Reviews and Sponsored posts | Beauty and The Boys

What’s in my bag?

July 2, 2014 - 9 Comments

I was provided the phone case in this post by Tiny Prints in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

I am normally not a purse girl. Up until recently I have owned all of two purses for quite some time. My mother in law gave me a few adorable purses and I figured it was time to switch/clean out my purse and in the process, I decided to show y’all what’s in my bag. I love seeing these type of posts so, I figured it was time to show y’all what’s apart of my daily life.

I adore that leopard purse. It has so many different compartments and can hold so much stuff! Alright, lets get started!

I don’t have a real wallet right now so, I use two Artsy Anthropology key chain wallets that hold different cards, money, etc.

My Erin Condren planner. I always like to take this with me in case I get a blogging idea while out or something comes up, I can simply pull it out and jot it down real quick.

Two pens. I always have at least two pens, especially my sharpie pen. I love that darn thing!

Viva La Juicy is my all time favorite perfume and I always have that with me. You just never know when you need to throw on a little more perfume before going inside somewhere.

Sunglasses. Sunglasses are my favorite accessory. I used to own a white pair that I loved, but the boys got ahold of them and wound up breaking them so, I had to get this pair and I’ve grown to love them. They are from walmart. I never spend a ton on sunglasses because I’m always afraid I’m going to break them or lose them.

My iphone. I literally don’t go anywhere without my iphone and I always love having a cute case on it. I just got this phone case from Tiny Prints and I love looking at the back of it and seeing my little family whenever I want. The boys also ask me quite a few times a day since I got it, if they can see the back of my phone! They have so many cute cases and I had such a hard time choosing.

Tic Tacs. These are really self explanatory. I don’t really chew gum, but I like for my breath to smell good and these orange ones taste so yummy.

Werther’s originals. These are not only good, but they help with my morning sickness so I always have a few on hand.

I normally also carry my tablet for the boys to play with while we are out, but they were currently playing with it! I also need to restock my chap stick because I’m out and it’s something else I usually always have in my bag.

So, that’s what the inside of my purse looks like! What are your must have items in your purse?

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Wonka Randoms Candy Fun Cookies #NewFavorites

March 11, 2014 - 7 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #CollectiveBias

The cookie dough we ordered from Jay’s fundraiser came in on Friday and ever since Hubby has been practically begging me to make them. I put it off for a few days, but I couldn’t wait any longer. We have plenty of cookie dough now and I wanted to do something fun with plain ol’ sugar cookies. I created a “new” cookie that I’m calling, Wonka Randoms Candy Fun Cookies. Clever name isn’t it? Really though, you are about to find out why I had to call them fun cookies and why my boys were laughing and giggling as they munched away on them!

You will need to run to your nearest Walmart and grab some:

Wonka Random Candy {These are seriously the boys #NewFavorites}
Frosting {I went with a spring/Easter colored frosting aka it’s what I actually had on hand because I forgot to buy some, oops.}
Sugar cookies {or cookie dough to make said sugar cookies, either way, you need the darn sugar cookies}

I imagine you have some of the following around your home, if not, pick this up to:
Something to sort the candy into
A butter knife {or actual frosting knife} for layering on that frosting
A plate of some kind
And a bowl

First up, dump a bag {or two} of the Wonka Random Candy into a bowl. {Well, first bake the sugar cookies if you need to}

Dos, Sort all of those fun candies. I went with things I knew my boys would love. Like mustaches, animals, cars, trains, etc. Yes, they have all of that cuteness in the bag and now you know why my boys loved these cookies.

Three, frost those yummy sugar cookies and begin placing your candies on the cookies however you like. I created a three little pigs cookie and then I simply had fun with the rest. Yeah, you also see a unicorn. That just rocks my socks all kinds of off.

Quarto, let your kids devour your new fun cookies.

I really should have stopped there with the candy, but I just couldn’t. As we speak I have another concoction involving these candies in the freezer. I simply filled three small box shaped containers with the Wonka Randoms Candy, filled it with water, stuck tooth picks in it and popped them into the freezer. The boys can either suck the ice cubes {they like to do that} or we can put them in some water and let them melt. Yeah, that’s what I’m doing with mine!

Be sure to check out these yummy flavorful moments where there are a ton of great recipes!

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Decorating for spring with Kleenex Expressions

March 10, 2014 - 8 Comments

“This post is sponsored by Kleenex, but all opinions are 100% my own.”

Y’all spring is coming! It is spring break this week for Jay and the weather so far is NOT doing us wrong! #fistpump It has seriously put me in the mood to decorate our home for spring, which is normally one of my favorite seasons to decorate for. It is normally my favorite because the colors are beautiful. The pastels and even the bold colors and all of it mixed together just create a beautiful scene everywhere. This time of year, my mantel, my bar ledge and even my kitchen table, is blooming with beautiful spring colors, but this year… sigh this year so far that is NOT the case. I am having a serious case of decorating block. Maybe, it’s because I can’t go shopping for spring décor just yet so I’m having to throw things together that I already have around my home, but I’m coming up with basically nothing. The few things I have been able to come up with I love though.

I got the Live Laugh Love shadow boxes {um, aren’t they totally screaming my name } at cvs. I love hitting up cvs for little things to decorate with. The adorable oval box with the sweet little bird on it is a Kleenex box! When I walked into Kroger and saw that I grabbed it off the shelf so fast that people probably thought I was crazy, along with Kleenex expression box you are going to see below. It blows my mind that I can decorate with Kleenex boxes and not what to hide said Kleenex boxes. It’s allergy season and we constantly need it within reach so, being able to display it beautifully just rocks my socks all kinds of off. Where was I? Oh yes, the orange and green things you see in the vases are water balloons. Yep, you read that right. The yellow watering can I bought last year from I don’t even remember where, but I’m trying to figure out if I want to keep it up there or not.

I also put an itty bitty bit of spring décor on my table. I love candles and I have them all over the house and I always have some on my kitchen table, I think they go perfect with that adorable Kleenex box! #ineedallthekleenexexpressionsasap

Now, here is my plea. I have an extremely long mantel and decorating for Valentine’s day was no problem at all because I already had SO many red things around the house and I was automatically able to buy a few things. For spring though, I’ve only bought two things so far and my mantel is seriously suffering! Here is the décor I have up so far, but I really, really want to fill all those empty spaces and even put a wreath on the fireplace above the mantel. Sooooo, my plea for you is… HELP me fill all those gaps. What should I put there? What can I DIY to put there or hell even buy. They just need to be filled before I go crazy.

Also, see those little eggs in the vases and the ones hung in three places on the mantel. I’m fixing to show you how to make those. If you have a circuit, you probably don’t need this DIY, but if you have to do it the long/hard way, then this tutorial is for you. Although, it really isn’t that hard, it’s just time consuming.

You will need:
Adhesive backed Vinyl
Scissors
Construction paper
A pencil
An egg printed out that you can trace

First: Cut out the egg you printed out and trace it onto the gold dotted vinyl.

Next up: Cut the egg out of the vinyl, peel it and stick it onto the construction paper. This is such a hard DIY isn’t it? Do this with either as many eggs as you want or until you run out of vinyl.

Last: Cut around each of the vinyl eggs you put on the construction paper and then wa-la, you have sturdy, cute little eggs to put wherever you like. I haven’t figured out where I’m going to put the rest yet, but I’ll be sure to share when I do!

How are you decorating for spring this year?!

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A place at the table book review

March 5, 2014 - Leave a Comment

I was provided A Place at the Table in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

About the book:

A Place at the Table chronicles three richly nuanced characters whose lives intersect in a chic Manhattan café. With inspiration drawn from New York’s landmark Café Nicholson and rooted in author Susan Rebecca White’s love of the cuisine of the South, A Place at the Table offers a powerful testament to the unlikely journeys that ultimately guide us home.

While A Place at the Table is a work of fiction, White’s imagination was sparked by reading about Edna Lewis, the legendary African-American chef and author of the classic A Taste of Country Cooking. An avid cook herself, White was fascinated by the story of Lewis – who was the chef at Café Nicholson in the late 1940s and early 1950s – and Lewis’s friend and protégé in her later years, chef Scott Peacock.

Read about the life, times, and career of Edna Lewis in this 2006 New York Times obituary.

Spanning from a freed-slave settlement in 1920s North Carolina to Manhattan in the 1980s, A Place at the Table celebrates the healing power of food and the magic of New York City as three seekers come together, understanding that when you embrace the thing that makes you different, you become whole.

About the author:

“Born and raised in Atlanta, Susan Rebecca White earned a BA in English from Brown University, then moved to San Francisco, where she taught and waited tables for several years, before moving to Virginia to earn her MFA in creative writing from Hollins University. At Hollins, she was a teaching fellow and the recipient of the James Purdy prize for outstanding fiction.

Susan’s debut novel, Bound South, received wide critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Townsend Prize. Bound South was followed by A Soft Place to Land, also critically acclaimed and a Target “Club Pick.” Susan’s third novel, A Place at the Table, is receiving early praise and is on the American Booksellers Association “Indie Next List” for June of 2013. The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) selected A Place at the Table as a 2013 Summer “Okra Pick.”

Susan has been invited to festivals and book events around the country and has been a speaker at numerous academic and cultural institutions, including SCAD Atlanta, the Carter Center, the Margaret Mitchell house, and Birmingham’s Hoover library. Susan appeared in the February 2011 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, in a photograph and accompanying essay celebrating women authors living in Atlanta. During the summer of 2011, Susan lived in Manhattan to gain on-the-ground knowledge of the city and research in greater depth the history of Café Nicholson, the real-life restaurant that inspired Café Andres in A Place at the Table.

Susan currently lives in Atlanta, where she teaches creative writing at Emory University. During the winter of 2011 she was the writer-in-residence at SCAD Atlanta. She is married to Sam Redburn Reid, also an Atlanta native, meaning she and Sam both grew up eating Varsity hamburgers and riding the pink pig at the Rich’s downtown.”

My Review:

Being an aspiring published author, it is hard for me to write a less than great book review, but I also believe in honesty. I had the absolute hardest time reading this book. I had the hardest time connecting with the readers because I just didn’t feel a connection with them. As much as I hate to admit this, I really could care less for the writing style of this book as well. There has only been six books {three in each trilogy} that I have absolutely loved being written in first person and the way it flowed. I really wish I could say the same for A place at the table, but I just can’t. I also felt like the book was a tad bit dramatic in a sense in some of the scenes, but again that could just be me. This isn’t a normal read for me and I like stepping out of my every day normal genre of books and while I understand why she wrote the book and the stories that needed to be told, I feel like the stories could have been told a little different. Also, I read other reviews and while quite a few agreed with me, quite a few also thought this was an amazing book. So, I’ll be honest – I believe you should read this book and decide for yourself whether you like it or not. One other thing I do want to mention, is obviously this book talks quite a bit about food and Susan even shared one of the yummy sounding recipes from her book and I am definitely going to have to try it, because the way she always described the food was perfect!

No matter what, being a writer and putting yourself out there is hard and I still want to read another book by Susan just to see if I would like another one of hers. I fully believe that just because I don’t like one book by one author doesn’t mean I won’t like another!

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Potty training using the Walmart Cottonelle Clean Care routine

February 17, 2014 - 3 Comments

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CtnlCareRoutine http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO”

Being a “mommy” blogger and having two young boys, you would think potty training is something I would have talked about before, but I am not the “traditional” potty training mom and I have been criticized for it before, therefore talking about it on the blog is always something I have been hesitant about. Once I talked to my best friend though, I realized I was definitely not alone in my non traditionalness and that means there has to be other moms out there who are freaking out because there little one is not fully potty trained, wiping themselves, etc. by the age of two. Moms, I am here to tell you, while there are plenty of kids who have no problem being fully potty trained by two years old, NOT all little ones are like that and my kids are proof of that and so are my best friends kids! I also know that for a time one of my niece’s was potty trained by the age of two and then she started reverting back to wanting to wear diapers. Talking about anything parenting wise can be a touchy subject and I never want to come off like I know exactly what I’m doing. What works for one moms kids, may not work for the others and vise versa.

For those of you though, whose kids are hell bent on not potty training at two or heck at even three, have no fear. I’m here to tell you that it is okay that they aren’t. When my oldest was two, we began introducing him to the potty. At first, he seemed pretty excited about it, but then he got a little scared and wasn’t really sure about it. Every time we tried to “force” him to use the potty, he rebelled. I heard from several people that potty training boys was much harder than potty training girls and if he wasn’t ready, I wasn’t going to make him. We decided to wait another year while still trying to talk about the potty as much as possible and of course encouraging it, but we didn’t force him to use it because we already learned what a disaster that was. During his threes, it was much of the same thing. He just did not want to use that dang potty no matter how hard we tried. Again, I didn’t want him to be scared of the potty, so I didn’t force it and again we still encouraged it and praised him whenever he actually did use it. It wasn’t until he was four years old that I knew he was ready and he knew he was ready, even if he was still a little unsure about the whole thing. We bought him a new potty chair, one that was much more fun. We put the potty chair in front of the TV in the living room, turned on his favorite movie, gave him his favorite drink and sat him down on the potty.

Guess what, he went potty and we praised him like crazy and from then on out it was smooth sailing. There was no screaming and crying because he didn’t want to use the potty, there was no more frustration on our end. We used the same technique with our youngest. He is now four years old and we are actively potty training him. He has been doing pretty well, but he isn’t fully potty trained yet, but I know he will get there just like his brother did. It helps so much that Kage has Jay cheering him on as well. One thing that has been kind of blah about this whole situation is that while my oldest does try to wipe his own little booty, sometimes it’s hard for him and there winds up being little crumbs of toilet paper left on his butt afterwards and now that we are potty training Kage, we are trying to transition him from wipe to toilet paper as well.

After using the Walmart Cottonelle Clean Care Routine we are SO excited to continue with it. Jay can wipe his little tush with ease using the Cottonelle cleansing wipes and I love, love, love that they are flushable because before we were still using wipes sometimes and those can’t be flushed and I hated that. Now, he gets to wipe and throw it into the potty and then use the Cottonelle Clean Care toilet paper to dry off his little booty. I was going to share pictures of him, but since he is almost six, I knew he wouldn’t like having his picture taken on the potty, but Kage on the other hand was all for it! Lol! We also tried it on Kage today after he went number two in the potty and he loved pulling it out of the fun little dispenser and he told me he liked using the cleansing wipes! We will absolutely be continuing this routine until they are fully transitioned to toilet paper and we already love Cottonelle and I love the softness of the clean care toilet paper!

Did you have a hard time potty training your little ones or was it easy from the get go? If you are just in the process of potty training, I highly recommend using this routine for an easy transition when going from wipes to toilet paper!

A few bonuses:
- When I bought the Cottonelle Clean Care cleansing wipes, there was a $2 off coupon on the outside that I could peel off and use right then!
- On the inside of the cleansing wipes there is coupons for the refills!
- When you purchase both the Cottonelle Clean Care toilet paper and the Cottonelle Clean Care cleansing wipes during the month of February, you get a $5 Vudu offer. Vudu is like RedBox and offers HD movies! That is so winning in my book! I can’t wait to order our movie! To receive the offer you MUST do the following – Take a picture of the receipt showing that you purchased both items. Email your picture to Clean@drysusa.com You will receive an email back with a code valid for a $5 movie credit. You can get more information by going to www.DRVSusa.com/cottonellemovies

What do you think, are you going to give the Walmart Cottonelle Clean Care routine a try?!

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Romantic Valentines Day Date Night Basket #ad

February 3, 2014 - 10 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions are 100% my own.

Since I have been in a Valentines/love mood, I’m going to go ahead and continue that today! You can read about A time for love where we had a wonderful date night, Valentine Date night outfits and the Valentine banner I made. Today, I am going to share something super fun and super romantic that your husband is sure to love. Before I go into the details, let me just say, my husband is not the overly romantic type. I don’t randomly get surprised with flowers. He doesn’t light candles all over the place before.. well you know. I, however, am extremely romantic down to the bones. I adore flowers, candles, soft music, dim lights, etc. If it’s romantic than I probably like it. Every Valentine’s Day I wind up getting him something mushy gushy and even though he likes it, I know it’s not really him. So, this year I wanted to do something different. I still wanted to have that romance that I crave, but I wanted it to be fun for him too. Hubby is all about fun and funny and I wanted to incorporate that this year for our Valentine’s at home Date Night. Today, I am going to show you how I created a fun Valentine’s themed date night basket, as well as set the mood for a little romance!

I’ll show you up close details in a second, but I want you to just look at the above picture for a minute. This is a date night right at home after the kids are asleep. You don’t have to find a baby sitter and then be bummed when you don’t find one. You get to lay out a blanket, create a yummy dessert to eat together and enjoy the contents of your basket from the comfort of your own home and yet, it still screams utterly romantic and yet fun!

To do this fun & romantic at home date night you will need:
A basket
Some sort of red or pink cloth to lay in the basket
Wine or Champagne
Chocolates
Roses {fake or real}
A delicious dessert
A little lingerie
A funny card
K-Y Yours+Mine

Bonus: I’m going to tell you where you can get all this stuff and for cheap! This is not an expensive date night, but it is so worth it!

I saw this card in Row House 14’s shop and I just knew I had to get it for my husband. Not only would it go perfectly with the intimate things I had in the basket, I knew he would find it hilarious and that he would love it.

The K-Y Yours+Mine is from Walmart! It is only $14. Just read the back, you will see why you need it!

I was going to go with wine glasses, but I saw these adorable Valentine’s day cups and I thought they would be perfect and like I said, Hubby isn’t super romantic so wine glasses aren’t really his thing, but I knew we would both use these cups! The cups and the chocolate candy hearts inside of them are from The Dollar Tree.

I have never had this sparkling wine before, but when I was at Walmart getting the other items I needed, I spotted this down the Valentines isle and figured I would give it a try! I’ll let you know how it tastes because it sounds really good!

Okay let’s see. The lingerie is also from Walmart, it was too cute to pass up and I knew it was perfect to put in the basket! The dessert I made is this delicious Oreo Banana Pudding I found on pinterest! The white rose, the big chocolate heart, the basket and the red dish towel I used to put in the basket, are all from the Dollar Tree! See, I told you most of it is cheap which I love!

I think I put together the perfect basket for my husband and planned out a romantic and yet fun night for us for our at home date night!

*The K-Y Yours+Mine is in the special Date Night box pictured above!* It takes the not so anticipated at home date night to another level! Before you enjoy the intimacy with the K-Y Yours+Mine be sure to look on the side of the box as well as inside because there is coupons! One is for a free movie from VUDU to enjoy and the other is for a meal delivery service from Plated! Not only do you get to have an intimate date night at home, you can enjoy a free dinner and a movie during your at home date night as well! #CollectiveBias #KYdatenight

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Makeup brush review plus a video

January 28, 2014 - 1 Comment

I am a member of us family guide and I was provided this makeup brush set in exchange for a review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Remember back in December when I wrote this post and I had my fingers and toes beyond crossed that I would be able to review those beautiful makeup brushes! Well guess who got to freaking review them! *raises hand as high as I can* That’s right this girl and I’m pretty sure I squealed out loud when they arrived. I opened up the beautiful case and just gushed over them like they were some beautiful goddess. Last night I finally got a chance to use them and holy hell. Talk about soft and perfect. I plan on never using another brand of makeup brushes ever again and I’m pretty sure I’m set for life anyway.

I was only able to use a few of them because I decided on a whim to create a last minute video using said brushes. I had very little time to do so, the video is ridiculous at best, but hey I did it and I can only get better right? I seriously can not wait to play around with the brushes some more and finally play around with my makeup! They are still having a really amazing deal on these brushes – you can Save $120 Off Ellore Femme 24 piece makeup brush set with promo code BL29! Don’t miss it!

I had the video all ready to go, but whatever I am having the worst time getting it to save to my computer! I have tried everything and I am SO bummed! I spent hours re-doing it because I thought something was messed up and still nothing. If I can ever get it to work, I will be uploading it!

Edit: My husband fixed the video..finally! A couple of things I should warn you about this video. The fact that I have to warn you at all should have you running for the hills, but whatev. If you’re still here…

1. I am super scary without makeup. You’ve been warned.
2. During said fixing, the lighting somehow got messed up, I don’t even know, but it’s annoying.
3. My hair looks like complete crap.
4. I was super nervous.
5. The End.

Wait. This video is also probably awful. The end.

Do you have a favorite makeup brush set?

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To my momma

December 19, 2013 - 3 Comments

The card featured in this post was sent to me for a review. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Dear Mom,

I should have wrote you this letter at the beginning of the month, you can go ahead and say I’m a bad daughter for not doing so. I couldn’t let another day go by though without writing down my thoughts and feelings to you, on this little space of mine. Writing is what I do best and so today, I’m writing you.

Photography site here.

How do I some up in one post what twenty five years has meant to me? How do I some up in one post the amount of love I have for you? I don’t think I can, but I’m going to try. You have always been my rock. I know growing up I wasn’t always the easiest child. I cried alot, I ran my mouth and I lied a little. Although you were my best friend then like you are now, you didn’t let me get away with things and I can’t thank you enough for that. I can’t thank you enough for loving me enough to discipline me for what I was doing wrong. I can’t thank you enough for loving me no matter what. I can’t thank you enough for always standing by my side. I can’t thank you enough for helping me become the woman I am today. Our shopping trips. Our casino nights. Having you there when I gave birth to my boys. Having you there when I said I do to the man I love. Having you there anytime I need you. Those are things I will never forget. In the twenty five years of my life, we have made so many memories and I hope to make so many more.

I know I normally make you a card for your birthday, but I didn’t this year. Although I did kind of make this card, by picking out pictures I knew you would love & I loved doing that for you. I loved picking our specific pictures and personalizing it, it was so much fun to do! I hope the message I had typed inside warmed your heart.

I’m not going to lie, I love seeing it sitting on your mantel when I come over, just like I love the handmade one you have hanging on your fridge.

Momma.. I hope we have many more years of memories together. I got incredibly lucky when God decided you would be my mother. You are an amazingly strong woman, your heart is one of gold and you are an excellent grandma to my boys. I just can’t picture life without you. I am so glad we have the bond that we do. I love you mom, always and forever.

Love,
Your babygirl

DIY Joy Sign made with Gum

November 24, 2013 - 20 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and it’s advertiser. #GiveExtraGum #shop

Christmas is right around the corner. Thirty one days to be exact! Eeeekkk. Christmas is literally my favorite time of the year. I love the magic feel that seems to float in the air. I love decorating for Christmas too. The silvers, reds, greens and lately blues, are all so beautiful. I normally always do silver and red, but this year I want to incorporate green and blue into my Christmas decor as well. I made my first two DIY Christmas projects Friday night and I am SO excited to share the first one with y’all. Friday while I was at Walmart, I picked up some delicious peppermint and spearmint gum, but it wasn’t for chewing. Well, not all of it.

I love when I can create unique decor no matter what holiday I am shopping for and I am so pleased with how this gum DIY turned out. Not only do I love it, my husband does and even my boys told me they liked it. I consider that winning! Ready to see what it is? I present to you my DIY Joy Sign made with gum.

Isn’t it so pretty and so sparkly? It also smells so good. I love that mint smell and I couldn’t resist chewing some while I was making this project. I had a few trials and errors with it, but in the end I was pleased with myself for making it and pleased that my husband and boys like it. I mean, after all they do live here and have to look at it everyday. I find myself glancing at it quite often when I am in the living room, I happen to love things that sparkle. Do you? Anyways, time to show you how to make this DIY.

You will need:
A hot glue gun.
4 packs of Extra gum {I used spearmint and peppermint, but they also have polar ice}
Crafting bond
A rectangle cork board
All my supplies was bought at Walmart.

First, unwrap one pack of spearmint and one pack of peppermint. Set the gum aside while you use the wrappers.

Simply add glue to the spot on the cork board that you will be placing the gum wrappers, place the wrapper on and use your finger to smooth it out so that it is good and on there. Completely cover the board with the gum wrappers that way no brown is showing. It does take a little bit of time, but it’s worth it!

After the wrappers are on, flip it over and cut off any excess that you want to on the back. I just trimmed mine a little.

Then the fun begins! You only need about 30 pieces of gum, 15 of each, but I recommend the two extra packs encase you mess up when you have to cut the gum and need another piece. Yes, this happened to me a few times. #oops. Spell out and super glue the word JOY with your gum. Alternate between colors to give it a fun look, you could just do one solid color, but I like the different colors. That’s just my personality. =D

After you have spelled and super glued them out, it’s time to stack em because, it just looked too flat in my book and I wanted to give it a little more pop to make it stand out. I spelled out JOY two more times that way each letter was a stack of three and didn’t look so flat on the board.

Once the glue is dry, spray the sealant {crafting bond} over the gum to make sure the gum stays in place. Once that dried, I thought it looked a little to plain in my book and I don’t do plain. However, Christmas isn’t Christmas without some sparkle so, I decided to add silver glitter to the gum wrappers to make it more fun and to really stand out. I put it all over the board and even on the letters to make them sparkle!

This DIY was so much fun and really challenged me to be creative. When my husband came home and saw it, I was telling him about how I made it and that it smelled sooo good. So, I took it off the mantel and let him see it up close and of course smell that yummy mint flavor. I may have to do a few more projects with extra gum because I had a blast making it and I love the way it turned out.

Be on the lookout for more Christmas crafts to come.

What do you think? Do you like it? Have you done any fun Christmas crafts lately?

I’m linking up to Inspiration Monday, A night owl blog, Craft-o-maniac Monday,

Hana pro flat iron review

October 13, 2013 - 12 Comments

I was provided this flat iron in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Being a busy mom, I rarely straighten my hair. I wake up and normally just throw my hair up in a ponytail and get on with the day. You’ve probably noticed that in my fashion posts. I really need to get out of that habit. The past few days I have been wearing my hair down because, I noticed after I straightened my hair, how long it has gotten from the short haircut I had. I am so happy because, I seriously miss my long hair! I miss all the fun stuff I can do with long hair. So, I’m trying to wear it down more that way it can grow and not be stuck in a pony tail holder.

When Misikko contacted me about reviewing their Hana Pro 1″ flat iron, I jumped all over that. Before I show y’all the before and after of my hair, I have to show you the adorable items that came with the flat iron. They truly spoil their customers!

Amazing right? I love the eye shadow they gave me, I’ve already used it and it looks great & I wear that eyeliner daily. I also used an eye lash curler for the first time since they sent me one. It was neat, but I’m not sure I will use it again for the simple fact that I don’t have to curl my eye lashes for them to look curly. I know just who to give it to though. On to the before and afters.

I always part my hair into three sections before I straighten it. Do you do that too? Or do you just straighten with it all down?

It didn’t take me very long to straighten my hair with this straightener, but it did take me a bit longer than usual because, I have thick hair and I think this straightener is made for someone with thin hair. I had to do small pieces at a time to get the straight look I wanted. I didn’t mind one bit because, it turned out great and I’ve been using it, which in turn makes my husband happy because, he loves when my hair is down. It’s a win, win. If you have thick hair, I probably wouldn’t recommend this unless you don’t mind doing small pieces at a time, but if you have thin hair or medium thick hair, then I definitely think this is the best hair straightener for you. I still plan on using it daily because, I don’t mind having to straighten small pieces at a time. Here is what it looks like after.

So, what do you think? Would you get it? If not, what is your favorite hair straightener from Misikko?!