About New Food Friday

You probably didn't notice that last week there was no New Food Friday.  

I've decided I don't want to blog about it anymore, I still make a new recipe every week but I didn't like that I was sharing these mediocre recipes and adding them to my recipe tab.  I want to give you awesome recipes, not the so-so ones. I want you to be able to click on my recipe page and feel confidant that anything on that page would be delicious and successful.  I'll still post recipes occasionally when I find great ones but I'm going to leave it at that.

I still encourage you to make a new recipe a week though, you may be surprised at the deliciousness you can discover.

Men's Shirts into Baby Blanket

I saw this tutorial on This Momma Makes Stuff and thought it was really cute.  The top is made out of men's shirts sewn into strips and the back and border are yummy minky swirl.

I picked up my shirts as Value Village and sewed them all together.

I love how soft and cozy it is but I do feel like it's a really awkward size.  It's 30 inches square and now that's it's finished that seems really small.  I have lots of minky left and I cut off a lot of the men's shirt top, I easily could have made it bigger.  I suppose there's always next time and it's cuteness makes up for the size.  It's perfect for a new little boy, I just need to find the right one.
 
 

Linking To
Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello

My Make-up Routine

I thought to go along with my Make-Up Magnet Board from yesterday I'd show you some of my favourite products and my beauty routine.  Now keep in mind that I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm by no means an expert, this is just what I do, right or wrong.

Here's a before, fresh from the shower and what I'll finish with.

I always start with my eyes and I first curl my lashes.  I do them first because I have leaky eyes and curling often makes them water.  If I wait until everything is finished than my leaky eyes smudge the finished product.  Once I've curled I apply an eye shadow primer.  

Now a word on primers... I've only been using them for a couple weeks now.  I borrowed one from my friend Michelle but I was extremely skeptical that I'd see any difference, I thought that they would do nothing and were just a cosmetic cash grab but I could not have been more wrong.  In my opinion a primer does a few things, it makes your shadow last a lot longer without creasing; it also makes it go on a lot smoother, you can't see any brush strokes and it's much easier to blend multiple colours.  I think it makes it possible to use some cheaper shadows and make them more useable.  I also love the shimmer primer to amp up any sparkle in your shadow.  If I couldn't put on a primer I probably wouldn't use shadow because I don't see the point anymore.  I have two eyeshadow primers, both by MAC.  One in Painterly and one in Bare Study.  If you don't own one you should get one.

Today I used the shimmery Bare Study and once I've primed I shadow.  I used these ones today but not all of them, really.

I started with the L'Oreal H.I.P. in Flare and used the orangey colour over my lid from the centre to the outer corner.  These H.I.P. shadows are super pigmented and awesome, I have two different combos and I love them both.  I then applied MAC Motif from the inside corner of my eye to the centre.  I used a little MAC Whistle in the centre to blend them together. I then used my Wet n Wild Vanity pallett to highlight my brow bown using the matte cream colour on the bottom left.


To apply those colours I used my Mini Mop paint brush from Michaels.  It's made for painting but the bristles are all natural and the same quality of MAC brushes for much cheaper.


Once my shadow is on I apply my liner.  I recently started using Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black.  I apply with a brush to the top and the bottom.  I love this liner though once it's on it's really on and you need a good remover to take it off at the end of the day.  It looks like a liquid liner but you have much more control.

With my liner on I applied a little orange HIP to the corner of my bottom lid and a little of the MAC Whisper beside that.


Time for mascara and I'm pretty sure people think I'm crazy when they know I use two mascaras.  I couldn't get the look I wanted with just one though.  I want my top lashes to be super long, thick and as black as I can get, the Colossal Volume Express by Maybelline in Glam Black does a great job of that but I thought it looked spidery and awful on my bottom lashes.  They're already really long so instead I want something to thicken and be not as dramatic on the bottom so I use Great Lash in Brownish Black.  It does exactly what I want it too and is applying two mascaras really any more time consuming than one? (it's not)

My eyes are now done so I put on a little concealer under my eyes and on any blemishes (I ususally do this step before I put on my bottom mascara).  Then I apply foundation with a sponge.

I put the Hard Candy Hula Hula bronzer on my cheek bones and anywhere the sun would hit (like my nose, chin and forehead).  Then I add blush to the apples of my cheek.  I use the really big brush to wipe under my cheekbones and get rid of any fallout, this helps create definition too.

So that's it.  While it sounds like a lot it really only takes 15 ish minutes depending on how much I focus on my eyes.  And my Make-up board makes finding all the different shades a snap.  I also slapped on some Bath & Body Works Liplisious gloss in Raspberry Jam, I'll re-apply that throughout the day. Here's a photo re-cap of everything I used, though tomorrow I'll do something completely different on my eyes.

Here's a photo of my lids (boy these photos are tough to take)

And here's one more after, ready for the day.

(yes, the grey streak is natural)

Make-up Magnet Board

We all know with craft blogs that original ideas are often hard to come by, we find ideas we love and make them our own but we didn't come up with the idea ourselves.  I feel like I've finally done something original here and I'm excited about it.

I'll show you the finished product and then explain.  

Behold my Make-up Magnet Board.

I have a friend who is beautiful and stylish and has always loved make-up but recently took a course that intensified her love.  Her renewed interest has worn off on me and it made me remember eye shadows I'd hidden away that were gathering dust.  I pulled them all out and was shocked at just how many I had.  My old make-up organization/storage consists of a basket that sits on my bathroom counter, I put all my hair stuff and make-up stuff in the basket and used maybe 3 shadows in my daily rotation.  With the addition of my pile of eye shadows it now looked like this.

The basket was a mess and I was overwhelmed with all my choices never knowing what to use, digging through to see what I had and find what I wanted was a pain.  I needed a way to display them all and my brilliant mother and I came up with this idea.


I started by making a magnet board, (nothing original here), I used this super ugly frame I found at Salvation Army.

I painted it (The hard way, with a brush instead of spray paint.  I look forward to spring when the weather lets me spray paint again.) and then glazed it.

I went to the hardware store and picked up some metal and had them cut it to fit inside my frame.  Then I used spray adhesive to stick some fabric to the metal.  I put it all back together and it looked like this.

Here comes the brilliant part though.

Here's the stash of eye shadows we're talking about (I've even added a couple since this picture).

I went to the dollar store and picked up a bunch of magnets and hot glued one to the back of each shadow (I actually needed 3 magnets for my bronzer).  I considered using a stronger glue but when the makeup is empty I want to be able to peel the magnet off, hot glue lets me do that and it's held up really well.

Next I wanted a place to store my brushes and liners though.  An orange pill container with some oil rubbed bronze spray paint made it beautiful and 3 extra strong magnets glued on the back holds nice and secure.

Now it hangs in my bathroom wall and every morning I'm excited to play with my different make-up.  It feels sort of like art and an expression of me.  

I thought tomorrow I'd do a little feature of how I use some of this make-up and talk about my favorite products so come back and check it out.

 

 

Linking To
Monday -  The DIY Showoff, C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - A Craft a Day, Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello

What Catie Wore Wednesday #25

There aren't many pictures this week, we went away for the weekend and I forgot the camera, the couple I took were cute though.


Wednesday

Blue Polka Dot T - H&M
Jeans - Old Navy
Belt - Made by Me


Monday

She finally discovered how to drink from a straw so she carries water around with her all day now, it's pretty adorable.


She got these new PJ's and I think they're adorable and I couldn't be bothered to change her so today we wore Pajamas.  Her's are from Superstore.


Tuesday

Striped Sweater - Superstore
Short Sleeve White Onesie - Carter's
Brown Cords - Walmart


The headband is mine but she found it in the bathroom and wore it all day.  When it would slip off she'd bring it over to me to put back on.




You can find me linked up at

What's in my Bag 2.0

Somehow I forgot the post a picture of the only thing in my purse that's actually cute and worth sharing, my wallet. I got this not too long ago and while it's very small and a definite sacrifice of space it's worth it and I love it.

What's in my Bag?

Michelle tagged me to see what's in my bag, I'll admit... I'm a little afraid to show you my really ugly bag.

First let me show you what I wish I was carrying around.

 I bought this beauty and loved it until the strap nearly fell off.  Now before I can use it I need to take it somewhere to have it fixed, perhaps this will be the incentive I need.

Until it's fixed this is the diaper bag I carry around 90% of the time.

Pretty much the only thing it has going for it is the cute polka dots on the inside.

Inside we'll start with the diaper, wipes change mat case.  Cute hey?

It was just Sunday and we were away from town so the bag is full of things to entertain Catie.  A Car, some beanbags, an Eye-Spy bag and some books.

Some Goldfish crackers, and empty plastic bag and her favorite toys right now, a couple gold coins, some crayons and a glad container.

A dirty bib and some dirty tights.

Some keys, a pen some finger puppets and a fork... really?  A fork?  Some other snacks.

And lastly a little lip gloss and lotion.

Okay, now onto the purse I use when I don't have Catie with me.

I like this purse a lot but it's really small.

A bunch of receipts, a change purse and spare change.  $10 I didn't know I had, hurray!  Band aids, an expired coupon, my passport, a hair elastic and an after bite stick.  In the middle of winter?  Seriously?  Cause I'm sure I'll need that.  A chocolate, a mint, a tape measure (you never know when you'll need it) and a pen.  And lastly two of my favorite lip glosses from Bath and Body Works.


So there you go, a very long and detailed pictures of every single thing that's in my purse.

New Food Friday - Huevos Rancheros

Not only had I never made Huevos Rancheros but I'd never eaten them either.  I know my Mom loves them though and I love eggs (Huevos Rancheros is a tomato sauce on top of a tortilla with a poached egg and other garnishes on top).

The end result was delicious but I would never make them like this again.

Huevos Rancheros

Chili Sauce
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive because I nearly always use olive)
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped red or Anaheim pepper (I used an Anaheim)
2 garlic cloves, minced
28 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 tsp crushed hot pepper flakes (optional) (I used them but not quite that many)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
4-8" flour or corn tortillas  (I used flour because I prefer them over corn)
8 eggs (for poaching) (I used 6 because there's no way we need 8)Garnish
Salsa, sour cream, grated cheddar, guacamole, canned black beans, rinsed and drained
To prepare sauce: in a deep frying pan, heat oil; saute onion, pepper and garlic until soft.  Add tomatoes and seasonings; simmer 20 minutes.  Add cheese; heat and stir until meleted and well blended.
Wrap tortiallas in foil and heat in over.
Heat beans
 To poach eggs: break eggs into bubbling sauce and poach 3-5 minutes to desired doneness.  Place eggs and chili sauce on tortillas and pass the garnishes.
 
So I did everything just like the recipe but I didn't like that the tortillas wouldn't be crispy.  I didn't want to deep fry them so I fried them in a pan with a little cooking spray.  They were crispy which was nice but also sort of hard to cut.  The part of the recipe that I would never do again was the poaching the eggs... as I was dropping my eggs in the sauce I thought about how much cheese was in it and how it would sit, cooking, unstirred for 5 minutes and I was really worried it would burn to the bottom.  I was right.  The entire bottom of the pan was really burnt.  The dish was still good, we didn't eat the burned bits but it made for ridiculous clean up.  I don't think poaching the eggs in the sauce gave them any extra flavour so next time I'd just poach them in water.  We also put two eggs on each tortilla since I bought the big ones.
A good recipe but something I'd probably save for brunch in a restaurant.

What Catie Wore Wednesday - #25

This week went by so fast I almost forgot to create this post, would have been a shame because there are some cute photos.

Wednesday

I think this photos is so beautiful, she's such a pretty girl.
Striped Onesie - Old Navy
Skinny Jeans - Children's Place
Yeti Boots - Old Navy

Thursday

Grey Sweater with Lace Trim - H&M

Skinny Jeans - Children's Place (it's finally time to retire these jeans.  I realized the other day that she can't get up on jeans while wearing them because the crotch sits too low since they're too small.  I'll miss them and hopefully she quickly grows into the new ones I have in the drawer wating.)

Yeti Boots - Old Navy

Friday

White Long Sleeve Onesie - H&M

Grey Sweater - H&M

Black Ruched Leggings - Children's Place
Yeti boots - Old Navy

Saturday

Alright, this outfit does look exactly like yesterday's just without the sweater.  You caught me.  I'm sure you'll think I'm an ever worse Mom when I confess that she slept in this last night and then wore it all day.  You see we seem to be having a pajama problem here, she grew out most of her pajamas all of a sudden and I haven't been very good at doing the laundry lately meaning a shortage of jammies.  As a result she wears a onesie and whatever stretchy pants I can find.  To give me some credit I do at least put socks on her at bed time.

Sunday

Ribbon Necklace - Made by Me

Long Sleeve White Onese - Carters

Brown Jumper - Superstore (Last wear for this one too.  It's just a little too short)

Pink Heart tights - Superstore

Brown Shoes - Walmart

Monday

I've grown really used to Catie bringing me her yeti boots, it happens almost daily and I don't think twice about it anymore.  I was however, very surprised when she kept trying to put her winter coat on.  Brad helped her but in the back of my mind I thought, "Come on, she doesn't really want her coat on".  I took it off her pretty quick and she sat down and cried.  I quickly helped her put it back on and she wore it all morning until nap time.  Silly girl.

Brown Coat - Old Navy (for $13!  I was pretty pleased with my find)

White Long Sleeve Onesie - Carters (you guessed it, same one from yesterday and they made great pajamas)

Pink Fleece pants - Carter's (the other half of her pj's last night)

White sneakers - Walmart.  She should wear these much more often, I forgot how cute they are.

Tuesday



Scotty T - Superstore
Brown Pants - Old Navy

There you have it, another week of an adorable girl.


I'll Link to

Old Sweater to New Sweater Vest

Little Jack is adorable and squishy and looks like an old man.  He's perfect and lovely and in need of an outfit to be blessed in.  His mother didn't want a girly, white outfit and I had just read Made's tutorial for a sweater vest.

Side note... do you ever notice how after you learn a word for the first time you start to see that word everywhere?  It's the same with craft ideas, I see it somewhere and it's not too long before I have the perfect application for it.

So I had the tutorial and the reason to use it, all I needed was a white sweater.  I went to Value Village and found this.

 The front is pretty girl but the back was perfect.  Since Jack is so little I could make the front and back of the vest out of the back of the sweater.

I used an old shirt of Catie's as a pattern and followed the tutorial and in a surprisingly short amount of time I had a perfect little vest.  It really came together so quick, I started and finished in the morning all before nap time.  Here's a front view

And the back.

Now I just need to try it on Jack to be sure it fits.

I'm considering making some black pants to go with it, Brad has an old suit coat so I could make some black dress pants.  Adorable hey?