Lash “Extender”

Posted in Home Life by Selections By Sisters

I’m not a big makeup girl, never have been. Some days I look in the mirror and think that I probably should be, but I just really can’t be bothered. I would rather spend that extra ten or twenty minutes doing…just about anything else! Especially now that I’m a stay at home mom and know that my two little boys aren’t hard to impress and the hubs prefers a natural face too. I hop out of the shower and slather on some moisturizer and I’m ready to go. Well, that’s not exactly true. I do have a bit of an addiction to…my mascara. Without it I literally feel naked. It amazes me what a difference it makes since I wasn’t graced with naturally long and full lashes. Why does it seem like only boys get those?!? Unfortunately, I’ve tried all the drugstore brands and they just don’t do the trick…figures. Stubborn lashes. And dragging a two year old and two month old to the mall isn’t at the top of my list of favorite things to do. When my mascara starts to dry out I know that there is still a good amount in that little tube and it almost brings a tear to my eye to have to throw it away…almost. So when I found this little trick floating around Pinterest (of course) I knew I had to give it a try!

It’s a very simple and quick process. All you need is some saline solution. I used some contact lens solution because that is what I had lying around and it worked just as well. Just add 3-4 drops to your mascara tube and stir. Good as new!

I’m not sure how much longer it will last but I’m honestly happy if it’s even just a few extra days. Apparently the process can be repeated 2-3 times too!

25Feb2013

The Itch

Posted in Home Life by Selections By Sisters

I’m a stay at home mom and love my job! However, there are those days that I feel the need for adult interaction – sans kiddos. That my education and all my hard work throughout my school years are going to waste. That if I had time to get a hair cut (haven’t had one since I was 8 months preggers- Reagan’s 16 months), my nails done (haven’t had a mani or a pedi since I was 2 months preggers), and get a much needed massage (not since before I was pregnant) all in the same day, the same week or even the same month…I would feel like a new woman.

It’s not a feeling that I have on a daily basis, it sneaks up on me every once in awhile. When I do actually act on the urge to get out and do something for myself- it just seems like it’s more work than it’s worth and I always want to hurry home or whenever I have left Reagan.

I will always have my fabulous friends to spend time with sans kiddos, my education can never be taken away from me; I can put it to good use whenever I see fit and beauty salons aren’t going anywhere. My daughter is numero uno and won’t be a toddler forever. I’m so fortunate to be able to spend so much time with her as she grows up…even if I do look a hot mess while doing it.

23Feb2013

Gallery Wall

Posted in Home Life by Selections By Sisters

I began this project months ago and am only now attempting to hang them up on the wall in Reagan’s room. I’ve waited patiently for my husband to drill a tiny hole in the back of each piece of wood so that I could use small nails to hang the wood pieces on the wall. Since the holes still aren’t drilled and I’m not familiar with the power tools; I found another way to hang these beauties. I created the wooden pictures and name plate, as well as the chevron canvas with the pink ‘R’. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of these projects from start to finish. I did love how they all turned out and plan on making more in the future.

Needed materials:

– Wooden pictures to hang
– Enough ‘mouth looking’ hooks for the number of pieces of wood that you are hanging
– Super glue
– Picture hanging nails
– Hammer
– Paper cut to the size of your pictures
– Painters Tape

I measured Reagan’s wall and then began to plan out my gallery wall using pieces of paper cut to the exact size of my wooden pictures, painters tape and the chevron painted canvas. These stayed on Reagan’s wall for a few days as I painted the pink ‘R’ and figured out how I was going to get holes into the back of the wooden pictures.

I decided to use super glue to attached the ‘mouth looking’ hooks to the backs of my wooden photo pictures.
I glued my fingers together after the first drop of glue…damn that stuff is powerful!
I held my finger on the hook, pressing down hard for about one minute. I left the glue to completely dry- about 5 minutes.

I also used the super glue to attach the pink ‘R’ to the chevron canvas that I painted. I measured from top to bottom and from left to right before gluing the ‘R’ to make sure that it was centered. I placed the ‘R’ on the canvas and then lifted random edges and squeezed super glue underneath. I put a large book underneath the canvas and pressed the ‘R’ firmly down for a minute or two.

Once the glue was dry on the back of the wooden pictures it was time to hang them up! I thought that this was going to be a breeze,but it was anything but… Our outside walls are cement, which means that they are a pain in the butt to nail anything into them. I bent about 15 nails using my meat mallet (the hammer was in the garage) and took off various pieces of plaster from the wall. shhh…don’t tell my husband. Help me god when we move, this isn’t the only room that I’ve hidden missing plaster chunks behind frames. I was finally successful in getting the tiniest of nails that were included in the picture framing kit to stay in the wall! Woot! Woot! I replaced the orange cut out rectangles with Reagan’s beautiful pictures and name plate.

I think that it came out great!

18Feb2013

Birthday Love

Posted in Home Life by Selections By Sisters

Year after year I struggle to come up with an idea for a gift to give a man that never wants anything, that says that if he did, he would get it for himself. He doesn’t want a party in his honor or even everyone getting together for a Happy Hour to toast his years on earth. Ugh… So this year I wanted to attempt to give him a feeling. Sounds weird, to want to give a feeling, I know. My husband is a hard worker and is always doing for others. I don’t think he often stops to realize the fabulous qualities that he possesses and the wonderful thoughts and memories that his friends and family have of him.

At the beginning of January, my sisters, our father and our husbands (Jason and Ryan) threw our mother a surprise 60th birthday party. It was a blast and we created a few special things that I know my mom will treasure forever.

Caitlin found this fabulous memory idea on Nothing But bonfires (http://nothingbutbonfires.com/2011/06/sixty-years-memories) and ran with it. The result was lovely and my mother enjoyed reading all of the wonderful memories and thoughts her friends and family have of her.

I thought that this would be such a great way for me to give Ryan a fabulous present without having to ‘buy’ anything. I enlisted Ryan’s brother, Tyler, to help me out and I tweaked the original letter from http://nothingbutbonfires.com/2011/06/sixty-years-memories and we sent the letter out through email to family and friends, past and present. I was anxious to see who would respond and to read all of the fabulous memories. It took some email reminders and a phone call or two, but we ended up receiving 54 memories, which was awesome! Some memories came through email and others were hand written and mailed to Tyler’s house, so Ryan wouldn’t find them. I received memories from a 5th grade girlfriend, an old neighbor, coworkers, out of town friends, family and so many more.

My original idea was to fill Ryan’s office with helium filled balloons and to tie a string to each balloon with a memory attached to the end of each string. I wasn’t thinking of the fact that helium and the freezing cold Rochester weather wouldn’t mix very well (balloons deflated a bit and got wrinkly when I did a test run). So for me to be able to accomplish the office balloon idea, I would have had to fill the helium balloons at his office and lets be honest, what mom of a busy 15th month old has time to do that? So the the plan changed and I decided to place each memory into a white envelope and to number the envelopes from 1-54.

On the morning of Ryan’s birthday while he was still asleep, I fanned out the envelopes onto the coffee table so that he would have a comfy place to sit, drink his coffee and read the notes that his family and friends sent. I was hoping that he would love it. I was hoping that he wouldn’t think that it was cheesy and be embarrassed by the fact that I contacted people for a memory that they had of him.

He thought that it was anything but cheesy and I think that he absolutely LOVED it…yay!!! Reagan had a blast helping her dada open his notes and she of course thought that the ones that included pictures of her were the best! The plan is to put all of the memories into an album so that he can cherish them forever!

Reagan’s Happy Birthday sign that she worked so hard on, hung in the family room for Ryan to enjoy while opening his memories.

I wrote little notes on large index cards and while he was still sleeping the morning of his birthday I placed them around the house in spots that he goes to in the morning. There was a note on the coffee maker, in his bathroom drawer, in his closet, on the mirrors, on the coffee creamer, on the window above the sink (from our dog, Colby), just to name a few. I thought that these could be little reminders of how Reagan and I feel about him.

To finish off our gifts to dada, I had a t-shirt made for Reagan with Ryan’s business logo on the front. My husband is an AMAZING realtor (http://www.rochestersells.com) and has the most clever logo; a bobble head of himself holding a ReMax balloon..very eye catching since he’s so handsome! Reagan rocked the t-shirt and Ryan thought it was hilarious!

So it was a HAPPY birthday and I’m glad that my husband felt special on his day. We love him and wanted to show him how amazing he really is. I hope that I was actually as successful as I think that I was in my attempt to give my husband a feeling for his birthday…a feeling of being loved. By the look on his face, I think I nailed it!

10Feb2013

Snail Mail

Posted in Home Life by Selections By Sisters

I read the other day that to save money the United States Post Office will be cutting Saturday delivery starting this summer. As emails and texting have taken over snail mail communication, they are continually losing more money. Personally, there are few things that top a real, hand-written note in the mail or even hand delivered. We get so much junk mail, magazines (Andy will tell you there are always too many of those) and bills that a hand addressed envelope feels like a diamond in the rough.

Of course there are the typical reasons to send a card such as birthdays, congratulations and thank yous but the best are little notes for no reason at all. I remember after birthdays and holidays as a kid, mom making us sit down and write all of our thank you notes much to our dismay. We were taught that there is never a reason too small to show your appreciation and thanks to someone and I am grateful she instilled that in us from early on because now it’s a no-brainer.

A recent favorite in our mailbox

This love of cards has also led to the problem of buying too much stationary. TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods are my favorite places to purchase because they always have cute box sets for about 4 or 5 dollars. My collection has really grown and Morgan’s organization over winter break inspired me to do the same. The black boxes are from IKEA and the white ones are from The Container Store . I organized them into different categories and boxes; cleansing out all of the tiny boxes I had stacked up and streamlining them has worked well so far.

Some favorites

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: