"October Nail Photo A Day" on Instagram

It's Top Coat Tuesday!!!

I've been posting on Instagram, but not on my blog...gotta do better (*sighs*)

However, I am doing one of the monthly photo-a-day challenges hosted by many of the talented ladies on IG. The one shown in the photo below is hosted by @ANailGeek. 

I think this one is a bit more challenging and fun than the last two (August & September). I really enjoyed days 3, 8 and 11, and could not stand day 15, ugh!!

I've made it over half way through!! Some of the days to come will be very interesting to try, for instance days 18 and 26. It's really fun...it brings out my creative side and allows me to use a lot of my 'untrieds'.

If you're interested in seeing my future daily posts, follow me @missthompson. And if you're on IG, let me know, so I can check out some of your beautiful pics too!

Thanks for reading!!

Olive Garden's Toscana Soup Recipe

This is The. Best. Soup. Ever.

Another Pinterest find. I made it immediately, and had to share it with yall.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1½ tsp crushed red pepper seasoning
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon (or 5 Tbsp chicken bouillon powder)
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale
salt & pepper to taste

1.Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.

3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.

4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

6. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve.

I promise you, this soup does not disappoint! It tastes EXACTLY the same as going to Olive Garden, but in the comfort of your own home. Let me know if you try it...Thanks for reading!!

Before and After: Vanity Set

There's nothing like a good garage sale. My mom and I hit them up every chance we get! I saw this vanity at an Estate Sale a while back and I bought it immediately.

I've been wanting one of these for my bedroom ever since we moved in. This one will be a perfect fit, it just needs a little TLC. So I used my oil rubbed bronze metallic paint, that I seemingly use for everything, and this Krylon 18K gold leaf paint pen...

I rolled on one coat of paint, let it dry for a few hours, then painted all the corners and crevices and let it dry over night. I removed the seat from the stool and recovered it with a piece of scrap fabric I had stashed away. I gave the stool 2 coats of Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

Have I told you how great Krylon products are? Yea. Awesome. Even with 2 coats, the stool was completely dry in about an hour. So, I recovered the seat with the leftover fabric, screwed it back on and voila...instant makeover!!

The vanity looks just as great! Once it was dry I accented it with the gold paint pen and it looked even better!!

And here it is, all prettied up, in my bedroom. I can't tell you how much I love this. And it only cost $30!! The original stool was sort of small, so I switched it with one I already had in my bathroom. It's perfect because I can slide it all the way under so that the space feels nice and neat. And the color of the stool already matched too! It turned out to be a perfect place to display some of my favorite accessories!!!

The wall space above and around the vanity is so plain right now, I mean, completely empty! I have huge plans for it so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!!

Leopard Loafers

I looove me some cute flats!!

I purchased these at Target for an amazing $14.99!! But I have yet to wear them. 

They look similar to the Charlotte Olympia Kitty Flats (without the cute kitty detail, retail $895). Mrs. Beyonce wore these beauties on an outing with her beautiful baby girl. 

The shape of this shoe also reminds me of the Alexander McQueen calf hair leopard print loafers (that are on sale for $537 but seem to be sold out everywhere). Of course the leopard print is severely different, but similar loafer style, nonetheless.

So far, I've only tried them on. They're very comfy. Eventually i will wear them...

Thanks for reading!!

DIY Jewelry Display Stands

I've been holding this post in drafts for about 2 months now...sad I know.

One Instagrammer asked me how I did it, which prompted me to finish this post so that they could check it out and maybe try it themselves...

I originally saw them on a blog that I can't, for the life of me, recall the name of. But I saw them again on Pinterest, so I knew I had to make them! (the pinned photo has a broken link)

So here's what you will need:

wooden plaques (Hobby Lobby for about $1.50 each)

wooden spindles (I cut them off of an old chair)

decorative knobs (Hobby Lobby for around $3-10 each)

craft paint

screws

hand saw

Here's how:

Cut your spindle to desired height. I used a hand saw like the small one in the picture above. I think it's actually a drywall cutter. It only cost about $2 at Walmart.

(Original Blogger'sTip- If you are going to cluster a few together, cut them at different heights to add interest!)

Pre-drill holes in the top and the bottom of each spindle & also in the center of each wooden plaque. This will ensure that the wood doesn't split.

Screw the wooden plaque to the bottom of the spindle.

Screw the decorative knob to the top of the spindle.

Done!

I painted my display stands, but this step is optional. The most expensive knob I purchased was only $9.99 and they were all 50% off at the time! I bought enough supplies to make 4 stands (only 3 pictured here), so total price for making 4 of these beauties was right around $20! That's super cheap! You can use them to display your watches, bracelets, or whatever!! Enjoy...

*follow me on Instagram (@missthompson)

Thanks for reading!!