Carey Creates

Saturday, May 25, 2013

I'm Back...With a Contest!

**UPDATE - the contest has been pushed back a week, so you now have until 6/7 to submit your ideas!**

I'm excited to get back on the blogging train with a contest! Everybody loves a contest, right?!

Up for grabs is a $10 gift card to your choice of either Hobby Lobby or Michael's! (I know, right? I wish I could enter!) What must you do for a chance to win this exciting prize, you ask? Read on to find out!

I bought this cart at a garage sale with the intention of using it as a coffee table. It's small, in decent shape, and will easily roll out of the way when needed. It is, however, a bit...90's office chic? (Minus the chic.) Definitely in need of a makeover. I have a few ideas of what I want to do, but I also want to hear YOUR ideas!

To enter this contest, all you need to do is comment with your best design ideas for how to transform this plain Jane into the beauty she was meant to be! I will review all the entries and choose my favorite - and announce the winner one week from today. One week after that I will reveal the transformed cart, custom designed by one of you!

The winning design will be the most:
- Original
- Cost-effective
- Detailed (Thorough info on supplies, process, etc.)
- Suited to my style (for help on that, follow me on Pinterest! here and here)

**RULES**
- Must live in the US of A to enter (and be willing to provide address)
- You may enter up to 3 separate ideas, in one or multiple comments
- If multiples of the same design are entered, the first person who entered it gets dibs
- Designs need not be original to you
- All entries must be in by Friday, May 31st, 10:00 PM Central time
- All entries must be as a comment on this post
- Winner must claim his/her prize within 48 hours; after that, the winner becomes my second choice

**INFO ON THE CART**
- 26" long, 21" tall, 15" deep
- Wood & Metal

Good luck and happy designing!! :)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Our Schoolhouse Wedding

I'm so excited!!!

We got some of our wedding photos back a few days ago, and I've been dying to share them! So here they are! I hope you enjoy them and maybe get some inspiration for your own wedding, if you're planning one :)

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Sweet Potato and Bacon Breakfast Hash

I love SATURDAYS!

Saturdays are just great. What a day to run errands, get to-do lists checked off, spend some time with family, and just have fun! Saturdays are also a great day to experiment with meals. This morning - what a beautiful morning it was, 67 degrees when we woke up! - I decided to try something different for breakfast, and came up with just about the most delicious breakfast food I've ever put in my mouth.

Not only is it yummy, it's healthy and pretty easy too. It would be ridiculously simple to make if all of the ingredients were prepped ahead of time. The biggest plus, however, is that it works perfectly with the Paleo diet, which my husband and I are currently (and a bit loosely) on. I call it...Sweet Potato and Bacon Breakfast Hash!

PREP TIME: 5 or so minutes

COOK TIME: Approx. 15 minutes

(Serves two, or one if you're pretty hungry.)

INGREDIENTS:

One sweet potato, cut into chunks

Two strips of bacon, cut into chunks

White onion

One or more cloves of garlic

Olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot (or when it turns from that greenish color to a browner color), add the chunks of sweet potato. Stir occasionally.

As the sweet potato is cooking, chop up the onion - use as much or as little as you'd like. I used a 1/4" crosswise slice, but there would have been no harm in using more. Mince or slice the garlic (if you love garlic, use at least two cloves). The easiest and quickest way to chop the onion and garlic is to put them both in a food processor and run it for just a few seconds - you don't want them too finely chopped.

After you're done chopping, test the potatoes with a spatula. When you can push the edge of the spatula into the sweet potato and it gives just a little, add the onion and bacon and give it all a good stir. Keep occasionally stirring until the onions start to get a bit translucent, and then add the garlic.

Continue stirring until the bacon is fully cooked, then remove from the burner. Scoop the hash onto a paper towel on a plate to drain off the grease. Serve ASAP.

Mmmm, MM! How delicious it was! It went beautifully with a Bartlett pear topped with pecans and honey and a cup of coffee flavored with homemade Pumpkin Spice creamer. With the breeze blowing through the open windows, it was the perfect fall breakfast!

Now it's your turn! Go prep your ingredients, store them in a plastic bag or container in the fridge, and you'll have a delicious and healthy breakfast for even your busiest mornings!

Enjoy :)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

I'm married!

Yes, it's true...I'm no longer an engaged woman, but a married woman :) Hooray! It's so great to finally be married to my wonderful husband. I'm so excited to be starting our lives together, and especially to begin "building our nest" :)

I am also excited to share photos of our wedding; however, I have yet to receive them. Here are some sneak peeks of our apartment, though!

A cute dress painting on canvas that I got as a bridal shower gift

A lamp I plan to revamp, a $3 Goodwill lantern, both on a picnic basket my mom got for her wedding!

An nifty floor pouf from Target atop a wool rug we got on our honeymoon (yes I am watching Netflix on the laptop instead of the TV - no cable!)

Hopefully we should be getting wedding pictures soon...til then...bye bye :)

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

I'm engaged!

That's right! I'm officially an engaged woman! Woohoo! :)

Boy, things have been crazy the last few months. They have also been utterly devoid of crafts and projects, hence the no posting...although, that is also due to the planning of wedding things :)

I really want to get back into this though, especially to share wedding plans and ideas! I don't want to give away too much yet, for those who will be attending...but I can give a few sneak peaks ;)

Oh, did I mention I'm getting married at the end of September?? And have only been engaged since July 14th? Yeah...it's fun :D

A few inspiration pictures...