November 2016

This post deserves a thank you and you’re welcome.

Thank you to Duck and Decanter, a local Phoenix restaurant, for providing the recipe that is about to make you fat.

And, you’re welcome.  Because I know you are going to make these and love them.  If you have someone you can make them for, your waistline might thank you, too.

This is a simple recipe- but it adds something to the everyday rice cereal treat.  Don’t get me wrong- even though I’m 30-something, I still like a good rice cereal treat.  But add some gooey caramel.  And some creamy peanut butter.  Rich chocolate….

Okay, getting to the recipe, I promise.

Click here for a printable recipe

Ingredients:

Rice Krispies Cereal- about 7 cups

3 Tbsp butter, plus more for buttering dishes and utensils

1 10 oz bag of marshmallows

14 oz bag of caramels

2 tsp water

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, divided

1 tsp vanilla

12 oz bag of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (there are two in my pictures because, apparently, I had two half-full bags in my pantry.)

Start out like you usually make your RK treats.  Melt your butter and marshmallows together in a pan, then stir until smooth.

Add the vanilla.

Add the cereal and stir until well coated.  

Press into your prepared 9×13 pan.  I usually butter the back of a wooden spoon and press, but you could certainly butter your hands and do it.

Chill RK in the fridge.

Unwrap your caramels, and add them, along with a few tablespoons of water, to a saucepan.  Stir frequently until all melty and smooth.

Add 1 cup peanut butter and stir until well combined.

Remove RK from fridge, and spread the peanut butter/caramel layer over the top. 

Stop and lick the spoon (not the one you’re cooking with!)  You’ll thank me. It’s amazing.

Return RK treat to fridge.  In ANOTHER saucepan (yes, you’ll have a lot of dishes to do), melt the chocolate bits, being careful not to scorch the chocolate.  Keep the heat on low.  

When it’s smooth, add the 1/2 cup peanut butter and stir until well combined.  Delicious.

Remove RK from fridge AGAIN, and pour the chocolate layer over the top of the caramel layer.  Try to cover evenly.

You might want to lick the spoon again.  Really.  

Return RK to the fridge AGAIN, and let chill for at least an hour.   Remove and cut into squares or rectangles.

These are much less messy to cut if you do it right out of the fridge, but my poor RA-riddled wrists had a hard time with it.  

However, these are best eaten at room temp or only slightly chilled.  

Enjoy!

Both the costumes and the DVD were easy to find.  The Boy’s Licensed Halloween costumes were full of these costumes, and the DVD/Blu-Ray were right at the front of the store.

I know I’ve been talking about making cornices for my windows for awhile now, but I finally finished it! I pretty much followed this tutorial from Brooke at All Things Thrifty, except she used paintable wall paper and I used batting and fabric. I also picked a lighter wood than MDF. 

I had my wood cut at Home Depot. The gentleman was very helpful and I felt so grown up going in and knowing what I needed and coming out with everything to get this project going.

This is what my wood looked like. It didn’t need to be super smooth or fancy since it was getting covered. It just needed to but sturdy yet light. One of my windows is quite large so I joined two pieces together with these brackets. I could not have done this project without my dear friend Jana. She loves working with wood and doing house projects like this. She helped me put it all together and do all the measuring. We had to make sure the cornices went into studs, and the brackets had to go on the walls first, so very precise measuring is necessary.

Here’s the inside of one of the cornices. L Brackets hold two pieces together, and a simple pole pocket set holds a wooden dowel to act as a curtain rod.

Here’s what it looked like before going up on the wall. 

And here’s a good look of how all the hardware looks once it’s assembled. 

I also recovered my piano bench. It had a country floral fabric on it which no longer did the room any favors. Here’s a before and during shot.

Now here it is ALL DONE! It makes the room look so much better!

Here’s a close up of the fabric. It’s perfect! We also took the opportunity during the redecoration phase (and a free quart of paint from ACE hardware), to paint our accent wall and bring the kitchen and living room together. Before… After! What do you think of the results? We are just in love with this room even more and can’t wait to have lots of guests here to see it in the next few weeks!

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  Halloween isn’t even over yet, but if you look all around, Christmas is everywhere!  I have even started my Christmas shopping already!  Normally this makes me gripe and groan, but in truth, Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I can’t wait for it to arrive! So, my scrapbook layout for the week fits perfectly with my mood.  I’m almost done with 2010- I just need to scrap the last activities of the year.  One thing we did this year was make “gingerbread” houses out of graham crackers and candy.  I would like to share the Story of the Gingerbread Houses with you:

Once upon a time, a family bought a gingerbread house kit to make with their two small children.  They thought it would be fun.  It wasn’t.  The frosting wasn’t strong enough to stand the house up, and it squeezed all out the end of the bag and all over the father.  The father could not get the house to stand up.  The kids would rather eat the candy than use it decorate.  Much yelling ensued, and though the houses turned out in the end, it was an experience best forgotten.

A new year dawned, and when the prospect of building houses once again dawned, the mother thought and thought about how she could make the activity a better experience.  So,  she made her own frosting glue from a tried and true recipe on the web.  She composed the houses from graham crackers well ahead of time, so they would be sturdy and dry for decorating later.  She bought squeeze bottles for the icing to contain the mess.  And when the kids ate the candy, she and the father just shrugged and smiled.

The result was this:  two beautiful houses and a happy family.

True story :).  What I learned from this experience is this:  if we let anger, impatience, or a mess get in the way of observing our family traditions, we lose the meaning behind them.  What’s important is the time spent together as families and loved ones.

Here’s our much better house-making experience:

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I’m so close I can see the end of the scrapbook tunnel!  Thanks to your indulgence, I’ve almost finished my pages for 2009!  I think if I work hard this week, I can MAYBE be done by next week!  I may not be getting much closer to being current, but at least I’m not falling further behind!

This week, I am posting the first of my holiday pictures.  Every year we make sugar cookies with the kids.  This is something my mom did with us, and I am continuing the tradition.  However, she let us cut the dough and everything.  Maybe I will do that when my children get older, but for now, I cut out the dough and bake the cookies ahead of time, then keep them in the freezer until we are ready to decorate.  

My kids love to choose the frosting colors, heap on the sprinkles, and of course, lick the frosting off the knife!  Gross!  This page captures all those fun moments.

What’s your favorite holiday tradition?  (Any holiday…..)

I’m getting hooked on washi tape. It’s really kind of adorable, and there are so many fun things you can do with it. I am trying to resist the urge to buy one of every color and pattern I see.  Target even has some.  Did you know that?  I found black polka dot in the scrapbook section, and a few multi-packs in the office supply area.

Both Very Jane and Groopdealz are featuring a washi tape deal today.  Did you see?  Go over and check them out!

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to make a version of this Birthday Countdown Frame by Love and Sugar Kisses.  Now that I am in possession of washi tape, I decided to try it out on a frame, and came up with this:

I was going to create a tutorial, but I somehow stopped taking pictures halfway through.  So you get half a picture tutorial, and half words.  Sorry about that.  It’s been a crazy week.

Frame (I used an 8×10 from the dollar store)

Washi Tape- I used three different patterns

Mod Podge or Sealer (optional)

Craft Glue and Glue Stick

Cardstock and/or patterned paper

Mini Clothespin

Embellishments

Chipboard numbers or large number stickers (optional- I used my Cameo to cut my own)

Estimated Cost:  no more than $10 (much less if you have supplies on hand)

Estimated time:  30 minutes

I started with a frame from the dollar store.  I picked out some washi tape that fit well for a birthday theme, and simply pressed it onto the frame.  As you see in the 2nd picture, I did cut the corners on an angle so it lined up with the frame and didn’t overlap.

You could certainly paint first, or use a white frame, if you don’t like the natural wood showing through.  This was meant to be a quick and easy project, so I don’t mind the wood.  As you see in the third picture, I did, however, use a third washi tape on the outer edges of my frame, pressed down onto the back so I didn’t have to trim or anything.

Here’s how my frame looked at this point.  

Next, I took it outside and sprayed a good coat of sealer all over the empty frame.  Some of my washi tape doesn’t adhere as well to the wood, so the sealer helped it stay in place.  A thin coat of Mod Podge would work, too.  But if your washi tape is staying in place, you can skip that step.

Okay, here’s where I stopped taking pictures.  

1.  Use the back of the frame as a template and trace a rectangle onto heavy cardstock of your choice to fit the frame.  I used white, and actually Mod Podged it on to the cardboard piece for extra stability.

2.  Choose a contrasting color of cardstock and cut a smaller rectangle.  My pink rectangle was about 5 1/2 x 7 1/2, but you can just eyeball it.

3.  Use a glue stick or a very thin coat of Mod Podge to adhere your contrasting rectangle to your base cardstock.

4.  Attach your mini-clothespin to the upper center of your smaller piece of cardstock with a dab of glue.  Let dry, then cover it with a torn strip of washi tape.

5.  Embellish as desired.  I used an old party hat from a birthday card I got years ago, and cut the “happy birthday” from yellow cardstock using my Silhouette Cameo.  I just used a glue stick to adhere the words, and craft glue for the party hat.

1.  Choose a cute piece of patterned paper or cardstock.  Cut into 1.5x 2.5 inch rectangles.  Use scalloped scissors to embellish the edges, if desired.

2.  Use number stickers, chipboard numbers, or your craft cutter to cut numbers as desired.  We only count down about two weeks before a birthday, so I went up to 15.  You can cut as many as you want.

3.  Adhere numbers to your rectangles with craft glue or glue stick.

Now I have a cute way to count down to our birthdays!  

I’m linking up to some of these great parties- come along with me!

Also, don’t forget to enter all the great giveaways happening this week.  They can be found here.  You won’t want to miss tomorrow- a final giveaway and a BIG announcement!  See you soon!

Do you have a crazy childhood memory?  How did you keep busy during summer as a kid?

or this Land of Liberty Framed Vinyl (also available as a free download).

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Have you entered the Pley giveaway to win a  LEGO set or a subscription to rent your favorite sets? EVERYONE who enters gets a code for a 1-month subscription- so don’t forget to enter!

Does anyone else make muffins with dinner?  Or is it just me?

I know muffins are typically a “breakfast” thing or even a “snack” thing, but I love a good muffin with my dinner sometimes.

I have had a recipe for Brown Sugar Muffins for awhile.  They were good, but they weren’t outstanding.  And if I’m going to eat a muffin, I really want it to be worth it, you know?

So I went in search of ideas to improve this muffin recipe, and after making a few small but important changes, I made a muffin that is light, fluffy, and sweet (but not too sweet).

The addition of browned butter and an extra egg just gives it a richness that my recipe was lacking before.  I also used buttermilk instead of my usual plain milk.

These muffins were absolutely delicious right out of the oven.  They are definitely best served warm!

Here’s the recipe: (thanks to A House in Holland for the suggestions!) Browned Butter Brown Sugar Muffins Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter or margarine 2 cups flour  (I used all-purpose) 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk Directions: 1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees 2.  In a small sauce pan, brown the butter, letting it cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes.  Butter should turn a golden brown color and have a slightly nutty taste/smell.  Remove from cooktop and let cool for at least five minutes before using. 3.  Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Set off to the side. 4.  In the bowl of a mixer, combine brown sugar and eggs.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Add browned sugar and vanilla. 5.  Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix by hand until combined.  Add the buttermilk and mix.  Then add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until just combined, without any dry ingredients showing. 6.  Divide batter evenly into 12 lined muffin cups.  Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out cleanly.  Serve and enjoy!

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Does it feel like fall where you live?  Please tell me someone is experiencing something at least approaching fall!  Once school starts, I start getting antsy for the rich tones, spicy scents, and comfort foods of fall!

Since it’s still in the 100’s here for at least another two months, I figured I’d get started on a new fall project to bring fall to my home, no matter what the weather is outside!  Read on to see how I turned this

into this beautiful decoration for my door!

I made a quick trip to Michaels for some supplies. Right now is the perfect time to hit that place up because they have all their fall decor and craft supplies on sale- even up to 40% off!  So, I bought a wheat berry “bush”, a sunflower “bush”, and a pick of orange flowers, all on sale. I am by no means great at floral arranging, but I knew I wanted the sunflowers as a central focus in the piece. The wheat berry bush provided some fullness and height, so I placed it in the back. The orange flowers on the side softened things up a little.

Once everything was in place, I bound them together with floral tape (not pictured).  Then I tied myself a beautiful fall bow.  The key to a gorgeous bow is wired ribbon.  Mine is 1 1/2 inches wide.  The wire helps your loops stay full, and you can add a little shape to your tails if desired.

This is a perfect piece to hang on your door, inside or out.  Unfortunately my security door makes the outside of my door pretty useless, so I think I’ll use it to bring fall inside!

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