Laura Tucker

Ghoulishly Glam Halloween Decor for the Front Door!

October 22, 2017 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This post was sponsored by Lowe’s as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

We’re just one month away from packing up our belongings and moving into our brand new home that we’ve been building since December of last year. Watching everything come together during these final few weeks has been nothing short of amazing, and being able to see elements of the home that I had previously only been able to see in my dreams finally become a reality has made all of the work and the wait completely worth it.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, our home did not have a front door on it. The door had been sitting in a storage room just waiting to be installed, and when my husband finally brought it out and hung it on the hinges, my mind was instantly overwhelmed with all of the ways I was going to decorate it for every season. I just couldn’t wait to get a wreath hung up and to make the front entrance of our brand new home reflect the personalities of the people living inside! 😉

Even though we won’t be inside the home before Halloween of this year, my heart just couldn’t stand to let our beautiful front door be bare. So with the spooky season being among us, I just had to head out to my local Lowe’s to pick up a few ghoulishly glamorous pieces to adorn our new home and to give everyone who passes through a spook-tacularly warm welcome to our humble abode! (Make sure to hover over all of the images so you can easily shop the look!)

Lowe’s has quickly become one of my favorite shopping destinations to pick up seasonal decor to decorate the inside and outside of my home. During my most recent trip to Lowe’s, I instantly fell in love with this 24 inch Halloween tinsel wreath that they had on display right next to the front entrance, and it quickly sparked a vision for my decor theme as I pushed my shopping cart through the rest of the store!

The next spooky sight to catch my attention was this Holiday Living Skeleton, which fit perfectly nestled inside the wreath. My toddler loves playing with him, because you can move his arms, hands and feet in all sorts of fun ways! He comes with a hook that makes him easy to hang, or he can sit upright when propped up against something.

I also spotted a pre-lit Jack-O-Lantern giving me a creepy grin, and I knew right away it had to come home with me!

This beautiful Pre-Lit Pumpkin Stack Topiary stole my heart when I saw it browsing online before I went in the store. My particular store didn’t carry it, so I placed the order online and had it shipped straight to my house! I fell in love with the shimmery purple and black leaves and brushed metal looking base – all perfect elements to create the “glam” vibe I was going for. I even swung by the outdoor garden section and picked up a purple mum plant to tie in with the purple in the topiary!

Perhaps my favorite find at Lowe’s was this adorable little Pre-Lit Musical Mummy Greeter that my daughter fell in love with. It has a very friendly little laugh and leans more on the “cute” side instead of scary. It’s perfect to put candy in on Halloween night for trick-or-treating, and it’s fun to listen to him laugh when people walk by!

I also picked up a few real pumpkins in different sizes from the garden section and gave them a touch of glam by painting them black and silver and adding a little glitter. I placed one of the painted pumpkins on this cute little pumpkin stand and stood it next to the mummy!

My toddler was absolutely tickled by all of the spooky shenanigans going on at our brand new front porch! She was grinning from ear to ear while I was putting all of these decorations in their place, and she asked me if I could take a picture of her standing with all of her new “toys.” She danced a little happy dance on this Halloween door mat and struck a pose!

If you’re currently on the market for some frighteningly fabulous Halloween or Fall Harvest seasonal decor, Lowe’s offers an incredible selection, and all at a really great value! You can visit Lowes.com or shop in store for more seasonal indoor and outdoor decor inspiration!

3 Simple Ways to Reconnect with your Spouse when Life Gets Busy

October 20, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This post was sponsored by Tai Pei, all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that my husband and I are in the process of building a brand new home (to be completed before Thanksgiving!) When we broke ground on December 26th, 2016, we had no idea just how strenuous, demanding and labor intensive this journey would be. Now that we’re approaching the very end of the build, it seems like it’s requiring even more of our time, attention and effort, and it leaves us feeling a little drained at the end of each day (but excited, nonetheless!)

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No Bake Mini Cranberry Cheesecake Trifles

October 18, 2017 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Arla® Cream Cheese. All opinions are entirely my own.

With the changing of the season comes a whole new variety of delicious fruits and vegetables that are beginning to ripen, and one of my very favorite fall fruits to munch on and cook with is definitely cranberries. I always watch my local grocery store sales like a hawk around this time of year, because once they stock the shelves with those beautiful red berries, I swoop in and buy a heap of them to freeze and cook with all year long!

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Chicken Teriyaki Noodle Bowls

October 16, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This post was sponsored by No Yolks as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

If there’s one thing I can definitely say to be true about myself and my 3 siblings, it’s that we all have a huge weakness for Chinese food. It was always a sort-of unspoken tradition that when my two older siblings came home from college during the holidays, there was going to be one night of the week where we completely forwent any other plans of eating a traditional holiday meal and went straight to the phone book to find the number to our favorite local Chinese restaurant to order takeout.

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Update on Our Home Building Process

October 15, 2017 by Laura Tucker 2 Comments

Way back in January I made my official announcement here at Southern Made Simple that our family was growing in a BIG way! Throughout 2016 we (but mostly my husband) worked so incredibly hard creating and perfecting plans, gathering prices and making lists of contacts of workers to help us break ground and get the ball rolling on building our forever home.

We currently live in a small little brick home owned by our grandparents. They have been so gracious to allow us to stay in that home since 2013 so that we could save up enough money to put towards our future home, and they were even more gracious to deed us a little bit of land right next to our current home to build the house of our dreams. (Our grandparents are such a blessing to us, and are truly a pillar of incredible strength in our family. We don’t know what we’d do without their love, wisdom and support!)

So since it’s been a good long 9 1/2 months since I updated you last, I figured we were definitely due for a new update. A LOT has changed since January, but we’re still chugging along in the process, and our original date of completion (which was August 2017) has been pushed back to November.

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Cranberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake + GIVEAWAY!

October 12, 2017 by Laura Tucker 51 Comments

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Rubbermaid®

Growing up in the South, I’ve learned one quintessential piece of advice that has served me incredibly well over the years for just about any and every situation that has come my way:

When it doubt, make a pound cake.

Whether you’ve got a potluck event to attend, you’re in need of a sympathy dish to take to a family, or you’ve just got a hankerin’ for something sweet, you’ll never go wrong with making a pound cake.

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Goodbye Leftovers, Hello Deliciousness with Tai Pei!

October 12, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Ajinomoto® Windsor. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just wanted to throw your hands up in the air and do a happy dance because you were so excited to experience a little change from the mundane in your life? Earlier this week I had one of those glorious moments, and it felt (and tasted) so good to gain this coveted bliss in my own home in just a few minutes flat!

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Cheesy Smoked Sausage Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

October 11, 2017 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EverydayEckrich #CollectiveBias

Have you ever been going and going so much that you had to sit down because your head felt dizzy? 2017 has been the busiest year of our lives thanks to our home building project, and as we’re nearing closer to the move in date, we’ve become even busier trying to make final decisions and purchases to make everything tie together just like we’ve always dreamed. I’m definitely at a point where I’m feeling under pressure and overwhelmed, and during times like that it’s often hard for me to be as productive as I’d like.

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How to Freeze Bell Peppers

October 10, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

This simple tutorial on how to freeze bell peppers will help you enjoy peppers all year long!

Recently a sweet family friend blessed us with a sack full of beautiful bell peppers. She said she had a bumper crop of them this year and was up to her ears in them. She put up a ton of them in her freezer, so she needed to find a home for the remainder that her plants were continuing to produce. I told her I would LOVE to take them off of her hands, because I cook with bell peppers all the time!

How to Freeze Bell Peppers

I knew right away that the sack of peppers was way more than my family would be able to eat at one time, so I spent a little bit of time putting them up into freezer bags so that I could enjoy them throughout the rest of the year.

Putting up bell peppers is SO simple, as no blanching is needed to freeze them. First, take the peppers and wash them thoroughly and pat them dry.

How to Freeze Bell Peppers

Next, remove the stems and inner portions that contain the seeds and veins. (Tip: Before removing the stem, gently press and roll each pepper on the counter to help loosed the inner stem containing the seeds.)

Rinse the inside of each pepper out to remove any excess seeds that might have clung to the inner walls. Slice or dice the peppers according to your preference. Lay the cut peppers onto a baking sheet and freeze for about an hour. Transfer frozen peppers to a freezer safe bag. Frozen peppers are good for about 1 year after they were put up.
How to Freeze Bell Peppers

When you’re freezing fresh produce, it’s imperative that you use quality seal-able bags that are made to use in the freezer to help increase the life of the product and to reduce the chance of freezer burn. If you’ve got a bumper crop that you’re putting up, go ahead and stock up on freezer bags, and don’t forget to write the date on the bag so you know if the peppers are within their usable date!

Frozen peppers are best used in dishes where they will be cooked, as they will not maintain their crispness once they have been frozen.

Freezing more than just peppers? Checkout these other tutorials on how to freeze fresh produce!

How to Freeze Tomatoes | How to Freeze Carrots | How to Freeze Zucchini | How to Freeze Summer Squash

Southwestern Cornbread Salad

October 8, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

I HAVE BEEN COMPENSATED BY LUCK’S TO BRING YOU THIS DELICIOUS SPICY SOUTHERN-STYLE CORNBREAD SALAD, AND ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED WITHIN THIS POST ARE 100% MY OWN. I ONLY PROMOTE WHAT I TRULY LOVE!

What seemed like a brief glimpse of glorious fall temperatures here in south Alabama last week has been completely diminished by these not-so-lovely 90+ degree temps this week. You know it’s hot outside when you break a sweat going out to your own mailbox! And even though we’re still experiencing wave after wave of this horrendous heat, I’m not letting it get me down. Instead, I’ve been feeling a little bit inspired to bring an extra element of heat into my cooking this week, and what better way to add a little spice into your life than by combining it with a twist on a true southern staple dish!

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Laura Tucker

This post was sponsored by Lowe’s as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

This post was sponsored by Tai Pei, all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Arla® Cream Cheese. All opinions are entirely my own.

This post was sponsored by No Yolks as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Rubbermaid®

When it doubt, make a pound cake.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EverydayEckrich #CollectiveBias

This simple tutorial on how to freeze bell peppers will help you enjoy peppers all year long!

I HAVE BEEN COMPENSATED BY LUCK’S TO BRING YOU THIS DELICIOUS SPICY SOUTHERN-STYLE CORNBREAD SALAD, AND ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED WITHIN THIS POST ARE 100% MY OWN. I ONLY PROMOTE WHAT I TRULY LOVE!

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