DIY Beach Spray

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I love beachy waves, and they seem to be the new thing. I've bought spray gels before since I have naturally wavy hair, and then I found this recipe on Pinterest for a DIY beach spray based on the Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray. 

I can't see myself paying $18 for a 4 oz hair product. (As I've said before, I'm frugal.) I tend to make a lot of DIY beauty products, and here's another!

I had a bottle of 8 oz spray gel which I just ran out of, so I used that bottle. 

Add 4 tablespoons of epsom salts and 4 squirts of water-based gel (I chose a gel marketed for waves/curls) to the bottle. 

Then, add a little bit of hot water. 

Shake with lid on to dissolve the salt and gel. 

Gradually add more hot water, shaking between each addition. 

Spray in hair, wet or dry, scrunch with your hands and voila! Beachy waves for less than $1! 

Make sure to shake before each application to ensure the contents are thoroughly dissolved.

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Today I'm linking up with Dutch Being Me for her weekly Pinterest Challenge!

Banana S'mores

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Just another 5 minute dessert for you!

Make an aluminum foil "bowl".

Add whole banana (cut-up), chocolate chips, crushed graham crackers (or cinnamon sugar cereal), and marshmallows. 

Place "bowl" on cookie sheet.

Broil on high for 5 minutes or until marshmallows are to desired brown color (like s'mores!).

Transfer to bowl for eating

Add a little milk if desired.

This is my favorite dessert lately. Enjoy!!

Adapted from this original recipe found on Pinterest.

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Link up with DutchBeingMe for her Pinterest Challenge!

At-Home Teeth Whitening

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I've done the Crest Whitestrips before, and while I noticed a difference, I only did them (fully) once because of the inconvenience of having something on my teeth for 30 minutes and the big dent they made in my wallet. I found this at-home whitening recipe, and since I had the ingredients already, I tried it.

My before and after took 4 treatments. It's a subtle difference, but I'm definitely impressed!

Disclaimer: Please excuse my chapped lips and vulnerability at putting a zoomed-in picture of my unedited smile on the internet for everyone to see.

Once a week, brush your teeth like normal. Then make a baking soda paste (toothpaste, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp water) in a small cup. Brush your teeth again for a full 2 minutes with the paste. Repeat once a week until you reach the bright white smile you want and love. 

To keep the bright white smile you've now created on the cheap, repeat once a month. :-)

Original info found here.

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I'm linking up today for the 52 Weeks of Pinterest at Dutch Being Me!

DIY Sugar Scrub

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Olive oil + sugar = homemade sugar scrub

What's easier than that? 

For a one-time sugar scrub for soft hands, pour 1/2 tbsp sugar into one hand. 

Then add 1/2 tbsp olive oil.

Rub the mixture all over hands. 

Rinse well and you'll have baby soft skin!

I love this sugar scrub so much, I'm going to make a jar of it for my shower and use it once a week all over. I might even add peppermint extract for a little something extra! There are so many of these recipes online, but this one was the easiest I have found.

Like my nail polish? I made it from eyeshadow!

Original sugar scrub recipe here. 

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I'm linking up today for the 52 Weeks of Pinterest at Dutch Being Me!

Nail Polish From Eyeshadow

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I'm a Hokie, and being a Hokie means you'll buy anything maroon & orange. I had a weak moment about a year ago when I bought maroon & orange eye shadow. I definitely don't look good with maroon or orange on my eyelids, so I went ahead and made nail polish out of the maroon (except it doesn't really look maroon, but whatever).

Instructions: Brush eyeshadow into cup (the original tutorial stated to use a silicone baking cup which I didn't have, so instead I ruined a small tupperware). Add clear nail polish. Stir it up. Paint your nails!

I loved this color so much I ended up making a funnel out of an envelope corner and brushing the eyeshadow straight into the clear nail polish container, so I now have maroon-ish nail polish for future use!

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I'm linking up today for the 52 Weeks of Pinterest at Dutch Being Me!

Semi-sweet Peppermint Bark

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This week I made semi-sweet peppermint bark for the 52 Weeks of Pinterest Link-Up. This is a very simple recipe that anyone can make. 

First, break up the candy canes by placing them in a plastic baggie between 2 dish cloths. 

You can use a rolling pin or a hammer. A hammer seemed to work much better for me. 

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Add water to the bottom pot making sure the water does not touch the top pot. Bring to a boil. Chocolate should melt in about 5 minutes.

Add the crushed candy canes to the melted chocolate. At this point, you can add peppermint extract. I've been adding it to my coffee in the morning and a little bit goes a LONG way, so be careful not to put in too much. I didn't add any, so it didn't have a big peppermint taste. 

Next, pour mixture onto parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet. Unfortunately, it's not very pretty right now since the candy canes are stirred into the chocolate. Don't worry. We'll fix that. 

Add pretty decorations as you please. I added more candy canes and some red & green sprinkles (to make them more holiday-esque). 

Put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer to harden (about 5-10 minutes depending on how thick your chocolate ended up being). After the chocolate is hard, break into pieces and voila! You have delicious semi-sweet peppermint bark for holiday parties...or yourself. 

Like I said, without the peppermint extract, they're very chocolatey and less of a peppermint flavor. But, hey, they were easy, cheap, and extremely delicious. :)

ENJOY! -KB

Link up!

52 Weeks of Pinterest - Week #1

If you haven't discovered Pinterest, I'd have to say you're missing out. It's the best website for using your creative side. Since I joined the site (4 or 5 months ago) I've probably only done about 5% of the things I've pinned, but I have every intention of using my "Decorate It" board as ideas to decorate my new apartment, using my "Make It" board to be crafty, and my "Style It" board to eventually fill my closet with all the amazing outfits I've pinned.

For now though, I have documented the pins I've actually tried on my "Done & Done" board, and have decided to Link Up with the 52 Weeks of Pinterest on Dutch Being Me to challenge myself to complete at least one creation or recipe each week for a full year. The link up started back in September, but I'm just now starting, so we'll see if I can do it for a whole year! (Thanks to Jen at Home for Three for inspiring me to start this link up!)

Last week I made an infinity scarf out of a t-shirt (inspired by My World - Made By Hand). It was very easy, just cutting the shirt below the arms and above the bottom seam. Then stretching until you can't stretch anymore. Mine was a small t-shirt to begin with, so it didn't stretch as much as I would like, so next time I'll use a large or extra-large. I still really like it though! Here's my creation: 

I also made my own hair ties out of old tights (inspired by Yangarella). Another easy idea that just required scissors and tights. The only negative with this one is that the hair ties stretch out after wearing them, so they don't stay as tight as you may want them if you're exercising. One pair of tights made 35-45 hair ties. Here are my new grey hair ties: 

Left: original, Right: stretched out after a few uses 

BOTH of these were completely free and didn't require using anything other than old material and a pair of scissors!

Now I need to figure out what to do this week...

-KB