Beauty, DIY, Fashionblogger, nails, Uncategorized

MARBLE-ous nails!

February 11, 2016by Sara StaffordLeave a Comment

This DIY nail art was so simple to do!

All you need are the two colour choices you’d like to go with for the marble effect, a clear top-coat and a toothpick, or another small tool.

I went with white as the base and a dark grey on top.

Paint your nails with the base colour and choice and wait for them to dry entirely!
Simply use a piece of saran-wrap and roll it into a small ball and dab it into the next colour (making sure you dab off the extra)
Finally, go in with a toothpick and draw random lines in the darker colour to finish off the look!

Seal the look with a clear top-coat and voila!

When I was organizing my closet I came across this shirt that my nails matched perfectly, so of course I couldn’t resist taking a picture!

XOXO Staffordable

baking, Desserts, DIY, Donuts, Fashionblogger, Food, Uncategorized, Wilton

Mini Donuts!

February 10, 2016February 10, 2016by Sara Stafford1 Comment

Who doesn’t love donuts? And who doesn’t love anything mini?

These sweet combination will be an absolute treat whether it’s for a party or just because!

I used the Wilton non-stick 12 cavity donut pan. I picked mine up from Michaels Canada and used a 40% off coupon! I’m always keeping my eye open for really good coupons, and typically every week Michaels has a 40% off one regular-priced item or sometimes even 50%. I wait to buy items such as these until a coupon becomes available!

The batter was really easy to make (I just went on Google and got a simple recipe and did the same for the icing.) I opted for a basic vanilla donut with vanilla icing that I died pink to get the desired effect and used large sprinkles. You can really get creative here and use any sort of flavours or colourings your little heart desires!

I was really pleased with how these turned out and how easy the pan was to use!

These were a huge hit and I keep getting requests to make more! I found that these were more popular compared to if I were to have made full-size donuts, these ones flew off the platter in minutes!

Here are some pictures of the adorable little yummies!

babyshower, baking, Blogger, Cakes, DIY

OH BOY! DIY Baby Shower Cake + Cupcakes

September 23, 2015by Sara Stafford2 Comments

OH BOY! Fondant Converse Shoe Cake + Baby Face Cupcakes!

When I was asked to make a cake and cupcakes for a baby shower I immediately jumped at the opportunity!

This was my first time making anything of this sort so it was really fun to be able to play around with a few things and get creative.

I had come across a few different cake and cupcake ideas on Pinterest so I decided to combine a few for my final products!

Here’s a closer look at the baby face cupcakes. I used a round cookie cutter to make perfect shaped circles for the faces and blue fondant for the hat and soother. I used a small amount of fondant for the nose and then edible food markers and my gel food colous on a paint brush to get the desired effect on the faces. I LOVE how these turned out, so cute! 🙂

For this specific design on the cupcake I iced the cupcake with a simple swirl and then made two different sized/coloured circles to go on top. I finished it off by writing on it with the edible markers. These are really great for writing as well as doing any small details!

For the soother I used a heart shaped cookie cutter and added some extra fondant on the bottom and for the white portion. I used the other end of my paintbrush to add the holes (this really brought it to life!)

THE CONVERSE ON THE CAKE…

BY FAR the hardest BUT BEST part of the entire cake…the handmade fondant converse shoes! These MADE the cake. Luckily I found a stencil online for this so it was just a matter of playing around with it for a bit and then adding in my own touches at the end. I made an edible glue out of water and gum paste to hold everything together. For the laces I struggled with using fondant so I opted for some yarn, which ended up turning out great! I used white fondant around the bottom of the shoes and used the edible marker to add the star and stripes. I used a toothpick to add little details to the sides of the shoe. I made these a couple days ahead of making the cake and stored them in a container in the fridge. This was a great idea to have them done and out of the way so when I made my cake all I had to worry about was decorating it and not spending hours on these!

Not bad for my first time molding fondant into shapes eh?!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…..

Here’s the final product!!! I tinted the fondant that covered the whole cake in a light blue and then made three different colours/sizes of circles to go on the cake. I also used these colours as little rolled balls on the base of the cake, I think this really finished it off!

Christmas, DIY, Healthy, healthybaking, Recipes

“You’re A Mean One Mr.Grinch”- Fruit Kebabs

December 21, 2014December 22, 2014by Sara Stafford3 Comments

These little fruits on a toothpick went instantly at my Christmas party! They are so simple to make but look awesome!

What you need:

-fresh strawberries

-bananas

-large seedless green grapes

-mini marshmallows

-toothpicks

Its as easy as starting with the mini marshmallow on the top followed by the strawberry, banana and then the grape to finish it all off!!

A healthy holiday treat!

Costumes, DIY, Halloween, Makeup

DEERific DIY Halloween Costume

November 2, 2014November 4, 2014by Sara StaffordLeave a Comment

Yet another Halloween has come and gone!

I’ve always loved Halloween and going all out with costumes–this year was no exception! I typically like creating my own costumes opposed to buying them from a costume store.For this costume in particular I bought the deer onesie (which can be used again) The rest was all made by hand! You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a great costume, just an open mind and lots of creativity! I hope you enjoy!

DIY Deer Halloween Costume:

To create a look similar to this one you can start with finding something to wear that is all brown. In my case, I lucked out and came across the perfect outfit. Because I started shopping around early for my costume, I was able to get a great deal on it, and that way I didn’t have to make the biggest part of this costume. I found my onesie at Bluenotes and got it on sale for $25.00! It’s almost next to impossible to find a costume for that cheap at a costume store these days! It was actually a Rudolph onesie that came with a hood complete with antlers and ears. I didn’t particularly like the hood and knew I was going to be making antlers of my own so I cut the whole hood right off. I saved the antlers and ears so I could use them somewhere else for my costume.

How-to recreate this look:

Rudolph Reindeer Onesie, Bluenotes, $25.00

Start off with finding a top and bottom that are a similar shade of brown. If you aren’t able to find a onesie similar to mine, try matching brown tights, pants or a skirt to a long sleeve shirt. This onesie also came with pockets (as if it already couldn’t get any better!) I always make my costumes so I cheated a little bit here since the onesie I bought– but I wouldn’t be able to make something for that price.

Once I removed the hood, it was time to start the antlers! You could always go to the costume store and buy antlers, but I wanted to create ones that looked more realistic than store-bought one. I used aluminium foil to create the shape and size that I wanted. Once I was happy with those I began making the paper mâché mix that I would use to cover the antlers with. I hadn’t made this mixture in years, but it’s as simple as 1 part flour to two parts water mixed in a large bowl. I then ripped newspaper into long and thin strips. Next, dunk the strips into the mix remembering to run your finger down the strip to remove excess paper mâché. Begin placing it on the aluminum foil antlers making sure to mould it to the shape you had originally created. I did about two coats of this until it was smooth and no aluminum foil was left showing. You can dip your finger in the mixture and place it onto the placed newspaper so that the pieces stay nice and smooth (makes for easier painting.) When they are fully complete, place them on a drying rack before beginning to paint. I did these the night before and waited until the morning to paint them.

I decided to paint the antlers three different colours to get the look I wanted. I used a beige colour first,and painted two thin coats over the entire thing. I then used a light brown and white until they started looking realistic. I placed this to the side and let them dry as I worked on the headband that they would eventually go on.

I made my own ears out of light brown felt that I cut into large shaped ears (deers have big ears!) My mom sewed them onto the headband along with the fuzzy ears from the hood placing them inside the ones I made. This ended up working out great because the inside of the ears matched perfectly with the tummy. She then stiched these onto the headband and I painted the headband in the same beige colour previously used.. You can use any headband you want as long as it’s about half an inch or more thick. Don’t use a plastic headband as you will find it hard to attach the antlers to this. I made mine so big they were pretty heavy, I ended up having to get my dad to drill them right into the headband (crazy, I know!) After letting the antlers dry completely my dad bolted the antlers into the headband so they wouldn’t fall over or spin. I was extremely happy with how they turned out and it really made the costume come to life!

The final product

While my dad was working away on attaching the antlers I cut out some dots that I wanted to stick on the back of the onesie to make the spots. I bought an 8 1/2 X 11 inch sheet of felt from Fabricland (on sale for $1.00.) What was great about this felt was that it was sticky at the back so once I had cut out all the dots all I had to do was peal back the sticker and place them on the onesie. I opted for two different sizes of dots and started at the top of the onesie and went right down to the tail. Using the leftover material from one of the antlers on the hoodie my mom cut that off and sewed that onto the tail (I had to have the classic white fluffy deer tail.)

Now that the costume was complete it was time to start the fun part– the make-up! I had Googled, pinned, and watched YouTube videos on how others created the deer makeup. I found one that I really liked and her tutorial was really simple to follow. I have provided this video tutorial below. I didn’t make a video of me doing the makeup but I did take progress pictures throughout!

START OFF WITH A CLEAN SLATE. I used a little bit of mascara on the top lash and that’s it! I curled my hair with a curling wand and then pulled it back from my face while doing my makeup.

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Using white face pain ($1.50 from Dollarama)– use a makeup brush to outline around your eyes. I went just above my eyebrows and just below my eyes.I had to do a couple of coats before it was the white enough (careful not to make it too white)

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Next, using bronzer, or light brown face paint (or a combo of the two–that’s what I did,) with another makeup brush, fill in around the white covering your entire forehead and stopping at the bottom of your cheekbones.

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Before starting the dots. Take a small eyeshadow brush and use a medium shade of brown to contour your cheekbones. You can then blend this with the brush you used for the bronzer. To make the white dots I used the same white face paint as I did for the base and applied it with a Q-tip. This is why you don’t want to make the base too white otherwise the dots won’t show up clearly.

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Using the same eyshadow brush/colour you used for the contour begin to fill in your eyebrows with the same colour. Next, using black eyeliner start at your brow and run two lines down to the bottom of your nose. Fill in the bottom of your nose, I also ran some of the eyeliner into my eyebrows so it all blended nicely. I found it easiest to use a gel eyeliner with a very tin-tip brush to get precise lines.

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Using your black eyeliner again make exaggerated cat eyes on the top and bottom. I wanted to make large deer eyes so I extended my lower lash line a lot and added false eyelashes to the bottom and top lash! I went back in and added some white eyeshadow on the top and lower lids. VOILA- There you have it!

The final touches… I parted my hair down the center and did two one-inch thick french braids at the side. I completed the look with painting old faux-pearls bright red and dipped them in red sparkles to make them look like berries!

OH DEER…

Time to get back to the drawing board for next year’s costume!

Costumes, DIY, Halloween, Makeup

Ghosts Of Halloween Costumes Past

October 21, 2014October 24, 2016by Sara Stafford1 Comment

Halloween has always been one of my favourite holidays–only a few weeks to go!

Ever since I was a young girl my mom would hand-make costumes for my brother, sister and I. Those weeks of planning and late nights spent sewing, gluing, ironing, etc have transpired into my life today at 23 years old. I really have my mom to thank for my love of this holiday and for the enthusiasm and creativity we both love to put into costumes. I know that one day when I have kids of my own I will love spending countless hours coming up with ideas and putting it all together.

For now, I will share with you just a few of my previous Halloween costumes that I have photos of.

Stay tuned in a couple weeks time for this year’s costume…a deer ( I can’t wait for the transformation!)

Peacock:

I did this costume over four years ago so bear with me as I try remembering details!

From top to bottom…

Peacock Earrings: Forever 21, Peacock hairclip: hot glue gunned an extra feather onto a clip, Large Fake Eyelashes: Shopper’s Drug Mart, Sequin Bustier Tank: Forever 21, extra peacock feather mask (quick stitch across chest of tank), Black Tutu (Tip: Ask around if anyone took ballet, if not you can make your own with tulle from Fabricland), I also used some extra masks along the left and righthand side of the tutu, Feather-back, glued a bunch of masks onto cardboard so it was sturdy and attached that on string so I could easily wear it like a backpack, Peacock Feathers, this is where I really splurged, but it was a definite must– I got 3 large feathers from Pier One Imports and just stuck them down the tank-top. This really pulled the whole costume together and made it come alive! Fishnets, I got mine for $2.00 at Dollarama–they have great little additions for any costume you just have to go early, Black Pumps, Steve Madden.

Bathtub:

Rub a dub dub…

This was certainly one of my more extravagant costumes that took up a ton of space. It was so fun to create, and super simple! Not only was it a HUGE costume but it was a HUGE hit!

From top to bottom…

I got the Plush Bow Headband/Tube-Top Bath Wrap from Forever 21 as a set. It was around $15.00 and the best part about it was that I was able to use it again! I’m all about trying to use things I already have for parts of my costume or if I have to buy items I try to see if it’s possible to use again! I kept jewellery to a minimum as I wanted to keep the image of being in a bath real, I wore small faux-pearl earrings that actually looked like little bubbles! I wore my hair up in a sock bun with a few pieces down, however you might wear your hair in the bath! Now for the star of the show THE BATHTUB: I kept a large rectangular cardboard box and covered it entirely with white poster board and extended it out about two feet on either side shaping it like a bathtub! I attached the box on white strings so that it would hold up (it was surprisingly light!).Having it on straps was also convenient for travelling with your costume so that it can easily come off/on. I bought a pack of white balloons and tried blowing them up all around the same size to make the” bubbles.” I filled in the extra space with a package of spider web fluff that I bought from Dollarama to have a foam effect. I found a shower head at Dollarama that I decided to transform into the faucet of a bathtub. I bought a small rubber-duck and other things such as a sponge, loofas, back exfoliators, and any empty soap containers you may have sitting around. In keeping with the theme,I finished it all off with turquoise flip flops (these ones were from Old Navy that I already had!)

Baby Doll:

This was a year where I actually went out two nights for Halloween so naturally had to have two VERY different costumes (you’ll see what I mean quickly). This costume was extremely simply as I had an old skating costume that I used and transformed into a baby doll with some little touches.

From top to bottom…

Hair Bows: These were part of the costume that included the white t-shirt with lace and the CUTE checked shorts. You would use any type of ribbon to create this look, if you match the shorts, even better! I loosely curled my hair and put it into pigtails to channel my inner child. I used fake eyelashes on the top and on the bottom I made an exaggerated eye to look like a doll by using white eye-liner and then making a new bottom lash-line and stuck on more fake eye-lashes on the lower “new lid” I opted for freckles, bright blush and bright lip that I coloured just in the middle to complete the doll face. I had some tall white socks and white loafers to complete the costume!

Sugar Skull:

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos)

I’m a huge fan of all things skulls so figured why not be one?!

I came up with the idea for this costume after countless hours spent searching Pinterest. I had come across a lot of people who had done an awesome job on the makeup so I figured I’d give it a shot. The result ended up being an unbelievable costume which was made entirely by the make-up (I was completely unrecognizable by my very own friends.) I was kind of cool to dress up for Halloween and not look anything like your regular self! This was also the first time I opted for something scary instead of pretty or cute, it was the most fun! This same year I saw a lot of celebrities take on this look too and it started becoming increasingly popular ever since!

Unfortunately I don’t have any tutorials on the makeup as I did this long before I started this blog, but if you search around on Pinterest and YouTube like I did you can find some great tutorials for this! I visited a couple different sites and combined a few looks so that it was exactly how i wanted it to be.

From top to bottom…

Flower Clip: I went to Dollarama and bought bright red fake flowers and cut them off the stem and glued them onto a large clip. Black wig: I also got this from Dollarama ($2.00, such an awesome deal)– this was my favourite part, having been a natural blonde my entire life it was neat putting on a jet-black wig for the night! I pulled the wig to one side and tied it in a low pony tale so it wasn’t taking away from the face makeup. Necklace: I got this skull chocker necklace & bracelet and skull gloves I cut the tips off from Dollarama in the Halloween costume section for $2.00 each, Lace Dress: This was a long-sleeve lace dress that I already had, it was just perfect for the look! I used the same black fishnets from a few years back and the same shoes!

Minnie Mouse:

Last but not least! I was travelling to British Columbia so unfortunately I couldn’t have a large costume and had to keep it pretty small! This seemed to be the year of Minnie Mouse costumes, I knew of three other people who did it that same year! The costume itself I kept simple but the effort on the make-up really made Minnie Mouse come to life! With this costume I put my mom’s years of making children’s costumes back to the test!

From top to bottom…

Minnie Mouse Ears, these are authentic STRAIGHT from Disneyland ears! I had the ears for years and it’s really what made me think to do this costume! Makeup: It was as simple as buying some black face makeup and finishing it off with bright red lips! Again, similar to the sugar skull makeup I looked at numerous tutorials. A lot of people who have done this costume only do the little nose, but creating the mouse heart shaped face MADE the look! Shirt/Skirt I bought a plain black cotton long-sleeve from Walmart and my mom used the extra red material from the skirt to make the bib and stitched on some buttons. The skirt would have been easier if I could have just found a red skirt with white polka dots, but of course when you’re looking for something you won’t find it. So I improvised and with the help of my mom and her handy sewing machine it turned out great! All I did was buy sheets of white felt from a craft store and made a circle stencil and stuck them onto the skirt. Bow Belt: This was a belt that I actually had and it couldn’t have been more perfect for this costume, it’s things like these I’m glad I keep in my costume (you never know when they might come in handy like this did!) I wore thick black tights to make my legs look just like Minnie’s and to match the long-sleeve top! Gloves: I bought plain white gloves from Dollarama and used a black sharpie to colour the black lines after looking at Minnie costumes/pictures online. I didn’t have bright yellow shoes like Minnie does so I just wore black to match the tights!

Check out my post on my DIY deer costume! The makeup on this one is what really makes the look come alive!

Category: DIY

MARBLE-ous nails!

Mini Donuts!

OH BOY! DIY Baby Shower Cake + Cupcakes

“You’re A Mean One Mr.Grinch”- Fruit Kebabs

DEERific DIY Halloween Costume

DIY Deer Halloween Costume:

How-to recreate this look:

The final product

OH DEER…

Time to get back to the drawing board for next year’s costume!

Ghosts Of Halloween Costumes Past

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