DIY Book Angel - Classic Christmas Decor || Under $5

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!! I love Christmas so much--if you've been here on the blog past Christmases then you probably have hear me say this a few times--so I am so excited to bring you guys this very last minute Christmas Tutorial - DIY Book Angel! It's made from just an old book--I use old novels but you can use any old book--and something round for a head... and a bit of glue. Let's take a look at how it's done...

DIY Handmade Christmas Cards - Round 2

They're live, they're live! Finally, my DIY Christmas Cards tutorial for this year is ready and I hope you all like it! In this tutorial you'll find 3 different designs! 

Things have been so busy and all over the place for me with planning for the Holidays-- along with other things popping up--that these cards didn't make it up here until now; I had them scheduled to be up at the beginning of December. It seemed like there was always something unexpected launching at me, or something that V and I had to do. But here they finally are!

DIY Calligraphy Basics - The #1 Rule & Faux Calligraphy

This is just a quick little intro to Modern Calligraphy to prepare for my next tutorial: my DIY Christmas Card Designs for this year!! YAY! In this post I'm teaching you some very basic terminology and the #1 rule when it comes to Calligraphy, plus how anyone can create fake calligraphy without having any special pens or tools! Let's take a look now...

My Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Table - IKEA Hack (or not)

A couple weeks ago I did an Inspirations post on Farmhouse/Rustic Kitchen Tables, now today in this post I am showing you my own Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Table, and steps you can follow to create a similar one yourselves. I've even included the recipe for the custom stain colour I made (real simple) so you can mix up some for yourself if you really love the look of my stained tabletop. Let's take a look at the project, shall we?

DIY Rustic Wood Drawer Box Centerpiece

Things are beginning to come together in our house--I still can't believe we have our own home--and it's been fun for me. I've decided to tackle projects space by space--upstairs first--leaving the bedrooms for later. So my first area, since it is an open concept layout, is the dining/kitchen/living room. I've got all the walls painted and am just finishing up the decor in the dining space. So today I'm showing you how to make this great Rustic Wood Drawer Centrepiece that I made for our dining table. Let's take a look...

8 Rustic & Farmhouse Kitchen Table Inspirations

I recently finished my kitchen table to match the modern farmhouse look I'm going for here in our house. I still have a few things to finish up in the dining room area before I can show you all the reveal--hopefully I can get it finished up this weekend--and also how I went about finishing it, and the products I used to do so. But today I wanted to show you guys some of the tables that I found online that I love, and talk about these inspirations just a little bit. Perhaps my Farmhouse Kitchen Table Inspirations will inspire you as well! Let's take a look!

SnapChat Puppy & Deer Filter Costumes | PART 2

Here's Part 2 of the SnapChat Puppy and Deer Filter Costumes I came up with! In this post I'm showing you how to make the giant cell phone model with the SnapChat frame, and how to make both the Puppy Filter and Deer Filter ear headbands. These accessories for these SnapChat Costumes cost very little to make and you can also complete them pretty quickly.

SnapChat Puppy & Deer Filter Costumes | PART 1

This year I had a hard time to think of what costume tutorials I could do; it seems like everything fun in pop culture this year has already been done. Even all the retro costume ideas are being done, too... and they're being done well, not something I could even improve on. But then it came to me - SnapChat Filters. So I created these 2 tutorials--my favourite 2--for the Puppy and the Deer SnapChat filter costumes! I'm showing you how to do the makeup in the included video tutorial, and I even show you how to create a large phone with a SnapChat frame, and how to make both the puppy ears and the deer ears to complete each costume!

DIY Farmhouse Meets Industrial Shelving

I've had home decor projects heavily on my mind lately--as you may know, we just moved into our own house--and I'm bringing you one of those project tutorials today - Farmhouse Meets Industrial Shelving! I've seen a few examples of shelving like this over on Pinterest so it isn't completely an original idea--are there really any completely original ideas these days, really? But, anyhow, this is my own version of it, which, I just have to say, is the best version!!

DIY Barn Board - The Technique You Need

Barn board is essential to any farmhouse or rustic decor--I personally like a simple classic look with a few splashes of farmhouse style; contemporary farmhouse--but barn board can often be hard to find because it's in such demand, and can sometimes be a bit pricey when you do find it. Well, I think I have the perfect solution for you - make your own! Today I want to show you my version of how to DIY Barn Board. If you're interested, keep reading...

House Tour - First Peek

Three weeks ago we experienced such an exciting day - possession day of our first house! If you have been following along here on the blog up to now then you'll have seen my first 2 related posts leading up to this one (We Lost Our House and "We Lost Our House || UPDATE"), and you'll remember that I said I'd recorded a house tour for all of you who have been so supportive and interested in this journey. Today, I've got that video prepared for you guys and I am sharing it with you all!

Tie-Dye Notebook Covers & "What's A Bone Folder?"

Holy Smokes - I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post! That's silly, really! This house-buying, packing, moving, setting-up-the-new-house stuff has really been a lot of work...but it's also very fun! (Losing Our House and House Update) Coming up here on the blog over the next while I am going to have quite a lot of home improvement and decor DIYs to share with you all - that is fun and exciting! For today, though, I've got a Back-to-School DIY project...it is a little late being posted--because I couldn't quite get it finished before I had to focus all my time on packing and moving--but doesn't even matter, though. These Tie-Dye Book Covers are great to do any time you want, and really don't have to be for back to school at all! Maybe you don't even go to school and just like them and want to make them - go for it!

"We Lost Our House" UPDATE: House Search

Today I wanted to give you all another update to our house situation. Most of what I want to share with you all at this point is in the video, though, but I still just wanted to say a quick couple words to go along with this post. I do have a larger following over on YouTube--at this point--so I get a lot more comments from my lovely subscribers over there--even though I do more posting over here on the blog--but I never want to leave any of you out, so I always do a post, too, to go along with any video I upload! Listen.. listen, friends: it's best to just follow me all over so you don't miss anything... sometimes I leave little notes on Facebook or Instagram that won't be seen here... and I just started SnapChat, so perhaps quick updates will start being easier from there rather than an entire YouTube video or blog post about a small update...

June & July Favs - Monthly Beauty Buys & House Update

This post will focus on my favourites from the past two months--June & July--but I just first want to give you guys a little update on the house situation. If you're not interested then obviously you can skip ahead, but I know lots of you are probably wondering how things are going since my previous post where I told you We Lost Our House. So let's talk about that first...

We Lost Our House // StoryTime Vlog

I guess I'm ready to share this story. I was going to wait until we had happier news to go along with it, but I felt an explanation was necessary on why you may have noticed a bit of a lull in posts here and on YouTube. If you're intrigued to find out more, just keep reading...

Dupe, Not a Dupe - NARS vs Maybelline | Matte Foundations

I heard, from somewhere in the blogging/YouTube world, that the Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation was a dupe for the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint, so I decided to put that to the test. Having already purchased the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint, I was looking for something similar that cost less anyway, so I could extend my more expensive product by wearing the cheaper version on days when I'm not doing anything special but still want to feel put together. So what did I think? Watch the video to find out!

DIY Inspirations - Accent Chair

This is a project I have been thinking about for a while - not quite a year yet but pretty close to. Victor found this great chair sitting out in the lane behind our place where garbage pick-up is, and he thought it was pretty cool but in rough shape. Once I saw it I knew instantly it could be turned into an amazing piece once re-finished, so he brought it home for me. I know I want to turn it into an accent chair for our living room so I've pulled together some inspirations to inspire me, and hopefully inspire you guys as well in your own accent chair DIY projects. First, let's take a look at the gem of a chair we found in someone's garbage; "One person's trash is another person's treasure"... or it will be...

Monthly Beauty Buys - May Favourites

I'm a little earlier on my Monthly Beauty Buys this time around. Hopefully next month I'll be even earlier! This month 2 of my 3 products are skincare items with 1 cosmetic item; I didn't really purchase much in the way of makeup in May. Let's go check out what I liked from the items I did buy!

Motivational Monday - "One Thing at a Time"

Sometimes we look at others' successes, or the things others have, and it's easy to become frustrated if we don't have them ourselves yet. It may be easy to feel like we're never going to get there and we're never going to see the rewards of our own hard work. Sometimes we may think that one person or another seemed to just sail through life to this point, and good things happened to them in their lives so quickly. This makes us want to figure out and take shortcuts to become successful faster, so we can have that seemingly amazing life and wonderful things, too. But sometimes rushing to get to what we view as "success" can lead to poor decisions, terrible mistakes, and a lot of heartache. Sometimes things that come too quickly and too easily can be short lived.

9 Spring Rainy Day Outfit Inspirations

It's been quite rainy here in this part of the country--which is fairly unusual for the city of Calgary--but it sure has made everything nice and green and lush, that's for sure. Sometimes when I am getting ready for the day and I can't figure out what to wear--which is exactly what happened on this rainy day--I head over to Pinterest and do a little search for outfit ideas. Then I use clothes I already have to pull together a similar outfit. While I was searching I thought I need to do a post... some could argue that you can just add a pair of Wellies to any outfit and voila - a rainy day outfit! Sure, but... there are other options, too, and a little outfit inspiration never hurts, ever! Here is a compilation of Spring Rainy Day Outfit Inspirations that I really like! Enjoy!

DIY Moustaches & Kisses Cement Magnets

A little while back, when I did my DIY Triangle Cement Candle Holders post, I promised you all another DIY cement project, well today I've got that for you! These DIY Moustaches and Kisses Cement Magnets are so simple to make, and are great for your refrigerator or school lockers, or anywhere you need magnets! Fun, cute, easy - who wouldn't want to make 'em? I'm going to show you how, let's do it!

Monthly Beauty Buys - April Favourites

I'm starting this week feeling much better than I had been at the end of last week - thanks to everyone who expressed their well wishes! Luv ya!

Today I want to share my favourite products I bought for the month of April. I have 4 products to share this post instead of the usual 3, but no photos of me demoing the products this time since my cheeks were still slightly swollen. Yeh, this post is pretty late this month, but I figure it's better late than not at all since a lot of you seem to enjoy these posts. So let's take a look at my beauty favourites for April!

YAY or NAY - Reviewing NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint

Well, folks, I am back to business after my wisdom teeth oral surgery (all 4) one week ago. Things are going seemingly alright. I've been worrying the past few days about how things are healing--I won't go into too much icky detail--but the nurse at the oral surgeons office says everything sounds like it isn't anything to be worried about... so I am trying to take that advice... trying. Luckily I was able to get a couple videos recorded for you all before my surgery so I don't have to worry about doing any while I am trying to heal.

Anyway, today I've got for you all one of my YAY or NAY product reviews! I've been using the popular NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint for the past several weeks and I want to share what I think about that product with you all here today!

Motivational Monday - "Define Your Own Happiness"

First, I know this post is up late today, everyone - it's been a busy day! Regardless, I hope you all had a happy Monday... or whatever day it is when you're reading this!

Sometimes when you compare your life or things others have to yours or what you have, it may seem like they've got it all figured out. This can make you feel like you want the same things in your life so that you can be as happy as they are. But the truth is that those things may not be suitable for you, and they may not even make you as happy as they've made somebody else. You're an individual and it's okay for you to have different things that make you happy than other people, and to have different dreams than others. Figure out what you're passionate about and do that.

DIY Gold Letter Ring & Jewelry Dish - Aerie Inspired

I find inspiration for my DIY projects from many places! One of the best kind of inspirations are items that I see in stores that I love and know others will love, too, especially since I can usually show people how to make them for less than buying them. This particular DIY Ring Dish (or jewelry dish) is inspired by one that I loved when I saw it at Aerie--America Eagle's sister company--and instantly knew I could show you all how to make. Let's do it!

Pineapple Pattern Nail Tutorial - Easy & Fun for Summer

Pineapples have been showing up on just about everything and I am completely on board with this trend! Maybe you'll see more pineapples in my DIYs to come! They are perfect for summer... anything, really, and are definitely one of the things that pop in my head when I think tropical, warm weather, summer! So, being that summer is just around the corner--it was 27 degrees Celsius here in Calgary a couple days ago--I felt the desire to have pineapple pattern on my nails, and in this post I'm showing you how do get them, too! So easy to do, just keep reading...

Motivational Monday - Follow Your Heart | FREE Printable

This Motivational Monday I decided to keep it simple and sweet! Sometimes life comes with big decisions that can be hard to make, and if you don't know what else to do, at times it is easiest and wisest to follow you heart!

My Beauty Buys - March Edition

It's been so long since I've done a Beauty Buys post--just about a year--so it's nice to be sharing these most recent beauty purchases with you all! To be honest, some months it's easy for me to bring these posts to you guys, but then other months when I don't purchase any beauty products (😮), or nothing that I really like, there isn't really a point to doing a Beauty Buys post. I'm going to try to keep up with these monthly posts again--even if I only have one product to share with you guys--because I really do like doing them and you guys seem to have liked them in the past, too! So here we go, these are the 3 beauty goodies I am sharing with you all from my March purchases..

DIY Geometric Cement Candle Holders

You guys probably saw my Cement Project Inspirations post from a little while back--if not, check it out for some great ideas--now I bring you my own cement DIY - these Geometric Cement Candle Holders. Holy smokes; these were soo much fun to make!! For anyone who thinks this project seems "too difficult", I promise you, it is really super easy, and did I mention how much fun it is? The quick setting cement I used made this project much quicker to complete than you may think, as well!

Motivational Monday - "Something Wonderful" Printable

You may have noticed throughout your life that quite often when things just aren't going right - life is getting you down - and you're focusing on it all, more unfortunate things seem to find you. It can be hard to break free of the negativity once it's got its grip on you, but if you can try your best to think more optimistically and focus on the positives - no matter how tiny in comparison to the negatives - you can turn things around for yourself. Gradually, it will happen!

It's My Birthday!

Yep, today's my b-day! What sort of things do I have planned for today? Well, I'm just getting over being quite sick... and then having a weird reaction/side-effect from my medication, so I will be getting back to finishing up the video I was working on before that all happened. And also the plumber will be visiting to fix our leaky bathtub faucet, then perhaps a nice dinner out tonight with my love. So, yeh, pretty exciting day planned!

8 Cute & Fun Swimsuits I'm Loving

Swim Season is almost here!!! Well... here is Canada, at least most parts, it might be just slightly early for thinking about this just yet, but for those in areas that hit swim season earlier, this'll be perfect for you now! Plus, some of you may be thinking of tropical vacations, or perhaps you've already got one booked, in which case this type of post is always helpful year round! I love shopping around for what's out there in swimsuits for the upcoming season - it really is just around the corner - and sharing the cute, unique styles I've found with all of you! So let's dive right in! Ha ha ha... "dive in"...

Motivational Monday | FREE Printable - Be Silly, Honest, Kind

This is by far one of my favourite quotes; I even have it as my desktop background on my laptop. It's so simple, and I feel like if we can remember to be these three things, we can keep things in perspective throughout our lives - "Be silly. Be Honest. Be Kind."

Eye Makeup DO'S & DON'TS for Mature (or Hooded) Eyes

As we age our eyes become more saggy and droopy resulting in something that is called "hooded eyes". All this means is the your upper eye lid has a bit of extra skin that droops over the crease. This can happen in varying degrees and become worse the older we get. I think it's important to note that you can have hooded eyes at a younger age (two examples are Blake Lively and Emma Stone), I myself do have somewhat hooded eyelids, but in that case it is just due being born with that eye shape, and not because of age related drooping.

Motivational Monday - A Beautiful Day | FREE Printable

Think about a day you've had when things just weren't going right or something bad happened... Now think about a time when someone did something nice for you, or even just a stranger gave you an unexpected smile, on one of these "bad days"... how did you feel afterwards? I bet it lifted your spirits. Perhaps it even changed the entire feeling of the day and shifted your day in a better direction, all because it was kind and because that kindness made you smile and feel good in return. That person may not have known how much you needed it, but that's how powerful kindness is; it has the ability to transform, not just an average day, even a horrible day into something that sparkles with beauty! And that power is within you, you have the ability to give someone a better day; you're like a freaking super hero when you think about it, and Kindness is your super power! Use it, even if all you have to offer is a smile, touch someone's day with kindness - you never know what someone could be going through, and your kindness could mean more than you realize!

DIY Inspiration - Cement Projects

I've been noticing a lot of cement DIY projects around the DIY blogs over the past little while, and really like the look of a lot of them, so, of course, I'd like to make some of my own, and then share my creations with you all in an upcoming DIY cement project tutorial... you know, as per the usual. I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm going to make with my cement - probably a few different projects - I just have to get all my supplies gathered, maybe do some testing, and then before you know it,  I'll have something up here on the blog for you all, so keep checking back!

Sam ♡

INSPIRATIONS IMAGES FROM | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Exciting News | Woman's World Magazine Feature

I'm featured in this week's issue of Woman's World Magazine!! Yep, it's true! You may have already gotten the down-low on this exciting news if you follow me over on Facebook -- that's where all my exciting news and project sneak peeks happen first -- and, if not, go and like The Creative Glow over on Facebook!

This all came about from an email from on of the editors, back before Christmas, letting me know that they were interesting in featuring my Blooming Flower Mirror made with plastic spoons in an issue of their magazine. After I asked a few questions and then answered a few questions I agreed to it, and now here it is! Yay! I'm pretty excited about it! And they're going to be featuring another one of my projects, Hot Glue Decorated Mirrors, in their April 4th issue, as well!!

DIY Cookbook & Tablet Stand - Copper & Wood

A couple weeks ago I posted my DIY Inspirations for this project and now I bring you my version - DIY Cookbook and Tablet Stand. As I mentioned in the last post, I really like the look of the copper pipe so I knew from the start that I wanted to do something using that also. My favourite was the stand created by I Spy DIY (see the DIY Inspirations post), so I set out to design one similar to that with my own spin put on it, of course! Let's take a look.

Motivational Monday - "Face The Sunshine" FREE Printable

It is a beautiful, sunny Monday morning here and I hope yours is just as beautiful! With Monday comes another Motivational Monday post and another FREE motivational word art printable for you to download and frame. I think this is one one of the best quotes from the poet Walt Whitman -- "Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you" -- it's the perfect analogy for focusing on the positives, allowing the negatives to fall away from you. These are words to try and live by for sure, and I hope they help brighten your Monday even more!

DIY Notebook Re-Design - Designer Look For Less

I had a great long weekend; Valentine's Day and an extra day off for Family Day - yay! Today I'm back at it and, as you can see, I've got a new post and a new DIY project for you all! First, how was your Valentine's Day? Was it a long weekend where you are, too? I love to hear from ya, so comment with your weekend activities! Now, let's move on to this project - DIY Notebook redesign!

DIY Inspiration - Cookbook/iPad Stand

INSPIRATIONS FROM | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

I've been thinking about making a cookbook/ipad stand for a while now, to make viewing recipes in books and on my iPad much more convenient, so, in an effort to brainstorm what I would like my DIY cookbook stand to look like, I searched for some photos to inspire me. These are six that I liked the most.

Motivational Monday - "Positive Anything" FREE Printable

I've got another Motivational Monday printable for you all! I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking and I do my best to practice it as much as possible. Does that mean that I never have a negative thought, never rant or complain, never am in a bad mood, never have my feelings hurt, or bad things never happen to me? Nope. Definitely not. But I do know that it makes me a much happier person to try, and can and has turned around many a bad moments, days, weeks for me.

Art Series - Post #12 - "Snowy Sunset" Oil Painting

In this instalment of my Art Series, I'm showing you a painting I did of a beautiful winter scene in oil on canvas board, as a gift for my grandfather. I've decided to call it "Snowy Sunset".

Motivational Monday - "Shoot For The Moon" FREE Printable

It's Monday, once again! I hope you're all having a fantastic day and you're beating those Monday blues... or Monday rage, for some people - ha ha! I've got another FREE Motivational Monday Downloadable Print for you all again today, YAY!

DIY Hand-Painted Watercolor Valentine Cards

We all know that handmade cards are the very best kind - whether giving or receiving! In this post I've got some more handmade cards for you all and this time they are geared toward Valentine's Day - DIY Hand-painted Watercolor Valentine Cards!

Motivational Monday - FREE Printable Download

Happy Motivational Monday! Mondays are often tough days for those people who work regular business days and because we're just not feeling' it, troubles throughout the day often ensue. I'm sure we've all experienced this at some point! That's where #MotivationalMonday comes in!

Last week I did a post as a pick-me-up for anyone who had a rough Monday showing some great Motivational Word Art which turned out to be quite a popular post here on the blog and other social media. I liked that and felt I wanted to try and help people, and myself, start off our work weeks with a positive quote or thought on a regular basis, so I'm starting this series, Motivational Mondays, here on the blog, that will include limited time FREE printable downloads designed by me, and, hopefully, help put us in a positive mindset to start our Mondays.

Yay or Nay - ColourPop Super Shock Shadow Reviewed

I started hearing about ColourPop cosmetics some time last year -- good things -- and was very anxious to try something from them! I got lucky at Christmas and got some of the Super Shock Shadows as part of my Christmas gift from Victor's sister -- she put together this incredible little gift box of cosmetics for me that was such a great gift idea and she did a great job! She got me the Metamorphosis collection, which is a collaboration with CoffeeBreakWithDani, and that is what I am reviewing and showing in this video and post today.

10 Motivational Word Art Quotes For After A Bad Monday

Is "Bad" plus "Monday" too redundant? I don't know... but yesterday was one of those days for me! Nothing seemed to be going right. Mondays are usually video recording days for me, so I did that, but it was pretty much a wasted day where I had to do everything over, Blegh! I know I already said nothing was going right, but NOTHING WAS GOING RIGHT!

I don't like to let negative thinking consume me and ruin my day, but sometimes it's hard to push it away and it does end up doing just that. And I really don't like to bring it here to my blog because I only want this to be a happy place where people come to read good things, learn fun things, and feel inspired! I think, in a way, that helps me, when I am feeling upset about something or having a bad day, to bring myself out of it - I think of you guys, or my family, and think what I would say to make any of you feel better if you were having a rough day! Then I say those things to myself! So in writing this post that did begin somewhat negative, let's turn it around with some Motivational Word Art!

Big Voluminous Curls Hair Tutorial

I had a request for me to do a tutorial on how I get my curls. After some polling over on Facebook it seemed like it would be a good idea, so today I bring you my Big Voluminous Curls Hair Tutorial! In this post you'll find my very detailed video tutorial on how I create these big curls, because there's nothing worse than not having enough info to do something, in my opinion! Furthermore, if people have time to watch an 8 minute video on how to style a messy bun, then the time it takes to watch this more involved hairstyle and techniques tutorial should also be worth it! Beautiful hair takes time, my friends! (Calm down, Samantha! And breathe...) You'll also find some additional tips and tricks that I didn't talk about in the video. So keep reading if you want to get these big curls in your own hair, or you're just curious how I do it!

New Year, New Me & New Blog

Yah, "New Year, New Me" is an over-used, cliché phrase, but... I don't care! Ha Ha! I don't care, first, because I feel it's true, and, second, because it makes me feel good and energized for the year ahead of me! I've got a lot planned for the blog this year, and I just feel like this really is going to be an awesome year for the blog, and for myself as well! The year has only just begun and I've already got some really exciting news about The Creative Glow, we're being featured in a magazine!!!! I will be sharing more with you in a future post in early/mid February - REALLY EXCITING! As for myself, just before Christmas, I got a dramatic haircut, about 14 inches, and I feel like that helped me feel fresh and new to begin a fresh new year! I even got trendy new geek-chic glasses! Here are some other things I'm thinking about for this new year: