DIY Polka Dot Coffee Mug

By now you all have heard about Vine, right? {For those of you who are sick of it, please hear me out.} I signed up with the intentions of using it for blogging purposes...oh, and my successful Target shopping spree. {Have you seen the new spring arrivals? Gorgeous!} Anyways, when I decided to do a DIY project I figured Vine would be an easy, yet effective way to show you a step-by-step tutorial.

With all the cold weather we've been having here lately, I've been drinking a lot of coffee. It's been great because I'm finally making use of our 12 white ceramic coffee mugs. {Yep, I said 12.} However, those white mugs are pretty darn boring and yesterday I had an amazing stroke of craft genius. Those moments don't happen too often, so when they do I make sure to take full advantage!

I've always been a big fan of Kate Spade as seen here. There's just something about white with gold polka dots that makes me extremely happy. Wait...gold polka dots! Those would be perfect for my mugs! I headed to my local Michael's to pick up this gorgeous set of Martha Stewart paints for 40% off.

follow me on Vine >>> search Framed Frosting

I am *soooo* thrilled with the way my mug turned out. The entire project didn't cost much (about $18) but it sure looks like it cost me a fortune! I am going to be looking for every excuse possible to sip out of this beauty. The only problem I have now is that I want to paint them all. I bought a set of 10 paints so the color options are endless.

Tips I Learned:

- When pulling off the reinforcements, it's easier to tear it and then pull around the circle rather than pulling off the entire thing in one piece.

- Some of your dots won't turn out the way you hoped. To fix this, I took a pencil eraser and dipped it into the paint. Then I went over all the dots to make them a little bit bigger and perfectly circular!

- If you bake your mug according to the Martha Stewart directions, it can be top-rack dishwasher safe! How awesome is that? {I've since dishwashed mine several times and they still look like new!}
 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nature

Welcome to the first ever Insta-Photo Challenge! I am so excited to have this up and running after hearing such positive feedback from all of you. After signing up for Instagram a few weeks ago, I've really fallen in love with it. Such a simple program to use, but still produces great-quality photos.

I am by no means a professional photographer, nor do I own a DSLR camera. However, I've found that Instagram is a great way to capture any and all moments throughout your day and share them with your followers. There are plenty of different photo-editing apps to add filters, frames, bokehs, and even text to your photos.

This Insta-Photo Challenge is the perfect reason for you all to try out some cool apps, capture an amazing photo that fits the week's theme, and post it to your Instagram account! We're gonna start off the first challenge with something easy. {Remember: You don't have to have a blog to participate, just an Instagram account!}

1. Follow these ladies on Instagram

Host // Danielle of Framed Frosting
Co-Host // Kristen of KV's Confessions
Sponsor // Erin of Simply Just Lovely

2. Post your photo to your IG feed using #framedfrosting

Feel free to get creative with filers, frames, text, bokehs, or whatever you'd like to make your picture stand out! 
Just make sure that whatever photo you choose to use is related to this week's theme! 
{Photos that don't fit the theme will not be eligible to win the prize.}

3. Meet new people and spread the word!

Search #framedfrosting on Instagram to see everyone's photos or simply click on a photo below.
Meet a few new people and leave them a comment to let them know you're doing the IG challenge too!

We'd also love for you to spread the word via Twitter! 

Tweet


All photos will be viewed by this week's hosts and sponsors. Together we will choose one photo which will WIN the prize below. Their  photo will also be featured in the post next week.

This week's prize is...
$10 Starbucks e-Gift Card via Simply Just Lovely!

The #framedfrosting Weekly Instagram Challenge happens EVERY Friday... 
Which means the next one will be February 1st!

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Sweet Treats for Your Sweetheart

February is right around the corner which means you'll be seeing a lot of red, pink, and white. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays for quite a few reasons. Well, the day after (in my opinion) is the best part of the whole thing. All of those fancy chocolate boxes go on sale for 70% off. This year, I'll be buying quite a few of those 70% off chocolate boxes like I usually do. But I also decided to try something new.

Introducing Sugarwish...An online company that allows you to send an e-card to someone special -- just in time for Valentine's Day. Once they open your e-card they'll see your sweet message and are provided with a gift certificate code to purchase their box of sweet treats.

Besides the adorable packaging, another thing that I really love is that the recipient gets to pick their OWN candy to be included in their box. Sugarwish offers a large variety of candy to choose, starting with the original candies like M&M's and Skittles. They also offer salt-water taffy, jelly beans, jawbreakers, gummies, and sugar-free options too!

For my box, I chose a few candies that were favorites from my childhood...peach rings, cinnamon bears, cotton candy taffy, and my absolute favorite LEGO building blocks!

Today Sugarwish has been SO generous to offer you all a very *sweet* giveaway. They usually don't offer discount codes or coupons, so this giveaway is a great chance to try Sugarwish for free!!

What FOUR candies would you choose?

Giveaway is open to US residents only.

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My Last Weekend of Freedom

Today is my first day back to school. Starting a new semester always seems to stress me out. It's just a massive list of things to do: purchase textbooks, print out the syllabus for every class, write test dates in my planner so I don't forget.

Oh yeah, and the simple fact that homework is now a daily thing again. That's definitely something I never look forward to. So, here's a look at my weekend according to my Instagram feed. What I'm calling, my last weekend of freedom before heading back to school.

1 // finding our mailbox shoved with magazines, bills, and coupons!
2 // studying for my exam while using my new Anthro mug
3 // later that night, I passed my exam!!

1 // making fruit smoothies with our Magic Bullet
2 // playing a friendly game of Apples to Apples
3 // cinnamon raisin french toast with raspberry sauce

1 // game night and virgin Piña Coladas (recipe coming soon!)
2 // packing up everything and ready to head back to school
3 // coming home to find Sugarwish waiting for me!


Speaking of Instagram...this Friday I'll be hosting the FIRST Insta-Photo Challenge! Simply follow the hosts on IG and take a photo that fits that week's theme! Then, the hosts will look through all the photos and together pick their favorite photo to win a $10 Starbucks gift card!!

I'm linking up for Weekend Update.

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Gift Card Extravaganza

Oh my goodness. You all are in for a *REAL* treat today! With the new year underway, comes many ideas I have for this blog and the direction I'd like it to go in the upcoming year. I am constantly brainstorming new ways to genuinely promote brands, share original content, keep things interesting, and spoil my readers (yes, you!) rotten!

Well today, I'm gonna do that last thing. My mission is to spoil the crap out of SIX of you fabulous ladies! I'm teaming up with a huge group of really amazing and inspiring bloggers to bring you all my first Gift Card Extravaganza!! There are $300 worth of gift cards up for grabs!! Umm...say what?!

$100 Target Gift Card

The Chiffon Diary // Spot of Tea // Lovely Little Things // Illi Style // A Night Owl // Messy Dirty Hair // Aunie Sauce // Pink Cake Plate // Sassy Lemonade // Little Inspiration

$50 Victoria's Secret Gift Card

It's Good to Be Queen

$50 Amazon.com e-Gift card

 My Life as Mindy // That's Comma with a K // CEO of Me // Coming Unstitched // Sparkles and a Stove // Songbirds and Buttons

$50 Etsy.com e-Gift card 

 Oh My Tookies //  Life of a Lost Muse //  Whispering Sweet Nothings //  Everyday Lounge Act

$25 Starbucks Gift Card

  A Royal Daughter // Ernestine Edna

$25 Sephora e-Gift card

  Because Shanna Said So  //  The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife // And They Call Me Mommy

That's over $300 in gift cards! YOWZA!! Please take the opportunity to stop by all of their blogs, send them a tweet, or leave them some love on their Facebook page to thank them!!

SIX winners will be chosen -- one gift card for each.

Gift cards will be mailed to US residents ONLY!  If you're international, feel free to enter. If you win, you'll receive one of the following e-Gift cards: Amazon, Sephora, or Etsy.

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Terms & Conditions: Giveaway is open to US residents only. Mandatory entries will be verified. Winners will be emailed and contacted via Twitter or Facebook as well. If I do not hear from a winner within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen for that particular gift card. Some of the gift cards will be sent via e-mail and others will be shipped via USPS. Tracking is available upon request, but must be paid for by the winner. Tweets must come from a public account.

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I'm Late to the Party

For months now, I've been seeing all of you post these gorgeous photos from your daily life on Instagram. Not only sharing your photos, but also connecting in a new way with your readers and other bloggers and shop owners. To be honest, I've been pretty darn jealous.

You see, I do NOT own a smartphone. Yep, I'll let you pick your jaw off the floor. The thing is, before blogging I never really had a need for a smartphone. Something that my clumsy self would likely drop and shatter or misplace. Besides, I had my phone for calling and texting and then my iPod touch to check my e-mails while at home or on campus. However, Instagram, Twitter, and so many other apps wouldn't download because my iPod (much like my cell phone) is ancient and outdated.

Which is why I was beyond excited to make a trip up to the Apple Store last week and put my Christmas money towards a new iPod touch. So I'm a little late to the party but...I've officially joined Instagram!!

I've only been on for about a week, but I think I'm in love with it. There's just something really neat about seeing what my fave bloggers are doing when they're not blogging. Think of it as a way to check in on me and see what I'm up to. Your chance to get to know the real ME.

Speaking of getting to know people...Turns out another one of my good friends, Leslie from Simply Sleek, and this month's Ultimate sponsor, also recently joined Instagram. {Keep reading to find out how this relates!}

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I'm Leslie, shop owner of Simply Sleek. Here's a little bit about me...

My shop began out of an aspiration to create jewelry from things that I love. Working with my hands since I can remember has always brought me a sense of accomplishment. I have always been creative dabbling in sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting and photography, but my passion is jewelry. I love the way a favorite piece of jewelry can just brighten up any day; not because it matches anything you are wearing but simply because you love it.

 
In my late teens I became a self-taught handcrafted jeweler. I was inspired by a family friend. My mother MADE me go to a jewelry party at an Aunt's house with her. Boy, I really did not want to go but she was the boss. So, there I was in a chair...a sad bored teenager, as she and her friends "Ooo and Ahh'd" over her friend's handcrafted jewelry. When I finally stopped pouting, and looked around the jewelry was actually very pretty. From that moment on I was hooked. I started asking my Mom's friend question after question; little did she know she had just opened a door for me. Years later Simply Sleek opened shop, the first day of 2011 to be exact. But, I can really say now I appreciated that "light bulb moment".

Simply Sleek on Etsy // Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

Go give Leslie some love on any of the above and tell her Framed Frosting sent you!

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Isn't she just great? What an amazing story! It just goes to show you that inspiration can come from anywhere and sometimes, really amazing things happen because of it!

Now when I said "party" up above, I meant it! Today we're teaming up to bring you all an Instagram ONLY giveaway!! I know you all love prizes...I mean who doesn't? 

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.
Winner: #11 -- @gloriouswithin

Pssst: If you leave a comment on Leslie's Facebook page or Twitter and tell her that Framed Frosting sent you, it will earn you extra entries! 

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WIWW: Stripes and Anchors

Top: Old Navy | Jeans: Fortuity | Necklace: Lisa Leonard

Watch: Fossil | Earrings: Target | Boots: Target

I'm am so NOT the kind of person who sets goals for myself. Usually because I hate myself when those said goals aren't achieved. With that said, one of my goals for this upcoming year is to build more outfits with the clothes I already have and make it a habit to link up every single Wednesday.

I've come a long way since my first photo shoot, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. You see, outfit posts aren't easy for me. I don't own a fancy DSLR camera or a tripod, but I've got a point-and-shoot camera that takes pretty good pictures. However, not having a tripod means that someone actually has to take my photos for me...and that would be my man Q.

But you see, there are just so many things men don't understand...
The main differences between a cardigan and a sweater.
Why women take hours to do their hair and make-up. 
Our love for babies and reality television shows.
The need to know about all celebrity gossip.

Oh...and how to take good outfit photos.

It's true. I always have this vision in my mind of how I want the photos to turn out. However, it's nearly impossible to relay that information to a man. When that happens, you get a couple great photos like the ones above. What about the rest? Well, LOTS and lots of outtakes. Enjoy my friends!

Today I'm linking up here. 

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My Top 10 Posts of 2012

2012 was a fabulous year for me for so many reasons. 

I began making a name for myself and my blog. 

I felt like I was starting to fit in more.

Posting about things I loved.

Building relationships.

Forming friendships.

Real friends.

This past year was also a tremendous year for growth.

Readers grew from 800 to a whopping 1,200.

Growing as to what it means to be a blogger.

As a full-time college student.

And how to manage both.

Then, learning I can't.

Overall, it was an amazing year.

I'm so excited for what 2013 has to offer me and this blog.

I'm opening up my blog to contributors {apply here}.

Getting a new blog design.

And so much more.

As a way to start off the new year, 

Let's recap the Top 10 posts from 2012.

Who knows, you may find something you haven't read before.

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10. Feeling nervous about my first WIWW post.

9. Five DIY projects for the new apartment {Would be #1 if I had actually completed more than just one of them!}

8. When I shared my secret recipe for the Best Ever Banana Muffins.

7. That time Erin from Living in Yellow taught you all a thing or two about blogging.

6. Gave the living room a makeover thanks to World Market.

5. Hosted not one, but two yummy Tookies contests.

4. Also hosted an amazing "Gift Your Gift" holiday giveaway.

3. Learned that jeggings are a wardrobe must-have.

2. Linked up with Rags to Stitches for my first ever Coffee Date.

1. Completed my gorgeous all-white DIY gallery wall.

Now those were MY favorite posts from the year...what were YOURS?

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