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Recycle, Reuse, Party Time!

3 Jun

partybag

 

Finished the party bags for Super Secret Liam Pant’s “World According to Liam” party this weekend.

I made it easy and did something useful…I think…

Party bags are filled with activities to keep the kids busy a little when they are home.

I made the bags using paper lunch sacks we already had.  I found on Etsy the Donald Duck Hats & tape.  I found in the bargain bin at Michael’s the Spider Man party favor bags and well cut out shapes to make the Spider Man bags.  I used my own Thanks stamp.

For the inside I used:

  • Table Settings that are Superhero inspired and I broke apart the mat.  There are Superhero masks, Compases, Bow Ties, Pirate Eye Patches, and Superhero bracelets. (Had these)
  • 3 Crayons by randomly choosing three out of three crayon boxes I got.  Sometimes too many crayons are just too many. (Bought 3 boxes of crayons)
  • Tattoos of the Avengers (Bought)
  • Superhero stickers (Had)
  • Hot Wheel stickers (Had)
  • A cup for the child to keep with either Mickey Mouse Club House, Super Man, Spider Man, Avengers, or Disney Cars. (Bought)
  • Coloring book page from a Avengers Coloring Book. (Had)
  • Debating on a mini bag of M&M’s so who knows.

I figured this was a great way to save some money and use the things I over bought from last year or items I bought over the last year that Liam didn’t want to use at that moment I wanted him too.  PLUS this was all within the theme of the party.  It’s all Liam’s favorites.

I’m always looking for ways to reuse or recycle and I think I did a good job this year.

Day 108 – Inappropriate – 37th Year Photo/Moi Challenge

12 Apr

Brownie that is.

I made this little portion of heaven for a coworker or two this morning.

Layer 1 ~ Gluten Free Chocolate Cookie Mix
Layer 2 ~ Crumbled Sugar Free Oreo Cookies
Layer 3 ~ Sugar Free Brownie mix.

Yum!!

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My Obsession with Mason Jars & Cookies

15 Feb

I’ve failed at being a Domestic Goddess.  I’ve accepted the fact that I’m so much more a worker bee BUT I want to look as domestic as I can at times.

SO…..I make Mason Jar gifts for teachers and homemade cookies.  I got the recipe for these amazing cookies while planning a baby shower for a close friend and these are my go to cookies.  Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays, and now Valentine’s Day.  Yes I volunteered for the cookies.

Here is my Mason Jar gift to the aides in Liam’s class that I filled with candy and in the middle I placed a small gift card to Target.  I like to remember that teachers and aides spend a lot of their money for the kids and it’s nice to give at least something to them.  In my opinion, this isn’t everyone’s idea and I’m OK with that.

Mason Jar filled with Valentine Goodies

Mason Jar filled with Valentine Goodies

I then made those super yummy cookies that I only put a bit of the homemade powdered sugar frosting on and sprinkled different types of toppings.  These went quickly and with the few left Liam’s awesome teacher asked if she could keep them and of course I said Yes.  Denise is amazing and the best daycare provider.  She’s so great with all the kids there and Liam call’s her his Denise.

Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies

Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies

In all I spent a lot of time in the kitchen but the kids had a great time yesterday and for those few hours I was the Domestic Goddess I wanted to be.

 

Can You?

4 Dec

Can you do a thirty day photo challenge?  More importantly you ask “Do I even want to?”.  I questioned that too but I wanted to see if I could stick with something for thirty days.  I did.  I may try another photo challenge next month or not.  Still I did thirty full days and it’s true that it becomes a habit doing something over and over again.

Maybe this will be true when my treadmill arrives??

Below are some of my favorites from the month of November and the Photo a Day Challenge. What are some habits you’ve picked up?  I’d love to see someone who started dieting or exercising in December and stuck to it all month.  Total Kudos to them!

November

Overwhelmed…Just thinking about it…

29 Nov

It’s November 29th.  I’ve ordered one gift for my son.  One.

Saturday I’m hoping to find some deals at Target for both kids but in all honesty I’m getting there when they open for Marc Jacobs.  Yes, because Marc Jacobs will be at Target and I will do a bit of Chrismukkah shopping.

I also believe in green gift giving, giving things used but for our daughter this may be hard as she’s obsessed with One Direction and has a specific list which doesn’t include anything I can get used.  The boy on the other hand we shall see.

That’s not the problem.  The problem is I still have this brain that says I have to do everything perfect.  This year I’m shipping priority shipping gifts to my dad/mom, grandmother, and my friend who so left me here in CA without anyone to walk for coffee with but that’s a different story.  Add in my mom and a few others here and I’ve got plenty of Christmas planning to do.

Then there’s Hanukkah for the husbands side and some dear friends as well.  This just adds to the holidays plus some birthdays so you see December can be VERY full!

My GOAL, yes my goal for a good portion of my Christmas peeps is to bake a bunch of yummy goodness the weekend before Christmas and send it all out Monday, December 17th.

EVERYTHING else will be what I call “An Adventure in Possible Failure” but in reality I know I will get it all done, I always do.

I can do this.  I know I can.  I must hold onto a little of the domestic moi still even when I did a terrible job being domestic because lets just face it…..I’m no Martha Stewart….EVER!

With December 1st approaching this weekend I wish us all luck.  For those of you who do Cyber Monday and you’re done, my hats are off to you!  As for me the sense of the overwhelm came with the thought of baking Christmas cookies.  Let the Holiday season really begin!

 

Yummy Goodness!

No Shame Here….It’s a gift right?

18 Nov

I used to think I had to do everything from scratch to be the perfect Mom, Wife, Domestic Goddess.  This isn’t true and turned out to be so much work that just drove me crazy.  So keeping in the theme of keeping life a little easier I kind of crafted for a Thanksgiving “Thank You” for Super Secret Liam Pant’s Daycare teacher.  I adore his Daycare teacher and I wanted to do something and so…….

I stole the idea to make a “Snack Jar” for her.  Stole this from many who have done it before.  Now really I should have gone to someone who makes them BUT what fun is that?  I instead did the 1/2 store bought 1/2 DIY approach so it was personal still.

Supplies:

  • Mason Jar
  • Peanut, Pretzel, Chocolate Mix – Ready to go.  Too much to try and find it all separate and it takes more time to mix it up and let’s be honest.  No one cares where it came from or how they just enjoy eating it.
  • Seasonal Ribbon
  • Crafting Glue
  • Label – This is so not needed but I wanted to say Thanks

Assemble into your Thank You jar and give to your favorite teacher.  This took me a whopping 10 minutes to do.  The ribbon bow had to dry overnight but it worked.  If I tried to be the best Domestic Goddess ever it would have taken MUCH longer and being that I have a very full life I’m glad I accepted a little help with a pre-made mix.

It’s the thought that counts….right?

Thank You Jar 2012

Baby Shower Success

16 Nov

Take one very creative lady and one excellent new baker and what do you get?  The most awesome vintage inspired Baby Shower.  I’ve posted some of the goodies that were made and that were loved by all but here’s the final image of what we did.  The Yummy Goodness table that is because well…..I baked you know.

The mommy to be had a wonderful time and all was well in the world that day.

Yummy Goodness!

So not a Domestic Goddess…..

16 Nov

This whole being a “Domestic Goddess” thing never was really working out.  How can someone who is so “On the Go” and busy really be super domestic?  I mean come on I tried to be a SAHM to relax a bit more and I ended up over volunteering at my daughters school.  Don’t get me wrong I won’t stop trying to be but instead I think I’m going to let you all know about the adventures in being a mom who went from a SAHM to a Working Mom all over again.

Do I miss my kids during the day?  Yes.

Do I enjoy the interaction of adults during the day while making money to help with our home?  Yes.

Are my kids tormented by the fact that I work? No.

I was torn about being a working mom again but I have to remember I want my children to enjoy things or get the things they need.  It does unfortunately cost money when your daughter wants classes to be the best actress ever and when your son needs Speech Therapy and you don’t have that covered on your insurance.  I didn’t want to have to struggle and since September when I’ve been working more my kids are still so happy.

I hope to show over the months ahead that I the crazy over-doer can juggle being a mom, working, being a wife, being a friend, and trying to be a bit more domestic.  I’ve got the baking skill down but there’s so much more to concur.  Over time I’ll get more done and share with all you the joys and epic fails of being a woman who doesn’t know how to slow down but still manages to smell the flowers from time to time.

Domestic What?

Petite Apple Tartlets….Yum!

18 Oct

In my quest to become the “Best” Domestic Goddess I can be I’m giving baking a real honest to goodness try.  Last night I made Petite Apple Tartlets.  I made them wrong and they still came out great!  I will be making them the right way next time because then they’ll be stronger.  You’ll see what I mean below.

Here’s what you need:

  • 15-oz package rolled refrigerated unbaked pie crust (2 crusts) – I didn’t read that fully and go Phyllo dough…You learn
  • 2 Medium baking apples chopped up
  • 1/2 cup toffee pieces
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1/8 tsp. salt (didn’t use this and it didn’t make a difference)
  • Powdered sugar – optional (didn’t use this either, come on there’s so much sweetness to this already but if you want a sugar overload go for it)

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Take the pie crust (phyllo dough in my case) and cut out circles with a cookie cutter.  Use a mini muffin pan and make little pie crusts within the pan and then add spoonfuls of your mixture.

Bake for about 18 minutes but check in on the little tartlets because like me using a thinner crust it only took 14 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups and cool on a wire rack right away (if you actually use pie crust this may work but with phyllo dough half fall apart, just warning you)

To store: Use pretty quickly or freeze…would they come out or last frozen?  Use your judgement.

Now as you can tell I’m so a work in progress but they still came out great and the next batch will be even better.  Look at my picture it does show I created little yummy goodness.  Enjoy!

Not too shabby!

DIY Halloween Birthday Thank You Card

16 Oct

My daughter enjoys a Halloween inspired Birthday party each year. Usually I use a service like Shutterfly to make Thank Yous but this year I thought I’d create a card.

I had purchased some lanterns from Cost Plus World Market and didn’t use them but thought the images would be great on the front of a Thank You to keep with the Halloween theme.

So here’s what I did………

Cut out the images from said lanterns.

Purchased card stock, envelopes, insert, and thanks stamp from The Paper Source.

Dug out an ink pad from my failed attempt to make pirate invites in May.

Found a glue stick to assemble.

Assembled the cards and boy I shocked myself how great they looked. Inspires me to do this more. If this non creative, starting to be creative gal can do this anyone can.

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