DIY Ombre Nails

Yup, I have jumped on the ombre bandwagon. After seeing all of these "easy" nail design how-to's on Pinterest I was itching to try some of them out. I picked an ombre one because it seemed pretty goof proof and I had all the supplies at home.

Ta-Da! They turned out pretty cute right?! By the way, my nails are NEVER this long. One of the benefits of being preggo, super strong nails!

I am NOT a huge fan of either baby pink or bright pink on my nails, but for some strange reason when I put the two of them together it was a match made in ombre heaven!

The tutorial was super easy to follow and had great photos, check it out here. Also feel free to check on my all things pretty board on Pinterest to see what else I am contemplating doing! 

The lighter color is Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Fast Dry Nail Color #205 Pink Blink and the darker color is Essie #264 Watermelon.

I have so many other color combos I want to try out, looks like this will be my go to for nail design....for now!    


 

Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Pockets

I have seriously been craving some buffalo chicken this week so I scoured my Pinterest board of recipes to find one to try out. Since I had alot of crescent rolls laying around, I decided to make a Buffalo Chicken Ring.

Yum. I *almost* ate all the filing before wrapping it in the crescent rolls. 

Of course Hubs brings the leftovers to work with him, and again I wanted buffalo chicken. Back to the Pinterest board. 

Since I liked the filling so much from the Buffalo Chicken Ring, I decided to make it again. But this time I wrapped the filling into "pockets" made of rolled out biscuits!

They were oh so yummy! They were super easy & quick to make too, which is a good thing when you are trying not to eat parts of your recipe...
 

Here is how I did it:

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 packet ranch powder mix
Diced celery to taste
Buffalo wing sauce to taste
Diced/shredded chicken, cooked (2-3 chicken breasts worth, or 1-2 cans of canned chicken)
1 can Pillsbury Grands biscuits
Ranch dressing for dipping (optional)

Turn your oven on to 375~
 

 
In bowl #1, mix together the hot sauce, cooked chicken, and diced celery.

In bowl #2, combine the cream cheese (soften it in the microwave about 30secs) and 1/2 ranch seasoning packet.

Combine both bowls together, mix well.

 
Next, open up your can of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits. Take a biscuit out and roll it out flat, about 6 inches in diameter.

Place your flattened biscuit on your baking sheet (I use my PC stoneware!). Put a dollop of your buffalo chicken mixture onto one side of the biscuit. Make sure you leave room around the edges. Fold over one side of the biscuit over the buffalo chicken mixture, then pinch the edges together.

Put them into the oven at 375 for 9-15 minutes, until they are golden yummy brown!

Did I say YUMMY yet?
 

 
 

Beauty Routine Updates!

I have tried out a few different beauty products and I wanted to share them all with you!

Have you heard of The Small Things Blog? If you haven't seen this lady's hairstyles pinned all over Pinterest or if you don't read her blog, my dearies you are missing out!

She recently wrote up a post comparing different eyeliners and even made a video showing how to apply gel eyeliner. I am a creature of habit and while I love my eye pencil, the effect I wanted wasn't lasting all day. It would slowly fade away...

So after reading Kate's blog post, I decided to try out gel eyeliner. I went to my tried and true, cost-effective brand so I don't feel guilty blowing money if it doesn't turn out the way I like: e.l.f. makeup. 

e.l.f. Studio Cream Eyeliner

I found it at Target for $3, it came with the small angled brush shown in the picture. I decided on the appropriately named color, Coffee. 

I was VERY impressed with how this liner turned out: it applied easily, there was no fading throughout the day, and it didn't rub off my lower lid either. I was wary at first about applying it, its always a challenge to maintain a steady hand with a toddler running around distracting me. But I followed Kate's video instructions and had no problems!

This is definitely my new "go to" eyeliner.  

Also on The Small Things Blog (see I told you, lots of good tips!) she talked about her "Raspberry Love" and lipcolor. I am usually too afraid to do a colored lip, but I came across a great gloss and I decided it was time to take the plunge. 

Neutrogena MoistureShine Gloss in Berry Fit

I ended up getting this on sale (and with a coupon) at Walgreens so once again, I didn't feel as bad "wasting" money if I didn't like how the color turned out. 

I loved the color and liked the gloss. It was not sticky or goopey, it applied very smoothly and the color is a very nice berry against my pale skin. Not too vampy or anything like that. I like the spring time feel I get when I wear it, I am so ready for warmer weather! Now of course since this is a gloss the color doesn't last very long so it requires reapplication throughout the day.

Showing off my berry colored lips!

 Thanks Kate for the good tips!

There is one last beauty related tip I want to share for wintery, dry weather skin!

My legs have been extremely dry lately, to the point that they itch. I read a trick online where you combine a little bit of baby oil GEL with your normal lotion and then apply it right after a shower. I had no idea they made a baby oil gel, so I was curious to try this out.

So every day immediately after getting out of the shower, I just mix a dime sized amount of the gel with my usual smell good lotion from BBW in the palm of my hand then apply. This has worked out very well for me, my legs are much smoother for longer now. And the best part? I don't get that uncomfortable itchy pulling of dry skin between applications anymore. 

Johnson's Baby Oil Gel

Right now if you want a good deal on this baby oil gel, head over to Target this week (2/17-2/24). Check out Target Savers for more deals like this!

Johnson’s Baby Oil Gel $2.99 – $3.49 (Regular Price) -$1/1 Johnson’s Baby Item 4oz+ Target Baby Mobile Coupon (Text BABY4 to 827438) x2/23 -$1/1 JOHNSON’S® Baby Oil (excl 1-4 oz) = .99 each after stack

 
For only $0.99, it won't hurt the pocketbook to try it out! Unless of course you are one of those people that go into Target for one thing and come out with 5 bags full of stuff...
 
 
 

Cozy Football Blanket

How did people share great ideas before Pinterest came along?

I have the hardest time finding cute crafty things to make for boys, so when I found out about this pin I just had to recreate it! 

This super easy tutorial is from Happy Together and it was simple to follow.

Here is my model showing off the final product:

Doesn't baby Cinderella look cozy?

I will be sending this blanket to my newest nephew, I didn't know which football team they root for so I just went with a cute baby flannel print from Hancock Fabrics.

Since quite a few friends are expecting baby boys, I know what I blanket I will be making for their baby baskets!

    
 

What's Cookin?

Now that Hubs is home, I've been cooking ALOT more. He literally eats enough for 2 people! But I've been having fun with trying out new, healthy recipes. Hubs is generally not a fan of healthier food, he joked that he was going to be eating only rabbit food after deployment. Boy has he been pleasantly surprised! He keeps asking me where I find these recipes, like he doesn't already know the answer...Pinterest!

Here are a few of our new favorites:

Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup - Perfect for a cold day! It was so quick to prepare, honestly took me less than 30 minutes from 'fridge to stove. 

Million Dollar Casserole - Now I am sure you've heard of Million Dollar Spaghetti, well this is the casserole version (obviously...). I lightened it up a bit, using plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream, homemade spaghetti sauce, reduced fat cheese, and Dreamfields pasta. It was a nice alternative to spaghetti!

Slow Cooker Fudge - I have always wanted to make my own fudge, but I was intimidated. This recipe was so easy and it was in the slow cooker! My husband likes this recipe so much, I have been making it almost daily. I have also experimented with different variations: I've used peanut butter chips & milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips & mint chips, and white chocolate chips & lemon extract (instead of vanilla like the recipe calls for). If you follow the directions, the fudge turns out great. Sometimes it ends up too runny after cooking for 2 hours, so I just had more chips to thicken it up. Just make sure you allow it to cook the full 2 hours and cool at least 4 hours. When you pop it in the 'fridge, don't cover it either.

Turkey Meatloaf and Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes - I tried out my meatloaf recipe but with ground turkey and paired it with these mashed potatoes. Easiest. Potatoes. EVER! This was my first time making real mashed potatoes aka not made from flakes. So easy and they turned out really yummy!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken - My husband loved this so much, he literally ate all of it (minus the 2 servings the kiddo and I ate!). I shredded up the chicken to make it easier for my daughter to eat. It was so delicious, light, and full of flavor. When I told my husband it was healthy (190 Calories per serving!), he said, "Good, that means I can eat it all and not feel like a fat a**!". Definitely cook with fresh herbs instead of the dried ones, rosemary tastes sooo much better fresh!

Oven Roasted Sausages, Potatoes, & Peppers - I made this with deer sausage and used Tony Cachere's seasoning, it was a huge hit! I especially loved the banana peppers. This dish would be really good served in a sub sandwich too. I ended up using 2 baking pans instead of crowding it all onto one. 

Caramel for Popcorn - Okay so this is NOT healthy at all but it is oh so yummy! Hubs was trying to find caramel popcorn at the store so I was inspired to make some myself. I made one batch which has lasted us 4 bags of popcorn so far and we haven't used half yet! It is the perfect amount of sweetness to pair with the salty/buttery of the popcorn. 


I hope you all enjoy them as much as my family does! 



 

DIY Fall Topiary!

I just couldn't wait any longer, I had to put out my fall decorations! I was going to wait until the official first day of fall but a good friend told me that since its past Labor Day it wasn't a faux pas to put out my decorations.
 
I love decorating my porch and since Michaels was having a massive sale, I couldn't resist. I found lots of inspiration on Pinterest and decided I wanted to create my own fall topiary!

This was so easy to make and it turned out so cute! Let me tell you how I did it:

All of the supplies came from Michaels (except the pots but I will explain that later) and were on sale this weekend.

The first part is cutting the tops off 2 of the 3 craft pumpkins. I used an old steak knife that I don't like to do this. 

Then I used hot glue to put the pumpkins together. Lots of hot glue...

I decided I wanted to personalize my topiary and added our initial onto the second pumpkin. I simply found a font I wanted (thanks Pinterest!) and printed it out. I cut out the initial and taped it onto the pumpkin so I could trace it.

After tracing it, I used some leftover acrylic paint to fill it and add a few swirly designs.

While this was drying, I went ahead and began using hot glue to attach the leaf garland in between the pumpkins. Once again, lots of hot glue.

Now it was time to attach the bow with hot glue (surprised huh?). I could've made it myself, but I had a 50% off one full priced item coupon!

At this point, the acrylic paint was dry so I used a high gloss varnish to seal the paint (same paint I used for THIS project).


Now about those pots I used. I have had these 2 pots for years now and I've killed everything I planted in them. Since the decorations not alive to begin with, I figured I was safe using them. The pots are 2 sizes, I simply turned one upside down and used the smaller one right side up. If you don't have 2 pots laying around, you can find pretty topiary pots at the craft store.

I used a grapevine wreath to go around the rim of the top pot. Then I used floral stems and stuck them into the grapevine wreath.

My tower of pumpkins fit perfectly into the top pot!

After making this fall topiary, I pulled out my other decorations and the new ones I bought at Michaels.

The garland around the door, the hay bale, and scarecrow were all from Michaels. Although the scarecrow was purchased years ago. The wreath on the door is from Homegoods. I found it at the end of the season on sale because it was missing a few embellishments, which I was able to find at Michaels and attach with hot glue!

I absolutely love how my front porch looks. It was so easy, I just had to share! Happy decorating :)