A Little Winter Craft Idea

I've seen natural lotion bars in many boutiques lately. After searching on Pinterest and Stampington magazines, I decided to give them a try! I've used Altoid Tins in the past for containers. They work beautifully.

These "Lotion Bars" were really simple to make! I combined equal parts natural bee's wax (sold by the pound on Amazon) and coconut oil (in solid form at Trader Joe's). Simply microwave both ingredients and stir until liquid is smooth. Add generous drops of peppermint organic extract. Pour into painted Altoid tins. Let cool. Cover tins with burlap and flowers. Add a slip of scrapbook paper inside and a label describing the bar.

I gave these as gifts to my kindergarten teachers and office staff this year. The container is perfect to keep on their desks for a little boost during the day. They loved them!

Texas Road Trip!

I love living in the great state of Texas for a million reasons. One has to be that I'm only an hour and a half from Round Top. What does that mean??? Junk Gypsy!

Gotta love scouring through all the goodies in this place!

Also visited the Rachel Ashwell The Prairie Bed and Breakfast. It's a huge area with several houses, dining area, and large reception area. It's in the middle of nowhere, (about 8 miles from downtown Round Top)...but worth the visit!

If in Round Top, go to Royers Cafe! Texas country style food at its greatest!!

 I also visited a shop I loved, called Mimi Bella. Beautiful clothing and accessories called my name!

 OOh, they even had one of my favorite jewelry lines, Marianna! Eye Candy!

Loved my day trip!

Hand Made Gifts...

I was thrilled to be invited into a wonderful creative art swap hosted by the talented Carrie. 

Teresa from Oklahoma was my swap partner. Here's what I sent her this week...

Looking forward to my box!

Here are a set of projects I finished recently too. They're tiny journal notebooks for special friends of mine, my Kindergarten teacher team. I think they'll enjoy them!

A Southern Style Brunch

Recently I gave a retirement brunch for a dear friend of mine. We had such a great time talking and laughing throughout the morning!

 I think the theme of my meal was "Southern Traditional" with a twist!

Menu:

Egg and Hash Brown Bake

Sliced Baked Salami

Bagels and Lox/Cream Cheese Spread

Individual Fruit Cups

Traditional Monkey Bread

I made a simple Peach and Prosecco Punch (We were all adults!)...

1 Bottle Proseccco 

1/2 Liter Gingerale

1 Frozen ring of Peach Nectar (made ahead of time in a bundt pan)

Slices of Peaches

Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl. Take frozen peach nectar ring out of bundt pan by tapping and wrapping a warm wet towel around pan. 

I love making something special for my guests to take home with them. This time I made brown sugar vanilla scrub. Here's my recipe:

1C Brown Sugar
1C White Sugar
1/2 C Coconut Oil (Trader Joe's)
2 Tbs Vanilla
1/2 C Caress Body Soap "Vanilla Kiss"

Spray-paint the lids of mason jars. Fill the jars with scrub. Wrap muslin around the jar and add a bit of sparkle in the middle with a glitter 3D sticker.

My New Art Studio!

Welcome to my NEW MendyTexas little country art studio!!

It's been way too long since my last blog update! My family's made a move to "the country." Well, it's a beautiful subdivision in "the country!" I'm now in Magnolia, TX.

We built our new home on a bit of acreage. I'm most excited about my new art studio! I had the best time getting it all together. I chose IKEA Billy shelving in white to line the walls on two sides of the room. I put two IKEA white shiny plastic table tops on top of four short bookshelves. Two have drawers for my art supplies, and two are mini cabinets, for my sewing machines.

I found these two velvety chairs at World Market, on sale of course!

My creamy-dreamy chandelier was ordered from World Market online, on sale again! I added strands of pearls.

My artwork and inspiration boards are filled with mementos from many Texas Paper Cowgirl Events, Silver Bella Weekends, and the Breakfast at Tiffany Event in California.

Paper Dolls, little books, tags and ATC cards from swaps all across the country sit on my shelves.

My MendyTexas pink suitcase holds the publications I've been lucky enough to have been featured in.

The walk in closet is filled with supplies for my annual Art Camp for Girls weekend, held in June.

I hid a tiny TV in the corner, so I can catch up while creating!

Happy Spring Y'all!
Thanks for dropping by!

Mendy