Why I'm Never Going Back to Acrylic Nails

So anyone who knows me knows I always have long nails, usually with nail art that matches whatever is going on that month. This goes beyond just cute hearts for valentines day or red glitter for the holidays...
Last year I had a full on painting of Kendrick Lamar on my nails before I went to the DAMN. Tour. I also had Beyoncé and Drake themed nails...I did galaxy nails, chrome, quartz...all the trends and then some!
I just can not keep up with the maintenance and money it takes to keep these things up! The salons are charging so much now---everything is extra. And with my job I'm always breaking one and then I have to go take an hour out of my day to go get it fixed. Ain't nobody got time...
Not to mention the money, I swear I spend between 40-70 a month at the salons--it's too much!
No more!

So I tried to learn how to do acrylics at home---this did not end well admittedly...the fumes in my house made me sick to my stomach...they are not easy to do on yourself, and take twice as long. I started to realize acrylics aren't for me--they are ruining my nails, with a little bit of research I can tell they aren't good for your nails, the chemicals involved can cause nail separation, burning, pain, and swelling. And the stiffness of the hardened acrylic is dangerous for your nails, I can confirm that, I can't count how many times I've jammed my nail or broken it and its caused me pain until I can find time to get it fixed.
No more!

So I decided to look at alternatives. Whew! Why didn't I do this sooner?! My nails now take me about 15 minutes to do and they last just about as long...

Follow these steps if you want to save time and money and still keep your nails on point:

First you'll need a few supplies (all available at Amazon):
-Nail clippers
-Wooden cuticle pusher
-Cuticle Oil (love this milk and honey one)
-Nail File 180 grit
-Nail Buffer
-ECBasket nails (come in my favorite shapes coffin and stiletto)
-Nail glue
-Polish and embellishments of your choice!
-A table, tray, or workspace

Now that you're all set up, you can start!
1. Cut your nails to desired length (I keep mine pretty short because I'm weird about seeing them underneath)
2. Push back your cuticles
3 Use your nail file and buffer to file and add some grit to your nails (This will help the glue bond, and your nails will stick for longer)
4. Pick out your nail sizes, and file if needed to match desired size, length and shape (the nails in the link are pretty spot on, so I don't need to do a whole lot of filing as long as I pick the right sizes)
5. Take your glue and apply directly to the back of the nail, then press up and into your nail bed to avoid air bubbles
6. Hold each nail on for 10-20 seconds until dry and secure.
7. Finish applying all nails making sure to keep straight and avoid bubbles (don't worry if you get them at first, it takes some practice)
8. Paint and decorate nails as usual without breaking the bank or wasting your life in the salon!

Each set can last about 2-3 weeks if you take care of them! Basically the same as acrylics...any longer and I'm going to get tired and want to switch them up anyway--so this is perfect for me.

Let me know if you try it out at home, and tag me @craftycake27 and #CCnailedit

I need you to listen to the vision

Ayyy January!

Time to answer that all important question "What do I want?"...What do I want out of this year, the next couple years even...what direction do I want my life to go in, and what steps can I take this year to put those things in motion? Before you manifest all your deepest desires and greatest dreams into existence, you have to decide what your ideal life looks like!

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. And I'm going to be honest, it's not always easy! The pursuit of your dreams is RARELY smooth sailing. In fact, its rocky as hell--and I get sea sickness just thinking about it. But, I learn more about myself every year and I'm honing in on exactly what it is that I want.
So today I'm answering that question for myself in the form of a good old vision board with a twist!

Now when you think vision board, you may think about cutting random photos and words out of a magazine and glueing them into a cute collage on the front of your binder like in high school ...anyone?...Maybe that was just me then...
But this time we are going to adult it up a bit, and put some real thought into it.
So break out your notebook and begin by writing a list of the areas of your life you want to focus on this year. OR if you're following along and read my last post about the habit tracker, you can use your list from that!
Mine is:
-Family/Relationships
-Career/Financial Freedom
-Wellness (physical/mental)
-Skill Development
-Travel/Quality of Life

Then, break these categories down further, be specific!


Mine became:
-Family/Relationships - (Quality time with my husband, Make girlfriends, keep in touch, walk dogs, make our home beautiful, learn to cook new things)
-Career/Financial Freedom (Book more events, do more event design, grow my brand, pay down credit cards, work with a few specific companies *I wont say, but points if you can spot them on my board)
-Wellness (physical/mental) - (Yoga and Meditation, Eating clean and healthy, Self-care)
-Skill Development - (Design skills, lettering, journaling, social media and marketing)
-Travel/Quality of Life - (Travel with my husband, outside activities, free activities)

THEN comes the fun part! Pull visual representation of all these things from Pinterest, your favorite blogs, google, magazines, photos, etc...anything you can glue/pin up to symbolize what these things mean to you. Again, be as specific as you can! If you want to save for a house, find photos of your dream house...If you want to work for Google, find photos of the Google campus...If you want to start a blog, find photos from your favorite bloggers and the posts that inspire you--gather them all up and lay them out in a big open space!

You can either do a collage style and mix them all up if that works better from you--- I personally CAN NOT do it that way...my brain will not allow it, so I've organized mine onto different cork squares based on their categories.
Then just glue or pin your heart away until you come up with a beautiful board that will remind you every day what you get up and strive for!

Here are a few boards I found that I absolutely LOVE:

1. Love the dry erase vision board idea from Buzzfeed

2. Love this "vision bored" episode of That's So Retrograde with The Spiritual Owl




















3. Love the circular organization of this board




I can't wait to see all of yours! Don't forget to tag @craftycake if you post them!

#NewYearNewHabits

 

Happy New Year CraftyCakes!

Just wanted to share a little new year project with you guys!

Ahhh, the new year, a time we all make ourselves promises we know full well we can't keep, or rather, won't keep.

Let's not.

Lets do this year a little different, shall we?

 

I'm making a list of habits I want to cultivate this year, and rewarding myself for being consistent with them. Because we all know if we attach a reward to something, we are more likely to keep up with it. Sad, but true...we all do this. I know you're going to see this and say, what am I, 6 years old? Can I not stick to a goal without getting something in return right away? Well, how long did you go to the gym last year?

 

Okay, that's what I thought.

I didn't make it past January...so yes, apparently I need a better system to coax myself along the way.

 

Now this is not to say that all the rewards have to be gifts or something you have to buy yourself...these can just be the positive effect the habit has on your life. Ex: I will drink more water (2-3 liters a day)...if I do this 7 days a week, my reward is glowing goddess skin, a better metabolism, and not feeling like a pile of garbage! Yay!

 

 

To make your own New Year Habit Tracker follow these steps;

1. Get yourself a dry erase board or dry erase sticker decal you can put up somewhere in your house that you will see every day.

I'm obsessed with this white marble dry erase board from Target right now...because #marbleandmetalliceverything all day.

2. Write a list (just on a notepad) of the areas of your life you want to prioritize this year.

Mine are:

-Family/Relationship

-Health and Fitness

-Career Goals

-Organization

-Skills/Hobbies

3. Break down that list into realistic habits based on the areas you want focus your energy on.

Example from my list:

-Family/Relationship- Together Things (breakfast with my husband, walking the dogs, family dinners, etc.)

-Health and Fitness- Water consumption, Exercise (yoga and strength), Meditation, Eating Healthy

-Career Goals- Both my Events business and my Craftycake brand - Creating content and outreach

-Skills/Hobbies- Design Skills (practice graphic and lettering)

4. Make a list of Rewards for making time every day to incorporate your desired habits into your daily routine. Keep these realistic- remember it has to be something you can keep up with! However, it also has to be something desirable that will push you to make your goal every week!

Example from my chart:

Drink Water (2-3 liters/day) XXXXXXX = Beautiful Skin + Better Metabolism

Exercise (Yoga + HIIT- 30 mins a day) XXXXXXX = Look and Feel Better

                                                                   +Bonus Reward 8 weeks in a row

                                                                      Buy myself a new fitness item (sports bra, yoga mat, etc.)

 

Morning Pages/Planner (Idea from LittleCoffeeFox) XXXXXXX = More Productive, Focused, and Intentional Days

                                                                                                         +Bonus Reward 4 weeks in a row

                                                                Buy myself a new planner/art supply (watercolors, pens, etc)

 

5. Make a Grid on your dry erase board- 2 thicker columns on either side for your habits and rewards, and 7 smaller boxes in between for your weekly tracking. If you're adding in bonus rewards for multiple weeks, add those boxes dividing your Rewards column.

6. Mark each day you complete the desired habit successfully in the week and reward yourself accordingly! Erase your checkmarks or Xs each week when you reward yourself, and make sure to mark your progress toward bonus rewards!

7. Have fun with it! Add cute magnets or icons to mark off your days, add designs around your titles and headings, you're going to look at this thing every day--make it something eye catching to elevate your work space and keep you pushing toward cultivating a productive and rewarding lifestyle!

Habit Trackers take many forms, they can be in your planner too if you're into that kind of thing--and they can be targeted toward specific topics too! Here are a few of my favorites just for funsies:

1 Plant 2 Agate 3 Mandala

I might need a bigger dry erase board! I'm loving this method so far!

Share with me your boards and the fun rewards you thought of in the comments and tag @craftycake on Instagram so I can see all your cute habit trackers and we can check in and support each others progress! A little accountability never hurt!