BEAUTY & THE BEARD

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Oh How Pinteresting #4

This week's Oh How Pinteresting is full of LOTS of color. We seemed to skip over spring and jump right into summer here in RVA, and it puts me in a damn good mood!

Favorite Recipe Idea:

via

Favorite Bag:

via

Favorite Art Inspiration:

via (thanks {av} for pinning this beauty!)

Favorite Jewelry Piece:

via

Favorite Houseware:

via

Favorite outfit (that I could SO never pull off):

via

Favorite Accessory:

via

Favorite DIY:

via

How wonderful are those rainbow spoons!?

xo, lp

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Did you all tune in a few weeks ago? I made some deee-licious Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels, which I figured would a bit healthier than all the Girl Scout Cookies floating around. They definitely are- but today's recipe is even better for you, and just about as delicious. I found these on Pinterest and had to try a version of them. Thanks to the Delighted Momma for the inspiration and recipe!!

All you need for this recipe is a couple apples, some cinnamon, and a pinch of sugar (optional). Easy, right?!

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees, and line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper.

Step 2: Cut off the top and bottom of the apples so you have a flat surface on the apple to stabilize it while you cut out the core.

Step 3: Using a paring knife, cut out the center of your apples. I'm sure there is a fancy kitchen tool out there that does this for you, but I am not that high class my dears.

Step 4: Cut into thin rings. If you want them to cook faster and be more on the crunchy side- cut them thinner. If you want them to have more of a dried chewy texture, cut a little thicker. I did both.

Step 5: Lay those babies out on your parchment lined sheet.

Step 6: Sprinkle your apples with cinnamon. Do take the time to make it a light, even sprinkle. I was impatient (per usual) and didn't- which left some of the rings with super cinnamon overload. If you want to add sugar, do so now! I didn't and they were perfectly sweet without it.

Step 7: Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then flip the apples and bake for another 45 minutes. (At this point the ones I had cut super thin were crispy and good to go- but I left the thicker ones in for another 30 minutes.)

I know they aren't going to win any snack beauty competitions but they are pretty dang good. I don't know about you all, but I really like dried apples- and they can be kind of pricey depending where you buy them. This is a way to make them for a fraction of the cost. Not bad, right?

Have any other good recipes for healthy baked snacks? Let me know them- comment or email beautyandbeard@gmail.com!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

DIY Neon Painted Necklace

Today's DIY is inspired by all the fun neon jewelry I've been seeing out there on Etsy/ShopBop/Pinterest. Sure, you can go out and spend $50 and buy some- or your could DIY your own for under $10!

The sisters behind Sorelle in Style and Maegen from ...love Maegan both have done this- and who wouldn't want to be as creative and stylish as these ladies?

So here it is dears, my DIY neon necklace...

First things first, let me tell you about this necklace. It looks like it belongs on a gaudy 16 year old trying to show her older prom date that she's a sparkly, classy princess-right? Well I went looking for dirt-cheap rhinestone jewelry and actually found it at Burlington Coat Factory- which is like a darker version of Tj Maxx or Marshalls. I was choosing between this one and a smaller, less gaudy one and Michael said, "well, you might as well go big or go home!" Smart man.

First I took my $9 necklace and wiped it clean:

Next I painted each rectangular gem with white acrylic paint:

After the white paint dried I went over it with a layer of neon pink paint. I've seen people use nail polish too- but I didn't have any that was quite this neon!