My Easter Tree and Easter Decorations

I've had so much fun decorating my holiday tree for Easter. I love eggs and pastel colors and it's such a nice way to welcome Spring. So I thought I would share with you where I got all these cute little ornaments and decorations!

I got the tree at Pier One last year the day after Christmas for 50% off. It was originally $40 so I got it for $20. All of the hanging egg ornaments are from Hobby Lobby. The sequin eggs were in a package of 12 for $2.39. The larger matte finish eggs were in a package of 12 for $4.19.

The eggs with glitter and beading on them I bought individually for $1.79 each. The crosses were in a package of 6 for $0.88 cents. The moss underneath the tree was in a 6' roll for $5.99.

This Easter bunny ornament was $2.39. My favorite ornament is this fuzzy baby chick with a crown on it's head. I got it at Pier 1 for $3.95.

Moving over to the Eater basket...

I got the white basket at Hobby Lobby for $4.49 but I can't find the link for it. The three carrots are from Pier 1 for $4.95. I got the grass last year from Target on clearance and the eggs are old and I don't know where they are from.

And that's it! So in total I spent about $35 dollars decorating my sideboard for Easter which I think is just fine considering I will use these ornaments every year for a long time. Every time I walk by it I smile. It makes me so hoppy! (Hehe... see what I did there!?)

Easy Valentine's Day Gift Wrapping

As we all know Valentine's Day is right around the corner. And we also know that I am obsessed with wrapping gifts. So here is my take on Valentine's Day gift wrapping!

After Christmas I loaded up on wrapping paper but instead of buying all of the Christmasy stuff, I bought the solid colors and prints that could be used all year. So to make it festive for Valentine's Day I taped Hershey's kisses to the gifts!

I placed the kisses on the gift in the shape that I liked... a heart, of course. And then I just rolled the tape and  cut the pieces in half so that I could tape two kisses and the tape wouldn't show on the sides of the kisses.

I think this is a cute and easy way to wrap a Valentine's Day gift. Especially if you don't want to load your loved-one up with candy and chocolate. This way they just have a few little pieces of candy to munch on... not a huge bag full of sugar. Plus, it adds some dimension to the gift which I really like.

So grab some paper and kisses and get to wrapping!

Happy Tuesday!

DIY Scrunch Butt Bikini Bottoms

If you haven't jumped on board the scrunch/pucker/cheeky butt bikini bottom train yet, CLIMB ABOARD! This my friends is the best thing you can do to your booty. It will make your butt look more defined and perkier! It will also eliminate that awful "saggy butt" look.

These bottoms cost anywhere from $25-45 dollars at Victoria's Secret, about $30 from Chynnda Dolls, and up to $85 at Beach Bunny. Why pay so much when you can just scrunch the bottoms you already own?!

Items You Will Need

1. Bikini bottoms

2. Thread to match

3. Sewing Machine

4. Scissors

5. Elastic, 1/4 inch wide

6. Pen

7. Ruler/Straight Edge

8. A butt

Instructions

1. Set-up your machine (straight stitch, length 2, width 3, tension 4) and load your thread and bobbin.

2. Lay your bikini bottoms flat with the lining facing up. Find the middle of the bottoms and mark the center.

3. Cut a piece of elastic the length of the bottoms.

4. Place the bottoms and the elastic under your presser foot and lower the foot.

5. Lower the needle in to the elastic and fabric.

6. Manually walk the needle through the elastic and fabric for about 3 or 4 stitches.

7. Reverse stitch over those stitches back to the top.

8. Now pull the elastic straight down. The harder you pull the elastic, the more scrunch your suit will have.

9. Hold the elastic in place with one hand and guide the suit from behind the presser foot with your other hand.

10. Sew all the way to the seam where the crotch of the bottoms begins then back stitch 4 or 5 stitches.

11. You should have some loose elastic... trim that elastic and loose thread and you are done!

It took me a couple of tries to get this right and I consider myself an "okay" sewer. I can sew basic things and mend clothing but working with delicate, stretchy fabrics can be pretty advanced. If you are a beginner at sewing, ask someone who knows how to sew for help. If you are a moderately good sewer, find an old bathing suit to practice on. You will most likely mess up the first time. Do not try this on an expensive suit on your first try! I bought a pair of bottoms from Wal-Mart for $5.00 to experiment with.

A few tips and tricks...

-The more you pull the elastic, the more scrunchie the bottoms will be. Don't pull too hard or the suit won't lay right. For the gold suit I started with about 8" of elastic and cut off 1" after I sewed it. For the teal suit I cut off about 2".

-If you have a pair of bottoms that are saggy in the butt or are one size too big, pull the elastic really hard and it will take the bottoms down about one size.

-This works best on tie-side bottoms. I haven't had much luck with band-side bottoms.

-You don't have to scrunch the whole bottom of you don't want to. If you just want to add a little "touch of scrunch" only do the very top like this...

or go about halfway like this...

Final Thoughts...

-Sorry you had to stare at pictures of my butt. I was the only model available... Tyson said he wouldn't do it. HA!

-If you don't have a sewing machine or aren't any good at sewing, just take your bottoms to a local seamstress. Show them this blog post and they can do it for you for about $5.00. Definitely worth it if you have a cute suit that needs an update!

Now get to scrunching! Good luck, ladies!

Guess who's not going to sleep tonight!?

THIS GIRL.

When your boyfriend is on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, you don't tend to sleep well.

They are doing really great though!!

They are well over halfway there and making really great time!

He called me around 4pm and said everything was going well. He couldn't hear me very well but I was still glad to hear his voice.

Anywho...

You probably are wondering

"What does one do while her b/f is in the Atlantic Ocean?"

Well I go shopping.

oops

It's not like I could just sit at home in front of the computer watching that little red dot update every 10 minutes. Talk about nerve-racking!

Soooo last night I might or might not have went to Target.

I got these amazeballs tank-tops that I practically live in.

I freakin love these tanks. They were on sale for $7 bones.

So I watch beauty gurus on YouTube and found this nifty dupe for primer.

Yup. "Intimate Care" crap on muh face!

I guess it has the same ingredients as these $25 primers at Sephora.

For $6 bucks, I'll give it a shot!

Then I got one of these:

For $21.25.

What?

I didn't know they went on sale either.

Then I got Ty's sister a pair of these bad boys for her birfday.

I got a pair last week and wore them to dinner last night and she fell in love.

Clearance! $15 bucks ladies!!

I got this adorable earring/necklace set. I really only liked it for the earrings but the necklace grew on me and I really like it, too.

$2.98 or something!?

After lunch today I made the awful decision to go to the mall...

on the Missouri Tax Free weekend...

when everyone and their dog/baby/grandma/sister goes shopping.

It was frigging nuts in there.

I wandered in to Charlotte Russe and got this blouse.

It's sheer, hot pink, and really long. It reminds me of something Kourtney Kardashian would wear. I plan on pairing it with some black skinny jeans. I'm excited.

*Disregard our "liquor cabinet"... we really are not alcoholics, I swear. We just collect massive amounts of alcohol after poker runs. We stock the boat and then always end up with leftovers that I refuse to throw away.

Then I went to my favorite store ever, TJ Maxx. It was nuts in there and of course I was being extremely selective so all I found was this adorable white ceramic mug that has a teal inside. It's very similar to this one:

I plan on trying that crafty project floating around Pinterest where you write on a ceramic mug with a Sharpie and then bake it... supposed to make it permanent and stuff.

It was on clearance for a dillar.

Of course I wandered all over that dang store and found NOTHING. I was not about to stand in line for 15 minutes for a $1.00 mug sooooo I picked out some fancy wrapping paper. I love wrapping paper and wrapping gifts. After wrapping Neely's birthday gifts I realized I need something that is appropriate for birthdays and not Christmasy.

After my five dollar splurge at TJ, I went to Macy's. I was on a mission to form a birthday wishlist so I was perfume shopping. I picked out a few goodies like BCBG, DKNY Be Delicious, and Dolce & Gabbana. They smell yummy.

In my attempt to leave Macy's, I saw this massive table loaded with purses that said CLEARANCE. Damnitall, I had to go look!

Then it happened. I found this beauty.

This bad boy is a hot pink, quilted, leather, crossbody, shoulder bag.

I am in love.

It is the most awesome color pink!

It reminds me of Chanel.

And considering it was clearance and then another 20% off, I was even more in love. I was going to stick her on my birthday list but when I looked around it was the last one.

I couldn't let her go!!

Got her for less than $30 bucks!!

Yes. I'm that girl that distracted herself by going shopping. Could have been worse, I guess.

Now I am going to lay in bed, watch the Olympics, and wait for Tyson to call!

Nighty night y'all!

My New Craft Center!!

OH MY GAWD.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

I finally got a craft center!!

I have been collecting all sorts of wonderful craft making supplies and they have all found their way to my office...

which just so happens to be the business office...

and the office that any customers walk in to...

and they see all my crap laying around...

So you get the point.

My crap has been cluttering my office for weeks months now. It finally hit me about three weeks ago so I started to shop around for an armoire on Craigslist. This was my pin-spiration:

Uhm... amazeballs.

Right?

So I found this beauty:

Good size, matches my desk, classic lines, $150 dollars.

Unless you are me.

Because I like to get stuff cheap.

So I got it for $100.

And now I have this beauty in my office!!

I LOVE IT!

Mine isn't nearly as badass as that other ladies, but I'm getting there. I mean, I have only had the little guy for 4 hours. BUT in those four hours I bought those six photo boxes from Michael's for $10 and that cute pink leopard box and zebra box at Target for $1 each.

Behind the doors I have my sewing machine, sewing supplies, Cricut cartridges, paint, paint brushes, a few scrapbook supplies, tape, and yadda yadda yadda...

 In the top drawer I have tissue paper in the box on the left, various cards and new tissue paper, and then ribbon and bows in the box on the right.

Don't you love the card on top? Hilarity!

(Thank you Mallory for letting me have these awesome Macy's boxes. You are the best!)

The bottom drawer has gift boxes, gift bags, and wrapping paper.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

I'm so glad my office is now clutter-free!! Woohoo!!

Now It's time to go watch The Bachelorette and watch Emily make-out with three different guys!!

Oh... and I think she is going to choose Sean!

I'M OUT!

DIY: Etched Glasses

I recently obtained one of these things:

Cricut Expression

This thing makes things like this:

and this:

Basically, it precisely cuts paper, vinyl, cardboard, posterboard, and pretty much whatever you put in it and is flat. So I was perusing Pinterest and found a DIY on etching glass with this stuff:

So I made these things:

If you have a Cricut, this is really easy... here is what you need:

Armour Etch (bought mine at Michael's with a 50% off coupon for $16.00)

Vinyl (I use contact paper and you can buy it at Lowe's for $2.98)

Popsicle Sticks

Box Cutter

5" Wide Blue Painters Tape

1. Program your Cricut to cut the vinyl to the size you prefer. I think I did about a 2" tall letter for these glasses.

2. Cut the vinyl.

3. Use your box cutter to cut the letters away from each other. I had 4 pieces of white vinyl with an "H" on each of them.

4. Peel the letter away from the backing paper. You should be left with a white square and the outline of the "H".

5. Cut 4 pieces of painters tape to fit each piece of vinyl. Apply the tape to the front of the vinyl. Set aside.

6. Clean your glasses with rubbing alcohol and wipe clean with a soft cloth.

7. To apply the vinyl, precisely place it on the glass so it is center and straight. Press firmly in the middle of the letter and then swipe your finger left then right, up then down. Press firmly down on the entire sticker now.

8. Peel away the blue painters tape. Be careful not to pull up the vinyl that you applied to the glass.

9. Firmly press out any bubbles or folds in the vinyl. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If there are any folds, it gives a space for the Armour Etch to seep in to. This will give you an undesired effect.

10. Place tape around the border of the vinyl. Do this so that if you accidentally get any of the etching cream outside of the vinyl, it won't etch the glass.

11. Apply the Armour Etch with a popsicle stick. Apply enough so that you can no longer see the letter through the cream.

12. Leave the cream on for 10 minutes.

13. Wash away with cool water.

14. Peel away vinyl and voila! There is your beautiful personalized glass!

DIY Invitations

I love paper.

Stationary. Notepads. Journals.

Love them all.

So when it comes time for a big event that requires an invitation, I make them myself.

I want to give you my tips for making invitations at home.

1. Buy. Nice. Paper. Seriously. Don't get crappy stuff. Quality paper makes such a great statement. I buy mine from the Paper-Source.

2. Don't be afraid of color. It's an invitation. You want people to be excited and want to come. This is like the "first impression" of the event.

3. Layer!! Get two different sizes when using flat cards to give the invitation a frame.

4. When creating the text for your invitation, make sure you spell check and have someone proof read! Grammar or spelling mistakes are a big no-no on invitations.

5. When you print on your invitations do a few test runs on plain printer paper.
6. Use different textures. Add a rhinestone somewhere or use a stamp for added detail.
7. Do not use a printer that feeds from a lower tray. Use a topfeed.
8. Cut a piece of plain printer paper to the size of your invitation and draw an arrow on it pointing in the direction you place it in the printer. Write "top", "bottom", "left", and "right" so you can see how your printer feeds paper.

9. Print the text on your envelopes, too! When you do this, tuck the flap in to the envelope. If you do not do this, your printer will pull on the envelope and result in crooked text.

Now you have to throw a party so you can make awesome invitations! Have fun!