Food

Enjoy the Ride Marquee Sign for Mother’s Day

0 · Apr 1, 2016 · Leave a Comment

+ This Enjoy the Ride Marquee Sign for Mother’s Day post was brought to you by Michaels +

Hey, hey… It’s time for this month’s Michaels Makers Challenge!

This months challenge is all about Mother’s Day.

How fun is that?!

It’s crazy to think that I have been a Mom for 18 years now… gulp! Now that my girls are a little older it’s so fun to work on projects together.

I have been wanting to create some type of sign to remind our whole family to stop, take a step back and ENJOY THE RIDE.

Sometime our lives get so crazy, especially now that the kiddos are getting older and have crazy schedules themselves, we forget to find joy in the moment. The girls and I decided we wanted to create a marquee sign to put on our shelves in our kitchen to give us that simple reminder everyday.

If you know me, you know I have a love of marquee letters. I started out making my own, you can find that post HERE. Then my fabulous friend Heidi Swapp…

Took the marquee world by storm with her Marquee Love Letters.

I created this fun kitchen sign with her original Marquee Love…

Now Heidi has introduced a larger 12 inch Marquee Letters that exclusive at Michaels and I’ve fallen in love again!

My girls and I decided they would be perfect for our Enjoy the Ride sign and set to work together to dress-up the letters.

We used Heidi Swapp Marquee Love Washi Tape…

And the coordinating paper to dress up the letters.

It was so fun to work together with the girls to create this new masterpiece. With Heidi’s washi tape & paper, it’s super easy to add a little flair to the letters. Talk about an aaaamazing Mother’s Day gift!

A handmade gift from your kiddos is always fantastic no matter how simple it is. It really starts to get fun when you can work together with your kiddos to create a project together. We LOVED it!

Looking for more Mother’s Day inspiration? You can visit Michaels for project ideas or their blog The Glue String for all kinds of goodies PLUS, you can check out the 49 other Michaels Makers for their fun takes on this months challenge!

An InLinkz Link-up

Dirty Diet Coke Gift Basket with Free Printable Gift Tag

9 · Mar 18, 2016 ·

+ This Dirty Diet Coke post brought to you by the lovely folks at International Delights +

I’m a simple girl and I love simple things.

Spring rain showers, snuggles with my kiddos, date night with my sweetheart, clean white sheets after a long hot shower, tulips, foggy mornings, fireworks, reading a good book, driving with the windows down, being silly with my teenagers, binge watching great TV shows AND DIRTY DIET COKES!!

jar, lid & leather cuff by + the mason bar company

Yep, just a simple girl… It’s amazing how the simple things can bring such joy.

I remember the first time I introduced the famous Dirty Diet Coke to some friends here in Nebraska, far away from the Swig universe. Their eyes just lit-up with pure joy the minute the first taste past their lips.

YEP, that scrumptious!

With something that good, I thought it would be a great gift to take to friends or family for all kinds of reasons; birthdays, feeling blue, get well soon, girls night out, new baby, just because I LOVE you!

Many, many fabulous reasons.

That’s why I worked up this Dirty Diet Coke gift Basket with some simple printables to help make your gift extra special.

No need for fancy tools. Just print and cut out the tags with your scissors. Tie them onto your basket with ribbon, twine or wire. I used copper wire that matches the basket I found at Michaels.

Now all you have to do is gather your Dirty Diet Coke supplies…

Dirty Diet Coke Supply List

Diet Coke

Coconut Syrup

Lime

International Delight Cold Stone Creamery™ Sweet Cream

Those are the basics… If you are putting together a gift basket you may want to include a bottle opener if you have traditional soda bottles, a small cutting board and knife if you’re going to be away from the kitchen and cups as well.

Make sure to include the recipe card so they know how to mix-up this sweet treat.

You can download the Dirty Diet Coke Printable HERE

To me the REAL MAGIC happens when you add the International Delight Cold Stone Creamery™ Sweet Cream…

That creamy twist on the Dirty Diet Coke is just divine! It’s like the best part of a float with all kinds of flavor goodness from the lime and coconut syrup working in harmony with the Diet Coke… It’s aaaamazing!

A perfect treat for any occasion!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

Pomegranate Chia Pudding Recipe // DAIRY-FREE

3 · Mar 8, 2016 ·

+ This Pomegranate Chia Pudding Recipe is brought to you by the lovely folks at SILK +

Have you discovered a great Chia Pudding Recipe yet?

It is seriously one of our family’s favorite breakfasts these days. The crazy thing is, I thought for sure my kiddos would want nothing to do with those “alien” chia seeds (they’re kind of picky) but they love this stuff!

The fun thing is that the Chia Pudding is like a blank canvas that you can top with all kinds of fun toppers. We’ve tried a number of concoctions since we first discovered this treat. We started with a standard Chia Pudding topped with berries and granola with drizzle of honey… super yummy!

Now we’ve stepped it up a notch and we are making Chia Pudding layered with pomegranate seeds, an ancient grains mixture and pumpkin seeds… simply LOVELY!

The beauty of Chia Pudding is, typically it is made with dairy, milk & regular yogurt which is fabulous, BUT… Thanks to the folks at SILK, you can also make a dairy-free version with any of the tasty Silk Milks (Soy, Almond, Cashew, Coconut, Nutshell + more) AND their scrumptious Vanilla Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative. For this recipe, I’ve used the Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk that is only 30 calories per serving (score!) AND Silk Vanilla Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative. You can now get the Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative in a large size which is perfect for this recipe. Click HERE for more info on all of the Silk Products.

Pomegranate Chia Pudding Recipe Ingredients

Pair all of that with some Chia Seeds and you’re golden. If you haven’t heard, Chia Seeds are one of natures super foods. They are low in calories but pack a good health punch with tons of antioxidants, Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, protein, fiber and more. You can check out their health benefits HERE. That combined with the plant based, non-GMO, low fat Silk products you are starting your day off right!!

The other AWSOME thing is… Chia Pudding is sooooo easy to make! Here’s a quick little video to show you how.

Chia Pudding Recipe Video

Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt Chia Pudding from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.See, isn’t that simple. Now all you have to do is let it sit over night so the magic can happen.The next morning, all you have to do is top with your favorite toppings. Today we are going to layer our pudding with pomegranate seeds, an ancient grain mixture that I just love with a few pumpkin seeds. You can pick what ever goodie you want!So think about that… You’re adding even more nutrition with your toppings as well. This is a power house house breakfast in the super food category. The funny thing is that it really is a treat. We tend to make if for dessert too, it really does feel that decadent.

Pomegranate Chia Pudding Recipe

Pomegranate Ancient Grain Chia Pudding Recipe // DAIRY-FREE

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

24 hours

Total time

24 hours 5 mins

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Cuisine: Breakfast or Dessert

Serves: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

2 cup Silk® Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 cup Silk® Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative - Any flavor you like, I used vanilla
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey
½ cup chia seeds
a pinch of salt
Pomegranate seeds
Ancient Grains or granola
pumpkin seeds

Instructions

In a small mixing bowl or jar, add Silk® Almond Milk, Silk® Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative, vanilla, honey, chia seeds and salt. Mix well.
Cover pudding and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Layer with pomegranate seeds, ancient grains, pumpkin seeds or granola.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

How to Decorate with Flowers

0 · Mar 1, 2016 · 2 Comments

+ How to decorate with flowers post brought to you by Michaels Craft Stores +

I ADORE flowers!

I love how something so simple can transform a space.

Especially this time of year when we are all waking up from our winter hibernation. It’s time to pack away the buffalo check and the fun plaids and bring out the romantic spring florals. That’s why this month’s Michaels Makers Challenge is all about the Flower Market!

How to decorate with flowers

My one issue…

I HATE how quickly fresh flowers fade. I love having them around, but I truly dislike the cost of keeping them up in our home. That’s why I’m in love with Michaels new Floral Market with over 500 fresh new blooms that will for sure match almost any personality and decorating style!

I tend to keep things more on the simple end. As much as I love huge arrangements in other spaces. I feel like the space in my home needs something a little more delicate.

img source + beyond sweet and savory

I have always loved Ranunculus blooms and thought they would be the perfect addition to this little corner in my kitchen.

These beautiful Ranunculus blooms paired with the romantic bud vase that I also found at Michaels it was a real home run!!

The beauty of the whole thing is that I get to have this romantic splash of spring and it’s not going to wither and die on me. I LOVE IT!

I’m sure you have a space in your home that could use a little love… It’s amazing how adding a little bloom can totally transform a room.

Looking for more simple floral ideas, you should visit Michaels blog The Glue String for all kinds of inspiration OR you can visit the 49 other Michaels Makers to see how they’ve dressed up their home from the Flower Market.

Michaels Makers Summit Challenge

Speaking of Michaels Makers… YOU could win the opportunity to join us for this years Michaels Makers Summit

Come and be creative with some of your favorite creative friends!!

All you have to do is submit a photo of your work at the Made with Michaels site. We will be pouring over your fun creative projects and we will be selecting a few of you to join us for this years event. Head on over for all the details.

NOW, here are all of the other fresh new spring ideas from the other Michaels Makers this month…

An InLinkz Link-up

Learning to RELAX

0 · Feb 2, 2016 ·

I don’t know about you, but I have forgotten how to just sit back and RELAX.

Especially during the mad rush that is September thru December.

It seems like school starts and the race is on through the holidays. Toss in two businesses in my case and a girl can get a little worn out.

I found myself this year, the day after Christmas, with a tank on EMPTY.

I had been running 10-12 hours straight every single day with a to-do list a mile long and I felt rotten!

My family was suffering, I was suffering and I knew that something had to give. I needed some mental clarity, I needed to find balance.

For years, I have felt that if I just worked hard enough, all of my dreams would come true. I would have the perfect home, the perfect family, the perfect lifestyle that I had been dreaming of my whole life. And truly yes, to achieve great success you do need to work hard BUT what I had forgotten was…

No matter what kind of success you achieve, if you have forgotten how to slow down and have some down time, you will NEVER be able to appreciate what you have accomplished. You will miss those tender years when your kiddos are young, you will miss that precious time with your spouse that keeps that fragile connection between the two of you strong, you will miss those simple moments of just being present. You know those times when you are physically THERE, but your mind is running through 50 different to-do items, 50 more ideas to take your work to the next level. You are THERE, but you aren’t PRESENT.

For me, this all came to a head the day after Christmas. I had worked my tail-off for months and then felt pressure to create a magical holiday for my family and I was plum tuckered out…

Funny enough I was really struggling mentally and my first thought was, I’m going to run to Home Goods and just wander to see if I can calm my mind. Isn’t it crazy how we women think some times… Let’s run shopping to solve all of my problems. The crazy thing is, this simple shopping trip helped me find a little clarity.

I found this mug as I was wondering through the store…

And crazy as it sounds, it was the AH, HA moment I truly needed. I realized I had forgotten how to RELAX.

I had forgotten how to calm my mind and take some simple time to myself. Time to relax and recharge. Time to be in the moment with my kids and NOT think about the 50 things on my to-do list. Time to just be with my sweet husband where I focus on HIM and not constantly think about what I should be doing in the back of my mind.

It all started with this mug AND I taught myself to knit…

I vowed to take some simple time each morning to have a cup of Choffy (I’m not a coffee drinker, but I LOVE Choffy, it’s brewed Chocolate) with a dash of my favorite International Delights Sweet Cream creamer.

Then I sit and listen to something that fills my soul, sip my Sweet Cream Choffy and KNIT!

I can’t even tell you how grateful I am to that mug…

I feel so much more balanced and connected to those I love AND…

I can make pretty things…

How do you find peace and clarity in a busy world? How do you RELAX? Does your morning coffee or Choffy play a little role in that? It sure does for me with a little ID Sweet Cream for sure!