Fess Up Friday–Cookie Diet,Bored Kids, and Ferocious Pink

I have so many fess ups in my head it’s ridiculous.  I finally decided that I will take pictures of all my little fess ups to make posts like this more fun.

Fess Up #1. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Diet 

Whenever I decide to start a diet I usually end up making a batch of cookies.  It doesn’t matter that the same day my neighbor brought over a giant batch of garden lettuce.  I still made the cookies and ate half a dozen.  The lettuce??  well I just looked at it throughout the day and thought it would make a great centerpiece. 

Here’s what continues though out the “diet” day.  I always take half of a cookie thinking that I’m being “much better” than taking the whole cookie.

After a while I’ll look at the cookie plate and see 14 halves of a cookie, and that’s when I  I realize I haven’t been good at all. I just at 7 cookies.

Pretty soon my entire mind set changes and I decide that it would be much better for me just to eat ALL the cookies that are left so that tomorrow I will have no temptation at all. 

Makes total sense – right?


Fess Up #2. Bored Kids and Cleaning


Every day during the summer my kids are bored and “have nothing to do”. (please tell me your kids say the same thing!)  On Tuesdays though we have our “family fun cleaning day”. Honest truth, it is the only day my kids from early morning on play with all their toys, read books, and play board games.  I don’t hear a PEEP from them (as in silent, no fighting, NOTHING!)

 I’m thinking of doing a family fun clean day everyday of the week next summer   I bet they wouldn’t ever tell me they were bored, I suppose a few other phrases might come out of their mouth like they wish they were adopted out to another family.  (*sigh*)

                          (My youngest is the only one who seems to enjoy that day!)


Pink is for Manly Husbands and Ferocious Dogs:

I may have gone a little overboard with this one.  I was told by my hubby (who doesn’t read my blog BTW) that I needed to buy a new retractable leash for our dog.  (Our dog’s “ferocious” teeth chewed through the last one)  I hate spending $ on our dog – I mean for Pete's sake, his grooming bill is HIGHER than my cut and color.  (I did just buy my own clippers BTW, I’m sure there will be a few fess ups from that adventure) 


Anyway, I found a leash  for our large male dog for 32.99.  I thought that was steep so I wanted to check out the discount store Ross before I bought it.  Sure enough ROSS CAME THROUGH for me!  Ross had a GREAT retractable leash for a dog up to 110 lbs.!  Only problem, it……was……PINK, as in soft, adorable, fairly tale pink.

(for anyone that knows my husband, well let’s just say, he’s NEVER let me pawn my purse off on him to hold.  Nope, not even for a second)

No worries here though – right?  I’m a DIY craft blogger and have tons of spray paint in my garage.  Color means nothing to me anymore.  (I’m very warped that way now, as you can see) 

And PROBLEM FIXED!  By the time any of that blue paint might chip off it will be too late to do anything about it AND I saved 25.00!!!! (it was only 7.99)

                          Pink?  What pink??  WhaWho!


To all my fellow cookie dieters, summer cleaners, and cheap spray painters, have a great day!!

Hooking this up to Fess Up Friday @ Kissing the Joy and Kelly's Break Room

           ~CreativeJuicesDecor~

Coconut Oil re-post and Tropical Traditions Giveaway!

Ends Wednesday August 3rd!  (Now Closed)

When I first posted this I had maybe 5 followers so hopefully this will be a new read for a lot of you guys.  I did changed it up AND included a giveaway for you guys!!!  32 oz. of Virgin Tropical Traditions Coconut oil.

 

This is how you can WIN:  (please include email on one of your entries)

1. Please leave a comment below, have you used coconut oil before??

2. You don't need to be a follower or subscriber to enter the contest but while you are here   take a look around and if you like what you see and decide to become one, (or are one) please leave a separate comment letting me know as this will give you your second entry.

3. If you would like to subscribe to Tropical Traditions Sales Newsletter   leave a comment you did so and it will give you another entry for a total of three entries.

 
Originally this post was inspired from my Healthy Food on a Budget post.  Some people wanted to know what all the hubbub was about using coconut oil.  I completely understand! 

I remember going over to my friends house and seeing her little jar of coconut oil and thinking now why would I spend 3 times the amount on THAT oil instead of the other oils?? 

                                                                 click for photo source


So began my coconut oil research………I’m not going to go into depth about everything you can do with coconut oil, but YES, when I’m not cooking with it, I have used it as a toothpaste, a deodorant, and as a fantastic body moisturizer!    I’m sure it sounds strange to a newbie, but this stuff is amazing!


Coconut 101 – Why?

1.) The main reason I use coconut oil is for it’s nutritious properties.  It is full of all the good fats, which isn't suppose to make me fat!  My friend Heather from Mom4Life just sent me this fantastic article How to Lose Weight Fast with Coconut Oil.

2.) It can withstand a higher heat without losing all the great nutrients in the oil.  (other oils once heated lose almost all the good attributes they have)

                                                                   click for photo source


What to look for 101

Buy Extra Virgin coconut oil - unrefined and cold pressed. (extra virgin usually means unrefined).  Organic is very nice but not a necessity because with the coconut it’s not a “fruit” that will be full of pesticides like spinach. 

NEVER buy coconut oil that says RBD on the label.  It stands for Refined Bleached and Deodorized!  Crude coconut oil is first Refined, Bleached and then Deodorized. Basically it is stripped of everything that makes coconut oil good for you.  Look for preservatives that are added to coconut oils also. (Or to anything for that matter!)  I find that with any food, flour, sugar, anything, knowledge is power and hopefully I am making it a little easier to sort through all the junk and you can learn how to get the "right" stuff.
The "right" stuff would be the closest to raw and natural.  Processed, heated, bleached, deodorized, refined, taken to hell and back is not good.  Just stay away!!!  I have to tell you Wal-Mart is king  of selling the wrong kind of "healthy".  Read the labels and small print.  What you will find is they will almost always be filled with preservatives and made as inexpensive as possible  :-) 

Let me review the above in a nutshell. (ha-ha!) 

                                                             click for photo source


Cold pressed - better than hot pressed  (hot kills nutrients.  The lower the temperature process, for ANY food, the better.

Unrefined - better than refined.  (refined takes it through yet another step meanwhile losing even more nutrients)

Unbleached - better than bleached.   (bleach is a chemical -right?  Do I really want my food going through a chemical?)

Not deodorized - better than deodorized (do I even need to say anything to that?  Deodorizing what goes into my mouth....why?)

They say to store in a cool, dry place (50 to 68° F) away from direct sources of sunlight, heat and oxidizers. I keep my extras in the back of my pantry and the one I am using at the moment on my counter.  My research says it has a 2 year shelf life.

Here are some coconut oil recipes.

Thanks you guys!

Selina – Creative Juices Décor!! 

Disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist and do not claim to know everything :-)   If you find something that might not be correct on this post please leave a comment to help us all out.  Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

IRON Scrolled Window for Your Home Decor

Most of our house comes “standard”.  I do get to pick out a ton of things like all the colors, finishes, trim work etc... but doing extra fancy custom things isn’t really how the company works that is building our house.  It’s not that I CAN’T add custom things, it just that’s not how they generally build their homes.  (they are a spec home company that has a small custom home division)

Anyway, I have always known from day one that I had to have this feature in my new home.  And it was worth “messing” up the smooth building process to get it there!

I called up a few local ironworkers, got some bids and met with the guy with the best price.  He was SO fun to work with and did the entire custom iron piece for $365.00.  It is huge and heavy!  3’wide by 4 1/2 ‘ tall. 

Creative IronWorks

I am really excited.  It will be placed right as you walk into the house on the right hand side and you will be able to see through to the dining room. 

It will go really well with this doorbell and chime set!  It’s the little things that make a difference sometimes. (they weren’t very expensive and they sure beat that white tacky plastic box that is the standard they put in!)






Fun huh!!!! 

Just because I  was so blown away by how SIMPLE and EASY Erin from Lemon Tree Creations made this fabulous wall art I had to add it to this post.

All she did was get 4 pieces of board, laid down a cool designed rubber entry mat from Lowes over it and spray painted it all white!  When she took off the mat this is what she got - BRILLIANT!! 

Till Next Time!  ~CreativeJuicesDecor~

A Red Frame for a Friend

I always have fun helping my friends out with design ideas.  I like to tell them the idea and then leave and let them “go for it!” 

One fine day while at my friends house she takes me into the garage and shows me this beautiful painting but tells me she just doesn’t like it anymore.  She wishes she did (they spent a lot of $ on it) but the picture just didn’t pop for her like it did before.  I looked at it and said, well I know what is wrong, the picture needs some excitement and color.  You need to paint it red!  Being that she is a very smart and witty friend she said, I think that’s a great idea, how about if I give it to you and you can fix it up, and when you are finished you can put it on your blog! 

Hummmmm…….did I mention she has a BLOG OF HER OWN?

Well, I did take it home (I thought about accidently “forgetting” it) but hey, she just had me and my three kids over for lunch and play date.  Just for the MESS she has to clean up after we leave I can paint her frame – right!

So here she is BEFORE:

Here she is during the process – it’s easy you guys….just tape off and spray paint.

Next I just brushed on and wiped off some espresso colored paint that was mixed with clear glaze (4:1 ratio….lots of glaze, little paint!)  There really isn’t a wrong way to do this….as you can tell, it’s not perfect, just wiped on and after wiping some of the glaze off I used a brush make it look “liney”  (I do know that’s not a word!)  You could spray on a coat of clear polyurethane if you would like right after it dries.  It just makes it a little more durable. 

Here are the AFTER shots! 

I’d say it’s a lot better than before – huh??  I really like how it picks up the red in the awning….

Well at least my friend loved her picture and I’ll probably get invited over again.  Two pluses! + +

Linking up to YHL - project #126 is adding a surprise color to a frame!

  Till  Next Time! 

 ~ Creative Juices Decor~

A Shopping Guide to Get the Most out of Your Money

It’s no secret that I am frugal, so I thought it would be fun to show you how I stretch my dollar.

Thrift Stores:

I buy almost all my kids clothes at thrift stores.  You can get Gymboree, Gap and all kinds of nice name brand, hardly worn clothes there.  As you know, I find a TON of awesome home décor items from the thrift store also. You can see all my home décor thrift store finds by typing “treasure” in my search box.

Call a few thrift stores and find out when their sale day is.  My favorite thrift store has their ENTIRE store 50% off on Wednesdays.

OK, I know, not sure why I bought this wedding dress but it was so pretty and with tax it was $19.58!  Could I hope that one of my daughters might like it?  Now THAT would save me hundreds!

 
Garage Sales:

In general, you will get the best prices anywhere on clothes and home décor by shopping garage sales.  Just be willing to wake up early as the good stuff goes fast!
 
Consignment Stores:

These stores generally only buy expensive name brand clothes from people and then re-sale them.  I think it’s fun to buy items like Lucky Jeans for $13.00 instead of $113.00

Thrift store suit outfit and mega Gymboree sale outfit (if I remember right the dress was $7.00 and the suit outfit was around $6.00)

 
Discounted Retail stores:

Ross (Tuesdays 10% senior discount)
TJ Maxx
Kohls – awesome end of season sales – 90% off if willing to save for next season
Target – check for 75% off clothing racks (children and adults)
Old Navy – they have 2 big end of season sales which are unbelievable. They are usually in August and January. They won’t tell you when so you have to call during those months. It is 50% off the 50% off.

TJ Maxx and Ross are AWESOME for home décor items too. 

Internet:

eBay – for great deals go to “advanced search” check mark “time ending soonest” enter in name brand and catch something that is about to end in a bid for a steal.

Always Google for a promo code when you shop online. Example- I was buying at shoes.com and saw they had a space for a promo code – I Googled promo code for shoes.com and saved 20% off my entire order.

For those with kids (or grandkids!) sign up for Gymboree.com – if you wait for the good sales you can save 60 – 75% off and sometimes even get free shipping on top of that. Just keep your eyes out! Up to three gift boxes are given to you free – they are so cute – just be sure and mark that you want them.

$10.00 (with shipping) dress off eBay.  $6.00 flower headband from Ross

 

I hope I’ve given you some new ideas to save you a few bucks! 

Enjoy! ~Creative Juices Decor~

The Big Reveal– 60’s Canvas Turned Textured Art

Remember this old friend?  Were you all wondering what in the world was I going to do with this huge old 1960's thrift store canvas?  (SO WAS I)

Well after I made this pretty little girl, I had a TON of left over seashells so what better to use them on my huge canvas!!!

At first I just started laying them out on the canvas…..

I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough seashells to cover the entire canvas (but alas, I had PLENTY) so I put a frame in the center that I picked up for $1.00. 


I liked the look but could NOT figure out what I wanted to do in the middle.   I thought about a monogram, maybe a moss covered letter? I also thought I could paint something just in that spot…..

 I couldn’t think what to do until I took the picture above and I thought huh, what about a mirror!  I LOVED all the texture that was going on so I thought, what if I did a MOSIAC mirror (that and the fact that I was never going to find a mirror in the sixe of 13”x16!!!!)

Now that I had seashells and a glass mosaic I wanted the frame to go from a traditional brown wood to something more pearlescent or soft. I found the spray paint color by Krylon called Caramel Latte (the name sold me ) and loved it’s soft, slightly shiny latte color.  I also added some distressing by sanding the edge and adding some brown paint in spots.  Really I just fooled around with the trim until I got the look I wanted.


And the BIG REVEAL is……..


BEFORE: (sorry Mr. Kinkade, you just weren’t doing it for me anymore)

AFTER!  Ah, looooove

Another angle:

What do you think?? Doing this piece was an adventure, I had no idea if it would turn out BIZARRE or great?


Cost Breakdown:
$20.00 canvas/frame piece
$1.00 smaller frame
$18.00 1” mirror tiles (I needed 208!!!!)
$3.50 Krylon paint
Free – leftover seashells
TOTAL – $42..50

Not too bad for a VERY large piece of art.  It was a fun (but tedious) project! 

To see more of my new house tour just click!

Was Featured on Little Birdie Secret and Infarrently Creative.  THANK YOU!

              Thanks for stopping by! Creative Juices Decor

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Lawns and Pretty Flowers

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Yesterday my almost 8 year old mowed the lawn for the first time (with supervision!)  He was so proud of himself and felt all grown up. 

As I wandered our yard I noticed all the beautiful flowers in bloom so I grabbed my camera and started shooting.  I am experimenting with textures in Photoshop (these were free!!!) so I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Isn’t summer LOVELY!!!!  And just so you can laugh at me, being that I am the “photographer” of the family, it leaves the 7 or 10 year old to take one, maybe two pictures of me a year, and they all end up looking like this!  Ahhhhh!  Someday, maybe they will learn but by that time,  I probably won’t care what the pictures look like! 

                 Have a GREAT 4th of July!

                   Stop and smell the ROSES this summer!

                      ~ Creative Juices Decor~