{Favorite Products} SweetBaby Cuticle Oil

This is a totally different kind of post for me, but I get so much good product information from blogs that I wanted to give back.  And once in a while you run across something that impresses you so much you really do have to share.

Let me start off by saying this is not a sponsored post.  In fact, the owner of this Etsy shop has no idea I'm doing this.  I will though give a shout out to ChitChatNails blog as her review is what led me to ordering this product.

I don't know if it's getting older, my body chemistry or what my hands come in contact with on a daily basis, but my cuticles dry out horribly.  I've tried a lot of products - and most do work - but for one reason or another I haven't found The One yet.

When I read the review on this cuticle oil it was kind of a light bulb moment.  A roller ball for cuticle oil - why has nobody done this before?  SweetBabybyDonna at Etsy does and it's wonderful!  I use the roller applicator on my cuticles and then rub it in with my fingers.  There is no lingering greasy feel and I love that.

I ordered the Caribbean Coconut because I seriously love all things coconut.  What a wonderful, light fragrance!  It was just enough to be fun and not enough to knock you over.

The cost with shipping was $12 and the applicator is a little bit bigger than the average lip balm container.  I thought it would last me a long time, but I'm finding I love how it feels and have been putting it on several times a day so maybe not.  Either way, I'm sure this will be my new 'go to' cuticle oil.

Hope this helps you to have pretty cuticles!

Deep Thoughts:  "God has you in the palm of His hand.  He has never once failed before and the good news is, He is not about to start now."

52CCT Challenge - Christmas Tree Card

So exciting to feel creative and play with my hobbies in the evenings again!

This week the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Blog is having a Color Challenge - use Red, White and Kraft on your card.  I love this color combination, so it was a lot of fun for me.

I went with an 'oldie but goodie' for this card and love how it turned out, even if the photo isn't worth a hoot!  (maybe I'll take a new picture tomorrow during the daylight)

Anyway...  I used the Cuttlebug Christmas Tree embossing folder, so this was a pretty fast card to make and is so pretty.  The tree has Candy Cane Stickles sprinkled throughout for added sparkle.  Cardstock is white, kraft and Regal Red - all from Stampin' Up - and I used pop dots on the red/white layer.

Deep Thoughts:  "Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!  How richly God has decked thee!

Fairy Garden with Bunnies

I have seen so many amazingly beautiful and intricate Fairy Gardens around the internet and love looking at them.  But honestly none has spoken to me quite like the one I saw at Debbie-Dabble (click on her name to go and see).  You know how sometimes you see something and it's not that you want to duplicate, but it sparks an idea and you run with it based on what you saw?  What I saw in her fairy garden was a great amount of fun to be had for Brooklyn and I.

This is what I ended up with, total cost about five dollars by repurposing some things I already had.  To start with, this pot never did get any perky posies this year, so rather than leave it looking like a ghost town I snagged it for this project.

I went to the local Goodwill and found a box of with Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, the fence and a small pot of posies.  That's when I decided my theme would be bunnies.

This shows off the little ceramic potted posies - too cute!  I also found a set of two bunnies, this little girl is one of them.

My original plan was to buy a few succulents to plant in this garden since they are so low maintenance.  But when Keith and I visited our favorite nursery we discovered the succulents were $5.99 each!  Instead I picked up two petunias at the mark down price of only .99 cents.  It's still hot in Texas, so they should last for a little bit.  And I'll just replace them in the spring.

And here's the little boy!  Then I found the little wooden house that has a nice hinged roof.  I think that Brooklyn will enjoy putting things in there.

The boy is sitting on a bed of shells and you might have noticed some behind the little girl above.  The thrift store had a brand new bag of shells for quite cheap.

I also wanted a little pond, so I sacrificed the half cup measure that I got in a set at Dollar Tree one year at Thanksgiving (since I knew there would be so many of us cooking in the kitchen at the same time I bought an extra set!).  Keith cut off the handle, then filed it smooth so that Brooklyn wouldn't hurt herself on the sharp plastic edge.  I thought it would be cute to put shells at the bottom of the pond, but once I added water the silly things floated!  Ah well, I suspect we'll still have fun with it.  And I don't plan on leaving water in it - I'll just add water when we're ready to play.

This was really a lot of fun to put together and now I can't wait for Brooklyn to come over and play with me!  :)

Deep Thoughts:  "Grandmas are just antique little girls!"


Linking to:  Friday Flair Link Party, Cottage Garden Party, Home Sweet Home, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Thrifty Things Friday

Pineapple Angel Food Cake

The Newlyweds are home from their honeymoon and they came over to show pictures and share stories from their wonderful trip.  We had a really nice evening and even shared cooking dinner together and that was just wonderful.  We made a Sesame Noodle with Chicken meal that I found on Pinterest, but honestly it was just ok and I won't be sharing the link or recipe.  

But I do like to have a dessert on hand when people come over and since our daughter is lactose intolerant I have a Pinterest board at the ready with recipes to try.  And this one was a winner!

If you've spent any time at all on Pinterest - or now on Facebook with all the recipes that are shared - you have surely seen this recipe for Pineapple Angel Food Cake.  Nothing I had linked back to an actual site, so I can't give credit for this.  But it was GOOD!  And easy!  And relatively good, or at least not as bad, for you!

The Ingredients:

Yes that's it - just an angel food cake mix (the notes on the pin said it must be the "one step" angel food cake mix) and a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple.

I didn't even get my mixer out - just used a wooden spoon to stir it.  It had a very light and airy batter.  This would be a great cake to make with kids since it mixes so easily.

It did sink down a bit in the middle, but that didn't affect the flavor at all.  While it was baking I kept thinking that the house had that 'fair smell' to it of very sweet funnel cakes (though it didn't taste at all like a funnel cake).

 Mmmmm.......    :)

We served it with a dollop of Cool Whip because I seem to remember 'back in the day' that their jingle was something about Cool Whip Non-Dairy Whipped Topping.  However, below their list of ingredients it says in bold letters:  CONTAINS MILK.  Lynne' decided it would be best not to test out the theory so had hers without.

This was a really good, light, summery sort of cake since it uses the angel food cake mix.  And since I'm a big fan of pineapple I really enjoyed it.

PINEAPPLE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

1 Angel Food Cake Mix (Betty Crocker works great)

20 ounce can of crushed pineapple

In a bowl mix together the cake mix and entire contents of pineapple can - I used a wooden spoon.  Pour into a 13x9 pan sprayed with nonstick coating and bake for 30 minutes at 350*.

Shared with:  Brag About It #20, The Scoop, Inspire Me Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Tuesdays at Our Home, Weekly Homemaking Party

Introducing the Bride and Groom!

Our beautiful Daughter and our wonderful new Son-in-Law!  The wedding and entire day was just picture perfect - I truly cannot say enough good about it.  I've just barely begun sorting through the - literally - thousands of pictures that have been sent to us, but I wanted to get one on the blog so that I could share my joy.  Life is so wonderfully good and we are so blessed....    :)

National Watermelon Day

Well how about that - today is National Watermelon Day! 

Today we were going to have the happy engaged couple over for lunch to go over last minute wedding plans (only two more weeks - oh em gee!!!!).  I called the other kids to see if they wanted to come and we had a rather impromptu family lunch - perfect afternoon for any mama!

Few things taste as good on a hot summer day as a grilled burger, so that's what we went with.  I got a text that Brooklyn had picked out a watermelon, so they were bringing it over for dessert.

She really goes to the best summer daycare - I'm so impressed.  Now that she is school age they have some truly unique and awesome field trips a couple of days a week.  This week one such field trip was to the farmers market, where they learned about many different fruits and vegetables.  One tidbit of knowledge that she came home with was how to choose a perfect watermelon.  Well since this is not a great skill of ours Keith asked Brooklyn to tell him about it (he is such an awesome grandpa!).

First they had to wash the watermelon because it did have dirt on it.  Then she told him that you put your ear on it while thumping all around.  She said choose a watermelon that sounds hollow all around.

I wish I had taken a picture of the slices as they were the prettiest red and just dripping with juice.  As tasty as it was Brooklyn really must have learned the secret to choosing a good watermelon!  I think grandpa might have been a tad disappointed though when he found out it was seedless because he was wanting to teach her the fine art of watermelon seed spitting.  But as they say, always leave wanting more.....

Deep Thoughts:  "The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of their worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the every day moments."