Idea Show House

Last week, our good friends (and one of our favorite couples) invited us to go with them to an Idea Show House located in Oakland County. At the time, I had no idea what an Idea Show House was, but I am so happy that we joined them.


Basically, it's a home upgraded to the max to give you ideas on everything from home heating systems to design. Let's take a look inside, shall we?

This is the first thing my eyes landed on upon our entrance. What a marvelous staircase. And that room? To die for! My husband was quick to claim that as "his office". 

I, of course, think it would make a better writing room. Take a look at that sunshine! And it's totally me with all of the books and trinkets!

From the stairs, the front door, guest bathroom, and mud room (not pictured) are all visible.

Lovely, right? 

 This boy's room was just perfect for a pint-sized super hero!

And this room was right up my alley...it puts me in the mind of our little guy's nursery, but all grown up!

Nice shelving!

It's important to say that this house had 4 bedrooms, all with their own FULL bathrooms & walk-in closets. Let's head to the master, my fav!

Sitting area of the master bedroom. I love all the light. I could definitely see myself curled up with a book or just enjoying the sun.

Look at that ceiling! AMAZING!

And here's a two-sided fireplace by the tub!

Nice closet space by California Closets!

Shower with built in seating...

 And every beautiful home deserves beautiful lighting!

Check out the dinning room!

 

And the living room looked so nice and comfy. Don't our friends look like they belong? :)

The kitchen with extra dinning

What's this? Nice shelving?  

Nope, try a hidden room!!!

Just the perfect place for your very own cigar lounge...what?!

And how about a basketball court? I would love this for my fellas :-)

With a full court side concession...man!

My little guy was all for this basement...very nice space to catch a film.

Needless to say, when it was time to go I didn't want to leave. With well over 5,000 sq. ft., this house had a odd way of being grand and homey all at the same time. I didn't even picture the half--the wine room (with water fountain) and laundry room were also two of my favorites. As you walked from room to room the lights automatically turned on and music came on through the hidden speakers. What a way to come home. Turn on the light for me and put on the Maxwell, now that is what I call home!

That was dope, right?

We stood outside for awhile discussing our favorite features and the changes we'd make when we're finally able to afford a home this nice. The price tag? With everything (furniture included) you can have this house for $1.8 million. I'm not sure if I'll ever feel comfortable enough to pay that much for a house, but I would certainly feel comfortable staying here with all of the amenities. Historic homes have my heart, but I could make an exception for this beauty!

More than anything, at the end of the day I was just grateful for good friendships. We use to party until all hours of the night (or should I say morning?) with these two, and now we're looking at show homes and talking about good credit scores. You know a friendship is real when it moves through all of life transitions. And although I would have loved to be able to put a bid on this house or even one half as grand, we were able to share a good time with good people--and that's something you just can't put a price tag on. Until the next time guys, XO!

Thrift Store Score!!!

 

Hey Guys! Lately, there hasn't been much going on around my way--no home projects, and no new DIY's. Nevertheless I've gone thrifting! That's always fun, at least in my book. Thrifting opens you up to treasures you may not come across at your usual shopping staples. Today, I'll share with you my latest super duper finds. So here goes:

Yes, I know I need a fill-in, but that's besides the point, lol. I absolutely fell in love with this picture frame. I adore the old, weathered look. I think it has so much charm. Price tag? $1.99 ;-)

Up next are these silver bowls. I purchased these for the shelves in my writing room. I have this shorter version and also another taller one. How much you say? $.80 for this guy and $1.00 for his taller friend!

Then I came across this guy. Not really sure what the intended purpose is, but I think it will ne great to fill with décor and other goodies (i.e potpourri, decorative balls, fruit, etc.)--especially around the holidays. I'm thinking of enhancing it just a bit by adding some gems. I think that would be pretty dangling around the bottom. Price tag? $2.00!

Then there was this wreath! I love, love, love it. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew that I had to take it home. It was just $6.00 and had a orange tag, so that meant that I would benefit from the half off sale and walk away with just spending three bucks. When I got up to the register the cashier informed me that there was an additional discount for "Christmas" items. I paid just $1.59 !!! Here's the thing, I don't think it is a Christmas item, it has apples on it--clearly country right? At least I thought so. I wasn't about to argue in favor of not getting a discount, so whatever.  If they thought it was Christmas then so be it. But when I got it home my husband said that he thought that it was a Christmas wreath too :-( What do you guys think? Here's a close up:

Apples, berries, ribbon with dainty little flowers--that's country right? Maybe it's the pines that's throws some people off. But of course, pines live in the summer too. Whatever the case, I washed it up and hung it on the door. I love the size and the fact that it is more oblong than round. I definitely lucked up with this!

And last but not least, this is the purchase that took the cake! Ready? Drum roll please...BOOM!

I have been longing for a storybook mirror since forever, and I can't believe that I actually got one! I'm not sure where I am putting this, or if I am even using it in this house, but I really want it to go in the bathroom. I think bathrooms with pedestal sinks and antique mirrors are soooo dope, but honestly this would look good anywhere. See that price, $8.18--I got it for half off of that!!!!

So there you have it, my latest thrift store finds. *Note: Purchases were from 3 different stores, so be sure to shop around! Until the next time guys, XO!

 



DIY Whipped Body Butter

I'm super excited about my latest DIY project--whipped body butter! I'm even more excited that my mom was able to create it with me. We had a blast! There's recipes all over the net to try if you're interested in making it yourself, but I like to keep things pretty simple. This body butter only involves TWO ingredients! Can you believe that, two?! Of course being the experimenter that I am, I have to play around with ingredients just a bit. But here is our initial test run for our DIY body butter.

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Shea Butter
1/2 Cup of Coconut Oil
Essential Oil of your choice for fragrance (optional)

Here's what the measurements look like when put into a bowl. Fragrance is added at the end once the mixture is whipped.

 

Some recipes call for double boilers and crazy melt times--not this one! Warm the Shea Butter and Coconut oil in the microwave in 30 second increments until it is completely liquefied. For me, that meant about a minute and twenty seconds. Simple aye?

 

It should look something like this when totally melted :)



After melting your mixture place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to firm. It says not to let it get completely hard, but from my personal experience I disagree. Allow the mixture to get hard--it's better for whipping that way.

Here it is a bit firmed up. Allow it to become a little more solid than this. When I tried to whip the mixture like this it turned into a regular lotion-not what you want. I ended up putting the mixture back into the fridge until it was hard. It worked great after that :-)

 

When you start the mixture will be a bit hard. The consistency is similar to (hard) coco butter in a bowl. You will have to break it up and it will be tough at fist. Eventually, it will smooth out enough in order to whip.

Not sure why I was unable to rotate the video, but you get the point ;-)

And here it is all nice and whipped. Looks like cake mix doesn't it? This is the point that you will want to add your fragrance.

 

Of course, while she was over, my mom tried her hand at sugar scrub from last week's post too. Here are all of our finished products for the day.



 It feels good to make your own products!



I asked my mom to write a review after using our DIY products and here's what she had to say:

 



 Made body scrub and body butter over the weekend and my showering experience will never be the same! First of all, the making of these products is ridiculously easy and the ingredients very inexpensive. Some items you may already have in your kitchen cabinets. Showering with the Sugar Scrub was like standing on the lower tier of heaven and the Body Butter applied afterwards was as lite and fluffy as fragrant whipped cream. Left my skin as soft and touchable as a newborn babe. Can't say enough about these DIY products!

 

LOL at that dramatic description, but it's actaully true! When using the body butter I noticed that it had the same consistency of my hair cream, so I said what the hey, and tried it out. It turned out wonderfully. My curls were well defined, shiny, and moisturized.

 

Hair looks just the same as when I use some of the expensive hair creams. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my hair after it was styled, but trust me, this stuff works!

 

 I am definitely going to play around with the recipe (different measurements, add more oils, etc.) to get it just right. Before you know it, I'll be able to cut out a whole list of items from my shopping list :-) We'll that does it for this week. My mom and I have already compiled a whole list of what to try next, I can't wait to see what type of delightfulness we can conjure up. Until the next time, XO good people!

 

 

Give Me Some Suga!

Anyone who knows me knows that there are very few things that I love more than a steaming hot shower. It goes without saying that I love all the goodies that comes along with it too. A while back my sister created a post detailing how to make your own sugar scrub here. I tried my hand at sugar scrub before, but her recipe was so simple and to the point that I had to give it another try. I love sugar scrub and this one has been my favorite.

If you can spare the change, Shea Moisture it's awesome! However, at $9.99 or more a pop, I just don't have it to give. I mean, this stuff goes FAST! So I did what any sensible woman desiring silky smooth skin would do. I mosied back over to my sister's post and took note. I used her recipe with some very slight variations. Here goes:

Ingredients:
1 Cup White Sugar
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 tablespoon of honey (used only in one scrub)
A few drops of fragrance (Eucalyptus Mint & Mango Hibiscus separately)

I did not use the Vanilla Extract pictured here. However, although it's imitation it smells delish and will be getting used very soon. It is also important to say that the EVOO & the Vanilla Extract came from the dollar store. Once I've mastered the right mix I might try using more expensive products, however the quality was spot on, so spending more is unnecessary.

After doing a bit of research I found that the type of sugar you use depends on how course you would like your scrub. Brown sugar is a bit courser and works really well as a body scrub, while raw sugar is the roughest and works great on feet. White sugar is said to be ideal for facial scrub, but I didn't have any brown sugar on hand, so I used what I had.

1 Cup of Sugar

I made two different batches and decided to experiment just a bit. I added a tablespoon of honey to the first container and did just over 1/4 cup of EVOO in the other.

1/4 Cup EVOO

 This is what the mixture looks like after the Evoo is poured into the sugar. I actually added more oil in the next batch ,and I am strongly considering adding more oil than that the next go round. I believe creating the perfect scrub is a learning process and you will have to continue to experiment until you find the mixture you perfer.

Adding the honey, yummy!!!

And here I am adding a few drops of fragrance into the mix. Let's be honest, I added more than a few drops, but I love smell goods! This is my favorite step of all, the air was intoxicating. Even with my "heavy hand" the fragrance is not overpowering.

See the consistency? I decided to use my ice cream scooper to transport the scrub into my jars and it worked like a dream! Depending on the type of scrub you're creating this is also the point that you may want to add a bit of food coloring to correlate with the scent. I decided to keep my mixture as is.

And here is the finished product. You want to make sure that you enclose your mix in a airtight container. The product should last for about 3 months that way. I picked up these cute little jars at Michaels for $1.50 each. Each one holds exactly the recipe listed above.  I also grabbed the fragrances from Michaels. Be sure to get the ones that specially state that they can be used for bath and body products. The fragrances for candle making are in the same aisle and should not be used on your skin.

 

This post would be incomplete if I didn't try it out right? It was absolutely lovely! The product was gentle, smelled lovely, and left my skin feeling completely moisturized. What more could a girl ask for? Creating sugar scrub truly is as simple as dumping all the ingredients into a bowl and mixing. I plan on experimenting much more in the future to master the consistency that I like. There's something really cool about knowing exactly what's going into your products, and that the environment is clean that they're created in! I can't wait to make more of this stuff! Eventually, I will have my own stock of bath and body products just for me!

Until the next time guys, XO!