Paint-mania

Trying to figure out what color I want to paint baby #2's nursery has been quite the decision. I know, I know it really isn't that difficult to pick out a paint color;  but since I have been so very blessed with extreme indecisiveness (at least when it comes to these sort of things) I just get a bit overwhelmed with all the choices *sigh. :-)

But as I have been searching and perusing the paint isles of Home Depot and Lowes, I have fallen in love with Martha Stewarts paint line. Her hues and colors are all so pretty and soothing (which I love). Here are a few of my favorites for everything BUT the nursery...go figure?! ha.

Blood Orange Juice

My parents have this huge Blood Orange Tree in their backyard (random fact: blood oranges are considered to be among the finest dessert oranges in the world! Who knew?!) and lucky for me, on occasion, when we visit...I will open the fridge to find a pitcher of this crimson juice just calling my name. It really doesn't get much fresher than this...simply delicious! 

Whether you have oranges on hand, or have to go buy them at the store; there is just something about squeezing your own juice that makes it taste that much better! My dad has a cuisinart mixer, with a juicer attachment and it works great--but I'm sure any juicer would be just fine! OR buy this way CHEAP lemonade mixer...it's so super convenient too!

This is my sis Rach who gets to enjoy this on a regular basis. I know, it's just not fair I tell ya!

BEET HUMMUS (it's delish I promise!)

For some reason, I think when people hear "beets",  they put it right there with kale and sprouts, automatically put in the "it's good for you but not so good tasting" food category. Would you agree?

Well, my friends, I will say that if you do think this way, perhaps this simple hummus recipe will change your mind!?!  I am a huge fan of beets, especially my grandmas canned beets (I could eat a whole jar of them in about five minutes--sprinkle a little salt on em and ooooh baby!). I've never really tried making anything with beets, but I bought a big package of steamed beets at costco...so I figured I'd give this hummus recipe a whirl! I am so glad I did...it's such a easy, healthy treat!

Don't ya just LOVE the beautiful, rich color of beets! Just don't get the juice on your clothes (they're stainers thats for sure!)

PRINTABLE RECIPE VERSION HERE

egg-tastic finger-painting

I think I have mentioned it before, about my obsession with stationary and cards?! It's like I'm a paper hoarder and there's just no stopping me! :-) So, instead of buying Easter cards this year...I decided to go old school and do a little finger-painting to make my own (I like to have a few holiday cards on hand just in case of an emergency *wink).

So, if you're feelin like you want to get your fingers nice and dirty...go on and make these little notes to give to friends and family! :-) The kids would have a blast creating their own little finger eggs too!

All you need is:

-a few pieces of white cardstock bent into cards

-two or more "Eastery" paint colors

-a toothpick

-a plastic plate (but I didn't have one so I used wax paper?!--I know just go with me here ;-D)

First, take your paint and drop about 18-20 colors on your plate/paper...than sort of eye ball it and mix in different variations of colors (for ex: for the lighter pinks I did 3-5 drops of white on top of my pink) Mix each droplet with your toothpick (cleaning it off each time you mix a different drop)--

wow that sounds way more complicated than it is.

**in other words make 18-20 different shades of pink and purple! :-)**

    
Here comes the fun part...take your finger and with each shade of pink/purple (or whatever colors you chose) make a little egg fingerprint...

My palette got a little out of wack...I was mixing and testing all over the place--so feel free to get crazy! They're your cards anyway :-)

Lastly, I took the white paint and created designs on just a few of my little eggs...It just added that special Easter egg touch. However, on the other one, I didn't do any designs--I wanted that one to be more simple.

And here ya have it...pretty eggtastic indeed! :-)

Pantone Colors

I am in love with these pantone mugs. What a great way to add color to your cup collection...it even has the pantone number for each different color! Such creative minds out there.

**side story: Back when I was a sophomore up at school, I was in my second semester of my advertising program and I decided to apply for a job with the design department (creating posters/brochures etc. distributed throughout campus). Anways {long story short} during the interview the guy asked me what the difference was between pantone and cmyk colors. I was stumped..."um-cmy-pan-huh?!" He looked at me like "wait...your studying design and you don't know what that is?!" To my credit, I was ONLY in my second semester...how was I suppose to know right?! Needless to say I did NOT get the job. To top it off...guess what I learned about a week later--yep PANTONE and CMYK. Go figure?!  :-)

So if any of you are wondering (don't blame you if you aren't...haha) Pantone is a set of standard colors for printing, each has a specific color. Usually it's more vibrant and accurate and tends to present a crisper, graphic quality. CMYK color allows more color possibilities, but sometimes a poor print job or color mixture can result in duller, less accurate colors.


Here are some of my favorite Pantone colors as of lately...apparently the fashion trend for spring 2012 is tangerine (and colors similar to it)...which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

Marble Nails

When it comes to nails...I love trying new things! Plus, it's the one thing that you can change consistently--which makes it even more fun! So, when I came upon this fantastic technique I just had to try it out! Every single nail is different--like a tiny custom piece of art, but on a much smaller scale :-)

All you need is:

-a cup half full of water

-at least two different colors of nail polish (and a very light color for your base)

-Q-tip

-nail polish remover

-tape

First, you simply pick your colors (I went with two dark and two light for a good contrast)

For the base, make sure you paint your nails either white (or in my case a very light grey)!

Then put tape around all sides of each nail (if you don't, your fingers will be a polished mess!)

Then, take the polish, and drop each color in the water one by one (it should remain on top of the water...) I got a little impatient, so I actually took the bottle and poured a little bit in rather then dropping. I think they would have turned out better if I would have just remained patient and dropped it in. Oh well.

Then dip your finger right on in...repeat with every finger. 

 The best part...carefully take off the tape while its still wet (so it doesn't rip off the dry polish)

 Then use your Q-tip and and polish remover...

 to clean up those edges!

And here you have it...your very one pieces of marble right on your fingertips! :-)

 I tried the other hand using only two colors. I wanted to see what it would look like with pink...

 My personal opinion...I like using more colors. It makes for a neater design!

Now go on and marbleize those nails...you know you want to! 

**don't worry it may look time consuming but really it only takes about 15-20 minutes...I did it while my little girl took her nap (I use that time real wisely can't you tell?! Rather than folding laundry or emptying the dishwasher...I do my nails! haha)