Nail Polish!

In support of my cousin’s final weekend for this marching band season, I decided to paint my finger nails blue.  His band will be performing this morning and hopefully, if they make it (cross your fingers), to Grand Nationals finals, he will be performing this evening.

If he makes it this evening, I will be there to watch him!  Cannot wait!  We are all so proud of them and excited to see how this season ends for them.  It has been awesome and we love them!!!

I did get my inspiration from Pinterest, with a royal blue nail polish.  It has been quite a while since I found a similar color in the store.  I couldn’t find the exact OPI Nail Color, so instead I found one that was very similar except it is a more electric blue and has a little bit of shimmer in it.  I am still on the lookout for the OPI color that is called “Dating a Royal”.  Mine is Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails Extreme Wear Nail Color “Blue It.”

Here is the original photo:

And here are my nails, again a little more electric blue with a shimmer in them.  And of course, I painted them using the nail tutorial I found on Pinterest (from my first post on 11/01/11):

Good luck Lake Central Tribe of Pride at Grand Nationals! (http://www.lcband.com)

Here is the link to the original photo on Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/pin/86342517825522534/

Making the Perfect Cupcake

Today I decided to make some cupcakes and, of course, remembered a good baker’s tip I saw on Pinterest.  How to make a PERFECT CUPCAKE!  Now, this is something that I always struggle with, because I try my best to get every cupcake filled 2/3 full according to the box mix and cook it for the specified amount of time, but my cupcakes are always different.  Some are more flat than others and some are more puffy than others.  It’s never the same and drives me crazy!  Step in the amazing tip for perfect cupcakes!  Here is the photo I pinned:

This is exactly what my cupcakes looked like.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of them from the side!  I made a blue and white mixture of the batter, so it was a marble effect in the cupcake.  I also topped them with white and blue icing.  I’m going to try and remember to take a photo the next time I make cupcakes and will add it to this post, so you can see my perfect cupcake result.  Note:  I always test my cupcakes with a toothpick before the timer goes off, just in case it cooks faster in my oven.

Above is a photo of the top of the cupcakes I made.  I made these cupcakes for my cousin who is in marching band.  I wrote “LC T.O.P. 3rd Place – Somewhere in Time.”  Lake Central Tribe of Pride (LC T.O.P.) and their marching band show name this year is “Somewhere in Time”.  They have been doing so good this season and we are all proud of the band!  They placed third this past weekend at the Bands of America Indianapolis Super Regional Competition.  As a alumni of that same marching band, I am so excited for their accomplishments this year.  Only one more weekend left in the season – Bands of America Grand Nationals!  Can’t wait to see how they do!

Here is the link to my pin (http://pinterest.com/pin/454764397/)

Unfortunately the original blog/link could not be found – if you know where this idea/photo originated, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due :)

Shameless plug for my cousin and as an alumni band member LC Band (http://www.lcband.com)