Vanilla Pudding As Paint?

I'm super excited about this!

 Recipe Here

I've been trying to come up with some fun ways to entertain my one year old son. He's become quite an active little monkey in recent weeks, so giving him new things to touch/feel/explore sounds like great fun.

Today we went to the pet store. He wasn't too thrilled about the loudness of the birds. To be fair, I'm pretty sure they had 15-20 parakeets in one cage, and there were two cages. First off, I personally think that's TOO MANY birds in a less than a few square feet. The birds seemed quite agitated and were telling us all about it. My son just sat on my hip whimpering. I felt bad. So I found the bunnies. I love bunnies. If it weren't for the smell, I'd probably get myself one. Then again, I'm pretty sure my landlord wouldn't be so appreciative of my bunny.  BUT I WANT ONE! :)

So... I've been trying to come up with fun things to introduce to my baby boy. Today alone we did the pet store and I introduced him to bubbles. He's quite fascinated with the bubbles. I think it's funny when they pop on his face.

Next up is painting with vanilla pudding. I made the recipe (link and picture above) earlier today and am thinking (due to the whining) that we'll be painting sometime tomorrow. I'm super excited to get him some different colored pudding and let him go to town. I'm hoping he'll be as thrilled as I am.

Here's to a great time with my little boy!

Happy Monday Muffins and an Applesauce Idea!!

I'm super excited about this week. On Sunday, my baby boy will be a year old! Oh my goodness!! Nothing like saying, "Hey, I kept a human alive for a whole twelve months!"

To start our little countdown, I made my Sunday School class some muffins. I found this base recipe and loved it because you can pretty much do whatever you want and it magically makes muffins. So... I took that recipe and added a splash of vanilla, a cup of apples, and a couple shakes of cinnamon. I combined all three of these ingredients with the wet ingredients from the recipe. I wanted to make sure that all these awesome ingredients were dispersed evenly throughout the dough. Keep in mind that one small apple can easily get you a cup of chopped apples. I didn't realize this, so I ended up with some extra apples, which made me have to make a double batch of muffins-- oh darn! These muffins were spectacular.

Another exciting thing I made this weekend was applesauce. Well, it was kind of applesauce I guess. My son LOVES apples, so I made him some pureed apples (basically applesauce, but without the sugar added). I added some cinnamon (I didn't know if he'd like it, so I didn't add much). Then I realized that I still had some pureed pumpkin from Halloween. So I added it in. I mixed it all up and ended up with some Pumpkin Cinnamon Applesauce. It smelled delicious and my son ate it up like it was going out of style.

Last exciting thing from this weekend was a TV show discovery we stumbled upon. We found that Once Upon a Time Season One was on Netflix. If you have Netflix, put down whatever else you are watching and watch that. Sadly it's only the first season online, so you'll be able to quickly resume whatever you were watching. We watched six episodes last night and I think I'm officially obsessed. It's SUPER Interesting! I love imaginative TV Shows and Movies.

Hope this cheers your Monday right up!

First Ever Quilt... FINISHED!

With all the birthdays and Christmas presents to think about, I had a hard time deciding who this blanket would be for. Brother in law? Brother? Husband? Son? Myself? Let's just say, the "Myself" category was ranking pretty high. I love the colors of this blanket and with all the work I put into it, I thought it would be fun to keep. As I made the blanket, my husband kept drooling over it. His birthday was last week. So before I went to the "Quilting" phase, I had designated this blanket be his.

I'm proud to say that I've finally finished this blanket. It took a lot of work, I made lots of mistakes, but I've survived!

Here are a couple pictures to show my success:

Finished!!

Look at that beautiful binding!

Also, if you are needing help with the binding--  mostly how to do it and maybe you require pictures (like myself), check out this blog. She took lots of pictures and was incredibly helpful to me.

Happy Blanket Making!!

Rice Warmers

This past week and a half, my little brother came to visit me. Every time I spend time with him, I realize more and more how alike the two of us are. He's such a fun guy to be around, super generous, and my husband and I were in total awe of how much he loved our son. He's just an incredible person and I'm glad to call him my brother.

Christmas is coming up and my family does this gift exchange. I drew his name. I've been trying hard to come up with something that he'd like that isn't a lame thing. Where he lives, his little "apartment" has no heating and has brick all over the place (at least these are the rumors I hear). I stumbled upon this site via Pinterest and absolutely loved the foot warmers.

However, when I went to look for the site again, I couldn't find it. I guess that's what I get for having WAY TOO MANY pins on Pinterest. I have tons of boards too. Not to brag. It's not nice to brag about wasting time... or is it wasting time?

Well, I had to work from memory and kind of make things up as I went along. I believe that I used a half yard of fabric, which I got on sale at Hobby Lobby. I spent $3.79. Just thought I'd share the price... I was pretty proud of it. Out of this half yard, I made the foot warmer:

But I also made a neck warmer, a warmer for the back, and also some hands/feet ones. As you can see, these weren't filled with rice yet. I was super conscious about the weight limit that his bags would have to be at for him to fly with it. I only filled his foot warmer. If I didn't worry so much about the weight, that would have received a few more cups of rice.

I hear (haven't tried this YET) that if you stick these in the freezer, you can get cold packs. Not the kind that would be good if you had an injury, but the "OMG it's so hot outside, I need to cool down!" kind. This is the reason for the hand/foot warmers.

SO there you go, $3.79 for the fabric and about 50 cents per pound of rice. Makes this a very cheap gift. Depending on how motivated I am to sit down and make multiples of these, everyone's getting them for Christmas! Yay for warm tootsies!

Envelopes

We are about three weeks away from my son's first birthday... EEEK! It makes me sad that he's getting so big, but I can honestly say that we're enjoying every minute of it. Just this last week, we've discovered his first tooth was coming in and then the day after that, we noticed a second one! He's the best! You only hear horror stories of teething, but for us, it's been a breeze!

So anyways, I have already sent out the invites. I decided to save myself on stamps so I created my own invite in Photoshop (super handy!) and emailed them out to our guests. We've decided to invite immediate family plus grandparents. It's only been in the last week that my mind has even wandered to the point of Thank You's and entertainment. Apparently when you have a party, you should worry about more than just decorations and food. Who knew?! :)

My husband and I went to our local Hobby Lobby (A crafter's version of Disney World) and I went looking at stamps and the fun little stamp pens. I've loved all the cards I've found on Pinterest and have decided that it could be fun to get into stamping and making my own! I found a set of pens and were sad because they were twenty bucks. I didn't feel that committed to the cause. Then just below that set, I found one for 3 bucks! I was pretty stoked! So I bought them in hopes that I wouldn't regret that three dollar purchase.

Right behind me were the envelopes and cards that you can buy. I didn't read the packages and assumed that what I bought had envelopes AND cards in it. I discovered I was wrong... it was just envelopes! We'll be going back ASAP to get the cards.

I decided to play with my stamps anyways and decorated the envelopes I bought.

Here's pictures from this historical event! :)

All of my supplies!

Front and Back

First Ever Quilt

Today has just been one lazy day! I have barely done any housework (not that I'm complaining) and I'm loving it. It's such a great day for me. Well, other than my husband recently sent me a text message that was a picture of his amazing food from Olive Garden. I'm soo craving some good food! We shall see what happens with dinner tonight!

Anywho... I've been itching to do some sewing. Which is really weird, and technically I'm wanting to try out some pillowcase tutorials. I don't enjoy sewing and I try my hardest to stay away from blankets. I'm failing-- obviously.

A while back my grandma caught wind that I needed some material for sewing. She's so in to quilting that she has a business. I'm not so dedicated. I also went up to her house to look through her fabric stash for making Asher some pants and such. She gave me a ton of scraps, even a trash bag full of itty bitty ones. I took those scraps and started playing around with them. I used them as bows on present on one of my Quiet Book pages, I also tried sewing a blanket with them (it didn't succeed). My grandma was so thrilled that I was sewing that she got everyone's "left overs" from her quilt guild. I say this because I finally got around to using them.

I'm pretty lucky. Those quilt guild ladies seem to have some pretty good taste. I haven't found much in the bag I was given that was the typical Old Lady colors. Hallelujah! :)

So here are some pictures from today's sewing event. Yes... event is the right word. I'm not finished with the top yet, I've got some ideas for a border in hopes of making the quilt a little wider.

Happy sewing!

All my strips were about 3.5 inches wide.
Look at the fun colors!

My fun pile of scraps!

The quilt top so far!

I just want to cuddle up in this!!

Cake Mix Cookies (And a Cheater Sugar Cookie Recipe)

With the holidays upon us, I find that having a very simple and easy recipe is always great. You can't get too much simpler or easier than these cookies! These are great for guests that drop by unexpectedly, as well as something to keep people occupied till the feast is revealed.

Here it is!

Cake Mix Cookies
1 package of cake mix (any flavor)
1 large egg
1/4 cup of oil
1/4 cup of water
1 cup TOTAL of chopped nuts, raisins, oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chips, M&M'S® etc. (anything you like in cookies)
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine cake mix, egg, oil, and water. Beat until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredient (s).
Drop by teaspoon about 1 inch apart onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes or until done.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Ooooh Yummy Perfection!

What's so great about this recipe is the amount of imagination that can go into the variety of flavors of these cookies. You can go simple with a chocolate cake mix and some mint chips. Or you can do what I did, and do a plain vanilla cake mix with no add ins and get a cheater Sugar Cookie. Go crazy and experiment!

My Daddy's Name Is... Part One REVEAL!

Welcome to this fantastically snowy and cold November morning! As I look outside, it's actually snowing. Why doesn't fall stick around to play a little longer? I'm sad that winter is upon us, not gonna lie.

In other news, my poor 11 month old son has lost all of his pacifiers. He's gotten into this nasty and obnoxious habit of throwing things overboard. He can sit in his high chair, I'll turn around and find his bottle on the ground or food he doesn't like on the ground. With all his throwing, us parents aren't keeping track of every little thing all the time. We've searched and searched for this pacifiers and can't find a single one. So he went to bed last night without one. He did it beautifully, I was pretty surprised. This morning, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. The poor boy just wanted his pacifier and cried for over two hours for it. Needless to say, when those little suckers are found, they'll be promptly thrown away. It's a ton of work to try to calm a crying child who just wants his pacifier!

I'll admit, out of my entire Quiet Book (so far), this has been the hardest page. I'm going for a Robots theme, but it would be a lot of work to actually make it perfect. So I'm going for a simpler version because I don't wish to spend a ton of time on it. I wouldn't want it to look cooler than my other pages!!

Let's get on with the reveal!

I love the thread used in the buttons. It's one of my favorite parts!

Green, Blue, and Orange string

My Daddy's Name Is... Part One (Teaser)

With the weather we've been having lately, all I seem to want to do is just curl up in a blanket and watch tv. This morning I was convinced that it would be a beautiful sunny day because when I opened my window, I was blinded by the sun. Not thirty minutes later, the sky turned dark and dreary. It saddened me slightly because I just love how clean my carpets looked in the bright sunlight. I was super excited to see the light stream in and then BAM suddenly I'm wondering where the sun went? Oh sun, won't you please come out to play??

The other day I bought some Pumpkin Spice candles from Walmart. I have forgotten how much I LOVE candles! I haven't lit any in so long that I almost forgot how to light them! The second I lit the first candle and got a lovely whiff of that delightful fragrance, I felt like it was finally ok to allow the holidays to come and greet me.

As a result, between the dark and dreary weather and the delightful fragrance and ambiance of my wonderful candles, my house has suddenly become a little homey. It's warm and inviting and I'm in love with everything about this time of year.

So today I finally got back to work on my Quiet Book after my little "vacation" from it. I realize that Christmas is just around the corner, and two weeks before that is my son's first birthday (which is when this gift is intended to be given). I'm feeling the time crunch!! AAAAH!

Here's a teaser picture to help you sit at the edge of your seat in anticipation!

My Twice Baked Potatoes

Welcome to Thursday!!

I thought I'd start with the picture so that we're all on the same page. Notice... the cheese. Take a moment to take it in. It's gooey, it's hot, it's super tasty! This was my lunch yesterday and also my dinner tonight.

Here's the scoop on these amazing potatoes!


My Twice Baked Potatoes
Salt and pepper
margarine or butter
Milk
1/2 C chopped green onion
1 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese (or any cheese, or even a mixture of cheeses)
1 box frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

Wash, prick and bake potatoes at 400 for 1 hour (or until soft on the inside). While potatoes are still hot, slice each in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop pulp into a large mixing bowl, leaving a thin shell. Mash potatoes, add salt, pepper and butter to taste, and milk as needed. (So basically treat it like you're making mashed potatoes instead of this gooey goodness.) Stir in green onion, cheese and spinach. Spoon potato mixture back into the shells.

Bake at 400 for 20 min or until lightly browned. Serve immediately or freeze potatoes before reheating them. To server potatoes, remove as many as needed. Allow to thaw. Bake at 400 for 20 min or until lightly browned.


If you get to this recipe and wonder "how many potatoes am I supposed to do this with?" You're in the same boat as me. I have no idea. I started with 9, but think it needs a LOT more cheese added to it. I think next time I'm going to add 2 1/4 cups of grated cheese and see how that works. As it stands right now, it's still really good, I would eat it this way again! In fact, I will be!

Enjoy!

Soft Chocolate Cookies

Here's a fun fact about me: I'm not a big cookie eater. I'd much rather have some candy, though I would take cheesecake over any dessert any day! Back to cookies. I have a reputation for "loving" cookies, but I can honestly say that I really don't. Which means that this recipe must be something special for me to be posting it right? RIGHT!

These cookies are incredible! I love every bite and think that they actually taste better the second day, rather than straight from the oven. They're perfectly soft, sometimes gooey, and the cookie dough is addicting!

Here's the original recipe.  I don't actually make the cookies the same way. The recipe says that you can put the cookie dough in the refrigerator until it's easy to work with, then roll them into balls. I totally skip this step. Mostly because I'm too lazy to put so much effort into a cookie, when I do, it must be a pretty special occasion. What I do instead, is spoon them onto a cookie sheet and stick them into the oven. Pretty simple, right? Also, for giggles I even omit the powdered sugar.

One time I put some frosting between two cookies and made a sort of oreo sandwich. It was pretty popular and my husband has begged me ever since to make more of those cookies.

So there you go... some options...
Go make some for yourself, I dare you!

Homemade Sock Monkey!

Welcome to Monday! Also, welcome to November!!

I'm one month and four days away from my son's first birthday! We're on the countdown! I have been so excited for his birthday and have had the theme planned out for months! It's sock monkey themed for those who don't know.

As a result of my sock monkey theme, I wanted some actual sock monkeys as decoration. I am quite disappointed with the cost of buying a new sock monkey. I'm seriously looking at $8 and up PER sock monkey! So I decided on this lower cost alternative of making my own!

I started by going to Walmart and picking up some long (knee-ish) length socks. You only need to get a pair of socks where the heel doesn't match the rest of the sock (as in a different color). I discovered that Christmas colors are out, but I don't really want my son to have a Christmas themed sock monkey collection. So I found a color that would last for more than just through Christmas. I found a pair for just under 2 bucks. Then I went to the crafting section and found some "stuffing" for making stuffed animals and whatever else you can stuff. The entire bag was about 3-4 bucks.

I then used this Instructable. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but with all the pictures and easy to understand steps, I finally had some success. My first monkey looks a little funky (not in such a good way). I think the ears look pretty funny and one of the arms is way stiffer than the other (and the eyes aren't very even). My husband walked in the door and said that it was professional looking. I still think I'm a bit challenged in this project, but is definitely one I plan on repeating over and over and over again, as these sock monkeys will decorate his room. So... 2 bucks for a pair of socks and the bag of stuffing makes more than one monkey (I think I could easily make 3 more). I think I"m saving quite a bit of money, which always makes me a little happier!

So... the result? Here it is!

My Mommy's Name Is...

Welcome to today!

My mom returned to her lovely home and I have gotten back into the swing of making my son's quiet book. I'm so enjoying watching this book come together that I find myself a little bit giddy when I look through all the pages I've done so far. I'm super excited to see my son play with his book for the first time! We're only about two months away from his first birthday. I can't believe it's been almost a year, but with all the changes and new things he's learned to do in the past couple weeks, it's not too shocking. I think what's more shocking is how fast children grow. You barely get time to enjoy them at a certain stage before BAM something new happens! 

Well, here's the small details of these two pages:

1. The mouths of the monkeys come off so that my son can change them out to be different colors.
2. The bows on the monkeys head also come off so they can be changed out.
3. The "Name Is" and "Erin" felt are actually pockets to hold the bows and extra mouths.
4. The eyes are made out of small buttons.
5. The bows and mouths are attached with sew-on snaps. NOTE: if you decide to make something using snaps, it's wise to follow the package directions for a better hold. I personally broke all the rules, not trusting the hold of the directions. I was mistaken, the package directions are better.

Brownies!!!

I'll be the first to admit that brownies aren't my favorite dessert. Until I discovered my most recent recipe, I actually greatly disliked brownies. Do you ever notice the variety of flavors and textures? I mean, there's burnt, there's deliciously moist, there's the kind with nuts (gross), and there's also kinds with chocolate chips. It seems that you can do most anything with a brownie. The best thing you can do with a brownie is to make it from scratch! NO BOX REQUIRED!!

Every now and then I get this overwhelming desire for sugar. I'd like candy (Whoppers anyone?) or ice cream, but I rarely have either in my house. Then I discovered homemade brownies. I originally made some for my husband with the intention of just letting him have the cooked stuff and I'd eat the batter. The first batch I burned. Nasty. It took a few tries, but I discovered the secret ingredient.... BUTTER! Yes, oil just isn't as good. I can't figure it out. Kudos to you if you can!

Here is my recipe:


1/2 cup  butter
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (note the picture) Let cool.

** You can think of it like a cake, where if you stick in the toothpick and it comes out clean that it's done. I don't follow this, I stick in the toothpick and if the last quarter of an inch has the brownie on it, then it's done. This creates a very moist brownie and is so perfect. People rave about it. 

If you use a dark, non stick pan-- set the oven to 50* cooler and keep checking the brownie at the 20 minute mark. 

Happy Baking!

Slippers?

Like my question mark in the Subject Line? Yeah... This picture, these slippers are what my husband and I have been working to figure out how to make. He played around with my "mess up" last night and said, "I just don't think it's going to work." I looked at it this morning and flipped it inside out, and suddenly it looks exactly like what I was going for.

I would love to tell you how to make it, but I'm not sure how to yet. So... Stay tuned while I make my husband finish the other slipper, teach me how to make it, and then I'll share with you.

I can say, without a doubt, that this entire slipper is made out of flannel material. I cut it out so that there were two pieces for the bottom and two for the wrap around. It's a little bit sturdier and a little bit warmer because of it. I love this fabric, it's super cute!

Stay tuned for a how-to!

The Day I Arrived Part Two

I know I say this most every time I post about my son's quiet book, but I think they're the coolest things. It's turning out so good that other people can't help but say "Wow." I guess it's just not as corny as people were originally thinking.

I have so enjoyed making this for my son. I can't wait for his birthday and the chance to give it to him to let him play with it. Until then, I'm a bit possessive over my hard work :). Plus, I enjoy playing with this by myself. I will admit that my favorite part is the letters and where the felt gets hard because of the stitching. I spend less time playing with it and more time petting it. Part of me wonders why the church ones aren't as fun. Maybe that's where people are thrown off by my little creation.

Anyways, here's part two of "The Day I Arrived..."

The Day I Arrived Part One

I just realized that it's the end of October! Well, it's pretty close to the end of October. I've been working hard on the Quiet Book that I'm making for my son's birthday, but for the past week I've had my mom in town and have been doing other projects with her. You know, the really fun stuff like shopping and walking and eating. I've got priorities!

Well, yesterday she left to go spend some time with her parents, so I have to get crackin' on that Quiet Book. I've been working on the last few pages, which seem to take a whole lot of creativity. The page after this one (The Day I Arrived) is asking me to make up my mind! haha.

So... The Day I Arrived Part One. Here are some pictures:

 

The bow I pretended I knew how to make.

Cupcake with removable candles.

The picture doesn't do the colors justice. It's neon yellow with light blue.
It reminds me a lot of Flounder from The Little Mermaid.