My very FIRST YouTube video

FINALLY!!!

Seriously I have been wanting to do videos for such a long time.  Back when I first started my blog and my Graceful by Anna business I wanted to do videos too but with my Daycare, Graceful by Anna, Blog and School I had no time for it.  Then Graceful by Anna got busy and my Blog kinda went down the drain.  Once I moved to North Dakota last year I kept telling myself I was going to make time and just focus on Graceful by Anna and do my Blog again and film videos but after my Dad passed away life got a little rough there for a while and I've just been trying to make sure I am ok.  Future Hubs and I got engaged in the fall and we were buying a house that we finally moved into a couple months ago so pretty much I've just been unpacking, decorating, planning our wedding, and doing TONS of DIY wedding projects.  After our wedding I will have lots and lots of Wedding Tutorials to share with ya'll

 (I've made sure to take lots of step by step pictures along the way so I can share).  

 

Chase your dreams people and do what you WANT TO DO and try not to let things get in the way or they will keep you from doing what you want to do.

 

Today I was determined to share my first video with you.  I was so nervous and scared but didn't let that fear get in my way and uploaded away!  Yay me! ;)

 

If you have hyperpigmentation or have been experiencing major breakouts this serum may work for you too!

 

Burt's Bees Radiance Serum

 

Watch my FIRST YouTube Video:

 

 

Thank you for reading and watching!

 

 

Cheddar Bacon Pork Chops

Since moving to our little small town a month ago I have been cooking almost every night.  There is absolutely no fast food, which I am so HAPPY about!

We have gone out to dinner at a restaurant 4 times, picked up a pizza once, and two nights ago when we drove into a bigger town an hour away we treated ourselves to Hardees(Carls Jr.), other than that we have had a home cooked meal every night, made by me!

 

I've been trying to be creative and try new things.

 

A couple weeks ago I was shopping and stumbled across these seasoning packages with cheese and breadcrumbs and decided to get a couple to see how they were.

 

Oh my goodness was dinner ever YUMMY!!! 

 

Here's what I bought:

 

 

I got this one and the Cheddar Bacon one too.

 

I forgot to take a picture before of the Cheddar one but this is what the packaging looks like if you want to try them.

 

I used pork chops when I made the Cheddar Bacon one.

 

All you do is dip your meat into water, one piece at a time.

Then put it into the bag with the cheese and breadcrumb mix.

(I shook the bag around real good before)

The first piece the mix didn't stick on very well so the 2nd piece I squooshed my hands around the bag to try to get it on really good.  It helped to coat it much better when I did that.

Just lay them out on a cookie sheet and bake them following the instructions on the package.

 

 

 

They were  nice and crispy on the outside and the seasonings were so good!

The meat was tender and the chesse under the crispy goodness was soft. 

We really enjoyed these!

I had a lot of fun making dinner too.

Another great thing was there was no mess!!!  ;)  I hate cleaning!

 

 

 

I served ours with green beans and roasted potatoes. 

My mouth is watering seeing these pictures!

 

These are seriously one of my new favorite things to use to make dinner!!

I can't wait to try the Italian Parmesan.

 

Let me know if you try them!  I'd love to hear what you think.

 

 

I Got My Hair Did!

I went to a Professional!

 

 

 

What is my natural hair color you're wondering?  My natural hair color is dirty blonde.  Most of my life I have had short or shoulder length hair so it was easy for me to play around with my hair and change the color all the time.  Every couple months I'd do something different from light blonde to black or highlights.  In 2008 I started growing my hair long.  I have ALWAYS dyed my hair myself so once my hair got to be really long it was difficult to bleach on my own so it's been various shades of brown since.  I have major trust issues when it comes to my hair!  Have any of you had horrible experiences?  I HAVE with hair cuts and because of this my fear of something going terribly wrong with the color has made me not trust anyone to dye my hair.    

 

After 19 years of coloring my hair on my own I finally went to a salon and had a professional dye my hair for me.  I can't tell you how nervous I was! 

 

 

This was my color before:

 

 

My hair was really dark brown and the first colorist I went to was scared my hair wasn't going to take so she did some highlights to begin with. 

The color was really pretty with the highlights throughout my hair but I want to be blonde again. 

I'm sick of having to dye my hair every 3-4 weeks!

 

I had my hair dyed in December just before Christmas

 

So on Weds I had another appointment and now I'm back to my dirty blonde hair.  I'm loving it!

 

 

What do you think??

 

Hope you all are having a fabulous week.

Thanks for reading!!

 

XOXOXO

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Way to Your Mans Heart

Just 1 more week until Valentine's Day!!

What are you doing for your boyfriend or husband for Valentine's Day??

 

Everyone knows the way to a mans heart is through his stomach!

HAHA!  I'm kidding!

.....actually, I'm not! ;)

 

Here are some fabulous ideas of things to make for your man:

 

Breakfast in Bed:

 

 

How sweet are these Fruit Skewers and so simple to make! 

Just use a heart shaped cookie cutter and stick em on a skewer or popsicle stick.

Love this!!

 

Can't forget the main course.  Men love some meat, right?

 

 

I'm sure this sandwich tastes as good as it looks.  M'm 

 

To make take two pieces of bread, ham and cheese.

Grill one side, flip over and cut out the center.

Crack an egg and let it cook inside the hole you just made with your cookie cutter.

Don't forget to grill your small heart too.

 

 

Lunch:

 

What's more romantic than a picnic lunch??

 

 

Put together a picnic basket and head out for a romantic picnic together.

 

What do you pack for a picnic?

I suggest some plastic plates and even plastic wine glasses!

Make some really yummy sandwiches.

Veggies like carrots, celery and cucumbers.

Fruit, you could even make the fruit skewers and put them in a baggie or tupperware.

For a sweet treat bring along some chocolate covered strawberries or cupcakes. ;)

Some wine!

 

Don't forget a blanket and a couple pillows.

If you want to make it a dinner date instead of lunch bring some candles to set the mood.

 

 

Dinner:

 

Make his FAVORITE meal!

I have no idea what your man's favorite meal is, but make it!

 

 

Set a beautiful table and ENJOY!! 

  

 

 

 

 

 



New Year, New Home!

Wow!  It's been quite a while since I've been on my blog.

I got so busy with my shop that with working and fulfilling orders I couldn't keep up.

 

In the past year I have moved from California to Colorado, met my boyfriend

and moved again with him to our new home in North Dakota.

 

 

my little small town ;)

 

CRAZY... I know!

 

But..... I'M BACK!!!

 

I will be writing about my life in gerenal, love, family, recipes, crafts AND not to mention,

MY SHOP!

 

 

I'll be bringing back Mega Deal Monday, so keep checking back here for amazing deals.

 

For first looks at what I am working on and exclusive coupons follow me on Facebook.

 

Hope the New Year has been a HAPPY one for you all!  ;)

 

 

 



The Frisky

 I am featured on THE FRISKY!! ;) 

 My Grey, Black and White Rosette flower was chosen as one of the TOP 10 FLIRTY HAIR CLIPS!!! Whoo Hoo!!!

Thank you so much THE FRISKY!!!

Good to know my stuff isn't just cute but is FLIRTY and FRISKY too! ;)
 

Eat, Drink and be Scary!

HALLOWEEN PARTY
These past two months of planning my Halloween Punpkin Carving/Birthday Party certainly paid off. 

What a fun party!

Almost everything was handmade by me.  It was a lot of work, but so worth it in the end. 

Halloween Candy Bar

Monster and Mummy Cupcakes... Yummy!!!

Appetizing Brain

Mummy Wraps

Liver & Heart

Boneyard Dirt Cake (what a HIT!!)

Boos

Recipes coming soon!!

Happy Birthday to ME!! ... and you!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to ME!!!

In celebration of my 30th Birthday, I am giving all of you a gift of 30% off your purchases on

My Birthday October 23rd ONLY !!!

In order to take advantage of my special gift to you enter coupon code Happy30Bday. This will run from 12:00am-11:59pm October 23rd 2011. 

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!! 

DIY Halloween Costume Trophies

Ok so just like my problem finding awards for the winners at my Pumpkin Carving Party I also couldn't find any type of awards for the Costumes either.

So again I made my own.

I wanted them to look like trophies so I was trying to think of ways to make them on my own.

I thought of using candle sticks, which would work but they were all so expensive!

Then the idea came to me.

This whole project cost me $12.00

What you need:

Glass jars of various shapes and sizes, Spray paint, heavy duty glue that works on glass and the materials you are working with, Skeleton heads, wooden shapes, and craft paint.

Step 1:

Clean the jars with soap and water and then let them dry completely

Step 2:

Glue the lids to the jars and glue any jars on top of each other if you are stacking them.

Then glue the wooden shapes to the top that the heads will rest on.

Step 3:

Spray paint them all black. (sorry don't have a picture).

Step 4:

While the jars are drying start painting the heads.

I used a silver metalic paint mixed with some black to paint my heads.

I had to paint about 5 different coats to get them looking how I wanted to.

Step 5:

Print up labels to attach to the trophies.

I used Most Creative Costume, Scariest Costume, and Funniest Costume.

I tried looking for metallic labels everywhere with no luck so I went through all

my scrapbooking paper and found one that I liked. 

I cut the 12"x12" scrapbooking paper down to 81/2x11 so I could put

the paper through my printer.

Then I went onto word and typed up the wording using various fonts.

The fonts I used were Honey Bunches, Zombie Holocaust, and Circus.

Then I printed out the words on the paper and cut the paper to fit on the trophies.

(sorry no pictures for this part either).

Step 6:

I glued the labels onto the jars. 

Then I took black rhinestones and embellished around the label.

Step 7:

Then I glued the head on the top.

I am thrilled with how they came out!!

Can't wait for my party to give them out to the winners!!  ;)

This whole project including drying time took about 10 hours. 

If I didn't have to wait so long for the paint to dry on the heads it would've been much faster. 

Next year I will probablly just use spray paint instead of the acyrlic paint.

Let me know if you make them and please send me pictures!! 

All of my homemade HALLOWEEN party awards!!