Tangled Transformation: Halloween and MNSSHP 2014

Hey all,

So this year I decided to transform myself into Rapunzel for Halloween! I had been planning on doing this for a longggg time. Like since the Spring. What can I say? I love Halloween ;). The whole costume was < $30. So I thought the answer to getting Rapunzel long hair was simple: a wig! Well, wigs are annoying. And itchy. And it didn't match my eyebrows at all. So I created a home-made weave/clip in extension. Here's how it worked:

I took the wig I bought off Oriental Trading (5 feet for $13) and cut off the head piece (about 1 foot) and cut about a foot off of the bottom because it was way too much to work with (I know now how Rapunzel felt). I put it in a pony tail holder and then hot glued around it. I hot glued a big barette clip and a small barette clip to the back of the hair on the top part. TIP: Make sure you hold the hair tightly when you cut it and play with it, otherwise it will come out of the pony tail holder easily. I then hot glued some of the hair on the top of the barette so it wouldn't show through and separated the hair into 3 sections so it would be easier to braid. I cliped the "extension" into the back part of my hair and put another tightly wrapped pony tail holder in to secure it (it held my hair and the "extension" below the barette). I braided my own hair partially first and then after about two "rounds" I added my hair to the three separated parts of the "extension" and had them join the already started briad. I thnk it came out great! I wish I would've had more flowers, but overall loved it.

The costume was all due to my Grandma, we took a cheap Walmart purple sundress, and a purple goodwill shirt and combined them to make the costume! The lace and pink ribbon was bought with a coupon at JoAnn Fabrics. Probably a total of $10. I wanted something short because of the Florida heat. Pascal was purchased for $6 on ebay and handstitched by me onto my shoulder.

Madi's costume was easy. I already had a satchel looking bag. We bought "boot covers" off of Oriental Trading on sale for $10, and a navy t-shirt for $2 at Michaels. I cut the shirt down the middle and cut off the sleeves. Then I made the sleeves into the collar using a paper bag underneath to make it sturdier. He then wore khaki pants and a long sleeve white oxford shirt.

There you have it! A Tangled Couple :)! It was so much fun and I loved the way it turned out! We wore them for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and also for our own Halloween Party.

Happy Halloween!
Olivia :)

Happy 2nd Birthday to DHTBB!

Can't believe it's that time again! The second birthday of Don't Hit the Backspace Button. For all of you who have read from the beginning, thanks for your loyaltly! And to all the newer readers, thanks to you too! I'm lucky to have this outlet and that other people enjoy it too. It's funny reading my reflection on the last DHTBB birthday it said "Looking forward in a year I'll be graduated, hopefully working as a full time nurse, my brother will be in college, Madi will have applied to PT school. Just way too crazy. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me! So how crazy has this year been for you? Have you thought about next year? Think about it and set goals to make it happen! You can do anything you set your mind to! Well most of that has happened. And it's true! You CAN do anything you set your mind to. This year we're looking forward to a wedding, North Carolina, Nike's 2nd Birthday, Madi Graduation, and so much more! I'm so excited to share it with you all!

So again, thanks for reading. I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten over these two years and can't wait to continue this journey with you all!
- Olivia

#BookWorm: Gone Girl

Hey fellow readers!

Ahh the frustrations of Gone Girl. If you've read it, you feel my pain. If you haven't, well you should just to know what I'm talking about. It's about a man who's wife goes missing  and it looks like he is framed for killing her. If you've never read a book by Gillian Flynn, which I hadn't, then just a heads up: she's creepy. Like who comes up with this stuff? People kind of scared me away from it like it was going to give me nightmares or something, but it wasn't that bad. And I am scared of the movie Hocus Pocus. Yup. So the frustrations of this book are not just the dumbest ending ever, but things inbetween as well. It was a page turner, I finished it in four days while working two 13 hour shifts two of the days. However, it just made me frustrated.
I would reccommend it to people who love a good mystery/thriller like I do, they've always been my favorite stories. And I do plan on reading more of Gillian Flynn's books. Now I didn't see the movie yet. I was planning on it, but after finishing the book I was kind of wondering how much I would really enjoy watching it being played out... So I decided against it, however I will be definitey renting it when it comes out to Redbox! Overall I'd say this book is an 8/10. Interesting plot, some stupid parts. And towards the end just got way too dramatic. It was like lets spend 3/4 of the book on one thing then shove  the other ninety nine in the last seventy pages and have the worst ending ever.

Back to the drawing board I suppose. I am now reading If I Stay which I have already seen the movie, but loved the story so much I wanted to read it, and want to read the sequel ;). So did you read Gone Girl. What did you think? Did you love it/hate it/want to burn it/see the movie? If you saw the movie, tell me your thoughts!

Thanks for reading with me!
Olivia

My Random Addictions: Loving Movies that Critics Hate

Hey all,

So I just saw the new movie The Best of Me last night. Wow. I LOVED it. Then I went online to look at  the ratings, and the critics gave it a 7%. SEVEN out of one hundred. What?!  That is when I decided that I love movies that critics hate. Not every movie they hate, but a lot of movies I love they hate. Also they rate them on ridiculous things. For example Bill Zwecker from the Chicago Sun Times wrote "We've seen this story told in similar fashion so many times in the past. I only wish we could have had it delivered in a fresher, less cliché-filled package." Um okay #1, it's a Nicholas Sparks book. It's about romance and drama, so yeah some concepts are similar to other Nicholas Sparks book, but what the heck were you expecting? Something TOTALLY out of the blue like a Transformer coming out of the sky? I'm sorry I don't see what you were looking for. No it wasn't 100% to the book. Some things could've been added, but I loved it. And cried. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a typical overemotional white girl but whatevs. #basiclifeisthelifeforme. They also gave A Walk to Remember a 27%. Like really?

Another example of a movie I LOVE but they hate is A Cinderella Story. Literally one of my top ten favorites. Clearly made for tweens in the early 2000's, but has a great message and is the best rendition of a modern day Cinderella to this day. They gave it an 11%. I can't. Yep, can't even. If you haven't seen A Cinderlla Story ask yourself: are you a girl? No? I don't blame you. Yes? What are you waiting for?! Seattle Times said "Duff is cute and chirpy; Murray is cute and bland, and the stepsisters squabble a lot. Ho-hum."...K?

Now let me get into a movie almost everyone I've talked to loved. The Amazing Spiderman 2, for example. SO GOOD. Critics? 53% rotten. WHAT?! If you loved the first one, how could you not love the second? One reviewer "Okay, I don't want to hang the failure of this mega-budget sequel on a single actor. It truly was a team effort. But, Garfield looks most unattractive as the webbed wonder." LOL now I know you're crazy.

Lastly to make my point super clear. She's the Man. If you are either gender and haven't laughed while watching this movie, you're literally weird. Like belong in a psych ward. Where Amanda now is or should be God bless her now-crazy soul. She's the Man is literally one of the funniest movies ever. Not disgusting humor, which I am also occasionally fond of, but just genuinely funny. And Channing Tatum? Who wouldn't want to watch him play soccer shirtless for three hours? 

So I could go on and on, but there it is! I love movies critics hate. What about you? Do you tend to run with the critics or are you more like me and like the opposite most of the time?

Thanks for reading,
Olivia

#BookWorm: Four: A Divergent Collection

Hey fellow readers,

So I just finished Four: A Divergent Collection this weekend and wow. I was surprised how much I liked it! Don't get me wrong, I loved the Divergent series. Veronica Roth is truly impressive. But I thought this book was going to just be like a recap of things we already knew. You learn some interesting things about the story of Divergent and how it came along. For example, Veronica Roth wrote the story from Tobias' perspective at first, but then stopped writing and came back to it with the story wanting Tris to be the main character. Isn't that awesome? And made this newest book even more fun to read. There were five short stories in the book. Most pre-Tris days, which were fascinating. You find out why Tobias picked Dauntless and what his initiation was like. Then with Tris, his views. It makes me hate the person who casted for the Divergent movie even more because they make Tobias this cocky confident person when he's not. At all. But nevertheless Theo James is hot. So I get the appeal.

If you liked Divergent: read this book. Duh. It's great. You won't regret buying it although it doesn't "continue" the story where Allegiant left off. Overall I'd give it a 8.5/10. I loved the stories, but wish there were more! Come on Veronica Roth keep it going! I didn't like a few things, like I felt some parts of his story and Tris' story in the series conflicted a little bit and it wasn't a page turner since the stories were short stories. I knew that particular one was going to end.

Next up: Gone Girl. I'm trying to read it before this weekend so I can go see the movie with Madi. But I've heard mixed reviews about the movie part. And the ending. Time will tell! Have you read it? Don't tell me just yet, but I hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading,
Olivia

DIY: Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Muffins

Hey everyone!

Another new recipe to add to the books this week as I tried out Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes. I call them Cupcake Muffins because they are somewhere inbetween a cupcake and a muffin. This was a recipe I thought about while making the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and I decided to give it a whirl! And one of the best parts? They're eggless! Yay for egg free recipes! Here's how I made them:

What you'll need:
1 Spice Cake Box Mix
7/8 Can of Pumpkin (the rest went to Nike ;))
1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/3 Cup of Olive Oil
1 Cup of Water
1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar
Cream Cheese Frosting
Decorative Sprinkles

Candy Corn

Preheat the oven to 350. I mixed the cake mix, can of pumpkin, cinnamon, and olive oil together in a large bowl. After that, I noticed the mix looked a lot like the mucky consistency I got when I made the cookies, and realized that I needed to add water. After I added the water, it was much more like an egg filled cake mix would normally be.
TIP: When looking at the mix before mixing, it looks too wet, but it isn't!

I then added the brown sugar as a little experiment to take some of the strong pumpkin flavor away. You don't have to add the cinnamon or brown sugar, that was just my own touch.
TIP: Use a small gravy ladel or ice cream scooper to put your batter into the cupcake tins. It helps give you a good amount of batter in each to make the perfect size cupcake.

The cupcake box said to bake for 17-20 minutes, but I always do the lower and subtract two minutes. I hate overcooked baked goods. 15 minutes worked out perfectly! I wanted to make enough for everyone at work tonight, so mine were a little on the small side, but if you made a good ice cream scoop size the mix would probably make about 18-20 cupcakes. Doing a little smaller made 24. Let them cool for half an hour then decorate them with the frosting, sprinkles, and candy corn to your liking!

So what do you think? Pumpkiny-deliciousness? I thought so ;). Do you have more yummy fall pumpkin recipes? Let me know! I love trying new things!

Thanks for keeping up,
Olivia :)

DIY: Fall Leaf Lanterns

Hey everyone!

Happy fall! Since it is in full swing now, I wanted to share a project I worked on this week: DIY fall leaf lanterns! They're so adorable, easy to make, and you can live in Florida and do them ;) I am obsesesd with fall time: from the outfits to the yummy treats to the smell of pumpkin spice (white girl right here), it is my favorite season! So try these out and tell me what you think of mine!

Here's what you need:

Mason Jars- $10-15 for a pack of 12

Mod Podge (small bottle)- $2-3

Fake (or real) Autumn Leaves- $2 on clearance at craft store

A couple heavy books- around the house

A paint brush- $1-2

Rubber bands-$1

Fall scented tea light candles-$5 for 12

I bought fake leaves from Michaels (since I live in Florida), but I removed them from the fake branches and put them flat in a book with other heavy books on top of them for 24 hours. After your leaves have been semi-flattened: you're ready to start! If you're using real leaves, put newspaper between the book pages so the moisture doesn't ruin the text. Next, take off the lids on the Mason Jars. You can make as many as you want, you just have to have the right number of leaves. Cover the entire base of the Mason Jar with Mod Podge and the back of the leaves. TIP: Paint and paste one leaf at a time, the Mod Podge dries pretty quickly. After that, you'll stick as many leaves in whatever pattern on the jar and apply rubber bands to areas where you think might pop up or not stick well. I used about 4-5 rubber bands on each jar, and make sure they're pretty tight. 

Let the jars dry for about four-six hours, turning on a fan can speed up the process. You will know when they're dry when the glue isn't showing on the outside of the jar anymore. Touch the jar to make sure it's dry, and remove the rubber bands carefully! You can see some reside from the glue when you take off the rubber bands, but when you light the candles you can't tell. Last, put the tea lights in the jar, and light the candles! Wah-lah: gorgeous falltime lanterns! I LOVE how mine came out! I was a little weary at first, because the leaves are fake, but with the pumpkin spice tea light glowing and the fall aroma in the air, I couldn't love them more: and they won't brown with time, so they'll be good for years to come!

So that's it! My latest DIY project. What do you think? Have you ever made fall lanterns? If you have, share some tips that you found helpful. If not, try it out! It was a pretty inexpensive project that had great results, and would make a great gift! I only made five, but I totally have enough supplies to make five more easily.

Thanks for reading,

-Olivia :)