Grandparents Day!

Here we go again!
A wonderful day to celebrate grandparents! It's on this day in particular that I miss having my own grandparents around.
You really take those old people for granted. I thought they were old and clueless when I was little .. Little did I know they could teach me so my much!

Lucky for me (and my babies), my parents are always around and wonderfully active in my kids lives. We are so very blessed.

I saw this idea on Pinterest.

Grab a Sharpie. Draw or write whatever you wish on your mug.
Bake in a preheated oven (350) for 30 minutes.
Let them cool and the design should stick.

I did one for myself on a glass mug and the design wiped right off after I had a cup of coffee.
I'm thinking since the glass was so shiny and couldn't absorb the ink as much that might explain why it came off.
I hope.

Haha.

Anyway! We had a wonderful day and were able to make my parents (and Aunt - who is also a grandparent. Duh.) a yummy brunch and I think it was enjoyed by all!

Mother's Day!

So here's my moms gift that I made her.
I saw the idea on Pinterest but it was much younger kids. I thought it would be cute so I tried it & she loved it!

The pictures (in birth order) are pretty self explanatory. My sister sent me her picture from AZ and I just took the one of my brother (he took mine).

I bought the frame from Target for like $15. :)

Geocaching!

I made this little shadow box to fill up with all of our goodies!

I just used a couple scraps of scrap booking paper and attached it all with tape.

I'm sorry

I've neglected you, my poor little blog.

I'm sorry.

I'll come back, I promise.

And I'll provide crafts & yummy foods!

How about that?

:)

Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays!
(Doesn't matter if I'm with someone or not, I love the day!)
So January 14th - I put this up so I had a whole month of my house filled with hearts. Haha. 

Happy Valentine's Day! :) 

Charlie Brown

This is Carlos. My former husband.

This is his awesome shirt that I made him for Christmas.

He somehow acquired the nickname Charlie Brown, so I thought this would be oh-so appropriate! 

I bought a $5 yellow Polo from Old Navy and used a black Fabric marker that I already had.

I simple free handed it and here is my creation.

He loved it! :)

Bird Feeders

Super easy & fun craft for kids. :) 

Grab some pine cones.

Cover 'em in peanut butter.

Cover that in bird seeds. 

And here you go!

Tan/White nails

I love doing fun things with my nails.

I saw this idea using tan and black triangles .. but I only had a thin white nail polish brush.

I tried this and love it!
I forgot to put a top coat on, but these were liked by many!

:) 

Late Christmas post - Reindeer Cookies!

Reindeer Cookies

First off, I'm very sorry that this is in February. 

These cookies are super yum and really easy to make!

Basically - you make peanut butter cookies, make them a little narrow at the bottom and bake.

You buy chocolate covered pretzels, small brown M&Ms and regular size red M&Ms.
As pictured, you place them in the cookie RIGHT after taking them out of the oven.

And badda boom, badda bing - you have wonderfully cute cookies.

These were a hit wherever I took 'em to. 

I made them for my son's class (and they were a success), I made them for my work (and they were a success), and I made them for family (they were a success there too)! 

Crowd pleaser - fo' sho'! 

http://buddingbaketress.blogspot.com/2010/12/peanut-butter-reindeer-cookies.html

Blue Moon Cupcakes

http://www.ericasweettooth.com/2012/01/blue-moon-and-corona-cupcakes.html

That link will take you to a magical place. 

Between Blue Moon or Corona cupcakes - I knew I had to try the Blue Moon ones.

I have cooked with beer before and as most of you know, the flavor normally cooks out.

After baking these cupcakes, a fancy trick is involved!

Warm (and fresh) from the oven, you poke tiny holes with a toothpick. THEN you brush the cupcakes with leftover beer and VOILA! you have delicious beer cupcakes!

Even though I'm not a fan of Corona, I might have to try them since these were so good!

Lasagna Soup!

Lasagna Soup

http://www.livelovepasta.com/2012/01/lasagna-soup/#more-7412

So seriously - this is AH-mazing soup!

This delicious concoction made by Live, Love, Pasta! is a fun twist on a classic dish.

I made this on a Sunday night and was able to share with several people.

Every single person who ate it, fell in love.

Seriously.

So delish.

Go out & get the stuff & make it!

Now.

Nutella yummyness!

I made these last week and BOY were they delicious!

Introducing my .. Nutella cupcakes!

Ok, "my" isn't the correct word.
My batch of someone else's cupcakes. Haha.

I'll provide the link for anyone interested.

But please note, these are super yummy and you will want to eat more than one. 

Just sayin'. :) 

http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2011/05/guest-post-nutella-cupcakes/

Go make some! NOW!

Christmas Tree topper!

There is no art to this, but I thought I'd share.

This is the top of my Christmas tree.

It's kinda hard to tell what is what, but I'll try to explain.

I bought the orange feather-type things from Pier 1.

I got 'em for like 64 cents a piece and when I say "a piece" I mean a whole branch of these things.

So I cut off the long branch and stuck 'em throughout the top. (Plus a couple towards the bottom of the tree)

Then I went to Target and saw the swirly, glittery fun things. Haha. That's an awesome name, right?

They were $2. I thought I could separate the strips, but I was wrong. So three chunks later, there we go.

Finally, my mom bought me some sparkley additions from Cracker Barrel. They were like 4 bucks but I think they were 40% off. I don't know - she grabbed 'em and bought 'em before I knew what was happening.

So here it is!

I LOVE it. It's a fun twist to the top of our tree and something I've always wanted to do :) 

Painted Ornaments

Painted Ornaments

Seriously, they're so fun to make!

I thought of this idea in November and then Googled it to make sure I wasn't crazy.

Today, we were going to buy a tree but I knew if we bought a tree we'd need ornaments ..

So instead of buying a tree and having it remain naked, I decided we'd start on our ornaments and buy a tree on Sunday! :)

Good idea. Right?!

So we sat down with my case of paints and I showed the kids how we would do it.

They sat and observed, very intent on what I was doing.

They quickly took to it and enjoyed picking out colors and watching the designs they would make.

So here's my simple instructions:

Go to Michael's (or your favorite craft supply store) and buy clear ornaments. I bought plastic because I have two children under the age of 6 and a cat.

I bought ten plastic circles.

Take the top off and set aside.

Drop a good amount of paint into one of the balls.

Swirl around, slightly vigorously.

Add another color if desired.

Place your thumb (or paper towel for kids) on the opening.

Shake so everything is covered.

And, finally, sit it upright so the paint doesn't drip out.

Once they're dry, add the topper back on and hang on your tree!

Note: You must add a sufficient amount of paint so that it moves around the ball. At first, I added too little and nothing was moving.

Enjoy yourselves!
The kids had a blast and I only got a little antsy a couple of times. 

That's a record! Hahaha

Christmas decor.

And here are my Christmas shelves!

They're kinda boring.

Well, to me they are.

I will probably add more to them as I accumulate more decor.

But my house is all clean and the rest (not pictured) has been decorated and is looking really festive!

I love Christmas! :D

OH, and my house smells like a Christmas tree even though we don't have one yet. 

Thank you, Bath & Body Works! 

PS, here's a hint for my next post:

What is something you might use EVERY DAY until Christmas? 

Be on the look out! 

Next week!

If you have any awesome cake pop recipes - send them to me!
Next week I'm going on my second attempt to master cake pops.

The first time I made them was last Christmas. It was my former boyfriend's Christmas party and I made them into snowball heads. (Minus the sticks since they didn't stay together)

They were okay but I got a lot back and normally they eat everything I give.

So I knew I messed up!

I think (looking back) that I added too much frosting. 

So this time, I will use a recipe and make sure I do it word for word! 

Once I make them, I will definitely share with you all.

And to keep you entertained ..
Here's my inspiration.

Starbucks Cake pops! Yummm!

Army pride!

My best idea this month, I think! :) 

Carlos came into town for a month. When he got here, he brought goodies for the kids from his deployment to Iraq.

The flag flew in Iraq so he bought the holder for that.

Then we went and bought the long shadow box to add the rest of the little stuff.

You can't really see the second coin (bottom right corner) but it's there.

There's two coins that he earned.

A scarf he wore overseas to protect his face from sand storms.

Two badges of his.

And in the middle is Iraqi money.

I pinned everything with needles you use in sewing .. those real thin ones that hold two pieces of fabric together? Yeah, those.

We did have to hot glue the coins onto the backing because there was no way the coins were going to stay up unless we did.

Anyways - both are now hanging in the hallway.

We're going to add a picture of Carlos, maybe.

Plus he's going to mail one of his badges that says his last name to add to the shadow box.

PS,
It's almost time to start creating Christmas crafts.

Are you excited??

Showing off the arts! :)

Easy DIY project! :) 

I have some all-purpose white yarn that I keep around. I use it for everything! 

I had just moved into my new place and I love showing off the kids art work .. so I sat and thought about what I could do to show it off.

I grabbed some of my white yarn and tacked it up with white tacks. 

I attached clothespins onto the string and clipped on various pieces of art.

I change out the kids art work every week .. especially since Dylan brings me home such goodies! :)

Be on the look out!

For Christmas crafts & recipes! 

If you're a fan ..

If you're creating any recipes/projects we do, please send pictures! 

I'd love to see them and give you credit :) 

My email is d.squarede@yahoo.com 

Keep 'em coming! 

Love you all :)