Tag Archive | DIY

Friday Favorites – March 27, 2015

Another week of productive web cruising under my belt. Here’s some stuff I loved!

Favorite Crafty Find:

Tissue paper is one of my favorite low cost go-to material for decorating for parties. I had giant paper poms at my wedding, made some pretty great tassel garlands for my sister’s baby shower, and adorned branches with delicate blossoms made from tissue paper for a friend’s bridal shower. I am definitely going to tackle these cuties for the next center piece I need. The instructions even say that old wrinkled paper is the best for this project. Recycling to boot!

Favorite Food Find:

This recipe has all the makings of being a favorite in my house. We love to make soft pretzels when we have guests, and our favorite veggie of all time is the almighty BEET. We even grow them in our garden over the summer. And pistachio pesto? Yes, please. The colors of this snack are so beautiful! check out the recipe here at Club Narwhal. (How about that site name, amazing.)

Favorite Fitness Find:

Fitness is a huge industry right now and I personally love it. I love having inspiration at every corner, and being able to learn so much online. However, it is really easy to fall into the comparison trap where you are constantly looking at amazing photos and cutting yourself down for not being as perfect as you think everyone else looks. This post is a great reminder that we are seeing the best of folks online, and that they really are normal too. I found this a refreshing and brave post to make.

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

I am new to the essential oil lifestyle, but have been really enjoying learning and experimenting with different oils. I like the earthy oils the best; cedar, amber, Frankincense. This site has lots of good information on leading a natural lifestyle, and I found this info on Frankincense especially interesting! If anyone has info on essential oils to share, send it my way! I love learning about this!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, no matter what you get into! Thanks for swinging by!

Cheers!

Snack and Crafts to Celebrate St Patrick’s Day!

Mar10

St. Patrick’s day is just around the corner! I have a special place for Ireland in my heart since I visited last year & I can’t wait to craft up some of these projects and munch on the snacks! My celebration might include a beer or two, but I’ll leave that part up to you! Here are some of my favorite St Patty’s day themed recipes and crafts.

Skinny Shamrock Shake

Wait until you see the sneaky green ingredient in this healthy shake from Skinnytaste!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies from Kleinworth Co have ALL the chocolate and they might be lucky too, just saying.

Grasshopper Pie

Grasshopper Pie, will you marry me? You look so handsome with your festive sprinkles.

Shamrock Bouquet

This truly evergreen bouquet from Sweet & Lovely Crafts is super cute and definitely affordable. It’s on my to-do list for sure!

Shamrock Butterfly Art

This craft from The Pike Farm would be super cute using your child’s fingerprints as the leaves too!

DIY Clover Straws

Super cute DIY from Like the Cheese, for sipping whatever may be in your mug this St Patty’s Day!

St Pat’s Magic Vases

This method from Yesterday on Tuesday could be used for any occasion; holiday, wedding, birthday, etc!

Wine Cork Shamrock Stamps

I’m not saying everyone has an abundance of wine corks hanging out, but if you *ahem* happen to have some extras, this idea from Crafty Morning is a great way to put them to use!

Have fun crafting and snacking! Have a lucky St Patrick’s Day! Cheers!

Friday Favorites – March 6, 2015

Mar6

Well ya’ll, we made it to March. That means SPRING is inevitably just around the corner! However, we got slammed with a foot of snow yesterday, just to remind us that we can have hope, but we ain’t outta the woods yet. Pretty? Yes. Timely? Hardly. (Sorry anyone from the northeast US, I know I should just hush up now.)

Although, cold and snowy weather means plenty of time to find these pretties online to share with you guys. Here are some of my favorite and useful stops online this week:

Favorite Crafty Find:

These bright hydrangea blooms from A Piece of Rainbow caught my eye and made me smile. They are beautiful, but if you read the directions, I bet the process of making them would make quite a few kiddos happy as well. Bring on spring!

Favorite Food Find:

A little different path on the food find this week, but had to share these images from Emily Blincoe with you guys. She is a photographer that has a wide portfolio, but her neat food layouts sucked me and made me sigh. Just perfect. Wait til you see the French fries!

Favorite Fitness Find:

You guys know I swear by Beachbody programs. They are my go to workouts and I literally have a LIBRARY of DVDs collected in my “gym” (let’s be real, it’s a basement.) Well this week, Beachbody changed the game and it is nothing short of EPIC.

Beachbody On Demand is now available for a weekly fee of $2.99. THREE DOLLARS A WEEK. I spent more than that on a daily coffee. My mind is blown. Ok, so what does that even mean? Your club membership of $2.99 a week gives you streaming access to programs like P90X, P90X3, TurboFire, Brazil Butt Lift, INSANITY, and more. Did ya’ll see that? P90X?! Insanity?! These are the godfathers of Beachbody programs, selling at over $100 each for $2.99, AND you can access them ANYWHERE?? I’m dead.

And since this is just the beginning, the streaming access will also have taste tester workouts from Beachbody’s newest programs including 21 Day Fix Extreme, INSANITY Max 30, and PiYo. I’m telling you guys, if you ever thought about doing any of these programs, this is the time. If you don’t think your health is worth $2.99 a week, you better email me because we have some talking to do.

You can sign up for access here (click Join and make sure you pick Club membership) or if you have any questions just shoot me a message or ask below. If you can’t tell, I’m a little excited about this so I’m MORE than happy to chat with you about it!

Now excuse me while I stream every. workout. ever.

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

All this snow is giving me the heebie jeebies so I just had to get a spring break trip booked stat. Yes, 30 year old married people can take spring break trips, back up.

With the help of my friend Lindsay over at Travelfied, I nailed down Charleston, SC as the destination. We will be headed down in April and she gave me tons of tips on what to do, what’s nearby and what to eat. Check out Travelfied for lots of good travel tips from booking hotels to watching for deals!

This one is gonna be a road trip folks, so get ready for a fun recap when we get back! Here’s to not wearing a coat!

Wishing you a fantastic weekend full of things that make you smile!

Cheers!

Friday Favorites – February 20, 2015

Feb20

Another work week in the books! Hope you all had a good one, and managed to stay warm! I know Pennsylvania isn’t the only place in this situation, but um…it’s colder than Antarctica today. Wowzers, guys. Hang in there!

Here’s the goodies that caught my eye enough to hang on to them to share on Friday. Enjoy!

Favorite Crafty Find:

I kept this project open in my browser all week. I keep glancing at it and trying to figure out what I love the most about it. The amazing wrapping paper she used as a background? The soft but bright color palette? The milk glass birdies? THAT IT COST $12? Oh, let me quit while I’m ahead. Either way, swing by Remodelaholic and check out her DIY drawer shelves, they are totally worth Pinning and pretending you’ll make them someday….

Favorite Food Find:

As I mentioned last week, I took a quick trip to NYC this past weekend. I think you already know how it was. COLD. But we managed to have a good time anyway. Made some visits, saw some sights, sipped some suds and DEVOURED THESE BAGELS. I heard about Black Seed Bagels on an episode of Food Networks short lived “Best Ever.” (I know, how original, on the Food Network….) But seriously, Alex Guarnaschelli described these bagels in her typical “doesn’t leave the kitchen enough to realize she’s a nutcase” style and she had me drooling during the whole segment. We’re talking Montreal bagel and New York bagel had a crazy affair and this is the outcome. Boiled THEN baked in a wood fired oven, with the most divine ingredients for the best bagel sammie you ever put in your mouth. Ok, I’m done talking about it. If you are ever in NYC, make the trip and wait in line, you will not be sorry.

Favorite Fitness Find:

“You can’t be satisfied today with what worked yesterday.”

~ Autumn Calabrese

Now that my over indulgence of drinks and food in NYC is over, I’ve started the 21 Day Fix Extreme this week with my online fitness team. I love the original 21 Day Fix program because it teaches so much about nutrition, but I will be honest, some of the workouts were not as difficult as I would have liked. Back up to last night’s Pilates workout. I’m in love. Was I sweating in a pile on the floor? Nah. Did I work muscles I usually don’t? YES! This workout includes a resistance band and it might have changed my life (definitely my butt, but maybe my life too). I’m almost done my first week of this program and can definitely give you advice if you are thinking about trying it…just ask!

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

BREAKING NEWS (at least to me!): Submerge a cut avocado in water to keep from browning.

I can’t remember where I originally read this, but I saw online that if you want to keep your guacamole from browning, you should pour a bit of water on top to create a barrier to the air. This seemed brilliant to me. Yesterday, I had half an avocado on my sandwich and when I was done, I plopped that puppy in some water. I think the results speak for themselves. If I’m late to this train, just let me have my glory because I’M SO HAPPY. Now, the only problem is I can’t have avocado for two more days because I’m following the 21 Day Fix Countdown to Competition guide. Let’s see if this little fellow can last that long?

One last random tidbit, my Facebook page has finally caught up with the blog, so please join me over there at Create Your Joy on Facebook for daily goodies.

Have a safe and happy weekend! Be kind to those around you. ❤

Cheers!

Cold Weather Crafts

Feb18

As much of the East Coast of the US is either finding tunnels their new mode of transportation or wondering if we will ever be able to feel our faces again, I figured it was time to occupy our brains with a little crafty goodness. Here is my list of fun goodies that either embrace the cold outdoor weather (bless you, brave ones) or help us fight it and stay cozy indoors. If you can’t tell, I’ve had enough!

End this madness!

For the Crazy People Who Can Enjoy the CHILL:

1) These DIY ice luminaries are easy and affordable and somehow even manage to make snow look inviting.

2) Cute and simple bird feeders to help our feathered friends out in this cold weather. Be sure to hang where they will get some sun, otherwise you’re just a tease!

(Not entirely cold weather related, but speaking of feathered friends, I’m currently obsessed with this live stream of a bald eagle’s nest. They have two eggs right now so basically one of them is almost always there! Check it out and don’t blame me for your lost productivity.)

3) And one for the kiddos on a snow day. Classic baking soda volcano done up snow style. Looks fun!

Now, let’s get indoors and stay WARM:

4) But first, snag some pine cones and bring them with you. Use this tutorial to craft up some decorative but useful fire starter pine cones.

5) I almost always have a candle burning because it gives me the illusion of warmth, but ALAS it is an illusion no longer! I’m definitely giving this terra cotter heater a shot.

6) Look at these adorable DIY hand warmers. Spend your time creating these indoors JUST IN CASE you decide you ever need to go outdoors again before May.

7) Gather some goodies for anyone you know that may be under the weather. I love this particular collection because it has all of my favorite get well items AND it’s small enough you could stash in a mailbox, because the only thing worse than being sick is having someone LOOK AT YOU while you’re sick. It’s the thought that counts 😉

And this fish soap tutorial because, fish soap in a bag. C’mon:

8) Nothing to do with cold, everything to do with CUTE.

Do you have any favorite things that you can only do when the weather is chilly?

Stay warm ya’ll. We can do it! Cheers!

Friday Favorites – February 13, 2015

Feb13

Oh, is it Friday already? Said no one, EVER. Finally, the best day of the week is here! My husband and I are headed to New York City for a little getaway this weekend & although the weather is going to be pretty much arctic, I’m still looking forward to going. We love the city and always eat too much, walk too much and get into as much as we can when we are there.

To all the lovers (& even the haters) out there…have a wonderful and happy Valentine’s day. Remember to celebrate your partner, your family, your friends and yourself every day. You can never have too much love ❤

Favorite Crafty Find:

Help me. Please. I keep finding new hobbies that I want (no, NEED) to be amazing at. There’s not enough time in the day or muscles in my fingers to keep up with my brain. But be serious, hand embroidery is MAGIC. I stumbled upon the Needle n Thread website this week and I’ve been back each.and.every.day. For real, I’m obsessed. This site is a treasure trove of information and tutorials. It is really well done and I can’t wait to devour it all. If I weren’t feverishly knitting a scarf out of blanket yarn (you heard it, don’t judge) right now, you better believe I’d be tackling some way over my head embroidery project RIGHT NOW. Which, based on this HISTORICAL piece here….I’ve got a lot of room to improve 😉

*Circa way too long ago*

Favorite Food Find:

Hummus will either make you fast friends or make the person sitting next to you on the train disgusted for the duration of your snack (not that I have any experience with that). Either way, it is delicious. I am in love with the Tribe brand of hummus and lo, they have just released another scratch batch with IT flavor of the moment…SRIRACHA! Spicy hummus on a cool crisp green pepper…just give me a minute. But really, all of the Tribe flavors are really great (Lemon Rosemary Focaccia, get it together). Their website has a store locator, find some near you!

Favorite Fitness Find:

“You’re not technically “healthy” unless you are also “happy.” Keep that in mind when considering dessert!”

~ Chef Robert Irvine

This is an interesting post regarding “cheat meals” and the impact of eating a little crazy sometimes on the body and the brain. I was recently reading a post of a super fit mama who mentioned she ‘went off track’ and indulged on some whole wheat crackers and blue cheese and her abs paid the price the next day. (Her abs are amazing.) As someone who loves food as much as they love fitness, my ‘off track’ days involve oh, just a TAD more than cheese and crackers, but it is so important to remember that pleasing your mind, your palette, your WHOLE self is just as important as being fit and healthy.

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

You may have seen this video already, as it appeared on almost every social media outlet I’m on during the week, but it is worth sharing just in case you didn’t see it. I eat hard boiled eggs every stinking (literally) week. They are a quick and easy way to snack protein, so I make a bunch at once. This hack for peeling eggs looked way too good to be true, but I tried it anyway. It worked and I was giddy. It’s the simple things, people. (Also, add just a smidge of baking soda to your boiling water and it takes this to another level. Look out your eggs don’t hop out of the shells on their own. Creepy.)

Have a safe and happy weekend! Take care of your people and your pets! ❤

Cheers!

Pink Party! Colorful Treats and Décor for Valentine’s Day

Feb10

About two years ago this time, I was celebrating one of my dear friends at her bridal shower. Pink was one of the colors in her wedding, so needless to say we ran with the theme for the shower. Lots of the treats and décor that we used to celebrate her upcoming wedding are just PERFECT for celebrating LOVE this Valentine’s Day. Today I’m sharing the recipes and tips for how we pulled off the pink party. Enjoy & share the love ❤

We had lunch snacks catered by the location where we had the shower, but had homemade bite sized desserts for the guests to snack on during the afternoon. For the treats I made, I used a Wilton Gel Food Color that provided an awesome pink punch. I love the gel colors; they add a deep, rich color that you can’t get from the liquid and not to mention they come in just about ANY color you could want. You can find them locally at your craft store or even at Walmart now!

For this pink themed event, or any event when you have a color as your theme, I did an easy cheat and went with recipes that were written for ‘red velvet’ spins. You can swap red for any color, in this case I used pink, but it is a great way to find recipes that are focused on showcasing COLOR.

I found the cute bird and heart cupcake picks at Michael’s around Valentine’s Day and did a quick DIY to turn them into food identifiers. I think it is always nice to have your food labeled at parties; it makes your guests more comfortable when selecting food and makes it easier for them to ask for your recipes…because they will be asking for these! If you have a cutting machine (like a Cricut, etc) you could easily make these picks yourself, but I just used the premade one and glued on my handwritten label. So simple & cute!

It can be risky to try new baking recipes as they are so precise and can be hit or miss. I highly recommend perusing Brown Eyed Baker, as all the recipes I’ve tried from her are spot on! Here is the recipe for her Red Velvet Whoopie pies that I used to make my mini pink whoopie pies above.

Other recipes I used include:

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies from Baking Bites

Samoa Bars also from Baking Bites

Cake Batter Fudge (The easiest and best version for this…4 ingredients + microwave = heaven)

Sunburst Lemon Bars from Pillsbury (my go to dessert since I was old enough to use an oven!)

I made some festive tissue paper flowers to set around the room by following a modified version of the classic Martha Stewart Pom Guide. I used about 4 sheets of tissue paper in a 4X4 square for each flower. You can do a variety of sizes and colors, whatever works for your party! Once the paper is folded and you are ready to fluff the pom, just pull all of the ‘petals’ to one side rather than fluffing half to one side and half to the other. This will give you a flat back for your flower that you can glue to any surface (makes a great addition to gifts and packages too!) We decorated the rest of the room with personal touches such as engagement photos.

I love throwing a party with a simple theme that is easy to execute but brings an extra level of detail. Using a core color is a great way to do this! Lots of times you can load up on colored items for great deals after holidays. I snagged a lot of the materials I used for this part post Valentine’s day, but Christmas, St Patrick’s Day, Halloween are all great opportunities.… be on the lookout for any holiday that has colors you are using!

If you’re making a sweet treat for your honey (or YOU!) this weekend, try out one of these festive recipes! Cheers!

Valentine’s Day DIY – There’s 1 Week left to craft!

Feb8

Next weekend is Valentine’s Day! I know, I know…over hyped commericalized holiday that just makes people feel lonely, right? No way! I don’t care if your one true love is NetFlix, it’s the middle of February and we (well, those of us NOT on the West Coast at least….if you ARE on the West Coast, I’ve already unfollowed you on all social media outlets and I will resume being your friend in April when we have sun and green grass again…I digress) need a reason to celebrate and have warm fuzzies! I wanted to share a few DIY things I tried out or am going to try out in the next few days as we near February 14. Whether you are celebrating your love, your friend, your cat, or yourself, take a minute and make something fun. You’ll feel the love, I promise.

DIY Heart Shaped Bracelet

I am no jewelry maker, but I saw this tutorial online and just had to try it out. Materials are super affordable and you can find at your local craft store. Mine is not nearly as cute, but I still love it. Makes a great gift for your girlfriends!

Heart Shaped Bokeh Photos

This is one of my favorite photo hacks ever. No fancy filters, just your DSLR, some paper, rubber band, effort & imagination and you will have some rock star photos. If you have a Cricut or Sillhouette machine, the shapes you can create are endless! If you try this out, share your pictures, I’d love to see!

Free Valentine’s Fonts

Here is a pretty great round up of Love and Valentine’s themed fonts…for free! If you are a crafter and don’t know DaFont website, get there now! So many free fonts that take your projects to the next level of personalized. Most are free for personal use, just be sure to read the details of each font you download. These would make some great personalized Valentine’s cards, and handmade is always the best!

Last, can I just share the EPIC craft that my husband presented to me for Valentine’s day last year? He painted our current house, with our sweet puppy on the porch just waiting for me to come play with her. I couldn’t love it more, it is one of my most cherished things….and the perfect example of spreading love and joy without spending a ton of cash. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Friday Favorites – February 6, 2015

Feb6

I love a good online roundup. Lots of things I’m interested in all wrapped up in one single click? Yes, please…count me in. Now that I’m posting here, I figured what better way to tie up all that “lifestyle research” (that sounds way better than mindless surfing) I’ve been doing all week than to post my own list. So, ***drum roll please*** I welcome you to the inaugural Friday Favorite list, where each week I’ll be sharing my favorite finds from all the places I follow, or topical information in my favorite areas: Crafts, Food, Fitness/Wellness and Lifestyle. Enjoy and TGIF!

Favorite Crafty Find:

I just love this post on sprucing up your stuff with spray paint. Admittedly, I have work to do on my spray paint skills, but some of these ideas are so clever for making your “affordable” things look fancy.

Favorite Food Find:

Was anyone else’s social media exploding with World Nutella day posts this week? Everything looked so delicious, it was almost NSFW. As usual though, I was looking to enjoy without also consuming an entire stick of butter or no less than 3 cups of sugar. So I turned to Skinnytaste, of course! (Most healthy eating folks are familiar with this site already, but if you aren’t…go. Now.) Loved her simple and just the right amount of treat Nutella Cookies.

Favorite Fitness Find:

Have you heard of the 21 Day Fix from Beachbody? It is so ridiculous. And now there is another one, 21 Day Fix extreme. The first one was SO ridiculous because, now stay with me, it combined daily workouts with spot on nutrition and DELIVERED RESULTS. It seemed like an embarrassingly simple concept but dang if it didn’t work. I was already eating clean, but it taught me so much about portions and the balance of nutrients that I needed throughout the day. I lost 4 lbs and my abs were the best I’d ever seen them. I loved my results so much so that I ordered the latest edition, 21 Day Fix Extreme on the day it was released and will be starting it on 2/16. I will definitely be doing a review and posting my results when done. If you want to join me, send me a message, we can keep in touch for 21 days and do it together!

~SUMMER BODIES ARE MADE IN THE WINTER~

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

My husband and I generally take a trip around his birthday, April 1. It gives us something to look forward to so we don’t go crazy during winter in Pennsylvania. This year we were thinking about going to Texas and then I saw this roundup of all things Texas. Ok, I’m sold. We will probably hit up Austin as our home base. Anyone have their own personal Austin favorites to share? (PS, sorry for TWO Buzzfeed lists, it was just that kind of week!)

Happy weekend everyone, thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!

Feelin’ the LOVE – Valentine’s Day Garland Giveaway!

Feb5

I am feeling quite FULL as everything comes together with this blog, my new store and all of my social media points, so it’s time to share a little love! I’m giving away this handmade Valentine’s Day (or any day you feel like loving) garland. The decorated length is about 10 feet and there is lots of extra string to hang! Would be great for a date night at home, or even in your kid’s room to show some love. So cute!

To enter, leave a comment on this post or hop on over and like my Facebook page…enter until Friday 2/6! Thanks for stopping by & Happy Heart Day ❤

PS) If you really love this & don’t happen to win, you can snag your own here!