Jan
24th
2013
Okay, I changed the title from “kids” to “toddlers”. This does work well for smaller kids who can still be ‘tricked’ though. :)
If you’re like me, you are probably crazy. It’s okay, friend.
I have major anxiety issues when it comes to the messes my kids make. I’m working very hard on breaking free of this, trust me. I know it’s not fair to keep them from doing what kids do and I definitely don’t want to stifle their creativity. But for those days when they want to paint and I don’t necessarily want to stress and hover over them during the entire process to make sure paint isn’t getting everywhere, this quick and easy project is a savior.
(It’s not the most exciting kid project in all the universe, but for days when mom is sick, HALLELUJAH!)
Enjoy!
I seriously need more things like this in my life if I ever expect to live to 30.
For the slightly older kids who know this isn’t actually painting, have them throw some glitter in the bag with the paint and tell them to squish it around and make some galaxy art. Hey, whatever works!
Categories: DIYs and Tutorials Me Being a Mom Me Being Crafty Personal
Jan
23rd
2013
It’s been a minute since I’ve done any felt flower tutorials and I’ve been sitting on this one for almost two years. WUT. It’s very similar to my Pom Pom Flower Thingamabobs, so if you’ve ever made those, this will be a breeze!
Make the centers:
Cut thin strips of felt to use as the center of your flowers. I never use any real measurement on this part, but for reference, I’d say they’re about as long as your finger. Well, a normal finger. If you have man hands, well… I’m sorry and good luck to you, my friend.
Roll the little strip of felt like you would a sleeping bag, dabbing glue along the way to keep it secure.
There you go! Okay, those look like crap, but you get the idea.
First variation:
Cut a strip of felt 10″x2″ or something close to that. The measurements really don’t matter because you’ll be trimming it all down at the end. If you want a larger flower though, increase the length.
Cut little notches along the length of the felt, leaving a good 1/2″ intact on one side.
Take one of your little flower centers you made earlier and glue it to one end of your fringe, on the section of felt where you didn’t cut notches.
Continue rolling the fringe strip around your center piece, dabbing bits of glue along the way to hold it all in place. Now don’t freak out on this next part…
This freakishly hideous thing you see right now is completely normal. This is the part where you take your scissors and trim all the little fringe-petal-thingies until they look right to you.
Second variation:
This version is pretty much identical to the blue flower. The only difference is that I made thinner cuts for the fringe.
Again, I trimmed the petals up after the rolling/gluing step. The result is just a smaller, more compact flower. Perfect for hair clips and headbands, I might add.
This would take a little extra time, but you could also cut the tips of the petals into different shapes instead of this blunt version. You could round them, trim them to a point, cut at a 45 degree angle… I’ve done pretty much every possibility and they all end up adorable!
Third variation:
This is a fringe flower without the center piece.
Take your strip of felt and fold it in half, hot dog-way. #momlife
As you’re holding the folded felt, cut your notches along the length of the strip as you did before. You’ll be cutting through two layers of felt.
I do it this way, but feel free to dab a little glue along the middle before you fold it in half. It will hold in place a little better, but you just risk getting glue in the way when you’re cutting the fringe.
Say hello to the blurriest photo of all time.
Remember, “roll like a sleeping bag”? Well we’re doing it again. This time, your felt is doubled up (still folded in half) to make a fuller flower in half the time.
A little more shabby than the other variations, but still cute!
Let me know if you ladies find this tutorial useful! Enjoy!
Tags: crafting diy felt flower fringe flower tutorial Categories: DIYs and Tutorials Me Being Crafty
Jan
22nd
2013
I’ve been trying to get back into the juicing groove lately. Since the last post I wrote about my juice cleanse, I’ve been pretty good at keeping up with it a few times a week, but I really have been trying my best to do one a day more recently.
I wanted to share a quick recipe that I’ve been enjoying. It’s so simple, easy to remember, and the ingredients are dirt cheap (and one of them happens to taste like dirt, ha)!
ABC Juice (Apple-Beet-Carrot)
- 2 apples (I chose green for the tartness)
- 2 beetroots (juice the greens too if they look nice and healthy!)
- 3-4 carrots, ends trimmed
Put all ingredients in your juicer and serve immediately. (You guys totally couldn’t have figured that part out on your own. Happy to help.)
Something to be aware of is that BEETS STAIN LIKE A MO. It never fails, I always get this juice on me, no matter how careful I try to be. I once dropped a glass of it outside on the cement and it was stained pink for a month. It’s a pretty color, but COME ON.
That’s my shirt, 3 seconds after making this juice. I’m not making this up here, people!
Categories: Me Getting Skinny Personal
Jan
21st
2013
My girl loves her necklaces. And her mama loves her necklaces. I mean, her mama loves her own necklaces. I love hers too, but I was referring to mine. OKAY, we both love our own necklaces and each others necklaces. There.
So what does a chunky necklace-obsessed person do when their collection starts overflowing into multiple rooms of their home?
BAM. Ikea, son!
We found a few simple fixes for our necklace issues. For Maddie, this little knob rack did the trick:
It’s available for $6.99 and now holds all her cute little girly things up and out of the way. Most importantly, it keeps them out of Jack’s reach. He likes to throw things in toilets.
For me, I took the advice of my favorite YouTubers, Michelle Money and Laura, and used this $10 solution:
(Video here.)
Those rods and hanging baskets are my new favorite thing in the world. I’m preeeetty sure they were intended for kitchen use, but they work perfectly for jewelry organization. In the basket, I have a few cute little cups to hold my most used rings and earrings. The apothecary jar below has all my bangles and the little green vintage glass box has some of my daintier bracelets and watches inside. It all sits on top of a big standing jewelry cupboard that holds more crap. But hey, it’s all contained to one corner of my bedroom, which is a muuuuch better set up than before!
Categories: DIYs and Tutorials Me Being Crafty Style
Jan
18th
2013
By now, you are all aware that I love makeup and beauty and all that junk. I’ve been meaning to write a post to share some of my weirdest beauty tips and tricks that I’ve used over the years, but completely spaced on that, obviously. (Be better, Morgan. Be better!) Some of these things are pretty basic, but I always like to hear about other people’s beauty routines so I figured you might too. :)
Peach Fuzz Removal
A few years ago, I wrote about my girlstache and my method of getting rid of that mess. While I still use Sally Hansen’s Hair Remover Creme for that, I’ve also been using facial razors for unibrow and sideburn upkeep for years. Don’t go making that judgy face, guuuurl. We all suffer from The Sasquatchies in some form. There are tons of facial razors out there (Sephora has one for around $15 and it’s awesome, and stores like Walgreens usually have them as well), but my favorite has been this:
I don’t think we really need to comment on the name, do we? Yeah. Anyway, I found this pack of 3 at the dollar store and they’ve lasted me for months. Every week, I’ll ‘shave’ the peach fuzzy side burn things and down along my neck/chin area, and it leaves your face smooth and exfoliated. I’m being real here: I had NO idea I needed this before I tried it. I was amazed and completely grossed out the first time I used one. SO MUCH FUZZ.
I’m sure there are people who have issues with using a razor… “Eww, but those are for MEN!” Stoppit. I did the same thing when I first saw them, but I got over it when I realized how easy they are to use and how great the results are. Trust me! Watch this video by the MMandLShow on YouTube for a good tutorial. Your life will be changed.
Pimple Coverage
I’ve had my fair share of breakouts, people. There have been some baaaad times, let me tell you. When I was 14, I was so embarrassed about my blemishes that I kind of just made up a routine that ended up working for me and I still use it to this day (almost 13 years later).
- Apply your foundation and concealer as usual
- Set it with loose powder
- THEN! Find a shade of eye shadow that is as close as you can get to the tone of your skin (WITH makeup on). I’m very fair so my shadow is almost always a very light tan shade. Get a little brush and dab some of the eye shadow onto your trouble spots and blend outward slightly.
- Top with another light dusting of powder and you’re good to go!
That little bit of extra coverage makes a HUGE difference for those times where your spots are really red and still show through your foundation/concealer.
Moisturizing Dry Hands/Elbows/Feet
This is another one I blogged about a few years ago. After I stopped nursing Maddie and Jack, I had a large supply of leftover nipple ointment for you know, that chapped thing that occurs when your baby is yanking and pulling on your boobs 12 times a day. This stuff right here works WONDERS on dry skin all over your body, especially that cracked, chapped winter dryness of the hands:
It’s like a giant tube of Chapstick that twists up. I’ve used other brands of my leftover nipple ointment and they all work pretty well, but this is my favorite. If you have any leftover from your nursing days, give it a shot.
Layering Mascara
I know this sounds a little ridiculous and unnecessary and I’m sure this isn’t for everyone, but I am super picky about how my eyelashes look. Mascara is always the thing I have the most trouble with because it’s hard to find one single tube that will help me achieve everything I want. Length, volume, no clumps, quick application, good wand. See? A liiiiittle high maintenance.
(I can totally see clumps right now and it’s giving me hives as I speak, but that fresh face of makeup has since melted off in the midst of my toddler-chasing fury, so this photo will have to do. But ahhhh)
What I’ve found that works best is to not use just one, but two different mascaras, each with it’s own unique strength. My two go-to’s at the moment are L’Oreal Voluminous (a favorite for years) and Maybelline Volum’ Express Mega Plush. They’re completely different, but work together perfectly.
Coconut Oil for… everything
Everyone has been informed of the wonders of coconut oil recently, thanks to Pinterest. It’s great for the skin, hair and even your brain. People use it all over their bodies because of it’s natural, safe moisturizing properties. A funny thing about it is that it’s solid at cool temperatures, so when I scoop it out of the jar, there’s always a little bit left on the spoon. I, not wanting to waste any of the magic, will either lick it right off the spoon or rub it on my face. Yep. Right there in the kitchen. A few nights ago I was cooking with it and Justin walked in at the exact moment I was rubbing the back of the spoon on my cheek. The face he made was the most disgusted, confused expression I’ve ever seen.
(I enjoyed every minute of it.)
Do you guys have any strange or helpful beauty tricks that work well for you? I’d love to add more things to my ever-expanding pile of weirdness.
Categories: Beauty
