Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Whomever you are rooting for this Super Bowl, you’ll be rooting for these mini taco bowls once you make them. So easy and so delicious! Make some taco seasoned beef how the taco seasoning packet directs you (usually 2/3 cup of water, beef & seasoning: bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer 2-3 mins). Line your cupcake pan with won ton wrappers, which I eventually found near the fresh lettuce/carrots near the end where they have tofu and salad dressings. Fill each wrapper with seasoned cooked beef, top with cheese (we even considered using Tostidos Queso Con Salsa but decided to stick to the recipe) and use shredded taco seasoned mixed cheeses. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Serve with salsa, sour cream, queso dip, and any other desired toppings! *Critic’s note: I just used the won tons as-is, and I feel like if I got them wet before lining the cupcake pan, they may have crisped nicer. I’ve not used them before so I don’t know if you are actually supposed to do this or not, but I will try this next time I make this recipe - because there will be a next time! :)
Currently, my favorite bronzer is Ulta’s Baked Bronzer, which I recently purchased during my Ulta Haul on May 27th, 2012. I’m really into bronzers, but have a hard time finding ones I really really like. They usually end up being too pigmented, so its heavy & looks like its just sitting on my skin (possibly because I’m putting it on top of full coverage foundation) OR the color doesn’t gel well with my skin tone (which is heavy on the golds and yellows, yet naturally very pale) and ends up making me look yellow or orange, or unnaturally brown. Ulta’s Baked Bronzer is THE BEST I have tried. It is surprising to me, though, because this is the first Ulta brand product that I have liked. Granted I haven’t tried everything, I have been very disappointed with their mascaras, eyeliners, shade-adjusting foundation, and nail polishes. I’m glad that I gave this Ulta Bronzer a shot after having such bad experiences! The main reason I did was because they were having a Buy 2 Get 2 Free sale, so, naturally I had to participate :D Along with the bronzer, I bought a brown smudgy eyeliner and 2 nail polishes. I returned the eyeliner & one of the polishes because I did not like them. So finally - the review - this product is pigmented, but not too much, not too little. It gives my skin the naturally tanned look- as if I spend hours in the sun yesterday, but wore my sunscreen like a good girl, and got a beautifully glowing tan. It fades out well on your chin & neck and its very difficult to overdo it because you literally just look more and more tan. I have even used it on my collar bones and shoulders and the healthy shimmer it creates is beautiful. I’m sure if it wouldn’t rub off onto my clothes, I would be tempted to just put it all over my body ;). Its so easy to use, and after only a few strokes, gives a beautiful color that lasts all day. I put it all over my face, blending down my neck, and go slightly heavier right under my cheekbones for definition. Lately, I have been adding NYX Bronzer & Blusher Combo in Sunrise in Bali (also featured in my May 27th, 2012 Ulta Haul Post) to the tops of my cheekbones & the apples of my cheeks after I apply the Ulta Baked Bronzer. So, I really could go on and on about how this product makes my skin look perfect flawless, but I won’t… I’ll let you go try it for yourself! And because its an Ulta product, you’re not going to pay upwards of $40 for a good bronzer! Its only around $5 and Ulta is constantly having sales and Buy 1 Get 1 Free deals… and their new reward program is pretty great. If you have tried this product, what do you think? If you haven’t, go try it and tell me what you think!
This version of the french manicure uses Nina in Pink Frost & China Glaze in For Audrey. I used the Gelly technique (shown here) with Pink Frost and then when finished, applied For Audrey on the tips, using a nail brush dipped in regular nail polish remover to clean up the lines (especially handy when you have to use your non-dominant hand). The nail polish remover won’t touch your gel manicure, so you can wipe the brush across the surface of the nail to straighten your line. Then, I applied Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat (read the review, here) & some cuticle oil. A few days later, I wore an outfit that clashed with blue so I removed the For Audrey with regular polish remover, and applied white tips. The Pink Frost lasted through a few tip changes as a perfect base, and I saved a lot of time by only having to apply the tips! I hope you like it!
DIY: Autumn Candles This project is super easy, as you can do it however you’d like. It just requires a candle, a glass, and leaves or potpourri (warning: a lot of potpourri is flammable, so read carefully). You can even tie a ribbon or string on the outside of the glass to add a finishing touch.
My second attempt at this cowl went much better! It came out perfect, and I gave it to my sister for her birthday. She loved it, and so did my mom, who asked for one for Christmas! Click here to see my first, failed attempt. >Click here to see the one I made for my mom. Click here to see the original blog post from where I got the pattern. What’s one of your go-to patterns?
Coach Purse Cleaner
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Ok, I know this looks like an advertisement, but I did take these pictures myself, of my own carpet, & I have a huge tip for you purse lovers! See how well Tuff Stuff cleaned a stain on the carpet in my apartment? I will never be charged a “carpet cleaning” fee upon moving out again! But listen up - although Tuff Stuff is as they say, really tough, it is gentle enough to be the perfect cleaner for the fabric of your Coach purses. I posted the picture of my carpet because I was in a rush and forgot to take photos of the cleaning process of my Coach purse, but believe me, it was bad! I had spilled hot chocolate all over one side & it had the normal dirt stains around the base of the bag and along the zipper. Tuff Stuff removed every trace of dirt, chocolate, and grime and my bag looks like new! I was bummed when my friend ensured me that Coach offered a free cleaning service in addition to the free repair service with their standard Coach warranty — this is, unfortunately, not true. Luckily, I found this product that cleans pretty much effortlessly. You just give the can a shake, spray directly on your purse (you can spray all over, or just spot clean), wait 30-40 seconds, and scrub with a damp cloth/brush. Within minutes the dirt/stain will lift and you’ll be left with a beautiful purse again!

Sally Hansen’s Hard As Nails in the color Sweetie. I’ve searched high and low for another blogger’s swatch of this color but haven’t had any luck. This leads me to believe this color has been discontinued because my bottle is pretty old. But I love the color and it’s pearly sheen :) Its perfect for me at the moment because I’m growing my nails back out (I’m a secret nail biter addict). Sorry about the poor photos, I had to snap pics while on the go (at Starbucks, as you can see, waiting for my drink, and in dim restaurant light in the other one). This is three coats - two would probably have been enough for some people, but I wanted it more opaque. Followed by Seche Vite fast drying top coat (my fave! you can tell in the “in the dark” photo that it gives it a super shiny gloss finish. I’m really looking forward to trying it on top of Essie’s Fiji (an idea I had while taking these photos) - I think the two colors will really compliment each other, but after two coats of Fiji (two coats are required, the polish is meant to be opaque) I think I’ll only use one coat of Sweetie, so its stays transparent allowing you to see the Fiji underneath. We’ll see how that works out! I’ll post photos. In the meantime, I hope you like this color even though they dont make it anymore. & I hope no one notices that smudge… :P
DIY: Halloween Wreath! MATERIALS:(see top right photo) • Styrofoam wreath • Burlap • Scissors • Wooden Letters B, O, O • Acrylic Paint purple, black, yellow • Halloween print scrapbook paper • Modge Podge • Foam brushes • Glue gun • Ribbon (we used orange) INSTRUCTIONS: Cut burlap into strips & double knot all the way around your wreath. Paint the letters with the acrylic paint & cover with scrapbook paper using Modge Podge. Once dry, use hot glue gun to attach letters to burlap on the wreath. Tie a ribbon to hang it from your door. Voila! Super cute homemade Halloween Wreath! The nice thing about this project is that you can modify it and do it many different ways, with different colors and scrapbook paper patterns. You could also modify it for other holidays - just get the appropriate colors and scrapbook papers! Hope you enjoy :)
“Robin’s Egg Manicure” using China Glaze - For Audrey & Milani Jewel Fx - Gold, topped off with Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. Next time, I will try spreading out the gold glitters among the nails, as shown in this tutorial here - this is another option I really like, she “nailed it”! ** added 9/14/12 - today someone referred to this polish as “green,” and they didn’t mean it in a bad way, but it wasn’t what I was going for with the whole “Robin’s Egg” vision. So, I think I will continue to look for that perfect blue - the only blues I like to put on my nails are the tiffany blue and robin’s egg blue, and I have yet to find the perfect shade of each. The China Glaze - For Audrey is a bolder version of tiffany blue, in my opinion. My search continues! Next time - Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, thanks to TBDOfficial’s tutorial.
So this is my first attempt at a French Gel Manicure! I’m not that great at Frenches with regular nail polish, so trying it with the more permanent gel product was nerve wracking! I did an ok job, a few screw ups but you can’t tell unless your really looking and since its gel, I am not about to take it off so soon! I’m excited to put together a little tutorial for this, to show you a trick that (once I get a little more practice in) really helps make the French flawless. I think I’ll call it the French Gelly Sandwich. I really wish the camera would pick up all of the colors in the polish so that’s why I did one with flash at night and one without flash in natural daylight. You can somewhat tell that its like a pink/blue opalescent color perfect for Frenches. In person it’s very beautiful.
My friends and I had a pumpkin carving party, and I decided to switch it up this year and make baby pumpkin candles! It was super easy, as I just cut the top off as you would a regular sized pumpkin, spooned out the insides, and set in a candle! You can see I used small candles that stood about 3-4 inches tall. The black candle’s scent was called “Bat Breathe” :P Be careful while burning, however, that you set it on top of something heat resistant, and you are monitoring them at all times. When mine burned down to just a pool of wax, the pumpkins would get too hot so some I threw away and some I stuck new candles in.
I found this little number for 99 cents while at Joann’s with a friend buying supplies for This Halloween Project. It ended up being too orange for me, but if you looked really close, it was actually a pink polish with millions of teeny teeny tiny orange flecks, and really is a beautiful polish… like liquid rays of sun. However, if you’re not looking so close that you have to cross your eyes, it just comes across orange. And while that would be great on Halloween, that’s the only day I’d wear this color. I hope you can see in the photo - I tried to capture the sparkling of the orange flecks - it really is a multidimensional color… but only really up close.