Earth Day

I love the earth.....as I imagine most people do :) Some people may not treat mother earth as nicely as others but I still believe we should all do our part. I recycle everything I possibly can (which it makes a HUGE difference on trash day) and I even got my place of work to recycle paper, cans, and plastic bottles. How great it is to feel like I am making a difference.

The world is so beautiful and gives us so many great things, why not help it out and treat it right? After all, we take and take from it and just give it trash back until we join earth after our long lives....do something today! Even something as small as recycling plastic helps.....reduce, reuse, recycle. It's a wonderful feeling.

Now, some pretty pictures!

 

All images found via weheartit, searching earth day, earth, and recycle.

 Sorry about the picture overload, I just loved the images I found! Happy Earth Day everyone!
 
♥kayla

A Mobile for my Niece

I have been looking at some wonderful  mobiles on the internet lately and decided I would make my own for little miss Emma.....who should be here within the month. Her room is going to be pink, purple, and PRINCESS! I got my inspiration from the mobile below ↓↓


Found Here

 Isn't that just precious?? I love it! I wanted to do something like it but decided to go with wire hangers. My idea for it changed a few times.....I wanted to use one hanger and then create small triangles out of another and hang those from the first hanger, yarn wrap them, and then make a chain of felt leaves.....then I just decided to go with this.....

I am in the process of creating a tutorial for this if you would like to do it as well.....just watch my blog for that post soon!

♥kayla

Marshmallow Fondant

I first made marshmallow fondant about 3 years ago....when I decided randomly that I wanted to make a fondant cake. I had heard that the fondant you buy out of a box tastes horrible and I really wanted to make something that was edible and people could enjoy it if they wanted. So, I did some research and found marshmallow fondant! It was fairly easy to make and actually kind of fun! It did end up being sticky but it was great! And all it consists of is marshmallow, water, and powdered sugar!

When it came time for my sisters baby shower we decided to make cupcakes.....and of course I volunteered to make about 50 of them!! I thought it would be a great way to practice with cupcakes, frosting them prettily (is that even a word?), and also practice making pretties with marshmallow fondant.....here is what happened......

The melted marshmallows.....very goopy :)



Adding powdered sugar to the melted marshmallows....



After adding the powdered sugar the marshmallow mixture started to thicken up...it looks kind of pretty like this :)



I wanted to make two different colors so I separated the marshmallow fondant into two balls and colored them with food coloring gel



The cutouts of the hearts and flowers.....my husband told me that he thought the flowers looked like stars....what do you think?



Vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting and purple flower marshmallow fondant....yum



Chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing and pink heart marshmallow fondant.....yum again :)



The finished product, too bad I didn't get a picture of them out of the box!

Needless to say, I was - and am - pretty proud of myself for what I accomplished. Unfortunately I didn't get to make either the cupcakes or icing from scratch but I think they turned out well. For me, there is just something extra when things are made from scratch. Also, looking back I think I should have made the icing for the chocolate cupcakes purple but that really wouldn't have made a difference, it just would have been more asthetically pleasing :) Ah, being a perfectionist definitely has its downfalls.

Oh yeah, if you would like to try to make this wonderful fondant yourself, click here. Enjoy!

♥kayla

The Animal...

If you don't know, I am an avid lover of Dyson vacuums. I have never had the chance (read: money) to own a Dyson, but my husbands sister and brother both own one and they love theirs! I have had the chance to used theirs - thankfully - since we moved out in June since we do not currently have one. It has just made me want to get one more....and I have been telling Eli since we moved that my tax return this year will be going towards buying a Dyson. For our wedding, we ended up getting quite a bit of cash and we had just enough to buy a refurbished Animal that is available on Overstock.com.

I had been researching and reading review after review of the refurbished vacuums since I was a little leery of buying something like that used, and most of the feedback was good! There were a few bad ones but there are bound to be a few like that. I do believe most of them got things straightened out though. I ended up deciding on one of the newer models of the Animal, the DC17 - and it was on Overstock for $299.24 down from $314.99. I also chose to buy an additional 4 year warranty for $60 just to be safe. The day that I decided exactly what model I wanted wasn't the day I ordered the vacuum though, I had to deposit the money in the bank. I ended up doing that a few days later and then ordered it that night. I even got a drop in the price - it went down to $275.00! I also found an online coupon that gave my $12 off the total price! I was SO excited.

The day finally came - about 6 days later - and the vacuum showed up.....I put it together and then Eli pointed out that it wasn't the right one, that it was one of the earlier models. I checked to make sure I ordered the right vacuum and damn if he wasn't right....I ordered the wrong one. :( Luckily, Overstock.com made it easy for me by giving me a free postal label to send the package back. I repackaged it and then sent it off from work the next day. I received it in ten days, although it would have been seven if Thanksgiving hadn't fallen on that Thursday. Oh well, I just have to make sure to double check when I order again! Don't get too gung-ho and such.

I love this thing.....



This post was supposed to happen months ago but due to my computer getting a little cranky with me I am just getting around to posting it now.....

Super Steampunk Giveaway!

Mary Sew is amazing.....check out this awesome giveaway!



Her blog is amazing, as is her talent......she can sew (imagine that, with a name like MarySew!) and makes some pretty bitchin' jewelry. Now, she is hosting an amazing giveaway and I wanted to give other readers a chance to check it out! Click on the button and you will go straight to her blog.....and let her know who sent you!

♥kayla

True Blood....Oh So Good...

I finally got True Blood Season One on DVD the other day. I have read the first two books and I am currently on the third book, Club Dead. So far they seem to have stuck with the story, which is great in my opinion. My husband and I have watched all 12 episodes in three days, and I must say he is a trooper for doing it. At first he was skeptical of it but once we watched the last episode this morning he said, "Well now I want to watch the next season" lol. I wish I could make it to the store so I could buy it......maybe once the snow has cleared.

Speaking of snow, we have had about 12 inches so far.....and it's still coming down, bad. We are in the middle of the "Snowpocalypse" as I have heard it called :) Either way, I haven't had a snow day in years so this is pretty cool! I will try to get a few pics of this beautiful (but somewhat aggravating) snow soon.....until then, I give you this.....

All images were found via weheartit.

Now, I am going to enjoy a nice glass of wine since I will be stuck in the house for a while..... If you so happen to be stuck in this crazy weather (which I hear is hitting at least 30 states) stay home or at least be careful if you must go outside! I know lots of businesses here in Columbia, MO are closed and more than likely won't open for a few days.

Hot chocolate will definitely be in order since I plan on playing in the snow at least a little bit tomorrow with the hubs and the two furbabies :)

♥kayla