{Did I Pin a Win} Homemade Pore Mask Review

I'm doing another Did I Pin a Win? feature this week. Today's review is of a homemade pore mask made from 2 simple ingredients you may already have in your pantry and fridge.

Here's the pin that inspired me:

Source: petitelefant.com via Susan on Pinterest

The gal at Petit Elephant is a sight braver than I am and included pictures of herself throughout her tutorial. Me, not so much! I was hoping that this mask would 29 year-old, blackhead prone, large pore skin.

The process is easy enough. You just need a tablespoon of plain gelatin (I used 1 packet) and 1-2 tablespoons of milk.

Mix it up in a container and warm it for about 15-20 seconds in the microwave. Stir again and then apply liberally, yet as evenly as possible to your sans-makeup face.

I decided to rope Riley into helping me since her face without makeup is way cuter than mine. ;-) Also, I thought this would be a fun girly thing to do with her. Win-win!

Except....Let's just say that this mask is not for the faint of heart or sensitive of skin! While we agreed that our skin felt smoother after the snot-looking mask had dried for 15-20 minutes and been peeled off, that peeling process was BRUTAL! Poor Riley! I felt awful for making her go through it! :-(

Also, a word to the wise, keep the mask well away from your hairline and eyebrows, you know, unless you want to purposely recede your hairline and wax your brows!

So, my review: I liked the simplicity of the ingredients and preparation. The smell left a bit to be desired, but could be remedied with a couple drops of your favorite essential oil (lemon, orange, lavender, and peppermint are all coming to my mind). And it did leave my skin somewhat softer (and nearly hairless), though with little to no visible effect on my pores.

A win? I don't know. It wasn't my favorite project, but I wouldn't consider it a total waste of 30 minutes.

Pricing Tags for Garage Sales {Printable}

Does anyone else sell their almost-unused
toiletries?? I'm really hoping they will sell

Sooo as I already mentioned, I'm having a yard sale this weekend. =\ I haven't done many of these (ok, only one!), and I'm in a little over my head.

BUT I did do one thing that has made my life soooooooo much easier as I'm pricing things. Audrey and I are actually doing this together, so I needed to be able to initial my items. I ended up using some return address labels I already had and making price stickers out of them. I printed two per label, so each page has 120 stickers! And every single label has my initials, so it will make it easy for tallying up who sells what.

I made stickers for each of these prices: 25c, 50c, $1, $2, $3, and $5. I also printed a few blanks ones with just my initials, for other items. Aaaand 120 labels really go a long way... as I learned after printing about 4 pages of each........

If you want to print some yourself (sans my initials ;-) you can download my PDF here. This will open it in a viewer where you can print or click File > Download if you'd like to save it. It is formatted to print correctly on Avery label 8160, the standard for return address labels.

Print PDF

Now I'm just hoping people don't ask me if the lotion is $1.00 per pound. ;-)

{Menu Monday} Take it easy

Someone else has invaded my brain and decided to have a garage sale this weekend. Whaaaattt was I thinking?? Actually, I think it will be ok -- I have so much junk to get rid of! And why not make some $$ off it (hopefully)?

But that means I am going to be VERY busy this week and need some super easy dinners. Fortunately, I always cook easy dinners! :D

Here's my menu for this week:

Monday - Beans, Cornbread
Tuesday - Mexican Pizza
Wednesday - Sausage Biscuits, Eggs, Smoothies
Thursday - Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches, Chips, Watermelon
Friday - Chili Dogs, Peaches

Linking up at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday and at Rachel's weekly menu linkup

Hello Kitty Party continued {FREE Printables!}

Last week I shared with you about my daughter's Hello Kitty-themed 5th birthday party. This week, I'm excited to share with you some of the printables that I created for the party to make the theme more budget-friendly.

(Also, this past weekend we did have my son's Buzz Lightyear party for turning 3. I can't wait to share all that with you, too! Another time though, k?)

I'm hoping all of these links and printables work. They should all be saved as PDF documents. But if you have any trouble and you want to use or make a change, please shoot me an email or a comment, and I'll help ya out.

First up...the invitation! I'm not saying that all parties need an invitation, but for a themed party, having something to initially set the scene certainly helps. Here's the invitation that I created using just a HK face line drawing from an online coloring page (creative, yeah?). There are actually 4 front and back in this download.

These are designed to print onto those print-your-own post card sheets that are perforated into quarters. Like these. But you can always print onto card stock and cut them apart yourself.

Next, a few simple decorations. If your daughter is like mine and loves to use markers, these are a great way to let her add her own personal touch to the party decorations. We used these simple bows to decorate the balloons we designed to look like HK as well as for our "Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty" game. Riley decided to color some of the light pink ones different colors. There are 4 to a sheet, 2 pages in the download.

Here's another simple and customizable printable. Two pages in the download, 4 HK line-drawn faces (to match the invitations) per page. We used these faces as individual place cards by coloring each bow a different color and writing the names of the guests. You could also use them to identify different foods or alternately string them and the bows on a piece of ribbon for a Hello Kitty party banner.

And be sure to thank your guests with custom Thank You cards. With blanks to write each guest's name and gift, as well as prompts to personalize it, these are 4 to a sheet, front and back.

I really have a great time making things special for my kids' birthdays, and creating my own party supplies and decorations is one way I can do it on a budget. I hope that someone else can get some use out of these  Hello Kitty party printables as well, and if you do, let me know!

A Fun Baby Announcement

I have something to tell y'all...I'm pregnant! I'm into my second trimester now, and I am so glad. The last few months have been difficult, crazy, and overwhelming! I kinda felt in a fog. But I'm feeling so much better now, although I'll still be dealing with exhaustion, insomnia, and lack of motivation to do much of anything for quite a while I'm sure!

There are so many cute ways to announce your pregnancy. I've seen several on Pinterest, like a picture of dad and pregnant mom with a "+" sign in between them and "=3" after. Anyway, I knew I wanted to do something special and different when we announced our news to our family and friends. One night I was completely inspired and came up with the fun picture below. Of course, everyone knows we have two boys, so the addition of the bottle was how we shared our exciting news. I liked how each cup showed a bit of our personalities and tastes. :) 

Share your wonderful news with a cute, easy announcement like this one!

This announcement was SO easy to make too! Took like 5 minutes to set it up, and a few more to edit the picture and add the text. We got so many compliments on the creativity of it. All in all, it was a very fun way to share the news of the pregnancy.

Hope this inspires you to come up with your own fun announcement!

Check out my pinterest Baby board for more great ideas...

{Traveling with Kids} 10 Tips for a Smooth Vacation

My sweet family, out for dinner on vacation

A few weeks ago, I shared a few tips I found helpful for packing for a road trip when you have kids. Today I want to share some ideas for the actual traveling. We had a blast, and I hope you can learn from our experience.

We went to San Antonio for a few days, then drove over to Houston for a couple more days. All in all, we probably spent about 30 hours of our vacation in the car! My kids are 5, 3, and 1, and I was a little worried about how they would do. They did GREAT though, and there was very little whining or crying. (I was most worried about Paisley, my 1yo.) Unfortunately, they didn't sleep a lot either. My younger two kids usually take 3-hour naps, and that did NOT happen. We left early in the morning (about 4:30) hoping they would sleep in the car. Um no. They ALL stayed awake until it was light, at which point there was no turning back. I guess they were too excited?? And I was so worried I would forget something, I barely slept at ALL the night before, even though we were in bed early. So I think my lesson learned is that if I'm going to be awake anyway, maybe I should just drive?? I don't know... that kind of scares me too.

1. Pack plenty of activities for the car!

I spent a LOT of time getting together little packs of fun stuff for the kids to do in the car. Stickers, crayons, notebooks, cars, even puzzles and small toys.

As a table for the kids laps, I got two super cheap cookie sheets with edges. These were perfect. They provided a hard surface for coloring pages, puzzles, car tracks, and I even found some magnets that worked as "paper" dolls for Sara.

I put all of the craft materials in hanging toiletry bags. Each kid had their own, and they hung nicely beside their chairs. It worked great!!

2. Eat at Chick-fil-A

I'm actually really serious about this!! I know some parts of the country don't have these, but if you pass one, take advantage! We brought lots of snacks and drinks, but each way we stopped at CFA one time on the road. You are guaranteed a clean restaurant, yummy food, great service, and a clean, indoor play place for the kids to burn off some steam. We let them play for about 45 minutes at lunch each time, and it was SO good to get the wiggles out! (Does anyone have any alternatives for parts of the country without CFA? You poor souls...)

And cookies. :-)

3. Take advantage of shuttles.

If you can, book a hotel that has shuttles to the attractions you plan to visit. This was SOOOO handy! Not only do you not pay for parking, but you are dropped off at the door and picked up when you're ready! We were so glad to not walk all over the parking lot, load up, and find our way back to the hotel when we were tired and just ready to be done! When you're hauling little kids, diaper bags, strollers, etc etc etc, this is huge.

4. Get a hotel with a good free breakfast.

This will seriously save you so much money!! We gorged ourselves on breakfast, then most days didn't even want lunch, just a few snacks. We ended up only buying meal each day, and it was perfect (even if Tucker's face disagrees).

5. Download apps for your trip.

It turns out that two of the places we were going -- Sea World and the Houston Zoo -- both had free iPhone apps. These came in super handy! They had interactive maps to get you where you were going in the park, so it was a lot easier to find the show or a bathroom wherever we were. They also had list of events such as animal shows or feedings, and what time they started. Very convenient! Do your research ahead of time and download anything you need before your trip.

6. Use your camera's self-timer

I personally have a hard time asking strangers to take a picture of my family. I know many people don't mind, but I always feel like I'm imposing. Plus, you aren't really going to ask them to take 4 more in case the first few don't come out. Since my only camera of the trip was my iPhone 4S, I downloaded an app to take care of this for me. I just used the free version of the TimerCam app and it worked great! I set my phone in the cup holder of the stroller, set up the picture, and ran to sit down and get everyone to smile in time! Not always successful ha! But we got some great family pictures that we wouldn't have otherwise, and there's actually proof that I was on this vacation now. :-)

7. Take advantage of your Maps app on your phone (if you have one)

There are several great things you can do with your Maps app, besides the normal searching and navigation. These screen shots are specifically for the iPhone, but I'm sure Android and other smart phones have similar capabilities.

Before you go on your trip, save all the locations you will be going as bookmarks. Then it's super easy to access any of the addresses you need and navigate back quickly.

Save your parking spot location. This is SO important if you're walking all over town like we did! Or even if you are just parked somewhere in a huge lot. Here's how to do it on the iPhone. First, find your location in your Maps app (make sure the little compass icon in the left corner is blue). Your location is indicated by a pulsing blue dot. I like to give it a few seconds to make sure it's settled on the location. Then, tap the blue dot, and it will show the details of your location, like this:

Select "Add to Bookmarks" and you can now save your parking spot and not be lost!

You can even get walking directions back to your parking spot, or your restaurant or other attraction.

Lastly, this is also my favorite way to find phone numbers for local businesses, as well as nearby restaurants. Simply search for the type of restaurant or name of the business, and click the blue arrow. You'll get the phone number, address, even website if available. Plus you can get directions or save the address easily.

8. Be flexible. Be spontaneous. Take the scenic route.

You may have plans to go out to dinner, and then get there and turn around to find this. :-) Ha!! Poor kids were EXHAUSTED! But that's ok, just get a pizza and take it back to the hotel. Be ready to change plans if needed!

One of the absolute highlights of our trip was a spontaneous drive down to the Galveston beach. The kids looooooved the beach, and we ate the best food of our whole trip. This was definitely not on the original itinerary, but I'm so glad we did it! I mean really, eating seafood on the beach -- who could complain? It definitely whet my appetite for Pensacola again!

On our drive home, we were desperate to avoid the traffic of Austin and Dallas (Austin was AWWWWFUL), so we took a slightly longer route home and had the most peaceful, beautiful scenery the whole way!!

9. Don't forget your own entertainment

I loaded our phones and my kindle with books, movies, and audio books for the car trip too. Definitely made the trip go faster! I almost forgot though, in the busyness of getting stuff ready for the kids.

10. Bonus tip: Don't sit in the splash zone.

It's false advertising. It's really the SO-SOAKING-WET-YOUR-KIDS-WILL-HATE-THEIR-LIVES zone. Don't do it. :-)

We had such a fun trip!!! I know everyone has lots of fun vacations coming up this summer. What are your survival skills when traveling with kids? Please share!

{Menu Monday} Pizza Party

My sister, my daughter Sara, me
(in a very overblown-but-still-cute picture :-)

My baby sister turned 21 yesterday! I say baby sister, but she's also my only sister, and my favorite sister. :-) So we are celebrating tonight with -- what better -- do-it-yourself homemade pizzas. Mmmm... Which means nap time doesn't equal cooking dinner tonight. That's always a good deal to me. I'm also working on perfecting a pizza crust. I think I'm about there! I like a crackery homemade crust, not a doughy, soft crust. When it's just how I want it, I'll be sure to share it.

Monday - Parents' house for birthday party
Tuesday - Fajitas, Black Beans
Wednesday - Whole Grain Waffles, Eggs, Applesauce
Thursday - BBQ Pork, Salad, Chips
Friday - Tilapia Fish Sticks, Macaroni & Cheese, Salad

Linking up at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday and at Rachel's weekly menu linkup

Hello Kitty Birthday Party {Parties on a Budget}

My son turned 3 years old yesterday, and we are throwing him a Buzz Lightyear party on Saturday (per his request). I've been doing a lot of the decorating and party prep today and that got me to thinking about previous parties. 

I love party planning! Over the past 5 1/2 years of parenting, I've thrown plenty of themed birthdays. And a while back I shared with you the airplane-themed baby shower for my sister-in-law. But I've always been careful to keep it in a reasonable budget. Being creative with what I've got energizes me and makes me put off the other important things like housework and stuff....

I've got some tips on how to throw a great kids party without going overboard, and I have a whole post in the works on that subject. Today I'm sharing the Hello Kitty party (parties) I hosted for my daughter's 5th birthday in October last year.

We decided to have two separate parties this time around - a friend party and a family party, simply because both sides of our family live in town and when we all get together, it's just about to burst the seams of our house. Adding 5+ friends would have been over-the-top crazy!

The friend party was a lunch party with Hello Kitty-shaped peanut butter and honey sandwiches. The nose is cheese, the eyes are halved grapes, and the bows are made from 2 quarters (approximately) of a strawberry. The girls thought the sandwiches were just pretty darn cute. :-)

We also had additional strawberries, cheese cubes, grapes, and strawberry swiss rolls. Also in this picture you can see some of the other decorations that Riley and I worked together on. We printed out the Hello Kitty clipart on post card paper and then used various colors of markers to give each one a different bow color. We scattered them on the table and hung them from the light fixture. 

Riley (my daughter) is in the green. That other little girl is one of her dear friends and
daughter of one of our lovely, faithful blog-readers. :-)

Here's another decoration we worked on together. White balloons with HK face and whiskers drawn on. Cardstock triangle ears and Riley-colored bow. There were several of these scattered throughout the party area. (UPDATE: Check out the follow-up post with FREE printable invites, decorations, and thank you cards!)

After eating, we did our first activity - face painting! I had face paint crayons from last year's Halloween stuff, and the girls all decided they wanted just HK face on their cheeks, not a whole cat face. 

Girl has got attitude and photographability!
(Oh, and for the record, I was a good 10 pounds heavier in these pictures than I am now - yay!!)

Once the girls had their face paint, we went back to the table for our dessert — which for some reason, there is no good picture of.  :-(  But you can kind of see in the corner of this picture that we had Hello Kitty sugar cookies. I drew the outline and face with melted baker's chocolate and added those cute edible flowers in the signature bow position.

Sara was super sweet to show us her face. :-)

Speaking of the bow position, we moved on to our next activity — pin the bow on Hello Kitty! I just drew a large HK head on a 1/2 sheet of poster board and then printed and cut out little bows. We used a pink (of course) bandana to cover their eyes, spun them around and then had them tape the bow where they thought it should be (always over her left ear).

They were sooooo cute, trying to help each other and rolling with laughter the whole time!

We had a quick gift time. Here you can see the girls all sporting their very own Hello Kitty bows. These were super simple to make from materials I already had on hand (alligator hair clips, red ribbon, and hot glue), and they were the favors we sent home with the girls. (Several moms said they appreciated the lack of candy and junky toys...noted.)

Gift from Mom and Dad...

Oh, my! What could make my sweet girl so excited???

I LOOOOVVEEE this shot! I made sure hubster was standing ready with that camera to get this reaction. :-)

Why a big-girl Hello Kitty bicycle, of course!!

 "Thanks, Mom and Dad!"

The main addition to our family party was a fabulous cake made and decorated by my incredibly talented sister and owner of Cakes by EM. She captured the vision perfectly, and we all loved it!

What's your take on kid birthday parties? Got any tips of your own? What's your favorite party you've thrown or attended? Stay tuned for more parties and party tips!