BEAUTY IS A LIFESTYLE THING

Happy Holidays! Well if you're still on your weight-loss journey or on Ketogenics for health reasons, welcome to phase I of the holidays. (I just made up these phases to illustrate my thought processes LOL) Phase I of the holidays is in my mind simply passing the first holiday with some assemblence of eating the keto-friendly diet you were adhereing to previously. So with Phase I down, we now are approaching Phase 2 (Christmas) and that consists of so many, many ways to cheat; I do love Christmas cookies and all the fun desserts; they were truly a downfall for me. But remember to try really hard to not beat yourself up for partaking in a few of the treats. It's hard to be on a specific lifestyle when the whole house is not. This year I will include a small container of keto-friendly Christmas cookies for myself while I'm baking for everyone else. I've Included a very easy recipe for what I call Cheese Tidbits. These tasty little things can act like a chip or

Happy 4th of July I want to start out by wishing you a Happy Independence day! No matter how you spend it today, please be safe. Practice safety in so many ways like watching out for the little ones, being sure you are safe around fireworks and sparklers! (while we see them as a lower-class firework they are dangerous!) Sparklers burn at between 1800 degrees-3000 degrees Fahrenheit! That's hot and super dangerous. Here's a very simple yet classic appetizer recipe for the picnic, backyard BBQ, or even wedding. I love to make food that all types of diets can enjoy. This is gluten-friendly, keto-friendly, and vegan. It can be made with all organic ingredients; including the cheese, but for this recipe today I cheated and used cheese sticks to save time.  Need -Cherry or grape tomatoes  (today I used 40) 2 on each stick -skewers (your choice I used bamboo but sometimes they're not perfect i.e. crooked or shredding) can use long party toothpicks as well. -Favorite Balsamic vineg

"Every Love story is special, unique and beautiful, but ours is my favorite." ~Unknown Make Valentine's Day last all year long. Have a heart hanging nearby to remind you of the special love you have together, or just because it adds a certain softness to the room. Today's craft is not difficult. This project took me just under 10 minutes and about 5 minutes to gather my supplies.  I saw this pearl craft on another blogger's web site and I wanted to credit them and let them know they inspired me to create my own, but for the life of me cannot remember where I saw it. If someone has run across it somewhere let me know. This project can be varied in so many ways, like the types of beads for example. I always use what I have on hand if I can. The type of beads can completely change the look of this.  It also can be made any size that you may want. You don't have to hang this from a ribbon, you could use a chain, a leather, a piece of twine. It is up

It's a very cold January day and not one glimpse of the sun is to be had. The ground is covered in snow and now there's even freezing drizzle/rain to add into making this a long winter's day. There's only one thing you can do is to bring warmth in, by way of flowers. I have these two magnolia stems sitting right near me, One has three blooms on it and one has two. They feel bright and remind me of summer. Those warm days where the car windows are down and the Grateful Dead are playing Sugar Magnolia on the radio. And the only thing you can do is wave your arms out to feel the breeze while you're singing the song! A lovely flower centerpiece will liven, brighten and warm my room. So I gathered a  few things: the two magnolia stems Some dried green moss, that I use often, it truly makes me think of spring and summer with its very vibrant green and even brown sticks!  2 very large bell-shaped dimpled glass containers, graduated in size the large

The tree is up. Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, it's time for us to get ready for Christmas. I don't know about your house but we dress our house up, which includes the mantle, the Christmas trees, and the outside. The hardest part is dragging everything up from the nether regions of the basement dungeon. I hope everyone has a built-in teenager that will substitute for the moving men that are needed to make this all happen, and thank goodness I do! I'm going to do a little mini-series on decor and small crafts that are not only easy but inexpensive and make a huge impact. I am slowly taking my decorating to a lower level. My time is always limited and I will be culling my decorations this year and I will be donating some of the things that I no longer need. I'm trying to make my life easier and that of my husband's too. My 9-foot tree is currently up in the front, one set of lights are out. This weekend, my husband the official light fixer, wi

Last minute Quickie decor change for my door.  I'm upcycling a really really old grapevine, that in its previous 100 other lives was so many other wreaths, this time was once a spring candle ring, I used it with two candles in the middle on a tablescape and it was really pretty. Spring wreath going Halloween Nothing in my house is EVER permanent, I try to find ways in which to recycle and be able to use even the smallest of things into something else. These flowers were stripped off and the wreath (14") is bare, (it once was brown but I spray painted it white for spring use) Bare wreath (I see that the vines are starting to become loose I will need the glue gun. Here are the supplies I'm using total cost  $5.25 (all items on sale) 1 simple bunch of black flowers, 2 bunches of black carnations with glitter on them, 2 fronds of purple glittered stems, one bow marked down to $2.00, a total find! and one skeleton bride. I simply began by cutting all of the bun