The Whimiscal Princess

Angry Bird Party

2012-01-31T11:13:00.001-08:00

Pheww time is flying how on earth is it almost February???? I feel like I just got done with Christmas. I have a ton of little projects going on and really should finish some of them. I have a.d.d for house projects!

The youngest Prince turned 6 yesterday so we threw him an Angry Bird party! We invited his entire kindergarten class over for lunch, which was perfect! It can be so busy on the weekends so a Monday turned out to be really easy to schedule since most of the parents either stay at home or work from home.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights. This was such a fun and easy party theme to work with!

Absolutely my favorite!!! Angry bird jell-o cups couldn’t be cuter or more appropriate for a bunch of 6 year olds. I used condiment cups and made jello and just poured it in. I was going to buy jello cups but really I am not paying $2.50 for 6 lousy cups when I spent $2.00 on cups and made 50!

You can not help but smile spooning that wiggly red goodness from a tiny cup with a funny little bird face.

The cake. The pigs with the tongues hanging out crack me up! Good thing I snapped a picture before the kids got there. One of them couldn’t contain himself and stole one of the towers.

Angry punch anyone? The parents thought I was crazy allowing red punch, but there isn’t an angry clear bird so red it is!

Want to prevent double dipping? Give each kiddo a cup pre-filled with dip and a carrots!

Angry Bird yarn critters. So much fun! I pre-made all of the yarn bodies and have a great method I can share.

Décor was so easy! Slap on a face and everything can be an Angry Bird.

I decided to just do a simple favor, a coloring page which worked perfectly to make a face in the translucent red bag, a few crayons and…….

Angry Bird poop, hilarious, I know!

The party was a huge success all of the kids left full, happy and with fun treat. What more could they ask for?

Tinkerbell Dress

2012-01-15T12:28:00.001-08:00

Now that we are past Christmas and all the gifts have been given Santa said it would be cool if I share this one, not that the Little Princess reads my blog.

The only thing the Little Princess wanted from Santa was a Tinkerbell dress. Well, until three days before Christmas she announces that she no longer wants a Tinkerbell dress but now wants a “spiny dress. What the heck is a spiny dress?

Silly girl lucky for her I have an in with Santa and he was able to figure out what on earth a “spiny dress” was and have his best elves make one.

Fluffy pink and green tutu.

Look close and you will see a sneak peek of what is to come!

DIY-Chair makeover no sew skirt

2012-01-11T14:39:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you had a fantastic holiday. We sure did, Prince Charming took a week off and we just goofed around as a family, it was great!

I have taken a little hiatus to just breath. I said yes to way too many things in December and so I needed some time to just be still. You know how that is right?

Well I was still for a little while and then……

it was makeover time!

I redid this chair, again! It was cute but it was looking too shabby! White plus 3 year old not the best choice! You can see how this chair started out here. Next time I tell you I am painting something white remind me about this. Oh snap…. I already did when you weren’t looking but this time it wasn’t a chair.

Recovering chairs is the easiest thing to do if you can staple you can do this. I didn’t sew a single stitch on this chair.

I don’t have step by step photos of the construction because I decided this project simply had to be done, 1 day before we had 18 guests coming over. All I did was cut the main piece of fabric to be a few inches bigger than the seat and stapled it on along with the batting I had already used previously. I used a painters drop cloth for this and man do I love how durable it is!

To create the ruffled skirt I simply cut the seam section off the drop cloth and strategically stapled pleats. You can make your drop length be whatever you would like I used 6 inches. Isn’t it funny how different something looks with a little paint and a skirt!

I have a big reveal coming up but I have a few finishing touches before I can show you!

Cookie Towers

2011-12-22T03:27:00.000-08:00

If you know me my motto is, “presentation is everything!” I really think you can take something from meh, to wow just by changing the presentation.

Acccckk! Aren’t these darling?? I love them so much. I wanted to do something for Prince Charming’s guys at work and it had to be inexpensive, because there are 13 of them. I settled on some divine gingerbread cookies and heavenly chocolate chip, white chip, dried cranberry cookies. I didn’t want to send them in on paper plates I wanted them to look like they are expensive gifts so I made these darling boxes.

I created a template for my Cricut and they use one sheet of 12 X 12 paper so they were a breeze to make. These boxes held 8 cookies each, the window is covered with acetate but I did bag the cookies up as well so I knew they would stay fresh. Definitely better than a plain old paper plate don’t you think?

Happy baking!

Candy Cane Play dough

2011-12-20T03:06:00.000-08:00

The Little Princess has a fun little program at her preschool for Christmas and nothing makes me tear up more than little kids singing! They are so darn cute and time is going so fast. The boys never like to sing much but the Princess is like me and loves to sing. She rocked it!

After their program they have a little treat exchange. I like to try and do something creative that isn’t candy so this is what I came up with. I can’t take all the credit I did see it on Pinterest but I did make the darling container.

I used my recipe for play dough since it is my favorite. I used peppermint extract and glitter to make it festive.

The cute containers can be found in the Target Dollar Spot. I embellished them with vinyl. It would have been really fun to put the kids names on them! I bought extra for Valentines day and if I see more I might snag more., they would be perfect for party favors!

Have fun!

Cozy up! World’s easiest Coffee Cozy Tutorial

2011-12-19T03:53:00.000-08:00

I was in charge of the Oldest Prince’s class party this last week. He is in fourth grade now and it is getting harder to plan cool things that they won’t think are lame. I hymned and hawed over this forever. I blame it on Pinterest! Too many cool things and I couldn’t focus! I pinned all kinds of things and the funny thing is, I didn’t use a single one of them for this. I waited and waited and on one of my many trips to Dollar tree this week I had an epiphany!

Cup Cozies!!! That’s it!!! We were having a hot chocolate bar so cup cozies were perfect! Boys and girls could both make them and love them, and they would only take a few minutes to complete. They didn’t require a ton of prep work from me, since well the party was in 2 days! Perfect I say.

I started with these fuzzy scarfs from the Dollar Tree. They are super skinny and I don’t think they would make a very good scarves, but they do make perfect cozies!

I cut them in 8 inch pieces, I was able to get 4-5 per scarf so nice and easy on my budget since there are almost 30 kids in the class.

Put the two raw ends together and stitch it close to create a tube.

Then just embellish however you would like. I used my Cricut to cut fun little mittens, hearts, footballs and helmets. In class we just used a hot glue gun to attach the pieces, you can also use iron on adhesive which is what I used in the one that is shown here. See really easy!

Have fun!

It has been a heck of a week-How about a Little Cranberry Infused Vodka??

2011-12-18T08:30:00.001-08:00

Only one week until Christmas!!! How can this be?? Once again I found myself actually running to finish everything up. I love volunteering but it seems like everything comes together at the same time! My cricut has been getting a serious workout this week. I actually ran a blade out in one day, I made over 700 cuts! Sheesh, so thankful I didn’t have to do it by hand. Really, who am I kidding? No way would I have done that by hand, I would have done something else!

We had a teacher breakfast, 2 class parties, preschool treat, scouts and a teacher treat all to finish in one week. Hence my lack of posting. After all that I really needed a drink! I had my cranberry infused vodka staring at me the whole time tantalizing and teasing me if you will. I didn’t think I should drink while I was crafting I wouldn’t want to have some kind of a crazy Cricut accident. I can see the headlines now, “ Drunken Women Catches Hair In Cricut Must Be Extracted By Rescue!” As much as I love to see a good looking fire fighter that is not how I want to do it.

Just like my strawberry infused vodka you have to be careful. It will sneak right up on you, and you will find yourself with tinsel in your hair and throw up on your shoes wondering what the heck happened.

I used Martha’s recipe but didn’t have any orange so I left that out.

I like my drinks girlie and sweet, with an umbrella and just maybe served by a cabana boy named Sancho. This one is pretty tart so I made some simple syrup to go with it. I mixed Cranberry Sierra Mist, cranberry vodka, simple syrup, and a splash of lime juice. It was delicious and made my week a little less chaotic!

Enjoy!

You wear white and I will wear out the words I love you-Photo Gift

2011-12-11T12:54:00.001-08:00

Back to our tiny series here is another fun idea for a super personal gift.

I made this using my technique for making a faux canvas. I used vinyl for the words, you could add them directly to your photo before you print it, but I really like the depth the vinyl adds. This one is actually for me the real one is a secret but this will give you the idea. This photo is from our secret wedding we had back in July for our 11th wedding anniversary. When Prince Charming came through the door we were playing the song, “ Marry Me” by Train and this is a verse from that song. Perfect for a wedding photo don’t you think?

You could use words like family, love, grandchildren etc., on gifts for other people, or maybe their names. This gift is easy on the budget for sure! The photo is 20 X 24 was printed at Sams Club for less than $10.00 and then all you need is a board cut to size mod podge, and acrylic paint all of which I had on hand.

Life inside a snow globe-DIY Human Snow globe

2011-12-05T07:18:00.001-08:00

I know we are still right in the middle of series but come on this is way too amazing to not share. Want to be a super cool mom in your kids eyes?? This is the way to do it. Every year we count down the days to Christmas by doing a fun activity every day until Christmas.

Check out what we did today!!!!

We got to see what it is like to live in a snow globe!!!! It was nothing short of amazing! The kids were in complete awe and couldn’t help but love it! It was really simple to put together.

I used (well Santa used) 2 large plastic sheets from the dollar store mine were 9 X 12 feet and 1 roll of duct tape which you can also buy and at the dollar store. If you do buy your tape from there get 2 they are small. You will also need some sort of a fan. We have two bounce castles so we used that and it worked really well but I bet any fan would do the trick the plastic is really light weight. Open and stack your plastic sheeting, tape the three sides together. I did this by putting the tape half way on and then folding it over. On the fourth side leave an opening to get in and out and a small opening for the fan. I taped the small opening around the fan. Turn on your fan and climb on in!

Wonderful sensory experience!!!! Especially when you bring white puff balls that we brought in as snow and watched the fan blow them all the way up to the top.

If you want yours to stand up like ours you have to close the exit up so the air doesn’t escape. Now obviously this is something the kids need to do with supervision since you are playing with plastic and you wouldn’t want a little one to get trapped, so just make sure you stay in the room.

Ok? Good now have fun!!

We Interrupt This Series For A Few Words From Our Sponsor

2011-12-03T09:33:00.001-08:00

I know we are right in the middle of our series but I had to share this cute gift basket I made for my main squeeze. As I get older my hormones seem to be way more crazy, what the heck??? I thought we were done with that after puberty! Needless to say I have been a hormonal hot mess! Ok, not even a hot mess mostly a mediocre mess with limp dull hair! Nice.

I was having an especially crazy day. You know the kind of day when you are right in the middle of a complete emotional breakdown and you hear yourself and, even you think you sound like a complete lunatic!!! I was a sobbing, yelling, whining, bloated bad hair ban gee! Poor Prince Charming got the brunt of it and I definitely owed him a big apology.

Nothing says I am sorry like beef jerky, right?

See the cute cup? If you have a football fan in your life you need to run, not walk, to Dollar Tree. The cup is actually shaped and has the texture of a football with the laces. CA-UTE!!!!

I etched it with #1 Dad. Wouldn’t those be great for Father’s Day too?

Prince Charming loved it and just maybe he will put up with me for just awhile longer. If this is the start of perimenopause (I am really young for it by the way) and it can last 10 or more years I am going to need a lot more beef jerky.

Crafty Girls Guide To Christmas-Part Two A Tall Drink Of Water

2011-11-30T11:40:00.001-08:00

Welcome to part two of our series on crafty and personal gifts for everyone on your list.

Today we are making personalized Acrylic cups. Another really fun one and completely addicting! Cups for everyone I say, especially since I have 30 of them!

I purchased my cups from here they were less than $4.00 each and free shipping. Now that is a gift that will fit in my budget for sure! I really wanted the swirly straws but that made the price a little more than I wanted to spend, but they are darling. Maybe I can get them a straw upgrade for their birthdays!

These are really great way to use up vinyl scraps! This one is for my Grandmother, I can show you because she is not on the internet! I used Sure Cuts A lot to make all my cuts, I am sorry they don’t make it anymore I guard mine with my life! You can still create the same look if you are using cartridges. Cut your base letter and then simply layer the name on the top. Easy yet awesome!

The cups are very easy to make personal for the recipient. This one is for my mom and she loves flowers and gardening so that was the theme I picked for her.

Can you tell I am excited?? I only used 50 exclamation points! Make that 51.

Hope you enjoyed part two of our teeny tiny series, check back tomorrow for part three.

Crafty Girls Guide To Christmas-This time it’s personal!

2011-11-29T13:53:00.001-08:00

This year I am trying really hard to make at least 90% of my gifts. I normally make a lot of gifts but not every gift. Our budget is tighter this year we have some goals we want to achieve and that means we have to tighten up. Just because your budget is tight doesn’t mean that you can not still have a very joyful holiday full of wonderful gifts. Sure you can give someone a big screen T.V. and they probably will love it, but will they cherish it?

I have put together a made for T.V. mini series for you to hopefully stir the creative gift giving pot, and get you thinking outside the big screen T.V.

The first thing we are making are personalized pillow cases. Doesn’t get much more personal than that! They are all made out of the softest flannel which I ~~scored~~ stood in line for, for a thousand years! Pillowcases are a cinch to make; I used this tutorial to figure it out. Once you make one you might not want to stop. I am completely addicted and will make them for anyone who wants one! I used my Cricut to cut all of the letters for the names and initials. I used cotton quilting fabric for the letters. I have cut thin flannel before but I wanted to reserve all of the flannel for the pillowcases and besides I have a ton of scraps to use.

These first ones are for the girls. Aren’t they darling? I tried to find fabric that will go with their rooms.

The Little Princess picked this one out. I wasn’t sure I was going to love it but it turned out to be one of my favorites and I know her cousin will love it all that much more because she picked it out.

This is for my other niece and is a perfect match for her room. It is fun and funky!

This is one I made for charity every little one deserves a place to lay their head while visions of sugar plums dance.

This one is for the Little Princess. Shhhh don’t tell her. She was so mad that I didn’t make her one! Little did she know the one I was working on was for her. Tee hee

I am still finishing up the boys line but I will share those when I can. I really do love how these turned out and they mean so much more than anything I could have bought in the store.

I hope you enjoyed part one of our mini series, or maybe I should say teeny tiny series. Come back and check out part two of our series.

Snuggle Up With A Good Book-Banner

2011-11-28T13:54:00.001-08:00

Today I am working on decorating the giving tree at our school. We are hosting “A Snuggle Up With A Good Book,” drive and I wanted to decorate the tree to coordinate with the theme. What can I say? I am a matchy, matchy kind of a girl. I was originally going to cut out snowflakes out of book pages but after cutting 30 of them for my tree at home I decided against it, my hand was killing me. So I settled on a fun banner created out of book pages. It was simple and fit the theme, sounds like a win win to me.

(See the snow flake? Cute huh?! Takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!)

Aren’t those elves darling??? I used the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. One of my favorites and I recommend it to everyone but what is funny is I have never used it for what it is intended. I use all the accessories cut at real dial size. It has every occasion you can imagine. These are so cute I am going to have to make more, the Little Princess has already staked a claim on a set of her own!

To create the medallions cut your pages out of an old book. I keep one big thick book on hand to create projects with. You might want to steer clear of romance novels that would be bad if someone should take the time to read the words and it is full of heaving bosoms! Fold them like an accordion. I found it best to to do two at a time so the size of the folds would match.

Using two of the pages you just folded, fold them in half and secure with string in the middle like this. Then just glue the loose ends creating a circle, embellish how you wish! I hole punched mine and strung them on some twine.

This was a really fun project and I could have gone crazy on it but I do have a zillion other things I need to be working on!

Angry Elves-The Home Edition

2011-11-26T10:36:00.001-08:00

The kids are on break this week for Thanksgiving and one day in I am already getting the, “I’m bored” mantra. I am working on some gifts this weekend and needed them to play on their own for awhile, while I get my projects done.

Enter, “Angry Elves The Home Edition.”

I had everything we needed laying around just waiting to be turned into a fun and addictive game!

The elves were actually part of a kit for making wooden elf ornaments that I bought from Oriental Trading a few years back. Yes a few means eight, maybe more sometimes I hoard things, “whatever!” So glad I finally found a use for those! I didn’t see them anymore but you can easily recreate those using the unfinished wooden pieces you find at the craft store. They are round balls with a flat bottom, and the green bodies are the ones that look like flower pots. I have no idea what they are actually used for but if you go to the unfinished wood section you will see them there. The hats and scarfs are just felt.

I used my amazing Girl Scout skills to make some little felt Christmas tree and mitten bean bags. I sewed them shut, but a glue gun works great on felt so you can easily go that route. Filled them with pinto beans, you know that is why they are called, “bean bags” right?

We used our wooden blocks to create the scene.

Made a simple sling shot out of dowels and elastic for launching our bean bags, and there you have it, “Angry Elves.” You can do a Google search for pencil sling shot for instructions on those.

Disclaimer-You should never launch anything other than your bean bags with your sling shot and you should never launch them at a person, pet or an actual elf. That would put you on the naughty list for sure!

Have fun!

Proper punctuation could save a person’s life!

2011-11-18T08:30:00.001-08:00

Did you know there are only 36 days until Christmas? This year I am crafting gifts for almost everyone on my list, and yay me I have a really great start on it!

I can’t share some of them because my friends and family follow my blog or at least the better! This year the Oldest Prince as a male teacher and I think crafting for men is really difficult! Don’t you??

(I noticed the dot under my exclamation point is missing, I better add that!)

This fun saying is off Pinterest and cracks me up! Teacher humor at it’s best! I thought a fun sign for the classroom would be great gift and it cost me about $1.00 to make. I used a scrap board, spray paint and vinyl.

Raising the Bar-Highest Tower Homemade Granola Bars

2011-11-12T10:33:00.001-08:00

Today was our last game of the never ending soccer season. Since it has been snowing so much we had to extend the season to get all our games in. I was thinking of bringing turkey since it is so close to Thanksgiving, but thought it might be a bit much.

We had an early morning game so I thought a little breakfast treat was in order. I really didn’t want to have to run to the store, so I thought I would see what I could come up with.

Ladies and gentleman I give you…….

Highest Tower Homemade Granola bars!!!

These are so delicious, they beat the store bought ones all to heck and I know what is in these! They are crisp and chewy and make you say, “mmmmm” with every bite.

I found a recipe on allrecipes and adapted it and created my own based on what I had on hand. That is what is so great about granola bars you can change it up to be exactly how you like it, or if you are lazy like me you can change to suit what you have on hand.

Highest Tower Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients:

3 cups quick cooking oats.
1 cup Rice Krispy cereal (the cheap stuff is fine too)
1 cup chocolate chips (just eye ball it)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (again just eyeball it)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.

2. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well blended.

3. Dump the granola bar mix onto lined cookie sheet, and press firmly down.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes depending on the amount of crispiness that you like.

5. Allow to cool and cut into squares.

Depending on the size you cut your bars you will get around 24 bars, they store extremely well and can be frozen. These are a new staple in this house! Perfect on the go breakfast and snack. Feel free to add different nuts or fruit, and make them your own!

Hello Operator??? I would like a really cute I-phone Holder

2011-11-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Pinterest my idea file is getting huge! I found a really cute I-phone holder and thought I would make one for my niece for Christmas. She has an I-pod touch which is just a bit skinnier so this should work great.

This was my test run, which has become mine! I love it and I don’t want to give it up. These are simple to make so I have plenty of time to make another. It matches my Thirty-One Purse perfectly!

I used this tutorial with a few changes. The tutorial is great and I am sure the only reason I had to make changes is because I can’t sew a perfectly straight line and need room to make errors.

Here are my changes I made.

I want my precious I-phone to stay in a case so I made it a bit wider and I would make it a tiny bit longer as well. So when you cut your two fabric pieces cut them 11 inches X 4 inches.
I also do not want my I-phone falling in the toilet or some other crazy thing happening because that baby was expensive and I would die if I had to disconnect from the world! Which means I added a closure to the top. Really simple, just add a hair elastic next to the tab and sew in place. Then sew a button on to give you a nice secure enclosure.

It’s Youth Soccer And Everyone Gets A Medal

2011-11-07T12:39:00.001-08:00

This weekend marks the end of another soccer season! Two games short because it hasn’t stopped snowing!!! Whoever said it is going to be a mild winter is a big fat liar! I has snowed at least 8 inches every week for the past 2 weeks. Tomorrow, guess what we are supposed to get more of? Yep snow! I really don’t mind provided I am not cheering through chattering teeth on the sidelines of all day soccer games.

Since we were snowed out this weekend I made some fun soccer medal hangers for the Little Prince and his team. Super easy scrap wood, painted, vinyl cut out, and some inexpensive hooks to hang the medals on.

You notice that sea of pink? Yep pretty much the entire team is girls!

I have more fun projects to share later this week!

Brains and Glass Shard Cupcakes, and a Spooky Castle Tour!

2011-10-31T16:19:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween we have been busy, busy but wanted to take a minute to share.

Organ-ick Werewolf Drool and Dracula Bites

2011-10-26T14:31:00.001-07:00

The Little Princess is in charge of treats tomorrow at her preschool by request. Nothing like a little pressure; if the teacher asks you to bring a special snack it better be snazzy! I made her these fun vampire treats and think they fit the bill of snazzy! They are chocolate covered double stuffed chocolate Oreo’s. Yummy! I used more of my candy eyeballs and I made the fangs with white Smarties that I cut in quarters to create tiny triangles. The capes were cut with my Cricut, using my favorite cartridge, Paper Doll Dress up.

I created a fun label for the juice bottle in Photoshop. Yes I realize organic isn’t spelled with a k but this is Organ-ick as in yucky. Ha!

This is clear fruit punch, which is a made for small kids, no more red stains on your carpet. It really looks like a giant bottle of drool, don’t you think?

I have two more class parties and two soccer teams to go and since we don’t have soccer today, because of 8 inches of snow that we got, I am hoping I can wrap those up!

Haunted Hot Chocolate Party Favors

2011-10-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the freezing cold weather we are expecting, here are some fun, and really simple hot chocolate party favors. These are for the Little Princess to take to preschool for her little friends. The hot chocolate packet is wrapped in a paper envelope.

A perfect little rubber stamp saying.

Top it off with an adorable marshmallow ghost and you have a fun treat that isn’t candy.

Ok not exactly healthy but fun none the less!

The sweet marshmallow ghost was created using a pretzel favor bag. I drew the ghost face on the outside with a black permanent marker. “Hello, simple!”

Here is Looking At You-Spooky Eyeball Rice Krispie Treats

2011-10-24T02:36:00.000-07:00

Eye see you!!!

Come on that is funny! Eye see you, ha!

Eye have been crafting like crazy and eye love it.

Ok seriously I will stop with the eyeball play on words.

This is the final piece of the gift I am making for a friend. These are Rice Krispie treats that I shaped into eyeballs and dipped in white chocolate. I made the iris part out of a fruit chew and an M&M, which I raided from the kids Halloween candy that they already have a ton of. The veins are made out of the pull apart Twizzlers. I think I will make these for the preschool class, and maybe the soccer teams this weekend. They are easy to make so I could make 50 or so pretty easy, and it is a great way to get some of the candy out of the house.

(These guys make me laugh. Doesn’t it look like the one on the right is intently listening to the other??)

I also made some ghosts. The idea for these game from the Idea room, she featured some she had made but she used mini chocolate chips for the eyes. I happen to have some cute eyeballs laying around so I wanted to use those. I also rounded the tops of the Rice Krispie treats before I dipped them. They remind me of the ghosts from Pac-Man. If you leave them as a rectangle you could make Frankenstein too, which I may do but I ran out of white chocolate.

Double, Double Toil and Trouble…….

2011-10-23T04:45:00.000-07:00

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Here is part two of my fun treat that I am making for a friend. I altered a Frappuccino bottle to create this fun little witch.

Is it sac religious that I buy the frappuccinos and pour them out??? Sorry I tried to be frugal and use them for something else, but I just don’t like coffee even if it is a popsicle!

Really a fun easy project I may make some for our teachers Halloween treat! Did you see the cute little witch shoes? I just can’t get enough of them.

Remember my witch project from last year?? You can see that post here.

Eat Drink and Be Scary

2011-10-22T19:32:00.001-07:00

I have been getting my craft on!!! This cute little plate is for a friend.

Shhhhhh she doesn’t know it is coming! I love etching glass it makes an inexpensive plate look really fun and unique. I hope she likes it.

(it is really hard getting a picture of a clear glass plate!)

If you don’t know how to etch glass you can check out my tutorial here.

Petrified Larva and a Little Christmas Cheer

2011-10-19T14:47:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Prince Charming had his annual guy weekend hunting. Which is my cue to watch chick flicks, eat chocolate, and just maybe feed the kids cereal for dinner. I am not saying I did but I could if I wanted since there are no other adults around to give me the eye if I decided that is what we will dine on.

What??! It is part of balanced diet you know!

We had a busy soccer day on Saturday but Sunday I left it wide open so I could get up, stay in my jammies and get my craft on. I didn’t stay in my jammies since we decided to workout with a friend but I sure as heck wasn’t trying to please anyone.

Every year by golly I say I am going to start early on my Christmas gifts. This year I finally did!!!! Yay me. Right after I but all of our creepy stuff up I got to work on some Christmas gifts. Nothing puts you in the Christmas mood like petrified larva and giant hairy spiders. Ha!

I am making homemade Mexican Vanilla Extract. I love, love Mexican Vanilla but I don’t really get to Mexico much and it is super expensive.

You can make your own vanilla too but you do need to start early. It will take at least 6 weeks to make but the longer you can wait the better! You will need glass jars, vodka (the cheap stuff is fine) and vanilla beans. You can choose any variety of beans you like. I purchased mine on Ebay they were about .72 cents per bean which is very inexpensive as far as a gift goes. I snatched these adorable jars out of the charity pile. You will need about 4 beans per cup of vodka. Mine jars hold about a 1/2 cup so I used two beans. You simply split the bean length wise, put it in the jar, add the vodka and wait. Easy and awesome! Shake it every now and then, it will get darker and darker the longer you wait.

My mouth is watering thinking of the delicious sugar cookies I will make this Christmas with my scrumptious homemade vanilla!!

Edited to say: One should never blog in a hurry! Sorry there were a million typos in that!!!

I like big bucks and I cannot lie!!!

2011-10-13T09:15:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year again. Prince Charming has set off into the wild blue yonder in search of the elusive elk. As always I gave him proper send off with a fun little gift and home baked cookies.

I am hoping he will come home a victor in his quest, because man he is grumpy if he doesn’t!

I will sit in the highest tower awaiting his return. Not really I have scheduled a chick flick, chocolate and craftmania, woo hoo.

I love hunting season!

It is officially Fa-winter

2011-10-10T10:34:00.001-07:00

You know when it is supposed to be fall but really goes straight to winter with snow! That would be Fa-Winter.

Two days ago it was almost 90 degrees and I had to turn on the AC.

Today it is 37 degrees and I had to fight to not turn on the heat. Of course we played soccer in the rain and snow so we were frozen to the bone.

So what does one do when they don’t want to turn on the heat out of protest???

Well bake cookies of course!

I still want it to be fall so I want everything to be pumpkin! So whipped up these scrumptious pumpkin cookies with a brown sugar buttercream. They are phenomenal!!! Completely addicting, don’t say I didn’t warn you! You could easily half the recipe but why would you want to do a crazy thing like that?!

I did not have enough frosting for all 60 so you might think about doubling that if you are baking all 60.

Ingredients

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3/4 cups powdered sugar
Ground cinnamon to sprinkle on top of frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat 2 cups butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.

2. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

3. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and brown sugar until melted and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cookies. If desired, sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Makes about 60 cookies.

You can find the original recipe here:

If you are in the midst of Fa-Winter too don’t forget to try my awesome pumpkin pancakes!

Everything tastes better when it is homemade-Butter

2011-10-06T05:51:00.001-07:00

Did you know that you can make homemade butter?

Why would you want to?

Because people think you are really cool when you say, “oh I made some homemade rolls and butter today.”

It is super easy to do! and no I don’t have a butter churn laying around nor do I know how to build one. I do have a kitchen aid and that is what we will use!

Yummy!!!!

All you need to do is pour 1 quart of heavy whipping cream in the mixing bowl of your kitchen aid with the whisk attachment. Turn it on medium speed.

You can turn it up later if you are impatient like me but go a little slow at first or you will have a whipped cream facial, because I know you will be standing over the bowl waiting for the miracle of butter to happen!

After you mix it for about 10 minutes it will look like this. You will have the fat separated from the buttermilk. Strain this into a small hole sieve. Knead the butter to remove any excess buttermilk and that is it. You can also knead in a little salt if you would like salted butter. Sorry you don’t get a picture of this step my hands were full of butter!

Now sit back and begin bragging that you just made butter. If you are thinking this is a less expensive way to have butter, sorry it really isn’t. You will only get 1 pound of butter and whipping cream can be pricey. For special occasions it is perfect!

Scrappy Tutu Bow Holder

2011-09-12T14:27:00.001-07:00

I am cleaning out my craft room and finishing up some unfinished projects. The little Princess is starting to really love hair things so I wanted to find a way to corral those pretties. See that cutie pa-tootie brown dot one? I whipped that up today while I was cleaning out my stash. I made it from part of a skirt that I had altered.

I picked up the cute hanger at Hobby Lobby for .25 cents they had a ton of them, I should of bought more. Oh well. I used fabric scraps to make it look like a little skirt, and then attached the fabric rosette on the hanger which was a little something I had stashed that I took off a dress. It was too poufy it looked like I was trying to make up for my lack of anything exciting on my chest.

I love when inspiration hits me. Sometimes it takes awhile I have been sitting on this project just waiting for something awesome to happen for a year.

Phenomenal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-09-08T12:19:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! This week I am running around getting ready for the school carnival. I whipped up these cookies for the cake walk. Yes I know cookies for a cake walk, shouldn’t it be a cake? I am cool like that. These babies are so dang good!

I made them and decided that there is no way I am handing these out to some stranger!!! Sorry but hey at least I shared the recipe so you can make your own!

Run, don’t walk and make these right this second!

What, are you still doing here?!??

Go make them your family will shower you with kisses, if you share! Which you probably should since there is a whole lot of butter in them.

These are not crispy. They are soft and fluffy which is just how I like them just like my men! Ha I kid I like my men all tough and strong but who wants a tough cookie.

Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Barely adapted from: An Apple a day

Ingredients:

3/4 c. salted butter, softened ( original recipe calls for unsalted but I never have that)

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt (original calls for 1/2 tsp but that is because they are using unsalted butter so I cut it down a smidge since I used salted butter)

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips ( I used semisweet and they are still amazing)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3. Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4. Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.

5. Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.

Try not to eat them all in one day!

Who Knew Mens Shirts Could Be So Much Fun

2011-08-29T12:31:00.001-07:00

Free time RULES!!! This weekend is the calm before the storm. No soccer, no running around well except one birthday so really no biggie. I had some time to organize, clean and completely goof around on pinterest it was awesome!

There are all kinds of fun things you can do with t-shirts either old ones or new. I am sick of all my shirts so I thought I would spend a little time making a few. When I say little I mean little I whipped this up in 15 minutes tops and that includes taking it on and off to get the fit just right!

Who knew a men’s shirt could turn out so darn cute! I bought a size large I should have gone with a medium maybe, I don’t know I love that I could customized the fit to hide all those mommy bits.

I used this basic design from PSIMadethis. I did change a few things. I used the hem that I cut off to create a strap for the other side I felt like my girls were going to come flying out so for a little safety I added a strap. I also added a side seam but that was because my shirt was huge. I used smaller ruffles and I added a ruffle to the back.

I adore this shirt and it cost me $1.80 to make now that is a budget Prince Charming won’t balk about! I have more fun with t-shirts to share this week so stay tuned!

Baked Cow and an Apron

2011-08-28T16:24:00.001-07:00

Well we survived our first week of school, it is a hard adjustment for the kids since we have to be at school at the crack of dawn but we are all adjusting.

I think every organization I volunteer for had a meeting so the week was crazy, I worked and had a cake and a gift to make.

Phewwwww!

I heart those boots I need those for a prop!

My niece who is now eleven and learning my love of all things homemade!

Simple and sweet, the Little Princess has already requested one. Now that the week is over I took a few minutes to clean out my to do box of sewing and fixed 3 pairs of pants, 1 skirt (which I still hate ) and made a scarf which I will share this week. Not all that exciting to blog about but I feel accomplished!

Bake Sale-Portable cuteness

2011-08-24T10:00:00.001-07:00

Phewww………..

The kids are back in school, the summer was not long enough!

Now I have a little more time I can post again!

Ha, I have had something going every single day for the last two weeks which is why I actually made these a month ago and I am just now getting around to it!

The day after the secret wedding I had to turn right around and whip up a birthday celebration for the Little Princess. Yep her birthday is one day after our wedding anniversary. She was actually due on our anniversary but was fashionably late which is how I knew she was a girl!

It is always a struggle for me I want to celebrate our anniversary and celebrate her birthday so I thought these cuties would satisfy both things. I love food in jars (well except baby food but man even some of those desserts are yummy) These are not only cute but delicious too. It’s in a jar and filled with chocolate ganache how can we go wrong.

Wouldn’t these be great at a bake sale? You could put the lids on and a cute label. I used this recipe without the mint, I would go heavy on the ganache I felt like it needed it.

Happy baking!

Microwave Potato Chips-Naked is beautiful

2011-08-18T12:18:00.001-07:00

Hey all!

~~This week I am prepping and getting ready for the kids to go back to school.~~ I am completely goofing around on pinterest before the utter madness of school starts. Do you all use pinterest? I have a love hate thing going on. I love seeing all the fun projects and ideas but man I hate it because I always add more to my list of things to do.

Any who, I saw these on Pinterest and decided to give them a whirl for lunch today. They so did not disappoint!!! These are amazing, simple and crispy! I am not a huge chip person because they are full of well.... mostly junk but not these beautiful naked chips. They only have 3 ingredients and I can say them all.

You need:

Potatoes
canola oil
kosher salt

Doesn’t get any easier than that.

I used my mandolin to slice them super thin the thinner the better.

Toss the potatoes and oil in a bowl until well coated

Spread them in a single layer on a microwave safe plate or dish. (I used a 9 X 13 pan) you might want to spray your pan with non-stick spray or a tiny bit oil to make sure they don’t stick. Sprinkle with salt. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes until the edges begin to turn brown. Flip the chips and microwave for another 2-3 minutes. You may have to adjust according to your microwave. As the cool they will crisp up.

Thanks Food Gal for the idea!

Secrets in the Castle-Vow renewal

2011-07-30T20:28:00.001-07:00

Sooooooooo it has been awhile since I have posted I am sorry but I have been busting my booty, and have been doing major crafting, but I couldn’t share.

My dearest Prince and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary yesterday. Traditionally you are supposed to give steel for a gift but I didn’t have any around so I thought. “Hey why not do a surprise wedding ceremony??!!” It has been a year in the making and it was so phenomenal. I loved every detail that was put into it. I huge shout out to my bff, Christi!! She helped me rock this event and make it a royal event fit for a king.

Enough yammering, on with the show.

Here are few of my favorites. I am waiting on my professional photographs but these will tide you over until then.

We had a cookies and milk themed party, because we go together like cookies and milk.

Ahhhhh I know cute!

and well maybe chalkboard. Can that be a theme? If you put Christi and I together it is going to be because we really love chalkboards and labels.

This is where I was waiting and standing when Prince Charming came in. Gorgeous!!!!

How is that for an altar??!!! Love!

Remember my strawberry infused vodka?? Yummy!!! Lookie there another chalkboard.

See we can’t have enough chalk boards!

As the sun sank low and the party began to slow we lit our mason jar lanterns and enjoyed the cool evening air.

My heart is absolutely filled with joy and love for not only my wonderful Prince Charming but all of my friends and family who made this happen and took the royal children. You all mean so much to me and you will always be in my heart.

I wish you all could have been there is was so amazing, and I am not just saying that because it was mine. It was crazy romantic and just sweet as could be.

I will get you some tutorials asap but you see now today we are celebrating the Princess’ third birthday. Yeah not really great timing but what are you going to do?? She was supposed to be born on our anniversary but came fashionably late one day later.

Rainbow Tag

2011-07-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

I want to share a fun game for the kids. Ahhhh who are we kidding it is fun for adults too!

You need:

Popsicle Sticks
Permanent Markers (Do not use these to mark on your face that would be bad!)
Face paint in the colors of the the rainbow
wipes or wet rag

Set up the game by coloring the end of the popsicle sticks in the same colors of your face paint. We had six colors. You will use these as markers for your face paint. Now go hide the pots of face paint and mark them by sticking the popsicle stick markers in the ground. I just put an extra stick in the paint to make it easy to put on your face.

Pick 1 or 2 people to be the swipers. They have to keep it a secret that they are the swipers.

Object of the game: The object is to find all the colors and mark your face with all of the colors of the rainbow. You want to be the first to get all the colors so you want to be discreet when you find a color. You have to watch out for the swipers they will be sneaking around and swiping your colors off your face. If they tap you on the shoulder you must allow them to wipe one color off your face and you have to get that color again. The first person to collect all the colors is the winner.

We played this on our camping trip this past weekend it was a ton of fun!

These are Faces of Happy Campers-Camp Craft

2011-07-19T18:59:00.001-07:00

This weekend I organized a camping trip for 70 people. Of course I was in charge of crafts. We made nature people to hang in the trees. The kids did such a great job and were so creative. I handed them a plate and some glue and the only rule was they had to use at least one piece from nature to make a face that looked like them. Cheap, easy and fun for all!

Red hair and freckles!

The girls had flowers in their hair.

Not so happy campers! We joke if I go it rains and well this year was no exception it rained so hard it made rivers but it is ok it was fun any way!

DIY-Adjustable Marshmallow Fork

2011-07-13T20:12:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

This week I am prepping for a camping trip with 70 scouts and their families. Translation: I am running like a mad women gathering 1400 rocks, spray painting said rocks, prepping food, cutting wooden name tags, and cutting wires.

I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you a really fun easy scout project.

All you need is 16 gauge galvanized steel wire. I picked mine up at a fun little store called Jax but I bet you can find it at most any home improvement store.

Cut 1 piece of wire about 21 inches long.

Bend it in half.

Leave about 3 inches of the loose ends out and wrap the bent side around something like a stick or dowel.

Slide it off the stick and turn it over and twist the two loose ends to make the fork like so.

That is it. Now here is the cool part you can slide your fork off the stick and then whenever you go camping all you have to do is find any stick and just put the coiled end on the end of the stick. Neat huh?!

Now if it would just stop raining we will be in great shape!

Strawberry Infused Vodka

2011-07-11T06:28:00.001-07:00

It is so busy over here I have decided to take up drinking. Well maybe just a sip or two.

Seriously this month I am planning a camping trip for 70 people, two birthday parties, and a big event that I can’t talk about. It is hush hush.

So yeah I just may need a drink after it is said and done.

For one of the events I am making strawberry infused vodka. I wanted to do cranberry but those aren’t in season and I didn’t have any in the freezer, so strawberry it is.

All you need is strawberries and vodka. I went with a medium grade vodka not the super cheapy stuff but not the really expensive stuff either. I don’t know that it matters but I didn’t want it to be gross.

Fill the jar with the strawberries and then pour vodka all the way to the top, put the lid on and shake. Put it in the fridge and shake every once in awhile for a day or so.

Pour the contents of the jar into a strainer lined with coffee filters so you catch all of the strawberry bits, and you will wind up with this pretty vodka. I like it in the mason jar it reminds me of moonshine. Only this will taste delicious and not like gasoline.

I don’t really know what moonshine tastes like I am just guessing here.

You can make an incredible drink by mixing a lemon lime soda, strawberry vodka and a twist of lime. So light and refreshing and goes down way too easy so be careful.

Fairytale Triple Chocolate Pancakes

2011-07-03T08:52:00.001-07:00

Today I had a hankering for chocolate so I whipped these up for a special morning treat. They were divine!

Wouldn’t these be cute for valentines day? I just cut a heart out of paper and laid it on the pancakes and sprinkled the powder sugar on top. Remove the paper and you have a cute design.

Are you thinking what I am thinking? Hello, cricut! You could make really awesome designs on the cricut and lay that on top.

Fun!

Fairytale Triple Chocolate Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar ( I made a double batch and used 1/3 brown and 1/3 white sugar because I ran out)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Chocolate syrup

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg and butter; whisk until blended. In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt; mix well.

Add milk mixture; whisk just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Batter will be still lumpy… fold in chocolate chips.

For each pancake, pour a 1/4 cup batter onto skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes or until batter is set around edges. Carefully turn over pancake; cook 1-2 minutes or until pancakes are cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.

Sprinkle pancakes with powdered sugar; serve warm.

Sure, you can have a popsicle for breakfast-I am a cool mom!

2011-07-02T08:08:00.001-07:00

Here is a super easy and good for you treat that will leave your kids thinking, “Wow, my mom is so cool she lets me have popsicles for breakfast.”

All you need is low-fat yogurt, popsicle mold or paper cups and sticks would work just great. We used vanilla and strawberry to make it a cool layered popsicle. Spoon the yogurt in the molds and freeze over night.

Easy! Perfect for busy summer mornings and they really don’t really drip all that much which means I might allow them in the mom taxi. See my other cool tip. Make a drip guard by making a slit in a cupcake wrapper and slide it over the stick to catch drips.

Mom’s What’s for Dinner? Menu Planning

2011-06-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

Remember my cute menu board?

Today I wanted to share with you how I fill it It is a simple plan that allows me to figure out what we are eating and it is a god send for the budget. No more wandering around the stores with twinkies, a bottle of horseradish and a box of mac and cheese that some how cost $25.00 and I still have no idea what we are having for dinner. By establishing a simple plan I can feed my family of 5 on about $60.00 a week.

Once you set it up once it will only take you minutes to fill up your menu.

Menu Plan

and just so you don’t have to eat the same things we do here is blank one to get you started!

Menu Planblank

Sleep Tight Baby-Sleep Sack and Baby Cuteness

2011-06-26T18:50:00.001-07:00

Hey all!

You know whoever coined the phrase, “the lazy days of summer” was a big fat liar! It is already almost July and the summer is almost half over and I haven’t been lazy even one day.

What the heck?

Maybe I am just doing it wrong?

This weekend I had 2-31 parties, 1 spa party at the house and a baby shower. I whipped up this fun gift ensamble for my friend’s baby shower. She reads my blog, so I could post it up until after her shower.

Everyone say, “Hi Chantielle!”

Ok, you got me. That wasn’t all that was keeping me from posting. I really didn’t finish this until right before shower so I couldn’t post it up until now. You know me all to well!

I really do work the best under pressure. I was just going to make the cute flannel lined sleep sack, but I had a little fabric leftover and so I whipped up the cute matching onesie. Their last name starts with an H. She doesn’t know what she is having so it was hard to come up with something but once I got started I couldn’t stop.

I love baby projects!

And then I thought why not make a really cute matching photo hanger.

( I am completely addicted to making these clips. I will share more this week!)

I know, I know what baby doesn’t want to not only have a matching onesie and sleep sack but now he can even match his room. And yes I said, “he.” My baby predictor is pretty darn accurate. And besides we did the whole hair and wedding ring trick. That is completely accurate, right?

I wish I could give you a tutorial on the sleep sack. But seriously it was little like rocket science! And just for the record those bows are completely sewn down so they will not be strangling the baby, just incase you were thinking of sending me a little hate mail.

Fun with Feet-Father’s day photo idea

2011-06-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

What, you are not done with your Father’s day gift and it is tomorrow????

Taa, taa, ta, tahh (super hero music)

Never fear the Princess is here!

I took this fun photo of the royal children for Prince Charming as a Father’s day gift. I had it printed at Sam’s 1-hour photo.

The hardest part, getting the kids to look at the camera and keep their feet in the air all at the same time, but we got r’done!

I think the results are awesome!

Snacks for our Dude-Easy Father’s Day Gift Idea

2011-06-17T07:16:00.001-07:00

Here is a fun project for the ~~dad~~ dudes in your lives.

Our favorite ~~dad~~ dude is going to be working on Father’s day so we wanted to sneak a little treat in his truck when he leaves for work. Easy peasy project just empty the soda bottles. You can use beer but if you do, don’t “empty” them all in one night or your project might be a little wonky if you catch my drift. The kids helped me empty these bottles which was a special treat for them. Then I simply mod podged scrapbooking paper on the carrier. I painted the bottle caps with enamel paint which works really well! Printed my cute labels which were created in Photoshop and mod podged those on.

This is one of my favorite projects I may have to take up drinking so I can make more. Soda……drinking soda.

Hope your dudes like it!

You know you want S’More

2011-06-16T07:55:00.001-07:00

Hope you are having a great summer!

We are.

This is where I spent my birthday this year. Pretty, huh? My glue gun doesn’t work up here but that is ok it is worth the sacrifice. There is nothing better than waking up another year older under crystal blue skies surrounded by my family and real nature sounds.

Ok, well I could live without the coyote calls in the middle of the night. Man, that scares the bejeezus out of me.

It is an excuse to snuggle with Prince Charming.

What do you get when you combine chocolate mint marshmallows and Ande’s mints?

Yummy Minty mint S’mores! I didn’t bake a cake but we had these and they were delicious!!! Give them a whirl you will like them!

We spent three glorious days getting back to nature and then an afternoon getting all the nature off of us. How did the pioneer ever find someone to love them? I had to wash my hair 3 times to get all the dirt out. I was only out in nature for 3 days and was far from sexy!!

Maybe that is why they were such great cooks? I may not be sexy but I can make my man a good s’more. What is not to love about me? Did you know the s’more is so famous it has it’s own day?

August 10th incase you were wondering!

DIY Baby Bed fit for a Princess

2011-06-09T15:29:00.001-07:00

If you follow me on facebook I know I said I was building a bed a million years ago. Well it is finally finished!!!

The bed only took an afternoon to build I was just waiting to get it painted. So although I am behind here I am way ahead of schedule since the little Princess is turning 3 in July.

Yay Me!

Ridiculously cute isn’t it? Wait till you see the full size one we are going to make!

Yep, I built it with my two hands. I used Ana White’s plans. She has great projects that anyone can build. I highly recommend it! The little Princess is going to flip for this and it cost me $6.00 to make. I am warning you might get addicted to her site.

You should see my plan file!

Wood + Mason Jars=Love

2011-06-06T06:38:00.001-07:00

First comes wood

Then come jars

Then comes a cute picnic set sitting in a wooden carriage.

To make the wooden boxes you will need:

4 x 4 cedar fence pickets (Mine cost $.57 and you need 1 maybe two if you goof up)
Wood Glue
hole saw(optional)
Brad nailer or finish nails

Super simple construction cut the following pieces

2-12 1/2 inch boards
1-11 1/2 inch board
2 4 inch boards

Next cut your holes in the 4 inch pieces if you desire, using hole saw.

Then simply glue and brad nail all of the sides together, add some pint jars and there you have rustic, adorable, practical!

Don’t be afraid of power tools they are fun. They really shouldn’t take shop out of schools these are the skills I use most!

Besides your mate will think you are a hot mess all full of sawdust, wearing safety goggles, wielding a brad nailer.

Who needs lingerie?

This is not what I actually intended this project for but I can’t reveal that true purpose for a little while.

Come sit a spell-$1.00 headboard bench

2011-06-05T12:55:00.001-07:00

Prince charming and I have this agreement. I come up the crazy scheme’s and he implements them and makes them even better! I picked up a headboard for free. Of course he totally rolled his eye’s at me and gave me, “the what the heck are you going to do with that ugly old thing?” My plan was to make it into a really cute bench. I was going to make it all by myself but I just am not as good at making things that actually need to have support, and he makes it way fancier than I would have so it works out for the best.

Sorry I don’t have a before I was too excited to do this one. Just trust me it was boring and ugly.

This adorable headboard bench cost $1.00 to make which was for the oops paint. How can you goof up black paint?

I don’t know but bonus for me! I sprayed it using my low pressure gun which ROCKS!!!

I need to figure out a new coffee table the wicker works ok but not as cute as it could be.

These are the parts that make up the bench with some scrap 2 X 4’s that you can’t see. Show your Prince Charming maybe he can make it for you!

Sorry I don’t have a tutorial but Prince Charming was just on a roll so I just stand back and let the master work. Don’t tell him I said that he will get a big head!

Here’s is a shout out to my Prince Charming, “Babe you are so awesome, thank you for making my crazy dreams a reality!”

Sorry was that a little too sweet? We are the Princess and Prince Charming what did you expect?

I linking up to these fun parties:

Yay this fun project was featured!!!

Maintaining Happily Ever After-After your carriage turns back into a pumpkin

2011-05-31T12:18:00.001-07:00

Some days I really feel like Cinderella.

Ummm that would be the one before the whole fairy god mother Bib-a-dee-bob-a-dee-doo magic wand part.

Tattered patched together clothes, mean step children yelling out commands, scrubbing floors until some naughty animal puts paw prints all over them. My carriage is just a plain old pumpkin (or a mom mobile covered in snacks and toys) Mice are just rodents and my horse well I don’t have a horse but if I did it would just be a horse.

It is so important to find ways to maintain that “thing” that makes you really love your spouse. Because otherwise if you don’t and they leave that wet towel hanging on the end of the bed just one more time……your going to choke them! Not that this happens or anything I am just saying!

So how do we keep “our happily ever after?” Well you have to date your mate!

“Yes, I know you are busy!”

“Yes I know you have too many kids!”

“Yes I know you are tired!”

“Yes I know you don’t wanna, but you gotta!

These dates are do-able for a busy mom and wife. I have almost all of these things readily available and they don’t require 3 hours of prep work, or a naughty nurse costume!

1. You take the cake-Bake 2 cakes or a batch of cupcakes. Set out frosting, sprinkles, piping bags etc and decorate special cakes for each other. If you want to bump it up a notch wear silly party hats and invite him to the date with a birthday party invite or a tub of frosting with a note that says you will need this later. That will get his interest up!

2. You are Tee-rific- Decorate a tee-shirt for each other to wear on your next date night. Pick a theme like bowling, love etc. Have a contest to see who is the best artist. Winner gets a 20 minute massage.

3. You and I go together like cookies and milk- Bake cookies together and be sure to have lots of milk to go with it., and maybe some lactaid. (Ha! Trust me there is nothing romantic about lactose intolerance people) If you want to take it up a notch make a special recipe, changing the words for the ingredients with things like love, passion, kisses, hugs. You might want to keep the real recipe close by in case you forget!

4. Photo Booth Party- Set up your camera on a tri-pod or a table with a timer. Make a silly backdrop (a sheet will work and some fun props like hats, mustaches etc.) Spend the evening taking silly pictures. Present your special someone with DVD of the photos, or have one blown up and put in a frame to remind you of your fun date.

These are a few of my girlfriends we got together to work on our date ideas and put together some super easy photo props. So much fun to play with!

5. Book Store Scavenger hunt- Have your significant other meet you at a library or book store and hide secret messages in books and give hints as to where they should go next. The final spot should be romance novels of course.

6. Picnic in the park- Doesn’t get much easier than that! Pack a simple lunch or dinner

7. Ice, Ice Baby-Make ice cream together, but no cheating and using a machine on this one. Make it in a coffee can and spend your night rolling it back and forth and reconnecting. For recipes and instructions you can go here.

http://www.sendicecream.com/makicecreami1.html

If you have it in your budget get some fun toppings too.

And how about a little mood music!

Ha! and yeah that song is going to be stuck in my head all day.

Don’t judge me it is funny!

8. Backyard bowling: If you did the tee-rific date now would be a great time to wear your shirt. Set up a back yard bowling alley complete with bowling alley snacks. If your kids have a bowling set use that otherwise you can use empty water bottles and any ball that will roll.

9. Let’s be kids again: Pick up some coloring books and crayons and color together or raid the kids coloring supplies. If you want to make it extra special make personalized coloring pages. Go to the park and swing on the swings, blow bubbles, color with sidewalk chalk. A must have is kid snacks think juice box, Capri suns, animal crackers.

10. Playing Hard to get : How about a little hide and seek. Meet your spouse at a favorite location and use sidewalk chalk to leave a trail to find you. Keep moving just far enough that they can’t catch you but you can see them that is part of the fun. Use sayings like ha, ha you can’t catch me and hearts of course. Be hard to get but not impossible and don’t forget to make rules like you can’t go past this street or whatever.

You can find my other fun date ideas here:

Huston we have a 4th grader-End of year gift take 2

2011-05-26T15:44:00.001-07:00

Well it is official today I have a 4th grader. Wow! How the time flies it feels like I was just bringing him home from the hospital just a little while ago.

Today they spent the day eating. I mean they literally ate their way through their day. In the morning they had a huge breakfast learning celebration, then they made dirt cup puddings, then they had a picnic with birthday treats for two different students. So how I ask you can they still be complaining they are hungry? I don’t know what they ate in the afternoon, I let him play hooky.

I made this fun little bucket for his teacher. I saw those cute little snack size cookie packets and knew I had to do something with them they are so cute!

“Whatever, cookie packets can be cute!” I am easily amused!

I made the cute, cute, oven mitt using Skip to My Lou’s directions. You can find those here. I was going to make two but they were more time consuming than I thought. Wouldn’t those make a great Christmas gift?

I picked up the bucket while wandering around Hobby Lobby on crazy clearance. I bought all of them! I personalized it with a little vinyl, I thought it would be fun in the classroom.

Now if only summer would come we would be in great shape. Pools open on Monday but unless I can swim in a hats, gloves and a coat I am not going!

End of Year Teacher Gift-Rosette Necklace

2011-05-25T09:34:00.001-07:00

Today the youngest Prince graduated preschool, can’t believe I have two kids in Elementary school. How did that happen?

I whipped up a fun necklace for his teacher to thank her for all that she has done for our family. .

I put together a mini tutorial for you. You will have to excuse this missing photo steps. I was in a hurry because this was my back up plan since what I ordered hadn’t arrived. It is not fancy and is missing a couple photos but I have faith you can do it!

Start by making a bunch of fabric rosettes. If you don’t know how to do this just google it and you will get a ton of tutorials. I used the hot glue method which is the simplist method. For this I used cream lace and fabric. I really liked the vintage look.

Lay your rosettes on top of coordinating felt and trace around your desired shape.

Cut out your felt and hot glue your rosettes in place.

Here is a little tip for you if you put a tiny amount of hot glue in between the rosettes and hot glue them together it makes it more structurally sound.

Now attach your embellishments. I used freshwater pearls and a letter K brad. Then finish it off by attaching your chain which I swore I took a picture of. To do this I snipped my chain in half and hot glued it to the back and topped those with a little more felt to hide the glue.

Another adorable and simple teacher gift that is not a coffee mug!

You have to start somewhere-Baby Quilt

2011-05-23T11:24:00.001-07:00

Hey all sorry for my lack of posting, it has been busy, busy, busy at the castle. The royal children are almost out of school which is code for we are going to cram as much stuff as possible in the last week. It fine, it’s fun, really it is.

I whipped up this fun little strip quilt to go on the baby bed I am making for the little princess. I am done with the bed but I still haven’t painted the darn thing, but the weather has been completely suckish! Like I was locked in a 6X6 bathroom with 18 children and 5 adults while a tornado passed suckish. Raining for days, and days so much so I thought about building an arc suckish. But any who I will show you the cute quilt while you wait.

This was my first attempt so don’t look too close. It was fun and really super simple to make, another if you can sew a straight line you can make this kind of a project. Hmmm…. that would be a fun linky party maybe we should do that!

End of Soccer Season treats-Jumping for joy!

2011-05-16T08:50:00.001-07:00

We are wrapping up soccer season over here. Thank goodness! We could just jump for joy! It has been the coldest, wettest soccer season ever. I had to bring hot chocolate to almost every game. Hello it is the middle of May we should not have to be playing like we are eskimos!

Here are some fun little treats I whipped up for the kids.

Nothing fancy, I picked up the soccer ball pops after Easter 75% off. I put them in treat bags and personalized them with vinyl. The kids loved them! I love when things like this come together!

And just incase you don’t believe me about this being the coldest soccer season ever! Check this out.

I shot this photo at the place where we are getting ready to go camping. This was just an hour or two after we played our last game. Hopefully it won’t look like this in July. I hate being cold!

Today it is back in the seventies and we are headed out for a family bike ride and picnic! Crazy weather.

Smartie Seed Company-Teacher Appreciation Gift

2011-05-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

Last day of teacher appreciation for our teachers. Just another fun little treat for their mailbox.

I used my cricut to create little seed packet envelopes which in itself were so super cute. Then I created the printable for the front. I meant to put a little price on them but I forgot.

Cut me some slack it was the last day and I was running out of steam, and it is still cute even without it. Inside the envelope I tucked the smartie “seeds.” The tag line reads plant the seed and watch them bloom.

Another great feature about this project is I was able to use 25 sheets of my less than pretty paper. I used the white side for the outside because it was easier than trying to match the color on the label and then they had a cute little surprise inside.

And because I think I am cool because I can share a printable with you I will.

Smartie Seed Co

I hope the teacher’s enjoyed their treats. I am spent and now I need a vacation! Or maybe I will just eat the leftover Happily Ever After Hot Fudge from yesterday. That will make me feel better!

Ice cream you scream…Happily Ever After Hot Fudge

2011-05-04T20:43:00.001-07:00

Are you getting sick of teacher appreciation week??? Don’t worry only one more day to go. I guess that is what happens when I am put in charge.

Don’t you wish you taught at our school? We can’t pay you much but we will spoil you as much as we can! Today we hosted an ice cream social for our teachers.

Don’t those look yummy?

And since you can’t have an ice cream bar without hot fudge I will share my recipe for hot fudge. Yep made it up all by myself it is a “slumgullion” of sorts as my Grandma would say. I made it using what I had on hand and it was divine!

Doesn’t the older generations have way better sayings? My Grandpa always says wow “he was all over that like chicken on June bug” Ha now if that doesn’t give you a visual. It makes me wonder what we will be saying to our grandkids? Wha’s up? Oh she so phat? Ok so we don’t really say that any more but really don’t their sayings sound so much cooler.

Anyway…

Back to the hot fudge.

Happily Ever after Hot Fudge

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups evaporated milk
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt

Melt the butter and chocolate chips over low heat , stirring constantly until smooth. Gradually add the milks and powdered sugar stir until smooth. Add the corn syrup. Bring to boil and boil for about 5 minutes or until it begins to slightly thicken. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt and stir until smooth. Serve warm over ice cream and you will live happily ever after.

It makes a ton!!

Sweet and Simple Teacher Gifts

2011-05-04T13:18:00.001-07:00

Here is a fun, simple and inexpensive gift idea for the special teacher’s in your child’s life. I am not a teacher but I can not resist a cute labeled container, so I made some for me too.

Everything you see is from the Dollar store, so you really can’t beat the price. I love when you can pull off classy gifts from the Dollar store.

The process is simple you can check out my glass etching tutorial here.

If you follow me on Facebook here is a hint of the big changes! If you don’t you should so I don’t feel all lonely with no Facebook friends.

You could use this for an end of school year gift.

Speaking of that. Does that drive anyone else crazy? Why is teacher appreciation week 14 school days away from the end of the year? Shouldn’t it be earlier so I can spread out the love? That and April and May are crazy and I can’t get my craft on in a moments notice.

Hmmmmm????? or maybe I should just start earlier!

A “Kool” gift for some “Kool” Teachers

2011-05-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

It is National Teacher appreciation week all week so don’t forget to thank a teacher.

Here is a simple very inexpensive little thank you gift you can do.

I made a little printable in Photoshop and glued it to the front of a Kool-Aid packet and then taped it to bendy straw. I made 50 of them for all of the teachers in our school.

They cost a whopping 20 cents to make because I got the “good” Kool-Aid so it would actually say Kool-Aid on the packet. Otherwise they would have been 12 cents, but they are worth 8 cents. Right?

Here are some more cute sayings I thought of:

You put the “kool” in school

Thanks a “punch” put it on fruit punch

You are a “Berry” special teacher put it on strawberry Kool-Aid.

I will make it really easy to make here is my free little printable:

Teacher Appreciation

The headband and a near death experience

2011-04-27T16:02:00.001-07:00

Don’t say it!

I know, I know how does one almost die making a headband?

Well I am telling you I did! It’s ok you won’t you will learn from my mistakes and make an adorable little headband and leave off the whole almost dying part.

Ok? Ok!

(excuse the cheesy look it is hard to take a picture of yourself without looking cheesy!)

All you need is three strips of stretchy knit fabric. Like an old t-shirt or whatever you got. I cut mine in 1 inch strips.

Well this is the part where I almost died! I was cutting my fabric with my rotary cutter you know the metal wheel kind. I was cutting on my mat on top of the washer. My iron was plugged in sitting on the shelf behind the washer. So here I am cutting away on my washer not thinking anything about the cord laying across the back of the washer. I am not even close to it no biggie well I get a little over zealous and cut right into the cord… THAT IS PLUGGED IN!!!!! There were major sparks, a loud pop and a little screaming! Ok a lot of screaming, but I could have died! Luckily it only burned a hole through my blade and not me. So let’s not do that ok! Make sure no cords are on your cutting surface.

Take your long 1 inch strips mine were about 1 inch by 24 inches. Place all three strips together on a safety pin and braid them together. Once you have it as long as you need it simply stitch the ends together. Super easy and really comfortable. It doesn’t dig into my brain like some others do.

I whipped out 3 in a matter of minutes and that included the whole almost dying incident! I think it would be really fun to make them for your girls out of their favorite tee shirts that they out grow.

DIY-Pampering Orange Sugar Scrub

2011-04-26T12:44:00.001-07:00

Finally this week has slowed down a little.

Prince Charming and I went on a date last night so I thought I would take a moment and do a little “spring cleaning.” It is a date after all I should probably shave my legs and break out the power sander and get all the dead dry skin off.

What? It is really dry where we live.

As much as I would love to jet off to some fancy spa to take care of my dry skin, I don’t have time for that so I made my own orange sugar scrub. Now my skin is so soft and supple and it doesn’t sound like I am wearing sand paper socks in bed. Ewwwww I know! I wonder if Prince Charming would use some?

In a bowl mix together:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (I used olive but I bet almond would be great too)
5-10 drops orange essential oil

That is it, so simple and you can pronounce everything in it! So easy to mix up the smells too if you are looking for something different. I just recycled a cute jar and decorated it with twine and vintage fabric. These would be great to keep on hand for hostess gifts or pick me ups for your friends.

Emergency cuteness-Easter treats

2011-04-23T05:45:00.001-07:00

Dang it I forgot again! The preschool always does a little Easter party for the kids and I can not seem to remember it is coming. Thankfully a friend mentioned it and I had a whole 2 hours to figure something out in between soccer and dinner. I work well under pressure, right?

See last year I made emergency Easter play dough, cute eh?

I could throw some candy in and call it good but I really try and steer clear of candy and clutter. I know I appreciate that as a mom, don’t you?

So I skewered some cute giant bunny marshmallows on a straw. Just poke it through and wipe the end off.

Wrap cute scrapbooking paper around a mini water bottle and tie on a little drink mix packet and walla!! Cute Easter treat.

Now I could have made a cute little pocket to put the drink mix in and I also could have made a stamp for the topper but this was an emergency and a girl has to do, what a girl has to do.

Happy Easter!

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cake Mix Cookies

2011-04-19T19:26:00.001-07:00

Yeah so it still hasn’t slowed down in the castle. Sorry for my lack of posting.

This past weekend we put together a booth for the scout show. It is a huge event that 10000 scouts attend. It is really fun but it was a lot of work.

Can you pick out the things I made? They scream Whimsical Princess all over them! Leave me a comment it will be fun to see if you can pick them out.

Now who wants some yummy cookies that are super easy? So easy even I had time to squeeze them in! The family was going through withdrawls since I haven’t had much time to make special treats.

Better for our waistlines anyway, right?

Double Chocolate Chip Mint Cake Mix Cookies (the name is harder to say than it is to make them)

1 Box Chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips of your choice I used mint and chocolate 1 cup of each.

Ok ready here we go now follow close.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix the cake mix, oil, and the eggs until combined add the chips and stir.

3. roll them into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Doesn’t get much more simple than that. I made the cookies and cleaned up the mess in 5 minutes flat! Perfect for those times when the kids give you the, “oh sorry I forgot to tell you I need 3 dozen cookies tonight.” You can change the chips, add nuts whatever you like go crazy.

DIY-Faux Canvas Prints

2011-04-12T15:38:00.001-07:00

More fun with wood today!!!! My friend’s husband is a wood worker and he was getting rid of a bunch of really beautiful wood. At first I passed it up, thinking nah what am I going to do with it? And then I quickly came to my senses, “what was I thinking?” I ran right back over there and took a huge stack. Guess, what everyone is getting for Christmas.

I don’t know either but it is going to involve wood!

Today lets make faux canvas prints. I can’t take all the credit for this cuteness. A friend had something like this up in her house.

You will need:

1 black and white picture (mine is 16 X 20 because I kept printing the same size to go in a frame I had thinking I was getting it bigger than the first. Soooooo I had 3 of these laying around)
1 piece of wood cut to the exact size of your photo
Black Acrylic paint
Mod Podge or something like it
Paint Brush(not pictured but I figured you would know what that looks like

Paint all 4 edges of your board. Depending on your scissor skills you may need to do a little on the top if any board is showing through. Let it dry, it won’t take long.

Spread a coat of mod podge on the board and place your picture on top. Make sure you smooth over your photo really well. You don’t want any bubbles underneath. You could use a brayer. A rolling pin works great, that is what I used.

Apply a nice coat of mod podge over the top of the photo and let it dry. Don’t worry it dries clear.

That is it, your done. I love the depth it gives your photo and it really does look like a canvas print. Only mine cost $1.79, because I had everything. and my new BFF Tommy gave me the wood.

It took a matter of minutes to make this. I made one for me and one for my mom for mother’s day.

I had to do something with those extra prints

All I am Saying is Give Peeps a Chance

2011-04-11T05:57:00.001-07:00

How about a fun little plaque for my mantel?

Ok so I still had Valentines day up and yeah I completely skipped St. Patrick's Day.

Whatever!

Another super simple one. A little paint on a scrap board, cricut stencil and some paint and a cute saying.

Look it they even wrote a song about it.

What do you mean they are saying, “peace?”

If the everyone sat down and had peeps together it might work the same you know. All I am saying is give peeps a chance.

LOL!

Farm Fresh Eggs

2011-04-10T16:32:00.001-07:00

Hey all!

Man it has been so busy in the castle I haven’t had any time to get any crafting done at all lately. Darn life is getting in the way of my free time!

It was one of those weekends. We had soccer, lawn work, made giant fake boulders, and book club. I made a better than sex cake for book club, I am not so sure it is BETTER but it is definitely yummy!

Today I squeezed in a cute little sign for my kitchen. I thought it would be a fun little touch for Easter without being all out in your face Easter. I like it so much I think I am going to leave it all year round.

No fancy techniques here. I slapped some white paint on an old board. You gotta slap it or it doesn’t look right.

I cut out the lettering with my Cricut and used the negative space like a stencil. Easy Peasy!

You are Some Bunny special

2011-04-04T12:49:00.001-07:00

There is this little church I drive by everyday usually 3 or 4 times a day and they have this sign outside that always has these little quotes. You know those thought provoking ones that make you stop and think. You know like “Eat at Joes.”

I am kidding!

They once had one that said something like, “the smallest gesture is more grand than the grandest of thoughts.” That is not exactly it, but you get right?

I was one that always had these big grandiose plans which meant they usually didn’t happen because I am busy blah, blah, blah. You know I really hate that excuse because we are all busy and really who is sitting around eating bon-bons? Except maybe the Real Housewives of where ever who aren’t even real housewives.

Anyway I am really trying to change that and just do small little gestures that are really simple to pull together but still make someone feel special.

This is for “some bunny” special that has been helping and encouraging me in my business which has been really great!

A simple but cute little tag.

A package of peeps bunnies and a cute basket is all it took to say thanks and make some bunny feel special.

You could do this for Teacher Appreciation day which is coming up the first week in May.

Isn’t it great to know your peeps have got your back!

2011-03-31T14:40:00.001-07:00

One of my ~~friends~~ peeps was feeling down and out and wanted her to know that it is all going to be ok!

So I left her a peep bouquet on her front door step just to let her know that “her peeps have got her back.”

I just recycled a tin can for the vase, and wrapped it in cute scrapbooking paper. Make sure you weight your can down or it will tip over. I used a big rock and then added some foam to tuck the skewers into.

It really can’t be more simple. I just ran skewers half way through each peep (sorry guys) wrapped them with cookie wrappers and tied them shut with some fuzzy string.

Now I know I feel better, want to know why?

Because I get to eat all the extra peeps, see win-win for everyone!

2 Liter Greenhouse

2011-03-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

Earth day is coming up April 22nd so I thought a nice greenhouse project is in order and since this is a great recycling project it is a bonus!

This is a fantastic project for the kids to do, I did it with my scouts and they all had a blast! We did worm composting and I wanted them to see the whole cycle of how the worms help grow our food and how our food helps to feed them. We made worm castle and our soda bottle greenhouses so they could see both sides of the cycle. Maybe I will show you our worm castles too.

First gather your supplies:

1 empty 2 liter soda bottle
1 cup or 2 of dirt
seeds(I used basil so the kids could eat their plants)
scissors or some other way to cut the bottle

Remove the label from the bottle and cut it in half. Just eyeball it no need to be exact. Adults should do this the bottle can be slippery.

Cut a small slit in the bottom half of the bottle so the top will be able to fit over the bottom half.

Fill the bottom of the bottle with dirt.

Add your seeds according to what kind of seeds you are using.

Add a sprinkle of water. Don’t drown them, you might use a spray bottle if you think your little ones will go crazy with a watering can.

Add a little love. The love is extra but it will make your plants happy.

Place the greenhouse in a sunny window. Make sure your soil stays damp but not soggy. We had sprouts in about 3 days.

Now who has a pesto recipe that is not all weird and gritty? You know I am “texture girl.”

Carrot Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

2011-03-26T08:19:00.001-07:00

Good Morning royal peeps!

Sorry I have been MIA we have been busy with projects but really nothing you want to read about. Unless painting trim and moving mulch is your thing.

Just a quickie post today I am building a bed and want to work on that so I can’t be goofin around on my blog!

These muffins are fantastic and have a texture similar to a pumpkin muffin. You can add a little shredded carrot if you want a little more carrot goodness in there! In the fall if I have a plethora of carrots in the garden I will cook them and puree them and freeze that so I can use them specifically for this recipe.

The Queen’s Carrot Cream cheese swirl muffins

Yield’s 2 dozen

Ingredients:

2-15 ounce cans sliced carrots, drain one can but not the other.
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil (you can also you 1/3 cup applesauce and 1/3 cup oil to cut back on the fat)

Filling

1- 8 ounce package cream cheese(I use the 1/3 less fat kind)
1 egg
1/4 sugar

Directions:

Place the carrots in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the eggs and oil and blend again.
In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.
Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl and beat until smooth.
Fill muffin cups about 1/3 full.
Drop the filling by tablespoons full into the center of each muffin.
Top with remaining batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy! These freeze beautifully we like to keep a stock for busy mornings.

Taste the Rainbow….it’s magically delicious

2011-03-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Patrick’s day

everyone!

The oldest Prince informed me he had nothing to wear for St. Patrick’s day. Heck I didn’t even know he cared. So I whipped up a cute shirt for him last night. Lucky for him I had green heat transfer vinyl and a plain white tee waiting for him. Lucky for me I have a cricut!

We want you to feel lucky too so I am going to share with you how to make rainbow cupcakes, “they’re magically delicious!”

It is super easy. Whip up a white cake mix either from scratch or box. I am not going to judge the point is to have fun not prove your culinary expertise, and really Betty has been doing it along time I am willing to trust her. Now divide your cake mix into 6 bowls or more if you like. I did 2/3 cup and got 6 colors worth. To each bowl add your desired colors. I used gel colors because they are easier to work with and come in every color of…

well the Rainbow

Fill your prepared muffin cups with a little of each color. I used about 2 tsp. of each color. Just layer them right on top of each other, and bake according to your recipe.

Frost and enjoy.

Aren’t those super festive, tell me you don’t feel lucky now!

DIY-Reese Peanut Butter Egg

2011-03-13T19:19:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah its here……

Have you ever had one of these? Oh man I love them. I know what you are thinking. It is just a Reese’s Peanut butter cup in the shape of an egg can it really be all that different? But I am telling you it is not just anew shape. They taste better too. I love them, almost as much as……

These! Now those Reese peanut butter cup eggs really are great. But like most things homemade is even better. These are over the top delicious, the texture is perfect and the darker chocolate really knock these out of the park. These are really simple to make.

The Whimsical Princess’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs

Ingredients

4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups Creamy Peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2-3 tablespoons milk
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon Shortening

Directions:

Mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until it becomes a nice workable dough. It will be just like play dough, it will be really easy to work with. Form the dough into egg shapes, and place in the freezer for about an hour.

Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a glass measuring cup. Microwave 1 minute at a time stirring in between until completely melted. (You can also use a double boiler if you prefer, but I am lazy)

Dip each egg in the melted chocolate and place on waxed paper until set. (I use a skewer and then slide the dipped egg of and cover the hole)

Once they are set you can trim any excess chocolate off that may pool at the base with a pairing knife to make them look pretty. You could also decorate them with royal icing and make a really special Easter treat.

I am linking to these fun parties:

Make two of these and call me in the morning..

2011-03-10T07:45:00.001-08:00

I have a really fun project for you today.

We call in the “heaty thing” but you can call it a heating pad, therapy bag, heavenly whatever you call it it all works the same. These really are a god send when ever you are achy, sore, tired, ~~old,~~ feeling under the weather, or in labor. Yep in labor they are an awesome tool to relax you during labor. You just throw it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and in no time you will feel so much better.

Cut one rectangle of any fabric 18 inches X 19 inches. Fold in half long was with right sides together sew 1/4 inch seam on one short end and the open long end. Turn it right sides out fold in half and press to make a nice line like sew(ha). Sew a line straight down the center starting at the short side that is already finished. Stop sewing about a 1/2 inch from the unfinished side so we have room to turn down that end and seal it shut.

Next we are going to fill it. There are lots of things you can use, rice (tends to burn and that is stinky and will not make you feel better), cherry pits etc. I prefer feed corn, not to be confused with popcorn that would be bad! Feed corn is inexpensive and holds the heat really well. Before you fill it run your corn through the microwave a couple times to make sure it won’t pop. Don’t worry it won’t pop all crazy. Once you have done that you can fill your bag at least half way full but not all the way you want to make sure you have room to move it around so it can wrap around what ever part hurts.

Now turn down the open end and sew it shut.

Lastly we are just going make a simple envelope cover so it can be removed, because let’s face it there are good odds someone might barf on it. Speaking from experience it could happen and warm barfy smell is not going to make you feel better!

To make our cover cut one 18 1/2 inch by 9 inch piece (front) and 2- 11 inch X 9 inch pieces (Back). Turn down the short end on the back piece 1/4 inch press and turn down another 1/4 inch press, sew. Now if you want to embellish the front part of the cover with ruffles or flowers (which you do) now is the time to do that. Once you are done we will put the cover together. Lay the front piece down and place one of the back sections down with the seam side in the middle, lay the second back piece down so it overlaps the other back piece. All right sides should be together. Pin and sew 1/4 inch seam all the way around. Turn right side out and your done.

Doesn’t that make you feel better just looking at it? Wouldn’t these be great for friends when they are feeling under the weather? Make up a bunch and have them ready so when someone says they don’t feel well you can drop one off.

See this guy? Well he is a “heaty guy” too! I just popped his seam and took a little stuffing out and filled him with corn too. Sewed the seam shut and he works the same. He is perfect for the kids!

A little Trash Talk

2011-03-06T18:45:00.001-08:00

“Oh no you didn’t!!!”

“Oh yes I did!!! I went and made my self a cute car trash can!!!”

“Oh nah ah. Girl that is some crazy trash talk!”

I have been wanting a trash can for my car to try and curb what I fondly refer to as, “the back seat vending machine.” I had been using recycled grocery bags which although they are green they are not pretty to look at.

So I created this cutie which is fully lined with vinyl to keep said grossness off my cute trash can! It buckles around the car headrest. Which will be precisely at eye level with the kids to remind them to trash their trash!

Cut the following pieces:

Main pocket cut 2 10 X 16 inch panels

Vinyl cut 2 10 X 16 inch panels

Front Pocket cut 1 10 X 9 inch panels

Bias tape pieces in coordinating fabric cut 3 2 x 13 inch pieces

Straps cut 2 4 1/2 X 12 inch (I used the same fabric as the main pockets but the coordinating fabric would be cute too)

Make your bias tape I like to use my fancy dancy bias tape maker but you can also use this method. It works well too!

Attach your vinyl to your main pocket pieces.

Attach your bias tape to the top edge of all three pocket pieces don’t worry about trimming the extra off we can do that later.

I thought I had a picture of the next step but I missed it. It is easy. Place the front pocket right sides together on one of the main pocket panels. Then sandwich the other main pocket panel right on top right sides together. Stitch around all three sides leaving the top open.

Ok now here is the hardest part turning the whole she-bang right side out. Seriously I worked up a sweat, my muscles were shaking, it was a great workout! The vinyl is pretty tough to maneuver but it can be done, just be patient.

Now go have some Gatorade we have to replace those electrolytes we lost during that intense workout!

Now make your straps by folding your strap pieces in half and pressing them. Unfold and turn and fold your edges into the line you just created. Press. Now fold it in half again and press. It is just like making double fold bias tape only bigger. Fold your short ends in and top stitch all the way around.

I used these curtain rod rings as my rings. I just trimmed the clip off.

The last thing we need to do is attach the straps we just made. Take one of your straps and attach it about an inch down from the top of the bias tape. You’ll want to go over it a couple times to reinforce it. Now slip your rings on the other strap and make a loop with the strap. Now attach this one in the same manner.

Have a great week!

Malted Milk Ball Brownies

2011-03-04T15:29:00.001-08:00

There is nothing better than a warm brownie fresh out of the oven oozing with chocolaty goodness, right?

Wrong!

How about we add in some malted milk balls, frost them with a to die for chocolate frosting and garnish with more malted milk balls.

uummmm you might want to get your tongue of the screen, drool is not good for your computer.

Paula Deen’s Malted Milk Ball

Brownies

3/4 cup butter
6 1 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 malted milk powder
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped malted milk balls( I used Whoppers)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13 X 9 baking pan with foil and spray foil with non-stick cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, combine butter and chocolate. Cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat sugars, malted milk powder, and eggs at medium speed until fluffy.

In small bowl, combine flour and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until combined. Add melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined.

Stir in malted milk balls, Spoon batter into prepared pan, and bake for 23 to 27 minutes or until brownies are set in the center. Let cool completely.

Frost and garnish with additional malted milk balls.

Creamy chocolate Frosting

6 tablespoons butter
3 1 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate chopped
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 cup milk

In a medium sauce pan, combine butter and chocolate. Cook over medium-low heat stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat, and beat in sugar until combined. Gradually add in milk until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.

Have a great weekend!

We are “Mint” to be together

2011-03-02T04:18:00.000-08:00

Just a little something to say, “I love you” for Prince Charming.

Prince Charming and I have been married almost 11 years and it can be so easy to let those little things go, but I am trying really hard to do special things for him like when we were dating. You know before he “had” to like me.

I picked up one of those little tiny containers of Ben and Jerry’s Mint Chocolate cookie. It is so cute I want to put it in my pocket and carry it with me everywhere I go.

But don’t because that would be messy and messy is not cute!

Whipped up a fun tag and snuck it in the freezer. I know he will love it mint is his favorite ice cream.

You could do the same concept with Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies which I may or may not have 15 boxes of.

What? I like to support the causes!

If you give a princess a fabric scrap……

2011-03-01T10:53:00.001-08:00

I had some scraps laying around and wanted to come up with a little project for them, enter the……

Pincushion

I know not all that exciting but it really did turn out cute. I can’t even give you a tutorial because I just winged it.

I feel like the Mouse in, “If you give a Mouse a Cookie.”

If you give me a scrap, I am going to want to make something with it.

And if I make a cute patchwork pincushion with it chances are I am going to want to make a quilt for my bed.

And if I make a quilt for my bed chances are I am going to want to repaint.

All because you gave me a scrap.

And down will come baby, easy baby gifts

2011-02-28T19:08:00.001-08:00

Oh how I love sweet little babies with those tiny toes and chubby little cheeks that ooze cuteness.

I would have 10 more if I could but the castle is out of rooms and Prince Charming might go stark raving mad if I had more little bundles.

Maybe not stark raving mad, but he would freak out at least a little.

Soooooooo………

I guess I will live vicariously through everyone else.

It is never too early for ruffles right? Especially on a tiny little peanut. She weighed a whopping 5 pounds. 5 pounds, I never had babies that were that tiny. My smallest weighed in at 8 pounds and my big bruiser was 9 pounds 8 ounces.

And for the record I had them au natural and would love to go through labor again. What an amazing experience!

I have to stop talking about babies it makes my ovaries hurt!

(excuse those crayon marks on my table I have an artist in the family)

A coordinating headband to match.

A fun little applique.

Check out this adorableness. Tee hee. A fun little skirted onesie.

I need another girl!

more friends to have babies…so you all get busy!

A toadally AW-some Thank you gift

2011-02-27T11:21:00.001-08:00

Saturday we had our big Blue and Gold Banquet for cub scouts. For us this is when we send our older boys off to boy scouts and celebrate the leaders and accomplishments for the year. I had to come up with a little something for our leaders so we know how much we appreciate their time and dedication.

So I came up with this toadally AW-some idea. We are the frog patrol because we “hop to it” whenever something needs to be done, which is where the toadally comes in. We display our frogs whenever we camp together in the summer.

Ok secretly I do this as a ploy to get other parents involved. Shhhhh don’t tell them that. When they see all those frogs it has a little peer pressure affect. Sneaky I know but it works!

I was going to do the cute bottles of root beer but I went to two different stores and each only had two 6 packs each. I had to make 12 of these so scratch that I am not running to 6 stores, and besides I like these cute little soda cans anyway.

I shrink wrapped the basket to hold everything in and well shrink wrap is super fun to play with so why not!

Whipped up a cute label and there you go. Toadally inexpensive and really AW-some thank you gift.

I hear angels sing………

2011-02-23T13:50:00.001-08:00

Are you ready???? You might want to turn your volume down these angels sing really loud!

Hallelujah!!!!!

This weekend I embarked upon a project I had long since been neglecting as you can see. This is what my cupboard looked like when I started this project. Every time I opened my cupboard those spices were there, mocking me. EEEE gad that is horrible, I know I should be ashamed.

I passed along my bread maker to a friend because I really haven’t used it now that I have a fancy schmancy kitchen aid there really was no need for it. I never baked in my bread maker because it made the bread overdone in my opinion but it did make great dough, so off it goes giving me a ton more space.

I transferred all of the spices and such into mason jars and whipped up some cute little labels. Ahhhhh much better!

You might recognize these from the first pantry makeover I did well ummm yeah that wasn’t working for me. I love the jars but the location wasn’t right. I always know when my systems aren’t working when they can only be maintained by me. That results in a lot of whining and foot stamping.

(What? it makes me crazy when nobody else plays along with my games.)

I corralled all of my chips and miscellaneous baking stuff in these cute little bins that I have been holding on to since I left my job ohhh 5 years ago I knew they would come in handy!

I backed the cupboard with some really pretty wrapping paper I had to add a little glamour to it. I know, I know a glamorous cupboard…..but hey it is pretty. I used double sided sticky tape to hold in place because let’s face it I like to change things a lot! I used ribbon on the shelf fronts also held in place with sticky tape.

Prince Charming laughs at me, he has caught me on several occasions opening the door just to bask in the glory!

I spent nothing to makeover this space in to something beautiful and that really makes me happy.

****hey did you notice???? My wrapping paper is the exact same pattern as my blog background. I knew I liked it!***

Thought I would party a little at:

Rooms for Rent Inquire Within

2011-02-16T16:49:00.001-08:00

I am so excited to share this one with you! I ~~watched patiently~~ hovered while Prince Charming hung it and snapped a picture before he was even off the ladder.

See this adorable architectural piece that now christens the front door of the castle?

Wanna guess what it started life as???

Yep ugly old headboard. I picked this up for free, Prince Charming rolled his eyes on this one. It had a weird seashell in the middle of it, but it had really cute lines.

A little wood filler took care of that ugly seashell. Followed by coat of white paint and some detailing.

I could not be more in love with my free art! I love the peeling, chipped and worn paint.

The oldest Prince says to me, “ Uh Mom. You aren’t really going to hang that outside right? People might ring our door bell looking for a place to stay.”

Ha wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Ok not really, some creepy guy looking for a place to stay.

And yeah I still haven’t painted and I know I shouldn’t hang my art until I paint but I couldn’t wait. We are getting there!

Just a little something….

2011-02-15T08:40:00.001-08:00

I whipped up for my sister in law for her birthday.

I ordered something 3 weeks ago trying to be efficient and it didn’t come. Boo! It’s ok I work well under pressure (well at least that is what I tell myself!)

I wanted her to have something to open so I whipped up this adorable little set. I really wanted to keep this for myself. The only thing stopping me is my last name is not Bjorlow, that and I think my sister in law would be disappointed if I showed up with a picture of the thing I ordered. What? I would have wrapped it!

Glass etching is so much fun. It adds instant style to almost any kind of glass. How cute would this be for a wedding gift, or a hostess gift. No more guessing whether you brought home the right dish from the potlucks either.

You can see my easy tutorial here.

This is the backside.

See don’t these look lovely in my kitchen? They also look great in my bathroom. These are just inexpensive towels but the texture is so soft and luxurious.

I really am going to have to make me some mine don’t even match my kitchen, and I have had them since we bought our house almost seven years ago.

Blech!

Twas the night before Valentines Day

2011-02-13T19:14:00.001-08:00

and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. (well except me)

Here is the final presentation of our DIY sidewalk chalk for the Youngest Prince.

Call it goo, call it slime, call it flarp. I don’t care you call it as long as you call it Ca-ewwwt.

Get it “ewwww”

We made homemade slime for the oldest prince, and put it in old film canisters. Hello frugal valentine!

The tag reads, You are a goo’d friend. Ha!

And now the rest on my funny poem.

The valentines are packed in their satchels with care.

The kids were all nestled all snug in their bed while visions of pink and red candy danced in their heads.

With pa in his pjs and I with glitter in my hair. I had just started to sit down. When from the crafty room came such a clatter. Pa sprang from his bed to see what was the matter.

Away from the room I flew like a flash. I threw open the cupboards, and tore through my stash.

Pa heard me exclaim as I flew out of sight, “oh crap I forgot the teachers. Looks like I will be up all night!”

Ha, Ha thank goodness I really do have a stash of cute projects I have worked on to share with teachers, I didn’t forget more like ran out of steam.

Happy Valentines

Day!

Chalk this Valentine up-DIY Sidewalk Chalk

2011-02-09T03:36:00.000-08:00

This year for the Youngest Prince we are making homemade sidewalk chalk for his Valentines to give his friends.

It is really easy, I will show you how.

Here is what we need:

Plaster of Paris
Powdered Tempera Paint
Ice Cube Molds(or any other kind of mold, you can use almost anything)
Mason jar or bowl (I used a mason jar and it was fantastic!)

Pour 2 cups of the Plaster of Paris powder into your jar or bowl.

Add your dry paint to the dry powder and mix thoroughly with a spoon. I used about 1/2 cup to get that nice bright red, but you can adjust to your liking.

Just pretend the powder is dry in that shot ok. I did it both ways and I think the dry with dry works much better but didn’t take a picture.

Add 2 cups of cold water to the dry mix and stir until completely combined, or if you are using a mason jar put the lid on a shake, shake, shake. Pour into your molds and allow it to dry. It will take about an hour or maybe a little more to hardened enough to remove from the molds. Remove from the molds and allow them to dry completely which will take about 24 hours.

Now, I am putting this in big bold type to make sure you are listening!

DO NOT PUT ANY OF THIS DOWN YOUR DRAIN!!!!!

You see how nice and hard it gets, well yeah it will do that in your drain. I placed a bag in a bowl and rinsed everything into that. Then I let that sit over night, the plaster will harden in the bottom of the bag and then you can drain of the water and throw the rest away.

I did make another batch with the blue, but they didn’t make it into the shot. A big snow storm was heading in and I knew I wouldn’t be able to find sidewalk to take a picture with, so you only get the red.

Just one more thing, if the kids help you with this project do not let them put their fingers in the plaster of paris once you have added the water. It can cause burns because it gets hot. Really for that matter you might want to wear gloves. Make sure you read the precautions on the package, and we will all be safe.

Now if Spring would only come the kids might actually get to play with their chalk. The ground hog said it was coming early tomorrow would be nice.

Patchwork Flirty Ruffle Apron

2011-02-08T16:31:00.001-08:00

Today’s high is nine, I am not going outside and you can’t make me!

I stayed in and whipped up this sassy little number instead!

It is so cute it makes me want to bake something right now! June Cleaver would be proud don’t you think?

I have some fabric leftover and want to make one for the Little Princess. Won’t that be cute on a little sassy toddler.

I have some Valentine projects I should be posting but that is the nice thing you see it is my blog and I get to do crazy things like that!

Come back and check out what I have in store tomorrow!

Have I told you lately that I love you? Love Notes from the Princess

2011-02-03T12:50:00.001-08:00

Do you know how much I love you?

Well I do! You make being crafty even more fun.

Here is my latest little dry erase board. I heart the ruffles, don’t you?

I used stamps on this one plus my cricut and vinyl. It is kinda fun to break out of the box and combine mediums. Well that and I love stamps and really should use them in more of my projects since I own a zillion. You can’t use any old ink, you will need to use Staz-on which is formulated to work on non-porous surfaces.

I am thinking I may use this as my teachers gifts for Valentines day. What do you think?

That’s the way the cookie crumbles-Cookie Fun

2011-02-01T02:02:00.000-08:00

It is a cookie

It is a cupcake

It is Ca-Ute!

These little cuties were made for the youngest Prince to take to school for his birthday party. We can’t bring cupcakes so I thought these would be the next best thing.

I used a chocolate sugar cookie which was out of this world!!! Soft, delicate and just unbelievable! The dough was a breeze to work with! The original recipe is from Cookie Crazie she has a lot of great tips you should check out!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla, & sour cream. Blend in dry ingredients. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough to desired thickness. Cut into shapes. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake approx 20 minutes.

How about a little cookie humor!

Why did the cookie go to the doctor?

Because he was feeling crumby!

Ha ha chortle chortle, snort…..

Ahhhh I kill me, I am here all week!

How to Train your Dragon Party-Watch out they have a nasty habit of setting themselves on fire

2011-01-31T02:58:00.001-08:00

Don’t worry nobody was actually on fire, but the party was smokin’ hot!

The youngest Prince turned 5. The big Frog birthday, 5 whole years old! He is into How to Train your Dragon big time, so our choice for a theme was easy.

Funny because the first time he watched it, he watched with one eye while hiding under a blanket. Go figure!

For breakfast…….

(It is a pancake, sheesh what kind of mom do you think I am?)

Want to see how you make it? Click on the picture and I will show you.

Fondant Toothless cake topper.

Flaming Hot Cheetos of course!

The cute pot courtesy of the Oldest Prince in 1st grade was perfect and rustic and screamed Viking!

Dragon Tails

I covered the island with giant butcher block paper and burned around the edges for that dragonesc look.

(When I say I, I really mean we. Prince Charming burned I stood with fire extinguisher in hand ready to extinguish said fire. I felt like we would just be showing off if the entire kitchen was scorched and it would be just a little too dragonesc.)

Dinosaur nuggets look a lot like dragons.

The favors….

Hot Tamales in the cutest candy jars I have ever seen!

“Dude, thanks for checking out my party!”

(and for the record I do clean our TV, I swear it doesn’t look like that unless there is a bright camera flash on it)

Dippty-Doo-Dah Take 3 Chocolate Dipped Mega Marshmallows

2011-01-28T14:36:00.001-08:00

(objects in this photo maybe larger than they appear)

Today I am finishing the last details for the youngest Prince’s birthday party. I dipped some marshmallows in melted chocolate and used dinosaur sprinkles to make another fun party treat.

Dinosaurs look a lot like dragons which will work just ducky for our How to Train Your Dragon party theme.

But wait these are no ordinary marshmallows. These are

MEGA marshmallows.

Check it out. The marshmallow on the left is not a mini marshmallow it is a regular size marshmallow, it is the marshmallow on the right that is just plain gigantic!

Crazy huh! So much fun to make.

I guess I am done dipping stuff in chocolate although I was kinda of thinking I bet the hot tamales would be kinda yummy dipped in chocolate. What do you think? Too much?

Dippty-Dee-D00-Dah Take 2-Chocolate Dipped Oreos

2011-01-26T11:32:00.001-08:00

Today I am working on Chocolate dipped Oreo’s (aka shields) for the Youngest Prince’s 5th birthday. We are using the same almond bark we used for our chocolate dipped peg legs. You can check that post out here.

I dipped Mint Oreos (yummy) and Double Stuffed.

Yeah I used the knock off brand, they are less expensive and equally fatty and delicious!

I didn’t use any fancy tools just a measuring cup and a fork will do. Drop your Oreo in and submerge it, then pick it up with your fork. Shake and tap it to remove the excess chocolate. Run the bottom of your fork along the rim of the measuring cup to remove the excess chocolate.

I know there is no such thing as excess chocolate but that cookie can only hold so much chocolate. Just trust me!

You will want to put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper, or freezer paper(wax side up)

Allow the chocolate to harden and embellish with white chocolate.

I used the D and the 5 differentiate between the mint and double stuffed. My grandpa hates mint and I didn’t him to take a big ol bite and be grossed out.

Now if I could only remember which was which! Hmmmm guess I will have to eat one just to be sure.

Dippity-doo-da-Chocolate Dipped pretzels

2011-01-25T14:42:00.001-08:00

We are in party mode at the castle this week, which means we are getting things prepped and ready in an orderly fashion

(ok so we really we are running around like mad getting everything done before Prince Charming goes to work and checking my to do list every two seconds hoping that things will be magically be marked off)

The youngest Prince wanted a “How to Train Your Dragon Party.” I will show you all the fun things we are doing later cause well blogging isn’t really on my to do list, but hey a girl needs a break.

Today I was able to mark off the chocolate dipped peg legs (aka pretzels)

Meet Goober he is my inspiration for this fun little treat.

These were so much fun to make, and very simple!

Here is what you will need. Just pretend you see the white almond bark ok.

Simply melt the chocolate according to the instructions on the package, and dip your pretzels. If you want to add sprinkles you will want to do that right after your have allowed the excess to drip off. Once again Prince Charming was a super genius and discovered my cooling rack is perfect for holding up the pretzels while they dry.

If you want to make the swirls (which were my favorite) You will want to dip your first layer and let that dry. Then I used these squeeze bottles to add the swirls. I just held the pretzel over my measuring cup and drizzled all of the sides. Allow the swirls to dry and your are all set.

Aren’t those a fun little treat??

“Dippity-doo-daa, dippty dee aay my o my what a wonderful day”

Ha! Just incase you needed a little something to sing while you are dipping!