Crafty Pants Friday {4}

Pin It Finnnnaaalllyyy. Its Friday! This week was kind of a drag... But I've got me a craft to show you. I'm pretty excited about this one. I looove mercury glass, but its a weeee bit on the expensive side for me. So when I came across a DIY technique for faux mercury glass, I was all: shut. up.

Thank glob someone came up with a way to do this! I found it on Pinterest (of course), and you can find the lady behind the technique here. Its really quite simple, but at the same time, its not.

Yep. You ready for this? Alright then.

What I gathered:
Hurricane glass
Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint
Vinegar
Water
Spray Bottle
Paper Towel
Candle
Sealer

Ok, first things first, clean out your hurricane. Mine was fresh from the store, but it had a layer of dust, so I took a damp paper towel and ran it along the inside until it was clean. Then make sure you dry it really well.

Now you're ready to spray. Go OUTSIDE. Seriously. This stuff is potent. Hold your hurricane in one hand, and spray with the other. I held it and turned it as I was spraying, using quick bursts, not a continuous stream. This paint is extremely runny so if you spray in a continuous stream, it will run all over the place.
Ask me how I know this.

The directions on the can say to spray 5 coats on the inside of the glass, letting it dry about a minute in between. Once that's done, its time for the distressing.

Its so cool! A mirror finish! Now you're going to need your vinegar, water, and spray bottle. Make a mixture of 50% water and 50% vinegar. The vinegar eats away at the paint, so when you start distressing, it makes perfect little pieces of paint flake off. Although if you're not careful, it will make BIG pieces of paint flake off.

Now spray the inside of the hurricane with the vinegar water mixture. Let it set for about 30 seconds to a minute. It depends how long the paint has been drying. The longer the paint has been drying, the longer the vinegar water will need to sit on the paint.

Now take your paper towel, and start dabbing, and then rubbing in a circular motion until paint starts to come off. Be very careful not to rub your hand around the top parts of the hurricane while you're distressing the bottom or you will have giant pieces on the glass where there is no paint.

Its a little hard to see the parts with missing paint because of the type of glass it is. Now that you have it distressed the way you want it, go back and spray 1 or 2 light coats of the paint on the inside. That way the patches with no paint will still have a shimmer and wont be completely see through. Once the last coat you put on is dry, spray a little sealer on the inside to keep it protected. Make sure all the paint is dry before you put a candle in it.

Your end result!

I tried to get a pic from all the different angles so you could see the different patterns. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I plan on doing another, bigger one, that's a different type of glass. This swirvy pattern made it a little difficult to really see the distressing as well.

But I still love it!!

I hope you liked this! If your try it, send me pics so I can see how yours turned out!

One of the parties I'm linking up to: http://theivycottageblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/cowgirl-up-week-2.html

It's four parties in one! Go check them out!

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Sharin the Love

Pin It Happy Wednesday! How is the week so far? Mine's going by a tad slow... But its good none the less. I have lots of projects on my to do list, but my production rate has started to slow down a tad... Not sure why. But don't worry, there will still be cool posts to come, so make sure and stop by to check them out!

Do you guys remember this project:

They are on my fridge, and for the month of February the hubster and I are exchanging "I Love You Because" on them. Every morning, before I go in to get the baby from his crib, I go to the fridge to see what he wrote. Its kinda like Christmas morning I'm so giddy about it. He writes the sweetest things. Not just sweet, but like, amazing things. Things that make me think, 'how did I get so lucky to land this guy?'

So I had to share this one that he wrote the other morning.

Short and to the point. And it made me melt. I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day. It made me swell with pride to think that my husband genuinely feels like because of me, his life is better. How amazing.

And also came home to these the other day:

Aren't they gorgeous?!! And its not even Valentines Day yet!! I cant wait to see what he has in store for me!

Sorry for all the mush but I had to brag on my amazing and loving hubs a lil bit!

Have a great rest of the day!

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Movin it Monday {2}

Pin It Hello there! Are we feeling ready for this new week?! No? You wish it was Crafty Pants Friday already?....Well, me too. But alas, its a new week which means its a new Monday. Now, I knooow that everyone needs some good calorie burning exercises after all the delicious treats they had during the Big Game last night. And Ive got some. This week I will be working on legs, and I've got some killer moves to get those gams gasp worthy. The first one I have for you are some moves that Carrie Underwood does to get her killer stems...

1. Back Lunges with a Bicep CurlFrom a standing position, step one leg backwards into a deep lunge, then come back into a standing position, while also doing a bicep curl with free weights. Do 15 for each leg for two or three sets.
2. Front Lunges with a Torso Twist
Holding a medicine ball in front on you, step forward into a front lunge, then twist sideways in the direction of the lunge (if you lunge with your right leg, twist towards the right). Do 15 for each leg for two or three sets.
3. Jump Squats
From the squat position, jump into the air as high as you can, landing back into the squat position. Repeat for 20 to 25 reps.


The following moves are really going to whip you into Shape... They are performed as a circuit, and as I told you in the last Movin it Monday post, I earned my degree in Kinesiology. I am a huge fan of circuit workouts. Circuits combine cardio with the muscle moves, so you're getting it all done at once and reaping the max benefits. Plus saving some time!

I found these leg moves at Shape Magazine. Combine this circuit workout with the moves listed above for this weeks workout.

Now you may be wondering how many times a week and for how long you should be doing these. Well, you should be performing moderate exercise at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes. That's not so bad right? And its not even for a very big chunk of your day. And once again, you can perform this in your own home if you want.

For yesterdays post I shared some healthier party food ideas, and you can check that post out here.
My husband and I love the chili recipe and we have it a few times a month.

One of the tricks to losing weight the healthy way, and keeping the weight off, is to EAT. That's right. You have to eat. If you go all day long with no food, and then have a large dinner, you're not doing yourself any good. Even if you eat a big lunch and then think to yourself, well, I wont have anything else for the rest of the day... Well, you would be doing more harm than good to your body.

Your body cannot handle an over load of calories at one time. If you eat a big meal, your body uses the calories it needs, and then stores the rest. Store it as what? Fat. Your body simply cannot use a large amount of calories all at one time. Even if that's all you were to consume that day.

Now you may be thinking, but if it stores it, and then I don't eat for the rest of the day, wouldn't my body use the extra calories it stored, later in the day?

NO. When you do not consume enough calories through out the day, your body can go into starvation mode, or into ketosis. When it does this, it lowers your metabolism so that you burn less calories, as a way to conserve energy.

All this translated means: If you don't eat enough, your body does not attack your extra stores of fat to use as a supplement. Instead, its slows down and burns less calories so that you don't lose those fat stores.

The legitimate way to get rid of those extra fat stores:
Eat throughout the day. Around 5 small meals at about 300 calories each (these numbers are not for general public. Your total calorie intake should be based on your current weight, and the target weight you are trying to reach). Regular exercise is also a key factor. If you're not burning calories, you're not losing fat.

The only way to lose weight, is to *Burn more calories than you are Consuming*.

And there you have it. I hope this helps you understand a little more about how legitimate weight loss works. If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! If I don't know the answer, I will find out for you!

Now get out there and MOVE IT!

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Crafty Pants Friday {3}... THe Switch Up

Pin It In case you missed Fridays post, I switched Savory Sunday and Crafty Pants Friday for this week. I wanted to share some Super Bowl Party Foods before Sunday... So there you have it. *Back to normal now*.

How has your week been? Good? Mine too. Today I wanted to share a wreath that I made, and I'm really excited because its the first time I've done a banner on something, and I adore it.

What do you think?! Ok, so maybe I messed up a tad on the M. But whatev. I still love it. And to hang it on the door, I just used the jute twine that I also used for the banner. Yep. Uh huh. Oh yeah.

Wanna know how to make it? Wanna? Well alright.

I gathered:
Ribbon
jute twine
burlap
scissors
hot glue gun and glue
stickers
wreath form

Wanna know some funny stuff about this wreath? Well, the first awesome thing about this whole project is the fact that I found this ribbon on clearance at hobby lobby. There was 11 yards of it... For 4.99. That's right. So after I bought it, I had to decide what to do with it.

But of course! A wreath! Ding Ding!

The wreath form I used was a straw wreath, and truth be told, the hardest part about making this wreath was getting the plastic wrap off the wreath! There was straw ev-ery-whe-re.

Now, first you're going to put some hot glue on your wreath, and then stick the ribbon to it. From there, you will just wrap the ribbon around the wreath, adjusting it as you go, until the whole thing is covered. Then put some more glue on the backside of the end of the ribbon, and attach to the back of the wreath. Now the hard parts done (hard?).

Now we're going to make the banner. Cut two strips of the jute twine, and glue them to the wreath, however you want them to lay. Then draw a line on your burlap, and make enough triangles to spell out whatever saying you want. I did 'be mine'.

Now you're going to add stickers to the little pennant triangles.. I used red glitter ones that I found in the scrap booking section of Hobby Lobby.

Now you will need the hot glue gun. Lay a strip of glue on the back of the triangles along the top. Press the the triangle onto the twine, spacing them so that your entire saying will fit (depending on how many letters, and if you did two or just one pieces of twine).

After you have all of your triangles where you want them, the last step is to tie some twine or other ribbon around the top of the wreath so that you can hang it on your door! Or you don't have to do this if you want your wreath to just hang on the door hanger.

Aaaannnd done. Easy right?! Yep. And I love it. I have seen the banner thing done all over the place like here and here, so check them out too!

I hope you enjoy this super bowl Sunday!!!

 

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Savory Sunday {4}... Wait, its Friday?!

Pin It Savory Sunday? But its Friday. Don't you mean Crafty Pants Friday?

No, I'm not confused. I figured since this Sunday is the Super Bowl, I would do some recipes today, and I will save my Crafty Pants Friday craft for Sunday. Can you deal? Okay good. Cause Ive got some good stuff.

First off, Ive got a healthy (gasp! healthy on super bowl Sunday?) but seriously delicious chili recipe for you from weight watchers. Its incredibly easy and really filling. The spices are juuuust right.

You will need:
1 lb ground sirloin
2 tspns olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 stocks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbspn chili powder
2 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn red or cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup beef broth
8 oz tomato sauce (canned)
30 oz canned beans (all types, optional)

Ok lets get started. First you will need to brown the grown beef. I just do everything in my big stock pot. Once its cooked, set it aside on a plate. Add the oil to the pot, and then saute the onion and celery for a few minutes. Once they are heated through and still crunchy, add the beef back in. Now you will add in all your spices and stir to coat.

I let this cook for just another minute or two, and then I start adding the tomatoes, beef broth, and tomato sauce.
Once that is all combined, stir and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and let it simmer on low for about thirty minutes. I've let mine simmer for an hour or more and its just fine.

You can also very easily double this recipe to serve more, which Ive done as well.

Now you're ready to enjoy! I also add a little cheese on top, and depending on how much you use, it may not even add an extra point!

Yes. You will love this.
Here are a few other easy finger foods to get your mouth watering... Are you sure you can make it til Sunday?

You can find how I made these here.

How delicious does this dessert look? Check it out here or on my Simply Sweet Board.

How about these healthier yet delicious looking Apple Nachos? Yum. You can find the recipe here.

Ooooorrrr Skinny Taco Dip anyone?? Recipe here.

And how about these adorable Football Cupcakes which you can find here.

Alright, now that you officially need a drop cloth or a drool bucket, we're done here.

I'm pretty excited to make some of these things this weekend and I'm even more excited to show you my craft on Sunday. Cause its cute.

Let me know if you try any of these things and how they turn out!

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GoodWill Frame into V-Day Decor

Pin It So I keep having this urge to do some spring cleaning since we've been having all this amazing warm weather... Only trouble is, its not spring time. So I don't think I should have to do it yet. Tricky mother nature. Tricky.

Well Ive just about finished up my Valentine decorations that will be up for the month of February, and I wanted to share one little thing with you today. Tomorrow on Crafty Pants Friday, I'll show you my last project for the Holiday of love. Then it will be time to move on to spring time and Easter revamps. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited about a few of the things I have in mind for that.

Anyways.

So this little project came from a Good Will store. I found this sad little frame sitting in the corner by itself, and I immediately grabbed it up and tucked it away in case anyone was planning on snatching it out of my hands and making a dash for the door.

Not happening.

Now, I usually am very good about taking before pictures and documenting the process of my projects. But this time, I failed to take a before photo of this frame. I guess I was just so excited to transform this little frame into something gorgeous that I just got ahead of myself. I just grabbed the spray paint and got to it. But imagine this: A gold, plastic, scroll work frame. Its light weight, and as I said, plastic, but you would never know it looking at it from a far. So lets see this project.

Cute right?! Would you know it was plastic if I hadn't told you it was? I love the way it turned out, and funnily enough, it was actually quite by accident. Lets get started.

What I gathered:
Frame
Spray Paint in Ballet Slippers Pink
Hot glue gun and glue
Cream card stock
Mod Podge
Clothes Pin
Picture
Paper Cutter
Foam Brush

First off I measured and cut my card stock to fit the frame, and then I glued that onto the cardboard backing with mod podge. I did not put a coat of mod podge over the card stock. I wanted the paper look, so I just let it be.

Once you have to mod podge on the backing, lay the card stock over it, and slide it around to make sure it lined up perfectly with the backing (so it will fit back into the frame).

After I did that I took my frame outside and and spray painted it with ballet slipper pink paint.

At first I was bummed because I was obviously going to have to spray a couple of coats so that the pink would cover up the gold. But then when it dried, I liked the way the gold peeked through. Cause it didn't look gold, it actually looked like I had painted it gray and then painted it pink. Perfect! So I just left it the way it was.

Once the paint was dry, I inserted the backing back into the frame, and glued on my clothes pin. I used a mini one, which you can find at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and it was already painted black from a previous project so I left it that color.

Once the glue for the clip was dry, I cut my photo to fit and clipped it on!! I used a 4x6 photo and only had to snip a tad off the bottom.



There it is sitting in my awesome pallet shelves... Love those things.

Well, once again, fast, easy, and cheap. Hope you enjoyed it!

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Movin it Monday {1}

Pin It OK, so I know January is almost over... But I'm kind of a procrastinator. It usually takes me the whole month of January to get going on my resolutions for the year. Well, like so many other people, one of my goals is to get into shape. Not just lose weight, but to become healthy again. That's the whole point. Its not the number on the scale, its how I feel and how my clothes fit. Yes its OK to have a goal number in mind, but the point is not to obsess about the number. Just be healthy. And now that I have a son, and we plan on having a second, I want to be a good role model for my family.

So let me share a little about myself. I graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Kinesiology. Which literally means, the study of movement. When I was in high school, I was an athlete. I played volleyball and softball, both in school and on club teams. Even though I'm a larger framed muscular person (I am 5'10 and weighed 150), I was always fit.

After I graduated high school, I stayed in shape by working out at the gym and by running. I became addicted to running. It was my salvation.

I was fit all through my freshman year of college, and then something happened. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it was like a switch was flipped in my brain. I began eating everything in sight and stopped working out. Needless to say I quickly gained weight. Over the next six years, I packed on 100 pounds. That's right. 100.

Its difficult to see that in print, but its the truth. And I want to tell the truth because I want to do something about it.

So you might be wondering to yourself, "how is it that a person who studied health and training could possibly be overweight?" Well I have wondered the same thing myself, and the truth is I don't have an answer. Like I said, it was like a switch was just flipped. Well now I want to flip it back. And I want to get healthy.

What're the steps Ive taken to do so, you ask? I joined Weight Watchers, and now I plan on sharing my diet and exercise program here with you, every week. So every Monday I will post 'Movin it Monday', in which I will share my workout for the week, and of course, every Sunday I post 'Savory Sunday' in which I share a recipe. Now, the recipe may or may not be a weight watcher or healthy recipe, but thats what those extra points are for, right ;)?

I want to be held accountable for doing these things, and I figure this might be one of the places I can hold myself accountable. And I want to share this journey so that others who may be struggling with getting healthy themselves, can maybe find the motivation they need.

So here is the workout I will be doing for the week. Its from Womens Health Magazine and you dont need ANY equipment for it. I love workouts like that. With my four month old son, I need to be able to do a workout in my house with little or no equipment. And this one is great.

Its a total body workout, and it uses your body weight to get the work done. Each week I will do a different workout, that way your body doesnt get too used to it, and by keeping your muscles guessing, you will reap the max benefits.

I hope this inspires you a little. And here's a little visual inspiration:

Now get off the couch and MOVE IT!

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