Friday, July 3, 2015

Happy 4th of July


Tomorrow we celebrate America, those who fought for our freedom and those who continue to protect our independence.  I am grateful for a father who taught me the incredible blessings I have of living in this great country, as well as a brother who serves in the Air Force. My freedom and rights are something I never take for granted and to those who have served, are serving and families of service men and women I once again with all the humility in my heart say 
Thank You.

I hope you all have a fun and safe weekend remembering how lucky we are to live in 
the United States of America.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

DIY Donut Float

I found this plain donut float at the Dollar Tree the other day and obviously I had to take it to the next level and add sprinkles...I just free-handed the oblong shapes with multi-surface paint. I'm obsessed.




Monday, June 22, 2015

Tips for Naked Cakes


Hey guys! I wanted to share some tips for beginners to making those super popular "naked cakes".  My sister in law & I made the one for my mom's wedding, which turned out awesome, so let's shrink it down & make a cake for your next special event!
The first step is greasing your cake pans. You need your cakes to come out perfectly and the best way to to that is rub with Crisco then coat with flour. Fill your pans up half-way so they're nice and thick.


If you don't have cake-pan wrappy things to make them level, just use a serrated knife to even them out, in flatness & thickness as well...you want the layers to look even.

You want a thick and sturdy frosting to hold up those layers.  Sidenote: For the big wedding cake, we used dowels to help hold everything up.

Start by spreading a little frosting on your cake stand before your first layer to hold the cake on.


Using a big round frosting tip, pipe a generous layer of frosting on, extending aaaalmost to the edge.


Check up on how even your layers are stacking up, and if necessary, add more frosting in.

Even out any frosting that may have been squished out of the sides.

For the top we did like on the wedding cake, pipe some round mounds on, and using a wide knife or off-set spatula, place in the middle of your mound and gently pull the frosting into the center.


Top with flowers, cake topper, sprinkles, or anything fun and you're set to party!



Friday, June 19, 2015

honeycombs are my favorite

Hi friends! I just wanted to pop in and share a few pictures from 2 events I helped decorate.  The first was a bridal shower with a beach theme, and the second was a baptism.  I am currently obsessed with honeycomb, super easy & cheap decorations and they come in tons of colors!













Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Keep Your Home Clean & Kid-Friendly with Clorox

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RealLifeClean #CollectiveBias
Keeping your home clean with a toddler is like chasing around a tornado. I feel like I clean up the same blocks 3 times a day!  But today I've got 3 easy tips to help you keep on top of the mess and avoid giant Saturdays full of cleaning.

I went to my favorite store (of course), Target, and grabbed some cleaning supplies by Clorox to make it even easier to keep up on the messes.


Here's what I grabbed using a coupon from the Target Cartwheel App, (June 7-July 4, receive 10% selected Clorox products): Clorox ScrubSingles Bathroom Pads (for bathroom cleaning), Clorox Pump 'N Clean Kitchen & Dish Cleaner (for kitchen cleaning), and Clorox Triple Action Dust Wipes (for rest-of-house cleaning)
 Tip #1: Clean as you go.  Leaving a mess for later means more time cleaning & scrubbing.  When we finish breakfast, I use the Clorox kitchen pump cleaner to quickly wipe up the mess on the table.
Pump, wipe, clean & you're done! On to the next activity!

Tip #2: Get kids in on the cleaning.  My son loves to help, but I'm not about to hand him a bottle full of cleaner...yikes! The Clorox Dust Wipes are an awesome way to not only clean, but teach your children the importance of it.  These wipes seriously grab and hang on to every single piece of dust or hair or crumb.  No dust spray or dirty rags to wash afterwards! 

They even work on the floor (think bathroom cleaning!), and make cleaning go by even faster with a helper by your side.

 Tip #3: Combine activities & cleaning at once. One of my favorite tricks to keeping the bathroom clean during the week is doing some quick "wipe downs" during bath time. I'm in the bathroom supervising, so why not make it productive?

Using the Clorox Bathroom Scrub Singles, it makes it easy to clean without once again, pulling out a spray bottle and dirty sponge or rag. Just wet, scrub and done! 
(Be sure you're still checking in on your little one, and if you're stashing cleaning supplies under your sink, be sure to take the proper safety precautions like baby locks.)

These new Clorox cleaning products make staying on top of messes super easy to maintain a clean home, and using my tips you'll wonder why you ever hated cleaning in the first place! Okay...maybe not totally but it'll definitely keep you from a whole day of cleaning when you're quickly cleaning as you go.