Fall Is Here...

and all over the house! So excited to finally share these. Since i'm a little all over the place, I decided to decorate The Gent's house for fall. We will be in this area for thanksgiving most likely and let's face it...his house REALLY needed some sprucing up. This is what I did:

First stop was the dollar store to collect lots of simple fall things to craft with, this is the table before. 

 During, with all my crafting supplies...

And after! Put all the items together in this fun centerpiece and gathered some simple placemats without being too gaudy. 

Centerpiece loving fall!

The outdoor section was a little tricky but after picking pumpkins at The Gent's family farm and "borrowing" some hay bales, this look came together quickly.

I added some fall colored artificial flowers to full the whole look together. I LOVE it.

My last DIY project of the day is my FAVORITE! I took mason jars left over from some fun moon filled nights, attached artificial leaves with raffia and popped in a tea light. So cute and simple as ever!

Look at them all lit up! They are perfect for fall evenings and look great with the colored leaves outside. 

As you can tell I'm beyond excited it's fall. What did you do to decorate for fall? Any DIY projects?

xoxo,

preppygator 

A Day At The (Home) Spa

Ok seriously, I'm pretty sure all of us could use a day at the spa. If you have a Pinterest it can not only be addicting, but also VERY helpful. I got both of these tricks from Pinterest because I was in the need of an oil treatment for my hair (insert homemade coconut oil treatment) and also a great facial (insert homemade miracle mask). I had some time one morning this week and decided to try both. 

The first was the coconut oil treatment, if you're paleo you use coconut oil everyday. So my mass quantities of it came in handy. Here is my natural, no product crazy morning hair. 

You need: coconut oil, shower cap and blowdryer.  

 Make sure you massage it into your hair, it will start out solid and melt in your hands as you use it. I typically have an oily scalp so I only used it on the ends of my hair.

 Then I wrapped it into a bun and clipped it! So easy.

This looks like torture, but it's actually the perfect solution. I propped the blow dryer up on the sink and sat underneath it with my shower cap on. (hot right?, no pun intended)

Set my iPhone timer and tweeted for 15 minutes while my hair heated up. PS You use heat to open the ends of your hair follicles up so the oil can heal your hair. If you're crazy busy or a mom with no time you can use no heat. Just leave it on your hair for 30 minutes instead while you get things done.

Wash your hair as normal, I washed mine twice and used a conditioner only on the ends of my hair. I dried my hair as usual but this picture is with no straightener.

Verdict: Total success! This was super easy and my hair looks and feels great! Super soft too!

Next up was my homemade facial. Note: THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. It is cinnamon on your face and if your skin is super sensitive, don't even try it. The ingredients are simple honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. (yes i wanted to eat it) 2 tablespoons of each ingredient will give you enough for 2 masks. 

Mix the ingredients. This is where I would have already changed it, put it in the fridge for awhile. Make sure it thickens a little and gets really cool. The cinnamon will heat up your skin very quickly and also start to melt. This will def be the biggest step for me next time. Apply to your face evenly.

Haha see what I mean, it started to melt. DEF put in the fridge before and probably lay flat.

Verdict: It was interesting. It def started to burn a little towards the end of the 30 minute instructed time. I would probably do 15-20 next time. When I took it off my skin was a little red, like a normal facial and a little dry like a normal facial as well. The following couple days I used moisturizer like usually and my skin has been glowing. Def worth it.

What at home spa treatments do you use? Would you try either of these?

xoxo,
preppygator

Paleo Game Day...

My favorite time of the year...fall and football! Woohoo!! The hardest part of a football game is turning down all the yummy food and drinks. Despite my purchase of Summer Shandy, I wanted the rest of today's eats to be all Paleo. With that I present...Paleo Game Day! 

First up. Deviled eggs. Usually an okay dish minus the mayo. Instead I used the yolk, mustard, chopped dill pickles and some of the pickle juice as well. Piped it into the shells and added salt and pepper on top. Perfect and lots of protein! 

Next up is "ranch" dip. I've always heard of people using greek yogurt instead of sour cream for recipes. I have even used this myself, pre-paleo. Today I decided to go out on a limb and use a new product that I hadn't tried yet...coconut milk yogurt. I got the plain, hoping it would have a little sour taste. (like greek yogurt) WRONG! Yeesh. Ok so it wasn't THAT bad but it wasn't what I expected. I added the ranch seasoning anyways and sliced all my veggies. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it might have, but I def need to play with this one a little bit. Maybe make it a sweet dip! :)

One of my favorites was this little guy. I had left over burgers that I had made the other night and a sweet potato. Perfect combo! I cut the sweet potato really small and sprinkled salt and cooked till tender. Cut up the burger into mini pieces and stabbed them both onto the same toothpick. It's all about using your resources and this was a HIT!

Brats Brats Brats. A gameday favorite. Not as American without the bun, but I worked really hard to make it yummy. I sliced the brat and laid them out. Then I mixed a majority mustard with some ketchup. Drizzled that over the brats and added the toothpicks. Voila! Super easy and lots of protein.

Hands down the favorite of the day! I made homemade almond flour chips. I miss chips and crackers so much! This was the perfect solution and not too hard. The recipe:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2t garlic powder
- 1/2t salt
- 1/2t cajun seasoning
Mix it all together, kneed a little, then place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll it thin and I mean THIN, cut however you would like and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake on 325 for 10 min or until golden brown. Let cool fully before using with dip. I made a "guac" chopped onion, chopped avocado and garlic salsa. It was divine!! Perfect game day food!!

Here is the full spread! What a successful and healthy day of football. Such yummy paleo treats!

So tell me, what's your favorite game day treat? Paleo or not. :)

xoxo,
preppygator