Customized Rocking Chair

Today's project is NOT a pinterest found project, I just decided to do this randomly.

D's mom (who is an amazing scrapbook-er) got me a Cricut for Christmas. After the craziness of Christmas day and the mess it left behind, I didn't get to play with my new toy until recently.  I was just cutting out letters and pictures and playing around when I started thinking what I could do with all these things I have cut out now. And then it hit me. I can customize things with some paper letters and some DIY decoupage.

Last Christmas, my parents got baby A an unfinished wooden rocking that I was going to paint. I haven't yet and decoupaging seemed like the perfect fit for this handmade wooden rocking chair.

I had cut out A's name and some hearts so I arranged her name on the back rest and put one of the hearts on the back of the chair. I covered the seat with coordinating paper and decoupaged it all. It turned out amazing. You could really apply this technique to anything. I covered it with some spray on acrylic sealer.

I love it and so does Addilyn. Her reaction was: "ooh Mommy, I love it! It's beautiful."

And that makes it all worth it!!

December Birchbox

I was browsing Pinterest a few months ago and came across a really cute blog called "The Small Things Blog"
It's super adorable and packed with great hair/make up/cooking/everything. I was scrolling through her blog and came across a post she did about receiving a Birchbox. I read the post and I had to sign up.

Birchbox is sort of like a magazine subscription. But instead of getting a magazine you will flip though once or twice and then leave around to clutter your house, you get 4-5 samples of beauty products, that you will LOVE. And it's only $10 a month. It comes in a hot pink box, so you will never miss it in your mail. Not that you would, if you are anything like me,  practically sprinting to the mailbox to check for my box every month.

I got my first Birchbox in November and I discovered my new favorite perfume Kate Spade 'Twirl' and Jouer Cosmetics and amazing Alex & Isabella Hair Bows (the hair ties don't leave the weird pony tail hump when you take your hair down, and they are too cute!) 

I got my December Birchbox and I was absolutely thrilled with what was inside, again. They usually show up around the 10th but this month's came a little late because inside everyone got an exclusive pre-launch of  Atelier Cologne Ambre Nue Cologne Absolue. So, they sent everyone 100 Birchbox points, which is essentially a $10 credit to shop on their website. Awesome.

Here is my review of all the December products in my box. 

 It is always packaged up so cute! Ribbons, shimmery paper :)

 In this month's box I got: 

EBOOST Orange Natural Energy Booster

It is a packet that you mix with water and drink, supposed to be a natural energy booster. I have not tried it.

 pre-launch Atelier Cologne Ambre Nue Cologne Absolue

It smells amazing. 

It's elegant and mature and what I imagine classy, old Hollywood smelled like.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse® OR Multi-Usage Dry Oil Shimmer 

Amazing product. I used a little on my décolletage and on my legs and it looked amazing. Just a little shimmer, it made all the difference! It really took my whole look up a notch. We were going to a Christmas party that night and it was perfect  On my legs, it gave that flawless sheen that wearing nylon pantyhose can, but without the itchy stuffiness of pantyhose. It only takes a little bit so my sample size is going to last a while, but when it is gone, I am restocking this one for sure. 

Showstoppers® Designer Fashion Tape in Nude

 I love fashion tape, so useful. I have actually used this brand before, it is great.

Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss 

The color I got is 'Birchbox Pink'. It is a nice color and consistency, isn't too sticky, and very moisturizing

Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo

I use dry shampoo a lot, but I wasn't particularly impressed by this one. I didn't like the smell and it didn't blow me away. A full size bottle costs 28.00 and I didn't think it worked any better than my 4.00 Tresemme Fresh Start (which smells awesome and works like a dream)

I love getting Birchboxes every month and I will most likely keep my subscription forever. It is a great way to find some stellar beauty products without having to do the hard work or buy a full size product that you end up hating.

If you are interested in Birchbox and getting started with a subscription click here.

Pretty Hair Pins

I use bobby pins like crazy. CRAZY.

And I usually buy the ones that at least sort of match my hair color, but I change that so often I rarely have a bobby pins for the current color so it never matches.  Not too long ago I bought some neon bobby pins and embraced using the hair pins to accessorize.

I saw this on pinterest and went nuts. It doesn't link back to a blog or anything, it's just a picture of pretty bobby pins with the description of :

"Paint your bobby pins with nail polish! - very cute & EASY!"

 It is cute and easy. And this is how it turned out: 

the colors are much brighter in real life. and look awesome in your hair!

 COLORS USED:

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails X-treme Wear #140 Rockstar Pink
Claire's Cosmetics "Mean Green"
Zoya "Noel"
Sally Hansen HD #01 Cyber
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri #11 Sonic Bloom
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri #22 Jumpin' Jade


If you can't tell, I have a Sally Hansen obsession. Some of the best polishes I've had have been Sally's and the Insta-Dri line is amazing for doing toddler mani/pedis or quick polish changes!

A Blue Streak

If I could, I would have rainbow streaked hair and more tattoos and piercings...but I have a job at a law firm and if you want a professional job (especially here in the deep south)  you usually need to be a little more conservative. I saw this pin (it links to a tumblr page, so the only instructions I have were in the description of the pin) that explained how to get temporary hair color streaks and I was more than excited. This could give me a little fun for the weekends, but rinse out for work.

The pin says to use oil pastels to color on the section of hair you want and hair spray it to hold.

Not Your Mother's 'She's A Tease' Hairspray and Cray-Pas Junior Artist Oil Pastels

So I did exactly that and it worked like a dream! I tried a few different colors and was pretty satisfied with all of them. The flash caught some of the shiny particles from pastels I guess but the color is more smooth and not grainy like that in real life.

Update: It washes out easily! I washed my hair the next morning and it came right out.

Plastic Bag Organization

I have a two year old which means trips in the car can go a variety of ways. But almost every time we travel any distance greater than across town, we usually have some need for those plastic grocery/shopping bags. They are awesome as on-the-go trash bags, dirty clothes containers, or stinky diaper eliminators but they are a nusance to have laying around in your car or crammed in your diaper bag. They also are a bit of a choking hazard. I'm not an over-protective-terrified-of-every-thing-mom, but I do worry about a toddler having easy access to those plastic bags. So finding a way to store them in a cute way was an awesome discovery.

<<<< Turn that into....

                                                                Into this! >>>>>>>


















I saw a pin a while back about rolling your plastic bags to pull out of cleaning wipes containers. It links you back to an awesome website, called tater tots and jello, definitely something to check out!

The instructions are simple and she gives a great photo-full how to guide on rolling the bags.

Its as easy as it seems and you can mix and match the plastic bags you are rolling together.

Once you roll them up and pop them in the container you just load up an 8 x 10 piece of cute, coordinating fabric with DIY decoupage and stick it on the container. I didn't have spray adhesive handy so I just decoupaged it and spread a little fabric glue I had handy on the container and it worked just as well.





This could make an awesome little gift for anyone! But especially an expectant mother (you never realize the things you actually need when you are mom, until you become one!)

DIY Decoupage!

I love to use decoupage for pretty much anything and everything when it comes to crafting, but buying jar after jar of decoupage gets pricey when one jar is almost $8.

When I saw this DIY version on Pinterest, I knew I had to at least give it a chance for my wallet's sake.The pin links you to a super adorable blog who got the idea from a pin she saw that linked her back to this super awesome blog.

The instructions are simple and easy! Mix 1 part glue with 1 part water, shake until mixed. DONE.

This is an easy and cheap alternative to the store brand. (especially if you are a slight supply hoarder like me and stocked up big on random school supplies at this year's back to school sales!)  Lucky for me I also have lots of empty glass containers hoarded  laying around for anytime I might need them, much to the annoyance of D.

Speaking of dear old D....

I only have one further instruction: 

DO NOT LEAVE OUT WHERE YOUR HUBS MIGHT DRINK IT THINKING IT IS MILK!

I am counting my lucky stars that he asked me why I was painting on stuff with milk. This could have been an ugly, yet hilarious situation.

Happy Crafting !

Scotch Tape Manicure

Last night I had a nail polish/spa party with baby A. So I thought I would try out some of the really cool, nail polish ideas and tricks I see on Pinterest. Baby A's nails are too small and so is her attention span so we just regular painted hers.

I tried a Scotch Tape Mani that I found on Pinterest that links you back to an awesome blog called Chloe's Nails . (Follow her blog  if you love nail polish, she has some amazing ideas, tips and tricks!) 

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Finished!

I started out with a pretty nude I have called Cafe Au Lait by Sally Hansen Perfect Manicure.


I put "less sticky" scotch tape at a diagonal. (stick the tape to your skin and take it off a few times so it loses some sticky so you don't pull your base color off )

Then I painted my Rimmel Lycra #322 Russet Flame  color over the tape and exposed nail.








Gently pull the tape off BEFORE the polish dries. It is easiest to do one nail at a time to avoid the risk of the top polish drying to tape and pulling off.

Chloe gives more details and better instructions so be sure to check out her blog post about it! 

(the link is at the top of the page!)

To do all my nails, base, taped and top did not take long at all. I tried using another pinterest idea ( running nails under cool water to dry faster ) to help speed things along and cut down on nail drying time and it didn't work that I could tell.

This is definitely a do again project. I can see all kinds of things coming out of using scotch tape as a stencil of sorts....


Happy Polishing!

Garlic Chicken Puffs!

We were going to a Sunday School Christmas party Friday night and we were all supposed to bring something. Instantly my brain went to pinterest and all the amazing appetizers and recipes on there. I found a recipe for Garlic Chicken Puffs and thought it would make the perfect appetizer. The blog post that the pin links you to is actually about taking these to a Christmas party so its perfect!

Its a simple recipe and it tastes delicious.
Basically you mix chicken, cream cheese, and flavors to taste and put them into triangles of crescent roll dough and bake for a few minutes. (I added some shredded cheddar because everything tastes better with more cheese)


I had chicken breasts, cream cheese and everything else I need for this already in my fridge so this actually worked out great!


Since I have to work today until 5 and the party is at 7, I went ahead and mixed up the creamy chicken mixture last night.

 

It makes a yummy cracker dip too!

The blogger this recipe came from says
"Unroll crescent rolls and cut each triangle into 2 triangles (when you unroll the crescent rolls, 2 triangles are attached making a big square, I just cut from there following the perforation for one cut and made another cut from the other corners = giving you 4 little triangles)"

That is how you get the little triangles to put the mix in.

I just spoon what I think looks like a good amount and roll those babies up! Bake them for about 10-15 minutes (every oven is different) at about 375.

They are delicious and a definite crowd pleaser!

Glow Stick Bath

Last night I thought we would shake our bath time ritual up a bit and use Glow Sticks! 

bath time fun!

I bought a 15 pack of glow sticks from target for a dollar, and made baby A's night!

She had so much fun cracking them to make them glow, and playing with them in the dark and in the bath that after the bath we ended up playing with them all night and had a mini-rave in her room until bed time!

It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.. maybe we will have a glow stick night after her next big potty training victory!

Sticker Removal

Last night I got a sweet UNC tervis tumbler on clearance at Hobby Lobby (random? I know)

It had these annoying little stickers all over the bottom of it so I went to pinterest to find a way to take them off.

I found a few different things that said use a blow dryer to remove stickers.

It links you to a page from "Real Simple" and all it says is: 

"A little hot air quickly loosens price labels—with zero fingernail-chipping frustration."

So I got out my blow dryer and aimed it at the stickers for probably 5 to 10 seconds and the sticker pulled off like magic! 

no stickers or sticky residue!

 

Lettering

Today  I did a pretty cool tutorial I found about lettering

Well its basically how to doodle your way to a beautiful letter!


On the page that the pin links you to there are tons of tutorials for lots of different things that use Sakura products.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a couple of the Sakura brand pens, which are amazing and worth the price if you are a hard core doodler. I can't wait to add to my small collection.

I followed her tutorial and I did the letter R like she did.

She makes it so easy!

Joanne Fink is the woman instructing in the video and I loved her handiwork so I googled her and she has some books that I have already put on my amazon wish list!

I think I'm going to have to go buy some gel pens and keep doodling! I just wish I still had my gel pen collection from fifth grade...

Here is another letter I did:

And another: 

Twine Light

The workout posts and videos are on their way! 

But in the meantime....

another craft!!!

This one is a Twine Light Ball.

Materials: 

• Twine- about 2.50 for 500 yards in the hardware section of Wal-Mart
• Ballons - 1.00 for a pack of 15
• Heavy Starch - 0.97 cents! 
• Finisher Spray - 4.99 at Hobby Lobby ( which I didn't even use)

Cheap and Easy

The idea is that you wrap twine around a balloon, spray it with some spray starch and let it dry then pop the balloon.

This was the hardest part!

Honestly, the most difficult part is wrapping the twine around the balloon with out it sliding off, but once you get going its a piece of cake.

All wrapped up and ready to go!

 It finally got wrapped, after some friendly arguing between me and D about who had the better idea of how to wrap it. I can admit defeat, his way worked and mine didn't. You were right, honey.







I have read a lot of tutorials that tell you to dip the twine/yarn/string in a glue mixture and wrap but the spray starch method seems much easier and less messy!

I still need to purchase a light kit to fully complete this project, but I am satisfied! I think I mightspray some acrylic finisher stuff I have onto to it just as a second layer of stiffness, but you wouldn't have to.

I count this as a success.

I am also considering doing a couple more of varying sizes and just hanging them in a cluster over baby A's bed.

Or using them as wedding decor...

                 

There are a million cool things you could do with this concept, so get crafting!