Our New Bedding Set from Anna’s Linens!

Note: I was given a gift card to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

When Justin & I first moved in together, we had nothing that makes a house a home. We were both moving straight from our parents’ houses & so we had no furniture beyond a bedroom set, and certainly none of the other stuff like curtains, bathroom coordinates or even pillows. My mother-in-law & I went to Anna’s Linens because we saw commercials all the time for their low prices on home items. They had everything and the prices were so low that together we completely stocked our house with items from Anna’s Linens. From the toothbrush holders in the bathrooms to the sheets on our guest bed, almost everything came from there.

Before we had bedding

Justin & I have been looking for a new bedding set for almost a year now. Bella Notte claimed our old comforter as her own, and she also managed to rip the only fitted sheet that actually accommodated our extra-tall mattress. We’ve been using a fitted sheet that isn’t long enough on the sides & has to be re-tucked in every night, and instead of a comforter, Justin’s been using a top sheet, and I’ve been using a throw blanket. We’ve been wanting to just get a complete, nice set, but we just couldn’t find anything we liked. We didn’t even mind spending a bit more & even checked out some of the more expensive places- but we’re picky & nothing really stuck out.

Great Deals at Anna's Linens!

So when I was invited to go to Anna’s Linens to see what great deals they had in store, I knew it’d be a great place to look for a bedding set! &The fact that the prices are super low adds a lot of awesome into the mix. When we got to Anna’s Linens, we noticed that there were a lot of really great deals. They had curtains for just $14.99 {compare at $25}, really cute bathroom coordinates for kids {Shane wanted the monkey set SO bad but already has a set} for prices starting at $5.99 {compare at $16 and up} and complete 10-piece bedding ensembles for $49.99.

Cute bedding set

I love a great deal as much as the next girl, but what I really love about Anna’s Linens is their selection. They have a lot of really cute stuff- and they had six or seven aisles of bedding, so they definitely had a lot to choose from. &The best news is that we finally found something we both liked! The set we picked out includes a comforter, 2 pillow shams & a dust ruffle. We still need to pick up some new sheets, and Anna’s had some great ones, but we just decided to wait until we got the set home & set up on our bed so that we could decide what color of sheets to go with.

Blue, white and brown bedding set

In the meantime, we finally have a comforter & I’m so excited about the dust ruffle because that means I can finally shove stuff store stuff under the bed! &The whole set was only $35- way cheaper than anything we’d been looking at. Since we were saving so much on the bedding, we even got a few new towels!

Cute Home Decor Items from Anna's Linens

If you’ve been at Anna’s Linens before, you’ll want to go back now because they have a lot of great Spring & Summer items, including giant beach towels for just $3.99. &If you’ve never been to Anna’s Linens, be sure to check them out! They have a huge selection & everything is at a great price. Use the store locator to find a store near you & get shopping! {&Be sure to check them out on Pinterest for great home décor & entertaining ideas!}

Find the Perfect Easter Decorations at World Market & Enter to Win the “Oz the Great and Powerful” Sweepstakes!

I absolutely love decorating for holidays. Whether it’s plastic pumpkins at Halloween, heart garlands for Valentine’s Day or a huge explosion of Christmas items, nothing puts me into the spirit more than decorating. &While Christmas is my favorite holiday, Easter is a close second for the adorable décor!

I love all of the bright colors & baby animals that come with Spring & Easter. I love bringing out my pastel eggs & ceramic bunny, and while I have a few more items I have been wanting to add to the collection. &Since this year I’m getting married just one week before Easter, I will have plenty of family in town to decorate for- which sounds like a great reason for a shopping spree!

World Market has a large selection of adorable Easter décor- and since I shop there often & know they have high quality merchandise, I know I’ll be doing most of my shopping there! Just check out some of the cute items they have this year:

World Market Easter

1. Mossy Robin’s Eggs Nest // 2. Paint Your Own Bunny, Set of 3 // 3. Natural Fiber Mama and Baby Bunny Décor // 4. Natural Fiber Bunny Wheelbarrow Décor // 5. Speckled Egg Wreath // 6. Spring Dotted Egg Kitchen Towels, Set of 3 //7. Speckled Eggs, Set of 12 // 8. Chicks in Egg Measuring Set // 9. Easter Bunny and Chick Wind-Up Toys, Set of 2

&While you’re shopping for Easter goodies at World Market, be sure to check out the “Oz the Great and Powerful” sweepstakes! One grand prize winner will receive a private movie screening for you & 50 friends of the new movie “Oz the Great and Powerful”, Free IMAX tickets for a year, and a $1,000 World Market gift card! {&Three first-prize winners will each receive a $500 World Market gift card- not too shabby!} You can enter online here!

&Don’t forget to catch Disney’s “Oz The Great and Powerful” in theaters March 8, 2013! Be sure to check it out in IMAX 3D. {View the trailer here!}

Be sure to follow World Market on Twitter & Facebook for more inspiration!

What is your favorite holiday to decorate for?

Note: This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™, but all my opinions are my own. http://cmp.ly/3/KqtZiE.

Holiday Decorating Tips from Candice Olson & Febreze! {Giveaway}

I love holiday decorating. While my house is largely undecorated {mostly out of laziness & a lack of know-how}, I tend to go all-out for the Holidays. I am always looking for fresh new ideas though & so I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to interview leading design professional Candice Olson, owner of her own design firm & star of several design TV shows!

I asked Candice:

1. How can I create warm and inviting center pieces that brighten my home?
2. Do you have any tips on garlands, fruit and floral décor that still keep the holiday feel?
3. How can I use scent to bring the holiday ambience in my home up to a whole new level?

You can check out her answers &get some beautiful holiday décor ideas in the video below!

I love the idea about using the Glistening Alpine scent to make your home smell like Christmas even if you’re using artificial greenery! I’m also completely addicted to the Cranberry & Frost products- I literally stock up every Holiday season for the whole year & use them all the time!

Win It: To keep you in the holiday spirit long after the presents are unwrapped, Febreze is giving one lucky {Not Quite} Susie Homemaker reader a gift pack of Febreze products, including candles, scented oil & air freshener! Just enter using the simple form below. Good luck!

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Guest Post: Overcoming Your Recycling Nightmare

All Hallows’ Eve is here again and that means Jack-o-Lanterns, trick-or-treaters, and eating so much candy corn you feel sick. But it’s also a good idea to remember that scaring the life out of those closest to you and those brave souls that dare knock on your door is a good way to spend the holiday. So if you want to have the freakiest looking house around there’s no need to go down to the local retailer, you probably have everything you need laying around your home.

Recycled Halloween craft decorations

Phantom Photographs
Don’t forget to include all the people in your home when celebrating Halloween, even those who are stuck in photographs and portraits. By using old paper found around the house you can make, devil horns, fangs, and masks to be stuck to any pictures or portraits you may have in your home. It’s best to use low-tack artists’ tape to stick any paper onto pictures, but be careful if you try this with any expensive paintings or taking the tape off may be a truly frightening experience.

Gigantic Arachnids
Spiders are scary, there’s just so much that seems wrong with them. It’s hard to pinpoint just what it is; the spindly legs, the mass of eyes, the furry body. But imagine a giant spider traversing your shed or climbing a tree; that will look truly terrifying. First stuff a garbage bag full of leaves, newspaper, or another soft material, and fasten the end to create the body. The legs are made by stuffing down the length of a garbage bag, and rolling the bag over itself into a long cylindrical shape. Tie the end with a cable tie or piece of string and repeat this seven more times, finally attach the legs to the body with glue.

Ghost Lanterns
Instead of throwing away your old milk cartons, why not transform them into a set of lanterns to give your porch a creepy glow. Use a black marker pen to draw a shocking face onto the front of the carton, and cut a hole in the bottom. Put an artificial candle or a couple of Christmas lights through the hole in the bottom of the carton to create the glowing effect. Place the lanterns in your porch to create a mystifying aura that is sure to give your entrance an alarming appearance.

Specimen Jars
Using leftover jars or beakers you may have can be used to turn a table or sideboard into a mad scientist’s workstation. Filling the glass jars with water and a drop or two of food colouring instantly gives the impression that the jars are filled with all sorts of chemicals. Using objects like plastic spiders or dolls heads can give the jars an even more sinister appearance, and combining this with the right mood lighting can make the area feel rather ominous.

If you enjoy crafts you probably have all the equipment needed to make these spooktacular decorations and create a deeply distressing domain.

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Guest Post: Six Classic Christmas Decorations

At Christmas time, the home can become a veritable fairyland of decorations, as we all know. It is really the only time of year when we can get away with making our homes garish – maybe even vulgar – all in the name of Christmas cheer.

Thankfully, decorating at Christmas time is one thing the modern world, with all its technology and communications and virtual reality, hasn’t quite managed to dull our enthusiasm for just yet. Walk around your neighbourhood any balmy December evening and you are likely to come across at least one house’s exterior lighting up the street with the most gloriously extravagant decorations you can imagine.

It’s the same indoors too. So anticipating another bumper year for celebrations in 2012, here are six of our favourite Christmas decorations that remain ever-popular on today’s market. If you are interested in buying, head on over to OO’s Christmas Decoration store.

Christmas

Tinsel

Is tinsel perhaps the most versatile and reliable of all Christmas decorations? This flexible, light-weight and festive stuff can go practically anywhere, from topping off a well-ornamented tree to between banisters on stairs to being draped across the ceiling. Tinsel as we know it today began life in Nuremberg, Germany way back in 1610. Today, the tinsel phenomenon shows no sign of abating, available in a dazzling array of colours and styles all around the world.

Wreath

In the heavily Anglicised Australian culture, it is only natural that the Christmas wreath is popular. A firmly English Christmas tradition, the wreath is an attractive ring forged from leaves, twigs, fruit and flowers, that usually hangs on one’s front door, making them among the most tasteful and classic of outdoor Christmas decorations.

Angel

Many Christmas trees have for aeons featured an angel adorning its top. These ‘tree toppers’, as they are known, are of course firmly rooted in the Christian context, yet the form of the angel on top of the tree has taken on a more novelty feel in recent times, to the point that angels can be made out of a variety of substances (wool, plastic, wood) and come in all colours of the rainbow. The next most popular tree topper is the star.

Baubles

These essential spherical little things will never ever go out of fashion. Durable and easy to make, baubles have been a central decoration since 1847. The majority of them are made from plastic, with the really classy ones made from glass (although this makes them more breakable). They can come in an endless variety of styles and themes, while they are also very easy to make.

Home-made

Never underestimate the charm of the home-made Christmas decoration, specifically those made by children. So we’re talking dried pasta, rice, toilet paper rolls, glitter and much more. Year after year as these decorations are pulled out of the box, they become all the more treasured. So for every new expensive decoration you purchase, be sure to make sure it is matched by a home-grown effort too.

Candy canes

Small they may be, but few things embody the spirit of Christmas like the good old candy cane. Traditionally red and white, these things can go anywhere – be it on a tree or anywhere else. The best ones, obviously, are the edible ones.

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