The Power of Baking Soda! How to: Glass stove top clean

I have a black glass stove top. When we bought our house that is what it came with and I was actually really excited to use it because I had never had one before. After a couple of uses I realized I may not be a big fan. Over time I've learned how to *quickly* catch my spills {I'm not the best at paying attention to anything that is boiling on the stove}, but over time it just got worse and worse. Once my stove top got so bad with spills an burns, I tried everything to clean it, but nothing seemed to work. Then I read a pin on pinterest about baking soda, vinegar, hot water, potatoes, and a bunch of other random stuff. I only tried the baking soda and hot water and it worked pretty well!

Here is what I did:

1. Get a big bowl of hot, hot water full. Then put a big wash cloth {one or two, just big enough to cover your entire stove} in the water so it is soaking in the water.

2. Before putting baking soda on, wipe off with a paper towel anything you can from the stove top. Then cover it with baking powder.

3. Next ring out the towels, just a bit so they are not extremely dripping wet, but still pretty wet. Lay them on top of the baking soda.

4. Let them sit for about 15 mins. You can even do this process twice after wiping down once.

5. Wipe it down with the washcloths and scrub in circles hard around the whole stove top.

If you need more cleaning {I hope you don't :)} then pour more baking soda on the stove top and let the towels soak up some water and then sit on the baking soda again for another 10-15 mins.

The next thing I used baking soda for was my kitchen sinks!! One day I made a blueberry smoothie for the kids and my daughter had a little bit left so I dumped it out in the sink. In a rush I didn't get time to wash all of it down. So when I came back home I noticed little blue spots all around the sides of my WHITE sinks. I was so nervous that it wasn't going to come off. I tried scrubbing it and spraying 409 on it, but it didn't work.

Then I remembered my stove top trick and so I whipped out my baking soda! I got a heavy duty rough scrubbing sponge {you know those ones that have a rough side, use the rough side!}

 I let the baking soda sit for a bit and then scrubbed away. It took all {and more} of it off! I was one happy mom and later that night I showed my husband the sparkling white sinks. I was quite proud of my self. :)

So, if your sinks or stove top ever need a good scrub, don't be afraid to throw a little baking soda on there!

Happy cleaning.

How to: Signature

Hello.. just testing out my siggy :)

If you would like to know how to add your own signature, here's what I learned.

1. First I created my signature in Photoshop, or paint, or whatever works for you.

2. Then I uploaded it to photobucket.

3. On your blog, go to "Design" -- "Edit HTML" --

4. Click on the little box up top that says "Expand Widget Templates" You will want to have it checked if it is already not.

5. Hold down 'ctrl and F' this is the search bar, which on most desktops pops up on the bottom left hand corner {or at least mine does :)}.

6. Copy this code into the search bar: post-footer-line post-footer-line-1 

7. Once you have found that line you are going to make a new line underneath it {just hit enter after the > if there is one} and paste this code underneath:

<img src='IMAGE URL' style='border: none; background: transparent;' /><br/>

where the highlighted yellow box is, is where the code above should be

8. In that code where it is bold it says 'IMAGE URL' delete those words IMAGE URL {not the ' '} and copy in your DIRECT LINK of your siggy pic from photobucket and replace it where the words IMAGE URL were.

9. After that, you are done! Let me know how it works for you :)

How to: Natural Look-Makeup

I love a natural look, especially when it comes to make up. Being a busy mom on the go I need a quick morning regimen that I can stick to everyday and won't let me down.
Here's what I do basically in THREE Easy steps!

Foundation, bronzer, and mascara.


1. Use a liquid foundation. Apply it on lightly {I use about a pea size drop for my cheeks, then another pea size drop for nose, forehead, and eyelids} smooth it on your entire face. I use a sponge, but a make up brush would work as well.

Nu Skin Tinted Moisturizer 

{My sister used to work at Nu Skin and I have fallen in love with all of their products.. you will see shortly}.

 2. I think bronzer is such a great thing for every girl to have. It will add a little color to your face and brighten it up when you are in a rush or wake up way too early in the morning to get to work. I use my powder brush and blush brush for these steps. Dab your powder brush lightly in the bronzer and in circular motions apply it onto your face. You don't want a lot just a little bit all over.

3. With the blush brush, dab it into the bronzer again. We are going to give the cheeks more color than the entire face. This will make your cheekbones stand out. Brush onto the cheeks upward toward your hair line.

 You should be able to see a slight color difference on the cheeks. 

You don't want it too dramatic, but enough to bring out your cheekbones. 

If you want you may even add a little rose or peach colored blush.

 4. Using an eyelash curler, curl your eyelashes a few times. Then apply a few coats of mascara on top and bottom.

 Right now in my make up bag, I am using Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes.

Final result:

Always got to get a pic with the little Miss!

 There you go. A simple, natural, quick, on-the-go look! Doesn't take more than 10 mins. Anyone has time to do this.

Loose Curls

 Getting those long {or short} beautiful loose curls is so fast and simple. All you need is a good straightener and a few tips and tricks!

I recently cut my hair to shoulder length, but this will work for long or short hair {short hair may just go faster! Which is what I need these days with two kids who keep me busy :)}

Start off by setting your straightener to the right amount of heat. You may want to test a curl and see how well it curls. My straightener goes up to like 450* but I think that's quite high. I usually lower it a bit and it curls it just fine.

1. Part your hair. You can part it down the middle, the right, the left. I did might slightly off center, it doesn't matter where you do it though.

 2. Take little sections of hair, mine were really not thick at all, maybe an inch wide:

3. Before you start each curl, I always run my straightener down each strand of hair once to get it hot, like you are straightening that piece.
After you have run over it once, grab it up top again and start about two to three inches away from your roots {Or more if you don't want the curls starting so high}and turn the curl away from the mirror {imagine yourself standing in front of a mirror.. which I imagine you all are already doing, if not, props to you for not needing a mirror!} like so:

4. Slowly pull the curl toward the mirror and downward at the same time until the straightener reaches all the way to the bottom. Do this for each section.

After you have gone through majority of the hair you are done! Keep in mind you don't have to do all of it, I actually like having a few sections not curled, especially in the back. I like to tease my hair a little on the sides and spray some hair spray on it, you can do this too if you want!

 Back View

There you have it! Beautiful loose curls. Easy and simple.
Little Missy will even want in on a picture too :)