Look what I made!

Are you on pinterest? Well, about a month or so ago, one of my friends pinned a cute little candy bar wrapped in brown paper to look like a reindeer.  I thought it was cute but didn't really have a use for it.  Last week, my daughter's teacher posted a sign-up list for their holiday party.  The first item on the list was drinks and a light bulb went off.  Hey! I could make drink boxes like those candy bars.  I couldn't remember who pinned it and I couldn't find it again. So, I improvised.  The original just wrapped a brown piece of paper around a Hershey bar,  cut out brown and red circles for noses and black and white circles for eyes then add pipe cleaner antlers.  I decided to use some bronze foil wrapping paper I got from Hobby Lobby.  I also decided to use oval-shaped googly eyes instead of paper.  For the nose I used red glitter paper.  The only problem I had was that nothing really stuck to the foil paper.  I use double-sided photo stickers for just about every project but they were too easy to remove from the paper.  I ended up using hot glue.  No biggie.  The last time I decorated drink boxes I used pop-up stickers to attach the straws back onto the box but I just used hot glue for that too and it was perfect!  Oh just don't forget to punch a hole through your paper where the straw will go.  I thought they were so cute I ended up making extra for a party we were invited to.  Hope you like them!

The 12 days of Christmas



This year has been so hectic for our family.  In January I started an accelerated full-time nursing program.  We are also expecting another precious little girl.  Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind of stress and emotion.  My husband handles it all so well.  In the past I always found little ways to show him how much I appreciate him and not just on special occasions.  This year (when he has helped the most) I feel like I really let that part of our relationship slide.  Well, it's Christmas time and we always exchange gifts but I thought this year I would do something really special for him.  It's the 12 days of Christmas.  I started on the 13th and each day I am giving him a little gift that corresponds to that number.  I also add a little tag that says "On the (whatever day it is??) day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..." with some goofy Christmas clipart.  For day one I give him one thing, day two I give him two things, day twelve I give him twelve things... you get it.  Some are nice gifts and some are really small but it has been a lot of fun so far trying to get these gifts to him without him catching me.

Oklahoma shirt from Unlabeled

  So, for day one I gave him one great T-shirt.  On the second day I gave him a pair of gloves.  Yesterday was the third day so I got him Battlefield 3 for the PS3.  I'm pretty sure I will regret that one but he was excited about it and that's what I was going for.  Apparently, you play this one with a squad so he has to get on when his buddies are online and they fight battles together.  Yeah... whatever.  I don't think it could be any worse than COD but we'll see.  I felt like he was gone for the first few weeks Modern Warfare came out but this last time he wasn't so bad.  I'm really thinking I should have given him a 3-pack of golf balls or something instead.  Oh well.  Anyway, it took him until last night to figure out what I was doing.  He asked, "So do I actually get a gift all 12 days?"  My answer? "If you're good!"  ;) 

Sometimes he works 24 hour shifts and he leaves before 5:30am. Ugghh! So I have to get his gift ready and put it somewhere he will see it in the morning but not the night before.  It has been a challenge. So far, I have just put them in his truck when he isn't paying attention (like when he is playing his stupid PS3.  Today is the fourth day so I gave him a 4-pack of snacks.  I used Starbucks frappaccino bottles, removed the labels, washed them really well and used scrapbook paper to cover the little carrier and add detail to the bottles.  I basically made a template for the box and just cut strips of paper to wrap around the bottles.  I also used a circle punch for the bottle tops.  Mine was 1.5" but I think they look just a little on the small side.  I secured everything with double-sided photo stickers that are used for scrapbooking. 

This is what I ended up with!  I think they're pretty cute.  I would have preferred the mocha frappaccino light bottles because the caps are blue but I don't think Nic would drink those.  I thought about posting a template but I'm really not that computer savvy.  Anyway, you could really fill them with anything but I chose puppy chow, caramel popcorn, trail mix (with cranberries- his fave) and a spicy chex party mix.  Now that I have all these snacks I'm thinking I probably should have filled all the bottles with the same thing. I could always take them to a party (or just eat the puppy chow myself- hmmmm...) What do you think? 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies



Pumpkin Spice Cookies



I make these cookies every year and they always get rave reviews.  I made these for the nurses on my last day of this clinical rotation.  They went so fast I couldn't even get a picture.  So I'll update the next time I make them.  This can be made from scratch but it is so much easier to use a spice cake mix. It has the spiciness of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves combined with the sweetness of pumpkin and they actually aren't too bad for you because I use applesauce or apple butter instead of butter, oil, or shortening. These are my new faves. They are super quick and super easy! I do make them a little less healthy by topping them with cream cheese icing. They taste a lot like the pumpkin cookies from City Bites... only BETTER!

1 (14 ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease two baking sheets.
2. Beat the pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the cake mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves until well blended and creamy. Drop by spoonfuls on prepared baking sheets. The batter is runny like a cake mix but they don't expand or run on the cookie sheet. So, whatever they look like when you put them in the oven is what they will look like when you pull them out.
3. Bake in preheated oven until tops are firm when lightly touched, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on racks. If you use stoneware, they take just a bit longer to bake.  Honestly, they are so moist that they are hard to overcook.

The cream cheese icing recipe I use is 1 stick butter and 1 block cream cheese creamed together well, then add about 2 cups or so of powdered sugar. I know it's not exact but I just add more until I like the texture and taste. Unfortunately I have to taste the icing each time I add more. You know, like quality control. It's a painstaking process but I will make the sacrifice.  Enjoy!!!

Cake!

This is a cake I made a while back for my nephew.  It was a lot of fun and my first "fancy cake"  This is the cake that gave me the confidence to try things I thought were too complicated.  This cake was so easy so I thought I would share how I did it.
This was chocolate sour cream cake with mini chocolate chips. YUMM-O!  I used 10" and 8" round which was a little more cake then I needed but everyone went back for seconds so it worked out.  I crumb coated them, then iced them with a basic buttercream, stacked them and started decorating.
I used those coffee piroulines that come in a can.  I thought they kinda looked like bamboo or something tropical.  I broke them in half(ish) and added them to the bottom layer.  They weren't exactly the same, which I liked.  Then I piped grass with a Wilton 233 tip.  It was pretty simple.  Just straight vertical lines.  (Leave a space for your waterfall)
Next, I added the sand.  To make the sand I used my food chopper to crumble graham crackers then blended it with brown sugar.  I sprinkled it on the beach areas. 

Now it's time for the waterfall! I outlined the space I wanted to be the waterfall and simply covered the buttercream with Wilton's blue sparkle gel. I wasn't sure about the sparkle but it was all they had.  I think it made it look more like water.  The final touch was shredded coconut to look like the plunge pool of the waterfall.

Next, I cut toasted coconut marshmallows (I got them from Walmart but I just posted that so you could see a pic) I just cut them in irregular pieces to look kind of like rocks or sand piles or something. They do have candy coated chocolate in colors and shapes that look like rocks but I didn't think they were big enough.  I lined the waterfall with them but it's not necessary.  Then you can decorate with whatever you want.  This was my first cake so I did use a couple things that were inedible- the palm tree and the flowers (they were plastic barrettes that I cut apart)  and I added the teddy bears

This is the smash cake I made to go with it for a swim themed birthday party. I partially mixed blue icing coloring so that it would give me a little color variance when I iced the "waves" in the water. I used coconut as if the water was rushing the beach. and the sand I made for the cake above.
For the fun part... the bears! I used teddy grahams and iced on little goggles, snorkels, swimsuits, trunks and even bikinis with royal icing. I used gummy life savers for the little floatie rings. Then I cut fruit roll-ups for the beach towels on the beach. Finally, I added some colored goldfish crackers in the water. This cake was so fun and the birthday boy loved it! 

Here is a better view of the top

Please excuse my kitchen. I am a very messy baker!  Actually, I'm a messy everything.  I use every possible gadget and appliance and it makes clean-up tons of fun. I hope you like the cakes.  I know they aren't "professional-grade" but I'm proud of them anyway.  This was the start of a hobby for me.  It has been so much fun creating cakes, very rewarding to be able to give them to my friends and family and DELICIOUS, if I do say so myself.  I have improved along the way but not to a level that I would want to or even could do this professionally.  I'm adding this to a very long list of hobbies!  Thanks for looking!!!

I have a new kitchen creation!

I can't exactly call it a recipe so I will just call it a creation.  I have to thank my good friend Angie for the great idea!!!  It's a lot like my chocolate sour cream cake but the flavors are changed. 

1 box devil's food cake
1 small box vanilla pudding
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
2 packages of Lindt's Lindor truffles

Mix the dry ingredients then the wet and put into cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake on 350 for 5 minutes. Unwrap the truffles and put them in the semi-baked cupcakes and bake for 13 more minutes (18 total).  I recommend topping with your favorite cream cheese icing.  The fudge or chocolate BC is just too much.  The cream cheese icing recipe I use is 1 stick butter and 1 block cream cheese creamed together well, then add about 2 cups or so of powdered sugar.  I know it's not exact but I just add more until I like the texture and taste.  Unfortunately I have to taste the icing each time I add more.  You know, like quality control.  It's a painstaking process but I will make the sacrifice.

These cupcakes are so good and so easy.  Everyone will ask you for the recipe!  I've made them a few times now and people are always floored.  They are very rich so beware ;)

I think I'm going to try this with my white velvet cake and add dark chocolate truffles and then maybe do fudge icing.  What do you think?  Please let me know if you make this.  I want to know if you like them as much as I do!

A Very Merry Unbirthday

Olivia is 2!!!  Well, she's been 2 since the end of April but we just had her party a few weeks ago.  Between Easter, wedding showers and my parents traveling more in April then they have in the last 5 years, we had to postpone her party.  It gave me more time to get party stuff done study.  Yeah, I had all these cute ideas and I didn't get to do half of them.  I decided that all you really need for a birthday party is a kid and a cake.  Well, that and great favor bags, handmade by me, and a few little touches to personalize the party.  I thought it turned out pretty well, thanks to Nic, my MIL Evie, my sisters and my mom giving me margaritas.  Apparently, I'm a little high strung.  She thought the margarita would help.  I'm not sure if it did but the 2nd sure did the trick ;) 

It was so fun! We had Lawrence the "clown" and by clown I mean a guy who wears a tye-die shirt and paints faces, oh and makes balloon animals too.  We didn't play any games but no one noticed.  I think the food was pretty good.  My mom made her famous chicken salad on croissants.  I've asked her for the recipe and she told me to get some chicken, grapes, apples, walnuts, curry and something else and just throw it all together.  When I get more specific measurements and instructions I'll post the recipe. 

We had some other fun food but my fave was the dessert table. I made cupcakes with my sour cream chocolate cake recipe with fudge icing.  They were delish!  I was disappointed that I wasn't able to make her a fancy cake but the cupcakes were so much better for an outdoor party.  They were super easy to decorate, which was important b/c I was overloaded with tests and care plans- oh and trying to get my house ready for guests.  I bought these cute owl images from the Trendy Butterfly on etsy and put them on everything from the flatware we didn't use, to cupcake toppers and wrappers on the muddy buddy chex mix (my fave).  I made the cupcake "stand" It's just a bunch of boxes wrapped in pink gift wrap with some ribbon from HL.  I just played around with different boxes until I got the look I wanted.  Also, if you look at the bottom 2 pics you can see just a bit of my owl favor bags.  They were super easy and a lot of fun- just a bunch of circles and white paper lunch sacks. I think the favors inside were pretty cool too.

I'm the worst!

I am the worst blogger! I had every intention to blog every day or at least every couple days.  It has been much longer than that.  I know I don't have many readers but I'm often asked "what happened, is everything ok?" So, in short I will just say nursing school is kicking my butt! I was taking 13 hours this summer which was killing me. 
I hated it and so did Olivia.  My heart would just break every time she cried "Don't do homework, mommy.  Come sit with me pleeeeeeeeeaaaaassee" or "I don't want you to go to school" so I have decided to go part time.  It puts graduation off another year but I don't mind.  I would rather enjoy my life and my family and take a little longer.

So I didn't finish blogging my 30 day challenge but I did complete it.  I lost just over 10 pounds!!! YAY me! I'm going to start "running" again.  I want to find a race but it is so hot.  I may just spend this time training and do a big one in the fall.  I know the super 8 is coming up so maybe I'll do that one again.
I've had a lot of things going on... birthday parties, showers, weddings, playdates, homework, tests, kitchen experiments and more. I'll try to write more often and post pics.
I also have a ton of recipes I've been working on.  I'll post the better ones soon.  If I have any readers left out there, thank you! I hope to be around the blogosphere a lot more now that I have more time.

BTW, we had some pics taken around OU a couple months ago.  The pic on top is one of them.  If you're on FB I'm sure you've seen them.  If not check them out.  The photog's name is Kelly Morris.  I thought she did a really good job.