Getting rid of annoying friends!

I had a few extra minutes to myself yesterday and so... I got rid of two of my most annoying friends. Tom and Bert. They visit me every so often and I CAN'T STAND THEM. Whenever they're around I feel so crappy. They put me down, and tease me all-of-the-time.

You're probably thinking, WOW this chic has issues. Just getting rid of friends because they're annoying her. What is her deal!

Let me introduce you to these friends and let you be the judge. 

Tom aka Tom Selleck as in: The mustache on my upper lip. It makes teenage boys jealous that they can't grow theirs as well as I can. No matter how many times I wax the dang thing, it just won't stop coming back.

And Bert... you know-from Sesame Street: My unibrow. The never ending unibrow. Sometimes I can't tell where my hair line ends and where my eyebrow begins. It just keeps going and going and going. 

I never used to have these problems. My eyebrows were always well groomed. And as for Tom... well, he NEVER showed up in the mirror unexpected. 

Then I had kids. And my priorities changed. I no longer have a beauty routine. (I sometimes get excited when I have 5 minutes to shower.) It's not that I don't want to have a beauty routine, there's just not enough hours in the day. By the time I do have some quality time for myself I'm so exhausted from the day I pass out. I would rather have happy kids than make myself "b-e-a-utiful" at this point in time. I know, I know-I've heard it before "you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others". You know what? That little piece of advice is probably the hardest one to achieve when you're mom.

So here's to those couple of extra minutes I had yesterday. Because of them, my husband is not scared to kiss me again. ;-) Cheers!

(I don't want to even think about the Sasquatch I'd be if I didn't already have laser hair removal done on my legs-thank the Lord!)

Easy and Fun Nail Art

Before I start today's tutorial I am going to tell you about the minor heart attack I had last night.

I was grabbing my camera bag off of my bed thinking it was closed-because I always close the bag when I'm not using the camera-and started to walk out of my bedroom. All of a sudden I hear CRASH! Oh crap...Crap...CRAP! Right away I knew what the sound was. The camera crashing to the floor, after bouncing off the bed. Oh no... no, no, no... this cannot be happening. (Now, this would be pretty stinky no matter what camera it was that took the dive. But it wasn't our cheaper point and shoot-this was our Nikon D80 digital SLR-oh NO!) I turned to pick it up and all I hear is rattle, rattle, crinkle, crinkle-the sound of broken glass/electronics. By this time the hubs is in the bedroom too, he takes the broken camera into the kitchen to get a better look at the damage. He manages to get the cover off of the lens-it was kind of jammed-and all we see is broken glass. Did I start crying? Surprisingly, no. But believe me, I almost did. I vacuumed all of the glass-just in case it wasn't the lens that was in pieces I didn't want to risk scratching it. Guess what! It wasn't the lens, it wasn't the camera. I did a couple of test shots with it and it still works. (Huge sigh of relief!) All that broke was the UV protective filter that goes over the end of the lens! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Lord! So needless to say... I probably have a couple more grey hairs because of this, but I have to say I slept better than I probably would have knowing that I don't have to replace it.

On to the tutorial...

I recently bought a nifty little contraption for doing my own nail art at home. You may have seen them in a kiosk at the mall. It's called Konad. Yeah, I'm the sucker who always gets stopped by those sales people, and I don't know how to tell them no. Anyway, I'm pretty happy I bought it. The girls and I have been having a blast doing our fingers and toes.

Here's what you'll need:

Konad Image Plate

Scraper

Stamper

Nail Polish

(Konad sells special polish but Sasse's Stamping Stampede has a list of normal polish)

polish remover

q-tips and cotton balls

Start with a base coat, any color will do. If you have wiggly toes and get some on the skin it doesn't matter, the stamper will also get some paint on the skin too, you'll clean it all up at the end.

Put some polish on the design you would like.

Using the scraper, scrape off the excess.

Pick up the image with the stamper. (Please pay no attention to my hands, I always forget to make myself stuff, like Holiday Hand Scrub.)

Stamp the design onto the nail. Continue until all nails are to your liking.

Cute little zebra stripe toes.

Adorable little houndstooth and polka dot fingers.

Now wasn't that fun?! Not only do we have fun doing this, it will save me and the hubs loads of green since we won't have to go to a salon. There are 4 females in our house, can you imagine the salon bill that could potentially be? Yowza!

Handmade Holiday Lotion

I love making beauty treatments that are natural, it makes me feel like I'm doing something good for the environment and myself. Do you remember the Holiday Hand Scrub? Well, this lotion goes great with it. They both use very minimal ingredients.

Ingredients/Items Needed:
1/2 c. Water
1/4 tsp. Borax powder
1 c. Olive Oil
4 TBS. Grated Beeswax
2-3 Drops essential oil (I used lavender and peppermint for this so I only used 2 drops)
Blender
Microwave
Heat Proof Bowls
Clean Containers

Bring the water to a boil. Place the borax in a heat proof bowl, carefully mix in the boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

Place the oil and beeswax in microwave safe bowl. Microwave for about 3-4 minutes on high, stirring often after 2 minutes, until beeswax is melted.


Pour oil mixture into blender and blend on low speed, slowing add the water mixture. Once everything is in the blender switch to high speed until everything is mixed well (creamy white lotion).


Pour into a clean container. Let cool.

To use: Massage into skin. Use after the Holiday Hand Scrub.

Holiday Hand Scrub

For your well deserved pampering or a last minute gift. This hand scrub is wonderful to keep near your kitchen sink to be used after you have finished scrubbing your pots and pans. As I've said before, I have three little ones, so between the snotty noses and diaper changes I'm constantly washing my hands and in the winter that can be harsh on the skin. 

Here's what you'll need.

1/2 c Sugar

1/2 c Epsom Salt

3 TBS Almond Oil or 3 TBS Olive Oil

3-5 drops essential oil (I used peppermint this time for a more festive scent but normally I like lemon)

You'll also need a jar to store the scrub in. So go raid your stash of recycled jars... What do you mean you don't have a stash of recycled jars... OK. "Hi. My name is Hope, and I have a problem-I hoard cute glass jars to be used for my homemade lotions and potions." I'm not kidding. I have about 25-30 baby food jars in a box in my basement. Can you guess what everyone is getting for Christmas?

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl and scoop into the jar. Recipe yields 1 cup of scrub. 

To use: Moisten hands with warm water. Using about 1 TBS of scrub gently scrub away the dead skin. Rinse well with warm water and follow with your favorite hand cream. Works great on feet as well! 

(don't use it in the shower the oil will create a slip-n-slide)