Amaze me August #13~~ GIVEAWAY update.

I'm back from sunny, hot Florida, to FREEZING cold Georgia. Don't know what happened, since I left, but dang it's cold. Raining, and cold. I'm not happy at all, lol.

I miss Florida!!!

Ok, but on the bright side, I'm back to my blog. Good news, all around. I missed alot while I was gone, and after checking everyone out, and saying hello, and entering some HUGE sillouette giveaways (HOH) I am up late again, on a monday night.

Speaking of giveaways, holy moly, have you guys seen the popularity of those things, whimper, you guys better come enter mine you hear. I may not be giving away a silloutte machine, but I can assure you the gals who have offered to do my FIRST giveaway will not dissapoint you. There are at least SEVEN prizes up for grabs people, I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. Naturally I need a few more days to work out all the remaining details, and then watch out, I'm going all out to make it big.

I am so thankful to all you guys for being my friend, and supporting me in every way possible. I can't wait to give just a little back, (with the help of my awesome blog friends).

Now lets get on with another GREAT party. You guys are incredible, and I will be doing my FEATURES tommorrow, so come back to see all my favorites. I am also doing some favorites from my Special  Christmas party **6 weeks 2 JINGLE**. For all of you who read that I will be doing a LATE feature for my Halloween party, be honest, is a month late, TOO LATE, lol. I mean we've passed Thanksgiving now. I suck, I know, but I am more than happy to do that Feature as well, if nobody laughs at me, and doesn't send me hate mail or anything. Tell me what you think, should I just let it rest till next year, or keep my promise, and do it already???

Ok, enough about that, here you go everyone, link up, look around and enjoy!!!

******************************
******************
*******

Yikes STOP before you add any Christmas projects, check out my NEW ~~SPECIAL PARTY~~ ** 6 weeks 2 JINGLE ** oh yeah, now you can add it there. Whew, that was a close one!!!

Of course you can add them here too, just PLEASE add them there also, after all whats a special Christmas party without the Christmas projects. Make me happy, and add them there too will ya. ~!!!~

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Amaze me August #12~~ Florida update

We are finally down here in Florida, and after a horrible start, we are finally chilling in our 2 bedroom condo, and loving it.

We are planning Sea world today, and Universal and the beach, and some other things. I still have yet to see the Space Center, on the way home.

Last night I managed to make some yummy burritos, and even rajma (indian beans in chilli sauce) and basmati rice, fresh salsa, guacomole, and even brownies. I didn't even bring any of my spices, and made do with what I could find at Wal-mart, so there now I KNOW that even you guys can make some Indian food, anywhere :) May not be so exciting for anyone else, but I was otally happy, and my hubby, oh yeah he is like 5 pounds heavier, lol. Ok me too, shoot, thank goodness they have a gym, and pool, and tennis, and all that stuff here.

Ok so anyway, the internet, we have to pay for it, sucks, and it's per laptop, sucks, so since my hubby uses it mostly at night, I can't he he. So I am stuck having to update my blog, now, quickly. Sorry guys no features this week, unless I get more time to work on my blog, otherwise I will do it next week.

I am waiting to get a couple more pics for this giveaway I am planning, so I will set that up JUST AS SOON as I can.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day!!

You guys are all doing such great projects, and I love seeign them, as usual. When, oh when will I ever be able to do some crafts?? Oh well, until then you guys give me so much inspiration, and I am so lucky to have all these wonderful ideas, on my blog, where I and everyone else can go see.

Thank you again, to EVERYONE who continues to support me in these parties, and lifts me up with such sincere, and kind words, and comments. I am so lucky to have you all.

Make sure to spread the word, about these parties, and of course my upcoming giveaway, I soooo appreciate it.

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Is SEVEN a good number??

Yeah, SEVEN, that's how many wonderful prizes are up for grabs to celebrate my 100 followers Giveaway.

I have been blessed to have many friends, already, who have been incredible enough to offer up something really special for you.

Keep your eyes out for details coming soon. I am still working it out, but as of now, just know that it's big, and super special.

THANK YOU all for being so wonderful.

I have reached Florida, and am looking forward to relaxing as much as possible this next week. I hope you all are having a great night, and have a WONDERFUL week ahead of you.

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

100 Followers Giveaway~~~ Oh yeah!!!

Alrighty everyone, I am almost at 100 followers. Like just a few more, he he. Hint hint~~ follow me :)

Ok make it happen I just need a few more, then I can announce my very first giveaway. I am so excited!!!

THANK YOU to all my wonderful friends, you guys are awesome, and I really appreciate you so much!

So keep your eyes out for a giveaway, it's so special, I don't even know what it is quite yet. I guess I need to keep an eye out too, lol.

For anyone interested in doing future giveaways, drop me an email, or contact me anytime ... bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Thanks again to all my friends who support my weekly parties, and for everyone participating in my special party. You guys make me happy. 

Have a WONDERFUL day!!

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Me Stylish~~ Kendall thinks so :)

Oh yeah baby, just as I thought I could finally go to sleep, I just HAD to see this comment from Kendall telling me she awarded me with this awesome award.

So now that I have like a collection of them, I need to actually display them somewhere, BAD recipient (me) and then of course pass them on to my favorite blogs. Very hard choice!!

So until I do that, I'd like to say THANK YOU again to Kendall, @ Songbirds and Buttons. She's just staying busy, making lots of fun Christmas projects, he he, so GO CHECK her out already. Gosh what are you waiting for.



As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Dollar Store Fall Centerpiece ~ No candles, cadlesticks~

For a chance to win TWO pairs of fabulous earrings from my gal Ami over @ ALI LILLY, head on over to Amy's in the ARTS where they are featuring NINE weeks of giveaways by some very talented ladies, who all go by the name AMY. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok now check it guys, I have had like ZERO time for creating anything fun. I am practically going bonkers. So while putting away all my Halloween decorations FINALLY, I decided to throw this beauty together really quick. I love how it looks, and if I weren't going away next week, I just might leave it up. BUT,,, since Im outta here, thank goodness, when I come back, it will be time to start all my Christmas decorating, lol. Maybe I will get it done in time to actually enjoy this time. 

So enjoy this SIMPLE free for me, since I already had everything, but otherwise DOLLAR STORE purchase centerpiece. I even got the candle sticks at Walmart last Christmas, for $2.00. They were marked down, Better Homes and Garden and original price was $19.99. Hello, I grabbed like 20 boxes, and that was everyones Christmas present last year, lol. 

Here it is, oh and thats a lovely shawl wrapped around the base. Love the colors. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Amaze me AUgust #11~~FEATURES

How's it going everyone. You guys ready for Thanksgiving next week? Anyone doing anything special, or going anwhere? My kids finally have the entire week off, totally excited. Usually it's only a 4 day holiday, BUT this year it's the whole week. So we are going down to Florida, for some much needed rest.

Time for another party, hope you guys have been more busy with projects than me. The only thing I've been up to is cleaning, and cleaning, and more cleaning, and of course organizing, but nothing fun to show.

So I will be looking forward to all the great projects you guys have made. You always impress me, so keep it up, show me what you got, and I look forward to seeing you back again, with more fun.

Here are my favorites from last week.

You have to go check out this awesome new blogger I found, she is seriously funny, and you know what, she loves free things, and even calls herself the thriftiest person around, can it be possible, lol. She also apparantly hates laundry, and make a joke of it with this washer makeover, which I LOVE.

Go say hello @ Yours, Mine and Ours

THANKS GIRL!!

Leah did some simple fall decorating. Yeah nothing fancy, but you know what, it's simple and beautiful enough that nobody has an excuse not to do it, ya know? (yup including me) Some faux leaves, and some scrap paper, transform her area into instant fall scape. (is that a word, that makes sense??)

Anyhow, my favorite part of her decore is this interchangable frame, she swaps out paper or pictures for each season. Perfect, and I want one, :)

Go say hello to Leah @ Living Life Crafty

THANKS GIRL!!

Ok, so you don't have a little man to dress in this. Thats OK, you will still LOVE this project, and for goodness sakes, at the very least go check it out, just so you can see her little cutie pie, all dressed up, he is SOOOO cute.

My little guy is just about this small, so I was literally drooling over how adorable this was, and can you believe Tricia made it, all by herself, in like one afternoon. Yeah she has mad skills, and I love her.

Go say hello to Leah @ Leafy TreeTop Spot

THANKS GIRL!!



SO last we have Kristine with this AMAZING bedroom makeover. Yeah it looks like a million bucks, but I can assure you, she did this ALL with a curbside budget. Everything was mostly redone, by this amazing woman, using some not so beautiful pieces. Her vision, and a lot of elbow grease, transformed it all into a stunning bedroom. Even I who doesn't typically care for white, would LOVE this bedroom. She simply did a great job, and she has TONS of before and after pics, LOVE IT.

Go say hello to Kristine @ The Painted Hive

THANKS GIRL!!!

Ladies PLEASE grab a FEATURED button and display it proudly!

<a border="0" href="http://bellabeforeandafter.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad234/bellabeforeandafter/feature1.jpg" /></a>

Yikes STOP before you add any Christmas projects, check out my NEW ~~SPECIAL PARTY~~ ** 6 weeks 2 JINGLE ** oh yeah, now you can add it there. Whew, that was a close one!!!

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Chocolove Pancakes~~dining with Dino

You can't go wrong with pancakes, and certainly not when you add some yummy chocolate chips to the mix. Neither can adding some fresh fruit, and real maple syrup.

To make the experience complete gather all your dino friends and have them over for breakfast.

My other two were off to school, so little Dino D got a special treat this morning. He brought all his friends and we had tons of fun.

Use any pancake mix you wish, or make your own. I used a organic buttermilk mix, and added some flax seed to it. Then simply sprinkle some chocolate chips after you pour your pancakes, but before it cooks. The chocolate needs to sink in the pancake ya know. Ok, now flip, and finish off with your favorite fruit, I LOVE strawberries and bananas.

Ok guys, hope you ENJOY your breakfast!!!

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

** 6 weeks 2 JINGLE ** fa la la la la, la la la la

Can you hear the music playing? Ok me neither, but soon, it will be everywhere. If you are in any way like me, mrs. LAST MINUTE, you will appreciate these parties I'm throwing.

Even though it is technically more than 6 weeks away, Christmas will be here before we know it. So lets start decking the halls, and bringing some holiday cheer.

Share all your fabulous creations, new old, very old, doesn't matter. You know what I want, ideas, a whole collection of them. For all those who participated in my halloween party **6 weeks 2 Spook** THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I will be doing a TOP 10 FEATURE this week. I know it's late, but again, read above, I am the worlds biggest procrastinator, and I suck I know. Will you guys forgive me if I do a Halloween FEATURE like 2 weeks AFTER Halloween?

I will really try my best to do FEATURES of the Christmas projects every week, maybe include them in my weekly Features for **Amaze me August** that should help me out.

You guys are all incredible, and I know you will rock my world again, with all your talent, and creativityl. Totally been seeing some incredible projects already, so come join the party gals. This party will probably stay open till the New Year, lol, giving me plenty of time to wrap it up, and do my Top 10.

Alrighty then, what are you waiting for?

LINK UP, and you know what to do to SPREAD the word around right???

Link Back Here...

GRAB my FABULOUS button (I like it OK)

and be my devoted follower, lol, yes I'm serious!

Happy Holidays!!

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Amaze me August #10 ~~ Features ~~

For anyone interested in a little FREE shopping, via CSN go to LUCY DESIGNS to enter a $35.00 gift certificate giveaway. Hurry this ends Sunday November 14th. I secretly hope I win, lol, but being nice, like I am, just giving you all a chance to win too :)

Welcome to my 10th Amaze me August Party. The rules are simple, link up any project, recipe, diy project, or anything else you want to share. There is no limit on how many entries you can link up, and all that I ask is that you....

1. Consider becoming a follower of my blog, and leaving me a comment telling me so.

2. Link DIRECTLY to your project, and PLEASE either grab my button, or at the very least link back to the party, so that others may also join.

3. Visit others, and share the love, EVERYONE loves comments.

Have fun!!!

Here are my favorites from last week, in no particular order. :)

Sarah @ a little of this, a little of that gave us a wonderful tutorial on how to create this lovely art display. Yes please, I need one of those for sure. And the vinyl on top, BEAUTIFUL!! Go check our her amazing blog for more wonderful ideas, she really does have a little of this and a little of that on there. Lots of fun!

Thanks Sarah!!

Kathleen @ Fireflies and Family showed us a really cute rudolph bell. I don't know a kid who wouldn't love one of these. It is super easy, and she has a full tutorial to show us how. Go check it out!

Thanks Kathleen!!

Kimbo @ a GIRL and a GLUE gun gave us a GREAT tutorial on a handmade Christmas gift for the music lover. Well, for her daughter, but either way, it's really cute. Go check out her blog, she is making ALL her Christmas gifts this year, and you know this girl Kimbo, is SUPER creative, so yes lets all drool over her creations, shall we??

Thanks Kimbo!!

Andrea @ Keepin it Thrifty showed us how to make a simple can holder. Yes I know, I've seen them before, but tell me this isn't cute. I'm telling you , its that great paper, lol. Good choice girl. Love it.

Thanks Andrea!!

Ladies PLEASE grab a FEATURED button and display it proudly!

<a border="0" href="http://bellabeforeandafter.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad234/bellabeforeandafter/feature1.jpg" /></a>

Yikes STOP before you add any Christmas projects, check out my NEW ~~SPECIAL PARTY~~ ** 6 weeks 2 JINGLE ** oh yeah, now you can add it there. Whew, that was a close one!!!

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

My bubble butt~~

In case you haven't read all about my journey to shed some pounds, catch up ~~HERE~~. Super now that you know what I'm dealing with, continue, lol.

Yeah this is a sad little post, about my big bubble butt. I finally got it, in the gym again, after neary two weeks. Golly gee gosh, here I thought I would surely be super motivated to do my thing, finally, after all, you guys were all cheering me on right?? Yeah well, that didn't last long, and with every excuse possible, (even though they seemed valid at the time) I managed to not work out at all, and eat like a piggy. Both not very hard to do, when busy planning a party, then you have tons of leftovers, oh bad, very bad.

I am happy to say that, I did make it back in the gym for a great one hour workout. 2012 was playing, and I've never seen that movie, it was pretty crazy, and now I have to see the rest. Only saw like half of it.

Also, we are nearing the last of the leftovers, so back to normal food, and some more recipe posts, lol. I know you guys have been missing my cooking, ha ha.

Oh and for the record I have not forgotten about posting my lovely pics,  in a bikini. Should have posted them BEFORE halloween, because they are super scary, but oh well. Coming soon, I promise.

Take care all, and stay well. Wash up, and don't get sick. Those germs are everywhere.

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

It's ALIVE, my pineapple plant is ALIVE!!!

                              My pineapple plant is growing.

You can read all about the expirement --HERE--

I am so excited. I was hoping it would go OK, and it has.

The roots are growing really well, as you can see in the pictures.

The leaves did get a bit dry at the ends, but I just snipped that off.

Also I ended up taking quite a few leaves off from the base.
They were starting to rot, from being submerged in the water.

I have changed the water three times, since putting it in the vase, and so far so good. I will end up planting it in dirt soon.

My carrot on the other hand, not so good, lol. I really wanted to swap out the DEAD carrot for a growing one, and say it also was thriving but I am being honest, it just shriveled up, and looks pretty scary. I actually left it up, for my halloween party --READ ABOUT THAT HERE-- and I can tell you several people got grossed out, by banging their head on the DEAD hanging carrot, lol.

Anyhow, I knew that it would also grow, but maybe not as a hanging carrot plant. I think had it been one of those massive huge carrots, that would hold more water, it might have had a chance.

Either way, low and behold, when I went to the store last week, the bag of carrots I bought, were literally all growing. PERFECT, so I just cut the tops off like 12 of them, and stuck them in little tuna cans, with some pebbles, and look at these beauties now. Oh yeah, that's what I am talking about.

So go grow you some fruit, and vegetables.

This was surely fun, and I will update again, in a few months, to let you know how it's going, I mean growing. :)

 Don't these look awesome, well everything except that DEAD carrot. I am so happy it turned out. I hope you all enjoyed it.

I am linking to these fun parties. I have added a link list, so lets see if this helps my problem of adding the party buttons, lol. Go ahead and add your party if you would like me to link up, just make sure to leave a comment telling me you've done it, so I can make sure to link up.

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com

Amaze me August #9~~ Features

Welcome to my 9th Amaze me August Party. The rules are simple, link up any project, recipe, diy project, or anything else you want to share. There is no limit on how many entries you can link up, and all that I ask is that you....

1. Consider becoming a follower of my blog, and leaving me a comment telling me so.

2. Link DIRECTLY to your project, and PLEASE either grab my button, or at the very least link back to the party, so that others may also join.

3. Visit others, and share the love, EVERYONE loves comments.

Have fun!!!

Here are my favorites from last week, in no particular order. :)

So my girl Sourkraut, has been working hard perfecting these Nutella Peanut Baklava Cupcakes. She is entering like a bunch of Cupcake Wars, and Chalenges, and Iron Chef competions, and we may just see her on the Food Network one day, she is pretty determined. :) I love her, and you should really go say HI.

Sourkraut @ Langes Fadchen, Faules Madchen

THANK YOU GIRL!!

Sunny, is something, and guess what apparently even the cat EMO is a bit of a riot. Yes her cat did a countdown of it's favorite Halloween decorations, and had some very funny things to say about most of them. It was hilarious, and just for that you should run on over to check it out, of course I though the projects were amazing, so thats just another reason.

Sunny @ Life in Rehab

THANK YOU GIRL!!

Diane must have read my mind, when she posted this, or did I read hers. I so wanted to decorate with this fo rmy party, and I must have written myself a dozen reminders, to go snatch some from the neighbors, lol. Well, while I never got around to doing it, thanks to Diane, you can still see how wonderful it looks, as a centerpiece. She has experience in doing this, and says it lasts a LONG time, gotta love that. It looks so beautiful, even thought I would have totally gone for the spooky look for my party, lol.

Diane @ Pittypat Paperie

THANK YOU GIRL!!

Michelle did a wonderful post about this beautiful mirror from her teenage years. She has such a lovely story to share, about the mirror and her mom. I loved it so much, and it doesn't hurt that the mirror is beautiful. Seriously I love that mirror, it is so fun. Make sure to go say HI, and of course read all about this beautiful mirror.

Michelle @ Dream Home DIY

THANK YOU GIRL!!

Claire made some beautiful stockings for her three grown daughters out of toile, and some lace. Aren't these so cute?? Yeah she has the cute sentimental ones, we all have them, but come on they don't match our decor right, so she just makes ones that do, lol. I wonder just how many stockings she actually has,,, hmmm.

Claire @ Bless me Nest

THANK YOU GIRL!!

Ladies PLEASE grab a FEATURED button and display it proudly!

<a border="0" href="http://bellabeforeandafter.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad234/bellabeforeandafter/feature1.jpg" /></a>

As always ENJOY!

Special requests, or mad love always welcome:)
http://www.blogger.com/bellabeforeandafter@gmail.com