Tank Top Storage

Tank Tops/camisoles are the bread to my bread and butter, every day look. I feel naked if I go out of the house without a tank top as an undershirt or just an added pop of color! I have a range of colors and I have them by the armfulls. I don't know if I'm the only one desperately obsessed with these or not, but I thought I'd share with you how I keep them organized and under control.

There are two different styles of hangers that I use to organize these little lovelies in my closet space (which is nearly zilch!!) I rely on tie and belt hangers to keep them accessible and orderly.

Here is an example of a belt hanger ( like the one here from Amazon) as a tank top hanger!

And here is an example of the tie hanger! These are fairly inexpensive, here is a set of two that I found on Amazon.

I stagger the tank tops forward and backwards on the tie hanger so that it keeps the bunching to a minimum.

I prefer the belt hanger because it spaces them out and I don't have to sift through them to find the right color. They both work great though! Much better than the alternative!!

Hope this helps those of you questing for total organization!!

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For those of you Pinterest browsers who enjoyed this post, please also consider my MAKEUP STORAGE example as well! Enjoy!

Meat and Tatoes.

Tatoes! We are a meat and potatoes kind of people. Little Daphne is no exception. Just the other day as Hubby and I were sharing lunch, Daphne showed interest in trying my slab of beef jerkey.

Just as a side note, she didn't show a lot of interest in food until right around her first birthday. She has since been more open to trying new things. We have always tried to keep a good routine of sitting her with us for meals and offering her food, sometimes she takes to it, but most times she doesn't. She almost always enjoys meat though. So, when she showed interest in my beef jerkey, I decided to give it a share. Here is a snapshot of my little carnivore. We sometimes call her Daphadon.

In honor of my little Daphadon and her meat and potato heritage... I thought I'd share one of our staple potato eats. ...I have only been dabbling in cooking for a short while, so the simpler a recipe the better, and the QUICKER I can get it on the table and in our tummies!! This recipe was inspired by a local restaurant that is a favorite of ours. They specialize in Basque food and one of our favorite things that they serve is their Creamy Red Potatoes. We'll call them Buttery Soft Potatoes for blogs sake.



BUTTERY SOFT POTATOES

4 medium gold or red potatoes ( I prefer red)

16 oz organic chicken stock

1/4 Cup of Butter

Water

Salt & Pepper to taste.



Cut the potatoes into 1 Inch cubes and place into sauce pan.

Fill the pan with Chicken Stock and Butter.

The potatoes need to be fully immersed in the liquid, so add water until it reaches 1 inch above the potatoes. Cook on medium high for 20-30 minutes, or until you can pierce through the potatoes like soft butter. To speed up the process, I use a nifty little technique that I picked up from Pinterest, original source is from Jamie of DIY Home Sweet Home. You Place a wooden spoon on top of a boiling pot of water and it helps prevent it from boiling over. I've tried this with a couple of different things and it works like a charm, I'm in LOVE with this trick!!

Once they're all soft, scoop them out and enjoy!!

My husband LOVES when I make these potatoes for dinner! Every time I make them he raves about how yummy they are!

I hope you like them too! Enjoy!

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Inside, Looking Out

It was another PERFECT weather day today. Daphne knew it too. She looked like she was longing to go outside, looking out the window like she was caged.

So we went for a little stroll out to the mailbox. She LOVES our routine walk out to the mailbox. As soon as we get there she usually squeaks or reaches for me to pick her up so that she can reach in and pull the mail out.

Then we wandered over to see some of the spring blossoms, aren't they beautiful?

I must admit that I was a little nervous because she was in a beautiful flower dress (one that she INSISTED on getting from Children's Place, HAHA - So I bought TWO! =oP ...) and me with my bright purple hair... I didn't want the bees to get sweet on us!

After stopping to smell the flowers... we took a moment to admire our glitteries ^_^

When we went back inside, she told me all about how much fun it was as she reminisced and looked out the window.

Going On A Picnic!

Today we had the most perfect weather, so I decided to take Daphne along on a little picnic!

I started off by packing up some essentials. First I made us some sandwiches <3

Then I cut some strawberries into some cute little hearts, yes it makes them taste sweeter ;o)

Then we strolled out to find the perfect picnic spot!

We laid out our blanket and got our snacks out...

And she even shared her lunch with Kit-Kat...

After snacks, she found her favorite headband and wanted to model it...

"Go ahead, put it on," I said. So she tried...

It is her most favorite headband.

Then we played ball!

Then she pretended to be my makeup artist, applying... crumpled up leaves to my eyelids! HAHA

see her concentrating, careful stare?

Then it was time to climb Mountain Mom!

We both had so much fun on our little mother-daughter picnic! Can't wait to do it again soon!

Makeup Storage!

Ever since I can remember I've been mesmerized by makeup. I have a picture that was taken when I was 2 years old when I got into an ink blot - pretending it was makeup. I begged and pleaded for makeup and once I got it, there was no turning back! Color is a dear friend friend of mine.

I noticed the other day, as I was admiring my makeup collection, how great it is being able to see all of my eyeshadow colors clearly, having them neatly organized and portable as well. I thought I'd share my makeup organization with you here.

First of all, I use MAC eyeshadows, although I do have a few other compacts that work with this same organizational method. I use a Hanging Jewelry Organizer with clear sectioned zipper pockets simular to THIS ONE on Amazon. Although I found mine at a TJ Maxx. Isn't it a beaut?!

The one I have has a series of smaller pockets along the top portion, 6 rows of 3 sectional pockets that are perfect for eyeshadows, then one row of two larger pockets that I keep my pigment jars in. These larger pockets might also work well for storing powder compacts, foundation bottles, or brushes. The organizer that I have is also double sided, so it's the same on the reverse.

I like this storage option because I can see the eyeshadows through the clear plastic windows, they are all concealed by a zipper closure which keeps them nice and secure, and its very portable so if I want to do my makeup in another room, take it with me to a friend's or to a special event, I can grab it on the fly. I know its not hand crafted/custom made, but I thought I was pretty cleaver for thinking of this after struggling with a handful of other storage options. Plus, it makes for a great eyeshadow shrine, tehehe, doesn't looking at it just make you feel all tingly inside?!

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LOVEly Little Miss

This Valentines was a busy day, but with nothing in particular. The weather was perfect out so Daphne played a little dress up for a wonderfully collaborated, very sweet little outfit that made for a great Valentine's picture.

She picked out her most favorite headband, yes she has made up her mind that she likes this one the most. It's especially cute when she tries to put it on herself- she reaches up and fumblly sets it atop her head and looks at me helplessly as if to say "mommy can you please help me put this on?"

Then we slipped on one of her favorite style of dresses- I'm not sure what the technical term is for it, but its a jersey top half and a skirted bottom. I was able to get a few good shots in before she realized that she was getting her picture taken on STAIRS. She is a climber! So she started getting squiggly to begin her feat upstairs! (In which case we had to go change back into jeans so that she didn't sand paper her knees off with the graveled stairs.)

I doodled a little bit on the photos and voila! Saved and Sent to our loved ones. I Love the way it turned out, I can't wait to print it off to pin it up in the house! Fancy.

A First for Everything

We hosted my daughter's very first birthday party last weekend, which puts me at the crossroads of being a mommy of a toddler now rather than an infant! The party was a success, though, like most celebrations, didn't unfold how I had envisioned, but the genuine smiles and funs (yes, more than one fun!) from my little girl had made it entirely worth every effort!

The color pallet that I chose for her party was cutesy and fun. I pulled my inspiration from a little ribbon pack that I stumbled upon while "treasure hunt" shopping, as I like to call it. ie. Shopping at discounted retailers such as TJ Maxx, Ross, Tuesday Mornings, Marshalls, etc. Here is the inspiration:

From that I put together a little Birthday Pinboard on Pinterest of ideas and visions that i had for the big day. I admit that I tend to get a little dilusioned with daydreaming and Pinterest helps to feed such dillusions... but I upheld my determination to see to it that these visions became realities.

First matter of business was to construct some fabric flags. Here are the swatches of the fabrics that I felt set the theme of the party.

I am by no means a seemstress, but I've always been a crafter at heart. And although I've been commended for being a very patient person, somehow that patience gets trumped by the natorious "clutter brain" that is commonly found amongst creative minds. Thus, this poster (yes, I found it on Pinterest) will be going up on the wall in my little craft nook!

I recycled some cardboard that I cut from a bulk box of oatmeal to use as my flag template. Once I had all of my triangles cut out, I paired and pinned them to a ribbon for an adorable custom banner.

Next on my list was collecting decorative pieces for the serving table. Some of my favorite Party table displays incorporated beautiful glass jars filled with candies and snacks. I love the look, though when you think about it, glass doesn't seem the most practical for children's parties, "careful hands" I tell them and keep the jars at ... parent-reach distances. I was able to find them at discount stores as well as swiping them from stores like Pier I Imports with a coupon!

There will be many more parties to come, so I see collecting these jars as an investment, along with the aluminum troffs (totally neccessary for juice boxes! Haha!)

I scavenged around on Etsy to find the cutest little invite, complete with the party's themed colors, a cupcake and flag banner! Perfect!

Then I dressed up my little sweetheart and had a little photoshoot on the grass outside for the invatation photo.

Then came the tissue poms, I gave it a test run with some left over white tissue paper that i'd gotten in bulk for Christmas, I was able to manage it fairly well thanks to the instructions found HERE.

Then, late night before the big day, I spent a couple of hours tediously cutting fruit with a heart shaped cookie cutter. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of that fruit bowl, it was quite the masterpiece!

Some of the games we played were Pin the Cherry on the cupcake:

Popsicle Match game that I got a free printable from HERE from Amy Moss at EatDrinkChick.com

As well as a Bean Bag toss game that I made with the left over fabric from the Flags.

The last game that I put together was an I Spy Bottle. I used a Voss water bottle, which I chose because it has a nice wide opening at the mouth. I put decorative buttons and mini erasers inside as the items to find, and used Lentils to fill the bottle... I think plain white rice, sprinkles or clear craft beads would have looked a lot nicer, maybe next time! The Voss water bottle worked great though!

I think that having planned out her first party has given me the bug to throw parties for no good reason! Growing up, I never had elaborate parties because my birthday is at the end of December when most of my friends were out of town or busy with family and festivities. I've decided to party vicariously through my daughter. Poolside pedi parties here we come!!! Here are some more pics of the fun!