Salon Hair Products for Less

If you like high end hair products but don't like the price try going to NPS. NPS is a scratch and dent store that has just about everything. I went there yesterday with my mom to check it out, I'm glad we went because they had a shelf of salon hair products for a fraction of the price. 

I bought this L'Oreal Professional hair mask a few months back off of drugstore.com for $30. I know that's expensive but I was feeling really desperate. Then I chopped all my hair off and I haven't needed a deep mask. Anyway, this bad boy was at NPS for $6.00!!! I couldn't believe it. I can't say if it's the exact same, I know you're only supposed to buy salon products at salons but I tried it today and it smells, feels and works the same. My mom bought some Biolage products to try, I'll let you know what she thinks.  When I was there they also had Redkins, Bumble and Bumble, Kiwi, Bed Head, Paul Mitchell and more.

I love salon products and solely used them before I started caring about how much things cost. Now maybe I can use them and be happy with the price tag. The store is really dirty, the employees are not the most helpful or happy, BUT you could get a good deal. Has anyone else been there? What did you think? What did you buy?

NPS store in Utah:

1600 S. Empire Road, Salt Lake City, UT 84104(801) 972-4132‎

Bountiful Baskets

Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op? It's a fruit and vegetable co-op where you go online (ether Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on your location) and buy your "basket" of food and then on Saturday you go to your location with your own basket and fill up with produce for only $15! We are talking LAUNDRY size baskets. You can also get organic for $25. My amazing sister-in-law, Kim, told me about this a few weeks ago. She has been doing it and has really enjoyed the produce so far. I think 

I'm going to try it out next week, I'll let you know how it goes. 

Has anyone else tried this? What do you think? I think this is such an amazing way to make sure you eat your fruits and vegetables and to try out some new ones.

If you live in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Arizona, Nevada or Washington click Here for more information or click Here to see pick up locations.

Chalkboard Stickers

 Look at these cute chalkboard stickers I got from the dollar store. You get two on one paper and you can write right on the sticker with chalk and wipe it off. I LOVE finding fun things at the dollar store.

 

I think I'm going to get a few more of these. I already know what I'm going to do with this other sticker.

BYU Mint Brownies

BYU is my school. I graduated from there, met my husband there and found these brownies. If you have ever been to BYU I'm sure you have noticed these brownies all over the place. They are the perfect balance of mint and chocolate, two of my favorite things. When I was in school there I went on a mad hunt for this recipe because I knew I would want it later. I found the recipe my Junior year in a BYU magazine and saved it ever since. I finally made them, and boy am I glad I did! They taste just like the brownies you get on campus and they are really easy to make.

The only thing I will do differently next time is use about half this amount of frosting. They are supposed to have a thin layer of the mint and chocolate frosting but mine ending up having a TON of frosting on them. I'm not a huge frosting fan to begin with so I didn't love that. I also put mine in the fridge to make for easier cutting, because of all the frosting, and I actually like them better right out of the fridge. They taste almost fudge like, very rich. I hope you enjoy the recipe too!


BYU Mint Brownies

Ingredients:

1 C. margarine (I used butter)
1/2 C. cocoa
2 T. honey
4 eggs
2 C. sugar
1 3/4 C. flour
1/2 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 C. chopped walnuts (optional)
12 oz. Chocolate Icing (use your own recipe or you could use store bought.)

Mint Icing:

5 T. margarine (I used butter)
dash of salt
3 T. milk
1 T. light corn syrup
2 1/3 C. powder sugar
1/2 t. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Instructions:
Prep and Cook: 90 min. cool 1 hour

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint Icing: soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix, add milk gradually until the consistency is a a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Linked to Tempt my tummy Tuesday. 

The Dish Mat

 I saw this cute dish mat tutorial around Christmas time on Life in Grace and I instantly knew I had to make one. Of course that "instantly" has turned into almost 6 months but that is actually a lot faster than I get around to doing a lot of things. Anyway, Darby from Fly Through Our Window created the tutorial, which I didn't follow exactly, more just did my own thing but used the tutorial as a guide line. It turned out great! I'm so excited to start using it, I think I'll end up making an even bigger one next time.

Just line all your dishes in a row when you don't want to put them in the dishwasher. I'll probably just be using this for the larger items that don't fit in my dishwasher but I wanted to make the pictures pretty.

When you're all done just roll it up and store in a drawer, so simple. This is a easy and fast craft. I almost finished the whole thing last night when Reed and Addie had to make an emergency fish taco run.

Click here to be taken to Darby's tutorials and then click "Dish Mat". Did I mention how much I love Fly Through Our Window? It is one of my favorite feel good blogs. I could spend hours reading all of her posts.

Father's Day Food

Image: Bakerella

I made these adorable cupcakes and fries last year for my hamburger loving husband and dad. They are really easy to make and so much fun! Click here for the instructions from the amazing Bakerella.

I might make these cute grill cupcakes this year, found in Family Fun Magazine. I love all of the fun things you can do with cupcakes!

Click here for the recipe.

Dinner tonight

We are having this for dinner tonight. Perfect for a hot summer day. Yum! 

What are you having?

Fun Toddler Ideas

Every day I find myself trying to think of fun things for Addie to keep her entertained. I can never think of anything to do at the time so we end up just driving each other crazy. I decided to make a list of toddler activities so I can just hurry and find something fun to do whenever she starts getting antsy. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a bored toddler so I'm listing it on here in hopes that it might give one of you an idea or two.

This will be a running list that I'm going to keep updating as I find more activities. I would love to hear from you, what things do your toddlers love to do.  

Blow lots of bubbles. We have this bubble set from Gymboree at nursery and it works great. The bubble wand gives you tons of bubbles with one blow plus the bubble solution is the best I've seen. Addie's cute cousins gave her a bubble gun (like this one) for her birthday which is also a hit.You just push the trigger and the bubbles are blown for you.

Finger Paint. Using regular paints and the edible variety.  
Make Cookies, or any other treat. Addie loves to stir all the ingredients and "help" pour everything into the bowl. Plus she gets to taste it as we go along 
Play with Playdough, or the homemade variety.
Play with Cornstarch Goop. Place 1 cup of cornstarch in a large flat dish (a metal baking pan works well) and add water a little bit at a time until "goop" is formed. It should not be too watery and not at all powdery – the consistency of clay. The goop will feel hard when the child picks it up and then will turn to liquid in their hands. The activity works best when the dish is a different color from the goop. Try adding food coloring to the goop for even more fun! Found Here.
Have a Dance Party. Turn up the music and dance away. It's not a party unless mom is dancing too.
Read. Some of our favorite books to read together are: Jamberry, Cookie Count,  Tails, Napping House, Big Hungry Bear, Peek-a-book, I love you


Play with Sidewalk Chalk outside. Or dip the chalk in water and give it a "paint" feel.
Try out Homemade Puffy Paint. Recipe Here.
Water time at the sink. Pull up chair to kitchen sink and fill with water and bubbles. Use cups and bowls for water fun.
Find Colors all around the house and take pictures of them. Print out pictures and create a color book.