Idea Blog

Happy Fall!

2012-11-16T11:03:00.001-08:00

Recently, I have been searching pinterest and taking advantage of all the awesome ideas on the site! I came across http://thepinkinkdoodle.blogspot.com/2010/11/m-turkey-favors.html
and got this idea to make little turkey M&M gifts. They are really simple to make and cute. The blogger posted instructions on her website for all to see!

Christmas Muffin Basket

2012-01-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Our friends seemed to like this Christmas treat more than our past cookies and sugary goodies. We included little Knott's jams from Target that we got for a great price.

Thanksgiving Treats

2012-01-14T16:43:00.001-08:00

Turkey & Pilgrim Hat

Items: Candy corn, Reese's PB Cups, Rice Krispie, Cookies, frosting, Orange tic-tac.

Starbucks Coffee Cake

2011-05-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this copycat recipe on picky-palate.com and it was delicious. I find it even better than Starbucks coffee cake now!! (probably because the famous coffee company changed their recipe a while ago too) It is more moist and you get more for your money by making your own! This is such an easy method too. Here is the link for the website for the recipe: http://picky-palate.com/2008/02/25/if-you-like-starbucks-coffee-cake/

I will also copy & post the recipe below too in case it ever gets deleted.

Starbucks Coffee Cake
By picky-palate.com

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (plus ingredients on back of box)2 Sticks cold salted butter
2 1/4 Cups flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 ¾ Cups brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla
Powdered sugar (for dusting)
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare cake mix in large bowl according to directions on box. Spray 9X13 pan with non-stick spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until center is just barely set.
While cakes are baking, prepare crumb topping. In large bowl of electric mixer combine, butter, flour, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla until all crumbly.
Immediately after cake is removed from oven, break crumb topping into marble size pieces with fingers, sprinkling over top. Put back in oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes (topping will begin to look a little less wet/raw). Let cool fully then dust with powdered sugar, using a sieve.
Cut into squares and serve.

P.S. You should definitely check out picky-palate.com because there are some GOOOOD recipes posted on that website.

He "Chex" his list twice!

2010-12-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Chex Mix & holiday tag that says:

Remember Santa Chex his list twice to see who's been naughty or nice so be good for goodness sake.

Although you cannot see the chex mix inside the bag from the picture, I used a recipe that mixed peanut butter, jam, white chocolate, and powdered sugar that coats the chex. (sounds yucky but actually is very yummy & very addicting) Then chex is covered in white powdered sugar so it looks like white snow. I encourage you to look up chex recipes. I found the recipe off another food blog but am unsure if I should post the link...but maybe you can google it!

Happy Holidays! ;-)

Xmas Napkin Holder

2010-12-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

With red and green felt fabric, you can make cheery decorative table. It's easy because you just cut the pieces and cut slits in the middle of the green piece and red flower piece. Then taking the long piece, fold it in half and pull it through both the cut slits. If you're interested in it, I can see if I can draw up a pattern and upload it! Merry Christmas! ;-)

Peppermint

2010-12-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

If you're in a crunch this holiday season and need something quick to give friends or neighbors, then a simple way to get your holiday treats done is to buy Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark, add some matching ribbon and tie a cute little ornament to the gift like this:

But you better hurry!...Ghirardelli's Peppermint Bark is only here for a Limited amount of time.

Reindeer Droppings

2010-12-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

Every year for a good laugh we make friends and family reindeer droppings. We decorate a box of whoppers to look like Rudolph, add a funny poem, and then glue a tail on the back. What you may not notice is that you can cut a flap around the tail, so rather than open the box of Whoppers, the yummy treat can be retrieved from Rudolph's bottom!

Mary & Baby Christmas Ornament

2010-12-03T11:38:00.001-08:00

Christmas is about the celebration of the birth of our savior, and what a better way to remember this holiday than by making a beautiful Christmas ornament to add to your own tree. Once you have all the materials, this ornament is simple to put together. Any picture can be used, but it has to be printed on transparency paper.

Materials:

One or more clear Christmas ball ornaments (can be purchased online or at craft store)
Clear Transparency paper
ribbon for bow

First you are going to print the Mary picture on the transparency paper.

Cut a circle around the printed Mary picture so the diameter fits your glass ball.

Carefully roll your cut picture so that it is small enough to place through the opening of your glass ball.

Using pliers (or tweezers), place your rolled picture inside and situate it so that both sides of your picture properly meet the diameter of your ball.

Your picture has to be cut to the exact diameter of the inside of your glass ball in order for it to sit perfectly upright. (It may take a couple of tries.)

Once your picture is placed in the desired position, the top can be placed back on the opening of the glass ball.

A bow & decorative hook can be added & the ornament is ready to be placed on the Christmas tree!

Halloween Skeleton Wreath

2009-10-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Make a unique halloween decoration to hang on your door this halloween! All the materials can be purchased at Michael's. You can purchase the black wreath, ribbon, and styrofoam bones at Michael's. Then using a glue gun, glue the bones to the wreath and add a orange halloween bow! It's a quick and easy, homemade decoration that will look beautiful on your door for the spooky holiday!

Halloween Candy Mix

2009-10-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

Make this sweet treat for halloween!

You can also give it as a gift to a neighbor or friend for this halloween season.

For the mix, we bought the ingredients at Winco. We used candycorns, candy pumpkins, toffee peanuts, chocolate covered peanuts, white chocolate raisins, and M&M's. You can add other types of nuts and candy to the mix to make your own flavor mix.The ribbon and dish seen in the picture were purchased at Michael's. Cover it with cellophane if you are giving it as a gift. It also makes a beautiful candy dish for the house! ~Happy Halloween~

Pumpkin Face

2009-10-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Make a simple pumpkin face to decorate your house for halloween!
You need:
small, rectangular piece of wood
Paint: Orange & white
Black Pernament Marker
Ribbon
Glitter
Glue
Paint your plank of wood orange and let it dry. Once it is dry, draw your face with the pernament marker. Then using the white paint, color in the eyes. When everything is dry, sprinkle glitter around the edges and glue a ribbon on. (see picture above)

Halloween Scrapbook Page

2009-10-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Last night, I took a scrabooking class at Now & Then Scrabook store, taught by Letti. She makes the most beautiful, elaborate pages! The halloween page I made came out so cute, I just have to post it.

Delicious & Easy Thanksgiving Pie

2009-10-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Fall is here! And thanksgiving is just around the corner. If you ever get tired of the traditional pumpkin pie, then I encourage you to try this Chocolate Pie recipe! You can use your own pie crust recipe, or to make the job extra easy, buy a premade one. Here's my pie crust recipe:
Pie Crust
3 Cups flour
1 ½ Cups shortening
¼ Cup of milk
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
¾ teaspoon salt
Mix shortening, flour and salt. In separate bowl, mix milk
and vinegar, then combine with flour mixture.
Cut dough with pastry cutter. Place in pie pan.

Now for the filling (the easy part): Jello instant chocolate pudding
Cool Whip from the can
Follow the pudding box recipe. Add pudding to the crust, then top with cool whip. In the picture, I topped the pie with chocolate shavings. Keep refrigerated!

Bath Bombs

2009-09-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Recently we made pink bath bombs for a breast cancer awareness event. They turned out great. We put them in little plastic baggies to hand out. A good idea is to put a bunch of bath fizzies in a clear bag and tie it with a ribbon and card for a cute gift! The bombs will fizz when you put them in your bath. Here's the recipe:
½ C Baking Soda
¼ C Cornstarch
¼ C Citric Acid
1 teaspoon deodorized cocoa butter,
Melted, add scent of your choice
(essential oil or fragrance oil)

1 Tablespoon distilled water
Colorant if desired

Mix the baking soda, cornstarch
and citric acid together in a glass or
stainless steel bowl. Add color and
keep mixing with your hands until it
is completely colored. (Use a glove)
Microwave the cocoa butter and add
scent. Blend well into dry ingredients.
Add distilled water and mix with hands
until it reaches a clay-like consistency.
Pack firmly into mold. (The more
compact, the better your bomb will be)
Turn out onto paper and let harden.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2009-08-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

These cookies are delicious! They were gone really fast! I am definitely making these again at Christmas time because they taste great and make a cute presentation!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Makes about 3 Dozen
1 C butter, softened
½ C creamy peanut butter
¾ C packed brown sugar
½ C Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 package of mini peanut butter cups (13 oz)

Drizzle:
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 T creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. shortening

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

Roll into 1- ¼-in. balls and press miniature peanut butter cup into each; reshape balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Then let cool.

For drizzle, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Taco Ring

2009-08-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite (and easy) dishes to make. It is delicious and a beautiful presentation

Taco Ring

2 (8-oz) packages refrigerated crescent rolls

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

1 3/4 C shredded Cheddar cheese

2 Tablespoons Water

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Optional Toppings: Salsa, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream and/or guacamole

Preheat oven to 375. Cook ground beef in Skillet for 10-12 minutes, or until no longer pink, and break beef into crumbles; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix, 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and water.

Take out a large round pizza or cooking stone.
Unroll both packages of crescent rolls and separate into 16 triangles.

Arrange triangles on pizza stone, slightly overlapping, in a circle with wide ends 4 inches from edge of baking stone. The points should extend off the edge of the baking stone. Roll the wide ends of dough toward center to create a 5-inch opening.

Using a Large cookie scoop, scoop meat filling evenly over dough in continuous circle. Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under dough at center to form a ring.

Brush with egg white and sprinkle remaining cheese.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Then serve with toppings.

Roxy Doxie Scrapbook Page

2009-08-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

I made this scrapbook page using a picture of my dog, Roxy. The lettering is from the Hannah Montana Cricut cartridge and the swirls are from the Storybook cartridge. I added ribbons, diamonds, and a flower as embellishments.

Make Your Own Pizookie

2009-08-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ever crave a pizookie from Bj's Brewhouse Restaurant and wish you could make it for yourself? We have it all the time! I found a quick, easy way of making my own pizookie using Skookie dishes and Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. We usually buy the dough from Sam's Club and the skookie pans can be found at Bed Bath & Beyond.

You can also make your own cookie dough, but I recommend buying Pillsbury cookie dough in the tub because it tastes like BJ's restaurant cookies and is super easy! Other cookie brands cannot compare to Pillsbury's dough.

Preheat oven to 350. Scoop the dough into the skookie pans and then press it flat so that it covers the entire pan. You have to be careful not to put too much because it will overflow in the oven. Then bake the cookies 15-17 minutes. Let them cool, add ice cream, then voila! You have your own pizookie!

P.S. I have had people ask me where to get the Pillsbury cookie dough. I always get mine at Sam's Club, but not everyone has a membership or a store near them. So, if you have seen this dough at any other stores, I would love for you to comment and share where you found it!

Cupcakes!

2009-08-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

We made these cupcakes for a church activity recently. They were simple, yet turned out so cute!
I pulled out my one of my books titled Hello, Cupcake! while baking. You may have seen it on NBC's Today show in the past. It has amazing ideas of different cupcake designs. Everything from holiday designs to animals and people.

For example, for April Fools, the book shows you how to make Spaghetti and meatball cupcakes using Ferrero Rocher chocolates as the meatballs and strawberry perserves as the spaghetti sauce, garnished with white chocolate to represent cheese.

Another one of my favorites is in the "Party Animals" section of the book (which is also perfect for this summer)! They cover the cupcakes in blue frosting and then cut twinkies in half, stick a chocolate wafer in them for fins, and cover them in gray frosting to make sharks!

I listed the book an item on my lemonade stand (at the bottom of this blog, under where it says 'Items' I recommend/have used). If you click it, you'll be directed to Toys R Us where you can purchase Hello, Cupcake!. I hope you check it out!

Scrapbook Page Birthday

2009-08-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Today I made an awesome birthday scrapbook page! I haven't put any pictures on it yet, but there are 3 spaces to place birthday photos. I used lots of glitter glue stickles! Check it out:

2009-08-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Idea Blog! I will post crafts, recipes, and project ideas. More coming soon....