Utah Pressure

I love Utah. Dearly.

Born & Raised, here to stay (......for now)

I think there are some awesome benefits to living here! 
 

My Job
My Friends

Love downtown SLC (even though it's not as large as I would like..)
Many benefits church-wise

City Creek Mall

Hot Summers & Snowy Winters

Family close by

Beautiful Mountains

...

my list will go on and on.

 

.BUT.

Utah. ..You're SERIOUSLY KILLING ME!!

I wake up with the mountains and valleys screaming
"WHY ARE YOU 23 AND BABY-LESS!?"

 

See.. only Utah is known for putting on the pressure to get married young and start poppin' out those babies as soon as possible!

(If you don't start poppin' em out you won't have stickers for the back of your minivans)

I have plenty of friends my age with one or TWO kids.

And here I am like.. "I've got a bunny!!"
 

I feel like my baby ticker is ticking.

And you know what? I blame Utah.

Because my baby ticker most certainly is not ticking.

....OUTSIDE of Utah....

 

My first thought is:
JUST BUY MORE BUNNIES!

..which I am actually perfectly fine with..

 

My second thought is:
Stop taking birth control and FORGET to tell Spencer.

(couldn't do it..)

 

THEN random opportunities present themselves:
LIKE GO TO THE KE$HA CONCERT!

Park City, Sundance, late night out.
YES

 

....and suddenly...

I am so thankful that I do not have kids.

 

 

THE END.

Life on Countryside

Okay everyone..

 I don't know how many of you follow the LOVELY Elle from Life on Countryside, but if you don't read her blog now you should start. Liiiiike today. I just started reading her blog last week & she's hilarious. Plus she likes TARGET which means we are basically soul sisters.

 

Elle (Prounounced L E- just like the letters sound) Nominated me for the big pink Liebster Award! So excited and I love filling out these 'About Me' Questions like you don't already know the answers. I'm supossed to write 11 random facts about me and answer the questions Elle gave me. Here goes..

 

 

1. I'm a natural blonde but I'm finding out I kind of like my hair dark better.

(sorry husband..)

 

2. I love admiring other people's ink. If ya know what I'm sayin. There's always a story behind it.
(ooooooh contraversialllll...!)

 

3. Winston is my baby. I love it when he lets me hold him like a baby too.

(The bunny...)

 

4. I can justify any purchase. It's a blessing and a curse.

(I know I have 100 different lip glosses BUT THIS ONE.. is sparkley..)

 

5. I modeled for Baby Gap & Gymboree when I was just a tot.

(My sister got the adult model genes..)

 

6. I dream about packing up and moving somewhere random for a few months.

(& by random I mean Hawaii to beach bum with my sissy..)

 

7. I LOVE it when people come to me for advice.

(But I need help figuring my own stuff out..)

 

8. Sometimes I like to be contraversial.

(step out of the box people..)

 

9. I'm really confrontational.

(Spencer hates it..)

 

10. I DO NOT enjoy working out.

(but I'm glad I did it afterwards..)

 

11. My favorite meal is dessert.

(ice cream, cupcakes, cheesecake, cookies.......)

 

 

Elle Asked me THESE questions:

1. If you could be one animal what would you be and why?

A bunny. Because they are adorable & can run fast.

 

2. What is your favorite candy?

Favorite candy?! There aren't very many candies that I DON'T like..

 

3. What would your Super Hero name be and what is the super power she would have?

Pink Sparkles. hahah shoot. That's really stupid huh..

I'd have to come up with my name later. But my super power would be...

To teleport. I hate driving in traffic & I wouldn't have to pay for airfare.

Genius.

 

4. When is your Birthday and what is your sign?

July 31st. Best Birthday of the year.

I'm a Leo. rawr.

5. Nike or Puma?

Def. a Nike fan..

6. Favorite book you have read in the last 6 months?

Uh the only book (sadly) I've read in the last 6 months has been Safe Haven.

LOOOVED IT.

 

7. What kind of phone do you have?

iphone. I'll never look back.

 

8. Who was your first crush and why?!

My first crush was probably Jesse from Full House.

WHY? Because he's hot duh.

 

9. Socks or Barefeet?

Summer= barefeet.

any other time=new socks.

10. Who is your hero?

Honestly probably my little sister. She's 4 years younger but she's taught me so much. I can go to her with ANYTHING & she's been a huge example to me. I couldn't possibly love her any more than I do right now.

11. Why do you blog?

I first started blogging to keep a record of my life. It's faster to type than write in a journal. Then I started meeting awesome friends & learning so much. I blog to be social, to write about WHATEVER I want & to document what's going on. It's been fun to go back and read what's happened throughout the last year or so.. a lot changes in life!

 

I NOMINATE:

Jenn @ Life as a Wife

Jess @ The Plater Updater

Natalie @ Little Sea Big Fish

Ashley @ Let's Get Bananas

 

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU ARE:

1. what has been the greatest adventure for you in the last year?

2. If you could live anywhere in the US Where would you move?

3. Dill pickles or sweet?

4. If someone handed you $1,000.00 what would you do with it?

5. What is your dream job?

6. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?

7. What is your favorite season and why?

8. What is one accessory you couldn't live without?

9. Where were you born?

10. Do you have any pets?

11. Why do you blog?

 

 

XOXO



 



Weekend in Review

This is OFFICIALLY post #200!

Too bad it's not very exciting. What better way to celebrate post #200 than with my boring Weekend Review!

 

Today I'm linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans!

 

1. I got a package from Little Sissy! Coconut Peanut Butter, Chocolate covered Macadamia Nuts & Pineapple Pancake Mix. (The life of living in Hawaii........*sigh*...)

 

2. I shared an apple with Winnie. (More like.. he stole some apple from my plate..)

 

3. Watched The Longest Yard with Winnie (& Spencer..)

 

4. When I got bored of the movie I made Winston a Unicorn Bunny

 

5. Had a killer work out at the gym- then came home and ruined it by eating Pineapple Pancakes. With extra butter. And I don't even feel bad about it.

 

6. Got bundled up venture out in the snow to make it to my hair appointment.

 

7. Before picture (my hair is not growing in gray.. that's blonde you see there..)

CLEARLY I was past due for gettin' ma hurr done..

 

8. After picture. My hair girl is the SHIZ. I won't feel bad if any of you want her number.

I loooveee my new hair! (Are you guys sick of my selfies yet??)

 

9. A fried of mine posted about an awesome app so I tried it.

Now my homepage looks like THIS. Chevron, pink & animal print. It's perfect.

 

10. I snap chatted with my sister all weekend.. Here is one of my better snaps with moose antlers from the giant moose behind me hanging gracefully over the dinner table at my parents house.

 

SOO.. as you can see it was a pretty uneventful weekend.

Sometimes I like those the best.

 

Spoiler alert, I cried.

Hey everybody
Posting may be spastic until I can get a few looming tasks out of the way.  Recently, though, I acquired a copy of Final Cut Pro so I'll be trying to figure that out and get up the latest video I shot as soon as Erinly possible.
I've been doing a lot of downloading lately and as a result gotten my hands on those big Oscar flicks. So far I've seen Lincoln and Amour.

The Stephen Spielberg film is going to be the final word on Lincoln in American classrooms and homes all over the world for a long time to come. I would be last to deny that my views on the captivity and enslavement of humans were not shaped by motions he passed in congress. But the Abraham presented in the film doesn't mesh honestly with the man who wrote this letter:

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. 

Full Letter, New York Times.
Do I still respect him? Am I grateful towards him and what the Republican party stood for in that point in the History of the United States?  Yes, of course on all accounts. But Slavery was bad for business in the North and real abolitionist were freeing themselves and freeing others before it ever became a matter for the boys in the Federal City.
Speaking in terms of its capacities as a film it was elegantly shot. Abe looked exactly as I would have expected and was just as folksy as advertised by my fourth grade history text.
My favorite moment in the film had to be the George Washington reaction shot. That was just golden. That and the two references to women's suffrage were also tastefully done so I was in the end not wholly dissatisfied with the film.

Amour was particularly hard for Sebastien to watch what with the similarities to his grandparent's situations on both sides of his family. But for my part, I was pleased to understand literally everything that was said. I've really arrived. Srs, I was laying on my husband's chest thinking that he's the very reason I can appreciate this film in the original language without subtitles. It made me feel so close to him.
But the film is just. so. French.
OMG, yes, it's well framed. The color palate is exquisite everything that should be there is. You even see a little back story existing between the daughter and her English speaking partner--there is some depth there that didn't need to be. Wonderful. However, during the scene  where said daughter is having a private talk with her father I wanted to see his face. Would he be as mortified as I would have been? Gawd, that's so French. And the twist? Really? REALLY?
So French.
But so good. Seriously, I won't give you more than what I have because it's your homework to see it.
I may watch the film again just to study it. As I said, I understood everything that was said, but I don't phrase things as they were in the film. This would really go a long way to getting me closer to verbal fluency.

I've been getting up earlier and working a little harder on my language acquisition. I do French in the morning and Chinese in the afternoon.  That said, if you're interested in learning Mandarin, my friend Tim recommended this incredibly useful and free program. You can completely customize your learning experience. It has my full endorsement. And so does Tim--check out his Blog on life in China. It's a great read.

Don't get any crazy ideas about me, because Mandarin is super hard. I honestly feel a little awkward trying to pronounce words correctly. My childhood was filled with people doing fake Asian...uh, speeches (?)  I don't know, whatever you call the racist form of speaking in tongues. As a result, everything I say feels a little embarrassing. I'm very excited by the challenge, though and I'm really going to apply myself to it.

Due to recent budget cuts, I've been making miracles in the kitchen for much less. (And with only half the amount of pasta you might expect.) Ongoings lately have included an awesome dinner on Valentine's day. We did it on the cheep but cheese fondue is always super yums. We also had a party the other weekend with about 40 to 50 people in ugly sweaters. The nay-bores didn't even complain so we must have done something right. I posted a few pic's taken with my coloc's camera over on my flickr account if that's the sort of thing you want to see more of. There are a few nudes but the airbrushing was truly top shelf.

That's it for now--watch out for that video blog, it's going to be a double blind taste test of a popular American drink and its European counterpart. All my best friends are scientists so they did there best to  scoff at my methods and make me cry. I think you'll like it.
Spoiler alert, yes, I cried.
Have a great week
:)

Friday Funny

I literally cried from laughing when I watched this.

Thanks for Jess over at The Plater Updater for sending this to me... You know me too well!!

 

 

 HAPPY FRIDAY!

XOXO

Beach Waves

Most of the time I feel like my hair is pretty boring.

That's probably why every chance I get it's a different color...

Blunt bangs, barely layered in the front. That's it.

Last week on Pinterest I saw a picture of this hair product & decided to try it.

[Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray!]

 

I partially towel dried my hair after showering and sprayed this stuff all over my hair.

BONUS: it smells Delicious!

 

Typically I would diffuse my hair after spraying something like this in it but I couldn't find my diffuser attachment. So instead I scrunched my hair with my hands and LIGHTLY blow dried my hair using a dryer- it still worked out great.

 

I LOVE the way my hair turned out!
Nice beachy waves- I can't wait to use this in the summer too!

This spray has a light matte finish and did NOT dry out or weigh down my hair like other salt sprays I've tried! It gave my hair lots of volume & I got a lot of compliments on it!

 

For those of you who have asked me if it lasts.. I put it to the test!

The answer is YES, it lasts... since this picture was day 3 with this product in my hair & honestly I hadn't touched it or done anything to it since.

Gross or awesome? I think awesome....

I give this product an A+ rating!
You can find it for only $5.99 at Ulta (LINK HERE)

 

 

This was MY perfect way of feeling Summery when it's still so cold outside!
XOXO



The TRUTH comes out!

Thanks to everyone who played along yesterday with the 2 truths & a LIE!

It was so fun to read everyone else's posts who linked up trying to guess what their lie was!

 

THE TRUTH COMES OUT!

 

1. If I followed all rules and regulations for car seats/booster seats, I would have been in a booster seat at 16 with my driver's license

TRUTH! Here I am a week before my 16th birthday & I did NOT meet the weight requirements to technically not be in a booster seat!

 

 

2. When I was 12 I was riding my bike & got hit by a car- If you've ever noticed the scar on my forehead that's what it is from!

 

FALSE. I did NOT get in a bike/car accident when I was 12.
(surprisingly..) Yesterday one of the comments said she couldn't see a scar on my forehead. There isn't one!  :)

 

 

3. After High School I had my nose pierced. I liked it, my mom thought it was disgusting.

TRUTH! hahaha

Here I am all tanned up with Haley (& my nose stud)

Super small you can hardly tell.. It was short lived and I'm sure my mom is thankful for that.

 

SO, for those of you who guessed #2 as FALSE!

YOU ARE RIGHT!!

 

I'm excited to find out other people's lies today!

woot woot!

Thanks for playin!



Liar Liar

For the link up this week with some lovely ladies I'm supposed to tell 2 truths & a lie!

See if you can guess which is which!
 

............................................................................................................

 

1. If I followed your typical "car seat/booster seat regulations" I STILL would have been in a booster seat at 16 years old WITH a driver's license. Embarassing.

 

2. When I was 12 I was riding my bike and got hit by a car. If you've ever noticed the scar on my forehead that's what it's from!

 

3. I pierced my nose after high school.

I liked it & my mom told me it was disgusting.



Leave a comment below on which one of these 3 items you think is a LIE!
Come back tomorrow for the answer!

Click the picture above to link up your own liar liar post!

Valentine's Say WHAT??

YESTERDAY

Was Valentine's day. Duh.

I has sitting at my desk bright and early 6:45 am.

7:15 am rolls around and some RANDOM Hispanic dude BARGES into my office and sits at the desk next to mine.
 

"Uh.. Do you need something or can I help you with something...??"

He states he's "just there to talk"

haha okay mister I have NO IDEA who you are, I've NEVER seen you before and I'm WORKING. I picked up the phone and frantically tried to call 3 different co-workers to RUN back to my office to "look at a paper"

I was told "it will be a minute.."

NO PEOPLE. NOW. (but clearly I couldn't say that..)

I start to send a text "SOMEONE IS IN MY OFFI..."

and before I know I could finish my text he had snaked his way over in between my chair and my desk and suddenly his hand is on my back.
WTF!?

"When I walked by your office yesterday.. you were so cute.. "
AND QUICKLY GOES IN TO KISS ME!

ANOTHER WTF!?

I pushed this complete stranger away with a loud "EXCUSE ME!?"

.....there he went casually walking out of my office.....

 

At this point I am in complete shock.

I run to find someone & he's gone.
 

WHO DOES THAT!?

& I have a freaking RING on my finger!!

like... DUH.

 

Needless to say I had to talk to 2 different security guards, was given pepper spray to keep at my desk & was checked on a million times by co-workers throughout the day. The halls were monitored all day looking for the desperate little monster.

 

I mean yeaaaah, it was Valentine's Day & all.. but holy cow people my office is not a kissing booth! 

 

I was SO excited to go home to Spencer and admire the Cricut machine he bought me still in the box. I still have way too much anxiety to open it yet. I absolutely LOVE IT!
I loved our first Valentine's Day together as a married couple! Last year at this time Spencer was living in Vernal & it sucked.
 

Spencer was at school all night last night so we celebrated our Vday a night early and hit the town all dressed up and lookin fine to go to PF Chang Changs. 

There, a waiter walking by dropped a dish and it sent Chinese mustard flying all over the back of my pink pea coat from Nordstrom.

 

I'm just hoping next year's Valentine's Day is a little less traumatizing.

THE END. 

 



V-Day Treat!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries..

*Sigh*

..I don't think I've told you about the story about my GIGANTIC Chocolate covered strawberry...

 

Right when City Creek Mall opened Spencer and I went down to check it out. We went into an extremely appealing store that sold lots of chocolates & treats.

I decided that I deserved a treat so I'd get a choco strawberry.

 

The girl behind the counter said, "7 or 9?"

... clearly I don't know what that means but of course I want the 9...

So as she rings me up for a $9.50 strawberry I almost peed right there on the floor.

"7 or 9" meant price.

That's right folks.. a NINE DOLLAR SINGLE STRAWBERRY WITH CHOCOLATE.

Just one.

ONE!

Needless to say I didn't want to eat such a thing of beauty. So I carried it around with me for two whole days admiring it. Eating it one lick at a time to make it last.

I will admit it was worth it.

 

SO.

Now here we are with Valentine's Day just a few days away.

Do not go buy chocolate covered strawberries.

This is quick & easy, and only cost me around $8.00

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

-A case of strawberries

(they were 2 cases for $4.00 at my local grocery store!)

-Chocolate Almond Bark

(I bought this for about $3.00 at my local grocery store!)

-A cookie sheet covered with wax or parchment paper

 

*Use a smaller saucepan for this so it's easier to dip the strawberries. You won't use as much chocolate if you use a small saucepan!*

 

Turn the burner on LOW. (the lowest setting possible!)

Melt a few chunks of almond bark at a time. BE PATIENT or it will burn!

 

While your chocolate is melting, wash off all of your strawberries.

MAKE SURE THEY ARE DRIED COMPLETELY!

(ANY trace of moisture will cause the almond bark to solidify!)

*make sure any spoons you use to stir stay dry as well!*

 

Once all of your chocolate is melted dip each strawberry very carefully by holding the stem.

(you can use a fork or something else to dip your strawberry, but I like to hold the strawberry greens up so they don't get chocolate on them!) 

 

Lay your chocolate covered strawberries to dry on your wax/parchment paper.

 

EASSSSYYYY!

If your chocolate starts to thicken, you used too much heat or heated it too quickly!
You can thin your chocolate by using a SMALL amount of vegetable shortening.

DO NOT use water or milk!!

 

SOO..

I paid $9.00 for one chocolate covered strawberry &

I made 24 myself for under $8.00

 

 

I ate at least 5.

Awesome.

 

 

XOXO



The color blue and red candies too.

<<Aujourd'hui, maman est morte.>> 
That's the first line from the Stranger, one of my favorite books on our high school's curriculum and the basis of everything I would learn about Existentialism. I'm reading it now, in French and even though I'm seeing a lot of the vocabulary for the first time, I heard it used frequently, last week.

Sebastien's grandmother passed away and his parents came from the US to attend the funeral.

I had only seen her once, prior to her death--Sebastien took  me to Strasbourg to meet his Uncle and cousins and during that visit I only heard her speak a single time which was prompted by Sebastien's Uncle telling her that Seb's father was on the phone. He asked if she would like to speak with him. 

<< Oh, yes ! >> she had replied warmly. That was in 2009.

Sebastien and his parents visited her in Alsace last summer. I stayed in Paris because the trip interfered with my work schedule. As a result last week was the first time I had seen most of Seb's family in 4 years. I was hesitant to go in some ways, as if doing so would make a promise I was scared to keep. And anyway, funerals are personal, family affairs-- Sebastien's own sister couldn't even make it, and as I am merely the wife of a grandson...I didn't want to intrude.

But reluctant as I was, I knew it was my duty to attend. Sebastien has held my hand through both my brother and my father's death, in effect making that same promise I was scared to make, twice.

Am I being clear enough, dear reader?

It means something to meet your lover's parents. It means something else to accompany them to a wedding where you might interact with their family in a time of joy...it means quite another thing to stand beside them during tragedy.

My French has improved greatly since my first vacation to France. I was a little disappointed that nobody mentioned that at first, or slowed down when they spoke, or even asked me where I was from, but acceptance is it's own kind of compliment.

Interestingly enough, the whole affair was a joyful event punctuated by deep feelings and tears. Moving as those moments were I found they were overshadowed by droll stories and beautiful pictures. People had amazing tales of his grandmother. My favorite involved his great-Aunt and how she met her husband.

Sebastien's Grandmother was quite an accomplished seamstress. I've seen pictures of the Batman costume she made him as a child. 

Apparently she had  fashioned a blue velvet dress with a white collar for her younger sister, Sebastien's great-Aunt.

She told her little sister to put it on to go out to lunch. Her sister complied but leaned out the window to see what the weather would be like. It was raining and she was not looking forward to getting the new garment wet. She looked good in blue--this was never  mentioned but even now, in her mid 80's blue is her color.

While she's thinking about the weather a young man leans out his own window, across the street.

<< It's raining. >> He remarked.

<< Yes, it is. >> She agrees. << It's too bad because I was just about to go to a restaurant. >> She told this story more than once and she paused every time right here to say that she was too poor to eat at a restaurant, she was going to a cafe to buy a sandwich, but she didn't want him to know that.

<<You're going to eat some place? Well, I'm hungry too. Why don't we go together ? >> the young engineer leaning out his window proposed.

She agreed. Less than a year later, they were married. Fifty years ago now.

Any romantic anywhere would want to have a love story brought to you in part by the inconvenience of weather and a beautiful blue dress. C'est magique, ca !

I know Valentine's day is coming up and people are going to talk about what love is or isn't. How the holiday is manufactured and stupid and I get all of that, I really do.

But admit it--Valentines day was so awesome when we were in grade school. I don't know how they do things in France, but trading candy and paper puns was a textbook amazing afternoon for me. Red candies ranging from cherry to fire-flavored were front and center and somebody's mom inevitable brought in chocolate cupcakes. 

Pft, whatever. That holiday ruled.

This year Sebastien and I are dead broke. Both the trip to Rome and the visit to the US really put the breaks on our spending. 4 weeks of cumulative vacation does not come cheaply and the translation work he's had lately is enough to cover his half of the rent and little else. For my part, I was told I wouldn't be needed at the Local Bio until April and I had to take a day off from teaching for the funeral. So there won't be costly ingredients for our dinner nor the gifts I couldn't afford for him at Christmas. But there will be love, and I mean the blue dress kind.

Something he probably doesn't remember about when we got together, we had made it official on Valentine's day, yes. But two days later,  somebody's dad left three trays of cupcakes in my common room at college. I selected one with a plastic ring on the top and brought it over to Seb in his room, presenting it with a grin. I knew what I was doing, but I told myself I was only playing at promises and commitment. 

Later that night when the fire alarm got us out of our beds, I found him in the crowd and I handed him a Hershey's hug with the paper that said "I love you." I did so knowing that maybe it was too soon for such hints and insinuations. But why not romance someone if you have the chance? It's only candy and plastic promise rings anyway, right? 8 years later, I'm not sure if that's true. Why not ask us about it in 50 years.

Blog Award

I'm so excited that Amber from Just Ordinary nominated me for the

Versatile Blogger Award!

 

 

 

With this nomination I'm supposed to share 7 random things about myself..

....................................................................

 

1. I am a "picker" I love to pick at things. Skin, nails, split ends.. doesn't matter.
    If there's something to pick, I'll pick it. For this reason, I think the magnifying mirror is the greatest invention ever.

 

2. I love dill pickles.

 

3. I think shrimp is absolutely disgusting but I love Sushi.

 

4. My favorite TV show is The Walking Dead.. Cannot WAIT for Feb 10th!

 

5. I have a slight obsession with instagram.
I love looking at pictures 

(follow me at @missmikell)

 

6. I love sen sens.

If you don't know what those are, ask your mother or grandmother.

 

7. I do not enjoy the snow or cold weather.

Utah is the wrong state for me to be living in!

 

 

BLOGS I NOMINATE:
Jessica at NC Grown
Hailey at The Hailey Daily
Becca at Faith Love & Babies
Jessica at & So She Did
Callie at My Something New With You
Katie at Hope Engaged
Jessica at The Lyons Den


Thank you so much Amber for the nomination!!
Happy Friday!!
XOXO



Guest Post & Hair Growth!

Hey Everyone!

The lovely Chelsea over at Curves & Curls asked me to do a guest post today!

Make sure to stop by Chelsea's blog for some great hair growth tips!!



Wake UP!

[This video is adorable]
This little girl is FAST ASLEEP until she hears her favorite song come on.

..Don't we ALL have this reaction to "Gangnam style" ??  ;)

 

Hope this makes your day just a liiiiiitle bit better!

 

xoxo

Weekend Update

 

Today I'm linking up with Sami's Shenanigans for a weekend update!

Since I was a little MIA this past week I'm doing two weekend updates into one.

.Here are my weekends according to my iphone.

 

LAST WEEKEND:

Kierst & I went to see Ke$ha's concert at Park City Live!

.Life complete.

(Photo bombing at it's finest..)

 

 

I am literally still cleaning up glitter everywhere.

In my car, in my hair, in the cracks of my phone, all over our house, in my wallet..

..EVERYWHERE..!

 

Got snowed in (again) & played with Winston.

 

Got Sick (again..) but went to a movie (I liked it, Spencer didn't love it....)

 

And of course, Watched the Super Bowl with the fam & this little pup!

 



 

 

What is YOUR weekend update? Link up to Sami!

Month of Lovins!

I've always loved February for two reasons..

1. January is over!

2. Valentine's Day Month!

 

Here is an easy Valentine's Day craft & it's totally cute!

 

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

*you can also get all of these items 40% off with a coupon at Michael's Craft!*

-A canvas board (any size is good- I like square)

-Scissors

-Elmer's Glue (make sure it's white!)

-small paint brush

-glitter of your choice

-A folder of some sort, card stock or newspaper

 

I wanted something cute for Valentine's Day so I decided to go with XOXO
You can usually google image anything you want to glitter, the trick is to make sure you google image "silhouette" with most of your searches!

I found this XOXO template online HERE!

Find a Valentine's template online that you like & print it.

[Some other cute ideas would be a heart, cupid or lips!]

 

 

Cut out your template and lightly trace it onto your canvas board!

 

Squirt a good size puddle of Elmer's Glue onto a disposable plate.

 

Use your paint brush to apply the glue to any areas you want glitter.
Make sure you get as CLOSE to the edge as possible..
When applying the glue, I like to go over the edges just a little bit so they don't show through the glitter.

APPLY GLUE GENEROUSLY!

*On this step only do one letter at a time!!*

 

(I chose pink & red glitter for my board. I like the smaller tubs because they are cheap & they go a long way!)

 

Next you'll sprinkle the glitter over the glued letter- apply generously!

Gently tap the glitter to make sure it's stuck down in the glue.

 

Since I decided to do the X's red, I put glue down on my last X since I already have red glitter on my board.

Repeat the steps above!

 

This is where your folder comes in handy!
Carefully slide the glitter off onto your folder- (you can also use a newspaper or card stock, anything that you can fold in half to get the extra glitter back in the container!)

Gently tap the backside of your canvas board to get any extra glitter off.

 

NOTE:

If there are any white spots in between the glitter you didn't use enough glue!
You can go back over the white spots with dabs of glue and fill in the spots with glitter.

 

I repeated the exact same steps with my O's & the pink glitter

& J'ai fini!!

 

When you are finished lay your canvas board on a flat surface and let it dry for at least 24 hours! This will prevent any glitter from coming off or getting smeared!

 

 

 

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!

XOXO