New iPhone Case Please!

First off.. Dear trick-or-treaters, PLEASE come to my house! Thanks, MB

Back to business..

I bought my current iPhone case about 4 months ago. I have loved it dearly. I’ve put it through a lot since I have a bad habit of dropping my phone and putting it in the purse pocket that contains my car keys. Thus my brightly colored animal print case has many scratches and chips. I’ve been holding out on getting a new one because frankly they are expensive. This weekend however a whole section broke off exposing a whole corner of my phone which could be fatal.

Looks like I’m going to have to invest in a new one. There are 6 finalists… I know, I’m bad at making up my mind…

          

(All cases are from society6. Links: 1/2/3/4/5/6)

You guys want to help? Vote for your favorite! Or leave a comment below with a better suggestion. I know my finalists are a little bland, but I’m hesitant to get anything crazy that I might get tired of before the case tuckers out. That being said don’t let that interfere with your suggestions, I’m willing to take a risk.

PS… I have finished “Project 1“, I’m just waiting for a sunny day to get some good pictures incorporating daylight. I want my first reveal to be great!

Mustache?

Last week I came to the realization that I am going to have trick-or-treaters!

This is my first year living in a neighborhood, let alone one with lots of munchkins, during Halloween. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up in a neighborhood with other kids, this is just the first time as an adult that I get to pass out candy at my own home. I won’t lie, when I realized this, I was so excited. My second thought was that I have so much to do to get ready. What do you have to do to the outside of your house to say, “I’ll give you candy!”? My co-worker quickly told me that I just have to leave my light on. Thanks for ruining my excitement! In the end I decided to do a little decorating, just something to say I’m embracing the season. Here is what I went with…

I featured these mustaches on my Friday Favorites last week. I highly recommend them. They even weathered the very small effects of Sandy tonight down here in NC.

You guys do any cool decorating for Halloween or fall?

(The picture was from my Instagram. To see them first follow me at @mymorningcoffeeblog.)

Friday Favorites / 6

Good morning everyone,

Hope you all have had a great week. Any big plans for the weekend?

Maybe purchase some of these amazing finds I stumbled upon this week?

1. Pumpkin Mustache Stickers from Less Ordinary Designs on Etsy (I just bought these, I’ll provide a pic when they come in.)
2. Contact Paper Wall Stripes, a DIY project from City Farmhouse
3. Pave Dome Bracelet from C. Wonder
4. Gray Clover IPhone Case from Society6 (I’m thinking about this for me, you like?)
5. Honeycomb Bangle from Bill Skinner on Fab.com
6. Curvy Chrysanthemum Vase from Anthropologie (Saw this at a friends house recently, loved the decor, thanks for the inspiration!)
7. Monogram Necklace from Art Fire (It is only $29.. SO CHEAP.. found out about it on sadie+stella)
8. Monogram Jewelry Box from C. Wonder
9. Brass Elephant Bookends from genrestoration on Etsy

West Elm Excursion and a WINNER!

So that you guys don’t read the rest of my post with anxiety and anticipation…

Congratulations linda ge! I’ll be contacting you ASAP… Thanks to everyone that participated in the giveaway and for helping celebrate 1,000 views! I really loved all of your awesome finds on Etsy.

Don’t stop reading yet… I want to tell you guys about my first West Elm excursion. I’ve always loved the sale section of West Elm. I confessed my obsession here along with some of my finds. On August 23rd West Elm opened a store in Durham, NC, so just right around the corner from me. A week or so ago I finally adventured the 20 minutes to check out the real thing.

Obviously I would head straight to the sale section.

I picked up the lacquer yellow tray and the owl measuring cups!

Then I saw this amazing elephant lamp! I’d actually seen it before online but it is so much better in person (and bigger)! This lamp will be mine.. even if I have to wait like 5 years until someone is tired of it and they post it on craigslist. Elephant lamp, I vow to stock you!

Then I finally got around to looking for a rug.. which was the main reason I adventured.. They were having a rug sale!

You see that miniature orange and white striped sample there? That was the rug I went with. However they didn’t have a 3’x5′ in stock. Not sure if you remember my post about my home wish list, but I have an unsightly piece of floor that is covering up the old heater location. So, I can’t go any smaller than a 3’x5′ if I want to cover up everything! I ordered the rug in the store so that I could get the discount and free shipping.

So all I came home with was…

a new tray, some owl measuring cups, and a printed receipt for my new rug!

I got a good pic of the plant wall on my way out.

It is awesome! The employee at the desk told me that it is “self watering” too. What she really meant to say was that there is a plumbing contraption that runs through the wall that is connected to a water source so that employees don’t have to water the wall. She wasn’t saying that the wall produces its own water and is self-sustaining.

I starting styling as soon as I got home!

My coffee table is looking pretty good now!

It even fits perfectly on the table so that I can still open the bad boy up!

Yes, my table is that cool! (Found it at the local flea market.)

My owls came to rest on top of my microwave.

My rug came in a few days later. My hallway room looks completely different now.

  

  

  

Bauer snuck into a few pictures. He was jealous, wanted some blog love of his own.

I’m currently still loving all of my purchases! You guys buy anything lately for the house that you’re loving?

New Items in the Etsy Store!

B and I met last night and listed some more stuff in our Etsy store, The Union Jill. I’ll admit, our store was getting pretty bare. We listed 8 new items. We still have a plethora of items left to list, so keep checking back.

Before I show you all our cool new stuff, make sure to head back a few days in the blog world and enter into my Etsy Gift Card Giveaway. No pressure to buy from our store, just to share some Etsy love! 

New items include… (btw.. I didn’t include vintage in the title of each item, I thought it was kind of understood.)

A Brass Dogwood Flower Clip

Glass Cloche

NC State Wolfpack Buttons

Brass Swan Bowl

Brass Pheasants

Cameo Earrings

And, just in time for people to purchase and have at their homes for holiday decorating, 25 Indoor Christmas Lights by Pennant

15 Outdoor Christmas Lights by General Electric

See anything you like? Is there anything you’ve been looking for that you want B and I to watch out for?

New Layla Grayce Earrings!

I entered a giveaway a few weeks back that I found on a blog I follow, A Piece of Toast. It was a style standoff sponsored by Layla Grayce where everyone was invited to vote on which contestant they thought styled the Gorjana G Ring Gold Earrings the best. Obvi I voted for Sally from A Piece of Toast.

Long story short.. I won!

They came in the mail on Friday and I literally wore and loved them all weekend. They are the perfect size and weight. I’m going to wear them all fall! You can purchase them for only $36. I strongly advise it!

I follow the Layla Grayce blog as well. They just posted a Design You Dream Living Room Challenge for a prize, go check it out.

PS.. not sure if you guys have hopped on the ikat train or not.. but there is an awesome sale going on over at One Kings Lane. They are also having a Pinterest Challenge currently.

PSS.. If you love Etsy make sure to enter the Etsy Gift Card Giveaway posted yesterday! Deadline is Thursday at 8am!

Etsy Gift Card Giveaway

This giveaway has ended. Check out who won here.

Today we are celebrating 2 things…

1. Etsy just released their Etsy Gift Cards last week! I’m a huge Etsy fan. If you you haven’t been reading too long I have an Etsy store, The Union Jill. Currently the store is running a little low on inventory, which means we have a stock pile in the Etsy room that needs to be posted. I promise we’ll be adding more items this week!

2. I hit 1,000 views last week! I know for many long time bloggers this is no big deal but for me, one month under her belt blogger, it is a milestone and I want to celebrate! I happened to catch my stat charter right at 1,000!

Currently it is looking like this..

Giveaway Directions:

There will be 1 winner that will take home a $25 Etsy gift card. The gift card will be sent to you via e-mail. You can enter up to 5 times. For each entry leave a separate comment below. Make sure to either fill out the e-mail section of the comment field or leave a way for me to contact you. The winner will be chosen Thursday the 25th at 8am using random.org. The winner will be announced on the blog and I will contact the winner by close of business Thursday to deliver their gift card.

1. Leave a comment with a link to what you are currently obsessed with on Etsy. If you need some ideas you can check out my favorites.
2. Like my morning coffee on Facebook. If you’re already a fan, make sure to let me know via a comment as well.
3. Follow me on Pinterest.  Again, if you’re already on this band wagon let me know.
4. Follow my morning coffee on Bloglovin.
5. Favorite The Union Jill on Etsy.

This is not a sponsored giveaway.

PS.. As a reminder don’t forget that today is the last day to enter into the  West Elm + Benjamin Moore Giveaway I spilled the beans on here.

Friday Favorites / 5

I have to confess that I was secretly obsessed with the Kelly Pointed Wedge from Sole Society featured on last week’s Friday Favorites. So I purchased them yesterday. Happy Birthday to me! Did I mention I got $20 off? Once you join Sole Society you get a coupon for $20 off your first purchase.

Moving on.. This week’s Friday Favorites are DIY inspired. Thought I’d try a theme. Let me know what you think.

Happy Friday to all and I hope you have a great weekend!

1. DIY: Colorblock Ballet Flats from A Cup of Jo
2. Tufted Headboard Tutorial from Schue Love
3. Upholstery Basics: How to Make a Lampshade from Design Sponge
4. How to: Make DIY Urchin Starbust Sculptures for under $5.00 from Curbly
5. DIY Project: Tape Stencil Stationary from Design Sponge
6. MAKE IT/20 Make Your Own Clutch from DESIGNLOVEFEST
7. Svalbo Hack from The Sweet Beast
8. DIY Natural Room Scents from The Yummy Life
9. Fall Felt Leaf Wreath from Nest of Posies
10. How to: DIY Stump Table from 17 Apart

Things I Forgot To Mention

There are a lot of things that have gone down this week. Let me hit the high notes..

1. I adventured to Michael’s because I decided to return the picture frame I bought for the bathroom (shown here). It might have been beachy looking but it didn’t fit in the bathroom. It totally overshadowed my amazing mirror. When I went to return it I saw these awesome boxes outside for $1.66. (Pardon the iPhone pic.)

They didn’t look like much. But I’ve been searching for something cheap that would make my entertainment center look put together. So.. for roughly $14 I went from this….

to this..

I decided to go with the natural color because it was simple, I can decorate them later if I want, and it also doesn’t draw attention to the fact that my entertainment center isn’t white like the rest of the decor in the room. What do you think? Good solution?

2. I bought the whale I mentioned last week. So this little guy is on his way to my house and my shelves!

3. I painted the tops to the mason jars gold to match the mirror. My trusty friend Rust-oleum helped me out. I like how the “metallic finish” is a matte finish… They look great!

4. I bought this little temple jar in coral from One Kings Lane for $12. I think it will be a nice pop of color on the shelves. There are tons of these jars in different sizes and colors still for sale until 11am today. Go check them out.

5. I added Instagram and Pinterest tabs to my Facebook page. Go and check them out! (PS… If you like my page you are entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card from One Kings Lane. Details here. PSS… I know that 100 likes was reaching for the sky. I’ll get there soon. It was a lesson learned to take baby steps.)

6. I added a favicon to my website. Check out the little picture in your browser! No more generic page icon!

7. I checked out and loved the new Neiman Marcus & Target line. It won’t be available in stores until December 1st. But you can check out all the items here.

8. For those of you still reading, here is the most exciting update… Etsy released their very much anticipated giftcards! I’m super stoked! To share my excitement I’ll be having a giveaway next Monday, so make sure to check back. (Why not tomorrow? Because I can’t skip Friday Favorites!)

Any updates from you guys? Any great deals? Any cool purchases?

Anyone need some old windows?

This past weekend Brian and I went to my Dad’s house to help him with some miscellaneous things around the house. One of his recent projects was replacing some windows. So after our day of projects we returned with 14 old windows!  Anyone need any for some cool crafty projects?

Disregard my reflection and my shadow, Bauer. BTW he is huge now, 50 lbs. Also, thanks for all the thoughts last week while we struggled with his hurt leg, very much appreciated. He’s on his way to a full recovery.

Back to the deets… I posted the windows on Craigslist for $10 for a small one and $15 for medium and large.

I was searching the web and found some awesome things you could do with them. There are some amazing Pinterest boards. Check them out here, here, and here. There are so many great ideas I might have to keep some of these bad boys! A display case made from windows, a coffee table that opens, a chalkboard display, a large mirror… the list goes on and on…