Nikkis Nifty Knacks

Guess. Who's. Back.

2012-01-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

I am BACK!!!!!!!!! So, I know what you're thinking...where the HECK did she go for the last year? Well, it has been one of the craziest 12 months of my life. So lets pretend this is speed dating, and I'll catch you up on things. And...go...
1) At 6 months pregnant, I decided to start a business
2) Business took off like a ROCKET!!!! (Check it out here and here)
3) After a long and difficult pregnancy, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
4) Juggling a new booming business + kids + husband + friends and family + maintain a household= nearly impossible.
5) Find out my father has stage 4 cancer and needs an incredulous amount of surgery to give him any sort of chance at life.
6) Watch him go through things I can't even begin to describe to you.
7) Add something as awful as cancer to the above equation (see #4) and you get one depleted momma!

And through all of that, I lost time for crafting. :( boooooooo

But, the bug has bitten me again, and I am back to check in with all my peeps!!!!! I have missed you all and I hope that you will leave me a comment and let me know how you're doing!!!!!!!!

Ok...to the craft! So in a pinch, I needed to make some gifts for some wonderful friends who have stood by me this year during all my ups and downs, and were behind me 100% even when family was not! Problem numero uno...I had no dinero...

Well, a trip to the dollar store was all it took, and voila, I was able to make something personal for each of them, and UNDER $2 a piece!!!!!!!!!!!!

Start with a Zen Garden, and a packet of file folders from the dollar store. (1 pack of file folders will make 12 of these signs...)

Mix in Glue, Vinyl, and a Cricut and here you have it...MAGIC!!!

Its been wayyyyyyyyyyy too long since I've crafted anything, and I'm hoping to make regular appearances around here again! Thanks for not giving up on me lol :)

Freschetta is betta...

2011-05-10T07:03:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I had the pleasure of reviewing a delicious Freschetta Simply Inspired pizza, and I gotta tell ya, it was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!! Not only did Freschetta give me the opportunity, they've also given me a little something for you guys!!!!

The simply inspired pizza's are crisp, fresh, and unique so you really don't feel like you are eating frozen pizza!!!! They offer 8 unique flavor combinations with a variety of cheeses. I couldn't make my mind up so I tried the Harvest Supreme and the Rustic Pepperoni Pomodoro. The harvest supreme was by far my favorite. The sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red onions were fabulous...but the feta cheese REALLY topped it off!!!! The crust was light and crispy and scrumdiddlyumptious!!!!!! :)

They also have a Fresch-taste seal, that not only seals in the great flavors, it also uses 30% less packaging material!!

So, on to the fun stuff!!!!!!!!!!!! Freschetta would like to give one of my lovely readers and opportunity to try one of their delicious pizza's as well. But not only that, the lucky winner will also get a FABULOUS bamboo cutting board!!!

To enter this giveaway, please head over to the FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ website and take a look at their flavor combos, and leave me a comment letting me know what flavor you'll be trying if you win!!!!!

This giveaway will end at midnight on Saturday, May 14th.

Dreaming...

2011-03-31T15:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ProvoCraft for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We all know how much I love my Cricut...I make at least 70% of my crafts with it...

And now that I've been doing so much baking, it's got me wishing for the Cricut Cake. For those of you who haven't seen or heard of it, you have to check it out Cricut Cake Provo Craft. Can you imagine the possibilities?!?!? Look at this wedding cake. I am in LOVE!!!!

I have a million and one ideas for what I could do with a machine like this! And most of them center around fonts...

Can you imagine having a bundle of fonts to use on any given cake?!?! As someone who is not a fan of my own handwriting, I hate piping the words on by hand! I never get it symmetrical and I inevitably mess up at least one letter. So to be able to have a machine cut the words out for me and I can place them wherever I want...a girl can dream!!!!!!!! So, someone tell my husband I need one of these for Mother's Day will ya?

And March 30th and 31st, Provo Craft is offering FREE online classes for the cricut cake!!!!!!! TOTALLY FREE!!!!!!!! When does that happen?!?!? So, if you're interested in checking out a class, head over to the Provo Craft site and sign up, I know I am!

And if any of you have the Cricut cake, I would LOVE to hear about it...just a forewarning, I will be green with envy, but I want to hear about it anyway ;)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2011-03-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

I'm BaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaacckkkkkkkk :)

So, its time to link up! I'm dying to get some "little girls" inspiration since I have a little girl coming home in 2 months!!!!!!!!!!! So, please, if you have any little girl crafts, LINK THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link up any projects as always...but I really wanna see your girly stuff!!!!!!!

Ok, no solicitations, and please leave comment love!!!!!

Gettin' better on hump day.......

2011-03-23T05:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, but I have to postpone this weeks linky party. I'm sick....

Sorry everyone :(

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2011-03-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well peeps...time to get crafty on hump day again :)

Last weeks party was a smashing success and we ended up with a 2 way tie for most popular link!

One was for the Layla Bag over at Atelier Caroline:
Seriously?!??!! How cute is that?!?!?!?!? I am in love!

And also, we had an awesome St. Patty's Day Burlap Sign tutorial over at Red Heads Craft More Fun:

You had me at Burlap. The coolest part is that I remember loving this sign last year when she posted it, and I STILL love it this year! The uncoolest part (yes, I know its not a word) is that, I still haven't copied her and made myself one yet! ;)

Ok, so, lets link! No solicitations and PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE leave me some comment love if you link up a project :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2011-03-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well folks, time to link up your projects! I hope your week is going well! :)

I haven't gotten any crafts done this week because I've been baking like crazy! Here's what I got finished just over the weekend:

Chocolate Fudge Cadbury Cookies:
Cookies and Cream cake:
Creme De' Menthe Cake:
And scrumdiddlyumptious coconut cream pie:

But the at home bakery has taken off phenomenally! In fact, I have TEN cakes to make this week!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH

Can't wait to see what crafting you all got done :)

Please no solicitations, and please leave some comment love...and link away...

Wanna see what I've been up to?

2011-03-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Baking, baking, and more baking :)

Baking up a made to order at home bakery that is. And getting a facebook page/blog/business cards, etc. all ready. Thus, the reason for my absence as of late...

Wanna check out the new digs?

Head on over to Cravings and check it out. Here's a sneak peek at my first post:

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day...

2011-03-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Hey there everyone, what have you all been up to this week??? I wanted to share with you our most popular link from our party last week. It came from Creatively Living Outside the Box who shared with us her AMAZING DIY pull out cupboard drawers. Now, I am fortunate enough that the house I moved into has these already, so I can tell you, you will LOVE them!!!!!!!! If you didn't get a chance to look at the project, head over and do it, you'll be glad you did! Here's a photo of the finished result:

Seriously, how handy is that?!?!?!?!

Ok, so lets link!!! Please no solicitations, and please share some comment love with me. :)

Gettin' Crafty on hump day.......

2011-02-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Well folks, its time to party again. I wish I could say I have something to share this week...but I don't. My last 2 craft attempts have been COMPLETE failures. And with the 2nd trimester coming to a close, I have been to exhausted to even photograph said failures. But I ALWAYS have the energy to look at all the work you do :)

So, please no solicitations, and please please leave me some comment love if you link!!!!!!!!!!!

Other than that...let the party begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The butcher, the baker...the cake decorator?

2011-02-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

I spoke at a MOPS meeting once about cake decorating, and it was a real hit, so I decided to share some tips with my readers too! I know I post a lot of my baking on this blog, but I haven't gone into detail on some of the cakes I have done, and things you can do to make your next cake special! Here are some of my fav cakes I've made:

This cake, was super easy to make! Using Hostess sno-balls, and a suzy-q, I was able to make 3 dimensional balls for the top of the cake. I also learned 2 valuable lessons on this cake:
1) Don't dye whipped cream frosting and use it on the decorations...it runs...bad
2) Nobody gives a rip about the frosting running if the cake tastes AWESOME!

This cake was a total labor of love. It was not complicated by any means but was very time consuming. This cake is one where, if you have the right equipment, you can make any cake look amazing. For this one, I used Wilton's ball pans to make balls of yarn for a knitting fanatic friend :)

The lesson with this cake is LOOK ONLINE for ideas!!!!!! I got the idea for this one from the Wilton.com forums. I knew I wanted to make a Rubik cube cake, but I realllllllllly didn't want to make 8 different colors of icing and pipe it all on there! So, when I saw the suggestion for black licorice and m&ms, I was alllllllllllll over it!

For this one, I just made a simple sheet cake. Then, using some small glass bowls from the dollar store, I baked small cakes for the body. This worked out PERFECTLY because it was a 1st birthday cake, so rather than make her an individual cake to eat, we were able to give her the head to chow down on :)

These are just plain fun! These are devils food cupcakes dipped in chocolate ganache. When the ganache cooled, I used white/red/black frosting to pipe on the face. Then I used toothpicks to attach the oreo ears. As I'm sure you can imagine, these were a real hit!!!!

So if I had to give you 5 tips to making a great cake they would be:

1) Don't be afraid to try!!!!!!!!! You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish, especially if you have the right tools! And if you aren't confident enough, check into a class! Most craft stores offer classes at a fairly inexpensive rate, and you'll be amazed how much you learn! I've always had a passion for baking, but I learned SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much in the classes I took!

2) Get creative!!! Use candies, cookies, etc to embellish your cakes. And if you are making a children's cake and you don't want to tackle anything too technical, make a simple sheet cake and use toys on the top to create your theme. That's all most bakeries do anyway!!!!

3) Don't be too hard on yourself!!!!! You will always be your own worst critic, but as I said about my first cake...no one cares as much about the looks as they do the taste. So even if it isn't the most beautiful cake, once people eat it, they will remember how it tasted!!!

4) Get on line!!!!! There are so many places you can gather ideas from! I mentioned Wilton's forums, they are a great place to ask questions and get ideas for cakes. Also, use google! If you need ideas for a Barney cake, google "barney cake" and see what you find, you just might surprise yourself!

5) Most important, make sure you have the equipment you need, really plan it out! You don't want to get half way into a cake and realize you don't have the tip you need for the border, or you didn't make enough frosting, etc.

As I mentioned before, I know I usually combine the crafting/baking on this blog, but I have considered starting a separate blog for the baking. Do you like having them combined or would you prefer them to be separate? I need my reader's opinions!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, if this post inspires you to try your hand at cake decorating, PLEASE email me a link, I would LOVE to see what you come up with!!!!!

Well, now I'm hungry for cake...lucky for me I made an Almond Joy cake yesterday so I'll be diving face first into that faster than I can click Publish ;)

Gettin' Crafty on hump day.......

2011-02-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to another edition of Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day! Thank you all for sticking with me even though we now have a crappy text link party lol.

This week, I wanted to share a quick/easy/cheapo gift I whipped up for a friend for $2...

It called for 2 main ingredients:

#1- a beveled mirror candle plate from the $ tree
#2- black vinyl

Then, mix in some Cricut magic and a mini easel from the $ tree and here you have it:

A VERY inexpensive last minute gift that looks well thought out simply because its personalized :) There is a million and 1 possibilities of what you could put on the mirror plate, and I plan to have some fun exploring my options...

So what have you been up to? Please link up your projects (no solicitations) and leave me some comment love! Can't wait to see what all you've been working on!

Gettin' Crafty on hump day.......

2011-02-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I'm rather sad that I wasn't able to find a linky tool with thumbnails that isn't attached to some sort of cost. So, for the time being, Gettin' Crafty on hump day will have to use a text linky.

I really hope y'all will continue to come visit me and link up even without the pictures!!!!!!!!!

Because I am so sad, I decided to make one of my FAVORITE comfort drinks...

Of course, it also had a little to do with the 2 feet of snow that got dropped on us last week.

In any event, I am SUPER excited to share a copycat recipe I made for Starbucks Hot Chocolate!!!!!! Seriously, it is SO close to the original you have GOT to taste it to believe it! And occasionally, I'll even add a dash of peppermint extract to copy their peppermint hot chocolate.

Now, for this amazing drink you'll need the following:

The only thing NOT featured here is HOT water :)

So, you'll pour a 3/4 full mug of milk into a coffee mug and stick it in the microwave for 2 minutes. A lot of times I prefer to use soy milk, which also works fantastic. While your milk is cooking, mix 2TB of cocoa, 2TB of sugar, and 1/4 cup of HOT water. Stir until you get a kind of chocolate syrup that looks like this:

Right around that time, your microwave should go off, and so now you take your syrup and pour it in to the milk. Its going to look like there isn't enough syrup for that big glass of milk but TRUST me, there is :)

Once you pour the syrup in, stir it all in and it'll end up this color:

Now is when you'll add any extracts you need (I do not recommend adding syrups to it, it will make it too sweet, in my opinion). Then, place a nice heaping dollop of whipped cream on top and sprinkle with some cocoa powder and then DIVE in!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, you won't BELIEVE how something that simple can taste THAT good!

Ok, time to link up your projects! Please no solicitations and please leave some comment love, link away...........

My $1 hunka hunka burnin' love Valentines sign...

2011-02-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

Well that was a mouthful. Anyway, I have found my new FAVORITE item at the Dollar Store!!!!!! It's this:

And no, its not because I like to run the rake through the sand and it brings me a feeling like I'm in an asian garden somewhere relaxing. Its because the base of this garden can be used for a million different things and I snatched up a dozen of them to play with! First on my agenda was a Valentines sign. So, I took the base and poured a good amount of modge podge inside, and then I dumped in a heap load of sequins. This is how it looked while drying (I realize it looks white, but remember the magic of modge podge is that it dries clear!

After it was all dry and snazzy and blingy, I got out some white chipboard letters. I drew a fun little zebra pattern on them with a permanent marker and used some hot glue to attach them and just like that I had a sexy little sign that only cost me $1!

I also love the versatility of using the XOXO, because I can stand this sign horizontally or vertically and the letters read the same!!! So what do you think? A little bit of bling, a little bit of zebra, and a whole lotta cheap, I am in LOVEEEEEEEEEEE :)

Gettin' Crafty on hump day.......

2011-02-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Well, hard to believe its already Wednesday again. I'm just thankful I have internet! We are currently undergoing the blizzard of the century here...expecting up to 7 foot drifts by tomorrow morning!!!!!! The good news with that is...I'm workin' on crafts!!!!!

I'm on kind of a Valentines kick lately, so I have another Valentines craft for ya :)

Start with these supplies:

Rose petals I picked up at 75% off after last Valentines day

Clear glass plate from the Dollar Tree.

Then, find yourself a fabulous vintage Valentines graphic from The Graphics Fairy, and you have the makings of magic! I sat down with my trusty hot glue gun and got busy on the edges of the plate with my petals. Then, I decoupaged my favorite Valentines graphic to the back and VOILA:

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out...of course, The Graphics Fairy has the best graphics so it makes my job a lot easier! ;)

On a sad note, this may be my last Linky party...there doesn't seem to be any free linky hosts anymore and as much as I love seeing all your projects, I can't justify paying a subscription to host this party. If anyone else knows of a free linky hosting site PLEASE let me know. I'll keep everyone posted next week, but if I don't find a free one, I'll have to visit other peoples blogs to see all your projects :(

Can't wait to see what you've got! Please no solicitations, and please comment if you link, or if you know of a free linky host! :)

Gettin' Crafty on hump day.......

2011-01-25T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well here we are, another Wednesday...last Wednesday of January already...I swear I remember celebrating New Years just last week lol.

Well in an effort to prepare my humble abode for Valentines Day, I decided I needed some cute/inexpensive wall art to brighten things up. I picked up one of these hideous frames at The Dollar Tree:

After I ripped the ugly brass colored plastic "frame" piece glued to the glass, I used double sided tape and added some cute scrapbook paper. Then I popped open a bag of conversation hearts (I won't disclose how many I ate while working on this project...) and on the back of them I used a fine point art marker to make the letters I wanted for a little crossword love. And here's what I came up with:

It feels like its missing something, but I can't quite figure out what...maybe a bow, or some other embellishment...who knows...but for now, I'm pretty happy with my $2 project (well technically $1.10, cuz I DEFINITELY ate .90 worth of supplies ;)

So what have you been up to? Please NO solicitations, and please leave me some comment love. Can't wait to see all you've accomplished!!!!!

Gettin' Crafty on hump day.......

2011-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

Time to link people! Can't wait to see what you've been up to...I have been up to...well...not crafting. I've been couponing more and running around scoopin' up the deals. I also found out last Thursday that I'm having a.........GIRL...so I have been doing a LOT of shopping ;)

Just as a question, I know that this is a craft blog, but would you be interested in reading posts about great deals? If I find a great coupon deal, or a great sale or something, is that something you'd want to read? Or should I keep it strictly crafts? I'm totally open to your suggestions :)

Ok, so no solicitations and PLEASE leave me a comment with your thoughts on my query (see previous paragraph).

And awayyyyyyyyyyy we go.........

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2011-01-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

Can you believe its Wednesday already again? I don't know about you but I swear my weekend FLEW by!

After a long trip to the Dollar store, I have the makings of several new projects...unfortunately I don't have the energy to make any of the projects. I am making a baby, so that takes the majority of my energy, but I promise to get some crafts done this week! :)

So let me see what you've got done!!!! Please no solicitations!!!!!!! Leave some comment love, and please, share this party with your friends!!!! :)

Oky doke, time to link!!!!!!

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2011-01-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, its that time again!!! Can't wait to see what you've all been working on! I myself have been working on things for my little mans birthday party this weekend. I do have a fun treat to share with you though. I'm sure lots of you have already tried this, but if not, you should! It was fun to make and I've never seen a group of kids devour cupcakes faster!

Fill your ice cream cones 1/2 full of cake batter, and bake them in a muffin pan at 350 for approx 25 minutes. After they have cooled, pipe on some icing, throw on some rainbow sprinkles, and watch them disappear! Easy peasy and super cute! :)

So what've you been up to? Please NO SOLICITATIONS. Other than that, please leave me comment love, and tell your friends about my party :)

PS-I still haven't heard from Kristen, the winner of the purse. PLEASE email me so I can get you your prize :)

Lets link!

Crafting with the stars...

2011-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

I've applied for this season of...

Click the pic above and head on over to look at my Printed Burlap Tree Sachets....the more clicks I get on my link, the better my odds of making it!!!!!!! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day...

2010-12-29T03:56:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone, hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!!!!! This week I'm a little behind, but I hope you'll forgive me :)

The winner of the lovely purse from last weeks giveaway is...........KRISTIN!!!!!

Kristin said "First of all I have to say that I LOVE that purse! My favorite thing about purses is that it is an easy way to show your style when you work somewhere where you can't always wear what you like!"

Congratulations Kristin, please email me your address so I can get this lovely handbag on its way to you :)

Ok, so, lets party. NO solicitations pleaseeeeeeee :)

Its not too late!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

I know some of you (like me) are thinking "CRAP, I forgot to get something for..." well, no need to fear. Luckily for me I have a VERY talented group of readers!!! And thanks to them I have a couple of "last minute" gifts you can whip up in a jiffy! (yes, I just said jiffy) These are crafts that were posted on my Gettin' Crafty on Hump day party :)

First, we have this adorable snowman candy jar from Inside BruCrew Life

Next up, we have this awesome zipper necklace from over at Potholes & Pantyhose

Or how bout this nifty chalkboard countdown mug from over at small fine print:

Or how bout this super cute Vintage Button Tree from Red Heads Craft More Fun:

Or how cool are these snowflake soaps from over at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom:

Well folks, there you have it, a few ideas that you can whip up and have under the tree in no time!!!! I hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas, and DON'T stress yourselves out too much!!!! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2010-12-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I made my goal last week!!!!!!! We had 54 links and I have to admit, you made my day!!!!!!! So, to show my appreciation, I'm having A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm giving away this lovely Kate Spade inspired handbag:

This handbag boasts a croc skin patterned basket weave in warm Tuscan colors. Accented by a cute black butterfly.

To enter:

Leave a comment telling me what you love about purses

Follow me and leave me a comment telling me you do

Post this giveaway on your blog/facebook/twitter and leave me a comment with a link

That's up to 3 entries!!!!!! I will draw the winner next Tuesday and announce the winner at next week's Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day party :)

Ok, so back to the party, please please please no solicitations, and share some comment love!

Lets get to it!

Quick and easy homemade luxury scarf...

2010-12-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. I went to Knittinghelp.com and started by learning the long tail cast on. Then I went on to learn the Continental Knit Stitch and the Continental Purl Stitch and the Basic Bind Off, knit and purl.

I realize that I probably lost a lot of you at long tail cast on, but honestly, these videos were SOOOOOOOOOOO helpful to me, and taught me how to do a basic simple pattern like the one I will share today! When I was ready to move on to more complicated projects, I had to find a knitting guru in person to help me out :)

So, when it came time to make gifts for my little man's teachers, I knew I wanted to knit them something nice. So, for each of these scarfs you'll need 1 and 1/2 skeins of chenille yarn. The thick and quick Chenille is super fast and easy to work with. I used size 13 needles, and cast on 17 stitches. Then, I just knit, and knit and knit until the scarf got to be 6 feet. Each scarf took a couple of hours, but in the end I wound up with 3 fabulous and luxurious teacher gifts!!!

And my knitting guru friend even hooked me up with some fabulous labels to attach (with washing instructions on the back.)

So my encouragement to you is, if you've always wanted to try something like knitting, DO IT!!!!! There is so many online videos and help sites, and until you try it you just never know, so go for it!! :)

Gettin' Crafty on Hump Day....

2010-12-14T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well folks, it time to party once again!!! This week, I'm trying a different linky host, and HOPING that for Christmas, alllllll of you get to link up with no problems!!! :)

I had a craft to share, but I was just too excited so I had to post it early. I made these:

They are Printed Burlap Tree Sachets, and you can see the tutorial here :)

Ok, so feel free to link up your projects, recipes, tutorials, etc. NO SOLICITATIONS!!!!! Please don't link to a store or I will delete it :)

Leave me some comment love if you link, and if you visit other links, leave them comment love too!!!! My goal is to hit over 50 links before the new year, so PLEASE please pretty please, make sure my button is on your blog and you tell all your friends!!! :D

Hope you're all in full holiday swing and creative magnificence, let me see your stuff...