And Now The Letter...F

As we were finishing up our basement make-over (I know - still no photos but I'm being lazy), we played around with a lot of different decorations. We wanted things that were young and fun and represented us as a family. So on a trip to Joann's (I wish I could live in that store), I picked up a paper mache letter F since our last name starts with an F. It's 8" tall and costs about $2.99.

I also grabbed a bag of buttons. I went with blues and greens. I got a bag of about 130 buttons for under $3. I only ended up using one bag for this project but I had bought two, just in case. I'm pretty horrible at estimating supplies for projects. I almost ALWAYS have way too much but I guess I'd rather have too much than too little!

So all I did was starting hot gluing the buttons around the letter. I only covered the top surface but may go back and fill up the sides as well. It took me about 20 minutes to finish and I think it turned out pretty cute! Up close, you can see where I went a little overboard with the hot glue but really, from far away you can't tell.

It currently sits on one of the shelves we made from scratch (more on that later, and how they didn't turn out so great...)...my janky camera's WAY TOO BRIGHT flash makes everything look like garbage but still, it's an inexpensive, but fun way to bring a little personalized decoration to your house. :)



Kid Stuff - Making Cloud Dough

Another project I have tried from Pinterest is making Cloud Dough. I just knew that my youngest would really enjoy playing in this. I vaguely remember doing this as a child and figured it would be a fun play with texture project we could do together.

So here's what you need.

• 8 cups of plain flour
• 1 cup of baby oil (I used shea butter baby oil so that it would be scented - smelled like the beach!)
• a large container
• toys - we used inexpensive baking tools purchased at the dollar store
• AND of course 1 (or more) cute kid(s)

So basically we just dumped 8 cups of flour into our container and added the baby oil.

Then the fun part - we mashed it all together - it feels really neat!

It pretty much takes any shape. We made snowballs, cupcakes, cakes, domes, all kinds of stuff. It's simple and pretty inexpensive and it sure beats sitting in front of the TV.

Lastly, and this is the most important step. MAKE A HUGE MESS! AND HAVE FUN!!

P.S. Those curtain to the left of Boo's shoulder? - Yeah, my mom and I made those!

Have fun!



Lazy

It's cold out. All my work pants were dirty which left me with a skirt to wear. Being as I was lazy this morning and waited until the last possible second to get up, I didn't leave myself enough time to shave my legs. This is where tights come in. I threw on a pair of fishnets and blam-o. No need to shave. And no one can tell either. Love colder weather sometimes! It allows the lazy girl in me to be just that. Who says women can't be a part of Movember?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I cannot wait to eat! But since we still have a couple hours to go before turkey time, here are some things I am thankful for:

My husband, Ryan, who cannot ever take a serious photo but is a wonderful husband and father.

My Mom and my oldest daughter, Melanie. My mom for being the best Mom a girl could ever ask for and Melanie for being the unique and opinionated 11 year old that she is.

My Dad and my youngest daughter, Isabella. My Dad for being strong, supportive and seriously the BEST dad around. My Boo for being so sweet and caring to everyone she meets. Her teacher said that she has the most tender heart and that God has big plans for that tender heart. I tend to agree.

My sweet buppy, Mordecai. He is ALWAYS happy to see me. Even though he's look a little like the Grinch is this photo. 

The Green Bay Packers who are playing on Thanksgiving, sweet!

There are so many more things that I am thankful for but those are what I could take pictures of today. :)

Also, another person I am thankful for - My big sister, Jen! It also happens to be her birthday today, so Happy Birthday Turkey Baby!

I hope everyone is enjoying their time with their families and getting bellies full of turkey!!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (If You Don't Take Care Of It!!)

Being a hair school graduate and just being interested in hair in general, having healthy hair is pretty important to me. Especially as it gets longer (it's about to my bra strap in the back right now), it's so important to make sure it's healthy hair. What's the point of having long hair if half of it is dried out and full of split ends?

I also color my hair which tends to take it's toll after a while. That's why I make sure to get my hair "dusted" every 6-8 weeks. A dusting is where they just barely skim the ends. You have to make sure you don't just say I want a trim. A lot of stylists will take that to mean an inch or more. An inch of hair is two month's worth of growth! It's your hair and your hard earned money you are spending so don't be shy! Tell them JUST A DUSTING! Most of them should know what that means, and if not, EDUCATE THEM! :)

In addition to that, I also take a multi-vitamin. Right now I am taking GNC's Women's Ultra Mega. Warning: It smells terrible. Awful even. Everytime I open my purse, I get smacked in the face by it's stink. But I think it works. It may not make your hair grow faster but I think it makes it a little sturdier growing in. Just my two cents.

As for shampoo, right now, since I'm more on the blonde side, I'm using John Frieda's Color Renew Tone Correcting Shampoo. It helps get rid of the yellow or brassy tones in blonde hair. It's definitely not my favorite tone correcting shampoo. In fact, Aveda's is HANDS DOWN the best one out there. Unfortuantely, the last time I went red, I gave my mom my big $26 bottle of Aveda and I can't bring myself to pay that again for a bottle of shampoo. BUT the Aveda works! Actually, if you aren't careful, it can turn your hair violet!

As for conditioner, I alternate between John Frieda's Go Lighter Conditioner (which I got at the salvage store for $2, compared to the drug store price of $6.99!) and Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Treatment. Argan Oil has been all the rage lately and it smells DIVINE! I can't get enough of this stuff.

I love the way this makes my hair smell and feel. Yum.

After shampooing and conditioning, I spray Miracle 7 Shine Spray on my hair. Another lovely smelling product. Though my husband says it smells like beer when it's first sprayed, I don't get that!



 And lastly, I apply Moroccan Oil to my ends. The REAL Moroccan Oil is only sold in salons (and online at their website) and I'm not going to lie, it's expensive! $40 for a bottle. I bought the smallest bottle for $15 and it has lasted me over a year. So don't think you need a lot. A little goes a long way. And of course, IT SMELLS SUPERB!

I very rarely blow dry my hair, I usually just let it air dry. I generally go a day in between washings. If it gets really oily, I will use a dry shampoo to get rid of the oils at the root. Sometimes it's even good to just get your hair wet in the shower and massage your hair at the root, distributing your natural oils. It won't be so pretty when you get out and it dries so I would put it in a braid if you have to go somewhere that day. Use a wide tooth comb when combing out wet hair. Use pony tail holders that don't have the metal piece in them. Give your hair a rinse with cool water before getting out of the shower.

So there you have it, these are the things I use and are what works for me!

Be good to your hair and it will be good to you! :)

Soda Can Cupcakes!

We recently got rid of our cable/internet/home phone so my online access has been drastically limited as of late. So forgive the lack of posts. I promise to get better. ANY WAY, just thought I'd get on here to share a quick recipe. My oldest daughter's 11th birthday party was this past weekend and in a moment of ballsy, I've lost my mind and why not, I decided to try a cupcake recipe that I have never before tried. It sounded so simple and had great reviews so I thought why not? Luckily, for me they turned out excellent! I got SO many compliments on them. They were tasty, super moist (i know a lot of people have issues with the word moist but I don't know how else to describe it! Sorry!!) and SUPER easy. So here we go!

1 box of any flavor cake mix (I used one box of chocolate fudge and one box of Funfetti)
1 can of room temperature soda (I used Dr. Pepper for my chocolate to get a Chocolate Cherry thing happening, and I used Orange Soda with my Funfetti to get a kind of Orange Creamsicle thing going)

annnnd that's it!

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 - 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22. I baked mine for about 22 minutes. I used buttercream frosting.

You will get varying texture. The funfetti and orange soda was a lot thicker and spongier of a batter than the chocolate and Dr. Pepper. Both baked for 22 minutes and turned out fine.

What I really like about this is that the flavor combinations aren't as limited as with regular cake mixes. You could even do a grape soda with white cake! Maybe I'll get brave and try that next.

Hopefully I will be able to post pictures soon! Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!!

In Which I Suck At Blogging....

I am seriously sucking at this blogging thing lately. I've had a lot going on personally and just haven't had the heart to write any posts. However, I'm in the process of planning my oldest daughter's 11th birthday and I have a lot of cool ideas that I'm putting into that. And also, I've mentioned before that we are re-doing our basement. Nothing cosmetic really but it's amazing what paint can do for a room (or rooms, in this case). Hopefully, I will be able to make another post some time soon with the basement updates.

Also, just a warning. I have a potty mouth. I cuss like a sailor and I've been trying to curb myself but really, that's not being myself. I won't always cuss in posts but I may post "funnies" that have cuss words in them. Just a warning.

So again, hopefully I'll be back soon...

Until then, enjoy these funnies...

This show has my heart and soul right now

Photos taken during dives.

I'm alive...

I was MIA for a few days but I should have a pretty big post sometime this weekend with our basement makeover. We have a finished basement but it was really lacking in the decorating department. Stark white walls, wood paneled bar, no warmth at all. Not pretty. We worked all last weekend on it and are going to continue tonight - yes, that's our date night. The girls are at my parents, and we spend our free time painting and building. :)

So stay tuned, good stuff to come!

Happy November!

It's the first day of November and in honor of that, I share with you some November trivia!

1. November is one of 4 months in the Gregorian Calendar that has 30 days.
2. November comes from the Latin word root “novem”, which means nine. It was originally the 9th month in the Roman Calendar.
3. In Finland they call November “marraskuu” which translates as “month of the dead”.
4. November is National Beard Month.
5. The birthstone for November in Topaz (or Citrine depending on which chart you are looking at!)
6. World War I ended on the 11th day of the 11th month (November) at 11PM, in 1918.
7. On November 5th 1935, Parker Brothers introduced the game Monopoly to the world.
8. On November 13th 1952 the first press-on fingernails were sold.
9. November 17th is National Take A Hike Day.
10. The flower that represents November is the Chrysanthemum.

So there we have it! Hopefully you learned something you didn't know before. I'm a sucker for useless trivia.

Also, and probably most importantly, my daugher's 11th birthday is this month! I'm currently working on my decorating ideas and such for her party. She's inviting boys this year. Help us all!



Chili Cook-Off - 1st Place

Note - This is not a picture of my chili but it looks pretty darn close!

I just won my second chili cook off! I am beyond excited! The first time I won was at my oldest daughter's school (2009). And today I won my work's cook off! YIPPEE!!

I've never shared my recipe before but I thought I would today since it marks the second time this chili has won me first place. So here goes...

1lb maple sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
1lb Italian sausage (you can use zesty or regular, I use Purnell Old Folks)
1lb regular sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
1 - large onion - large dice
3 - cloves of garlic - fine dice
2 - 15oz cans of chili ready tomatoes
1 - 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 - 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 - 28 oz can of Chili beans - Red beans in mild sauce (I use Bush's)
1/2 t - garlic powder
1/2 t - onion powder
4 (heaping) T chili powder (I prefer Mexene brand)
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t ground cumin
1 t - red pepper flakes (crush in your palm to release flavor)
1 t - dried oregano (again crushed)
salt and pepper (I'd guesstimate that I use about 1 t of each)

1 - box of chicken stock (one with a flip top works best)

First, I brown all the meat in the order listed above, one at a time. While I'm browning my meat, I throw all of my remaining ingredients in my crockpot, except for the chicken stock. Once all of my meat has been browned, I add it all to the crock pot. The chili will be pretty thick at this point, and that's where I add in my chicken stock to thin it out a bit. Then I just cook it low and slow. Cook on low until the onions and garlic are soft.

And that's it! It always tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had time to hang out together. I'm a Southern girl so I fix spaghetti with mine. I don't put it in my chili pot but I do put some at the bottom of a bowl, spoon my chili on top and spinkle on some shredded cheddar cheese and Frank's Hot Sauce. YUM!


I honestly think the maple sausage is what makes it a winner. I was feeling adventurous one day and thought I would try maple to bring a hint of sweetness, and lucky for me it worked! This chili is on the spicy side but my girl can eat it so it's not too hot.

Let me know if you try it and how it turned out!

Happy Halloween!

I used to be a huge Halloween fan but as I get older, I'm more into the family orientented holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, I still decided to "dress up" this year. Basically, I just slapped some make up on my face and called myself a zombie/dead pin up girl. haha...

I think I nailed the dead eyes look.

My shoes!

Have a great Halloween and be safe!

Adventures in Make Up

Make-Up is one of my most favorite things to shop for (outside of shoes, perfume, books and food...). Normally, I head to Sephora because you aren't limited to one specific brand and it's fun to browse and try out different things. However, not too long ago, I went back to MAC. Before we got a Sephora in our mall (now we have 3 I think), I used to go to MAC, but sometimes they are just a little too pricey for me.

So here's what I picked up:

Eyeshadow in Vanilla (for the brow bone)

Paint Pot in Constructivist for the lid and the lash line.

Eyeshadow - Dark Indulgence from their Semi-Precious Collection (it's no longer on their website, sad face) for the crease.

And here was the result

It probably wouldn't have killed me to clean up under my eyes a little but at this point, it had been a few hours.

I also put a little of the Constructivist on my eyebrows to darken them to my hair color. Don't go too crazy or you'll end looking a little too much like Groucho Marx.