DIY Projects

How-To Make a Hot Cocoa Bar | DIY Gift Idea

November 15, 2021 & Leave a Comment

Hi there! Happy Monday!

For the past several years I have been making a DIY Hot Cocoa Bar and a personal friend asked me to share what I use for my hot cocoa bar, so today I am going to share how to make a hot cocoa bar. This hot cocoa bar is also a great DIY Christmas gift idea that would be perfect as a Christmas gift basket.

How To Make a Hot Cocoa Bar

I slowly collected things over time, mostly from the Target Bullseye Playground (a.k.a Dollar Spot) but will link as many items as possible below.

Hobby Lobby Items:

Tier Tray (but linking from Amazon for a great price!)

Gingerbread galvanized signs

“Hot cocoa box”

“Hot chocolate” sign

“Cuddle in a cup” sign

Hot cocoa spoons

Santa espresso cups

Target Items:

“Hot cocoa” sign

“Cookie house” cookie jar

“Believe” ornament

Tea towels/Decorative towels

Gingerbread mug

Mrs. Claus ceramic trivet

“Mrs. Claus” ornament

“Mrs. Claus Bakery” ornament

Paper straws

TJ Maxx Items:

Santa bowl

“Gingerbread” cookie jar

Walmart Items:

Sugar canister

Gingerbread measuring spoons

Gingerbread measuring cups

“Cocoa” canister

Gingerbread house candy jar

Cocoa mixes, syrups, Cocoa Hershey Kisses, K-Cups, and Marshmallows

Dollar Tree Items:

Peppermint edible spoons

Family Fare Items:

Holiday tea

Meijer Items:

Holiday mini whisk

Shop

Have you made a cocoa bar? What is your MUST-HAVE item?

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BAN.DO 2017 AGENDA REVIEW AND WHY I SWITCHED TO A SIMPLE PLANNER!

September 19, 2016 & Leave a Comment

Hi there! Happy Monday!

I hope that you had a great weekend! Today Connor, our middle little love, started school! I can’t believe I now have two of three in school! Things have been crazy lately, and that inspired this life change for me and I want to share it with you today.

WHY THE CHANGE?

Lately I have been feeling completely overwhelmed and I decided that I needed to simplify my life in areas where I could, and try to cut myself a little slack. I have been an avid Erin Condren Life Planner user for years, and while I still love the Life Planner I decided it was becoming too much for me. I know, that sounds awfully dramatic because after all, it is only a planner, but the way I used the Erin Condren planner it really was too much for me at this point in my life. My Life Planner was full-on weekly sticker sheet spreads, fancy markers, and not only was that time consuming, but it was expensive. I loved it! And I still do, they’re fun and like a scrapbook or memory keeper. At some point I hope to go back to it, but it was becoming something I dreaded doing instead of something that brought me joy. If I do go back to a decorated planner, I will have two planners because I can’t imagine giving up the Ban.do style! Right now I need function and a little cute tossed in, which is what made me order the Ban.do 2017 Agenda.

THE DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE:

The second I ordered the Ban.do planner I felt like a weight had come off my shoulders! That sounds crazy, it isn’t as if I was forced by anyone but myself to fill out my other planner in such detail, but I truly felt lighter after deciding to make the switch! The Ban.do planner is adorable, and gives me the cuteness factor I crave, but it’s also SUPER functional and easy to fill out on-the-go! I love that I can toss it into my bag and that is it! It also is way more cost effective! I spent $25 on the planner including shipping and it comes with cute little stickers, a cute “secret code” key and messages sprinkled throughout the planner, and a planner with monthly view and weekly pages that has inspirational and funny quotes! I am obsessed! I am a convert!!

BUY THE BAN.DO 17 MONTH CLASSIC AGENDA

(*Note: NOT an affiliate link!)

What planner or agenda do you use? Please let me know in the comments! Have you let go of anything that made you feel a little bit more free? Let me know that as well! Have a wonderful week! Thank you for reading : )

Be Me Nail Art Pens Review!

March 30, 2016 & Leave a Comment

Hi there! Happy Wednesday!

I recently did a review on 2B Colours cosmetics and shared a tease about a nail art pen review coming soon and today is the day I share them with you! I was sent these Be Me Nail 2-in-1 Brush and Art Pens for review, and I was pretty apprehensive because I am not into nail art. <–Blunt right? I think it is adorable, but besides doing an accent nail every once in a great while, I usually stick to a basic manicure. Why do I not usually do nail art? Basically because it intimidates me since I am creative but NOT an artist at all, and also I feel like I barely have time to paint my nails as is. So, I decided to review these but keep it real with my bad nail art and all. Thank you to Be Me for sending me these for review! As always with my reviews, all opinions are my own honest opinions: ) If you want to keep seeing more reviews and giveaways from me, please like my social media and subscribe here and to my YouTube channels! The more subscribers, “likes”, and followers I have the more companies want to work with me which benefits you as well! And, I get giddy anytime I get a new like! My Instagram is updated daily, as well as most of my social media.

What I was Sent:

I was sent this Nail Art Pens Festive Collection. I believe this was a holiday collection, but the colors are beautiful so I didn’t mind at all!

First Impressions:

I really like that each color can be used as a nail art pen or as traditional brush and bottle nail polish.

My Nail Art:

Pros:

When used as a pen these have a SUPER fine point and it was pretty easy for me to get very exact lines. I think with a little practice I could really have some fun with these for holidays or special occasions. I love plastic bottle because you can squeeze it while drawing with the pen to get the polish to flow the way you need it to.

Cons:

Each pen comes with a color on each end, and while you can take them apart I realized quickly that I couldn’t get the cap off (without smudging my nails anyways!) unless the colors were connected. I also found that it took quite a while for this to dry, so the design was easy to make but the time spent drying was longer than when I just throw on a few coats of polish.

Overall:

I am excited to use these for holidays! I found myself looking up some YouTube videos and I’m excited thinking about doing things for the 4th of July already and it isn’t even April yet! I think these are very user friendly, and a lot of fun. My daughter, Hailey, is really excited about these, too! She thought my nails looked MUCH COOLER with some nail art ; )

Where To Buy:

I appreciate that these are easy for anyone to grab online! They are available at Walmart.com, Kmart.com, Target.com, and my favorite Amazon.com.

You can follow Be Me Nail on Twitter for much better inspiration and nail art that I created ; ) I also love following the Be Me Nail Art Instagram feed.

If you have any questions let me know! I need to challenge myself to try some cool nail art in the future. If you’d like to see any nail art or tutorials I *might* panic a little, but I would certainly be willing to try for my readers : ) Have a great weekend! Please don’t forget to subscribe! xx

EASTER BAKING + EASTER BASKETS! | WHAT ARE YOUR EASTER TRADITIONS?

March 23, 2016 & Leave a Comment

Hi there! Happy Wednesday!

Because of everything going on with our middle kiddo, Connor, Easter has snuck up on me a little bit this year. I had a lot of fun last week at Target with my mom (thanks Mama) and browsing Amazon.com (thanks for picking up the package Hubs!) gathering things for Hailey, Connor, and Logan for their Easter baskets. I had wanted to film a video for my LeahTackles YouTube channel, or at least do a blog post sharing what I got each kid and how I themed their baskets this year, but due to all the traveling lately I didn’t have the stuff in time. If you would still be interested in seeing a video or blog post on what they got, or think I should film one to post next year, let me know in the comments!

Anyways, long ramble over, today I want to share some past Easter related posts and list a few ideas I have for last minute basket ideas! And, I want to know: What are YOUR Easter traditions? If you know me, I am BIG into family traditions, but we don’t have as many for Easter as we do for Christmas. We enjoy doing the fun Easter things like the Easter Bunny, decorating and hunting for eggs, baking, and sharing with our children part of what Easter means to us as well.

PIC FOR CUTENESS:

PAST EASTER VIDEOS:

PAST EASTER POSTS:

Easter Basket Cupcakes-Hopping Into Spring Series Part 1

Simple 3 Ingredient Easter Candy-Hopping Into Spring Series Part 2

DIY Mickey and Minnie Easter Baskets!!

LAST MINUTE EASTER BASKET IDEAS:

THEMES:

Character

A Day At the Beach

Sports

Comics

Things That Go (cars, planes, trains)

Glamour Girl (makeup or Bath & Body Works minis for a tween or teen or me ;D )

Music (could be instrument toys for little kids or headphones for older kids)

Gardening

Crafting/Art

ANYTHING! Have fun with it! It’s so fun to make any Easter basket, but I love doing a theme.

OUR EASTER BASKET THEMES FOR 2016:

Hailey’s (4 years old almost 5) basket is “Let’s Make Something” with craft supplies, baking supplies, and gardening supplies being the main items!

Connor’s (3 years old) basket is “Things That Go” with cars and trains taking up most of his basket.

Logan’s (1 year old) basket is “Toddler Exploration” with new board books, bath toys, and other fun age-approriate fun.

PLACES TO SHOP FOR EASTER STUFF:

Target Dollar Spot (need I say more?!)

Dollar Tree

Don’t forget to tell me about your favorite family traditions! I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend! We might be spending ours with snow…which we didn’t have at Christmas! That’s crazy midwest weather for you : ) Wish me luck as we wrap up Connor’s clinic and attempt the Easter Bunny with 3 under 5!!

THE NEW MUST HAVE PLANNER ACCESSORY! byANGIEBOUTIQUE Planner Pouch

February 15, 2016 & Leave a Comment

Hi there! Happy Monday!

Last year I got my very first Erin Condren Life Planner and I really enjoyed it but didn’t dive completely into the planner world but this year I’ve fallen back in love and I am all in. As many of you know by now, I am currently living away from home every week for the next couple of months (shameless plug: watch our Daily Vlogs to see our adventure!) and needed something to use to carry my planner and all of my planning goodies. I saw a picture of a byAngieBoutique planner pouch on Instagram and instantly was swooning! After talking to Angie we decided to coolaborate and I couldn’t be happier to be sharing her product with all of you. All opinions are my own, but I was gifted this pouch for my review.

The Rebecca Portfolio:

This is the absolute PERFECT pouch for any planner lover out there! My mom doesn’t have an Erin Condren, but she loves the concept for her coloring books, too. I love that I can easily fit not just my planner, but washi tape, scissors, pens, and other planning odds and ends. Plus, how adorable is this?! Angie has the cutest fabrics, too.

Construction:

This bag is not only super cute, but it’s extremely well made. The stitching is flawless, and the zippers and vinyl are both very good quality. I can really fit a lot in here without feeling like I’m going to jam it to the point of breaking. It also isn’t too giant, so I can slide it into a diaper bag or large purse easily. You could definitely fit this in a backpack or a lot of brief cases, also.

Features:

3 pockets (2 zipper pockets & 1 slip pocket)
Clear vinyl on both zipper pockets
Zipper closure on main pocket will not allow your planner to fall out or ‘pop out’ if bag is tilted or turned upside down
Fully lined with hidden seams
Includes a fabric tab on one side of the bag
Reinforced seams

Overall:

This pouch has made me plan more because it has made planning much more functional for me. I love that I can put literally hundreds of stickers, a bunch of washi, and a pack of pens easily inside along with the planner. I would truly suggest this to anyone who loves planning, especially if they ever plan away from home.

SOMETHING FOR ME | ADULT COLORING BOOKS?

February 1, 2016 & 2 Comments

Hi there! Happy Monday!

I hope that all of you had a great weekend! I got to spend some great time with my husband and all three kids and that just makes my heart happy! I am a person who likes to be busy, and that’s good because I am very busy (in fact more busy than even I would like!) but I am horrible about making time for myself! I know a lot of you out there, especially moms, can probably relate! It’s hard to prioritize time for yourself! As I’m sure you’ve noticed, everyone and their mother is using adult coloring books (literally, my mom has some!), so I decided to jump on the bandwagon. If you’ve been watching our daily vlogs you know that in just a couple of days our life will be getting even crazier, so I thought this would be the perfect time to try these. I am fairly crafty, but I am not an artist at all, but I am excited! I think it’s important that we do something for ourselves that is just for fun and just for us! So, in the comments, tell me something you do for yourself! And, have you tried any adult coloring books?

Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful week and do something for you : )

MAKE SOMEONE’S DAY FOR UNDER $10 SEND “HAPPY MAIL”!

January 18, 2016 & 2 Comments

Hi there! Happy Monday!

I hope that you had a fantastic weekend! I got to go on a date with the hubs on Friday which was long overdue and so nice! And on Sunday Hailey had her very first cheerleading competition. Hailey did such an incredible job, it was just her and one other girl for her performance and she ROCKED it! What did you do over the weekend? Let me know in the comments!

Last Wednesday I had what I like to call a “Happy Mail Day”. One of my best friends and sorority sisters surprised me when a package I knew was on the way had a bunch of extra goodies tucked inside! And if you know me, you know that lots of cute little details is completely up my ally! And we also got our first-ever mail from one of our KwapisFamilyTackles subscribers (and friends!) which was so sweet, too! My “Happy Mail Day” made me so happy, and is continuing to make me so giddy happy when I think about it, that I thought it would be fun to share some of my ideas for brightening your friends day by sending them some “Happy Mail”. I plan to start doing this for my friends, slowly but surely, because I think it’s such a nice way to show some love, support, and appreciation for them adding to your life.

My “Happy Mail”:

1. Stuff a Mug

Starbucks has a lot of pricy mugs, but they usually have one or two out at a time that are less than $10. Or, go to TJMaxx or Home Goods to find a super cute mug for less. Then buy some pretty chocolates, stickers, a tube of lipstick, or a fun nail polish to stick inside to make it extra special.

2. Cozy Winter Day

I love the idea of getting a fun pair of fuzzy socks, a packet of nice hot cocoa or coffee, and a magazine that you know they’d enjoy to create a little cozy winter day gift.

3. Pretty Up That Desk

I love having fun stationary, pencils, and cute little decor set up on my desk. I think gathering some fun washi tape, pens, coasters, or other small knick-knacks would be such a cute little gift to get in the mail!

4. Printed Pictures

If you have pictures together consider printing them (if you use a service like Groovebook already this would be super easy to do!) and putting them together in an envelope with fun captions! I know most of us are bad at actually printing off our pictures these days, and I personally would adore a nice gesture like this.

5. Bake It Up

I remember shortly after one of my bridal showers baking some cheesecake bars and I wanted to send them to the person who had gotten us the baking book, but I had zero clue how to do so! I didn’t own a vacuum sealer, but I went to the store and bought a small Ziploc Vacuum Pump kit for a few dollars and it worked beautifully! Now I can send brownies, cookies, or breads easily!

And remember, packaging is everything! Use fun duct tape or washi tape to decorate the box, include a cute note, and make it as fun to open as possible!

What are your favorite ways to show your friends some love? I would love to start some conversation in the comments! Don’t be shy, commenting is super easy, free, and you won’t get spammed! Just try it!! xx

CUSTOM BUNTING FLAGS DIY (PERFECT QUICK & CHIC VALENTINE’S DAY DECOR!)

January 13, 2016 & Leave a Comment

Hi there! Happy Wednesday!

I hope that you’re having a fantastic week and thank you for reading! As most of you know, I absolutely LOVE Christmas! I say that I sing Christmas carols all year and that’s no exaggeration. I also put my tree up November 1st…yes, I’m on of *those* people. So, when I have to pack away my beloved Christmas decorations, it’s always a little sad. This year because the house felt so plain without all of the Christmas decorations, I decided to decorate for Valentine’s Day, which usually I do very minimally (read: window clings and kids art projects). I have basically a $0.00 budget for Valentine’s Day decorations, so I decided to do a few D.I.Y style. So, here is an easy DIY for bunting flags project that takes almost no time, and costs no or very little out-of-pocket money. I loved it so much that I made one for Logan’s birthday, too!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

-Cardstock

-Scissors

-Printer

-Ribbon, string, or bakers twine

Step 1:

Use Ella Claire’s amazing free bunting printables and print off the letters you need onto the cardstock of your choice! Do not be intimidated by this!! All I did was select the print icon and then look to see which pages you need to print! So for example I needed 3,7, and 8 to spell “O-N-E” for Logan’s birthday bunting flags.

Step 2:

Cut out your flags.

Step 3:

Use a hole punch to punch a hole on either side of the top of each flag.

Step 4:

Starting with the ribbon (or whatever you’re using to string your flags) on the front side of the first letter and string each letter on. *Tip: Be careful not to pull the string, but instead gently slide the letters so that the paper doesn’t rip.

Step 5:

Hang up your adorable bunting and impress your friends ; )

If you found this helpful please considering sharing! You can “Pin” this post on your Pinterest account by hovering over any of the pictures or using the Pinterest share button at the bottom of this post. Thank you!

POPSUGAR MUST HAVE BOX | DECEMBER 2015 | LAST POP SUGAR EVER?!

December 16, 2015 & 2 Comments

Hi there! Happy Wednesday!

I just opened what just might be my last PopSugar Must Have Box ever! I have decided after three full years as a subscriber to take a break so that I am able to try other things (which of course I’ll also share with you). I absolutely adore PopSugar, so it’s sad but I know I’ll survive ; ) The PopSugar Must Have Box is a monthly lifestyle subscription box that has food, fashion, beauty, home decor, and exercise goodies for $39 per box.

PopSugar Must Have Box December 2015:

Luv Aj The Rose Gold Ombré Bracelet

$65

I love that this has silver, rose gold, and gold together! Mixing metals is so fun, but I’ve never done three at once before.

Stowaway Cosmetics Créme Lipstick Trio

$30

These colors are gorgeous! I can’t wait to try them!

Nima Oberoi Lunares Geo Stopper

$24

How gorgeous is this?! I love that it can be used over and over without breaking or tarnishing.

Swing Design Nova Blue Mist Jewelry Box

$36

This is pretty, I love the color, and it’s practical, but I’m not super excited about this. However, even though I’m not jumping for joy, I bet this will get a lot of use!

My Cup of Cake Classic Belgian Chocolate

$5,99

I have yet to have a really delicious mug dessert, so I am excited to try this! *Maybe* I’ll split it with Stephan, or else enjoy it when he isn’t here ; )

Meri Meri Silver Stars on White Glitter Tape

I love washi tape, so this was a fun surprise! I think this will be the perfect finishing touch for pretty Christmas presents!

Special Extra:

Tiny Prints Gift Tag Stickers + $20 Promo Card

I will use the gift tags, and it’s nice they offer the promo.

Overall I was really happy with this box!! I think that each thing is beautiful, and would make an amazing gift if you didn’t want to keep it for yourself! Have a beautiful weekend! Can you believe it’s nearly Christmas?!

LOGAN’S 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY DAY!!

November 23, 2015 & 2 Comments

Hi there! Happy Monday!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We got to celebrate Logan’s 1st Birthday over the weekend with family and friends. His birthday isn’t until January, but with our trip to Disney and the holiday rush, we decided to celebrate a bit early. I hope that you enjoy these pictures : ) Thank you for letting me share my family with you! You can watch his big day here on our daily vlog channel.

LoLo,

I’m glad I still have another 6 weeks until you’re 1! But you’ll be my baby forever ; )

I love you so,

Mommy