My Review On The Rusk CTC Lite

Not too long ago, I was reading what has become one of my favorite beauty blogs. Www.honeywerehome.blogspot.com 

I began to read about her daily products. She mentioned that her favorite hair dryer was the Rusk Speed Freak. She also mentioned they had a smaller one called the Rusk CTC Lite. I began my Amazon search....the Rusk Speed Freak was around $99 at Ulta, and I found the CTC Lite on amazon for $46, and added it to my wishlist!! Well, since Prince Charming is the very sweetest, he surprised me by buying it for me, a day or two after I put it in there!! I was sooo excited to see this 

in the mail!!! The claim was that this dryer was super lightweight and super fast at drying hair, so I couldn't wait to run my own test!! 

Let me give a little back history on my personal hair...my hair has always been grease proned...so much that when girls say they want shiny hair, I'm thinking, "it's not all it's cracked up to be" lol!! My little sister told me years ago, two things that have definitely proven true for my personal hair, 1. "Melanie, you're letting your hair airdry too long, it's going to get greasy" 2. "If you don't blow it all the way dry, it's going to look greasy!" Both are always true for my hair!!! I literally have to get out of the shower, and immediately dry my hair, and be certain it is dried completely!! Well, ever since cutting my hair off, for some reason, even if I do both of these, at times it still just choses to look greasy, so faster drying sounded like a good solution!! 

Here are my honest thoughts, as a full time mommy(aka, no longer having hours to fix my hair, the quicker, the better) 

First thing I liked was how small it is:

Notice it's size in comparison to my hand, which is very small(I wear a 3 3/4 ring). So yay! Nice and compact, easy to store!! It is also sooo lightweight!! 

Next, it came with two attachments:

Look at that scrunching attachment! Almost as big as the dryer!! You could get a lot of hair scrunched at one time with that bad boy!! 

Settings: were few, but plenty in my opinion! 

So, let's talk time!! Any Mommas understand the importance here! Lol!!

My hair was dry in 4 minutes! Literally!! Started at 11:34, dry at 11:38!! My hair was dried, run over with the Chi, and hair sprayed in 15 minutes total!!! Hallelujah!!

Best of all....I did not have ANY greasiness!! 

Of course, for my own knowledge, I tried it out on my 3 1/2 yr old, Bekah's hair! My hair is greasy and fine. Hers is dry and slightly course. Her hair dried in 3 minutes, and was so pretty and smooth and shiny(but not greasy). 

In other words, I think I'm in love!!!

What are some of your favorite hair product and tool finds??  

Naturally Stripping Hair Build Up

About a month ago, my little sister told me her stylist had told her a neat little secret to strip the build-up from her hair. Best of all, it was simple, super cheap and natural!! Like always, I was a little skeptical, but the next morning I took to my shower and gave it a try! My hair was squeaky clean, soft, smooth, and light as a feather. What is the secret?? 

Baking soda!!

That's right! Just the good old trusty, cheap, Arm and Hammer!! 

Here's how it works! Hop in the shower. Get a regular amount of your daily shampoo in your hand

Work it into a good sudsy lather on your hair. While your hair is good and sudsy, grab the baking soda and pour a good amount into your hand 

This is about how much I used in my fine, shoulder length hair. Work this into your already lathered hair really good. And rinse! Follow with regular conditioning. Don't be surprised when brushing if your hair is more tangly than usual. Blow dry your hair and enjoy!! I only do this once a month, and I may wait a month and a half before doing it again this time. 

Since I had just done my hair, I decided to try it out on my 3 1/2 yr old's hair. My hair is very oily and build up is just very common for me. Bekah however has great hair! It is dry enough she can go days without having to wash her hair, which is so great since she has some serious eczema, so washing every day is so hard on her little skin! Anywho, I thought it would be a great way to test how this would work on dry hair types 

Much to my surprise, her hair came out soooo soft and shiny! 

What can I say, I'm a fan!! Hope you have great success with this awesome stripping process!! Best of all, a box of Arm & Hammer is about $2!! Can't beat that!!

Today I'd like to Praise The Lord for a family that are friends!! Not only Prince Charming, who is my very best friend; but in my family, my cousins and I grew up more like siblings, and we're all still just as close! We are so tight knit, and I didn't realize until I was an adult, just how rare and special that was! This week I got to hang out with my cousin's new wife Destiny, and her sweet precious 4 year old Presley! We had so much fun and I left so thankful for my close family, and so thankful that Bekah gets to experience it as well!!

Here's one of our photo booth strips from our get together! The kids had a blast!!

Not the best shot, but they slid on every slide holding hands, because Bekah was nervous!! They were so sweet to each other! 

Cleaning A Chi Straightener

Hey there friends!! I know it's been a while and I actually have so many things to blog about, but we'll take it one at a time. 

So, about a month or two ago, my brand new Chi straightener began to develop the nastiest build up! As the build up got worse, it actually began to pull my hair during straightening...ouch!! 

My old Chi never had this problem, so I looked to my beloved Pinterest for a solution!! Sure enough, I found this blog http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/11/how-to-clean-your-flat-iron.html#more  full of great info and advice!! I decided to try her method and made a few tweaks to her system! 

So let's talk dirty nasty flat irons! 

Gross!! She says in her blog that this is caused by straightening after applying hairspray, and I believe it!! I never had this problem with my old straightener, which was pre short hair!! 

Well, she gives out the recipe for what she calls her miracle cleaner! Let me just be honest here, I was a skeptic...there, I said it! Lol!

 The recipe is:

1/4 c baking soda

And a small amount of hydrogen peroxide 

Stir together (just enough peroxide to make a very thick paste)

I started out with it way too thin, it needs to be nice and thick, stiff enough you could form it into shapes(which my 3 1/2 year old had tons of fun doing!) 

DO NOT use a thin and runny mixture, as this could damage your straightener, with it being electric. 

 

Now, my build up was very thick and tough, so I laid a layer of paste on the plate and let it soak about 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, I simply banged the iron on the sink, so all of the paste fell off, and then applied little bits at a time, with a scratch resistant kitchen sponge, scrubbing with all of my might! She said on her blog that she uses her hands, but it was taking me way too long that way 

I was not brave enough to try the green scrubby side, so I just stuck with the safer yellow side! Scrub to your hearts content! This takes lots of elbow grease, and the baking soda that ends up in the sink is quite gross looking! 

After I was done, I threw my sponge away! In the future I would cut it in half, as I think one half would definitely get the job done. With the chemicals I use on my hair, I couldn't think of anything else I would feel safe using the sponge on, if you can think of some, go for it!! 

Before and after!! Not too bad, right??? I'd say this project took around 15-20 min! 

Easy Buttercream Icing

In my family, there is a delicious little treat my Grandma Janie has made for years. A fun little twist on morning pastry, called Buttercreams. We bake up some of our families sourdough bread in a cake pan instead of a bread pan, once it's cooled, slice in half like a cake, and spread Grandma's buttercream frosting in the middle, stack it back together, and spread more on the top. I think this would work on any sourdough, however, ours is very soft and pretty sweet. Well, every year the whole family gets together for a big reunion! We rent out a row of cabins at a state park, and just about everyone comes...grandparents, aunt and uncles, cousins, and cousins spouses and children! It is such a blast! Games, meals, canoe racing, bonfires, just so much fun. Buttercreams are a part of this gathering, and a few years ago I took over making them for my sweet Grandma who's hands are eaten up with arthritis. 

As I began making them this year, I realized I had lost her recipe for the frosting, and when I called her, to our surprise, she had lost it as well....so, we began searching the Internet for a similar recipe, knowing that seeing the right one would jog my memory. As I searched I realized no one makes it like Grandma does...they all call for milk, shortening, and sometimes regular sugar. So I decided to experiment, with the ingredients I knew we're in ours, and I decided it was necessary to share our amazing recipe with the rest of the world!!

Grandma's 4 Ingredient Buttercream

•3 sticks salted sweet cream butter    (softened)

•2 cups powdered sugar

•1/2tsp vanilla extract

•1/8tsp salt

*Yields enough for probably 12 cupcakes..to ice an entire cake, I would double this. 

1. With an electric mixer(with the whisk attachment on)beat the butter until it's smooth. 

2. Add powdered sugar(this may get a little thick and stiff, that's okay)

3. Add the vanilla(it is very important that you do not add it sooner, because the powdered sugar will make it lump up, not spreading evenly through the mixture) blend this well.

4. Add salt and blend well. 

5. Spread on slice of bread, cupcakes, cookies, whatever you like, and enjoy!!

A couple of notes:

•I don't own a stand mixer, so this time I whipped mine up in my food processor, which worked fine, but the heat from the motor made it very thin, so I let it sit out about 30 min to let the butter set up a little and regain its normal constitution. 

•I like the consistency yielded by these measurements, if you'd like it a little thicker, add powdered sugar by 1/4c increments until you reach your desired consistency!

•As with most icing/dip recipes, this gets better the longer you let it sit, so all of the flavors can meld(especially the salt). So I normally mix it at least the night before. 

Absolute deliciousness!! 

Home Makeover: DIY Foam Cornice Boards

So, a few months back, I found this amazing blog http://southernhospitalityblog.com/a-diy-cornice/ about making your own cornice boards from foam boards. Naturally, I thought, oh, I am SO doing that....one day. Well, after putting it off, and practically killing myself over which fabric to choose, I finally decided to tackle it this weekend!!

I saw in an old movie, a window treatment idea I LOVED!! Cornices with matching curtains on either end, and sheers in between. It looks so classy, in my opinion! *Remember with me, I'm making my single-wide a mansion, on a cheap-skate budget!!* 

So, the search began...how to make your own curtains and cornices, so I could make them match! The lowest price for fabric, and sheers. After much debate, I decided NOT to use upholstery fabric...it is so expensive, and I was concerned about how heavy it is(trailer Sheetrock is thinner than normal). Hobby Lobby had this adorable fabric:

for $8.99/yard. Well, here's a little Hobby Lobby secret...if you get your fabric cut as one solid piece, you can use the 40% off coupon found on their smartphone app, and get 40% off the whole lot!! Yay!! So, my fabric had to be ordered(this took about a week to get in) since I needed two whole bolts(20yds). My total with my discount was $107. While at Hobby Lobby, I grabbed a $15 bag of batting, to give them a little fuller look, and help the fabric not slide around on the foam. 

Next, I headed to Lowes for foam board. I did all of my measuring before hand, and decided for all four windows in my living and kitchen area, for 12" cornices, I only needed one sheet of the foam insulation board! This is found in the insulation section of Lowes, and looks like this

I chose the 1"x4'x8' hoping the thickness would help it look like I'd used wood. This piece was $17. 

While at Lowes, I picked up a utility knife. Kobalt is my FAVORITE tool brand, because just about all of their tools have a lifetime warranty...all you do is walk into Lowes, say "this broke" and they tell you to go get another! Amazing, right?

$10

I also picked up these neat little hooks:

Which look like this:

These were $2.50/pack and came with 5 hooks, so I grabbed two packs.

I also picked up some 3/8" staples(I would probably go closer to 1", if I was doing it again) these were about $4

First, we laid out the foam board, I marked each end every 12", and we snapped chalk lines connecting the marks, which looked like this

Then we(and by "we" I mean my hubby) cut along the lines with our utility knife, giving us 4 long strips each 12 inches wide. A couple of tips here, my hubby said that cutting this long of a strip is like riding a bike, the faster you go, the smoother and straighter your cut will be. The slower you go, you get wobbly. Also, in the 1" foam, the utility blade didn't go all the way through, but we cut as deep as we could, bent it back, and it snapped right off, clean as can be, like so:

This gave us this:

Next, cut to the length needed for each window(advice: remember to add two inches to the needed length for your end pieces). Then decide how far you want them off of the wall, and cut little end pieces. Mine are 4 1/2" off of the wall, looking like this.

Duct tape these pieces on

Now the fun part, lay your cornice down on the batting, and cut it so you'll have just enough to wrap over the edges:

Start at one end, and staple with a staple gun, pulling tight, but not too tight.

Lay out the fabric(my fabric was the perfect size, that unfolding in down the middle fold, and cutting along that fold, was the perfect width to cover the boards)

Wrap the fabric over one end, and begin stapling!

Looking good!! Now, get a glue gun and drill, glue the d-rings on the corners that you want to be the top. On the blog I used as a guide, she said hot glue was enough to hold hers on, I didn't like how it pulled on the fabric, so I used the screws that came with the d-rings and screwed them in for extra support.

Ignore the staples, they got pulled out and the little screw got screwed into that hole!

Then, I used some screws with flat heads, like this one 

To hang them on the wall! Note: if you do not hit a stud, use an anchor, so you don't damage your walls. These can look like this

And slide into the hole like this

Once it's through the hole, you screw the screw into the hole on the end

Then, hang your cornice on your screws using the d-rings

And you get this:

Next....curtains!! I hope this inspires you to try a new project at home!! 

Today, I'd like to praise The Lord for an amazing husband who is truly my very best friend, and was more than willing to help me complete this project, even though he initially didn't want to, and was sick and still helped!! He's the best!