family time

Pinterest DIY Project

Published on April 5, 2018April 5, 2018 by Kadi1 Comment

Hello Passionista!

I love Pinterest. I literally have a board for just about anything. When I’m planning an event, going on a trip, or looking for a new hobby, Pinterest is my go to place for inspiration and ideas.

Every holiday, my family gets together for dinner and fun together. Lately, I have been head of decorating committee. For Easter Sunday, I made a mason jar centerpiece inspired by a picture I liked on Pinterest.

Here’s the Pinterest picture:

Here’s my centerpiece:

It was simple and quick to make. All the supplies came from the Dollar Tree. I was able to fill 8 mason jars for centerpieces in less than 20 minutes.

How did I do?

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Merry Christmas, Passionistas!

Published on December 26, 2017 by KadiLeave a comment

It’s Christmas Day!!!!

I must admit blogmas is a struggle. I started off strong but this season had been so busy for me that I miss and day of two.

Last year my family started the tradition of making gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve.

I purchased my Hershey’s kit from CVS for $7.99

I am a master at this …. look 👀

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/j8cpgCmb/img_0254.mov

Merrry Christmas !!!!!!

Christmas Party Decor

Published on December 24, 2017 by Kadi1 Comment

Happppppyyyyyy Saturday Night!!!!

Tonight, my family and I had a cute little snack and game night.

We played a series of minute to win it games and ate good food. The kids made ginger bread houses.

But I wanted to share the cute little dollar tree decorations I created…

I made these cute little DIY snow globes, everything purchased from the dollar tree.

I found these cute candle stick holders at dollar tree and loved them so much that I bought all that were on the shelf. They came in white but I spray painted a few of them silver for my the base to my snow globe.

Using double sided tape I taped the bottoms of a toy Christmas tree to the candle stick holder. I used a steamless wine glass as the globe- putting just a little bit of white confetti as snow.

So cute quick and easy …

You can also use a wine glass with a steam as a globe with a candle on top.

To complete my table decor, I used Garland and toy gift boxes, mason jars and candles, and candy canes.

Super easy and super cute!!!

Christal’s Cakes N Bakes for the Hoildays (Blogmas Day 17)

Published on December 17, 2017December 16, 2017 by KadiLeave a comment

Christmas time is here and it is one of my favorite holidays. It’s not just a time when you get gifts, but it is also a time to enjoy family, friends, and FOOD! Who doesn’t enjoy or yearn for all those things?

This Christmas one of my closest friends gave me the special gift of posting a guest blog here on PassionLocked. Let me say first that I want to thank you for this opportunity to share my Christmas joy as well as my business on your blog (:

My name is Christal and I am a self-taught home baker located in Atlanta, Ga. You can follow me on Instagram @christalscakesnbakes or contact me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/christalscakesnbakes.

I absolutely enjoy baking. What I love most about it is that I teach myself everything from measuring to modeling as well as sculpting to decorating. Today I came to share with you all an easy Sugar Cookie Recipe that will leave you looking like the baddest pastry chef (: So let’s just jump right into it!!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

1 (16.5 oz) Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough

¼ to ½ cup of All Purpose Flour (*see note)

*flour amount depends on how you want your texture

Icing:

4 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 Tbsp Meringue Powder

1 Tsp Vanilla

½ cup hot water

Gel icing colors

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and thaw cookie dough until room temperature.

Step 2: In a large bowl combine the cookie dough and flour until you reach the proper consistency needed to be able to roll with a rolling pin or canned good.

Step 3: Roll out sugar cookie dough about ¼ of an inch (cookies will spread when baking) and with a cookie cutter cut out your cookies.

Step 4: Place cookies on cookie sheet and cookie for about 8-9 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Step 5: Combine all icing ingredients until fully combined and smooth. Separate icing into however many bowls for however many colors you are making. (extra hot water may be needed to fine proper icing consistency)

Step 6: With a icing piping bag or a fine tip squeeze bottle carefully icing the cookies designing them in any way you like. Allow to cool after icing for about 30 minutes

DONE!

I hope that you all enjoyed this simple sugar cookie recipe. I hope that I was able to help you all out in the kitchen with those holiday desserts.

I absolutely enjoyed being a guest blogger here on PassionLocked and I hope that I will be able to share more post with you all in the future.

If you are in the Atlanta area and in need of a beautiful, reasonably priced and delicious cake, cupcakes or anything sweet please don’t hesitate to hit me up @christalscakesnbakes or www.facebook.com/christalscakesnbakes or email me at christalcakesnbakes@gmail.com

PEACE LOVE AND DESSERT!

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Schoolin’ Life

Published on June 2, 2017May 31, 2017 by KadiLeave a comment

Hello Passionistas!

This graduation season has been one for the books, it will forever be an everlasting memory in my heart. After so many late nights and early mornings, I graduated from Ashford University with my M.B.S with a specialization in Project Management.

My grad school experience was not what I had planned but everything worked out just fine. I am a hands on type of girl. So I wanted to attend grad school in the classroom, on a campus, where I would be able to interact with my fellow classmates and professors. But in reality, I had to work a full time job to support myself, which didn’t leave much time for classroom dreams. I was able to find a online program that fit my lifestyle perfectly. 18 months, a bunch of long nights and tears later, I received my graduation invitation to walk across the stage.

About a week ago, I left the east coast and traveled to the west coast to celebrate my latest accomplishment. The graduation was in San Diego, CA. So I decided to take a couple of days to vacation in Los Angeles with my family and friends.

It was my first time in Cali and I enjoyed very moment of it. I’m not really big on vacations because I am a workaholic. This year I have started a new job, created a new business venture out of my passion, and completed grad school- so a few days to let my hair blow in the wind a bit. You know I couldn’t go to California without going to Disneyland, so go to my IG account (@passionlocked) to see photos from my 1st Disneyland trip.
But what makes it even more special is my baby boy, who graduated from high school the day before I received by second degree. I’m super proud and excited for him. His life is just beginning! We are about 7 years apart, so I’ve always thought of him as my baby. He’s all grown up now. As the youngest of the bunch, I know my baby brother and I made our parents proud to see the young women and man we have both become.

In the words of Beyonce, “Time really moves fast, you was just 16.”

Because I am an extra celebratory person, I made my brother take graduation pictures with me, here’s some of them:

Special shouts out to all the 2017 graduates

Mommy and Me By Zii

Published on May 30, 2017May 30, 2017 by KadiLeave a comment

Hey Passionistas!!!!!

I have something special to share with you all, some spa like goodies I recently feel in love with.

Side Note: I know I have been away for a while. I mean it’s been maybe a month since I last blogged. I have been very busy working on my passion. Hopefully I will have great things to share with you all in the near future.

Anyhow, back to the good stuff.

Mommy and Me By Zii is a homemade craft shop. Zuri is a ol’ friend of mine from High School (small shouts out to Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, GA). She is a mommy and entrepreneur. In fact, she decided to go into business with her beautiful daughter for, “Mother and Daughter crafting together with a purpose.” Together the Mother and Daughter duo makes skin care goodies that are all natural and good for your skin.

Y’all know I love skin care products and love to play with different body products. Of course, I had to support this Mommy and Me business venture. So here is what I got:

The Tea Tree & Charcoal Facial Soap bar is really thick, so it will last a long time. It lathers really good. I use it in the mornings after showering, before moisturizing my face.

Eucalyptus Mint Ultra Epsom Bath Salt is very soothing in a warm bath with some lavender body oil and a glass of wine.

I absolutely love the Triple Thick Body Butter. It’s best on my rough skin areas after a shower, like my feet, knees and elbows. I use it mostly at night after my shower, then putting on lotion in the morning before getting dressed.

The Cold-Press Soap smells so good. It also lathers really well and feels soft on your hands. I usually buy the liquid soaps from Bath and Body Works for my bathroom. But I wanted to try a homemade soap. It’s so good that my best friend decided it was hers and took it from me after I let her try it. You know how best friends are… they think everything that’s yours is theirs too.

I’d never used a charcoal mask before t but I have been interested in trying one. So I also order the Charcoal & Coconut oil Face Mask, it felt so good on my skin. Because of the coconut oil it’s a little watery- which I liked. I rubbed a thin coat on my face before my shower and let the shower water hit my face to gently rinse it off. Amazing Feeling!

These items and more can be found on Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/mommyandmebyzii

IG: @mommyandmebyzii_

Contact: mommyandmebyzii@gmail.com

Until next time

XOXOXO

It’s a Family Affair

Published on March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 by KadiLeave a comment

Happy Friday Passionistas!

You all have met my family, right! I mean I shared our holiday photos with you all back in December … Okay, so… now, let me share what we have recently been up too…

15220044_1192634667440266_4246233772478379919_n — Family Pictures 2016

Back in December, my youngest cousin came up with the idea to put together care packages for the sick n’shut in and homeless in our hometown. This was something we could get the entire family involved with. The greatest part of it all was the time we spent together doing it. We all chipped in to collect care package items like hygiene and personal care items, some snacks and note cards for personal messages.

To save money I found some small boxes that were about to be thrown out at my job. So we re-assemble and used the boxes to pack the items and wrapped them in leftover wrapping paper from the holidays.

A few Saturday’s ago, we all got together at my parents’ house to assemble our care packages. We ended up with a table full of goodies. From deodorant, wash cloths, tooth brushes, tooth paste, hand sanitizer, lotion, soap, Band-Aids, q-tips, lip chap, bottle water, to single packed snacks – and a personalized message of encouragement.

We had lots creative ciaos in the mix, but we managed to develop some sort of assemble line to fill the box and get them wrapped.

The last and most difficult part was loading them in my grandmother’s car for delivery. This should have been the easiest part. (lol)

I love lending a helping hand and doing something special for other whenever I can. I was so elated that this was something the whole family participated with in some way.

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