Adored this week

Being a human with sensitive everything (teeth, skin, and yes, even emotions) can take a lot of trial and error when buying products to fit your needs. I used to have such glistening white teeth but then I met a Keurig and my pearl stunners lost their glow. I've tried whitening toothpastes which never worked and white strips which were way too painful for me. I found Arm and Hammer has a whitening boost gel that you apply over your regular toothpaste up to 3 times a day. In a week my teeth are shiny and bright white. This stuff really works! And the best part about it is that I bought two packs for a total of $7 at my local pharmacy. Don't waste your money, this gel rocks! 

Back to School

September is here which means that I just bid farewell to a wonderful summer and kicked it into high gear with back to school madness. Since the kiddies don't come in until next week, I've had a good amount of time to get my classroom into tip-top shape for their arrival. Here are the results:

My desk from the kids' perspective and from mine. Organizing accessories from See Jane Work, Ballard Designs, & Etsy.

The welcome sign and the picturesque brownstones across the street.

The newly comfortable cubby benches. Cushions from Bed, Bath & Beyond and Baskets from The Container Store.

Close-up shot of my benches. Can you tell I'm obsessed? I love how these cushions really brighten up the room. The baskets are easy to slide out of the milk crates using the handles on each end and are wide enough to fit those big picture books that never seem to fit anywhere!

They even fit dictionaries and textbooks! I self laminated labels with packing tape and added a bright green grosgrain ribbon to give it a little cute touch.

I hope all teachers out there have a great year. I'm excited to meet my new students and show off this pretty little room!

Laura

view from a desk

School has started and I have already kicked it into high gear with everything school related. First stop, my desk! It was beautiful the first couple of days but has now gotten progressively messier. Here are some of the first shots! Will post more soon to show off some of my cute organizational accessories!

how it looks from my perspective

how it looks from theirs

The only DIY aspects here are the mason jars and the letters. But I did not paint the mason jars, I bought them on Etsy. I did buy the wooden letters at Michael's and spray painted them with chalkboard spray paint. After two coats and a night to dry, they worked! I was convinced the chalkboard spray paint could not work that well, but I was pleasantly surprised! Make sure to follow the directions and all will be great!!

Happy back to school to all the teachers out there!

Laura

chevron nails

I finally caved and ordered a Konad Nail Stamper in order to help me with my nail art obsession. I ordered the Bundle Monster nail plate set from Amazon and am kind of obsessed with the results. For this mani, I used Essie Cute as a Button on my regular nails, Essie Splash of Grenadine as the base of my accent nail, and Essie Big Spender as the chevron print. I used the BM 201 plate for my chevron print. And here are the results! I love the accent nail trend and think it's more fun with a contrasting color chevron! Expect more of these bundle monster/konad nails in the near future! Happy Easter and happy Spring!

Laura

Easter Cupcakes

So I decided to make some fancy cupcakes for Easter. After going through tons of recipes online, I decided to go with chocolate raspberry cupcakes! I cheated and bought some Devil's Food cake mix from a box as well as some pre-made Fluffy White frosting so they're not from scratch, but they are super delicious!

What you'll need:
-Devil's Food cake mix
-Fluffy White Frosting
-Seedless Raspberry Jam
-Frozen Raspberries
-Two Ziploc bags (for jam filling and frosting)
-Blender
-Wooden Spoon

Basically, what you'll do is follow the directions on the cake mix and wait for them to cool. When they are cooled, take the end of a wooden spoon and insert into the center of the cupcake. You can push the spoon in deep but make sure not to push it all the way down to the bottom of the cupcake (or else the jam may fall out the bottom).

making the hole

 

my donut looking cupcakes

When you have all of the holes in the cupcakes, fill a ziploc bag with seedless raspberry jam and cut a hole in the corner. You can put the tip of the bag in the hole and push the jam out until it starts to overfill. Here's what they look like when that's happening and when they're done!

When this is done, you're going to defrost the raspberries (you can also use fresh) and put them in the blender until they are fully ground. You can mix this into the frosting bit my bit until you get your desired flavor and color of frosting. I put the mix in the blender to make a smoother and less funky looking frosting. Note: the frosting will be more liquified than regular frosting, so it may drip off the cupcake when you frost them. You can put the frosting mixture in the ziploc bag, cut a hole and push the frosting through. And voila! Refrigerate and eat within an hour! These are so good--but you have to love raspberry to enjoy these cupcakes. Hope you like them, my family and I sure do!



Laura

 

 

spring has SPRUNG in the Bronx

After 4 years of going to the Bronx multiple times (to visit my sister at Fordham) and 4 years of living in the Bronx (my time at Fordham), I never once made it to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. Although it was about a one minute walk from the entrance of campus, my empty college student pockets never allowed me to go to the show. So this year I was determined to make it happen! And what a joy it was! Will and I went to Orchid Evenings where a DJ was spinning some fancy French pop music and we perused the show with a complimentary cocktail in hand. The flowers were gorgeous and I loved going at night when they light up in the inside of the conservatory. Here are some pictures of my favorite orchids from the night!

 Laura

Happy Easter!

In my family, it is a tradition to dye Easter eggs every year. Even though this has been going on for 23 years strong, it's still a tradition I love and will probably do every year. This year we used the PAAS (same as every year) deluxe pack with 9 colors. Put the tablets in water and the colors weren't coming out bright, so I added about a tbsp of lemon juice to each cup. Have a happy Easter!

fashioning jewelry from the tool drawer

I've seen this idea on Pinterest quite a bit, but now that double and triple wrap bracelets with hardware are a hot trend, I had to try it out for myself. I must say, this project is super easy and all you need are:

-nylon paracord (I've seen these made with twine, suede and leather cord as well)
-hex nuts
-a pair of scissors

Basically, you're going to start by cutting your cord into three equally sized strips. If you want to double or triple up your bracelet, make your strips extra long. Mine were about a 16 inches and that made for a good double with extra fabric for knotting a closure later.

Once you have your 3 strips, knot them together and begin a simple braid. Pull the fabric tight and try to make the braiding even. About 3 inches of braiding in, you're going to start including your hex nuts, or hardware. Slip a hex nut on the end of the strip you're about to cross over into the braid. You're going to put one hex nut on every time you cross another strip into the braid. Just make sure to pull tight and the hex nuts will end up pointing upwards and the following ones will follow suit.

After putting on your hex nuts (I used about 20, which may be a bit much for those who like a little less bling), continue the braid and make sure to pull tight. Continue braiding until you reach the end of the strips and knot the end. Once you measure how many times you want to wrap the bracelet and where the suitable closure point for your wrist should be, make a knot and knot both ends together. I wish I had a less clunky way to secure this part of the bracelet, but for me, it still works.

And this is how my double wrap with neon green paracord came out!

Hope you enjoy! Happy crafting!

Laura

luck of the IRISH

In my last post, I wished for sunshine and as per my request (plus a little luck of the Irish), the sun came out full throttle! We've had some beautiful, sunny, and mild weather (with some pretty warm days thrown in)! What better way to accessorize appropriately for the start of spring and St. Patrick's Day than with a green manicure?

No fancypants DIY technique, just green, green, and green! I used Essie Going Incognito for my thumb, pointer finger, and pinky; Milani Totally 80's for my middle finger; and Milani Hi-Tech for my ring finger. I hope these match my new kelly green jeans for Saturday's festivities! Have a safe and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Laura
 

wishing for sunshine

So this has been a very dreary NY week greatly lacking in the sunshine department. To lift my spirits, I decided to dig out a couple of pictures from my trip to Hawaii about 6 years ago. I hope you enjoy and they make you happy too!

O'ahu, Hawaii

O'ahu, Hawaii

Happy March,
Laura

dramatic diagonals

Here's my newest nail project. I went with a diagonal tip instead of a half/half diagonal. I quite like the results! I waited about an hour to make sure the base was really dry, taped off my sections and did one coat of the top diagonal. Waited about a half an hour for it to all dry and applied a thin layer of top coat. Base color is Peridot by Chanel (more green in person) and the top diagonal is Milani's Black Magic. Enjoy!

Laura

Two tone nails

I must admit, nail art is my new favorite obsession! I love all of the ideas I find on Pinterest and I've been trying my hardest to recreate my favorites! What I'm loving right now are some diagonal bold two-toned nails! Here's try #1...

I used Milani polish in Black Magic as the base and when that dried, I applied Essie's Mint Candy Apple using the tape trick. I waited until the Mint Candy Apple dried and pulled off the tape. I should have just left as is, but I decided to add polka dots with Milani Nail Art in White Canvas. Added top coat when the dots dried and voila! If I were to do this color combo again, I would definitely only use one coat of each color (because they're dark/bold enough) because this was entirely too much polish. Took forever to dry and I ended up making a mess of them after just a few hours.

So...since I could not walk around with bare nails for too long, I decided to try another color combo. This time, I stuck with Milani Black Magic, but used Essie's Glamour Purse as the top (no dots). I like this simple art deco-y look for my weekend with friends in the city!

As you can tell, I am not the best nail artist, but am pretty proud of my new found tricks to make my nails cute! Obviously, I need to clean up a bit, but you get the idea! Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Laura

Valentine's Nails 2.0

Happy Valentine's Day! Changed my nails once again (thanks to all of the great ideas on Pinterest). This time I went with simple cute dots which came out really cute! I used Essie's Splash of Grenadine (my favorite nail color) and made polka dots with Milani Nail Art with Precision Brush in White Canvas.

And it was easy as pie...just paint with the base, let dry and dot with the white. Wait about 30 minutes to make sure the dots are dry before applying a top coat. There was no real rhyme or reason to where I placed the dots, I just started in the middle of the nail and worked outwards from there. Enjoy!

Laura

Valentine's Nails

Maybe I'm going a tad overboard with all of the pink as of late, but I just can't help myself! Here are my frill nails, valentine's pink edition.

Used Color Club's "I Believe in Amour" as my base and Essie's "Splash of Grenadine" as my frilly top. Hope you enjoy!

For a tutorial, read 2 posts ago. It's a lot easier than it looks, I promise!

Laura

Tickled PINK!

Now that Valentine's Day is just a week away, I'm thinking pink! I just love Valentine's Day (and always have)... why not spend the day with those you love and tell them just how much you love them? I, for one, would love to be told with these love-themed pink presents!
(Okay, maybe I already have the ASOS blouse, but it's just so darn cute and holiday appropriate that I couldn't resist!)

1. ASOS CURVE Exclusive Blouse in Chair Print, $62.67 (www.asos.com); 2. Paul Smith Alessandra Flat, $154.99 (www.zappos.com); 3. Archie Grand for J.Crew notebook, $10 (www.jcrew.com); 4. Peonies in Pink, $79.95 (www.teleflora.com)

So whether you're enjoying a night with the main squeeze, the kids, the girls, or the guys (Ben, Jerry, and Russell Stover), have a lovely and love-filled day!

Laura

Adored this Week

Bright Pastel nails! I know that February has just begun and NY is still pretty cold this time of year, but I can't help but using these bright pastel colors from Essie...

I tried a new technique that I had seen on Pinterest and put my own spin on it. I used two coats of Lapis of Luxury and my quick dry top coat. When I was sure that my nails were totally dry, I began making strokes of Mint Candy Apple in a staircase pattern. I tried to fix empty spots as best as possible and when I knew the frill paint was dry, I added another layer of quick dry top coat. I know the results are not salon perfect, but I'm proud of my unsteady hand's accomplishments!

Now that I know that this is way easier than it looked, I'll be sure to try in more colors. I would suggest using a creamier color or darker color as your frill so you don't have to do too many coats and potentially mess up the pattern! Here's to keeping February happy and bright!


Laura

Travel Nostalgia

Riding on a dogsled on a glacier in Juneau, Alaska

View from a helicopter atop a glacier in Juneau, Alaska

So now that the school semester has started, I am naturally itching to get away and travel. But since I'll be busy working, I'll just look back and reminisce about this past summer's vacation to Alaska. I know you're supposed to think warm in the winter, but I just can't get these gorgeous shots from the trip out of my head...

Adored this Week

So as I'm sure you've noticed...Christmas is coming real soon! Lights are on the houses, presents are under the trees, and it's time to get my annual red green manicure! 

Going [hunter] green this year for Christmas, thanks to "Going Incognito" by Essie.

Going Incognito

DIY Christmas Card Placemats

This is a fantastic idea that my lovely Mom thought up back in the day! Take the front cover of Christmas cards and turn them into placemats to use throughout the holiday season every year.

What you'll need:
- 18 Christmas Cards (this will yield 1 dinner serving sized placemat)
- Colorful contact paper (we used red for Christmas)
- Clear contact paper
- Scissors
- Round object (like a bowl or mug) to make the shape you'll cut the cards out into
- Pencil (to mark the round edge onto the card)

What to do:
1. Cut the front cover off of cards so you have a nice flat surface to work with.
2. Place the round object around the surface of the card you wish to use and mark with pencil.
3. Cut out circles (18X)
4. Once circles have been cut, arrange them how you'd like!
5. Cut a piece of colorful contact paper that will fit your arrangement, peel off sticky layer, lay flat (sticky portion up) and stick card cutouts in your desired arrangement on top. *tip: don't stick and reinforce cutouts until you are satisfied with your arrangement (it's hard to pull off cutouts once they're stuck to contact paper).
6. Once you're done arranging, leave ends on contact paper (even though it looks messy). Then you can take the clear contact paper and press down over the top of the placement (over the card cutouts).
7. If you want, you can also place a layer of clear contact paper over the bottom colorful contact paper to reinforce.
8. When you're done, snip the excess contact paper as close to the card cutouts as you can keeping the shape.
9. And you're done!

Back View

                                             
This is a really simple and crafty idea that lasts a long time (we've used these for the holiday season for about 15 years and they're still in great shape)!

You don't even have to use these solely for Christmas...you can use cute stationary, cut in different shapes, and even use as singular coasters instead as a conglomeration placemat!

Happy Crafting!

Laura

First Post!

Welcome to my brand spankin new blog! I'll be posting ideas, pictures, how-to guides, and much more in regards to crafting, cooking, baking, knitting, fashion, beauty, education, etc.

Feel free to use and repost any nifty ideas, but remember: give credit where credit is due. And I'll do the same!

Thanks for visiting and be sure to check back soon for some actual posts!

Laura