Five Minute Fresh Face!

Something I learned a long time ago,  and even passed down to my little sister was  the  notion "Never leave your house without mascara, and lip gloss! "This is a very important girly rule to live by! Below, I have extended it to 5 things  for the "Fresh Face. "                     

I don't know about you all, but when I  first wake up, I look like....we'll use your imagination! 
So since  my wash and go face has turned into a "wash and no"  face,  I've figured  it out.  
I've been practicing this technique for months and constantly notice what a difference just 5 cosmetic items can make.  The goal is not  to look  done, or over done, but just fresh.   Like, the face you wish you had when you woke up.  One day I'll  be bold enough to  post a video tutorial.  Baby steps!

So the five items to apply after  you've  moisturized are:

1. Tinted lip  gloss,   actually  glossy
2.  Concealer,  one shade lighter than your skintone
3.  Black Eyeliner, pencil,  no gel or liquid
4.  Black  Mascara,   $5 or  less  drug  store brand
5.  Blush , red,  rose,  or deep pink

This  process  should take less than five minutes

1.  Apply and blend concealer under your eyes, the inner and outer corner of your eyes, eyelids, each side of your nose, upper lip and lips (if you have dark skin) and both corners or your mouth. Basically you're dotting it on with the pad of your ring finger and blending it the same. This will create highlights on your face. If you blend well enough there should be no need for actual foundation, I promise :)

2.Take a big blush brush, and sweep the color on the apples of your cheeks and blend into your temples, don't be shy either!

3. Next, take the black eyeliner (NO CAT EYE PLEASE NO) and gently outline the upper and lower eyelid from outer corner to the middle, as close the lash line as you can. *This is also the trick to use in any event where you forgot, or lost your mascara.

4. Layer on the mascara, top and bottom lashes.

5. Lastly, "grease up those lips"! Be generous with the lip gloss.

If this is done properly, you may not even have to go back midday and reapply! Okay, please try this and let me know how it works for me, or any suggestions that you've found!

Note: I've intentionally left off eyeshadow, the concealer on your lid will be enough for what we're trying to accomplish here!

Kitchen Staple Sweets

As a mom of small children, and a hunk of  man with a sweet-tooth, I am constantly buying cookies, crackers, treats,etc to appease them. I will insert here how baking is really not my ministry! However, I love to do easy chocolate pies, scones, red velvet cake, and a few other things that I suprisingly manage NOT to burn up. Anyhoo, between paydays or tight budget weeks, I am always trying to think of something to make with all those staple items that seem to abound in my pantry and fridge. So of course once I found some things, I HAD to share with all my other moms! So here ya go!

 

Baked custard

3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
2.5 cups milk
pince of salt
Optional:
vanilla, extra egg yolks, cinnamon or other spices

Mix it all together. Pour into oven-safe custard cups or a casserole dish. Put the cups/dish into a larger dish (a 9x13" pan works well) and add about 1" or so of very hot (almost boiling) water to the pan - make it go about halfway up the casserole dish/custard cups. If the casserole dish/cups slide around too much, fold up a kitchen towel and place in the pan before you add the custard pans. Just make sure the towel is totally soaked in water before you put it in the oven.

Place in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until a knife stuck in the center comes out clean.

Shortbread

1 lb. butter
1 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 c. flour
1/2 c. corn starch

Put butter into a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Stir in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour and corn starch; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at lowest speed after each addition.
Press into a 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake 20 more minutes, until top is lightly browned.

Yellow Cupcakes

Yield: 30 muffins or one single layer 1/4 sheet cake

2 3/4 c Flour
2 1/2 t Baking powder
1/2 c Butter
1 3/4 c Sugar
1 1/2 t Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 1/4 c Milk

Grease and lightly flour muffin tins or fill with paper baking cups. Mix together the flour, baking powder and one teaspoon of salt. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla together until light. Add one egg and beat well (for about a minute or so) and then add the other egg and repeat. Add milk and the dry ingredients to this mixture, alternately. Mix well after each addition. Pour into the muffin pans, filling each halfway.
Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Toys are the DEVIL...okay not really

A few times with week I contemplated snatching up all my kids toy bins, shoving them in the back of the car and speeding down to my nearest Salvation Army.  I was DONE. The reason was three fold..

1. they don't EVER seem to play with them
2. they are always scattered around the house
3. no matter how much they whined for them, not matter how shiny and new, it takes them a month or less before the toy is tossed out like a red-headed step child

So, of course, I frantically took to GOOGLE to find some direction on this matter and I came across this minimalist website. Now, I can't say that I'm all ''full go'' with the minimalist movement as I haven't really studied much about it. However, I will say that this article pointed out a very good argument for less toys. Here is a quote;

''Toys are not merely playthings. Toys form the building blocks for our child’s future. They teach our children about the world and about themselves. They send messages and communicate values. And thus, wise parents think about what foundation is being laid by the toys that are given to their kids.''

The article lists several benefits of limiting toys including increased creativity, longer attention spans, a greater love for reading, writing, and the arts, and various others. Check it out at http://www.becomingminimalist.com/why-fewer-toys-will-actually-benefit-your-kids/.

BLESSINGS,

RANDOM MOM

 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.PROVERBS 22.6

Shall we Overcome???

I could go on a long soliloquy about my absence in blogging but..that's not what you came for right? Right! So, one day I may do just that but right now...it's BACK TO BUSINESS!



In my long journey to try to get some organization in my life as opposed to my normal coping mechanism that includes getting under an alternative down comforter and hiding and crying underneath a kitchen table...ALAS, my prayers have been answered!

Here we go! Try out of some of these "Purposed Prompts" along with me and let's see if we can rise from the ashes of clutter and passed deadlines! From the mounds of dirty dishes and diapers...from...okay you get the idea!

1. Laundry-Only one load at a time.  You must follow the cycle:Wash, dry, hang/fold, repeat! That is the only way to keep from having so many clothes on your bed, overflowing in baskets that you end up having to rewash EVERYTHING because you honestly cannot remember where the clean pile begins and the dirty pile ends.

For you over-acheivers out there, this may seem inefficient. That's what I thought too. Try it.

2. Schedule your study time- That way, you'll simply look forward to it all day. You can enjoy the time with your kids, and even cleaning your home becuase you are not feeling guilty about when can you slip in a page or two of the book your need to read or paper you need to write.

3. Read a Magazine- IT'S OK! I promise. Get your mind off of your every day stuff. Get some new ideas, whether it be a new outfit, recipe or a new method of using old lemon peels to save your dollars on high priced cleaners and deodorizing sprays.

 

4. Walk OFF from your electronic devices-Yep, do it. That text can wait, so can that email. So can that recipe. It can wait. I felt so liberated just walking away from my phone. I also left my laptop upstairs on my desk where it belonged. No dragging long cords all over the house so that I could have it at my disposal. Nope. It can wait. And it did. It waited until my 1 1/2 year old went down for a nap. Now I have both hands free to check out whatever I need to. Then it's up and to the park!

 

Does this mean that my house was spotless when my husband got home? NO

 

Does this mean that all of my laundry for the week was starched, pressed, and ready to go? NAH

 

Does this mean that I was in a much more tolerable and sane state of mind with a better understanding of what I could realistically acheive in a given period of time? DING DING DING, YES!