What is beauty?

What is beauty? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. The world will tell you that beauty is in perfection. That you must have clear, smooth skin to be beautiful. That you must have clear blue eyes, and no gray hairs to be beautiful. That we must hide our scars, that we must smooth away our blemishes to be beautiful. To that idea of beauty, I say "Nope." Beauty is found in authenticity. Beauty is the scars, the imperfections that make us originals. If we were all carbon copies of each other with porcelain skin, blue eyes, and the perfect tan... wouldn't that be boring? It's not real!  I hate when I see girls/women looking at magazines and feeling bad about themselves. It's not real! It's like trying to eat a styrofoam apple. It might be shiny and perfect, blemish and bruise free, but it has no sustenance! To me, beauty is found in the bravery to strip down to our scars, our blemishes, our skin and say "this is me." Recently my dear friend asked me to take a picture of her scars from her battles with skin cancer. The portrait I took is on the left, and I find it to be striking. It's raw and gritty... it's real. It is beauty. Then just for fun she and I decided I should "fix" her portrait. (On the right.) To me, the portrait on the left is more beautiful, hands down. Thank you Nina for being brave enough to show us your beautiful scars.

Tired of seeing naked butts all over your house?

I sure was! I had seen several pins for using nail polish to give Barbie undies, or a tank top and leggings.

I decided to go with nail polish bathing suits, but about half way through I had an idea.
My daughter is OBSESSED with superheroes.  So I decided to give some of her Barbies secret identities!  My absolute favorite is The Flash Barbie... or maybe Wonder Woman Barbie.... or Captain America Barbie... Ok, I LOVE them all.

She is sleeping right now, and hasn't seen them yet. I was so giddy about them, I wanted to wake her up to show her, but eventually talked myself out of that. I will post a picture of her with them tomorrow.

*Update* As promised, here is picture of my girl enjoying her "new" toys, plus a couple of special requests she had today. I had to go buy naked Barbies at Goodwill to make her more! =) Not sure who loves them more, her or me!!

 

Herbal Essences "Hello Hydration" body wash sample & share

I was given a sample of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration body wash to sample and review from Crowdtap as part of The Herbalistas.
First, I was quite taken by the scent.I love how the scent is light but luscious.  It was not overpowering, and I could use my regular lotion and perfume over it without feeling overwhelmed by scent.  I also really loved the color, it just looked refreshing, tropical, and happy! I really believe color plays a big role in the overall marketability of a product. This just looks like a sunny island to me.  Next, I love how it lathers and gets good and soapy.  A little dab should be able to lather up with a pouf and boy does it!  I feel like I get a good value for my money when body wash lasts a long time but still works.  Finally, I love how soft my skin feels after using it.  I used it in several showers as a body wash, and when my sample was gone I went and bought a big one and used it as bubble bath too!  I really do feel hydrated, soft, and silky!
I took some pictures to share with you.  (Clockwise from top left,) The first is me feeling frazzled, before I tried this Hello Hydration body wash for the first time.  The second is after I got the sample and opened the cap to smell it.  The third is an after shower selfie, taken the first time I used my sample, and finally a picture of my happy place... nice warm bubble bath with a stack of reading material!  This body wash worked well as a bubble bath and my bathroom smelled so good!

I am in love with Herbal Essences new Hello Hydration body wash!  

*The views expressed in this post are my own. I was given this sample to try, however I was not required to provide a positive review.  I was not compensated in any way other than with this sample.* 

Calming jars teacher gifts with poem

I have seen lots of tutorials on how to make these calming jars... so I tried it out on my kids and it works!  Having spent many hours volunteering in my kids' classrooms, I think it would be helpful in the classrooms as well.

They are super easy to make. . . basically you get a water tight bottle or jar of some sort, pour in about half a bottle of Elmer's glitter glue -OR- Elmer's clear gel glue and your own glitter. I prefer this method, as clear gel glue and glitter are cheaper than glitter glue, and then you can mix colors, and add as much glitter as you want (the more the better in my opinion!) Then you fill your jar almost to the top (leave room to shake) with warm water. I also add a few drops of food coloring just to make the water more fun when the glitter is all settled.  Then glue the top onto the container and shake like your life depends on it.

I also composed this little poem to explain how to use the glitter jar which I will attach with a ribbon to make it more "gifty."  Feel free to use this poem on your own glitter jar gifts!

Sticker Club letter

My daughter got a sticker club letter in the mail. Cute fun idea, and if it works, you buy one pack of stickers and your daughter receives 36 packs back.  The letter I got had been copied and recopied and was almost unreadable, so I created this one. Enjoy!