Fairy Bubble Wand

Wednesday, February 28, 2018 1 comment

 I  made these fairy bubble wands that should be airing (I think) on March 6th on GMT.  They are really simple and cute.  You can adapt them  by using plastic sticks so make them a little safer (dowel rods making me nervous for little kiddos).
 I bought some beads at the dollar store, as well as some for half off at the craft store in some fun spring shapes.  I also got some 16 Gage wire from the jewelry section so it would hold it's shape.
I used some wire cutters, but you can also use scissors and just bend it back and forth a few times once you create that indent with scissors.  Another alternative would be to use a pipe cleaner.  I wrapped it around the dowel rod and then I added some floral tape and hot glue and a ribbon just to keep it really firmly in place.  Next up....bubbles.

Rainbow Seeds by Mail

 I try to send fun things through the mail to my godchildren for all the holidays.  I love that they are old enough to get excited about mail....though it didn't stop me when they were babies.
 Last ST Patrick's Day I sent some rainbow seeds....formerly known as Skittles.  I opened the box, added a fun label, slipped some little cards inside for my godchild and his brothers and then taped it back up.
The fun thing is that for just a few bucks you can mail boxes of candies straight in their original box, which is always a fun surprise.  Sure, it seems silly to mail a dollar box of candy for two or three additional bucks, but.....if you've been to a movie lately, it's practically a bargain on candy.

Crockpot Cashew Chicken

Thursday, February 22, 2018 No comments
Cashew Chicken is one of my favorite recipes.  I have made it several different ways, but I recently saw this recipe via crockpot over at the recipe critic.  This easily feeds 4 people.  I didn't take a great picture b/c I at it swiftly and forgot to grab a snap of the left overs until they were boxed up.  There is only one 'cooking' step before the crockpot.  I did drop a few ingredients (green onions), only because I didn't have them.

Ingredients:  2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces, 3 T cornstarch, 1/2 t. black pepper, 1 T oil, 1/2 c. soy sauce, 4 T rice wine vinegar, 4 T ketchup, 2 T sweet chili sauce, 2 T. brown sugar, 2 garlic cloves (minced), 1 t. grated fresh ginger, 1/4 t. red pepper flakes, 1 c. cashew

Instructions:  
1.  Combine cornstarch and pepper in a ziplock.  Add chicken and shake to coat with cornstarch mix.  2.  Heat oil over medium and brown chicken for 2 min on each side.  Place in crockpot.
3.  Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and cashew in a bowl.  Stir and toss over chicken.
4.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 2 hours.  Serve over rice.
*the original recipe says you can wait to add cashew until the end to prevent them from getting too soft

Broccoli and Cheese Cornbread

Monday, February 19, 2018 No comments
I try to stock up my freezer and pantry before winter begins b/c THIS might be the year that blizzard comes through....and I was a girl scout, so I have to prep for these sort of things!  So now, as I see spring in my near future, it's time to start purposefully working through those ingredients.  I made this broccoli cornbread to go along with sausage I had stocked away.  If you like broccoli and rice casserole, this is the bread version of that.  Plus, it's bread, with healthy stuff like broccoli inside, and just about every site I encounter says broccoli is good for you (if you ignore the stick of butter, you can almost believe that).  The original recipe came from allrecipes.  The broccoli came from my freezer of hope depleted as another winter passes me by without any missed work days.
Broccoli and Cheese Cornbread 
Ingredients:  1 c. cottage cheese, 3/4 c. butter (melted, and cooled a little or the eggs with scramble), 4 eggs, 2 pkg (8.5 oz) cornbread mix, 1 (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli (thawed), 1 large onion (chopped), 1 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese (divided)
Instructions:  
1.  Heat oven to 375.  Grease 9x13 in baking dish.
2.  Beat cottage cheese, butter, and eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in corn bread until mix is just moistened.  Fold in broccoli, onion, and 1 c. Cheddar cheese.  Pour batter into dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
3.  Bake 35-40 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).

Heat Press

Friday, February 16, 2018 No comments
This is NOT a sponsored post, this is just a tool I have tried out and liked and I wanted to share b/c I had a lot of questions before purchasing this tool.  I've had a Cricut for years, and a few years ago I got into making vinyl shirts.  I have been using my iron without too much success for long term sticking.  It also took me a lot of pressing, rubbing, lifting, re-pressing, and probably a few words I shouldn't know to get things to adhere.  I know they have large presses a lot of folks use, but I just DON'T have the space required for those presses.  I got this one for about a hundred (99) around Christmas.  It does not come with an ironing board for below to press the shirts on, so you do have to purchase that separate.  Instead of buying their board, I used a flat board from the sewing section at the craft store (use a coupon, it's much cheaper).  They just saying not to use an ironing board b/c it's not truly flat.  I followed the online instructions for temperatures, and I pressed it several times from the front and the back.  I did these little Valentine shirts and then a bunch of multi colored vinyl shirts that are going to be a surprise for something else and it worked great.  So, two thumbs up for this Cricut Heat Press that I can store in a closet and didn't need to find more table top room for in my craft room!

Galentine's Gifts

Wednesday, February 14, 2018 No comments
 Last year a few friends and I decided to go out for Valentine's....it was my second year to do Galentine's with a group of friends.  I'm not one that is bothered much by Valentine's Day regardless of my relationship status, BUT I AM one who is always up for a little holiday celebration.
I decided some cake balls were in order.
 Let me pause and say I never have perfected the cake ball, the chocolate cooking time, or the perfectly round balls of cake, but....I've perfected the taste, so.....I can live with that.  I bagged up my cake balls...
 ...and I put them in these little jewel boxes I got from Stampin' Up.
This is not an ad, I don't sell stampin' up, but when my Mom got into scrapbooking a few years ago I wanted her to have fun learning some simple techniques and I found out about this monthly club called paper pumpkin.  It's less than 25 dollars (depending on how many months you do) and they send you a kit each month where you can make banners, cards, favor boxes etc.  This was one she got and didn't use, and so I used some Valentine's Stamps in place of the original stamps.  They turned out really cute if I do say so myself. 

Ode to the Gluestick

Monday, February 12, 2018 No comments
I recently went on GMT and did 8 life hacks with the glue gun.  The first 4 are practical, the last 4 are necessary to my life.  Here is a link to the video.

Scrapbook Pages-Just add Photos

Friday, February 09, 2018 No comments

I recently went to scrapbook with my pal, Amber.  I had very few pictures I hadn't scrapbooked.  NOT because I'm caught up, but because I gave up on printing photos a few years back b/c I got so far behind, SOOOOO now I'm just scrapbooking current events and working from there.  As a single gal, it's not as though I have my kiddo's pictures stuck in a camera, and if I did, I'd just pop those puppies into a digital album and call it good.  SOOOO, in an effort to not get behind again, I did the two events I had photos from, and then did some pages for upcoming events so that I just have to journal and pop the pages inside the albums.  
This was the one page I actually had photos from, a shower I this summer. 
My sister from another mister and I think we are funny, so we do something called "ladies who Mensa" it was that or 'chess club.'  We said we were going to do monthly meetings where we tried new things.  We meet up, but usually just to eat the same old bad food, but occasionally we Mensa.  This weekend we went and got scalp massages and made some macaroons.  This page is for those adventures. 

Unicorns and birthday, you just never out grow them if you do life right.

I loooove vintage Easter, but I've had this paper combo for a few years and wanted to use it, so I went ahead and made a page.  I'll make an Easter 2019 with my vintage paper later.

I fell in love with this paper at the scrapbook store.  I'll definitely add some journaling to the blank space and some more doodads.

OK...time to put the scrapbooks up for awhile and get to work on some serious Valentine-ing.

One Little Word

Wednesday, February 07, 2018 No comments
 Last year I picked a word to focus on for the year (Shine).  I did some bible journaling, and tried to bring it to mind throughout the year.  This year, I'm getting more intentional about my word.  I'm doing a monthly challenge with my word.  I picked Hope.  In some ways it seems overused, but I really need 'it' right now and I don't feel like I've given the word it's due.  This is the year.
 I'm loosely basing this project on Ali Edwards and using some of her prompts.  I am using a scrap journal I bought a few years back at an antique store as my base, and my plan is to use it for several years.
 I defined my word (biblically), picked a verse, and gave a reason why.
 I also described some of my hopes and fears, and then what it would look like if I can successfully apply hope this year.
 My plan is to do something each month, sometimes a one 'project' type entry, or in February, my plan is to track 'hope.'
 I've picked one specific prayer to pray each day, and I'm going to mark off my daily success with these enamel dots.
I've loosely plotted out each monthly challenge, but....I give my permission to adjust my plans, just not my word!

Strawberry Crinkle Cookies

Monday, February 05, 2018 No comments
Last year I needed a dessert to take to a lunch for Valentine's Day.  I had made a version of these cookies once as Christmas Grinch Cookies, but the strawberry flavor is my new favorite....and I'm one of those 'take it or leave it' kind of strawberry fans....I usually leave it.
Not to mention-this has 4 ingredients....I've been known to miss an ingredient or three while cooking, so this is one of those I can be distracted and get right-which is a win.
So....if easy, affordable, and tasty is on the list-Strawberry Crinkle Cookies for the win.
Strawberry Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients:  1 box of strawberry cake mix, 8 oz tub of whipped topping (thawed), 1 egg, powdered sugar, sprinkles (optional)
Instructions:
1.  Mix the egg, dry mix, and pudding.
2.  Roll 1 inch balls in powdered sugar (they will be very sticky).
3.  Place on greased cookie sheet (or silpat lined pan).  Add sprinkles.
4.  Cook for about 12 minutes (until the edges are firm, but not brown).
*Makes 2 dozen.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Friday, February 02, 2018 No comments
If you have never had sopapilla cheesecake you haven't really lived.  This is a staple at a lot of events around here at least.  It has some really simple ingredients, but it's about the best thing you can do with canned crescent rolls!
Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie
Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (softened), 1 c. white sugar, 1 t. vanilla, 2 (8 oz) can refrigerated crescent rolls, 3/4 c. white sugar, 1 t. ground cinnamon, 1/2 c. butter (room temp), 1/4 c. honey
Instructions:  
1. Heat over to 350.  Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
2.  Beat the cream cheese with 1 c. of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
3.  Unroll a can of crescent roll dough and use a rolling pin to shape each piece in 9x13 inch rectangle.  Press the seems together.  Put 1 in the bottom of the pan.
4.  Evenly spread the cream cheese mix over the first crescent triangle.  Top with remaining piece of crescent dough.
5.  Crumble together sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Dot the mix over the top of the top crescent roll.
6.  Bake for about 30 minutes (crescent dough should be puffed and golden brown).
7.  Drizzle with honey (I used about half the amount).  Cool completely.  Cut into 12 squares.