Life Organizing

Please excuse me for a few days while I get my LIFE organized. My family spent last week in Hood River, OR and it was a wonderful break. But now that I am home I feel like I am just so far behind on everything....cleaning, laundry, bathing the children, errands, friends, this blog! I need a few days to get everything back in order and I promise I will come back strong. I have loads of ideas coming in the next few weeks so stay put! Sincerely,
Brooke

Outdoor Movie Screen

Good morning everyone! Once again, I'm not here.Well, I am. I'm writing this......just last week. lol. We are on vacation again. Whoo Hoo! This time to our family getaway spot in Hood River. I usually take 2 weeks off right in a row over the Summer, but we decided to break it up a little bit this year. It actually gave us more time off doing it this way.....sneaky. Today I am probably a. laying by the pool, b. walking around downtown HR shopping or c. eating the most delicious pizza in the world at Solstice Cafe. If I WAS home, I would want to be making this, DIY Outdoor Movie Screen from the blog Running With Scissors.



So freaking adorable. We don't have a movie projector, but this makes me really want one! I mean, who doesn't miss the old school drive in movie theatres? I've never even BEEN to one and I miss them. Yes, I feel cheated and deprived. My husband and I are always talking about doing an outdoor movie theatre thing for parties etc. I never would have thought to set one up in my back yard! GENIUS! Maybe a project for next Summer. We have the perfect yard set up for this. And I would just keep it simple and use a sheet. Have a big party and invite tons of friends. How cool would that be? Maybe next Summer....

Revamped Lamp

So I decided that I need to go room by room in my house and start re-doing each one. You know, make it cute. When we moved into this house it was a total mess and there was so much that we wanted to do to fix it up. My husband has already painted a ton and I think we have only painted about half the house. I know it will be a never ending project of finishing rooms then thinking of new things to do to them. That's the best way to style a home. But I want to get to the point where I have made each room my own. So that when you enter the room, you can say, "Brooke lives here." I started small with the laundry room (which you will be seeing someday! I know, its taking forever but it IS coming) and now I am going to finish all the rest of the rooms in our house. The girls room is the only room finished to my satisfaction. The laundry room will be finished soon, then I think I'll do the girls bathroom next. I've already got ideas spinning in my head for it. Anyway, in wake of all of this re-doing, I am constantly walking through the house thinking of new things to prett-i-fy. So as much as I am trying to go one room at a time, I jump around a lot. One example of this is today's project. We have a little hutch in our front hallway that I have been itching to restyle lately. I really want to put a mirror there, but mirrors are expensive. So that will come another day, but today I decided that I had to fix this BORING lamp. Its pretty sad looking, as you can see.

I searched around for inspiration and here are some ideas I came up with.


Love letters printed onto the shade. So romantic and sweet. My love letters might be a little too steamy...

These rosettes are so pretty.

Love this Anthropologie inspired lamp. So pretty.

Here is what I ended up making.

Much better don't you think? Want to see how I did it? Scrolll down to see.

You will need:
Long strips of fabric (approx. 12X3 inches. There is a lot of wiggle room with this size) I used plain muslin and a lacey white fabric.
Hot glue
Cream colored felt
Scissors

1. Start by cleaning your lampshade with a lint roller. Mine was super dusty and this just helped give it a nice clean base to start with.
2. Cut some 2 inch circles of the felt out. How many depends on how many flowers you are making. They don't have to be perfect circles. These are going to be the base of the flowers.
3. Take a strip of fabric and fold in one corner of the strip and glue down about 90 degrees. Then start twisting the opposite end and turning it around the end where you glued down....twist and glue, twist and glue. Its hard to explain. If you need help, google "diy rosettes" and there are many helpful videos on You tube. Once your rose is about half way finished, glue down to the felt circle. Then finish twisting and glueing the rose. Here are some illustrations:

 
4. Continue until you have the desired number of flowers. I maybe made 20 to cover my small lampshade.

 5. Glue the rosettes onto the lampshade in the pattern you want. I covered my lampshade completely. In the picture, it shows that I used Tacky Glue (I read in a tutorial once that it was the best to use that kind of glue because apparantly hot glue will remelt and the flowers will fall off) but that wasn't working; the flowers fell right off. So I used hot glue. So far so good. I don't think my lamp gets that hot anyway. I'll let you know if anything changes.

6. When you have made the pattern you want, let dry and you have a new lampshade!

It looks like a freaking cake and I love it!

See what I mean by restyling? It just needs a little umph, thats all.

 The end. I am in love.

Zucchini Pasta

Sometimes I have no idea what to put on the table for dinner. Okay, it happens a lot. I get tired of making (and eating) the same things and I love to try out new recipes. I have loads of cookbooks and thick binders full of recipes ripped out from magazines over the years. But sometimes its just not enough to peak my interest. Sometimes I just need something inspiring. The other night, was one of those nights and I had a huge zucchini that I needed to use up. So I headed over to Foodgawker.com (Craftgawker's yummy brother) to find something amazing. I entered in zucchini to the search and found this amazing recipe from Running to the Kitchen (love the name). It does sound a little weird, I will admit. But there are so many amazing flavors in it I knew it had to be good. And it was. My husband made sure to tell me to write this one down. So good, and super healthy too. I made a change to mine and used non-fat ricotta to cut down on the calories a bit. I also doubled the dressing because I used a bunch of zucchini. This dish is so delicious you're not going to believe it. Zucchini pasta? Come on!



Zucchini Pasta with Sausage, Cherries and Ricotta

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini (if you are lucky enough to have someone give you one of those giant homegrown ones, otherwise you may need about 3 small zucchini from the store) If you don't have a spiralizer, (I sure don't) you will have to use a julienne peeler or mandolin. Mine turned out just fine that way.
1/2 lb Italian pork sausage
1/4 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
1 Tbls. Basil thinly sliced
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and cut into quarters
1/2 cup low fat or non fat ricotta
2 Tbls. Olive oil
2 Tbls. Honey
1 Lemon, juiced
Salt and Pepper

Brown the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. While sausage cooks, spiralize or julienne zucchini and place in a large bowl. Thinly slice the fennel (I used a mandolin for the fennel so it would be super thin) and basil, then add to the zucchini. Whisk together olive oil, honey and lemon juice then dress the zucchini mixture with it. Toss well. Plate the zucchini mixture and top with a sprinkle of sausage, a dollop of ricotta and a sprinkle of quartered cherries. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Home Pedicures

Happy Friday everyone! I hope some of you have had the chance to try out some of the beauty recipes this week to treat yourself! I did the Honey Cream Bath Soak from yesterday's post and it was so nice. I think I need to make a date for myself every week to have a bath. It is so healing and relaxing. Almost as good as a glass of wine......almost.....definitely better when the two are combined! Plus some candles and music? Ummm yeah. Total heaven.

Today's Beauty DIY is for......your feet!

Home Pedicures
This treatment can be done on yourself but is much more effective if someone does it for you or if you do it for someone else. A while back I told my husband I would give him a pedicure and haven't gotten to it since. And since then he has been asking about it Every. Single. Day. Note to self: If you don't plan on giving your husband a pedicure right when you think of it, don't mention it! Or else he will remind you and nag you about it every day!!! Anyway, I thought that DIY Beauty Week was the perfect time to finally hold up my promise and give him one. Maybe after I show him how to do it we'll switch! Here's to hoping anyway.

How to do an at home pedicure:

1. Fill a tub (large enough for 2 feet) with hot (but not boiling hot) water. Add Epsom salts and Lemon, Limes, Cucumber or Cranberry juice extract. All of these are great for removing dead skin cells. The salt will soften the skin. Soak feet for 10-15mins. If you want some aromatherapy add some chamomile, lavender, rose petals or mint leaves to the water.
2. Exfoliate with a pumice stone or brown sugar, cornmeal, or Epsom salt.
3. Rinse and soak again in refreshed hot water.
4. Moisturize feet and legs with Shea butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil or olive oil. Any homemade lotion will work as well.
5. If desired (my husband wont ;) ), clean cuticles (a cuticle tool is needed) and then paint toes with a polish.
If you want to get really fancy (not that we aren't getting fancy already), you can do it like the salons and use hot wet towels or hot rocks. Be careful not to burn your subjects! You can also get on Pinterest to find fancy nail polish designs! Some are actually pretty do-able.

If you haven't had time to try out any of the recipes from this week yet, try them out this weekend and let me know how they went. Relax and enjoy everyone!

Relaxing Bath Recipes

Hope everyone is enjoying DIY Beauty Week! I am loving that its forcing me to do things for myself that I never make the time to do otherwise! Princess and I painted our nails to match in the spirit of the week. Robin's egg blue! I love that she is old enough for painted nails now. I swear I tried maybe six months ago and she promptly sucked off the polish! That's right....she ate it. It was super funny this time because even after her nails were dry she didn't want to touch anything because she was so afraid of smudging them. Such a princess.

The adorable pudgy hands that I hope never disappear!

Has anyone tried the Lavender / Chamomile Body Scrub yet? I absolutely love it. I think I will be making it a lot. My arms already (after 2 uses) are so much smoother and I love the consistency of the scrub. I have a hard time finding exfoliating scrubs that I like. Some are too thick, some are too small of grains. I think this one is perfect. And the smell from the lavender and chamomile is lovely!

Today I have a couple recipes to share with you for your next relaxing spa-like bath!

This first bath recipe is so simple (ingredients you may have already) and is great for dry, dehydrated, sunburned (good timing right?) or otherwise damaged skin.

Honey Cream Bath (from Stephanie Tourles Organic Body Care Recipes I highly recommend!)

Ingredients:

1 Cup of heavy cream or half and half (organic is preferred)

1/2 Cup raw honey (organic is preferred)

Directions:

While bath is running, pour in cream and honey. Swish around the water to mix in. Relax and enjoy for 20-30 mins.

Here is another similar version of the recipe if you want something a little different.

Cream Rosewater Bath

Ingredients:

1 Cup coconut milk

1/2 Cup rosewater

Directions: Add to bath while water is running. Relax 20-30 mins.

This recipe is especially good for itchy, rashy skin or for sensitive skin types.

Lavender Bath Salts (from Organic Body Care Recipes)

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Baking soda

1/2 Cup Sea salt

Lavender, Chamomile, Rose or Calendula essential oil (Your choice!)

Directions:

Add baking soda and salt to the bath while the water is running. Add essential oil of choice when the tub is full. You can mix together a few batches of the baking soda and salt and store in an airtight container up to 6 months. Keep essential oils separate until use. Soak 20-30 mins.

There are tons of ways to upgrade your bath using simple ingredients.

*Wrap some dried flowers (such as lavender, chamomile, rose etc.) in a small piece of cheesecloth and place in the bath like tea. :) This is good for about 10 uses.

* Honey, Milk, Essential oils, plain Epsom salts, Oatmeal are all great add ins for the bath to help soften skin. 

*Dont forget to burn some beeswax candles. It makes baths 10 times more relaxing, I swear!

If you want to find more DIY beauty recipes, I highly recommend, Stephanie Tourles Organic Body Care Recipes, and Sophie Uliano's  Do It Gorgeously.  Pinterest is always a good source as well, except testing may be necessary for some of those.

Take some time for yourself this week and try out some of these great recipes. Enjoy!

Lavender / Chamomile Body Scrub

Hello there gorgeous! I see your face is glowing!
I did my Berry-licious Face Mask last night and it was amazing! It left my skin feeling so soft and smooth! My little sister was reluctant to join me in the experiment and asked, "Are we supposed to eat this or what?" (which by the way, you totally could).  I'll admit, it looked VERY drippy. But it was not so bad. Since it was looking so watery, I decided to add 2 spoonfuls of the body scrub that I am sharing with you today and it was not as drippy as it seemed. I promise! So you can do that as well or omit it. It is just not a mask that is meant to be slathered on. So if you want a thick coat, put one layer on first, let it sit for about a minute, then put another coat over it and then relax for 15 minutes.
Note to all mothers: Beware of doing this with your children around! I may or may not have permanently scarred my girls for life when they saw me. OMG! Its a purple wicked witch of the west! I had every intention of being alone when I did it, but alas, if your baby is crying, you fly to them immediately! Princess looked at me in horror and then gave me a reluctant side hug (she was the one crying), then a few minutes later she came upstairs to find me. When she did, she ushered me into the bathroom saying, "Momma! Look in the mirror!" HAHA! Well at least someone is looking out for me! Needless to say, I assured her that it was just a face mask and that mommy would wash it off soon.
Anyway, I loved this mask recipe and I even used the extra in the shower to scrub my arms and legs. My skin felt great. And I must say, the scent of the honey is the most amazing smell ever. I think that's what heaven smells like. Total aromatherapy! I will use this recipe again for sure.

Today's Beauty DIY is for.......your body!
After reading up about all the benefits of the ingredients in this body scrub, I got really excited to try it out. I made this one up on my own, taking bits of knowledge from here and there. I have heard that cornmeal and oatmeal are great natural exfoliants for the skin, but until reading up about them, I didn't know just how much they could do. I added Lavender and Chamomile for the scent mostly, but they also come with a bunch of surprising health benefits! Here is what all of the ingredients in today's recipe can do.

* Oatmeal not only has anti-oxidants (what?) but it is a great gentle exfoiliator that removes dirt and impurities. It reduces redness, dryness and helps with irritated skin.
* Cornmeal also has anti-oxidants and is another gentle exfoilator that is non-irritating and great at removing dead skin cells.
* Lavender is anti-bacterial, antiseptic, can help stimulate cell growth in wounds, prevents scaring, can help with headaches, insomnia, acne, anxiety, depression, stress, sunburn and dandruff. Phew! Wow!
* Chamomile can help with sunburn, rashes, eczema, wounds, nausea, upset stomachs and much more. You can read more about the benefits of Chamomile in my Dried Chamomile Flowers post.
 




Lavender / Chamomile Body Scrub
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Cornmeal
1/2 Cup Oatmeal
Dried Lavender buds
Dried Chamomile buds

Place cornmeal and oatmeal in food processor and blend until oatmeal is finely ground and powdery. Add about 3 Tbls. of Lavender buds and 3 Tbls. of Chamomile buds and pulse until well blended. Keep stored in an airtight container for about 4 weeks. Note: if any moisture gets in the container, it will spoil or mold. So if you are keeping it around the shower, like I am, you want to be careful about getting water in there. If it does happen, don't worry, just know that the scrub will only last about 2 weeks then. Use in the shower daily as a gentle, awesome smelling natural exfoilator.

I can't wait to use this tonight and I know I am going to be making this recipe over and over again after reading about all it can do for my skin! I have always had issues on my arms with dryness and redness so I am excited to see the results over the next few weeks. I will let you know. In the meantime, enjoy!

Berry-licious Face Mask

Does everyone have gorgeous soft locks this morning? I know I do! I was so excited to do the Pear Hair Mask yesterday, it motivated me to push through my afternoon workout so that I could treat myself! If anything else, it was definitely fun. I don't know how often I will do it, because you do have to take the time to blend it up and then strain it. Note: I was in a rush, so I didn't strain it very well.....you might want to take the extra time to strain it WELL, so that you don't end up with pear chunks in your ears! The one thing I will say, is that it takes a lot of coordination to pour it on your head and massage your head at the same time. :) But the recipe makes a lot, so you have a pretty good chance of getting SOME on there. My hair didn't feel drastically softer, but it was definitely softer and my hair had more body to it for sure. My natural waves came out a bit, which I love! If I could remember and I had the time to do it every week (and if I had a pear), I would for sure do it to just get that extra boost of softness.

Today's Beauty DIY is for....... our gorgeous faces!
By now, everyone knows that berries are good for you because they are filled with wonderful anti-oxidants that can help prevent cancer, memory loss, heart disease, aging (my personal favorite) and so much more! But what some of you probably didn't know is that you can reap the healthy benefits by using berries on your skin! Skin is the body's largest organ and it absorbs EVERYTHING (unfortunately). What better way to get glowing skin than by using one of nature's most amazing gifts?! Another miracle ingredient in this face mask is honey. It also has many amazing benefits; so many that scientists haven't figured them all out yet. Did you know that the ancient Egyptians used it like Neosporin for wounds and to "preserve" the bodies of their kings and queens? People even found a buried jar of honey that was centuries old and found that it was still good! Honey has been found to exfoliate, promote tissue growth and seal in moisture. If you don't have any berries laying around, just plain honey as a face mask can work wonders!


Berry-licious Face Mask (From Whole Living Magazine)
2 Tbls. Plain Yogurt
2 Tbls. Honey (raw and organic is preferred)
1/4 Cup Mixed Berries (organic is preferred)
1 Tbls. Lemon Juice

In a blender or food processor combine yogurt and honey until mixed well. Add the berries and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice and mix until just combined.
Apply to clean, dry face and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse completely with warm water and pat dry.
Bask in your glowing beauty!

Random facial skin care tips:
1. Always wash your face in lukewarm water. Water that is too hot or too cold can cause broken capillaries.
2. Exfoliate your skin 2-3 times a week. It aids in skin regeneration and overall health. A simple facial scrub recipe is one part brown sugar, one part coconut oil (organic).
3. If you use sunscreen nowhere else, use it on your face! Your face is the first place to show age, so keep it protected!
4. Beautiful skin comes from the inside out. Drink tons of water and eat lots of fruits and veggies and your skin will show it.

This face mask couldn't have come at a better time because my face is crazy broken out right now! I don't know what it wants from me! I'll try it out tonight and let you know how it goes in the morning. I highly suggest that if any of you are doing it too, to take a nice relaxing bath as well. Maybe some candles.....its Beauty Week hooray!!!

Pear Hair Mask

Over the weekend I was able to steal a few moments away from the girls to take a longer than normal shower and shave my legs. Which is a pretty big deal, let me tell you! I sat there thinking how sad it was that I actually thought this was a treat! I can barely even remember the days, pre-two-children when I could take a glorious 1/2 hour shower! Let alone do anything else. Now I'm lucky to even get one without getting interrupted or rushed out because someone decided it was the perfect time to go potty. So I decided right then and there that this week was going to be DIY Beauty Week! I'm taking a stand for myself! I deserve it! Every day this week I am going to show a fun DIY beauty recipe going from head to toe, (and share some tips along the way) so that by the end of the week we will all be gorgeous and pampered!
I will be trying out the recipes in the evenings so I will be able to give you feedback on the recipes the following day and let you know how well they work.

Starting from the top.....Hair!
Pear is supposed to be great for your scalp, as it has sugar compounds that moisturize and nourish. This recipe can be used once a week, to improve the health of your hair. The darker the pear you can find, the better, as the darker ones will contain more anti-oxidants.

Pear Hair Mask (From Whole Living Magazine)
1 Pear (the darker the better) chopped up into chunks
2 Tbls. Apple cider vinegar
2 Cups of water

Pour ingredients into a blender or food processor, then strain out the solids. Use the liquid after shampooing your hair and before conditioning. Massage the entire mixture into your hair. Rinse well.

Random hair care tips:
1. Another great thing for your hair is......beer! Try pouring on an amber or darker colored beer between shampooing and conditioning. It will make hair shine! Don't hesitate to drink any extra. ;)
2. Try not to shampoo your hair every time you shower (I have a hard time with this one). Your hair doesn't need it that frequently, as the shampoo can strip your hair leaving it dry. Your hair needs those natural oils to be healthy. If you are like me and like your hair feeling squeaky clean, try to go every other day without shampooing. On days that you don't shampoo, you should still use conditioner, but only on the ends of your hair.  
3. Brush hair from bottom to top to reduce breakage and split ends.
4. Don't wring hair dry with a towel. This will damage hair and give you that terrible frizz or short pieces of hair on  top of your head.  Gently dab hair with a towel to dry and either air dry or use a hair dryer.
5. Massage is a great way to stimulate the hair follicles and promote growth and healthy strands. Maybe take turns with your honey and give head massages!

Tonight I will be trying out the recipe and I will let you all know the results tomorrow. In the meantime, join me for DIY Beauty Week and take the time to treat yourself to a homemade beauty treatment every day this week! Enjoy!

Laundry Room Inspiration

Just so that everyone knows, not all my crafts and projects work out....in fact I fail a lot more than I would like to admit. There have been several days where I am stuck scrambling for another idea to whip up quickly or just not doing anything.....like today. I did try. I had this cute idea for upcycling one of my old Free People bags and modge podging it onto my old sunglasses case. Good idea right? I thought it would look so cute and bohemian. A perfect Summer craft. And it ended up looking like, well.....poop. Not really, but it was not cute and "bohemian" would be stretching the phrase a little. Then I thought I would give you the tutorial for making a utility tub skirt (that I recently made for my laundry room), but then I decided I would rather keep it a surprise for the Big Laundry Room Reveal! So instead I decided that I would show you all of the inspiration I gathered for my laundry room to get you excited for the upcoming reveal. Only a week or two more, I promise!

This laundry room is adorable. And I can barely take the chandelier.....I mean come on! Who wouldn't want to do laundry in there!


I love the frilly-ness of this one. So shabby chic! The all white just screams, CLEAN!


This one is like Martha Stewart worthy....Actually, it may just be from her.....it would be!


I love the galvanized buckets she used for storage in this one! So original! And the French writing? Love.


I am looking for some cute ways to organize...If only all of my linens were perfectly coordinated like these.


I do have a dollhouse that is waiting to be revamped for the girls. But I think I want it too badly for them. Cute idea though. Maybe after they go to college!


Yes! I need this! There are always unmatched socks sitting at the bottom of the laundry bin for weeks and it drives me crazy!


Holy gorgeous!


Love all the natural and wire baskets and the white.


I love the wallpaper in the one on the left and the utility skirt from the one on the right. I mean, anything that can cover up those utility tub eyesores is genius.


This cracks me up because its so me. The ironing pile sits there for MONTHS and so whenever I do actually iron and put stuff away, my husband will always ask me, "Where has this been? I haven't worn this in months!?"


White cabinets in the laundry room is a total dream. Maybe someday.....the paint color of the walls is very similar to what I chose. And another chandelier. Talk about a laundry room fit for a princess.


These two pictures actually capture the feel of what I was trying to achieve in my laundry room and you'll see why later.


There. Thats it. I'm done teasing you. Now you'll just have to wait a little bit longer til it is all finished so you can see the end result! I will have before and after photos too. Its gonna be GORGEOUS!
Have a great weekend everybody!