Poofy Cheeks

Summer and Secret Steak Seasoning

2013-06-19T10:16:00.000-04:00

Our summer has been flying by! I have been creating and crafting, but I can’t share it with you yet. I am creating decorations for Mason’s Wreck it Ralph birthday party which is in less than two weeks away now. It has been hard coming up with ideas since Wreck it Ralph is fairly new and there aren’t many other parties to use as inspiration. I have watched the movie three times in the past two weeks and I finally have the vision in my head. When I haven’t been working on that I have been working on orders, selling on GroopDealz (where I am selling today!), or spending time with my family. I admit blogging is one of the things I decided I will do if I have extra time throughout the day, but I am not going to get upset if I don’t get a chance to blog everyday this summer.

Spending time with my family has really taken over. All I can think about is that Wyatt is going to be in kindergarten in August! I just want to cry or tell him he can’t go. What happened to my baby? The thought of sending him to school for the whole day makes my heart ache, so I am trying to get in as much time every day as I possibly can. I even went down the slip in slide with the boys a few times the other day. Then I asked my husband what was so fun about that thing when we were kids? The ground hurts!

One thing we love to do in the summer months is grill out. My husband might disagree with me because he has to be outside in the heat cooking, but there is nothing better than a delicious steak and veggies after a long summer day.

When we got married and bought our first grill it took Mike a while to get the hang out cooking on it. He really paid attention to my dad when we would go to their house for dinner, and in the beginning he could never cook them quite right. The steak would either be very well done or still mooing. Once he perfected that he started working on seasoning them. Hands down his steaks are just as good as Long Horn or Outback now.

I tried to get a good picture of them once they were finished but the sun was starting to set – so this is the best one I had.

The secret steak seasoning isn’t so secret anymore! To season his steaks he uses minced garlic, Everglade seasoning and Montreal steak seasoning. He uses his hands or the back of a spoon to rub it all over the steaks. When the grill is hot and ready and puts them on and they come off tasting amazing! He loves it, I love it and our kids can’t get enough.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Modern Gray & Yellow Wedding Printables

2013-06-15T09:07:00.001-04:00

Last year I had a co-worker ask me to create printables for her daughter’s wedding that matched the invitations. The invitations were a modern gray and yellow. She wanted a banner, straws with straw flags, stickers to fit on the top of mason jar lids and water bottle labels. I loved creating them for her and now I am sharing the free printables with you!

Here is the fine print- Terms of Use-

Printables must ONLY be used for personal use! They can not be sold or altered in ANY way!
If you post pictures on the web which include the printables it must have a link back to my blog.
If you would like any of the printable files personalized with names or ages I would be happy to do so for the cost of a tall caramel frap! Just shot me an email – kelsalexandra(at)hotmail(dot)com
I would really appreciate if you shared a few pictures with me too so I can share them on my FB page!

Here are the files in PDF form. Print them onto white cardstock or onto full sheet shipping labels to make stickers.

Banner- Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5
Straw Flags
Water Bottle Labels
The body scrub printables can be found HERE

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Camping Recipe–Pie Iron Pizza

2013-06-12T10:22:00.001-04:00

I almost forgot that I had one last camping recipe to share with you from our camping trip last month. Being from the Chicago area I just can’t resist pizza – even while I am camping! I could seriously eat pizza for lunch and dinner every single day and be happy about it. These pizzas were super yummy and even my not-so-in-love-with-pizza husband agreed.

For these you need the following ingredients:

Bread
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza sauce
Butter

Making these is sort of like making a grilled cheese sandwich. First you butter two pieces of toast and put the buttered sides down onto the pie iron. Then you put pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on the top of one slice of bread. Close the pie iron and cook over the fire. Be careful where you put them because we had one that cooked in a really hot spot and came out burnt to a crisp.

Normally I would use regular bread, but we got this bread free when we bought lunch meat. It was an Italian bread and it was so good!

We found these pie irons at our Walmart for around $9 each but I’m sure outdoor places like Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shop carry them too.

These also work great for making Panini-like sandwiches when you put lunch meat between two slices of bread. Who knew you could recreate a Panera Bread sandwich while you were camping?

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Shop Storenvy Tuesday–Party Decorations

2013-06-11T18:08:00.001-04:00

We have SO many celebrations and parties the next few months that my head starts spinning just thinking about it. Next weekend is Father’s Day, the week after that we have a family reunion in Georgia, the weekend after that is my son’s fourth birthday, the week after that is my birthday, two weeks after that is my husband’s 30th birthday and three weeks after that is our wedding anniversary. Summers are sort of crazy to say the least! (Not to mention Fourth of July and Labor Day). Thank goodness I don’t have anything to do with planning the family reunion, but I have been super busy getting things made and ordered for Mason’s party. Posts have been sparse around here because every second I get to craft is spent making something for his Wreck it Ralph party. I want to celebrate Mike’s big 3-0 too, but I can’t even think about that until Mason’s party is over. (I am envisioning a very casual pizza and beer party?) Since I have been putting a lot of thought into parties lately I thought a party decoration theme for this weeks edition of Shop Storenvy Tuesday would be fitting.

I found all of these items while browsing the Storenvy marketplace – to see with I am in ‘envy’ with you can also follow me HERE!

#1 – Lee Mae Marie
#2 – Piggy Bank Parties
#3 – Pom Queen
#4 – Hello Plum Studio

#5 – Pom Decors
#6 – Party Chic Boutique
#7 – Fuffie’s Sweet Boutique
#8 – Row House 14

Got any big celebration plans this summer?

Enjoy,

I party HERE

My Biggest Risk–That One Time I Quit My Job

2013-06-10T23:32:00.000-04:00

Seven months ago I made one of the biggest risks of my life. I am not typically a risk taker. When I make decisions I play it safe and if there is money involved I am especially careful with my choice. I had my first job at 12 and have had one if not two jobs at a time since then. When I was in the last few months of pregnancy with Delilah I was cut down to a day or two a week at because I worked at a resort on the beach which was slow in the fall months. I wasn't getting a paid maternity leave and thought about having to return after having her and dealing with the constant fluctuation in pay due to the occupancy of the resort. I did get paid well for the job I did but it wasn't worth it when I could work 5 days one week and zero the next. I decided to take a risk that could be a financial disaster for my family and officially quit my job. To be honest we had nothing in savings but since the busiest time for my online shop is always around the holidays I knew I would have to forego spending the first month of Delilah's life with her in my arms every second and work my ass off to create a savings for us to pay my portion of the bills out of for the next few months.

Delilah's due date was November 25th and I planned a deal to sell my personalized Santa sacks on Very Jane November 9th. I asked my sister-in-law to help sew the bags and knew I could get friends and family to help if I needed them to. Originally I planned to bust out the orders and try to get the sewing done before Delilah arrived - yes each bag was sewn by us (my sister-in-law and I), and add the personalization afterwards. That plan went out the window when I woke up on November 14th in a whole lot of pain. I called the doctor and asked to go in for a visit and when we got there she said she was going to do an exam and depending on how low the baby was she might induce me at the end of the week. While doing the exam she was shocked at how low the baby was and said she wanted me at the hospital that evening. I did not plan this since Wyatt was born on his due day and I was induced a week after Mason's due date. Of course I knew this might happen though, so I would just have to hold off sewing the bags for a few days until Delilah and I were back home. Then as some of you know Delilah had respiratory issues after birth and had to spend a week in the neonatal intensive care unit. That surely wasn't something I ever expected since I had a normal pregnancy and all the tests and check ups went perfect. So here I was with 250 sacks to finish from Very Jane not counting the ones that were flying off the shelf in my ETSY shop (about 200 more). There was nothing that could stop me from spending every second I could by my baby's side. After we made it through we were blessed to bring her home the day before Thanksgiving. After spending the entire day cuddling her I knew Black Friday would be the first day spent filling orders.

From Black Friday to December 17th my life revolved around filling orders and snuggling my baby girl as much as I could. I barely slept because I was up with the kids during the day finishing whatever I could when they were keeping themselves busy or napping. When they were asleep for the night I would really pour myself into getting orders done. I would be up past 3 a.m. most nights with a pot of coffee or Mountain Dew. I would get a few hours of sleep and wake up around 6 or 7 to do what I could before the kids woke up. I wish I could say I was only getting a few hours of sleep because I was up with my newborn, but she slept like a champ. I can honestly say I walked around delirious for those three weeks of my life, didn't get any Christmas shopping done, had Delilah in the moby wrap 80% of the time, was eating out or making my husband cook dinner but I was paying bills and making enough to pay some of our bills for a few months to come. It wasn't just me either - I had friends and family working for me too. My sister-in-law sewed half of the sacks, my husband was putting the personalization on, my dad came over one day and spent a few hours ironing fabric, my mom helped pull ribbon through the bags, both of my parents watched the boys for a few hours here and there, my sister helped a few times, a friend helped me for a few hours everyday because I had all kinds of orders coming in for items in my ETSY and Storenvy shops and then I even hired Skye to help take some of the stress off with my blog.

So far my risk has paid off. Between running my online shops and taking advantage of a few blog opportunities that have come my way I have been able to help my husband financially support our family. As of right now I am on track to bring in more than I did at my 'real job' last year or the year before and that puts the biggest smile on my face. Not only did I prove to myself that I can do this, but I also proved a handful of others wrong. I must say that it has taken A LOT of hard work and between being a stay at home mom and running Poofy Cheeks I have worked harder (mentally and physically) the past seven months than ever before. I try to fill orders in the morning before the boys wake up or while they are watching morning cartoons and I try to blog in the afternoons while they are resting or napping. I would be lying if I said I didn't get interrupted a million times or that I always finish everything on my to-do list. There are some days that I don't have time to shower or even change out of my pajamas but I know one day it will all pay off.

About once every 2-3 weeks I go to my parents house for the afternoon while my husband watches the kids and I try to catch up on things that I have been putting off or need to concentrate on. In the fall my oldest son will be going to kindergarten all day and my middle will be in pre-k in the mornings, so I will just have Delilah and I will get so much more work done! I feel like there are so many things I want to do right now but I just can't be everything all at once since being a mom will always come first! Since the holidays the shop slowed back down and I can usually handle it on my own, but every now and then I will run a deal on a site like Very Jane or Groop Dealz and enlist help.

What risks have you taken or do you want to take? Sometimes the dreams we have will never come true if we don't take some sort of risk. I know I would rather say I tried and failed than that I never tried at all. I am so thankful for every customer, every blog comment, all of the people that believed or supported me in any way. I am beyond grateful. For everyone who thinks I just sit around my house twirling my finger in my hair go kick rocks!!

Shop Storenvy Tuesday–Patriotic

2013-06-04T08:21:00.000-04:00

There is something so timeless about patriotic items. I love the stars and stripes you see on everything this time of year. I have a super big crush on all of the items included in this weeks round up! If I could I would buy all of it!!

#1 – Swanky Doll Couture
#2 – Punch Drunk
#3 – Pinky Winks Boutique
#4 – Bella La Vie Boutique

#5 – Look Human
#6 – Poofy Cheeks
#7 - Summer
#8 – Bee Hipster

What will you be sporting on the Fourth of July? I have been thinking about making myself a pair of flag shorts like the ones from Bee Hipster and if I do I will share the tutorial with you!

Enjoy,

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Shop Storenvy Tuesday – Chalkboard

Shop Storenvy Tuesday – Chevron

Popsicle Bucket List

2013-06-03T17:47:00.001-04:00

Summer is here and the other day our family sat down and came up with things to put on our summer bucket list. The boys came up with crazy ideas but in the end our bucket list turned out quite nice. You can find things like squirt gun fight, sidewalk chalk paint, stay at a hotel with a water slide, make popsicles and a bunch of other summery things on our list. I wrote the ideas down on popsicle sticks and was originally just going to put those in a jar but thought of this fun popsicle banner where the bucket list items were written on the sticks like jokes sometimes are on real popsicles.

I made a printable PDF template of the popsicles if you want to cut your own out and I also made a DXF file to use if you have a silhouette cutting machine. The links to both are below.

PDF template

Silhouette DXF template

I tried my hand at a little chalkboard art and I am super pleased with how it turned out. I have to say that this chalkboard window is one of my favorite redos. It hangs in our kitchen by the table and I love to update it with fun quotes or things that inspire conversation at the dinner table.

What is on your summer bucket list?

Enjoy,

I party HERE

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Random Sunday

2013-06-02T11:08:00.001-04:00

Hey there! Excuse me while I write another one of my random posts. I was laying in bed at 5:30 this morning when Delilah woke me up and I was thinking how I wanted to write a more personal post today. I feel like I have been so busy lately I have just written a recipe or tutorial post and slapped it up on the blog without adding any of my own personality to it! I swear I am human over here – behind the pretty pictures are piles of laundry that need to be folded, two boys running around with just their undies on and a car full of sand from our trips to the beach.

So here are 5 things you probably don’t know about me:

1. I hate giving my boys baths. I just hate the whole process of them splashing and getting my clothes wet, getting them to stand still or balance while I wash them and then drying them off …. it looks like a wet dog ran in and shook all over our bathroom when they are done. I count on my husband Mike to do this job and he does about 50% of the time (or more). So far I haven’t minded giving Delilah her baths and maybe it is because she isn’t as crazy or because she is my littlest and I know when she is too big to bathe I won’t have another.

2. My three year old, Mason, is going to be the death of me. I might just need to break down and buy a parenting book preferably with a title that says something along the lines of ‘how to deal with a terrible no good almost four year old.’ I had to run errands and pay bills on Friday. At the bank he proceeded to throw himself on the floor and have a tantrum because he wanted doyyars (that is dollars for anyone who doesn’t speak kid). Then all of a sudden I feel semi-schizophrenic as I am smiling at the bank teller and speaking to her in my ‘nice’ voice, turning and talking to Mason in my ‘get your ass off the floor’ voice. I’m sure an onlooker would have been giggling at the performance. I told him to get his little butt off the floor and that he was not getting any money – he responded to me with ‘no butt’. How do I compete? I can’t compete with that INSIDE the bank on a Friday morning. By the end of the trip I could have cried. He is going to be four next month and I thought we would be out of this phase by now but apparently not.

3. We only own one car. When I was pregnant with Wyatt, my oldest, Mike and I decided to trade in both of our not-so-nice cars for a nicer one. We bought a brand new Nissan Frontier. At the time Mike had his patrol car that he could drive in our county and a motorcycle so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Long story short after we had Mason we sold the motorcycle and right before we had Delilah we got rid of our truck for an older jeep with half the monthly payments. The jeep is okay – I say that only because it fits three car seats better than the truck would have and it is cheaper. Buying the jeep was one of the sacrifices we made for me to be able to afford quitting my day job.

4. My favorite candies are fruity and/or sour kinds like Skittles, Sweet Tarts, Shock Tarts and War Heads. I would pick those over chocolate any day of the week!

5.The part of my body that I am most self conscious about are my stretch marks. I am trying to come to terms with them and even bought a two piece this summer (after lots of annoying remarks from my mom about how I look like an old lady in a one piece).

The next random thing I wanted to tell you is that The 2nd Annual Dollar Days Sale is happening in my shop right now. It technically ends tonight, but I am keeping it up through tomorrow morning so go and get your shop on. Super cute headbands are marked down as low as $2 my friends! This sale is my way of saying thank you to all of my sweet customers and friends.

On that note I am headed to the beach with my three munchkins in tow. Delilah has become quite the beach babe!.

Enjoy your Sunday,

Father’s Day Mountain Dew Printable

2013-06-01T15:06:00.001-04:00

Father’s Day is June 16th this year. My poor husband has to work all day, but when he gets home we will have dinner and gifts ready and waiting for him. My husband is a huge Moutain Dew drinker, so when I saw a four pack of bottles at Wal Mart a few days ago I picked them up. If you know a dad who is passionate about his Mountain Dew then I have the perfect printable tag for you.

I printed the tag on cardstock, cut it out, punched a hole and tied it on with green and red bakers twine. I made four tags so you can pick the wording that works best for your dad.

Get the printable HERE or click on the image below.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Wedding Present Idea–His & Hers Glasses

2013-05-31T16:46:00.000-04:00

I have a friend that I worked with for years who is getting married next month. It is funny because Mike and I got married in Key West on her birthday. We didn’t know each other very well when I got married, but she happened to be celebrating her birthday in Key West with her boyfriend (who is now her fiancé) at the same time! From that point on our friendship grew. Her family lived in Connecticut so one year she even spent Christmas Eve at our place. Her fiancé got a job in Maine a few years ago so they have since moved, and unfortunately I won’t be able to travel to her wedding but I wanted to send them a gift. I couldn’t just send her some store bought gift because that isn’t my style and I think at this point people don’t expect regular gifts from me anyways.

I must say that I really had to brainstorm this one. I couldn’t think of a gift idea I really liked for them. I went to Pinterest but came up with nothing. I was finally inspired by a set of HIS and HERS pillow cases I saw. I know both of them like to drink beer so I thought His and Her glasses would be an appropriate gift. I added a black vinyl mustache to his and vinyl lips to hers and just like that they had the ‘Kelsey’ touch.

I used indoor/outdoor vinyl for these, but I still advise that they hand wash them to be on the safe side.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

How to Propagate Succulents

2013-05-31T15:19:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I shared my seashell succulent jars and told you I had another post on how to propagate succulents coming so here it is! It took me a bit because #1 I was taking a little blogging break to spend time with my kiddos now that summer is here and #2 I wanted to wait for roots to start growing on the propagated pieces so I could share pictures of what they look like. Seriously propagating succulents is so easy that anyone can do it as long as they know how to use a knife.

When I made the seashell succulent jars I had some pieces fall off and I also used a kitchen steak knife to cut ‘leaves’ off of them. The trick when cutting them is to try to get a part of the stem too. I ran my knife gently down the stem getting just a little bit – sort of like shaving it off. After I had my pieces put I put them on an outdoor window sill on my screened in back porch so the cut edges could dry and callus over. You want them to be in a warm shady spot for this. If they are in a sunny spot they will just shrivel up.

I cut them on May 11th and put them on the window sill-

The picture below was taken May 17th. On May 17th I took a muffin pan I picked up on one of my thrifting adventures and planted my cuttings in it. I just filled the tin with cactus soil, laid the cuttings on top and lightly watered them.

Then I put them out as decoration on our patio table with one of the bigger plants which I previously took cuttings from. That one is doing well and has new growth in the middle. I have only watered it twice – my kinda plant!

A couple of days ago I checked on the growth of my newly planted pieces and there was a lot of growth happening. Some had roots and others had roots with new leaves forming.

I watered them a little more and I am excited to repeat this process to create my own little succulent display! To think I did all of this and the seashell succulent jars for under $20 is awesome! I think I am now addicted to the succulent craze and I have been thinking of new ways to use these beauties so watch out!

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Camping Recipe: Chicken Bouillon Onion

2013-05-21T07:30:00.000-04:00

Today I have another camping recipe for you. This one won the Blue Ribbon from everyone who went camping with us a few weeks ago. Even my boys, ages 5 and 3, came back for seconds and they typically don’t like onions! The onion was almost like a campfire french onion soup.

To make one over the campfire you need a piece of foil, an onion, butter and a chicken bouillon cube or granules. I used the Goya brand chicken bouillon granule packet to make things easier on myself (after all cooking outdoors is not a walk in the park).

For each onion cut a piece of foil big enough to wrap the onion up in. Peel and cut the onion in half. Take out a few of the middle layers and fill it with a spoonful of butter. Put the onion back together. The butter will help hold the two halves together. Sprinkle chicken bouillon granules over the top and wrap the foil up over it.

If you use a bouillon cube crush it up and sprinkle over the top.

Place your onion in the campfire and cook until it is fork tender. I placed ours on the outside of the fire where it was still hot but not directly on a flame because I didn’t want I to burn on the outside and still be raw in the middle. Cooking over a campfire is tricky business.

On a side note these would be just as good cooked on a grill!

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Feta Cheese Crostini

2013-05-20T16:13:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I shared a recipe for Rosemary Feta Potatoes and mentioned that my husband loves feta cheese. The other night I was inspired to mix elements from his favorite appetizer (bruschetta dip) with feta cheese. The outcome was easy and delicious!

To make your own Feta Crostini you will need the following ingredients:

Loaf of french bread
Butter or olive oil
6 ounces crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning blend

Directions:

Slice the french bread loaf into once inch thick pieces. Lightly butter or brush both sides of the pieces.
Broil the bread for two minutes until it is golden brown, flip and broil opposite side for another two minutes.
In a small bowl mix feta cheese, garlic salt, two tablespoons of olive oil, red pepper flakes and italian seasoning.
Top each piece of bread and pop into a 350 degree oven for about 5-8 minutes which will really bring out the flavor of the mixture.
SERVE

My husband said they were awesome but next time I should double the amount of cheese I put on top of each slice. I should have known – when it comes to dips or sauces he always goes overboard. Don’t even try eating chips and salsa with the guy because if you blink the salsa is GONE!

Enjoy,

I party HERE

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Seashell Succulent Jars

2013-05-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

A few months ago my mother and sister-in-law told me how they wanted to start a succulent garden this year. As Mother’s Day grew near I knew I wanted to gift them succulents, but being myself I wanted to do something special with them. Since I was trying to stay on a budget I brainstormed a way to make the succulents stand out but also keep them affordable. I shopped my house and gathered glass jars I had been saving. If you don’t have any jars on hand you could always try cleaning out your refrigerator – if you are like me there are a few jars in there that you can clean out and use. A lot of the succulent jars I have seen have pebbles on the bottom to help with water drainage but since we live in Florida and I had a jar of seashells that the kids and I filled up last year I decided to use those (FREE!). If you live near the beach you can fill up on your next trip or maybe you have seashells from a beach vacation which will give your jars more meaning? I did have a few shells and pieces of coral that my husband and I had found while scuba diving so I saved those for my own jars since they have sentimental meaning to us.

To make your own jars you will need the following:

Seashells (or pebbles)
Moss (I bought mine at Michael’s with a 40% coupon)
Cactus Soil
Jars
Succulents
Gardening Shovel

Like I mentioned, I was trying to create these jars on a budget so when I stopped into Home Depot they had individual succulents for about $4 each or this large variety planter for $13. I wanted to get as many different varieties as possible so the large planter was a better deal.

I pulled out all of the different varieties from the pot and laid them out. I also pulled new shoots from some of the aloe plants in my yard that I propagated last year (on the very right). Before I planted the succulents in the jars I took cuttings from them to propagate and start new plants. I will be doing a post on how to propagate succulents and cactus soon if you are wondering how!

For the jars I layered in the seashells, then the moss, soil and a succulent. I used the cactus soil as well as some of the soil from the planter. In all honesty I could have probably gotten away with using just the soil from the planter and returning the bag of cactus soil I bought, but now I have it for the succulents I am propagating.

These beauties are perfect for indoor house plants and they spent a few days on my entertainment center or do well outdoors too depending on your climate. They like warm but shady spots. I almost didn’t want to get rid of them, but I know I will have my own little baby succulents growing very soon! My mother and sister-in-law loved them so mission accomplished!

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Printable Tags: Start Your Summer with a Squeeze!

2013-05-16T20:51:00.001-04:00

School is coming to an end and summer is quickly approaching! I have seen that some of my friends on instagram are already feeling the heat and here in Florida it was been in the high 80s. For those of you who saw flurries this past week I am truly sorry! Today I am sharing a tag you can use on a teacher appreciation gift or for your child to give to fellow students.

You can find the printable file HERE.

Do you need ideas on what to give with this tag? Here is what I can think of off the top of my head….

a basket of lemons
lemonade (a big package or the individual sized packets)
lemon coconut cookies
yellow paper straws
a hard plastic cup or water bottle

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Camping Recipe: Hobo Burgers and Taters

2013-05-15T13:33:00.001-04:00

Growing up my parents owned three acres of land out in the country in Illinois. As you can imagine it was three aces of land lost in the middle of fields which in the summer had corn or soybeans growing in them. We used to camp out there often and when my parents would cook they would make hobo burgers and taters. They are easy, yummy and can be wrapped in foil and cooked right over the fire. As I thought about what we would eat on our camping trip last week they were the first thing that came to mind.

For these there really isn’t such a thing as exact measurements because it depends on how many people there are. You will need the following:

carrots (optional)
potatoes (any kind will do – I grabbed up what I had in my pantry)
ground beef
french onion soup mix
onion
butter
salt and pepper

Directions:

Every person will get their own packet so start by cutting the foil. Make sure each piece of foil is big enough to hold the food and then wrap it up for cooking.
Cut up you onions, potatoes and carrots. I used about one potato and three baby carrots (one large carrot) per packet. I divided the onion up among the packets which ended up to be a tablespoon or two each. (There is no such thing as measuring when you are camping – you just have to eyeball it!)
Then I grabbed a patty size piece of burger and crumbled it up over the top.
I took the french onion soup mix and used it as my seasoning. I used about 1/3 of the envelope for each foil packet. Be sure to shake up the mix so you get some of the flavor from the seasoning on each one. Then use your hand to mix it all up.
Put a few pats of butter on the top of the mixture and fold ‘er up.
Cook them until the beef is browned and the potatoes are fork tender. If you overcook them the potatoes will burn onto the foil. You have to be especially careful if you are cooking over the campfire – we cooked ours on a propane grill and we should have rotated them because one on the outside wasn’t quite done and one in the middle was a little too done if ya’ know what I mean!?

To fold the packets up try to get all of the food in the middle and bring the two longer ends together. Fold them down and then fold the sides once and fold up over the middle fold. Cook them with the folds up so that the butter and seasoning don’t leak out.

WARNING: Be careful when you open the packets because the steam is very hot as you can see from the photo below!

I have a few more camping recipes coming soon! If you missed the pictures from our staycation you can see them HERE. Just a side note – you don’t have to be camping to make these. They would work the same on your regular grill too! I love nights when we grill out because once it is prepared I pass it to my husband who does the rest!

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Our Staycation

2013-05-14T10:14:00.001-04:00

Last week my husband took three days off which gave him a total of eight days off in a row. It seems like whenever he takes time off like that we sit around the house staring at each other and by the end of it neither one of us can wait to go back to work. I get nothing done, he gets tired of doing nothing, I feel like the family chef instead, and he hates that I want him to help me clean out the garage or some other random job. You feel me?

This time was different. I told myself to just let go and take a break from my shop, blogging and anything else that I usually feel ‘has’ to be done. It was wonderful. We all had such a great week filled with family time and most importantly we made memories together. We didn’t go further than 25 miles from our house the entire week and we ate great meals every day. Last Saturday when my husband got off of work we dropped all three kids at my parents house and went out for pizza and a movie. It had literally been months since I was without at least one of my children so that break was well deserved and needed. As I drove away from my parents house I turned the music up in my car and jammed out just because I could!

Sunday we hung around the house, packed and prepared for a camping trip. First thing Monday morning we headed to a camp site about 15 minutes from our house. It was the kids’ first camping trip and since we had Delilah in tow we didn’t want to go far. It was in the eighties during the day and down in the sixties at night so the weather was perfect for us. I gave myself a pep talk before we left the house that I was going to let the boys be boys and get as dirty as they wanted. Normally I would tell them to stop playing in the dirt and mud but that is what camping is about.

The food was so good that my husband made the comment we were almost eating better camping than we do at home. I have to second that. We had three good meals a day – we cooked our meals over the fire or on the grill. We had breakfast burritos, egg sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, pie iron pizzas, hobo burgers and hot dogs. Of course what is camping without the smores? We had smores every night!

We even tried our luck at geocaching and found our first cache! We are excited to do some more geocaching in the future because when we looked it up there are a lot of caches in our area. If you haven’t heard of geocaching it is when you find containers that people leave by using a GPS device (we used our phones). It is like a small treasure hunt and our kids had a blast looking at the silly things inside and leaving their own item behind for someone else to find.

Of course there were some breakdowns when the kids got overly tired, but overall it was better than I thought it would be. The boys stayed busy running around most of the day and Delilah was fine because I was holding her most of the time unless I was cooking. When I wasn’t holding her Mike was or we put her in her bouncer seat that I brought with.

We had originally planned to camp until Thursday, but since I had some friends in town from Illinois we decided to pack up and head out on Wednesday afternoon instead. When we got back home we unpacked (the worst part of camping!) and I filled up the washer and dryer with our campfire scented clothes, pillowcases and blankets.

Thursday we hit the beach with friends, Friday we hung around the house and had the same friends over for dinner. My friend Maddy and I went to school together from grade school through high school and my three kids are within a few months of her three kids.

Saturday we met with my husbands family to celebrate his moms birthday and Mother’s Day. We took a picture in our backyard and had it made into a canvas for her. Let’s just say we tried to take this picture about a dozen times before we finally captured one where both boys were looking.

Sunday Mike made a pancake breakfast for Mother’s Day and then we met my parents and some of their friends at the beach. To end the day we went back to my parent’s house for dinner. I couldn’t be more thankful for the quality time I was able to spend with our family last week. I spent yesterday catching up on laundry and house work and sorting through clothes my kids have outgrown. I have to say that I never imagined being a work/stay at home mom would ever be this hard. It is the hardest job I have ever done but it is also the most rewarding and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I am working on some camping recipe posts from our camping trip so be on the lookout for those!

Coconut Lemon Cookies–Cake Mix Cookies

2013-05-06T08:01:00.000-04:00

Cookies are good year round, but in the summer I try to spend a lot less time in the kitchen. We are always out trying to soak up as much sun as possible. These cookies are so quick to whip up and yummy too!

I recently saw a recipe for lemon cookies made from a lemon cake mix and I thought I had the lemon extract that it called for but when I looked through my cupboard only to find that I was out I tried coconut extract instead. The combination was delicious and screamed SUMMER! With temperatures in the 80s here summer is no doubt on its way.

Get the printable version HERE.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Baked Cheddar Bacon Jalapeño Poppers

2013-05-04T16:02:00.001-04:00

“I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Kraft Foods #FreshTake #cbias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.”

Summer is right around the corner which always means family get-togethers. There are barbeques, birthdays and holidays where there is lots of good food! The food might just be my favorite part about these gatherings. Every summer jalapeño poppers are a staple on our menu. This recipe is a twist on the poppers my mom makes and I promise you that if you try them you will make them all summer long too!

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

1 pound of jalapeños
1/2 pound of bacon – cooked until crispy
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
8oz of cream cheese
1 Cheddar Jack & Bacon Fresh Take package

I found the Fresh Take packages in the shredded cheese section at Walmart. You can see my entire shopping trip HERE.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Fry up your bacon. While it is cooking cut and remove the seeds from the jalapeño peppers.
Once the bacon is done move it onto a paper towel to absorb the excess grease. In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese, colby jack cheese from the Fresh Take package, garlic salt and crumble the bacon in and mix.
Using a fork stuff the cheese mixture into the jalapeños and then dip into the breadcrumbs from the Fresh Take package.
Put peppers on a foil lined baking sheet and bake according the the cooking times below.

Some say that the baking time of a jalapeño has something to do with how spicy hot it is. I have tried this and believe it. If the jalapeno isn’t cooked all the way and some of the vegetable is still raw it seems to be more spicy. If you let them cook for about 35-40 minutes then they seem to be cooked completely. Don’t get me wrong – they still have a kick but just not as much. Since my husband is a sissy when it comes to spicy food we usually go with 40 minutes.

Hot – 25 minutes
Medium – 32 minutes
Mild – 40 minutes

Now this is when I totally wish someone would have already invented smell-o-vision because this bacon had my house smelling scrumptious. The boys were in the living room and I heard them talking to each other about how mommy must be making bacon and they were going to eat it all. If you are like me it is hard to practice self restraint so we all snuck 1/2 a piece.

Secret – when I have filling leftover after I have stuffed all of the peppers I dip pretzels or crackers in because there is no way I am letting it go to waste!

I really loved using the Cheddar Jack and Bacon Fresh Take for this recipe because it killed two birds with one stone and it was already measured out for me! The flavoring of the breadcrumbs also enhanced the flavor and brought them to a new level of deliciousness. Have you used a Fresh Take in your cooking before? Please share!

So do they look amazing or what? AND they are not fried – they are baked!

ALSO-

You can find other Fresh Take recipes HERE

Watch for the Kraft Fresh Possibilities Tour truck which will be making stops across the country from March through the end of July. To see if they are making a stop in your town you can check this website: Fresh Possibilities Tour: http://www.tryfreshtake.com/tour.html

There will be an IRC (immediately redeemable coupon) stuck on packages of chicken in the meat department. The coupon takes $1.00 off the price of one (1) chicken item with the purchase of Fresh Take. The coupons will run 5/1-7/31.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Stretchy Headband Tutorial

2013-05-02T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here are a few things I learned when I had a girl:

There are a MILLION shades of pink
Girls have a lot of accessories like bloomers, socks, tights, leg warmers, headbands and SHOES.
You can’t always find accessories to match outfits so you should just make them yourself!

Delilah has a whole box full of headbands and bows but there are times when I still don’t have anything to match her outfit. Since I sell headbands in my shop I am usually lucky enough to come up with something but not everyone has that luxury. I am going to tell you where to buy the supplies and how to make your own stretchy headbands.

I found decorative trim (pictured above) at Hobby Lobby with their ribbon in the fabric section. It is stretchy, frilly and looks so cute as a stretchy band. They have it in lots of different colors. Don’t forget to take a coupon or use the coupon from their free mobile app. (Usually 40% off)

The flower is from Michael's. I found this one on clearance for $.50 so scout the isle end caps to see what you can come up with. If you don’t see any cute things on clearance they have a bunch of Jolee brand premade fabric flowers. Again remember to bring your coupon from their sale flyer or from their free mobile app. (Usually 40% off) Sometimes you can even find the shabby chiffon flowers on daily deal sites like Very Jane, Pick Your Plum, and GroopDealz.

To make your headband you will need:

Fabric flower(s)
Stretchy trim
Measuring tape
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Sheet of felt (in cream or coordinating color)

Directions:

Cut a 1-2 inch sized circle out from your sheet of felt
Cut a piece of trim to the length that you need. I cut mine to 14 inches for my five month old, but for the best fit loosely wrap it around the head of the girl who will be wearing it and subtract an inch.
Using a hot glue gun glue the edges of the trim to the back of the flower.
Hot glue the circle of felt over the raw edges of trim to secure them. Allow the headband to dry completely before wear.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Cinco de Mayo Pennant Banner

2013-05-01T08:11:00.001-04:00

Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? A few days ago I shared a large festive Cinco de Mayo banner and today I am sharing a mini pennant banner. I made these with Cinco de Mayo in mind but you could use these files for any celebration if you switch up the colors.

To make this banner you will need cardstock, twine, mini clothespins (can be found at Walmart in the office supply isle) and a silhouette. I have made the free dxf file available HERE. (I personally designed this file and it is for personal use only and can not be resold or used to make a banner that will be sold.)

Cut out the pennant shapes on your silhouette and attach to twine using mini clothespins. Could that be any easier?

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Cinco De Mayo Banner

2013-04-29T08:30:00.000-04:00

Cinco de Mayo is next week and after eating at a local Mexican restaurant over the weekend I was inspired to create a few fun banners. A little useless information before we begin - the day I made the banners I happened to be wearing a matching neon green dress (which I scored at Ross for $6 I might add) and I had a five and three year old who were dying to show me their photography skills. I now have a zillion photos of myself wearing this cheap neon dress but I will spare you and only include two.

For this banner you will need a silhouette to cut out the shapes. I am giving you the dxf files for this banner HERE and HERE. (These files are for personal use only and can not be sold or used to make a banner you will sell. If you take a picture of your banner in a matching dress please share.) The first file is the shape on the left and the second one is the shape on the right. In order for this to work you need to resize the shape on the right to be smaller and fit inside the bigger scalloped edge shape.

I used a pack of letter sized neon cardstock but this file would also make an awesome patriotic banner if you did it in red, white and blue! The picture below shows the shapes after I finished cutting them all out. I used my hole punch to put holes on the tops of each banner and then rubber cement to glue the semi circle stripe. After the glue dried I used bakers twine to string them up.

Now all I need is a bowl of chips and salsa with a tall margarita!

Stop by tomorrow for a bright and festive Cinco de Mayo pennant banner.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Baked Rosemary Feta Potatoes

2013-04-28T12:18:00.001-04:00

A while back I found a recipe on Pinterest for baked rosemary feta potatoes and I tried it. It was amazing – some of the best potatoes I have ever made in my kitchen. The problem was that when I went back to find the recipe I couldn’t. The link went to a blog that said it had moved. I searched fort it and found the blog again but I could not find the recipe. It took me a few times but I finally recreated them and Mike, my husband, is so happy. You see Mike, my husband, has a love for feta cheese so when I make these he is practically licking the pan to make sure none of the cheesy goodness goes to waste.

Ingredients:

Sprig of fresh rosemary
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
10-12 petite red potatoes – washed
1/2 cup feta cheese

Directions:

Turn the oven on to 450 degrees.
Use a fork to poke holes in the potatoes. Lay them on a foil lined baking sheet with the holes facing up.
Drizzle olive oil over the top of the potatoes and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the potatoes and cut an ‘x’ into them. Use a clean towel to gently push down on the potatoes making them smash open.
Drizzle more olive oil over the tops and also sprinkle the feta cheese and rosemary leaves over them. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Banana Split Pie

2013-04-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we had some friends who came all the way from North Carolina to help us out while Delilah was in the hospital. Saturday night when we got to bring her home we went to my parents house where everyone had prepared an awesome dinner. (Especially awesome when the only thing you have eaten for the past five days is hospital food!) Our friend Shauna made an especially amazing dessert – Banana Split Pie. I had seconds and took a piece to go which I then ate for breakfast the next morning. Even my husband said we needed to get the recipe and he isn’t a big desserts guy. This dessert is great for warmer months and is SO yummy!

Ingredients:

8 ounces of cream cheese – softened
1 cup of powdered sugar
5 tablespoons of milk
graham cracker crust
1/2 tub of thawed cool whip
2 bananas
8 ounce can of crushed pineapple – drained
cherries and nuts to garnish

Directions:

Slice the bananas and layer into the crust.
Mix the cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar beating until smooth. Spread over the bananas.
Then layer the pineapple and cool whip.
Garnish with cherries and nuts and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Enjoy,

I party HERE

Personalized Baby Wipes Case

2013-04-26T20:45:00.001-04:00

I am not super crazy when it comes to being green although I do recycle anything that can be recycled and try to reuse a lot of things too. With my son Mason I started to realize just how many plastic wipe containers I was going through and I knew there had to be an alternative. I decided to take my big plastic container and personalize it with vinyl. Then when I needed more wipes I would buy the larger refill pack because I wouldn’t waste the plastic containers AND the large refill packs were cheaper.

I have found that these make awesome baby shower gifts because everyone loves a personalized gift and after they outgrow diapers and wipes these plastic containers are great for storing things like color crayons, action figures and so much more!

To make your own you just need a vinyl cutting machine such as a cricut or silhouette and vinyl. Measure your wipes case and then cut the name to that size. I usually just eyeball the letters when putting them on, but you can also use the vinyl transfer paper so that the letters are applied perfectly spaced and even.

So I want to know – do you have a silhouette, cricut, or neither?

Enjoy,

I party HERE