Year: 2017

Win A Birchbox Subscription For One Year!

birchbox makeup box

Birchbox Subscription // This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Balance. As always, all opinions are my own. // I’m going to be really honest here for a minute, in the twelve years since my son’s birth there have been entire months I’ve subsisted entirely on energy bars. I’m not even kidding a little. My daughter was a whole different animal. When she was little we had entire meals with civil conversation and moments of silence….
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Ants Are The Worst

Ants are the worst. Anyone who knows me knows that I loathe ants. They bring out the crazy in me. I despise them in all their tiny creepy-crawly scavenging ways. And gosh, why are there always so many? Perhaps it all started in my childhood. I grew up in the Dallas suburbs and discovered at a young age that relaxing on the lawn on a warm Summer’s day was not a good idea. While the cool grass was enticing, the…
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Valentine Mail Bag Craft

If you’ve ever been told by your child, frantically, at 8pm on February 13th that she needs to make a mailbox for her valentines for the class party the next day, and it has to be homemade and it has to have a theme, then this Valentine Mail Bag craft is for you. A hack. A DIY.  A time saver and a valentine rescue all in one. 2 years ago we went all out and made a super cute yeti…
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Before And After: My IKEA Basement Pantry

pantry remodel project

IKEA basement pantry, before and after. Guys, we need to have a talk about IKEA.  I’ve discussed IKEA many, many times on Petit Elefant, because I’m obsessed. I love the aesthetic of IKEA like bonkers (yay for Scandinavian living!) and because it’s affordable.  Two of my favorite things in one place, plus: they have delicious meatballs. I’ve shown you all the projects I’ve done in my house using IKEA products over the years, including the beautiful home office my husband…
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12 Romances To Watch With Your Valentine

romantic movies to watch with your valentine

Romances: 12 to watch with your Valentine I don’t know how you celebrate Valentine’s Day, or even if you do, but if you’re anything like me, things are a little casual. My husband and I have been married almost 19 years, and we realized early on in our relationship that fighting 900 other couples for a spot at Olive Garden on Valentine’s Day is the opposite of how we enjoy spending our time. While the entire student population of the…
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Recipe: Home Made Chocolate-Covered English Toffee

home made toffee

Chocolate-Covered English Toffee Recipe English toffee is easily one of my favorite homemade candies, so it makes sense to me to pour chocolate on top.  Actually, it always makes sense to me to add chocolate, to everything, all the time. But especially to salty, buttery, caramel-flavored homemade toffee.  Is there a better combination of sweet flavors on the planet?  I think not. Normally I just make plain English toffee, but I made a batch of chocolate-covered English toffee recently –…
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Dear United States Of America, Love A Refugee

letter from a refugee

Refugee stories help all of us understand the current refugee crisis better.  They make the statistics personal and help us understand the real stories behind the headlines, so today I’m sharing one of my own. Many of you know my husband is a refugee from Poland.  I’ve written about his experience as a refugee many times over the years on Petit Elefant, but my husband seldom shares his story personally, both because he’s private and because most refugee stories, including…
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How To Make Your Own DIY Liquid Dry Shampoo

how to make DIY liquid dry shampoo

Liquid dry shampoo DIY We’ve talked before about a couple of different ways to make dry shampoo with ingredients from your kitchen, but today it’s time to talk liquid dry shampoo. Recently my teenage daughter shared with me her version of dry shampoo, but a liquid version.  She prefers it to actual dry, dry shampoo because it’s less messy and she can spray it on specific parts of her hair, as opposed to typical dry shampoo that you shake onto…
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How To Do A Baked Potato Bar For Groups

baked potato bar

Baked Potato Bar: how to do your own. A baked potato bar is one of the easiest buffet dinners on the planet, but for some reason I don’t make it very often.  Which is crazy-pants bananas, and I’m planning to remedy that in the immediate future. So, I made a baked potato bar last night for a high school swim team dinner and not only was a huge success, (rave reviews! two thumbs up by every teenager in the house!)…
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