Memorial Weekend Sale! Don't miss it!

Coming Summer 2013 we're launching a small base color lacquer line to match our Nail Dazzle glitter polish line.  Just wanted to share a pic of a few to show you how fabulously they pair up together!  Sorry I still don't have names for the new colors....lol ;)

Photo:  Krafty Gurl Designs

I'm Back!

Well, it's been what it seems like forever since I've been back using the blog.  It's been an adventurous year filled with ups and downs.  But as the song goes... "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" right?!

Anyhoos..... January 2013 I decided I needed a new adventure in my life, so when I was in one of my deep thought sessions with myself, I felt I needed to go back to what I enjoyed doing most.  In 1995, I went to beauty school to become a Nail Technician.  I worked in a local salon for quite a while and then life got busy and complicated and I needed something a bit more stable in my life and pursued other income avenues.  It wasn't surprising to many that when I decided to embark on this new journey it would involve nail art.  I've always enjoyed it and being a crafty person at heart, it is another creative outlet for me.  Thus the Krafty Gurl Nail Dazzle glitter polish line was born.  I'm loving interacting with bloggers, self proclaimed nail polish addicts and women all over the world who have a love of nail lacquer.

The intention of this blog is to become the center point, joining all my other social media resources together.  I'll be posting here first, before I post anywhere else.  So stay tuned for some great contests, giveaways, debut products, reviews and new projects.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!
Jeanine

Krafty Gurls 80's Collection

(photo credit:  Instagram @pickacolorblog)

Swarovski Crystal zebra Flip Flops

Hi everyone!

Sorry, it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted.  Left my camera at my Mom's and couldn't take any pictures of my projects.... Whew, glad I got it back though, and just in time to show you these beautiful Swarovski Crystal Zebra Flip Flops.  I've had this project on the back burner for a while now, I guess my thought process was, that it would take too long, or be too tedious to tackle.  Well, finally this afternoon I just said "the heck with it" and pulled it out and got started.  I am VERY pleased with how these turned out, and they actually didn't take as long as I thought they would to complete.  Each crystal is hand placed with the flexible E6000 glue so that they are secure but will move as your foot moves with the flip.  The photo really does it no justice as the crystals really shine something amazing. 

Don't forget to recommend my blog to all your friends I'm really hoping this takes off!
Thanks,  Jeanine

DIY Laundry Detergent

Wow, it seems like forever since I've posted on the blog.  It's been a rough road physically, but I'm ready to get back in to the swing of things.  One of the projects I've been dying to try out, is making my own home made laundry detergent.  You see it all over Pinterest and other blog sites and being that I'm all about saving pennies here and there, I thought well, why not, I'll give it a try.  So here it is:

Here are my ingredients:  Note that the Arm & Hammer is SUPER WASHING SODA and not your kitchen Baking soda.  

Measurements:

2 cups - Super Washing Soda

2 cups - Borax

2 cups - Zote Laundry Flakes

1/4 cup - Fragrance (optional)

1 Quart - Water plus additional

In a stock pot heat Washing Soda, Borax and Zote flakes, just until all ingredients have dissolved.  Do not allow ingredients to boil.

Once ingredients have dissolved, transfer contents in to a 5 gallon pail. It will look a bit chunky.

Fill the rest of the 5 gallon pail with water.

At this point, you have the option of adding additional fragrance.  Alone it smells like Ivory soap, which is nice too.  I added this as I like my laundry to have that fresh scent.  I added 1/4 cup of fragrance oil. (Sunwashed Linen).

I covered the 5 gallon pail and let it sit overnight.  The next morning, I checked it and it still looked a bit chunky so I used my stick blender and schzoozsh it around for a couple minutes until it was creamy and well incorporated (sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step)

VOILA!  Here it is.  I use the same amount I would normally use with regular detergents.  By the way, this works well in high efficiency machines as it isn't super sudsy.  I saved some old laundry detergent bottles and I've been filling as needed.  Of course, I had to experiment so I did a test with my son's socks.  Here are the results:

The sock on the right was washed in Gain with 1/2 cup of bleach.  The sock on the left was washed in the same amount of my DIY detergent and 1/2 cup of bleach.  I couldn't believe my eyeballs!

So here's the cost breakdown for ya:

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

$3.59

Zote Laundry Flakes

$3.79

Borax

$3.89

TOTAL SUPPLIES:

$11.27

I use 4 oz (1/2 cup) of detergent per load.  The 5 gallons of laundry detergent I made will give me 160 loads.  I didn't use all my supplies, I could easily make about 15 gallons of laundry detergent for $11.27.  So if I broke it down even further this detergent only cost me $1.33 per gallon!  Isn't that insane?

Broccoli Salad

My high school friend Andrea invited our family over to watch some college football this past weekend and hang out with some other families.   They made some great kabobs and everyone brought a side dish to share.  One of the families brought a delicious Broccoli Salad..  Now, for those who know me, I can't stand to smell broccoli much less eat it.  But let me tell you, this salad was fantastic.  So thanks for the inspiration Melinda, here is my spin on Broccoli Salad.


INGREDIENTS:

2 heads of Broccoli
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 strips of cooked bacon cut into bite sized pieces
1 bottle of Sweet Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing ( I used Ken's brand)

Wash broccoli, chop into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl.  Add carrots, cheese and bacon.  Pour entire bottle of Sweet Vidalia Onion salad dressing in bowl and toss into your broccoli.  Place in a covered tupperware in the fridge until ready to serve.  I would let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours so that the dressing can marry with the veggies, so this is a definite "do ahead" dish. :)

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping

INGREDIENTS
4 cups sweet potato, cubed

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup cream or half and half

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

 1/4 cup orange juice

 PECAN TOPPING                   

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees . Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. (note:  you can certainly use canned sweet potatoes for this recipe as well)               
2. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, maple syrup, eggs, salt, pumpkin pie spice, butter, cream, orange juice, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.