Cinnamon Roll Cake!

So, I am the kind of mom that would LOVE to make my family homemade cinnamon rolls every Sunday for breakfast, but they take so much time that I just don't have. Here is an amazing recipe for Yummy Cinnamon Roll Cake found at jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com!

My family LOVED it..... and it didn't even take all morning! A definate score on my part and my family didn't even miss the homemade cinnamon rolls one bit! It is a definate must-try recipe and your family will love you for it!

Easy Backpack

For Activity Days, we decided to make these marthastewart backpacks for all the girls to wear at our daycamp we have coming up in June. The girls made these at our activity and they all did so good especially since most of them had never used a sewing machine before! There is a really easy tutorial on the Martha Stewart Link above. Love these!

I don't have a backpack right now to take a picture of because the one I made for example is set aside for one of the girls, sorry. This is the fabric and we followed the tutorial, but just made the ropes longer than in the tutorial since it is meant for a toddler. I love these and they are so easy, the girls made them themselves in 15 minutes!

We found this super cute fabric at Hobby Lobby! Love it! I am so making one for Cali!

Thanks to the Activity Days girls for the super fun activity!

Baked Donuts

This recipe is from loveveggiesandyoga.com. My family loves donuts! We eat them waay more than we should! I recently bought a donut pan and wanted to try some baked options. I'm sure these are still not healthy at all, but they are at least baked, not fried. They are also something I can make myself instead of buying them! Wahoo!

These are super yummy and the kids don't complain that they're not from Krispy Kreme either!

Poppies!

I found this tutorial for DIY Poppies on Pinterest and I love them! There is no website with instructions, but the pics are pretty much self explainatory

I actually made these with a friend for my daughter Cali to wear in her hair. They are so much cuter in person! You just take a silk fabric and cut it into different size circles. Then you singe the edges with yes, real fire! Layer the different sizes together, and instead of sewing them with string, I just hot glued each layer together and added jewels and beads on top. Attatch it to a hair clip and you're done! Good luck!

BLT Salad

I found this recipe in my Taste of Home magazine and it has been one of my favorites! Super yummy, quick, and easy! You can find the recipe at tasteofhome.com

You just make up your pasta, throw in some lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes! Da-Done! Make sure the person you are making this for actually likes tomatoes though.....it's not very good without them since they are one of only 4 ingredients!

SPRING Wreath Board

This is a super fun and cute Spring craft! I found the idea on thehouseofsmiths.com! It includes a full tutorial! She has a wonderful crafty site I visit often!

I did this craft with a group of girlfriends I live by, and we had a blast making it together! First, I found the board at Michael's and painted it green and sanded the edges. Then, on her tutorial, she paints the edges white, then uses a wet rag to wipe most of it off to leave a great antique look! Love it! We found the same font she used and made the vinly lettering to match (which I don't recommend, unless you use transfer paper, this was pretty much a nightmare with all the small separte pieces). After that, I made sure and sprayed my board with a clear protective coat of spray paint to protect it and keep the lettering from peeling off. The flowers were a little tricky. The tutorial for the flowers was found on her blog here. You just have to work and work and work at them until you get a look of flower you like, then mass-produce them. The best part about this flower is it is made with crepe paper, which alot of people already have on hand from birthday party streamers, so it is soo cheap to make! I also found my wreath at Michael's after I had a hard time finding one 8 in wide, but they had one that was 1/2 inch thick, which made it easier to cover with less flowers! Yes! Finish it off with a ribbon, which I do have, but it is hard to see in this pic. I used a hot pink satin ribbon that I already had on hand, and just glue it all on! I love how it turned out! This is, by far, one of my most favorite projects to display! I will look forward to Spring every year! Thanks to all the girls who made this with me, it was a hootin' good time!

Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies

I made these Homemade Nutter Butter cookies a while back and they are absolutely amazing! I found the recipe at sixsistersstuff.com. I was able to share them with friends who also loved them! If you are a Nutter Butter or a peanut butter fan, this is a must-have recipe!

They weren't hard, they were fun and my kids loved helping me make them!

Lofthouse Sugar Cookie Bars!

One of my favorite helpers joined me in making the most yummy recipe of Sugar Cookies I have ever made!

 The best part is there is no rolling out and making messes with this one! You just moosh the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet, like this:

 Then you make up your frosting, but the recipe calls for real butter, and I did use it for the cookies, but I wanted to make the frosting with margarine, to lessen the real butter. Big mistake! Just follow the recipe haha. My frosting was really salty! Here is what they look like, but Cali wanted ours to be purple :) Still yummy either way!

Find the recipe at chef-in-training.com! Make them today!

Easter Ideas

Check out these cuuute Easter Egg Candle holders! They aren't too hard either! Just some spray painted wood pieces, eggs, and glue! I love them! Find the instructions on thecsiproject.com!

Here are some super cute bunny pops made from rice krispy treats, dipped in chocolate! Yum! Can't get any better than that! See recipe on lhj.com!

Sick of giving your kids so much candy at Easter? Here are some great ideas of things to substitute for all that candy! See the full list at familyvolley.blogspot.com

Here's a fun Easter Decoration! Love these cute little birdies! Find your free tutorial at blog.birdsparty.com! Love these! Good luck!

These Peep cookies are super cute and there are full directions on sweetsugarbelle.com. I am a HUGE peep fan! These are so fun to get the kids excited for Easter!

I found this yummy treat at kidscooking.com. Super easy and fun for the kids! You just make Rice Crispy Treats in a muffin tin and top with green coconut and jelly beans or chocolate eggs! Yum!

You can take your kids to go egging people's houses! Not like you think! You hide eggs in their yard and see if they can find them all! See full details on sunscholars.blogspot.com

Hope you and your family have a great Easter! I know I have plenty of ideas here to get me going! Good luck to you!

New Look!

My blog now has a new look! Thanks to blogger's new template designer! It has soo many options and is super easy to use! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

 I love it! Thanks blogger for making things prettier for me!

My Craftroom Dream

My husband and I bought our house a year and a half ago with an unfinished basement. We made plans and finished 2 bedrooms, one of which is my craft room, Yay! I feel so lucky I get my own craft room and personalize it to my taste. In order to make the bedrooms larger, my craft room ended up being about 9 x 9, which is very small, but nevertheless MINE! I have been giddy with excitement!

Ok, so I cannot make this pic larger without becoming a professional dealer with Kwal Paint, but I was somehow able to make this pic of a random laundry room with my color on it. This is the color I have painted my room and it is called Bonne Bay

....

So, my craft room is now built and finished with a coat of paint on it. That's a start, but where to go from there? I found these pages in a craft magazine (I can't remember which one) that shows pretty close to exactly what I want in my craft room :)

I am so excited to get to work personalizing everything and making it a room filled with inspiration for my crafty brain! Thanks to Emily Magleby for creating this dream space so I can make it my own!

Freezer Meals

My mom sent me this picture and explaination in an email recently. I thought it was awsome, so I thought I'd share since I will be doing this next time I do freezer meals

Mom says: Wish I had learned these tricks hundreds of freezer meals ago...
1-Freeze individual servings in muffin tin then put in freezer baggies
2-Use wide-mouth quart jar to hold freezer baggie while filling

Thanks Mom!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

I found this Blueberry Breakfast Cake posted on Pinterest and had some fresh blueberries on hand and wanted to see if it was as good as it looks! So last Sunday morning, I gave it a try

My family loved it and it wasn't very hard either! I found the recipe on http://www.alexandracooks.com/2011/06/29/buttermilk-blueberry-breakfast-cake/

Try it out! You will have a happy family and you wont be disappointed!

Valentine's Table Runner

So, I made my Valentine's banner and it turned out really cute, but I still needed something else to tie in the colors. I had plenty of fabric left over from my banner, so I decided to make a matching table runner to go with it! I LOVE it!

 I didn't have a pattern, and really didn't like any that I saw, so I decided to make one up on my own. I took this heart from a picture of a quilt I liked and sorta copied the style as far as the pieced background and the shape of the heart, but I added my own touch to it. I finished it off with a large red ric-rac around the edges to make the heart pop and add a Valentines-y look to it

 The "X&O" I got from another picture I saw of a pillow with similar Xs & Os on it. I am hoping it will fray at some point, but don't want to rush that step right now. I finished it off with more red ric-rac around it to add a little dimention. As far as I'm concerned, Valentines is a holiday where you can get away with over-doing something. Like when you make a home-made valentine for someone, the more frills you add, the more pretty or fun it becomes! Bring on the bright colors, lace, ric-rac, stickers, and glitter!!

 Once I finished the banner and the tablerunner, I decided to accessorize with a free printable I found on Pinterest. I loved this one because of the 3 different colors as well as the different directions the words are in

 Here is my family room with all my Valnetine's decorations up and on display. I definately needed these extra fun decorations to get my family excited for the holiday!

Thank you friends and Pinterest for helping me along the way!

Holiday Banner

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching I thought I better quickly get a banner made and up before it's too late! Here is how my banner turned out!

I made it 2-sided so I can just flip it over for St Patrick's Day, but you'll have to wait until after Valentine's Day is over to see the other side ;)

Here is a closer look. I just bought 1/3 yd of 4 different fabrics and then used a template to make the triangles, but you can just make up your own template with a carstock or cardboard of some sort. Then I fused them to a heavy interfacing (remember I did it 2-sided, so I had to fuse both sides), used pinking shears around the edges, and then sewed a straight stitch about 1/4 inch from the edges. Then, I attatched them all to a piece of binding tape and da da da done! Took me all but one day to complete, plus I now have a new decoration for St Patrick's Day as well!

Love is in The Air

I don't have very many Valentines decorations, so I really wanted to make something new this year. My friend Amy found a burlap wreath on Pinterest and decided to make it. Her round wreath turned out so cute we decided to get together to try making one into a heart shape. This is how it turned out!

We started with a wire hanger and shaped it into a heart. We bought 1 yard of red burlap for each of us and cut 2 1/2 inch strips. I chose to use the frayed end because I think it adds alot of character. Burlap is great becuase it already has the holes in it and you just start to thread it onto the hanger while alternating sides each time. I just didn't think about it too much and just threw it all together quickly and I think that is the way it turns out best. I think after a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby, the fabric ended up being about $2.50 per person. Super cheap and easy for anyone to make! Thanks Amy and Natalie for another successful craft day!

Framed Mirror

In our half bath in our utility area, the mirror had some imperfections around some of the edges and it really bothered my husband. I had shown him ideas about framing the bathroom mirrors in the past, but he suddenly NEEDED to do this one right away. If any of you know my husband that is not shocking behavior from him. Most women can't get their husbands to finish projects around the house and I can't get my husband to stop and relax. I have to admit, I'm a pretty lucky wife!

We just bought some chair-rail that matched the rest of our house and cut the edges on an angle so each edge matched up. We glued it on with liquid nails and painted it black. It was a quick project that added alot to this boring old bathroom

Pillows!

I decided I needed some new pillows. I needed some girly new pillows with ruffles! 

 I just used a pillow form I already had as well as some fabric I already had from my niece's skirt I made a while back. I made the pillow, using a zipper, so I can keep using the same pillow forms for future pillows. I then took 2 inch strips of black fabric, gathered them, and sewed them on straight down the middle in 4 rows. Super easy and super cute!

I love my new pillows on my bed!

Wall Decor

My husband has been working on finishing our basement, but as he finishes walls, they desperately need decor on them. Here is one cheap, but cute idea I did a while back to fill an empty wall in the hallway of our basement

 I bought some sheets of 1 inch thick styrafoam at Hobby Lobby and cut them to 12 x 12 and then just used mod-podge to glue on my scrapbook paper. Easy as can be! Just make sure you use the thicker scrapbook paper and it turns out less bumpy when it dries. Then, to fisnish off the edges, I used a brown, 1 inch thick ribbon around all the edges

This is a fun project I did with my niece and my cousin. Projects are way more fun when you do them with someone else! Thanks girls!

Scrap!