Food Network's A Year of Chocolate Blackout Cake With Chocolate Crunch for January

This was the look on my face when I saw my finished cake...

So like last years "a year of cakes" Food Network came out with "A year of chocolate". In the grand tradition of trying these recipes every month, I made the Blackout Cake with Chocolate Crunch for my dad's birthday. I really wanted this recipe to be fantastic, after all it was my dad's birthday!
You can find the recipe HERE. I do not have a picture of this cake because it was soooo awful I didn't want to remember it. It definitely was not photo worthy. It was a complete disaster.

I've made several double layered cakes in the past year, I've got some experience using my round cake pans, I've never had an issue with them. But this cake recipe was considerably less dense then my usual cake recipe and it stuck. But it didn't just stick in one area and was easily removed, no, this stuck all over except on the edges. So I was left with one salvageable cake which I managed to get out of it's pan in only 2 pieces.
I will say though, the cake recipe would be fabulous for cupcakes. Incredibly moist, light, fluffy, and even if they do stick it doesn't matter if they are in cupcake liners.

I should have known better when I started making this frosting, I'm not a first time baker by any means, and I know exactly what happens when you add melted chocolate and liquid. But I forged ahead anyway, thinking some how the corn syrup would prevent the inevitable. As I expected, the frosting ended up grainy, totally the opposite texture you'd like when you pop a spoonful of frosting in you mouth.  On the plus side it tasted ok, if you ignored the disgusting sandiness of it. Actually what was really neat about this frosting was that it was shiny, and stayed that way even after it dried up a little. It was pretty cool, I've never come across a frosting recipe that ended up like that without eggs and tons of mixing.

This didn't keep very well either. I have a beautifully simple cake saver my mom found at a dollar store in some random tiny town near our random tiny town. It's tall enough for a 3 layer cake with a little space at the top. It fits the size of my dinner plates perfectly which also happens to fit the size of my round cake pans. It has minimal clips and indentations so it is extremely easy to clean. I've never had an issue with a cake inside my little cake saver, they have all lasted at least a full week before I toss them. This cake lasted exactly 3 days. I opened it around 7pm on day 3 and found that mold had joined the party. Needless to say, it went in the trash along with my hopes and dreams of having chocolate cake that night, my waistline was thankful.

Overall, I did save this recipe, because it would create cupcake perfection. But I clearly marked on the sheet "DO NOT USE FOR CAKE!". Just in case my fabulous memory decides to forget that it is the worst layer cake recipe in the history of layer cake. I mean that's dramatic, it tastes wonderful so it isn't really that bad. What is that bad is the frosting recipe. I wouldn't even attempt it again, I'm not even sure how you would fix it, maybe use powdered cocoa instead of melting solid chocolate. Either way it's bad, just very very very bad.

So because I wasn't allowed to photograph this disastrous attempt here's a photo of my dog using my chair as a hammock. You're welcome.

How you doin'

Nerdy Craft Time... Nerdy Love Mugs!

I discovered some super cheap mugs at Michael's (a craft store here, I'm not totally sure if everyone has one, you could also try Hobby Lobby which we don't have but I've heard it's basically the same thing) that had ceramic paint included inside. It also included a brush but it was huge and bulky and completely unusable, however, these mugs were made for children so a bulky brush is reasonable I suppose. I had been looking for inexpensive plain white mugs for a while and was ecstatic when I found these. I'm pretty sure I paid like $4 or $6 for 2 of them, they certainly weren't over $3 a piece, which is a super fantastic price for a 4 set of ceramic paints and a plain white mug. The mug itself is super sturdy, thick, and strong. This doesn't mean throw it across the room, but they are equal to the quality you'll find in more expensive mugs. They are decent size as well, it holds about 1 1/4 cups of liquid comfortably.  They have a shiny smooth exterior and are a nice opaque white.

I've never used ceramic paints before and was pleasantly surprised as to how nicely and smooth they painted on. Because it's on the thick side I found it was super easy to build up a texture when I wanted. I was concerned that I wasn't provided with a black paint, "how will I line things or create textures within the same color!?" I thought. The fun thing about the ceramic paints is that you can create a thick dark edge line, go over it with a thinner coat, and the darkness of the edge line will show through. But I still needed black from time to time and ended up using a combination of the ceramic paints and permanent markers, considering both can be heated in the oven and made permanent on ceramic surfaces. It worked very nicely and I was super pleased with how my mugs turned out!

Now I'm not entirely sure these fit into a Nerdy Craft Time slot but I figured food puns and creeptastic love notes had to be a bit nerdy in some sense.

 

For both mugs, I used a plain old pencil and very roughly sketched out my designs, for placement and to make sure it all fit. I drew both cup designs out on a piece of paper, just to get an idea of what I wanted it to look like.
For the lettering, I wrapped a sheet of paper around the top of the mug so my letters would line up. I wrote my phrases in pencil as well to make sure it would fit. I regret not putting "awesomness" in the middle instead of off to the side because it left me with a large open space to fill. It was fine, the heart is adorable, but if I had to do it over again I would have paid more attention. 

For the "blood splatter" on the eyeball mug, I just dotted red in varying sizes and went back over random ones with lines to create jagged edges. It was seriously as simple as it sounds.

The bottom of both mugs were actually the hardest part of both projects. The bottom has a little ridge around it so I had to compete with that. For the "Taco" mug the jalapeno really has nothing to do with anything, although it's tacoish I suppose. I just really like the phrase Jalapeno Business. The jalapeno was pretty simple as well, sort of like a giant bubble "J" but filled in super thick. I opted to give him red eyes, mouth, and angry eye brows because he's spicy. duh. The Eyeball mug was trickier. I originally wanted to put an anatomical heart on there but it wasn't nearly as cute as I thought it would be. I scrapped it and painted a cutesy heart instead. Blood splatter happened and it was done. I totally know how to spell gorgeous by the way.

 

I had tried to create some texture with a black sharpie on the taco which resulted in me putting a thick layer of yellow paint over it. This ended up cracking a bit in the oven, so I wouldn't recommend painting anything on too thick. Thin layers people! Thin layers!

Both mugs had to go in the oven at 360 degrees. I place mine on an ancient cookie sheet that I should totally throw in the trash but refuse to because it's useful with crafts. (the one from Nerdy Craft Time Harry Potter actually!) I don't have to worry about ruining a good pan when I use a crummy one! So you place the mugs on the sheet and put it in the oven BEFORE you turn the oven on. Then set your oven and let it preheat with the mugs inside. You'll want to set a timer for 30 minutes right after you turn your oven on. (including preheat time) If you set your mugs in a hot oven you run the risk of them heating up too quickly and your mugs can crack/break/explode. After the 30 minutes, just turn the oven off and walk away for a couple hours. You'll want the mugs to cool in the oven (Don't open it) for a few hours. After 2 hours, check on them to see if they are cool to the touch, if not then shut the door and let them cool for another hour. If you take them out while they are hot, they can cool too quickly and crack or break as well.  Once they are done you can remove them from the oven. I like to let them sit overnight on the counter before doing anything else. The next morning/afternoon I wash them gently and let them air dry.

Disclaimer!

**You should always follow the heating directions on your specific brand of ceramic paint, even if they differ from mine. Also never use a toaster oven which is not the same **

 

Your ceramic paint, after it's been cooked, should be mostly permanent. If you use a harsh abrasive on it you could chip it off, but if you care for your mugs (hand wash gently) they should last quite a while. They will also be food safe and microwave safe! Woooo! (well my brand of paint is food and microwave safe, check the label of your ceramic paint to make sure it is food safe if you are planning on using it inside or on the rim of your mug.)

A Quick Word Of Caution!
Be careful when using ceramic paints, they have small particles in them, so wear eye protection or take care not to get this in your eyes. Wash it off your hands right away to reduce this risk. Trust me, getting grainy particles in your eye is horrible, I'm sure getting grainy paint coated particles in your eye would be more then tragic. 

I hope you try this! I had sooo much fun! They would be great for valentine's day as well, make one for your sweetie, your mom, your weird cousin, your kids, whoever! Everyone loves hand painted mugs, painted by someone they love.

As always, Enjoy!

**I purchased the Personalize It Mug Kits from Michael's Craft Store with my very own money, all opinions are my own, I am not being asked or paid to endorse them.**

Nerdy Craft Time Food Edition Part 2!

As promised we'll be visiting Game of Thrones for this Nerdy Craft Time Food Edition! Oh my goodness was I excited for this, plus the bowl of brown that I made was super freaking delicious! I'm certain that for real real a bowl of brown would be disgusting, greasy, mealy, and generally taste like shit. However, I try not to make horrible food for my family so we had to recreate something that looked a little gross but tasted fantastic. Aside from me, no one in my family watches GoT so I had a good time seeing their reactions when I told them what it was called. If you didn't want to thicken it with flour you could try potato flakes. You know, the mashed potato flakes in a box, I just shuddered typing that. But my uncle uses them so it's a legit option, of course he also eats food that sits out on the counter all night and makes sure everything is swimming in oil....  Or you could try to cook it down a bit more. Which would require a higher temp on the stove and boiling it uncovered for a little bit. Make sure you stir it like crazy if you decide on this option.
Fun fact about the bowl of brown, I made this like 3 months ago, took photos, and filed them away until I found or made a suitable lemon cake recipe. I had to type out what I did mostly from memory, which is horrible, unless it comes to food I guess. Food is the one thing in my life worth remembering. I should really write this stuff down as it happens.

I also made lemon cakes! Because any Game of Thrones food nerdy craft time has to include Sansa's favorite treat. The result is exactly what I envisioned when I pictured Lady Sansa and her little friends sitting around daintily eating lemon cakes. I love lemon bars and enjoy making them because they are like pure sunshine in your mouth, but for this I thought it needed to be a little more solid, something that you wouldn't get too messy eating with your hands. Which is how I would imagine them eating this treat, obviously it wouldn't be Sansa's favorite if it made a huge mess. How unlady like! These are individual cakes made in muffin tins, the cake itself is dense enough that it doesn't crumble while you eat it with your hands, and it is chock full of delicious lemon flavor!
All of this reminds me that I want to get a dwarf lemon tree this year. But much like the Stark children (before... you know...shit went down) I too live in the north, and lemons don't grow here. They actually advise against me even getting the baby lemon tree and I have to contact the plant place to make sure they don't send it to me before mid May or else it will die on it's way to me. Northern living problems.
Most of everything else in the books either seemed pretty low key, simple simple, or pretty disgusting. I'm not a huge fan of kabobs, I had thought about a root veggie beef stew and some hollowed our bread in place of the "skewered meat and onions in bread trenchers" but it almost seemed forced. I was intrigued with the "Eggs and hot peppers" the breakfast Tyrion eats with Oberyn, but how simple is that? Cook up some scrambled eggs, add hot peppers. Done. I know some people have done duck and rabbit, but as a girl from a family of non hunters I'm in short supply of duck or rabbit. I suppose I could have made a whole chicken but my recipe for that is freakishly easy.
Get a whole chicken, Throw it in the crockpot, add some chicken broth and whatever seasonings you like (I use Soul Food Seasoning for everything + Garlic + Honey + Onion), and set that bitch on high for 7-8 hours. Bam. Delicious fall off the bone super moist chicken awesomeness. Not exactly GoT friendly though...

In the end I just made the two recipes and called it a day. I've been agonizing over this Game of Thrones NCT food post for months. MONTHS! I've just been having a really hard time getting inspired lately, it's been so ridiculous. I have all of these crafts planned but no ideas on how to execute them. Hopefully February will inspire me more then January. I'm blaming it on our freakish cold up here in the Midwest. I swear to you we need to make some kind of sacrifice to the old gods and the new, hopefully they'll take mercy on us, and send us some warmth!

Although in the words of Cersei Lannister... "The gods have no mercy, that is why they are gods."

On to the recipes!!

 

I actually think it looks pretty delicious in my adorable blue dutch oven. Maybe if I cooked it up in a giant steel pot that hasn't been cleaned in years it would have been a tad more authentic.

 

Bowl of Brown

So you'll need a bit more then in the photo, this is what I started with and ended up with a bit more.

So what you'll need

2 Tablespoons garlic
6-8 carrots, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
2 large (or 1 lrg 2 littles) onions peeled and coarsely chopped
5 large potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb of ground beef (thawed) 2lbs if you really want more meat
1 head of cauliflower coarsely chopped

2 cups of cooked rice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 can of black beans

 

You'll also need the following seasonings!

 

Honey to your taste, I use about 4 Tablespoons but start with 1 and work your way up
Soul Food seasoning (I get it at the dollar store)
Powdered beef soup base (beef broth)
Garlic Powder
Onion powder

And if you have it, Brown Gravy mix. It isn't really necessary, I just like the taste.

and flour

 

 

So what you'll want to do is throw the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot, then add the carrots, potatoes, and onions. Set your stove on medium/low heat and put a lid on that sucker until your onions are soft, stirring occasionally. About 15 minutes.

Then you'll want to add your hamburger, breaking it up as it cooks, you'll want to cook it until it's almost not pink or until it isn't pink anymore.

 

Then add 4-6 cups beef broth (depending on how much your pot can take really, it's not an exact science here), bring it to a boil and then simmer on medium/low heat with the lid on for about 20-25 minutes. Stirring occasionally and checking to make sure your carrots and potatoes are done.
You'll want to add your seasonings now. I use about 4 Tablespoons of the soul food seasoning, 4 Tablespoons honey, 2 Tablespoons Garlic powder along with the your 2 Tablespoons garlic, 3 Tablespoons onion powder, and 3 Tablespoons brown gravy mix.
Just Taste as you go, start with one T each and increase from there. Also I'm more of a season until it tastes the way I want then a "lets measure it out exactly" type of person so those measurements are "abouts" or my best guess as to how much I use. Like I said before, season to your taste. More onion powder and honey will make it sweeter, obviously more garlic will make it more garlicy, and more soul food seasoning will make is a bit more spicy.

 

Now you'll want to add your cooked rice, beans, and cauliflower and simmer medium/low heat with the lid on for about 10 minutes or until your cauliflower is soft.

 

Turn your heat up to high and while you wait for it to come to a rolling boil, pour about a half a cup of water into a measuring cup and whisk in 5 Tablespoons flour. It should be thicker then water but not crazy thick. If it's too thick add a bit more water. Then pour this slowly into your pot while stirring constantly. Once the "bowl of brown" is thick enough to your liking you can stop adding the flour mixture and serve it up!

 

And that's it, you're done! It goes fantastic with some soft bread that you can rip up and dip!
It really is super delicious. You could also add shredded chicken or pork or substitute it for the beef if you'd like. For me, adding different meat would have been more "bowl of brown" then just beef, but then it would get dangerously close to booya and I wanted it to be different. (I've got a super awesome booya recipe right HERE if you'd like to go check it out!)

 

 

Just imagine the powdered sugar dusting on top... I seriously wasn't going out in -30 temps to get sugar.

Sansa's Lemon Cakes

*Adapted from All You Magazine's Lemon Tea Cake recipe*

What you'll need
2 large eggs
1/2 Cup sugar
The zest from 2 large lemons Plus the juice from both
2 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice (from the bottle)

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup oil (I always use olive but you can use vegetable or canola as well)

Powdered sugar for sprinkling
Cooking spray or butter to grease muffin tin

 

You'll also need something to grease the muffin tin with, which isn't pictured. I use Pam cooking spray (olive oil version)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray

 

In a large bowl whisk the eggs, then add the sugar, zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and whisk until it's all mixed.

Add the baking powder and whisk it like there's no tomorrow! Or until there isn't any powder lumps.

 

Add the flour and whisk that until it's completely mixed and smooth

 

Then ladle it into the muffin tins (if you'd like to use liners you totally can! Just skip the cooking spray part and replace it with putting liners in the tin cups)

You'll only fill the cups up about 1/3 of the way or half way full! This is important! Otherwise they'll be way too large.

 

Bake until the cakes have risen, and when you stick a toothpick into one in the center row it comes out clean. About 11-13 minutes. (mine took 12 exactly)

 

If you didn't use liners, wait until your muffin tin is cool to the touch (like 5-10 minutes), the cakes will still be warm. Lay out a clean towel and flip the tin over onto it. Tap the bottom of the cups that didn't release your cakes until they do, or you can use my favorite method of violently shaking the pan until it releases the cakes. This always works so it can't be too bad. Then you can line them up and dust them with powdered sugar if you'd like. I would imagine Sansa's lemon cakes would have powdered sugar but I used all of mine the other night making a giant baked potato cake for my dad's birthday. Considering that it was -30 today, I didn't want to leave my house for freaking sugar. Ya'll will just have to imagine what these would look like with powdered sugar.

 

I hope you love these as much as I do!

Who's excited for Season 4 to start!? I am! 4 words... Joffery's Wedding. Red Viper. OMG! So excited!

 

As always,
Enjoy!

 





Ipsy January 19 Reasons Glam Bag!

There were so many options for this glam bag! Normally when I look at all of the items that could have come in the glam bag there are 8 maybe 9 other options, this month had a whopping 15 other items! Almost everything sounded fun to me so anything would have made me happy. I feel like the amount of options is why there was a bit more complaining then usual going around.
This certainly wasn't one of my favorite glam bags but it wasn't awful either, I'm not sure I've ever had a totally awful glam bag though. I mostly had an issue with the scents associated with the products and bag itself.  Even when I don't love a product in the Ipsy Glam Bag I'm still excited at the fact that I was able to try it for $10 rather then buy it at it's regular price and be disappointed. I think that's something a lot of people need to remember. It's a $10 bag. Most of the time the empty bag itself is worth close to $10. I always get a full sized product (or near full size) that is over $10. Even if you don't like it, you at least got to try it without paying $30 for a lip balm that melts all over your face, or $25 for a concealer that looks like you caked frosting under your eyes. In the end it's all elective. No one is forcing anyone to continue to subscribe to Ipsy. There are so many other monthly beauty sample boxes out there for less then $20 a month, in fact I know of several that are $10 just like Ipsy. Lets just keep everything in perspective. Even when I state that I don't like a product, it just means that I won't be buying it in the future, in no way does that reflect any unhappiness with the Ipsy Glam Bag service.

This glam bag was the first one that I wasn't happy with the actual bag. I thought it looked adorable in the photos but was disappointed seeing it in person. Or rather the scent disappointed me. It stinks. I mean not just a plastic smell that you only smell when you press your face to it, I mean it stinks really bad like melted plastic and something else that reminds me of car exhaust. I'm a firm believer that scent can make or break a product. I've had several really lovely high end beauty products that smell awful and I've thrown them away and refused to purchase them again. The scent overruled any awesomeness. The stench broke the bag for me. Aside from that it is cute, with light blue cosmetic containers on a medium blue background. The fabric itself is really thick and sturdy, and all of it is accented by a very cute light blue zipper and pull.

Inside I found this lovely little collection of items...

The package is actually green, but apparently in photos it turns neon yellow.

 

Absolute! Make up cleansing tissues with pomegranate extract $2.49/10ct $4.99/33ct $7.99/60ct 
You can find this HERE.
I'm not a huge fan of purchasing make up wipes because I don't totally understand them. I like the convenience of them for removing stray bits of make up that didn't wash off, but in the end a small piece of toilet paper works just as well. I can not think of any situation where I'd be wearing make up and have absolutely no access to soap and water to wash it from my face, giving me a complete and total need for make up wipes. These were lovely aside from the ungodly strong pomegranate scent that assaulted me as I used them. Even underneath, I can see how it would be an incredibly wonderful scent on a make up removing wipe, it would be really pleasing if it weren't so strongly scented. The smell clung to my skin for a good 30 minutes afterwards as well, which again would have been totally fine if it hadn't been SO strong. All of that being said, Absolute! make up cleansing tissues are probably one of the best ones at removing make up that I've come across. I put foundation and powder on my hand, lipstick, eyebrow pencil, cream blush, UD 24/7 liner, a liquid liner, and a tinted lip balm on there as well. One swipe with the Absolute wipes and it was gone. I certainly can't say that they don't do their job freakishly well!

From top to bottom, foundation with powder, lip crayon, eyebrow pencil, mascara, cream blush, 24/7 liner, liquid liner, tinted lip balm. This is all with a single swipe of the make up wipes.

In the end, if you can get over the smell, with the way that they work, and if you're really into make up removing wipes then these are totally worth the money! Even my liquid make up remover has a hard time taking off my liquid liner sometimes, this cut through it like it was nothing. I was super impressed!

The top is just slathered on but right below it with the shininess is where I blended it in a bit. You can see that it sort of covers up my freckles.

Yaby Natural Finish Liquid Foundation Oil Free in Buff  $13.55-$13.99 15.40g
You can find this HERE at the Yaby website or HERE on the website Ipsy recommends.
I'm a HUGE Yaby fan. Their concealer? Best ever! So I was super excited to try their liquid foundation. Buff seemed pretty light for me, but it blended in really nicely. Although, oddly enough, it was too light when I used my concealer with it. I remedied this by adding a bit of my normal foundation which worked nicely. The liquid itself is thick enough to stay put until you blend it in but thin enough to be easily squeezed out of the tube. I used this first without concealer and then with, I noticed both times that it's a little more sheer then I'm used to, I'd put it more in the light coverage category, while I'm a little more accustomed to a medium coverage. But it is extremely light weight, it literally feels like you're wearing nothing at all. It didn't cake in the slightest or fade away (without setting it with powder I might add) in my 8 hours of wear. Overall this was lovely, I will definitely be using this for the summer time when even a medium coverage foundation makes me feel like I'm wearing a mask.

It looks much more rosey in the photo then it actually was, however, it wasn't as nude as it looks in the container either. Somewhere in between the photos with a more blue undertone.

Mica Beauty Tinted Lip Balm in #5 Natural  $30
You can find this HERE.
Sadly, my tinted lip balm container came to me all cracked. I was reluctant to use it at all because of that, I'm a little freakish about germs getting into my make up and this was cracked all the way through. However, my mom convinced me to try it at least once. I'm pretty sure the word chicken was thrown around with a fair amount of clucking.

So sad.

I was not impressed. The color is awful on me, it gave my lips a slightly blueish tint, it made me look like I was a recovering drowning victim. Now I'm not sure if that's because of the natural color of my lips mixing with this or what but it defiantly has a blue undertone to it. The color itself is a neutral rose hue. I wore this for about 15 minutes and then checked it in the mirror, to my horror it had melted and was now underneath my lips as well. I put on a very thin coating of this and it ran outside my lips. This was a completely new experience for me. This has to have some sort of coconut product in it because all I can smell on it is slightly spoiled coconut milk. It's not good, but it's not completely awful either. I smells just like when I use coconut milk in my hair and let it heat up in the shower. Overall, I would NOT pay $30 for this, the melting alone is enough to put me off but the price is pretty high for a tinted lip balm. I'm a big fan of the Mica loose eyeshadow we received a few glam bags back so I was expecting really good things from the lip balm. I was so disappointed.

Nourish Organic Face Lotion Argan + Rosewater  $21.99 1.7oz
You can find this HERE.
I loved this! From it's slightly citrusy scent to the way it absorbed into my skin completely in less then 20 seconds. My skin instantly felt super soft and smooth. Now my skin is on the normal/dry side so I'm unsure how this would be on oily skin. This says that it provides moisture throughout the day, however I hate using moisturizer on my face underneath my make up. It always messes with it or makes it feel super thick. I did use this underneath the Yaby foundation though, and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't feel thick or make my skin oily and ruin my make up. It has Moroccan Argan Oil, Rosewater (to even out skin tone), and Shea Butter.  It's also fragrance free and alcohol free for those of us with skin on the sensitive side, as well as gluten free and vegan. I'm unsure the benefits of being gluten free if you aren't going to consume this, but I'm sure it's important to someone.
Overall, this was like magic on my skin! I have never felt immediate results that lasted as long as I used the product. However, as soon as I stopped using this for a day, my skin went back to how it was before. I was a little disappointed that this didn't provide lasting results, but I've only been using it for a week. It's possible that the longer I use it the longer the improvements last. That wouldn't detour me from purchasing this though.

Costal Scents Small Foundation Brush  $4.95
I think this is the Classic Small Foundation Brush. Of course my packaging didn't say, my brush only has numbers on it, and the website doesn't categorize them by the numbers, so it's all a guessing game I suppose. You can find it HERE.
I don't use a brush for my foundation, I've attempted many times to put my foundation on with a brush only to be left with strange streaky skin. I always end up blending it with my fingers anyway, which makes using the brush pointless. Apparently I am incapable of mastering the art of the foundation brush. I have found this useful for applying my contour and then blending it out with a fluffy brush though, so it wasn't totally wasted on me. I'm kind of a brush whore anyway so I'm always excited to get brushes. If I can't use one I save it for a Halloween make up brush where it will always have a use.
This one is soft on my skin but stiff enough to hold it shape. It picks up and holds color easily. The handle is pretty thick and super sturdy. It isn't as long as my other brushes but it isn't as short as a travel sized brush either. Overall, it is a lovely brush that has several uses.

As usual, if you would like to receive your very own Ipsy Glam Bag you can sign up HERE! It is $10 a month and each monthly glam bag has a theme of it's very own, right down to the mini make up pouch. You also take a beauty quiz when you sign up to help personalize your glam bag. To personalize it more you can review the items you get in each glam bag, stating if you like the color, item, or brand, or if you hate it completely.  

Enjoy!

*Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty sample bag that I paid for with my very own money. I do not get paid to give good reviews*

December's not so Nerdy Craft Time and other miscellaneous things

December will not have Nerdy Craft Time posts. Not because I ran out of things, but because I've been extra busy this month and now it's almost the end. I have 2 Nerdy Craft Times set up for January, it's completely possible that I will add in an extra one.

We ended up springing for all new LED lights for our tree this year, I can't get over how bright they are! 

Christmas preparation has been crazy for me and my family, we started early but it just feels like I'm going way too slow and time is passing way too fast. I can't wait to cook on Christmas Eve, large family meals are what I live for! There has been plenty of snow, hot chocolate, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas this year though which I think makes it extra awesome.  I'm so excited for Christmas! It ties with Halloween for my favorite holiday. My family has always been huge on Christmas so it is super special for everyone. 

We made these super fun little ice "marbles" a couple of weeks ago when it was really cold. All you need are balloons (we used dollar store birthday ones), water, and liquid food coloring. (and freezing temps either outside or a spacious freezer)  I put a couple of drops of food coloring into the balloon (about 5-10 drops), then filled it up slowly with water from the faucet until the balloon was the size I wanted. I tied them off and placed them gently in a bowl. I transferred them in 4's because I didn't want to put them on top of each other and risk breaking them inside my house. I gently set them in the snow and let them sit for a few days. If you want your color a little more evenly distributed you may want to wait 6 -8 hours (depending on how cold it is) and flip them over. Then I cut the tops off the balloons and peeled it off the newly formed ice ball. Then you can sit back and enjoy your new ice marbles!
Word to the wise, do not place them on concrete if your temperature will get above freezing, the colored water will stain. You could certain do what we ended up doing though and place a plastic sheet underneath them, just remember to move them into the yard once it starts to warm up so they can melt without the chance of ruining anything.

After 9 months of flirting with platinum, I'm back to being a ginger. It's a bit lighter then my natural ginger hair but I'm pretty much in love with it. Blonde was nice but I do enjoy being a red head. Although I hated growing up with it, that was before "ginger" was a thing and it was all about certain horrible names that I won't type ever. Ginger is funny as long as people don't take it to a physical level. Nasty names are not. What I find the most interesting about being blonde though is hearing every time I tell someone I'm a natural red head, "Oh I LOVE red heads!" as opposed to every time I hear that rocking my natural color... Oh wait, that's never. I never hear anything about how people love red heads when I have my red hair. Most people like gingers in theory, until they actually meet us and realize most of the rumors about us are true. I also love when people tell me the red looks so much more natural on me.. well... I am a natural red head, I'm literally made to have red hair, of course it will look more natural. But I appreciate the compliments all the same. Red head problems.

Before with the blonde

And back to being a magical gingery unicorn. And yes, those are ghouls on my window, around Christmas... I may never take them down. They look hilarious when the sun hits them and they are silhouetted through my blinds. 

Aside from everything, I'm so excited for 2013 to end. This year has not been so kind to my family and we are so ready for a fresh new year. I can't complain too much, we still have food in our bellies, a roof over our heads, and family around us. But we've have a year marred by major health issues and strange mean spirited occurrences.

So, I'm sorry that I haven't thrown up 2 new Nerdy Craft Times including a new food edition. I promise I have one in the works for next month!

I probably won't have anything new up until January so I hope you and your family are having a wonderful time during the holidays, whatever you celebrate or traditions you have, I hope they are filled with joy and love. Have a lovely new year and I hope 2014 is the best year for all of us!

Milani Thankful for Color Giveaway Prize Pack!

I ended up winning one of the Milani Thankful for Color Giveaway prize packs on facebook!
I believe mine was titled Emerald City. Everything is green, which is exciting because green is my favorite color! Not normally to wear on my face, but with these I'm thinking I'll make an exception! I've never tried anything from Milani before so this was a wonderful way to get introduced to the company.

YAY! Prizes!

Not only is everything on the Milani site extremely affordable, the make up they sent me is lovely, and rivals several other companies known for their staying power. I'm not going to go all crazy in depth for these ones. I don't really have a ton to say considering everything was amazingly pigmented, super smooth, and gorgeous. I'm so excited to try more products from Milani.

You can check out the Milani website HERE. You can find all of these on the site, I'll include the retail price of each but not the link, since they all come from the same place.

Milani Ultrafine Liquid Eyeliner in Emerald Glisten $7.49
This comes in 5 shades including the one I received.  I am in love with this liner! Although I do love the color of this one, I'm not sure I love it for me to wear. It is beautiful! It is a true emerald green (although it looks blueish in photos) with small silver sparkles in it. It is opaque in a single swipe, there is no reason to build it up but it does layer smoothly over itself or eyeshadow.
The liner formula is fantastic, it goes on smooth without snagging or skipping, it doesn't crease, dries down within a minute, and it stays put through anything until you wash it off and then some. I actually had to wash this and then use make up remover before it would budge.

This liner and the Shadow Eyez fall in to my very favorite category of make up, almost unwashable.

Milani Shadow Eyez cream shadow pencil in  Green Safari $6.99
This comes in 12 shades including the one I received.  This went on super smooth, even, and opaque with a couple of passes. It blended out easily and dried down within a couple of minutes. It is a super pretty jungle green color. I used this as an eye shadow base and it lasted through several hours in the snow and over the course of a day, probably about 10 hours until I washed it off and even then it took soap and water and eye make up remover.

Milani Eyeshadow in Just Perfect $5.99
This comes in 12 shades including the one I received. The swatch of this looked like it was barely there, but this went on super pigmented. It went on butter smooth with hardly any fall out. It is a gorgeous shimmery mermaid green.(although it looks blue in the photo)

Milani Jewel FX Nail Polish in Teal $4.99
This comes in 8 shades including the one I received.  I loved the chunky pieces in this! It was a fun mix of tiny glitter pieces and large multi colored confetti type pieces. Because the large pieces were hard to distribute, I had to apply this in 2 stages. I applied a couple of coats, let it dry completely, and then apply a few more coats. This dried completely within 5 minutes and was smooth when I ran my fingers over it, which surprised me because most of the time you find glitter polish to feel gritty and uneven without a top coat. This lasted several days (without a top coat) before it started to chip.

(Left to Right) Just Perfect, Green Safari, Emerald Glisten (Double Swatch)

I saved the swatches for an all together collection for this one. I could not get my camera to focus on the eye shadow swatch to save my life. I ended up getting really frustrated and gave up. So it just looks really sad which is a shame because the eye shadow is the star of my prize pack. It is so gorgeous! This photo just doesn't do it justice.

Overall, I loved everything in this prize pack! Beautiful colors, crazy awesome staying power, and highly pigmented, everything I love in make up, plus everything is super affordable. I'm definitely a Milani fan now!

Enjoy!