Bridal Shower Gift

I just made this simple apron for our cousin's bridal shower. It was the first apron I've made and my first attempt at using the embroidery machine on my sewing machine. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Sun Dried Tomato Rice

This isn't exactly a recipe, just a crazy little side dish I like to throw together. It's just cooked rice with Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette mixed in. I think there's about 6 cups of rice with about 1/3 of a bottle of Vinaigrette in this picture. It really makes deliciously flavorful rice. I also use it on chicken breasts, which is YUMMY! Check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Friday Feasts for some great recipes.

Test Post

Sorry to bother you with this. I think I may have messed up my feeds. If you follow this blog, would you mind letting me know if you're seeing this? Thanks, I'll try not to bother you with this again. :)

Birthday Gifts For My Mom

We celebrated my mom's 50th birthday last weekend with a wonderful backyard party for family and friends. I have really been working hard on giving meaningful (often handmade) gifts. So, I thought I would share a few pictures of the gifts I made for her special day.

Nana's Notebook: This is just a simple spiral bound notebook with my kids' handprints cut out of scrapbooking paper and pasted to the front.

Happy Birthday banner made from fabric (and lots of Heat-n-Bond!)

This shadow box is a little tribute to my mom's grandparents. She has very fond memories of the house they lived in when she was a child. The fabric on the back looks a lot like the wallpaper that was is their bedroom. I added house numbers, a picture of the house, and a picture of her grandparents. A book pocket for a bed or armchair made from the same lilac fabric. I'm hoping to get a tutorial for this posted in the next day or so. Happy Birthday, Mom!! I hope you felt loved and honored.

Yummy Chocolate Caramel Cookies

These cookies are my husband's new favorite. Usually, I don't like making cookies because they never seem to turn out just right and almost always look funny. However, this recipe makes a delicious cookie that also looks nice. :) Be sure to head over to Blessed With Grace and Mom Trends (on Friday) for other wonderful recipes. I'm still waiting to get my camera back, so you'll have to excuse this VERY blurry photo! Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar, plus 1 Tbs

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour, plus 1/4 cup

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 Heath candy bars

3 pkg. Rolo candies

Beat butter, 1 cup white sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Then, add eggs and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture a little bit at a time and blend well. If the dough feels too sticky, sprinkle in a little extra flour. Cover and chill in fridge for about 30 minutes. While dough is chilling, hit Heath bars (still in pkg.) with a rolling pin until broken into small pieces. Place in a small bowl and toss with 1 Tbs sugar. Unwrap Rolos and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Once dough has chilled, wrap a piece of dough around each Rolo candy, then form into a ball to cover the candy completely. Dip top of the dough ball into the candy topping and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft, but don't over bake. Cool in pan slightly, then move to a rack or counter to finish cooling. ENJOY!!

New Blog

I have a couple tutorials that I'm working on right now. Unfortunately, I left my camera at my parents' house out of town over the weekend. So, as soon as I get it back, I'll be posting some new tutorials for you.

In the meantime, I started a new blog that will be devoted to homeschooling. It's called Growing and Learning. There's not much to it yet, but I would love for you to check it out.

It's our 7th Anniversary today. So, I'm off to make some yummy cookies for my husband. I'll be posting the recipe tomorrow.

Summer Cardigan

Amy Karol (Angry Chicken) came up with this brilliant idea to turn a long sleeve t-shirt into a light weight Summer cardigan. All it takes is 3 cuts, no sewing! I'm going to have to stop myself before I cut up all my long sleeve shirts. :) These are a couple pictures of my first one, which I am just loving. I used a v-neck shirt and decided to add a little snap to hold the top together.

Beef and Bean Tamale Bake

Where has the past week gone? It's already time for another Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!! We took a quick family trip this last week and we've been working on potty training, so I haven't done any blogging since last week! This is an easy (and yummy) "go to" recipe that I make quite frequently for my family. I found the original recipe in a Pillsbury cookbook to be made in the crock pot.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can Hatch Green Chile enchilada sauce

1 pouch (or two, if you would like- just double the milk, butter, and egg) Corn bread mix

1/3 cup milk

2 T butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup shredded cheese (Fiesta blend is yummy, or whatever you have on hand)

1 can chopped green chiles

Sour cream (optional)

Brown ground beef and drain. Put ground beef in crock pot or 9x13 baking dish. Add beans and enchilada sauce to meat and stir together. Mix corn bread mix, milk, butter, and egg together. Stir in cheese and green chiles. Pour the cornbread mixture over the beef mixture. If cooking in crock pot, cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. If baking in oven, bake at 400 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Garnish with sour cream if desired.

Fried Ice Cream Bars

This is one of my favorite recipes, it's always a hit and it really does taste like fried ice cream (but it's much easier to make). Unfortunately, it's so yummy that it's always gone before I get a chance to take a picture of it! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 1/2 cups Rice Crispies

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 1/4 cup coconut flakes

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (brick style-in box)

Melt butter in 9x13 pan at 300 degrees about ten minutes. Add rice Crispies, sugar, coconut, and pecans, mix well. Return to oven for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until brown, cool. Remove half of the mixture. Spread remaining mixture evenly in the pan. Place slices of ice cream on top of mixture. Smooth top until even. Sprinkle remaining mixture on ice cream. Freeze about 2 hours. Cut into squares. ENJOY!!

Be sure to head over to Blessed With Grace for more Tempt my Tummy Tuesday recipes.

Something Made Something to be Made Swap

I just signed up for another swap and wanted to share the link so you can join in on the fun, too. It's the Something Made Something to be Made Swap hosted by Annie Horn.

Also, be sure to check out Swap Dex: an index of swaps. I found this swap and the Favorite Things swap through Swap Dex.

Favorite Things Swap

I have been wanting to participate in a swap, so I looked around a bit and found the Favorite Things Swap, hosted by According to Kelly. It looks like it should be great fun, head over to her blog to sign up. The last day to sign up is tomorrow, so hurry!

Pajama Shorts

When I saw this pillowcase at Goodwill, I knew it would be perfect for pajama shorts for my boys. These were super easy and fast to make. The fabric is a jersey knit, so they're really soft and comfy.

Simple Skirts

I have been really wanting to sew some clothing, but have been a bit scared to. Here are some of my first attempts at VERY simple skirts.

I just love this fabric!

I made this one from a duvet cover that I found at a thrift store for $4!

Using a duvet cover meant I already had lining sewn in.

I added some pleats at the top of this skirt.