Chocolate Chocolate Mint CupCaKes

Spring Parties today!
New treat today!
YuMMiness today!

Here's another flavor from the
Duncan Hines frosting extravaganza of GoOdies!

The Mint Chocolate.

We paired it with Devil's FooD cake.

 HeLLa CupCakes!

I used:
2 boxes of Cake Mix,
2 cans of Frosting
2 packets of Flavor mix
and added Mint Extract for an extra bit of kick.


Add Mint Extract 1/4 tsp at a time, mix well, and then TasTe TesT.
Mint can get overwhelming pretty quick.
Remember, flavors need a few minutes to meLLow, too.

such Deliciousness! 

think Junior Mints, or Girl Scout Thin Mints.

 Now you see it....

Now you don't!

Two out of Two for the Duncan Hines Flavor Creations!

The only excuse you need is "cause I wanna"....

PrisciLLa's EarThLy DeLights

A newly discovered pattern for Me, 

the bright CoLoRs and the 60ish FeeL of Royal Crown's Paradise,

 instantly caught my EyE.

{Priscilla says: it's grOovY, BaBay!}

I found this teapot on Ebay.

Slowly but surely, I'll get a set put together.

Murray's 100% Beeswax

Love it!

Welcome to summer in the SouTh! 

 And endless days of FRiZZ {frizz!} and  FRusTraTion {lots!}.

Hello Murray!

Years ago I had played around with 

the Original Murray's Hair Wax 

during the late 80s and early 90s; 

I never did get the hang of it. 

Seems like it may have been too heavy for my hair.

This just called too Me.

and it's in a YeLLoW jar, happy.

It seems to have a bit of spicy scent;
a really pleasant warm scent.
Of course, check it at the store for your Self.

I bought my jar at the local Sally's Beauty Supply.

The Left is the Before

The Right is the After.

I'm still trying to figure out how much to use and how often,
but I think I have it down to somewhere
between a smudge and a smidgen, every Two to ThRee days.

I rub it vigorously  between my palms
then start from the ends and go up to a few inches from the scalp.
Try to keep it from the Scalp,
otherwise you end up with a greasy mess.
To keep the CurL, I let it air dry;
I know it's dry when it becomes stiff.
Then FLuFF~  it's really LoVeLy.

I am looking forward to trying this out at The Beach this SuMMeR.

a Painted Bench...

 Remember the Bayou Book Eater   ?

Mrs. Librarian asked Moi if I could paint this small bench
She has in the library,

 to be a companion to the board.

No Problem.










We decided just to do Plants and Insects.
Easy.
The Bench had been painted recently,
so I just did a quick wipe down and got to work.

I have to say, I am enjoying painting these Cattails immensely. Just do.

It took a few days only because I had to
 wait longer for the Acrylic Paint to dry

{the fresh paint job made for a slick canvas,
so I had to do a few layers of paint to fill in}

My favorite part is the Ants.

Mrs. Librarian was very happy!

O'Lo Ostara...HaPPy Spring!

Farewell to Wyntery Spirits and Friends;
see you on the flip side.

It's Spring.

Time for CoLoRed Eggs in honor of Fertility...

To eat Cake and say Hello to the White Rabbit...

Light a Green Candle and holler "Welcome!"...

my toes can't stop tapping.....

Technotronic- Rockin' over the Beat (Rockin' over Manchester Hacienda Mix)

Lime beeswax Robot candle by StorytimeCandles {etsy}

Two SiSters Mary Thoughts for the Day ~ MaRcH

 "The other day when I was walking through the wOods,

I saw a Rabbit standing in front of a Candle

making Shadows of PeoPLe on a tree."

~ Stephen Wright

Artist ~ Watoku Ueno

PrisciLLa's EarThLy DeLights

 These Scandinavian/Dutch tablecloths,

are just so FeSTiVe!

{Priscilla says: Happy Festivus!}

What I like most, is the simplicity of the shapes,

and the way the CoLoR is used to make them shine.

 The Pine needle Wreath is what really sold it for me.

This one is just so cheery. I have the perfect little side table to use it on.
The hard part is going to be which Decor to use with it:
Tiny Yulemas Trees?
Plastic Santa?
Velvet Fruit?

We'll just have to wait and see!

Navitas Naturals Cacoa Paste

I happened upon
this luscious block of chocolate 

while we were shopping in Whole Paychecks,
I mean Whole Foods.

I immediately pounced on it. 

My fabo favo yogurt in the World
{intheWORLD, Craig! not just the city, theWORLD}

is Wallaby Down Under Dark Chocolate! LOVE it!

and I can prove how much I LoVe it
by how much I consume...

hey, it's better than a stack of Oreos!

At a little over a dollar a container,
it can get kind of expensive. 

Unfortunately, they don't make a big container. 

Also, Whole Foods tends to run
 out of it quite quickly.

After reading the ingredients,
I cyber~searched and found out 

that the paste is basically
the liqueur in solid form.

Hence,
you see the Tigger~ish excitement
over finding it.

Copper bought it for me as a treat.

I bought a container of
Wallaby's regular yogurt
to experiment with. 

Really looking forward to that.

There is also a bunch
of recipes on Navitas' site.
YumYum.

I'm also excited
about the Beauty aspects of this cacoa. 

Talk about finding your Happy...

Navitas Naturals Cacao Paste

March FuLL moOn ~ Notions, Potions, & a bit of Magic with Whale

 seaman's drawing sperm whale circa 1810


 Notion: 
*************
Now that we've awoken from the Wynter sSLeeP,
and had a little bit of Fun`tyme Fun`tyme to reJuVeNate,
it's time for a little Fine Tuning.

Whale reintroduces us to our creative and intuitive energies
to show us a talent we've forgotten about
or haven't been aware existed.
Whales energy helps you to  understand
the ancient language of "energy vibrations,"
and are able to distinguish
where others are truly coming from.
Gut Intuition.

Whale asks us to recall our past
 and listen to its stories
so we can creatively heal old wounds.

 Potion:
*************
*a handfulle of Sea SaLt
*the Bath
*BLuE candles
*{any} White flowers ~ I like Magnolia
*Whale songs if possible,
if not, something slow and soothing
 *PaPer and Pen

a bit of Magic:  
*************

Work with Whale
to hone your instincts for whats best for You,

and help You to tune into the vibes
and intuitive energies that will do this.

Whale reintroduces us to our creative and intuitive energies
to show us a talent we've forgotten about or haven't been aware existed.
People with this totem are able to understand
the ancient language of "energy vibrations,"
and are able to distinguish where others are truly coming from.
Whale asks us to recall our past and listen
to its stories so we can creatively heal old wounds.

As you soak down into the Water, silently call to Whale.

Ask Whale to help show you,
 how to reconnect to your Inner Energies and intuition.
tune into the vibrations.

If the vibrations aren't right you'll know,
as you'll know when they are right.
There are uncomfortable vibes
and really groovy ones;
apply accordingly.
you know the saying...."i had a feeling."

Visualize your Self deep below in the deep Blue.

Yes, you can breathe!

Along comes Whale,
with it's slow, steady, swim;
with it's Song.
A slow, beautiful,
meditative musical of breathing;
a calling to those EnErgies
you need for Intuition and Guidance.

Tag along, hang on, and know
that Whale protects you from any harm.

Look about you.

What do you see?

 What do you hear?

Feel the powerful vibrations from WhaLe.
This is your tuning fork.

Relax and let the vibrations align
with you. If any feel uncomfortable,
breathe through it.
Your fine tuning.

Soon the vibrations stop
and a sense of peace,
yet heightened energy
fills you.

This is your Guidance,
your Intuition.

WhaLe begins to show you a piece of your History.
It could be from an Ancient Ancestor,
it could be from Your Self.
Remember so you can write it down
and see what it means later.

When it is time to say good Bye,
thank WhaLe as it swims off
and become aware of your breathing.

Concentrate on your breathing and let
each breath bring you closer to awake.

Once you are fully awake,
write down everything you can remember.
Don't forget to date it.

Take the Gifts that

WhaLe has given you

and go forth.

Allll aboard, the GrOOve~train!

{cannot read the artist name on picture for credit }

Native American Animal Zodiac


meditation property of The Holiday HoHo Queen. Please give credit if reposted.

March's The Whale

 "Fiction was invented

the day Jonas arrived home

and told his wife that he was

three days late because he had 

been swallowed by a WhaLe."

~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez

WhaLe Print

WhaLe Ring

WhaLe Wall ArT

WhaLe ChaRm

MiNi mini CroCheted WhaLe

WhaLe AshTray

WhaLe RinG in SiLveR

Dark BLue MaRy Janes

Lips like SPriNg...

My second favorite time of year for Beauty SuPPLies is Spring

{Wynter is tops!}

On a trip to Sephora last week, 

I picked up these 2 new LipSticks.

You may or may not know, 

how I lament the passing of The 90s Lipstick, 

or 80s for that matter.

The luscious color saturated cream that never seem to go dull.

You could follow my trail by the BrightAss Pink Lipmarks 

that would put a paper trail to shame.

I am forever on the lookout for those elusive lipsticks.

Everything is some kind of "gloss" or version of it. 

Listen, if I wanted GLoSS,

I'd hit the Maybelline Kissing Potion ~ roll on BayBE!

I digress...

The first one is Make Up for Ever in #15. 

It is pure and simple, Violet.

I fell in LoVe with it the second I saw it.

It's a Pearly Violet and is a touch sheer,

 but has enough coverage 

that it is one grOovy Lipstick.

And it stands out too~

in a very Feminine Punk kind of way.

I really slathered it on to catch the

Violet hue.

This is definitely my Spring lip color.

Especially for a hot date with The Chook.

This next one is a Sephora Brand ~
Sephora Rouge in LoVe TesT.



This is fairly close to the Punk Pink
I used to wear in the 80s 
and the Dark Pinks of the 90s. 

When I tested it at the store,
it was a lipstick,
creamy with loads of color.


When I got home, the new one seemed much more sheer,
so I whacked off the tip, and got to the good stuff.
LoVe TesT is a great day lipstick. 

Both lipsticks seemed normal in all the other departments:

*Longevity ~ normal: Same as most other lipsticks

*Moisture ~ normal: Doesn't seem to dry out my lips

*Prices ~ normal:

 Make Up For Ever #15                  $19

 Sephora Rouge LoVe TesT            $12

I say, RoLL on in Spring,

make the World as pretty as I feel! 

Duncan Hines Frostings Creations ~ Orange Creme

 

 Every year The Blu Man creates a cake for his Day of Birth Celebratories.

He shares a birthday with Dr. Seuss, yes, yes he does,

so usually for his class, we would make 

White cake cupcakes with Blue Colored Vanilla Frosting.

{You know, Thing 1 & Thing 2}

This year he wanted
 half White cake and Half Chocolate
with Orange Frosting.

He was elated.

I wasn't.

All I could think was that no one would eat them.

How wrong I was.

Growing up, and occasionally still, 

I will find the Orange flavored canned frosting.

I like it. I always have.

Of course when I went shopping, 

they didn't.have it in stock,

BUT~

they did have this awesome new stuff!

Duncan Hines has a new line called the Frostings Creations

and I am just SuperKala over this.

They hawk a "frosting starter" 

which is just Vanilla/White Frosting

then you've got Heaven to choose from.

You've got to check out these Flavors!

Make your cupcakes....

 

Using a Devils Food cake mix,

and a White cake mix,

Make the CupCakes per instructions on box.

I used the Egg White recipe for the White Cake.

Fill CupCake PaPers with a little less than half

of one flavor, and then top off with other flavor.

Bake and CooL completely.

Ready to Frost?

 Just mix 1 packet to 1 can 

and instantly jazz up any flavor cake.

We were making a lot of Cupcakes, so we used  4 boxes of cake mix.

I used 2 cans of the Frosting with the 2 packets

and honestly, next time, I would add a 3rd

for more flavor kick.

Only decide this AFTER doing the 1:1.

{flavors like Raspberry can get overwhelming pretty quick}

We used the Orange Creme.

I couldn't stop eating it.

Apparently,
The Classmates couldn't either.
This is the first time EvEr,
not only did EvEry kid take a cupcake,
EvEry one oohed, aahed, and ate it
while simultaneously saying how good it was.
EvEry bite, and cupcake.

well done, Blu!

 I can't wait to go grocery shopping next week

and pick up a couple more of these

most especially the:

* Chocolate Marshmallow

*White Chocolate Raspberry

Maybe Chocolate Marshmallow on a Red Velvet cake or German Chocolate
and a Chocolate Fudge cake withe the White Chocolate Raspberry.

excuse Me, while I go crank up Le Oooh~ven!

Duncan Hines Frostings Creations