Queen Mary

Turns out my manager Stephanie gets just as bored as I do on break. Apparently I'm Queen Mary now.
Although I did write on fellow manager Trent's cup calling him King Trenton, then drew him as King Triton from The Little Mermaid... I'm sensing a pattern here..

Make It Easy Monday

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How to get rid of those annoying scuff marks on your shoes.

There are 3 different ways to get remove scuffs from your shoes.

All of which take no more than 10 minutes.

Nail Polish Remover- This is my favorite of the bunch. By just dabbing a bit of nail polish remover on a cloth or napkin, you can whisk those scuffs away as easily as you can your nail polish.

Erasers- This will work on either vinyl or suede shoes. For vinyl, simply rub a pencil eraser over the area. For suede shoes, use a small bristle brush to remove any dirt (sweeping in one direction), then gently rub the scuffed area with an eraser.

Vaseline(Petroleum Jelly)- Those patent leather pumps all scuffed up from a night of dancing? Dab a little Vaseline to a cloth and rub off the marks. Then wipe the area clean with a damp cloth.

Make It Easy Monday

Since I missed this past Monday, as well as last week's post, I have two tips for making your life a wee bit easier.

1. Straightening out the tie backs on shirts and dresses in a hurry.

Now in this case, the whole dress needs ironed. But there are times that just the tie backs are all wrinkled and scrunched up. Now if you have time to break out the iron and ironing board, go for it. But if you're always in a rush like me, give this a shot.

I use a hair straightener, yes a hair straightener, to smooth these out real quick.

While you put on your jewelry, let the straightener heat up. Once the light starts blinking, go ahead and turn it off to prevent scorching.(Only use this method on fabrics that contain a high percentage of cotton.) Then simply "straighten" the tie backs.

Unlike when you straighten your hair, you'll want to pull the fabric through the straightener. Rather than pulling the straightener downward.

My other hand would be at the top of this picture pulling the fabric through, but it was too busy holding the camera you see...

 And there you have it.
A nice straight tie back in a couple minutes time.


2. Speaking of clothing, one thing I can't stand is when clothing companies sew in those annoying ribbons in the armpit of the dress for you to use when hanging it up.
Unless the dress is strapless, there's no point. Really. Just leave them out.

So after years of the ole snip snip. The light bulb finally went off, and it hit me that I should be reusing these colorful strips of ribbon! Boy did I feel dumb.

I've starting keeping my stash in a little box to use for all kinds of projects.
Jewelry making, little bows for gift wrapping, and most recently for hanging up things.

Like these little baskets that I have hanging from the rail in my craft armoire. 

Hope this helps to make life a tad bit easier.
Till next time.

Mary

Make It Easy Monday 8-20-2012

Dryer Sheets Reused

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I hate dusting more than any other chore.
Mostly because there's so much of it to be done in EVERY room on EVERY surface. But also because it triggers my loathsome nosebleeds I mentioned in the last post.
Not to mention it builds up so quickly that it's a never ending battle.
The only thing that has been the peacemaker in the Mary vs. The Dust battle...dryer sheets!

Post laundry I utilize the used dryer sheet to wipe up lingering dust. The best part is I only have to dust until the sheet is full! Mwhahahahaha! Ahem..sorry...
As I was saying, I just use one sheet per laundry load per room, to keep the dust at a minimum.

Not to mention they eliminate soap scum from showers and aid in calming frizzy hair!

Oh dryer sheets...if laundry products could talk...you would sing an opera...

Cake Testing in Dallas

I made a spur of the moment trip up to Dallas a couple days ago to help my good, good friend Holly pick out the perfect cake for her wedding in May.

3 bakeries.

30 pieces of cake.

1 day to eat it all.

Let's do it!

The first place we went to was Romano's Bakery.
They were very nice and won us over with their yummy yummy cake and champagne!
I must say that they had the best tasting cake out of the lot, but also the most expensive... :\
The Amaretto Almond was my absolute favorite!

Holly only had some loose ideas of how she wanted her cake to look, but then they pulled out this design that she quickly fell in love with. (The bow was an afterthought that she decided not to go with after all.)

Next stop: Frosted Art!

Now these people know how to decorate their cakes! The staff was super friendly and giddy. Must be all that sugar!
They really filled us in on important info such as the pros and cons of sugar flowers vs. fondant flowers vs. real/silk flowers.
Although they're edible, sugar flowers are as hard as rocks and they cost to most!
Fondant flowers don't taste all that great either. (But I must say Frosted Art had the best fondant I've ever  tasted. It was like the center of an Oreo. Much better than the usual Play-Doh taste, but still pales in comparison to butter cream.)
Real/silk flowers are the cheaper of the three, and if you're going to pull the decor off before you eat it anyway, why not opt for the cheaper version?

 Impeccable detail!

 We were told that this cake was created for a big business woman's 100th birthday party.
When she was young, she wanted to join the circus and ride bareback on a horse while playing the ukelele. Instead she started Ebby Halliday Relators which is the biggest realty business in Texas.
Dream big, right?

Sprinkle cake!

The third baker actually came to Holly's apartment with her treats and linens. I was in a cake comma at this point so sadly no pictures..
Especially since this was the baker that Holly chose!
I don't know how this girl pulls it off, but she almost does everything that you need for a wedding.
For the price the other bakers would charge for one cake, she got Holly set up with: the cake of her dreams, beautiful lighting, gorgeous linens, and charters for her tables! Talk about deal of the year!
So if you or someone you know is having a wedding in Dallas or San Antonio area, talk to the miracle worker Jennifer from Budget Bridal(Not the best business name I've heard, but she's a rock star so she can call it whatever she wants!) and she will help you to breathe easy.


***


With cake still impending cardiac arrest on our bodies, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at Northpark mall..
Giggling in H&M, breathing deeply at Lush, twirling through Anthropologie and dreaming at Tiffany's.

Le End.

Make It Easy Monday 8-13-2012

Nosebleeds: my personal hell.
I get nose bleeds way too often, and the only thing I've found that helps to stop a nosebleed quickly

is ICE!

Yes just your old run of the mill ice cube will stop a nose bleed. Just place one on your lower back. (Hey you're already ready uncomfortable, might as well go all out.) The blood will rush to the area to warm it, and away from your nose.
Give it a minute or two, and your nose bleed will be out of your life.

For today anyway...you sneaky sneaky son of a biscuit.

Vintage Finds

In addition to the wedding candids, I had also forgotten about the photos I took in my favorite antique store in Missouri!

Placed on the town square in Neosho, Blue Moon is a cute shop filled with all kinds of treasures.

Granted most things are overpriced, there are occasionally some fairly priced gems that I snatch up.

Like the bowl and brooches I picked up there in an old post.

Fell in LOVE with this sophisticated lady, but for over $100, I think I'll pass.. 

The lady that runs the shop brings her kitty and puppy dog to work! Luckyyyy!

I love the way she stages her items.