Beautify It Monday Features and a Giveaway!

This week has been so much fun and we have a lot to be thankful for over here at Bringing Beauty! 

Last week we posted a challenge for ourselves to reach 100 followers by April 1st. 

Well it's not April yet and we've already climbed to a whopping 142 followers with GFC and Linkys combined! Obviously we couldn't have done this without you guys and we are so thankful! As promised we want to hold a giveaway to thank you all for your amazing support! 

This week we're going to be giving away a $50 Amazon gift card! 

Are you guys as excited for this as we are?! 

There are 3 different ways that you can enter to win:

1) Like us with GFC or Linkys and leave a comment below 

2) Like us on Facebook, find the post about this giveaway and leave a comment there

3) Come back on Monday to post up to 3 links to our Beautify It Monday link party and write "Giveaway" along with the description of your link to let us know that you want to be entered

(You must also be a follower of our blog)

If you want to be entered multiple times be sure to follow all of the steps above!

 All entries will be added into a random drawing and the winner will be announced on Saturday April 7th.  Once the winner is chosen that person will have until Monday to E-mail us and their gift card will be sent to them via e-mail!

We are so excited about this!

 And the good news continues... 

Last week we also successfully threw our first ever Beautify It Monday link party with over 80 link ups! 

We had so much fun going through each and every post! We were amazed at all of the wonderful things that every one linked up - you really are all so talented!

Here are some of our favorites..

Princess Party by Bridey Widgey 

No detail was left out in this Princess Party - we loved everything from Snow White's Poison Apples to Cinderella's Glass Slippers.  Perfection! 

Carrot Napkin Holders by Nifty Thrifty Things 

 We simply fell in love with these carrot napkin holders! And with such a detailed how-to, having them at your Easter Party will be a breeze!

Pallet Lemonade Stand by I Know The Plans I Have For You

This adorable lemonade stand was made as an entry for round 3 of American Crafter- the theme was Spring and we think she nailed it!

Nursery Name Sign by Are We There Yet?

The letters covered with scrap paper are so beautiful and mounting them on that white board was the perfect touch!

Congratulations to everyone who was featured -
Grab a button and show it off!





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Thank you to everyone who linked up this week and to all of our followers -
We are so grateful for all of your support!

Beautify It Monday will be back for week two and we can't wait to see what you have to show off!

Nest Candle Holders

Beautify It Monday features will be posted tomorrow - If you haven't linked up yet there's still time!

With just a handful of supplies from your local craft store you can make these cute candle holders for under $15!

I found these adorable wire nests at Micheal's for $2 a piece.

This small piece of slate cost under $5

I used a hot glue gun to attached the nests to the slate and filled them with some string and these adorable egg candles which I also picked up at Micheal's for $3.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll comment below and follow us with Google or Linkys!

We're linking this at these wonderful blog parties!

Trend Alert: Pastel Colors

According to Vogue's Guide online, “The neon colors that we saw all over the runways and streets last year have mellowed out. This spring, brighter turns lighter in a pale, fresh and feminine palette.”

Pastel colors are one of my favorite trends for this Spring! 

I just love how effortlessly feminine they are! 

These are some outfits I put together with some pastel pieces in my wardrobe!

That being said, it can be easy to go from flirty and feminine to looking like an

overly-iced cupcake 

(which is not cute on anyone over the age of 5) 

so I wanted to share a few quick tips on how to avoid that... 

1.  Pastel colors can be intimidating so one simple way to add them into your wardrobe is through accessories like the bangles or sandals above. Accessories like this can add that final touch to a white t-shirt and jeans and really take the outfit to another level. 

2. Try to avoid wearing pastel colors with harsh BLACK which can sometimes make an outfit look choppy or disjointed. Instead, try to opt for shades of grey or ivory which will make for a much more subtle look. 

3. Don't wear all your pastel colors at once. This is the best way to avoid Easter-Egg syndrome! If you do want to wear two pastels together, make sure it is through the use of accessories. For example, a lavender blouse, pale pink skirt and pale pink jewelry could easily look sickly sweet while that same lavender blouse and pale pink jewelry, could look great with a grey skirt instead. 

4. The most important tip I can give you is have fun with it! This is a trend that can fit into every one's wardrobe one way or another so don't be afraid to take a little risk, even if that means going for that mint green nail polish next time you get your nails done, instead of reaching for your usual hot pink! 

Dylan and Leah love the pastel trend too!

   I hope you guys find these tips useful! What do you think of the pastel trend? 

If you like it, what's your favorite way to wear it?

We love to hear from you guys! 

Be sure to follow our blog, and link up to our Beautify It Monday link party going on now!

Don't forget to like us on Facebook! 

We can be found linking at these great parties!

Peeps S'mores

Beautify It Monday is still open - don't forget to link up if you haven't yet!

For this fun and tasty Easter dessert all you need are some peeps, graham crackers and a few chocolate bars

Place your peeps on a microwave safe plate, leaving plenty of room between them because they will grow when you cook them, and microwave for 20 seconds.

Get your graham crackers and chocolate ready..

When your peeps come out of the microwave they will be very gooey and hot! So use a spoon to transfer them on top of your chocolate.

Top with another graham cracker and your ready to enjoy!

Comment below and let us know if you try this out! I promise you won't be disappointed!

We're linking at these great blog parties!
 

Versatile Blogger Award

Our Beautify It Monday Link Party is going on now! Come link up!


We are beyond happy and excited to announce that DJ's Sugar Shack has awarded us the Versatile Blogger award!

Thank you so much for thinking of us for this award! We are so honored that our blog is receiving some great attention and it has us 

really excited for the future! 

Now that we've been nominated it's our turn to pass this award on to another 15 amazing blogs! This is such a fun and exciting way to show our appreciation to some great bloggers! So here we go...

1. g*rated

2. Knot All That I Seam

3. Social Salutations

4. Loopy Loop Creations

5. Three Scoops of Love
6. Cherished Treasures
7. A Mother and A Daughter
8. Our Pinteresting Family
9. Alderberry Hill
10. Craptastic
11. The Copycat Crafter
12. Will Cook For Smiles
13.  Marionberry Style
14. Life Exquisite
15. The Andrews Update

Now we're supposed to share 7 random things about ourselves -

• Dana was an all star pitcher throughout High School and College - she played on both school teams and traveling teams
• Ashley was president of her sorority Delta Delta Dela at Syracuse University
• Alison is not the most athletic in the family but she was a pole vaulter for three years on her High School track team
• Tara is the world traveler of our family - At 19 years old she's already been to 4 out of 7 continents
• Growing up we spent our summers visiting our grandparents at their home on the bay in Forked River NJ
• Our home was always filled with animals while we were growing up - we've owned every type of pet from dogs, cats, rabbits, lizards, ferrets, turtles, guinea pigs etc. 
• Food is a very important part of our family parties - A typical holiday meal in our family usually contains enough food to feed a small army!

Thanks again to DJ's Sugar Shack for nominating us for this award! You guys should all take a minute to stop by and check out some of the amazing recipes on her blog!

If you were nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award please follow these rules:

1. Thank the person that gave you the award in a blog post.

2. Include a link to their blog in your post.

3. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers you follow

4. Include 7 random things about yourself in your post

5. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog

Cupcake Wrapper Pom Poms

We're so excited that we've been having such a great turn out for our Beautify It Monday link party! If you haven't linked up yet be sure to check it out! We'll be highlighting some of our favorite posts on Saturday so don't miss your chance to be featured!

Creating hanging pom poms to match your event is an easy and affordable way to add to your party decor. 

All you need for this craft is:

Cupcake wrappers (about 150 for 1 pom pom)

A Styrofoam ball (I used one with a 10 in diameter)

A Glue gun and plenty of glue sticks

And a ribbon or string for hanging

Directions:

1.  Start out by taking one cupcake wrapper and wrapping it around your finger to create a rounded base for your glue. If you are using a patterned wrapper turn it inside out so that the pattern is on the inside.  You will see it better this way.

The pattern should be on the inside (not pictured here). I didn't realize the importance of this until after I took this picture.  This is one of the many benefits of getting craft ideas from bloggers. We get to iron out the kinks for you :)

2.  Next, simply glue each wrapper (one at a time) to your Styrofoam ball until you achieve the look you want.

3.  Glue your ribbon on and place a few cupcake wrappers over the ribbon to enforce the hold.

You can play around with the tightness of the wrappers and the pattern to create a unique design that's perfect for your event.  

I used about 150 cupcake wrappers for this pom pom to achieve a very full look

I made this one a little loser by using 100 wrappers and spreading them further apart

 

 And for my last pom pom I used even less wrappers and I combined green and yellow for a variation in color. 

Let us know what you think by commenting below!

We're linking at these great blog parties!

Beautify It Monday

Welcome to the first ever Beautify It Monday Link Party!

Jungle Baby Shower: PART I

I’m in the process of helping my Aunt plan a baby shower for my cousin’s wife, and being that I’m in LOVE with party planning, I was ROARING WITH EXCITEMENT when presented with the task!

My cousin is expecting a baby boy, so I immediately thought of throwing a JUNGLE themed shower (because let’s just face it, there’s just nothing cuter than baby boys and jungle animals!)

I hit the jackpot when I found these adorable invites online at TINY PRINTS:

I love the style of this invite! It's adorable, yet sophisticated, which is super important because although this is a baby shower, it's also a party for the mom-to-be, and her style should be reflected in the theme as well. Being that this invite does just that, I decided to use it as the inspiration for the rest of the decor.

I created the Roaring with Excitement stickers on my computer and printed them out on sticker paper. I also designed the baby book insert to match.

So now that the invites are in the mail, I started working on some decorations! 

All you need to create this look is some scrapbook paper, ribbon, a glue gun, and letters.  I used wooded letters because I thought it would create a nice look, but stickers or paper letter would work fine as well.

Simply cut out a square (or whatever shape you want to use) for each letter that you need.  It’s important to leave a tab on the top of each square so you can easily glue it to the ribbon later.

Once you have completed each letter, simply use your glue gun to attach each letter to the ribbon.  Fold the tab over the ribbon and glue both sides to create a stronger hold.

Be sure to Follow Us so you don't miss out on more great decoration ideas for your Jungle Party, starting with Tuesday's post on how to make these adorable hanging Pom Poms using cupcake wrappers!

I'll also be posting the entire shower as a party post some time in April!  I hope you're as excited as I am!!!

Come back tomorrow for our first ever Beautify It Monday Link Party!!

We're linking here!

Eggs and Feathers - Easter Wreath

Last week while we were shopping at Home Goods my mom saw this wreath and she fell in love with it 

 She was going to buy it until we looked at the price

 (which was something crazy like $35)

 I decided to try making one instead!

So I headed to Micheal's and picked up my supplies - 

Foam Wreath Form

Paper Mache Eggs

1 Package of Feathers

Some Paint 

 Total cost - $12

First I painted the wreath foam grey to help conceal any bare spots.  

For the eggs I chose different colors than the inspiration wreath because 

I wanted to brighten it up a bit

Next I attached the eggs around the wreath and the glued the feathers down to fill in the open spaces.

 I also stuck some of the bigger feathers into the foam to make them stand out more.

And there you have it - My mom got the beautiful Easter Wreath she wanted plus she saved $18!

We'd love to hear what you think about this project so please comment below!

Follow our blog and also check out our new Facebook page!

Honey Ginger Salmon

This salmon recipe is sure to be a go-to for your Springtime dinners!

• Whisk olive oil, rice wine vinegar, honey, soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar, garlic, salt and peper together in a baking dish
• Add the Salmon and toss to coat the entire fish - Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
• Line a baking dish with foil (for easier clean up) and top with a wire rack
• Place the fish on the rack and broil on high for 10-12 minutes until the salmon is cooked through

 This really is delicious! We'd love to hear how it comes out if you try this at home so comment below!

Remember to come back on Monday for the first ever Beautify It Monday link party!

We're sharing this recipe at these great parties!