DIY Adorable Mini Composition Books!!

  Have you seen these mini composition books for sale at Walmart and Target??

Okay, is it just me, or are little things always cute? I mean, I freak out whenever I see those tiny hot sauce bottles in Continental Breakfasts at hotels, or when I walk through the baby section at Target and see an itty-bitty pair of socks. These mini-notebooks are adorable, and can be even more so with a little bit of do-it-yourself magic!

Do-It-Yourself Mini Comp-Books

First step: Gather together anything and everything you have in your scrap-booking stash/ crafting cabinet and lay it out on a table like so. This can include things such as construction paper, washi tape, glue sticks, stamps, ribbons, buttons, brads, ink, decalls, stickers, stick-on jewels, etc. I like to get these supplies from stores like JoAnns and Hobby Lobby.

Second step: Decide on how you want to decorate the notebook. Those three books in the photo above are my examples; as you can see they are embellished with tags, buttons, cute little sayings- stuff like that. Find things like these to glue on the cover, and pick out a few different sheets of card stock that match with your choices be the cover of the notebook.

Third step: On the back side of the notebook, line up the paper with the black spine of the notebook and the top corner of the back cover. Make sure the colorful side of the paper is facing you. Then, turn it over so the book is on top of the white side of the paper, and trace along the pages of the book like so.

Fourth step: Cut out the part that you traced and glue it onto the front! Repeat for the back cover.

Fifth step: Now that you have created the cover, there is a little room for creativity. Decorate it how you like, but here is how I chose to make mine:

First, I used a scrap of paper to add a stripe across the front. 

 Next, I glued this down and added little triangle scraps to the corners.

 After that, I cut two slightly-different sized hearts out of old book paper and card stock and made this piece to out on the cover of the notebook. I got the idea for the design of the word "love" by looking up love tattoos on Pinterest. You can find the design I copied here.

Finally, I hot-glued some buttons and a paper clip on the front and voila! Finished! I totally use my notebooks all the time for school (usually to write the rough drafts for my blog articles). These are perfect for any preppy school girl, busy mother, or notorious note-taker who needs to keep herself organized, and do it with style!

Cute and Simple Spring/Summer Nail Art

  It's that time of year when we go through the transition from spring to summer. Days get longer, nights get warmer, and the world is in full bloom! The coming of summer also means that people are painting their nails more. Think about it, with summer comes sandals, with sandals comes a pedicure, and then with your toes all done you just have to do your nails!
  Once summer finally comes around and school is out, I have all the time in the world to do my nails. But at this time of year, school is a little busier. Teachers are trying to wrap up the year with a few last big assignments, not to mention that I'm juggling several different outside-of-school commitments such as sports. I barely have the time to keep up with my painting-my-nails-once-a-week routine.
  This busy time of year is the perfect time for these three nail designs. They are totally easy but still look fabulous and they give off a fun, summery look with cute colors such as mint green, coral, and lilac that are totally "in" this season. I always like to have a go-to design for my nails when I don't have the time to get all creative, because it horrifies me to have people see my naked nails. I hope you like them!!

  

Coral Nails with Daisy and Chevron Stripes

These nails are totally simple! Paint a clear base coat (I like Orly bonder) and allow to dry. Then, paint two to three coats of your favorite shade of coral on every nail except your ring fingernails. While the coral nails are drying, use a thin striper white to paint a white flower on your ring fingers; I like to paint eight dots in a circle and then paint in lines that connect the dots. Use your coral to make the center dot on the flower, then make a dot over that with yellow nail polish. You can french tip this nail if you'd like. Next, with the white striper paint white zig-zag stripes across your two index fingers. Finish it off with a shiny clear coat, or mix it up and do a matte coat instead! Matte coats are totally the latest nail art trend.

Mint-Green Mani with Sparkly Chevron Stripes

I can do these in like ten minutes no problem! Paint your base coat, the choose a cute shade of mint-green or pastel turquoise and paint two to three coats on every nail but your ring fingers. Use a white striper to paint consummate Vs  on both ring fingers, then in between those Vs paint sparkly Vs with a glitter striper. Finish it off with a shiny clear coat or a matte coat.

Lilac Heart and Stripe Nails

This color is so cute and "in" this season! Also with the heart and sparkles, it could be totally cute and girly for a date night. Paint your base coat, then paint three coats of a soft shade of lilac. Next, using a white striper paint a heart on your middle finger and three thick stripes on your ring finger. Outline each white stripe on the top and bottom with a glitter stripe. Finish it off with clear or matte coat!

If you don't need to hurry and have some free time, try getting creative with some of your own designs! There are some really cute colors out this season; to see the latest color trends check out this link. Hope you like these designs, leave a comment if you tried them out. :-)

Disney Princesses

  Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to draw. I'll draw, paint, or sketch just about anything, but my medium-of-choice is definitely Prismacolor Double-tipped Premium Art Markers (which can be purchased here.) These markers glide across the page in stunning, vivid colors and blend magnificently. I have an enormous collection of these markers stashed in a shoebox that I pull out whenever I feel the need to splurge my creativity.
  Now I will draw just about anything from a vast landscape scene to a cartoon drawing of a hamburger. But my absolute favorite thing to draw is...PEOPLE!! I love designing their outfits, styling their hair, and capturing their personality, mood, and feelings into their features and movements. Often when I draw, people will look over my shoulder and ask, "Who is that supposed to be?" The thing is, I often don't draw real people or real scenes, just characters and ideas from my head. Even so, every person I draw has a story, a background.
  Despite the fact that I almost always draw my own made-up characters, I will occasionally draw something people will recognize. For example, the Disney princesses! I love the princesses; Rapunzel is probably my favorite. Part of the reason I wanted to draw all of them was to experiment with different racial features, and the line of Disney princesses is actually very diverse. Mostly though, I chose to draw the princesses because I am truly a little kid at heart and I just love Disney!

-The Disney Princesses-

Art by Jessie Suchomel

Elsa, Queen of Arendelle

More Queen Elsa

Princess Anna, oh, and Olaf :-)

A cheerful Princess Anna

Princess Merida, being brave

My first try on Rapunzel...

Oh, I loved how this one turned out!

Princess Tiana, with her little frog prince

Mulan, with Mushu and the little cricket guy

Pocahontas, painted in all the colors of the wind

Princess Jasmine, gotta love those pants

Then there's Belle, the bookworm

 Ariel and all her buddies

 Princess Aurora, and her guardian fairies

Cinderella, that dress :D

Snow White, the first and youngest Disney princess

I hope you like them, comment if you want me to post a tutorial for anything!

Coconut Caramel Ritz Cracker Magic Bars

  If there is one thing that I learned from this experiment, it would definitely be that sometimes the best things in life come when all you have to work with are Ritz crackers.
  A couple Sundays ago, my family had a need for a treat. There was one major problem- no eggs. That pretty much ruled out seventy-five percent of our options. We decided on magic bars only to discover that we lacked graham crackers, which were necessary for the crust. I stripped the pantry in search of anything I could use to make a dessert. Then, on the very top shelf in an old Ziploc plastic bag I found my inspiration- Ritz crackers!
  Ritz crackers are buttery and salty, and seemed like they would mesh perfectly with chocolate, caramel, and shredded coconut. So, completely on a whim without any real game plan I whipped together a batch of magic bars- Ritz cracker edition! I turned out to be correct; Ritz crackers taste AMAZING with chocolate, caramel, and coconut.
  However, it was not instantly perfect. The final product came out a little too gooey and melted; you couldn't just cut out a piece and eat it like a lemon bar. So I waited. It did not solidify. My next instinct was to put it in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. Still an ooey-gooey mess of chocolatey-caramel magma. Finally, my patience wore thin and I scraped the dessert into a plastic bag, shoved it into the freezer, and forgot about it over night.
  The following evening, we had guests over for dinner. After a lovely meal, my mom pulled the frozen experiment out of the freezer, cut it up into bars, and served it as dessert. I took one bite of the bar and was immediately blown away! My genius dessert was saved by the freezer, and we finished it off that night.
  Over all, it was definitely a success.  A weird success, but nevertheless a success! I will totally be making these again; the salty-sweet, chocolatey-caramel coconut yumminess is exactly what I want in a dessert. First time I have ever really invented a baking recipe, so I'm glad it turned out and I hope you like it!!

Coconut Caramel Ritz Cracker Magic Bars

1 1/2 cups Ritz Cracker crumbs

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup shredded coconut flakes

1 cup melted caramel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (convection bake, if possible). Mix the butter, cracker crumbs, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Press into a 1/2 thick crust along the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Spread the chocolate chips evenly over the crust, sprinkle on coconut flakes, pour sweetened condensed milk over the top, stick back in the oven for 20 minutes. Next, bring out of the oven and drizzle caramel over the top. Freeze or refrigerate over night. Enjoy!

Tuscan Scramble Recipe

  Wow my very first post! Of course it's about food, what better subject than a delicious breakfast dish to kick-off my new blog?
  This morning I had a little extra time for a nice breakfast. After scanning through the fridge and pantry, I noticed a fresh, homemade loaf of rosemary focaccia. It reminded me of a little dish I had at this breakfast place called Katrina's called "The Tuscan Scramble", a dish so delicious it gives you a taste of the gorgeous Italian countryside. "The Tuscan Scramble" has won over the hearts of many, including my picky little brother. I will never know if there is anything else yummy to order at Katrina's because I can't ever bring myself to bypass a "Tuscan Scramble." So when I saw this rosemary focaccia, it gave me hope of being able to recreate this masterpiece in my own kitchen!
  First, I scrambled four eggs in a frying pan. After that, I sliced up my homemade rosemary focaccia into two even pieces, spread a little bit of butter on each, and put them in my panini maker. (If you don't have a panini maker I'm sure a toaster would work) I left them in to toast for about two minutes, peeking on them every so often. Then, when they were toasted to a crisp, I spread the goat cheese over each piece of bread and spooned half of the eggs onto each slice. Next, I sprinkled some Julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes and some shredded basil over the creation. Finally to top it off, I drizzled a heaping spoonful of my favorite pesto onto each slice. It was so beautiful I could barely bring myself to eat it!! Luckily I managed, and my tastebuds got to take a swift trip to Italy this morning. Almost exactly like the restaurant's "Tuscan Scramble", it was a wonderful way to start my day!
  Here is the recipe, hope you like it!

"Tuscan Scramble" Copycat Recipe

4 large eggs, scrambled

2 slices of rosemary focaccia--(like I said, mine was homemade and it was AMAZING! Good thing I have a brother who loves to bake focaccia, his recipe can be found here )

Butter, for spreading

2 tablespoons of goat cheese

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

Pinch of basil

A few spoonfuls of your favorite pesto (I have a pesto obsession so my toast was loaded with pesto)

Serves two, takes about 8 minutes, perfect way to start the day!