Blinged Out Cupcake Picks

It's Wednesday so I'm linking up to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. Today I want to share these blinged out cupcake picks. I looove putting little picks in cupcakes. They make so much more of a statement. Kinda like, it was just a cupcake and now it's a CUPCAKE!

My favorite way to make these picks is to use my scalloped punch from Stampin Up!. I usually punch out a circle and either print or stamp an image and glue them together. For these I used a zebra print paper I punched out with the scalloped punch and glued on a round circle in the center. I stamped a hot pink #7 in the center and blinged it out with glitter. To finish it up, I taped the scalloped circle onto a lollipop stick.(You could also tie on a small piece of ribbon to the lollipop stick) So simple and they turned out so cute!Ummm, I guess I'm forgetting that the cupcakes tasted good, as well. The kids(and teacher) thought they were pretty cool, too! Great for our 7 yr. old little girl!

Works For Me Wednesday- Easy Spanish Moss Topiary

It's Wednesday so that means it's time for another Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. Today I thought I'd show you a spanish moss topiary that it simple, cheap and will look great with your decor. I really like how it turned out and I'm lovin' the texture and pop of green it adds to my living room.

I started out with a floral ball(Styrofoam ball would work too)that was around $3, a bag of spanish moss, which was $2.97 and a small pedestal planter(that's what I'm calling it anyway). The planter was free for me. It previously had a fake autumn flower thing going on. My daughter's primary teacher gave it to her after an activity they had.FYI, I have seen them at Dollar Tree and Dollar General stores. So I estimated that it cost about $4.50 for the whole thing and 15 minutes of my time. I only used half the bag of moss. Their is an apothecary jar waiting for the rest of the it.


I yanked out the autumn flowers and some of the Styrofoam underneath so the ball would sit well on the planter. Then it's pretty simple. Just pull out some of the moss and flatten it out a bit and hot glue it to the ball. Try not to overlap the moss. It will look bulky and messy. When you're finished you can go back and fill in those tiny spaces with small pieces of moss. Be sure to do this on newspaper or something because taking the moss out of the bag is very messy.


My finished product. Not too shabby for 15 minutes and $4.50. I'm really liking it in my living room. Maybe I'll make more for the master. Enjoy!

Candy Bling!

It's Wednesday, so that means it's Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. Today I'm sharing some candy bling that will work as a fun valentine.

I was strolling along in Hobby Lobby on one of my many visits there, and spotted this little plastic heart that opens up for $.99. Valentine immediately came to mind. I filled it with Valentine M&M's and tied on coordinating ribbon and added a bow for a cute and easy necklace. Fun and different. However, I would suggest maybe putting a couple pieces of clear tape so it won't pop open easily while little hands are touching it. My daughter thought the candy bling was super cute!

If you don't want to give it in as a necklace, you could always tie on a bow or embellish it however you like.

Works For Me Wednesday- Baked Potato Pizza

It's Works For Me Wednesday time at We Are That Family, so I'm sharing a recipe for Baked Potato Pizza that works for me! I started thinking about what I could do with the HUGE bag of potatoes that I got on sale. Something different than just mashed and simply baked and I remembered a pizza I had eaten years ago. Although this pizza only uses up one potato, it is something different. My inspiration came from that piece of pizza from Matt B's. A little pizza joint across from campus where my husband went to college. We were still newly married while he was finishing up his degree and would go to Matt B's every now and then. They did have some good pizza! I think my recreation is pretty good if I do say so. The whole family ate it, so that's usually a good sign.


Baked Potato Pizza
1 medium sized potato, washed and sliced thin
1 pizza crust, (from a mix, homemade, pre-made)
1/3 c. alfredo sauce
1 to 1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1/2 c. shredded cheddar
2 to 3 Tbsp. crumbled cooked bacon
chopped green onion, optional

Preheat oven to 450.Arrange sliced potatoes on cookie sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Salt and pepper potatoes. Bake potato slices for about 10 minutes or until tender. Set aside. Spread alfredo sauce onto pizza crust. Sprinkle with about 1 c. of mozzarella and 1/2 c. cheddar. Arrange potatoes on top of cheese. Can sprinkle with more cheese. Sprinkle on crumbled bacon and green onions. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. You can also spread some sour cream on your piece of pizza as my husband did.

Works For Me Wednesday- Freezer Meal Swap

It's time for another Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family and I'm sharing tips for a freezer meal swap. This freezer meal swap worked for me because I came away with some great dishes that are ready to thaw and heat. That's what I'm talkin' about. This will be ideal when I'm short on time or just don't want to cook one night. You know those nights.:) I came away with chicken enchiladas, mexican stuffed shells, spaghetti with meat sauce and creamy italian chicken with noodles(pictured below).

I joined with a few other ladies from my church to do this swap. My friend, Renee, organized and set out some guidelines and tips for us to go by when doing our swap, which I thought was a very good idea.It's always better to have a plan. She did a great job at organizing it. See her tips below.



Some of the things Renee had us consider and guidelines to use were:
1. What type of container to freeze your meal in. It's usually not a good idea to freeze in containers that you need back. Use disposable aluminum pans that can be found at WM and Dollar Stores. Freeze soups or sauces in large freezer bags(like the pic above). Try to get out as much air as possible to freeze flat. Also, you can freeze in your own pan, such as a 9x13, by lining it with foil first. When it is frozen, just remove the whole thing and wrap in foil. The person receiving it can then use their own pan to cook it in.

2. Make the same number of the same meal as the number of people in your swap. (I did 4 meals since their were 4 of us in the swap)Also, make sure the meal will feed 6 to 8 people, taking into consideration those with larger families.

3. So that no one feels shorted , plan on a good quality meal. It doesn't have to be expensive, but shouldn't be minimal either. For example, if you made a nice casserole, pasta or meat it wouldn't be fair to exchange and get Kraft macaroni and cheese.

4.If your sauce, soup, casserole needs pasta, rice or potatoes to go with it, you do not need to include that except where it is a main part of the dish like a baked spaghetti or something like that. (However, one of our participants did include the noodles in a bag with hers.That was nice,huh.)

5.Cook the meat you exchange. No uncooked meat in a casserole or marinade to avoid any potential problems.

6. Consider bringing a cooler to the swap to store your meals in.

7. Label your dishes with what it is and cooking instructions.( A good example is her dish below)

8. Make and freeze your food ahead so if you can not make the actual swap you can still pass your food along to the others.

Renee also hosted our first swap at her home with a light lunch.(I couldn't make it because I had family in)It would also be good to rotate the swap each month so the same person isn't hosting it every month. We planned for 3 months, Oct/Nov./Dec. Maybe I'll host next month.

I hope these freezer meal swap tips and guidelines work for you!

Works For Me Wednesday- Get Rid Of Magazine Clutter

It's time for another edition of Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. I thought I'd share what I have done to get rid of my magazine clutter. As I've mentioned before, I like magazines so I can accumulate a lot of them.Way more than what's in that picture! Well, my magazine basket started to overflow -BIG TIME- so I had to do something about it, but I didn't want to toss all those good recipes and craft ideas I'd seen. However, there was just no way I was going to store all those magazines.



So this is what I came up with. I started tearing or cutting out the articles/recipes that I wanted to keep. I arranged them into three categories: recipes, crafts and miscellaneous. Voila! No need to keep magazines to clutter up my space anymore.


I used a large paperclip to separate the different categories and tucked them into a folder. When this one gets full, I'll just start on another one. You could also label your folder on the front to make it easier to see what's in it. The folders take up a lot less space and can be stored so much easier on my bookshelf.



If you've got magazine clutter, take control of it. Start cutting those articles and tuck them into a cute folder. Take back your space!

Works For Me Wednesday- Frozen Banana Pops

It's Works For Me Wednesday time over at We Are That Family and I want to share a quick treat that works for me. (I guess I could have saved this for next week's themed edition of WFMW which is "Best Summer Recipes," but I'll go ahead and share) This treat takes bananas from drab to fab. It's frozen banana pops. They are pretty simple and taste like banana ice cream. Mmmmm!


I have my little helper in the kitchen to demonstrate. First, you'll need to peel and then cut the ends off the bananas. ** Next time I make them, I will cut the bananas in half to get two smaller pops out of one banana. The normal size banana was just to much to eat for the kids.**



After they are cut, insert a popsicle stick in the bottom of each banana leaving enough room to hold it. Place bananas on wax paper lined pan and freeze for at least one hour.




Next, remove your frozen bananas from the fridge and get ready to have fun! Yep, this is the fun part. You get to dip 'em in chocolate and coat them with all the good stuff!

I melted about 1 c. of chocolate chips with 1 tbsp. of oil in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip or spoon chocolate onto bananas and sprinkle on the goodies. We used sprinkles, chopped peanuts, toffee bits, and crushed chocolate goldfish. Put the bananas back in the freezer to firm up a bit.



Our fab frozen banana pops! Aren't they cute! I really liked the toffee bits but the chocolate goldfish was a favorite as well. Try these delicious treats for a cool summertime snack.

Works For Me Wednesday- Board Game Storage/Organization

It's Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family and I wanted to share how I store my board games. It works for me!

I store my board games, and we have quite a few of them since my family loves to play games, upright instead of stacked on top of each other. I store them very tightly so we can just pull one out and the others stay put. By storing them like this, we have so much more room to put them than by stacking them. . It's a good way to store a lot of games. I will say the pieces do get strewn about the box a little more, but hey, were just going to take out the pieces to play the game anyway. There are some games like Boggle and Mastermind that I still stack because they have so many pieces and I don't want to chance them falling out, but I only have a few like that.

I will say that this is not my idea. I saw my friend Kim storing her games this way years ago,but I didn't try it myself until recently. I'm glad I did. It gives me more space to store those new games we'd like to get. Thanks Kim!

Works For Me Wednesday- Scalloped Punch Basket Labels

So, why am I showing you all these baskets and that lovely can of Raid? Well, it's Works for me Wednesday time at We Are That Family and I thought I'd share my scalloped punched label tags. I recently organized my laundry room shelves a little more and used these baskets with handles to contain all the "stuff."( I actually still need to add a few more.) I didn't want to put a label directly onto the basket, so I thought these large tags would work well. They are punched using my friend's Marvy Uchida Giga Scalloped Punch.(Love that punch. Gotta get it for myself)
Then I just wrote on them what the basket contains and then tied them onto the handle with black grosgrain ribbon. I'm really liking this. My shelves weren't really messy before, but adding more baskets with the labeled tags makes it look so much neater and cleaner. My husband even noticed them and said it looked good and now he actually knows what's in those baskets. I do like to organize and like it even more when I find my materials, like these baskets, on clearance (happy dance!) and cute ways to make it pop, like the labels. Give 'em a try!

Fun With Felt

It's time for another Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family. Today I want to share some felt board fun with you. This is my large felt board. (I'm almost embarrassed to show it. It's gotten kind of shabby). We use this board to play with a lot of our felt, but we also have a smaller one that we use. It' simply a piece of board(not sure actually, something like cork board) that I covered with felt and then stapled to the back. It's very simple to make one.

The felt "works for me" because it's something we pull out occasionally. We don't get our felt out all the time, so when we do it captures the kids' attention. Mainly my two younger ones, but my son who is 9 will still play with some of it. Most of our felt comes from a company called
Story Time Felts, formerly called The Storyteller. I've been very happy with all my purchases from them. However, a lot of the felt I have are pieces I earned from having a home party. That's always nice!






Some of the kids' favorites are these that actually go to a book, but I opted to keep them as separate pieces. Their are about 8 different pages with 8 different activities. On the page with the elephant you can change out the felt window to show different weather and dress the elephant appropriately for the weather. The other one is so cute. The fridge opens and it is filled with food. So are the cupboards. It comes with canisters, a table and a bowl of fruit, too.




Another favorite is this group of felt called " Who Ate The Food?" It goes along with the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.




This is our small felt board we use for things like this little Mix N' Match game. We also like to play with other felt favorites like "The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" and "Thumbkin." The kids frequently use felt that go along with scripture stories for our family night. Be sure to check out Katie's Nesting Spot for some fun felt ideas, too.

Works For Me Wednesday- Holding Juice Boxes by the "Ears"

It's Works For Me Wednesday time at We Are That Family. I wanted to share a tip that I learned about a couple years ago that works for me. No, I'm not promoting Juicy Juice brand juice, but I am using it for my prop. When I was at the park with my kids a couple years ago, another lady was feeding her kids lunch and she told them to hold their juice boxes by the ears. So I payed attention as they held their juices by the two little flaps or "ears" that fold out on top of the box. This way they don't squeeze it out on themselves. "This woman is genius!", I thought to myself. She said she learned it from school when she used to be a teacher. I'd never heard of this before and thought it was great. I guess only a mom can get that excited about holding a juice box, but I did. So, for the times that we do actually have juice boxes at our house, which isn't a lot, I remind the kids to hold it by the ears and we don't have any messes.



Here is the juice box with its "ears" out. None of my kids were around to demonstrate when I had time to take the picture, but I think you get the idea. Try it and see what you think!

Works For Me Wednesday- Picture Album Purse Organization

It's Works For Me Wednesday time. Now hosted by We Are That Family. Her first time to host it. Yea!!!

I want to share this little bit of organization that works for me. It is what I call "picture album purse organization." (Like that name?) However, it's not my idea. I saw this in Weight Watchers' magazine a while back and thought it would be great for me. Basically, you just use a mini size photo album(you can get them at Dollar Tree) and designate certain pockets in them for things like receipts, business cards, coupons, lists, etc. All the things that seem to get tossed in your purse and create clutter. Well, that's what happens to my purse anyway, so this is great for me. I'm using a cute little embellished photo album that one of the young women from church gave me for Christmas. She monogrammed it just for me. How cute!

I have quite a few pockets set aside for receipts. You could also put tabs on the pages, but I thought they would get torn off going in and out of my purse.

I have another section for coupons.

A section for business cards and one for lists. I try to sort through it at the end of the week, but you know, that doesn't always happen.:) Cater it to your own needs. It helps me control the clutter because I can't fit EVERYTHING in my wallet.

Works For Me Wednesday- Easy Whipping Cream Biscuits

Being a southern girl, I like a good biscuit. Being a busy mom and wife, I like that biscuit to be simple to make as well. So for Works for me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer, I'm sharing this easy Whipping Cream Biscuit recipe that works for me. My sweet friend and partner in crafting, Tammy,(Miss you! She moved in August)gave me this recipe a few years ago and I have been using it since. It's a great recipe for a made- from- scratch biscuit that is so simple. Really! You gotta try it. I try to plan out my menu so if I know I'm going to make biscuits , I'll have the two, that's right, two ingredients on hand.




I thought I'd also share my favorite way to eat a biscuit. That's with good ole Sorghum syrup. As far as I know, this is a southern thing. I've only seen sorghum in the south. I remember eating this at my papa and nanny's house all the time. Oh it's so good and comforting! Sorghum is similar to molasses, but lighter in color and a bit of a different taste. It's made from a different plant, as well. I've done my research. I was curious. Anyway, it is very good to me. However, my biscuits and syrup aren't Weight Watcher friendly, so I have to limit myself to one biscuit and a bit of syrup and then put it away! Try this combination sometime and see if you like it. Just an FYI, Cracker Barrel will bring out a little bowl of sorghum syrup if you request it with your biscuits there.

Whipping Cream Biscuits
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup whipping cream

Combine ingredients, stirring with a fork until blended. (Dough will be stiff)Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 10 to 12 times. Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness; cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. Bake at 45o for 10 to 12 minutes. Yield: 1 dozen ( I've never gotten 12. I usually get 9 or 10 biscuits)

Works For Me Wednesday- Chocolate Surprise Sundae Cups

It's time for Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer, so I'm sharing these cute and delish chocolate sundae cups that definitely "work for me"! That's right, they're chocolate. These cuties work for me because they are different than your normal sundae cup, are simple to make, and they add that special little touch. You can also store them in the freezer until you want to use them. Love that! Just pull one out when you're ready to use it. They are perfect for a Valentine treat for your sweetie or for your next party! Here I've made sundaes with all the fixins, but they would work just as well for mousse, pudding or just to hold candies. Have fun with it! I've gotten rave reviews from my husband and my kids with these! Be sure to get the recipe below.

YUM!!!

This is what the sundae cups will look like once they are chilled in the fridge.

Chocolate Surprise Sundae Cups
1 c. semisweet chocolate morsels
1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
Foil cupcake liners

1. Set out eight foil cupcake liners. Place chocolate morsels and shortening in a small microwave -safe bowl. Microwave about 1 minute, stopping to stir at 30 seconds. Stir until smooth.
2. Spoon 1 Tbsp. chocolate into a liner. With the back of a small spoon, coat bottom and sides with chocolate to form an even layer about 1/8" thick. Repeat with remaining chocolate and liners.
3. Refrigerate 15 minutes or until firm. Gently peel off foil liners, being careful not to handle the chocolate too much. Discard liners. Refrigerate chocolate cups until ready to use or wrap individually in plastic and freeze.

Works For Me Wednesday- Foam Cookware Protectors

Rocks in my Dryer hosts a Works for Me Wednesday, so I thought I'd join in the fun! Check it out for some good tips and fun stuff! Thanks to Heidi for posting about WFMW, or I would have never known about it!



I want to share a tip I learned about not too long ago. A lady from my church told me about it when I saw her in a craft store one day. Go figure, me at a craft store. I visit them frequently! Anyway, she told me that her daughter uses foam craft pieces as pan protectors. I thought that was awesome since I'm always scrounging up some funky piece of cardboard to go between my pots and pans, which never really fits right. You can buy special protectors, but the ones I've priced are pretty expensive. I got a pack of foam circles for about $4.50. I didn't use all of them, so I can use the rest for crafts. Can't beat that!

The foam pieces come in different shapes, so you could use whatever you like. I chose circles. However, I couldn't find the really thick pieces of foam, so I adhered 2 of them together with sticky strip to make them a bit thicker. You could probably use glue dots or hot glue as well. I think they work best for saute pans. They will go between my bigger sauce pans, but not the small ones.Guess I should just cut them in half. I invested in a nice set of cookware, so I want to keep it in good shape. This is an inexpensive way to protect your pans from getting all scratched up. Try it!

Nope, that's not a purple pancake. It's the foam in between my pans.