Archives for November 2015

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When I think of Thanksgiving, I don’t immediately think of ice cream sandwiches. I’m assuming that I’m probably not the only one. In fact, I know that I’ve never had an ice cream sandwich on Thanksgiving. That might change this year because I came up with the most amazing fall inspired ice cream sandwich flavor.  Since a lot of kids might not be a huge fan of the  traditional Thanksgiving desserts, why not serve some of these apple cinnamon ice cream sandwiches? They are bursting with fall flavor but are a unique spin on those traditional Thanksgiving desserts. And the best part? These sandwiches are 3 INGREDIENTS. Yes, you read that right! Tell me any other homemade dessert that only consists of 3 ingredients, probably not many. Ready to see how to make them??

 

 

First, I headed to Walmart to pick up some NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Harvest Apple Refrigerated Cookie Dough. This is the reason why these sandwiches are only 3 ingredients!

 

Gather the rest of your ingredients. Here’s what you will need:

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Harvest Apple Refrigerated Cookie Dough

Cinnamon

Vanilla Ice Cream

 

Break apart the dough and bake according to the package directions.

 

Meanwhile, let the ice cream soften for a bit. I used about 2 cups of ice cream and mixed in about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. There isn’t any real exact measurements for this kind of recipe.

 

Once the ice cream and cinnamon are fully mixed, pour it out onto some plastic wrap and then wrap it up into a log shape. Stick this back in the freezer until firm.

 

Once it is fully firm, you can take it out and slice the ice cream.

 

Simply sandwich the ice cream slices in between 2 cookies. They will need to go back in the freezer to firm up before eating.

 

Enjoy! These are seriously SO GOOD and couldn’t be easier.

 

BONUS! Here is a fun free printable that you can download to go with your apple cinnamon ice cream sandwiches:

Harvest_Apple_Lunch_Bag

 

To learn more about NESTLÉ®, follow along on all of their social channels:

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Recently, I experimented with some crazy nail design by making my own glow in the dark nail polish.  This is so fun for kids and is super easy. The best part is that you can transform any color of nail polish into glow in the dark nail polish.  So your nails will look normal during the day, but start to glow at night!

 

 

All you will need is:

• Top Coat
• Base Coat
• Nail color
• Glow in the dark Mod Podge

First you are just going to paint the base coat on.

 

Next add a few coats of whatever color you want.

 

After that is dry, you are going to paint on your glow in the dark Mod Podge. The more thin coats you apply, the more it will glow.

 

Once the Mod Podge is completely dry, add your topcoat.

 

To get the full effect, you  can “charge” your nails next to a light before going in the dark.  My girls love this DIY glow in the dark nail polish and it’s so simple!

You know how I love dollar store crafts that don’t look like they are from the dollar store. I whipped up these storage containers for my laundry room basement makeover and I love how they turned out! It really took no effort at all, just sticking things on some Dollar Tree containers and calling it good. But when I updated my basement laundry room for under $100, having some inexpensive storage option that still looked decent was a must!

 

They sit on a shelf next to my dryer so that I can grab whatever I need. To see the crazy before photos, check out my blog post!

 

I often talk of my obsession with Dollar Tree. I practically squealed when I saw these white storage containers a few months ago. The white ones are very hard to come by, so if you see them, grab them! The key to making these dollar store containers work for you is to get all the same color. I did this with my Dollar Store closet makeover. But white makes the classiest difference in my book! If you can’t find these at Dollar Tree, I did see some large white containers very similar to these in the Target dollar spot for $3. Still a good deal for what you are getting!

 

The rest of my supplies came from the Target dollar spot. It’s my favorite place for labels, stickers and cute office supplies. I also got some amazing fabric washi tape from the dollar spot that didn’t make it into the photo for some reason.

 

Adhere the fabric washi tape to make a rectangle shape.

 

Slap on your letters, and you are good to go! I love these 3 dimensional ones that were meant for Halloween, but I think they look great for this project.

 

Enjoy! These would look so cute in a kid’s toy room or a closet! I am beyond thrilled with my super cheap storage solution that looks like I spent way more than I did! If you are interested in more Dollar Tree tips, I have a post on the top 10 things to buy at Dollar tree and the top 10 Home Decor finds at Dollar Tree.

 

 

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I will make a small commission.*

I’m guessing there are some of you out there that have a blog or would like to start one. Although I’ve been blogging for quite a while, I have not been serious about it as an actual source of income until fairly recently. Having a part time job and 3 small children consumed my life and blogging was just a hobby. But since I have quit my part-time office job, my blog as well as some other paid contributor and magazine positions have become my part-time job. I have learned a lot about how to make an income online and I still have tons more to learn. But recently I have taken some steps that caused my blog to triple it’s income overnight! I am kicking myself for not taking these steps years ago.  If you’ve been blogging for a long time or are just starting out, I hope this info on how to earn money from blogging will be helpful to you!

This summer, I made some big changes to my blog both noticeable and behind the scenes. All of these changes happened simultaneously which resulted in my income changing overnight. I had hesitated for years to make these changes because they cost money. Being the super frugal person that I am, I always find any way possible to just do something myself instead of paying money for a service. So, my DIY  blog was also literally a DIY blog. I designed it and set it up on Blogger. I spent hours learning HTML hacks to make the blog look a certain way. I set up the ads myself and tried to sell ads to private small businesses. Well, because of this my blog income suffered. While other blogs were switching to WordPress and hiring out to get professional designs, I was stubbornly trying to do it all myself to save money…for years. Because of this, I was earning a fraction of what I had the potential to earn.

 

Here are the steps I took to triple my blogging income overnight:

1. Switch from Blogger to WordPress. I’m not going to lie, this task is rather daunting. There are tutorials out there on how to make the switch yourself, but I was too afraid to conquer that. I had nightmares of losing every blog post I had ever written. So, I broke down and paid RFE Hosting, who came highly recommended to me, to make the big switch. I still had to do some things in preparation that were totally out of my Blogger.com comfort zone. But it was well worth it. Here is my advice to someone who is starting out as a blogger: START OUT ON WORDPRESS! It’s tempting to go with blogger.com because it’s free. If you are serious about blogging, don’t do it. It’s an investment upfront, but starting out on WordPress will be totally worth it. Switching from Blogger to WordPress is not fun. But it’s doable. If you are on blogger.com, make the switch. Check out RFE Hosting. They are reasonably priced and have amazing customer service. About a month ago, I messed with some HTML on my blog and temporarily lost every blog post. Needless to say, I was freaked out. I got online and chatted with someone at RFE Hosting and they talked me through how to fix the problem in 30 seconds!
2. Invest in a Mobile Friendly Design. As I was preparing to make the big switch to WordPress, I started researching blog designs. I knew I wanted one that was mobile friendly. Since my blogger design was all done by me, it was not mobile friendly because I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t realize how drastically this affected my income earnings. I found a company called Pretty Darn Cute whose designs were basic enough to customize yourself but they were also very mobile friendly. Again, it was an investment, but I purchased a design and then customized it myself. It was the best of both worlds of relying on someone else’s expertise to make the backbone of my blog design solid but then I could go in and DIY the rest of it to look how I wanted. I would highly recommend Pretty Darn Cute’s customer service as well.
3. Consider Switching Ad Networks. As I was working on all of this, I was also shopping for a new ad network. I had been with Blogher.com for years. You have to apply and be accepted into that network and then you are locked into a contract. Since I had been accepted and in a contract, I thought they must be the best. Blogher is great for some people, but they just were a company that was no longer a fit for me. I finally decided to switch to The Blogger Network. After waiting for my contract with Blogher.com to end, I switched all my ads over to TBN. I was shocked that although my pageviews had not changed, I instantly started to double or triple my ad income with TBN! They are a very kind and reputable company and so far I have nothing but good things to say about them.

So how did these 3 steps result in my income tripling overnight? Well they all happened simultaneously and had different effects. Being on WordPress improved my site’s SEO and made me more searchable by Google. Switching to a mobile friendly design did wonders for my Google Ads. (I have a few ads on my site through Google and the rest are through The Blogger Network). Now all those ads show up on mobile devices, so my Google Ad earnings instantly started tripling. And my earnings from The Blogger Network versus Blogher also were tripled instantly due to me being mobile friendly and the network just being a better fit. So, all that to say, if you want to earn more income from your blog, and you haven’t taken any of these steps, I would highly recommend it. I have learned that being persistent and intentional really pays off with blogging. My pageviews are not amazing, but I really am earning a part-time income working from home which is a dream come true.

 

 

I will be sharing more blogging tips in the future because these posts seem to be fairly popular.

If you want to learn more blogging tips, check out these posts:

How To Set Up A Successful Blogging Schedule

7 Tips To Help You Beat Blogging Writer’s Block

I was in the mood for a new Thanksgiving-y wreath and I knew I wanted to incorporate feathers. I immediately thought a dream catcher might be interesting. I have never tried to make one before but it ended up being super easy. I added some faux air plants and called it done! I don’t know if this really even qualifies as a wreath, but you could hang this dream catcher on your door or a wall…I will never know.

 

Dream Catcher Wreath

For this project, you will need:

Embroidery Hoop

Yarn

Feathers

Faux greenery

Hot Glue Gun

 

The first thing you want to do for your dream catcher is wrap the entire hoop with yarn. Just make sure it’s close together and not overlapping.

Next, I marked mine with washi tape to map out where I will begin looping the yarn. I wanted to make sure it was evenly spaced.

 

You are going to loop the yarn over each spot where the tape is placed on the dream catcher and then go around and loop again to create another inside layer.

 

Make sure you are just looping the yarn and not creating knots. The first time I tried this, I was making knots and it didn’t work. You also want to make sure your yarn is pulled pretty tight.

 

Keep pulling and looping until you like your design. It’s so hard to explain this process but once you start doing it, you will get it. It’s super easy.

 

Hot glue one some feathers and greenery on to the dream catcher. I had these faux air plants which I love.

 

Hang your DIY dream catcher with some yarn and call it done!

 

I think some brightly colored yarn would make a super cute dream catcher for a little girls room.  So, you may be seeing more versions of these in the future!

 

I was inspired by this post from A Lion’s Nest. For more wreath ideas, check out:

Brush Stroke Autumn Wreath

Ombre Christmas Wreath

Dollar Tree Spring Wreath

 

I recently picked up a mirrored top end table on clearance at Marshalls and thought it would be fun to style it in 4 different ways using thrift store finds. I love arranging and rearranging different thrifted pieces depending on my mood.

Here’s my $30 clearance find. I think it’s pretty cute, although it’s kind of a pain to keep the mirrored top clean with lots of tiny hands smudging it all day.

 

For my first look, the photo is slightly blurry…sorry about that! I’m too lazy to go take a new one. However, the lamp was a $2 thrift store find. I love how the clear bottom takes up less visual space than a normal heavy lamp. I paired it with some stacked vintage books that I’ve found at various garage sales and topped it with a galvanize letter K that I grabbed at an estate sale a few years ago.

 

For my second styled look, I paired a vintage globe that I found at a vintage shop with a little white and gold plate that I got at Goodwill.  Stick some twigs and faux cotton in a little vase and call it done!

 

I put my geometric tray that I got for $1 at a garage sale on the table for this look and topped it with my mason jar lidded glass from the Dollar Tree. Beside the table is my tribal painted basket from the Goodwill.

 

For the last look, I layered a framed print with a geometric brass piece that I found at Marshalls and that same Dollar Tree mason jar. Nothing really came from the thrift store in this look but they were all bargains, I promise!

 

So there you have it. Shop around your house and rearrange your stuff to create some new fresh looks. And go thrift store shopping!

If you have a little one with wavy or curly locks, you may be desperate for tips for kids with curly hair.  My middle daughter, Jane has wavy hair which becomes more curly in the humid summer months. Since my hair is stick straight, I had not idea what to do with her natural curl to make it look somewhat presentable and not crazy or frizzy. After some research, I came up with some products and a system that enhances her natural texture to achieve some super cute curly haired goodness.

 

Tip #1: Don’t go overboard on brushing. Anyone who has curly hair probably knows this but as a straight haired person, I had to learn to stay away from the brush. I will brush out Jane’s hair after her bath, but that’s pretty much it. I usually just finger comb out her hair on days that we don’t wash her hair. This helps keep her texture and not turn her head into a fuzz ball.

 

Tip #2: Use water to revive curls. Every morning that she is wearing her hair down, we get out the spray bottle and wet her hair. It doesn’t have to be sopping wet, but just enough to revive the texture that she slept on all night. Just wetting her hair down and scrunching does wonders for enhancing those waves!

 

Tip #3: Use some product. I have found that the best products for my daughter’s hair can be found in the ethnic hair care section. Target has a ton of kid friendly options and even though Jane might be as white as they come, these products actually work really well in her hair because they don’t make it crunchy or greasy looking and they are formulated for kids. I will share my favorite products at the end of this post. Add a little product as you scrunch after you have wet the hair down.

Tip #4: Twist! Like I mentioned before, Jane’s hair changes with the seasons. In the winter she has loose waves, but in the summer her hair consists of loose corkscrew curls. I have found that when her hair is on the curlier side, lightly twisting pieces of hair while it’s wet will enhance those ringlets even more as they dry.

 

Tip #5: Find your child’s curl type. To gain even more knowledge about your child’s hair texture and how it will react to certain things, find out their curl type.  Jane’s curl type is mostly a 2B, with maybe becoming a 2C on super humid days. Isn’t it interesting to see all the different types of beautiful curls? I’m so jealous!

 

Now for the products we are currently loving:

1. Tangle Tamer: This brush is great for getting tangles out of wet hair. I use it on all my girls and myself!

2. Just For Me Hair Milk: You can find this in the ethnic section at Target. It offers a light hold to curls without making them crunchy or greasy.

3. Bed Head Manipulator: This stuff offers amazing hold and smells so good. It’s a little more on the pricey side, but it does wonders. You only need the tiniest bit to scrunch into damp hair. When Jane’s hair is leaning towards loose waves in the winter, this stuff is a bit too much but it’s perfect for tighter waves.

4. Spray Bottle: Pick up a small spray bottle at the dollar store and fill with water to revive those waves!

4. Shea Moisture Kids Curling Cream: This stuff smells AMAZING! Again, this can be found in Target’s ethnic hair care section. It offers a medium amount of hold while making hair feel super soft. You just need a small amount, adding too much to fine hair will weigh it down.