Trend Report

Ombre!

When you translate the French word "ombre" to English it simply means shadow or shaded. When you translate "ombre" in the fashion and beauty world it means beautiful gradient color values.  This gradient color value trend "ombre" is expressed on hair color, nail color, clothing, and accessories.  A real fashionista is always up to date on her trends so go get something ombre.  Check out my fashion page for more ombre trends here

Let's Make a Teepee!

No Sew Teepee

Teepees make fun areas for kids to read, nap, or play and your pets can enjoy them too!  This is a fun and easy project that will cost you little to no money. Learn how to make this project. Click here.

Pizza Night

Every Friday I bake vegan pizza for my husband and I.  Sometimes I make the dough from scratch and sometimes I purchase ready-to- bake dough.  I will share the quick ready made version of the recipe with you. I am a vegan cook and my recipes will not contain exact measurements because I want you to create your own flair. This is what you will need:

1 bag of ready to bake pizza dough (from Fresh and Easy or Trader Joes)
1 jar of marinara sauce (Trader Joes)
1 bag or bundle of fresh spinach (rinse and drain)
1 jar of sun dried tomatoes
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper
1 tomato
Dried Italian herb seasoning (no salt) or fresh oregano and basil 
Mushrooms (button, shiitake, or cremini)
Cloves of garlic
1 package of Dairy free cheese (Daiya is the best vegan brand)
A vegan protein of your choice (Gardein, Field Roast vegan sausage, etc
Olive oil

Follow the preheat instructions on the pizza dough package.  Prep all of your veggies by cutting them into bite sized portions and mince your garlic. I like to season and bake my dough before I add the toppings.  Flour your prep area and roll out the dough.   Then rub olive oil on top of the pizza dough and sprinkle with minced garlic and Italian herbs. Bake the dough until the crust rises.  Remove the dough from the oven and add sauce, dairy free cheese, and toppings.  Then bake for an additional 10 minutes.  Before you remove the pizza from the oven add a final topping of dairy free cheese.  Remove pizza when dairy free cheese melts.  Slice and serve.  Enjoy!

This Is What I Did Last Summer

This summer I decided that I was tired of looking at my dreary yard full of dirt, weeds, and debris. You see my husband and I bought a fixer-upper home three and half years ago.  We worked on the inside and left the outside for last.  We are both artist and designers so we drafted a grand landscape plan for the finale.  However during the last three years my job laid me off so I went back to school and now employers don't notice my resume (despite my three college degrees and experience) so that plan became null and void.  My new plan was a tight $300 budget and all the creative energy and girl power that I could muster up. 

My yard contains three long and narrow sections around the perimeter of the house. I decided to choose one section to work on this summer. This section measures 450 square feet.  I envisioned a peaceful space where I would harvest vegetables from my garden and enjoy them when I dined at my outdoor cafe. Then I visited Home Depot and Lowes for ideas and material options.  I took advantage of sales and I did all the labor myself so that I could complete this section of my yard for $300. I did it! And I am so happy to share.

 

I reused the stepping stones and cinder blocks that were randomly tossed around the yard.  I thought my yard was full of junk but it was full of treasures.  I created a raised garden bed from those randomly tossed cinder blocks. Right now I am composting to create rich soil for my future vegetable garden.  The stepping stones in my gravel walkway were trash to treasure pieces that were aimlessly thrown around the yard.

I completed the hardscape so now I will start planning on the green stuff.  I plan to pot blueberry bushes, grow strawberries, and many vegetables. I will keep you posted on how it goes.