Crafts

Groopdealz // GIVEAWAY

0 · Jan 21, 2013 · 147 Comments

Groopdealz $100 Target Giftcard GIVEAWAY // Who's ready for a fabulous giveaway? Have you heard of Groopdealz?

Groopdealz is a fun daily deal site that has some really cool finds at a dramatic discount everyday. Here are some examples of what you can find everyday…

How fun is that so far? You never know what you can find on Groopdealz everyday, but whatever it is, you know it's going to be good. The best part, the price! Each and every item is priced at a deep discount. There are many different ways to find out what's hot on their site everyday. You can sign-up to recieve their daily email, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter and now, you can even follow them on Instagram!! Check this out…

Won't that be fun to see in your Instagram feed everyday? That way you won't EVER miss a great Groopdealz deal. Groopdealz would love for you to come and check out their site and join them on Instagram as well. They would even like to sweeten the deal with a…

$100 Target Gift Card Giveaway!!

All you need to do is follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bird Seed Winter Wreath // Tutorial

22 · Jan 21, 2013 · 12 Comments

Bird Seed Winter Wreath // One of my favorite things to do since moving to Nebraska is watching the colorful birds outside my window. Las Vegas isn't really known has a habitat for pretty birds so I've missed them for several years. Here in Lincoln we have Blue Jays and every once in a while we even have a red Cardinal or two and I adore them! Over the Christmas break my girls and I were thinking of fun things to do and Hannah thought it would be fun to make some type of bird feeder for the birds during these cold months. I thought it would be fun to make a bird seed winter wreath.

Supplies Needed

Foam wreath form
Fabric strips
2-3 push pins
1 jar peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
Parchment paper
Bird seed mixture of your choice

Instructions

I happened to have a foam wreath form on hand so we decided to us it, but I was worried about the birds pecking at the styrofoam. We decided that we would wrap the wreath with strips of fabric to protect the birds.

The girls and I cut some scrap fabric into 2 1/2 to 3 inch wide strips and wrapped the wreath with them and secured the fabric with some push pins. Next we made a peanut butter and honey concoction. We took one small jar of honey and mixed it with about 1/2 a cup of honey.

The girls and I then place our wreath form on several pieces of parchment paper and started to cover the wreath with the peanut butter spread…

… and then the bird seed.

We found the parchment paper quite helpful when we were placing the bird seed on the sides of the wreath. Once we were finished we place the wreath outside in the cold garage to let it set a bit. Then after a couple of days we added a burlap bow and placed it out in our yard so that the birds could enjoy a little winter treat!

What are some fun winter activites that you like to do with your kiddos? We're actually having a ball living in a place with a real winter so we would LOVE some new ideas!

Friday Flair Link Party // Chocolate Mousse Edition

0 · Jan 18, 2013 · 33 Comments

Friday Flair Link Party // All I have to say is… YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!! Last week during the first Friday Flair of the new year, I wasn't sure what to expect and you all blew me away. You know, it's kind of a funny world us bloggers live in. We sit here in our homes, behind our computers, working on our projects and you never really know who's out there checking out all of your hard work. Sometimes you wonder if anyone really cares, so it's such a wonderful feeling to find out that people do care, so I thank you so much for coming back every week to share in this fun little party.

I am working on several new projects that I'm excited to share. I have a cold weather project that you can work on with your kiddos, a video on how to do some advanced techniques with your Silhouette, some great recipes and valentine's projects galore. I am also working on making WhipperBerry a little easier to use, so stay tuned for all kinds of fun things. But… enough about me, here is this week's inspiration photo from Minimally Invasive. It's a two ingredient chocolate mousse that I am going to have to try!

img source // two ingredient chocolate mousse from minimally invasive

Serisously, check it out! The two ingredients will blow your mind. Now it's time for YOU to blow our minds!!

Let's Get the Link Party Started

Friday Flair Features

0 · Jan 17, 2013 · 9 Comments

Friday Flair Features // Gearing up for tomorrow's Friday Flair I thought I would show off some of last week stand out posts. I thought for sure that since I hadn't run Friday Flair for a few weeks that the party would be a bit of a bust, but you guys proved me wrong!! There were so many fun ideas posted. I pinned a whole bunch over at the Friday Flair Pin Board on Pinterest but, I thought I would share a few of my favorites here.

birthday cake cake pops // pint sized baker

lunchbox laughs // kiki and company

vietnamese chicken noodle soup // a pretty life in the suburbs

valentine chair backpack // the house on harrison

prawn saganaki // 3 pickles

pea and thank you // like a pretty petunia

smoked gouda enchilladas // half baked harvest

kitchen command center // domestic imperfection

mini doilies necklace // little treasures

cafe rio sweet pork // your homebased mom

Aren't they all so fun! I can't wait to see what everyone has cooked up for this week… Friday Flair for this week will go live tomorrow morning at 9:00 am central time. Tell your friends and come show off how fabulous you are!

Pineapple Surprise Cake // Recipe

12 · Jan 16, 2013 · 17 Comments

Pineapple Suprise Cake // Who's ready for a trip to the tropics? Not that I'm complaining about the cold weather… I'm actually kind of liking it. I'm a winter girl at hear, however… I also, love to escape to the tropics every once in a while. I have a few recipes that can definatley help with that. One of them is one of my husband's favorites… A tropcial Pineapple Surprise Cake. It's actually Pineapple Upside Down Cake that I of course had to create a "in a jar" version.

I played around a bit, added a couple of ingredients and left it right-side up. I know… SHOCKER! Adding it to the JAR genre makes for a fun presentation.

Pineapple Surprise Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
6 slices pineapple
6 maraschino cherries without stems
1 1/3 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut (3/4 cup for the cake and 1/4 cup for garnish)
1/3 cup Crisco
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg

Directions:

Turn on oven to 350 degrees and prepare the jars. You will need 6 clean jars. Spray each jar with cooking spray and set aside while you make the cake batter.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add coconut and mix for a few seconds in order for the coconut to be covered with the flour mixture. Add the Crisco and mix for 30 seconds. Add vanilla, cream, and the egg and mix on high for 2 minutes.

Add a pat of butter to the jars and place in the oven. Once the butter is melted add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the jar and mix with the butter.

Add a ring of pineapple and a cherry to the bottom of the jar and then fill the jar half way with cake batter.

Place the jars on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees or until the top of the cake is slightly brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Now you can make the coconut whipped cream to top off the surprise cake!!

Coconut Whipped Cream Recipe

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Pour cream into a chilled mixing bowl and mix on high for 1 minute. Add coconut extract and slowly add powdered sugar while the mixer is on low. Return the mixer to high until the cream becomes stiff. Keep a close eye on it. If it is over beaten it will become butter.

Prepare your Jars for Presentation

One of the things that makes desserts in jars so appealing is how you can decorate the jar for your guests. For this cake, I just tied a yellow jute ribbon around the jar to dress it up a bit. Then pipe the whipped cream on top with a star tip to give it a little pizzazz.

Ahead of time, toast up the 1/4 cup of the sweetened coconut in the oven under the broiler. Keep a close eye on it, it only takes a few minutes. Let cool. When you are ready to serve your cake sprinkle the coconut on top and place a cherry on top and voila, you have a lovely tropical treat to drive away the frozen winter (for a little bit at least!)