Take my Advice for the First Time You Snowboard

Take my Advice for the First Time You Snowboard

I purchased season passes for my two boys’, my husband and me for Christmas. My husband has been wanting to take us snowboarding as a family for around 10 years or more.... So, I decided to make his little dream come true. My husband and boys where so excited however, I didn't feel the same as they did. I was nervous about this whole adventure that my husband was about to take me on.

I am very athletic and in shape. I played soccer in high school and stayed in shape after having two boys, with going to the gym. I thought to myself," I can do this, just has long as I can get over my fear of heights". After spending thousands of dollars for passes and gear for the four of us, it was time to finally hit the slopes.

After sitting my little bum on the ski lift my anxiety went crazy. My heart started pounding and I looked down and told myself," Oh lord please don't let me fall of this rough looking ski lift". I closed my eyes all the way up the lift, until my husband told me to lift the safety bar and get ready to get off the lift. "Oh, my word", was the thoughts going in my head. I fell hard and started rolling down the landing pad. Now this is when I realized that I do not feel 20 years old any more. After several hard falls throughout the day on hard iced packed snow, I went home and felt like a crippled old woman.

I wanted to share my advice with anyone who is in their thirty's wanting to learn how to snowboard. First, purchase a butt pad that will protect your tail bone. I fell on my tail bone so hard and too many times that it is severally bruised. I must sit on one butt cheek at a time for a couple of months now. Make sure and wear warm gloves, and socks. On your first day, you will be swimming in the snow a lot so it is very important to wear extra layers. Next, make sure you do not go snowboarding for the first time unless there is a lot of snow and fresh powder, to lessen the chance of getting injured from falling. Wearing a helmet is a very smart idea because you will end up slamming the back of your head into the snow. The smartest advice I could give someone about learning how to snowboard is to hire a personal trainer instead of having your husband teach you!

White Flocked Princess Christmas Tree

White Flocked Princess Christmas Tree

This Christmas I decided to purchase a flocked Christmas tree to decorate.  I love how the tree appears full and downy. With adding non LED clear Christmas lights the tree became very elegant. When decorating a Christmas tree, you want to make sure you use your smaller ornaments on top, medium sized ornaments around the middle, and larger ornaments on the bottom. I crowned the top of the tree with a beautiful silver princess crown.  I used my smaller white and silver Christmas balls around the top of the tree. Using different textures of ornaments helps add personality. I tend to use feathered angle wings, with a touch of rougher silver Christmas ball ornaments. Adding longer ornaments is fun too. I love adding silver and white sparkly ice cycles to my tree. Using crystal ornaments is another must for any tree. The crystals are great for when the sunshine hits them during the day. I love to match my tree with the wrapping paper for my gifts. I used silver polka dot, white sparkle and a flat silver Christmas paper. Feathered angle wings, rhinestone Christmas balls, shiny crystal ornaments, silver keys, and more helped make this tree very soft, elegant and a perfect princess tree !

Reupholstering my Bench

Reupholstering my Bench

I purchased this bench over the summer and decided that I did not agree with the material that the maker decided to use. If you ever find a piece of furniture that you love, however the material is just awful. You can always change the material to match any room or décor. Over the weekend I found some time to redo the bench and headed to Hobby Lobby for some material.

I was able to find a black faux leather material for just $8.99 on sale. I purchased a foot and a half. You only need a couple of supplies to complete this project. I used scissors, staples, staple gun, nose pliers and a screwdriver.

The first thing you want to do is unscrew the seat from the bench, chair, etc.. There should be four screws in each corner under the bench. Once the seat is removed this is a great time to wipe down the frame. Next, you will want to use the nose pliers to remove the staples from the seat to take off the existing material. 

Lay your seat on top of the fabric and measure, how much fabric you will need. Note that you will want the fabric to go over the seat about an inch. Once you have your measurements, cut the fabric to size.


Now is the fun part, using the staple gun. Start overlaying the fabric to the seat from one side to another, You should stable every half an inch to make sure that the material is secured to the seat. The corners can be tricky, so you just have to play with the material until you like how the top of the seat looks.

 Once I was done stapling the fabric to the seat. I cut out a piece of leftover fabric to lay over the opening of the bottom of the seat and hid the staples from showing.
After I completed the seat it was time to put the seat back on the frame. Use your screwdriver to insert the screws back into their holes on each corner of the seat and attach it to the frame.

Reupholstering this bench was very easy and inexpensive. The bench now matches my decor in my bedroom. Whenever you want to redecorate or get tired of your accent furniture you can always change the fabric. I think that we are

always too quick to get rid of things that we no longer like, instead of thinking if there is any way of making the piece of furniture look better.

Beauty

Over the past couple of weeks I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror. I was like," is that a white alien, or someone who has never seen the sun?". Will we all know that the suns UV rays damages our wrinkle free skin, so I guess our only option is to be white or to have a fake tan. I have a very light complication, however I can get tan if I am in the sun. So, throughout the years of my life I have always used sunless tanning lotions. I have tried them all with no success. Below are some pictures of sunless tanning lotions that I have used that did not work. However, I came across St. Tropez this summer. This sunless tanner is awesome, it gives you a beautiful tan color, hardly any odor, and stays on for at least three days. I always make sure that I have cleaned and exfoliated skin before applying this product. This St. Tropez product is dark mouse, so you need to make sure and wear latex gloves before applying it. I always work my way up from my feet to my neck when applying. Make sure that you are careful around your hands, knees, elbows, and ankles not to apply to much product. I always include my husband and ask him to help me apply it on my back. After you apply the product make sure and keep your skin moisturized to help the product last longer. This product also comes in a lotion, mist and even a tanning lotion you apply in the shower. St. Tropez also has different shades too, fair, to medium and dark tints. St. Tropez cost around $40 and up, never less the bottle last for a couple of months and it is an amazing product. So if your standing in the mirror and can't recognize yourself because your so white this winter, try St, Tropez to get a natural looking tan. You can find this product at www.ulta.com, and https://www.sttropeztan.com. 

About Me

My name is Natasha, I am 34 years old and I live in beautiful Colorado. I have two handsome young boys that I devote my life and time too. I was interested in Criminal Justice which I have a degree in, however I decided to be a stay at home mom. I recently had the courage to start a blog, which I thought I could express myself instead of keeping my ideas and thoughts silent. I enjoy fishing, working out, and decorating my home. Whenever I see pictures of decorations I get inspired. I love DIY projects, it allows me to feel like I accomplished something with my own hands. Now that my boys are older I feel like I need to start spreading my wings again and create something that is just for me. 

DIY

Christmas Vases 

Thanksgiving is over and we are moving into the most enjoyable holiday. Christmas has been my favorite holiday of the year since I was a little girl. I love all the decorations, the smells, snow, beautiful wrapping, and bows. Christmas is a great holiday for people who love to decorate. For a month or two, your home is redecorated with beautiful colors, that makes your home's atmosphere warm and cozy.

I decided to add some new decor for my dining room table. I tend to decorate my home for Christmas in the shades of white and silver. I love to add faux fir to give my home a comfortable, cozy feel.


I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased two glass vases for $39.99 each. I also purchased 10 Christmas bulbs that were silver for $1.99. Went home and cleaned out the vase, (Hobby Lobby items tend to be very dusty and grimy). I put my Christmas bulbs in the glass vases and then, "wa-lah". A new beautiful vase to put on your dining room table that looks classy and elegant. This vase can be used throughout the year, not just Christmas. Now, I will move on to decorating the Christmas tree hopefully this weekend.

Girl Talk

Getting My Nails Done

I have been rushing my boys early every morning to school.  Then rushing back home to clean the house, work, and hurry and get cleaned up so I can go pick them back up. Every evening is filled with sports, piano lessons, homework, and dinner.  I looked in the mirror today and noticed that I look awful and need some beauty time.  I decided to order my favorite tanning lotion, “St. Tropez Self Tan Dark Bronzing Mouse”, since it is winter and I am starting to look like an albino. Then I decided to go get my nails done.

I wanted my toenails to be painted with gel polish, no design, no pedicure just some color. After sitting for over 45 minutes watching a grouchy elder man paint my toenails, I finally could have someone work on my nails. I wanted to get an overlay of acrylic, pink gel color, with some rhinestones and design. I do not understand why the lady looked so unhappy doing my nails. However, after she finished filling my overlay I took a break from watching, “Ellen”, looked down and one of my finger nails were standing almost straight up. I asked the unhappy lady doing my fingernails,” why is my finger nail going up instead of down?”, and all she did was give me a dirty look and tried to file it down. At this point, I was starting to get upset after sitting in a chemical smelling building for what seemed forever and told her,” you need to redo that nail”.

 Well about 2 ½ hours of beauty time it was time to pay. My nails cost $50 and for painting my toenails with gel color the grouchy old man charged me $45. I walked out of the nail salon with a headache from the chemicals, tired from sitting 2 ½ hours and felt very broke after being ripped off. I do not understand why people who are in the business of service think that they can charge whatever they want, and treat you so poorly. Never less, my nails and toenails looked a little better.

Girly Talk

Tips to help control stress over the holidays

                                                                   

                                                     

 Exercise

 

Create menu

Make a check list

Prep dishes in advance

 Assign family members to help with some of the food entrees, drinks, and desserts

 Include the kids and husband (let them help you clean, bake, and decorate)

Last of all try to take a deep breath and enjoy the holidays, not everything has to be perfect!

Beauty

Taking Care Of Your Skin During The Cold Months

I love the feeling of coming home to a cozy warm house that smells of cinnamon from the pine cones sitting on the coffee table. The colder months tend to be busy with the holiday's approaching, that you often forget that the cold weather is taking a toll on your skin.

• We often forget that UVA and UVB rays are still just as harmful during the winter months.It is very important to put sunscreen on all the skin that is visible to the sun. This includes hands, necks, and of course your beautiful face. I love to use Neutrogena Sunscreens which you can find at neutrogena.com because I have very sensitive, oily prone skin. 

• You could also use makeup that has sunscreen in it too. Tarte is one of my favorite makeup lines which you can find at Tarte.com and Ulta. This foundation is made out of Amazonian clay, it has SPF15, it's oil-free and last around 12-hours. This foundation is perfect for oily skin and to keep your skin protected. 

• Cranking up the heater, taking hot showers and playing out in the snow are things we do during the winter months, that dry out our skin. The winter air lacks moisture, this cold air goes into our homes and causes our skin to dry out. It is very important to use a humidifier, drink more water and use moisturizing lotions. Andalou naturals Body Butter, which can be found at Andalou.com is one of my favorite lotions. This body butter is a very soothing, moisturizing and full of antioxidants.

So let's try not to forget to turn the humidifiers on before we  go snuggle in our warm beds. Apply sunscreen even though it's not warm outside, don't forget to apply it on your kiddo's too. Lather lotion after you take a luke warm shower and drink plenty of water throughout the day. All these steps can help keep your skin moisturized and healthy during the winter months. 

DIY

How to Make a Faux Christmas Tree

My little creative bug started fluttering after finding out we only have 40 more days until Christmas. I have been wanting to decorate the outside entryway of my home for Christmas for a couple of years now. So I decided to make a Christmas tree using a tomato cage. 

The products I used:

• 1- 54" Black powder-coated galvanized steel wire round tomato cage for $6.98 from Lowes.
• 5- Green 6ft Garland for $4.99 from Hobby Lobby
• 1- Black, square, plastic, flower pot for $7.98 from Home Depot
• 2- 100 green wired, clear mini lights for $4.99 from Walmart
• 1- Black zip tie 
•     Some rocks 

Steps

1. First, you will want to take a seat outside ( so the garland doesn't make a mess in your house) 
2. Start spreading out each piece of the garland ( if you do not spread out each piece of garland you might short yourself and have to buy more)
3. Fill up pot with some rocks about a quarter full
4. Use your zip tie at the top of the tomato cage to attach all 4 ends together 
5. Start wrapping the garland around the tomato cage from the bottom to the top. Use a piece of the garland to attach the garland to the tomato cage every couple of inches
6. Now start stringing your lights on the tree (start from the top to the bottom)
7. Put your tree in the weighted pot
8. Plug it in and enjoy 

I love this DIY because it is a decoration that could be used  for ThanksGiving and Christmas. Assembling this project was very easy. The Faux Christmas tree only cost around $49.93 per tree, however, I did end up making two trees. Some things that you might want to note. First of all using a black tomato cage camouflages with the green garland.  If you can not find a black tomato cage I would spray paint it black or dark green. I like to purchase unlighted garland, that way I can use a warm light for Thanksgiving and then change the lights to a LED Light to match the Christmas lights on the house. Make sure to purchase a pot big enough to fit the width of the tomato cage. I used some rocks out of my driveway and put them in my pot, so it won't blow over during a winter storm. You can use ribbons and other decors to spice things up on your tree too !