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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Box of Joy!

Merry Christmas! 

I hope you and your family had a wonderful and memorable Christmas! 
___________________________________


Right before Christmas, I received my long awaited Birchbox. This little box of joy contains samples of different beauty care items and the bonus is that I get one every month!



Here's what I got....




So far, I've used the Fibre Lashxtend Lengthening Mascara and really love the smooth application. No clumps!

Nicole Richie Fragrance - A little strong for me with everyday wear - but something I would definitely wear for a special occasion.

I'm interested to see how the Nail Polish Remover works, especially with how much I do my nails and I'm always looking for great products to use that is not harmful to my nail beds.


Next post - KMS Hair Play Makeover Spray
Ever have a day that you just don't want to wash your luscious locks? This is a wonderful product to make any bad hair day turn into a really good one. 





Friday, December 21, 2012

Homemade Heating/Cooling Rice Bags


This year we at work all the assistants wanted to get creative with gift giving. So we set one rule – what you give must be homemade.

After much thought and scavenging through my supplies I decided on making homemade rice bags. Who doesn’t need a portable heating pad?? If I could afford the rice I would make a sleeping bag size so I could snuggle down inside of it. Oh, what a happy place that would be.

Size – 8in x 17in – I wanted them long enough to fit around their shoulders.

What you’ll need:
-          2 yards of material (I did 1yd of matching materials)
-          2 yards of flannel (Snuggle flannel was 60% off and it worked perfectly)
-          Sewing machine
-          Scissors
First I  cut out all my material. From 2 yards of fabric I was able to cut enough strips for 12 bags.  





After that, I took the strips and layered them in such order - 

Flannel
Decorative Material
Decorative Material (they need to be facing each other)
Flannel


Now sew around all edges, but leave enough of an opening to where you can turn the material right-side out and fill with rice. 


Fill with rice. ( I filled mine half way full) 

Aldi's - $1.69 a bag 
Finish by sewing it closed! 


Ready to enjoy!! 

Heating - 2 minutes on high in microwave
Cooling - at least 2 hours in freezer 

Make a homemade gift this year! I promise, whoever gets it will love it! 

Merry Christmas!! 



Saturday, December 15, 2012

Gruver Style Pot Roast

I love using my slow cooker! So here is my twist on slow cooker pot roast!

1 can cream of mushroom
1 envelope of dry onion soup
1 can of coke zero or coke
Water
Carrots
Red potatoes
2-3 lb. roast of choice

Easy clean-up is best so I never use my cooker without a liner. They might be one of the best inventions ever, especially for a busy mom! Add carrots and potatoes as the bottom layer, set roast on top. In a separate bowl add cream of mushroom, refill with water and add, dry onion soup, and coke. Mix together. Pour over roast and veggies.

Low - 8 hours
High - 4 hours

Once it's time to eat, make the gravy! Take 1-2 cups of roast broth, stir in little amounts of corn starch until thick on medium heat. Turn down to simmer for about 1 minute. Remove from heat. It will thicken as it stands.

Serve it up and Enjoy!!



Monday, December 10, 2012

Weekend Recap

I totally missed writing about Fridays at The Gruver's but this weekend was crazy busy. So instead of just one day, I am going to write about the last three days. 

Friday - 

- Taran went to Nana & Pa's house for the weekend
- Christmas party for my work at Stone Creek (YUM) 
- Late night movie - End of Watch (Collin definitely owes me one) 

Saturday - 

- Long's Doughnuts - If you haven't tried these you are missing out. 
- Grocery shopping - signed up for the mperks program at Meijer. You don't have to print and cut coupons! Just go to their website clip the ones you want and it's sent directly to your cell phone and when you pay -  type your number in and the savings start racking up!
- I was on the Worship Team at church this week. It was a powerful service and you could feel the Holy Spirit's presence.  If you didn't have a chance to hear the sermon check it out!!   
- Finished up the night at a friends house for another Christmas party. I haven't laughed that much in a long time! If you haven't heard of the game Quelf, I highly suggest it.  

Sunday - 

- Finished up the last two services at church. Again, it was amazing and powerful! 
- Picked up Taran and watched the Colt's game at my in-laws. 
- Finally made it home, with enough time to start laundry and get the kitchen cleaned up! Oh Joy! 


Hope you had a great weekend!! 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Decorating your mantel for Christmas on a budget!

Ever get tired of the same decorations year after year? Well, I do. So I thought I would spruce things up this year. It definitely needed to be cheap and I had to be resourceful. Overall I am really happy with the way it turned out!

Green and Gold are my colors for Christmas. One of the main walls in the family room is green and then another is blue. Then in my kitchen, I have an orange wall. Needless to say, I am limited on what colors I can use to decorate with.  

A couple of years ago I bought a bunch of ribbon on clearance at Sam's Club after Christmas. I have used some of it on my tree but that was it. I grabbed some of the ribbon and wrapped it around a short string of white lights and laid it across the mantel.

I needed height and it was just missing something eye catching. Where did I go?? Hobby Lobby! I found the big box paper letters and decided on the word NOEL. Bought a can of spray paint and I was set. The great thing was that both were on sale. Each letter cost me $1.80 and then the can of spray paint was $4.10.

Then while I was in the Christmas section I found some gold glitter twigs, wasn't sure how I was going to use them but I loved them and they were only $1.59 each. I got two. After I got it all home, I wasn't happy with any of the vases I had at the house but on a random trip into Kirkland's I found a beautiful vase for $6.99. Sold!

After everything I spent $21.50 and my mantel turned out great!!

Disregard the ugly black speaker...it can't be moved. 



OPI Giveaway Winner!!

I wasn't sure how I was going to pick the winner until I saw Madeleine's entry. Cajun Shrimp is one of my absolute favorites.

Congrats to Madeleine for winning The Bond-ettes!! (Please email with your address and I will get it mailed this week!) Don't worry there will definitely be other giveaways!

In other news - watch for my next blog on how to decorate your mantel for Christmas on a budget!



*OPI does not know who I am and did not provide me with the giveaway. I paid for it myself.


Saturday, December 1, 2012

OPI Skyfall 007 **Giveaway**

I love these colors so much that I want one of you to enjoy them as much as I do! So, I am giving away OPI's Skyfall Bond-ettes. This is a set of four mini bottles of the Skyfall collection including - Golden Eye, The Spy Who Loved Me, Live and Let Die, and The World is Not Enough.
All you have to do is tell me your favorite OPI shade. Leave your entry as a comment on my blog. 

Entry Rules - 

1. One entry per person. 
2. Giveaway ends on Monday, December 3 at 8pm EST. 
3. Must be official name of the shade - example: Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ (One of my fav.) 
4. I will post the winner's name on my blog and if it is you please email me your information at marygruver@gmail.com  so I can mail it to you!