Happy Valentine's Day!

I got a new polish this month from Julep called "Love" and I wanted to find a way to incorporate it into this week's nail for V-day. I decided to pair it with a light pink and a red polish. It's hard to see in the pictures, but the Love polish has red and gold glitter in it. For the hearts, I used a medium sized dotting tool and created three dots. It's a super simple way of creating tiny hearts.
Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

Creamy Avocado Dip Recipe

I found this delicious recipe on a website called HASfit. They have a bunch of free workout and healthy recipes to keep you on track. I made this recipe and served it with celery and chips. It is very good! The flavor is nice and you won't feel that you're missing out.

Here's the link: http://hasfit.com/healthy-recipe/snacks/greek-yogurt-dip/

And here's the recipe ( I just used my immersion blender to mix it all and it worked very well without a lot of cleanup)



6 oz non-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 medium ripe avocado
½ tsp garlic powder or 1 minced clove of garlic
¼ tsp cumin
Juice of half a lime
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
¼ tsp pepper to taste
1 to 2 pinches of sea salt

In a food processor or a high powered blender add the avocado and blend for 10 seconds to break up the avocado. Now add the yogurt, garlic, cumin, lime juice and cilantro and blend for 30 to 45 seconds. Be sure to scrape down the sides of your blender or processor to ensure all the ingredients are getting blended. Add the salt and pepper to your desired taste and blend a little more. If you’re entertaining, spoon the dip back into the skins of the avocado and serve immediately. This dip will hold up well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutritional facts are for 1 serving. This recipe makes 15 servings.
Calories 22.3
Total Fat 1.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Total Carbohydrate 1.5 g
Dietary Fiber 0.3 g
Sugars 0.4 g
Protein 1.3 g

Nail of the Week: Rainbow Pedi :)

This nail of the week was done because I wanted to make a colorful abstract design and wasn't sure how to do it. I chose the colors I wanted and made the pattern from lightest to darkest with a rainbow effect, blending the colors together. I used a wide nail art brush with all 3 colors at once. I used a plastic baggie as a palette and placed one stripe of each color in the order I wanted them (yellow, blue, pink). I picked up some of each color in the same stroke and brushed across my nail. I did this a few times on each nail to blend the colors into one another. I didn't want it to be too perfect, kind of abstract. I am not a big fan of feet (especially mine), but I had to share this one because I liked the results! Pick your favorite colors and give it a try :) Until next time...

Nail of the Week: Chai Latte

This nail was named by my sister who said it looks like a chai latte, and I agree! It's a super simple look that I made with my new Julep polishes: Hope (white), Annmarie (brown) and Farrah (metallic purple). The white is a matte polish and dries faster, which always helps.

I started with the white and painted on the tips of my nails roughly where I wanted the finished product to be. On the accent nail, I painted the whole thing white. I used about 2 coats on each nail, unless it looked a little sparse in areas and then I touched it up there. After the coats had thoroughly dried, I marked off where I wanted the white part to end with decal strips. You can use Scotch tape or even notebook paper hole reinforcers. When using either of these, be sure to place it on your skin or another surface first and peel it off to take off some of the adhesive. If you don't, there's a chance it will take off some of the polish underneath when you remove it. I just used the Annmarie polish on the four nails in 2 coats up to the line I made. Be sure it's completely dry before you peel off your tape.

For the accent nail, I used the decals to make a criss-cross pattern that I've used before. I like the 3D effect it makes. I just painted 2 coats of Farrah over it and let it dry all the way. Then, I just peeled off the decals and it's done. I always use a good top coat too.

I love finding new uses for the nail decals I bought since they don't stick for too long. They were cheap and the fact that I can do projects with them makes it worth it. I am hoping to do my next project with some abstract art, but we will see!

Enjoy your artistry :)

Nail of the Week: Stripes with Glam

I took an unintentional hiatus over the holidays-- from Christmas to New Year's to visiting my new niece! Things got so busy that I didn't have time to post my nail of the week. It was a good season of family and food and I am so grateful for everyone in my life.

This week's nail is a stripe design I found on a few other blogs that I wanted to try. It's a new take on the usual stripes and adds some dimension on the top. I used all Julep polishes except for the top coat (you can find the top coat in my TWS top coat entry). I started with one coat of Reiko, which is a shimmery polish that covers well. Over that, I used two coats of Clio, which has larger glitter pieces. I left the accent nail just like that and for the other nails I made the stripes.

After the polish had completely dried, I applied decal strips with three horizontal on the bottom and 2-3 on either side of the top (depending on what fit). I did a triangular design on the top (see photos).  Over the decals, I painted 2 coats of Sylvia (the dark purple color). I covered it all with 2 top coats to seal everything in well.

You can choose whatever colors you like for this design. I have also seen it done with a striping brush and it looks nice as well. Enjoy!

Nail of the Week: Holiday Glitter Criss-cross Nails

This week I chose a festive glittery design. I wanted to get into the Christmas spirit with a sophisticated holiday nail that will catch your eye.

I started off with a silvery gray color as the base (Stevie). Over that, I did 2 coats of "Joelle" which is the glittery sparkle polish. I did the gray underneath because Joelle is a pretty sheer and I wanted the glitter to really pop. I chose to leave the accent nail just like that after seeing how striking it turned out.

For the other nails, I decided to do a criss-cross pattern. For that, I used the strips of nail decals I bought to mark off the lines. The strips look nice, but they don't stay on as well as I'd hoped so I just use them for projects like this. After I marked off the lines, I painted 2 coats of "Misti." It is best to let each coat dry completely before applying a new one so the lines will come out cleaner without any bleed through. You could do this design with any glitter and colored polish combination that you like.

Merry Christmas!

DIY Christmas Crafts: Framed Poinsettias & Merry Christmas Garland

For my next Christmas crafts, I made a framed decoration and a garland. I found the brand new frame at Goodwill. It was meant to be a scrapbook frame so it was extra deep. I made poinsettias out of felt by first cutting a circle out of the felt and then cutting 6 larger petals and 5 smaller ones. I used the circle as the base on the back and glued the larger petals to it. Then, I glued the smaller ones sort of in between each of the larger ones. For the center, I simply hot glued rhinestones to it. You can also add leaves to the back of the flower if you wish to. For the background of the frame, I used a pattered felt sheet and just placed it in the center. I arranged the flowers on top of it and finished it off with two small bows I got in a large set at the Dollar Tree. It came out looking very cute and I am thinking about simply changing the frame's contents for each season.

The next project I did was the "Merry Christmas" garland. I used wooden letters and first painted them with silver. I used a second coat after the first one was completely dry to cover it a little better. The paint I used was Martha Stewart's metallic called Sterling, which I love because it comes out looking nice and metallic. After the second coat was dry, I made partial stamps on each letter as an accent. I used the entire bow stamp for the first and last letters. Then, after that was dry, I measured out jute rope to be able to tie up the ends and fit all the letters with a small space between each for some give. I used hot glue to set the letters in place on the rope. Be sure to use enough glue on each letter and press down firmly so it attaches securely. After that, I hung it up outside my apartment with some string lights. It looks very cute and I just love coming home and seeing it. This was definitely a fun and easy project :)