Monica Wants It: A Lifestyle Blog

Dahlicious Smoothies {Health Giveaway}

2012-01-26T19:54:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone! I know you’re all waiting with baited breath to see my oak vanity transformed into an espresso beauty. Right? If you’re not, don’t tell me. If you have no idea what I am talking about, then you must not be a fan of Monica Wants It on Facebook.

Go like me. I’ll wait.

But today I have a quick review and giveaway for all of you. A few weeks ago the lovely people at Dahlicious Lassi contacted me to see if I wanted to try some of their smoothies. Who would say no to yummy smoothies? Not I. They sent me one of each flavor, and I liked them. A lot.

Photo Courtesy of Dahlicious Lassi

My husband tried the banana flavor, and he liked how it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet. I am the one who has a sweet tooth, but I will say that although these smoothies aren’t super sweet, they are tasty. They don’t have the faux sweetness kinda flavor nor are they too runny or chunky. The texture feels like a blended fruit would. Natural, mild, easy to drink on the go. It’s also gluten free, low calorie and has LOADS of probiotics to help with digestion and all that jazz.

And the folks over at Dahlicious were kind enough to send me 5 coupons so my lovely readers could try these smoothies out. My fave? The mango is divine. Addicted I tell you. I think they’re a perfect option for a quick, low cal breakfast or snack.

So, want to try some? I have 5 free bottles to give out, so I am going to give out 5 prizes. You can find these at Whole Foods, so if you have one of those nearby you should be able to find them quite easily.

Giveaway Rules:

1.) Leave a comment telling me which flavor you’d love to try.

2.) US Residents only, sorry!

3.) Smile. :-D

Giveaway is open until next Friday, February 3rd at noon.

Shot of Espresso {DIY Dream Kitchen}

2012-01-18T08:46:00.000-06:00

Source: Houzz.com with credit given to the designer in lower right hand corner. Notes/arrows added by me w/my fancy schmancy iPad app.

What do the above kitchens have in common other than the fact they are not in house?

I’ll give you a hint: they’re tall, dark and handsome.

Espresso cabinets.

Lurve.

Oh my sweet kitchen heavens, dark cabinets to me are like a cupcake covered in the most divine chocolate glaze ever. And the shiny hardware is the equivalent of sprinkles. Glorious shiny sprinkles.

I covet thee.

Actually, covet might not be a strong enough word. It’s always been a dream of mine to have dark espresso cabinets. However, I’ve watched enough HGTV to know that my first home wouldn’t be my dream home, so these are the cabinets I currently have (with the previous owners stuff still in the picture).

Oak. Lotsa oak. I hate it. Don’t get me wrong, the cabinets are fairly new, and they’re super tall up top and I am so grateful for all the space they offer us. However, I’d love them more if they were prettier.

I sound like a mean teenage boy, right? “I like her, but only if she were brunette.”

But yes. That’s how I feel.

What to do? Well, my plan A was to win the lottery and build my dream home, but since that isn’t panning out, I need another plan. A realistic one, perhaps? Sure. Yeah.

Therefore, I did what I always do and went to google after watching way too many episodes of I Hate My Kitchen on DIY Network. Dangerous, I tell you, when I watch that stuff all day. I get too many ideas. Do you all do that, too? Well, I came upon a fantastic forum featuring lovely people who have done exactly what I want to do. The queen of them all is Celticmoon. If I could meet her in person, I’d probably say, “I’m not worthy!” and bow down.

Here’s her before & after. Can you believe that’s the same kitchen? I wish she had bigger photos to share, but even in these small ones you can tell a MAJOR difference. The biggest change? The cabinets. Not literally, but just the color since they’re the exact same cabinets. GORGEOUS. You can ooh and aah her photos here and see her instructions here.

Now my DH isn’t onboard with me going at it and trying it on the kitchen cabinets right away, so we agreed I’d try it on the bathroom vanity first. So I took a drawer, followed her instructions with a few modifications and here are my results:

Vanity before:

First coat:

Second Coat:

Third & final coat + hardware:

SQUEE.

Isn’t it just what I wanted? Yes. So, what’s the point of this post, then? I think I need some reassurance that it looks good and that I am not going to ruin my kitchen. I’ll be honest, the price is right and the time/work effort is low. The prep of the door took 2 minutes and to apply each coat took 2-3 minutes tops. That’s a total of 10-15 minutes. The longest part of this process is waiting 24 hours for each coat to dry, but that’s cool.

Supplies: To do my entire kitchen it’d likely cost about $100 worth of supplies for all the 30 cabinet doors, 10 drawers + cabinet frames & molding.

Time: If I do this during spring break from March 10th-18th, I could conceivably revamp my whole kitchen in a week including the 2 poly coats to protect the cabinets. Also, the weather will be more normal at that time, so I could wait 12 hours between coats instead of 24.

Value: Is it a good value to do this? Do buyers like espresso kitchens more than standard oak ones?

Hardware: We already have the pulls we want for the 10 drawers, but we would need 30 new cabinet knobs at about $2 each (I found some I love on eBay).

Backsplash: We’d need a light, bright backsplash to make it all really snazzy and not too dark. I am hoping we could get the backsplash done for around $500 or less. Maybe white subway tile?

Lighting: We already replaced our old fluorescent box light with a satin nickel track light that is stunning.

TOTAL COST: $700ish for a total new look for our kitchen cabinets

Good investment? I think so. I hope.

Would this be a tutorial you all would be interested in? I plan on documenting the whole process to hopefully inspire others to get rid of the oak, if you wanna.

And just for good measure, here’s another before & after showing the same methods I used (though I went a shade darker by doing 3 coats).

Is there something I’m not thinking of? I can’t wait to hear from you all in the comments.

Restoration Hardware Furniture {DIY Tutorial}

2012-01-17T08:17:00.000-06:00

In a happy, magical place there exists a Monica who can buy Restoration Hardware furniture without having to save up for 6 months.

I am not that Monica. Darn it.

I am the Monica who has to scour Goodwill, garage sales and thrift stores to find secondhand furniture with potential. It’s a thing I love to do and hate to do all at the same time. But when I score, I score big.

The goods: 2 Goodwill nightstands I bought for $6.50 each back in 2010.

The task: Make them look kinda like these nightstands. (ie: dentil detail, weathered gray/reclaimed wood look…but kinda glam)

From Restoration Hardware, $1045 each.

From Overstock, $690 each

The supplies:

-Nightstands (mine were laminate + wood)

-2 cans of flat white spray paint (the 98-cent Walmart kind will do)

-Latex paint (I chose a dark gray/brown color: Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams in a satin finish)

-Sand paper

-3” paint brush

-Tack cloth

-Cheesecloth or a lint-free rag

-Optional: replacement hardware

Okay, let’s get started. My nightstand was made of mostly laminate (top/sides) yet the drawers have a wood front. I didn’t treat the wood differently than the laminate. Also, this method is fool proof. Anyone can do this. Even you. Yes, you.

You need to scrub down your furniture to make sure it is clean. Super clean. I usually use Lysol wipes for that step. Also, if there are any holes/pieces that need to be filled/glued do that now. One of the side pieces broke off to one of the nightstands, so we just put that sucker on there with liquid nails. I also needed to drill new holes for the handles, so I filled those holes, too.

Now we’re ready to sand.

It may look a little crazy when you sand, but it’ll all be ok. Generally try to go in the direction of the grain/faux grain.

Wipe off all sawdust with tack cloth. I do this twice to make sure it’s dust free.

Now, we prime. Here’s my most favorite primer- the 98-cent can from Walmart. I used about 1.5 cans for my 2 nightstands. Apply one coat (lightly) to the nightstand + drawers. I do use the spray paint adapter thing (seen below in black) so my finger doesn’t hurt when using cheap spray paint. Best $2 investment ever.

It will look splotchy. Don’t cry. This is normal. :) You do not want a solid white finish.

Let the first coat of primer dry about 20-30 minutes, then do a 2nd coat. It will still look splotchy. This is ok. It will be fine, I swear.

Ok, so once both coats of primer are dry (spray 1st coat, wait 20 minutes, spray 2nd coat, wait 30 minutes), you can paint. Sort of. What you’re going to do is get your brush, dip it into the paint ever so slightly and start brushing it onto the nightstand. This is almost dry brushing (as in, do not saturate your brush with paint).

My gorgeous paint color: Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams.

Here’s an example of what it should look like. You can tell I’ve brushed on some paint in the top half of the photo, while the bottom half illustrates how the nightstand looks with just primer.

But what happens if you get too much paint on your brush and onto the nightstand? Just wipe some off (GENTLY!) I used some cheesecloth for this and it worked well. Do one coat of the dry brushing, let it dry for about 30 minutes and then do coat 2. You can basically do as many or as little coats as you’d like. For my nightstands I did 3 light, light coats. I love.

I then brought them inside to make sure they were both about the same color. They won’t be identical, but that’s ok with me for this project.

And now they have their spot in their new home (our master bedroom) and they got some fancy hardware from Hobby Lobby.

That lamp is getting a makeover, too. For now, it stays black.

The smooth, satin finish is lovely. You could also add poly after the paint has dried. I am lazy and haven’t done so yet, but I likely will. Maybe.

Love the dentil finish. Makes it look a bit nicer, while the curves on the bottom make it look a little shabby chic.

And there you have it! A fool proof tutorial on how to achieve that coveted Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn/Ballard Designs weathered gray reclaimed wood kinda thing. Whew. That’s a lot of words. I want to remind you that it works on wood or laminate furniture, and it’s so cheap compared to buying this stuff from a store.

Restoration Hardware price: $1045+ each ($2030+ for a pair)

Monica’s Luxe for Less price: $20 each ($40 for the pair)

That’s almost TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS in savings. Fist pump.

Is this something you’d try out? I can only imagine how great this would look on a buffet or kitchen table. Let me know if you try out my tutorial!

Be back tomorrow with some more painting/staining questions. I think I need y’alls help.

And I leave you all with a cute picture of Pee Wee…look at those eyes. I melt.

Pee Wee’s Goodie Basket {#ILoveMyk9 #CBias

2012-01-05T19:29:00.001-06:00

And I’m back! Sorry for the lack of posts lately…I’ve had an 18 day vacation from work, and I just returned to work from said 18 day vacation. Pooped. I am pooped. Luckily, thanks to getting Pee Wee his annual gift basket filled with LOTSA goodies from Walmart, at least I know the dog is taken care of. So, last week I showed you all the goods, and today I’m going to share with you Pee Wee’s excitement. It’s adorbs. I know some people think dogs are dogs, but Pee Wee (and all dogs) have a personality uniquely their own. Pee Wee is a diva (yes, he’s a boy, but a diva nonetheless), professional napper and the sweetest, most loving dog ever. Although if I try to clip his nails one more time, I’m sure he’d put me up on Craigslist if he could.

Glad he can’t. Might be the lack of opposable thumbs.

I went shopping for his annual gift basket, and got home and was trying to figure out a way to arrange it nicely. Now, Pee Wee doesn’t care how it looks, but since it had a place under our beautiful Christmas tree, it needed to look nice.

Lots of Milk-Bone® products along Pup-Peroni, Oster Oatmeal Natural Wipes, auto waterer, Oster Nail Trimmer, Hartz Bath Towel, American Dog Outfitters Toy, etc. If you want to see more of the goodies and why I bought them, you can view my album here.

I also bought a plastic storage container to hold all the stuff in decoratively during the holidays and functionally when I needed to put it all away.

Pup-Peroni is Pee Wee’s favorite treat. Hands down. He goes nuts for these Milk-Bone® treats, too, which is fine with me since they come with a $2 coupon you can use to buy Milo’s Treats or Pup-Peroni.

Using some tissue paper, I arrange it all in the plastic organizer bin.

I grab a sparkly bow and some dog-themed ribbon to wrap around the bin. I secure it in place with double-sided tape.

And then I place it under the tree for Pee Wee to inspect.

“This is all for me? Omg. Seriously? Thanks.” (that’s what I imagine he’s saying in the picture below)

“I’m opening this now, you know.”

“The coast is clear…”

Success!!

Those are the best pictures I got because he was moving insanely fast! His fave part of the goodie basket were the Milk-Bone® products followed by the green alien toy.

His least favorite? The bath products!

Oh well.

And, because Pee Wee is super thoughtful, he got his dad a Christmas gift, too. (Also from Walmart!)

A super sweet card + a framed photo of a beautiful father/son moment. I snapped this moment in time right before my husband graduated with his bachelor’s degree last month. This photo? My heart melts y’all. I love those 2 so much. So much.

Overall, I’d say Pee Wee loves the holidays and loves his goodie basket. Ain’t he a cutie? I had to get myself something, so I snapped this picture and framed it. This is Pee Wee laying on my tufted coach…ya know, the one he is not allowed on. Kids these days.

Love him. <3

Do you think your pet has quirky personality traits? What is your pet’s most favorite treat?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias #ILoveMyk9

Doggie Gift Basket {#ILoveMyk9 #CBias}

2011-12-29T08:01:00.000-06:00

Every year my husband and I buy Pee Wee items he’ll need in the new year. We do this because he usually gets his annual shots around December/January, so we take the opportunity to make sure Pee Wee is set for the new year with some fun stuff and some necessary stuff. And we usually buy these items and give them to Pee Wee as his Christmas gift. We like to think he appreciates the gesture and all the fabulous goodies we get for him.

We hope.

This year, I unfortunately waited until the last minute to go shopping for my baby boy. As in, I was at Walmart at 1 pm on Christmas Eve in cold rain trying to get his gift basket done. I had to have something under the tree for him! First, I went to get some liquid courage and set off to get this basket done.

Walmart has a great pet section, and although the dog-related items are only about 2 full aisles worth, I easily found everything Pee Wee could want or need to stock up on for the new year. I wanted to show you all some of the items I picked out because they would be great for you if you have a pet, or if you got a dog for Christmas or if you need to buy some gifts for someone with a dog. I will personally vouch for all the products I picked out since they’ve been used on my sweet dog Pee Wee.

Y’all ready to shop?

The first thing I always gravitate towards is fun stuff: toys, clothes and anything that squeaks.

The good thing about the fun stuff is that most dogs/owners will be able to enjoy them (without having to worry about allergies and such) so you don’t need to think about it too much. Just make sure it’s gender/breed/size appropriate, and you’ll be set. Pee Wee loves turtle neck sweaters, small toys that he can hide and I love good prices. The above gray sweater was only $5.44 and the green alien toy was only 97-cents. At Walmart, most clothes for dogs was about $5-$10 and toys were about 97-cents to $5. You get a lot for your money.

Then you also need to stock up on items to de-stinkify your pup. Therefore, my next category is bath products for the pooch. Between walks outside, peeing on trees and licking themselves silly, they will smell. Bad. But there are lots of ways to combat their stench.

This item caught my eye, though I didn’t buy it. We do have a shower wand that I can use to easily bathe Pee Wee, but if you don’t, maybe this is a good option?

My dog has sensitive skin and lots of allergies, so if at all possible I try to buy shampoo that is natural or without a lot of stuff in it that will irritate his coat/skin. This line by Oster has a ton of great scents and is made from natural ingredients. I prefer Sulfodene shampoo for Pee Wee, but I did snag the wipes for those days when he needs a refresher since I can’t just Febreze the dog, right? It was $4.97 for 80 wipes.

Another must have for any dog owner is an absorbent towel. This one was about $2 and is perfect for most small to medium sized dogs. And Pee Wee is going to hate me for saying this, but a good nail clipper is essential to maintain your dog’s nails. We’ve tried about 10 different nail clippers over the span of Pee Wee’s 6 years on earth, and these are the easiest type to use. Bonus? They have a guard to help you not cut the quick in the nail and make your dog want to put you on Craigslist. ;-)

Moving onto the next section: practical items for any dog.

If you ever decide to buy your dog or any dog a bed, please make sure it is washable! Why? Revisit the de-stinkify your dog section above. They smell, their bed smells= you need to wash them both regularly.

And to round out the practical items, I also picked up an automatic water bowl (Daniel has been wanting Pee Wee to get one of these for awhile) and a collar and leash combo. We constantly lose Pee Wee’s leashes, so to have it be an all-in-one is really neat. It’s also nice to not have to worry about neck size if you’re wanting to pick up a collar as a gift for a dog or pet owner.

So, we’ve done the fun stuff, the bath stuff and the practical stuff, this leaves the best and most important category for last…TREATS!

No doggy gift basket would be complete without lots and lots of treats. I love giving treats to Pee Wee to help reinforce good behavior or simply to distract him from barking at squirrels during my TV shows. Whenever I look for treats, I try to find some that seem like they’d be tasty and a good size for Pee Wee to be able to chew/eat.

My choice? Milk-Bone® small biscuits! This box was only $2.50, came with more than usual and includes a $2.00 coupon to use when you buy any Milk-Bone® product + Pup-Peroni or Milo’s Treats. My local Walmart didn’t have any Milo’s treats in stock, but I didn’t sweat it because Pee Wee adores all the varieties of Pup-Peroni.

With the coupon, it makes the Pup-Peroni only 48-cents! What a deal. And they even have lean varities of Pup-Peroni if your dog is trying to lose a few. Aren’t we all?

Finally, I need a basket to put all these goodies in. But I also wanted something I could use to hold all of his stuff in, so I went to the storage and organization section to choose a bin rather than a decorative basket. I’m all for functional.

After that marathon shopping session, I headed back out into the rain and back home to put it all together…and you’ll see how it all looked once I put it together and gave it to my sweet Pee Wee next week. But for now, what items do you consider a must have for any dog? Are there any I missed? I’m always looking for awesome products for my buddy, so please do share. If you want to see even more ideas and items to include in a dog gift basket, you can check out my Google+ album here with ideas not in this blog post. Won’t you take a look?

And now I am off to try to clip my dog’s nails. Wish me luck! Is there an easy way to trick them into loving the experience? A girl can dream!

See? He loves turtleneck sweaters.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias #ILoveMyk9

I feel ashamed. {Weight Loss}

2011-12-28T16:49:00.001-06:00

Today’s post will not be about glitter, room makeovers or any of that kind of stuff. Instead it will be about how I completely and utterly failed this year at the one thing I wanted most.

To be skinny/thin/healthy/~~Jessica Alba’s Twin~~

As of this morning I am actually 2 pounds heavier than I was a year ago. This means in the span of one year, I lost 30 pounds and gained 32 back. Yes. That’s awful. Yes. I feel horrible.

I want to cry.

Because of my recent weight gain this past month (where I’ve put on about 10 pounds…TEN!) even my fat pants don’t fit. This means I need fat-ter pants. I went in search of fatter pants, and nothing fit right. Nothing looked right. I was even willing to go up a size and not give a rat’s ass about the number on the tag.

AND NOTHING FIT.

I wanted to die. Right there in that dressing room. But how sad would it be to read about a woman dying in the Cato dressing room? Very sad. I don’t truly want to die, of course not, that’s insane, but I am so tired of battling my weight. I’ve been battling this all my life. And I don’t think I’m ever going to win.

Y’all. I don’t know. I simply don’t know. What is wrong with me? Why am I at my all time highest weight EVER? How? Why? WHY DID I LET THIS HAPPEN? Again. AGAIN!

I honestly don’t even know how to put my sadness, shame and hatred of my body into words. I look at myself in the mirror and I think to myself, “You let yourself go, Monica.” And women who do that sorta thing usually at least have an excuse. They just had kids, they are having a rough patch in life, they just experienced loss. And me? Well, life is fan-freakin-tastic to be honest with you. I have really nothing majorly wrong except that I am pretty sure my mother-in-law hates my guts.

So why I am fatter?

Is it all the eating out? Probably. Is it all the drinking? Possibly. Is it all the lack of exercise? Definitely. Do I know what I need to do? Not really. What I’ve done is gone balls to the wall for the first 3 months of the year and then give up the Nazi regime I’ve created for myself because I can’t do it anymore.

I am lazy. Like just pure lazy. I don’t want to workout, I want to do nothing that requires effort. Am I depressed? Perhaps. About what? No clue. I have a wonderful husband, beautiful home and lovely friends. And a gorgeous, adoring dog. This would be enough to motivate anyone to get into shape and live life a little fuller and longer.

And here I sit with a diet coke and pan de polvo cookies. Which are made with Crisco. Which is getting me further and further from my goal of feeling like a beautiful, confident and healthy 20-something woman.

I don’t know. I simply don’t know.

Merry Christmas {#TysonGoodness}

2011-12-25T22:56:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a beautiful day with your family and friends. How am I?

Well…Dear lord I am exhausted today. And I’ve been exhausted all week because we’ve been working on our master bedroom closet makeover. And it looks fabulous, we’re 80% done and I couldn’t be happier with how it looks.

The only way we’ve made it through the week is with quick dinners, one of them being Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches. (Click on the link to see if your local Walmart stocks them)

Eating out can get expensive, cooking can take forever (and mess up my clean kitchen!), so thank goodness for these mini chicken sandwiches. You can cook a pair in 2 minutes flat, and boy they do taste good. I am sure we’ve all had the frozen chicken entrées that look more like a sponge and taste nothing like chicken. Oh and the bread is good, too. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

Proof that it looks like chicken:

These aren’t like that. With 8 to a box, these were our Christmas Eve fourth meal (fourth meal= when you’ve had 3 meals, but are up so late you require a 4th) and they also were a dinner earlier this week when we had been Christmas shopping all morning, working on the closet all afternoon and just wanted to eat and sleep and be done. And they were also a quick snack before a party (I was starving and couldn’t wait to eat…oops).

That’s 12:36 am on Christmas Day when I was up making these sandwiches. I was eating by 12:40.

I know some of you may be wondering what the calorie info on these lovely sandwiches is (for a pair/2), and here’s the info. They’re not super low calorie, but they’re a great alternative to going out and having burgers/fries or pizza (both in calories and cost).

I like that these came with the cheese on them, and they really did cook up nice and juicy in 2 minutes flat. I had these with some chips for one meal and for another I had them with some leftover mashed potatoes. They go with pretty much anything. You can also fancy them up with lettuce, tomato and mustard, but I like them as is.

Easy, quick dinner after work, during crazy holidays or when you just feel lazy. And boy do I sometimes just feel lazy when I am off from work and doing a million and one things.

So from my kitchen to yours, these are a great timesaver and affordable. Also, when you buy 2 boxes of these lovelies you can get a $5 Walmart giftcard! If you’d like to see how my shopping trip went, you can view it over on my Google+ album.

$5 Walmart giftcard offer details:

Three easy steps to receive your Walmart Gift Card:

BUY any two (2) Tyson® Mini Chicken Sandwiches (8 count).
ATTACH your original Walmart cash register receipt, dated between 10/31/11 and 1/13/12, containing the address of the Walmart store, the purchase date, and the purchased products of either Tyson® Mini Chicken Sandwiches or Tyson® Mini Chicken Sandwiches with Cheddar Cheese all circled, THIS COMPLETED FORM, AND
MAIL to: Tyson® Chicken Walmart Gift Card Offer, 35610 Mound Road, Dept. 2030, Sterling Heights, MI 48310-4725. Envelope must be postmarked by 2/13/12; received by 2/20/12.

Product must be purchased by 1/13/12. Offer expires 1/13/12 or when supply of gift cards runs out, whichever occurs first. Supplies limited to 2,000 Walmart Gift Cards.

They’re easy to find in the freezer section at participating Walmarts.

I’ll be sending in my receipt for sure. That essentially makes it a BOGO free kind of offer since one box is $5.14.

Basically quick dinners helped us knock this project out…I will do a full reveal, but for now you’ll have to settle for a sneak peek!

Squee.

Well, it’s late here in Texas, so I am going to go cuddle with my hubby and Pee Wee. We wish you all a very Happy Holiday! xoxo.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias #TysonGoodness

Latina Smart Ambassador {Education & Culture}

2011-12-23T11:53:00.001-06:00

Well, my time as a Latina Smart Ambassador is wrapping up, and I wanted to take some time to reflect on the experience. It was truly wonderful to get to be a part of something that is so positive and makes a difference in women’s lives by providing scholarships. I had the privilege, and I truly do consider it a privilege, to help judge the entries to select the top 20. Reading and viewing all those entries helped fuel the fire within me that I sometimes put out inadvertently. That spark for life, change, education and success that we neglect or ignore because it requires effort and work.

Well, Latina Smart reminded me that with effort and work, anything is possible. The women that entered the scholarship contest have that spark I mentioned above, and because of them the Latina culture will be better. We’ll have more opportunities, more awareness and more impact on people’s lives.

I know don’t write much about being Latina on these pages, but it’s not ever something I ever forget about. Culture is something that is important to me because my mom and grandma have always instilled that in me. My culture is something I think about when preparing holiday meals: I am so excited to get to eat tamales, bunuelos and pan de polvo in this next week! Delicious. My culture is also something I think about when I reflect on memories with my grandmother who passed away 5 years ago on Christmas Eve. The Latina culture is in my heart and soul, and I can’t thank Latina Smart enough for really helping me get down to my roots.

My mom, myself and my granny back in 2005.

Being an ambassador was just what I needed at a time when I felt down and uninspired. That spark is back, and sometimes when it flickers away for a moment, I think of all the women I’ve met through my Latina Smart ambassador journey and I feel alive again.

Thanks Latina Smart for the opportunity of a lifetime.

You can follow the Latina Smart community over on Facebook and on Twitter.

Elmer’s Winner #gluenglitter {Win the Wall Giveaway}

2011-12-20T18:49:00.001-06:00

This is going to be quick because I have a closet system I am working on…oh the madness. MADNESS I tell you.

But I did want to announce the winner of the giveaway! I verified entries and after all that jazz, the lucky, lucky person is…

Her comment was the following:

Tracey, I hope this prize pack helps you and your son create lots of projects and memories in 2012. Congrats!

You have 24 hours to contact me via email at monicawantsit @ gmail.com

Congrats!

Now back to that closet system for me… oy!

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #ElmersHoliday #gluenglitter #Looks4Less #collectivebias #CBias.

Night on the Town {Serve by American Express}

2011-12-20T13:39:00.001-06:00

This post is sponsored by Serve from American Express. Sign up for Serve and receive $10 credit towards your first use. Comment below within the next 7 days for your chance to win an extra $100 credit to your account!

I love hanging out my friends, especially during the hectic holiday season or after a long work week. It’s fun to cut loose and unwind and get dressed up for a bit. I love to go out with Daniel, Candy and Todd to our local pub because it’s low key and the drink specials are awesome.

Basically any excuse to hang out with my friends and wear sparkly earrings while drinking Long Island Iced Teas=FUN.

But sometimes we go to places where they don’t split the check properly or they won’t split the check at all (why?!), so there’s that awkward, “Um, so I’ll pay you back when I have cash…is that ok?” or “Do you have change for a $20 since my part was only $14?” moment that can put a damper on an otherwise fun night at the pub (as shown above after quite a few drinks…).

Enter Serve from American Express. Now you can instantly pay your friends back while you’re at the table. You can even pay them the exact amount. You can send them the money instantly and they can receive it instantly if you all have Serve accounts. Bonus? You get $10 in your account just for signing up, and you can earn a bonus $50 by referring friends. And I am sure you have lots of friends you go out with, right?

More pictures of us having way too much fun, or drinks, maybe both.

In the time it takes me to send a text message, I had sent my pals money right to their Serve accounts. Minus the one who has to send in some documentation to get their account up and running… but for most people signing up for Serve takes less than 10 minutes. You will also get a Serve card in the mail that you can use anywhere American Express is accepted. Now that I have my friends set up with Serve, it’ll make going to lunch or pitching in for the office gift exchange that much easier.

And even better? One of you can get a $100 credit to your Serve account! Just enter by leaving a comment on this blog post with what you’d love to use $100 on after you sign up for your Serve account and leave me a way to contact you (e-mail preferred). Even if you don’t win the $100 credit, you do get $10 just for opening up an account.

Remember to sign up for Serve and receive $10 credit towards your first use. Comment below within the next 7 days for your chance to win an extra $100 credit to your account! Official sweepstakes rules and regulations may be found by clicking here. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Decorate It Forward #KmartHolidays {Décor}

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love to decorate, and with the exception of being overwhelmed at the thought of outdoor lights, I find it a joy to deck the halls of my home for Christmas. However, I realize not everyone can or is able to decorate even a simple Christmas tree during the holidays. I firmly believe every family should have a tree in their home, especially if you have little ones.

So, my task was simple. Find a family in need of some beautiful holiday décor in the form of Christmas tree trimmed with gorgeous bows, glass ornaments and sparkly shoes… and I found the perfect family! Well, my in-laws did because they know everyone in this small town, so again, thank you!

The family owns a local adult daycare in our town. As you can imagine, running an adult daycare center is especially difficult because of the needs of the elderly. Well, given that they care so much about the people they serve everyday, they’ve spent all their energy and time to decorate the adult daycare center to spread holiday cheer there. Also, they’re coordinating a Christmas dance for the people that attend their center. With all the planning, working and efforts they’ve put into that, they weren’t going to put up their tree this year. At all. The horror.

Until I came along.

This past Monday, I grabbed the huge box of velvet visions tree decorations that Kmart sent over to me to decorate it forward and make someone’s holiday a little brighter.

I didn’t do this alone though…my husband, sister and brother all lent a hand to make this a beautiful tree for a beautiful and deserving family!

My little brother, Gabriel, unwrapping all the sparkly shoes one-by-one. Look at how happy he looks. Love him!

My gorgeous little sister unboxing all the gold french horns and trumpets that came in the kit.

And my husband was busy putting up all the glass ornaments:

While I fluffed up all the bows (boy were there lots of bows!)

After we were done, we had a beautiful tree!

And I also rubbed off the decorate it forward message to my 2 teenage siblings. It’s always good for teens to help give to their community/others. And? We all had a great time.

To me Decorating it Forward meant to think of someone else who may be in need this holiday season. And boy did it feel good. :) Have you done something nice for someone this holiday season?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias

Holiday Entertaining {Girls Night In}

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

I love going out with my girls. There’s a local pub that is fantastic and fun to go to here in town. It’s low key and yummy…and expensive. A margarita is $7. A long island iced tea is $6. Yowzers.

This is why those sorts of outings are far and few between. Instead the BFF and I love to have girls night in. We’re actually having one this Friday, and I thought it’d be cool to give you all some ideas of how we plan our night in so maybe you can host something similar with your girlfriends. The great thing about girls night in is that they are usually affordable, FUN, and PJ’s are considered couture fashion (AKA: totally acceptable!)

Entertainment:

-We love renting games from Redbox. At $2 a night, this is a fun way for us to look like total dorks doing Mario & Sonic Winter Olympics 2012. For what it’s worth, we take it super seriously and also for what it’s worth, I suck at the rhythmic ribbon competition. Also? We get super psyched & competitive. Here’s a girls night in photo from earlier this year.

Megan was very excited to win that Mario Kart race.

-Watch cheesy chick flicks. Our recent favorites? Burlesque, Bridesmaids and Dirty Dancing. This is a good time to scour your DVD collection and dust off an oldie but goodie. Or again, Redbox is your friend.

-Talk. We talk a lot (right, Candy?) about anything and everything. And sometimes, that is truly the best entertainment.

Food & Drink:

-Pizza is always an economical choice. Locally, we have a place that offers pizza for $5.55 or Domino’s usually has carry out for $6.99. Another thing we’ve also done a lot of is BYON: Build your own nachos. One friend will bring tortilla chips, I’ll brown up some taco meat, another brings some queso and everyone else brings other toppings or drinks.

-We love to create our own cocktails. Usually they involve 1 liquor of our choice (lately it’s been cake or whipped cream flavored vodka) + soda. This keeps it simple, cheap and tasty.

-Or if you don’t want to bother with food, you could ask everyone to bring a dessert. Someone brings cookies, someone brings ice cream. The point is that everyone can pitch in, which makes it easy on the checkbook and stress free.

Location:

-Whether it’s at your house or your BFF’s, the main things I focus on are the 3 S’s: seating, scents and stuff.

Seating: have ample seating for your guests to be comfy and lounge.
Scents: If you don’t have time to clean your house before your girls arrive, scented candles are your best friend. Plus, instant décor!
Stuff: Make sure you have plenty of stuff to eat & drink and stay entertained.

I hope those ideas help inspire you to host a girls night in. Hey, you can even host one and have them help you wrap gifts before Christmas. A girls night in is affordable, no fuss but much fun. Get to planning!

The above photo is of my girlfriends getting ready for their Mario Kart race to start. Look at how prepared they all are…love them. :)

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Christmas Décor 2011 {Living Room & Breakfast Nook}

2011-12-13T16:26:00.001-06:00

Today I am quite proud to show you all my Christmas décor in the living room and breakfast nook. Later on this week, I’ll show you all the décor in my dining/office space. I am so excited! I worked many hours on fine tuning the décor to fit our silver/gold colors, and I hope you enjoy. Won’t you step inside?

Oh and these 2 guys? Not much help. But aren’t they cute?!

Our Christmas tree… ta-dah!

The tree is primarily silver/gold/crystal ornaments, but I did add in some black for some drama.

Love these plastic crystal-ish ornaments from the Michael’s $1 spot.

Our holiday mantle + some pillar candles in our fireplace. Oh and hey, our $30 runner from Garden Ridge. Looks like those fancy schmancy (aka: expensive) trellis rugs that everyone loves. The purpose of having the runner there is to hide the extension cord that powers our tree.

Pee Wee loves this chair. And sweater.

I stuck to gold/silver mercury glass + glass hurricanes to create a monochromatic look.

The mercury glass candlesticks were $12 for the pair at Ross.

On Pinterest, I pinned a photo of the ornament vase filler that I loved from Pottery Barn. Their version would have cost me $30+ each, while my version cost me $15 for the pair (maybe less). The top left photo is Pottery Barn’s version, and I break down how I recreated it. $1 store ornaments + $3 glass hurricanes from Walmart + 1 votive in each center= the look for less. :)

And if you all also noticed, my mantle is now white. I gave it a makeover all for free. It took me about an hour of hardwork to add some baseboard/casing to the front of it, caulk it and paint it. Done. If you need an air compressor for small jobs around the house, I cannot speak highly enough of my Evolv air compressor w/nail gun. I have no ties to Sears nor Evolv, but I just want to spread the word about an affordable air compressor that is good for most DIY house jobs. We bought it for about $75, so watch for sales.

And yes, the stockings are all hung on a curtain rod I had on hand from Walmart. Genius way to hang a lot of stockings! I won’t take credit for the idea though, I will admit I saw it on Pinterest first. But I do love my version!

On the back console table where our surround speakers are, I added an apothecary jar filled with $1 store ornaments and $1 store pinecones. Took me 2 minutes, tops. Great way to use up extra stuff.

And while you’re in the living room, you can clearly see our breakfast nook, so I HAD to decorate it. Right? I mean, yeah, def. This is all stuff I had on hand. The only thing that is new is the bird cage hanging from the center and my GORGEOUS GHOST CHAIRS. I lurve them. LURVE! You can snag some here. I bought them on sale on Cyber Monday for $167 for the pair.

I think I love how it looks more at nighttime though…it’s a romantic spot. The candy canes add a whimsical touch. Plus the little table will make for a great bar set-up during holiday parties.

If you look closely at the picture below this photo, you’ll see I created another PB-esque knock-off:

See? Look below… Their version would have cost me about $25, while mine cost me $4. I had gems on hand and bought the vase/candle holder at Marshall’s for $4. The trees are felt ones I bought at Dollar Tree many years ago and never used. Red pomander is leftover from my wedding in 2009. Oh how time flies.

Well, those are the highlights of my living room/breakfast nook décor. What do you think? Anything you really love or don’t love? If you have a post with your decorations featured, please let me know so I can go ogle them.

Be back tomorrow with some tips on how to host a low-key, low-cost girls night in holiday party. Just something simple for you and your friends to kick back and enjoy the holidays. See ya tomorrow!

Elmer’s Holiday Giveaway {Win The Wall!}

2011-12-12T21:26:00.001-06:00

Deck the halls? Nah, I’m going to give you a chance to Win the Wall! It’ll all make sense shortly, bear with me.

This is huge y’all. I know I’ve been harping on Elmer’s and X-ACTO a lot lately, but I just really want to show you all that Elmer’s is way more than your kid’s school glue. I’ve used it for home décor, holiday wreaths, gift wrapping, scrapbooking, my Etsy store and general household stuff. Here are some examples:

But why am I so addicted to Elmer’s products? Well, it’s available at my Walmart, which I am at at least 5 times a week, PLUS it’s very inexpensive. I challenge you to compare the price of items using a 40% off coupon at your local craft store vs. Elmer’s Memory Keeping line pricing at Walmart…it’s cheaper without a coupon. And chances are, no matter where you live, you have access to Walmart. Am I right?

Here’s a pic I snapped with my iPhone of their entire line at Walmart (minus the glitter pens which were out of stock…sad face):

And guess what?

I am giving away the entire Elmer’s Memory Keeping line from Walmart. It’s a value of over $220!

This is a great way to get your hands on my fave items like Elmer’s Glue Spots, X-ACTO Craft Knives and Elmer’s Gel Pens.

You’re probably wondering, well, how can I enter to win Monica? You can use Rafflecopter to enter, which is embedded within this post towards the bottom.

The details:

Contest is open from December 12, 2011 to December 19, 2011.

Winner must be chosen on December 20. Winner has 24 hours to respond. If winner doesn’t respond, a new winner will be selected. Prize will be mailed about between December 20-21 directly to the winner. Sound good? Then enter below. Come back on December 20th to see who won and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tomorrow I’ll be posting pictures of my holiday décor, so I hope you’ll stick around to see what I’ve done. It’s very sparkly and gorgeous.

And don’t forget about our Twitter party this Wednesday! Join us on Wednesday, December 14th at 2 pm EST. Come talk glitter, glue, crafts and décor with all of us who are just as passionate as you are about all that good stuff. And even better? There are prizes! So definitely make sure to RSVP, and I can’t wait to chat with you there. I’ll be the one in glitter. ;-) RSVP over on Glue ‘n Glitter and use the #GlueNGlitter hashtag in your tweets so we can connect with ya.

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #ElmersHoliday #gluenglitter #Looks4Less #collectivebias #CBias. All glitter stuck in my hair from last week is mine, as are my opinions.

Elmer’s Holiday #GluenGlitter {Gift Wrapping}

2011-12-11T20:49:00.001-06:00

One of my most favorite things about the holidays is wrapping gifts. I know to some it may seem like onerous task, and you all may pay the five-bucks to have the department store do it… but it’s not that bad if you have a few tricks up your sleeve. And by tricks, I mean Elmer’s products to make your life easier and your gifts prettier.

I write a lot about Elmer’s products on my blog, and it’s mostly because the products are awesome, affordable and versatile. Also, I hated driving 1+ hours to my nearest craft store and I’d always forget my 40% off coupon, and it was just no fun to spend so much money, time and gas on driving to the city to find craft supplies. With the Elmer’s line at Walmart, my problem is solved. And boy is their line HUGE. I feature a ton of their products and my thoughts/ideas on them over in my Google+ album.

And as you can see, some items are sold out. That may or may not be my fault… don’t judge.

Two products I’ve always looked at and loved are the shape templates and the adhesive spot stamper. So I finally caved and bought both because I know I will put them to good use for Christmas gift tags and gift wrapping.

You may be wondering, “Monica, how exactly can I use Elmer’s products to wrap gifts?” I am going to show you how right now.

First, you need spiffy gift tags. As you and I know, store bought tags can either be pricey or cheesy or both. No fun. So, let’s make some.

Gift Tag Supplies:

X-ACTO Craft Swivel Knife

X-ACTO Basic Shapes Template

Painters Calligraphy Marker(s)

Elmer’s Adhesive Spot Stamper

X-ACTO Self-Healing Mat

Ribbon

Basic Hole Punch

Cardstock (each 8.5x11 sheet makes about 10-12 tags)

Printer

And because I love you all so much, here are the exact same tags I made for YOU to print out at home for free (but feel free to use/create your own design):

Striped Gift Tag Download

Trellis Gift Tag Download

Step 1: Print out your designs on the cardstock of your choice. I used pearlescent silver and gold cardstock I bought for cheap a few years ago.

Step 2: Grab your X-ACTO Craft Swivel Knife + your X-ACTO template of your choice. Carefully cut out your desired shape in the size you want. I cut 6 circles and 6 gift tags for a total of 1-dozen. My best advice for using the craft swivel knife is to apply consistent, even pressure and use a slow dragging motion. There is a slight learning curve with the stuff, but after 1 or 2 tags, you’ll get the hang of it. Took me about 45-seconds per tag to cut it out. Now, this is truly great for those of you who don’t have a craft/die cutter like the Cricut for basic things like this. $8 vs. $200? It’s a no-brainer. Yes, more work, but more savings, too.

Step 3: Use your basic hole punch to punch holes in tags (if you’d like). I tried using the circle in the template, and I had a bit of a rough time. :-/

Step 4: Use your Painters Marker to write on your tags. I chose the gold metallic calligraphy pen.

Step 5: Attach a ribbon/bow, if desired and use your Elmer’s Adhesive Spot Stamper on the back of the tag to adhere to your gift.

Step 6: Attach to gift/package and marvel at your beautiful, chic gift tags.

Now, we have our tags done, but we also need to wrap the presents don’t we.

Gift Wrapping Supplies:

Elmer’s Flexible Dual Tip Glue Pen (works on paper & fabric…and really well I might add)

Elmer’s Craftbond Scrapbooking Tape Permanent (Double-Sided)

Elmer’s Adhesive Spot Stamper (to adhere gift tags)

X-ACTO 8” Scissors

Wrapping Paper of your choice

Gift in a box/sturdy container

Gift Tags (see tutorial above)

Step 1: Get your gift into a box of some sort. Use Elmer’s double-sided tape to top/bottom of box together (this creates nicer/crisper edges=nicer gift wrapping outcome) I love that I can place the strip of double-sided tape down and peel off the other side when I am ready. And this means I don’t end up with double-sided tape sticking to me, which is annoying.

Step 2: Cut your wrapping paper to the appropriate size. Use double sided tape to keep edge in place, remove white paper backing and fold over opposite edge. Gently use fingers to make sure paper is in place flat/straight.

Step 3: Use your Elmer’s Dual Glue Pen (the fine side) to draw a straight line to entirely close up the seam.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 & 3 on the edges. What you end up with is a gift wrapped with no visible tape. This makes Monica happy.

Step 5: Repeat on all your gifts until you’re done!

I wanted to add in a bonus little tip for you all…

When tying a ribbon and wishing you had a 3rd hand or a helper to keep the center taut/in place, use your adhesive spot stamper to hold it in place:

It works really well and will save your sanity.

Best of all? Gift wrapping doesn’t require a ton of each of these materials, so you’ll have plenty leftover for crafting, scrapbooking, office stuff, etc. I use my Elmer’s products all the time. I also love they’re compact and fit well into my desk tray/apothecary jars.

So before you run out to buy special tape and gadgets to wrap holiday gifts, take a look at your Elmer’s craft stash and I bet you can wrap gifts beautifully just like I did above. Also? All the products I featured can make attaching ribbon/bows to packages a lot easier—especially when creating bows from scratch. Wherever you’d use hot glue, use some Elmer’s glue spots or Elmer’s double-sided tape instead.

Now tell me, have you wrapped all your gifts yet? Do you wait until the last minute or do you wrap weeks in advance?

Want more information on Elmer’s products? Connect with them on Facebook & Twitter:

www.facebook.com/elmers
http://twitter.com/elmers
www.facebook.com/xacto

Want to chat with other Elmer’s fanatics/crafty peeps? Join us for a twitter party this Wednesday!

On December 14th at 1 pm, we'll have an awesome twitter party and we'd love for you to join to share your holiday projects! Make sure you RSVP here http://bit.ly/sKZwev and use the #GlueNGlitter hashtag when you post your projects during the party! Hope to see you there. :-)

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #ElmersHoliday #gluenglitter #collectivebias #CBias

The Shelter Pet Project Campaign {Make a Difference}

2011-12-08T21:41:00.001-06:00

Today I am going to take a break from the usual glitter and crafts that fill the pages of this blog to talk about something very dear to my heart.

My dog Pee Wee. If you follow me on Twitter, you all know I tweet photos of my little boy all the time. He makes my life happier, more meaningful and richer. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t make me laugh, smile and feel pure and utter joy.

I have him thanks to great animal shelters/rescues. There are many, many dogs that need homes, and I want to urge you to adopt an animal/dog from a shelter/rescue group. Why? To me there are many reasons. First of all, everytime you adopt an animal from a rescue/shelter, you enable that organization an opportunity to house another animal. Also, many times shelters/rescues vaccinate the animal and spade/neuter the animal which saves you time and money.

But besides all those logical reasons such as helping a charitable organization and saving money, the bottom line truly is this: if you adopt from a shelter/rescue group, you save an animal’s life. At the time you get your new pet/family member, it may seem like you’re saving their life by adopting them. I assure you that eventually as time goes by, you’ll probably feel they add more to your life, too.

So in this time of giving gifts, joy and love, I hope that if a pet is amongst one of your wishes this holiday season, please try to adopt from a shelter/rescue group rather than a breeder or pet store. Animal shelters and rescue groups are usually a non-profit organization, so they’re there purely to help animals find a forever home.

Also, it’s great to volunteer for a local shelter or see if you can help by making any donations. Especially in cold climates, shelters/rescues probably have a long list of items that would make the winter season warmer for all the animals they care for. So even if you can’t adopt a pet, you can still do your part to make a difference and help the animals.

Having Pee Wee in my life for over 6 years now has been amazing. He often teaches me what truly matters in life. Sometimes when I let small things get to me, I notice the pure joy he finds in basking in the sun. When I feel like everything is a mess, he reminds me sometimes you just have to nap and get to it later. When I let life’s frantic pace get the best of me, he reminds me to stop and smell the flowers…or enjoy a treat on the couch.

Overall, Pee Wee has made me a better person. He’s taught me to love unconditionally, relish in the beauty of nature, and nap as often as possible and show others you love them every chance you get. For a 20 pound doggie, he sure makes a positive difference in my life every single day.

Won’t you adopt an animal and make a difference, too?

If you want more information on how to adopt a pet from a shelter/rescue group, here’s some information to get you started:

The Shelter Pet Project

You can also find them on many social media sites:

Do you have a pet from an animal shelter or rescue group? I’d love for you to share any tips you have for people seeking to adopt a pet for their family in the comments section.

I was selected for this campaign by Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions are my own.

Crafty Holidays with Elmer’s #GluenGlitter {Gift Guide}

2011-12-07T22:08:00.001-06:00

Sometimes you’re stumped with what to give that super crafty person for Christmas, right? I admit us crafty folks can be difficult to shop for because it seems we have SO much stuff, what more could we possibly want or need?

Well, a lot.

To help you out, I’ve created a holiday guide filled with Elmer’s products that are sure to delight and serve purpose in their craft arsenal.

Best of all? Some of these items cost as little as $2. TWO DOLLARS. Let’s do this!

Here are my top 6 gifts for any crafty person. I don’t care if they scrapbook, sew, or do general DIY/home décor projects, they will need/want/love these 6 items. And for the record, these items are ALL on my wish list, too. For real.

Left: Elmer’s Adhesive Dot Stamper ($9.98 at Walmart) Right: Elmer’s Craft Bond Dual Tip Glue Pen ($2.97 at Walmart)

The above products are great for making cards, scrapbook pages, home décor and so much more. They’re strong, good quality and come with a lot of product making them a great value. That stamper thing is pure GENIUS I tell you. I’d use it for gift wrapping; can you imagine how easy it’d be to stamp glue spots on to hold ribbon/bows in place. Yes!

Elmer’s Painters Markers (I’d recommend the pearlescent or metallic/calligraphy set…they have a wow factor because they SPARKLE!). At Walmart you can get a pack of 5 for $9.97 or you can buy individual Painter’s Markers for $3.97 each. I thought of my sisters who are really into drawing/painting using these to sketch out their designs. Or I also thought of my friend who loves to handwrite beautiful letters to her friends. And I thought of myself who would use these to paint on wooden letters to create unique décor for my home. I used these pens to create this awesome Ballard Designs-esque burlap memo board. Totally versatile and great as a gift OR a stocking stuffer.

X-Acto Designer Series Craft Swivel Knife This little gadget is cute and PINK. Gah. I love the packaging because it looks high end, is high quality and is not expensive. At about $10 each, this is great for the crafter who needs to cut intricate designs or circles. The handle is soft and ergonomic. Just don’t forget to throw in some replacement blades, too. I’d use this to cut some frilly swirls that would be a pain to cut with my Silhouette SD.

X-Acto Designer Rotary Trimmer This lovely paper cutter can accommodate those huge sheets of 12x12” paper making it perfect for your friends who do lots of paper crafts. Maybe they scrapbook, make cards or maybe a friend is engaged and will need to do lots of DIY projects for her wedding. Cute, frilly and functional. Not to mention it would come in handy for cutting coupons or doing crafts with the kiddos.

Elmer’s 3D Washable Paint Pens These are awesome! They’d be great to make artwork over holiday break. Awesome for making ornaments at a cookie exchange party or girls night in…glitter is awesome y’all. Anybody who loves to craft will appreciate being able to create 3D glitter text/art/designs with ease.

As you can see, Elmer’s offers lots of great, inexpensive products that make wonderful gifts for those crafty folk in your life. Earlier this week I went to Walmart to pick out the top 3 Elmer’s products on my wish list…want to see what I picked out?

I chose Elmer’s Sticky Out Adhesive Remover ($4 at Walmart) because I am constantly using glue spots, spray adhesive, glue sticks, etc. and I make a mess on my counters. It is hard to remove the adhesives at times, so this product will help me out a ton. Also, I chose the 12x12 hot pink X-Acto Self Healing Cutting Mat. I snagged a sewing machine on Black Friday, and I plan to do lots of small projects to get my sewing skills up to par, so this should help. Plus, I will now have a surface to use my X-Acto craft knife with ease and without worry. Finally, I purchased another ruler. I know I bought a metal one about 2 weeks ago, but I wanted one that would help me get stuff centered.

Isn’t that nifty? Only $1.97 at Walmart for the X-Acto Zero Centering Ruler. And it even has a swirly damask-like print on it. Swoon.

Now you have 9 fabulous, frugal gift ideas for anyone on your shopping list. I found all of these items at Walmart in the crafts section. Want even more low-cost ideas? Check out my album on Google+ where I showcase more products you can buy to give as gifts/stocking stuffers. They range in price from $1.97 to $19.97.

All product photo credits go out to Elmer’s & X-Acto.

If you’d like to see what I create with Elmer’s products, you can view my tutorials below (click on photo to be taken to tutorial):

And if you’d like to win an Elmer’s craft pack of your very own, click on over to this post like NOW to enter. There are 2 packs up for grabs and the contest closes the 8th at noon.

Which of these products would you want the most in your stocking or underneath the Christmas tree?

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Elmer's #gluenglitter #collectivebias #CBias

Christmas Lights #KmartHoliday {Outdoor Décor}

2011-12-02T09:32:00.000-06:00

Confession: Putting up outdoor décor such as lights scares me. Why? Well, simply put, it involves me getting on a ladder (and by me, I mean my husband) and putting stuff on the roof all while trying not to fall and kill myself. Or break a leg.

The drama, y’all. Oh my gosh.

And I am ~~cheap~~ frugal and do NOT want emergency room bills. No thank you.

But, with all that being said, there is something so beautiful about a house all lit-up at Christmastime. I remember when Daniel and I first started dating I made him drive around the fancy neighborhoods in San Antonio, Texas so we could gawk at all the beautiful lights. It was my favorite thing to do during the holidays growing up. My mom and I would grab a coffee or cappuccino from Valero (french vanilla for me!), drive around and ooh and aah and it’d be a lovely way to spend an evening. Bliss.

Now, I have a house of my own, and we finally bought some outdoor Christmas décor at our local Kmart. I don’t know if my amateur attempts will result in people wanting to drive by my house to gawk over it, but you know what, I’m decorating for me (and you lovely folks). Kmart had a dismal selection when we went shopping last weekend (we went the morning after Black Friday and they were almost 80% wiped out of outdoor décor…), and it was hard to make our choices since the only stuff that was left was just regular outdoor lights. The deer were out of stock, the LED Mickey path lights were out of stock. So, we focused on choosing from what they had in stock. Warm white or bright white? LED, solar or regular? Inflatables or no inflatables? <--- Kidding. Inflatables are never an option. No offense to those of you who have them.

Here’s what we ended up buying…

Spiral trees!!

These are not as easy to put up as they seem, but I did manage to get it up by myself! It doesn’t look remotely correct does it…I’ll need to work on that bottom part some more. Then it started pouring rain again, so I need to wait to put up the other 2 we bought.

6-foot spiral tree via Kmart

Then, we wanted some solar lights for our trees in the front yard that aren’t near a power source/electrical outlet. Now, these sound great in concept (and it is cool), BUT the bulbs are WAY smaller than I would have thought. Think about the size of an eraser. I should have opened the box to check them out, but I did not. However, they will still be a great, easy way to light some branches. And? They are super bright! We snagged 2 of these in white (all I could find was blue or red on Kmart.com)

Solar Light Set (shown in blue) via Kmart

And finally, we wanted just some plain white lights to place on our roof/shingles OR for the trees in our yard that are near a power source. Unfortunately, they were out of the cool white LED lights, so we opted for the warm white shown below. I assure you they do not look yellow when lit up in person. They look very warm and sparkly while the cool white is just a very bright, white light with a blue tint to it. We bought 2 reels of the warm white lights.

200 Lights on a Reel (shown in warm white) via Kmart

And here they are on our tree in front of the house:

Christmas lights always scared me off because of how expensive they could be for LED lights (which I love because they’re energy star compliant and BRIGHT), but Kmart had such great prices that we were able to get all of the stuff in this post for under $100 (ok, it was $99.99). Best of all? They didn’t break the bank nor will they raise our electricity bills so much that we hope Santa pays the bill as our Christmas present. (Though Santa can pay any bill of mine at ANYTIME). Kmart had so much beautiful indoor décor as well, but I’ve already maxed out my shopping budget on indoor décor at the moment. Bottom line? I feel we got a lot for our money, it’s decor we can use for years to come and they’re going to be energy friendly (the LED ones).

Unfortunately, mother nature has made her presence and domination known this whole month. We’ve had super crazy winds and super crazy rain + daylight savings time working against us and a very moist/slick ground, so we’re hoping and praying she’ll give us a reprieve and let us put up the rest of the decor before Christmas.

I guess as long as we don’t end up with this, we’ll be ok.

Credit: CatsinBaths.com

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias

DIY Silver & Gold Ornament Wreath {Wordless Wednesday}

2011-11-30T09:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, semi-wordless. This isn’t a tutorial, though I did DIY this, but you can read the full instructions over on Eddie Ross’ site.

Quick tidbits:

-I used about 72 ornaments (all from Dollar Tree)

-It took me about 1.5 hours from start to finish.

-Yes, you MUST glue the caps onto the ornaments. I skipped that step a few years ago when I made one of these…never again.

-A low temp glue gun from Walmart is your friend. LOVE MINE. It’s about $4.

-Total cost for my wreath was about $10.

-It’s hanging using a $4 black satin sash I bought at Walmart years ago in the wedding section.

-Make sure to choose a variety of sizes/finishes for a really snazzy wreath.

-Hanging it on a mirror doubles the light and glitter…I highly recommend it!

It looks beautiful in the daytime:

And at nighttime:

Swoon.

Ballard Designs Knock Off Monogram Letter Wreath {DIY Tutorial}

2011-11-29T09:30:00.000-06:00

In yesterday’s post I gave a step-by-step tutorial on how to use Elmer’s products to recreate a Ballard Designs burlap memo board for a LOT less. Like 80% less.

And I’m back again to show you how to easily recreate another popular Ballard Designs item for less. I’m the knock-off queen lately. Have you seen my West Elm copycat hurricanes?

I consider it a mission of mine to have the luxe for less. Even if it means using a glue gun on occasion. However, you won’t need a glue gun to create this festive holiday wreath:

$39 each + shipping via Ballard Designs

Here’s what you WILL need in order to create your very own monogram wreath:

1 Elmer’s foam core board in black
3, 15-foot garlands from Dollar Tree
X-Acto Knife with #11 Blade
White Elmer’s Painters Pen (or white colored pencil, chalk, etc.)
Pinecones, ribbon (optional)
Wreath hanger (optional)
Elmer’s glue spots

Set-up an area large enough for you to cut with your X-Acto knife. I couldn’t find a craft mat big enough at my local Walmart, so I just used a big box. Bottom line- you don’t want to scratch your floors/counters/desk, so get creative.

Then prop up your black foam core board so you can easily write on it.

I am making a large B (for Benavidez), and I want it to be 24” tall just like the one from Ballard Designs. So, using my metal X-Acto ruler, I draw a 24” line:

Then I freehand draw a letter B. It looks ugly, I know. Do not fret! You can easily make adjustments as you cut. Tip: When you cut your letter out, it’s best to go bigger than you think. You can always trim it down, but you can’t add it back on easily!

Then you start cutting your letter out. I am usually intimidated when using my X-Acto knife, but the trick is to apply even, constant pressure and make smooth movements. The first time you cut it’ll likely score it (seen below), and then if you run your knife through it again, it’ll cut through the board. A little patience and persistence= success.

Not too shabby.

So, now I grab one of my garlands, and I start wrapping it around the straight part of the B.

I used 2 full lengths of garland + about 1/3 of the third garland. The third garland was mostly to fill in spots that looked kind of bare. The black foam core board is very forgiving, so it doesn’t need to be densely filled with garland.

I secured my garland with glue spots on the back every few inches or so. I probably used about 15 glue spots total.

Once it’s all wrapped up, you’ll have a beautiful letter staring back at ya. See, I told you it wouldn’t look so ugly once you’re done with it.

Then I decided it simply needed a cute damask bow. To make one you need about 2 yards of ribbon, some glue and scissors.

Cut about a 1.5 foot section of ribbon and loosely tie a knot in the center, set aside.

Then cut 3 sections of ribbon, each smaller than the other. Mine are 13 inches, 11 inches and 9 inches.

Flip ribbon over design side down and flip one end up to meet in the center and secure other end to it with glue:

You should have 3 ribbon loops:

Stack them on top of one another from largest to smallest and secure with glue:

Place knotted portion from step 1 in the center and then tie/secure it again in the back (so you have a knot in front and back). Cut ribbon tails, if desired. Attach to wreath. If you’re more a video learner, you can watch a video on how to make this very same bow over on the Better Homes & Gardens website.

You all know me…everything has to have a bit of glitz to it, so I added some sequined pear picks that were 2 for $1 at Dollar Tree. They are secured onto the garland with floral wire.

Ballard Designs Price: $39 + shipping

Monica Wants It DIY Cost: About $6+ ($2.50 for foam board + $3 for garland assuming you have other supplies on hand)

Savings: $33 or about 80% off (excluding shipping)

The Look for Less Final Showdown:

Pretty close, don’t ya think? I hope this tutorial inspires you to personalize your home with easy DIY projects. And the total time investment to create this? Well, it took me about an hour but that’s with me taking photos of each step to share with you all. Make one for your friends, neighbors, etc. Best of all? Unlike the Ballard Designs wreath, my DIY version can be reused. So whatcha waiting for? GO MAKE ONE!

You know you want to.

I’d like to thank Elmer’s again for sending me the lovely craft pack I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Their products are easily and affordably found at Walmart in the crafts section and also on Amazon. And thanks to these projects, the X-Acto knife and I are sort of BFF’s.

Tomorrow’s post will be a reveal of my gorgeous ornament wreath. It won’t be a step-by-step tutorial, but if you’d like to make one, I used these instructions by the uber fab Eddie Ross. For now, here’s a sneak peek at mine:

See you tomorrow! xoxo.

Elmer’s #Looks4Less Burlap Monogrammed Memo Board {DIY Tutorial}

2011-11-28T20:02:00.001-06:00

I have a bit of an obsession with catalogs like Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs. I subscribe to them all, yet never buy anything because it’s simply too expensive or sometimes I feel I can make the look for less with a bit of creativity and Elmer’s products.

As you all know, I’ve worked a lot on my breakfast nook, but I needed something on the walls to give it that personal touch and functionality as a message/mail center. It just looked kind of bare. Boo. The nook is an area we frequent many times a day: we sort mail, put down our bags/keys, etc. Therefore, I really wanted a chic, unique message board to keep us organized and on top of things. We are a forgetful couple. Ok, maybe me more than him…

Recently, I got a Ballard Designs catalog in the mail, and I was smitten with a product in their catalog:

Burlap Memo Board, $69 each via Ballard Designs (image credit: Ballard Designs)

But $69 a piece was not going to fly in this thrifty household. That’d be $138 plus shipping…so almost $150.

Then I thought to myself…Elmer’s has challenged me to create something I’ve seen in a catalog using Elmer’s products. They sent me some awesome stuff:

My craft pack included 3 foam boards (1 black + 2 white), 3 glue sticks, 3 packs of Painters pens and an X-Acto crafting knife. On top of all that, they sent a $25 Visa gift card to help me buy any extra accessories I needed to complete my looks for less task**. With all this crafty goodness, how could I not bring my memo board dreams into my breakfast nook?

Now, let’s get crafty! Below is a list of supplies to create your own burlap memo board (note, I made 2, so if you want to make a pair, you’d need 1 extra foam board):

1 Elmer’s White Foam Core Board
1 Extra Strength Elmer’s Glue Stick
1 X-Acto Designer Series Gripster Knife + #11 Blade
Painters Pens (I used black)
1 X-Acto Metal Ruler (to help create straight cuts using X-Acto Knife)
Elmer’s Spray Adhesive
Stapler or Staple Gun or Hot Glue Gun
1 Yard of Burlap
Decorative Ribbon (about 1 yard)
Push Pins
Alphabet Stencil (optional)

**Note: Thanks to Elmer’s, I only had to spend $5.94 for the burlap (I bought 2 yards in case I messed up, but only used one), $2.97 X-Acto Metal Ruler, $2.00 X-Acto #11 Blades (in case mine broke, which it didn’t)= $11.81 total.

Step 1: Cut your foam board in half using your X-Acto knife. The board is 20x30, so you should end up with 2, 20x15 inch boards. Using spray adhesive, spray one board and place the other board on top of it to glue them together. If they’re not perfectly flush, don’t fret, just trim any excess hangover using your X-Acto knife. As you can see, I am using a box to cut my boards on so I don’t scratch my counters. Also, use a metal ruler to help guide your X-Acto knife for a cleaner, straighter cut.

I did this twice (to 2 different boards) since I made 2 memo boards. Why did I double up my board this way? Simple! I didn’t want the push pins to go through to the wall when pinning stuff to my memo board, so by doubling up my board I got rid of that issue.

Step 2: Cut your burlap in half and fold in half. You want to do this so that the white of the foam board is totally covered by the burlap, so make sure to double up your burlap as seen below.

Step 3: Using your extra-strength glue stick, glue one edge of the burlap onto the board.

This helps get your burlap in place so you can make sure it’s taut around all the corners. I only used the glue stick for one edge, and then I reinforced it with my staple gun. Basically your fabric will move and shift as you work with it, so the glue stick helps keep it in place while you make sure your fabric is just the way you want it; no need to go staple/glue gun crazy and then take it all out if you end up with crooked fabric.

I finished wrapping, glueing and stapling the burlap to my 2 boards, and this is how they should look at this point.

Step 4: Using my Silhouette SD, I cut out a stencil for our monograms. Mine is the M, Daniel’s is the D. Using my black Painters Pen, I traced the letter onto the burlap.

Then I embellished them a bit with some simple diagonal stripes to add some interest.

Step 5: I create a simple bow using 1-foot of ribbon + floral wire and adhered it to the board using some hot glue. I also attached a 10-inch black ribbon on the back to serve as a hanger.

Step 6: Place onto wall, adorn with some push pins and admire your handiwork!

Cost Breakdown (approximate cost at Walmart, you likely already have some of these on hand):

Foam Board: $2.50 each
Burlap: $2.97/yard
X-Acto: $5
Paint Pens: $5 for a 5-pack
Glue Stick: $2 each
X-Acto Metal Ruler: $2.97
Other misc craft supplies: Had on hand (FREE!)
Total cost: About $20 for one or $23 for two burlap memo boards!
That’s a savings of $52 for one board (or about 70% off) or $115 savings on 2 boards (or about 83% off- WOW!!)

Well, what do you think? Did I do a good job creating the #looks4less? Next time you’re bummed that you can’t afford something out of a catalog, think about how you can recreate it yourself using craft supplies and some imagination. The project took me about 1.5 hours total, and you can view my shopping experience over on Google+. Can’t think of anything to make? Elmer’s has created a wonderful how-to guide that is sure to inspire anyone to create something beautiful.

And, Elmer’s is being uber generous and providing 2 gift packs to one of my lovely readers so you can create my project (or any other project you’d like). How great is that?!

The prize pack included:

• Black 20x30 Foam Board
• White 20x30 Foam Board
• CraftBond All-Purpose Glue Stick
• CraftBond Repositionable Glue Stick
• CraftBond Extra-Strength Glue Stick
• X-ACTO Designer Series Gripster Knife
• Painters Assorted Colors Set

Drawing is open until December 8th at noon CST.

To enter leave me a comment with what you’d make using the gift pack (and a way to contact you if you win- Twitter handle, e-mail, something…please!). Giveaway is only open to blog subscribers, so make sure you follow my blog over there on the right handside.

Good luck!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with another Ballard Designs knock-off for the holidays. You won’t want to miss it!

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Elmer's #gluenglitter #collectivebias #CBias All opinions, photos and ideas are my own, as always.

Turkey Monte Cristo {Low Calorie Recipe}

2011-11-22T09:51:00.001-06:00

I was perusing the Paula Deen website a few weeks (probably because I was looking for something to pin on Pinterest) and I came across these lovely turkey monte cristos:

Image Credit: PaulaDeen.com

So then I decided to make my own using some common ingredients that most of you probably have on hand:

Ingredients:

For compote:

-12 oz. bag of cranberry

-Cinnamon

-Nutmeg

-Splenda/Sugar

For Sandwich:

-Turkey

-Bread

-Swiss Cheese

-Butter spray

-Confectioners sugar (optional)

Step 1 is to make a cranberry compote. I made the one by LaaLoosh, and it is absolutely tasty and EASY. Compote to me sounds fancy, but this was so quick and simple to make. And delicious. I’ll mention that it is a Weight Watchers recipe, thus making it low calorie, but it really doesn’t scream DIET FOOD. While my compote was cooking, I toasted 4 pieces of bread on setting 1.5 on my toaster. Once they’re out I laid them on a paper plate and sprayed them with butter so that I could throw them on a pan to get them to have that faux-fried look to them.

Add the turkey and cheese:

At this point I spooned on the compote (about 2 tbsp per sandwich), and then I threw them on a big non-stick pan for about 30 seconds on each side/60 seconds a sandwich (or until cheese is melted).

Dust with confectioners sugar and BAM! (<--- Emeril style!)

Delish!

Best of all, low calorie:

Bread: 140 calories

Turkey: 60 calories

Swiss Cheese: 90 calories

Compote: 40 calories

Total: 330 calories (you can totally cut the count down by using light bread and light cheese- I had neither on hand this weekend).

Hopefully that will give you some ideas on what to make with your Thanksgiving leftovers!

What are you doing this Thanksgiving- traveling, eating, playing football?

Fall Living Room {Holiday Décor}

2011-11-20T11:34:00.000-06:00

Fall living room décor is finally up!

I just got back from a super fun weekend with my husband and Pee Wee. We went up to Sugarland, TX for the weekend, and boy did we find some great stuff for our home. And? Oh my goodness, you all will NEVER believe that I finally, finally got to go to ZGallerie in person. I adore that store. It’s an obsession of mine. If you could take my aesthetic and style and plop it into one store, ZGallerie would be it. It was heaven up in there. I didn’t get to buy too much (small car and all), but it was lovely to get to just bask in the awesomeness of that store for 40 minutes.

Bliss.

We also snagged a designer rug for a non-designer price, some gorgeous (GORG!) lamps for the master bedroom makeover, a timeless Christmas tree skirt and booze (marshmallow flavored vodka…cheers!), and some other misc décor. It was a weekend vacation that was much needed. I just needed to get away. Now I feel like I have an extra pep in my step.

Today I here to finally show off the little décor I put up in our living room for fall. I didn’t DIY much in this room; just kinda used what I had. And yes, I’ll be taking it down in about a week or so to deck the halls…or mantle. I feel I can never keep up with the décor during this time of year. Is that how you feel sometimes?

On the console table behind the sectional, I just did some candles and scented pine cones. They make the living room smell divine. Aaahh.

On the mantle I went with a simple collection of brown/gold mercury glass I snagged on clearance at Michaels, plus my assorted pumpkins. I hate that my fireplace/mantle area seems so dark all the time in photos. I wish the windows were on the opposite wall of the fireplace instead of right next to it. Daniel and I were watching Candice Olson on Saturday on HGTV, and she always creates the most stunning fireplaces during her room makeovers. A girl can dream.

Here’s my DIY mercury glass pumpkin. It’s gotten a lot of use with Halloween + fall. I’m going to be so sad when I put it up.

I put a pair of $6/each mirrors from Kirklands behind the hurricanes to help bounce light and add some much needed brightness to the mantle area.

On the metallic foyer table, I just arranged some pumpkins + my most fave donut scented candle from Bath & Body Works. It makes it smell like Krispy Kreme when you walk into my house. And this folks, is why I am always on a diet.

That’s about all I did in the living room + foyer, but coupled with my Thanksgiving tablescape in the dining room, I think my house feels warm, inviting and just the right amount of pizazz for the fall holiday.

And I also want to thank Beckie for featuring my West Elm Knock Off Vases on her blog! Thanks dear! (and a big hello from me to you if you’re visiting me from her website *waves*)

I’ll be back tomorrow (for sure, I promise) with a low calorie cranberry compote recipe that you can use in a low calorie turkey monte cristo. It’s yummy y’all.

Now my question for you is: what are you doing on Black Friday? Hitting up any sales? Give me the scoop in the comments section.

Thanksgiving Tablescape {Holiday Décor}

2011-11-14T09:47:00.001-06:00

With Thanksgiving happening NEXT week, and my trip to Houston this weekend (yay!), I knew I needed to get my Thanksgiving tablescape done like NOW. Given that I’ll be enjoying my lovely creation for less than 2 weeks or so, I decided to use what I had on hand, but I did buy 2 new candle holders (me, candles, I know…love them) from Dollar Tree. So this tablescape cost me about $2 and 30 minutes of time.

Here’s what my table looked like from Halloween. Hot mess. Like usual. Hey, I’d like my house to look like a catalog, but we live here.

My husband wanting to make a cameo…

After I cleared off the table, I took my linen tablecloth and threw it in the dryer with a damp towel to get the wrinkles out. I also wanted a black runner, so I merely flipped over the one I had on there to begin with.

I whipped out all my fall pumpkins and decorative pick thingies from Michaels, and I channeled my inspiration from this photo from Pinterest into my very own creation.

Ta-dah!

I knew I wanted to do something sort of creative with the napkin fold, so I googled and found a tutorial for a pocket fold, but it was all text…and I learn when I see. So, here’s how to do a pocket fold on a standard napkin. I didn’t iron the creases ~~out of laziness~~ so that maybe it’ll help guide you.

Once step 5 is done, flip napkin over again, slide in silverware, menus or party favors into pocket. You’re done! Once you do one, you’ll do the rest in under 30 seconds. I swear. I ended up folding mine up about 1/4 of the way up rather than 1/3 so that my menus fit.

My menus are about 3.5 inches wide by 7 inches tall (3 to a page in landscape mode).

At dusk with the candles lit, there’s a warm glow over the table. Ah. I love it.

And I do love it unlit as well with the natural light bouncing off all the metallics on the table.

Best of all is I used what I had on hand, got creative and repurposed (flipped over the runner I already had). I didn’t make placecards since it’ll just be Daniel and I, but I did set out 2 more place settings in case friends stop by (especially if we’re all going Black Friday shopping). Also, I try not to be too matchy-matchy—I used gold & red napkins on the table to add some interest. And all my pumpkins/pinecorn/floral picks are different colors, yet in the same hues/finishes so it just all creates a unique, eclectic tablescape that I love.

What’s your inspiration for your Thanksgiving table décor? Or do you leave it out all together to make room for food on the table? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Be back Wednesday with my fall mantle + some Glue Dots projects later this week.

Breakfast Nook & Nutella Hot Chocolate {DIY Home Improvement}

2011-11-11T08:06:00.000-06:00

Sooo…our breakfast nook is almost done. And when I say almost, I mean almost. I was going to hold off on doing a reveal post until it was totally done, but I couldn’t resist. Plus, I feel it’s changed enough to warrant a blog post.

Here’s a look down memory lane of what the nook looked like when it was on the market (previous owners décor):

Very grandma-ish. VERY.

Then we moved in, and we replaced the light fixture & windows immediately.

Isn’t that wallpaper awful? It’s baskets of peaches and apples or something. Who puts that in their kitchen??

People from the 80’s, that’s who. (No offense if you have this wallpaper in your home, I’m sure it’s lovely…no it’s not, take it down!)

Using a non-fancy mixture of water + 1 oz. of Downy in a squirt bottle, I removed the wallpaper. There’s lots of tools for removing wallpaper, but they’re mostly useless. The ONE thing I did buy to remove wallpaper was this nifty tool:

Via Amazon, $5.91

But other than that, nothing fancy. Spray enough of the Downy + water mixture to get it moist (HATE THAT WORD) and then scrape. Repeat a billion times until the paper is off.

Then we had to prime + buy a can of spray on texture + paint. The paint color is Dusty Aqua by Valspar. (I know it looks totally different in like every pic- it’s a beautiful blue/teal + gray color in person)

And finally we replaced the chair rail and baseboards (which are technically still not done, but oh well!) One day while at Marshall’s I found some gorgeous curtains and curtain rods (with lovely glass ball finials) for super cheap. The curtains were $15 a pair and the rods were $15 each. Add to all of that our small, chic and oh-so-functional Norbo table from IKEA and we have ourselves a gorgeous breakfast nook for 2. Oh and my curtain tie backs are made from a spool of $3 ribbon from Walmart and held in place with removable Glue Dots. Genius, I know.

My DIY West Elm knock-off vase adorns our little table. The table can be folded down if needed, but I like that it’ll serve as a great place to put extra food/drinks at parties, and it also is great for taking pictures of my recipe creations using the awesome natural light.

If you notice there are chairs missing, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. We don’t have any. We want to keep the vibe of the nook very chic, breezy and light, so finding chairs has been a tall order. I am in LOVE with this set of chairs from Overstock, oh gosh I love them. I don’t want wooden chairs, I want these chairs. <---- virtual temper tantrum

But a pair is $262. For 2 chairs. And I do have 1 fear about these chairs…what if my fat ass breaks the chair?! Omg. I’d die y’all. For reals. DIE.

Sigh. Ghost chairs, I want thee.

Until we find chairs, I have to use an ugly one the owner left behind. The nook is the perfect spot to watch Pee Wee romp around in the backyard.

Or drink some Nutella hot chocolate & browse Pinterest from my iPad:

And due to popular demand, here’s my quick 4-minute recipe for Nutella Hot Chocolate:

-1 packet of sugar free hot chocolate mix (you can use regular mix, I wanted to save on calories)

-1 tbsp of Nutella

-6 oz. of water or fill a mug about 2/3 of the way.

Directions: Microwave water for 2 minutes. Once it’s done let it sit for 30-45 seconds, dump in packet of hot chocolate and then use a spoon to scoop up Nutella and mix it all together until Nutella is fully incorporated into the drink. It has a tendency of melting and settling down at the bottom so mix, mix, mix!

It is so good! With my 50 calorie sugar free mix + 1 tbsp of Nutella it’s about 150 calories of PURE HEAVEN.

I truly do love our little breakfast nook even though we kept it cheap and simple. It’s not a space that will get a ton of use, hence not wanting to plunk down $262 on chairs, but it is a useful, cheery space for our home. I do need to touch up some paint boo-boos/caulk the mouldings, add wall décor and do something with that soffit (I’m thinking a stencil of some sort). Does the work ever end?

Do you have a breakfast nook in your home? Does it get a lot of use? Any ideas for chairs?

I’ll be back soon with 2 Glue Dots projects, another look for less knock off and other general crafty nonsense or gorgeous inspiration photos. Have a good weekend!