Funk Up Your House with Quirky Functional Home Decor

I'm all for decorating a house with all kinds of adorable, eclectic goodies but I also know hectic it can begin to look if you don't know how to organize your decor appropriately. I am currently trying to organize all of our collections and lusting over all of these super quirky DIY projects and products and just have to share them with you. From creative uses for a trunk to a stool made of old magazines, there's something just quirky enough for everyone and the storage these pieces offer is just what every home needs!

Which project will you take on first? I think I want to give hubs a to-do list that includes each of these projects and then some!

Check out Funk Up Your House with Quirky Functional Home Decor
by Lauren Paints at Mode

DIY Dog Silhouette Painting Tutorial and Finding the Formula Right for Your Dog with Purina® Pro Plan®

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ProPlanPet #CollectiveBias

So I'll be the first to admit, my dogs are two of my best friends. While they may not be able to speak to me, we have quiet the unspoken bond. They both are super expressive and with completely opposite personalities our house if full of entertainment and fun...

PowPow, originally named Miley - but renamed when we had a daycare in our home years ago by one of the children, is our little rebel. Although she can be hardheaded at times, she is the biggest sweetheart you'll ever meet. She will be the first to protect her family but also the first to cuddle up in the lap of a complete stranger. We really aren't sure what she is, other than an adorable dog... She's fast, she's funny, and she loves her family and we love hearing what breeds people think she may be. She was adopted at only a few months old from an animal shelter, where they told us she was found wondering along the highway. Her past is a mystery but her heart is full of love and loyalty.

Gnarly, our little "talkative" troublemaker is always getting into something michevious but is as smart as a whip. He's a ham when he hears the words treat, walk, or bye-bye and we are pretty sure he's even figured out how to spell treat now. He knows every trick in the book and is eager to learn whenever we try to teach him something new. He was adopted when a lady on Craigslist said she had to give him up, we were told he was six months old and a toy poodle... Well, he must have been six weeks old because he was itty, bitty when we adopted him but has since ballooned into an adorable miniature poodle. He always has been a super loving little guy and although he can be a little too talkative at times, it's truly a blessing to have a dog that can pretty much tell you what he wants/needs.

As you can probably tell, I brag about my dogs as if they are my children... These two are my fur babies! We've always kept photos of the babes around the house, like most people do with their family members. But lately I've been feeling extra creative and I decided I want to make a piece of art that represents them, then it came to me...

Silhouettes are a super easy and inexpensive way to capture their likeness without a whole bunch of technical work! I decided to make a day of it, I created a doggie silhouette piece of pop art and then treated my fuzzy little helpers to a savory bowl of Purina® Pro Plan®, a new food full of nutritious ingredients! We had the best day ever and my picky little eaters gobbled this food right up! So I guess you could say I'm a pretty happy dog-mom right now, especially because the paintings turned out adorably!

I just couldn't keep this fun DIY project to myself so today I'm sharing how I made these adorable one-of-a-kind doggie paintings.

Take a photo of your dog at whatever angle you want to capture in your silhouette, a side angle is fun. Just get creative and try to imagine just the outline of your dog, so you have an idea of what your gorgeous piece of art will look like. 

After you have your photo, you'll want to begin by editing the picture of your furry friend. Make sure you change the image size to fit your dog's image perfectly on the canvas. I made my pictures 9 inches in height to fit on a 12x12 canvas. You can easily just use the original image of your dog and begin cutting out the image manually, at this point. But I wanted to use an actual silhouette to paint over. So I "cut" my dog from the original image using photoshop and made both pictures into silhouettes  using blending effects,. Print your photo of your dog, cut your dogs shape out from the paper, and now the real fun begins.

You'll want to tape the image of your pup down to your canvas so that it doesn't move around while you are painting around it. Use enough tape (or scrapbooking stickers) to ensure that your photo is held down well.

Once your image is taped down, choose a paint color and use a decently sized brush to paint around the silhouette. Paint with brush strokes that are only in a direction heading away from the silhouette, allowing the outer edges of the silhouette to really be in stark contrast with the white silhouette you are creating.

After your paint has dried, remove the paper photo from the canvas and stand in awe while you admire your work.

Add a little heart with a paint brush and call over your dog, it's their turn to get crafty!

Dip your pups paw into a non-toxic, acrylic paint and then place the paw over the heart you painted. Remove additional paint on paws with a baby wipe or a wet paper towel!

Ta-da! You have an adorable creation that you and your doggy made together, something you can cherish forever and a truly one-of-a-kind work of art.

Now that you have a special piece of art, it's time to treat your dog to something tasty to thank them for helping you out! My pups and I took a trip to PetSmart and found everything we were looking for! We found treats that make them smile from ear to ear, a new bone that'll be perfect for chewing when they need something to entertain themselves, and we even found a food that had everything I was looking for nutrition-wise while it still offers a taste they absolutely love! Our trip to PetSmart was a total WIN!

Purina® Pro Plan®'s goal is to give your dogs the nutrition they need to be their absolute best, while helping them to be energetic and resilient. They also provide them with the nutrients they need to maintain an ideal body condition, healthy skin, and a stunning coat - a dog's diet is so very important to their health & well-being. Purina® Pro Plan® is made with real chicken, beef, lamb, or salmon and that real meat is the #1 ingredient found in all their dry formulas, something that my poodle has been singing about since we picked up a bag!

I love that all the ingredients are high quality and each and every ingredient is chosen for a specific purpose, no filler ingredients means that my dogs can live healthier and happier lives! They want the best for every dog and since every single dog is different, Purina® Pro Plan® products can be found in five specialized platforms. Each one containing products formulated for a dog's taste preferences, age, dietary considerations, and activity level.

Your dog deserves to have the food he's been day-dreaming about so don't forget to visit the Purina® Pro Plan® MyPLAN website to get your dog's MyPLAN recommendation and a rebate offer for a free bag of Purina® Pro Plan® Dry Dog Food (4-6lbs, up to $18.99.) This offer is only good in U.S.A. A.P.O's, F.P.O's. Void where taxed, prohibited, restricted. Allow 6-8 weeks for shipment. LIMIT ONE REQUEST PER INDIVIDUAL, ADDRESS, or EMAIL ADDRESS. Offer expires 04/30/2015. See full terms.

Gnarly wants you to treat your pooch to something delicious today!

Disney Planes Dusty Crophopper DIY Ornament Tutorial + Rollback Deals!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PlanesToTheRescue #CollectiveBias

I keep talking about it, but I'm super excited to see my family over the holidays! I can't wait to see all my nieces and nephews and spend time crafting and playing with them! We have so many awesome kids in our family, it's hard not to get excited to see them! This year I'm surprising them with something I made from the heart. We're all big Disney fans so when I heard that Planes Fire & Rescue came out in early November, I knew we would spend some time together watching our favorite Plane (Dusty Crophopper)!

I just couldn't help myself though, I had to make them something to make this holiday extra special! I'm that Aunt, I show up with things I painted, crafted, baked, etc for them...and well, we all know gifts that are handmade mean the most so I tried my hardest to make a Dusty ornament that will put a smile on their face!

Once I was finished with him, I knew I had to share how I made him with you guys and I wanted to showcase him in my house... I decided that this year instead of having a traditional "big kid" tree, we were going with a unique theme. This year our tree is decorated with characters from Planes Fire & Rescue and Cars - two of our favorite movies to watch with our nieces and nephews!

I'm just in love with how Dusty turned out, so I made two so I can still give one to my family... But as promised, I'm sharing how you can create a Dusty Crophopper Ornament of your own super easily, using items you most likely already have around your home! I'm also sharing some awesome deals on Planes toys - because what's better than good prices on Disney toys?!

Disney Planes Dusty Crophopper DIY Ornament

Items needed:

Toilet Paper Roll

Orange Foam Cards (Dollar Store toy/craft aisle)
White Poster Board
Cardboard (you could always sub poster board)

Black Scrapbooking Paper
Silver Cupcake liner (or paper)
Silver Paper Fastener
Paint - Orange, White, Blue
Polyester filling
Glue (I use hot glue) & Tape

I decided to dive right into this project, gathered everything up and it was on! I started by forming the easiest part of the ornament - the cloud! I'm thinking a whole tree full of these little cloud puffs and snowflakes may be in our future next year. All you do to form the cloud is simply pull at it until you develop the shape you want. After forming the cloud, I started making Dusty's "nose" using the cupcake liner (you could always use scrapbook paper). You simply just fold the circle to make a cylinder using your own hand to form it.

Once your cylinder is formed, cut the tip off the top, making sure it is large enough to get the paper fastener through. Next you'll trim three equal propellers from black construction (or scrapbook paper) and glue these to the paper fastener.

Next step is easy, officially glue the propellers, nose and fastener together and tape it onto the toilet paper roll.

Now you'll glue your orange foam pieces (or orange construction paper) onto your toilet paper roll, allowing it to start to transform into Dusty! The next step is making his cabin body, you'll want to cut a piece of orange foam or paper into a square and fold it to look like the photo in the bottom right and then secure the sides by gluing it together.

Once it's all glued together and it's cut down to size, it's time to start working on Dusty's wings! I just decided to use a white cardboard box I happened to have from a recent gift I received. You could use poster board or normal cardboard and paint it. I simply cut his wings about the length of his body and 3/4 an inch wide. I went ahead and cut out Dusty's tailplane as well. These are easy cuts again, just a thin rectangular piece about 2 1/2 inches long and a trapezoid about an 1 1/4 inches in size.

Now it's time to add the details, I painted the edge of Dusty's wings orange to match his body, his tail stabilizer longer piece blue, and the smaller piece orange. I then added the details to the wings and took a break to let these dry!

Once the paint dried on Dusty's wing, it was time to start putting all his pieces together. I cut a hole in the smaller stabilizer piece using an exacto blade and then slid the longer piece through. I then cut a hole for the stabilizer to go on Dusty's backside and started to make holes for his wings. This is definitely part of the project an adult needs to be a part of, better safe than sorry at any age!

The next step is making sure Dusty's rocking his lucky number 7 on his sleeve! I decided the best way to get a clean circle was to trace a paint bottle. I then just sketched a 7 into the circle, colored it in, and Dusty's starting to resemble himself already!

The next is another detail piece, one of the most important! Dusty's gorgeous little baby blues. I cut them from a small piece of white poster board and snipped out two small little hills and then started drawing his eyes.

I outlined the black in his eyes almost  all the way around with blue and left a little white "shine" to make his eyes look bright. I then went ahead and used some hot glue to attach his eyes to his "face" and then his face to the body of the plane!

He's nearly done now, all you have to do is glue him onto his cloud and use a needle to get a piece of thread through the top so he is able to hang from your tree.

And it's official, you now have created a Planes ornament of your own! I think Dusty turned out adorably and the best part is, this is a craft you can do with your littles. You can let them do most of the work and just help with gluing and cutting - the perfect way to spend time together and make something you'll be able to admire year after year! I love making crafts and can't wait to attempt this with my nieces and nephews soon.

I have another great surprise in store for my nieces and nephews, I grabbed a few of the awesome Rollback deals on Planes toys at Walmart! I went ahead and kept a pack of the Die-Cast 3 pack vehicles to help decorate my tree but Walmart has so many awesome toys on Rollback specials right now, I was able to grab some toys for the kids, and even grabbed a pack to donate!

The Disney Planes Flight to Finish Speedway is on Rollback for $24.97, the Disney Planes Fire & Rescue Die-Cast Vehicles, 3-Pack is on Rollback for $14.97, the Disney Planes Fire & Rescue Deluxe Talking Vehicle Assortment is on  Rollback for $19.97, and lastly the Planes Character Assortment die-cast set and the Disney Planes: Fire and Rescue Character Assortment die-cast set are both on rollback for $4.97! With so many awesome deals on everything Planes, which toy will you be grabbing to surprise your little with?

DIY Pampering At Home Pedicure with Amopé Pedi Perfect and a Pineapple Coconut Soak

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RespectUrFeet #CollectiveBias

I've always tried to pamper my feet and pedicures are probably one of my favorite activities, ever... and since I really don't like feet (I'm weird, I know), I feel like having pretty feet makes them a little less ugly and weird looking. Having dry or cracking feet is a big no-no in my book, cracked polish on your big toe - UH, no! Even though it's fall and we all plan on rocking boots and closed toed shoes, it's still important to have your feet looking good when the socks come off! Instead of hitting the salon weekly, I've finally found a new way to get my super pampering pedis in at home!

I found this little gadget at Target and I was so excited I headed home and decided it was time for a spa day immediately! I applied a face mask, got the polish out, poured some pineapple and coconut juice (not for drinking, read on for a super fun pedicure tip) and it's pedicure time!

I recently heard that pineapple is good for your nails; it sounds a little crazy, I know, but I did a little research and decided to start my pedi with a fabulous, all-natural pineapple, coconut soak. Pineapple stimulates the production of anti-inflammatory properties and contains chemicals that prevent tumors according to The Doctors; while coconut helps moisturize stubborn skin and it's anti-aging properties revitalize skin. Oh and did you know coconut milk can also serve as a make up remover, conditioner, and more?

So now that you know what this delicious smelling footie cocktail will do for you, it's time to mix it up and let your feet dive in.

Mix together 3 cups of Organic Pineapple Juice, around 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, and around 4-5 cups of hot (warm) water. Stir this mixture together inside a deep container and place your feet in the soak. I allowed my feet to soak for around 10 minutes, letting the pineapple soften my cuticles and brighten my nails while the coconut milk softened my skin. You will really notice a difference when removing your feet from the mixture.

After soaking, dry your feet with a towel and push back cuticles.

Next on the line up is the star of the show, the Amopé Pedi Perfect is what I use to buff the dry skin and callouses from my feet. This easy to use gadget is what makes my at home pedis so much better than one at the spa. I'm able to buff away the rough spots on my feet with the specially designed Micraumina head without it being painful or too aggressive. I'm obsessed with how soft and healthy my feet feel after use, especially after I applied the Amopé foot cream.

If you're looking for a way to spoil yourself or your closest gal pal, I highly suggest you #RespectUrFeet and pamper both of you with an Amopé Pedi Perfect. You can find this new at home pedicure gadget at Target in the foot care aisle. Plus right now through the 11/22 you can score a $5 gift card and 10% off using the Target Cartwheel app.

The last step in this super pampering pedicure is getting creative with polish! I decided to paint my toes with a super fun Fall inspired pedi and I'm sharing a simple tutorial on how I painted these super cool leaves onto my toesies. 

My Secret to The Perfect Bombshell Blow Out with Conair Curl Secret and Pro 3Q

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias #HeartMyHair

I've always longed for the Perfect Bombshell Blow Out and with naturally curly hair, it's never been easy to achieve. I'm so excited to share that I have finally found the secret to the perfect bombshell blow out hairstyle everyday: the Infiniti Pro by Conair® Curl Secret® uses tourmaline-ceramic technology to help reduce the amount of frizz in your hair, while leaving you with super soft, touchable curls. This innovative tool is like nothing you have ever used before for your hair and the curls it makes are AMAZING!

Instead of keeping the Curl Secret to myself, I'm sharing it with the world. Take note, I found the Infiniti Pro by Conair® 3Q™ Brushless Motor Dryer and the Infiniti Pro by Conair® Curl Secret® at Wal-Mart...

Both of these items are this years hottest hairstyling products, in my opinion, and you can guarantee that The Curl Secret and Pro 3Q will be on every female's Christmas wish list!

Wondering how I achieved The Perfect Bombshell Blow Out? There's a technique necessary to achieve the perfect blow out and today I'm sharing my tips and tricks:

You'll want to begin by washing and using a deep conditioner, then towel dry your hair.
Begin an initial blow dry using your Pro 3Q, allowing your hair to become around 85% dry. Luckily with this dryer this process is quick and easy!

Now apply heat protection products, moisturizing products, and any other products you use regularly when applying heat to your hair.

Next you'll need to section off the top half of your hair and finish drying, using a round brush to help you shape and straighten your hair from the roots while providing volume without adding frizz!

Now that your hair is mostly straight, use the Velvet Paddle Brush to brush out tangles and turn on your Infiniti Pro by Conair® Curl Secret®. Now the real fun can begin!

You'll need to separate your hair into sections sized about 1-1 1/2 inches and allow the Curl Secret to draw your hair into it's chamber and wait for the "beep" indicating your hair is curled. This amazing hairstyling tool makes perfect, luxurious curls every single time! Continue curling over your entire head.

Once all of your hair is curled, brush your hands through. If you happen to have a clip run this through, breaking up the curls. This will help loosen your curls and give you more of the bombshell look over the Taylor Swift curls. I decided to go ahead and pin some of my bangs back with a bobby pin so I could really show off my curls.

Now finish with hairspray and your hairstyle is complete!

Do actions speak louder than words for you? Check out my quick tutorial on how I use the
Infiniti Pro by Conair® 3Q™ Brushless Motor Dryer and the Infiniti Pro by Conair® Curl Secret® to get achieve the coveted Bombshell Blow Out look!

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