FRI"DIY" - Mason Jar Candle Holders!

Good morning and happy Friday! Friday is definitely the best day of the week, right? I think everyone will agree when I say that the weekend is awesome! The weekend is my chance to have some down time and relax. My forms of relaxation are taking baths and reading. Another thing that helps me relax are candles, especially when candles are lot while I'm taking a bath or reading. I'm always so paranoid when I lite candles while taking a bath because I'm worried that they'll spill over (etc). Which is why I got the idea to combine two of my favorite things: mason jars and candles! Since mason jars are a great size, they allow the candle to be surrounded by the high walls of the jar to prevent spilling. After I got that idea, I said to myself, "Well, you can't just throw a candle in a mason jar and call it a day.. It has to be decorated!" Annnnnd here we are! Let's get started!

What you'll need:

I got the mason jars from Michaels, the tape, spray paint, sanding bar and tape from Lowe's. Michaels had spray paint; however, it was $11.99 a bottle which is why I went to lowes.

Two mason jars - 2.99 ea.

Sanding sponge - 2.99 

Scotch painters tape - 1.99

Valspar spray paint - $5.99 ea.

Duct Tape DIY's

It's already 7:00 pm! Today flew by before I even had the chance to consider blogging! Sorry for the late post, I had a birthday in my family and we celebrated all day with a shopping spree (on a budget of course)! Now, here I am blogging at 7:45 and I feel bad because it's super late but I'm going to make up for it!

For today, Sunday's, "mini post" I found this GREAT YouTube video from a very famous vlogger Blair Fowler. I was scrolling through her videos and this one caught my eye, especially because school is starting back up soon. The video is based on a very fun and inexpensive DIY for some back to school accessories.

All you'll need is an exacto knife and some duct tape! Yes, I said duct tape. Hard to believe, right? Watch below!

Sunday is a day for resting!

Before I start writing I would like to share that I reached 2,000 views on my blog today!

I completely intend on spending my entire Sunday resting up and enjoying my day off. So today (and most likely every Sunday) I will be writing a "mini post"!

I was planning on starting my day at 9 am but it's currently 1:20 pm and I'm still laying in bed. Well, I guess you can say that plan failed but I'm about to get out of bed now and start my day!

On today's agenda:

- get a manicure and pedicure, which is definitely needed. I hate walking around with chipped nail polish! I go to "Moon Nails" on Ventnor avenue. (Used to be "Long nails" until a woman named moon bought it) I love it there! 

- since I work almost everyday 10 am to 6 pm it's very hard for me to get to the beach, so I have to settle for the best best thing.. going to a tanning salon. I go to Island Sun in Ventnor. 

- I've been searching around everywhere for inexpensive gym clothes, so when I find them today expect a future blog on them!! I also need sneakers, which I'm kind of excited to pick out because I rarely wear athletic sneakers.

- and lastly, I need to sign up for the gym! I'm thinking either Island Gym in Ventnor or Tilton Fitness on Tilton Road.

I'll let you know how my day went in tomorrow's blog post! I hope you all have a very relaxing Sunday! 

I figured I'd leave you with a little something to think about: 

All of the places mentioned above are located in Atlantic County.

What are your plans for this beautiful Sunday? Which gym or nail salon do you go to? Comment below to share and don't forget to subscribe!

FriDIY! Make Your Own Lip balm!

HAPPY FRIDAY! The weekend is finally here and I'm sure many people are very excited about that! Since summer is here, beautiful weather comes along with it; allowing you to go to the beach, lay out by the pool and relax! Another thing that tends to come along with summer is chapped lips! I have such trouble with my lips being chapped during the summer season. Along with keeping my body very hydrated by drinking lots of water, which helps with chapped lips, another thing I am very persistent with is applying lip balm/chap stick. I am a huge sucker for lipstick because I am intrigued by all the fun colors you get to choose from. Whenever I'm in line ready to purchase my lipstick I always wish I could find a chap stick in the color I want. Then, suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head.. which led me to the idea of making my own lip balm!

Ever since college I've started shopping at CVS. They have GREAT prices and you can sign up for their "Extra Care Card" which offers you coupons and "Extra Bucks." The coupons are great and the more you spend the more you get rewarded with Extra Bucks. Extra Bucks is CVS cash that you can put toward your purchase lowering the price! After every purchase at CVS, you'll get your receipt with sooooo many coupons attached to it as well as how much "Extra Bucks" you've acquired. It also informs you of the great sales that will be going on next week! I highly suggest that you get all of your DIY needs for this project from CVS and get your own "Extra Care Card!"

Here's an example of what Extra Bucks look like:

Okay moving on! The items you will need for this DIY is vaseline, your choice of lipstick, and a small container to put your new lip balm into!

Pictured above are the items I purchased from CVS and in total it came to around $10.00. The 5 piece travel kit contained perfect containers for lip balm! I didn't mind buying the travel kit because I know it will come into use later and it was only $5.99! 

The lipstick is called "Blossom" by NYC. It was 99 cents and I fell in love with the shimmery pink color; so perfect for summer!

I decided on a small container of Vaseline and it was only $1.75!

Time to get started on the DIY!

Go On A Blind Date With A Book!

I love reading; almost as much as I love writing. There has been countless occasions where I completely disregarded a book sitting on a shelf because of it's cover art, which is totally judgmental of me. Now that I've started a blog, I realized how upset I would be if someone disregarded my blog post based off of the title. The picture on the outside of the book shouldn't matter as much as the material written inside of the book. The picture we paint for ourselves inside our head while reading the book is more prominent in our minds than any cover page ever could be. A book is suppose to make you feel something, anything, and these feelings can differ from person to person; which is why I think it's ridiculous to judge a book by it's cover. One person could fall in love with a piece of art, while another hates it; the same goes for cover art. It's nearly impossible to choose artwork that satisfies everyone, so why not just pick a book based solely on the content? 

I've heard of one person blind dating another person but I've never heard of a person going on a blind date with a book! It's something that a few book stores and libraries have been picking up on recently. It's simple! The idea is to make sure the person buying the book CAN'T see the cover. You can use any kind of paper (brown paper is used here) and decorate it in any type of way that interests you (they added a simple bow as seen above)! You could find these simple, inexpensive, items at your local CVS or Dollar Store! Once the book is all wrapped up, remember that you have to put the price on it as well as a few descriptive words for the book; so try not to over decorate! The few words will grab the readers attention and have them interested in the content of the book as opposed to the cover. It will also arouse their curiosity regarding the "blind date" process. If you're thinking about hosting your own "Blind Date With A Book" it would be a great idea to test it out at a yard sale! Books are usually huge hits at yard sales! 

Birthday (On A Budget) Part 2!

Hello to all reading this blog post! Thank you for stopping by :) I'm catching up on some Pretty Little Liars while I write this blog post! I'm very new to the TV show and I'm liking it so much that I've been breezing through episodes! I'm currently watching the third season on Netflix to try and catch up with season four (which is on TV) and I'm really enjoying it so far! 

Anywho, in my last blog I mentioned that I wanted to talk about Cody's birthday dinner but I got a little distracted blabbing on about his birthday party. So, onto the fabulous birthday dinner! We went to eat with Cody's sister, brother, sister in law, father and his fathers girlfriend. It was such a great time and I was so happy to see everyone! Before I start on where we went and how AMAZING everything was I'm going to post some pictures of my outfit from that night! 

I paired a white baggy button-up blouse with a tight denim acid wash skirt and strappy sandals. The acid wash skirt is a size medium from Pac Sun. It's high-waisted and it was $39.00. One thing you should ALWAYS splurge on is denim; denim will last forever! The white baggy blouse has gold buttons and is also a size medium. I decided that I didn't want to wear it tucked in, so I let it flow over the skirt. It has a really nice fit and was soo comfortable. I wore a simple black (kind of) sports-bra garment underneath the sheer blouse and loved the way it looked! Especially because my strappy sandals (from H&M) were black also. The blouse is from Charlotte Russe and was $14.95. Such a steal! The shoes were $12.00, so, all together my outfit came to $66.95! A full special occasion outfit from a retail store for under $75.00! Sounds like smart shopping to me!

Here's what the outfit looked like put together:

Welcome!

Welcome to my brand new blog and thank you for reading my very first blog post! I'm still getting used to this, so try and bear with me while I learn the ways of the blogging world! If you would like to know some background on me you can click on the "About Me" tab! I also have a tab that will lead you to my online thrift store, so click away and explore! I look forward to discussing my day-to-day thoughts, savings and experiences with everyone!

Don't forget to subscribe and follow me on twitter and instagram! @BriMazzuca