The Blackberry Vine

Tuesday To Do Part #49 and #48 List Makers

2012-02-13T21:51:00.000-06:00

Hey there bloggy friends!

Today started with a wonderful party (brunch) with friends and it's ending with another fun party with friends! (Can't wait to share a few pics of the table from this morning!!)

(Also, remember The Pretty Packages Party is going on all month long. CLICK HERE TO LINK UP YOUR PRETTY PACKAGE.)

Here are a few of my favorite friends from last week:

Valentine Wrap Up from Tales Of a Trophy Wife

Casa de Luna's adorable Teacup Pincushion

The Places I've Been Map from Loopy Loop Creations

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

Link up your creations! Sewing, crafting, cooking, tips, photography, tablescapes, parties, scrapbooking, collectibles...it all works. Please save your items for sell, your giveaways and your own parties for those specific blog parties. You're the best!

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine and "LIKE" The Blackberry Vine on Facebook.

2. Link directly to your post and not just to your blog.

3. Grab the TUESDAY TO DO BUTTON from the sidebar, and link back to the Blackberry Vine. (Yes, it can be a little time-consuming, but it's the sweet blogger thing to do!)

4. Please visit other participants and leave them some comment love. Comment, comment, comment!!!

I reserve the right to remove posts that are not in keeping with the spirit of Tuesday To-Do including but not limited to those that link to your shop, your giveaway or your linky party, and those that do not link back to the Blackberry Vine. Thanks for playing fair!!

You've Got the "Write" Stuff

2012-02-11T09:05:00.001-06:00

We made these little Valentine treats for the boys' teachers.

When the kids go to so many different classes through out the week, it can be hard to recognize all of the teachers that have an impact on their lives while still being able to pay the mortgage. This isn't much, but it let's them know we appreciate them!

The printable just jazzes the pencils up a bit.

Heart shapped sticky notes were added to their classroom teachers' stash.

Packs of dollar store Valentine pencils, these free printables and a hole punch were all it took to create these little Valentines. (I needed to punch some extra space around the initial hole for the pencil to fit.)

Download your free printables HERE.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Smiles!

May share these little Valentines with some of the fun parties in the side bar=>

Some More Valentine Ideas

2012-02-11T01:27:00.000-06:00

We hit the mother load today at our Valentine Parties! Lots of great valentines and yummy candy!

After combing through the boys' stash looking for ~~Twix~~ cute Valentines, here are a few I thought I'd share with you...

Cute homemade valentine decorated with stickers and stamps. Not sure where this momma found the heart shaped folded cards...Oriental Trading company maybe?

This is a great way for the kiddos to make valentines that are cute AND legible!

Loved this little valentine benefitting MD Anderson Cancer Research Hospital!

MD Anderson has treated my family and friends and I love to support them when I can. I usually received their Christmas catalog, but had not noticed they had valentines.

What a great idea! Will definitely look for these in the future.

I'm guessing other organizations may have these as well. Does anyone out there know of any?

Here is a great version of the super hero valentine! The mom got her inspiration from Family Fun Magazine. Like that she had her little valentine sign his name on the cape.

A few more homemade valentines...butterfly, pencil and the superhero again...all clever ideas!!! (I'll show you my pencil valentine version later today. )

And last, but not least, is a valentine by a momma with the craftiest of skills.

She got her inspiration from Pinterest and executed this one flawlessly! It is so, so cute! To see more cute ideas like this one, check out this crafty momma's blog HERE.

She's full of cute and clever ideas !!

Something I realized today is that the kids LOVE valentines. Star Wars valentines, Muppet valentines, Penguins of Madagascar Valentines, handcrafted valentines, valentines out of a ox, valentines with candy, valentines without candy...they love them all. Kids love sharing with each other, especially a little bit of themselves. Valentines give them that chance to give each other little, sweet gifts that can mean so much!

Happy Valentines Day!!

Smiles!

May share these valentine ideas with some of the parties in my side bar =>

Valentine, You Crack Me Up

2012-02-08T14:29:00.001-06:00

Last year we made cute photo Valentine's with cake pops, candy lips and suckers.

This year, while at the Dollar Store, we found these knock-off pop rocks and our Valentines were born.

Happy Valentine's Day, ya'll!

Smiles!

May share these valentine's at some of the parties in the side bar=>

Lego Darth Vader Valentine Box

2012-02-07T21:50:00.002-06:00

Here's the eldest's Valentine box...total cost $1.99 + tax for the shiny red paper.

Everything else I already had...box, glad storage container, brass fasteners, toilet paper rolls, construction paper, black spray paint, crepe paper, black fabric, scraps of silver paper and silver duct tape.

Probably should have done a little tutorial for you, but it just kind of took shape on its own. I set their little Lego Darth Vader alarm clock on the counter and just eyed it.

Side view...

Back view....

Another side view....

See the little red heart button on his chest? Cute, huh?!?

Tomorrow I'll share their Valentines!

Smiles!!!

May share this Lego Darth Vader Valentine Box with some of the parties in the side bar =>

Tuesday To Do # 48 and #47 List Makers

2012-02-06T16:46:00.000-06:00

Hey y'all! Have you linked up your clever & beautiful gift wrapping ideas to the Pretty Packages Party yet? It's going on now, so don't miss it!!!
CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

The Blackberry Vine had a great Tuesday To Do Party last week!
I always love seeing what my bloggy friends have been up to.
Here are a few of the many that have inspired me this past week:

Katie at Creatively Living shared her Bedroom Reveal...gorgeous!

Caramel Appels from Todd & Lindsey look yummy!

Kristi shared this Slow Cooker Ravioli Recipe over at I Should Be Mopping the Floor...love me some crock pot recipes!!

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine and "LIKE" The Blackberry Vine on Facebook.

French Macarons

2012-02-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Have you made French Macarons before?

They can be tempermental little suckers, huh?

You can Google 'french macaron recipe' and get lots of different recipes.

One day you make a batch and they are perfect...the next day, same recipe, and blah!Lucky for me I came across a gal that did all of the "dirty" work on French Macarons. I mean, this gal did an xy graph and everything!

Go check her out at Not So Humble Pie.

So I started with her French Macaron recipe HERE.

The only thing I added was about a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste.

They were yummy, though they did begin to brown.

I filled them with a Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream sprinkled with sea salt flakes.

To make the Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream, I made my Swiss Meringue Buttercream and mixed it with caramel sauce...easy peasy!

CLICK HERE for Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe.

So, so good...really. Better than what you can imagine.

Because I couldn't just stop with one batch, I made another batch the next day. This time I used her second French Macaron Recipe found HERE.

Seemed to perform just as well. (I added some pink food coloring gel to these just to see how it would look.) This second batch was baked at a lower temperature and double pans in hopes of preventing the browning on the bottom. This definitely worked much better, but I did notice I let one batch start to brown a little on top. Next time I'll won't take my eyes off of them after 10 minutes...who cares if the kids are hungry...let them get their own lunch! ;-)

The pink ones were filled with more Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

With some of the buttercream I added some cherry preserves and kirsch.

Good, but think I'd like to work with that a little more.

I also put some raspberry preserves on one to test it out...mmmm, good!

Seedless red raspberry preserves would be best, but didn't have that on hand.

My venture into French Macarons isn't over yet, so bear with me.

Because they have a tendancy to be unreliable, not sure if these are something I might offer to clients. We'll see! If you haven't tried your hand at making these delicate little treats yet, definitely give them a try! They are srumdeleeicious!

Smiles!

May link up these sweet French Macarons to the fun parties in my side bar=>

Valentine Wreath x2

2012-02-04T23:04:00.000-06:00

Today I finally got around to putting up the Valentine wreath...not sure what I think about the look.

The frame is a find from my MIL that she gave us many years ago. Looks good, right? Well, it's broken AND made out of some sort of styrofoam. Perfect for outside!

I'm thinking I might brighten it up a bit with some gold glaze.

The heart shaped roses wreath is the same wreath I've used for years and it's starting to show. May need to step it up for next year and do something like the picture below.

My friend, Tracy, makes cute wreaths and I wanted to share her Valentine wreath with you. This may be an original idea (she's pretty crafty,) or it could be an inspiration from Pinterest (she's slightly addicted to it.) Regardless, it's super sweet!!

So, tell me about your front door....

Do you have a Valentine wreath up?

Or do you (gasp!) still have up your Christmas wreath?

(Seriously, on a short drive through the neighborhood today, we counted no less than 6 Christmas wreaths hanging proudly on the front door! Hey, not judging here...you go with that Christmas spirit!)

Or is your front door bare because you are skulking through Pinterest looking for the perfect wreath to make? (Yeah, me too!) :-)

Smiles!

May share my little framed wreath with some of the parties in my side bar=>

Pretty Packages Party #12

2012-02-01T12:59:00.000-06:00

It's Back!

Have you missed it?!!

I have!

The Pretty Packages Party is here with a few updates.

First, it's going to last for most of the month.

That gives you PLENTY of time to link up AND to get your friends to link up!

Second, we're going to not only have georgous, creative wrappings but we're also going to add gift ideas and cards.

Features will be added on a new page I'm creating called "Pretty Packages."

You'll be featured on "Pretty Packages" for-eva!

Also, I'll share your link on Facebook. Be sure you "LIKE" me on FB so your friends can see your feature, too!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. So here are some inspiration from past Pretty Packages Parties! Enjoy!

Carolyne Roehm

Life in the Thrifty Lane

Jac 'O Lyn Murphy

Smile Monsters

Happy Little Art

The Autocrat

This is a PRETTY PACKAGES PARTY so what I'm looking for is beautifully, interestingly, creatively wrapped gifts. The gifts could range from individual gifts, to party favors, to food gifts to birthday presents, to any type of gift, card, or packaging! At the end of the month I'll chose my favorites to share with everyone.

1. Add the link to your post.
2. Be a follower of The Blackberry Vine.
3. Like The Blackberry Vine on Facebook.
4. Add the Pretty Packages Button or a link back to the Pretty Packages Party somewhere on your post or blog...it's just the nice, neighborly thing to do!

Last, but certainly not least, please comment on the post in front of you and behind you (and any other post!!)...spread the comment love! If you find something you love, pin it! Everyone loves seeing their creations on Pinterest!

100 Legos for 100 Days of School

2012-01-31T09:47:00.000-06:00

Our school celebrates the 100th day of the school year tomorrow.

Of course, weeks ago, they sent out reminders that this day was coming.

They sent out suggestions for items to bring. They sent out emails, notes in their weekly newsletters and even a blurb or two from the sweet principal in her weekly correspondence. Basically, no excuses...

If you've followed for very long you know this is not the first time that I we've waited until the last (or almost last) minute. Actually, I think I'm more creative when something has to be done NOW. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

So, we're going to dinner last night and trying to think of something (yes, we are actually planning TWO whole days before it HAS to be there!) different from last year for Jack's 100 day project. (CLICK HERE to see last year's project.)

Pennies...been there, done that. Pictures...momma likes, but will take some time...printing 100 small pictures and arranging them to spell Jack or 100...cute but time consuming. The oldest pipes up, "how about Legos." Ahhh, Legos. Now that something we have a crazy amount of...this should be easy! We have lots of the white 3 x 2 blocks left over from the Lego Mini Figure Board. And by "lots" I mean 61. No problem. Surely in the 9 drawers and 6 other boxes I could come up with 39 more white 3 x 2 blocks. Make that 8. You read correctly, 8. Out of thousands and thousands pieces of Lego...I found 8. I'll do the math for you...we need 100. We have 69. We're short 31 stinkin' pieces of Lego. Really?!? Oh, and it's 7:30 in the evening. Enter super-husband! He was on board for the whole Lego idea and decided to make it a reality by cruising to the mall (his favorite place..)

By 10 o'clock he was not only back from the Lego store, but he also had put together the 100 day project. I think he did an awesome job!!! We're so lucky to have him for our husband and daddy!

Hope your 100 day projects have gone (will go) smoothly!

Smiles!

May share this 100 day project with some of the fun parties in our sidebar =>

Tuesday To Do #47 and #46 List Makers

2012-01-30T21:16:00.000-06:00

Hello sweet bloggy friends!

It's Tuesday To Do Party time again!

I'm so glad you're here!

Before we get to last week's features, I have something to tell you...

The Pretty Packages Party is (FINALLY) making a comeback!

The party will be up and running by Wednesday evening...hope to see you there will your gorgeous gifts!!!

Speaking of gifts, y'all gave me a wonderful gift this past weekend. Looking at all of your amazing posts was such fun! Everyone should be featured!!!

(But we are not a 4 year old's soccer team...we don't all get a trophy just for signing up!!)

Anyway, I guess I must have parties on the brain...check out last week's List Makers:

Check out this amazing Science party Peggy threw over at Hello. My name is Mommy.

VixenMade's Adorable Circus Party!!

Sweet Ballerina Party from Love Sweet Love

Insane Kahlua Brownie recipe from My Judy the Foodie

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine and "LIKE" The Blackberry Vine on Facebook.

Nerf Party

2012-01-26T17:05:00.001-06:00

Are you ready to check out our Nerf party?

It is full of photos, so grab a cup of coffee, (a Twinkie,) and settle in...this is a long one!

(And if you have an extra second...will you LIKE me on Facebook? I finally added a Facebook page for Blackberry Vine (after much insistence by others.) It would make my day if I had a few "LIKES" under my belt!)

When the guests arrived, (SEE THE INVITE HERE,) they received their dart pouches and safety goggles.

Find more info on the pouches HERE.

If they didn't have a gun, we had extras at the welcome table, too.

Oh, don't want to forget the sign in sheet. We always have one at drop-off parties.

Parents sign in their kids with their contact numbers.

Usually, there is never a problem, but it gives everyone peace of mind.

There was also a cute little banner in this room...see it HERE!

Since it is Winter and we're in TEXAS, we never know if we can play outside or not. The day started off pretty cool, so we set up all of our games inside.

To warm up their marksmanship skills, we had different stations set up.

They rotated through them in groups of 2 or 3, then it was just a free for all.

This tin can challenge was probably one of the favorites.

We had helpers placed strategically through out the party to help with setting the stations back up.

Many times I noticed the boys helping set the cans back up themselves!

Shooting army men off the wall takes some serious skills!

The target test was not as exciting....

Shooting the monster's eyeballs (ping pong balls hanging from thin wires) was a blast!

Thanks to Uncle David for sitting behind the box and retrieving the darts!

So I snagged this picture from my MIL's collection of photos from the day. For whatever reason, I didn't get a picture of this station. It was a hula hoop hanging from the bridge above. We would swing it gently back & forth and they had to shoot through it.

Simple decorations.

Pizza, salad, fruit & drinks were served to our hungry guests.

Then it was cake time!

(and ice cream...the boys don't think it's a party with out the ice cream, too!)

To see more about the cake CLICK HERE!

Once we got everyone all hopped up on sugar, we sent them outside with guns!!!

(Nerf guns of course...this is Texas, but seriously...they're only 6!!)

Forts made from refrigerator boxes.

Having fun!

We don't want our picture taken!!!

When the parents came back to retrieve their children, we passed out these little party favors...dollar store Nerf guns and Twinkies. Yes, that right...Twinkies.

If you haven't heard, Hostess has filed bankruptcy for a 2nd time.

My children, along with most of the guests, had never even HEARD of a Twinkie.

I thought I'd do my part to save the company and to enlighten the children.

When was the last time YOU had a Twinkie?!!?

Smiles!

May link up our fun Nerf Party to some of the super fun parties in the side bar=>

Tuesday To Do #46 and #45 List Makers

2012-01-23T19:38:00.000-06:00

It's Tuesday To Do time again!

I'm so thrilled you stopped by!

Check out these great projects from last week's List Makers:

Beautiful Bathroom Makeover by Casa de Luna

AMAZING tutorial for Kick Pleat Valances from Sew Passionate

Lindsey's Yummy Snickerdoodle Cupcake recipe

Adorable wedding details from Life as a Pepin

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine.

Nerf Birthday Cake

2012-01-23T11:17:00.001-06:00

Here's the cake from our Nerf Party.

As always I used classic French buttercream to frost it...so good!

Since I HAD to have the darts, the only way to make them (with any accuracy) was with fondant. CLICK HERE for the recipe I used.

The kids all wanted a dart, but most decided they didn't taste that good.

(There was one or two little sugar-aholics, that wanted more and more...poor mommas!)

I agree, I think fondant is completely unappetizing.

Beautiful cakes, but it tastes horrible!

Smiles!

May share this Nerf Dart Birthday Cake with some of the parties in the side bar =>

Nerf Dart Pouches

2012-01-22T17:58:00.000-06:00

Our Nerf Party this weekend was a blast!

There's a few things I thought I'd share.

First, are the Nerf Dart Pouches I made.

My inspiration came from Just Deanna.

To see her amazing tutorial, CLICK HERE.

Instead of using rings for the belt closure, I used velcro. Also, I used 1" cotton twill trim as the belt on some because 1.) it was cheaper and 2.) there was not enough of the woven belt trim. Both worked great. Actually, the cheaper cotton twill probably worked the best as it was not fraying as much as the webbing. Using velcro for the closure probably helped with the fraying as well.

The guests were all excited that they not only got to wear the belted pouches at the party, but they also got to take them home.

Thanks again to Just Deanna for sharing her party!

To see her other great ideas, CLICK HERE.

I'll share more of the party this week!

Smiles!

May share these pouches with some of the fun parties in the side bar =>

Nerf Foam Birthday Banner

2012-01-17T20:07:00.000-06:00

So, the party preparations begin...

Here's the birthday banner made from craft foam sheets. It just look "Nerfish," don't ya think?

Found the stick on foam letters at the craft store so it was really a super-easy-lemon-squeezy kind of project.

Stay tuned for more Nerf party projects....

Smiles!

May link up to some of the classy parties in the side bar =>

Tuesday To Do #45 & #44 List Makers

2012-01-16T18:47:00.000-06:00

Hello my creative bloggy friends!

It's Tuesday To Do time again!

Let's get our party started this week by checking out last week's List Makers:

Look at this pretty mirror by Simply Simplisticated!

Dishwasher Soap Biscuits (and other great tips) from the Lady With the Red Rocker,

Gluten Free A to Z shares a wonderful recipe for moisturizing salt scrub,

I'm eating dessert (and can't wait to try these Brownie Peanut Butter Cups,) with Katie from Raising Oranges!

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine.

Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookies

2012-01-15T20:43:00.000-06:00

Looking for a quick and yummy cookie recipe?

Well, here you go!

1 (18 oz) package brownie mix

2 eggs

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup toffee bits (optional)

Mix first 3 ingredients with a wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in last two (or three) ingredients.

Drop by rounded teaspoon fulls on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on cookie sheet then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Yields: About 4 dozen

Enjoy!
Smiles!

May be sharing this yummy recipe with the fun parties located in my side bar =>

Tuesday To Do Party #44 & #43 List Makers

2012-01-09T20:40:00.000-06:00

Hi Friends!

How are those resolutions comin'?

Well, one of my resolutions is to cross off a few of the items on my To Do List!
It just keeps getting longer & longer!!!

Here are few things from last week that are on my list:

Baby Doll Diapers Tutorial from Vixen Made

Easy Peasy Grandma's Monster Spray

Button Bobbies by Five Days 5 Ways

Also, don't miss the Best of 2011 posts from

Corner House

Remodelaholic

Lavendar & Lemon Drops

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine.

Got Teeth?

2012-01-07T19:54:00.001-06:00

My two boys are 7 1/2 & 6 and neither one has lost a tooth yet!

What gives?!?

Well, we finally have some loose teeth (yeah) and I'm gonna be ready with a tooth fairy pillow. (If you ~~build~~ sew it, they will come...)

Martha has a great tutorial HERE that I used....mostly.

Since I wanted to personalize the pillows, I cut my fabric (one of their old flannel baby blankets,) into 8.5" squares. This size fits in my printer. I used the freezer paper technique to get a name on the fabric that I could hand embroid. Besides that, I pretty much followed good 'ol Martha girl (except a lot less measuring, pining, etc...you get the idea!)

If you read this far (and you have a minute,) could you let me know how old your children were when they lost their first teeth?

I'm not so worried about the older one not losing teeth yet, just hoping the younger one doesn't lose one of his first!

(And just in case you might be wondering, we go to the dentist every 6 months. She says its all ok, but still...mommas are the ones that really know!)

Thanks for the input!

***UPDATE!!! Less than 10 minutes after this post, the oldest lost a tooth! Hallelujah!!***

Smiles!

May share the tooth fairy pillow with some of the fun parties in the side bar =>

Nerf Party Invitation

2012-01-06T08:58:00.000-06:00

We're gearing up for another birthday party around here.

As always, it all starts with the invitations.

Just Deanna threw a great Nerf party for her son.

Thankfully, she shared her ideas and how-tos. You'll see that I will use her party as inspiration for my own. The first thing I stole from her was her invitation.

(To see Deanna's entire Nerf Party, CLICK HERE)

To make mine, I used:

8.5" x 11.5" orange card stock

Craft paper 5" x 6.5" foldover notes by Paper Studio

8.5" x 11.5" camo scrap paper

small black & silver eyelets

adhesive

hole punch & hammer

eyelet setter

In a print shop software, I wrote up the invitation on an Avery postcard template.

The fonts I used were Stencil, My Remington & Urwood.

Once the invite was printed on the orange card stock, it was cut into fourths.

Next, I prepared the other papers.

The camo paper was cut to 4.75" x 6.125". (Two per sheet of camo paper.)

The craft paper foldover notes were laid flat and cut in half at the crease.

Using a small bit of adhesive to keep the papers in place, I put the invitations together.

Then I punch holes and set the eyelets with the hole punch, eyelet setter and hammer.

The completed invitations fit perfectly in the envelopes that came with the fold over notes.

They were quick and easy to complete.

And really, don't we all feel better after we punch holes and set eyelets with a hammer?!?

Stay tuned for more Nerf party ideas!

Smiles!

May share this invite at some of the parties in the side bar =>

Tuesday To Do Party #43 and #42 List Makers

2012-01-02T16:41:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year, Y'all!!!

Hope you've had a great holiday!

I'm ready to start new projects in this new year...

here are a few that are on my To Do list:

Modified Gorilla Bread Recipe from Feeding My Temple

Canvas Print Tutorial from It's Overflowing

Antique Table Makeover from Walnut Street

If you were on this week's To Do List, then please feel free to grab a LIST MAKER button:

TUESDAY TO DO
FEATURED BUTTON

Now on the the party...

(Borrowed these little rules from the Shabby Nest...she's got it going on!)

1. Become a follower of The Blackberry Vine.

Chocolate-Espresso Pots de Creme

2011-12-29T22:03:00.001-06:00

This little recipe, from the Southern Living's Big Book of Christmas, was a last minute addition to our holiday menu. I'm so glad I gave it a try! It's easy, quick, rich, creamy and delicious! All of the things I love in a recipe!

A little goes a long way so consider serving it in demitasse cups instead of ramekins.

2 cups half-and-half

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup brandy

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks (I used Ghiradelli, SL suggests Scharffen Berger)

Garnishes: Unsweetened whipped cream, fresh berries, lavendar

Whisk together first 6 ingredients in top of a double broiler, add chocolate. (I confess, I did this in a large sauce pot instead of a double broiler...I NEVER stopped stirring nor did I take my eye off of it. If you use a double broiler you do not have to worry about the chocolate burning.) Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, whisking constantly, 24 minutes or until mixture reaches 160 degrees (mixture will thicken to the consistency of chowder.)

Remove from heat. Spoon chocolate into demitasse cups, chocolate pots, or 4- or 6- ounce ramekins. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Garnish, if desired. Yield 6 to 8 servings.

Smiles!

May share this yummy recipe with some of the blog parties in the side bar =>

Star Wars Room

2011-12-28T22:20:00.002-06:00

Our boys received a very special Christmas present this year...

a new room!!

Our little Padwans have been wanting bunk beds for some time so we decided to redo the nursery as a surprise. We told them we had to fumigate the room due to a bug infestation...thank goodness for gullible little Jedis!

We painted with the same Benjamin Moore colors found on the Pottery Barn website, Comet and Bachelor Blue, lightening Comet two shades.

The comforters and shams were discounted finds from Pottery Barn and Ebay!

This is my favorite part of the room! I saw inpirations for the Lego storage/play station and the Lego mini figure board on Pinterest but forgot to pin them! If you are the mastermind behind these great ideas, please let me know so I can give you the credit!!

***UPDATE- My boys AND THEIR FRIENDS LOVE the minifigure board!!! They play with it ALL of the time! Occassionally a brick pops off, but I keep some super glue in a hidden location (don't need anyone super glueing their brother to wall) to quickly put it back on. Knock on wood, we haven't had any pop off in awhile, even with a couple of playdates!****

The mini figure board was made by measuring off even spaces and using super glue to adhere the 2 x 6 Lego pieces. In the orginal tutorial, they used glass but I was afraid it might break so I chose to use white board. After a little use, some of the bricks are coming off with the white coating. I'm guessing a piece of metal would work best, but I couldn't find any in the short time I had to put it all together. If you try it, let me know how it works!

The lightsaber night light can be found in the science section of Toys R Us. The boys LOVE it! It automatically turns off after 15 minutes, but has a remote control to turn it back on if the padwans need a little more "light" before falling asleep.

The silver board on top of the plastic drawers and on top of the shelves are MDP (?) board painted with metallic paint. Be sure to sand the edges and wipe it all down before painting!

We also found the cool Star Wars planetarium in the Toys R Us science section.

It not only shows the Earth's stars, but it also show the Star Wars Galaxy.

After getting the silver boards put into place we added silver thumbtacks as a trim.

It's a great finish to the room.

The shelves back to back add extra storage that keeps clutter hidden.

Nice.

We looked around for an affordable storage armoire for this space, but didn't find anything before Christmas. I set up this little table (with R2D2 Sorry on top,) to fill the area for now.

It was such fun getting the room ready and even more fun seeing the look on the boys' faces when they finished their scavenger hunt that led to their new room!

Oh! I forgot to share a cute little story earlier...
I was tucking the boys in on their first night and the youngest said,
"When I pick a girl and we get married, she's gonna like Star Wars so we can have Star Wars room!" KAH=UTE! Love that boy!

Smiles!

May link this fun, new Star Wars room to some of the great parties in my side bar =>

Rudolph Oatmeal

2011-12-27T18:31:00.001-06:00

Looking for the Tuesday To Do Party?

Click Here

Nothing special about this bowl of oatmeal except that I shaped it like Rudolph...some brown sugar, pretzels and M & Ms finish the job!

Kah-yute!

Smiles!

May be linking to some of the fun parties found in my sidebar=>