you purchase. So for example if you need to buy something on Amazon.com, first go to MyPoints and sign into your account, then click on "shop", find the Amazon.com link and click on it, it will take you to Amazon and now just shop as usual. Again it takes some time to receive credit for the purchase.

*When I am making a purchase online I usually check both Swagbucks and MyPoints to see who is offering the better cash back percentage on that particular site. It's always changing too, so check every time before you make a purchase!*

+Surveys- You can earn about 50 points per survey usually, but they only have about 2 surveys available per day, so not as many as Swagbucks. If you are disqualified from the survey, you do get still get 10 points for your trouble.

+Search- The reward for searching is a little different here- it's more guaranteed but not as often as Swagbucks. On MyPoints you have to hit a certain amount of searches through their search engine (or toolbar) each month, and then you will definitely get a certain amount of points based on how many searches you did that month.

+Coupons- This one also has the option to print coupons and receive points for each one redeemed. You get 10 points for each coupon redeemed, and if you redeem 10 or more in a month, you get 25 bonus points.

+Bonus Mail- If you don't mind a little extra email (I KNOW, we all get too much) this is a super quick and easy way to earn points. They usually send 2 or 3 a day, and all you have to do is click the link to the site being advertised (Like Walmart.com, etc.) and you get 5 points, no purchase necessary. I do this every day and it adds up!

These next two are surveys only, and I don't use them as much but I have gotten a few goodies with them! 

Three

Ipsos I-say

+ The surveys for this one pay 45 or 90 points a piece, but there aren't a whole lot available each day, so I just do them when I can and don't focus too much of my efforts on it. It takes me a lot longer to earn rewards, so I just let the points slowly accumulate. Sometimes I will have several successful surveys in a row, other times I keep getting disqualified so I'll stop for a while.

Four

My Survey

+This is another one that takes me a while to earn enough for a reward, so I just try one or two surveys a day and leave it at that.

*I don't have a referral link for this one, referrals are done through email, so if you would like to join let me know in the comments and I can send you an invite!

This last one is a shopping app, so completely different! 

Five

Shopkick

+This is my newest addition and boy do I have fun with it! The app is free and you are basically earning points just for going to your favorite stores and scanning items with your phone! I use it most at Target and Walmart, but there are a lot of other stores on it. The way it works is that you pull up the app on your phone before you go in to the store, and as soon as you walk in it will give you "kicks" (points) for walking in the store. Then there is a list of products that you have to find and scan in the store to get more "kicks" (no purchase necessary). Then you can redeem the kicks for gift cards to Target, Starbucks, Home Goods, and more! Not gonna lie, this is pretty much how I fund my iced coffee addiction.

There are tons of other survey and reward sites out there, but I've tried to limit myself to these so as not to overwhelm myself!

PHEW! I know that was A LOT of words. Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any questions about any of the above, I hope it was all clear and easy to understand!

Do you use reward sites? What are your favorites?

Currently...

Listening to the Maroon 5 Pandora station on the way home from work every day. It makes the ridiculous amount of traffic not quite so miserable. Party in my car, woooo!

Eating my new favorite at-work snack, Nature Valley Granola Thins. So good, only 80 calories, and just the right amount to keep my stomach from making awful growly noises in meetings. Because that's not embarrassing at all, trust me.

Drinking coffee of course.

Wearing pretty much the most comfortable clothes I can wear to work without wearing pajamas. Some days I want to dress up and feel all girly and cute with heels and the whole 9, and some days I just don't care. Today would be one of those days.

Feeling pretty proud of my hubby and me for (mostly) sticking to our budget this past couple of months. We're still not perfect, but it's SO much better than it used to be, I mean a vast improvement.

Wanting a pumpkin latte from Dunkin Donuts. Doesn't this just look divine? And I have a coupon!

Needing to finalize our plans and budget for DISNEY in two weeks!

Thinking of all the blog post ideas I have that I just haven't had a chance to write yet.

Enjoying not having an insanely busy morning like I did yesterday. It's nice to get to work and be able to slowly ease into things since I still feel like I'm half asleep when I get here. Have I mentioned I'm NOT a morning person?

Planning to go to Old Navy on my lunch break to try on some cute stuff I have been eyeing on their website. They're having an online only sale today with 30% off and free two day shipping! But I want to try stuff on and make sure I like how it fits before I order it.

Happy Not Monday everyone!

Enough already!

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."- Philippians 4:12

I have been thinking a lot about contentment lately. Probably because we are trying to actually stick to a budget these days and really watch where the money goes. It really does open your eyes up to how much frivolous spending goes on without your even realizing it. It's also made me think twice before purchasing something: I'll stop and think, do we really need this? Could we get by without it, or do we have something already at home we could use instead?

A silly example: lotion and body sprays from Bath and Body Works. I have SO much of that stuff, and they are all partially used bottles! Really?? So instead of being drawn in by the latest delicious scent (You know what you're doing, you evil BBW), I'm trying really hard to consider what I already have at home and focus on using that up before I buy more. I mean really, how many bottles of lotion does one girl need anyway?

Or clothes. Clothes are a BIG one for me. I love to just go look at all of the cute clothes, the latest styles and find great deals! But do I really need yet another pair of shorts or pants? Or another pair of heels? Or are the 6 pairs of shorts and who knows how many pairs of shoes I have at home just fine?

That's just a couple of examples, but thinking this way is really making me realize just how much STUFF we have, and how so much of it is unnecessary. So many people in this world survive on the true bare necessities of life, like food, water, shelter. And so many don't even have those.


Now I'm not at all saying that it's bad to have nice things and enjoy the blessings I have, because that's certainly not the case! There is nothing wrong with enjoying a shopping trip and indulging in a treat! But if I'm not careful, I can so easily slip into the mindset of "more stuff, I need MOAR" and feeling like all of these things are something I NEED rather than something that would be nice to have, but it is no way necessary to life, or even necessary to happiness.

In fact, the more I feel that drive to buy, buy, buy, the less true joy I feel. Because those things, while they may provide temporary happiness, don't in any way feed the need for true satisfaction and contentment. They just leave you wanting more.

It's so easy to look at what everyone else has, nicer car, nicer house, nicer clothes, and feel like your missing out on some crucial part of life. But then, are those really the things that make life worth living, the things that make us truly happy?

I'm learning that it comes down to the fact that when you have true peace and joy, you can be content in any situation. Whether you have lots of extra money to buy whatever you want or whether you have just enough to get by.

So instead of feeling frustrated when I want something and it's just not in the budget, I'm going to work on being thankful for the amazing blessings that I already have, both the material blessings and the infinitely more important blessings like love, grace, friendship, peace, and joy.