Mother Blocks

Mothers....  I have strong feelings about Mothers and Motherhood, it is a difficult job.  Rewarding beyond measure, but difficult.  Just yesterday I sat down and wondered why one Earth I did this to myself and thinking I must have been crazy to decide I want another one!  But I do love my children, and being a mother, even if I might be bald by the time they all reach kindergarten.

I made up this cute little craft using my Silhouette and glass blocks, found at Walmart.

If you would like to make one the Silhouette store has a background pattern similar to the one I used, I made my own, but if you don't want to I think they charge about a dollar for the patterns.  For the smaller cursive words I just typed them up and picked a font.

I may or may not, get some pretty ribbon and tie a bow around each (with the bow on top) or even get a battery operated candle and pop it in the little hole at the bottom of the block, but I haven't decided yet.

Sugar Cookie: Fruit Pizza

I made this for a fun girly get-together. Love it! It was a huge hit!

(I halved the recipe because I wanted to make 1 medium-size pizza...it made 8 large slices...and it was perfect. But the individual ones they made on their blog is so cute too!)

FRUIT PIZZA

Found Here: Six Sister’s Stuff

Sugar Cookie Crust
1/4 C Milk

1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 C Butter or Margarine
4 C Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs

Soften margarine slightly, then add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir well, then mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and milk. Chill dough for about an hour and it will be easier to roll out.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it's a little more than 1/4" thick. You can either transfer it to an ungreased pizza pan to make a big pizza or use circle cookie cutters to make mini pizzas. (If you make the large pizza size, you will only use about 3/4 of the dough, so you can make mini ones with the leftovers!) Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. Let the sugar cookie crust cool completely before adding the cream cheese layer.

Cream Cheese Layer8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)

1 C Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
8 oz. Cool Whip

Mix together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in the Cool Whip and stir well. Spread cream cheese layer over cooled sugar cookie. Then you can start adding the fruit.

Fruit OptionsStrawberries

Kiwi
Bananas
Grapes
Blueberries
Mandarin Oranges
Raspberries
Pineapple
Or whatever fruit you love!!

*I also thought about not doing fruit, and doing chocolate chips or mini-M&M's, but I didn't. If you try it, let me know!

Frosted Flake French Toast w/ Strawberries

I have the most amazing husband in the world!  He woke up early this morning, went to the grocery store, came home and made me the most delicious breakfast I have ever had!  For no special reason at all, just because he loves me.  I feel very loved this morning.

Are you ready for this?

Prepare yourself for the most delicious breakfast you've ever had.

Frosted Flake French Toast

Texas Toast Bread

Egg Whites*

Frosted Flakes Cereal (generic brand works too)

Chopped Strawberries**

Whipped Topping

The amounts will vary pending on how many people you're making it for.

One at a time: Dip bread in egg whites, then coat in Frosted Flakes Cereal.  Deep Fry in hot oil until lightly golden.  Serve topped with chopped strawberries and whipped topping.  (My husband treated me to chocolate whipped topping, which was amazing, but regular would be good too!)

*You can use the whole egg if desired, using the yokes will give the toast a yellow color, but it still tastes good, just an appearance factor.

**My husband chopped up fresh strawberries and then added in a small jar of canned strawberries in strawberry juice which gave it a more juicy flavor.

You could use other berries if you so desire, but strawberries just speak love don't they?

This breakfast is guaranteed to get your day off to a good start.

actually by my husband. ☺

My New Purse :)

For the last few weeks I have really been wanting to find a new purse that is a little bigger than the one I was currently using. Then I saw my good friend Lindsay walking around with this...

Isn't it freaking cute! I thought it was perfect so I asked her if I could borrow her purse for a couple days. Then I bought some matching fabrics and attempted to make my own. I started out by making squares that were 4.5 in. by 4.5 in. and then sewed them all together. Then I cut out a pattern of the front of the bag and then cut out on my fabric.
Make sure to iron down the seams as you sew each row. It makes it lay flat and looks alot nicer on the other side.
Then I cut out the inside fabric and sewed on some pockets.
Then I sew the bottom pieces together.
Then I sewed the pieces all together......now yours should not look like this unless...
you want to do alot of this....
So basically you sew down the sides and leave the bottom open and then pin in the bottom piece and sew around it.
Then put the 2 bags inside one another
Then I sewed a big tub and ironed it flat.
Then I attached the tube handle to the sides and then sewed the edges to complete the edges.
Make sure if you want to attach a magnetic clasp or tie or something that you do it before you finish all the edges.
And wal-la! You have an awesome purse! I love it!

Better Late Than Never Valentines Day Card

I made some cards for Valentines Day several weeks ago and I thought I would share...

(This one says "This Much")

And because I am so awesome.....I forgot to send any out. Oh well....guess I have them made and ready to go for next year!

Magnetic Paper Dolls

The other day I was at the store and I found a set of princess magnetic paper dolls. I thought they were super cute, but they were kinds pricey. So I thought about it for a little but and decided I would make my own. So I went and bought a tin gift card box from the dollar store and some magnetic paper from our local craft store. (I was originally going for some adhesive magnet paper, but this magnetic paper was much cheaper.) Then I just used my cricut and my paper doll cartridge.

Then I cut out a bunch of different outfits, hairstyles, and accessories. (Make sure they fit on your tin box)

Then I layed them all out and then modge podged each piece down onto the magnetic paper.

Then the next day after they were dry I cut them all out and put them in the box. You might need to put some books on top of the pieces after you cut them out to flatten them out. Then let you little princess go wild dressing up her doll!

(Sorry I didn't get a final picture)

Necklace Holder

All my long necklaces kept getting tangled....granted I was keeping them in a drawer, but still! It's obnoxious! Anyway, I received this bit of "inspiration" from something I had seen on Pinterest.

I went to Walmart and bought a wooden (bamboo, about $5.00) silverware organizer. I bought a couple packages of small "Command" Hooks (this way I take them on and off, switch them around, and also hang the necklaces a little lower) and put them in each of the long slots. Along the bottom I thought about just storing my glasses. But, instead, I made a trip to good old Dollar Tree, and found tiny square containers (found near all the zip-lock and other food storage containers). They were in a pack of like 10 for a dollar! I actually bought 2 packages...wonderful to help organize trinkets, beads, buttons, clips, rings, bobby pins...and earrings. So, I just put a few on the bottom shelf, and VOILA!

And I LOVE it!! So much easier to keep my jewelry organized! I separated out the earrings into the different colors (black, brown, silver/white, and colors). This was the BEST $10 ever!!! The idea I saw on Pinterest even connected several of these together down the wall/closet...but I don't have that many necklaces yet....nor a place to hang several of these!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's no secret that we

Our Readers! So, on behalf of all of us,

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

I made you all a treat: Red Velvet Cheesecake Pops...they're even Heart shaped!! :)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Pops:

1 Red Velvet Cake Mix, cooked according to box directions

1 recipe (or can) Cream Cheese Frosting

Once cake is cooked and cooled, dump entire cake into a large bowl. Stir in your cream cheese frosting to make a "paste"-type substance. I put the mixture into some heart-shaped ice cube molds I got in the dollar-bin at target. You can also use a cookie scoop to make small balls, and just put them on a cookie sheet or onto wax paper. Put in freezer for at least 2 hours (you can leave them in there for several days even, if you need to!).

Once they're frozen, you can melt some white chocolate (baking squares, chocolate chips...whatever floats your boat). If it's too thick to dip, you can add a small amount of shortening. DO NOT add water!

I put the melted chocolate into a cup, to make it easy to dip. I buy the sucker sticks (they come in packages) at Walmart...usually they are near the wedding stuff. Put your sticks into your frozen cake pops, then dip in white chocolate. Place on cookie sheet or wax paper and allow chocolate to harden. Put back into the fridge or freezer, and enjoy as you desire! YUM!!!!! Hope you enjoy them! ;)

I let my boys pick out what they wanted to create for their Valentine's boxes this year. My older son wanted an Alligator:

And my younger one wanted a TRUCK:

I used empty tissue boxes, an empty pasta box, and an empty tongue depressor box from work (who knew that being a nurse could come in so handy?!) A little acrylic paint, decorative and construction paper, and this was our final product. The kids LOVED them. And so do I. I think I'm going to stick them in our Valentine's tote and let the boys use them again next year. :)

Bedroom Project

I have 2 boys. Their room was covered in animals and the color green....all stuff from their crib-set. Well, I decided that because it was time to give their room a small make-over. I'm not doing anything major, because we will be moving in a few months...but just decided to add a bit of color...and have their room actually match! :)

I started by making a small board using some wooden letters I found at Michaels. I let each of the boys put their handprint on the sign, and finished by putting a favorite saying using vinyl lettering: "Sometimes being a BROTHER is even better than being a SUPERHERO." Marc Brown.

The next step was matching curtains. I just took strips of matching fabric and made 2-panel curtains.

The next step was comforters. I couldn't find anything I really loved at the store, but I wanted something really BASIC. So, I took 2 matching fabrics and cut them slightly larger than the bed (toddler bed), so they would hang down on the sides. I made the "back" fabric 1" bigger on each side, so that I could make and easy binding. I bought a queen size comforter batting at Joanns, and simply cut it in half. Then I pinned the 2 pieces of fabric together (sorry I didn't take pictures of each step!).

I sewed 3 straight lines from top to bottom of the fabric, to keep the batting in place. Then I simply turned the back fabric over twice to make a binding. Easy? Yes. And I made 2 exactly the same, so the boys have matching bed spreads.

Finally I made matching pillowcases. I used 11x11 inch squares: 6 for the front, 6 for the back. I sewed them together to make 2 panels. I also made 2 panels of a solid color (I used red) as a lining...these panels were the size of a completed 6-square panel (does that make sense?). Then I sewed them together, leaving a small hole on the inside of the lining to turn it right-side out. I sewed along the top (opening) of the pillow case, just to make sure it laid flat.

And now my boys have a mostly-matching, colorful, room. They love it, and so do I! :)