Easiest Lemon Cookies Ever!!!

Hey everyone! Happy Sunday :). Today I'm going to show you guys how to make some really simple lemon cookies. I make these all the time because they are super easy and I love everything lemon. This recipe on my sweets board. The original pin has this description: "Lemon Cookies: 1 box lemon cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup oil. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on greased cookie sheet, then flatten slightly. Bake at 375* for 6-7 minutes. Cool and frost with lemon frosting."

Super easy right??
So here are all the ingredients you need:










1 box of lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup of oil
Lemon frosting (optional, but really, who wouldn't want frosting).

Instructions:
1. Dump that box of cake mix in a mixing bowl.

2. Add the eggs and oil and mix it up. It will be a pretty thick consistency. 

3. Grab some dough and roll it into a ball. The original instructions say 1 inch balls, but what does that even mean? Make these cookies whatever size you want (within reason). Then flatten the balls slightly with your fingers or the bottom of a glass. 

4. Put those bad boys in the oven at 375 for about 5 minutes. They may look underdone, but remember that they are lemon, so they will be super light. If you leave them in to long (like I did for the first round), the bottoms will burn. :(

PS. These cookies will be crinkly. It's all good in the hood. That's what they're supposed to look like.

5. Let them cool slightly. You can use a baking rack if you're fancy. I just use some paper towels on my counter. 

6. When it's cool enough to touch, but not completely cooled down, go ahead and ice those bad boys. You can wait until they're completely cooled down, or you can do it when they're warm. If you do it when they're warm, the frosting gets all melty and delicious. Just some food for thought... (no pun, if there was one.) 

So, that's it. Enjoy your delicious lemon cookies. Try not to eat them all at once.

Daily Nugs.
... I'm at work right now and it's SUPER BORING because no one is here.
...I just finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. SO GOOD. Go read it right now.
... Here's a picture of my cat being a goofball.

Let me know if y'all prefer cooking stuff and I'll try to integrate it more often.

Xoxo,
Courtnie

Honey Hair Treatment

Hi, everyone! How has your day been? Wonderful as always? Good.
Today, I'm testing out a honey hair treatment from my DIY Beauty Board. The original pin leads to this website, which has some other beauty treatments on it. This one is a big commitment because the blog says that you should wash your hair with this honey/water mixture for a month before it completely balances your hair out. You also have to use raw honey, not processed. There are tons of benefits that the author claims this honey shampoo does for your hair: treats dandruff, reduces frizz, moisturizes, and softens. All good things, so I figured, why not. I started doing this the third week in April so I could really have good info for you guys.

Here's how to make your own honey shampoo and how it works:
The author says to make the shampoo on an as needed basis. Kind of a pain, but whatever. All you need to make the shampoo are:
1. 1 TBS of Raw Honey
2. 3 TBS of Filtered Water
I bought both ingredients for $4.69, so about the same as my regular shampoo. You can also add a few drops of essential oil, but mamma is strugglin' for cash, so we are going to skip that.

To use the shampoo, apply it on wet hair in the shower, messaging it into the scalp only. You don't need to use this on the rest of your hair. I'm not going to lie, this really grosses me out. My hair is super long and probably dirty, but I had to follow the rules. The author also says no conditioner, which is another huge step for me, considering the mane I have to tame on a daily basis.

I did this regiment for a month and I can honestly say that it did not work for me at all. I felt like my hair constantly looked greasy. The original blog did say that it took a few weeks for your hair to get to a normal state, but I tried this for a month. That is way too long for my hair to look gross every single day. Luckily, I could blame my gross appearance on finals time, but I'm glad I'm done with it.

The original blog also stated that it may not work for everyone. So, y'all may want to try it out and see if it works for you.

Daily Nugs.
... I got trained on desk today. Literally the easiest job I have ever had.
... I also work at Panera tonight. Boo.
... I just got back from Florida and got burnt to a crisp. Lovely.

Until next time.

Xoxo, Courtnie

Blog Changes

Hey everyone,

I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday! Sorry that I stopped posting for so long. Now that school is finally over, I will be able to post more often.

I also changed the name of the blog for a couple reasons:
1. I thought the first name was kind of corny
2. I am rediscovering my passion for baking. I have found a ton of recipes on Pinterest, so I will still try to incorporate the website as often as possible.

So now this blog is going to include everything beauty and baking. I hope y'all stick around for the changes and new things to come.



Daily Nugs.
... I'm flying down to Florida today to hang out with my cousins. I can't wait to see a beach!
... I got a 4.0 this semester! Hard work pays off :)
... I got a kitten. His name is Ernest and he is the most precious, energetic, ridiculous cat I have ever owned (and also the only cat I've ever owned). Wanna see a picture??

Xoxo, 

Courtnie 

DIY Body Wash

Hey, y'all! Sorry I was gone so long. Midterms came in like a wrecking ball this year. I hope you're having a wonderful Monday.
Another DIY coming your way from my DIY Beauty board on pinterest (this pin specifically). This one actually leads to a website, instead of just a picture! Woo! Here is the the original post post.
The pin description is "Dove Body Wash DIY I have made a ton of this and will never purchase body wash, this is the real thing, thick, creamy and lathers up great!!" So, they are setting my expectations pretty high. So, let's break it down, y'all.

Ingredients:
1. Moisturizing soap bars (like Dove or Olay)
2. Water
3. A Big Pot to mix it all in.
4. Cheese Grater or a big knife
5.Container to store new body wash in

  So, out of all of these, you will probably only have to buy the soap bars. One ingredient! Sweet. I went and got 2 bars of soap (cause I need a lot of body wash). It only cost $3.27 from Walmart, so not bad. There was only 1 size of soap bars, 4 oz. The blog doesn't say how much soap, so we are winging it on this one.

Directions:
1. Grate bars of soap so it looks like soapy cheese
2. Add 2 cups of water per bar of soap
3. Heat on stove on Medium until soap is dissolved
4. Remove from heat and let cool
5. Once cool put into bottles or any container

Here is the soap that I got: Dove Go Fresh Pomegranate. It smelled the best, which is why I got this one.

 

Next, I tried to grate all the soap

But, I hurt myself. So, my lovely assistant, Tommy had to do it for me. I never claimed to be the most graceful person to walk the earth. 

So, that's everything in the pot, going from just mixed in, to boiling. Once it started to boil, I removed it from heat. 

The bottles I used were old containers of body wash and conditioner. I just rinsed them out really well. It made almost 2 bottles. So, each bar of soap made one bottle of body wash. 

I've been using this stuff on an off for a while now, as it made a ton! I will be honest with y'all, this is kind of an okay thing for me. I really don't like bar soap so much to begin with, unless it is homemade, because it leaves a weird feeling on my skin. Also, this soap that I made doesn't really lather very much. I know that bubbles don't mean clean, but it's still nice to see where the soap is actually going.

All in all, it's up to you guys. This DIY does work, but you may not enjoy the end result. It lathers and feels like bar soap on your skin, so if you're cool with that, then go for it. My friend who makes her own soap said you could add Glycerin to the mixture to make it lather more. You can get glycerin at craft stores and on the internet. It seems pretty inexpensive.

Making this is pretty cheap, but you can buy body wash for the same price. If you like doing crafty stuff, then go for it, but it's not going to cost or save you much, if any, money.

Sorry if I seem wishy-washy (pun intended) about this project. I just don't think it is wonderful, but it didn't fail either.

Okay, sorry for rambling! I'll talk to you guys later. Let me know if you want me to keep trying these DIY beauty things out.

Daily Nugs.
I went to see Urinetown: The Musical last weekend with some studio friends. It was pretty good.
Snow day today!
I played Sims for 4 hours this morning. Sorry, not sorry.

Xoxo, Courtnie

DIY Tattoo Removal with Drugstore Makeup?

Hey y'all! Does anyone have a tattoo that needs covered, but can't afford the expensive makeups or the laser removals? Well, this pin claims that in just a few simple steps, this can be done! Y'all may not know this, but I have a pretty big tattoo of a black dandelion on my back. Because it is on a place that is easily hidden, I hardly ever have to worry about my professional career being in jeopardy because of it. I do know that there are people, however, that have to deal with this on a daily basis. Hopefully this does work for you guys and I am here to test it out.

Here is the photo of the pin:

And the pin's description: "When the time comes to conceal a tattoo for a job interview or other important event. Use a red lipstick covering the outlines, pat on a light concealer, using a setting powder pat on your skin tone concealer, and clean up any mistakes using baby wipes to remove excess concealer. Use a fluffy brush and smooth it out with foundation powder. GOOD TO KNOW"


Alright, so I am going to try to duplicate this on my own tattoo with the help of my lovely assistant, Tommy! This is on my shoulder blade, so he is doing all the dirty work for me :)
Here is my tattoo:

Here are the supplies that I am using:

I am trying to use the same products that she did, but I am not about to go out and buy Mac makeup for this, so keep that in mind. I did already own a NYX red lipstick and the Glamoflauge concealer.

And here is the step by step of us trying to recreate this covering act:

NAILED IT! Obviously, this did not work out at all. Instead of covering it up, I just got a giant pink blob that took forever to wash off. I thought the red lipstick thing was a bit suspicious. 

But, I did my own experiment with this. The concealer that I used, Glamoflauge, is a heavy duty concealer and it says that it can be used to cover tattoos. This stuff is 6 bucks at Walmart, so it is WAY cheaper than other makeups that cover up tattoos. I tried to cover up a couple of the seeds with just the concealer and a setting powder. 

Not too bad for just one application, if you ask me. I'm thinking this could probably work if your tattoo wasn't very dark, large, or in a spot where you couldn't reach. 

All in all, I wouldn't call this whole endevor a failure, but it certainly wasn't a success. Moral of the story: Don't get a tattoo unless 1) It will hold meaning for the rest of your life 2) it is easily concealed 3) is in a place where you will never see it, so you won't constantly be reminded of your regrets. 

Well, until next time..

Daily Nugs.
I have been in a fever coma all day, so classes were wretched
I have to read half a novel tonight for class tomorrow
I ate an absurd amount of pasta tonight for dinner. And I wonder why I am fat.

Xoxo, Courtnie

Fixing Clumpy Mascara

Hey y'all! Happy Sunday! I hope you're having a wonderful day. No picture today because I'm pretty sure the flu has come to Courtnietown.
I just wanted to do a quick little experiment that I found on the Budget Savvy Diva website (original pin). Basically, if you have a mascara that is running low or is super clumpy, you can do this quick fix and save it. Now, I can hear some of you hygienists already: "But Courtnie, you are only supposed to use your mascara for _______ weeks. You shouldn't do this", to which I say "If you have enough money to go buy new mascara every _______ weeks, then go for it, but I'm poor. So, let's  make this last!". I don't put on makeup if I am sick and I am certainly no professional who is using these products on other people, so I don't feel bad about breaking this rule. But, I digress.

All you do is put your tube of mascara in a cup of boiling water, like so:

Leave it in there for a little bit (the original doesn't say how long. I just left it in there until the water got cold) and bam, it should be fixed!

And it was! This is a pretty nifty (free) trick to fix your makeup and get a little extra use out of it!

Daily Nugs...
... All I've done is sleep all day because the flu is at my doorstep.
... I'm really behind on schoolwork as a result of said sleeping
... It is 7:40 and I am planning on going to bed after this. Yay for being a grandma.

Xoxo, Courtnie

I'm back!

Hey, y'all! Sorry I have been away for a while *4months, ahem*. Things got a little crazy, but I am really trying to get back on the ball with this :). I'll be firing up the camera again and have something ready for you tomorrow. Is there anything specific that y'all want to see in the future? Hauls, tutorials, Tommy, DIY stuff?? I'm open to any and all suggestions, since this is all for you guys.

Daily Nugs.
I thought I would just share some pictures of what has been going on the last four months of my life..
   Hanging out with my pup, Norman.
   Hanging out with my sisters.
  Celebrated my guideson's first birthday!
 Discovered I don't completely hate coffee anymore.
   Celebrated the holidays with family.
   
 And caught up with some Panera friends!

All in all, a pretty good 4 months. But, it's time to get back to work and school.
Until later, my dears.
Xoxo,
Courtnie