Thin Mint Cookies

Yes, you read that right! This post shows you how easy it is to make girl scout Thin Mint cookies right from your own kitchen. Let me tell you... They taste almost exactly like the real thing! Warning: They may not be as pretty as the real cookie but it will be ok! So here is goes!

What you will need:

Oreos

Chocolate Chips to melt

Mint Extract

Step 1: 

Take all the creame out of the Oreos and either eat it... or toss it! If you take a butter knife, it scrapes off super easy.

Step 2:

Cover them in your melted Chocolate chips. Its easiest if you use a regular spoon. Drop the Oreo into the chocolate and then flip it with the spoon and make sure its all covered.

Step 3: 

Place them on a wax sheet of paper so that when they cool down, they aren't stuck. 

Step 4: 

Place the cookies either in the fridge or the freezer to cool. This takes maybe 15 minutes for them to cool down.

Step 5: 

ENJOY! 

As you can see, they may not be the prettiest things in the world but they sure do taste super yummy! And now you don't have to pay an arm and a leg... Although nothing beats real girl scout cookies. My next project is to make the Samoa ones next. They seem a little bit trickier though so we shall see. 

Home Made Chips!

I made homemade chips for the first time and they turned out so great! Not only that but they took me a total of 12 minutes to cut and bake them! So are you ready to get started??

Ingredients:

Tortillas

Oil Spray

Salt or Cinnamon

Then, pretty simple, you cut the tortillas into whatever size or shape you want. 

 Place them on your tray.... 

Spray with your oil and then sprinkle your salt!

If you want them to be sweet I suggest cinnamon sugar, it's really tasty! 

Put in the oven at 350 for 10-12 minutes and there ya have it! Homemade chips! Now you just have to make your favorite dip and enjoy.

Whipped Cream, Starbucks Frap!

This is one of my new favorite drinks! You will come to learn that I love to make and find random drinks because every once in a while, you may just need somethin ;) So here goes!

Ingredients:

Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka

Starbucks pre-made 

Crushed Ice (optional)

Take the Coffee and pour it into your cup with or without crushed ice.

Add however much Vodka you want. Some people like it stronger than others ha so make it how you'd like!

Then stir and cheers! 

Hope you enjoy! 

 

Ombre Nails!

Something to know about me is that I LOVE nail polish! Just ask my husband, he was shocked at how many nail polish bottles I have when we started dating. And the fun thing is, I never spend anymore than $1.99 on a bottle because although I love the product, $8.00 is a little ridiculous for a tiny bottle of nail polish. Just to give you an idea... I have over 110 bottle of nail polish! Yup, it;s sad but true :) and I will continue to buy nail polish until I either run out of money or loose my finger nails haha.

So back to this post; a good friend of mine taught me how to Ombre nails! We did it on her but the pictures didn't turn out well so I decided to re-try it myself! Granted these pictures didn't come out fantastic either but it's easy and a fun look! Here it goes!

What you will need:

Nail polish!

Start with a fresh, clean nail so you have a nice palate to work with.

Next you will paint a thin layer whatever color you want on your nail. 

Let that layer dry and then move up on the nail slightly. Not quite half way up so... 1/3 of the way up the nail and paint another layer.

Once that layer dries paint one last layer on the top 1/3 of the nail.

I took the picture like this so you could kind of see the difference in layers. It looks much better in person, trust me! 

I had a lot of fun doing this and hopefully you will too! You can ombre with any color you'd like so make it fun!

Chalkboard Sign

As I was walking through Michael's trying to kill some time (bad idea!) I found this really cute plate that was only $2 and so I decided to get it, what I would do, I had no idea. While continuing to walk around I found some cute flowers and fake pearls for $1 each and decided they would be cute on the plate, but what would I do with it after...? Then it hit me! A chalkboard sign to hang up somewhere. Then it hit me again! Everything I got reminded me of my sister-in-law and I decided I would make it for her. Well lucky her, I went over to their house and she got to help me make the cute thing! It was super easy and really cheap to make!

What you will need:

Cute Plate

Chalk Board Paint

Decorative Supplies

My cute plate! 

Make sure you sand the area down so the paint will stick. 

WARNING: It makes an awful sound!! But it's all worth it in the end.

Make sure you check how much you have sanded off. You just want the top, glossy, layer removed, not an entire layer of paint. 

Once you have sanded your plate down, rinse it off so it's not grainy when you paint it. Then take the chalkboard paint and layer it on! It took about 3 or 4 coats for it to actually cover and stick to the paint.

TIP: If you take a hair dryer, it dries much quicker but don't put it too close because it will blow the paint.

Next, take your decor and place it wherever you're heart desires on the plate! We used a hot glue gun to keep the items on the plate. Makes it much easier! 

And this is our finished product! Make sure you wait at least 24 hours before you write on the chalk or it may not clean up as well after. 

You can do this process with anything! Be creative when it comes to this! I love easy projects and this can be done with things all around your house and it makes for cute decor and fun signs!

My Wedding!

My entire wedding was done with DIY items... ok so maybe 80% but still! I was very proud of myself and all of those who helped me. I would not have had a beautiful wedding if it wasn't for some great friends to step in and help me with all of my projects. Needless to say, my entire house is decorated with wedding stuff now and that was the plan; make stuff that I could use later. Every once in a while I will get in crazy crafting moods and the DIY in me comes out!

Here are a few things that were used at my wedding:

This was the sign we used to let our guests know they were on the right path to our reception!

Our food and drinks table all had big and little signs starting what was where and where to get the food and drinks!

The guess book area had chalkboard signs and a book where our guests could leave their note for us. The book was filled with pictures of Aaron and I through our relationship so the guests could see from day one until now. We also had pictures hanging from the ceiling from fishing line to make it look as though they were floating. Really neat looking if I do say so myself! :) 

At the reception we had a photo booth style area so our guests could take some funny pictures. The props were made by my new family (the in-laws). This is us trying to fit all the props on at once!

 I just had to add this picture! It's one of my favorites, some of the cutest kids! 

T-Shirt Scarf

This is another easy thing to do and is cute! My sister-in-laws helped me make this lovely little scarf along with a few other items :) Thanks girls!

Anyway, all you will need is a t-shirt and scissors! That's it!

Take the t-shirt and lay it out so you can see where you want to make the cut.

Then cut the shirt in half...

Once you have done that you will cut up the shirt and make little slits, and then pull on the slits and this will make a little curl type effect. 

Then its done! 

It's as simple and easy as that, I think it took up maybe 10 minutes to make and for FL girls, this is a perfect little fashion scarf. 

Thanks for the pictures Grace and being our model for this!

BBQ Beer Chicken

So this meal is one of my husbands favorite dishes that I have made since we got married. He took the first bite and ended up finishing up the rest! BBQ Beer Chicken is not only one of the yummiest dinners but one of the easiest I have made so far.

What you will need:

BBQ Sauce (any kind!)

Beer (any kind!)

Chicken

That's it!

All you have to do is put the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot, dump a bottle or can of beer in, add as much or as little BBQ sauce as you want (I used a half a bottle of a regular sized BBQ container) and turn the crock pot on low and let it sit! After 6-8 hours open it up and shred the chicken and add the rest of the BBQ sauce; let this sit for another 30 minutes and then you are good to go. We had ours on buns but you don't have to add the bread, you can just do the chicken with the sauce and some corn maybe? And some sweet tea? Make it an official "southern" meal :)

I had a friend of mine make this dish and they added pineapples in the last 30 minutes and had honey BBQ sauce and used the Hawaiian buns you get from Publix which made it a Hawaiian style dinner. They really enjoyed it that way as well. So experiment and have fun with this :)

(Not the best picture but you get the idea :)  )

Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Tonight's dinner is one of my favorite dishes in the whole wide world! Ask anyone... even Panera employees.... I am there quite often eating the Broccoli Cheddar soup. Well tonight I found a recipe and decided to try it out. 

The items on this recipe list are simple and easy to find, nothing complicated!

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 of an Onion chopped

1/4 cup of Butter melted

1/4 cup of Flour

2 cups of Half and Half

2 cups of Chicken Stock (mixed with the water)

1/2 pound of Broccoli (chopped up)

1 cup of Carrots (slivered)

1/4 teaspoon of Salt

1/4 teaspoon of Nutmeg

8 oz of Shredded Cheese

• To get started you need to take some butter (not the 1/4) but just some extra butter and saute the onions and set them aside when you are finished with them.
• Also, cook the broccoli a little bit otherwise it will be a tad crunchy in the soup. If you like it like that then no need to cook the broccoli! 

• Next you will take the 1/4 cup of melted butter and put that into a pretty decent size pot and then slowly add the 1/4 cup of flour. Make sure you keep stirring while you add the flour or it will get chunky. Yuck! Mix that for about 3 minutes; you will know when it's done :) 

• After that you will slowly add the 2 cups of Half and Half, again stir while you pour it in or it will get weird and no one wants that when it comes to food! 

• Now you will add the 2 cups of chicken stock and as before, STIR! Once you are done with those steps let it simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Make sure you stir while it simmers otherwise it will get a layer on the top.

• While this is simmering, take time and cut your veggies! It's perfect because if you cut near the stove like I do, you will see the soup and remember to stir. So take your 1/2 pound of Broccoli and 1 cup of Carrots and chop chop chop! 

• When the 20 minutes are over add your broccoli, carrots and onions into the soup; stir it up a little and now you let it cook on low for another 25 minutes. 

• After it cooks for 25 minutes add your 1/4 teaspoon of salt and nutmeg and now its gets a little crazy....! Take the soup and put it into a blender! Yup, a blender and puree it for a little. At this point in time you can do it however you'd like. If you like big chunks of broccoli, only do it for a little, or if you like smaller chunks then blend away! 

Almost done! I promise! 

• Once you are finished blending your soup, put it back into the pot and add your cheese. When the cheese is melted the soup is all done! 

Eat with some french bread and enjoy :) 

Instructions:

1. Saute onions in a little butter in a small pan – set aside.
2. In a large pot – melt butter. Add flour and mix for 3 minutes.
3. Slowly add half- half – mixing the entire time.
4. Slowly add chicken stock- mixing the entire time.
5. Let simmer on low for 20 minutes.
6. Add broccoli, carrots; onions and cook on low for 25 minutes.
7. Season with salt, pepper; nutmeg.
8. Place soup in a blender or use an immersion blender and puree.
9. Heat soup over low heat and add cheese and mix till melted.
10. Serve and Enjoy 

Detox Bath Anyone?

So my husband is gone most Friday doing clinicals for school which leaves me home to think of fun, creative things to do! After a long day at work I decided that I was going to take a detoxing bath to relieve stress and relax me a little. Maybe grab a glass of wine and a good book to complete the evening. Well on my way home from work I stopped and grabbed the ingredients needed for this wonderful detox bath:

• Epsom Salt
• Baking Soda
• Optional: Ginger
• Optional: Essential Oils

I opted out on the ginger and essential oils just because they did not have them at Walgreens so next time I will try them and let you know! 

Anyway, so I turned the bath on hot, full blast because the water needs to be as hot as you can stand it, this way the mixture of the salt and baking soda and hot water, cant get rid of all those toxins in your body. The hotter the better! So I was preparing the bath and pouring my ingredients in and was all ready and so I jumped into the bath to realize that it wasn't as hot as I expected it to be, but I was determined to relax so I sat in the bath and turned my show on (Law and Order: SVU.) Well, about 5 or 7 minutes later the water was pretty much cold and I figured this defeated the purpose of a detox bath. So I decided to drain the water and start over, maybe I had had the cold water on too long? I got out, emptied the bath and started all over. About half way up the tub I decided to feel the water... It was still very lukewarm! I was so confused! But I sat in the bath and was very determined at this point to make it as best as I could. To make it long story short I had forgotten to pay the gas bill which heats our water and that's why it wasn't coming out hot! I paid my bill and figured I was done for the night but wanted to finish my show so I sat in the bath and finished it. Well near the end of the show I was getting cold so I turned the water on and guess what... It was scolding hot!! Too bad I was all out of ingredients at this point. 

Although my detox bath didn't turn out as planned (I tend to try again next week), I did notice that it cleaned off all the dead skin that was on my body. This was great to know for next time when I am sitting in the bath relaxing. So again, all you need is the ingredients listed above and HOT WATER! to enjoy a nice, detoxing, stress relieving bath.

Sugar Scrub

So I saw this link on Pinterest that had to do with getting the softest legs ever so I decided to try it out! Lets start with the ingredients. You will need

• 2 cups of sugar
• 1/2 - 1 cup of oil (any kind of oil, I use Coconut oil but really anything will do!)
• 5 tablespoons of some citrus drink; the fresher it is the better!

Take all the ingredients and mix them together in a bowl or a jar. I suggest a bowl because it is much easier to scoop out. 

Once you have the ingredients you are ready to begin the process of getting smooth legs! Take a bath and relax before you do this, it will make it so much better, plus you need to soak your legs for 5 minutes or so to get them ready. After you soak your legs shave them like regular. Then take a spoonful or so of the scrub you just made and rub it all over your legs. It will make the water very oily and gross looking, just a heads up! After you rub it on your legs for a little while, rinse it off and shave again. Yes, I did say shave again. The reason for shaving twice is that the sugar scrub gets all the dead hair and skin off your legs and so when you shave a second time, its a closer and cleaner shave. Once you are finished with shaving for a second time take your favorite smelling soap and wash your legs, this way you aren't a walking oil stick! No need to add lotion or anything after because your legs will feel the smoothest they have ever felt!

• Tip: Soak your razor is super hot water after so it doesn't clog. Because you are washing away and shaving away all those dead skin cells mixed with oil and sugar, it will clog. Soak it and then you'll be good to go!

This scrub makes a decent amount so you will be able to use it for more than a one time shave! That's one thing I love about things like this, most of the time it's not just a one time deal, you can use it over and over again!

Welcome!

Hello! My name is Chelsea and I am trying out this thing called blogging. My plan is to be able to create something every week that you all can do at home. These will be beauty tips, health tips, cooking ideas and much more.