Coca Cola

Can you believe these are cupcakes? They are soooo cute. Excellent job Bakerella.

Family Fun

I was looking for some games to play with the kids during Christmas Break, and I found this website http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/childrenscardgames.html It has rules to all sorts fo fun card games. We will be trying some out.

yummy popcorn

http://www.brightideas.com/bright_idea.aspx?ID=93

This looks like a fun treat. It would be fun to use colors to match the holiday. I happen to have some red and green mm's. I just might have to make this.

*update: We tried this the other day. I was kind of disappointed. When I see colored popcorn i think of the jello popcorn balls my mom used to make as a kid, so I was hoping for some flavor. The other thing was how crunchy it was. Cooking it to hard crack makes it a brick. I still think there is nothing better than a chewy Jello popcorn ball. I will find that recipe and post it.

I Love Bakerella

Bakerella has such creativity. I am planning on letting the kids help me make these during Christmas break. I want to try them with the Red Velvet Recipe.

Christmas Apron

I am on an apron kick because I am trying to design one. I love this ones shape.

http://www.jessiesteele.com/index.php

Ornaments

I want to make these. I love the colors. How Fun.

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/ornaments/make-a-felt-mitten-and-ice-skate-ornament/

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/ornaments/easy-christmas-ornaments/?sssdmh=dm17.352380&page=14&esrc=nwholdec7_09_1&email=1803335739

Betty Crocker

I found these at Betty Crocker. These would be fun to decorate with the kids during Christmas break.

Aprons

http://www.jilliewillie.com/aprons1.html

http://mariemadelinestudio.com/aprons.html

I want an apron for every day of the week. I swear I am always ruining my clothes from spills and splatters.

calendar

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2008/11/countdown-to-christmas-make-your-own.html

I saw this today and thought it was so adorable. I really like that it can be a recycled thing. I am brain storming an idea to make it an all year calendar, something were you could change the different months and maybe use a dry erase marker on it somehow. Great thing to customize for any bedroom, kitchen, office. And would make a great gift.

Arm Warmer

I found another Arm warmer pattern that has a finger hole. I definitely want to try these.

http://journal.orangejuicy.com/?p=75

Hair Do's

Aleena's hair is finally getting a little longer and I found these cool websites for hair ideas.

She Does Hair

Curls and Cowlick

Cute 2 Try

I Want This

I saw this book on Cake Journal. I am putting this on my wish list.

Cupcake idea

I thought these would be cute for Livee's 1st birthday. I love collecting cupcake ideas. This blog is all about cupcakes. Check it out. Cupcakestakethecake

Yummiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick of butter
5 TBS shortning
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. quick oats
lots of chocolate chips

bake for 7-8 minutes at 400.
*Makes about 3 1/2 dozen
I always double this batch and make lots of cookie balls with my awesome Pampered chef cookie scoop. Freeze them. You always have a batch of cookie dough on hand.

Roasted Sweet Potato Cheesecake

This sounds divine. I really like the idea of making this ahead and freezing it, and then you can use it for a gift, or just have more time when all the family comes in town. The recipe received rave reviews and the author won a $50,000 kitchen remodel for this recipe. I love cheesecake. Maybe I could make it and slice it, put the slice in a cutesy bag, and give it as a gift.

Peggy Porschen

Everything I have come across today is about cakes and cookies. PeggyPorschen.com has some more beautiful inspiration.

Baby Leggings

I came across these the other day and had to try them. Here is a tutorial on Flickr. They are easy for diaper changing, they protect legs from carpet when crawling, and they are great under a skirt, or on the arms for older kids. You can buy original BabyLegs here or see different ways to wear them.

I found a pair of tights in one of the girls' drawers. They had a hole in them so I cut them off.

These were pretty easy. My only thing is that I would have made the cuff a bit smaller. The pattern says 2.5", I would have done maybe 2" for Livee. Since the original pattern is for tube socks and I only tights, I just sewed the top over and hemmed it. The original factory made cuff is suppose to be there.

Here they are in action.

With my top of my tights, I just tied the two cut off legs together and had a hat.

Wedding Cake Inspiration

I dabble in making cakes and these were such inspiration. Someday maybe I will have the nerve to do more wedding cakes. Seeing cool cakes really makes me want to pursue it more. I need to get past my fears and just do it. I found these at this cool place, Style me Pretty.

Thanksgiving home decor

I finally got my Thanksgiving stuff out. There isn't much.

I made him (George) a few years ago. He is my very favorite.

My mom actually painted these for me a while back. They are fun.

I just got these done. I am wondering if they are too frilly.

Magnet Board

Savanna had a Birthday party to go to and so we had to come up with a cheap gift. I had some left over tin and we turned it into a magnet board. Thank goodness for Mod Podge. We made it double sided, so she can turn it around if she wants. The only problem I had was my paper bubbled on my purple side. Sometimes when I use MP it bubbles sometimes it doesn't. Does any one know why or what causes that? Maybe I needed to let it dry more before layering my paper on top of each other? For magnets we used some fish tank rocks that were white & sparkly.

Thanksgiving Delight

Here is one I want to try. I love pumpkin pie and this looks pretty and yummy. I found it on this fun Blog. Here is the recipe.

Diaper Cake Tutorial

I have got to make one of these. I found this Awesome Tutorial on how to make them. You could really personalize it and make it for girl or boy. It would even be darling for a 1 YR. birthday. She even made the flowers out of Coffee Filters. Here is that Tutorial from Martha Stewart.

Overnight Pancakes

Overnight Pancakes-I will have to update a picture later.
(Bonnie Venema)

Stir together and let set overnight on the counter:
4 cups flour (I like to use 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)
4 cups buttermilk
In the morning add:
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Add a little milk if they seem too thick. Cook on the griddle and enjoy.

* I cut the recipe in half and it made about 12 pancakes. But you could make a big batch and freeze them for later.
To freeze them without them sticking together in the bag: Cover a big cookie sheet with wax paper. Lay the pancakes out so they aren't touching each other much. Freeze. After frozen, lay them in a ziplock. You can pop them in the microwave or toaster for a quick breakfast.
*I need to try them in my waffle maker. Maybe we will make them tomorrow for dinner. I'll let you know.

Soccer Practice Bars

1/2 c. Butter

1/2 c. Brown Sugar

1/2 c. Sugar

1 egg

1/3 c. Peanut Butter

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. flour

1 c. old fashioned oatmeal

1 c. semi choc chips

1 c. milk choc chips

ICING-combine and set aside

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 TBSP Peanut Butter

2 TBSP milk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and PB and mix well. Stir in soda, salt, flour and oatmeal. Press into a 9" x 13" baking pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with icing.

Cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 24 squares

*I love using 1/2 semisweet and 1/2 milk chocolate chips. My Hubby loves ss & I love milk, so it makes a great compromise.

*The batter is sticky and tough to spread, so I tried using my angled spatula and it worked great. If it starts to stick again, just wipe off and spread some more.

*They are super delicious with a nice cold glass of milk.

*Just use a spoon and let the icing drip off the spoon. I didn't end up using all of the icing, but most of it.

Hal's Littlest Pet Shop Birthday

Hallie was loving Pet Shop animals. We made a puppy and played "Pin the tail on the puppy". I cheated on the cake. I bought a cake from costco that had balloons on it, and added a birthday pet shop kit. Not great pictures of this one.

We played a match game with some Pet Shop cards we had. This party was sort of thrown together at the last minute. Having a 2 1/2 month old baby, I just wasn't able to spend the time that I like, but Hallie didn't know the difference. She still had a great time.

Savanna's flower birthday

We decided to go with cupcakes for this Birthday. I put them in the shape of a flower and squirted a swirly on eache one and then piped the purple and put sprinkles on the pink ones. It was pretty quick and the kids loved it. I have a piece of wood that I keep tucked away that I put a piece of matching paper on as a background.

Princess Birthday

Aleena had a princess Birthday. I had a Romantic Castle Cake set. The towers, window and doors are plastic. I frosted the tops of the towers and sprinkled them with colored sugar. I made pink flowers out of fondant the day before so that they could dry. I found a set of princess poly-pocket dolls and used them as accents.

We celebrated Grama's birthday at the same time. On the invitations we invited everyone to come to Princess Aleena's Palace and and to celebrate the Princess's birthday and the Fairy Godmother -who was grama. We invited everyone to wear pink or purple to the party. Grama and Aleena dressed up in their costumes to open presents and sing happy birthday. It was sooo fun.

Flip-flops

Hallie had a flip flop Birthday. We had flip flop invitations, flip flop cookies, and got to decorate a pair of flip flops by tying on the fabric strips. We also had face painting. It was a great party. 2006.

MHS

The high school cheerleaders were having an end of year banquet and so I made cupcakes with mini pom-poms and each of their names on them. This was the first time I really got to use my Wilton cupcake towers. They are sooo fun. I didn't really love how the big cake turned out. The wording was a bit crooked and the cake wasn't quite level. The big 1/2 sheets are not my favorite. I remember the pom-poms being more work than I charged for, but they were still cute.

Family Valentine's Dinner

We knew it was too much of a challenge to get a babysitter on Valentine's Day, plus we couldn't afford it, so we made it a family affair. I made a heart shaped pizza with heart shaped peperoni's, red jello, and sparkling cider. I decorated with conversation hearts & curling ribbon. I didn't have any candle holders, so I turned over 3 glasses and set the candles on top. The kids thought it was so cool to have a "candlelight dinner". 2005.