A Thought for Friday

I saw this quote and wanted to share with you...

"I’ve learned that happiness comes in different forms. It can be found in the blackest thunderclouds or when the earth is withering from heat. It is also in the warm rays of the sun in the midst of pouring rain. It is in the first green leaf of spring peeping out of the cracked bud of a poplar tree. It is in the little white petal working itself out on a branch of an apple tree. It is in the darkness of the night sky with thousands of twinkling stars. It is in the tender look of a loved one. It looks out through shining eyes in family photographs."

it is everywhere
find happiness right where you stand
Lidia Evgenevna Shmakova

Wordless Wednesday

A sign of Spring in my backyard.

Cute Summer Nail Designs

     It's been a while since I posted some nail art. Summer is fast approaching so I thought I would share some great nail art ideas. Cindy over at the Skip To My Lou blog has tons of cute ideas for do-it-yourself fabulous nails. You gotta check it out!!

Wordless Wednesday

A perfect place for a snack?

Get Beautiful Nails At Home

If you want your hands to look younger, give yourself a manicure!  Here are some common mistakes and the smart fixes to protect your nails.  

Don’t file nails back and forth.  The sawing motion weakens your nails and can cause them to split.   File in the same direction with a soft emery board. (Those old-fashioned orange emery boards are too harsh for nails, causing small fissures and cracks that lead to breakage and tears.) To help prevent your nails from breaking, keep them short and square with a slightly rounded edge. The best time to file your nails is when you are already wearing a polish. This will prevent splitting or breaking of nails.

Don’t use acetone-based polish remover.  This strips away the moisture and natural oils that will keep your nails flexible. 

Don’t cut your cuticles.  Your cuticles act as a barrier against infection-causing bacteria. Instead, soak your nails in warm water to soften your cuticles and then push them back with an orange stick or washcloth.

Don’t paint your nails with old polish.  Buy a new polish that’s free of formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and toluene such as Obessive Compulsive Cosmetics (occmakeup.com), Spa Ritual (sephora.com) or Mineral Fusion (available at Whole Foods Stores).

Don’t wear polish every day. When you wear nail polish, make sure to give your nails a break from time to time. In other words leave them without polish for a few days, every now and then.

Cut your nails to a manageable length. There is no point in having extremely long nails, they snap off (painfully) and take a while to grow back into a normal shape.

Moisturize the nail bed and the cuticle. While there is little in the way of medical data showing that moisturizing the nail bed will help nails grow, it can make cuticles look better and help protect nails from breaking due to a lack of moisture. If your nails are prone to breakage, it could mean they need moisture -- and putting oil around the cuticle helps moisturize the entire nail.

Change shampoos. While you probably know when your shampoo doesn't agree with your hair, you might not realize it may not agree with your nails -- even if your hair looks great. This is particularly true of detergent shampoos, or those for oily hair.  If your nails are dry and you are using any products that strip oils, there is the potential to dry nails.

Remember toenails count, too!  Everything that applies to your fingernails applies to your toenails

Here’s a little nail trivia—did you know it takes 8 months for nails to grow an inch? 

Wordless Wednesday

Yay for spring!

Lovely Gift Book for Moms

  

 

     Adult coloring books are all the rage and this coloring book doesn’t disappoint! It’s called “Home Is Wherever Mom Is…Creative Coloring and Hand Lettering.”

     This is a beautiful coloring book with more than 90 whimsical images and quotes and messages about motherhood. I appreciate that the images are gorgeous but aren’t so intricate that it takes forever to fill them in. I also like that the pages are heavy yardstick and perforated so you could frame them.

    There are hand-lettered quotes that you can trace with fine markers and color in with markers, colored pencils, paints or brush pen. These quotes are from various authors and some are Biblical quotes. In the back of the book are lined practice pages with sample alphabet letters that you can trace.

     Thinking ahead to Mother's Day...this is a really fun book that would make a very lovely gift!   

     

I was given this book to review from the Thomas Nelson Co. This opinion is my own.