Rhonna! Best app ever.

Just another creation of mine using the Rhonna app. This $1.99 app is probably my most used app on my phone. I literally use it for everything from Christmas tags to invitations to hot sauce labels for my husbands famous "man sauce" hot sauce label. 

(Free printable!) 

This app makes it so easy to have coordinating decor and invites! These little circles were cut out and put on tea bag bundles for Leigh's baby shower favors. So easy but so cute for a little touch on the tables! (It's all about the deets. (Details.)) 

ELECTRICITY! In our city... In our ciiiity. 🎶

This was the first electricians job I have ever done! It's amazing how easy it was! I will post the link once I find it but literally it was 3 different wires that I used a wire nut to attach...and voila! I would have attempted this a long time ago had I known how easy it was. Don't give your husband a heart attack like I did mine... Turn off the breaker (I just turned the switch off and I was just fine..but my hubs thinks I'm nuts.) you tube a video for this... I promise! You got this! 

$30 pendant light courtesy of Amazon.com... Get used to hearing this phrase. I'm fucking obsessed with Amazon.com. And yes, I am a prime member. Thanks for asking. 2 day shipping makes me happy.happy.happy. 

Wendee's kitchen turned out great! Adding the hardware and distress really added an expensive custom look to the heart of the home! I love the two tone look and the different island and desk area! The small crystal knobs just add a little bling... In a tasteful way since they match the oil rubbed bronze hardware used throughout the kitchen. 

Wendee's Kitchen!

My first candle making adventure:Learn from my mistakes.

So today is my birthay! (October 31) I wake up and my husband has taken the day off the hang out with me and the little guy! I love days like this... unfortunately it's nasty outside and we can't go to the zoo like I wanted (yes I'm 27, so what if I want to go to the Zoo for my birthday.)

My husband is the best... he decides to take me out to breakfast and then to my favorite store (Hobby Lobby... Duh.) Lately I can't shut up about wanting to make candles (ask my friends who weren't near as thrilled about the idea as I was.) So my hubs decides to take me to get everything I needed to start my candle making adventure....keeper!

What you need:

A kitchen scale (These can get pricey... got mine at Ross for $9

glass pyrex measuring cup or pitcher to melt wax in (pourable is much easier for filling jars)

you will need to place the pyrex in a sauce pan of boiling water to melt like a double broiler

Wax: don't try to be fancy like me... just buy soy wax flakes. believe me. 

1 pound of wax will fill a 12oz mason jar btw

Mason jars or any other container you want to use.

Fragrance (1 oz to every pound) atleast... up to 2 oz per pound if you want a very strong scent

Glue Gun and glue sticks

Braided Wick

Wick tabs

This scale ended up working perfectly and it holds about 1.5 pounds of wax

Here is where I made things too difficult for myself... I decided to mix soy wax and paraffin wax to make a blend I thought would be perfect... not worth it. Buy the flakes and be done. 

Add water to a pan and set your glass pyrex inside it to melt the wax... use your thermometer to make sure it is about 150 degrees before you add the fragrance.

This made a huge freaking mess by the way... Im starting to think I'm working too hard for a few scented candles. The fragrance part it what I was most excited about, I bought a whole bunch of fragrance oil and to be so expensive its amazing how much damn oil goes into each of these candles... I tried 1 oz per pound of fragrance and it wasnt strong at all, I think you could definitely do 2 oz of fragrance per pound and maybe even more if you like a strong candle like me! So scent oil at Hobby Lobby was almost $3 for a .5 oz bottle! No way you want to use 4 bottles per candle, that would be quite pricey! My lesson learned here is that you need to buy your oil online and in bulk if possible to make it worth it... atleast to sell them and make money for sure! The wax is much less expensive online also, Amazon.com even has some great deals on candle making supplies. After spending several hours in the kitchen and realizing I kinda wen't overboard on my spendings... Im thinking... Shit.

And my drink is empty... Not good. 

much better... incase anyone was wondering... Vodka does make the candle making experience much more enjoyable. (Don't judge me... it's my birthday)

So once your oil is about 150 degrees, add the fragrance and wait until its about 140 to start pouring it into jars. If you pour when it is too hot you will have sinkholes in your candle and they won't be as pretty! 

I used clothespins to hold the wicks while I poured wax, they work perfect for the mason jar and are just wide enough! you can just use a dab of hot glue to mount the wicks to the bottom of the container.

It is cheaper to buy the wicks and tabs seperate, and you just measure how long you want it (make it extra long at first so the clothespin will hold the wick tight. Pull the string through the tab and pinch with some pliers to secure. Easy Peasy (Thats about the only thing that was easy today...)

Remember you have to do different batches for every scent that you want. 

After you pour the wax it will start to cool right away and be more of a creamy white color. My house smelt amazing after adding all that oil to the wax!

Keep up with the scents... I wrote mine on some paper plates and how much oil I used so I could remember my results and pass on the good lessons I learned

My 8 candles took a full day to make, but they are pretty and they smell pretty good.... I spent too much money on oil and wax but I did learn so much in the process. I really enjoyed mixing some scents and making my own unique fragrances but it made me a appreciate a good candle. I don't mind spending $20 on a candle that I love anymore because I realize how much work goes into it!! I might experiment again soon but I will be doing things a lot differently, too! Learn from my mistakes if you want to try this at home, and if it sounds like a bitch.... it is. Im all about getting crafty but some projects of mine I find to be more worth it than others! I do love the idea of these candles as gifts, you can personalize fragrance and even make cute gift tags to tie on! (Haven't gotten there yet... but bare with me.)

Halloween!!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays... I have always loved dressing up... and this year I got to dress up my little man. I am a horrible procrastinator and although I try to plan things out I usually wait til the last minute to finally get my crap together.... anyone relate?

Lyric was going to be a nerd for halloween...got the tie, high water jeans... couldnt find glasses to fit him... then charlie brown (there is not one yellow shirt left in San Antonio apparently) I was out all day 2 days before Halloween running around like a crazy person looking for a costume to get together! Ofcourse I am a DIY'er so I was pretty set on making a creative costume for Lyric...... BUT then, I gave up.

Party city... you would think they had a pre-packaged easy costume to buy... um everything was sold out in his size.... as I head to the accessory department looking like a mess I came across the only section that wasnt completely sold out.... "Rapper's and Pimps" totally appropriate for my 1 year old right??? Whavever, dont judge me. I got Lyric a grill (which he wouldn't even begin to keep in his mouth, #waste) Gold Chain, check. Had the red bandana and I realized he's starting to look like Tupac!! The hubs gave him some age appropriate ink with the washable marker and his uncle Hunter just happened to have bought him some Timberlands for his birthday (Crazy, I know! $80 baby shoes.... redic.) But they totally gave him a VERY last minute but very popular costume. He kept in on for about 10 minutes... just enough time for me to snap a few pics but then he was so over it.

So..... My lesson for you, don't freak about a costume for your kid, there are so many accessories to play with, also: don't wait til the last minute stupid. But if you do.... and the worst thing is that your kid has a half ass costume.. don't worry because if they are like my baby he won't even want to wear it!

Lyric was quite a hit in his get-up this halloween, I must say.... He makes a pretty cute Tupac.

Getting Festive for my favorite month: OCTOBER!

   

    If you are anything like me.... that October breeze gets here to Texas and I am so ready to enjoy all the great things that come along with this amazing weather! Pumpkin Latte's, changing leaves, and ofcourse CUTE decor!

  Unfortunately October is the month that things start getting crazy financially too, Parties, Holidays, Halloween Costumes, Etc. 
   This year I decided to really do things on a budget to show that they can be just as cute and fun! I hate tacky decorations but with a little tweaking even The Dollar Store can have some great finds! 

   This garland I made was actually an idea I got from a friend on instagram. I can't sew, so I thought I could just cut some slits in the leaves and string them along my jute string. I love that stuff... I use it for lots of projects (as you will see along the way) It looks organic and simple! There is no trick to where to cut your leaves... I did mine very random and I love the way it looks.

 So everyone knows I love Hobby Lobby but they are selling their fall leaf bundles for $12 right now! Crazy! I got these leaves at the dollar store for $1 a bundle. They had a few different colors so I tried to mix them up a little for more variety. These bundles each had about 20 leaves on them and the garland had about 25 leaves. (depending on length and space between leaves) I spent $5 on leaves and made 4 garland stands. If you have leftover leaves they look cute as table decor just laying around! What a steal!

   Pumpkins are my favorite way to decorate for fall! I love pumpkins! You can get a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors and not spend too much money. The small ones are great for indoor decor and really add a great touch to the mantle, the kitchen table, and ofcourse the Front Porch! I bought about 10 small pumpkins, 1 fairytale (my fave but ofcourse the most pricey! $$) & 3 Medium Pumpkins and spent Less than $50. I think the look I got was well worth the money, My house has a pumpkin on almost every table!!

  Mums are also very fall festive for the porch, they were $7 each and if they are taken very well care of they can even last through next season (in Texas that is.)

   Another great way to decorate on a budget is with DIY printables! You can find a ton of them free online, these are a few of my favorite printable flags:

Chalkboard letter Flags for Banners A-Z

Burlap Blank Bunting

   I recently invested in a great printer for all my projects... It started with my friends baby shower and manifested into invitations, banners, and tons of other cute stuff that I printed right off the computer. I have become OBsessed! My printer was $120 at Best Buy. Its nothing crazy fancy (HP Photosmart) but prints great pictures, and it is wireless so it makes it so easy to print (even straight from your phone!) I highly recommend investing in a good printer (and paper: matte photo paper prints the best for projects!) I have saved so much money printing things at home and making lots of party decor, too! 

   Another great investment is a paper cutter... a big one with a handle and measuring guide! (about $50) It has saved me so much time and the cut looks very professional and straight for pictures, signs, banners, and so much more! I literally use this thing ALL the time! Love it!! Gotta Love Hob Lob (AND don't forget to download the app for the 40% Coupon!!!) 

    So there you have it, these simple and inexpensive decor ideas will have your house looking homey and festive in no time! Another trick to my decorating is that I dont use a lot of Scary or costume inspired decor, I like that I can leave my decor up through Thanksgiving... I can change the "BOO" on the mantle to "GIVE THANKS" for an easy and cheap update after Halloween is over.

Happy October everyone!! 🍂🍁