Crafts

Sharing Holiday Joy with Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

3 · Dec 6, 2012 · 29 Comments

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars // My all time favorite Christmas goodies are my Mom's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars…

Some of my earliest Christmas memories are hanging out in the kitchen with my Mom and sometimes my Dad while they made their famous holiday concoctions. They had a few staples on the list… Fudge, peanut brittle (not my favorite,) your classic Christmas Sugar cookie and then my favorite the chocolate peanut butter bar. I remember dreaming about this little treat all though out the year. Not to mention the anticipation I would feel when Mom would start the task of holiday baking. She always kept the pans of goodies out in our cool garage which acted as our overflow kitchen storage. They were supposedly hidden from sticky little fingers, but no… I always found them. Nibbling little morsels here and there until the sad day when the pan of chocolate peanut butter goodness was gone for another year.

I remember that sense of pride I felt as we would travel out as a family to deliver our plate of goodies to friends and neighbors. I always felt like my Mom's holiday plate was just a little extra special because of the chocolate peanut butter bars. My Mom would always make them in a 9×13 pan and then cut them into bars. This year I made some for my family and friends in these super cute mini paper loaf pans that I found at Walmart and then wrapped them with decorative parchment paper tied with bakers twine. A nice little updated touch to an old family classic.

I just love these little treats full of messages of love from giver to the lucky person receiving the special gift. Whether it's a personalized card or cookies right out of the oven, I love sharing the warmth of the holiday season with my family, friends and, of course, my readers!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 sticks butter (melted)

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

Mix graham crakers crumbs, peanut butter, sugar and butter together well and press into a 8×8 pan. Melt chocolate and spread on top of peanut butter mixture and chill for 30 minutes. Cut into small squares and serve at room temperature.

Last Minute Holiday Gifts with GiftGloss

210 · Dec 4, 2012 · 4 Comments

Do you ever find yourself in a pinch over the Holidays? You need a gift for a friend, neighbor, colleague and you just don’t have time to make some goodies to share! You find yourself heading to the market to find some store bought goodies but feel like a total dope for bring bringing something that’s not homemade. Don’t you worry! All you need to do is keep some GiftGloss on hand with a few other handy packaging supplies and you are GOLDEN!

design elements // rhonna designs

I ran to the store yesterday and checked out the bakery section to find some goodies that I could repackage and give as fun gifts for friends & neighbors when you are in a pinch. Here are some suggestions that I have…

No. 1 Select a Theme

Even when you are in a hurry, take a few minutes to come up with a cohesive theme. This will kick your quick goodie up a notch and turn it into a stunning gift. It took just a few minutes to go through the bakery and candy section at the store to find a few items that would go with my red, white & chocolate theme.

No. 2 Packaging

Nothing screams LAME more than store bought goodies brought in their store containers. To save myself from that mistake I keep a few items on hand to save me when in a pinch…

GiftGloss – Not sure what GiftGloss is click here to see their video. I keep both the 6 & 12 inch rolls on hand
Decorative plates or containers – The skies the limit here, as long as they fit in the 6 or 12 inch GiftGloss tube.
Fancy parchment paper – I found my red dot parchment paper at Cost Plus World Market
Ribbon, twine, yarn or some type of decorative tie – I found my fun personalized ribbon on Pick Your Plum not too long ago. It says “Merry Christmas from the Thoming Family” LOVE it!!

No. 3 Placement

You’ve taken the time to get the goodies, stock the fun packaging… Now you need to make sure you create a beautiful goodie package or plate by making sure you place thing well.

Don’t over crowd the plate.
Use the color to your advantage with color groups.
Think of your patterns and textures and place accordingly.
For large plates have one item be the show stopper then add to it with a good supportive selection of items. For example, in my large plate I have the beautiful cookies as my show stopper and then the supportive cast accentuates the beautiful cookies.

Now, if you keep all of those things well stocked, you can have some amazingly SIMPLE yet STUNNING holiday gifts in a snap.

The FoofQueens are making that extra easy right now with a special deal for EVERYONE!!

Head on over and visit the FoofQueens to stock-up on GiftGloss so you won’t be caught empty handed.

Here are some more easy ideas from the FoofQueens…

What are some of your ideas? What would you foof-up with your new GiftGloss?

Discloser Statement

Friday Flair Features

1 · Dec 3, 2012 · 13 Comments

Welcome to Monday, the first week of December… are you feeling it? This magical time of the year? We spent the weekend putting up our tree, the lights on the house and dressing up the little red barn for the season (if you follow me on Instagram, you know about the little red barn) We had a bit of a false start over Thanksgiving when it came to our holiday decorating… We started setting up our 12 year old tree, only to find out that 75% of the lights no longer worked on the tree, so sad. Well, I wasn’t too bummed, the tree was way too big for our little rental house, so I took the opportunity to find a slim Christmas tree during all of the Black Friday whoopla and then we started over again. Today I’m working on dressing up the rest of the house and can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on. I have some fun stuff for this week!

Last night I spent a few hours pinning away while going through last week’s Friday Flair and had a ball looking through everyone’s amazing creations. Here are a few that caught my eye…

diy grain sack tree skirt // dirt stains and paint

magnetic advent calendar // eat.sleep.make

random acts of kindness // anna nimmity

“be good” christmas reward jar // my sister’s suitcase

cherry ice box cookies // a pretty life in the suburbs

cottage cheese cookies // hubby made me

diy glitter reindeer art // shaken together

envelope advent calendar // a touch of yellow

eggnog cupcakes with nutmeg cupcakes // bird on a cake

pear ornament // a pumpkin & a princess

candy cane hot cocoa bar // clean & scentsible

reindeer cupcakes // half baked harvest

stocking advent calendar // sweet little gals

drop cloth holiday swag // reposhture

snowflake wreath // fit crafty stylish & happy

for unto us a child is born print // kiki & company

peppermint ice cream // your homebased mom

dark & white chocolate mousse // sweet 2 eat baking

treat packages // it’s always autumn

rudolph silhouette christmas sign // no.2 pencil

joy to the world mantel // uncommon design

candy cane cookie truffles // ode to inspiration

winter twig wreath // design,dining+diapers

Stunning, truly stunning!! You guys blow me away every week… I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this weeks Friday Flair.

Friday Flair Link Party // Christmas Star Edition

2 · Nov 29, 2012 · 44 Comments

Who’s ready for some Friday Flair fun? Better yet… who’s ready for some Christmas inspiration? I am having so much fun getting the house ready for the holidays. I just adore this time of year and all the creativity that it brings out in people. Recently I fell in love with this simple ribbon star from Beyond the Picket Fence…

img source // ribbon star from beyond the picket fence

Isn’t it lovely? It’s amazing how something so simple can create such a stunning statement piece in your home. Visit Becky over at Beyond the Picket Fence and say hello from WhipperBerry. Now…

Let’s Get the Party Started

Staying Ahead of the Game with Tyson

0 · Nov 28, 2012 · 5 Comments

Life just seems to be constantly speeding up… don't you feel that way? I think even if you don't have kiddos, life can be rather hectic. Add four kiddos and a husband on top of that and life starts to rev up to the speed of light. I thought things were hectic when my girls were little and now that I have a teenager, a couple of tweens and a toddler (the triple T) our schedule has gone nuts.

Hales a.k.a. Lil'Whip is up before the crack of dawn at 4:30 am for her first class of the day at 6:00 am. She generally returns home anywhere between 5:00 and 8:00 pm after all of her after school activities. She is one busy girl. Who drives her all these places? Yep, you got it… me! Throw in some fun on the weekends and her time to sit down for a real home cooked meal is rather limited…

And that's just one of the kiddos… Take on the other three and life become a bit of a juggling act.

The three girls are in three different schools, High School, Middle School & Elementary and here in Nebraska we don't have buses for any of them, so I have to get them to and from all three schools everyday. The little guy and I have fun hanging out together everyday, but he can create some challenges of his own. Case in point, the peanut flurries… do you know how hard it is to vacuum up broken up pieces of packing peanuts? He finds that kind of fun almost everyday!

Then you have my crazy mess…

I hate to say it, but the house and family tend to suffer a bit when I'm working on the blog. Here is an old Instagram pic of my creative mess that I'm in a good portion of the time. Making all this beautiful can be a messy business.

Each night, I actually try really hard to cook a healthy home cooked meal for a family sit down dinner at the end of the day, but there are times when it just can't happen. That's why I try and keep some Tyson products on hand in the freezer for those nights when a sit down dinner just isn't in the cards. Right now we are loving the new Tyson mini bread bowls the Chicken Bacon Club bowl is made with 100% white chicken and is full of good protein to help everyone keep their energy up during our busy days.

What about you guys? From soccer practice to PTA meetings, feeding an active and busy family can be hard. Tyson® Mini Bread Bowls help you get a little goodness on the go.

Reply below to let me know what activities keep you and your family eating on the go and you could win $500 cash from Tyson Foods!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.