Cinderella's Carriage Pumpkin

So this year I have fallen in love with Cinderella all over again with the new live action remake. Because of this, I decided months ago that I would carve my pumpkin into her carriage because, let's be real, it just make sense.
This is not meant to look exactly like the carriage from the movie, but I worked on some sketches and fond a way to make it happen. I turned out pretty good and all I needed was a bowl, a spoon, a pencil, and a knife.

Starting Out
So First, this is Frank the Pumpkin. Yes, I name my pumkins.

And here is the layout that I sketched.

Carving
Then I used the pencil and sketched onto the pumpkin, cut the top out, and gutted it. Then I started to cut the shapes. For the little designs on the carriage itself, I didn't carve all the way through, though I wish I had carved deeper than I did. Be careful with this part because there were several times that I started to grip the blade like a pencil and almost cut myself.

Here is the finished product.

Other Tips
-Be careful not to cut to close to your supports.
-Use a pumpkin preserve.
-Don't cut the top hole to wide.
-Use toothpicks to fix mess-ups.
-When picking a pumpkin, don't be too picky. You will never find the "perfect" pumpkin and that's okay.

I hope you enjoyed my pumpkin tutorial and I hope it helped someone. I love Halloween and I hope yours is wonderful!

Packing for Disney

So I have been going to Disney since before I was born. Disney practically raised me. I know the parks backward and forward as well as what to take to the parks. Here is my survival guide for Walt Disney World.

Wallet:
-I.D.
-Money
-Insurance Card

Overall:
-Tissues
-Chapstick
-Tampons
-Mints
-Keys
-Camera/Phone
-Portable Charger
-Raincoat/poncho

ALSO DON'T FORGET YOUR EARS!

This is what I recommend you bring no matter what. What to carry it in is more of your preference but I would recommend a fanny pack because then when you buy souvenirs, and you will buy souvenirs, you can hook the bag on your fanny pack belt.

So for those of you who found this helpful, I hope you have a magical time in Disney. Let me know what you thought of my list in the comments below and what you would add. I hope you have a wonderful day and a wonderful week!

How I Got 1,000 Followers in 3 Days!

For those of you that don't know, I have recently picked up photography. I really enjoy trying to capture moments that only happen once. Well, I used to post pictures to my Blog's Instagram. I have found, though, that it is just easier to have a separate Instagram for my photography.

So, I made one on Saturday and by Monday something amazing happened. I had gained 1,000 followers in just three days. It took me two weeks just to gain 100 on my Blog's Instagram. So here's what I did that really made a difference. To follow my Photography page, click here: MalanPhotography.

HASHTAGS
#Photography #Photographer #Photograph #Photo #Picture #iPhotography #iPhotographer #iPhotograph #Filter/NoFilter #MalanPhotography
Also hashtag anything that may apply to the picture. Your college, the view, etc.

Once you have a few posts, click on any of those hashtags and click the one that catches your eye. Follow the person who posted the picture and then go to their followers and follow as many as you want, until you get tired, or until Instagram won't let you. When that happens, don't freak, just wait a little while and you'll be solid. The picture to the right is my very first post on Saturday. See all the hashtags?

THE UNFOLLOWED FOLLOWER
So what I mean by this is when someone follows you that you haven't followed yet, follow them and then go and follow their followers. Also, if you have other accounts, go and follow the followers of those accounts also.

ETIQUETTE
Really what it comes down to is the best way to gain followers is to follow. It really helped me. On that note, there is some etiquette that I would like everyone to keep in mind.

-Don't unfollow once they follow you back. That's just annoying and unfair.
-Follow back when people follow you.
-Show your love for other peoples' posts. Not all the time but at least occasionally.


So there you go! That is how I gained 1,000 followers in 3 days. It was a really pleasant surprise and I hope this helps you. Let me know what tricks help you in the comments below and, as always, have a wonderful day!

FIESTA!

So last night me and a blogging friend of mine, Auburn Pride, got together for a potluck Mexican dinner football fiesta. I was in charge of making the meet for the tacos.  She was in charge of the guacamole. You can find her recipe here: Auburn Pride.

For the tacos you will need:
-Cheese
-El Old Paso Taco shells
-El Old Paso Taco mix
-Ground beef
-Sour cream
-Hot sauce

Taco Beef
For the meat, I definitely spiced it up a bit. I used the ground beef with the El Old Paso taco mix and followed the directions. I added salt if needed and I spiced it up with some hot sauce and salsa. It really gave the tacos a little bit of a kick and they were delicious.

I hope you enjoyed my twist on the tacos for our Mexican dinner football fiesta. Let me know what your Mexican recipes are in the comments below. I would love to hear them and I hope you have a wonderful day.

HALLOWEEN College Decorations

We all know the story, college equals no money. So what does a holiday lover, such as myself, do about decorating for things like Halloween? Well, I am going to tell you!

So I have five little tips to get you through Halloween this year. So here they are.

1) Use what you have around the house. I like to use cotton balls as cobb webs.

2) Use cheap acrylic paint and an old pickle jar to paint as a Frankenstein. It washes right off so you can use that jar for Christmas or Easter later.

3) Paint notebook paper for gravestones.

4) Cut out some construction paper for black bats every where.

5) Then as a last resort, go to the dollar store or raid the $1-$3 dollar aisle at Target.

I love holidays and I really hope this helped all you college kids decorate for Halloween. I can't wait to share what I do for Christmas. It is even better. Let me know what you thought of this in the comments below. As always, have a wonderful day.

Serve with Smiles

As a Christian, it is my firm belief that we are called to serve. And believe it or not, this can be the easiest thing in the world to do on a daily basis. 

Here at Auburn I am a Communications major and I get asked all the time, "What do you want to do with that?" My answer? I don't have a clue. I will be happy doing absolutely anything as long as it makes people smile. I love it when people smile, and even more so when it is because of me. So that is what I want to do with that, but how do you apply for that job you may ask? You don't. 


What I am getting at here, is you do not need a degree to make people smile. And this is also the easiest way to serve God. We need to be kind in the world and be brave enough to tell people why we are doing it. 

Sure we should also help those in need and give money, but those aren't options every day. But something as simple as holding the door open for someone, asking how someone is, saying bless you, telling them to have a good day, or giving someone a compliment whether or not you know them. It all leads to a smile curling on their lips and you may have even made their day.

My point is, showing your love for Christ through kindness goes a long way in serving the Lord. And remember another way to make people smile is to smile yourself in their direction.

I hope you enjoyed learning how I like to serve God on a daily basis. Let me know how you serve in the comments below and remember to have a wonderful day and week!

Crescent Pizza Rolls!!!

The second Gameday post of the week and it's about the best thing ever. FOOD!

For the first Auburn game, I watched it with one of my sorority sisters and very good friends. She taught me how to make the most glorious of all foods I have ever had. It was a crescent pizza pocket. Doesn't that sound amazing? 

Doesn't it look amazing?

Okay so here's what you will need:

-Pillsbury Crescent rolls

-Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

-Pepperoni

Preheat the oven following the instructions on the crescent rolls. Then start with a crescent triangle. Spread it out a little bit with your fingers.

Place pepperoni on the wide end and then put a cheese stick on top of those.

Roll it like normal and place it on a cooking sheet.

Now they are ready to be put in the oven. The time may differ from what it says on the container so you will have to keep an eye on them.

So there ya go! That is how you make the most glorious food ever and it is perfect for Gameday!!!

I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think in the comments below. As always, have a wonderful day!

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My Gameday Outfit!

So I love dressing up for Gameday! It is one of my favorite things. I love trying to come up with a different way to wear orange and blue every other Saturday. This past week I went pretty simple with what I wore. 

I found this blue and orange dress in Ross for nothing and added my Gameday boots, my shaker, a sweater, and my sorority gameday pin. 

The best way to prepare for Gameday, buy all the orange and blue you can find. The majority of my closet is blue and the majority of the rest of it is orange. It isn't hard to make something Gameday approved, though. You can wear a plain white shirt with orange or blue jewelry. Or you can just wear white or blue or orange. It's not hard and it's fun to try and fit that puzzle together. But this is just one of my outfits. I hope you liked it.

Let me know what you think in the comments below and as always I hope you have a wonderful day.

October Little's Gift

I want to do something for my little for every month, or at least every holiday. This month is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Halloween. Boo! No? I had to try.

I love Halloween and I wanted to do something for my little with a Halloween theme so I got some Halloween Reese's and some decorations for her dorm. This includes a light up pumpkin and a creepyish, orange container.

I put the Reese's in the container and the pumpkin on top. I surprised her at chapter and she loved it. Reese's are her favorite so keep that in mind if you are wanting to do something similar. I have much more planned for her and I will keep you up to date on what I do for her.
I hope this was helpful to you when it comes to your little. I hope you spoil your little the way that I am going to spoil mine. Let me know what you think in the comments below and as always have a wonderful week!