yOuR liTtLe BiRdiE

Valentine Goodie Boxes and Southern Pecan Bars recipe

2012-02-11T09:16:00.000-06:00

My husband had such a good time delivering cookies and Christmas that I mentioned I was game to make Valentine goodie boxes. Really, I am game to make sweets most any time of the week. I just love to bake and share sweets with others. I show love through flour and sugar :)

So, this time around, we ordered gable boxes from Shop Sweet Lulu. I love her site. These boxes were perfect for holding about 2 dozen cookies. I added two shipping labels on the boxes- one had the contents of the box and the other a Valentine poem:

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Business is Sweet

Especially from You

Here is a close-up of the cookies inside. I had fun trying to pull a variety of cookies to fill the box. You may remember a couple of these from Abby's Milk and Cookies party.

Lemon Sugar Snaps

Cake Mix Cookies (I did strawberry mix and added in coconut)

Andes Mint Cookies

Sugar Cookies with sprinkles (straight from the tube)

The final addition was a new one for me to make- my Mom made these amazing pecan bars at Thanksgiving and I swear I ate my weight in them. So, I scribbled down the recipe on the phone with her and made a batch of these bars. It made about 24 total bars which wasn't nearly enough for 10 goodie boxes. I have a feeling they will be the favorite!

Southern Pecan Bars

Mix together the following:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Pat into greased pan (I used a 9x13 deep cookie sheet) and bake for 10 minutes at 350. Cool.

In mixer, beat the following:
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Set aside. In regular bowl, mix the following:
2 T flour
pinch salt
1 t baking powder
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Add this mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well mixed. Pour on top of crust and bake for 20-25 minutes on 350. Allow to cool before cutting. Enjoy!

Friday's Foot Fetish

2012-02-10T07:24:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a foot fetish posts in months. I quit last fall when I changed jobs so that I could stay home with my daughter. My Zappos shopping has dropped dramatically which is a good thing. But, I have bought two pairs of shoes this winter that I absolutely love!

Michael Kors City Flats- $89 on Zappos

I have owned the pink since last Spring and am always on the hunt for a good black flat. There is something that bugs me about each pair I currently own... so I spent the money to buy the city flats in black. They feel more like a tennis shoe on, no break-in time, and they look much dressier than they feel. They are perfect on the go shoes! I wear them with jeans, slacks, and capri pants. I really want the tan suede pair now :)

I spend a lot of time at home in pajama pants. I thought staying home would bore me when I worked full time, but now, I love at home days. I never ever thought that would happen! Being home more, I needed good warm slippers. Our tile and hardwood is cold!

Ugg Ansley Slipper- $100 on Zappos

I bought a couple of inexpensive slippers at Macy's before Christmas and they didn't last. I had holes on the bottom of both pair within a month. I saw these and fell in love. Warm and fuzzy- check. Hard soles to last longer- check. Solid back to stay on when my feet are propped up- check. The price wasn't favorable, so I sold a pair of Tory Burch Reva flats on eBay and bought these instead. I wear them everyday and never wore my Reva flats. I bought the classic chestnut color and they came out in red the following week. Never fails- I would have loved red!

These shoes are well loved on Zappos- 135 reviews and still 5 stars!

Happy Shoe Shopping!

Abby Lu's Valentine Treats- Kids and Teacher Ideas

2012-02-07T10:52:00.000-06:00

Needing ideas for your kids Valentine's? Here are my daughters treat bags this year. We made 16 of these, for the 8 kids in her Mother's Day Out program and the 8 in her dance class. The contents of the snack baggies includes heart tattoos (Hobby Lobby), heart shaped lollipops, red Starburst, heart slinkys, bouncy balls, and bracelets (all from Target!). The boys got a few extra balls instead of bracelets.

I bought the cute monkey toppers here and then color copied and had them cut at Office Max.

I also wanted to do something for her teachers that she LOVES, but didn't want to spend too much money. I almost made them red scarves from here or the cute blocks I made for her teachers 2 years ago, but then I found these yummy Red Velvet cupcake candles from Target. Have you smelt them? They smell great!

Since they are cupcake scented, I placed them inside a treat bag with cupcake sprinkles! :)

I added a few coordinating ribbons and a tag with hearts. Super simple- $5 each!

Valentine Decor

2012-02-04T14:18:00.000-06:00

I put up a couple of things for Valentine's Day this year... starting with my new yarn wrapped and felt wreath. I love that it is soft and simple.

I bought a 4 pack of red and pink heart picks at Hobby Lobby and put them inside a few of my existing floral arrangements. I like the little hint of love they provide.

I love all the great printables on Pinterest. Just pick a holiday and search by printable. Fun and easy way to be festive and change out pictures inside an existing frame.

My formal fining room has a few more lovely finds, like this three heart runner from Home Goods a few years ago. How I wish we would get a Home Goods near me! The closest is about 30 minutes away. We have a TJ Maxx with empty space near the mall about 10 minutes away. It would be perfect for their combo store!

The buffet in the dining room houses a few more fun festive finds.

I bought this stuffed pillow that reads "Always and Forever" and hung it from the lamp by our family picture.

The mantle! I added my LOVE banner from etsy, pictures of Abby and vintage valentines, a jar with red hots and a candle, angels and my new subway art on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It is about a 15x15 and was $12 on clearance! Score!

Finally, we cleaned out my husband's office recently and moved this bookshelf with our family scrapbooks on it into the living room. I love having the extra display space! I added another red heart pick and a heart on an ivory wooden stand on here.

I can't believe Valentine's Day is just a two weeks away! I hope everyone spends the day with someone or something they love! I pray that single girls out there know that their love it waiting and enjoy the day with friends, family, or a good book and glass of wine :)

James and Oranges

2012-02-02T07:15:00.000-06:00

I am doing the study of James by Beth Moore at my church on Wednesday nights, like many women across the country likely are. I have never done a formal Bible study through my church. I have done numerous little studies at homes and coffee houses through my Bible life group. It has been nice to have homework that focuses me on the Lord daily and to be with a group of women I have never met before, that are both younger and older than I am.

Many of my friends told me that James was their favorite book of the Bible and I now am beginning to see why. It is very practical, a guide to living if you will. James challenges you to be better, act out, and do it more than you say it. I'm liking him. It has also given me a new favorite scripture:

From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. - Romans 11:36

Last night, I brought cookies to Bible study having never made them before. Brave move :) Luckily, they were fabulous and I came home with just the right number for today and not for days. I could eat them all up! They are thick and soft. They are buttery and full of orange goodness! Here is the recipe, courtesy of Stephanie's Kitchen who I found on Pinterest.

Orange Zested Cookies w/ Sweet Orange Glaze

makes about 2-3 dozen (depending on the size)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 egg

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
fresh orange juice

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and orange zest. Rub together with your fingers until zest is throughout the sugar. The sugar will become moist from the oils being released. Using a mixer, cream the butter and orange zested sugar. Add egg and orange juice. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. At this point you can chill for an hour or so or overnight. I was impatient and baked them! Scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and roll into smooth round balls. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden on the bottoms. Don’t overbake or they will be a bit to dry and lose the perfect texture.

Mix the confectioners’ sugar, orange zest and enough orange juice to get a glaze consistency and mix until smooth and creamy. Pour glaze over the tops of the cookies and let set.

Feel free to mix up the citruses. Use lemons or limes instead of oranges, or use some of each. Delicious!

February Desktop

2012-02-01T05:29:00.000-06:00

This month's desktop is fun! I love red and yellow together and with a heart it has just enough Valentine's for me! I hope you enjoy it on your computer this month.

Valentine Yarn Wreath DIY

2012-01-30T09:54:00.000-06:00

I have seen some cute wreaths on Pinterest and etsy lately and wanted to make sometime for my door for Valentine's Day. I was ultimately inspired most by this wreath and this one.

So I ventured to Hobby Lobby and bought an inexpensive wreath form, some yarn and felt. I bought two pieces, but only used one. In total, supplies were around $10. Did you know that you can pull up the 40% off coupon on your phone and they'll accept it! Love that!

I started by tucking the tail of the yarn sideways on the wreath and then began the long and tedious process of wrapping the whole wreath.

No joke- it took over an hour to wrap it all. I just sat and did it while watching TV. One thing to note, pink yarn on white wreath is okay if you have a little Styrofoam peeking through. If you use a darker yarn, I would get a thick yarn or paint your foam wreath a darker color.

When I was done, I placed 3 pins in the final piece and used some felt glue to help it stay in place. I think a hot glue gun would work well also. I just didn't want to pull out the glue gun and wait for it to heat up :)

The next step was making red felt hearts. I draw one on the red felt, cut it our with pinking shears to make sure it had the right shape and then traced it on the full sheet of felt. I then cut out each heart with my pinking shears.

Those hearts were then glued onto the wreath at random angles with my felt glue. Again, I think hot glue would work great. I really love the argyle on the wreath on etsy, but it looked strange with my hearts.

The finished wreath hanging on my front door! I added a little polka dotted ribbon as my hanger.

Super simple and inexpensive wreath for Valentine's Day!

Pink and Blue Girls Room

2012-01-27T09:30:00.000-06:00

My daughter recently turned three and we decided she was ready for a twin bed! We wanted her toddler room to be fun, colorful and full of life. I love the way it turned out- take a tour with me!

Her nursery had blue walls with clouds and flowers. We didn't want to paint, so we left the blue walls and the clouds and just painted over the flowers. That meant that I needed to find bedding with blue in it. Since her nursery was primary colors, I wanted to use more pink this time around. I found her bedding on Pottery Barn Kids on clearance over a year ago. I just stored it away awaiting her being ready for a twin bed.

Her actual bed is from here. We have the queen version in our guest room- it is a great deal. I kept it white, but really debated painting it hot pink. I really wanted the footboard also, but the cost of a twin mattress and box springs shocked me and took up more of my budget that I had wanted!

Since I didn't buy the footboard, I was able to splurge on the pink shag rug and the pink tulle bedskirt from Target. Have you seen the pink tulle bedskirt on Pottery Barn Kids? It is beautiful and expensive!

Her PBK anywhere chair from her first Easter sits nicely in her room now and gives her a place to read. The little birdie on the chair was lovingly made by my Mom and I. It matches the oblong birdie pillow on her bed. I used yellow chenille, pink scraps from her curtains, and a blue small dotted fabric I found online years ago. We had planned to make a bedskirt from the blue fabric, but I fell in love with the tulle.

Her sweet little mirrored nightstand next to her bed is also from Target. It houses a recent family photo and her special Ok to Wake alarm clock. This thing is a life saver! I love the little drawer on the nightstand- it stores all of her silly bands and finger puppets :)

Above her bed are two shelves we installed before she was born. I am still working on what arrangement I like on these. She likes to take things off the bottom shelf!

At the foot of her bed is her books, bird cage, hooks for her hats and baby bed. I tried to bring in a litlte yellow in her room because of the large yellow chenille recliner we own. But, in the end, the yellow chair took up too much room and we took it out of the room.

The birdcage is from Hobby Lobby and I painted it pink and hung a small stuffed birdie inside. I made the subway art in the yellow frame. I saw a couple of etsy I liked and decided I could do it myself. Easiest project- fun fonts, cool colors and a color printer later!

Her art is very personalized- it is all the things we work on with her daily. She hears these things hourly :)

Across the room is her big Hemnes dresser from IKEA, her fish Dorothy, music player, and her collection of hair bows on a dress form. The "Abby Lu" artwork is from Small Words. Her work is amazing and she opens her shop for like 24 hours once a year and then takes about 125 orders before closing it again. I was like #15 because I had stalked her site, Facebook and Twitter!

Her birdie decal is now sprouting from her toys. I wish I had a better way to organize her toys. There are so many small parts and they don't sort well. It drives me a little crazy. I think this with baskets would be a great piece for many years ( toys, then pictures, trophies, yearbooks, etc.). One day!

Thanks for touring Abby Lu's new room!

Carmelitas

2012-01-24T07:17:00.003-06:00

I saw this picture and recipe for Carmelitas and I had to make them. I thought about them for days, looked at them on Pinterest, and even dreamt about them. And, then I made them.

And, they are divine. The gooey caramel in the center is perfection!

A couple of tips- this makes an 8x8 pan which seems small; however, these are rich and you eat a fudge sized bite rather than a brownie sized bite. Also, they take forever to cool. I would put them in the refrigerator and think it would be best to make them overnight. If you cut them too early, the caramel center is still liquid and comes out. Enjoy!

2011 Scrapbook

2012-01-21T15:00:00.000-06:00

I ordered my 2011 scrapbook on January 11th and it is on it's way to me! This is my second year to do a digital scrapbook (here is 2010) and I love it! The colors are bold, pages are shiny, and it all looks so professional!

Here are a few of my favorite pages- I love the vacation pages, but the everyday ones of my daughter make me smile the most. I know I'll look back and be amazed at how small she was!

I use Scrapbook Factory Deluxe to make my pages. It is easier to learn and much less expensive that photo editing software. I use the same software to create blog designs, notepads, stationary, and much more!

The family photos were taken at Picture People. I love red and black together... it may have something to do with my alma mater, Texas Tech University!

I buy most of my digital kits from Sweet Shoppe Designs. They have new releases on sale every Saturday and I look through them and try to plan ahead. I don't end up buying many kits when doing my book since I have them year round. I currently own over 100 kits.

I normally have about half the year done come December and then I get motivated to finish out the year! I have about 80 pages each year- 40 doubles if you will. I print them via Shutterfly and try to get it done in early January when they run 40% off their books. It makes a big difference!

If you are interested in getting started with digital scrapbooking, I can not recommend it enough. I have been doing it for 5 years and just love it. It doesn't make a mess, travels well, and once you buy a kit you can use it repeatedly. It is not like a sticker that can only be used once.

Feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions!

Annual Blessing Ring

2012-01-19T17:09:00.000-06:00

I have always wondered what is the best way to store my Christmas cards and any sweet notes I receive throughout the year. Last year, I placed many of them in an album, but I didn't like the finished product and cards with photos on the inside or back were lost in the book. I think I found the right answer... a blessing ring.

Blessing rings are common for major occasions- 40th birthday, wedding, baby showers, etc. but I decided to make a ring for each year. This would include all of the cards I receive during the year- birth announcements, birthday cards, Mother's Day, etc. and would end with Christmas cards. I would make our Christmas cards the first card on the ring annually.

This is the basic ring you purchase- $1.47 at Hobby Lobby in the jewelry aisle. Super inexpensive.

Here is my 2011 ring with Christmas cards including ours on the front. I didn't do a good job saving cards during the year, but plan to in 2012. I also plan to add some various ribbons between layers of card just tied in simple knots with long tails to make the ring more fun.

I recommend buying a ring and a hole punch this month and keeping them handy. You can add cards as you receive them and stay organized!

Sweet and Salty Salad (and a skinny version)

2012-01-17T16:47:00.000-06:00

I love how blogging and Pinterest have made me a more creative cook. When I am looking for new recipes, I don't ever look in my cookbook cabinets, I go online and start playing around. One of my favorite bloggers, Erin from Blue Eyed Bride, shared this pineapple and pretzel salad on her blog in November, and I have craved it since.

I made it on New Year's Day and it is delicious! It is seriously, so good. The sweet from the cream cheese and the salty crunch of the pretzels- yummo!

I am doing the HCG diet again over the next 3-6 weeks and I will miss this salad. Oh, and bread, pasta, and doughnuts. I obviously have a problem! ha! My husband and I did the HCG diet last Spring and we both lost about 15 pounds in 40 days. It works, but it is hard! We have kept most of it off and are ready to lose 15 more!

Anyway, back to the salad, here is the recipe from Erin. Enjoy!

Pineapple Pretzel Salad

2 cups pretzel sticks, broken into one inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar
20 oz pineapple tidbits, drained
8 oz cool whip

Preheat oven to 400. Put pretzel pieces in a large mixing bowl. Pour sugar and melted butter on pretzels. Mix until pretzels are coated well. Pour mixture onto a foil-lined cookie sheet and spread evenly. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and allow to cool. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together powdered sugar and cream cheese. Stir in cool whip.

Layer the following in a trifle bowl (or other dish- layers look pretty in trifle bowl!): drained pineapple, cream cheese mixture, pretzels (add this right before serving so it doesn’t get soggy). Best made and eaten on same day.

Now, for the skinny version. Here is what I made:

1/2 can No Sugar Added Mandarin Oranges
3 T Fat Free cool whip
5 Pepperidge Farms Pretzel thins

Drain oranges and pour into bowl. Scoop cool whip on top of oranges. Crush pretzels in your hand and place on top. It is really skinny and a great sweet and salty "treat".

Dolls and Doughnuts Party Take Home Treats

2012-01-15T15:55:00.000-06:00

Since we already had two activities at the party that included take home items, I made these little treat bags as a simple and inexpensive final take home for the kids. I placed them inside Abby's baby doll bed in keeping with the theme of the party and placed it on the table by my front door.

Inside the little baggies were "bacon and eggs" and donut seeds. I found both ideas via Pinterest! The donut seeds are simply cocoa Cheerios, which look like small donuts to a child. Genius!

Bacon and eggs are easy to make- you need pretzel sticks, vanilla candy melts and yellow M&Ms.

Place three pretzels next to each other on a foil lined cookie sheet. Lay one vanilla melt on top of each threesome. Place the cookie sheet in a heated oven (I did 350) for less than 2 minutes. The vanilla will soften and you can press the M&M into the white melty candy.

It takes about 20 minutes for the vanilla to harden again. Once it is cooled and hard, you can serve them or place them inside your goodie bags. I topped mine with cardstock designed to match the invites using A Dozen Reasons, found at Sweet Shoppe Designs. This is the digital kit I used for the invites and all of the party print outs. For snack size baggies, I have found that 7" wide by 3.25 inches tall is the best size.

For more Dolls and Doughnuts party details, click here.

Dolls and Doughnuts Party Activities

2012-01-13T15:49:00.000-06:00

I am a big believer in having fun crafts for the guests to do at Abby Lu's birthday parties. You'll recall last year, they decorated felt cookies in keeping with the Milk and Cookies theme.

This year with her party being at breakfast and in jammies, I wanted activities that matched that theme. Ultimately, each of these were inspired by Pinterest, but had some adaptations as I thought about the age of our guests.

The two main crafts awaiting all of the guests were pillowcases to decorate and cereal necklaces to make. The necklaces were set up on Abby Lu's kid sized table in the middle of our living room. We had a big bucket of Fruit Loops and a small bucket of pink and blue curly ribbon cut into long enough pieces. The kids could sit and string the fruit loops onto the ribbon and then make a necklace or bracelet. I loved seeing kids walk around eating their creations!

The second activity allowed them to decorate pillowcases. I bought plain white pillowcases for very little on eBay. I then made two cardboard inserts from old boxes and put fabric markers in a bucket. The kids could color and decorate as they wanted with the markers. Not all kids made a pillowcase- the kids ages 5 and up seemed to most enjoy it. I want to pull it back out for Abby Lu to color one. She is always so proud to have her "art" on display!

I included a little take home instruction sheet for the parents to make sure the pillowcase art is sealed. I pulled this off the back of the fabric markers box.

The final activity provided the most fun for the adults and kids! We had the kids bob for doughnuts! We hung a dozen doughnuts via twine onto a string and hung them across the opening to the dining room.

Sweet Laura Mae was too short for this doughnut!

Once we said go, the kids went to town trying to eat their doughnut first without using their hands! It was hilarious and we all had our cameras and phones out to capture it!

Eventually we called it and let them grab the string and finish their doughnut! Hilarious fun!

If you decide to take on this activity, I would pre tie the twine onto your doughnuts the night before and then you can tie them quickly onto the string hanging on the wall. It made it quicker at the actual party!

For more Dolls and Doughnuts party ideas, click here and here.

Dolls and Doughnuts Party Foods and Recipes

2012-01-11T18:19:00.000-06:00

When we decided to do a Dolls and Doughnuts party, I was most excited about breakfast foods. I love breakfast and brunch, so I knew it would be fun and easy!

Of course, a 9:30 am party needs coffee, milk and orange juice. We also had cold water with orange slices floating and this yummy banana punch.

I wanted a variety of sweets and protein for everyone. I also think it is important that kids' parties have foods that kids will eat and love. All this went into the menu for the party.

I found this recipe for Bacon and Egg Muffins on Pinterest. These were wonderful and super easy. Mine ended up being pretty dry, but I think it was because I made them the night before. I would recommend cooking them the morning of.

Every toddler I know loves mini pancakes. So, I made 2 boxes of them on a big cookie sheet in the oven. When done, I put three of them on a toothpick with a blueberry. This made the presentation better and easier for people to grab them. Depending upon your party colors, you could add a mint leaf, a raspberry, green grape, lots of options!

The party's fruit cups were displayed in these little baking cups. The had my blue, red and pink so I couldn't resist them. I had blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, apples and raspberries in the little cups.

Finally, we picked up sausage and cheese kolaches and doughnut holes from the neighborhood shop the morning of the party. We had about 40 people and I ordered 10 dozen doughnut holes. They were gone! It may have something to do with them being in reach of the birthday girl!

The final item on our menu was Jan's Gourmet Potatoes. Jan is the mother of a friend of mine and I heard she is famous for these potatoes. They were really good, but they did not end up being as much of a hashbrown casserole as I had expected. They were more like twice baked potatoes and actually tasted just like the baked potato casserole from a local bar-b-que restaurant.

Jan's Gourmet Potatoes

8 medium potatoes, boiled with skins on

2 c grated cheddar cheese

10 T butter

1-2 cups sour cream or half and half

1 onion, diced

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Boil potatoes until done. Let cool, peel and grate.

Saute onions in butter then add 1 cup of the sour cream or half and half, salt and pepper. Mix into the potatoes and add grated cheese. Pour into casserole dish. Add more half and half if needed to make the mixture moist. I used 2 full cups of half and half. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. Indulge yourself and add a little more cheese on top during the last 5 minutes.

This whole casserole can be made the night before and then baked. It would be great for Thanksgiving lunch.

Finally, we had birthday cake! I didn't want a traditional cake, so I did a giant rice krispies cake, found on Martha Stewart's website. You essentially make a big batch and then fill 2 8" round cake pans with the treat, saving a handful aside in tupperware. Once cooled, the cakes are removed from the pan and stacked on top of each other. The extra you saved can be used to fill in the holes from merging the two.

In keeping with the birthday theme, we added Trix on top with the number 3 and a border. It was an unexpected twist and fun for kids and grown ups alike.

To see more on the party, click here or here.

Dolls and Doughnuts Party Decor

2012-01-09T18:47:00.003-06:00

We celebrated Abby Lu's 3rd birthday this past weekend with about 20 of her friends from church, daycare, Mother's Day Out and children of my husband and my friends. The party was held at 9:30 in the morning at our home. You can see the invitation I designed and the paper goods selected for the party here.

Party planning is a labor of love. As a professional meeting planner, I don't get to do as much fun, creative, social planning as I would like. Kids birthday parties have quickly become my favorite!

The guests began arriving shortly before 9:30 and all the littles wore their jammies and brought a favorite doll or stuffed toy. I love sweet little kids in their clean jammies! Such fun to see everyone in slippers, too!

The front door was adorned with a burlap doughnut. I got the idea here. I used a hat box lid and a plate to get my shape and then cut out my burlap. I pained the pink icing using simple craft paint from Hobby Lobby. The "sprinkles" are a piece of felt cut into small rectangles. They were then hot glued on. My Mom was in town when I made this, so she sewed it together for me and we stuffed it with tissue paper. If you don't have a sewing machine, a stapler works great, too!

The mantle in our living room was decked out in fun breakfast themed decor. I filled my favorite apothecary jars with cereal and stood vintage paper dolls in front of them. On the right, I placed babies breath flowers inside a cheap red toaster I bought at the local grocery store and included a recent photo of the birthday girl.

The paper doll garland was super easy to make using fun scrapbook papers from Hobby Lobby and a template from here.

I set the table with all the food to look like a bed. This was achieved using 2 white flat queen sheets and 3 pillows from our home. I purchased 3 yards of pink fleece to resemble a blanket and made the "bed". I also sat Abby's baby doll, we call BIG baby, on the bed and dressed her in one of Abby's 9 month dresses. I told you she is a BIG baby! I added some decorative ribbon to the front pillow and just pinned it on the back side.

More details on the food coming soon! I ordered the blue polka dot balloons and 2 giant 3' pink polka dotted balloons from here.

The drink table was set up on the side board in our dining room and it was adorned with 4 kitchen towels I loved all sewn together to make a runner. I bought these at my favorite store in Fredericksburg, Texas called Things in A Room. They have tons of vintage and fresh new fabrics.

The final decor was placed at the entry table for guests to take a treat on their way out the door. I placed the baggies of goodies (details on those coming!) inside Abby's baby doll bed. The chalkboard message board is the most versatile piece- I love it!

There it is- simple and inexpensive decor for a breakfast themed party. You could do Pancakes and Pajamas, Pajam-a-rama, or Dolls and Doughnuts. It is a fun theme to create! To see more ideas for this theme, visit the party board on Pinterest.

I'll share food and activities as well as take home treats DIY this week!

Helpful Housekeeping via Pinterest

2012-01-07T09:40:00.000-06:00

I have learned so many neat things on Pinterest! Here are two recent pins that I tried and am very grateful for:

Did you know that you can shred cooked chicken in your kitchen aid mixer? Just use the paddle on boiled chicken and it shreds in 20 seconds. Super quick and easy!

Our couch is almost 8 years old and it is sagging in all the wrong places. It is now wonderful for lounging, but you can't sit up on it anymore. Well, someone pinned that you can put pillows in the dyer with a tennis ball and it will fluff them. It worked like a charm. Left pillow- fluffed, right pillow- unfluffed.

Thank you Pinterest!

Dolls and Doughnuts Party Preview

2012-01-05T09:19:00.002-06:00

My daughter's 3rd birthday party is this weekend. I truly love planning parties for her and have had her theme for almost a year! We are doing a breakfast party because I think that works well around nap schedules and I love brunch foods.

Abby loves her baby dolls right now and doughnuts are her favorite food- we have them most every Saturday morning. I thought sleepy headed kid pictures in their jammies would be fun!

Here are the paper goods ordered for the party. I love Cath Kidston stuff and Shop Sweet Lulu had everything I needed! I am using pinks, blues and a little red in the decor.

I can't wait to show you the fun activities I have planned along with the yummy food! More details coming next week!

Duggar's Homemade Laundry Detergent

2012-01-03T09:57:00.000-06:00

I made my own batch of laundry detergent earlier this month. I have never felt so domestic! It smells great, I know exactly what is in it, and it is so much more economical. I posted on Facebook my new detergent and heard great reviews from friends that have used it.

I will admit I have never noticed, much less purchased, the ingredients used in making soap; however, they must be popular as all three are on the laundry aisle at Wal-mart. It doesn't get much easier than that.

The only real step is grating the Fels-Naptha bar of soap. It totally looks like cheddar cheese and smells like lemons.

Here is the full recipe on Jessica's blog. It looks like warm yellow soapy water when all mixed up.

Of course I had to make cute labels for my oh so boring bucket. You can get a free copy here.

The label on the lid tells you how much to mix with water and how much to use with each load. The label on the side of the bucket is the initial mixing directions for future batches of detergent.

It cost me about $10 to make this batch which includes the bucket, a big boxes of washing soda and Borax. Next time (which will be in 6-12 months), I will only have to buy a new bar of soap which is less than $3!

That is a real savings and makes this worth a try!

January Desktop

2012-01-01T08:05:00.000-06:00

Happy 2012!

Enjoy this month's desktop and good luck keeping your resolutions!

2011 Recap

2011-12-31T07:49:00.000-06:00

I am learning to love the new blogger interface- I dreaded making the change for so long! But, it is more user friendly, more customization, and it gave me an opportunity to look back at some blog stats. I thought it would be fun to do a 2011 recap- my most read blog posts may surprise you- it did for me!

The post popular post of 2011 is.... drumroll please.... my favorite beauty products! I find this funny! My blog is really about crafts, cooking and party planning more than beauty. My guess is that lots of people are googling Shellac which I covered in the post.

The next most popular post in 2011- my daughter's 2nd birthday party themed with cookies and milk. I love party planning and kids parties are the most fun! I'm glad I could share this labor of love with lots of readers. Her 3rd birthday was 2 days ago and her party is next weekend. Get ready for "Dolls and Doughnuts"!

Along those lines, my most popular post ever is her first birthday, Abby Cadabby party. Abby Cadabby is so popular that I can imagine lots of people theme a party around her.

I had lots of fun doing the 12 days of handmade Christmas this year! So many of the ideas came from Pinterest- I am still not sure if Pinterest saves me money or costs me! The most popular 12 days item was the photo coasters. Along with it getting blog hits and repins on Pinterest, many of my friends made these as gifts for parents and grandparents.

Pinterest has been my 2011 addiction for sure! I could spend hours on the site making myself fun to do lists. I have made numerous crafts and recipes from the site! Of all the things I have pinned, these potatoes have the most repins. How funny is that! I love these potatoes, but I had no idea they were so loved!

Happy New Year's Eve- I hope 2011 has been a fantastic year for you. I have loved blogging about my life and love looking back and then looking forward. I hope 2012 is our best year yet! Cheers!

More Sugar Scrubs

2011-12-28T09:02:00.000-06:00

I am addicted to making sugar scrubs now! After making the Peppermint Sugar Scrub and loving it, I went onto Pinterest in search of more options.

I ended up purchasing 24 different sugar scrub recipes from here and have made two new yummy options- Pumpkin Pie (above) and Milk and Honey (below). She has 2 scrub options per month that match the season or holiday that month. I can't wait to make more!

Happy Scrubbing!

Eat Drink and Be Merry!

2011-12-26T09:30:00.001-06:00

My refrigerator is overflowing with so many yummy leftovers I may not have to cook for a week!

When you host family for any extended period of time, you spend a lot of time in the kitchen. You make a long grocery list after detailed meal planning of your very favorite recipes and then you over prepare, make lots of food, eat too much, and start the next meal as soon as the dishes are down. Don't get me wrong, I show love through food, so I am happy to cook and bake all through the holidays.

Here is a glimpse of our holiday weekend....

For Christmas Eve lunch, my Dad and step-Mom brought pizza! It was unexpected and perfectly simple for our casual lunch and gift exchange. I made a big salad and Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings.

For dinner on Christmas eve, we needed something simple since we were attending church services just before dinner. I made my favorite roast in the crockpot, green beans with brown sugar, and a pasta made from spinach and garlic. We were eating within 30 minutes of arriving home!

For breakfast on Christmas morning, we had monkey bread and migas. I don't know if migas are a regional food, but they are yummy! Eggs mixed with onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, corn tortilla strips, and cheese!

I forgot to snap my plate at lunch on Saturday (bad blogger!), but we made Bunco Buns, veggies with Ranch dip, chips and guacamole and ate lots of leftover desserts!

For dinner, we had the easiest and best pulled pork with homemade potato salad. The BBQ sauce we used this time for the pork was a sweet sauce and I think I like it even better!

For dessert, in celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, we made Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches cake. It is a wonderful moist cake with whipped cream on top. We covered it in sugar sprinkles and used the baby Jesus from my daughter's Little People nativity. She LOVED singing to her little baby Jesus!

We have had a wonderful holiday with lots of time at home playing and watching TV in our jammies! We are celebrating with more friends and family 3 nights this week, so our Christmas is still in full swing!

Any favorite foods from the holidays in your kitchen? I'd love to try something new!

My Christmas Survey

2011-12-24T14:23:00.000-06:00

I love these fun Q&A's, like this one I found on my friend Erica's blog. In case you are blog surfing on Christmas Eve, here is my Christmas survey!

Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper- I use less than 5 bags per year for those odd shaped gifts. I love the presentation of a box with a bow.

Real tree or artificial?
Artificial- I can't imagine spending money to buy a tree every year. I also really like my tree pre-lit and Mother Nature doesn't do that!

When do you put up the decoration and tree?
It is normally done Thanksgiving weekend and I take it down before New Year's Eve. After Christmas, I just want my house back in order. This year we are doing our second family Christmas on 12/29, so I'll likely take it down the next day.

Do you have a nativity scene?
We have an inexpensive wooden one and the Little People one for Abby.

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate, salted caramel made with whole milk if I have my choice.

Colored lights on tree or white?
All white.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
We have had crabbies the past few years and I love them!

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert or snack?
Monkey bread, Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes and Peppermint Snowballs

Favorite Holiday memory (or gift) as a child?
Having to come down the stairs and act surprised by our gifts after my Mom/Dad forgot to get the camera out the first time!

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don't know?

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, we open gifts from each other on Christmas Eve including new Christmas jammies. I read elsewhere about someone opening Christmas jammies on Thanksgiving night and I really like that idea better. We save Santa and stockings for Christmas morning.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
With lots of soft wool and warm decor- mittens, sweaters, etc. See here for more details.

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Making sure my family and most importantly my daughter knows it is about so much more than the presents.

What is your favorite tradition?
My Christmas charm bracelet filled with one charm each year from my husband.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving?
I love finding the perfect gift for someone, but I also love receiving!

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Baby It's Cold Outside

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
I like them, especially spearmint ones!

Hardest person to buy for?
My Dad and my Mother-in-Law

Easiest person to buy for?
Marcus and Abby Lu

Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail photo cards

Favorite Christmas Movie/Show?
I don't watch any holiday shows?

When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I shop year round, but really focus on it in late October

Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I have shared something with someone who would love it/use it more :)

Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We are normally home, or don't travel far or overnight.

Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?
Only if I sing the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Angel on the tree top or a star?
I have a big Santa on top of my tree.

Most annoying thing about this time of year?
All of the people, the traffic and the lines! Where are they the other 11 months?

Does Santa leave the gifts wrapped or unwrapped?
Unwrapped

Do you leave goodies for Santa on Christmas Eve?
Yes, cookies and milk of course.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T05:27:00.000-06:00