About Me


Welcome! My name is Melissa Jean, and this is my blog, All with a Manicure. I plan to have my blog contain my DIY projects, cooking fun, some frugal finds, and all of my learning experiences along the way.
A bit about myself, and my first ever blog (that’s right this is my FIRST blog-eek! :) Try not to critique too hard) First of all, the title, “All with a Manicure” is a bit misleading. I very rarely have my nails done, not that I don’t LOVE to get manis, I just ruin them the second I get them done! Being a busy mom of an almost 5 year old boy, and loving to craft, pretty nails and I don’t mix.  If you had hopes to find pretty nails on this blog, I am sad to tell you that you may be let down. Then why the name you ask…. Good question!
Oh, and yes I said a mom to an almost 5 year old boy. Some of you may know what that means: dirt, cuts, bruises, bikes, sports, pretty much craziness! Who am I kidding? My son is as good as they come, but I am bias. ;) My little rock star is the light of my life. He really enjoys staying home with his mama, almost as much as I enjoy having him home with me I am sure ;)  He also attends pre K 3 days a week, which is a relatively new thing for us, however we are both very happy with it. When he is home we enjoy cooking and doing crafts, boy does he love to craft. I am sure I will have posts about kid friendly crafts! One of his all-time favorite web sites is Sprout Online, I recommend it too! Great craft ideas, and games for many skill levels.
 In addition to being a mother, I am also a wife to an amazing and very patient man. (Lord knows he needs to be with me as a wife) Although my hubby isn’t home much, because his job requires him to be gone a lot (big sad face) when he is home he never complains about my crazy projects, or pulling the car over so I can pull something out of some ones garbage. Yes I really do that. My hubby supports my crafting and DIY sickness, sometimes I think he might even like it… maybe just a little! Haha! It’s not so bad for him though, I say “hey babe, I was thinking about getting a spray gun set.” He replies with, “well that means I get a new air compressor right!?” He he he see how he did that ;) I do love that man!

Oh yes, did I mention I also run a zoo. That’s right I am a certified zoo keeper! It’s true! (ok maybe not %100 true) Our non-human family consists of 2 dogs 2 cats and a turtle, so it counts as a zoo right? A petting zoo maybe? Mater is our Boxer Hound mix, George is a Mastiff Rottweiler mix, Tilly is an orange Persian, Jack a black Persian, and last but not least Victor Victoria is our Red Ear Slider.  Phew that’s a list if I have ever seen one.
When I am not running my house or my zoo I enjoy many hobbies. One of my newest is painting furniture. As I mentioned above, I recently purchased a spray gun set. My first project was a dresser for the guest room. It went pretty well I would say. Of course my amazing hubby helped me along the way  (A LOT) but I’m learning.
 I also enjoy decorating our NEW house! We are first time home buyers, well I guess we bought a house, but none the less it was our first time. It was one of my biggest dreams and it has come true! We have been here for about 4 months and I still sit here looking around going “this is OURS”. LOVE!!! I also enjoy making things for my house. I have made curtains shades, wall décor, furniture and more.
 Yet another hobby I really enjoy is scrap booking. Oh how I love to scrap late into the night. Yet another dream of mine that has come true is to have a craft room. I share a room with my son for his play room, but I can live with that! It’s so wonderful to have a place to craft! I also like to sew, although this hobby is probably my weakest area. I am at a beginner level with sewing. HOWEVER I did just sign up for classes at a local shop come the first of the year. Exciting!
 Last and maybe least (or least successful. Haha) is cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I can make a mean meatloaf, a hardy pot roast, or some killer chicken breasts, but throw in any other aspects and it’s getting complicated. I try though, and sometimes I do well, sometimes not so much.  On the bright side my dogs never complain about my cooking ;) ha ha ha  I can bake, or so I like to think. Right now I am loving the cake balls! Mmmmmmmmmm yummy! I love to make apple pie, and just last year made my first ever pumpkin pie which wasn’t half bad!
What can I say, I am really willing to try any type of craft or cooking.
As far as my frugal side goes: I was raised in a home where garage sales and thrift stores were ok to shop at. I must admit I LOVE to go to yard sales and thrift stores! There is no better feeling than finding something for dirt cheap and getting compliment after compliment on it! I also use coupons, not a lot, but enough to have cut our grocery bill in half on most trips, sometimes even more. I do not stock pile though, no I don’t have canned food or cereal coming out from under the beds ;) ( have we all seen extreme couponing? Great show)
One last note worth mentioning, I am horrible with grammar, spelling, well let’s just say writing in general. Let me take a moment to apologize about all of the above.