DIY Deodorant

While it's springtime in the rest of the country, it's 90+ degrees here every day in Los Angeles. We like to pretend like we're glamorous and on the cutting edge of the latest trends, and we might be, but we're also sweating buckets and only going from one air-conditioned setting to the next (home to car to office to car to home). So when I found this post by Greatist, I thought it was perfect timing. Since we're sweating and stinking it up over here, chances are, you will be soon too. Why not try to make your own deodorant with a few household items, ditch the chemicals, and smell good all at the same time?

You only need four ingredients:

1/2 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/4 cup of baking soda
1/8-1/4 teaspoon of essential oil (I chose lavender, since it's a calming smell, but any essential oil of your choice is fine)

If you live in California, chances are your coconut oil is already a liquid goo. If you don't and it's not, stick it in the microwave for 10-15 second intervals until it has completely melted, then pour it into a bowl.

Add your essential oil, cornstarch and baking soda. It'll go from a big lumpy, liquidy mess to...

A big bowl of odd-looking milk. I couldn't get all the clumps out but I did my best.

Next, pour it into a jar (if you want to apply the deodorant with your fingers) or pour into an empty deodorant container (I found it helped to pour the mixture into a measuring cup first). I used an old Dove bottle and still had 1/4 cup left over!

Stick the container in the fridge and let it harden. I gave mine an hour.

This is what turns me off - the second it touches your skin, it starts to melt so you have to act fast. If you don't, streaks of coconut oil will run down your arms. I let the deodorant harden in the fridge overnight, thinking it just needed more time, but it still melted quickly.

A couple pluses? It smells great (because of the essential oil) AND when something straight from the fridge touches your hot mess of a body, it feels amazing.

However, I sweat. I need an antiperspirant. This won't stop you from perspiring, it'll just stop you from smelling bad while you do it. Perhaps if I had sensitive skin or if I was afraid my deodorant was going to give me cancer, I'd be more inclined to use this but in this hot LA weather, this isn't going to cut it.


TOTAL COSTS: About $20
$5.99 for coconut oil from Whole Foods
$1.80 for cornstarch from Vons
$1.59 for baking soda from Vons
$10.99 for lavender essential oil from Whole Foods
Empty deodorant container already on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME:
5 minutes to make the mixture and pour into container
minutes to let it harden

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
While it's incredibly easy to make, it's also incredibly messy.

Strawberry Roses

Perhaps you've seen this photo floating around the internet of strawberry "roses":

Aren't they beautiful? Like something Martha Stewart could do in 10 seconds and probably impossible to do yourself? Well, I decided to challenge myself and let you know the reality behind the photo. And believe it or not, you can totally make these!


Quite simply, you'll need:

1. Lollipop sticks
2. Strawberries (if you want to make 5, buy a pack of 25)
3. A really sharp, small knife

The first thing I recommend is getting your strawberries cold. Think back-of-the-fridge cold. The closer to room temperature, the easier it is for them to become mushy and therefore, impossible to cut.

Once they're practically frozen, use your knife to cut a small hole near the stem. This will make it easier for you to poke the lollipop stick through.

Start by making four small slits around the base of the strawberry. Gently pull them away from the center so as to replicate petals.

Now you can either cut directly behind those petals to get a layered look...

But I recommend cutting in between the spaces and slightly bending the tips so they take on more of a petal-shape.

If you're lucky, you'll cut perfect "roses" with every strawberry. If you're not Martha Stewart, you'll probably make 1 good strawberry rose for every 5 attempts (so it's best to start this project hungry, since you can eat your mistakes!). Two things you should try to avoid include:

#1. Cutting too close to the base and therefore, having the petals fall off.

#2. Pushing the lollipop stick all the way through the strawberry OR cutting too close to it.

With enough practice, your strawberry roses will look good enough to smell and admire. Be patient, have a steady hand, and remember to keep them cold to keep their shape and not get mushy!

TOTAL COSTS: About $5 for a "bouquet" (depending on how many you eat)
$2.99/lb. of strawberries at Vons
$1.99 for Wilton lollipop sticks at Michaels

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Depends on how many you make
It only take a couple minutes to make one but if you rush it, you'll ruin it so take your time!

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 4 out of 5
It wasn't as hard as I had anticipated but as I said, only 1 out of every 5 came out well.

Waffled Cinnamon Rolls

This idea has been floating around Pinterest for a few weeks and on this Sunday morning, I decided to give it a shot. The idea? A waffle iron + Pillsbury Doughboy Cinnamon Rolls = ooey gooey heaven. Now I was very skeptical of this idea, mainly because it sounded too good to be true. I only wish I had been with that hungover college kid who thought of this (because really, who else would have first put the two together?) -

It's simple enough, just grab your waffle iron and your favorite container of cinnamon rolls (mine had Cinnabon frosting included... mmmmm.... Cinnabon....)

One thing I highly recommend is using Pam, otherwise you're going to have quite the mess down the road. It really helped separate the cinnamon rolls from the iron.

Next, place your cinnamon rolls on the pre-heated waffle iron.

Note that your waffle iron might not close completely and that's ok!

Now every waffle iron is different so I can't tell you how long it'll take but I can tell you it's quite fast. 2-3 minutes at most. Use your best judgement and keep an eye on them!

Smother with your favorite frosting (my husband used frosting and syrup and loved it) and quickly devour before someone else tries to steal them!

TOTAL COSTS: $5 at most
Canister of 8 cinnamon rolls were 2 for $5 at Vons
Pam and waffle iron already on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 10 minutes
Depends on how many you make but I made all 8

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
There's a reason why I say a college kid probably made this up... it's very easy to do, doesn't require much effort, and it's much faster than putting them in the oven! A great Sunday morning breakfast treat!

Cupcake Onesie Gift Box

Perhaps you've seen this floating around Pinterest when trying to search for a creative way to gift onesies. Sure, you could just wrap them and hand them over, but where's the fun in that? If your mother-to-be has a sweet tooth, she'll definitely enjoy this creative approach to gifting onesies. Note that it took me less than a minute per onesie so it's a simply and fast approach to gift wrapping!

All you need are:

1. Onesies (as the "cupcake")
2. Baby socks (as the "cherry" on top)
3. Cupcake liners
4. Cupcake box (optional - you could just use a regular box)

It's quite easy so don't be afraid! Step one: fold the sides of the onesie to the middle.

Step two: fold bottom over the top so it's half as wide.

Step three: take a sock, fold it however you like, and starting at one end of the onesie, start rolling it up.

Step four: place your onesie in cupcake liner.

Ta-da! See, I told you it was easy! Do this for however many onesies you have, put a ribbon on the box, and you're good to go!

TOTAL COSTS: About $20 (hey, I said it was easy, not cheap!)

$1.99 for Disney Cuddle Bodsuits 4-pack on Amazon

$8.00 for juDanzy 4-back of solid socks on Amazon

$4.29 for 24-pack of Wilton baking cups from Vons

$4.99 for 3-pack of cupcake boxes from Michael's

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 5 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
You're just rolling up onesies and putting them in cupcake liners - doesn't get much easier than that!

5 Mistakes of Making Slow-Cooker Mac 'n Cheese

I am not... shall we say... a "cook" or a "chef" or any term involving me and cooking. I like to bake but chopping and peeling and boiling? None of that is my forte. So when I saw this post by Whisk and a Prayer for slow cooker mac 'n cheese, I figured, "It can't be that hard to mess up, right?" Boy do I love a challenge! I made 5 mistakes so lets laugh at each one, shall we?

Mistake #1 - Having Barilla in the house
I'm a member of the LGBT community so when I heard Barilla's chairman say last year their advertising wouldn't featuring same-sex couples and critics could "eat another brand of pasta", that's exactly what I chose to do. However, the pasta in our cupboards is older than that announcement so I had to run out and buy another brand. Same price and I get to keep my values!

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 Cups of milk (I used reduced fat)
1 can of evaporated milk (see Mistake #2)
1/2 stick of butter (melted and cooled)
3 eggs (see Mistake #3)
1/2 t of salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 c of grated parmesan cheese
1/2 pound of elbow macaroni (see Mistake #4)
3 C (or 12 ounces) of shredded cheese (and see Mistake #5)
I also added Italian Seasonings and bread crumbs as well because it sounded bland

Mistake #2 and #3 - Dropping eggshells and evaporated milk can into slow cooker
Once you've gathered your ingredients, add the milk, evaporated milk, eggs, melted butter, salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you like to your crock pot and whisk together. Now I don't recommend adding egg shells but hey, maybe they give it more of a crunch! And dropping the entire can of evaporated milk is certainly one way to "add" it but you should probably open it first and add what's inside the can... oy....

Mistake #4 - Overcooking the noodles
Now the original post recommends you cook the noodles for 5 minutes - long enough to make them tender but not completely cooked through. I boiled mine for 5 minutes and they were great!... until I got distracted and forgot to drain them for about 10 minutes, which resulted in them being way overdone. They were so cooked, they were practically jello...not quite a liquid, not quite a solid. So be sure to drain them immediately after and add them to your crock pot!

Mistake #5 - The cheese
Oh geez, the cheese... ok, I didn't see "12" ounces when I first read the instructions, I saw "16" so here I am with an 8oz. block of cheddar cheese thinking, "How the heck and I going to double this?" So I opened the fridge, saw an unopened 8 oz. bag of pre-shredded mozzarella cheese and thought it was a miracle. Well, little did I know, but 4 oz. of unshredded cheese practically results in 16 oz. of shredded cheese! It's freakin' magic, people! So I added the mozzarella with my newly shredded cheddar equaling... well... a lot of cheese... but that can't be a bad thing, right? FYI - grating cheese is probably the most boring thing I've ever done in the kitchen. Has anyone invented an electric cheese grater yet?

The one thing I didn't mess up? Sprinkling parmesan cheese on top. Hey hey, I completed one step without any mistakes! That's progress!

Set your crock pot on high for 30 minutes and wait. After 30 minutes, set it on low for 2-2 1/2 hours and wait some more. Now I'm not sure how this happened, but I managed to burn one side, however it gave me the crunchiness I needed. Otherwise, it was practically cheese soup! I added bread crumbs before spooning it out (and no, I didn't sauté them like the original post recommended... c'mon, I dropped a freaking can of milk in a pot, you really think I can sauté something?)

Needless to say, I won't be making this again. The hubby thought it was delicious but I disagreed but that's probably because I knew of all the mistakes I made. If you do decide to give it a try, please learn from my mistakes and let me know if it's any good!

TOTAL COSTS: About $6.50 (prices from Vons)
$.99 for 1 lb. of elbow macaroni
$1.29 for evaporated milk
$3.19 for cheese
$.99 for butter
Milk, eggs, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese already on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 3 hours, 30 minutes
30 minutes to prep
30 minutes on high
2 1/2 hours on low

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
Ok, if you don't make any of the stupid mistakes I made, I sure this will be a 1 out of 5 for you. However, if you're as cooking-challenged as I am, you might be better of buying some Kraft and becoming friends with your microwave...

Red Velvet Cinnamon Truffles

Many people really enjoyed my post about Oreo Peppermint Truffles so in the spirit of American Heart Month (and Valentine's Day), I saw this post about red velvet truffles and wanted to try them with a hint of cinnamon on top. Now let me point out this recipe is in no way heart-healthy, I'm simply associating it with American Heart Month because it's red. So, with that being said, let's get started!

You can either make the red velvet cake from scratch, or you can buy mix from the store like I did and save yourself some time and energy. Along with that, you'll need:


* Cream cheese (original post calls for 3oz. but because I bought a cake mix, I used 8oz.)
* White chocolate coating (original post calls for 12oz. but I used 16oz. of vanilla candy coating)
* Powdered sugar (original post calls for 1/2 Cup but I used 2 Cups)
* (optional) Cinnamon imperials for the top of the truffles


Make your red velvet cake first. It doesn't matter how it looks because you're going to be breaking it up into crumbs later. So don't worry if you try flipping the cake onto a cooling rack and you accidentally tear off the bottom of the cake that's still stuck to the pan... like some people... ahem...

Once your cake is baked and cooled, start to combine your cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl.

Next, crumble up your cake and start to add it to the bowl.

Using a Tablespoon, scoop out some mix and using the palms of your hands, roll into balls and place onto a plate. Note: your hands are going to get very messy!

Now the original post says to put them in the fridge for at least 4 hours... well, I did 30 minutes in the fridge and about 20 in the freezer and they were fine. During this time, melt your chocolate so it's ready by the time you take your cake balls out. Shouldn't take too long to melt at all.

Dip your cake balls into the chocolate and place on a plate.

If you like, you can decorate each with three cinnamon imperials. Note that even with 16 oz. of chocolate, I was only able to cover 28 of the 45 truffles.

Place back in the fridge to harden and take out when you're ready to devour!

TOTAL COSTS: About $13 to make 45 truffles (all prices are from Vons)
$1.99 for cake mix
$1.99 for powdered sugar
$1.99 for Cream cheese
$4.49 for CandiQuik
$1.99 for cinnamon imperials

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 2 hours, 45 minutes
35 minutes to make the cake
20 minutes to let cake cool
40 minutes to make balls
30 minutes to let balls harden in fridge
20 minutes to let balls harden in freezer
20 minutes to put chocolate and cinnamons on balls

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
It's practically a cake walk (har har) - the only "difficult" thing is to keep an eye on the chocolate so it doesn't burn. Other than that, they're as delicious as they look!

Geeky Valentine's Day Cards

Do you have a kid who is obsessed with video games like Minecraft? Or are you with someone who misses old school Atari games? Why not make them a Valentine's Day card that'll be right up their alley! I found both of these cards on Instructables with easy step-by-step instructions but since my blog is about breaking down the how to, how much AND how hard to projects, I'll provide my own step-by-step instructions with photos and tips of what not to do!

Card #1 - The Pixelated Pop-Up Heart

Here's what you'll need:
1. Tape or glue
2. Scissors
3. Ruler
4. X-acto knife
5. Whatever colored paper you want for the card (I used red construction paper)
6. Whatever colored paper you want for the envelope (I used white card stock)
7. Something to protect your table while cutting (I used scrap cardboard)
8. A printer to print off the heart template and the envelope template


Once your templates have been printed, cut out the heart template and start cutting where the yellow lines are and scoring (i.e. - not cutting all the way through) on the gray lines. This will be the longest and the most detailed step so take your time and if you mess up, that's ok, that's what the second heart is for!



Next, you'll need to fold only parts of the paper, not the entire paper. See where the yellow lines are? That's where you'll want to fold.

Blue line = bad folding. Yellow lines = correct folding

Do NOT fold like the blue line because your heart will not pop up correctly.

Bad folding. Bad, bad folding.

Slowly start to pop out the heart (I recommend pushing from the back very gently). It pops up easier than you think. Then get another piece of paper and tape or glue it to the back.

Cut out your envelope template, fold on the dotted lines and tape it together to hold your card. Note that your card will not lie flat so don't force it!

And that's it! I gave mine to Batman... he was shocked I didn't cut myself once while making this.

TOTAL COSTS: $4.29 (still cheaper than buying a nice card from the store!)
20 cents for a piece of white card stock from Staples
$1.09 for a piece of red card stock from Staples
(though you could use printer paper and construction paper)
$3 for an x-acto knife at Blick's
Tape, scissors, cardboard, ruler, and a printer were all on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 15 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
It's not difficult to score and cut the lines, it's just time-consuming and you really have to pay attention or you could accidentally cut what should have been scored and then the heart won't pop-up!


Card #2 - Retro Valentine's Day Card


Here's what you'll need:
1. Packaging tape (though any clear tape would do)
2. Scissors
3. X-acto knife
4. White card stock (I only needed 1 piece, not 2)
5. Red construction paper (though card stock works too)
6. Something to protect your table while cutting (I used scrap cardboard)
7. A printer to print off the template


First, print out the template and cut out the pink and the white cards. After they're both cut out, trace one of them onto the red paper and cut out a sheet of the same size.

Next is the hardest part - cutting out the red hearts but leaving the black lines intact. This is not easy and will take forever, but it'll be worth it in the end. Just make sure you have something protecting your table and take your time!

Once the hearts are cut out, tape the pink card to the red card along the top, bottom, and left side, so as to create a pocket.

Draw a small square on the right side and cut it out.

Then make sure your "Happy Valentine's Day" white card can fit inside the pocket you made and draw a small arrow pointing out, so the recipient can "fill" in the hearts when they pull on the tab.

And you're done! Now be careful if you're going to write a note on the white card, because it could show through the heart.

That big white space makes it tempting to write something...

But you'll see it through the hearts!

Batman liked this one so much he ate it up. Literally.

TOTAL COSTS: About $7
20 cents for a piece of white card stock from Staples
$1.09 for a piece of red card stock from Staples
$3 for an x-acto knife from Blick's
$2.99 for packaging tape from Vons
Scissors, cardboard, and printer already on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 30 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 4 out of 5
It's really difficult to cut out the hearts while leaving the black outline intact, especially around the middle point of the heart. With time and patience, though, you should be able to get it!