staple fall fashion

 Will you be doing any shopping this weekend? I have found some great staple fall pieces from J. Crew.  I will be enjoying SEC football, but if I were around I might go try on a few of these beauties...

Well, I have enjoyed the first full week of blogging here at Lowlife Couture! Such great friends who have been so encouraging! Add me to your google reader, follow the blog, pin things, link us on your blog... spread the word! Happy almost weekend, friends!

sucker for simple

Lately I have been loving these sweet succulents.  Maybe it is because they are intricate yet tough, or maybe it is because they don't have to be watered daily.  Either way its a great way to add some green and some life indoors, or to spruce up an event! If your local nursery doesn't have any here is a spot on etsy you can snatch some!

Place cards

Sterling Succulents

Floating Succulent

Classic Succulents

Simple and Creative

Beautiful Wreath

Christmas Decor

I love all of the options!  If nothing else, place some of these sweet things in your favorite container or terrarium. Don't you love them?

The Art of Seasoning

My husband and I love cast iron!  I cook everything in cast iron or our Le Creuset (which is just coated cast iron).  There are great health benefits, including the iron you get from using it, as well as not worrying about any of the Teflon coatings.  Old cast iron is the best, you can normally find them at antique stores, flea markets, garage sales etc. for a very reasonable price, and if you follow these instructions you will have them cleaned up and re-seasoned in no time!

Dutch Ovens Before

After

Spray liberally with oven spray cleaner and place in a garbage bag.  Let them sit checking it at least daily, wiping it out and respraying until it is down to its original metal.

Once you have decided that it is stripped clean immediately wipe a thin layer of crisco on all of the inside and outside surfaces and put it in the oven at 130 degrees for 30 minutes.  This low heat allows the pores to open and soak in the oils.

Take it out and let it cool down until you can put more crisco on it and put it on the grill at 500 degrees for an hour. If you dont have the grill you can use your oven, but beware of smoking.  Let it cool and repeat step at 500 degrees.

In order to keep you cast iron seasoned clean with water and a soap free scrub brush.  Occasionally coating with a thin layer of crisco.

A few of our many favorites:

Cajun Chicken Pasta
Fresh Veggie Chicken Stir Fry
Ginger Lime and Shrimp Pasta
Chicken Parm
Skillet Cookies
...and all grilled chicken dishes (brown on each side then stick it in the oven!)

Graffiti Green

I am loving these J. Crew matchstick green cords (check out the pale peacock too, they are equally as awesome)  I had some fun on polyvore with how I would style them if they happen to end up in my closet! You can see the  details of my outfits  here or create your own! Leave some love and let me know your favorite get up, or share your outfits.

"New" doorknobs

We have done so much work on the house! It was quite the bachelor pad when I arrived, since then we have painted all the rooms and all the trim, laid new tile in the kitchen and redone the cabinets (plus a lot of decorating and cleaning)! The most time consuming job was painting all the doors white. They were all natural wood, and it just looked outdated. However, when I painted them the knobs were on them so I couldn't really get the doors painted well, so that got added to my to-do list.  Then I read somewhere (lets be honest, on pinterest) that you could spray paint door knobs.  They look so much better and it only cost $4.00!

Yikes

Oil Rubbed Bronze

Cute hubs reinstalling them while watching NFL

Before

After

Favorite Fall Cake

                                 

Wednesday was my dear friend Alyssa's birthday, our small group went to dinner and I made her a birthday cake!  According to her husband she prefers something other than chocolate, and loves pumpkin.  So, I found it the perfect excuse to pull out one of my favorite recipes for Pumpkin Spice  Cake.  You can thank me later...

Preheat oven at 350
Cake:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 cups of light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup of fresh or canned pure pumpkin (half of a can)
1 tsp. of vanilla extract

2 cups of sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/8 of tsp of ground cloves
1/2 cup of room temperature buttermilk

Mix together butter and brown sugar with hand mixer or in kitchenaid.  Once mixed add eggs one at a time mixing well in between.  Mix in pumpkin and vanilla.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture alternating with buttermilk.  Do so in three additions starting and ending with flour mixture.  Divide batter in half and pour into to round cake pans.  Cook on 350 for 20-25 min.

Frosting:
8 oz of cream cheese room temperature
1/4 cup of butter room temperature
Mix together.
Add 3-4 cups of powdered sugar depending on your preference.

Cool cakes completely, flip first one upside down and frost top, place second cake right side up on top of it and frost sides and top.  Sprinkle a little cinnamon, or garnish with pecans.  It also makes great cupcakes!

Thats a lot of orange, for this gamecock! Yikes!

You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1/2 Tblspoon of white vinegar to 1/2 a cup of milk.  And you can also make your own cake flour, check out great instructions here!

Recipe via Joy of Baking

Fall Scarf Round-up!

I love scarves.  Give me a few weeks until the temp drops about 7 degrees and you will see me in one almost everyday til April!  I just love how they add to the most simple outfits!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Fall Scarf Round-up!

                                                                                Find them here:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

A new venture

Well, here we go!  I am excited to get this blog going, life as a newlywed has only confirmed my passion for decor, cooking and diy projects!  Here I will share everything from my cast iron recipes, event design, thrifted treasures, statement pieces and my latest fashion finds! I appreciate the patience as I learn what I am doing here and the blog undergoes changes (this setup is temporary, I was anxious to get started) Here is a glimpse into the things that I really do enjoy!