Desperate Craftwives

"Stabbed in the Brain" Cupcakes

2013-10-31T13:37:00.000-04:00

My husband came home from work the other day and told me they were having a Halloween potluck at his office with a contest for the most creative Halloween dessert. He then asked if I would make "one of my little creations". I googled and searched Pinterest and saw some cute stuff - witch fingers, Frankentstein marshmallow pops, etc. but was not feeling overly inspired by anything. That is until I walked into Joann Fabrics and saw a package of Wilton butcher knife decorations. I was already making cupcakes for my son's class, so this is what I came up with. Kinda cute, kinda gross.....

I just used a boxed cake mix (*gasp*) for the cupcakes and made some buttercream frosting. I used a tiny bit of red food coloring to make a fleshy color. Then I piped on the icing in a brain-ish pattern, stuck on some Wilton candy eyeballs, stabbed the brain with a Wilton butcher knife decoration and added some Betty Crocker red decorating get for the blood.

Now to see if I win the most creative Halloween dessert contest........

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Stamped Grill Spatula

2013-06-18T21:52:00.001-04:00

So what do you get for the man who has everything?
When contemplating this question a few days before Father's Day, I recalled a great idea a friend of mine sent me a while ago for a pancake-type spatula stamped with "I flippin' love you". So cute, right? I decided to make it a bit more manly for Father's Day and stamp it on a grill spatula - not only a grill spatula, but one with a spatula on one end and a bottle opener on the other - the perfect gift for my husband.

I found the grill spatula/bottle opener at Home Depot for $4.98!

You could pair this with a Bobby Flay Grilling cookbook, such as our favorite - Grill It - for an even better gift!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Princess Tiara Cookies

2013-05-19T22:31:00.000-04:00

We just celebrated my daughter's 3rd birthday and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone! She has been keeping me very busy lately (as evidenced by my lack of posting lately).

As an avid crafter, I always try to go all out for my kids parties with the decor, etc. I decide on a theme and make banners, tissue pom poms, tablescapes, themed food, cookies, etc. However, this year my 6 yr old had other ideas and begged for a Chuck E. Cheese party. I thought I would miss having the party, but, man, it was so nice to just show up, party, pay a bill (probably less than what I would have spent anyway), and leave the clean up to others. Sure beats slaving away trying to have my house perfectly cleaned for guests, making all the food & decorations and having to clean up the aftermath.

So, when at a school fundraiser a few weeks before my daughter's birthday, I saw a birthday party at My Gym in the silent auction, I bid on it and pretty much stalked the auction item for the rest of the evening. I ended up winning with an obscenely low bid. Probably helped that I gave the stink eye to anyone else who hovered around MY party.

We showed up, had a fun party, ate cake and went home. I really don't know what I was thinking all those years having the parties at my house.

The only "work" I had to do for the party was to make favors. And as much as I love my kids getting bags of trinkets - especially the little ink stamps they can stamp all over their faces before we go out in public, the little bottles of bubbles they can open and spill all over the car, the paddle ball games with elastic that breaks and snaps kids' hands causing 30 minutes of crying - I choose to make cookies.

My daughter requested a "pink princess party" so I popped over to www.cheapcookiecutters.com to check out their selection of princess cookie cutters. I chose the Crown Cookie Cutter and made these cute princess-y cookies.

I just stuck them in clear treat bags, tied them with a pretty pink ribbon and viola! Party favors!

Check out some of my other parties and cookies:

Lemonade Birthday Party

Pizza Party Cookies

Strawberry Birthday Party

Elmo Birthday Party

Pool Party Surfboard Cookies

-Blythe

Low Fat Vegan Zucchini Muffins

2013-04-10T10:06:00.000-04:00

I became a vegetarian my freshman year in college and remained one for about 10 years. At some point I started eating some poultry and seafood again, but never went back to red meat or pork. When earning my Masters degree, my research concentration was cardiovascular physiology, so am very familiar with how important a whole food, unprocessed diet is to proper functioning of our bodies and our health. However, knowing this and living by it in recent years have been two very different things.

I have been guilty of going to the Chic-Fil-A drive through after taking the kids to gymnastics, or whipping up a batch of tacos from an Old El Paso kit. I would try to lose those extra pounds doing diets involving powdered shakes and soups, or eating Lean Cuisines and drinking diet pop. I knew it wasn't healthy and it nagged at me in the back of my mind, but I was doing what I had to do as a busy mom, right??? Problem is, I still had the extra pounds, was tired and my allergies were kicking my butt.

I had heard about the documentary Forks Over Knives and finally got around to watching it. The case presented and the overwhelming scientific evidence that a whole-foods, plant-based diet can basically save your life really affected me. Especially being high-risk myself with family members from both sides suffering from strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I decided to give veganism the old college try. I am not saying I am going to have a perfect diet, but I am going to make a real effort to follow a low-fat, vegan diet.

I think my biggest challenge will be getting the kids to have open minds about new foods. They will happily eat a vegetarian corn dog as long as they don't know it is not an actual hot dog in there. I am not making my kids vegan too, but do want to cut out the processed foods from their diets. I figured muffins would be a pretty safe bet for the little ones. They love zucchini bread so I searched for vegan zucchini muffin recipes. Most of them had a lot of oil, but I was able to adapt a recipe for oil-free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins from Happy Herbivore to make these muffins and they turned out FANTASTIC!

LOW FAT VEGAN ZUCCHINI MUFFINS:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 Large Banana
1/2 Cup Applesauce, Unsweetened
1 Cup Raw Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Shredded Zucchini (about 1 large zucchini)
1/4 Cup Vanilla Rice Milk (or other non-diary milk)

Instructions:

Mash banana in a large bowl and stir in applesauce. Add sugar and mix well. Add vanilla rice milk, vanilla and zucchini. Stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon).
Slowly add dry ingredients to wet and stir until completely moistened.
Line muffin tin with paper liners and fill 3/4 full.
Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until toothpick poked in center comes out clean.

Note: These were very sweet so you could probably decrease the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup if desired.

Bon Appetit!
-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.thenymelrosefamily.com

Desperate Craftwives Spring Crafts Roundup

2013-03-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

Spring is in full swing around here! The kids are on Spring Break this week so I am going to put my crafting aside (even though I have a couple great Easter project ideas gnawing at me). But I don't want to leave anybody hangin' so here is a little roundup of my Spring projects from last year!

These Floral Embellished Eggs were super easy to make using styrofoam eggs, pins and little paper flower embellishments!

My Salt Dough Easter Egg Garland is hands down my most popular post of all time. It has been featured on Baby Center, Retail Me Not, Tatertots & Jello, Chickabug, Care.com, and more!

My kids loved these cute Bunny & Carrot Easter Cookies! The carrots are kind of like eating vegetables, right?

I made this Spring Wreath using "mambo" yarn and it was a quick & easy project! Not sure I'd have the patience to make a yarn-wrapped wreath with regular skinny yarn!

Want to get the kids involved in making some Spring decor? These Coffee Filter Flowers were the perfect craft for little ones. They made a nice bouquet for Grandma on Mother's Day.

And, of course, the Magic Jellybeans. Have your kids plant them the Saturday before Easter, water them, and they will be amazed when the jelly beans magically bloom into Lollipop Flowers on Easter morning!

Happy Spring! Thanks for visiting my blog! I'd love to have you follow along or "Like" the Desperate Craftwives Facebook Page!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Pizza Party Favors

2013-03-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

After years of begging, I finally gave in and let my son have his birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I thought he had given up on the idea because when we went to his first party there last year, he was sitting up near the stage eating his pizza when the Chuck E Cheese character on the stage came to life and scared the bejeezus out of him. Then after we moved him to the other end of the table and convinced him that Chuck E Cheese was just a mechanical mouse attached to the stage, not a real giant mouse that could get him, a guy in a giant Chuck E Cheese costume came out and started making his rounds with the kids. My son almost fainted! But, like many other "traumatic" events in a young child's life, he got over it quickly, and resumed his campaign to have his own party there! Fortunately, he conquered his fear of Chuck E Cheese and had a great time (although he refused to go on the stage with the robotic one).The party was pretty much effortless. We just showed up with a cake and some favors. I knew the kids would be cashing in all the tickets they won playing games for little trinkets, so I decided to keep it simple with the party favors and just made cookies for the kids to take home.And seeing as it was a pizza party......PIZZA COOKIES!

I used my favorite recipes for the cookies and icing:
The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies and Sugar Cookie Icing

We also had a special guest with a dairy allergy, so I made a batch of dairy free cookies that were super yummy!

DAIRY FREE ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES:

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups Butter Flavor Crisco
3 TBSP Water
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla
5 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt

Instructions
Cream Crisco, Water and Sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover dough with saran wrap and chill overnight. When ready to bake, roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thickness, cut with a circle cookie cutter and bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Allow to cool before icing.

DAIRY FREE ICING: Mix 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp clear vanilla, 4 tsp almond milk or soy milk and 4 tsp corn syrup until well blended. Add food coloring as desired. Add almond milk by the tsp to thin icing if it is too thick.

I decorated these pizza cookies by putting a layer of red icing in the center and letting it set, then used a squeeze bottle to squirt the "mozzarella" icing and adding a few green sprinkles before it set. Then once that layer was dry, I went back with my red icing and made the "pepperoni".

Then I just bagged them up and added a little tag I made using PicMonkey!

For these pizza cookies, I used the plain circle cookie cutter from www.cheapcookiecutters.com, although they have a really cool Pizza Slice Cookie Cutter and I would use that next time! I might even get motivated to make a little pizza box instead of a clear bag.

Ciao!!!
-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.the36thavenue.com

www.lilluna.com

www.thenymelrosefamily.com

www.gingersnapcrafts.com

www.oneartsymama.com

www.becomingmartha.com

www.tatertotsandjello.com

Magic Jellybeans 2013

2013-02-24T14:55:00.000-05:00

I was in Michaels yesterday and I saw the adorable little flower lollipops they always have for sale around this time of year. It reminded me of the awesome "Magic Jellybeans" I planted with my kids last year. When they woke up on Easter morning to find our Magic Jellybeans had grown into flower lollipops overnight, they were amazed! I will totally be doing this again this year and thought I'd re-post to hopefully inspire some of you to do the same!

I came across this adorable printable at Nothing But Country and knew I had to do it with my kids for some Easter fun. I printed out and made the little envelope, filled it with jellybeans and secretly ran it out to the mailbox.

The Saturday before Easter, I had my son get the mail and thankfully our Magic Jellybeans had "arrived" in our mailbox just in time for Easter.

I had placed a piece of floral foam in the bottom of an ~~old, chipped, dirty~~ cute little pot I had living in my garage and filled it with potting soil. The kids ripped open the jellybeans and planted them.

Next, we watered our magic jellybeans and set them outside the front door.

The kids were so excited to see what they would find the next morning once the magic jellybeans grew.

Hope your kids enjoy this little bit of Easter "Magic" as much as mine did!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:
www.craft-o-maniac.com
www.sumossweetstuff.com

Angry Birds Valentine

2013-02-13T22:14:00.000-05:00

Like most other little boys, my son is a huge fan of Angry Birds. We were just going to buy the usual little cards and stick lollipops or something on them, but ended up with these awesome little valentines instead! Which is great, because as a "crafty" mom, I was feeling a wee bit guilty about not doing something at least a little more special than the boxed cards.

I was walking outside of a Michaels store a few weeks ago and found these great little plastic Angry Birds, each containing a little Angry Bird figurine, a sticker, and small pack of candy inside. What really excited me was that they were in the 20 for $2.00 clearance bin! That's right....10 cents each!
I thought they'd make great Valentines, so I bought enough for my son's class.

I designed a little card using www.PicMonkey.com and some free Angry Bird clipart I found online here. I printed them 9 to a page on some card stock and cut them out. Then I just punched a little hole in the corner and tied it to the bird's tail with a little red ribbon.

These Valentines were so cheap & easy, but sure to be a hit with the kids! These would make great party favors for an Angry Birds birthday party too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

-Blythe

Valentine Brownies

2013-02-02T21:50:00.001-05:00

Valentine season is in full swing around here now that it is officially February! I took my kiddos to the library last week and we got a few Valentine books. I thought I'd make a visit to my son's class with a cute Valentine Book and a little treat.

I read the book Ruby Valentine Saves the Day by Laurie B. Friedman and made some super sweet Valentine brownies. Both were a big hit with the little ones!

VALENTINE BROWNIES

What You Need:

2 Boxes Brownie Mix (plus eggs & oil per instructions on box)
Wilton Candy Melts - White
Valentine Decorations - Red or pink sprinkles, sugars, hearts, etc.
Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter

What To Do:

Bake brownies according to "fudge-like" instructions on box (as opposed to "cake-like"). I made two 8x8 glass baking dishes of brownies which yielded 20 heart shaped brownies approx. 3" each. Be sure to grease the baking dishes well so the brownie will come out easily.
Allow brownies to cool completely in baking dish. I let mine cool on the counter, then covered them and put them in the fridge for several hours.
Once thoroughly chilled, turn the brownie out onto a cutting board and use cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes.
Place full bag of candy melts into a bowl and melt in microwave following instructions on bag.
Dip half of heart brownie into melted candy and place on wax or parchment paper.
Quickly put on your decorations before the candy melts harden.
Enjoy!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Lemon Oregano Chicken

2013-01-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

We are not big red-meat eaters in our house, so we end up eating a LOT of chicken. Pair that with a couple of finicky eaters and I am perpetually searching for new ways to prepare chicken. I came up with this recipe and it was a crowd-pleaser!

LEMON OREGANO CHICKEN

Ingredients:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano
1 Lemon
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
3 T Butter

Directions:

Flatten chicken breasts to desired thickness.
Mix garlic powder, pepper, salt, and 1 tsp oregano in a baggie.
Sprinkle mixture generously onto both sides of chicken. You won't need all of the spice mixture, so keep remaining spice mixture in baggie for next time you make this recipe.
Melt butter in skillet and add chicken.
Cook chicken until both sides are nice and browned.
Reduce heat to low and move chicken to plate.
Mix chicken broth with juice of half a lemon and corn starch.
Pour broth mixture into pan and stir around to loosen brown bits from bottom. Bring to a boil until it begins to thicken. Reduce heat.
Add chicken back to pan and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of oregano over top. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken cooked through.
If you want it to look fancy, garnish with a lemon slice.
Enjoy!

BON APPETIT!
-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Valentine Stained Glass Cookie Pops

2013-01-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

I know as a Desperate "Craft"wife, I should be coming up with all kinds of cutesy Valentine crafts, but with my insatiable sweet tooth, all I can think of are Valentine treats! Fortunately I have my son's Kindergarten class and several neighbors who are happy to take the goodies off my hands so they don't end up in my belly. First up......Valentine Stained Glass Cookie Pops!

What You Need:

Your favorite sugar cookie recipe (I always use this one: Best Rolled Sugar Cookies )
Red colored hard candies - crushed (I used 1 bag of Wild Cherry Lifesavers and crushed them up in my Magic Bullet). You can use red Jolly Ranchers too.
Your favorite icing (my favorite is Sugar Cookie Icing, but with vanilla extract instead of almond)
Heart shaped cookie cutters in 2 sizes
Lollipop Sticks
Parchment Paper

How You Make them:

Prepare and thoroughly chill sugar cookie dough.
Roll out dough and cut heart shape using larger cookie cutter. Use the smaller heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out the inside and remove (or just bake the mini heart separately).
Place heart cookie onto PARCHMENT-LINED cookie sheet (I cannot stress the importance of using parchment paper enough!).
Use a small spoon to fill center of cookie with crushed red candies.

Place lollipop stick under bottom of heart so cookie will bake around it.
Bake according to cookie recipe directions.
Remove from oven. You may want to use a toothpick to push the melted candy all the way to the edges if it didn't get there or to pop any air bubbles that may have formed.
Leave cookies on the cookie sheet to cool, allowing melted candy to harden.
Once cool, frost as desired!

Have a Sweet Valentine's Day!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
www.whipperberry.com
http://twosucculentsisters.blogspot.com/

Target Gift Card GIVEAWAY

2013-01-18T23:13:00.000-05:00

So excited to be part of this amazing GIVEAWAY!

I've partnered with Beth from Through the Eyes of the Mrs. and several other ladies to offer a $125 gift card to Target! I think it is safe to say we all love Target! It is my "go-to" store for everything including clothes, toys, groceries, electronics, etc. and if I wasn't a sponsor, I would so be entering this!

Be sure to check out all the great bloggers who are sponsoring this giveaway and GOOD LUCK!!!

Hello there lovelies, Who doesn't love Target? Today sponsors and supporters of Through the Eyes of the Mrs. are offering you the opportunity to win a $125 Gift Card to Target! We could all use an unexpected shopping trip. Enter below through Rafflecopter!

Please Note that you must be a follower of Through the Eyes of the Mrs.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shine On Fridays and a GIVEAWAY!

2013-01-17T12:58:00.001-05:00

I am really excited to be co-hosting Shine On Friday today with Amy from One Artsy Mama and Kara from Happy Go Lucky. It is one of my favorite linky parties of the week! There are sure to be some amazing projects linked up.

This is the first party I have co-hosted and to celebrate I am giving away a set of 2 Hand Stamped Aluminum Rings to one lucky reader!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now let's show off our creations and oooh and aaah over the amazing projects posted. I am always inspired by the creativity of others and hope you will be too!

<center>
<a href="http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/"></a><center>
</center>
 
 
 
If you'd like to join the Party: 
<ul>
<li>Link up crafts, recipes, home decor, etc.</li>
<li>Follow all 3 co-hostesses - <a href="http://www.oneartsymama.com/" target="_blank">One Artsy Mama</a>,  <a href="http://www.happygoluckyblog.com/" target="_blank">Happy Go Lucky</a>, <a href="http://www.thedesperatecraftwives.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Desperate Craftwives</a></li>
<li>Grab a party button and put it somewhere on your blog</li>
<li>Be sure to visit others and share the love!</li>
</ul>
Linking up your photos gives us permission to use them in features on our blogs and Facebook pages. 
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
 </div>
 

<script type="text/javascript">
 document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src=http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=231818&' + new Date().getTime() + '"><\/script>');</script>

If you'd like to join the party:

Please follow your 3 co-hosts: One Artsy Mama, Happy Go Lucky, Desperate Craftwives
Link up crafts, recipes, home decor, etc.
Be sure to visit others and share the love! Nobody likes to stand alone in the corner at a party!

Healthy Baked Chicken Fingers

2013-01-07T19:11:00.002-05:00

One of my goals this year is to make sure we have peaceful family dinners where both kids stay in their seats and eat whatever I serve (good luck, right?!).

A typical family dinner up until now involves my 2 1/2 year old running laps around the kitchen island and my 5 year old whining that he doesn't want to eat what I've made and asking me about different scenarios: "What will you do if I take a bite and throw up everywhere?" "Would you be sad if I ate this meal and it was so gross that I fainted and hit my head really hard on the ground and started bleeding everywhere?""If I take one bite, will you give me dessert and buy me a Furby?". You get the idea.

I have attempted this before, but my patience runs out after a few days and I give up and turn back into a short order cook. But NOT THIS TIME! I am trying to make meals that are healthy, but the kids will still be willing to eat. We are about a week in and things are going pretty well (knock on wood). One of the most well-received main courses was this recipe for healthy, baked chicken fingers.

BAKED CHICKEN FINGERS

Ingredients:

1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut into chicken finger shapes) or Chicken Tenderloins
1 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1 T Parsley
1/2 T Oregano
1/3 tsp Garlic Powder
1/3 tsp Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Cup Milk
1 T Dijon Mustard
Optional: you can also add crushed almonds or pecans to bread crumb mixture

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Line baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix together milk and dijon mustard in a bowl and set aside.
Mix remaining ingredients (except chicken) in another bowl or shallow dish.
Dip chicken pieces in milk mixture, then roll in bread crumb mixture.
Place coated chicken pieces onto foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake at 450 for approximately 20 minutes, or until chicken fully cooked and no longer pink in the center.

Bon Appetit!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.whipperberry.com

Top 5 of 2012

2013-01-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! 2012 was a great year for Desperate Craftwives, so THANK YOU to all my followers! I've gone far beyond my goal of 200,000 page views and went from a handful of Facebook followers to over 750! The holidays were a busy time for my Etsy shop too and I have almost reached the milestone of my first 100 sales!

The holidays were a fun & busy time, but didn't leave too much time for crafting, so figured I would jump on the "Top Posts of 2012" bandwagon!

Here they are:

1. Mini Muffin Gift Box

2.She's Ready to POP! Baby Shower Favors

3.Salt Dough Easter Egg Garland

4. The Best Zucchini Bread Ever

5.Teacher Appreciation Dinner & A Movie

I have lots of ideas for projects in 2013 and I know this will be another great year! Stay tuned......

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.whipperberry.com

Felt Cone Christmas Trees

2012-12-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

Last week I got together with some of my girlfriends and had a fun craft night. We decided to get some styrofoam cones and transform them into Christmas trees using various fabrics, ribbon, beads, etc. This is what I created:

What You Need:

Styrofoam trees in various sizes
Felt
Ribbon
Glue

How To Make It:

Cut felt strips - one straight edged and the others with the bottom edge scalloped - enough to cover tree.
Glue straight strip to bottom first, then layer over with the scalloped edge felt strips until you reach the top.
Cut a circle of felt and glue to top of cone.
Decorate using felt flowers, ribbon rosettes, beads, etc.

These trees turned out really cute and were super simple to make!

Happy Holidays!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.thenymelrosefamily.com

http://www.createcraftlove.com/2012/12/keep-calm-and-link-up-20.html

Cheerios Christmas Trees

2012-12-09T22:48:00.004-05:00

When I was a little girl, I remember my Mom making these super cute Cheerios Christmas Tree treats for me to take into school and share with my class. Now I am the Mom and I knew these would be a big hit in my son's Kindergarten class this holiday season.

Cheerios Christmas Trees

Ingredients:

6 cups of Cheerios (can use regular or honey nut)
4 1/2 Cups Mini Marshmallows
6 T Salted Butter
Green Food Coloring
Gumdrops
Cooking Oil Spray

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and marshmallows over low heat, stirring constantly, until fully melted and smooth.
Add green food coloring until desired shade is reached.
Place Cheerios cereal in a bowl and add the marshmallow mixture, stirring until all the cereal is thoroughly coated.
Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet.
Spray your hands with the cooking oil and take a handful of the Cheerios mixture and form into a Christmas tree shape. Be sure to press it firmly together so the tree doesn't collapse.
When you are finished forming each tree, set it on the cookie sheet.
Once all of your trees are formed, slice your gumdrops and just stick the little circles on the trees as ornaments.
Place the trees in the refrigerator to set for about an hour, then take them out and cover them up until they are ready to be served!

Enjoy!

-Blythe

http://cherishedbliss.com/2012/12/a-crafty-christmas-link-party.html

www.thenymelrosefamily.com

Baby Shower Favors

2012-12-03T22:20:00.001-05:00

My neighbor was hosting a baby shower for her daughter, who also happens to be a friend of mine, and asked me to help with the favors. She had the idea of making some cute little bracelets with a cross to show how they've been "blessed" with a baby boy. Here's what we came up with...

We packaged them in little blue organza bags with a small "Thank You" mint (made by Wilton and purchased at Michael's). I used my Cricut to cut tags out of some baby blue card stock and wrote "We've been blessed with a boy. Thanks for sharing our joy!".

And here is the bracelet on a fabulous model, which may or may not be me....

I purchased the crosses from a fellow Etsy shop and the chains and jump rings from Michaels. This was a very inexpensive, yet meaningful gift to make for the guests.

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Thankful Turkey

2012-11-18T12:43:00.003-05:00

I was invited to a neighbor's house last week when she was hosting a Bingo night. There were to be 10 rounds, each with a different theme (i.e. T is for Turkey...make a T on your Bingo card), so I offered to make a cute little decoration incorporating each game. The turkey turned out so cute that I thought it would be a great Thanksgiving craft to do with the family, either to play Bingo too, or to just write down the things you are thankful for on the turkey's "feathers", or maybe clues for a Scavenger Hunt.

What You Need:

Styrofoam balls - one bigger for body, one smaller for head
Brown Ribbon
Push Pins
Orange Pipe Cleaners
Googly Eyes
Cardstock - Orange, Red Yellow
Hot Glue

How To Make It:

Wrap styrofoam balls with brown ribbon and secure with push pins.

Hot glue head onto body.
Shape orange pipe cleaners into legs and hot glue to bottom of body.

Cut a small piece of orange card stock and roll into beak shape. Glue or tape to secure shape. Glue beak onto turkey's face.
Glue on goggly eyes.
Glue on either a small piece of red ribbon or red card stock just underneath beak for the little waddle (is that what it's called????).
Cut 10 feather shapes out of the red, orange and yellow card stock.
Write on each feather - things you are thankful for, scavenger hunt clues, bingo games, etc - use your imagination!
Secure each feather with a push pin.
You may need to add a few push pins to the bottom of the turkey's body to stabilize the ball and keep it from rolling over.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

The Best White Chicken Chili

2012-11-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

Now that some (slightly) cooler weather has finally hit here in the South, I have been in the mood for soup or chili. My friend, Kari, of Thought of You Fabric Accessories, has a great recipe for White Chicken Chili that is too good not to share with you! I've tried several white chicken chili recipes, and this is by far the best one yet! I made it today and had a great Sunday of watching football, eating chili, and playing with the kids in the back yard!

Kari's White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Breasts
1 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Medium Onions, Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Two 4oz. Cans Chopped Mild Green Chilis
2 Tsp Ground Cumin
1.5 Tsp Dried Oregano, Crumbled
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
Three 16 oz Cans White Beans
5 Cups Chicken Broth
3 Cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Shredded
Salt & Pepper to taste
Sour Cream, Jalapeño Peppers (optional)

Directions:

Boil chicken breasts and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from pot, let it cool and shred.
Heat oil in large pot over medium/high heat. Add onions and sauté about 10 minutes.
Stir in garlic, chilis, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Saute 2 minutes.
Add undrained cans of beans and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
Add chicken, reduce heat and simmer about 15- 20 minutes.
Add cheese, stirring until it melts.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and jalapeño slices, if desired.

On a side note, Kari was one of the generous donors to Desperate Craftwives' Auction benefiting CTF. Be sure to check out her shop, Thought of You Fabric Accessories, and remember it when you start your holiday shopping.

Places I'm Partying:

www.cherishedbliss.com

Braided Memory Wire Bracelet

2012-10-25T13:41:00.000-04:00

Since I discovered how easy it is to make beautiful bracelets with memory wire, I have been pretty much obsessed with it! I made a braided memory wire bracelet in the colors of my alma mater, The University of Florida - Orange & Blue - Go Gators!!!!! and posted the picture on my Facebook Page. This bracelet makes a great piece of fancy fan-wear and can easily be customized to your favorite team's colors, which is why I have had several requests for a tutorial. Since I already have my Gators bracelet, I decided to make a bracelet in the colors supporting The Children's Tumor Foundation for this tutorial.

What You Need:

Memory Wire
Beads in 2 Colors (I used 6/0 Czech Glass Beads)
Round Nose Pliers
Wire Cutters (hardware store ones, NOT ones made for jewelry)

How To Make It:
See photos below

Use your wire cutters to cut 7 full rounds of memory wire.
Cut one of the rounds in half and create a small loop at one end of each with your round nose pliers (make sure to tighten the loop all the way down).
Use round nose pliers to make a small loop at the end of each of the 6 of remaining rounds of memory wire to keep the beads on the wire. Make sure to tighten the loop down so it is completely closed.
String 3 rounds of wire with one color beads and 3 rounds of wire with second color beads.
At the end of each round of wire, you will want to leave about a pinky finger's width with no beads and use your round nose pliers to create another small loop at the end (tightened down) to keep beads on the wire.
Next, line the rounds up in alternating colors. For me it is blue, green, blue, green, blue, green.
With the small loops at the end of each round lined up, take one of the half rounds you made earlier and string it through all the loops (in order). Trim the end to about a pinky-width and use round-nose pliers to form another loop at the end.
Separate into 3 parts (blue/green - blue/green - blue/green) and braid.
Once braided, keep ends in order and string the other half round through the ending loops. Trim off excess and seal with another small loop at the end.

Pretty easy, huh?!

Of course, if you aren't feeling up to it, you can always buy one from my Etsy Shop ;)

Hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and are feeling inspired! I've got lots of great tutorials to share, so I'd love it if you'd follow along!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Lavender Tea Party

2012-10-23T21:18:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine had the cute idea to have a little girls tea party for her daughter's birthday. Fortunately it was a beautiful, sunny day here in Florida and perfect for an outdoor tea party! Since I love parties, especially girly ones, I offered to help with the decorations and to make cookies. I might have to steal her idea and have a tea party for my daughter's birthday this Spring!

This amazing teapot cake and cupcakes were made by Sugar Coated Sweets and Treats

I got the teapot cookie cutter from www.cheapcookiecutters.com and used my usual recipes of The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies and Sugar Cookie Icing (only change I made was using vanilla instead of almond extract in the icing).

I used various shades and textures of purple ribbon for this Ribbon Topiary (which I had actually made previously for a Tangled party). Here is the Ribbon Topiary Tutorial.

This was a very pretty party. My friend did a great job with the table settings, fancy hats for the little girls, and scones and other finger foods. Just looking at these pictures makes me crave tea and sweets!

-Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

Memory Wire Bracelets

2012-10-09T21:31:00.000-04:00

I was asked by a friend and fellow crafter if I had ever made a bracelet using memory wire. I have always liked the look of them, but surprisingly my answer was no, I had not ever made a bracelet with memory wire. I even had a bunch of beads that I envisioned using with wire, but they were just collecting dust. So thank you to my friend, Kim, for inspiring me to finally make a memory wire bracelet. Turns out it is stupid easy to make a beautiful bracelet! I've already made two and see many more in my future!

What You Need:

Memory Wire - Bracelet Size
Beads
Round Nose Pliers
Wire Cutters (regular hardware store ones, NOT jewelry ones)

How To Make It:

The memory wire comes coiled like a spring. Determine the size of your bracelet and cut off that many coils with wire cutters. Memory wire is very hard and will ruin your jewelry wire cutters, so use a cheapo pair from the hardware store.
Using round nose pliers, make a small loop at one end of the wire to keep beads from falling off.
String beads onto wire.
When you've reached the end of your bracelet, use your round nose pliers to make another small loop to secure the beads.
I have not personally used any other method, but they do sell memory wire end caps that can be glued on rather than making that loops.

Hopefully this post will inspire others to create some beautiful memory wire jewelry. I made this bracelet standing at my kitchen island while my kids ate lunch. It was so quick & easy and I love the way it turned out! Happy Creating!

Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.the36thavenue.com

Creme Wafer Cookies

2012-10-01T20:42:00.002-04:00

In case you missed this post when I shared it over at DJs Sugar Shack, here it is again because you won't want to miss this recipe!

I was lucky to be part of a bridal party back in July and stumbled upon these AMAZING cookies on a cookie tray at the wedding. I desperately sought out the baker of the cookies and begged for the recipe (fortunately it was my neighbor so I didn't have to beg too much)! They are so light & flaky & delicious & downright addictive!

Creme Wafer Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup + 1/4 Cup Butter, Softened
1/3 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup White Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Sifted Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla

Directions:

Mix 1 cup of softened butter with flour. Once well-combined, stir in heavy whipping cream. Chill at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spread granulated sugar out on a piece of wax or parchment paper.
On a floured surface, roll dough to about 1/8" thickness. Using a shot glass, or pill bottle, cut dough into 1.5" rounds. Keep any dough not in use back in the fridge so it stays cold.
Place each round onto granulated sugar and turn to coat both sides.
Place rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet, prick several times with a fork and bake for 7-9 minutes. Cookies should look slightly puffy when ready.
While cookies are cooling, prepare filling: Mix 1/4 cup softened butter, 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and food coloring.
Assemble cookies by spreading filling between 2 wafer rounds.

These cookies would be perfect for a tea party! Or a baby shower! Or a birthday! Or a Tuesday!

Enjoy!

Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

www.tipjunkie.com

www.cherishedbliss.com

www.the36thavenue.com

Guest Posting at DJs Sugar Shack

2012-09-30T07:53:00.001-04:00

My sweet tooth and I love DJs Sugar Shack! It is a great blog to inspire the baker in you! I know I will be scouring her blog for yummy recipes as the holidays get nearer. I was really excited to do a guest post for Dawn. I shared an amazing recipe for Creme Wafer Cookies that was given to me by my neighbor. Please head over and check it out!

Enjoy!