Inexpensive 4th of July Wreath

I spent this past weekend at my Mom's house. We were feeling bored at 11pm, so we went shopping. Luckily, Walmart is open 24/7! Armed with a shopping cart and free time, we perused the freshly stocked aisles. My Mom wanted to show me the craft section because her Walmart has a super awesome selection.

I've been waiting to make a wreath for awhile, so I was super excited when I found all the stuff I would need. It was easy to make and cost a little under $15. Not too shabby! This can totally be made with dollar store finds and cost you around $5! Even better!

You Will Need:

• 14 inch foam wreath
• your choice of burlap - I used a total of 20 feet
• hot glue gun and plenty of glue sticks 
• ribbon for the hanger
• your choice of embellishment 

The wreath was under $4. (Next time, I will go to the dollar store.) The burlap was $6 total for 2 rolls. The ribbon was $1. The flowers I got were $3. (Flowers can also be found at the dollar store. I just loved these ones.) It would be worth it to invest in bulk burlap if you were going to make multiple wreaths, because bulk is always cheaper! I think the $15 for this wreath was worth it because you can use it every year for a month at least! Lol!

Steps aren't really necessary for this craft. You just pick a start spot and glue down the burlap. Then wrap, wrap, wrap - gluing as you go. Make sure you are gluing on the backside only, so your front side will be pretty!

I cut two flowers off the stems and used them to cover up where my two burlaps overlapped. The little jewels in the center of the flowers catch the sun perfectly and look super cute!

I glued the ribbon to the back of the wreath with lots of hot glue. That's it! The wrapping took the longest. The burlap was wired, so it wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. Lumps mean character, right?

Your  fingers might look like this at the end...who needs fingerprints anyway?

If you make your own Walmart wreath, send me your links! :)

Firecracker Popsicle Cupcakes!

I can't believe that the 4th of July is this weekend!!! I feel like June just started. I have Friday-Monday off of work and I can't wait. I decided to make a fun trial cupcake this weekend. Nothing says 4th of July like sunshine, popsicles and fireworks. Am I right?

My sister and I made Firecracker Popsicle cupcakes! The cupcake is vanilla with fresh strawberries and the frosting is my favorite crusting buttercream, perfect for decorating! (I will share the recipe in my next post.)

We made one batch of frosting and kept 1/3 white, dyed 1/3 red and dyed the last 1/3 blue. We layered the frosting like the popsicle and stuck half of a popsicle stick directly in the middle. We used big craft popsicle sticks instead of the actual popsicle sized ones. I liked the over-exaggerated look.

To pipe the frosting, I used the biggest start tip I had. (No. 172 Open Star Wilton) For the red and white layers, I used my favorite tip, the 1M Wilton. For a closer match, you can use the Open Star tip for all three layers and it would match the popsicle perfectly! I didn't use it for all three because I wanted it to look like a cupcake and I didn't want the frosting to be too much or too heavy.

These were so fun to make and they are perfect for your celebration!

What's your favorite 4th of July dessert?

Bath and Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul

I received an email warning me of this AMAZING sale. They were bringing back Flashback Fragrances. Cucumber Melon anyone???

I may or may not have walked into Bath and Body Works yesterday and blacked out. When I came to my senses, I had two bags full of stuff and was skipping happily out the door.

I spent $44 and saved $113. Did you catch that???? I saved almost 3 times what I spent. THREE TIMES.

Some of this is for my darling mother, buuuuuut here's what I got:

• 4 Cucumber Melon body washes
• 1 Country Apple body wash
• 1 Pearberry body wash
• 1 Cucumber Melon body spray
• 1 anchor wall plug in
• 1 pineapple coin pouch
• 1 Sweet Tangerine foaming hand soap
• 1 Grapefruit foaming hand soap
• 1 Caribbean Escape candle
• 1 Georgia Peach candle
• 2 Merry Mistletoe candles (THESE ARE MY FAVORITE)

Along with the super low prices, I had a $10 off $40 coupon.

Why are you still reading this? Go go go! 

What's your favorite BBW scent or product? I would love to know!

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Yoghurt Bark

I've been on an easy snack kick lately. After making my Red, White and Blueberry trifle, I had some Mountain High yoghurt leftover. I couldn't let it go to waste! I wanted something easy, fun, and delicious....that wasn't fries from the drive-thru.

Here's what you need:

• Mountain High Fat Free Vanilla Yoghurt
• Honey
• Chocolate Chips
• Oats
• Raspberries 

What you put in your bark is totally up to you! I love options, so I'm sure I will be coming up with a lot of different variations.

Here's what you do:

• Mix your yoghurt with the honey - the amount depends on how sweet you want it

• I mixed the chocolate chips in at this time as well
• I pour the mixture onto a foil lined baking sheet to desired thickness
• I sprinkled the oats and raspberries on once the mixture was spread out

• Place it in the freezer for 2 hours at least!

Eat this quick or it will start to melt :)

If you are interested in trying Mountain High Yoghurt for yourself, you can get a coupon here.

For other great recipes, you can visit Mountain High's Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

PS. They stick to the old school methods of making yoghurt and the old school spelling ;) 



 

June Goals

Remember that one time I wrote out a bunch of goals and completed them all? Yeaaaah, me neither. I actually have to be productive this month. I. Have. No. Choice.

We will be moving soon! Eek! J and I are leaving Monterey and heading to the East Bay Area. Instead of splitting rent four ways, we will be splitting a MUCH more expensive rent between just the two of us. Stressed doesn't even begin to cover it.

• tour apartments/find one we like
• sort through my rooms (plural. as in 3) rooms at my Dad's house.
• sort through our room in Monterey
• have a garage sale? maybe, depending on how much junk treasure I find
• attend my company picnic
• attend my step sister's high school graduation/party
• celebrate/host my niece's sixth birthday! don't even get me started on all the feels I'm having
• save allllllllll my money - as much as possible anyway 
• make better food choices - prioritize, lady!
• move dat a**. no excuses. I have a pair of goal shorts I want to feel comfortable in by fourth of July. 

Those first four goals might carry over to July, depending on how things go. Hopefully they won't need to and everything will work out juuuuust perfect. ;)

What are your goals this month? I would love to know!

Minnie Mouse Cupcakes!

This is possibly the cutest and easiest tutorial I will ever share with you guys. These cupcakes were so stinking cute! I just had to post them! (Sorry about the photo quality. It was night time.)

One of my coworkers ordered Minnie cupcakes for her daughter's birthday. I love Disney. I love cupcakes. Hellllooooo! I said yes...obviously.

She wanted classic red, white and black Minnie. I used black and white polka dot liners that I found at Michaels. I used mini oreos for the ears. I just stuck them right into the frosting! If you are making your frosting from scratch, make it a little stiffer than usual that way it can stand up to the weight of the cookies. I found these cute little red bows in a Wilton pack. They are supposed to be for "nerd" cupcakes, but I am all about repurposing. Soooooo easy. You have lots of bow options. Plastic rings, paper, frosting, whatever works!

Quick summary:

You will need:

• frosted cupcakes
• mini oreos
• bows

All of my coworkers loved them! They are so simple, but really classic and adorable.