Cartwheels and Pearls

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11:06 PM
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Cute as a Button St. Patricks Day Decorations

Here's a crafty DIY for St. Patrick’s Day

Today I’d like to share with you all a tutorial for this Cute-as-a-Button Clover! St. Patrick’s Day is by far my favorite holiday (ok probably right behind Christmas but shh). When your school mascot is the Fighting Irish, it’s hard to not love all things green and gold!

To make this cute little art piece, you will need a hot glue gun and glue, a variety of green buttons, a frame, and a clover silhouette (which can be found here)

This piece means a lot to me. My mom brought back this frame from London back in her former life (before kids of course). I opted to leave it pink because I liked the surprising pop of color it provided. All the buttons that I used came from my grandma. When she died, I inherited her button basket and truth be told, this is the first time I’ve had a real use for these buttons but I’m so glad that I was able to use them! Several of the buttons actually came from my mom’s Girl Scout vest way back in the day! If you don’t have any of your own stash, you can shop at places like Joann for all your button needs!

Here’s a little peak inside because why not!

To get started on the clover, print out the silhouette (or free hand a clover if you’re daring!).

Because hot glue is permanent in situations like this, be sure to figure out a rough lay out for your buttons. I ended up changing mine slightly as I started gluing but I definitely avoided any major mishaps. Thankfully, the beauty of a project like this is that mistakes aren’t really that noticeable and so the perfectionist in me gets to take a little break.

Simply glue down all the buttons in place but beware that the glue will seep out of the holes in the buttons! No matter how many times I use hot glue, I always forget its key characteristic: IT’S HOT! So please watch out!

Once your creation has cooled, pop it in a frame and it’s good to go! Because most frames are meant for thin photos and not cute and chunky buttons, I used a frame that has staples that you bend down to close it. This allowed me to loosely push the staples down so that the picture would fit.

Since I don’t have a real fire place or a mantle to decorate, I use the top of our rarely- if-ever-used wood burning stove as a makeshift mantle. I opted to go for some simple decorations this year so the pink of the clover could really pop.

You can find directions for my faux pot of gold here and directions for my clover pennant here. The “happiness is being Irish” print is actually a card someone sent me last year. I hadn’t planned on keeping it but when it turned up amongst my other St. Patrick’s Day decorations, I just couldn’t resist putting it out! If you’re going to be throwing a St. Patrick’s Day party, you can make your own invitations on places like Shutterfly.

That’s it y’all! The hardest part of the whole process was digging through the button basket for green buttons (I strongly recommend buying them!) but it was still lots of fun to make. Hope everyone has a great St. Patrick’s Day!

5:59 PM
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How I Conquered My Sugar Dragon

Food

I am addicted to sugar. When I'm sad, I crave sugar. When I'm happy, I crave sugar. Heck, when I'm bored, I crave sugar. I love sugar.

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I have not perfectly conquered this sugar dragon that has a hold over me but here's how I made progress:

Throw it Out (Or hide it in the freezer). If I have a plate of cookies sitting on the counter, you bet I'm going to grab one mindlessly every time I walk by. If its hidden in the back of the freezer in a container, I have time to stop and think about what I'm doing as I am removing containers of frozen beef and ice packs and berries and who else knows what to get to the cookies.
Unfollow every single Pinterest board/ instagram account that regularly posts pictures of sweets and desserts. Yes every single one. This step may seem small or stupid but its just another way of removing the temptations! If you absolutely need a recipe or some inspiration, you can search for it. Feel free to replace all the unfollowed pages with healthy, inspirational accounts ;)
Learn to say no. Find it within yourself to straight up say no or just make up an excuse. Suggestions for not accepting a cookie someone offers you: I don't feel well, I'm allergic/ sensitive to ______ (ingredient), I'M TRYING TO LIMIT MY SUGAR INTAKE, I'm challenging myself to not eat sweets, I ate before I came, my doctor told me to avoid _____, ETC. You don't need to accept every sweet someone gives you to be nice!
Go Cold Turkey- Give yourself a challenge. I personally do best when I have rules to follow. When I simply tell myself that I'm lessening my sugar intake, I try reason with myself and end up cheating often. When I have a reason or a purpose to not have any sugar at all, I find it easier. A Whole30 or the 21 Day Sugar Detox are great ways to do this but even simply eliminating one sugary part of your day at a time is great. Start with no sugar in your coffee or not having a mid-morning sugary snack.
Give Yourself a Reward for going cold turkey- And by reward, I don't mean a food reward. Treat yourself after going x amount of days without sugar (or with limited sugar). Safe reward ideas could be taking a bath or buying yourself a new piece of clothing. Just do something you love to do that you don't normally get a chance to do. You deserve it if you can conquer that dragon!

1:27 PM
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Cartwheels and Pearls

Free Workout Classes in Metro-Detroit

Cute as a Button St. Patricks Day Decorations

How I Conquered My Sugar Dragon

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