{Health} 4 Pound Weight Loss!

We hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! This week, we're talkin' weight loss and health...for your dog...!?!

+Glamour Shots Anyone?+

Meet Manolo: she's my 5 year old long haired Chihuahua who used to have a serious weight problem. Anyone who know me knows that I am overly, sometimes embarrassingly, in love with this dog (and all animals!). She's a beyond spoiled and loved little princess puppy. 

A year ago, I took Manolo in for her yearly vet visit. I knew she was a little overweight and sluggish acting somedays but figured that was just how my pup was going to be in her adult years. At the time, I was buying her expensive, organic dry dog food thinking it was the best possible food I could give to her for her health. The vet sat me down that visit and told me she was overweight, obese for her breed and build (she weighed 13 1/2 pounds!). She also had an infection between her back legs from them rubbing together!!! I was completely mortified and felt blameworthy. At that point I didn't know what to do. Cut down her food intake? Try to exercise her more? She was only getting 1/2 cup of food a day and with her leg infection she could barely walk- we had to carry her everywhere because she was in so much pain. I felt like the worst dog mom on the planet for not preventing this from happening to her. 

Being a hairstylist, I get to talk about all sorts of topics with my amazing clients. I knew my friend (and client!), Leah, made her chihuahuas their dog food and asked her why she decided to do that. Her pups had had some health problems in the past and her vet actually recommended to make their food to know exactly what their eating to help prevent their health issues. After a couple months of doing this, she noticed a big difference in their sporadic health concerns, they even lost a little weight! That's when a light bulb went off in my head- I would do anything to help my little Manolo feel better. I went home and started doing research about home made dog food. So many people said that after feeding their dogs this diet, they noticed a huge difference in them: clearer eyes, less ear infections, shinier coats, and more energetic. I decided to give it a try and slowly started to incorporate her homemade food in with her dry dog food and after couple weeks she was just getting her homemade food. She was in love with it! I've now been feeding her this diet for almost a year and can't believe how much it's done for her. First of all, she's lost almost 4 1/2 pounds in 10 months! Her vet was completely amazed at her transformation. She also has 100% more energy and spunk- she acts like a much happier dog than a year ago! I'm so happy this worked for her and would love to share Manolos favorite recipe with you all. If you consider doing this, please make sure to talk to your vet about it first, and do your research! My vet also recommended this website- www.balanceit.com to make sure she is getting all the nutrients she needs. 

+Manolos Feast+

+Ingredients+

Lean ground turkey

Brown rice

Coconut oil

PB2

Low sodium green beans

Eggs (also save the eggshells)

Keep in mind that dogs, like humans, need some variety in their diets to get the needed nutrients. Sometimes I switch up the meat to chicken, beef or fish. Ill use oatmeal instead of brown rice. Mix it up with different veggies and vary the oils (fish oil is also great!). Also, save your eggshells. You can bake them at 300 degrees in your oven and grind them up in a coffee grinder to add to the food- it's an awesome source of much needed calcium for dogs. 

+Brown meat and add a few eggs+

+Added PB2 powder+

+Make sure to cook and chop up veggies a bit, otherwise dogs don't get the full nutrients out of them+

+This makes enough for 2 weeks for Manolo. I divide into 2 containers. Freeze one container and the other goes in the fridge+

+The whole time I'm cooking, Manolo likes to patiently wait by her food bowl for a sample taste+

I know it seems like a lot of work to do for a dog. Honestly, it takes me 20 minutes twice a month and has proved to be worth it for me. The cost is also less than I thought- about $10- $15 a month, also worth it!

If you have any questions or concerns, please comment to ask! 

{DIY} Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Gosh these weeks are flying by fast! Once again it is Monday.

Let me introduce you to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It is by far the best paint I have ever used on any furniture. It is super easy to paint with and dries quick. The best part of it all...NO SANDING.

I started redoing, revamping, refinishing, re-whatever you want to call it about 6 years ago. I had my fair share of sanding down and creating a nice white coat of dust on everything. It is one of my least favorite things in the world to do, sanding that is. Now with Annie Sloan I love to paint anything and I really mean anything. Frames, furniture, walls, metal, plastic seriously it is made for all types of materials.

The picture above is a little side table that I turned into Teagans play table with 2 different grey paints. The lighter grey is called French Linen by ASCP and I also used Chalkboard Paint from Martha Stewart (found at Michaels) to create the darker lines.

This is the pattern I used with frog tape after I put two coats of ASCP French Linen on. Pretty cool right?
This is such an easy project to do. The paint has no odor or toxic anything so you can paint it in the house and around your children. It is water based so cleans up very easy.

Here is a picture I snagged from goggle to show you the different color options that are available. You can even mix them together and get some really great custom colors.

If that has not inspired you to dig through your grandma's basement for some good quality furniture that needs a new life maybe this will.

        

Seriously now, if you are from Milwaukee there are three stores that I know of Barcelona in Milwaukee, My Table Gallery in Hales Corners, and Fox Lake Country Antiques Mall grab some paint and a brush and give that quality old furniture a new look.

{Hair} Fun Beauty Subscription Box

Did everyone have a nice weekend?! Fall is in full force here in Milwaukee (hello pumpkin everything, scarves and football!)

I want to introduce everyone to Birchbox. Birchbox is one of the original beauty subscription boxes. I had first heard of it way back in 2011 from a blog I used to read on a daily basis (The Small Things Blog). At that time I was working for an Aveda concept hair salon and spa so EVERYTHING in my bathroom was Aveda. For $10 a month, I thought Birchbox would be a fun way to try new products outside of the Aveda cult world. I've looked forward to getting this little box in my mailbox every month since!

+ What is Birchbox? 

Birchbox is a beauty sample subscription service. It is like your monthly magazine subscription, only it's a box full of beauty samples. These samples range from hair products to nail polish to bath and body & makeup. 

+ Cost? 

You have the option of joining monthly, yearly or gifting a subscription. A monthly is $10 and you can cancel at anytime. A year is $110 and you get one box free. Shipping is free.

+ Point System 

Birchbox has a points system that can be used as "cash" to purchase products on their website. For every $1 you spend you get 1 point. For every review you write of a product you receive 10 points. However, these reviews have to be completed for the products you received in your box for that month so make sure you do it soon after you receive your box! Also, if you refer a friend make sure they enter in your email address- you'll get 50 points for every referral! (*Wink* Blondebrunetteandbrass@gmail.com) 

+Customization

Make sure to fill out the Birchbox survey in your profile when you sign up. It will ask you questions ranging from what your makeup skill level is to what your hair texture and skin type is. 

+Also, Birchbox recently started a pick-your-sample program. You get to pick one of the samples for your box each month. (You’ll get a reminder to pick via your email).

All in all there are now a lot of different subscription boxes you can choose from. Birchbox is definitely one of the least expensive at $10 a month, I've seen other companies boxes that can go up to $50 a month! 

If you have any questions that weren't answered in our post, please feel free to comment!

If you have tried Birchbox, what were your thoughts on it?

{DIY} Boxspring Pretty !!!

Hey There and Happy Monday!

(just a quick reminder: On the right hand side of our blog there is an option to enter your email address under "follow by mail" where you will be automatically updated when a new post arrives on our blog.)


Most of us have a box spring on our bed and 9 times out of 10 that box spring is a huge eyesore :( . So for your convenience your local stores have come up with this piece of fabric they like to call a bed skirt--ask your grandma if you don't know what this is. We all have purchased it or have tried to figure out a way around it and many of you have given up. If you are still trying to figure out how to `hide´ that-- here is a great option that is pretty easy.



S U P P L I E S
+ 5 yards of fabric--plenty for a queen size
+ staple gun
+ staples
+ scissors
+ ruler or measuring tape

First you are going to measure your mattress, mine was 60 inches wide, 76 inches long and 9 inches deep.

Take your fabric and cut your long sides first. So, in this case I needed two pieces that were 76+4 inches by 9+4 inches. The plus 4 is to add 2 additional inches on each side for stapling. This gave me two pieces that were 80x11.

Next your are going to cut your shorter side pieces. Again the width was 60+4 inches x 9+4 inches, which was cut to 64x11.

At this point you have all of your sides cut.

You now need to cut 4 pieces that are 5 inches x your depth of your box spring plus 4 inches. For this project 4 pieces of 5x11.

Now put your scissors somewhere your child cannot reach. Trust me this will save you a heart attack and screaming :)


Load your staple gun.

Take your 5x11 inch pieces and start in one corner.

It was easier to get all 4 sides stapled on one side and then flip it over to staple the other.

Once you have all four corners done grab one of the long pieces and line it up on the box spring. Take one end of the fabric and fold it over and staple it on top directly in the center of the corner.

Your corners should look like this:

Repeat to all sides and cut any extra fabric off that is not needed. In this case it was easier to staple one side completely before moving on. If you have an extra set of hands that would help.

Enjoy, you now have a super cute box spring!

{DIY} Gold Geo Mobile

Gold? Check. Geometric? Check. All in a hanging house accessory? Umm.. yes, please! Here's how:

Step one : s u p p l i e s

+ 3 or more wooden embroidery hoops (can be all the same size or all different sized)

+ gold craft paint

+ glossy clear coat craft paint

+ flower wire

+ hot glue gun

Step two : p a i n t

{1} start by removing the tightening screws on the embroidery hoops. 

{2} apply two coats of the gold paint to all sides of the hoops and also to the top metal brackets. 

{3} apply a final coat of glossy clear coat to really make the hoops shine. 

Step three: a s s e m b l e

{4} for each hoop, place the smaller of the two inside the larger, perpendicular. 

{5} apply a small dap of hot glue in between the two hoops below the bracket and at the bottom where they intersect. 

{6} tie your string from the brackets. attach each sphere to the other with each string. 

once dry, enjoy your cute new gold geometric mobile!!