I LOVE IPL Treatments :)

I've been rollin around like this all week.....

....because of my third IPL treatment.  

I know... frightening shots!

BUT, can I just tell you how much I LOVE these treatments though?!  That is, after THESE dark spots 

have worn off..... 

IPLs take away the little sun spots that I have on my face (that is what the brown is, they all just fell off today) and seriously make me not break out for like a whole month and a half.  Which for me, is a downright miracle... HALLELUJAH!  They are THE BEST!  Look on Groupon or Living Social Deals, they always have great deals for these treatments.  

Here's some info from Derma Network on IPLs.

IPL Fotofacial (Photofacial)

Every year, millions of patients visit the dermatologist office complaining of skin problems including fine lines and wrinkles, persistent red complexion, sun spots, acne scars, large pores and other blemishes. Various treatments, including microdermabrasion, chemical peels and laser resurfacing have been used to improve these conditions. Intense pulsed light is a new, non-ablative technique to treat the above described conditions and is also calledphotorejuvenation.

How does IPL (Fotofacial) work?

The IPL hand piece delivers high intensity pulses of broadband light that is different from the narrow band light of lasers. IPL, which stands for intensed pulsed light, is non-ablative meaning that is does not damage the surface of the skin. The intense light is delivered to the deeper parts of the skin (dermis) and leaves the superficial aspect of the skin (epidermis) untouched. There are different versions of IPL available on the market that target different structures in the skin. The PhotoDerm VL targets vascular lesions such as spider veins and vascular birthmarks. The PhotoDerm PL targets pigmented lesions such as melasma and age spots. The PhotoDerm HR and Epilight target hair. The thermal effect of IPL also causes production of new collagen, leading to improvement in wrinkles.

What are IPL’s advantages?

As discussed above, IPL does not damage the skin surface, unlike dermabrasion and laser resurfacing. Therefore, there is virtually no recovery time.” Treatments take approximately 30-45 minutes. Patients can apply makeup before leaving the office and return to work the same day. There is also minimal pain with IPL, unlike laser or radiofrequency resurfacing which both require topical anesthetic. Also, with IPL, a larger area can be treated at one time than with laser treatment.

What are IPL’s disadvantages?

Given that there is little damage to the skin surface, several treatments may be required to see the desired effect. For best results, approximately 4-6 treatments, spaced 3 weeks apart, are needed. Side effects can include transient redness and increased or decreased pigment in the treated area. Minimizing sun exposure can reduce these side effects.

How much does IPL cost?

Prices usually vary according to the ipl treatment size. The average cost for a FotoFacial/IPL is $350 - $600 each treatment, depending on the body part.

A consultation with a fotofacial specialist and the number of treatments needed will determine your ipl treatment cost.  

Anyway, just thought I'd share the love.  Let me know if you have any questions about IPLs, I did and had no one to ask!  I went in like a blind woman :)

Happy Thursday!

Holey-Shirt, Ghetto-Dress-Do-Over Tutorial!

Do you have an old dress from Old Navy that you've had since 7th grade that for some really odd and almost disturbing reason you haven't junked yet?  Or a t-shirt that has a couple holes at the bottom from being your "favorite t-shirt for the whole year of 2009"?  Well, if you're anything like me, you do..... It's okay, your secret's safe with me as long as you keep mine :)  

Joking aside, maybe you have some similar items that you just can't let go of.  Well run run run to you closets right now boys and girls, you'll need the untouchables to to make one of these bad boys....  

Cute right?

Okay people, you ready for another super-easy yet mind blowingly fun and way too detailed tutorial?  Here we go!

Here's what you'll need:

An old dress, whatever length works.

A shirt, preferably one that is similar in tightness to the dress you chose. 

Matching thread.

Pins.

Iron/ironing board.

Scissors.

I think that's it....

1.  You got the dress

2.  Ya got the shirt

Hang them on the wall like this now.... okay that was a dirty mean joke, don't do that :)  See I do somehow have humor at 7:30 am....

3.  Lay your dress out flat.

4.  Cut the dress in half.  You will be using the bottom half so cut accordingly to how long you want the dress to be.  I decided to keep mine longer so I cut pretty high up on the dress.  Throw the top half in the other room.  You're done with it.... but you could totally use it in another project like this one so you might want to hang onto it for another productive day such as this.... :)

5.  Turn the bottom half of the dress inside out and then take the top part and fold it "over" itself as if you were hemming something.  Make sure the fold line is nice and straight, iron, and then pin.

6.  Now take the shirt and cut it in half.  I wanted my dress to have a really high waist line (and member the holes in the shirt?)  so I cut off a big chunk at the bottom of the shirt.  If you wanted a lower waist, and didn't have holes :),  you wouldn't need to cut very much off the bottom.  

7.  Now turn the bottom skirt piece right side out, attached the shirt (right side out too) to the top of the dress with pins.  Just make sure the shirt's pinned evenly all the way around the bottom half of the dress.  If the shirt is bigger or the dress is bigger you can gather it a bit like we learned in this tutorial.  

8.  After you have it all pinned, line the foot of the sewing machine to the top of the dress fold, and move your needle all the way to the right so you don't have access amounts amounts of material outside of the seam.  I sewed mine right sides out because I like the look of the top stitch better than the bobbin stich.  Whatever is easier you can do!  Sew all the way around the entire waist line of the dress, making sure to back stitch at the beginning and ends of your stitches.  After you're done doing this, you're basically done!  Just turn the dress inside out, un-pin, and cut the excess fold of fabric from the bottom half of the dress so it's not too bulgy.  Easy right?!

I really like how it turned out! 

My sissy and I debated weather or not to cut it just below the knees, what do you think?  Do you like this length, or do you think it would be cuter just under the knees?

Hopefully this tutorial made sense.  It really is a great way to re-use some of those scary items in your closet that just need to get out already!  

In OTHER more important news, Ashley over at The Shine Project, is doing, not ONE, but THREE fabulous giveaways today!  Winner gets ALL three prizes!  Two of my handmade pillows are one of the prizes.  So you could win the pillows, a darling headband, AND $25 to the cutest Etsy shop.  Really guys, it's SO easy to win, you only have to do three things that take all of, um..... one second each!?  Ha ha..... And Ashley SERIOUSLY is the cutest girl EVER!  No joke, if you aren't following her blog, you REALLY must.  She IS going to change the world.... MARK my words! 

So go check her blog and the giveaway out here!

Have a FABULOUS day everyone!

Linkin Up With

Today's Creative Blog

Creative Itch

Momma Go Round

Craft-O-Maniac

Dittle Dattle

The Look Book

Go check em out!  Super fun stuff!

Weekend at a Glance

This weekend my dad loaded up the boat, bought tons of junk food, and took my sister, cousin, two of their friends, and I boating.....

It was such a blast!  Boating has got to be in my top ten favorites!  Feelin the wind in my hair, catchin the rays, eating crappy food, laughing with family, listening to music..... PRICELESS!

The weather was PERFECT!

On the drive up, I saw one of these....

Motorcycles scare me, but I think I could MAYBE do one of these considering you really can't tip over....  I LOVE the all white too, so classy of these awesome people riding it ;)  

Wren?

Look how excited my dad was to transform into Captain Dan, King of the Sea!  And Rache; likewise!

One of Rachael's friends graced us with his presence, he is way TOO awesome!  See for yourselves....

Aren't YOU craving a lemonade now?  I thought so....

Saturday night was awesome, I talked to Wren's mom on their neat patio, in their heavenly patio chairs till way past dark.  Love her!  Thanks for the chat time!

Wren and I went to the Arts Festival downtown.  There were tons of talented artists and TONS of people.

Look at that Crepe from Crepe Tyme.  It was EXCELLENT!

Look what a bird did to my head....

So NOT excellent!  I was standing there in line, just an innocent bystander, and I feel this little "plop" on my head.  I turned around and said, "Wren please tell me this isn't what I think it is....", he replied, "Sav, indeed it is!"  SICK!  Why do birds have to poop?  Why does anyone have to for the matter, so unattractive!

What a cute husband I have huh?

He wiped the poop out of my hair.  Love him!

The Arts Festival was cool, but WAY too many people, too much smoke, and lets just say, South Jordan, you were never so appealing when we arrived home :)

Oh AND, don't fret, Wren and I had big plans for ourselves on Friday night, but don't you worry your pretty little selves, we fell asleep at EIGHT THIRTY PM, and slept the whole night through.... who does that?!  We do, and we're so cool!  Let's just say I was READY to take on the world the next day after that much sleep!

Hope you had a great weekend as well!

Weekend Giveaway!!!

Hi everyone, happy glorious Friday to you all!  

Something exciting to start the weekend off right:

Crystal is giving away these two pillows I made over at Wanna Be Balanced today!  If you are following my blog here (which you probably are if you're reading this) you already have an entry to win!  So go check it out if you'd like to be in the drawing.

Crystal is super gorgeous, sweet, a health guru, and her blog is downright AWESOME and so fun to read!  

She writes,

"The key, I think, is being organized and learning to get our priorities straight.  There’s nothing like the feeling of accomplishment!  I LOVE being organized, having schedules and “to do” lists.

Being balanced and organized are really the key factors to achieving our goals and dreams in life.  Ever since I can remember I’ve had this “passion” for it. I like to say, “passion”, and not 

“obsession”."

See cool right?  We ALL want balance in our lives so go check it out here and enter to win these pillows while you're at it!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

Awesome and Awkward Thursdee :)

It has been my family's timeshare this week up at Snowbird.  So yesterday I happily took the day off and went and hung with these two girlies I have the honor of calling my sisters :)  

Aren't they AWESOME?!  Yes, indeed they are.... 

The weather was INCREDIBLE, not a cloud in the sky, so how could we not have laid out ALL day long, and in the process, scorching my bod to a crisp?

Goodness, gracious great balls of fire, I got completely feee-ried!  But it was totally AWESOME, and I wouldn't trade a second of the great and relaxing time I had to do away with this killer sunburn.  Actually... I would trade one second, ONLY one though, to have had some SPF 500 to smother my poor undeserving body with yesterday, but hindsight is always 20/20 so what can ya do :)  And as always, I'm sure I won't remember this the 80 millionth time I get scorched next time either.  Because I never learn.

On the way up, my sis had to grab somethin from Hobby Lobby, so I went and browsed and found these little pretties.  

I had to get them for us.  

So here we are matching, at the pool mind you, as we did our ENTIRE childhood....  At least this time it's not through pantaloons (yes, we did wear pantaloons and I have hundreds of picture to prove it), or beaded socks that clanked when we walked, or bows the size of ours heads.  BUT you know what?  We ROCKED it when we were young, and we were just as AWESOME as we were AWKWARD, and just as AWESOME as these owl necklaces.

A completely AWESOME and AWKWARD occurrence that happened at the Bird yesterday:

  My cousin Laurie came to sit down on the lawn chair next to us and sat a tad too far back than what's good for business and totally flew backwards... legs flailing, looks of panic, the whole nine yards.  Luckily she wasn't hurt and we laughed till we cried.  Why is it so funny when someone tips backwards on their chair?  That's so rude of us humans to find pleasure in this, but it IS oh so pleasurable... is it not?

And last, everyone who knows anything, knows I have the best taste in music this side of the Mississippi ;) So as a courtesy to all you fine readers of mine, I have complied an excellent playlist titled, "Best Songs for Rolling Down the Windows and Blasting Your Music in the Summer Time Mix".  Too long?  I didn't think so :)

Music is just BETTER in the summer right?  Listen and go get em, and as the mix states, roll down your windows and blast those suckers!
K well we are less than 24 hours away from Friday, can you believe another week gone by?!  Have a good one!

Linkin Up With

Sister's New Charming House Downtown

Imagine strolling down a rutted sidewalk beneath a tree lined street, staring at unique homes with loads of character, to Cafe on 1st (this is my friends little cafe BTW, you all should go).  Then grabbing a sandwich and enjoying it while reading a book as you soak up this impeccable weather.  This is what my baby sissy Rache will be doing for the next three and a half years while going to architecture school at the U.  Lucky lucky Rachie!

This weekend we went and saw the house that Rache will be renting with her friends in the fall.  It is PERFECT.  Hardwood floors, original moldings, updated kitchen and bathrooms, open floors plan, in the Avenues.... the best word to sum it up is completely charming.  And ignore that the address is 420 :)

See.... super cute right?

She is too too excited to decorate her room and I can't wait to help her :)  She told me, "It's all I can think about", she's just like me!  I have spent many countless nights envisioning rooms in my own place, and this room of hers-to-be is no different!  I keep envisioning all of the furniture and knick-knacks we could use.  Anthropologie has anything and everything I could ever imagine wanting to use in decorating a "charming" room such as this one.  That store and this house should just get a room already, that's how perfect they are together :) 

I came up with this little scenario, and I think it would be absolutely PERFECT in her new room.

1.  Coralie Bed

2.  Dusky Blooms Pillow

3.  Doily Rug

4.  Sort Sole Base

5.  Dotwold Wallpaper

6.  Chroma Candlesticks

7.  Desert Rose Frame Round

8.  Clothbound Penguin Classics

9.  Neoclassical Tin Mirror

10.  Corrigan Chair, Linen

11.  Mirrored Dresser

What do you think?  WAY cute huh?!

  Rache, you'll be seein a lot of Sunny once you're there because you'll be living my dream life :)  In the meantime, I'll be brainstorming how in the world we are ever going to find items as cute as these for a tenth of the cost!

Linkin up With

Vintage Wanna Bee

Today's Creative Blog

Running with Glitter

The Shabby Nest

Weekend Photographs!

I started my weekend off right by stepping in my beloved Village Baker brownie.  That was the pits....   Wren and I laughed, and then cried, way too hard for way too long :)

Friday evening we went and celebrated an early Father's Day with Wren's family.  They made an INCREDIBLE dinner, and we had too much fun taking pictures with Fat Booth.  It's just the simple things in life that make us happy right?  Sadly enough the only picture taken of this evening, beside the Fat Booth pretties, is this lovely sight of my brother in law, Man-Kinley's, chest. 

Ladies.... any takers?!  

After dinner we headed up to out friend's house and got to lounge around like the rich and famous in her pool.  It is seriously incredible!  I went down the pool AND jumped off the high dive, check me out, see I'm adventurous Wren!

Saturday I hung out with Wren's brother and sister while Wren worked.  We went on a bike ride and my cute little 13 year old sister-in-law, going on 30, was takin pictures while ridin her bike, sending texts, and calling AT&Ts customer service to try and figure out why her picture texts weren't sending.  I couldn't stop laughing, and all the while Kinley, Wren's brother, kept getting mad at us because we had "bad biking ettiquette", woops :)  C'mon Kinley, Eden's just tryin to run a business from her bike office :)  From finding good music, watching a cheesy movie, biking to Harmon's, making smoothies, taking care of a new fish name Cheese Butt, going to Walmart, visiting Wren, listening to Kinley belt his little heart out to the Piano Man...

 

....to sewing, we had a BLAST!  I'm so thankful for them and they feel just like real brother and sister to me.  My cute babe sister Rache also came over and joined in on the fun.  We even made skirts together till 2:30 AM and I have now made a total of four, my family are my biggest fans......   

On Sunday we went to my grandpa and grandma's to celebrate Father's Day.  Aren't my dad and grandpa cute?!

I LOVE them more than I could ever express!  I couldn't be luckier to have them, as well as my amazing father-in-law McKell.  I am SO blessed to have such amazing men and role models in my life.  Happy Father's Day to all you daddies out there!

Hope you all had as a productive of a weekend as myself :)  

Super Easy Skirt Tutorial!

 Happy Friday to you everyone!  Okay I found the cutest skirt tutorial from Leanne's blog, Elle Apparel.  Check it out, her tutorial will probably make more sense than mine does and her blog is to die for.  She makes up the cutest patterns in her head, she is AWESOME!  

Anyway, I gave this skirt a go and I will show you how I did it :) 

Here's the skirt... I think it turned out pretty cute.  You?  

The best part about it is it's stretchy (you will use elastic thread around the waist) so comfort all day long :) BooYa Baby GIRL!!!

What to Get:

Okay first of all I bought one yard of 36" x 50" of knit fabric.  I chose jersey knit which was kind of hard to sew on.  I think you might be okay with a little bit heavier knit, but I'm not completely sure on that you could ask Leanne.  Also grab some elastic thread as well as some normal all purpose thread that matches your material.  You are ready to start!

1.  Lay your material out

2.  Cut 2 waistband strips out. Leanne did 4" wide by 36" long.  I followed all of her measurements and they worked for me, you may need to alter them depending on your waist size.   

3.  Fold the remaining fabric in half the hot dog way :), right sides together, and cut down the middle.  This will be the front and back of your skirt.  After cutting the fabric in half, each piece will be approximately 36" wide by 25" long.  Leaving right sides together, cut a slight angle so the skirt flares a bit.  Leanne did 5" bigger on the bottom than the top.  Do whatever you think you would like in your skirt.  I did 5" bigger on bottom than on top like her and I like how mine flares.  

4.  Lay the front and the back pieces of the skirt out flat.

Now for the box pleats in the front of the skirt: 

5.  Measure and mark the middle of the front top piece of the skirt

6. Take a ruler and measure 2" to the left and mark 

7.  And 2" to the right and mark

8.  Proceed by measureing 2" to the left of the first left mark and mark (wow too many marks goin on) 

9.  And 2" to the right of the first right mark and yep, you guessed it, MARK.  Get it?  Good :)

10.  Your marks should look something like this

11.  Fold the fabric so the first left mark folds and hits the second left mark, and do the same to the right side and pin them securely down.  The fabric should be folding away from the middle of the skirt.  

12.  It should look something like this.

13.  Now again, take the ruler and measure 2" away from the end of the box pleat fold on both right and left side and mark.

14. Mark 2" MORE inches away from that marking and fold again so the first mark hits the second mark with the fold going away from the middle of the skirt.

15.  Do this to both sides

16.  So your marking should look like this before folding the second pleats.  Proceed to make TWO more 2" markings and fold those last folds going away from the dress.

17.  When you're finished it should look something like this.  The picture will make it much easier then trying to figure out what in the crap I just said... :)  Make sure you pin and iron each fold really well.

18.  Now for the back side of the skirt.  Take the other back piece and mark the middle.  

19.  Measure 3 1/2" away from the middle on the right and left side and mark

20.  Then measure 7" away from the first marks on either side and mark

21.  Match the 7" mark to the 3 1/2" in mark by making a fold, fold towards the middle of the dress.  It should look something like this.  

Once you're finished measure the top of the back piece and the top of the front piece of the skirt to make sure they are the same length for when you're ready to sew.  This is very important, you may need to tweak the folds a bit.

22.  After doing this, cut your waistband pieces, in half hot dog style  :)

Before sewing make sure that you hand wrap your elastic thread and wind it very tight around the bobbin.  You can just leave regular thread at the top of the machine.

23.  With right sides together, pin two of the waistband pieces together length wise like so.

24.  Sew over the pinned area, it will start to scrunch but that will be because of the elastic thread so that's what you want, don't worry sista.

25.  Once you are done sewing both waistband pieces, they should look something like this.

26. Now pin, with right sides together, one end of the waistband to the front piece of your skirt.  Make sure the pleats stay where the need to be. 

27.  Sew right sides together like so and proceed to pin the other waistband piece to the back piece of the skirt and sew as well.

28.  Once you're finished, you will have to pieces that look like baby doll dress, don't panic like I did :)

Switch normal thread to your bobbin now...

29.  Now I took the bottom of the front and back pieces, rolled the fabric under, and hemmed them.  I did a cute little leaf stitch, but do whatever suits your fancy.

30.  Now you have a nice finished edge for the bottom of your skirt.

31.  Now take both the front and back piece of the skirt and pin right sides together making sure that the waistband pieces line up as well as the top and the bottom of the skirt.

32.  Sew either side all the way down

33.  Now your skirt should look like this

Now this is where I changed mine up a bit from Leanne's, but like I said, check hers out, you might like her way better.

Put the elastic thread back in your bobbin...

34.  I folded the top piece of the waist band under, so WRONG sides of each waist band are together and sewed with the outside of the skirt facing me, about 1/4" from the very top so basically hemming the very top of the skirt. 

35.  After doing this, I just completely cut off the waist band piece on the inside next to the hemline.  Yours should look like this if you choose to do it this way.

36.  AND, Wala, you're done!  Pretty easy huh?

  Big thanks to Leanne for coming up with this and sharing it on her blog!

TGIF, and have a safe and WONDERFUL weekend!

And one last thing to leave you with....

The sunset last night was completely UNREAL!