New Year, new stories......

Life got complicated but than again when isn't life complicated??? Changes in job, car (Leonel totaled his car, sad face), financial, you get the picture. Don't get me wrong, we had some very happy and exciting events too. The main one being lots of orders for cakes, breads, cookies and flan. We (my mother and I) have decided to make our hobby an actual business and developed a company name and logo. Very exciting times!!! The time away from the  blog made me realize how much I enjoy it and want to make an effort in sharing whatever it is I'm working on. Receiving feedback from friends and strangers was so positive, I loved it! So here's to a New Year with new beginnings, bring on 2015!!!

Valeria

Disney Princess Castle

Over the past few years I have assisted my mother in baking cakes, cupcakes, and all sorts of delicious treats. She is an amazing talent all on her own, she is self taught and after taking a few cake decorating classes at Michael's her creations became an art form. This summer we worked on our biggest project to date, a sweet sixteen Disney Princess Castle Cake. Along with sixty or so mini Mickey and Mini Mouse cupcakes.

Door Chime Restoration Time

We we're gone for a month or so, waaayyy too long (our sincerest apologies). I was hoping to update our blog on a weekly basis but June was a crazy month for us. We both got sick for about two weeks, Leonel's grandfather fell severely ill and has been in the hospital since June began. :( Praying for good health and a speedy recovery! My brother-n-law graduated from UCI, woo hoo!!! My grandmother is visiting from Mexico, I hadn't seen her in over ten years! Couldn't find it in our hearts to say hold on grandma and grandpa, I have to work on my blog so I'll SEE YA LATER!! Ummmm... yeah that would never happen, we enjoy blogging but some life events are more important. (Don't take it personal) So now you know why we had to dessert you guys for a while, we hope you understand. In between all of this madness we squeezed in a few projects and managed to host a beautiful dinner party (along with my mother) for family and friends. Pictures and details will be coming soon :). 

Make Me Lovato

Meet Demi Lovato's #1 fan, my lil sister n law Dionisia. This 14 year old's (yes she is only 14!! Our lil make over made her look much older) dream is to audition for the X Factor because 1. she loves to sing and from the little I've heard she has an amazing voice and 2. her idol Demi Lovato was a judge on the show. Since she is such a Lovatoholic I thought it would be fun to complete a Demi inspired look on this young beauty. I must admit once I was finished I had to take a moment to let the results sink in because this young lady became a woman right before my eyes. I hope her parents don't kill me... 

Mamma Mia!!!

Welcome back everyone =) Today I have someone special to share with all of you and a new makeup look. Yay!! That someone special is my mom. I wanted to complete a makeover on her to share on the blog and after some hesitation she finally agreed. I'm so glad because she really enjoyed it and was an awesome model. The actress we selected as an inspiration for our look is Leticia Calderon (a Mexican Soap Opera Actress). Regardless of whether you recognize the celebrity or not the main reason we selected Leticia is because she always has a beautiful smoky eye look. And it just so happens they share the same name, Leticia. If your not into Novela's (Soap Operas) let me help you guys out by putting a face to the name...

She is gorgeous and her eyes are stunning but who says you have to be a model or actress to pull this look off.

Yummy Menudo

The best meals are made from scratch, my mother will spend a whole day cooking or baking to prepare a meal. And when you eat it you savor every bite because her food is always delicious. Plus moms and grandmas food is always the best, isn't it? 

All Decked Out

When you have the ability to see possibilities in disastrous situations amazing things can happen. Take a look at that sad back yard in the before picture. It's faded tile, windows covered in bars, a large slider with no appeal, and a metal sun shade that is falling apart, it all needed major upgrades. My parents purchased this fixer upper about four years ago or so with the intention to transform it into a cozy home to enjoy after retirement. They had outgrown their previous home or I should say all the kids got married and they were left with a big empty house, they wanted to downsize. Plus the profit made from the larger home was going to leave them with a much lower payment, they would be crazy not to move!! 

Custom Stencil T-Shirt

I couldn't afford it, so I made my own. Thats kind of how this shirt came about. I have been a fan of  MMA ( Mixed Martial Arts) for some time now and I also like Rap/Hip-Hop. I've seen some really cool shirts from both, however the shirts ranged in price from $80 to $100+ sometimes. That's a little out of my price range for t-shirts. So, why not try and make our own?

Maria, Maria...

 I'm really excited to share this look with all of you!!! As a Mexican-American a lot of my influences on beauty and culture come from Mexico. So this time I wanted to create a makeup look inspired by a famous Mexican Actress. The most iconic Mexican film actress that comes to most Latinos minds would have to be Maria Felix. Known for her beauty, raised brow, and don't take no B.S. attitude, she quickly rose to fame and is a legend in Mexico. Without further ado, I present to you Maria Felix...

What a stunning woman and since I have short hair I decided to replicate this picture plus one other where she is wearing a scarf over her hair. I considered purchasing a wig but felt this would make a better headshot where you can focus on the makeup (plus it was cheaper to purchase feathers from a craft store!). Ok, ok.... I'll admit it, the peacock feather looks really cool and I wanted the feather :). After purchasing the feathers from Joann's I was able to create my Maria Felix inspired look...

Thrift Your Heart Out

I love this blue heart dress, it has a vintage feel and the best part is I purchased it for $5! Thank you, Goodwill :) My thrift shop dresses have become some of my favorite. Thrifting slowly became an addiction for me over the years, hunting for unique clothes/decor and bringing it back to life can be rewarding at times. Since incorporating these dresses into my wardrobe it's surprised me how many compliments I receive. It always feel nice to get a compliment but when you remain fashionable without breaking the bank it's even better. 

Orange, Purple, Pinkalicious...

Bright lip colors are so much fun and today I wanted to share a look that included a fuchsia lip color. It's almost summer time, the perfect season to start using bright makeup colors. My eyeshadow is bronze with a hint of orange in the crease and bottom lash line, my eyeliner is a deep plum. I used bronzer to complete this look, I love the outcome.

Twiggy Inspired Makeup

In the 1960's Twiggy was famous for her signature pixie cut and bold eye makeup. I currently have a pixie cut and thought it would be fun to try and replicate her look. She was from London and had a petite frame similar to Audrey Hepburn (whom also made the pixie famous). To complete this look it requires heavy black eyeliner, eyeshadow is optional, and false lashes. I love this black and white photo of her, I'm a brunette so my hair photographs much darker. I decided to wear a black turtleneck because it was one of Twiggy's fashion choices.

Marilyn Glamour Table

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!! We were busy finishing our latest project and enjoying the holiday with family but now that it's over it's back to business. We originally found this coffee table at a local swap meet held in a high school parking lot near by our house. We had no plans to visit a swap meet that day but fate had other plans. We were on our way to hike at Peters Canyon when I noticed the tents down the street as we drove towards the freeway. We stopped by really quick to check out what the locals had to offer and I'm so glad we did because it led us to creating this beautiful coffee table...

Chocolate Whiskey Cake

One of my best friends loves to bake, especially alcohol infused desserts. Every time I see her she tells me about a new creation she came up with. I asked her if she would be so kind and share one of her recipes and she said “Hell Yeah!! I’m going to show you how to make Chocolate Whiskey cake with whiskey whipped cream!!” I was excited :D  so we made a date and after a few hours, laughs, and drinks we ended up with this…..

Pin Up Makeup Tutorial

Ready to get sexy??!! The Pin Up look is classy, sexy, and fun... red lipstick is by far my favorite. I enjoy wearing other colors but red lipstick alone gets me in a good mood... hands down it's one of my top five go to looks. I'll be sharing different styles with all of you as our blog progresses and I can't wait! I attended makeup artistry classes after high school because I secretly wanted to be JLOs makeup artist (just kidding, I just thought it was really cool) but seriously I learned so much! I tend to lean towards more dramatic makeup, I think it's the artist in me. I love bold colors, the more colors I can mix together the better.

Enough about me already, let's get this makeup party started....

Ready, set, POSE!!!

Have you ever taken a bunch of pictures somewhere and felt like you just couldn't decide which picture or pose you liked best? Well here's a way you can add as many poses as you'd like and make it look like you've cloned yourself lol.. now that I think about it that would be pretty weird. It's actually an example of a multiplicity picture I created. You can make one of yourself too and it's not that hard, here's how...

Forever Marilyn

I love vintage style, the clothes, makeup, and hair is soooo BEAUTIFUL. The 1950's pin up look is my favorite and the most iconic pin up girl of that era was Marilyn Monroe, hands down. So when we heard her monument in Palm Springs, CA (sculpted by Seward Johnson) was moving to New Jersey we knew we had to make a trip to see it for ourselves. One of my best friends is also a pin up/Marilyn fanatic and I couldn't make the trip without inviting her along. She got so excited she suggested we make that trip a Marilyn filled day and we were not disappointed....

How to Frame Sketches As Artwork

I have been telling Valeria she is very talented and she should share her art work a little with all of you and of course as a modest answer she replies "no". Well this time that's it ..... I just gotta show you guys what this chick can sketch up. No, literally Sketch up...

Wind Chimes and Earrings

Do you have a bunch of earrings thrown around in a dresser??? Maybe you have them stashed away in a zip lock bag (GUILTY!) or collecting dust in a dark corner somewhere. Perhaps your just plain sick of the accessory holder you currently own. Well I have a simple solution for you.  Hang them on a wind chime!!  I for one don't care for their main purpose because they keep me up at night, I'm a light sleeper and hearing chimes and bells at 1 am pisses me off!!  But I must admit they are pretty and come in all different kinds of styles which is nice, I like variety.  

Any who, I found this pretty wind chime while shopping at Ross for $10. I secretly want to be a gypsy and I love sparkly stuff so when I spotted this beauty it was love at first sight. 

Pretty Woman (rocking chair version)

Want to know how we transformed this....

Living Room Mirror Part II

To pick up where we left off the green monster.... I mean carpet had to go, and the majority of our budget went into installing laminate flooring. Removing the mirror would have meant replacing it with dry wall and possibly leaving us with a  huge nasty scared wall. We started looking up ideas and in the process came across some beautiful and crazy expensive options. Viewing wall decor and mirrors on Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc was a huge let down at first because of the massive price tags most of the items carry. But we ended up being inspired by a few designs after contemplating throwing rocks at the mirror and calling it a day. Our final choice was a mirror outlined in black (Eagan Multipanel Large Mirror) from Pottery Barn worth $700.

Living Room Mirror Part 1

 A little background to share with you, Leonel and I married a little over a year ago (2 year anniversary as of June, Yay!) and along with planning a small wedding we also purchased our first home. We purchased a townhouse that needed a little TLC because ONE it was in our price range, and TWO a fixer upper seemed like an awesome challenge for DIY fanatics like ourselves.  We have this very large mirror in our living room that the previous owner basically plastered onto the wall.  It's nice but feels a little plain and it takes up the majority of the wall.  We discussed removing the mirror but that would have been too messy, time consuming, and expensive.  So we put our heads together and thought of a simple, inexpensive, yet nice looking decorative design to add to it. We first had to come up with a pattern we thought would compliment the room, you know something that wouldn't make the room feel off balance. Here is the before picture, it's the picture the prior owners used to advertise the home. Glorious 70's green carpet and all, for some odd reason it looks more teal in the picture but lighting will do that. (I hate that carpet so much, I couldn't wait to rip it out!)...

ABOUT

We are Valeria & Leonel and welcome to our blog! Based