Beauty Favorites

In the past year I have been introduced to how fun makeup can be and some really great products. Before this revelation, my make up routine used to be super basic. It consisted of a little drug store concealer, Clinique sample eye shadow and mascara, and a little blush.  Now I’m using an eye shadow primer, mineral powder, and all sorts of fun stuff.

So I wanted to share with you some of my favorite beauty finds over the last year. From left to right top to bottom we have…

1. Simple brand make up removal wipes. So convenient for when you don’t want to wash your face and get water all over the place. Also super great for camping!

2. This fabulous blush-bronzer combo by benefit called sugarbomb. It’s a perfect combination of pink and bronze

3. Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara. This crap stays on forever. For the first time in my life I have to use eye makeup remover because it is so waterproof. Combine this with an eyelash curler and you can’t not have fabulous eyelashes.

4. Bare Minerals foundation powder, I’ve never been big on foundation. I feel like it usually cakes on and makes me feel claustrophobic (if that’s possible from face makeup) But this foundation powder is super light and provides just a hint of coverage. LOVE IT!

5. Ok so this was the 1^st time I ever “splurged” on make up. It was on urban decay’s Naked 2 eye shadow palette. The colors are very neutral and pretty. It stays put all day, especially if you use it with urban decay’s eye shadow primer. It was sorta expensive for make up but well worth it because I am sure I will be using it for the next 5 years.

6. Benefit’s POREfessional is on my list because it is like nothing else I have ever rubbed on my skin. I’m not sure what it is made of but it feels like silk when you rub it in. I use it on my chin and the in the creases of where my nose meets my face.  (I’m sure there is a medical term for this area but my years of anatomy have escaped me) It just makes the powder foundation go on even better.

7. Then lastly I have found this fun little stuff called High Beam also by benefit. Its kinda weird at first because you literally paint it on the your cheek bones before you put on blush. Then I use my finger to rub it in. It just gives you a little light shine and makes you “glow” a little.

So there you have it, my favorite makeup finds in the last year. I am so glad I opened up to try new things on my face because now (when I am not running late) I actually enjoy putting on make up. Before it was just a mundane task to make me not look like I’ve been drug behind a tractor in the mornings.  If you're in a make up rut you should try one of these fabulous products! 

<Note: Sephora is not paying me to write this post> ha!

DIY Wedding Gift Tub

First of all I want to apologize for the quality of these pictures… I was too lazy to go get my big camera so I used my iPhone… SORRY! but you get the idea from these pictures….

I bought this beverage tin from Target last summer (shows how long ago I should have done this post) Then used my cricut to cut out this quatrefoil shape out of vinyl to be my stencil. Once the outline of the quatrefoil was attached I simply used chalkboard paint to fill in the empty space. I gave it a few really good coats and let it completely dry before I removed the vinyl. 

Then I filled it with all sorts of goodies the sweet couple register for and TA-DA a cute practical wedding gift they can use to host parties and store things in at home! 

After I made this for my friend, I resisted the urge to go get another tin for myself.  I already have a lime green beverage dispenser… but I loved the simple tin color with the chalkboard! Simple and classic, don't ya think?

Catching Up & Burlap Bridal Shower

oh my goodness, first of all I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I have posted on my sweet little blog I was so excited about starting almost a year ago!! Its supposed to be a blog about all the fun things I get to do in my "spare time." I haven't had a ton of down time in the last 3 months but I have definitely been doing a lot of fun stuff in my spare time! I'm going to do quick recap of highlights for ya...

Went to the Troy University (go Trojans) vs. Tennessee game 

Went to an Alabama game in Tuscaloosa. 

Celebrated the beautiful life of my husband's sweet grandfather who went to be with Jesus in November and spent some great time with my brother-in-laws and they're awesome wives. 

Put up our tree!

Had a fabulous girl's craft night (what I crafted coming soon… hopefully)

Put up our outside decorations (can't take ANY credit here this was all the Hubs!)

Had our end of the semester small group party with awesome church friends! 

Hosted our annual neighborhood Christmas party

Went to NYC with my husband for our Christmas presents to each other.

Helped host a progressive dinner with some of my favorite people 

Went back to Alabama to spend Christmas with my family.

My sister came to spend some time with us in TN and we played in the snow!

Rented a cabin with my brothers and sisters. 

 and last but not least hosted a Bridal shower for this special cousin and one of my longest friends.  

Thats where I'm going to spend the last little bit of this post, sharing some of the details from her burlap themed wedding shower. 

We got these adorable ring cupcakes made from Publix bakery! They do such a great job and their cake is amazing!

Of course we used mason jars to drink out of… if you're doing a burlap themed shower they're a must!

Here's the full table. My sister helped make the desserts. She made the carmel turtles all by herself <impressed> If you're wondering (or just noticed) the blank frame in the back, we actually put a picture of the bride and groom-to-be in there. I just didn't have it yet. I just used a frame I had and placed a sheet of scrapbook paper in it for the background… easypeasy!

I used these cute little chalkboard clip labels to let all the guest know what was being served (I'm sure they could have figured it out for themselves but they're so cute don't you think?) I ordered them awhile back from a great site called pick your plum. They have daily deals with some really unique stuff.

Here's a (kind of blurry) picture of the handmade invitations. I used scrapbook paper, a big mason jar stamp, my home printer, and some glitter glue to make these simple southern invites!

I found this perfect little burlap mini-scrapbook at Michael's and had to get it for the shower. I ended up making it a memory book for Magen to use at several of her wedding showers. Its kind of like a guestbook and scrapbook all in one. 

Used the trusty beverage dispensers to serve punch and water. I used the stamp I used to make the invites to continue the "Southern" theme.

Used this DIY chalkboard tin to display the couple's initials and hold forks rolled in napkins tied with twine. Simple and cute!

 

For table decorations I used doilies from Michael's to sit milk glass vases that I have collected from yard sales, antique stores, and some were a gift from my grandmother. 

We got a simple daisy bouquet from the grocery store the day of and used them in several spots to add a pretty touch. So inexpensive but super pretty!

I'm so thankful I am in my sweet cousin's wedding and I had so much fun hosting this shower for her to let her know how much she means to me! I hope these ideas inspire you to host a cute, budget friendly shower for someone you care about too!!!

Thanks for letting me catch up and for reading my little blog even though I have been on blog-vaca for awhile!

One last thing!! My friend Emily (who actually encouraged me to get back blogging) started her very own awesome blog! Check her out here > http://mrscraftyadams.blogspot.com/ I am so looking forward to all the great things to come there. You should follow her too!!

The Liebster Award

My friend Aimee who blogs over at Tale of 2 Feet tagged me for The Liebster Award.  Its this fun little thing that is currently going around the blogging world.  I was so happy when she did because I love things like this. I was always that girl on AOL Profiles that was posting "50 questions" etc. So Here are the deets

1. Create a blog post including 11 random facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 11 random questions from the blogger who nominated you.

3. Pass the award on to at least 5 blogs and link to them in the post.

4. The blogs you nominate are supposed to have less than 200 followers.

5. Let the people know you nominated them.So now that you know the history shall we begin?

11 Random Facts

1. My left pinkie toe doesn't move very well, it has chronic muscle weakness self diagnosed)

2. I am horribly afraid of fish… its called Ichthyophobia

3. I break out in a rash when I speak in front of crowds, get married (the one and only time I have haha), when I am nervous in general, and when I drink adult beverages. It was coined "Jamie Rash" when I was growing up.

4. I put mayonnaise on my black-eyed peas… don't judge
5. I love milk with red foods (spaghetti, pizza, buffalo chicken)

6. I hate waking up early. My perfect wake up time is whenever my body wakes itself up.

7. I have never broken a bone.

8. I rode dirt bikes when I was a little girl… my dad had 3 girls… he tried to make us into boys… no luck here

9. In the 3 years we have been married, I have only cooked 5 things more than once.

10. I secretly have this list in my head of all the things I would eat and do if I knew I only had so long to live. I would weigh 200+ lbs in a matter of weeks for sure 

11. Its obvious but I love love love cats!

Now to answer Aimee's questions 

1) If you could live in any other time period/decade what would it be and why?I think it would be so fun to live in the 50's. I love the clothes and the spirit of the teenagers back then. Ok, maybe I watched Grease a few too many times growing up. But I wanted to be Sandy so bad! 

2) What was your favorite book or series of books growing up?The American Girl books... this one was my favorite

3) What was something silly you were scared of as a child? Fish… still am

4) If there was going to be a movie made about your life, which actress would you want to play you? Kristen Wiig… haha she is ridiculous and everyone would laugh and think I was much funnier than I really am

5) How would you spend a perfect Saturday? wake up around 10:00 or so, eat pancakes, then spend the day with my hubby exploring somewhere we have never been before… A hike, a town, a mall :-)

 6) Coffee, hot tea, or hot chocolate? Such a hard one… depends on the time a day… Coffee if its before 11:00 AM and hot herbal tea any time after that

7) If you could have any talent, what would it be and why? Something musical… anything at all… even just the ability to clap on beat… why… I am so terrible at anything music related

8) Describe the dress you wore to your senior prom. Lime green and Turquoise with shimmery beading all over it. 

9) What is one of the best gifts or surprises you've ever gotten? Gonna brag on Skot for this one… On the day of my last final before Christmas break 2 years ago, Skot gave me a box wrapped up and told me not to open it until I finished my exam. I was so excited that I didn't even check over my answers before I turned it in (something I ALWAYS do) So when I opened it there was a sheet of paper with directions to a spa in town and said I had a massage waiting on me, then It said to go home and pack my bags because we were headed for a romantic night at the Grove Park Inn . I am very hard to surprise because I am super nosey but he did such an awesome job with this one. 

10) Would you rather be hot or cold? Hot 

11) What is something you always keep stocked in your kitchen? Butter and sugar… I have a sweet tooth

 Here are the ladies I am gonna nominate

My great friend Allison over at Recreate Home

My sister Miranda Her awesome artwork blog

Another sweet friend Allie simply loving

An awesome girl Margaret michael and margaret

An inspiring woman of the Lord Lauren laurenisaiah58.blogspot.com

A crafty sorority sister Kirby kirby at home

And here are their 11 questions

1. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? 

2. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

3. What has been your favorite trip or vacation?

4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

5. Night in or Night on the town?

6. Best childhood memory?

7. Favorite snack?

8. Describe your perfect vacation?

9.If you could learn a new hobby/craft what would it be?

10. Who are you proudest of in your life?

11.Best concert you've ever been to?

Under the Sink Organization

I hate it when I do this but I forgot to take a "before" picture. I was so excited to install our new sliding drawer thing, I just jumped right into pulling everything out and forgot to take a shot of the messy, gross, unorganized catastrophe we had going on under the sink.

But here are the lovely finished product pics. We got this smaller recycling bin that fits great in the small space under the sink. We just dump it out into the larger recycling bin throughout the week that we keep on the back deck. 

This basket came from bed bath and beyond and is perfect for those long skinny boxes of kitchen goodies  and also for stray bags who have lost their home. 

Then here is the fancy-schmancy rollout basket thing we got at The Container Store. It was on sale for $35 which may seem like a lot for a metal basket but it is oh so handy and made super sturdy. I think it was worth every penny! 

One more shot of the star of the under the sink organization project!

 I've found that something as simple and easy as spending a little money and time organizing a small space like this can make a big impact in the ease of your day. I now know exactly where everything is under there and no more reaching in the back for the windex and knocking 10 other cleaning bottles down. 

Happy organizing! 

outfit inspiration board

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you know I LOVE to take something I don't like any more and turn it into something fabulous and useful. Thats just what I did with these 2 wall art canvas things I got a long time ago from target. I think I've said this before on here but I'll say it again... I am flat out getting tired of chocolate brown… when we first got married I bought everything dark brown and now I can't stand to look at the color in our house anymore ha. So these canvases caught my eye and they had to be taken down.

So instead of chunking them out, I covered them with some striped fabric I bought at IKEA awhile back. I just used a hot glue gun to secure the fabric to the back of the canvases' frame.

That's it. There's no other steps. Simple as that.

I had these done for a few weeks before I had the idea of what to do with them.

 One day (like most days) I was staring into my closet full of clothes thinking "Gah I have NOTHING to wear!" So being the pinterest fanatic that I am, I headed on over to my"Inspiration for my Closet" board and got some great ideas of what to throw together from the things I already own. Thats when it hit me to print out small pictures of some of my favorite outfit ideas and stick them to my then homeless striped canvases. 

You could also hang it in the kitchen and put up pictures of recipes you want to try soon, or in your craft area with crafts to do… the uses are endless. 

So before you take that not-so-cute-anymore wall art to the goodwill, think about upcyling it to a great new idea board.!

DIY Cards

I have really been inspired by Pinterest to do more DIY cards (especially since I pooled my Christmas gift money a couple a years ago to splurge on a cutting machine) With all the great ideas on there, I have been able to use craft supplies, paper, and my printer to make some really cute, personalized cards! Check them out!