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When I first saw the OG cloche on Pinterest, I knew I had to have it. Heck, I was willing to pay the price to have it to add to my Halloween decor. For those who have been reading my blog from the beginning, you know that butterflies have been my thing ever since losing my mom a little over 2 years ago. Well, as luck would have it, the cloche was sold out. I then came across a DIY article and thought it was a sign from my mama, it was time to DIY this thing at a fraction of the cost and pull out that old bottle of “liquid gold” and honor my mama and some of her favorite craft supply products!

Now, here is where I took that idea and put my own spin on it. I took these butterflies (I used two sizes ) and spray painted them black along with these plant sticks (you can use wooden skewers as well but I didn’t have any on hand). I have to say that I prefer the butterflies that are made with feathers, it adds texture to the project and takes it to the next level. The dollar store canvas butterflies went in the trash because, well they just looked cheap!

Next up, you will want to take a disposable paint brush and liquid gold leaf and “dry brush” each butterfly front and back. You still want black peeking through to give dimension and add some drama to the piece. My bottle is really old. Like probably 15 years old and bought it with my mama, old. I keep it on hand and use it every so often for home decor projects. Truly, a little bit goes a very long way and its way easier than using the sheets of gold leaf.

Ok, now here is the part where I forgot to take a photo to document this step. You are going to want to rip off the wire on the bottom of the butterfly and hot glue the skewer onto the bottom of the butterfly. I suggest angling them upwards like they are getting ready to fly off. Make sure the hot glue is totally dry and set. While the butterflies are setting, cut a square of floral foam to fit in the inside of the cloche. I then hot glued the foam onto the cloche base. Next, I took a pair of cutters (I used my husbands wire cutters for this step) and cut the wooden plant sticks one at a time to various heights. I started off with the tallest one and made my way down. I wanted to fit as many as I could in there without it feeling too cramped.

Ok, now its time to put the finishing touches on this beauty! You are going to take Spanish moss and cover the base! Set your glue gun temp to low and have at it. You want the entire base to be covered in moss! I took an extra skewer and used it to push the moss into the hot glue to make sure it is adhering properly! Then you give the moss a “hair cut” to your liking and cover with your glass cloche!

I have to say, this gilded butterfly cloche is my favorite piece of Halloween decor this year! Now it’s off to finish decorating so I can post this year’s decor reveal! Happy crafting!

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

So, 30 days ago, I started a journey.  A journey that I hoped that would help me achieve one of my goals, and that was to increase my traffic to my blog and other social channels.  Honestly, I was nervous to get started.  I mean, what if I failed and this didn’t work for me? Then a friend visited the day that I received this book, and he picked it up and said “Oh, I need to read this one. I love Russell Brunson! I’ve been a huge follower of his since I knew that I wanted to own my own businesses! He is an amazing and successful entrepreneur who helps his fellow entrepreneurs and gives them amazing information to help them succeed. I use his methods in my businesses.” That was the moment I had total faith that this book would lead me on the right path to achieving some of my goals! 

The biggest problem that most entrepreneurs have or think they have isn’t about their product or services; it’s getting their future customers to discover that they even exist.  The key is getting your dream customers to find you.  This was my biggest take away from this journey.  I now have the tools that I need to build the right foundation to work on getting my brand in front of my dream customers! Russell Brunson is a genius in his methods and absolutely everything that he mentions in this book makes sense! I know because I’ve already tried a few of these methods and have had some of my best success yet!

Traffic Secrets helped me to plan my ultimate game plan and get the ball rolling on several different methods in order to be at the front of new trends and set up my funnels to where they are ready to get myself out there, as well as following up and staying at the front of my desired audience. Russell Brunson reveals the classic and foundational direct marketing techniques that will allow you to be at the front of new trends and see opportunities that are invisible to everyone else. This book is GOLD y’all! This is a resource that I will be referring back to for months and years to come.  Why? Because I’ve already executed a few of these methods and I’m already seeing results.  Especially within the social channels that I have utilized the least within this last year and a half.  I know I have a long way to go, but I know that the tools that Russell has talked about in this book will work, and I am so excited to do the footwork to get there!

Learn more about the book and how to purchase here. Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers is the book that you need to have in your arsenal if you are wanting to build your audience and bring your dream customers and followers to your social media channels!

These opinions expressed above are my own experiences while participating in the Traffic Secrets 30 day challenge by Russell Brunson.

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own. 

Hey y’all! It’s me again! I wanted to keep everyone updated on Josh and I’s results! If you haven’t been following along, we have been taking my readers on our weight loss journey.  Click here and here for my previous two posts about our journey. 

We are both feeling great and have lost inches and our clothes are fitting better as the weeks go on! We are loving the easy meal planning, dinners together and some of the yummiest dessert recipes that we have indulged in while sticking to this diet. 

We have both noticed that we feel less hungry throughout the day and when we do eat, we are eating healthier options. Our favorite quote that has proved to be true is this one: 

“Late-night eating also curbs calorie intake the next day. In a four-week study, dieters added a snack to their daily regimen 90 minutes after dinner every night, and check this out: late-night eaters ate an average of 397 fewer calories per day.” 

We are enjoying all of the meal options and our entire family is loving when we make the Cheesy Ground Beef skillet and the fruit tarts.  The dessert options are fabulous and we are loving this program so much that we can already tell that this will be a lifestyle change that we will be able to stick to. 

We are also sleeping better, as we were hoping would happen.  One of my favorite quotes in the book is this one:   “A research paper published in Sports Medicine in 2014 showed that people who eat the majority of their carbs at dinner actually sleep better. Carb-induced, quality sleep decreases cortisol (a fat-storing hormone) and ramps up the production of your sleep hormones, serotonin and melatonin. Restorative sleep increases fat-burning hormones—the main one being growth hormone—overnight.” 

This is proving true for the both of us and we are so excited that we have both been sleeping better as well as burning fat and haven’t felt this good in a long time! 

If you are interested, Learn more about the book and how to purchase here. Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase.

This post is sponsored by “Always Eat After 7PM,” but the opinions expressed below are my own. 

I have been wanting to find a diet plan that both Josh and I can easily follow.  We both want to shed some weight but were wanting something that could work for the both of us so that we weren’t stuck preparing ten different meals a day. Click here to check out this video that discusses the science behind the diet. 

What really grabbed our attention was that this diet was based around a bigger meal at dinner time and indulging in desserts while still burning fat! It is not too far off from our usually eating habits, so we are anxious to get started and start burning fat overnight. What better way to get started, than during a time when we are all home and can keep each other motivated and get into these new eating habits, together! 

One quote in the book really stood out to us was this one:  “A research paper published in Sports Medicine in 2014 showed that people who eat the majority of their carbs at dinner actually sleep better. Carb-induced, quality sleep decreases cortisol (a fat-storing hormone) and ramps up the production of your sleep hormones, serotonin and melatonin. Restorative sleep increases fat-burning hormones—the main one being growth hormone—overnight.” We have both been having terrible sleep patterns lately, and we are hoping that with these new changes, that we will both begin to sleep better, again! 

We also want to make sustainable changes to our diet while still being able to have cheat meals and not feeling guilty for eating the chocolate chip cookie or the indulgent date night meal.  We cannot wait to implement Joel’s methods and get back on track. We both have goals and we cannot wait to share our results with you!
 Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

Hey y’all! How are ya’ll surviving quarantine? My husband and I have been tackling things around the house in-between work and homeschooling. I started off by painting our breakfast nook which has now expanded into the dining room and we are currently awaiting scaffolding so that we can tackle our main living space! I’ve learned so much about the paint color selection process that I will be sharing a blog post on it soon!

Okay, so on to the fettucini! If you are a purist and love to cook authentic Italian dishes, you will have to step outside of the box for this recipe. I love a good fettucini alfredo (my favorite cheat meal), but you cannot put both of these dishes in the same category. Us Cajuns love to step outside of the box and use things that we already have around the house to help us feed an army. Because, in the Cajun culture, you are born and bred to feed the masses. Can I just say that I miss block parties and feeding all of our Cajun Corner neighbors?!

Before I go on to the recipe, I wanted to mention that this dish is wonderful to seperate out and stick into the freezer for up to 6-ish months? Just prepare it and stick it into the freezer instead of the oven. When ready to use, thaw and bake according to the directions below. It also makes a wonderful meal for meal trains, I deliver it with the baking/freezing instructions so that they have the option to bake now or freeze for later.

Crawfish Fettucini

• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• Chopped Cajun Seasoning ( I use one large container of it. If you cannot find precut Cajun/Creole seasoning; 1 medium white onion, 1 bell pepper, 1-2 stalks of celery.
• 2-3 tsp Minced Garlic
• 1/8 c. All- Purpose Flour
• 1lb of Velveeta Cheese, cubed
• 1 quart half and half cream
• 2 lbs of crawfish tails or raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 12 oz package of fettuccini noodles or egg noodles. We actually prefer the “spiraly” egg noodles. Cook pasta according to directions, drain and then toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil.
• Cajun Seasoning to taste, I usually use crawfish tails from our boils so I usually don’t have to add much. If I use shrimp or packs of Louisiana crawfish, I usually have to add more.
• 1/4 to 1/2c. Shredded Parmesan cheese
• Lasagna pan 10×14 (link to the one that I use here and here, I have both)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a 5qt pot (I like to use this one), melt your butter. Add your onions, bell pepper and celery and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for about a minute, then stir in the flour and cook over low to medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir in half and half cream, when cream is heated through, add your cubed Velveeta. This is where I like to turn my fire down low as this can turn into a burnt mess, really fast! You will need to stir with lots of TLC until melted. Once melted, add your crawfish or shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently. You don’t want your cheese to stick and burn! Believe me, I’ve learned this mistake the hard way! Turn off your heat and add in the parmesan cheese. Throw your pasta into the pan and add in the cheese mixture. I like to stir the sauce and pasta in the pan to make sure everything is equally distributed. It will seem watery! No worries, I promise! Once it is all combined, top pan with foil and bake covered for 45 minutes! Let rest for about 15 minutes before serving. Will feed 8-10 people.

I love to serve the fettuccini with a side salad and garlic bread. Yes, I know that is a lot of carbs, but that is just the way we serve it where I am from.

I know that everyone has seen, or executed the painters tape/sidewalk chalk project that is all over the web right now. We decided to do something similar, but with a little twist! I wanted to incorporate a religion lesson into it as well. I started with painters tape (I suggest using a more narrow tape if you have it). I eyeballed and marked out my cross in the middle of my window. Then I branched off from there, creating different shape triangles until my window was all taped off. Tip: use sissors to cut the tape to maintain clean lines. I messed up in a few places and quickly learned my lesson!

Next, we took Crayola Washable Paint and a wide paintbrush and started painting our area! We used the same paintbrush and I just washed and dried the brush with a paper towel in between colors.

I have busy boys who have never been much into coloring or arts and crafts, so they each painted a few areas, listened to their religion lesson and then mom got to have her fun! I have to say that I really enjoyed this craft and want to decorate all of my windows during our quarantine!