Today is one of our favorite days of the year, the beginning of the DownEast Tent Sale! Undoubtedly, we come away with a major bargain and we get all giddy looking forward to the sale.

Last year I scored my West Elm living room couches for $125 each.

Sarah got this gorgeous curtain rod for only $5!

Here are a few tips for shopping the big sale:

#1 Allow enough time. The tent can be overwhelming and you want to allow enough time for adequate rummaging. Take your time to make your way around the tent and reading the boxed merchandise. Many items do not have a floor display out.

#2 Inspect everything very thoroughly. DownEast usually only exchanges merchandise and many items in the tent sale are final sale.

#3 If you feel a price is too high, you may as well ask for a lower price. It never hurts to ask!

Make sure to check with your local DownEast as tent sale dates vary per location. Happy, happy bargain shopping!

I get super excited when our anniversary rolls around, and this year to celebrate we’re getting bikes! There are a lot of trails in our new neighborhood and it’ll be so fun to go riding around town together.

I am looking for a cute cruiser bike like this one:

sixtwelveplace.blogspot.com

Shopping has been a little more challenging than anticipated. Here are my needs/wants:

Cute factor (preferably white).

A few gears to get me up those hills.

Around $200.

I am leaning towards this Schwinn. Any suggestions of bikes you’ve loved or things I need in a bike?

Happy Anniversary, Brad! Love you lots xxx

These are my top 3 life changing tips!

Placing a wooden spoon over pan when cooking pasta:

Somehow this prevents the boiling water not to spill over, incredible right? The bubbles fold over the top and not down the pan. Obviously, still be cautious and keep a close eye on the heat and pan!

Ironing ribbon with a hair straightener:

I always felt guilty throwing away bits ribbon that I receive on gift wrap, but because it was winkled from bows it was unlikely I could put it to use. This was a real ahha moment to see I could just swipe it through my hair straightener, it totally gives the ribbon new life good enough to reuse.

(Although seen on Pinterest, but originally posted by Real Simple HERE.)

Easy way to clean panini press:

After use, unplug the press and place a damp paper towel in it. This steam cleans then all you need to do is wipe with another towel when it’s cooled.

What are you guys finding over at Pinterest?

We just love the quick fixes, and doable projects please share.

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(To follow Em’s boards click HERE, and mine HERE.)

They are luxurious, beautiful and heavenly. The price tag of a bath towel of $36 is extortionately over my towel budget, so up until now I’ve purchased just one or two hand towels.

Fortunately, Target has come to my rescue – as it often does!

This Threshold bath towel is a fraction of the price at $12.34! Right now, it is currently only offered in yellow, but I am hopeful for different colors in the seasons ahead.

Thanks Target for an affordable alternative!

You Will Need:

A Potato

Fabric Paint

Foam Craft Brush

Plain Napkins

Painter’s Tape

Scrap Paper

Directions:

We used this clip art and printed it to use as a template for our potato stamp.

We then cut the potato in half and cut around the template to create a potato stamp.

Next, we painted the stamp with our fabric paint using a foam brush.

After applying paint to the potato we tested it onto a piece of paper. We found we liked to do an initial stamp on paper and then stamp the remaining ink onto the fabric napkin until we needed to apply more paint for an overall uneven look.

(By the time we were done stamping our star napkins we had lots of stamped scrap paper. Stay tuned for another project using this scrap!)

Next up was the striped napkins. We applied painters tape to make our stripes and then painted in between the tape. Again, we didn’t want a totally uniformed look so we roughly painted our stripes.

We felt like little girls again stamping with our potato stamps and now we’re ready for summer barbecues with these summery napkins. Fun and easy are always our favorite crafts!

Today we’re sharing this project over at Lil Luna, diy wooden flags…

See you over there!

No matter if it’s high school or postdoc graduation here are a few gifts we know your grad will love…

Any excuse for a personalized gift and we’ll take it! These canvas and leather cosmetic bags are adorbes and gender-neutral. $24-$28. Free Personalization, gift wrap and shipping with promo code: graduation.

Pearls are always a good idea for any special occasion. This website has a great selection at affordable prices.

For the guys, cufflinks are also great for a special occasion. I like these two-tone stiped cufflinks for $30.

A journal is a nice idea for the grad’s new chapter in life. This one is very cute.

Another idea is a spa or massage gift card to treat the grad after all that hard work. Balloons, flowers and caramel apples will also never fail. Do you have a go-to gift for graduates?

No more soggy dish towels…holler!!!

Blackcurrant is a favorite flavor of the British Isles, so the smell brings me back to my childhood summer days. Isn’t it funny how scents can have that reminiscent effect? I feel an extra bounce in my step with every hand wash!

If you want to see how England smells to me, pick up a bottle. Even better, they’re on sale at Target this week, $6.79 for the hand soap and $5.09 for the dish.

Plus I just adore the packaging, blue fits right in with my kitchen decor! Do you ever buy such products on looks alone?

Hello lights!!! After paying hundreds of dollars on commercial-looking pot lights for our kitchen, these pretty flush lights look so much more appealing to me.

I was at my new favorite store, Home Depot and saw this similar looking flushmount in the lighting aisle for only $9.98. Wowsers!

Hampton Bay Antique Brass Flushmount

The finish in person is way more bronze-y like the top image. Singly I’m not so sure, but repeated I’m thinking this could be a great upgrade lined along a hallway. What do you think of them?