Have you ever dyed a piece of clothing? Some may have tie-dyed a t-shirt once or twice in their life. I am not one of those people. I don’t think I’ve ever made a tie-dyed t-shirt before in all my years of crafting. Well that has recently changed. I was given the opportunity by Walmart as a part of the Walmart Moms to try out Rit Dye. As a person that loves to craft, I took on the challenge.

Materials Used:

• Faded Glory Color Jeggings (white)
• 8 fl. oz. Rit Dye-Purple
• water
• salt
• rubber bands
• rubber gloves
• large bucket

Since this is my first time dying anything, I took a look on Rit Dye’s website for inspiration and instruction. I came across a tutorial, Retro Rocker Jeans, that was right up my fashion alley. Once I knew what and how I wanted to dye something, it was onto gathering the materials. Thankfully I was sent several different colors of Rit Dye, which is sold at Walmart for $2.87, to choose from for my project. I chose to use purple since it’s my newest fashion color obsession.

Following the tutorial instructions, I first washed the garment I wanted to dye. I chose a pair of Faded Glory Color Jeggings (white) from Walmart. After they were finished washing, I then scrunched and bound the wet fabric with rubber bands. I used about 15 rubber bands total because I wanted a lot of white to show through.

Next, it was time to dye. I prepared the “dye bath” according to the instructions in the tutorial. When it was already I placed the rubber band bound jeggings into the dye and began to wait. Instead of the 20 minute soaking time that was recommended in the tutorial, I only soaked my jeggings for about 10 minutes. This is because of two reasons: (1) I was worried they were going to come out too dark (2) I was anxious to see the final result. After time was up, I unbound and rinse the pants in cold water until the water ran clear then laundered and hung them up to air dry. Below you can see the finished result.

I like that Rit Dye has tutorials on their website for beginners like me. I’ve seen bottles of Rit Dye before but didn’t know how to use it and to be honest, the thought of dying something used to scare me. After completing this project and seeing the awesome end result I’m looking forward to my next dye project. Hmmmm, what should I dye next? I’m thinking maybe a rocker-inspired, acid wash looking t-shirt. Thoughts?

Have you ever dyed anything? What was it? Do you have any dye tips or techniques?

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post as well as given samples of the products mentioned in this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Above is a photo of what my nail care boxes look like just laying about. I usually keep them next to one of the chairs in my home office. These decorative boxes are just hat boxes that my Mom found at a craft store. They are usually pretty inexpensive and some craft stores even have coupons that can turn them into great deals. So you are probably wondering, what do I keep in these boxes?

The large box holds my nail care items. Things like nail polish remover, nail files, hand lotion, and cotton balls can be found in here. I keep things that make my nails and hands pretty in one box because its easy to find say when I need to file a chipped nail or something.

In the other box, I store the nail polishes I’ve collected. As you can see in the photo, there isn’t much room left in this box. Perhaps another nail polish box will be added soon. I like them being stored in a hat box because they are all together, I can easy pick out the color(s) that I need, and it is hidden when not in use.

Typically when I paint my nails I do it while I’m watching an episode of my favorite show or a movie with the hubby. So what I do is I grab the color(s) that I’m going to paint my nails from the nail polish box and take the nail care box with all of the tools that I need with me to whatever room we will be using. The lid of the hat box acts as a table as I’m sitting on the sofa, bed, or chair and I have everything I need to do my manicure in one convenient box.

How do you store and organize you nail care items?

Doing my nails is something that I have recently become obsessed with (probably within the last year or so). Nail Art has been a big trend lately. I was recently asked to share what kind of nail art I could create using Sally Hansen products from Walmart as a part of the Walmart Moms. With the samples provided I quickly got to work brainstorming what to create using the colors I was given.

What I love about doing my own nails is that not only do I not have to leave the comfort of my own home but I can change them however often I would like. I can change them to match my mood or even change them to match my outfit. Doing your own nails at home, one does need to have a couple of good tools like nail clippers, nail file, etc. I like to keep all of my nail care items in a decorative hat box. I have two boxes, one for all of my polishes and another for my “nail tools”. When not in use these boxes look great on a bookshelf or corner of the room and are functional to carry around with me from room to room whenever the mood to paint my nails strikes.

Sally Hansen is a brand that I automatically think of when it comes to nail care. They carry a beautiful array of nail polishes in a variety of different formulas. Today, I’m going to share how I created several different nail art looks using just some of Sally Hansen’s polishes. The first nail look, seen in the photo above, is a very simple look…polkadots. To do this look I painted all of my nails with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail color, fast drying nail colors is a personal favorite of mine, then applied dots to my accent nail using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in a contrasting color. To apply nail art using regular polish, one can use a variety of different “tools” one can find around the house like toothpicks and bobby pins even makeup sponges. If you are a nail polish fan like me, there are nail art brushes available and they are starting to appear in stores like Walmart that make creating a nail art design a little easier. After allowing nail art designs to dry, always seal with your favorite top coat to ensure your manicure lasts, at least, several days.

For the lightning bolt and shooting star manicure seen above, I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. This polish covers really nicely.

Since it is spring and the weather is almost on the hotter side, I thought it would be fun to show some fun ways to wear nail art for Spring. When I think of Spring I think of all of the beautiful flowers blooming and cute little lady bugs. I created the above spring inspired nail art using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Breezy Blue for most of my nails. My accent nails main color is Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Lickety-Split Lime. To create the lady bug I simply just placed dots of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Kook A Mango and Xtreme Wear in Black Out.

This next nail look is something that took me by surprise. This color, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coral Reef, is not a color that I would normally pick out for myself but because I was sent a sample of it I decided to give it a try and create another Spring inspired nail look with it. To much surprise, I kind of fell in love with this color. I first painted it as a pedicure but after wearing it several days I decided to do a manicure in this color and design as well. I know coral is really hot right now with spring and until now I’ve shied away from it but now that I’ve tried coral on my nails, who knows where I might rock coral next.

To create the flower and dot design on my Spring Coral nail look couldn’t be easier. Instead of messing with regular polish and brushes, Sally Hansen has made nail art a bit easier with their Nail Art Pens. Just draw the design with the pen then seal with your favorite top coat.

And last but not least, stripes. Stripes are probably one of the easiest ways to incorporate nail art into an everyday manicure. One can easily stripe an accent nail or be a little more bold with zebra in its contrasting color.

Can you create nail art? Now until June, Sally Hansen is holding an I Heart Nail Art contest where one can share their own nail art (each month has a unique theme) for a chance to win. One winner is selected every month to receive $500 and a trip to NYC to compete for the grand prize. The grand prize winner may have the chance to have their look featured on a display in Walmart. To learn more and for complete details, rules, etc. check out http://sallyhansen.com/i-heart-nail-art.

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post as well as given samples of the products mentioned in this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

We are diligently trying to finish up all of our subjects in time for the last day of school. But today we decided we needed to take a small break from the books and just enjoy some time out with friends. What better way to round out the school year than with a field trip. And that is exactly what we did.

The kids and I spent most of the day exploring, that was until we happened upon not one but TWO snakes!!!! At that point we realized it was time for lunch so we quickly headed back to seek out picnic tables. I think I had about as much fun on our little field trip as they did. Tomorrow, its back to the books but only for one more week. Then……it’s…….summer break!!!!!!

Spring is in full bloom. With warmer days means a lot more time spent outdoors enjoying our deck and backyard area. This is one of our favorite spaces in our home. A space we spend a lot of time in. Walmart recently gave me the opportunity to try out a new product that recently hit their store shelves called Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X ($3.77). Since we’ve been doing a lot of sprucing up for spring in our backyard, I thought it was a good time to give our outdoor furniture a fresh coat of paint.

So with the giftcard provided, I headed out to my local Walmart to find a few cans of Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X in our chosen color as well as one other product I needed in order to spruce up our outdoor furniture.

Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X has Double Cover Technology that contains 44% more solids which means more coverage versus other general purpose spray paints. I’m thankful for the extra coverage as we decided to spruce up an old wicker bench. If you’ve ever tried to repaint wicker furniture one would know that its definitely best to use a paint with good coverage especially when going from a darker color to a lighter one.

We opted to paint the bench in a Semi-gloss white to match our other wicker furniture. Since we were changing the wicker bench from dark to light we had to apply a couple of coats to ensure we had covered everything and didn’t have any missed spots. We definitely didn’t want any of that old black paint showing through on our freshly painted white bench. While the bench was drying, we decided to also give our other, already white, wicker furniture a fresh coat of paint to. I liked that for those pieces we only needed one coat of the Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X in order to get it ready for spring company.

After applying our paint and allowing it to dry thoroughly, we then needed to fix a few parts of the bench that were starting to unravel. My Mom suggested that we just use white Duck Tape to tape up the legs which is something that she has done to her own thrifted wicker furniture. So we did just that.

Changing the black wicker bench to white with Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X gave us the most noticeable difference. As you can see in the photo above, it looks great all freshly painted and hanging out on the deck. Our other wicker pieces that were spruced up with a new coat of paint also came out looking ready for spring as well. I love how everything matches beautifully now. It’s always amazing what a little paint can do.

I think one of my favorite ways to paint is with a spray paint like the Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X because it’s really simple to do. I also like to use spray paint in projects because it typically means my project will be completed faster.

What needs to be “spruced up for spring” at your home?

Looking for more ways to use Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X? Check out what projects some of my fellow Walmart Moms tackled to get ready for spring:

• DIY Sunburst Clock by Renee of Cutie Booty Cakes
• Add a Pop of Color to a Lamp with Jennae of Green Your Decor
• How to Spray Paint Furniture with Amy of Mom Advice
• Spray Painted Jars for Organization and Decoration by Lynnae of Freelance Homeschool Mom
• Vintage Chair Redo by Linsey of Lille Punkin
• DIY Terra Cotta Tiered Planter by Tina of Mommy’s Kitchen

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post as well as given a giftcard to purchase the products mentioned in this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When it comes to Mother’s Day, it’s all about gifts from the heart. I was challenged by Walmart, as a part of the Walmart Moms, to share some of my Mother’s Day gift ideas. So with the giftcard provided I headed to my local Walmart to see what kind of gifts I could put together to create my own gift basket for Mom.

When shopping for Mom on Mother’s Day, I’m of course on the hunt for things that she would like or that would match her personality and style. My Mom is an avid gardener so the kidlets and I decided to create a garden themed gift basket for her.

For our basket we found a large blue bowl for $1.00 and some yellow tissue paper ($.97) for filler. Once we found something to hold our gift, it was onto finding small gifts to fill inside.

In the Mother’s Day section, next to the cards in my store, there was a nice variety of gift ideas. I was immediately drawn to the miniature roses in the cute ladybug holder for $5.88. I thought they were absolutely adorable and something I know my Mom would love. Mom could display them on her computer desk or plant them in the garden and watch them grow.

Then the boys and I headed over to the jewelry department where they helped me pick out this simple yet cute bracelet ($5.00) for her that says “Best Mom” on one of the charms. This made a great, unexpected addition to our gift basket. Next, it was onto the bakery for a sweet treat. Who doesn’t like to get cupcakes for a gift? We found some gourmet vanilla bean cupcakes by Kimberley’s Bakeshoppe for $3.98. In a pack of 4 it was just the right size to fit into our basket.

One of the best parts of gardening is the smell of blooming flowers. Right? So, we found a candle in one of my Mom’s favorite scents, Honeysuckle, for $3.97 to add to the gift basket.

And last but not least, a gift isn’t complete without a card. I was amazed at all of the different kinds of cards that Walmart had to offer from as low as $.47. They even had cards that sang and lit up when opened. They were pretty neat to see.

Our finished DIY gift basket was made with love and filled with gifts that Mom will enjoy.

What are some of your gift ideas for Mom on Mother’s Day?

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post as well as given a giftcard to purchase the products mentioned in this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This month I’m sharing some of my favorite beauty products for the face.

1. e.l.f. Studio High Definition Powder: this translucent powder is a new find for my makeup bag. It gives my skin a beautiful, soft focus without making me look too “powdery”.
2. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser: I’m always looking for new ways to hide my dark circles. I decided to give this Dark Circle Eraser a try but in the Brightener formula since I am very pale. I apply it AFTER I apply my foundation and use my ring finger to lightly pat it into place blending out in a “V” shape under my eyes. After applying, I set with powder.
3. Garnier Oil-Free BB Cream: I’m loving BB creams right now. I often find myself grabbing a BB cream over a heavy foundation most days. I like that Garnier (one of my favorites for everyday because it is thicker than other BB creams that I’ve tried) recently released their BB cream in an oil free formula which helps cut down on some of the shine that can happen throughout the day.
4. e.l.f. Essential Blush: On the hunt for a light pink blush, I found the e.l.f. Essential Blush in Blushing and Shy that adds just a hint of color to my cheeks without being overwhelming.
5. Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer: I use this product a bit differently than I would a typical bronzer because it has a lot of shimmer to it. Instead I sweep it on the high points of my cheekbone for a highligher after I apply my blush. Tiki gives off a candlelight-like glow to the cheeks.

What are some of your favorite beauty products?

This is not a sponsored post.
Image created using BeautySets

How does the saying go? April showers brings May flowers? We’ve definitely seen a lot of showers lately. Being stuck indoors on a rainy Spring day isn’t very fun, but I know the garden loves and needs the rain. Whenever the sun is out, my family and I love to be outside. We also enjoying planting gardens and watching them grow.

I was recently given the opportunity by Walmart as a part of the Walmart Moms to try out a few new products specifically for the garden. When the samples arrives, we were anxious for a sunny day to try them out. The first product we tried was the Amdro Powerflex. The Amdro Powerflex is a pretty neat product. The first test we used it on was our weeds. Our yard is full of weeds. Despite already treating the grass with something to prevent the weeds, we still have weeds popping up all over the place so I knew we needed something stronger. The Amdro Powerflex system can be used to tackle a variety of different tasks in and around one’s home from weeds to pests. To use the Amdro Powerflex you first fill the container with water. Then you screw the cartridge that you want to use into the trigger handle. The first cartridge we tried was the Lawn Weed Killer. It was easy to “activate” by following the instructions and before we knew it we were spraying the various weeds in our yard. On the back of the Amdro Powerflex unit is a place to store cartridges not in use, so one can easily change from treating weeds to spraying for pests with the change of a cartridge. Which is exactly what we did after we were finished treating the weeds we moved onto the spraying the perimeter of our house for outdoor pests. I liked that there was no mixing on our part and that everything is self contained in its own labeled cartridge.

Using the Amdro Powerflex system was actually kind of fun. Currently, Amdro Powerflex has 4 cartridges that is compatible with it: Weed & Grass Killer, Lawn Weed Killer, Yard & Perimeter Outdoor, and Home Pest Indoor. The Amdro Powerflex System is available for $11.92 and the cartridges are $11.92 each. I’m so happy to be able to cross off a few garden chores from my to-do list with this one product.

Now onto another chore and that is feeding our freshly planted gardens. The Pennington Smart Feed system is a simple way to fertilize the garden. I liked that the Pennington Smart Feed system was easy to set up because all we had to do was attach it to our hose and pick the tablet we wanted to use. There are tablets for Flowers & Blooms, Tomatoes & Vegetables, as well as All Purpose.

We chose to test the Pennington Smart Feed System on our vegetable garden. The Pennington Smart Feed System is available for $12.92 with the refill tablets at $9.92. My favorite part was that I didn’t have to measure or mix anything.

Both the Amdro Powerflex and Pennington Smart Feed systems can be found in the garden section of Walmart stores.

Have you begun planting in your garden? How do you get your garden and yard ready for springtime fun?

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post as well as given samples of the products mentioned in this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Between gardening and spring cleaning, I’ve been keeping pretty busy lately. I was recently asked by Walmart as part of the Walmart Moms to try out a fairly new product called the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner. I’ve heard of the product before through a couple of advertisements I’ve seen on TV and was wondering how it worked and what it did. So when they sent a sample unit, I was eager to give it a try.

The O-Cedar O-Duster comes already assembled in the box so there is nothing to put together. It also comes with it’s own charger so there are no batteries to worry about. Out of the box it is pretty much ready to use, just attach a disposable cleaning cloth and push the start button. The O-Duster has two cleaning times: 30 minutes and 120 minutes.

We do not have hardwood floors in our current home but we do have laminate flooring in our kitchen. Our kitchen is the place in our house that is constantly cleaned the most especially with small children and two small dogs in the house. Like the name states, the O-Duster is a duster. Not a mop. Not a vacuum. I found that it only picked up small bits of debris like crumbs and hair. While I would love for it to vacuum and mop, I realize that it is only going to dust and pick up the small stuff.

The O-Duster is currently available in Walmart stores for $39.98. When testing out the O-Duster in our kitchen, there were several things I needed to do before using it. One was to remove all of the kitchen chairs around the table, pick up any rugs up off of the floor, and sweep up the large debris. Once this was done then I used the O-Duster on the shortest time (30 minutes) to pick up any small stuff that I missed. It seemed to do a pretty good job covering the majority of the room (yes, I sat there and watched it….it was kind of fascinating). There was one area it had a problem with and that was the area where our trashcan normally sits. For some reason it kept getting stuck there but a simple nudge and it would move along.

When the short cycle was finished, I was a bit surprised at all of the “stuff” stuck on the cleaning pad. The O-Duster won’t replace our need to sweep the kitchen floor but it did pick up some of the small stuff that my sweeping had left behind.

Have you tried the O-Duster? What do you think of it?

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post as well as given a sample of the products mentioned in this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The colors I chose to paint my nails were:

• Essie Power Clutch
• Wet n Wild Fast Dry Gray’s Anatomy
• Spoiled I Have No Reception
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat

To get the look, I first painted all of my nails with one coat of the Essie Power Clutch. Then I painted one coat of Wet n Wild Fast Dry Gray’s Anatomy on top of that. Like most of my nail looks, I love an accent nail. So for my accent nail I swept one coat of Spoiled I Have No Reception to look like stars. After everything was dried, I then applied one coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat to help my manicure last just a bit longer.

The end result definitely reminds me of space. The Wet n Wild Fast Dry nail color in Gray’s Anatomy is pretty neat. In certain lights and angles it varies in color from purple to grey to a dark green. It’s hard to explain. It’s one of those nail colors you have to see in person.

Do you have any recommendations for nail colors that go with a space inspired theme?