Cupcake in the Making

New Business...Super Stoked!!!

2011-06-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

I didn't think life could get any better. When I initially lost my job a year ago, after the shock wore off, I settled into life as a stay at home mom. Being home with my girls, getting involved with their school activities, finding a love for HGTV, and blogging....What more can a girl ask for??

As you have seen in my previous posts, I'm in DESPERATE need of a garage if I want to continue all of my projects...So the Mr. said that if I want a garage, I will need a job. Argh! We didn't want to put our girls back in daycare and go back to 7 PM dinners, etc, etc.

BUT... then I found Rodan + Fields Dermatologists! And after being with them for a short period of time (and I mean short, like less than a week) I am already feeling my life changing! I am so excited and the companies momentum is contagious!!!

What makes this opportunity with Rodan + Fields so unique and powerful:

Credibility of the Doctors

Proven leadership in both the skincare industry and in business --- Stanford trained dermatologists still practicing
Legacy of success and strong name brand recognition as the creators of Proactiv

Products that create results

Clinically proven - guaranteed results
Anti Age industry is a 2.5 billion dollar industry expected to double in next five years
What the doctors did for acne, they are now doing for aging skin and sun damage

Industry

The Doctors purposely chose direct selling as their business model because they are committed to independent business ownership. They are true entrepreneurs and want to help create successful entrepreneurs
14 million people in the US own a direct selling business and more millionaires are made in this industry than any other

Timing

Because this is a ground floor opportunity, we are able to take a lead position as we expand across the US, their is power in being first. Not to mention the momentum we will have when the company goes global
The company already has a millionaire and she leads our team and success leaves clues
In spite of the recession, Rodan + Fields grew over 400% and paid out more than 3.5 million in commissions in 2009. Last year the company grew by 1000 % and this year we are breaking all of last year's records.

So far my absolute FAVORITE product is the Anti-age regimen with the AMP MD...Can we say bye-bye botox??

Check out the before and afters

And this....

Anywho, if you are reading this and are interested (which I'm sure you will be!) Check out my websites!

If your interested in learning more about our Anti-Aging Regmin, visit me here
or

If you are interested in the business opportunity, visit me here
or

you can always contact me and I will get back with you asap!

Happy to be wrinkle free!

Jennifer :)

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Decide today how you are going to look tomorrow. Try a steady diet of intelliget skincare with Anti-Age.

Yay! Another Craigslist find!

2011-06-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I say "Yay!" to another craigslist find, but the Mr. isn't quite as excited as me...it's not my fault! Really...It's Design on a Dime's fault! You see, they were redoing a back patio to have a "beachy cottage" feel to it. AND, I thought how perfect would that be for our patio...I could be like a little extension of our family room :) They had found a china hutch, painted it white, distressed it and used it as an outdoor piece of furniture! Why haven't I ever thought about that! So, as you have probably guessed from the title of my post, that is exactly what I bought on Craigslist (insert big, happy, smile here).

So here she is in all her glory for $40

What did I do to her? Well, I used a litte of my beadboard wallpaper (I had been dying to try this out), switched out the leaded glass doors, and painted her white!!

What happened to the leaded glass you ask? Well I found some MDF in the clearance section of Home Depot for only $0.60! Using the leaded glass windows as a template, I jigged out the boards to fit. then added some beadboard wallpaper and tah-dah!

More beadboard on the buffett sections

and on the sides

LOVE IT!!

Oh, and for the knobs I used some rope and googled "how to tie a monkey's fist." A few tutorials and 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy later, I had a set of knobs! Yay!

So again, the before:

And After

Of course, the glass doors will be saved for another project...I don't know what yet, but I'm sure it will be something absolutely fabulicious!

Jennifer :)

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Decide today how you are going to look tomorrow. Try a steady diet of intelligent skincare with Anti-Age.

Beach Wall Art

2011-04-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

I have always liked my dining room, but HATED the wall art thingy that was hanging behind it...Now with this little addition, I think I can officially say "Yay! I'm done!!!"

As you probably remember from my headboard project, I had my plywood cut down (for free, remember!) which left me with a few extra pieces. So the extra pieces sat in my living for what seemed like a year (really, it was about 3 weeks) until I finally decided what I wanted to do with them. I knew I wanted something that looked a little like subway art, and I definitely wanted to use the names of the local beach cities.....Sooooo, this is what I came up with.

I started out with one of the leftover plywood pieces from my headboard project (so far, this project is free!)

Next paint...Not wanting to spend hardly any money at all on this project, I stumbled across the oops! section in the Lowes paint department and found this perfect color for only a buck!!

After 2 coats and letting it dry, it was time for some lettering. Now I have had my Cricut Cake for about 6 months it has been sitting in the closest, in its box the whole time. After toying with the idea of returning it for a Cricut Expression, I decided to research the possibility of the Cricut Cake cutting paper, vinyl, etc....Turns out it can and all you need is a different mat and different blade! Yay!!! What did I use for the lettering?? At first I was going to use vinyl but it was a little to pricey for my budget...Then I stumbled across a $3.99 roll of contact paper at the grocery store and Woo-Hoo!! It worked perfectly!

I typed and peeled, typed and peeled, typed and peeled (this took 1 episode of Army Wives, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters which were all recorded on the DVR) and of course also watched in amazement as my little machine was cutting away until I ended up with this:

Ahhhh...Isn't she pretty?? I was pretty happy with the way it looked before the coat of black! But it needed to be black to go on my brown wall....2 coats of black paint (leftover from all of the furniture projects) and then 45 minutes of peeling off all of my contact paper lettering and my wall art looked AMAZING!

I LOVE it!!!

Again, the before (see the metal thingy on the wall):

And the After:

And the old wall piece is now on the porch...I painted the frames using the some more of the paint from the $1 Oops can :) Much Better :)

Happy Spring Break Everyone!!!

Jennifer :)

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DIY Hollywood Regency Upholstered Headboard

2011-03-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

Yay!!! I have been dying to make this for our master bedroom and I just finished it. The best part about it was that it was super easy!

Step 1 - I went down to the hardware store and bought a piece of plywood and had them cut it to the size I wanted the headboard to be (most hardware stores do this for free!). I opted to have the headboard very tall so the dimensions were 64"X40" (we have a queen size mattress).

Step 2 - If you want your headboard to be tufted (like mine is) you will need to drill holes in your plywood.

I LOVE my drill...It's not very powerful but perfect for all of my little projects. The best part was that it was on clearance for on $17 and it came with a stud finder! SCORE! OK, back to the project...Mark on your board where you want your buttons to go and start drilling. Of course, I had to take ANOTHER trip to the store because the Mr. failed to tell me that all of his drill bits were dull (another story on why I couldn't use his drill) and after trying to drill the same hole for about 20 minutes (really it was probably about 1 or 2 minutes but it seemed like 20) he then shared that information with me...Ugh.

Step 3 - Once you have your wholes drilled, you are ready to glue the foam down. I decided to use 1" foam and I bought it 50% off almost a month ago (Thank you Joanns!).

I sprayed the whole board with spray adhesive and then laid the foam on top. You will need to trim the foam around the edges. The best (and easiest) way to do this is to use an electric knife.

Ahhh...Finally found it! Seriously, I spent more time digging around in my kitchen trying to find the electric knife than it took to complete the entire headboard! I have since then decided to store the knife with all of my DIY tools instead of in the kitchen. Next time I won't need to spend an hour looking for it...Problem solved :)

Step 4 - Once all the foam is trimmed, you will need to lay your fabric out on the floor, lay the batten on top, then lay your foam covered plywood on top (foam side down). Now you are ready to start stapling. Start in the middle of one of the sides and put in your first staple.

Continue stapling all across the first side. Once complete, switch and begin stapling (starting in the middle) of the adjacent side. Add more staples to your staple gun and continue stapling a bazillion staples along the other sides. **Important Note** - Make sure you don't pull your fabric too tight or it will pucker, you want it to be taught, not tight.

Step 5 - Now here comes the best part of the project...Tufting! OK, well it's best part because it gives the headboard a really expensive look, but this is by far the most time consuming part. If you choose not to do it, congrats, your now done! But if you do decide to do it, take a deep breath and realize that you are almost done!

You will need a needle, embroidery thread, your buttons (that you will sew on your headboard) and some random buttons (to hold the knot and keep your "decorative" buttons tight since now you want so show the puckering).

Luckily, I had this giant box of buttons on hand because the Diva needed A LOT of buttons for a 100 day of school project a few years ago :) Start by pushing your threaded needle throw the hole that you previously drilled into the board. Once through to the other side, attach your decorative button, and stick the needle back through to the other side....This is where it got really time consuming...No matter how big you drill the hole, it seems impossible to find with going back through the other direction. Thread your "random" button, and pull it REALLY tight before knotting it. NOTE ** When trying to tighten your thread/button, have your 6 year old princess push the button "in" to take the pressure off of the thread or it will snap. (Yes, this happened at least twice!)

If done correctly (pulling really tight to get the puckered look), the back will look like the above, and the other side will look like the below.

Isn't the fabric beautiful!!! (Also, 50% off at Joanns!)

Add some wall hanging brackets too the back and All Done!!! It's perfect! The exact look I wanted for my Hollywood Regency themed bedroom!!!

Ready for the sneak peak.....

Psst....Don't tell the Mr., but now I'm starting to re-think my bedding too....SHHH!

Jennifer :)

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Hello??? Are you still there??

2011-03-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I have been kinda "off the map" lately...Well, let's see...It all started with my princess receiving the "Flu" as present from one of her classmates (seriously, it lasted almost a whole week!), then softball started (I am lucky enough to be the princess' T-Ball coach!!), then the horrible disaster in Japan (favorite channels have changed from HGTV to CNN), and lastly the little princesses school project (yep, you guessed it! We have to make a leprechaun trap)...And, well there you have it...LIFE, it happened.

Anywho, even with all this, I still have a few projects in the works and hoping to post the finished products within the next week...OK, so I guess now I HAVE to post them since I just gave them a time line!

1st - Finishing the living room. Some of my family recently were in Hawaii (of course during the tsunami), and I am waiting for them to get back to finish off the final touches, then the BIG reveal!!

2nd - The Front Porch. Almost done...I am making some pillows for the bench that is on the porch and then maybe a moss monogram (like the one pictured below) to go above the bench.

(image from Pottery Barn)

3rd - The Patio. I almost have it completed, but I need to clear out an old, ugly filing cabinet (of course, I have been saying this for MONTHS!) and then I can add just a few finishing touches and it too will be done.

4th - Our Bedroom. All I really need is to actually make my new headboard (which I almost have all the supplies for) and it will basically be done :)

5th - Lunch Bags for the Diva and Princess. I have been asking both girls to bring home their Capri Sun packs so I can use them to make their new lunch bags. This is a very slow process since it seems that only 1 of 2 come home each day. Of course, I guess I could just buy a box of Capri Suns for $3 and dump all the juice out, but really...where is the fun in that???

So basically I have started a LOT of room makeovers/crafts in the house and then while the princess was sick, I got sidetrack in blogland and started a gazillion (yes, gazillion) other projects, and still haven't officially completed a single one.

Well, it time to hang up my "Super Procrastinator" cape and get to work!! Awesome stuff to come...I promise!!

Jennifer :)

Living Room Update

2011-03-04T00:09:00.000-08:00

So I've been working on my living room for quite some while now. My mom laughs because she asked if I'm going to be redecorating it on a weekly basis (hee hee, maybe!). Anywho, have been having a tough time with it. So, here is a sneak peak at what's been brewing.
It started off with this awesome Craigslist find (Please ignore the bizarre wicker lamp hanging in the middle...it was replace with something much better)

I know what your thinking...What in the world are you gonna do with that!?! Well, at least that is what the Mr. was thinking. It was only $60 and the seller offered to deliver it...Score, right!!!

So I painted it (still using the left over paint from the dining room), gave it some new hardware and lined the whole inside with this awesome shelf paper...Perfect! It's a desk/craft station all in one!!! So awesome and perfect since I've let the Mr. keep his man cave even though I would love to have an office/craft room (OK, maybe more a craft room than office) but this new cabinet is perfect!

After this I promised the Mr. that this was the last furniture project and that I wouldn't be turning our living/dining room into a garage anymore. BUT, then I found this set on craigslist!

A whole set, 2 side tables and a coffee table! The best part is they all have storage...Extra blankets to cuddle with, pillows, and board games all easily accessible right in the living room! The problem is that they would need to be painted....Oops! There goes that promise I previously made ;)

Ahh, beautiful!

And did I tell you that that the coffee table is a lift top??? What a bargain!!! Now the Mr. and I can have date night in front of the TV! Every man's dream, right?? (Kidding...he is much better than that)

On this set I did decide to keep all the original hardware which is where the spray paint came in handy...Love spray paint!!

OK, so that's the major furniture pieces. Next, I have to figure out how to blend my surfboard that hangs on the wall in the living room (again, more needs for a garage!) with the rest of the living room. So...drum roll please....Here is my sneak peak

Cute, right!!! I can't wait to show you the rest, but I have a few finishing touches to add...Stay tuned for the big reveal!

Jennifer :)

Houseplant Bowls

2011-03-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

I needed to add some greenery to my living room so out came the pottery barn catalog to get some ideas...I absolutely LOVE the way these little plants look! Not too tall and not too big...The perfect size!

Using the above picture as my inspiration I came up with these (Don't worry, the plant sticks are now removed...Oops!)

How did I make them....Well, that was the easiest part. In fact, I spent more time googling different ideas then I actually spent making them.

First I started out with a couple of small house ferns that I picked up at Home Depot for about $2 a piece

Then I went over to Michaels and found these cute little bowls for only $2.99

While I like the size of the bowl with the plant, I didn't like the way the plastic container looked. My options were to buy potting soil and re-plant the plants in the bowls, or figure out a way to hide them...Since I didn't want to deal with the dirt mess, I decided to cover them up. I dug through my craft box and found a bag of shells that my girls and I collected at the beach a few years ago and also a little baggy of river rocks. That settled it! I picked up one of the bowls, put the plant in the pot inside, and started shoving shells and rocks all along the sides of the pot until it was completely covered. So easy and sooo cheap! Total cost was under $6 each! How awesome is that !!!!

Jennifer :)

So many projects...so little time....

2011-02-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

I have so many projects that I want to finish and I just haven't had the time to start them. I had no idea becoming the Taxi driver for my girls could consume so much of my evenings! Anyways, below are some projects I plan on finishing in the next month.

This AWESOME lamp shade from Mama Says Sew

And this beautiful headboard from !Cheap Like A Birdie!

Redoing my kitchen barstools to something similar to these from Talking Dollars and Sense

And I still love these book bundles from Christina's Adventures

And these decor balls from House of Hepworths

Obviously there is A LOT of amazing ideas out there but these are a few of my favorites and are definetly on my To Do List! Time to get crafting!!!!

Jennifer :)

Dining Room Makeover

2011-02-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

My dining room table was a hand-me-down from my Dad's house. At the time all I really wanted was the hutch to house my HUGE collection of Disney snowglobes (I know, not the traditional way of using a china hutch, but I always thought of it as more of an oversized curio cabinet! LOL) Anywho, the hutch and table were honey oak color that was screaming 1984 and not really my thing, but served a purpose...until I started watching HGTV (love that channel). I saw them paint a dining room table and thought "Hey, I can do that!"

Only one major problem stood in the way, sanding! What! Sanding...I don't want to have to sand all of this to be able to paint it! Not to mention we don't have a garage which meant this all needed to be done in the house. Of course, that night I was on a mission to figure out how to re-do my 1984 dining set without sanding. After a few hours of research I fell in love with this site. Chris's inspiration was AMAZING!! Love, love, love it!!! And the best part was NO SANDING!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the way the dining room set looked before, but I did take quite of few of the process. Since we don't have a garage (hint, hint honey...I NEED a garage!) all of this had to be done where else, but the middle of the dining room. Of course the Mr. thought I had lost my mind and had forwarned me that if it came out like crap we were not going out and buying a new dining room set (I failed to mention that we were hosting Monday Night Football at our house that Monday and I had this crazy idea on Thursday). Me, being the over confident one, set out on the mission never looking back!

So our dining room was transformed to this:

Keep in mind that the only entrance to our kitchen is on the left hand side of this photo...Needless to say, the kids and I dined on McDonalds, doughnuts and PB&J's all weekend since we not only didn't have a place to eat but also no easy entrance to the kitchen (I know, I'm bound to win Mom of the Year award for that! LOL).

Then to this (you can kind of see a pic the "before" hutch on the right):

And this:

To finally this :)

Of course, I hadn't had my tablescape done yet, but this was good enough to have the guys over. Later I decided I hated the backs of the chairs staying the oak color so I painted them as well. Also when I did my tablescape, I decided that the antique brass pulls didn't work and I later switched them out to black round knobs.

I followed the directions exactly in Chris's post at Just a Girl and everything worked out perfectly! The only thing I would add is that the paint has to cure about a good week or two before it will become resistant to dings. I still think the key was in the primer. I will never change from Zissner's Cover and Stain...Plus now I am a huge fan of the Benjamin Moore paint. Worth every cent eventhough I had to call 4 different paint stores to find it and finally De Vaul paints in Santa Ana pulled through (yeah, that was fun trying to explain to the Mr. why I needed to go all the way to Santa Ana to buy paint when Ace hardware is across the street!)...Only took 2 coats to cover everything keeping in mind I used the cheap foam brushes from Wal-mart and a foam roller).

Total cost for the project:
Primer - $8
Paint - around $40 (I bought 2 cans because I wanted to make sure I didn't run out!)
Hardware - $30 from Lowes
Brushes and Roller - $10 (I bought a few extra roller brushes to switch in between coats)
Chair covers - $20 on clearance at JoAnns! I still have a few yards of extra!!

Total cost $118!!!
What a bargain for a whole new dining room set!!! Plus I had extra paint, primer, and brushes for future projects :) And yeah, the Mr. was very impressed with the final outcome ;)

No Mantle....That means a Holiday Tablescape!

2011-02-21T23:41:00.000-08:00

After reading so many different blogs about these amazing mantles that everyone decorates for the different holidays, I was really upset that we do NOT have a mantle. What is one to do without a mantle?? Decorate your dining room table!

This was my before table....Never liked it, but it was functional

There were 2 main things that came to thought when I decided to do this....First, it had to be CHEAP and it had to be interchangable. And then my transformed my table into this:

The most expensive piece on this table is the runner...BIG splurge at Target for $17 (Later, I realized I could have cut a piece of burlap and got the same effect)! A breakdown of the pieces are as follows:

Runner - $17
Lanterns - $7 each
Apothecary jars - $6 each
Large Vase - $5 (a clearance bargain!)
Branches - $7
Vase fillers - $12 (combination of coffee beans from Trader Joes and vase filler from Ikea)

GRAND TOTAL - $67

I know that sounds expensive but I am able to switch out the decor every month to match the holiday for under $5 using the dollar aisles at Target and Michaels...To me that is money well spent!

The above picture was for Valentines Day...Below is what I have done for St. Patricks Day

I love it!!!

So many options....hmmmmm

All in all, I absolutely love it and it isn't overkill...Which is good otherwise I don't think I would have had the Mr. on board for this project!

Stay tuned, I'll post more soon!!!

Jennifer :)