Friday, November 30, 2018

My tips for surviving Elf on a Shelf



Here we are again, one sleep away from the arrival of the Elf on a Shelf.  Some parents are excited and some are gloomy.  I'm kind of in between.  While I sometimes wonder what I was thinking when I agreed to have the elf come visit, I sit here typing this out and am giddy with excitement over his arrival tomorrow.  Does that even make sense? LOL 

It makes the season feel like Christmas all month long for my son.  Instead of anxiously waiting the one day of the month, he gets excited about every day of the month, now that we have the Elf on a Shelf. 

While it can be a daunting task for me, in the end I am really happy I chose to have the elf.  However, I do know it can be a source of stress for parents too.  So, today I am going to give you the run down of what our elf on a shelf, Jingle Bells, will be up to this year along with some tips that I learned last year.  And a few photos of last years elf movements.  This will hopefully give you a few ideas as to what you can do with your elf. 

First up, to make things a little easier, I started out with a very important rule for the Elf.  I stated that he was not allowed to go in any room where people were sleeping...so that meant that nothing will happen in Caleb's room or bathroom (since the bath is connected to his bedroom). 

I don't want any slip ups during this whole thing and because Caleb is a very light sleeper, tip toeing through his room is not a good move.  So stating this rule out loud, Caleb won't be expecting Jingle Bells to show up and be in his room during any of this.

That's the only rule I have, so now let's get started with the rest....

So these are divided among a few categories.  The "arrival and exit of the elf", "elf fun during the week", "weekend elf adventures" and finally "elf emergency movements" for those times when you need a quick movement in an emergency situation.  We all have those, so it's best to be prepared.

First up is The Arrival and Departure of Jingle Bells the Elf:



  • For the arrival this year, Jingle Bells will show up at the house on the mantle with his new found pet (the St. Bernard) and the movie "Santa's St. Bernards Save Christmas"  This one is easy because it will have the elf's arrival letter and the dog.  If you are doing the movie, I'd let your child wake up to the movie on a weekend, so you can have a family movie night that evening and watch the Elf and Pet movie together.
  • The elf's last night with us will be a letter saying good bye and then I found a Pez candy dispenser that has an elf on it for a going away present for Caleb from Jingle Bells to remember him by.


Elf Adventures During the Week: 

This will be easy movements from the elf that can be quick to execute and fun for my son when he wakes up in the morning.  Caleb is in the 2nd grade, so we have to get up and get dressed for school, so I can't have him spending thirty minutes looking for a hidden elf, but I have to get up early so I can't stay up late either, waiting on him to fall asleep for the elf to move.  So that's where the following movements will get me the best of both worlds.

  • I bought two outfits for Jingle Bells at the Liberty Trade's Days, last weekend.  One is a sweater that has a Pikachu (Pokemon) face on it.  And since Caleb is really in to Pokemon, I will have Jingle Bells and his new sweater sitting amongst all the other collection of Pokemon's that Caleb has.  


  • The other outfit I bought for the elf was a taco costume.  This one caught me by surprise, because I wouldn't have thought of such a cute costume....but we have our Taco Tuesday nights about every other week...so this one will be saved for Caleb to wake up to on a Tuesday morning, with the elf in his taco suit sitting on top of the taco shells in the kitchen.
  • An easy weekday movement this year will be that Jingle Bells will fill up Caleb's school shoes with Hershey Kisses.  This just makes me laugh when I think about how Caleb will react to this one....I don't know why, but I just giggle from thinking about it.
  • Since we will have the St. Bernard dog with us this year for the Elf, I have decided to have him eating out of our dog, Scooby's, food bowl.  This also sets me up for tomorrow night.
  • The next night I will have the elf and the dog both taped to the wall and a note that reads "Scooby did it" as a punishment from Scooby for eating his food.  Be sure to use painters tape so it won't peel any paint off the wall when you remove it.
  • Again, I will be set for night where the Elf gets down the dry erase board from the fridge and writes "good list and naughty list" on the top and continues to list each member of the family under the "good" section and Scooby (the dog) under the "naughty" section
  • I found the Sno Ball Cupcakes from my local grocery store last week so this will be set out on the table as a snow ball breakfast for Caleb from the Elf.  Of course you don't want your kid eating a bunch of cakes for breakfast right before school, so he can share one with mommy (or if your kids have siblings they can split one and share) and then have their regular breakfast waiting for them.  It's a fun and unexpected treat that only and "elf" would think to give for breakfast. :)


  • I like to do some of the elf movements in our hall bathroom in our house.  A couple different reasons for this, first off, it's not the bathroom that Caleb uses so he won't come here when nature calls during the "movement of the elf" and second, you can lock the door and do the setup for elf fun in privacy.  So that's why I will have the elf and his dog set up with silly string sprayed all over each other and a can set up next to each one, so it looks like they have been having a silly string fight.  The bonus with the bathroom is that it will be an easy clean up because there isn't much to ruin in our hall bathroom
  • Another easy bathroom one will be to have "Elves are Awesome" written with dry erase marker on the bathroom mirror.
  • One last bathroom one would be that the elf and dog are playing tic tac toe on the mirror with dry erase markers.  Again these in the bathroom are good because you can lock the door for setup.

  • If you have those gold star stickers or any stickers you find in the school supply section of your store, you can have your elf look as though he has stuck them all over himself.  This will make for a simple and funny movement for your child to wake up to.  
  • We love books in this house, so Caleb will most definitely be waking up to our elf reading a new Christmas book and a note suggesting that this was the best book EVER and Caleb must read this tonight.
  • One night I will take the photos out of two frames and have the elf and dog sitting behind the frame as though they are the pictures.  
  • Another simple weeknight one will be to have him set up playing the Xbox in Caleb's play room or you could have him sitting on the couch with the remote control watching tv and eating popcorn (I'd pre-pop the popcorn or buy it in the bag.  Anyone else come running when they smell fresh popped popcorn like my family?)

Let's talk about the Weekend Elf Fun:

These will be more advanced thought and prep that are great for the weekends, when you don't have to get up early, you can stay up a little later and really set the elf up for success the next morning.  These are also going to be things that may take longer for Caleb to find or do, so he can take his time and not have to worry about being late for school.
  • The first one for the weekend will be that the elf leaves a gingerbread house kit for Caleb to decorate.  If this comes on a Saturday, he won't have to wait until after school to decorate it.
  • Hide and seek candy canes are another fun one.  Just hide 6 or 10 candy canes in one room of the house (or more areas, whatever you feel is good for your kiddos) and write a note saying that they are hidden and to find all of them.  This again would be difficult to do before school so I save it for the weekend.
  • Toilet papering the tree would be a good one for the weekend.  It will take a little extra time to accomplish so you can do that after the kids go to bed and then not have to be pressed to wake up early and be productive the next day.
  • Another one that Jingle Bells is doing on the weekend this year will be to put crepe paper strips and tape them across the door way.  If your child has his door closed at night you could do this on the outside of his door.  But this will excite Caleb when he busts through the crepe paper to get out of his room or down the hallway.
  • One that will need a bit of prep ahead of time, will be to have paper snowflakes cut out (save the scraps) and set the elf up as though he cut a bunch of the snow flakes out himself.  Have a pair of child scissors, the snowflakes and paper scraps all around him on the table.  

Let's talk about the conundrums that can come with these elves.  Sometimes I can stay up later than Caleb and put the elf in fun places, but this isn't always the case.  So last year, I decided to start keeping the elf in my room in a drawer each night so when I got up in the morning I could move him to wherever I needed him to be.  I will be doing that again this year too.  

But there were times that Caleb would wake up before me and I'd still have this elf in my room and no place for Caleb to find him.  So I devised up a plan for times such as these.
  • The first one is to have him hanging from a light fixture or door knob of some sort.  This was my "go to" plan for when Caleb woke up before me and the elf was in my room instead of his hiding spot.  Our laundry room is right outside out bedroom so when Caleb couldn't find the elf, and came to my room, I ushered Caleb out of my room and told him I'd "help" him look for the elf. I told Caleb to look in the play room and I'd look in the kitchen.  I then ran to the room, took the elf and hung him on the door knob in the laundry room, which is right off of my bedroom.  
  • Another time last year, I had just ran completely out of ideas and was too tired to think of anything.  So I stuck him up against the wall with the Highlights magazine opened and had the "hidden pictures" page open and the pen in the elf's hand.  
  • This year's spot will be hiding in the wreath in our kitchen.
  • I have also decided a backup one will be to have both the elf and the dog sleeping in our dog, Scooby's, bed.  You can't get much easier than that. 
  • One last quick one will be to have him hanging from my rear view mirror in my car.
While these aren't as fun as the Hershey kisses in the shoes or the Christmas book, it will still give you a break from this elf and it will give you a peach of mind knowing that you have a plan B ready to go for anything that comes up.  And to me that peace of mind is worth a million bucks in my book.

And there you have it....my ideas for the arrival and departure of this year's Elf on the Shelf.  I hope you found it useful, even if it's one idea, I hope it works. I think with a little planning it will be fun for your children and you as well.  

I wish you and your family the happiest and peaceful of holidays this year.  

-Kim



Maybelline City Mini Pallet in Hi Rise Sunset - Tutorial



Happy Friday Friends!! I am excited because our little town is putting on their annual Christmas on the Square and this year all the businesses are decorating their doorways to look like Whoville from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Another fun thing going on this weekend is that we are going with the in-laws to take a horse drawn carriage ride and look at Christmas lights.

Caleb and I are super excited....and the hubs...well, he's just along for the ride. LOL  But next week I will show off some photos of the weekend for you to see.  Our Christmas traditions in our household are rallied around doing things....there will be some gift givings as well, but we mostly concentrate our focus on doing fun things together and making memories. 


And of course the Elf comes back to play tonight!! Caleb is beside himself just waiting to see the crazy things Jingle Bells does this year....hopefully it just won't be too messy. :/  For a little hint of this year's fun....the elf has a new pet that he's bringing along to play.



So today I am wanting to bring you another tutorial using the Hi Rise Sunset pallet from Maybelline's City Mini collection.  Like I say each and every time I do a tutorial with one of these pallets, "I think I have collected them all and then poof, out comes another".  I swear this is the story of my life.  But that's ok, I love finding these in the stores and I love using them even more!!  So, without further ado, let's hop to it.


First up I went in with color #5 and swept it all over my crease with a fluffy brush.



Next I kept with color #5 and patted it on my lid.



I went in with a smaller crease brush and applied color #6 all throughout the outer V and outer third of my lid.  If you want it darker, you can get the shadow on your brush and then spritz it down with setting spray or water and then apply for a more concentrated color.



I used color #1 for my brow bone highlight but I also patted it on the inner third of my lid for some brightness.  On a side note, this color is a matte cream color, but I think that the next time I do this look I am going to use a shimmery gold or champagne color for my inner lid...I think it will be beautiful!!



I next used some cream liner in my lower water line and black liquid liner on my top lash line.



I went back with #6 and applied it on the lower lash line and then finished the eyes up with mascara.



I next used the Maybelline Bouncy Blush in Hot Tamale and for my lips I used the Hard Candy glitter liquid lipstick in Charm.  I wanted an orange-ish red lip to compliment the orange-ish red eye shadow, and I really liked the turnout of this.  I thought it gave the look a hint of glam but kept it still wearable.


So, there you have it.  My look is complete.  I have another look I want to show you that I did last weekend as well with this pallet.  I will show you that tutorial next week.  But it will be using the yellow and the red colors in a somewhat of a halo eye.  Also next week I will give you the swatches of each color in the pallet and my final thoughts.


I hope you will come back again and visit me soon here at 523.  Have a fun and happy weekend and I will talk to you again.

Until next time, take care.

-Kim











Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Holidays are in full swing at 523!! 🎄🎅



Happy Tuesday!!! How have you all been?  I have been fantastic here at 523!! After we recovered from our turkey coma, Caleb and I got to work on our first of many holiday traditions our family has for Christmas time.  We strung popcorn and then decorated the tree, made our peppermint hot chocolate, watched Christmas movies and baked cookies.  So today I thought I'd show off a little bit of our weekend.

Last year we started to string popcorn and hang it on the tree.  Also, last year Scooby had eaten the lower strand on the tree overnight so this year we just gave him his own popcorn so he'd leave ours alone.




Caleb loves to decorate the tree!! He loves to pull out all of the ornaments and remember where we were or what age he was when we either bought or he made each one.  I don't have one of those really beautiful BHG type trees.  Our ornaments to do not match anything, but each one has some sort of meaning to it.




This year Caleb found an ornament for Brad, of Sheldon Cooper from his favorite tv show, Big Bang Theory.  Each time we go on vacation somewhere, I will buy an ornament from wherever it was that we visited, so we have a few Sea World, Disneyland and Disney World, plus various other places.


We have ones that are Ninja Turtles and Hot Wheels, we have a Scooby Doo ornament to represent our Scooby, I have shoes and purse ornaments, and this year we also have a Pokemon ornament.



The hubs doesn't like doing the decorating (he never has) so Caleb and I have made this our tradition to do together since Brad always has to work the day after Thanksgiving and I am always off work.

But this year was special because my little sister and her two girlies came over to help.  You can see just how tall they are by where all of the ornaments were placed on the tree.


The hubs and I will not move these ornaments either.  We don't care if we have a Better Homes and Garden type tree or not, we are more concerned with Caleb having fun decorating.  Plus I figure in a couple years, he will realize how to place ornaments all around the tree instead of only one third of the tree. :)


Next it was time to make cookies (which my little sis graciously brought for us all), and the peppermint hot chocolate.





Soon we were all watching some movies together with our cookies, cocoa and leftover unstrung popcorn.  It couldn't have been a more perfect day!!

Now we are getting ready for this coming weekend when Caleb's Elf on a Shelf comes to play.  We went with some friends to the Liberty Trades Days in Gainesville TX and I secretly bought our elf a Pokemon sweater and a taco costume to wear on Taco Tuesdays here.



I will show pictures all throughout the month of December of the whereabouts of our Elf this year.  Now that I have it all planned out, I am excited about his "arrival".

Well, that's all I have for today.  Let me know what your holiday traditions are, I'd love to know.  I hope you enjoyed today's post and will come back for more.  Until next time, take care.

-Kim

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice




Eeek!! I can't wait for Thanksgiving tomorrow!! It is my favorite holiday of the year and it kicks off the holiday festivities for our family.  Have you started shopping yet?  I have made a few purchases on Amazon, but I have not yet trekked out in the crowds.  Right now I'm busy planning for our Elf on a Shelf's visit.  Does that stress anyone out as much as it does me?  I think it's fun, and I love that Caleb looks forward to him moving each morning, but I am afraid of him "forgetting" to move.  If you get what I am saying. 

Anyways, you didn't come here to listen to my fears of the Elf on a Shelf....let's talk some makeup.  Do you know what I cam across last week and was instantly thinking Thanksgiving makeup?

Yes!! It's yes ANOTHER Maybelline City Mini Pallet!! I keep thinking that I have collected them all, but then they happily surprise me with another one on the shelves.  I saw this and instantly thought of pumpkin spice looks.  So today, I wanted to give you my tutorial for how I created my look.  Let's get to it.

First up you want to take the yellow color number 2 and run it through your crease.  Then (I used the same brush, but you can use a different) I took the light brown color number 5 and put it through the crease, but I kept it slightly below the yellow color.  So you will have a bit of the yellow peeking out above the light brown above.  This mixing of colors is partially what gives the pumpkin color you see.



Next I used color number 3 to deepen the outer V and blend over a bit.  I also went back in with the yellow and blended it out a bit because I felt I lost some of the yellow color.



On a flat brush I used color number 4 and patted it all over my lid and then on the opposite side of the flat brush I tapped into the yellow color 2 and patted it on top of the color 4.  This gives a slightly more lighter color of yellow with the mixing of the two, and I didn't want it to look identical to the crease color, just a bit lighter. 



I put some dark brown pencil liner in my lower water line, then I used a mix of color 2 and 5 on a pencil brush and used it all to blend the pencil liner out on my lower lash line.  Then I used the white shade number 1 on brow bone as my highlight.  Mascara top and bottom and the eye look is complete.



For my lips I used my Hard Candy Lip Cashmere in Biscotti and for my cheeks I used the Elf Peach Perfection cream blush to complete my look.



I thought this look came out really well and I was extremely happy with the results.  I am wearing a deep mustard yellow sweater for Thanksgiving tomorrow so this will be the makeup look I will also be wearing. 

What about you?  Do you do festive makeup looks to correspond with the holidays?  How about correlating makeup with your clothes?  I actually bought the yellow sweater to go along with my eye makeup....there's a little fun fact about me for you, I buy clothes according to the makeup look I am going for.  :)



Well, that's all I have for today, I hope you enjoyed.  I have been busy with school recently trying to finish up and get ready for my semester exam but hopefully that will be over with soon and I can get back to regular posting.  I miss it for sure, but priorities right now are my school work.  But I hope you all have a beautiful and safe Thanksgiving, and I will talk to you all again soon.


Until next time, take care.

-Kim


Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Hot Chocolate Inspired Makeup Look

Brrrrr, it's getting way too cold for us here in North Texas!!


We just had our first "freeze" since last winter and therefore I felt compelled to break out the hot chocolate....well chocolate "pallet" that is.  So today's look is inspired by the wonderfully warm cup of hot chocolate that we all love during the winter months.  I hope you enjoy.


I recently picked up the Wet N Wild Nude Awakening pallet and today is the first time I am using it, so I have no thoughts on it just yet.  But I will be doing more tutorials soon to come with it and will gather my ultimate thoughts and let you know.   But today, I went in with the transition color for my crease on a large fluffy brush.  You can just use any sort of light cool toned transition color you have that's somewhat close to this one if you don't own this pallet


I next pulled out what started this all off, the Covergirl Chocolate Bronzer pallet.  I use the bronzer color and heavily concentrated it in my crease with a fluffy brush.


I went back to Nude Awakening and with a flat brush, I packed the white color on and then spritzed it with a setting spray and packed it on my lid.  I used a fluffy brush to also use it on my brow bone as well....just without the setting spray this time.



I went into the Rimmel Crimson pallet and used the dark brown color and deepened the outer V just a tiny bit....but not too much of this color, because it will take on a warmer toned eye look and that's not quite what we are going for.



I used the Wet N Wild highlight bar in Earth on my inner tear duct for brightness.



I also used a cream colored eye liner in my lower water line and then smudged the bronzer color along the lower lash line.



Black liquid liner on my top lash line, curled the lashes and applied multiple coats of mascara and now we are ready to move along.


I the Covergirl Chocolate pallet bronzer as my contour and bronzer.



I used the Maybelline Bouncy Blush in Coffee Cake for my blush color...it was so perfect with this look.



Again, I used the WNW Highlight bar in Earth, but I topped my cheek bones with it.


For my lips, I used Loreal's Candy Man Chocolate Infallible Matte lip cream and then topped it with the Milani Holigraphic Stellar Gloss in Opalescent.....it was the "marshmallow topping" to my look :)




And there you have it.....oh, I also put on my Hershey Kiss necklace that my boys gave me a few years back.....I just adore this sweet little necklace.....my boys know me too well.


Well, that's all I have for today.  I know it's been a few hot minutes since being on the blog.  Our little family have unfortunately had a few rough weeks lately and I am one who just curls up in a ball and waits out the storm....so to speak.  But like anything in life, it always passes and the sun always shines again.  So that's where I am at now, the storm has passed and the sun is shining. 

I hope you enjoyed my post and will come back and visit me again here at 523.  I will see you again really soon...until next time, take care.


-Kim