Food

Grown-Up Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese

0 · Feb 11, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese Microwave Bowls // This is cliche to say the least… I love mac & cheese. It truly has been one of those meals that with it's first bite always transports me back to childhood. Last year Kraft introduced the new line of Homestyle Mac & Cheese microwave bowls to the market and last month they just introduced two new flavors… Cheddar Broccoli & Southwest Tortilla.

Kraft sent over several of their Homestyle Mac & Cheese bowls for my family to try and we were pleasantly surprised. I grew up with a Mom who always made homemade mac & cheese, which I loved. But, in my child's mind when she pulled out the little blue box I thought it was something special. Just one of those little treats that Mom kept up here sleeve. Little did I know, it was when she was hurried and didn't have time for a homemade meal that she pulled out that little blue box. I didn't care, I loved it, and it made me feel special when she would make it for me.

Fast forward to today… Our kiddos in this generation are well acquainted with the little blue box, and it's new little brother the little blue microwave bowl. My kiddos don't eat it too often, but It's always there in a pinch and it always makes them happy when I pull it out of the pantry. I have to confess, I've even busted out the little blue microwave bowl on occasion for myself when in the hunt for a quick meal. The funny thing as I've grown-up, I've found myself adding little things here and there to my mac & cheese to bring it up to my adult taste. I don't have to worry about that anymore with the convenient Homestyle Mac & Cheese microwave bowls. The flavors are fun…

Sharp Cheddar, Cheddar Broccoli, White Cheddar, Southwest Tortilla & Hearty Four Cheese

They are super easy & convenient to make, and the portions are hearty.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about the portions. When I opened the container and saw the uncooked noodles, I thought I may need to make a sandwich to go along with the mac & cheese. Boy was I wrong! I enjoyed the entire bowl and was stuffed! This would be a perfect pantry item to keep around for your bigger kiddos, take to work to keep in your desk for those days when you just can't make it out to lunch or hide them and save them for yourself!

My Hannah enjoyed kicking back, watching some TV and trying the new Cheddar Broccoli this weekend. It was a hit! What's your favorite go to meal? Is Mac & Cheese one of your guilty pleasures? What's your favorite flavor?

Disclosure Statement

Friday Flair Link Party // Glitter Heart Edition

0 · Feb 8, 2013 · 23 Comments

Friday Flair Link Party // Hello all! Have you missed me this week? (yea, I know… not really, you probably didn't know that I was gone.) If you've been following my Instagram feed, you would know that I'm in Chicago for the Chicago Auto Show. I've been here as a guest of Nissan North America for their Social Media Preview and I've been having a grand time. No, I'm not going to all of a sudden become a car blogger, but I do have a love and appreciation for cars. It was fun to see the glitzy launch of the new Toyota Tundra this morning, the Kia Cadenza and Forte. I really loved the Nissan Nismo line… a girl can dream, right? The whole trip has started a new thought process for me… How involved are we in the decision making process when it comes to buying our cars? What's most important to us has Moms? You know, the ones who spend hour upon hour driving the kiddos around. Are cars just something to get us from point A to point B or are they more important? New vs. used? Is style more important than function? Purchase vs. Leasing? There are so many things to think about when making a vehicle purchase for your family. Believe it or not, the car makers are listening. They want to know what's most important to you. They even have a special women's day at the Chicago Auto Show on Tuesday, February 12th. They will be having special activities that day just for those of us ladies. If you are close to Chicago, this is a fun activity to attend, the whole family will love it! The show open on Saturday the 9th and runs throught the 18th.

Now, on to our inspiration photo for this week's Friday Flair. I found this fun cake topper idea for Valentine's Day from The Paper Pony…

img source // glitter cake topper from the paper pony

Isn't that cute? I would love to have that on my Valentine's Day table for my family this year. Visit Raya and see how she made this fun topper. Now let's move onto the party so we can see what you've been up to these last couple of weeks! Last weeks Friday Flair was prempted by my ULTIMATE Getaway Giveaway. I hope you all had a chance to enter, the giveaway is still running so… you still have time if you haven't entered yet!

Let's get the link party started…

The Inspiration Board

0 · Feb 5, 2013 · 3 Comments

The Inspiration Board // Have you seen the new kid on the block… The Inspiration Board created by Jamielyn Nye from I Heart Nap Time?

This is a super fun and stylish way to organize your ideas, keep track of projects you want to work on, share and receive inspiration, so MANY things that you can do with The Inspiration Board. Plus, it's fun to dress up your boards and and your own special flair. Here are three boards that I created yesterday. Each one has it's own distinct style and I LOVE it!!

This one is a project idea board that I created with a few projects that I would like to make sometime. You have all kinds of stylish backgrounds to choose from for your board. You can add numbers, graphic images and text to make a fun board just like you did when you where a teenager back in the day. You know you did!!! This way it's digital, doesn't take up any wall space and you can to share it easily with all your friends!

Here is another board that has a dramatically different look and feel, with the dark background and the simple text. I love to collect photos of images that I can use as inspiration when I am styling and photographing the food post that I create. It's a great way to get the creative juices flowing and the Inspiration Board is going to fit in nicely!

This was the first board that I created, it's just a fun Valentine's Day inspiration board. Check out the washi tape design elements… too fun! Want to learn how to make your very own Inspiration board? Here is a quick video to teach you how to do it.

So, are you INSPIRED yet? Jamielyn is hosting a fabulous launch party that started yesterday, head on over to I Heart Nap Time and check out how you can enter to win $1500 worth of prizes!!

AND… You can join Jamielyn and myself for a Twitter party TONIGHT at 9 o'clock (eastern) we will be chatting with the Mom it Forward crew and several other panelist like Jen from Tatertots & Jell-o, Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous, Stephanie from Somewhat Simple and a few more. Come share how you like to be inspired!! Jamielyn will be giving away an iPad mini, so you won't want to miss this one!!

Head on over to The Inspiration Board to start creating your very own boards, you are going to fall in LOVE!!

Valentine Vignette with DecoArt // Giveaway

0 · Feb 3, 2013 · 102 Comments

DecoArt Giveaway // Who's ready for another giveaway? This one completes the trifecta… The fun started on Friday with our ULTIMATE Getaway Giveaway, then on Saturday we had a fun weekend Silhouette Portrait Giveaway and now it's time to bulk up your paint supplies for Valentine's Day with DecoArt! But before we get to the giveaway, I want to share with you my Valentine Vignette that I created with some DecoArt paint that I just LOVE!!

I, of course started the vignette with my Winter White Wreath that I will be transforming throughout the year. For Valentine's Day, I just added a simple felt heart in the center of the wreath and left it at that, because I wanted my paint projects to be the stars of the show this time. The two colors I decided to use this time were the DecoArt Americana, Red Alert and the Metallics Champagne Gold. I started with a piece of Birch wood that I scavenged out of my neighbors trash. Shhhhh, it's not weird at all!! I carved an iconic heart into the wood and then highlighted the carving with the two paint colors and then painted the top of the stump and added some stripes.

I just adore the rustic, yet elegant simplicity of this element. Next, I created a sign using some design elements from Rhonna Designs Insta Kiss digital kit that may be one of my favorite signs to date…

I actually have a separate tutorial for how I made this sign coming up soon and I have an extra special, top secret technique that I used to make the letters really stand out, so stay tuned! I also used the Red Alert paint to dress up this decorative frame that I found at Hobby Lobby and added a bit gray chevron fabric to tie everything together.

I tossed in a few found objects that I just love, my Westinghouse fan that I purchased at a garage sale for $2 and my Anthropologie beach radio that was NOT $2 but I love it non the less. All in all, I thought the whole vignette turned out lovely, thanks to DecoArt!

So… who's ready for some DecoArt fun of their own for Valentine's Day? I have a fun little gift box up for grabs… All you have to do is follow the directions on the Rafflecopter box below and you may just be in luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Silhouette Portrait Giveaway, Discount Code and the NEW Double Sided Adhesive

0 · Feb 2, 2013 · 10 Comments

Silhouette Portrait GIVEAWAY, Discount Code and Glitter Art with Double Sided Adhesive // That's a mouth full!! So much stuff going on this week. It's started yesterday, with our Ultimate Valentine's Day Getaway Giveaway and now I have a rare Saturday post with the ever popular Silhouette GIVEAWAY!!

But, before we get to the giveaway… I'm and super excited to show off one of the new products that Silhouette announced at CHA last month. Their Double Sided Adhesive and the new Silhouette Glitter, perfect for creating stunning glitter art…

I created this wall art for Valentine's Day by cutting out an image from Rhonna Designs Insta Kiss kit in the new Double Sided Adhesive using the Silhouette Designer Edition software. The double sided adhesive is perfect for all kinds of applications that involve glitter or flocking and certainly makes the whole process of working with glitter sooooooo much easier! I cut the image and weeded out the excess material…

Then I decided to use transfer tape to make sure the image stayed in tact. When cutting a more simple design, you really don't need to use the transfer tape.

Next, I removed the transfer tape and the white layer of the adhesive and got ready for the fun part, the glitter…

Now who doesn't love GLITTER? Well, maybe my husband. He hates it!! But you know, the Double Sided Adhesive actually makes it really easy to work with…

All you need to do is pour the glitter onto to the adhesive…

Brush it away with the brush that is included in the Double Sided Adhesive starter kit and voila you're done!! No messy glue, and your image is perfect and crisp.

I framed my "Heart and Soul" in a trendy frame from Hobby Lobby and I LOVE it!! Want to give it a go? You know you want to! Silhouette has a great deal for you whether you have a Portrait, CAMEO already or if you don't… Silhouette has a special deal for that as well.

Click here to access the February Silhouette Special!

If you're feeling lucky… You can enter to win a Portrait!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Food

Let's get the link party started…

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