Do gel manicures yourself!

About two years ago, I started going with my friend to get manicures or pedicures.  I got addicted to gel nails or SNS nails.  My nails are super brittle and will only grow if I have gel or SNS on them.  But, I'm super lazy and didn't always remove them safely therefore defeating the purpose of helping my nails grow and be healthy. 

Then, at the end of last summer, while visiting my friend, she had a whole kit of gel nail stuff!  She had her own UV lamp, and gel polish, etc. I did my own nails following her directions with the base coat, polish and top coat, and it was so easy I was hooked (and Mallary was hooked!). We ordered our own kit shortly after.  When I saw the price for the whole kit was the same as a manicure I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.  Oh my word I've saved so much money with how much we do our nails.  Three of my friends even bought a kit too, and we've all been hooked.

Mallary uses it ALL THE TIME. I use it the normal amount.  We do gel on our nails and toenails. They last for two weeks on my nails and about a month on my toes (perfect for my lazy self).

Here is the exact kit I ordered from Amazon.  It comes with everything you need to get started.  I also ordered extra colors.  

 

 This is one of my newer favorite colors:  

You can see ours has been well loved... (i.e. Mallary is messy...)

You guys! Also, see the washi tape on the one bottle there?  My friend, was brilliant and got a different color washi tape for all of us to put on our bottles so that we would know whos was whos!  Brilliant! We can borrow colors and not get them confused. 

Honestly, twice I got colors that were kinda goopy. I reported it, and Amazon refunded my money. So, no loss on my part!

Then, my friend showed me this stuff you can use to turn any nail polish into a gel polish and I have been dying to try it ever since! (Like, seriously turning dollar store nail polish to gel polish, and it works!!!) I finally did yesterday! I am hooked! Here is the stuff I bought that can turn any polish into gel polish:

 

Mallary and I chose some of our favorite nail polishes to turn into gel polish.  This is how many we made yesterday! 

I ordered these empty small nail polish containers to mix them in.  You are supposed to mix the Hydracol and the nail polish 50/50, so I didn't want to use it all on just a few colors so I ordered these so I could do lots of colors. I still have more of the hydracol so I can do a lot more colors still! 

You can see my nails in this picture. That manicure is eight days old - no chips or anything. I did this manicure with this base and top coat:

So, these are some pictures from when I mixed colors yesterday.  You will need a q-tips to help clean the funnels and toothpicks incase the balls fall out of the nail polish and block the funnel opening. I showed you a picture of that as well. 

Honestly, we tend to just peel off the polish when we are ready to do a new manicure.  (If you don't buff your nailbeds before painting you can usually do this without harming your nails.) But, I'm trying to keep my nails healthy so I ordered these for me and my friends that have the kits to safely soak off the polish without having to wrap your nails in aluminum foil.

Anyway, I'm hooked!  I just thought I'd share one of our new favorite things!  

Practice makes perfect, but you will catch on so fast! Just remember not to put too much polish on your brush.  You just don't want the polish to be on your skin before you put it under the lamp, because it will stick to your skin and make your manicure not look great. Slow and steady is the way to go! Enjoy! 

Cupcake Toppers on Etsy

The cupcakes I made for the wedding.  I'll post what they looked liked at the wedding tomorrow. 

I recently did a cake and cupcakes for a wedding.  The theme was fall/rustic and she wanted the cupcakes and cake to have her wedding colors.  I prefer to not have dyed frosting and I searched Etsy for some ideas.  I came across these and instead of trying to make them, we just ordered them instead, and I just want to tell you how much I love them!!

I ordered them from this store on Etsy called Nicolettsy.  These are made with gumpaste and are absolutely adorable!

They came packaged like this and only two were broken (and easily repaired! - she included instructions on how to repair them)

Look at how adorable they are!!

I think cake decorating has come a long way since my Grandma's rosettes! There are so many cool things out there you can use now!!  Here are a few more from her Etsy store... She has succulents in her store right now and they are amazing!

Image and photo credit Here

Image and Photo Credit HERE

Here are a few other cupcake/cake toppers from Etsy that I love with their store links below the picture.

Sugar Paste Peony from HERE

And you know I love these fondant Christmas sweaters from HERE!

And how gorgeous is this cake from HERE??

Such an easy way to take your cakes and cupcakes to the next level if you are willing to spend a little more money.  I love that there are so many gorgeous options!  I put learning how to make these flowers on my bucket list! 

Pencil Sharpener

Image from HERE

You guys, pencil sharpeners have a short life span in our house.  My kids have broken two expensive electric pencil sharpeners and countless little cheap ones. I literally could not afford to keep paying 20 plus bucks to get new sharpeners.  I have purchased many different cheap ones, and those never worked either. THEN... I found this one at Wal-Mart for ONE DOLLAR.  Holy cow if it isn't the answer to my prayers!  It works great - actually sharpens pencils, and not breakable (so far) by my kids!

Halle-freakin-lujah!

Seriously, the fact that I'm blogging about pencil sharpeners... It's the little things you know?!

John also found an this Fiskar one that is similar and works well, but I'm not sure where he got it.

Summer 2012 Favorites

School starting back up is the end of summer for me.  So sad!  Summer is definitely my favorite, always has been, always will be!!!  These were my favorite things from this summer...

1.  Letting bread rise outside in the 95+ degree weather.  So fast!  Love it!

2.  Puddle Jumper Life vests - Oh my word why did I not have this at the beginning of the summer?????  Why did I not have this for all my kids?? So very perfect for the fearless 2 year old!  Jonah loved the freedom that wearing this provided too - of course...  Then I didn't have to worry about him jumping in the pool in the deep end, etc.  HE LOVED IT!  As do I!

3.  Cheap refills on sodas in your own water bottles!  Did you know when you are traveling you can fill up your own plastic reusable bottles with soda at gas stations for basically pennies?  I didn't until our travels this summer.  John always has to stop and get soda, now he can do it for cheap!  I think Shell had the cheapest prices.  So, you're getting this ginormous soda for 40 cents or something.  Not all gas stations are as cheap though...  Check before you fill up. 

4.  Sierra Mist -  I normally don't like strawberry kiwi flavored things, but this new Sierra Mist - strawberry kiwi flavor is my new favorite soda!  It's almost like a flavored sparkling water, it's just so light tasting and yummy!!

5.  Jalapeno Poppers - I planted four jalapeno plants just for this purpose!  (Sadly, though not all of them survived thanks to a stupid rabbit...)  We like to grill them, but our grill died, so this summer, we just broiled them on a rack in the oven.  Clean the seeds out of your jalapenos, stuff with cream cheese mixture (sugar, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce), wrap in bacon, enjoy a little bit of heaven with some heat.. ;) 

they look ugly, but they are oh so good....

 

6.  Kool-Aid Slushies -  Why have I not made these before???  This was totally Trevan, my seven year old's idea.  First, freeze kool-aid in ice cube trays.  After they are frozen throw them in your magic bullet with a little bit of kool - aid liquid, or water, and blend.  It's like your own slurpee.  The new peach mango flavor is DELICIOUS!!!!  Just try not to get addicted...

My 2010 Top Ten Gift List

I know I 'm posting this a little late, but here are my Top Ten 2010 gift picks:

#1: Trio Crock Pot sets - Why have these not been around forever? I have always thought I needed multiple crock pots... problem solved! Brilliant!

#2: Gingher Scissors: I recently realized I got my Gingher scissors in 1998, and they haven't been sharpened since. The best scissors ever. Know a crafty person that doesn't have these already? If they really are crafty (sewers), they should already have some... but, if they don't - give them a gift that will last a lifetime (or more).

#3: If I had a million dollars, I'd purchase friends art for all of my friends. Love this one HERE.

#4: Fisher Price nativity set: I wanted one of these last year, but every store was sold out. I got mine this year the day after Thanksgiving, yay!! #5: Then I saw this at my sister in laws and must have it as well... next year!!!

#6: Instead of Christmas music, you can hear this playing in my van. Music my Grandpa and I can both listen to! Love it!

#7: My new favorite! Oh my goodness, sooooooooooo delicious!!!! John bought home some for all of us.... I admit it, I ate my kids cookies too!!! No. Self. Control.

#8: My new favorite apple cider! Thanks to my sister in law, Cheryl, for introducing me! I buy it at Harris Teeter - check your local grocery store.


#9: Our favorite treat this time of year. Years ago, people didn't believe us when we told them Martinelli's sparkling cider had different flavors, but during the holidays you find different flavors, our very favorite! We haven't tried the flavor below yet though! See all the flavors here.

#10: Not a fan of salt scrubs - ouch! But I love these sugar scrubs. Makes your skin sweet and soft!

Hope Santa brings you what's on your list!!!

Must add to your maternity wardrobe

So, I've seen these half tees featured on some blogs, and decided to give them a try.

Can I just say these are perfect for a pregnant woman tired of adjusting all the layers she is wearing?????? For some reason, the majority of maternity dresses are made with jersey knit fabric - the most unflattering fabric really. Those dresses show every line you are wearing, and undershirts and tank tops always seem to bunch up. On Sunday, I wore a half tee under my dress, and it was heaven not having to worry about an extra piece of fabric to tug on. These half tees fall right at your bra line, so you don't have to worry about showing another line somewhere. Anyway, a must have for a pregnant woman in my book. Find them HERE. (FYI: I measured myself according to their size chart, and then ordered the next size smaller, and that fit great. So, I think they might run a little bigger.)

Hard Water Shampoo

When we moved into our new house, I started noticing my hair feeling really gross. I felt like I was getting out of the shower with more product in my hair than when I got in the shower. I then figured out that we have hard water. My beauty expert friend suggested this hard water shampoo. After dealing with hard water hair for about a year, I was willing to try anything. I tried this, and was a little worried at first because it seemed like I was putting dish washing soap on my hair, but I loved it. My hair actually felt clean! If you have hard water, this is something you should try! Or, if you've heard someone complain about it, you should recommend it. You can buy it at Sally Beauty Supply.