[Make Up] Happy St. Patrick's Day Eye Shadow

St. Patrick's Day is Saturday and maybe a little leprechaun will come and visit or you need a great eye look for going out on the town... I found two YouTube tutorials that feature green and most specifically the use of the Maybelline Sunbaked Neutrals palette. 

I found Frmheadtotoe's St. Patrick's Day tutorial and Xteeener's Smokey Olive Autumn Eye tutorial and I really like how Xteeener's tutorial only used the Sunbaked Neutral palette with a few extra steps.  I did smoke my eye look a little, but not as much as the original.  I hope you enjoy the quick and easy St. Patrick's Day Smoked Green Tutorial.

[Make Up]  Smoked Green Tutorial

Difficulty:

• Easy

Time:

• 10 to 20 minutes

Tools:

Maybelline Sunbaked Neutrals palette

Any black eye shadow with glitter (optional): Sonia Kashuk

• Eyeshadow Brush
• Blending brush
• Eyeliner brush
• Black Eye Liner
• Eye Lash Curler
• Mascara

Steps:

1. With a eyeshadow brush, use the dark green on the outer half of your eye lid.  
2. With the other side of the same brush, blend the light green from the inner corner of your eye to the dark green.
3. With a blending brush, se the light matte brown to blend out the green with the brown.
4. Using your finger, add the white under your brow bone.
5. Add your favorite black eye liner to the top of both eyelids.  A wing is option and your preference.
6. Using your finger, add a small amount of black [glitter] shadow to the outer corner of your eyelid.  Your finger works best to help minimize fall out.
7. Using your black eyeliner, outline the outer corner of your water line.  On the bottom lash line using your eyeliner brush, use the dark brown on the outer 1/3, bronze on the middle 1/3 and white on the inner 1/3.
8. Next touch up or blend for the final eyeshadow look.
9. Now curl your eye lashes and use mascara to the top and bottom lashes.
10. And the final look! :)

 

 Someone wanted to be in the picture.

:)

I hope you enjoy this tutorial.  

For a more detailed tutorial, check out the tutorials listed above.

[Ideas] Happy St. Patrick's Day

What will you be doing for St. Patrick's Day?

Every March 17, a little green will be seen almost everywhere you look.  I decided to look up some cute ideas to try this year and I found 5 very simple, very cute projects to try. 

1. Martha Stewart's Clip Art and Templates for Saint Patrick's Day
2. It's What It Is's You're My Pot Of Gold Gift
3. Love Sweet Love's St. Patrick's Day Wreath 
4. Bakerlla's Shamrock Pop Cakes
5. The Dating Diva's Scavenger Hunt 

I think #5 will be a great idea for toddler and husband.  Looks like there is going to be a little bit of magic around our house.

Take care!

 

[YummMonday] Garlic, CheesyMashed Cauliflower

I went looking for a delicious side for my Roasted Chicken Breasts on Sunday and after raiding my refrigerator I found a head of cauliflower in the veggie drawer.  I immediately remembered a Mashed Cauliflower recipe I saw on Pinterest.

I found this recipe from The Food Network: Mock Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  I love garlic mashed potatoes and I had some fresh garlic cloves sitting nicely on my counter.  I decided this was the recipe to try!  And a huge score!  It only took me one recipe to look at :)  Here is my version, with a little adaptions from the original.

[Recipe]  Cheesy, Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Difficulty:

• Easy

Time:

• 15 minutes to 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• Half a head of cauliflower cut and cleaned
• One small clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup of cream cheese
• 1/4 cup of Mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper to flavor

Steps:

• Clean and cut your cauliflower.
• Steam your cauliflower for approx. 9 to 10 minutes until tender.
• Add cauliflower into a food processor. Add butter, garlic, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
• Whip until smooth.

Enjoy a healthy, delicious side dish!

[Fun Friday] Color Hunt

My little girl is learning so much these days.  Her fine motor skills have really began to flourish before my eyes.  She is also learning new words and numbers each and every day.  She can count to 15 and say her ABCs up until G.  One area of learning we have not had a lot of success is colors.  She just does not seem to have any interest in learning them.  She recognizes colors when I ask her and about 50% of the time will get them right the first reply... but I wanted to help her get more love for the colors!  So I created this basic 3 color scavenger hunt.

Since I do not want to over stimulate her little brain, my goal is to focus one three colors a week.   This is why I designed the "Color Hunt" in a series of three.  :)

What we did was went on a "hunt" for any item that was red, yellow or blue.  When we found something red, we identified where the red was and then identified the item.  Then I showed her where to color in on her red circle.

You can adapt this for older kiddos in a few ways:

• Giving them a time limit (since they can add up how many they found at the bottom of each column)
• Giving them all three pages at once
• Having them write what they find in or around the circle

It is totally up to you.  I wanted to make this Fun Friday something that is fun, yet educational!

Red, Yellow, Blue

Orange, Green, Purple

Black, Brown, White

I hope your Fun Friday leads to a fantastic weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Image Source: ABCteach.com

[DIY] Decorative Wall Art

I have a skinny hall in my home.  On one side there is a large painting that was given to my family from my wonderful brother-in-law and sister-in-law and on the other side... blank.

I have seen a few DIY wall hangings on Pinterest and this led me to Becoming Martha and Spunky Junky.  They each have two great tutorials using old shoebox lids and painting canvases.  I did not have either, but I did have these old pieces of Christmas presents left over.  What a great way to upcycle some old cardboard and scrapbook paper, fabric, paint... lying around your house. 

[Theirs: Becoming Martha | Mine: You Can Pinterest]

[DIY]  Decorative Wall Art

Difficulty:

• Easy

Time:

• 15 minutes to 30 minutes

Supplies:

• Box lids, canvas or any leftover cardboard pieces
• Scrapbook paper
• Glue stick
• Scissors 

Steps:

• Begin by measuring (or eyeballing) the paper over the cardboard.
• Add glue to the base of the cardboard.  A glue stick works best because it does not leave large blobs of glue behind.  

• Once you have the paper glued to the base, turn it over and cut out the corners to make it easy to fold over the edges.

 

• Simply glue the sides :)
• Now you have easy wall art to decorate any space in your home!

 

I apologize for the coloring of the photos.  My hall is skinny and there is absolutely zero natural light. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

[Coupon Diary] Entry One

Dear Diary,

Everywhere I look a new fad is popping up... on my television... in my RSS feed... in my favorite blog... on my Facebook... Couponing... and not just your average, "save 50 cents" but extreme couponing. 

I've seen the show, TLC's Extreme Couponing and I have seen the blogs, The Coupon Project and The Krazy Koupon Lady and always overlooked diving into the world "$1.45 shopping trips".

My savings typically includes "You Saved $3.49".  I want my savings to be "You Saved $60.00". 

I have read the Couponing for Beginners articles and I literally am a victim of every "What Not To Do"!  I shop randomly through the week for that night's dinner... I don't carry my coupons in a organized fashion... I don't make lists based on sales... but I want to.  I want to save my family money.  I want to be thrifty.  I want to be an extreme couponer!

 

My first entry included how to begin.  The Krazy Koupon Lady tells me that I can become an extreme couponer in 10 days.  The Coupon Project: Coupons 101 walks me through 15 lessons.  Overwhelmed much?  Yes.  It seems so easy.  Simple really?  Get Sunday paper, clip the coupons, scan the ads, organize coupons... very simple indeed. 

Well I am going to take this journey into my own hands, with the much needed help from the experts at it all.  I already have my [smaller] coupon binder.  I have begun "clipping" but I have not begun shopping.  I am a little intimidated at it all.  These experts tackle all stores... all items... all coupons.  I am thinking that I am going to start out small.  Start with the stores I shop at most: Target, Fred Meyer and Safeway.  After I spend the rest of the week researching and organizing, I will begin with my Sunday paper and my weekly ads and begin making my lists for the week.  My goal... save more money.

Well my dear diary... I think I have rambled enough on where to begin and how crazy this new project sounds... but I am excited... I really am...

                                                                      Sincerely,

[DIY] | [Cleaning] How to Clean Your Microfiber Furniture

I have a toddler.  I have a husband.  Therefore my couch is a bit messy.  A few stains, a lot of water rings and discoloration. 

My microfiber couch as been through spills, markers, ink, you name it... I wanted to clean it and the basic water and scrubbing was not cutting it.

I found this site (from Pinterest), The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking, where the it led me to Chris and Robin's Nest.  Robin posted the tips and tricks about cleaning a microfiber couch WITHOUT water... Here is my journey trying to clean my microfiber ottoman.

[Theirs: Chris and Robin's Nest | Mine: You Can Pinterest]

[DIY] | [Cleaning] How to Clean Your Microfiber Furniture

Difficulty:

• Easy | Medium depending on stains and furniture

Time:

• 15 minutes to 1 hour [depending on size of furniture and depth of stain]

Supplies:

• Vacuum
•  Rubbing Alcohol
• Cloth or Sponge
• Spray Bottle

 Steps:

• Start by vacuuming your furniture piece.  I used my brush attachment.  It was very helpful :)

 

•  Next take your alcohol and add it to a spray bottle.  [I forgot to picture this part...] but here are my supplies for the cleaning...

• From my research, rubbing alcohol does not harm the microfiber.  As with any new cleaning product, try a test spot on the fabric to ensure that it does not damage your furniture.  The rubbing alcohol dries very quickly.  This is one great thing about using it over water.

• Scrub, scrub, scrub.  Seriously, you don't need to do an arm workout if your couch was as dirty as mine.  My arms are so sore.  I can barely type this... [Insert Rosy Cheeks] 

• After it has completely dried, run your hands over the piece to "wake up" your microfiber.  :)  I found that my hand was just as easy as a bristled brush.  

• Here is my final product...

 

• Notice the dirt and grime on my rag... It was white when we began... now it is filled with yuckiness...  

 [Before] & [After*]

*Please note that my Ottoman was especially stained with very old water rings and stains.  Many of them came out in one try.  Tomorrow I will re-clean my Ottoman with the same steps and see if the leftover water stains will remain.

Although my stains still remain, I am overall excited about the outcome... and still ashamed I let my Ottoman get this bad... but I am proud of the hard work, and I mean hard work, that I put into it.

Note to self... Don't let your Microfiber furniture get this bad... makes cleaning a lot more work... ;)

[DIY] Yarn Vases

My kitchen/dining room bar needs something... but what?

I went on a Pinterest search for some simple do-it-yourself [DIY] ideas and I came across Yarn Vases.  After a few clicks I found Designs by Vanessa & A Simple Kind of Life have two great DIY tutorials. 

Myfriend came over (and she is crafty) so I put her to work on our first yarn vase.  Here is our journey with yarn, hot glue and a bottle.

[Theirs: Designs by Vanessa | Mine: You Can Pinterest]

[Recipe] Yarn Vase

Difficulty:

• Easy 

Time:

• 15 to 30 minutes [based on size of bottle and optional embellishments]

Supplies:

• Yarn
• Bottle
• Hot glue gun & glue

Steps:

• Start by placing a small strip of glue along the bottom base of the bottle.
• Place the yarn over the glue and begin wrapping the yarn around the bottle.

• After a few wraps (2-3 to begin, then 4-6 after you feel comfortable) push the yarn to create a tight, close coil.

• Since our bottle has writing, we wanted the yarn to be very tight, but depending on your bottle and style, you could leave the coils looser.  It's simply your preference. 

• If you choose to make the coils tight, you won't need additional glue until you reach the portion of the bottle that changes size.  Near the neck of the bottle you may need a small strip of glue every few wraps to keep the yarn in position.  (Trust us, this took a few tries without glue before we noticed it gaps and strange over-lapping...)

• Once you get to the top of the bottle, it is your choice to decide if you would like to place yarn around the top of the bottle.  Which ever way you choose, make sure you add glue to secure the yarn.   

• After our first [white] yarn vase, we decided to be a little bit more adventurous.  We made a bi-colored vase and added swirl flowers.  The ideas are limitless.  If you make some with with embellishments, please share what you did!  We would love to hear about them!

As always, thank you for stopping by!

[Inspiration] Running late

Or as Carrie Bradshaw would say, "If I wasn't perpetually ten minutes late, would my life be totally different?"

[Blooper]

Last week I posted this [DIY: Bow Holder].  It was a very easy and inexpensive project.

• The ribbon was on sale at Michaels for $1.98.
• The frame was free from my grandmother.  (You can also find inexpensive frames at a thrift store for very cheap).
• The scrapbook paper was on sale at Michaels for $0.25 a piece, so it was $0.50.

As I was trying to take a quick picture to post, my daughter had to come investigate and play with her "bow". 

 A very durable bow holder.

Toddler friendly.

Easy to use.

Hope you have a great upcoming week and Happy President's Day!