easy diy glazed donut nails

August 5, 2022

I’ve never had gel or acrylic nails. Heck, I barely ever polish my nails these days. With all the gardening and painting/crafting, my nails are barely ever all the same length. And, if my nails aren’t all the same length, I don’t draw attention to them with polish!

But recently, by some strange miracle, my nails haven’t been breaking and they are, in fact, all the same length!

I don’t go for all the crazy nail trends since I prefer a natural, subtle looking fingernail. I prefer an understated polish – like Essie’s ballet slippers, for example.

But I have to admit, the ‘glazed donut’ trend is one that I actually like. It is shiny and subtle and looks oh so much like summer!

I’ve heard that Hailey Bieber was the cause of this trend and that she used a chrome powder to get the look. Though I was interested in getting the look, I was not interested in getting a salon manicure or buying a bunch of products to get it!

I ended up getting something that looks pretty darn close and all I did was buy one bottle of Essie nail product to get it!

Essie is my ‘go to’ nail brand and I already had some polish in a shade called sheer fantasy that I had picked up as a substitute for ballet slippers when my local Target was out of it. I purchased Essie FX Expressie from my local CVS in iced out to add more of a luminous look.

To achieve the trendy glazed look, this is what I did. I already had a clear top coat and a coat of Essie’s sheer fantasy on my nails. I added a coat of the Essie FX Expressie in iced out on top of that. I ended up adding another coat of sheer fantasy to make it a little more subtle – less purple. I liked the way it looked, so I added a clear top coat and that’s that! Easy peasy! An inexpensive version of the glazed donut nail look!

I hope you are inspired to try a new nail color of your own this summer! (Click here to see my dream nail polish collection!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment

sea oat planting in amelia island

June 10, 2022

It is always enjoyable to do a little bit of a good deed. Sometimes it is incredibly educational as well. This was the case with my recent morning planting of sea oats!

On a visit to Amelia Island, Florida, I was privileged to have the opportunity to plan a community service project with a small group. Working with the naturalist at the Ritz-Carlton, we planted sea oats in the sand.

You may wonder what sea oats are and why we would plant them in the sand?

Sea oats or seaside oats is a tall subtropical grass that is an important component of coastal sand dune and beach plant communities.

Its massive root system is capable of holding soil and sand in place during extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tropical storms. This plant’s habitat puts it at the forefront of shoreline protection.

And because Amelia Island sand is the breeding ground for sea turtles, planting the sea oats is benefiting them!

Sea oats are so important in Florida that they are protected under regulations of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection! The plants cannot even be cut back or removed!

Planting the oats was a pretty simple project, but so enjoyable! Especially knowing we were also helping out the turtles!

Commemorating the activity, I gifted each participant a key chain – (beautifully handmade by Ralph & Martha of Connecticut)!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are inspired to serve your own community in some small way!

Have a great weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment

diy aussiedoodle canvas bag

March 11, 2022

I recently spied a canvas bag with a puppy pattern on a holiday clearance table in a gift shop. I thought it was adorable and wished it was an Aussiedoodle instead of the breed pictured on the canvas since my fave puppy in life happens to be an Aussiedoodle!

Then I started thinking – even if I found a bag with an Aussiedoodle pictured, it probably wouldn’t be a blue merle (his coloring) with one blue eye like my buddy Goose!

So, I decided to buy the bag I saw on sale and modify it to resemble my friend Goose!

I just used some acrylic paint and revised the image on the canvas. Now the bag reminds me of my buddy!

Just goes to show that inspiration is everywhere!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

1 comment

blended, not stirred

January 15, 2022

Isn’t it something how our beverages of choice change with the seasons?

The first thing we wanted to do on a recent girls’ trip to Florida was to sample the frozen drinks! A mere matter of hours ago we had been in a snowstorm and SO cold…we hit Florida and, just like that, we were ready for the cold beverages!

How wonderful to have our drink choice be the big decision of our day!

It was fun while it lasted, but of course, once we are back in New England and single digit temps, it’s all hot cocoa, hot tea or coffee!

What is your favorite cold weather drink?

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Inspiration idea: Tomorrow is the 126^th birthday of The Breakers in Palm Beach. Guests can enjoy a Tootsie Roll (created in 1896) martini or an Aged to Perfection cocktail in honor of the anniversary. I say, buck the system and try one of these cool drinks this weekend! Both use orange juice, so make up a fresh batch in advance!

1 comment

candy cane chocolate hearts

January 7, 2022

So, I have quite a few candy canes left from my holiday decor. I love decorating with them, but I don’t really eat them! Now that the holidays are behind us, I was trying to come up with some ways to use the leftovers! Using them to stir hot cocoa is always fun! I have pushed them into chocolate covered marshmallows which is also a fun way to use them.

I have never though, tried to melt them…until now! After some experimentation, I discovered my candy canes got nice and soft, but not very hot, after being in a 250 degree oven for 5 minutes. The softness made them flexible. Since Valentine’s Day is approaching, I decided to make some hearts by putting two candy canes together. I simply put the candy canes on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper in the basic shape I wanted. After 5 minutes, I took them out of the oven and gently pinched the ends together.

Deciding to add chocolate – they are for Valentine’s Day after all and mint and chocolate go great together, right? – I took the hearts off the parchment paper and drizzled some dark chocolate onto the parchment. I put the baking sheet into the fridge for a little bit to set the chocolate. After taking the baking sheet out of the fridge, I set my candy cane hearts on top of the chocolate drizzle.

Next, I filled the hearts I created with melted white chocolate and popped the baking sheet back into the fridge to set.

After the chocolate was set, I took the hearts off the pan and ended up with some pretty drizzled peppermint/chocolate hearts! A great recycling of my leftover candy canes!

There are so many variations possible with this simple procedure. The drizzle can be pink or red if you prefer. Or, forgo the drizzle and write a name on the heart when the chocolate is set.

I hope you are inspired! Set your oven to 250 degrees and start getting creative with those leftover candy canes!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

easy diy marker ornament

December 17, 2021

Making holiday ornaments using paint markers and glass balls is always fun to do. It doesn’t take any talent to come up with a nice looking ornament for tree hanging or as a gift. The only supplies needed are clear glass ornaments and paint markers. A pretty ribbon, of course, goes without saying!

Craft stores sell boxes of clear ornaments. Picking up a box or two when they are on sale is a great idea – having these ornaments on-hand means a homemade gift is always at the ready!

For the design here, in addition to the ornament and marker, I also used some stick-on crystals from the craft store.

This design is probably the easiest one I have ever done! Give it a try! (I spray painted the silver top of the ornament with a burnished gold paint and added some glitter – the silver was a little too shiny silver for me!)

For some more ideas for DIY glass ball ornaments, click here and here.

I hope you have fun decorating some glass ornaments to give as a hostess gift or to hang on your tree!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

sweater weather decor

December 3, 2021

One of the great things about spending some time visiting favorite stores at the holidays is picking up some decor inspiration.

I have a quick DIY to share with you from a visit to one of my fave gift shops.

Out and about on a recent shopping excursion, I saw these vases at Grace in Niantic, Connecticut all wrapped up in ‘sweaters.’ So cute, right?

What a great way to turn any old, boring clear vases (the ones that come from the delivered floral arrangements) into fun seasonal elements!

And even if you don’t have any old sweaters or clear vases laying around – they are the perfect items to thrift!

Love this! Use sweaters that best match your decor. Check out my creations in upcoming Instagram stories!

Happy crafting! Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

pumpkins with natural style

October 22, 2021

At Terrain recently, I couldn’t help but admire some of the pumpkins adorned with natural elements. They reminded me of some pumpkins I decorated with found materials last year. You can see those by clicking here.

I thought you may be inspired by the ones I saw at Terrain. I especially like the decorated heirloom pumpkins!

I hope these photos will get you started on decorating some of your own!

Enjoy!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

pumpkin oyster shells

October 8, 2021

I don’t know what happened this year…by now I would normally be knee-deep in velvet pumpkins! I always enjoy creating pumpkins from velvet and adding real pumpkin stems. You’ve also seen me try new fabrics – new and vintage – each year.

I hope, if you have been following this blog, you have tried making some yourself. You can find detailed instructions by clicking here.

This year though, I haven’t made a single fabric pumpkin! I guess because I had been working on the oyster shell garland, I just stayed in oyster shell mode for fall!

And, instead of pumpkins, I’ve been making fall themed oyster shells! If you want to try making some yourself, the complete instructions can be found be clicking here.

I hope you are inspired to create some fall decor of your own!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

no comments

falling for green

September 17, 2021

Gone are the days when pumpkins were only orange! Those of us neutral décor lovers were certainly ecstatic when white pumpkins came onto the scene years ago…what could be better?!