Nest Candy: March 2011

Be My BFF? - Blog Frog Friends

Hey everyone! I just wanted to say a few words about Blog Frog. If you are a blogger or love reading blogs, you need to head over to Blog Frog and get signed up. It is a place where blogging communities are formed to connect bloggers and readers with other bloggers and readers. I just added the Blog Frog widget to my sidebar so I can see who has been visiting Nest Candy!

Even if you don't want to leave a comment, I can see that you have been to my page if you have a Blog Frog Account! The best part is, you can create an account with your Facebook login. It only takes a few seconds! After you have a Blog Frog account, I will be able to see whenever you visit me. If you don't have one, go sign up!

I can't wait to see all your smiling faces coming from my sidebar!

April Fools Favorites

Since tomorrow is the infamous April Fools Day, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite tricks and jokes that I have seen on some awesome blogs this past week. It is purely coincidental that they are all about food.

Chicken Nuggets Anyone?

Look how adorable this April Fools Day dinner is! It's all edible, but it certainly doesn't taste like chicken. Head over to Hoosier Homemade to see how this dinner was created as well as other tricky April Fools Day dinner ideas.

How about a TV Dinner?

Or Spaghetti and Meatballs?

These super cute cupcakes were made by the talented bloggers at Delectable Edibles. You can view instructions for the TV Dinner Cupcakes or the Fake Spaghetti Cupcakes at their inspiring family blog.

A Cupcake? Made out of Ground Beef and Potatoes!

For those of you who aren't keen on the idea of filling your family up on sweet cupcakes and fake sugary dinners, how about a fake cupcake? These may look cute and sugary, but watch out! They are quite deceiving! To see instructions for this clever dinner idea, head over to The 303 Griffiths. You'll also learn how to make tricky Koolaid (Jello) drinks!

Thanks to everyone who shared their wonderful April Fools Day ideas. Maybe next year I will come up with some of my own. For now, I'll be following the instructions of the pros. If I featured you today, please feel free to take a button. You earned it!

- - Happy Pranking! - -

How Do You Recycle?

I am the type of person who {LOVES} colorful tubs and bins for organization, so when I needed a system for sorting my recycling, these babies were the perfect match! The only problem is, we live in a small townhouse/apartment and there's not much room for bins filled with materials to be recycled. These tubs fill up rather quickly. We have a larger one for pop cans, but glass bottles take up a lot of room. I have started smashing my plastic bottles before tossing them into the bucket, which helps a lot.

I wish, I WISH we had a curbside recycling program to go alongside our trash. I love to recycle, but it is a big burden when you have limited space and have to make a million trips to the drop off location or find somewhere to discreetly (yeah right!) hide your piles of recyclables until you want to make that trip.

So I want to know how YOU recycle. What items can you/do you recycle in your area? How do you sort it? Do you have a pickup program or do you have to drop it off at location? In what ways do you make recycling easier?

Let me know in the comments below! If you have some good ideas (which I'm sure you will!) I would love to try them out!

- - Happy Recycling! - -

A Sewing Machine For Beginners

Okay, so the last time I actually sewed something was in 8th grade. I haven't really touched a sewing machine since then, but seeing all these cute projects has me really itching to buy a machine. I don't want anything too fancy that will include all the bells and whistles. I just want something that I can do a straight stitch, a zig-zag, a fairly simple button hole, and something that won't have all the tension and jamming problems I won't know how to fix.

I know there are typical problems with any sewing machine, especially a cheap one, but I won't know how to seriously troubleshoot my way out of a mess, and there's not a sewing machine shop in town (that I can locate). The only problem is, it seems like the good machines that run smoothly and don't have a ton of problems are the ones with a million stitches and settings, and they cost an arm and a leg. I would absolutely be willing to pay that much for a good machine if I knew I would use it like a mad woman. I don't see that happening. I want to be able to do little projects here and there with a straight stitch. That's it. Machines that will fulfill that request all seem to be a pile of junk! Help me out here!

Do you know of any affordable, beginner machines that won't make me tear my hair out or want to throw it across the room? Please comment below!

Quick Tip Tuesday
Give Your Photos A Name

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Hi everyone! Today I just wanted to share with you a quick tip I learned from last week's Crafterminds chat. Crafterminds is a group of lovely ladies who are lifestyle and craft bloggers. Every week they host a chat session on Twitter at 1pm Pacific time. All you have to do is search #crafterminds and you will be able to find the chat and join in. If you can't make it (which I usually can't) then you can read the transcript later that day or the next at the Crafterminds website. I read last week's #crafterminds chat which was about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), basically tips on how to get found on search engines like Google. There was a lot of great information in that chat, and I highly recommend reading it. The tip I want to share with you today deals with naming your photos.

If you are like me, you are guilty of just uploading a picture with the automatic IMG_1234567 name attached to it. I never really thought about it being a big deal before. Once I read the #crafterminds chat, I realized I was missing out on huge traffic to my blog possibilities! If you have a picture named IMG_1234567 in your blog post, the only people who are going to find your post in an Image search are people who search for all pictures named IMG_1234567.

If I leave this picture I took of a bridge titled IMG_4358 then I will most likely NEVER be found in an image search. Which means I am missing out on all that traffic I could be directing at my blog. Instead I will name it black_and_white_bridge or black-and-white-bridge or even blackandwhitebridge. That way, anyone who searches for a black and white image of a bridge might come across mine and be directed to my blog.

You can name entire batches of photos with the same name. If I had selected all of the black and white photos I took of this bridge and clicked "rename," I could have typed black-and-white-bridge and the computer would automatically call them black-and-white-bridge1, black-and-white-bridge2, black-and-white-bridge3 ... etc.

This is really important for tutorials. For my earring frame tutorial I would name my photos how-to-make-an-earring-frame 1,2,3 etc. or something like earring-frame-tutorial 1,2,3 etc. Keep this in mind when you are naming your images. Name them something relevant to what's going on in the picture or the post. Use words that you would search for if you wanted to find that picture.

By naming your photos, you can dramatically increase your traffic flow over time. I hope this tip was helpful. I know I just never thought about it, but I'm naming my pictures all the time now!

Money Saving Monday
Dupes For High End Makeup

Today's {Money Saving Monday} is all about finding good quality make-up for less. If you have been using high-end makeup in the past, or you have always dreamed about affording a Chanel lipstick, learning to find cheaper alternatives (dupes) for those expensive products means you can still beautify yourself on any budget.

Let me just say that true dupes are NOT cheaper in quality than the expensive beauty products. A true dupe is found when the color, texture, pigmentation, and over-all effect are virtually identical between two items. Sometimes you can find exact dupes and other times there are only subtle differences. Believe it or not, there are MANY drugstore dupes for designer brands. So how do you find them?

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THE DUPE LIST

The website Temptalia is the best place to go for all things beauty related. Remember when I posted about Using Online Swatches? Temptalia is FULL of swatches and great pictures of every and any makeup product. Temptalia also features The Dupe List where you can search for any makeup brand $-$$$$ and find any dupes for popular products.

The Dupe List will tell you which two items are being compared, how similar they are (75-100%), and what the differences are.

These are three different eyeshadows!

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I use the Dupe List all the time when I am searching for a cheaper alternative for a glorious high-end product. There will always be better dupes than others, and sometimes a product is so unique there are no dupes. It is always worth checking. It is hard for a lot of women, moms especially, to justify buying beauty products they might not use too often. With the Dupe List you can have gorgeous blushes and lipstick that are good quality without the burden of high cost guilt.

- - Happy Savings! - -

From My Nest - Out of Town Guests

Since this is the first {From My Nest} post, I will take a second to explain what that means. {From My Nest} posts are all about events that are happening in my personal life. They may or may not be crafting related. They are just real life experiences, good or bad, that I want to share with you! So, no tutorials or tips here, just plain old real life stories. Now that you know that, let's get to the good stuff!

I am SO excited to have out of town guests this weekend! I know that having guests in your home can usually cause a bit of stress and throw you off your routine, but these are not just any guests. Tomorrow morning my very very very Best Friend Forever (since 1st grade!!!) will be coming to visit us with her wonderful boyfriend! {squeals!}

- - Jessie and Jon - -

Let me tell you why I am so excited for this. Not only is Jessie my absolute best friend, she has also lived across the country from me for almost two years! She moved to California to go to culinary school, then moved across the country to South Carolina to be with her boyfriend, Jon, and finish culinary school. For those of you who don't know, I live in Wyoming, so when she was in California, I thought she was really far away. Now that she is in South Carolina....she is REALLY far away. Tickets to fly out there are also VERY expensive, which means this is the first time I will have seen my best friend since Christmas! I think I have seen her 4 or 5 times since she moved away.

I think you are beginning to see that this is a BIG deal! They don't get to stay for very long, but we are going to make the best of it while they are here. We have plans to go out tomorrow night and meet up with some other friends. They are arriving in the morning, so hopefully we can do something fun together during the day. Oh yeah... and we won't be cooking! Eating out is essential when your guests are only in town for 36 hours.

I am dying to have Jessie cook for us. As I said, she goes to culinary school. She make amazing dishes. At her blog - Simplicity Eats - you can see pictures of her gorgeous cakes and desserts like these:

I will just have to eat her dinners and desserts another time. I'm sure that she is enjoying her break from cooking for two weeks. Then it's back to school!

I would love to stay and chat all day about how excited I am, but unfortunately, my house does not clean itself. If your does, please let me know where I can get one. Until then, I have to do it all myself. Although cleaning isn't so bad when you have friends on the way!

What fun things are going on in Your Nest? Let me know in the comments!

The New Nest Candy - How to Make Your Blog Beautiful

In case you haven't been by recently, or if you are new to the blog, Nest Candy has been under construction recently. The blog you are seeing today is not the same blog that I started out with.

Remember the old banner?

Here is the new one!

And the old button?

Here's what the new one looks like!

I have been reading a TON of helpful tips and tutorials about sprucing up your blog. I have done everything from creating a custom header to designing my own Nest Candy button. I could not have done any of this without some great online help. I know there are bound to be others looking for these helpful tips, so I thought I would give you the links to some of the resources I used!

The first helpful stop I would like to point out is the Beautify Your Blog series at Momma Go Round. Nina has created some great step by step tutorials to help you get that blog looking fantastic! This is where I learned how to:

She answers every basic question that blog beautifiers need to know. I just {LOVE} her!

If you are just beginning a blog, or you want to find a large list of blog make-over tips in one place, Tip Junkie comes to the rescue! Laurie put together the Blog 101 post to guide the new, the lost, and the confused. It has links to everything from Basic HTML Codes to Creating a Custom Navigation Bar. In the search for that perfect blog layout, this is one place you don't want to miss!

Now that you know the basics of how to get the page elements and layout you want, let's talk about {CUTE} and {PRETTY} things! The blog Kevin and Amanda wins the prize for teaching you how to add cuteness to your blog. I learned:

I left Nest Candy's background embellishment free, but Amanda teaches you how to really spruce up your space if you want to. I also got my FREE fonts for blog titles from the Fonts For Peas section!

I hope these links are helpful to you. Remember, always make your blog your own special place. If you don't want to add a signature or use custom fonts, you don't have to! Everyone's blog is beautiful as long as it is filled with {LOVE}. If you have any questions about other changes I made, please ask! Oh, and what do you think of the new blog???

Quick Tip Tuesday
How to Find Cheap Museum Tickets

Hi everyone! Just another {Quick Tip} for you today, and this one is worth some $$. Did you know that visiting museums is one of the best ways to stimulate your child's brain, as well as yours? There are so many different types of museums out there -- you can find highly interactive museum/activity centers like Science World all the way to the other end of the spectrum where observation without touching is key, like at the Louvre. No matter what type of museum you go to -- big/small, interactive/passive, expensive/low budget -- you are bound to expand your knowledge and your child's curiosity. Can't afford museum tickets for everyone in the family? Then this is a tip you won't want to miss!

Did you know that you can often find great deals on tickets and special promotions for your local or national museums on their Facebook page? By simply "Liking" a museum's Facebook page you become a "fan," which gives you access to updates on upcoming events and possible cheap tickets or even FREE days!

Many museums offer a Kids Free Day or a reduced family package price. You can sometimes find printable coupons for the museum. Local museums that don't draw a lot of tourists often have one or two slow days throughout the week. Many will run promotions for those days, allowing you to get in at a reduced cost or FREE!

By connecting to your museum's Facebook page, you will also be updated on current exhibits and programs. If they are offering a film or Imax movie, they will likely list their show times or link to a schedule from their FB page.

It is absolutely worth those ten seconds it takes to find your museum's FB page and click "Like." If you don't, you just might miss out on all those great deals and mind expanding visits.

RAH9MZ8YQHAP

Money Saving Monday
A Sam's Club Trick

Today's {Money Saving Monday} is all about one little trick I learned about last week about Sam's Club.

It won't necessarily give you more money, but it will help you snag items when they are at rock bottom prices! The website MommySavers likes to call this tip {The 91s}.

Basically, the rule is, anything with a price ending in 1 (usually 91) is on a closeout sale. That means you better get that item now or it will be gone. That's as low as the price is going to get!

This is a great tip for seasonal items and holiday decorations. If you really wanted those gorgeous patio chairs for summer, but you could never bring yourself to splurge on them, now is your chance to get them! The {BEST} part about the 91s is that these are usually such low prices, they are often less than what Sam's Club paid for them in the first place!

This little tip can easily be applied to items in Sam's Club that are always changing -- clothing, books, toys, seasonal, holiday, movies, video games etc. I'm sure it would also work with some food items that are not regular staples or if they simply need to get rid of their stock of an item.

Finding these 91s is also a great feeling because Sam's Club (mine at least) does not accept coupons. Saving money wherever you can, and grabbing hot sale items makes anyone feel good.

I don't know if this tip works at Costco since I only live near a Sam's Club. If anyone knows about Costco please let us know in the comments below!

I hope you start watching for those {91s} and grabbing those closeout items you really want!

- - Happy Savings! - -

Scrappin Saturday - - A Michael's Haul

This week, Sam and I went to a neighboring town which has a Michael's Craft Store. I was very excited to pick up a few things, including {Dollar Bin Steals}! I went there to make a specific purchase with my 40% off coupon, but I couldn't help looking at their cute little dollar products on the way.

Sadly, this little owl has wrinkles on the wood block, but you can see he stamps just fine!

(And he was only $1!!!)

I also got a heart and a Halloween BOO stamp. Both $1!!!

I couldn't believe the great wood stamps they had in the dollar bin. Some of them had wrinkles in the plastic, but the rubber was all tightly secured and mounted to the wooden block. I'm okay with a few wrinkles for $1!!!

I also got two sets of clear stamps. I found this super cute set with an owl in it. (My favorite!)

I also found these cute baker's tag stamps, which would be great for any holiday cookies or pies!

I found a nice set of round cards with envelopes in the dollar bin also. There are 8 cards and envelopes. They had other shapes and colors as well.

What I really went to buy was THIS! Do you know what it is?

If you had wanted a circle cutter for as long as I have, you know that this is the circle cutter from Martha Stewart Crafts.

I bought the cutter with my 40% off coupon and a set of three replacement blades.

Looks like it cuts great!

It cuts anywhere from a 1 inch circle all the way up to a 5 1/2 inch circle!

Hope you enjoyed the Michael's haul! I know I certainly did. I got what I was looking for and a few little treats! :D

- - Happy Crafting! - -

Work Your Buns Off! New Workout DVDs

During a little shopping session yesterday with the dear husband, we wandered into the exercise section of Target. As we have been trying to get in better shape and have more energy, I decided to look at the exercise DVDs. I think that working out at home will probably take place more than working out in the gym (at least in the beginning) so this would be a good "warming up" method. We purchased two workout DVDs, and I am very excited to try them out!

I have seen both of these DVDs at other retailers for twice the price of what I paid at Target. They were $9.99 each! That price made me even more excited to get home and workout!

I watched both DVDs when I got home so I would know what I was up against. Let me tell you, they look like a lot of fun....and pain. I am not overweight at all, but I am very out of shape. I lose energy so quickly. Just watching these I felt like I was getting tired!

I think everyone knows Jillian Michaels' reputation. She is a tough, lean, mean killing machine! She will push you to your limits. I am glad that there are beginner and advanced poses available in this workout. I am very excited to try these moves. They don't require any fancy equipment, and the positions used are fairly simple for yoga.

The Just Dance DVD looks like a lot of fun. It is all about moving around quickly and acting sexy to get a workout in. That's right - sexy. The only problem is, if you are out of shape and get tired quickly, it is hard to feel confident when attempting the dance routine. This is a DVD I will be practicing in private for a very long time before debuting it to any audience!

Overall I am very hopeful about these new exercise possibilities. Keeping everything new and fresh is always a great tip for getting your exercise in. On days when the weather is bad (which happens a lot where I live) I now have a few options for indoor workouts, without leaving my house. Check back in a few weeks for an update on my progress and what I think of these DVDs!

- - Happy Exercising! - -

Quick Tip Tuesday
Keep Your Wipes Wet

Okay, sometimes there is nothing more frustrating than trying to grab a wipe out of the package only to find out it's already dry. This happens to me all the time with make-up remover wipes, baby wipes (which we use on our dog when he's dirty!), dog deodorizing wipes, and other cleaning wipes. It just seems like half-way through the package, all of these wipes start to dry out on top. The good news is, there's a way to help!

Sure you can just get the wipe a little damp with water and it's usually good as new, but there's not always water close by, and it doesn't work as well with wipes for make-up removal. Here is a {quick tip} that does seem to work!

Normally the wipes sit in the container this way. Eventually the moisture falls to the bottom of the package and the top wipes dry out.

Whenever this starts to happen, just store the wipes package upside down for a day or so. You don't want to store them upside down all the time, or the bottom wipes will dry out. By turning them every so often, you keep the moisture moving through every layer of the wipes.

I know this tip was super simple, but it can really help. Many times I have thought the whole package of wipes were dried out and old, but the bottom wipes turned out to be drenched! This works with any type of packaged wipe - from baby and make-up to household cleaning. If the wipes are just stacked up in a box (like many baby wipes), just take the lid off and flip the stack upside down.

I hope this tip was helpful to you!

Scrappin Saturday - - St. Patrick's Day Cards

In my husband's family, cards are given out for every Hallmark holiday. If you can buy cards for it at the store, you can bet that my husband's family will be exchanging them. Coming from a family that was big on decorating and no so big on cards outside of birthdays and Christmas, I had to start paying attention to those other holidays! As the years have gone by, I have gotten better and better at hand-crafting each card. I like them all to be different and fun. Some cards turn out better than others, but my husband assures me that everyone {Loves} my homemade cards, no matter what they look like.

Here are some quick "silent" tutorials for this year's St. Patty's Day cards:

{Card #1}