Fake-up

Now that my oldest daughter has been experimenting some with make-up, my little Cutecumber wants to mimic her big sister of course.
Remember the plastic lipsticks and such when we were kids? Well now-a-days all they have is this glittery, stinky, dyed Vaseline crap. I'd rather let my baby eat 1/2 a Lip Smacker than allow her to put that cheapy junk on her face. Seriously..what is in that? Gross.

Anyway, I came up with a solution (aka..googled) and this is the result:



Don't you love how I used all the colors of the rainbow so it can also be used as a color teaching tool? Always sneaking that educational aspect in. Or maybe I just thought it looked more pleasing to the eye? I'll never tell...

But I will tell you how I did it in 3 easy steps:

1. Find an old make-up item (I used an old eyeshadow container) and clean it out with soap and water.

2. Pour in old nail polish. (I seriously have a rainbow of colors because Ms. Thang loves decorative nails) Be careful not to pour the mixing bead in.

3. Let it dry for 24hours (it shrinks down to about 1/2 of what you pour so you may need to add more later)

That's all there is to it! I don't suggest doing this with the kids because it STINKS so keep that in mind when you pick a spot to start this project, and also because it takes a full 24 hours to dry and your kids will want to play with it NOW.

I'm going to do more of these soon. A blush with a pink polish and a foundation powder with a nude polish. Any ideas on how to make a fake lipstick?

Mantel help

I decided to do some FREE decorating today. My mantel is getting boring, and a little too country-ish for me. I love the picture display above my sofa (only showing part of it in that link) and I like the younger feel it has rather than the older/country feel of the mantel. I do enjoy looking at older things, and I love owning them, so I do need to find a way to incorporate that but in a younger way. I'm 30, not 80!

So here is where I started:

The rabbit weather vane is staying. No if ands or buts. I love that. My kids have named him Bernard and he even gets a scarf and bells for Christmas.

The floral print, I think I bought it because it was only a dollar and the colors matched the fabric of the chairs I reupholstered. Problem there lies in the fact that I think the print and the fabric look TOO OLD for me. I want something more vibrant and young.

The other pieces, I like but can go somewhere else in the room. The wreath, well my dear honey pointed out that it looked like marijuana and now that is all I can think of when I look at it. I might have some reggae in me from my previous years, but I AM above hanging a pot wreath in my living room! lol

So here was attempt #1:


Stupid. I was trying to bring in a pop of vibrant color with the tray of leaves. I DO like how that turned out though, just not there. It's actually tilted on the wall and not in a safe way. The ducks look like bookends. As much as I said I wanted to go more modern and less antique/country, I LOVE that aluminum pitcher ($1) I found awhile back and I think it's actually a great mix of modern (silver, sleek) and country, especially since it's filled with greenery rather than flowers.

Attempt #2:


Hate it. Aside from Bernard, everything is basically the same height. The rabbit has to stay, but does it have to stay in the middle?

Attempt #3:


I like the layering here, and the silver accents, but the pitcher and the pear are almost identically shaped.


attempt #4:


This one I kind of like. I think the colors flow all over, rather than being one-sided. The layering is great, the varying heights are nice, but that stupid flower print is back. The more I look at it, the more I hate it. It brings out everything I hate in the fabric of my chairs too. I would put a mirror in it's place, but all it catches is the ceiling fan and I don't want to reflect that even if a mirror would look fantastic there.

attempt #5

Well, I took the picture away and added the tallest of my accessories in it's place trying to keep the height. It looks ...I hate it.

attempt #6


I moved the pitcher to the center because it is actually taller than the other item I tried. It looks better, but I'm still not satisfied. I'll have to try again when I havent been messing with it for an hour and over-thinking it.

Any ideas? Here is a better look at it in perspective to the room:


I love the "younger" feel of the art above the sofa. I do not like the formal/old lady feel of the chair fabric, but it has to stay for awhile. I know I need help with the lower section of the fireplace, but for now, I'm just going to focus on getting the mantle right. Looking at it here, I think I need to simplify. It looks like 80 small things when 4 items could probably do the job and look less cluttered. Hmm....Giant fireplace..tiny accessories. Crap...

Ps..see what I mean about that ceiling fan light? I've tried a mirror on the mantel and all you can see is the reflection of that light in all angles.

Little busy

Honey is changing jobs (starts the new one tomorrow) and has been home for about a week in between the old and new. Although I love having him home, it really cramps my crafting style!

I've done a few things here and there. I'll post about them soon. For now, here are a couple of randoms so I haven't abandoned my good ol' blog entirely.

* Remember when I got everyone's name embroidered on a towel for Christmas in hopes it would help keep the towels off the floor? It was constantly being blamed on "Wudden't Me" who is the southern equivalent to the Family Circus "Not Me". Well, I finally found out who the real culprit was. ME! lol oops

* After dinner last night, Ms Thang goes to the bathroom and lets out a blood curddling scream, followed by a gag filled explanation. It went something like this:

Ms. T: "Oh my gosh! (gag) Who ever spit in the sink (gag) is so dead! I thought (gag) it was gum and I PICKED IT UP (gag) .. I can't even talk about it!"

I look at the scientist and give him a disgusted look, ready to start in on him, and he leans over close and whispers (with a smile).."It was avocado, from when I cleaned off the seed. I am going to save it and plant it."

We laughed for awhile about that one. :)