25 Books of Christmas

  

My Sister~in~Love came up with this awesome idea. She's the mommy to my favorite little 2 year old Kenlee. With Christmas season here she headed over to a bargain bookstore and picked up 25 childrens books. All of them Christmas related except for two extras she purchased if they wanted a little extra bedtime reading. Kenlee's been allowed to open one each night starting November 30th. When Kenlee came home to see the house fully decorated and presents under the tree she was extremely excited to know she could open a wrapped gift. She sat there with mommy reading her book before bed time. Of course she wanted to open more but this has been a great patience lesson for her. 

I helped with the wrapping and wrote the name of each book on the outside so that mommy could pick the book for that night. She wanted the books read closer to Christmas to have more to do with the story of Jesus than Santa Clause or Polar Bears. 

What a wonderful tradition she started. I think this is a great idea for any kid especially if you're wanting to introduce regular reading into their days. And this could easily be started December 1st if you wanted to do the unwrapping and reading in the mornings.

What traditions do you have for Christmas?

Happy December! 

~Rayah

DIY Sparkly Jeweled iPhone 5 Case

So I've had these jewels in my craft room for about 5 years now. Just collecting dust since the first time I decided I wanted to bejewel my old Verizon flip phone case... you remember those ;) . So since that never happened they're finally seeing the light of day. The jewels I had were all the same clear/silver color but had many different shapes.

 The most difficult part of the project is figuring out what kind of pattern you want. I thought I'd like my whole phone to be covered but after about 4 different patterns the simple chevron was my favorite. It's especially fun to play with colors because the black or white of the iPhone will show through. Mine is black so the diamond color really shines.

Once the pattern is picked simply dab a dot of any liquid glue right onto the back of the jewel and adhere. Press on for a few seconds or readjust if it slipped the wrong way then continue until you're finished. As long as you don't use an instant glue you should have wiggle room if you need to move anything.

Make sure you don't dab too much glue if you're not fully covering the case or you'll be able to see the residue on the sides of the jewels. 

Let dry overnight then enjoy your uniquely you phone cover.

All my supplies can be purchased at your local craft store. 

Iphone 5 case might have cost a dollar on ebay.

So many fun things to do with a clear iphone case!

~Rayah

Desk to 5k in 6 Weeks ~ My Color Run Story

I know you're prolly looking for a couch to 5k story but to be honest I spend more time at work sitting on my butt than I do in front of a tv.
If you want to skip my story the tips are at the bottom of the page.

I signed up for a 5k when I came across a color run on groupon. They motivate us non runners to join with these fantastic pictures of happy people covered in all these fun colors. I figured why not. It was half off the usual price, I'd get some fun pictures, and might even be able to finish the race. Only problem, I don't run... ever... and I only had 6 weeks to prepare.

Well I had just started going to a new gym. I've been doing pilates, yoga, and strength training about 3 days a week so I figured on my days off I could start training for my 5k... then I found out what a 5k was... 3.1 miles. ugh it no longer sounded like fun.

My sister-in-love, that is more fit than I, (even after a baby!) always kept me motivated with her encouraging words reminding me that something was better than nothing. Running means endurance, that is one thing I don't have. The most I could do on the treadmill at first was warm up walks or 15 second runs. I knew I needed to improve my breathing habits or I'd be a mess of exhaustion. I'd like to say no real progress had been made but any effort is better than nothing. We downloaded all the free apps about running or 5k daily training. We planned to stick to one that had us doing walk and run intervals. She took me to a nearby high school track and we tried our first outdoor run. Being outdoors kicked my butt! I hate humidity! I needed a controlled environment for my training and would eventually go back outside. 

It wasn't until she needed to buy a new pair of running shoes that I realized mine hurt. They were too narrow for me and wouldn't let my toes spread out a little. Once I got these awesome Asics and a few cute running shorts and I was motivated all over again. I must mention I wear a size 5.5-6.5 usually but these are a kids 3.5.... who cares, they were cheaper!

I decided to start taking this seriously. We have a long driveway so I planned to walk up it then run down it---fast! About 8.2 mph, and my dog thought I needed to go even faster because she kept jerking ahead of me. I'd do that for about 30 minutes and come home exhausted. I tried doing this each night I didn't go to the gym. I just wanted to finish the 5k as fast a possible... yeah don't do that.

It wasn't until we started going to AM classes that I realized I could get in 20 minutes of training after class when my body was already stretched and awake before I had to head home to get ready for work. This was so helpful and my time was improving with each run but I was still pushing myself too fast too hard.

First AM Run. No inclines

A few nights at the gym and I learned our treadmills had 5k training on them. I'd set it up and away I went. The motivation, besides the distance left tracker, was my heart rate. I could walk forever thinking I was still cooling down but when I saw that my heart rate was in the 140's I knew I could run again. Before I knew it I was completing 3.1 miles on a treadmill! Wooo Whooo YEAH ME!!

First 5k Completed. See how up and down my
walk/ runs are?

No, it wasn't in competitive time, but it was proof that I could do this. I could finish it. So proud I could prove those people that told me I could quit in the middle of a run and no one would know... psh yeah they would know. Most color runs have color stations spread out over the whole run. If you didn't have that last color on you it was proof that you ditched! I wanted my monies worth of color!

What happened next wasn't so fun... I over stretched my groin. One day in yoga we were doing the pigeon hip opener move and seemed like we held the pose longer than usual. I was giggling in my head at the noises the men in the class were making... it's not an easy move, especially for men. Well I guess for non limber women too as the next day I was in plenty of pain. I spoke with my teacher and she knew exactly what I did and made sure I didn't further injure myself during classes. Only problem was the run was in just a few days!!! I wanted to train. I just wanted to run!!! I was so excited to run and feel accomplished and I couldn't even walk without pain now. Lesson learned. Don't overstretch then over train. I am very competitive with myself and it bit me in the groin...er uh butt*. 

Third 5k!!! Even better time!!!
This is where I injured myself
pushing too hard after overstretching

I googled all I could about how to speed up the recovery and the best answers were to keep doing light stretches and give it time since it wasn't a serious injury. 

Well race day came and I hadn't trained in a week. I was determined to do this...after all... there are no refunds in a charity run :) 

We grabbed some Tylenol and were off. The chance of rain was not stopping us today. I was still nursing my pains but I was going to finish even if I walked the whole thing. We parked where we saw the majority of cars were only to find out the race was on the other end of the park.. ugh oh well. So we ended up having a 1 mile warm up walk... there's always a positive way to see it. We arrived 15 min early all ready to run. Everyone dressed in all white and ready for color! We met a group of Pentecostal ladies that run in FULL LENGTH SKIRTS. If that's not motivation I don't know what is. 

3...2...1... GO! and we were off. The nice ladies let us skip to the front of the line with them if we took their pictures. I was more than happy to do this so that I wasn't completely in the back of the pack once the 2nd and 3rd groups ran past me :) And I'm off... run run run run run walk walk walk after awhile my sister in law noticed that I bolt... like super fast. She taught me how to jog right in the middle of our 5k. It's because of her that I made my best time ever of 45 minutes by not exhausting myself by pushing my runs so hard. Oh and did I mention that I was no longer in pain? No... well I'm not. The pain killer I took kicked in AND I do believe that finally getting my mind off the pain and warming up properly has everything to do with it.
I have completely learned my lesson.

Listen to your body. Don't push beyond your limits.

After our first mile we had a pleasant surprise from our husbands. Mine told me he'd be busy helping a friend so I kinda gave him a hard time for not being at my first 5k event but I understood. Sly little booger. He was there and took awesome pictures for us.

All week we had been watching the weather for Saturday. It was forecasting a 70% chance of rain. I really didn't want my first 5k to be in the rain but if it happens it happens.

We went through the first set of colors, the second, the third... we didn't even know the finish line was in sight by the time we finished. "Oh, that was it? I would have ran faster in the end had I known?" But we made it for the last 2 color parties. So much fun.

After we were all done the boys were going to return us to our car.... now the rain comes. Pouring, freezing rain! We're getting soaked. Not wanting to get his truck dirty we have to stay in the back. With the traffic lights it would be at least a 5 minute drive. Cold...So cold. My husband quickly jumps out of the truck and we yell that we don't want to get in ( the color stains EVERYTHING). He laughs and just hands us an umbrella.

We had a blast. Loving our color and proud of ourselves.

If I can do it you can do it!

My Desk to 5k Plan

I know you prolly want this magical formula but it's all about starting somewhere more than finishing

• Get off your butt! Get active, do something. Something is better than nothing. Even if you can only find 20 minutes to catch some time to walk, do it! Baby steps still bring your closer to your goal.
• Motivation. I'm not going to pretend everyone can go out a buy a new wardrobe to workout in but it certainly helps. I needed better shoes if I was going to stick with running and spending a pretty penny keeps me motivated to get my monies worth out of them.
• Eating habits. If you always feel sluggish you'll never want to go workout feeling like that. Or worse you'll make yourself sick. Eating healthier makes a huge difference.
• If you're highly motivated, like numbers, and love to push yourself in a short amount of time then this is what you're looking for...
  
   
  It's not about being the fastest, just being faster than you were the last time.
• Bonus. Set a prize for you for completing your 5k. Mine was my favorite musical. Legally Blonde just happened to be in town the same weekend so I bought tickets and told myself I would finish and the musical was my reward. It was fun to look forward to doing something else that night.

What I learned

• How to breath ~ I've always took breaths from my chest rather than my diaphragm. It's very hard mentally to change that but after some practice completely filling your stomach with an inhale while trying to keep your chest still you will feel the difference. Continue to practice this until you can do it without thinking about it. Also, I've found I breath properly while singing ( or at least mouthing the words to a song ), and it made a huge difference on my time, so upload your favorite songs or use the mix tracks from this app (Rock my Run) to hear all of today's popular songs mixed with some old favorites.
• Stretch ~ Stretch correctly. Don't overstretch. If you're body is saying it hurts more than saying I'm being pushed a little then you're doing too much. 
• How to jog ~ walk walk walk run run run walk walk walk... yeah I was doing it wrong. I was exhausting myself by running so hard then having to recover. Jogging at a slower pace like 4.5 mph kept my heart rate steady and allowed me to jog longer before needing to recover. Keep in mind I am only 5 foot and not a runner so your comfortable jog might be a lot faster.
• Stay hydrated ~ This should be a no brainer but we did see people on the side of the trail sitting and recovering from dehydration. 
• Know when to run ~ My track star cousin gave me this awesome tip- I find that anytime there is a slope up hill or down hill you should try to go faster. Downhill will already take you faster you might as well not fight it. Uphill will take you longer to manage so go ahead and sprint up it and get it out of the way. 
• Run outside ~ I know I mentioned that I hated running outside before but that's because it was too blasted hot. When the weather is to your liking go outside. There's so much to see and let your mind wander to that before you know it your run will be over. 
• You wont die ~ You'll always think this while you're overworking yourself and then realize you wont once it's over. Just remember, there is always an end.

Tips for the color run

• Wear white ~ duh. Most color runs provide you with a shirt to wear. Double check it's white though because sometimes you have to pay extra for the white ones. 
• Wear glasses ~ this is also sometimes provided. Definitely needed in case you get a face full of color like I did. You don't want that stuff in your eyes.
• Find out where to park ~ kinda stunk parking in the wrong spot and walking a mile.
• Walk though the color stations ~ well only do this if you want more color. We did and we loved it. But remember to keep your mouth closed, NO laughing... lest you want to eat it. bleh
• Bring your own water ~ some places have water stations but we didn't see one until the very end.
• Enjoy the run!

How to keep the color in your 5k shirt

• Don't wash it!!! Not yet anyway. Soak it in vinegar for 15 minutes.
• Let completely dry.
• Now wash it by itself.

Keep in mind that some colors stick better than others. For us it was the pink. It stuck so well that my sister-in-love had to go get her hair redyed after a week... we'll wear hats next time ;)

I plan on running another 5k in October and in November. I'll gladly take any additional advise.

~Rayah

Perfect Summer 2013 Caviar Nails

The other day I was rummaging through my vanity when I came across some caviar nail beads I purchased earlier this year. You can find these beads anywhere online or at Sally's, Target, Walmart, I've even seen them at my local dollar store.

What I purchased came in a pack of 8-10 different colors in tiny tubes. Just enough to cover 2-3 nails per color. Perfect since I don't like all my nails to be the same.

What you'll need :

Base coat

Cute summer nail color

Top coat

Caviar nail beads

What you'll do if you purchased a jar :

Paint a base coat on your nail then dip the still wet nail into the caviar jar.

I like a little extra hold so once that's set for a few minutes go over it with a top coat.

Continue with as many nails as you like or do the others with a contrasting color like I did.

What you'll do if you purchased a tube :

If you happened to purchase the beads in a tube the directions are the same for the top and base coat.

Once you've painted your base coat pour the beads over wet nail.

Make sure to do this over a bowl so you can save the loose beads.

If polish dries before you're done just wet the nail in those areas again and continue as before until nail is completely coated.

Apply 1 or 2 coats of top coat and you're set.

Finish the rest of your nails as desired.

Pour left over beads from bowl back into tube by creating a funnel with a piece of paper.

*I do recommend purchasing these in the jars instead of tubes, much easier to use * 

I must say that even after a few days these beads are much tougher than I expected. I thought for sure after the first night I would find beads all over my bed. A few days later and they actually look a bit better than my polished nails.

I'll prolly get in trouble for this post. I think that nail polish belongs to a friend who's been missing it...whoops

~Rayah



DIY Makeup Remover Wipes

I wear makeup every.single.day. Seriously, I do. And I must admit... I do not take it off every.single.night.

Gross, I know. But since making these super easy wipes it's fast and easy to remove my makeup and clean my face in less than a minute.

I had been using Mary Kay makeup remover. You know, shake the bottle till both ingredients combine then squirt a little in a towel and remove make up... and $15 isn't bad but since most of my ingredients for these wipes cost only $1 and I can make an endless amount I will never be going back.

So after work I headed to our local Dollar Store and picked up a few items...

Here's what you'll need :

• Baby Shampoo $1
• Cotton Rounds $1
• Small Air Tight Containers. 4 for a $1
• Coconut Oil - Already had in pantry

Here's what you'll do :

I opened and cleaned my new tupperware containers. I chose the smallest round ones I could find for this. Since I am only making a small batch of these all my ingredients can go into one bowl then be separated later. You'll combine 1 cup of water with 1 1/2 tablespoons of baby shampoo and 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Oil and water don't mix so it'll looks like this after you've stirred it a few times.

Now pour this mixture into 2 or 3 containers making sure the oil has made it into each bowl. Add about 4 inches worth of cotton rounds to the bowl and press down until fully absorbed. You may need to add extra rounds as long as there is enough solution and space in the container.

Now they are ready to use!

I store mine upsidedown so that the mixture will evenly soak to the rounds that we placed on top.

Now you have perfectly portable money saving makeup remover.

Enjoy!

~Rayah

Peppermint Sugar Body Scrub with Coconut Oil

You may now know that I love coconut oil. There are so many uses for it and it's good for you too!

Last night I put together this AMAZING smelling peppermint scrub in less than 5 minutes with a few items I already had in my pantry. I'm all about making my skin as silky smooth as possibly.

This recipe is very similar to my Shaving Scrub only we'll use far less coconut oil.

Here's what you'll need :

• Sugar
• Coconut Oil
• Jar or Tupperware with tight lid
• Peppermint Extract ( could use any favorite extract )

You'll use 1 tablespoon of Coconut oil for ever 1 cup of Sugar and just a few tiny drops of extract.

Mix until all the sugar has been slightly coated and no longer looks dry.

It's as easy as that. Dead skin BE GONE!!

And you'll smell wildly delicious too ;)

This is so cheap and easy that it would be perfect to give as a gift too... hint hint :D

I'd love to know your secrets to perfect summer ready skin...

~ Rayah

Razor Ready Legs ~ Super Silky Coconut Sugar Shaving Scrub

So lately I've had a love for all things coconut oil. On top of that, a love for anything that helps my skin. I have extremely dry skin. I moisturize and drink plenty of water but still see lines around my shins and ankles. But not since using coconut oil. I usually put some on after getting out if the shower but using this scrub saves me time and helps get rid of any dead skin when I shave. No more expensive shaving products. I made some this weekend with a few items in our pantry.

1 1/4 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of coconut oil

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

Mix well with a spoon. You might need to heat up the coconut oil as it does become a solid if stored in a cool place.

And TA DAAA, that's all it takes.
Use as a shaving scrub and you'll have 100% naturally silky legs.

Personally, I use this all over my body. The sugar is the perfect exfoliant and the oil makes my whole body super silky. Seriously I can't stop touching my legs.

If the oil does become a solid again I just run the container under the hot water from the shower and it turns back into a liquid.

Feel free to use on your lips to hydrate and slosh off any dead skin.

Bring on the shorts!

~Rayah

UPDATE - after using this for a few weeks I have a few extra tips.

• Don't leave the container open... it will attract bugs. ick
• Be careful not to get any water from the shower in the mix. It will dilute the sugar.
• Go ahead, lick your exfoliated lips, it taste good.

~Rayah

DIY Faux Marble Countertop

Back in 2011 hubby and I moved into this adorable house. Of course many MANY others had lived there with their own styles, and the house is pretty old, so we had our work cut out for us as far as updates.

And by us I mostly mean my husband ( he was bound to catch that if I didn't)

The pictures I have aren't the best since this was an older project.

One day at Lowes we came across Rustoleum Countertop Transformation. Seeing as we had that nasty wood laminate we gave it a serious look. I LOVE doing any research that ends in savings and what I found out is that it was any ole latex paint and a polyurethane top coat. So we took to our nearest Michael's ( or most any craft store ) and picked up a few different colors.

I picked out a handful of black, 1 white, a few different grays (ended up only using the silver gray), and a silver glitter.

Tested a few different patterns using a sponge and used the first picture of a marble counter I loved as my inspiration. By the way, the sponges are normally pretty large so you should only need to buy one and you can tear it apart. Plus that helps so you can get different patterns from the nooks and crannies of the sponge.

The last 2 pictures are what I ended up with when I was just messing around and I like what I created so much more. These are without the glossy finish.

 It's all trial and error to see what you like. A layering effect is what worked best for me since I'm not a huge fan of the marble vein look. I started with black and completely covered my area with a roller. Next I squirted out a small amount of the silver glitter paint and rolled this on making sure too much glitter wasn't in any one area. This is just to catch your eye like the flexs in the marble do. ( remember, if you mess up you can always start over, this is just paint)

Then I added a few speckles of white with the tip of my sponge. I worked from one edge of a section to the next and if one area looked better than another I went back with whichever color was needed.

You don't want every little dot to look the same so I used different sides of my sponge as I needed to encourage the marbling look.

Next was silver, since this is the 2nd primary color I was going for I used a bigger section of my sponge to give me larger 'spots'.

If anything ever smudged or created a large blob of color I was either able to clean it up or go over it with another color and it would blend right back into the whole look.

After finishing each of these steps section by section I kept going over and filling in any black space until it was all covered making sure it was pretty even in pattern too.

Lastly my hubby painted on a few coats of polyurethane, letting it dry for at least 8 hours in between, and then it was all ready for use !

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Our kitchen is still a work in progress but this helps it look so much better. All our family ooo and ahh over the transformation, and if you look closely my hubby built a 6 inch back splash all along both walls. We attached that to the wall first so that the painting pattern was cohesive when it was applied.

Tips * Corners are tricky. I tore off smaller sections of my sponge to work into the corners.

Since an ounce of color at Michaels usually only cost a dollar and they always have sales I think we spent less than $30 total for our new counter tops versus the $247 + tax it would have been at Lowes. Plus I was able to completely custom my colors.

~Rayah