Sangria Recipe

I'm on vacation in Florida this December, so eggnoggy drinks are not cutting it on the beach. Enter the strawberry peach sangria. 

You will need: 

- 1 cup (8 oz) "sweet red" wine. Sutter Home has a great one. Since I'm in Florida, I used Walmart's Oak Leaf boxed sweet red. 

- 1 shot (1.5 oz) brandy. I used VS brandy because it's cheap and smooth. 

- 2 shots (3 oz) triple sec

- 1/2 cup (4 oz) Welch's strawberry peach juice

- Ice Ice Ice

There are no instructions, other than "put it all in a glass. I like to garnish with Clementines. If I had any, a sprig of mint would be a nice addition as well. 

Good tidings to all,

Christine

Recipe Time: Plantain Chips

Costco was out of bananas, so my husband got plantains, not realizing that they're not really the same thing. 

Tonight was the first of many experimental cooking sessions as I have a massive bag of plantains and I've only ever had them fried (and hated them).

Ingredients:

2 plantains that are slightly yellow

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Ground sea salt to taste

Tools:

Parchment paper

Mandolins slicer

Peeler

Misto olive oil sprayer

1. Cut off the ends of the plantains and peel them until they look like yellow squash. If they look like corn husks, peel more. 

2. I used my mandoline slicer to cut 1/4 inch slices. Don't. Cut them as thinly as possible. When I do this again, I'll use 1/8 inch on the slicer. 

3. I only sprayed one side of the plantains with olive oil before adding a little bit of sea salt. You can toss the slices with olive oil and salt. This would extend the cooking time. 

4. Spread in a single layer on parchment paper. The edges can touch, but they have to lay flat. 

5. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Flip halfway through and adjust cooking time accordingly. You want them to look white, not gummy. If they're gummy, they just taste like potatoes. 

Enjoy,

Christine

Upcycled Tea Canister

This is my latest tea can candle creation! It's a cinnamon candle in a cinnamon tea can. Making poured candles is obscenely easy. You can make a candle in pretty much anything water-tight and non-flammable. Here are the basics. If anyone reads this and asks, I'll make a tutorial. 

You will need: 

-An empty tea can

-A wick with metal backing

-Unscented soy wax

-Candle fragrance

-Candle dye (I didn't use any)

-A hot glue gun

-Scrap paper

-Scotch tape/any tape

-A glass jar

-A candle warmer

1. Clean the tea can and check for leaks. I use De-solv-it to get tricky labels off and fill it with water to see if it will leak. 

2. Heat the wax in the candle warmer, adding more and more wax as the level drops. 

3. While the wax is heating, hot glue the wick backing to the bottom of the tea can. 

4. Now you're going to make the paper stabilizer for the wick so that it doesn't fall over while you pour the wax in. Cut a thin strip of scrap paper tht is about a finger wide and long enough to go across the top of the tea can.

5. Cut a small slit or hole in the middle if the paper. Tape each end of the paper on opposite sides of the tea can and pull the end of the wick through the hole. 

6. Add as much fragrance and color to the heating wax. Follow the manufacturer's instructions if you want. 

7. I use a piece of paper folded in half to make a V as a spout to pour my wax. You should pour no more than half of the candle at a time. Let the wax cool between pouring.

8. Cut the wick to 1/4 inch and remove the paper wick support. 

9. Enjoy your candle!

Christine

December 2013 ipsy!

Huge haul this month. Are any of these sample sizes at all?

1. Mirabella eye blender brush. 

2. Pop Beauty "Bright Up Your Life Eye Shadow Trio" in "Naturally Bare."

3. Be a Bombshell "The One Stick" in "Flustered."

4. Nicka K New York nail polish in "Classic Taupe."

5. NYX extra creamy round lipstick in "Ceto."

All of these products look fabulous. They're also all huge! Happy December to me. =] 

Christine

Birchbox Drawer Divider

I used the bottom half of a Birchbox box to make a small organizer. The dividers are made from the box's lid. 

Boom. Chapstick organization. I had no idea I had so many... 

Cheers,

Christine

Nail Polish Organizer

About a month ago I saw this link on Pinterest and just had to try it out: http://www.nikijincrafts.com/2012/04/diy-birchbox-nail-polish-rack.html?m=1

Unfortunately, I don't have duct tape that I would want to use (mustaches and neon- too much, too much), so I used wrapping paper instead. Since the duct tape holds together the tiers in the original tutorial, I used hot glue for additional support. I love how it turned out. 

Have a wonderful day!

Christine

Birchbox December 2013

December's Birchbox arrived on December 7th, which is fabulous. 

This month's box is mostly awesome, with one odd product. Here's what I got from most exciting to least exciting:

1. Supersmile's Ulimate Lip Treatment. 

I tried this within seconds of opening the box. The scent/flavor is vanilla almond, which is light but present. The sample size is great; it's about 1/2 the size of a normal Chapstick. 

2. Number 4's Non-Aerosol Hairspray.

I've never tried non-aerosol hairspray, so I'm interested to see how it stacks up. The immediately noticeable downside to this product is that it smells like acetone nail polish remover. Hopefully that's just the strong smell from the bottle and not what my hair will smell liked after a spritz. I currently use TRESemmé Two Extra Hold, and they have a non-aerosol as well that I've been meaning to try. 

3. Greenleaf Candle Co. Starlight Votive Candle.

This candle scented my entire beauty box. I was actually really worried that my box contained and all-too-pungent lotion (again). Nothing special about it; it's not soy, organic, blah, blah or anything like that. It's just a floral/perfume-y candle that should last about 15 hrs. I'm surpised it's not a holiday scent, to be honest. It's more of a "bubble bath" scent. 

4. Color Club Nail Polish in "Top Shelf."

This item would be a lot higher up, except that I just got a very similar shade in my ipsy glam bag last month (Nailtini's Champagne). It's a great color for December. Who knows, maybe it'll be longer lasting than the other polish. 

5. Birchbox screen cleaner.

This item is not even on the list of items, but it seems like a handy tool. It's basically a small square decal with microfiber glued to one side. Clean you screen and then stick the decal side to your phone so that you can clean your phone later. It's also brilliant marketing, since it has the Birchbox "B" right on it. I don't have a huge screen, so I may not stick it on day to day, but owners of bigger phones would probably love this. 

6. Skin&Co Roma's Truffle Therapy Serum Boosting Anti-Aging Serum.

Uhhh.. This is the stand-out fail in my box this month. I'm 25 years old and fairly pleased with how I'm aging (i.e. not noticeably). Also, at $75 for full size, I feel like this stuff better tighten your eyebrows straight up to your forehead. 

I don't foresee doing any follow-ups with these products, except maybe the nail polish to compare it to the other polish. 

Overall, I like this box. In terms of duplicate types of products, I have now received 2 lip balms and 2 nail polishes, which isn't bad for 3 months into a subscription.

Cheers, 

Christine

Glam Hair

This is the world's easiest down-do ever. All you have to do is let your hair air dry 99% of the way after a shower, then twist it on top of your hair and clip it in a bun. I don't use a hair tie; just use a clip. Then I do my makeup, eat, whatever for an hour. After an hour, I release the bun and spray with a light mist of hairspray. The higher the bun, the bigger the volume. 

If there are any comments (new blog, we'll see), I'll make a full tutorial. 

Cheers,

Christine

DIY: Canvas Art

Create this!  

Snowballs! Russian Tea Cakes! Whatever they are!

Let me start by saying that I hate really long blog posts before recipes. So here's the recipe first:

Snowballs

8 oz (2 sticks) butter

4 tbsp powdered sugar

Powdered sugar for rolling

2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups chopped pecans.

1. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla.
2. Mix in the nuts and flour slow.
3. Roll into balls.
4. Bake 15-16 minutes at 325 degrees.
5. Allow to cool almost completely.
6. Roll in powdered sugar twice.