DYI 1/2 Birthday Cake

DYI ½ Birthday Cake

 Materials Needed

• 2 Styrofoam circles
• Straight pins
• Felt to cover Styrofoam
• Ribbon to cover cake (this will be the frosting of the cake)

Extra Materials that could be used

• Cardboard to place cake on
• Stickers to spell out child’s name and ½ Birthday (I used a print out)

Once you have gathered your materials you cut the Styrofoam circles in half and place the extra half’s on top. *Make sure your circles are the same size by placing them on top of each other at the store*

Use straight pins and cover the Styrofoam with felt or other material completely.*Make sure you cover completely and securely. *

 

Use ribbon or other material to act as the “frosting” of the cake and pin securely.

 Add extra embellishments to make the cake look real. 

-Bianca

Arm Candy Trend

It has been going on for a while, but lately.. this trend is HOT HOT HOT!

The Arm Candy trend, or ARM PARTY if you wish. This new trend consists of stacking bracelets together. Usually bracelets that are cohesive together, or a very feminine bracelet with a chunky bracelet.

So how is this "arm candy" tied together? Well you see, they all have blue undertones and they go very well together, even though they are all made of different materials and composed of different textures because of the common color. The first two bracelets are Juicy Couture and the cocktail ring as well. The last bracelet with turquoise studs can also be found at Uniques but it is not Juicy Couture. Adorable, isn't it?

Isn't the silver fabric background gorgeous? it's a juicy couture blazer in case you were wondering. OKAY OKAY back to business, arm candy business. This one is gold tones, as you can see. The link/chain bracelet has become a LOVED piece. Easy to wear, easy to match and this particular one goes with just about anything since it is two toned. Both of these pieces are JUICY COUTURE.

One of my favorite "arm candy" shots that we got.. So colorful, all so different yet so beautifully together. The very top pink one with the pretty crystals reminds of Princess Diana famous ring with a girly girl backdrop. The silver linked bracelet with pave crystals just ties all the bracelets together since both of them have a bit of silver. So remember if you wanting to combine them all, make sure to add the one they have in "common" in the middle. And the last one reminds of a glam beach babe. It's so dainty, it wraps around twice, and it's simply fabulous.

Last but not least, our silver Juicy Couture party. The very top one is such a beautiful linked bracelet with the pave link in the middle. It's perfect for any wardrobe. The middle belt buckle bracelet is the most delicate of the bunch that is why it is in the middle. It is dainty, beautiful and it's an every day wear. It opens up like a belt buckle. You'll have to go in to Unique's to see it. The last bracelet is a pyramid stud with every other one being covered in pave crystals. Juicy found a way to take the edge of and make it so feminine.

All of these trends and more can be found at : www.facebook.com/uniques.fashion

or follow them on twitter at : www.twitter.com/uniques_fashion

The 1/2 Birthday

I started noticing people celebrate monthly birthday’s last year when my stepsister was having a baby boy and was looking for a gift. I really do appreciate personalized items and just had to buy him a couple of onesie’s and a personalized sippy cup. I noticed that the shop owner had monthly stickers from just arrived to 12 months.

How cute are these stickers i thought, You just stick them on to a onesie and take a picture. I’ve seen them at different shops since then and even purchased mine from Etsy to match the theme of the baby shower. It’s a great idea to show how much your baby has grown.

Well recently I noticed the celebration of the ½ birthday (6 months).  This is a great idea because they are half way to one year and that is a great reason to celebrate. You don’t have to go all out and throw a party (you could if you wanted to though) but doing little things like maybe having friends over for dinner or just the grandparents would be great too.

I do however think that pictures are a must! You can hire a professional photographer (Pictures taken by 4 Ever After Photography http://www.4everafterphotography.com/ ), take the pictures yourself or even go to a studio like JCP (www.jcp.com ).

Another thing that is really cute is a half birthday cake, you can buy a round cake from a bakery and have them stack the other half on top to resemble half a cake (I adore CC’s Sweets & Tweets https://shop.ccsweets.com/ ) or if you don’t think it’s a good idea for your 6^th month old to have a cake yet, you can make one like I did (DYI in Friday’s post).

Also if you don’t buy the monthly stickers or even if you do, there are ½ birthday onesies! I first saw one from Polka Dot Junkie (http://polkadotjunkie.com/item_361/Its-My-12-Birthday.htm ), which is too cute! (Please keep in mind turnaround time when ordering) or if your crafty like Lizbeth you can make one! Raizel’s ½ birthday shirt came out too cute!

-Bianca

Looks for LE$$

So we all like to find a good bargain here and there, when it comes to being a savy shopper we tend to go to the sales. But what if we don't need to look for a GOOD SALE, or coupons, what if we can just simply get THE LOOK FOR LESS?

So here is MY personal opinion (Lizbeth Muriel) on  products. If you know me.. you will know that I am a girly girl, a mom and well.. a business woman  lady. Being able to save on some items so I can splurge on others is VERY important to me. We all enjoy the little luxuries, a nice handbag, winter boots ((even though in the RGV it's impossible to wear them and get your $$ worth without getting a stare down or two, since our supposed winter is 80 degrees.. LOL))

Enough blabbering, here is one of my FAVORITE items that I absolutely LOVE, that I would like to COMPARE to the MAC lipsticks and lip glosses. I've been an MAC lipstick and lip glosses user for at least 10+ years. I always had to buy the lip gloss/lip glass, lipstick and wear them both at once, that's not mentioning the lip balm I had to aply PRIOR to putting these on so my lips wouldn't look all dry.

I discovered these babies on one of my many trips to walgreens. They are exactly what they are called, LIP BUTTER. I was hesitant about buying them considering I had tried to give revlon a chance before and it creased tons & wearing that other lipstick I bought from them had to be worn with chapstick before. But NOPE, not these!! They go on smoothly and leave you that glossy look that a lip gloss would usually give you. So in my opinion it's a 2x1 deal, lip gloss and a lipstick.

Here is a picture of them on skin: karlasugar.net blog

What excited me the most, aside from the fact that I can save a pretty penny in the long run on this is that WALGREENS actually has them on sale pretty often. When I got to the register The lady told me that it was buy 1 get 2nd 50% off + there was a $1 off ((each)) lipstick on their coupon book (that they have at the entrance of the store).

So although buying "drugstore" makeup may not ve EVERYONES cup of tea (i'm a bit of a snob when it comes to foundation.. I will not experiment, I only use bare minerals) I think that these are worth a shot.  Don't you think?

Have you found a look for less that you would like to share? Be our guest blogger for our next Tuesday look for less, e-mail us at info@ilovemcallen.com

xoxo

Lizbeth Muriel

facebook.com/LizbethMuriel

PB & Jelly SUSHI

I've always been told "It's not what you say, it is HOW you say it". Well, when it comes to food presentation is everything as well. Make the ordinary into something extraordinary that will have your kids LOVING their ordinary meals, sometimes all it takes is a little tweak here and there. Get your kids involved in their snacks, it can be fun for all. We said fun, not clean, because YES it wil be messy.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sushi Rolls

• Prep Time: 3 min
• Cook Time: 0 min
• Yield: 1 serving (8 pieces)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 2 tablespoons Smucker's® Strawberry Jelly, or any Smucker's® Jam, Jelly or Preserves of your choice
• 2 slices bread

DIRECTIONS:

1. REMOVE crusts from bread. With a rolling pin or large soup can, completely flatten bread.
2. SPREAD 1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1 tablespoon fruit spread on each slice of bread
3. ROLL each slice into a tight spiral. Cut each spiral into 4 pieces.

This Recipe is from JIF.COM  here is the link to their direct post : http://www.jif.com/Recipes/Details/3004

Hope you ENJOY!!!

-Lizbeth Muriel

www.facebook.com/LizbethMuriel