WOW #2

If you  followed the last couple workouts of the week (WOW), you have probably noticed I am all about quick and efficient workouts. Here is another intense workout you can do anywhere. Good Luck!

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WOW #2

Warm up by running one mile.

Stretch

Complete each of the 10 exercises in the circuit for 60 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds between exercises. 

Complete this circuit two times.

1. Goblet Squat : hold a dumbbell at chest level while you squat
2. Mountain climbers: in push up position, do a running motion bringing knees to your chest
3. Single-Arm dumbbell swing : like a kettle ball swing but with one arm. Do each arm for 30 seconds.
4. T-Push up: push up position with dumbbell in each hand, go down into push up. Come up and extend one arm up over your head and shoulder so your body creates a "t." Rotate arms.
5. Split jump: start in lunge position. Explode up off the ground to do a scissor kick in the air and land with opposite foot forward in lunge position. (essentially this is alternating jumping lunges)
6. Dumbbell row: bend at your hips to make you back parallel to the floor and complete row, squeezing your shoulder blades together
7. Dumbbell side lunge with touch: side lunge with dumbbells in each hand sink low enough into your lunge that both dumbbells touch the floor.
8. Push up row: push up position with dumbbell in each hand, complete a single arm row
9. Lunge with rotation: hold a dumbbell at chest height, step forward into lunge. While in lunge rotate your upper body towards your forward leg.
10. Dumbbell push press: standing, hold dumbbells in each hand at shoulders. Slightly bend your knees.  At the same time straighten your knees and extend your arms over your shoulders

Rest for two minutes and complete this circuit a second time.
Stretch to cool down.
*Remember to go light with your weights. You are not completing sets in this circuit. It is very exhausting completing the same exercise for 60 seconds. Use lighter weights so you can still use correct form.
Good Luck!

DIY Ombre Pumpkins {tutorial}

I have seen a few ombre inspired projects lately (here) and was trying to think of a way to incorporate this trend into my fall decore. Why not try to paint  my craft pumkins?

Supplies:

Craft pumpkins (I got my two smaller ones at the Dollar Tree and the largest one at Joanns for 50% off)

One 2 oz paint bottle (I used Martha Stewarts new line of paints. Just because I liked the color)

One 2 oz bottle of white or cream paint

Paint brushes

Blue painter's tape

Ruler

Primer (you dont really need this but my pumpkins all started out different colors. I primed them with white spray primer so I had the same surface to work with)

Once I primed my pumpkins and they dried I decided how big I wanted my stripes to be. I choose 3/4 inch. With your pumpkin sitting flat, measure 3/4 inch up from your flat surface. Put your blue painters tape around the pumpkin.

Next, squeeze your entire bottle of orange paint into a cantainer (or whatever color you choose). Paint your first section of the pumpkin.

This is where this project gets time consuming. Let the paint completly dry (approx. 30 minutes). While I was waiting for my paint to dry I cleaned and worked on some future projects. I used a hair dryer to help speed the process because I had the patience of about a two year old. Watching and waiting for paint to dry is very exciting!

Once your paint is dry remove the blue tape. Put blue tape over the line that just finished drying, leaving a little overlap so no white shows through. Measure 3/4 inch from your last painted row and tape around your pumpkin again. You will now have two rows of blue tape to paint your next row between.

Try to get your tape as tight as possible. The surface of the pumpkin made it difficult. In the end, it really does not matter beacause you are going to be painting over it with your next row. Plus with the uneven surface of the pumpkin the blemishes are difficult to see unless you standing right next to the pumpkin.

To paint your next row, add 1 teaspoon of white paint to your base and mix. You will continue this process all the way up your pumpkin. It is a long project so don't expect to sit down and do this project in an hour. (I painted a row, went to the gym, came back to do the next row, showered, came back to do the next row, ect...)

When I finally finished painting my rows, I painted the stem of the pumpkin with some leftover brown paint. I am pleased with the finished project, but this project takes time and patience.

I am linking up to parties at:



Check out all the Buttons here
Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A 2 Z
Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoe String
Friday Flair at Whipper Berry
Potpourri Party at 2805
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Sunday Scoop at I heart Nap Time
Lovely Crafty Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home
Weekend Wrap up Party at Tater tots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Show and Share at Southern Lovely
Wow me Wednesdays at Ginger Snap Scrafts
Sizzle into Summers at DIY by Design
Primp your Stuff Wednesday at Primp
Will Craft for...Comments at Tales of a Trophy Wife





Peanut Butter Rice Krispies

I have a number of favorite desserts and these babies are one of my favorites. I love these because they only take about five minutes to make and the ingredients are simple and easy to remember. They are my go-to last minute dessert.

Your Ingredients:
7 cups Rice Krispies
1 cube (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(I told you the ingredients are easy to remember!)


Combine butter, corn syrup, and sugar in sauce pan and bring to boil. Let boil for about a minute. Turn your burner off and add peanut butter. Stir until all peanut butter is melted.

While you were waiting for your sauce to boil, you should be putting your Rice Krispies in a large bowl. Once your sauce is mixed well pour it over your Rice Krispies and mix all your ingredients together.

Pour your mix into a baking pan and smooth everything out. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and cover for about five minutes. By covering your dish it helps the chocolate chips melt and will make them easier to smooth out. Once your chocolate chips look like they are getting melty or soft, smooth them over the top.

This takes about an hour to cool down. You can serve this slightly warm right out of the dish or wait for them to cool to cut and serve.

 

Harvest Sign Garland

This is the first year that I am actually decorating for fall. Last year we were so new in our home that I hardly had any normal decorations; so I did not want to spend the time or money on seasonal decorations. This year I am ready to decorate for fall, in full force. I started with my wreath and the next step was making something for my mantel.

Your Supplies:
-Card Stock
-Craft knife
-Mod Podge
-Glitter
-String
-Hole Punch
-Glue-dots
I like this project because it is simple and if you are into making crafts, you probably already have all these supplies in your crafting room or closet!

I am not lucky enough to have a Silhouette or Cricut at this point, so I had cut-out my letters the old fashion way.  I picked out the size and font that I wanted my letters, printed, and started cutting with my craft knife. (Maybe in the future I will have a magical machine that will do all the hard cutting for me!)
I taped my prints over cardstock to cut my letters out.

I was using orange glitter, so I also used orange cardstock so no white would show through my glitter.
Once your letters are cut out start mod-podging and glittering your letters.

I let my letters dry while I cut out triangles to adhere to the back of my letters. Using a small circular hole punch I made holes for the string of my garland. I strung my triangles on my hemp string and used glue dots to adhere my triangles and letters together. 

I am Linking up to parties at:
Check out all the Buttons here
Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A 2 Z
Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoe String
Friday Flair at Whipper Berry
Potpourri Party at 2805
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Sunday Scoop at I heart Nap Time
Lovely Crafty Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home
Weekend Wrap up Party at Tater tots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Show and Share at Southern Lovely
Wow me Wednesdays at Ginger Snap Scrafts
Sizzle into Summers at DIY by Design
Primp your Stuff Wednesday at Primp
Will Craft for...Comments at Tales of a Trophy Wife

Why spend your time doing just cardio?

Workout of the week (WOW)

A lot of my workout's come from Cross-fit. Cross-fit is a type of exercise that includes cardio and strength training in quick circuits giving you a full body workout. The best part is that Cross-fit.com and many other individual gyms, that practice Cross-fit, post daily workouts online. There are tons of places to get great workouts for free.

This is one of the cross-fit workouts I tweaked to fit my needs using the equipment available at my gym.

Run 1 mile to warm up.
Stretch

For time complete this circuit:

• 25 Walking lunge steps
• 20 Pull-ups
• 50 Box jumps, 20 inch box
• 20 Double-unders (jumping rope, attempt to get the rope under your feet twice before your feet touch the ground)
• 25 tricep dips
• 20 Knees to elbows
• 30 Kettlebell swings, 25 pounds
• 30 Sit-ups
• 20 Overhead weighted squats (take a barbell, holding it over your head while you squat)
• 25 Back extensions
• 30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

After I did this I also did a few ab exercises. These exercises are up to you if you want to add them to your workout:
3 sets of 12 incline sit-ups with a 25 pound weight
3 sets of 60 second abdominal planks
Lastly, stretch to cool down.

I was in and out of the gym in 37 minutes completing this workout from start to finish.

Good Luck!

It's getting to be that time..... time to decorate for fall.

Corn Husk Wreath:
For every season I make a wreath. I'm not sure why, because by the time I'm done buying the supplies for my wreaths they seem to never be as inexpensive as I expected. However, I love to craft, I love that nobody else has the same wreath, and I love it when someone comes over and asks where I got my wreath.

I wanted to make a wreath that would last me through the whole fall season. Not just Halloween or Thanksgiving. I came up with a wreath made from dried corn husks.

Supplies:
-Straw wreath from Jo-Ann Fabrics
-T-pins (approximately 200)
-One 8oz package of dried corn husks (you can get them in the grocery store in the Mexican food section)
-Ribbon or something to hang your wreath with
-Fall inspired faux flower
-Hot glue gun with glue
-Total Cost: About $15.00

Start by taking your corn husks and placing them in a large bowl filled with water. Soak for about 10 minutes. By soaking the corn husk you are making it more manageable to work with.

Take your corn husk and cut off about 2 inches from the bottom. This is the narrow part of the husk. Next, tear the corn husk into about 1.5 inch sections.

This is what your pieces of corn husk should look like when you are ready to start pinning them around your wreath.

Start pinning from the inside of the wreath. Each row will have 5-6 pieces.  Overlap the corn husks as you make your way from the inside to the outside of the wreath. Continue this process  for the next row. Overlap the rows so you cannot see the pins. If you want, you can leave more space between your rows then I did . I like my wreaths to be very full so I tightly overlapped my rows.

Keep pinning all the way around. At some point add in your ribbon for hanging. I tied mine around the wreath and kept pinning the corn husk over the ribbon.

Once I finished pinning all the corn husks, I realized I needed to add a little color. I arranged a few flowers to add to the wreath. Once I had the flowers arranged how I wanted them, I glued them on with hot glue.

The end result was just what I was looking for, an elegant looking fall themed wreath that will last the entire season.



I am linking up to parties at:

Home Stories A 2 Z

Tuesday Ten

Whipperberry

Chic on a Shoe String

2805

Under the Table and Dreaming

I heart Nap Time

Lovely Crafty Home
Tater Tots and JelloFunky Junk Interiors

Weatherproof Sunburst Mirror

My husband and I just finished a major overhaul to our backyard (pictures to come soon). One of the finishing touches to complete this project was a piece of artwork to hang on our fence. All the images of Sunburst Mirrors I saw posted everywhere in the  "blog" world started to flood my imagination. The only problem was that I wanted my project to be somewhat sustainable to changes in the weather. Check out the tutorial on my weatherprooff sunburst mirror.

Your Supplies:

-2 Packs of 18 inch wood shims

-10 inch round mirror

-14 inch, 10 inch, and 8 inch metal craft rings

-Hot glue gun with glue that is made to adhere to wood and metal

-Gorilla Glue

-Wire for hanging

-Varathane Spar Urethane

Lay your two largest craft rings (14 and 10 inch) down and line up a few wood shims to get an idea of how they will line up before you start gluing like crazy! The skinny side of the wood shim will be towards the inside and the bottom of the shim will line up with your inner ring (10 inch ring). The 10 inch ring will be your guide for where to glue the first row of wood shims.  I used a hot glue gun with glue that was made to adhere to wood and metal.

Once you finish the first row start gluing a second row on top the row you just finished. On this row you will lay the shims between the gaps of the first row you glued. The top left hand side of the picture above shows the second row being glued down.

Now it is time to add your third craft ring (8inch). Just place the craft ring in the middle and start following the same pattern you did on the first two rows. Skinny side in and glue down the wood shims to both the craft ring and the base of your already finished first two rows. I did not line up the bottom of the wood shims along the craft ring on this row; I wanted a little more dimension between the layers of the wood shims. Complete your last and final row of wood shims. You should have four layers of shims total in the two different sections.

Once all the rows are finished, flip over your artwork, take a sneak peak and then glue on your mirror. Use Gorilla Glue to glue down the mirror. Place something heavy over the mirror and wood shims then walk away for 2-3 hours to allow the glue to adhere. At this point, I also added Gorilla Glue in the gaps between the metal craft rings and the wood shims. I figured the more glue the better!

To hang the mirror we simply slipped wire underneath the craft ring in two different places and twisted the ends closed.  If you don't need your sunburst mirror to be waterproof you are ready to hang your new artwork!

I covered the 10 inch mirror with cardboard and started coating all the wood with Varathane Spar Urethane. It dries clear, is odorless and provides protection from UV light and weather. I did not want to paint or stain every single wood shim so I asked the great employees at Home Depot if there was a good spray for weatherproofing. This was there suggestion. I did four coats on both the front and back of the sunburst mirror. Each coat I spayed in a different direction or pattern to ensure that I did not miss any spots.  



I'm linking up to the parties at:

Check out all the Buttons here
Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A 2 Z
Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoe String
Friday Flair at Whipper Berry
Potpourri Party at 2805
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Sunday Scoop at I heart Nap Time
Lovely Crafty Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home
Weekend Wrap up Party at Tater tots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Show and Share at Southern Lovely
Wow me Wednesdays at Ginger Snap Scrafts
Sizzle into Summers at DIY by Design
Primp your Stuff Wednesday at Primp
Will Craft for...Comments at Tales of a Trophy Wife