National Trail Mix Day

Did you know that today is National Trail Mix day? Trail mix takes me back to the days when I was in Girls Scouts and when you went to camp you had to bring an item to contribute to the GORP mixture. I never knew what that stood for until I just looked it up right now (Good old raisins and peanuts!) Here are a few recipes to celebrate the day:

Popcorn Trail Mix from Good Life Eats

Trail Mix Cookies from Bakingdom

S'more Trail Mix Recipe from Betty Crocker

Chew Sweet & Salty Trail Mix Bars from Part Time Housewife

Have a wonderful trail mix filled Friday!

DIY - Personalized Football Drinking Glasses

As I mentioned in my post earlier in the week, I made personalized football glasses for our fantasy football draft party. I wasn’t planning on making anything, but when I spotted these at the dollar store I just couldn’t resist. :) To make them, I used my Silhouette SD to create a vinyl stencil and then used Martha Stewart Multi-Surface paint to stencil it on the glass. You've heard me talk about my Silhouette before when I made the tags for the Bachelorette gift. The machine is not cheap, but definitely worth the investment if you like anything DIY related :) I just recently found out they have all different types of vinyl now (think frosted glass, chalkboard and even metallic!). They also have all these specialty papers like double sided adhesive, temporary tattoos and magnetic paper.

Using the program that comes with the machine, I designed a stencil that would fit within the part of the glass I wanted to paint. Great thing about the Silhouette is you can use any font that is installed on your computer. That means you can download fonts from free sites (I like dafont.com.)  I decided to put the person's name on one side and their team name on the other. This is my team name this year (50 shades of Green Bay). I'm not a Green Bay fan nor have I read the book, but I thought it was cute :) When I was happy with the design, I loaded the vinyl into the machine and had it cut. Then, I weeded out all of the inside of the letters so I was left with a stencil.

In order to properly get the stencil onto the glass with all the letters intact, I stuck transfer paper to the top of the vinyl. Then, I peeled of the paper backing of the vinyl and placed it on the glass. After making sure the stencil is adhered to the glass (I like to use an old credit card to press it down), I peeled off the transfer paper and was left with just the stencil on the glass. I then painted it in using Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Satin paint.

This paint is meant for all sorts of surfaces (hence the 'multi'...haha) including glass, wood and even fabric. To make sure it adheres to the glass make sure to clean with rubbing alcohol first. I did 2 coats of paint waiting at least an hour between coats. I let fully dry over night and then peeled off the stencil. You want to make sure it is fully dry before you peel off or the paint may come off with it.

The paint bottle says if the paint is cured for 21 days it is top-rack dishwasher safe. I didn't have that much time since I made them the week of the party, so we just hand washed them and they were fine. We even put a few of them in the freezer (gotta make sure the mountains stay blue...haha) and they had no problems.

I would definitely use this method again and am curious to try other colors and types of Martha's awesome paint. 

Enjoy!

 I'm sharing this recipe at the following link parties: Something Swanky, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The 36th Avenue, The Frugal Girls,Tatertots & Jello, Whipperberry, Serenity Now, Positively Splendid and Pretty Handy Girl.

Wishlist Wednesday - Game Room

Our house has this wonderful oversized loft that I just love. When we were looking for houses it wasn't on our 'must have' list, but we're sure glad that the house we ended up with had one. My husband and father-in-law just finished painting the room last week and now I want to get some fun stuff to put in the room. We were lucky enough to get a really nice pool table from a friend of a friend that just wanted to get rid of it (we just paid to have it moved!) So we've decided turning this space into a sort of game room would be perfect. For this week's wishlist Wednesday, I put together some item I think would look great in our game room:

Oversized Poker Cards via Martha Stewart

Antique Dice Table via Grand in Road

Vintage Card Shuffler via FeedYourSoulThreads on Etsy

Dominos in Apothecary Jar via Starshine Chic

Chalkboard Coffee Table via Better Homes & Gardens

(I can't find the original source on BHG for this photo...anyone know where to find?)

Scrabble Family Names via Remodelaholic

• What do you guys think of these ideas?
• Do you have any other great ideas you can share?

Birchbox Love - 6 Great Beauty Buys

A few months back, my cousin introduced me to the world of Birchbox and I’m so glad she did! In short, it is box full of wonderful goodies delivered to your door every month. It mainly consists of samples of different beauty products, but they’ve been known to throw some non-beauty things as well (I’ve gotten tea, mints and even headphones in there!) I’m really bad at updating my beauty routine and usually just stick to the same thing, but my monthly Birchbox has helped me branch out and try some new things - without having to shell out tons of cash in the process (the box is only $10/month!) You even fill out a little questionnaire that helps personalize your box each month.

I have given subscriptions to several of my friends as gifts and they love the boxes too. And I like how my present is something that draws their birthday out…who doesn’t like that?! If you like something in your box and want a full size, it’s easy to go onto their website and buy it (and they have free shipping if it’s over $50!) I travel a lot for work and love taking my Birchbox goodies with me because they’re the perfect size. Here are a few of my favorites from the past few months:

1. Whish Three Wishes Body Butter - This stuff smells fantastic and left my skin super soft and lasted all day.
2. theBalm® cosmetics Stainiac - I had never tried stain before and I really liked this stuff. I could use it on my cheeks to add a little color, but also on my lips to add color and layer with some gloss.
3. Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss - Adds a little pop of color that isn’t overpowering a perfect for everyday wear.
4. twistband™ Hair Tie 6-pack - These hair ties are awesome and don’t snag your hair like regular hair bands do.
5. Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint - This stuff was great to use during the summer when I didn’t want to wear heavy foundation. It had great coverage, but felt light and brightened up my skin.
6. Yes To™ Blueberries Brightening Facial Towelettes - These towelettes smell really good and a very gentle on your face (which is key for me because I have super sensitive skin).

Have you tried Birchbox?

What are some of your favorite beauty buys?

Any other gifts you like to give people? To receive?

Note: I have not been compensated for the above post. I just want to share one of my new favorites!  

Parties - Fantasy Football Draft Party

This past weekend at out house we held a party for our Fantasy Football League's annual draft. We've never done the draft in person before (usually we just do it online), but we decided to try something new and I'm always up for hosting a party :) And I am actually an avid football fan and am in 3 fantasy football leagues! My team name this year: 50 Shades of Green Bay. I'm not really a Green Bay fan (Go Chargers!), but thought it was cute nonetheless.

I kept things pretty simple for the appetizers with just some chips and dip, but I did try this Buffalo Chicken Dip which was a big hit (and is super, duper easy!). Thanks to the good, ole dollar store I got the football flag pennants and the napkins for a few dollars. I was planning on making a cute football field tablecloth, but actually found one at Michaels that was perfect.

I also found at the dollar store these cute football shaped glasses. Once I spotted them, I knew they would be the perfect thing to personalize for everyone. I'll have a tutorial on how I did that later this week.

It was the birthday of two of our league members, so I thought it would be perfect to make them a football field cake complete with their favorite team in each of the end zones. I've never made a true layered cake before so it took quite a bit longer to put together than I originally thought.

I baked two 9x13 chocolate cakes (I just used Betty Crocker's Milk Chocolate cake mix). I made a Peanut Butter filling I found courtesy of Crazy for Crust. I added some chopped up Reese's Pieces to add a little something extra. I then layered the cakes with the filling and then did a crumb coat of Vanilla Buttercream frosting. I tripled the recipe for the frosting and dyed about 1/3 of it green for the field. I covered the sides in white and the top in green.

To decorate, I wanted to make sure to lines would be straight and even, so I used Wilton, Sugar Sheets (found at Michaels) and a sharp knife & ruler to cute the lines and then laid them on top. I found the cute little players and goal posts at Party City. To complete the cake, I just dyed a little of the frosting yellow (for the Packers) and orange (for the Browns). My grandma taught me this trick for writing on cakes years ago, use a toothpick to lightly draw in the frosting to get the spacing & size right. If you make a mistake you can always frost over it and start over. Then, I piped the decorative borders and the cake was complete!

For those of you that are Fantasy Football fans too and are thinking of having a live draft, I definitely recommend it. We had so much fun and it was a great excuse to get everyone together. My husband had the idea to make a poster board with the team names across the top and the rounds down the side. I then made pre-printed labels for all of the positions in different colors. This made it really easy to keep track of what picks people had made and for what position. I've posted the labels I made if anyone would like to use them. They're for the Avery 5160 Labels.

DIY - 7 Uses for an Old T-Shirt

We all have them - shirts we still love, but have seen better days. Here are a few ideas to re-purpose those shirts into something you can still use and love:

1. Racerback Workout Shirt by Blogilates
2. T-Shirt Tote Bag from Instructables
3. T-Shirt Quilt by Stars for Streetlights
4. T-Shirt Scarf with Flower by A bit of sunshine when skies are grey
5. Knotted Headband with T-Shirt Yarn by Sugarbee Craft
6. Ruffled Rosette Pillow by The Sweet Life
7. T-Shirt Flower Ring by Homemade Ginger

Recipe - Honeydew Splash Cocktail

Last year, my husband and I went to the San Diego Zoo (which I highly recommend) and we stopped at The Prado restaurant for some lunch. On their drink menu was this honeydew cocktail that I decided to try because it sounded so refreshing after being outside all morning. I'm not sure if I got the ingredients quite right, but this is my version. To get the honeydew juice, we used our Breville Juice Extractor which I was a little skeptical about, but my husband wanted it so we registered for it for our wedding. I do have to say I really like it now and most of it can go in the dishwasher which makes it even better.

Here's a printable recipe card. Click on the image to download. 

 I'm sharing this recipe at the following link parties: Something Swanky, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Frugal Girls, Tatertots & Jello, Whipperberry, Serenity Now, Positively Splendid and Crazy for Crust.

Note: I have not received any money from Breville for this post. I just am sharing experience with their product. 

Wishlist Wednesday - I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!

Even though it seems like summer is coming to an end quickly, it's still quite hot here in Southern California - although the 10+ days of triple digit heat look like they are taking a break for the time being...thank goodness! Ice cream on these hot summer days is just the perfect treat. Here are a few I wish I could get my hands (and mouth) on right now :)

Super Simple Nuttela Ice Cream from Chocolate & Zucchini

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream from smitten kitchen

Candied Bacon Ice Cream from David Lebovitz

Strawberry Ice Cream from Martha Stewart

And one of my all-time favorites...Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream from A Beautiful Mess

• What's your favorite ice cream?
• What do you like to do in the summer to keep cool?
• Any favorite ice cream shops?

Gifts - Return Address Stamp from Etsy

Awhile back, I got a card from a good friend that had her return address stamped on the back of it. I thought this was such a cute idea I knew I wanted one when we sent out our wedding invitations. After searching on Etsy.com for vendors, I came across foryoo and fell in love with her designs. As I alluded to before, my husband and I had sort of a math/numbers themed wedding. So I wanted a stamp that would fit in with that look - we decided on this stamp. I loved the brackets that made it look like an equation :)

I got so many nice comments on our invitations and I think the stamp was the icing on the cake. When we moved into our new house a few months ago, I ordered another stamp with our updated address and got to christen it on our Housewarming Invitations (more to come on those later!)

Sandy has a lot designs to choose from and they come in self-stamping or good old-fashioned rubber. I go the rubber one because I wanted to be able to use different colored ink. These stamps would make a great housewarming or wedding gift.  The turn around time is quick and they really add such a special touch to cards and invitations.

• What's you favorite housewarming gift to give?
• Do you have any favorite Esty shop owners?

Note: I have not been paid by the above Etsy shop for this post. I simply want to share a great product I love and use :)

Gifts - Bachelorette Party

A few weeks ago, I attended the Bacholorette Party for one of my friends. I had to fly there (Vegas, baby!) so I wanted to bring a gift that would be easy to transport, but also something a little different. I had seen this blog post awhile back and thought it would be the perfect gift to bring - easy to make, cute, inexpensive, and useful :) Everyone loved it and I'm excited to share with all of you.

As the poem goes - it's a 'Lifelong Panty Plan'. Basically, it's a little poem about all the important moments in a couple's life and a pair of panties for each occasion (think - wedding, honeymoon, first anniversary, first baby,10th anniversary, and 25th anniversary).

I used my trusty Silhouette to create tags that I attached to each pair of underwear. I got my Silhouette before my wedding last year and just love it. There are so many fun things you can use it for (paper cut outs, cards, vinyl lettering, fabric, rhinestones) and they seem to be coming out with new stuff all the time. See the end of this post for the printable.

I was able to get all the underwear (9 pairs!) at Target for under $30! I also got this cute little pink bucket in the dollar bin at Target....I love you dollar bin! I had the twine and clothespins already, so there was no cost there. I glammed up the clothespins by coloring one side with a gold paint pen and then putting a little gold glitter glue on top. Then, I just attached everything to the twine and carefully placed into the bucket. I think it turned out pretty cute and the bride loved it!

If you want to create your own gift, you can download this printable and just cut it out yourself. Enjoy!