Frock Me Friday > Goin' To The Chapel

Well, I'm not going to the chapel but Angela Glossy Flossy did 12 years ago.  Happy Anniversary Miss Angela & hubby!! The wedding was a beautiful candlelit affair. (It took the candlelighters 20 minutes to light the candles.)  As tribute to Miss Angela's anniversary, I'm dedicating today's "Frock Me Friday" to wedding dresses.  I would dedicate this to mother of the bride or groom dresses but I like to wait till 2 weeks before the wedding to buy one (true story x 2).  Yep, I did it twice.  I think we mentioned that we will be having another wedding in our family next year, so being the entertaining divas we are, we've been pretty much consumed with all things wedding. 

source: nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com

There all kinds of wedding dresses out there to appeal to everyone's sense of "style" and "good taste." If your motto is "I've bought it, so flaunt it!" this would be the dress for you. 

However, if you have a different sense of style, I have some other dresses for you via one of my fave sites - Pinterest.

There are many wedding choices for the bride that wants the officiant to be able to perform the ceremony without stuttering!  Watch for my Frock Me Friday > Mother of the Groom post (about two weeks before the wedding).      

- Laurie

Dress This Mess > DIY Wall Art

You know what I hate?  Besides flies and people touching my toes (just don't do it).  Boring wall photos.

You know the kind. Everyone is stiff and posed like it's their hostage photo and there is usually some sort of weird imitation cloud behind them. The many variations are usually placed all over one wall, giving you the creeps with their blank stares and forced smiles as you walk by. There is even a whole website dedicated to this kind of thing:

Just don't do it! People want to see your personality in your photos! They must like you and your family's quirkiness because they're coming over to your house after all; so give them AND you something interesting to gaze at on your walls. You don't want to end up on that website do you?!

Angela Glossy Flossy moved into a great new house last summer and it has (still..) a lot of great blank walls. She was looking for some fun, cool and, dare I say it, "cheap" wall decor for her oldest's room and loved the framed Batman photos that I had done at my house with some thrifty Ikea photo frames. (Don't you just love Ikea!)

The boys got those masks for Christmas and everyone wanted to be Batman; so I documented the silliness and turned the pics into some funky and fun wall art. Here's the version I did for my eldest grandson's room:

I edited the orginal photo in Photoshop, added some fun pop art graphics, sent it to Costco's online photo ordering site and had it printed in poster size. Viola! Instant wall art.   -Laurie

Things Will Go Wrong >You Don't Scare Me, I Have 3 Boys

*All of these pictures were taken by my boys*

My adorable boys have:

~Torn down a ceiling fan while hanging from it.

~Ripped off keys k, j, anf f4 from my laptop keyboard

~Accidentally shot out the neighbors double pane backdoor slider with a bbgun.

~Dumped a Costco size jug of pancake syrup all over our once new couch (which we still 

have) and carpet.

~Slid down the stairs in a sleeping bag, putting a hole in the wall at the bottom

~Carved their initials into my dining room table.

~Turned my hard wood floors into an indoor skating rink by waxing them with a tub of vaseline

~Found a mystical place in the universe where all DVD, TV remotes and cordless phones go to live for all eternity, never to be seen or found by an adult.

~Discovered that practicing writing your name all over your house is best to do with a sharpie pen, because it NEVER gets erased.

For those of you that don’t have boys: Yes, I supervise them. Yes, we do have rules in our house. Yes, over half of these events happened while my husband was “watching” them.

No, I am not blind or hearing impaired.

For those of you who have boys: No explanation needed, right?

Everyday with a boy is an adventure, some scarier than others. I wouldn't change it for the world, because for all of the horrified moments that these events brought; it also brings a little giggle every time I think of them and the horrified looks THEY had when they got busted.

~Angela
P.S. Has anyone seen my mini cheese grater? Last time it was missing I found it in the sandbox...

Frock Me Friday > Giving You The Boot!

Today is the first day of fall my little fashionistas, and when I think of fall, I think of boots! Here's a little inspiration to get you in the mood (dum dada dum dum dum dum dum...)



Now here's the goods:

Boots by Jessica Simpson
Boots by Roper

Riding, Western, Bootie, Scrunched, Buckled, Calf, Button, Laced, Wedged.....Aahhh, the possibilities!

Now if only the freakish fall weather in my hometown would get below 90 degrees here, I too could show some love to my boots!

Happy Shopping,
~Angela

Feast Your Eyes > Summer's Goodies

I'm a garden mooch. There I said it.
Yes, I myself do not have a garden this year unlike everyone else in my family, even though I have 4 hungry man-ish boys in my house, and really should do one.
Yes, I do go around to said family member's gardens and pluck, pick, and gobble their garden's extra bounty.
Yes, I do find it lucky ducky that their little household's cannot keep up with their big garden's goodies.
Yes, I do run, not walk, over when I hear "Do you want some...", and I feel no shame about it!! It's really like veggie charity if you ask me.
So there.
Whew. I feel better getting that off my chest.
So... moving on to a great summer recipe straight from my garden, uh, a garden.

Glossy's Super Easy Salsa:

3-4 tomatoes (depending on how thin or thick you like it)
1-4 hot peppers (more peppers = more fire)

1/2 of an good sized onion

1 clove of garlic

cilantro (I used 5 sprigs)

1tsp sea salt

dash of pepper

Throw it all in the food processor or a blender

Oh. So. Good.

And please, feel free to come out of the closet you fellow Garden Moochers! Amazing recipes and salsas await you! We won't judge. :-)

~Angela
P.S. - for even yummier flavor try roasting the veggies in a cast iron pan for a couple minutes before blending.

Reuse Recycle Repurpose - Skipper's Beach Club

So after my little ahha moment yesterday, we here at Chaos & Gloss decided to start a new blog feature called Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose; which will be all about using used and forgotten items in new and inventive ways. Check out "Skippers Beach Club", AKA our pool changing room /bathroom.

How cool are these orange recycled school lockers? My oldest son gave these to me for Mother's Day. You're probably thinking, "You got used lockers for Mother's Day??" Yes I did and when I saw them I was very excited as I had priced new ones and they were definitely not in my budget. You can find used lockers on Craigslist, flea markets and sometimes at yard sales at a price that someone other than Bill Gates could afford.

I loved the original color so the bathroom was decorated to accommodate this bright orange. One side of the lockers had to be painted so thank goodness that Rustoleum has a spray paint this color, a happy coincidence for us! Really wondering how much of this color they sell?

Another example of reusing and recycling is the old gate hanging on the outside of the clubhouse and the chairs in front, which were made from scrap wood that would have been thrown away.

Repurpose idea - the Ikea hooks are a made from a rubbery material and were put up on the wall to be used as a stop so the locker doors did not hit the wall. A duel purpose hook! Sometimes you have to think outside of the box to get an attractive end product - those door stops that they sell commercially were really ugly and I didn't want them to be the first thing you saw when you opened the door. Orange must have been the color this year as I picked the wall decor up at Craft Warehouse.

- Laurie

Say Goodbye to Summer

It looks like we're in the last days of summer. I'm so glad that I received my two garden gazing balls as a birthday gift from Mr. 2Wicked while there are still a few days left to enjoy them! Check out the picture of the garden gazing balls in my yard. I know you're thinking, "blah, blah, blah, we've all seen gazing balls before." But there is something very special about this gazing ball and its silver brother.

What makes these beauties so special is that they are "monkey proof." Yes, you heard me right - they're "monkey proof." This means they will likely last more than a week in my yard, unlike many (may they RIP) of their garden ornament predecessors, because they started out as bowling balls found at the thrift store!

Mr. 2Wicked says that making these beautiful and hardy gazing balls is fairly easy to do: First wash the balls and rough them up a little with some sandpaper. Wipe dust off. Spray with a primer (like Bullseye). Then coat with the color of paint that floats your boat. Like anything else you paint, you'll have to give it a couple of coats. The final touch is to put a couple of coats of high gloss sealer on them. There you have it: "Monkey Proof " gazing balls.

Thanks for the birthday gift Michael! Isn't this a great way to recycle and reuse old bowling balls? Hmmm, maybe we should do some Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose posts.
- Laurie

Frock Me Friday > The Mother Load of all Fashion

Okay, I know that this is going to be hard to believe, but here it goes: today is Laurie Glossy Flossy's Birthday. Yes, her birthday is two days after mine (what an amazing gift, right?) and yes, this is the third person in our family to celebrate a September birthday. September for our family is like November for the ballot, or December for Santa. In other words- it's a big deal month.

So in honor of this very special day, and this very special lady, I am honoring my momma with a Frock Me Friday dedicated to her. A woman with such great style that every look she's ever rocked has always came back around in fashion.

Check her out, back in the day:

Isn't she cute?

Now check out all these pieces from this year's NYC fashion week:

Timeless Hot Mama

Day Dresses by Milly
Wide Leg Pants by Diane von Furstenberg

Did I get good fashion genes or what?! A very happy birthday to you, Mom.

Love your fashionable daughter.

Frock Me Friday > Update!

Remember last Friday's Frock Me post, where I professed my love for all things Missoni? So here I am, rushing the kids off to school, hopping in the car, and then happily motoring on to my hot date with Target and all things Missoni, only to be greeted with this:

And this:

And THEN I saw a woman stomp over to this empty display, rip off an accessory hanger, and throw it to the ground in disgust!

Okay, I admit it. That was me. But seriously, this was at 10am! What kind of mayhem had occurred before that?!

I also read online that the Target site crashed from heavy traffic due to all the crazed Missoni shopping. Wow, my fan club must have really taken off...

To all you ladies who scored yourself something Missoni fabulous on Sept. 13th, congrats! You must have had to really fall back on your Christmas competitive shopping skills.

~Angela 

Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate > Back To School Carnival Party

Every year, the week before school starts in August, we throw a huge back to school/end of summer bash for all the sad little kiddos and excited mommies that we know. This year we decided to use a carnival theme, and we went a little crazy with it!

We had a whirlwind of a day of munching on hotdogs, snowcones, and popcorn; swimming, jumping, sliding, and then......puking. Not really, although looking at all the photos and the chaos of that day does make me a little dizzy.

Being the crazy people that we are, we went all out and pretty much handmade everything. The star and inspiration for the day was a 2000 sheet pack of red checkered food liners that I found at the restaurant supply outlet. These little sheets turned into adorable pinwheels, cute popcorn cones, and decorative accents we used everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE.

The other big moment of the day was the circus inspired carnival tent that we diy'ed out of two cheap canvas drop cloths from Lowes (details to come!). A little red paint, buckets of sweat (note - do not attempt this on a 100 degree day like we did...), one incident of heat stroke, and voila! Instant party tent!

Turned out pretty cute, huh? What do you think?

~Angela

Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate > Happy Birthday Miss Angela Glossy Flossy

Today is Angela's Birthday.  Her first birthday was a momentous day - not only did she just learn to walk a couple of days before but she had also just gotten her first teeth shortly before the day!  A big celebration for us because we weren't sure she would ever walk or have teeth!!  Check out her "sensible walking shoes."  In an effort to bling them up I tied them with blue curling ribbon.  This lack of true party shoes on her first birthday may be the cause of her shoe obsession today!!  Looking around for "party shoes" for girls  led me to these shoes. Really loving the pink polka dot ones!!

Mud Pie Baby Bow Booties

Mud Pie Baby Buds Ballet Slippers

Mud Pie Boathouse Baby Seersucker Flower

I Need Minions > Master Grocery List

Remember our lunch monster post? Well today we are giving you one more tool to help you fight the battle of being the family chef. How nice you say? Why yes, anything for you, dear Chaos and Gloss fans!

Here is our Master Grocery Checklist all on one convenient, listed by category, organized sheet. You can download it HERE.

Feel free to send us a mental hug as you are zipping up and down the aisles, checking off items left and right from "your super organized, never forget anything list".

OR  you can blow us some kisses from wherever you may be (don't worry, they will find us) when your kids or hubby are adding items to your magical list; having to never again to utter the words, "Why did no one tell me that we were out of XXXX?!!"

~Angela
P.S. More bang for your buck! There are two grocery lists per sheet. Print, cut in half, hang on fridge. Happy shopping!

Frock Me Friday > Stripe Me Pretty!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE line patterns. I love them on the horizontal, on the vertical, zigzagged, herringboned, chevroned. I love them printed on a top, on a dress, across a wall, on a pillow, in the rain, on a train, on a boat, printed on a goat....(sorry. After three kids, Dr. Suess is embedded in the brain.), well, you get the picture right? I luuvve me some stripes.

So when Target announced that later in September they were debuting a new line with the fashion house Missoni; I practically ripped off a pretty striped painted toe nail, running to my computer to google some pics of the new line. Missoni is the king of line patterned fashion and I am the crazy president of their unofficial fan club. I'm kidding,(sorta) but their new line is no joke! Behold the striped frockness of my dreams:

I know this is a frock me post, but it would be a crime not to show you the other fun stuff in the rest of the line:

Exactly how wrong would it be to serve my family a nightly dinner of top ramen for a couple of months; just so I can ride around in the fall weather on my fabulous missoni bike, while wearing my adorable new missoni wellies???

I'll see you at Target on Sept 13th!
~Angela

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Ruffled Crepe Paper Streamers

I am in love with these ruffled crepe paper streamers.  In the last month I've used them several times and I'm pretty sure I'm not finished yet.  Can you say "OBSESSED!!"  I learned how to do this at MADE, and her tutorial is the fastest, easiest way to make ruffled crepe paper streamers, the woman is a genius.   
I've used the streamers to decorate, made party hats for Mikey's Birthday Party Banner and also used it for the Treats Banner.

HMMM - I'm thinking Halloween Streamers.  -Laurie

Obivously Delicious > Lunch Monster

It is constantly lurking in the dark corners of your brain...."What are you going to make?", it whispers. "Do you have groceries for that?", it snarks. "Do you really consider cheese on a hotdog bun a healthy lunch for your precious growing children?! Do you even know where the bread aisle is located?", it laughs. This is about the point where I scream and send each kid to school with a baggie of scrounged - up couch change for hot lunch.

Are you right there with me, ladies? School is in full swing and so is the panic of what to pack the kids for lunch. Thankfully there are lots of great sites, tips, and tricks out there that will keep that Packed Lunch Monster at bay.

One of my favorite go-to sites is the Kraft Lunch Box Builder site:

 

They have great recipes and a great chart that gives you a ton different side lunch combo ideas. There is also a pdf of joke clipouts to add a little pizazz to your lunch! Everything Mom  has a great list of 50 great tips and ideas. Good Housekeeping .com  also has a whopping 30 ideas to conquer your lunch time woes.

Save yourself!! Check them out!!

In the meantime, have a laugh below to keep yourself from crying from the stress of packing all those school lunches.

~Angela

P.S. These lunchbox ideas also work well on your picky hubby's lunch too, I tried them out, and no complaints. He really appreciated his sandwich with a heart cutout.  ;-)

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > A True Labor Day

Meet my son Mike, AKA "2Wicked". 

Today is his birthday - so 25 years ago it truly was "labor day" for me.  In honor of his 25 years, I made a banner of Mikey through the years.  The biggest challenge is that Mike is the 3rd child, you know what that means, he raised himself  he was a little left out of the photos.  The first child you take 1000 photos the first year (I think I had 1000 the first month) and 500 each year after, the 2nd child gets 500 photos the first year and 350 each year after, the 3rd child gets - well lets just say it might look like we adopted him when he was three and then he didn't live with us from the ages of 13 through 16.  And then he lived with us but we had our first grandson and thank goodness that we took a thousand pics of the new grandbaby because Mike was in some of those.  So if you're reading this and about to have your 3rd child - take note because at some point that 3rd child will notice that you are a little thin on pics of them.  After finding a respectable number of pictures, scanning them (remember film - without a choice of a digital copy), resizing, printing, cutting out and putting on the party hat, this is what it looked like made into a banner and hung across the gazebo.  

It was fun for everyone to see him at different stages of his life and fun for the grandkids to see him when he was their age.

Happy Labor Day!   -Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Accessorize!

Happy Frock Me Friday!
Have you visited this site WHAT IS JAMES WEARING? 
I love James Andrew, and as you can see, he's gearing up for Labor Day.  After all isn't the saying, "no white, or pink plaid after Labor Day", or something like that...?  Clearly, this was his last chance of the season to wear that fabulous pink jacket.  James has a certain "flair" for clothes, don't you love it?!

I also know people with a certain stylish "flair".  The people I know have a different accessory flair, but it's flair all the same.

Happy Labor Day accessorizing!     

 -Laurie