Tie Dye Nails

So I tie dyed my nails and they are awesome! Let's get to it!
You'll need 6 or 7 different colors of nail polish (the brighter the better), a plastic cup that you feel alright either ruining or throwing away (I just used a disposable plastic cup), a few toothpicks, some tape of you'd like to not get too messy (I chose to do it the messy way and skip the tape), nail polish remover and a few q tips.
Now that you've got that together, fill the cup up with water, as close to room temp as you can get. I went ahead and unscrewed the tops to all the nail polishes, I suggest you do this also. Now take 1 to 2 drops of a certain color and drop it into the center of the cup of water, this will create a ring in the water and then you just take the next color and do the same and so on and so forth. You will need to do this pretty fast or it will dry. Now that you've got the rings in the water take your toothpick and draw lines into the rings, like a tie dye design. now dip one nail into somewhere on the design. Your finger WILL be messy unless you put tape all around your nail, which I did not. Now you clean out the cup and YES... repeat 9 more times... this is very time consuming BUT its totally worth is because it looks super cool and its not something you can just go to a nail salon and get done. Once your done with all your fingers, let them dry and then take the q tips and nail polish remover and clean all the nail polish off your fingers around your nails. Top it with a regular clear coat or like I did, a clear nail polish with subtle sparkles in it.

French Dip Crescents

So I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it. Alright, here's what you'll need...
Keep in mind I cooked these for 4 people so you may need to adjust a little according to how many you want to feed.
2 packs of crescent rolls
1 pack of mozzarella slices
2 pack of sliced roast beef
1 packet of Au Jus powder

Ok, here's how I made them, I ahead of time took the cheese out and cut the slices into about 1 inch pieces and rolled out all the crescent rolls. Next, I put about 2 and a half pieces of the roast beef on each crescent and 4 to 5 pieces of the cheese on top of the roast beef. Then you simply roll them, starting with the wider end and tuck the outer pieces in. I baked them at 250 degrees for about 12 to 15 min. You just need to keep an eye on them, you want them a golden brown. Next, just make the Au Jus sauce according to the package.
Now... Dip and enjoy.

On to cooking...

First off.. I would like to thank my two beautiful sisters, Caity and Stephanie and Ashton, a friend that I care a lot about and even though we have grown apart as we have gotten older, still is helping support me and this silly blog. So thank you ladies :)

I've been experimenting with a lot of different recipes here lately. Some are healthy (I really try to keep it healthy) but some are soooo not healthy, but what they lack in healthiness they make up for in yumminess!
I'll start out with what I made last night and go back from there. It was a whole wheat pasta and chicken, with a few twists... You'll need...
-Chicken Breasts (enough for however many your cooking for I used 5 for 4 people)
-Whole wheat pasta shells ( used the whole box for 4 people, it was a little much)
-Bag of Baby Spinach
-Bag of Arugula
 -Shredded Parmesan Cheese (about 1 cup depending how cheesy you want it)
-Olive Oil (1/4 cup)
-Half and Half (about 1/2 a cup)
-Grape Tomato's (I used 1 small container and cut then in half length wise)
-Chicken Broth (1/2 a cup)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
-Parsley (I used about a tablespoon)

So I cooked the chicken and cut it into small chunks, set it aside. I did this also with the pasta, cook as directed on box and set aside. Then in a skillet I combined the olive oil, chicken broth, spinach and arugula and cooked it on med high for about 4 min, you just want the leaves tender and wilted. Once that's done, add the half and half, salt, pepper, parsley. Cook for another 4ish min. When that's done, take a big enough pot for everything and mix the chicken, pasta and spinach/arugula mix together. Put back on stove on med low heat and add the Parmesan cheese, let it heat up for about 5 min and right before serving, mix in the tomato's and top with a little more grated Parmesan for a pretty topping. Yum Yum Yum...

My favorite home masks

I'm writing this post about homemade face masks because I prefer them over store bought ones for the most part. They are not only cheaper but you know 100% what you are putting on your face. Some of these masks you can buy at the store aren't necessarily bad for you but some of them have questionable ingredients and some of them can be super harsh to your skin and you don't know how you will react to it until it's too late. So... I am sharing a few recipes that I use at home and why I use them. You use different types of masks for different kinds of skin problems. I like to switch it up and not do the same mask every time I use one. I have I guess what's considered combination skin. I tend to get dry skin on certain parts of my face during the winter time, around my nose and my forehead and chin for the most part. I do exfoliate and moisturize but sometimes you need a little extra something for the dry times, so here's what I do for that...
I mash up a banana, mix in a little bit of plain yogurt and smear it on my face, keeping it on for 30 minutes (I know it seems like a long time but it works.) See what happens is the banana in this little mix helps with the inflammation of your skin due to the dryness (that's why your skin gets red when it's dry). It also is packed with vitamins that our bodies need not only internally but external also, we can absorb the potassium and vitamin C through our skin. The plain yogurt in the mix just adds moisture to your skin and helps make your skin super soft when you rinse the mask off.
Another mask I like too use is a simple egg white mask and it's good for all seasons. The egg whites help make your pores smaller and puts a temporary barrier on your skin.I like the egg whites also because it dries on your skin and you can feel it tightening up your skin. It is also good if you have little bags under your eyes, tightens them right up.
The last one I use if I have a break out. It's an odd one but it works for me... Just take 3 to 4 Asprins and a few drops of water to dissolve the asprin into a paste. Apply it to the broken out area and let it dry completely ( it will start cracking a falling off) then rinse it off. The asprin works as a anti inflammatory and it also contains Salicylic Acid which is used in a lot of face washes and acne medications.
So there you go... those are the face masks I like to use at home. Enjoy.

Homemade body shimmer lotion

Chances are at some point or another you may have bought a shimmer lotion or two from the stores. I love shimmer lotions and have a few myself but as I've stated before... When times are hard and you have to cut back on buying some things that you still want to have, you have to get creative. I used to buy my shimmer lotion from Victoria Secret, which is an awesome lotion or Versa Shimmer lotion which is also a great lotion but kind of pricey. So what I did was this... I bought a regular empty travel spray bottle from the section of Walmart where the travel products are, a small bottle of baby oil (any kind will work), and I took some loose eye shadow that I already had. I had a bronze color and a white/silver transparent color. I chose to do the bronze color first because it went better with my skin tone. So put your baby oil in your spray bottle and mix in your shimmer shadow a little at a time until you get the concentration of shimmer you want, I prefer just a light bronze glow. The best way to apply this is as soon as you get out of the shower, still wet skin, make sure you shake the bottle and spray a light coat onto your wet skin, spread with your hands then blot your skin dry with a towel. Allow your skin to dry completely before getting dressed and then your set with shimmery glowing skin!

The perfect nude lip

For those who know me well enough know that I am all about the red lips! Bright, look at me red. BUT... I also love a good smokey eye look and it is hard to pull off both a smokey eye and a red lip without looking cheap and over done. So, I go with one or the other and in this post I am going with a smokey eye and the nude lip... Specifically the perfect nude lip. You first need to find a shade that's good for your skin tone. Once you purchase that AND a liner... we must not forget a liner. You can even go with a liner that is slightly darker than the lipstick you choose. First, make sure your lips are exfoliated, it's a good idea to exfoliate your lips everyday anyway to ensure that any lips product you wear goes on evenly and doesn't flake or peel with the dead skin on your lips. If you do not have a lip exfoliate like Mary Kay's or Sally Hansen has one at your local drugstore... OR... you can make your own from just regular granulated sugar and a few drops of honey, spread it on your lips and use a wash cloth and rub into lips in little circular motions for about 2 minutes then simply wash off.
After you are exfoliated, line lips with your nude liner, make sure you are lining just outside of your lips. Then a step to making your nude color stay on longer and stand out a little more, take a VERY small amount of your regular foundation and apply a thin coat over lips, very thin. Let dry.
Then finally, add your nude lipstick but do not over apply or you'll get that yucky gunky stuff in the inner corners of your lips. Now you have the perfect nude lip!

Fixing your broken powders...

As I told you in my last post, I will be telling you how to fix your broken powders. Now this can be eye shadows (assuming your not using it for nail polish), bronzers, powder makeup, etc... SO, keeping your broken powders in the containers they came in, add a few drops of regular rubbing alcohol depending on the size of your container, just eyeball it and decide because as you add the alcohol it will seep into the powder making it soft. Now your going to get your hands dirty... with your fingers (or the back or a small spoon if you really don't want touch it) smudge the now wet powder around the container, you want to make it a thick paste. When you have a paste like consistency, just work it around the container until you spread it corner to corner around the whole thing.
It's not going to look like it did when you bought the makeup but it'll work and be good enough.
Now, let it dry overnight and use it carefully next time :)