Classy and Opinionated Lifestyle Mom Blog
For the past few months I’ve been featuring various craft projects on the blog that you can do with the kids. This one is one you can do with older kids, but you will need to supervise them while they are making them. In addition, …
A few months ago I received the Epson LW-300 Label Printer and the Epson LabelWorks Iron-on Kit to review and you can check out my original review HERE to read about all of the cool features this portable ribbon and label printer has. To refresh your …
Note: The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.
Photography…it’s something I just LOVE but not real good at. I’ve been taking photographs all of my life and over the years…I’ve been really improving upon my photography skills. With that said, I’m no expert and I don’t pretend to be one.
I take pictures for all kinds of different reasons. I take them to capture special family moments, travel photos from various vacations and of course…as a blogger I need to take thousands of photographs for my various blogs. On an average week, I will take 75+ photographs.
If you are new to photography or just looking for an easy-to-use photo editing software program, I highly recommend the new Adobe PhotoShop Elements and Premiere Elements 14. These programs are available at Best Buy and are super easy to use! Matter of fact, the software guides you through installing it and then on how to set it up. Once you have it installed & set-up…there are various videos and tutorials available (free) to help teach you the program.
The Adobe PhotoShop Elements and Premiere Elements 14 are all about helping you improve your photos in a very simple & easy way. Not only that…this software quickly & easily allows you store your photos and videos in an organized way and allows you to share your works of “art” with others. This is great for people like me who have family and business clients all around the world.
The Elements lineup is all about simplicity and sharing with both your photos & videos. This photo editing software is great for the casual picture taker or those just getting started who want an easy way to organize, edit, and share their photos and videos.
With this software you can do all sorts of different photo editing. You can remove red-eye, whiten teeth, fix the lighting, remove haze from landscape shots, remove shaking from selfie photos, convert color photos to black & white and add all kinds of different artistic touches and cool effects. Yup, you can do photo and video editing just like the pros.
One of the things I love about this software is the new Guided Edits feature. I often don’t trust my own artistic judgement and now with the Guided Edits it will make some suggestions to you on how you can improve the video and/or photo. I found this to be extremely helpful to me and really allows me to get my photos looking beautifully and if I want…I can add some really cool artistic touches to them.
Once you have created your masterpieces you can share your photos or videos via disc, on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and more! You can view them on 4K and HD TVs which is a totally new feature with Elements 14. If you’re a Facebook addict…you can even create custom Facebook cover photos with this software and it’s super easy to do!
If you are into movie-making and videos…you can edit and view high-resolution 4K movies for the ultimate cinematic experience, and make a splash by easily adding animated titles and transitions. How cool is that? Totally cool!!!
Another feature I love about this software is that I can easily organize and find my photos and videos fast! I can file them by a person’s name, location, date, activity, etc. Whatever works for me (or you) is how you can set up your photo and video storage. This make it super easy for me to find my past photos and to organize new ones that I’m creating. It’s all done with the touch of a button and the software walks you through it. Can it get any easier than that? Nope!
I’ve been using this software for the past 2 weeks and absolutely love it! I thought there would be a HUGE learning curve but was super surprised to see that I was doing cool photo editing within 1 hour of installing the software. Yay!
The Adobe PhotoShop Elements and Premiere Elements 14 are currently available at Best Buy for $149.99. This is a must-have in my book if you want to learn editing, adding creative artistic effects, sharing photos & video online or just for organizing and editing your own personal media. It’s fantastic!
Note: Shelly H. has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. Regardless, her opinions, thoughts and ideas are 100% her own, unbiased and unique opinion.
For the past 2 years my husband and I have been putting a lot of time and money into the landscaping around our home. We have a lot of plans for our property and after 2 years…I would estimate that we have accomplished 60% of …
I love decorating my home in the beach cottage and coastal styles. While I like some nautical items…I am really drawn more to the simple coastal & beach style. Last month I ran into a bargain sale and picked up 4 of these Frugal Finds. …
A few weeks ago Chris started a new feature here on the TwoClassyChics blog called Fun Frugal Finds. Well today, I get to share with all of you one of my frugal finds and some DIY instructions on how I completely upgraded an old cement bird bath.
Several weeks ago my hubby and I were down at the flea market and I came across an old 2-piece cement outdoor bird bath. It wasn’t looking beautiful any more but the sellers only wanted $10.00 for it. I quickly snagged it up and brought it home.
I didn’t like the color of it at all and it had a few scratches and some peeling. The first thing you want to do is thoroughly clean it. I did this by using a garden hose, scrub brush and some household bleach. Let it completely dry before you do the next steps.
At my local home improvement store (Lowe’s) I bought 1 tube of caulking and 2 cans of outdoor spray paint that had a granite finish & texture to it. The caulking was $5.00 and the spray paint was $10.00 per can. Total spent $25.00.
I had sand paper already on hand and lightly sanded off some of the areas that had crusty things on them. I then wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove all debris. I used the caulking to fix the fine line scratches & cracks. Left it dry and then lightly sanded again so I had a smooth surface. Wipe with damp cloth again to remove any debris.
A few days later we had a hot & sunny day so I decided to paint it. Shake up the spray paint cans thoroughly before using. In addition, ONLY do this outside in a well-ventilated area. Stand back from your bird bath and lightly spray each piece until coated. If the paint runs or forms drip marks…you are standing too close & putting it on too heavy.
Let the first coat dry and then apply a second coat; let dry again. Flip your two pieces over and repeat the painting process. Let dry for a full 24 hours.
We decided to use ours as a patio table. It has a flat bottom to the bowl portion. When we are not using it as a table…I have a large glass jar sitting on it that is filled with beach treasures that I’ve collected over the years. You could also put a flower planter or anything else that you would like. If you want to spend some additional money, have a glass cutter cut you a glass top for it.
I’ve paired it up with 2 white Bistro Patio chairs that I also snagged at a Flea Market and I did a re-do on those too! I will save that for another post in the next few weeks.
A new comparable bird bath of this quality and size would of cost me around $90 to $100. The total amount spent on this project re-do was $10 for the bird bath and $25 for paint & caulking. Total cost $35.00. I think it turned out fabulous!!!
Last month we hosted a Birthday party for my niece who was turning thirteen. This party consisted of 7 girls plus my niece for a fun sleepover at her mother’s house. Just like most teen girls, they are into bath, body and beauty products and …
Have you ever been invited to a “Holiday Sweater Party” and wondered where you were going to find a unique holiday sweater to wear? This kit is just the ticket! Michael Simon, who designed many of those unique holiday sweaters in the 1980s, has created …