NEON AMERICA

I always like to start my Sundays watching a Mr.Kate video. If you don't know who she is, I don't know what you're doing with your life. She's unapologetically herself and I can so beyond appreciate that. I also love that sometimes she makes things that I don't love, but she has taught me to appreciate why and be able to explain it. She is a huge inspiration to me and today she put out a video with David Bromstad about decorating around a self-made art piece. 

I decided to somewhat take on the challenge of creating something somewhat zany, but creative myself. You know, Sunday fun day. Anyway! I have been calling this "Neon America" all day long. I just love the idea of being able to relax on a Sunday and make something. Not to mention that I was able to sit outside on my front porch, listen to music and just leisurely so whatever the hell I wanted.

So! With all of that said, check out the process through gifs and photos. Enjoy!

DIY FLORAL WALL HANG

It's nice to be single on Valentine's Day. It just basically means that you can do DIYs and drink coffee/wine alone all day. I normally shoot my blog posts in advance, but today I just figured I would shoot this leisurely and upload it on the same day. IMO, this DIY is so full of love and happiness and I absolutely love it. As you know, my obsession with flowers is so real, so anything I can do with flowers to spruce up the place is a plus in my opinion.

DIY CHRISTMAS DECOR BANNER | #HITTIHOLIDAY

Serving you some Christmas realness today with this adorable DIY banner.  Check out more photos and the steps of how to do it below:

3 SUPER EASY HACKS FOR SAVING SPACE

I know we've all been there, done that.  Lived in the smallest space ever.  Yeah, that's where I am right now.  Let me tell you something though, I am making the best out of it and doing a great job.  Here are a couple of things I do to make sure I'm getting the most out of my small space, and trust me: I have a lot of shoes.  Let's get started.

SIMPLE STUFFED PORK CHOP RECIPE

This is the most simple but delicious fall dinner idea I have ever come up with.  It takes two second to get everything done and everyone in my family really enjoyed the meal.  Pork chops with green beans and homemade mashed potatoes.  Check it out.

DELICIOUS AND SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CHEWS | #HITTIHOLIDAY

Ooooooh, it's November and the closer we get to Thanksgiving, the happier we all get.  These chocolate chews are something that were always made this time of year when I was younger.  I always think about them when November/December rolls around and cant resist making them for the family.  Not only are they the simplest recipe ever, but they're delicious and something different than your everyday Thanksgiving dessert/Christmas cookie.  Check out the ingredients/how they're made:

ALL HAIL QUEEN KALE | KALE CHIPS

Kale chips are everything.  Let's just be honest.  I never thought I would be a fan, but I definitely am and they are so simple to make.  You get almost the same crunch as you do with regular potato chips and it's much healthier.  I've even purchased them already made before and still think that the ones I make are better.  Here's what I do.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: CHALKBOARD WINE BOTTLE DIY

I recently got inspired by my new neighbors that moved in the across the street.  It got me thinking that when I moved into this neighborhood a couple of years ago, I got a warm welcome.  How could I return that? I decided to make this adorable DIY with a wine bottle.  You are more than welcome to include flowers and make it a vase, or anything else.  I decided to leave it plain with chalkboard paint so that the neighbors could decide to do with it what they please.

Here's the steps in photos:

'THANKSLIVING' | #HITTIHOLIDAY

It's that time of year again, time to start thinking about Thanksgiving!  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone and once again we find ourselves at the holiday season.  I wanted to show you all a couple of ways to celebrate thankfulness, so I came up with four different activities.  One for each week this month!  Here's how to get started.

SHOES ON A SHELF IN BASKETS | DIY

I've been meaning to conquer the gigantic mess that is my closet for the longest time.  I was trying to get inspired to create something I knew I would love, but I just couldn't come up with anything.  To be honest, baskets weren't really on my radar and who knows, I could end up changing it but let me tell you, I really love the way this came out.  Best part?  I got the baskets on mega sale at Marshalls!  Check out how I did it.

WEDDING COUNTDOWN SIGN | DIY

As many of you know, my best friend is getting married in March of next year and everyone could not be more excited.  With everything that we've been doing so far, each task gets more and more exciting.  Since we've last chatted, I've seen the venue and it is absolutely beautiful.  It's been hard to not post about every little decision that is made/everything we go and look at, but we have to keep somethings a secret for the actual wedding day.

To ease the pain of not being able to share everything, I decided to put my mind to work and make something.  Who doesn't do that, right?  I figured it would be an adorable idea to make a countdown for Ally and her fiance that they would both love, not just Ally.  It's so easy to think that the wedding is all about the bride (and it kind of is, lol) but once in a while it's nice to include the groom and think about him too.  So here's to Ally AND Daryl, I hope you like this one guys.  Here's how I did it.

SIMPLE CAULIFLOWER BITES

I've scoured the internet yet again to search for some different ways to change up the daily routine of what we eat here in my house.  It's so simple to get caught up in the mundane reality of eating literally the same shit, every single day.  Amirite?  I know, I know.  I found these delicious looking cauliflower bites with a light coating of breadcrumbs, a mixture of spices and a hint of Parmesan cheese.  I can't say it's the absolutely HEALTHIEST thing, but it's not terrible and it's an alternative to something heavier, like potatoes.  Here's how I made them.  

3 INGREDIENT, HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS | NO BAKE

I had been scouring the internet looking for some recipes for healthy desserts because I am tired of the same old thing.  Can you agree with me?  I mean really, it does get kind of boring eating the same fruits and vegetables all of the time (even when seasons have just changed). Fall can get especially annoying because everything is about apples.  Don't get me wrong, I like apples, but I don't love them and I get tired of them very quickly.  

With that being said, I came across this recipe for homemade granola bars. When I found them at first, I thought it would be a great snack and what got me excited about it is that there were only three ingredients necessary.  Upon making them, I quickly realized that with the honey and peanut butter, they're a little sweet for me to consider them a granola bar and more of a dessert.  Here's how I made them.

Affordable Halloween Tray Decor | DIY

So it is officially October and Halloween is just around the corner.  The house that I currently live in is one that last year, had the best Halloween decorations in the neighborhood (we moved in after Halloween).  I really have been trying to encourage the rest of my family to keep that tradition going but no one seems as enthusiastic about it as I do.  That's okay!  I am usually the only festive one in the household by default.  I decided to start decorating for the season and this is the first evidence of that.  Fun fact about everything used in this little DIY (except the Scotch Washi Tape)?  It was (almost) all from the Dollar Spot at Target!  Let me get started and show you how I arranged everything!

Healthy, Not Boring | Recipes to Try

If you're anything like me, you'll find it difficult to eat healthy when you hang out with your friends.  There's nothing wrong with that, but it's completely true.  Think about it, social eating and drinking is just that, very social.  Every trip out to the bar or night eating out at some new restaurant has to do with the one thing we hate most about life.. calories!  I've made a couple of things over the past couple of days to remedy that problem and here's how they came out.

Floral Letter Wall Art | DIY

I've had the yearning to do another floral craft for the longest time.  I love flowers so anything I can make with faux flowers that will last me a long time, I am all FOR! Aside from the assorted beautiful real flowers and succulents I have in my house, it's always nice to have something extra.  That's when I got to thinking, I want to make a floral letter for wall art in my room!  Best thing about this DIY?  Most things, including the faux flowers are from the dollar store!  :O I know!  Here's how to do it.

Rainy Day DIY: Flower Chandelier

I have to say, I'm always a sucker for almost anything DIY.  Not to mention if it has to do with flowers, I almost instantly fall in love. A third bonus? LACE!  I found this idea on Arlyne Sanjines YouTube channel in one of her room decor videos and I instantly loved it.  My first though was about how cute it was and the second thought was about how SIMPLE it seemed to be to make.  

I must admit, it took longer and more materials than I thought.  I had to run back to the craft store for more ribbon, so make sure you get enough the first time!  Also, make sure you go to the craft store to buy all of your materials!  I say this because I tried looking at target and found the crochet circle there for about $6, the one I ended up using I found at the craft store for a little over $2.

Terrarium Time!

As you all know, there's no shortage of love in my body for succulents and terrariums.  I had been planning to make another one for some time now but time just hasn't allowed.  I finally had the chance to go shopping for all of the materials to make one and the first place I went might actually surprise you.  

Marshalls is actually one of the best places to get a container when you plan to make a terrarium.  They have a ton of different options at outrageously great prices.  I have a friend who also likes to make terrariums and she normally goes for a nontraditional look with hers and she found a skull container and other assorted shapes and sizes.  You would be shocked to see what you can find so definitely check it out!

Right now Lowes has an absolutely amazing selection of succulents and cacti.  I couldn't have been happier when I walked into the greenhouse and saw so many selections.  When you're looking at the options, don't forget to pick up some soil that is specifically for cacti, it should be right next to where you'll see all of your options for succulents and cacti.  They will try to entice you with sand and pebbles and stones and all this other stuff but do not fall victim! 

I have to admit this is probably the terrarium that I have made that I most proud of because it is absolutely stunning.  I didn't even realize that when I was selecting some of the plants to include, they were matching!  I had just been picking out some of the ones that I loved the most but I didn't realize that they all had a purple motif.  So, if matching is something that you enjoy, try and design your terrarium that way!

First I put a layer of soil in the bottom of the open bowl.  After that, I decided to plant the largest plant and then situate some of the rocks on the side.  I don't know why, but when I was planning to build this terrarium, I had in mind to include some rocks.  I specifically wanted to have them included in the design.  So if you're not sure what you want to include or you don't know where to start with your terrarium, planning it out a little bit beforehand is a great place to start.

After the largest plant was included, I started placing everything else around it and designing everything as I went along.  If you're not a planner or a control freak when it comes to DIYs, this is the best way to go.  I really think it comes out best when you just go with the flow.  Here is the final photo!

I hope that you absolutely love this as much as I do! Let me know your process on how you decorate your terrariums.  Have you ever made one before?  Send me a tweet and let me know where you get your succulents from as well!  Thanks for reading as always.  -Brit.

Growing a Garden of Cacti and Succulents!

As you know, I have been obsessed with the whole terrarium thing lately.  I don't think I have to re-explain that one.  I have literally been all over the internet at the couple of surrounding towns trying to find places to go that will sell succulents to buy and cool looking cacti.  There are a couple of places close to me that are supposed to carry some awesome succulents so I cannot wait to get there to try some but for now these great ones from Lowes are going to have to do.  

Since my last post, I visited Lowes again to check out the selection.  Upon first walking in, I didn't see anything and I got worried because I thought the succulents and cacti had gone 'out of season' or something.  I carried on looking though and found a HUGE section of amazing looking ones inside!  I was so happy because they were even better looking ones than last time so I took FULL advantage.

As you can see here, the top cactus is a beautifully vibrant orange.  I thought this was perfect for the fall coming up.  I don't know why I feel the necessity to match the color with the season but as you will soon see, I didn't do that for everything.  Orange is my favorite color though so when I saw this one, I just could not pass it up.  On the left, that succulent is apparently called 'E.T.'s Fingers.'  I thought that was so hilarious and I just generally LOVED the look and color of them.  Take a closer look:

How stunning is this orange?  Absolutely beautiful:

Tbqh, I don't know what this next succulent is called and I completely forgot to look it up.  I love the speckled look of it though because it brings something different and it's not as 'traditional looking:'

Another thing I wanted to mention is that as you can tell, I decided to put these in mason jars.  They look absolutely adorable!  This was not my original plan though as I had wanted to put them in one long glass, rectangular shaped planter.  (Not sure if you know what I'm talking about so let me insert a picture).  This one is from Crate&Barrel and looks a little darker than normal glass, I would want normal glass, but I think it just looks this way because of how it was photographed.  I mainly wanted you to understand the shape I wanted.  I really wanted to line up the plants because I love that look.  I was unfortunately unable to find literally ANYTHING like this anywhere near me and I'm not keen on order glassware online.  Really sucks but I decided to go with mason jars for the ones I've planted so far and I don't hate it!  We will see what happens with the others I have left to plant...

How STUNNING is this color?  Amazing!  This is what I mean about not always matching the colors with the seasons.  I don't always and this is a perfect example of it.  I couldn't pass up the color and the name of this specific one is 'Gymnocalycium mihanovichii Hibotan.'  A mouthful for sure!

This one is so interesting!  I saw it and HAD TO HAVE IT as soon as I saw it.  It is a Cactus Strawflower called 'Golden Barrel/Echinocactus grusonii.'  These names though!

Not sure if you were able to see on the 'Still to plant' photo but I got the E.T.'s Fingers for $1!  I was so excited about it.  Although these plants are pretty inexpensive, it never hurts to see whats on the sale planter, they usually have a bunch of things over there!  Not to mention, you might get inspiration for making something else!  After all, I did go from making a terrarium to putting random cacti in mason jars and I am NOT MAD AT IT thank you very much, lol!  

Have you done this?  I can't wait to see what I actually decide to do with the other plants that I haven't sorted out yet.  Hopefully one of the planters that I want actually shows up somewhere around me.  If you have any suggestions on where I can get one, please let me know!  Send me a tweet or leave me a comment and thank you so much for reading as always!  Talk to you soon.  -Brit.  

Terrariums Rock!

OH MY GOODNESS EVERYONE.  Stop the presses.  I cannot tell a lie, I have been dying to make a terrarium for the longest time now.  And I didn't want to make it based off of anyone else's tutorial, I wanted to make my own.  The only thing I googled in my pursuit of making these was just to see if there was anything that I HAD TO include (for the health, growth and development of the plants).  

This post is going to be definitely picture heavy because I want to inspire you guys to make your own, not tell you how to make it.  I'll offer some pointers but there really isn't one way to make these and thats the beauty of it all!  My original intention was to make my own and I want it to be the same for you.  

Here are some of the plants that I bought form my local Lowe's store.  I decided to go there because I know they have a HUGE garden center so I figured they would have at least a small section of succulents and definitely some other things that I could include and that I was going to need.  

These cacti are gorgeous.  The colors are so wonderful and vibrant.  I wasn't thinking seasonally about the hues at all but these are gorgeous for the bright aspects of summer but also warm to bring in fall.  

Here are the succulents, a random palm plant and two others that I am not sure the names of.  I wish I had saved the containers that they came in, sadly I threw them away.  Next time I head back to pick up some more I will make sure to tell you all!  I am definitely planning on going back to get things to make another one for my best friend.  She recently got her first place thats her very own and I figured this would be a PERFECT housewarming present for her!  Plus, she knows how obsessed I am, she's been listening to me talk about terrariums for the past month, so she's probably expecting one at this point.  

Sorry for the blur of this photo but I just wanted to show you that I picked some stones from my backyard to put in this terrarium.  I think its absolutely ridiculous to think that I would have to buy stones from the store.  Even if you don't have stones in your backyard, walk a little bit down the road and I would almost guarantee that you'll find some.  That's the beauty of this, you can find materials anywhere as you will see with the sand I also included in one of the terrariums I made.

I was basically in awe when I found this Miracle Grow potting mix that was specifically for cactus, palm and citrus.  Although I obviously wont be putting any citrus in my terrarium, I can feel free to experiment planting some if I wanted to.  On the other side of things, I have exactly what I need for the cactus and palm to last as along as possible!

As I referenced above, you can go out into the natural habitat and get the resources that you need to make it your own!  I am super lucky enough to live on the water and I am thankful for that.  We have a mini private beach below and I got some of the sand from there to include in the bottom of my terrarium.  When I was thinking out and planning how I wanted it to look, sand was a necessity.  

Here are the sand and the potting soil mixed together for the first layer.  

Here's the finish product from a birds eye view of the first terrarium I made!  What do you think?

How gorgeous is this palm plant?  When I saw it on the shelf I knew it was a bit too big and probably going to be a challenge, but I wanted to get my hands on it anyway.  I actually was so proud when I found a way to make it work.  When I was shopping around for my second jar to use, this one was perfect to house the palm plant.  

I really hope you guys got inspired by my terrariums!  I seriously think this is the most calm, cathartic project to do!  I did it over the Labor Day weekend and it was just so fun.  You are totally open to do whatever you want with it and make it your own.  I absolutely love how both of them came out.  Just for some takeaways: I would definitely like to make one of a different shape next time, especially dealing with a bigger plant like the palm plant so it doesn't look so much like it's pushing that red cactus plant.  I still love the way it looks, but that's just the way I would approach it next time.  Also, I LOVE how the soil looks piled a little bit higher in the second terrarium with the red cactus.  Next time I think I'll use some sand and maybe layer it differently to get a similar look.

Let me know what you think!  Have you guys done this before?  Send me some photos on Twitter or leave a comment below.  Also, if you live in the South/Central New Jersey are and know where to get some awesome succulents, let me know!  I have Googled a little and found some places to check out but I want to know if my fellow Jerseyans have any suggestions.  Thanks for reading!  -Brit.

EDIT 9/28/14:

Check out my latest terrarium post!