Sparkler Photography Tutorial

I'm so excited for the 4th of July! There will be cookouts, fireworks, family, and sparkler photography. That's right. Sparkler photography. This is honestly one of my favorite shots. I wait year round to get pictures of sparklers and fireworks! One of the shots with sparklers that I like to do is a slow exposure photograph so that you can draw something out with the sparkler and it will show up like in my picture.

Here is how to take a slow exposure shot of a sparklers:

1. First of all, you'll need to put your camera in manual mode so you can control the settings.  Try out your camera  to see what works best. It's best to put your camera on a tripod for slow exposure shots so you can't see the blur.
2. Your shutter speed should be as least 5 seconds, or long enough to capture whatever you want to draw with the sparkler.
3. It is best to shoot these photos in kind of a twilight light so the person holding the sparkler is a silhouette in the background.
4. The ISO should be 100-200 so the picture is not grainy and to make the sparkler stand out.
5. Now have someone try drawing something with the sparkler! Adjust setting to personal preferences if needed.

Fourth of July Nails

If you're like me, it's a struggle to paint your nails. I can barely get a coat of plain nail polish on, let alone paint a design. However; I found that I could do super cute 4th of July nails without all of the difficult designs. With these nails, all it takes it two coats of paint, but it still incorporates red, white, and blue.

First, I chose to paint all of my nails except my ring finger this red color. This nail polish is by Sinful Colors and the name is Ruby Ruby (#369).

Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby (#369)

Next, I painted my ring fingers with this gorgeous blue color by Pure Ice. The color is French Kiss (#538).

Pure Ice French Kiss (#538)

Lastly, I covered all of my nails in this gorgeous glitter clear coat by Revlon that has different sizes and shapes of red and white glitter. The name of this nail polish is Daring Graffiti (#678).

Revlon Daring Graffiti (#678)

That is all I did to get these 4th of July nails. Most of the holiday designs are complicated, but it doesn't have to be. This nail idea is perfect even if you don't have a lot of time.

Lasagna Rolls Recipe

Lasagna sounds difficult to make, which is why I don't have it often. When I'm craving lasagna, I typically just opt for a microwave dinner. This is the easiest lasagna recipe I've found, and it is just as delicious. You can even make it a skinny dish by using fat-free or low-fat cheese. Continue reading to find out how to make these delicious lasagna rolls.

Serves: 9

Ingredients:

• 9 lasagna noodles (cooked and dried)
• 24 oz. spaghetti sauce
• 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
• 1/2 cup preferred shredded cheese (I used 4 cheese blend)
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 9 tbs. preferred shredded (I used Mexican cheese blend)
• 1 egg

Instructions:

1. Let spinach thaw according to instructions. Make sure to drain.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions and let dry. Noodles will still feel a little sticky when dry.
4. Combine spinach, egg, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and ricotta in medium bowl.
5. Spoon just enough spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish so the lasagna will not stick.
6. Lay out lasagna noodles on wax or parchment paper and spread spinach ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle.
7. Roll up the lasagna noodles and place seam down in baking dish.
8. Spoon the spaghetti sauce over each lasagna roll.
9. Top each lasagna roll with 1 tbs. of preferred shredded cheese mixture.
10. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until cheese melts.

                        That's all, folks! There is your easy and delicious lasagna roll recipe.

Best Drugstore Lipsticks

      Decent drugstore lipstick can be hard to find. Most of it wears off within the first hour and just doesn't have a good formula. I have created a list of my favorite drugstore lipsticks that are almost or just as good as the high-end lipsticks in my favorites shades. These lipsticks/ lip glosses do not dry out my lips and stay on for a long time considering the price. Keep reading to see what they are.

The swatches and lipsticks are in the same order as the list from left to right

1.) "Elf Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick" in the color Movie Star ($2.00)

2.) "Wet n' Wild Silk Finish Lipstick" in the color Dark Wine ($4.99)

3.) "Elf Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick" in the color Pink Umbrellas ($2.00)  

(Note: I realize that I already mentioned this exact product in a different color, but I think this is another perfect color for summer, so I just wanted to throw it out there.)

4.) Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Mattes Lip Color in the color Touch of Spice ($5.22)

5.) Elf Matte Lip Color in the color Praline ($3.15)