Opinions Needed

Alright ladies, please help me out! I am extremely low maintenence when it comes to anything beauty related. Or more like hopeless and helpless. Ha! To be completely honest, I don't wear make-up 95% of the time. When I actually do put make-up on, what I call make-up is pretty laughable. Concealer + Chapstick, anyone? Told you I was hopeless. Moving on... 

I constantly have extremely dark circles under my eyes from allergies. Add a hefty amount of sleep deprivation and I'm looking quite scary. I'll spare you a picture. ;) I have a couple different concealers, but none of them are doing the trick. I haven't bought foundation in probably 7-8 years. I bought one thing of powder a couple years ago, but that's it. When it comes to eye and lip makeup, I have zero favorites. Except Chapstick, of course. 

Now that you have an understanding of just how little I know and how beginner I am, will you help a girl out? I really need to invest in some simple, low maintence make-up. I tried wandering the make-up aisles and researching online, but came away empty handed and overwhelmed. I want it to be quick and easy so I can actually wear it every day. Please leave me a comment and let me know your favorite products and beauty tips! I'll come back and do a reader favorites recap so you can see everyone's favorites! Let's get this party started--comment away! 

Thanks, friends! 

Everyday Fireplace Decor

I don't know about you, but after Christmas, I always struggle a bit to redecorate my mantle. I don't want anything too seasonal, just something that's good for every day. I've been playing with my mantle decor since New Year's and finally came up with a mix that I love!

You'll remember I scored the antique window last fall for $15 and we gave it a fresh coat of paint. The boxwood wreath was part of my Christmas decor, but I really like it and think it transitioned well into our everyday decor.

The candles and candleholder are some that I bought at Kohl's several years ago. I love how versatile they are! When I'm not using them on the mantle, they go perfectly in our bedroom. I recently found the picture frame on clearance at Target. I love the washed wood tone. It's a subtle nod to this lamp that we purchased for our living room a few months ago when Target had their Threshold lamps 15% off.

I love this little faux succulent! It was only $3.99 at Target and adds a nice pop of green to this side of the mantle...and I can't kill it! ;)

Jeremy's family recently visited and we played Christmas while they were here. They gave me this lantern from Pier 1 that I've been eyeing for a while now. Love it! We purchased the plant and white pot at Ikea last summer.

So there you have it, our new everyday mantle decor. I'm loving how it ties in well with the greens in the rest of the living room!

Monogram Car Artwork

Remember a while ago when I introduced you to my friend Amy? She has such great ideas and finds the cutest projects to do for around her home! I straight up copied one of her ideas this time...and she watched my kids while I went to Michael's to get the supplies! Now that's true friendship! Haha! :)

Ever since we moved Little Man into his big boy bed and bought him a new quilt and rug, I've been wanting to change out the turtle decorations from his nursery and decorate in a vehicles theme. Of course, decorating Little Girl's nursery brought his room to a standstill for a while, but we're ready to finish it up now. When I saw this initial art that Amy made for her boys' room, I knew it'd be perfect for Little Man's room! And as an added bonus, it's super quick and easy, so it's the perfect craft for this sleep deprived mom! Excuse my phone pictures in this post. Remember the sleep deprived mom thing? ;)

Here's the initial that Amy made! Isn't it adorable? 

(Picture credit goes to Amy!)

Here's my copy of hers! Little Man loves it! (The metallic paint I used looks streaky in the pictures, but it's not streaky in person.)

I purchased the letter at Michael's. I used a 40% off coupon, so it only cost me $2.40. I also picked up bottle of metallic craft paint for $1.29 while I was there. I thought it was metallic charcoal gray, but it turned out more silver. Not what I was going for, but we just rolled with it. Little Man and I painted the letter together which was cute! :)

After the paint was dry, I cut white cardstock paper into little strips to make lane lines and laid them out on the letter how I wanted. Then, I modge podged the strips onto the letter. 

I finished up by hot gluing two cars onto the "road". Little Man was having a hard time deciding which cars he wouldn't mind donating to this decorating cause, so I ended up just buying two new cars. Haha! I haven't decided if I want this to sit on his shelf or hang on the wall, but if I decide to hang it, I'll just attach picture hangers to the back. Easy decoration and only cost me $5 and some change!