Handmade Ornaments

 Hi all, its been a hectic day! Last day of school, early release, kiddo is hungry, kiddo wants to go to the movies with his girlfriend, I need to buy some groceries, pick kiddo up from movies and kiddo is hungry again. Ahh teenage boys they are like an empty black hole .. I have no idea where he puts all this food! I'm still working on cleaning up our guest room for next week. While trying to finish up a few last projects for homemade gifts, sometimes feel like I'm a rubber band being stretched and snapped back into place! You do to? We need to start a club or something about that..haha!

 So while I'm sipping some coffee and watching Ghost Adventures figured I might want to get a post up on handmade ornaments to share over at Funky Junk Interiors tonight. Some were made by my mother-in-law and some by me. All were pretty simple to make... so lets get started.

 Popsicle sticks and pre-cut snowflakes painted and dolled up, simple and cute!

From left to right, pre-cut mitten from Michaels painted. Crochet santa. Flower Angel made from a carnation, wood bead for the head some leaves for wings.

On the left recycled Christmas cards cut, folded and glued together. Right, square glass ornament stuffed with red pompoms and paint markers to make the santa belt.

Snowman, stuffed with little bitty styrofoam balls and paint markers for the face.

And last is a monogram ornament.. the one I made for us is a shiny silver and the pics were not working out for me. So I unwrapped the one I made for my sister and brother-in-law to get some better shots. Its just stickers how much more easy could it be? Their last name initial is the larger letter in the middle with their first names on either side in lower case. On the back side I added a silver and black fancy sticker topped with a simple black ribbon hanger.

Can't wait to see what everyone else has been busy making! 

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Cake pops!

I love my sister... I really do she bought me a cake pop maker! I have been searching the internet for pictures of cake pops. Saving and filing them away in different categories for future creations! There are so many variations out there I just couldn't believe all the creativity. Bakerella has so many wonderful designs and ideas.
Such as this cute reindeer...

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I'm so excited to try it out using anything! So today I made ones using brownie mix (because that is what I had in the pantry).  The instructions tell you to wipe the cake wells with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil.. ok this was a pain and didn't seem to be working all that great. I just sprayed each top and bottom well with non-stick cooking spray. After many trial and errors I figured out to fill the bottom well to the top with the batter.

Otherwise they come out looking like cones if there is not enough batter. I just popped those mistake ones in my mouth as I kept on working! I closed the lid and set a time for 5 minutes... 

Here they are all cooked and so cute. Placed them on a plate to cool and made a few more batches. Then I took a good few spoon fulls of a store bought icing and put it inside my small glass measuring cup. Popped it in the microwave for 10 seconds and stirred it around checking that it drizzled smoothly. Stuck a stick in the icing then inside the cake pop and dipped it into the icing.

The icing was still too runny might let it cool some either that or I didn't wait long enough to allow the cake pop to cool. Either way it was yummy and they are so cute. I can't wait to make some more!

Pillowcase wrapping..

Wow its been over a month since I have blogged anything! Its been a very longgggg month indeed.. Two wisdom teeth pulled in October, two weeks later got food poisoning, a week after that came down with the flu. Good thing to come out of all this.. I lost some weight! Not being able to eat for several weeks for several reasons will do that to ya! Yay me! :)

Today I'm going to share an idea my son thought up. (which I'm sure has been done before) What to do when you have to wrap something that you don't have a box for..such as these stuff animal backpacks.

My son came up with an idea to use a pillowcase. We use every pillowcase in the house he so kindly drove me to the store. Since he has his learning permit "Of course I'll drive you to the store mom!" We purchased white pillowcases and some fabric paint.

We used paint brushes and painted the girls names free hand. They came out really cute!

Placed the backpacks inside and tied them with some ribbon. Now the girls have two gifts in one!

Not too shabby, good job son! 

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Tempt Me Tuesday! Fried Chicken and Dumplings

 There are times when it is just me and my 15 yr old son here at home and we grab some fast food for dinner. One of our favorite places is Chicken Express and their fried chicken strips. I usually get a box of 20 with some sides but we always have tons left over. I wanted to use the leftovers in the next days dinner but change it from what it originally was..... which is how I came up with Fried Chicken and Dumplings!

 Here is what I did

Fried Chicken and Dumplings
Left over fried chicken strips cut into small bite size pieces
4 cups water
1 chicken bullion cube
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon McCormick salt free all-purpose seasoning
pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with 4 cups of water and throw in the chicken bullion cube, bring to a boil. Add 2 cans cream of chicken soup and stir to combine. While this comes back to a boil in another mixing bowl combine bisquick and milk.  Add chicken to boiling soup mixture and then using a spoon drop small spoonfuls of the dough mixture into the boiling soup. Sprinkle in your pepper and all-purpose seasoning and let boil for a few minutes stirring occasionally.

This came out alot better then what I expected.. no I did not remove the breading from the chicken I just cut it up and added it to the pot. I would suggest not adding any salt, the cream of chicken soup has salt as does the fried breading from the chicken. If you like your chicken and dumplings to be less thick try only adding one can of soup or add more water. We like it thicker then most recipes call for. This could also be done using left over rotisserie chicken mmm the seasoning from that would be wonderful!

Love this little bowl I found at Burke's Outlet for $1.50 its cute with a vintage bee and stamps printed on it! 

Have a great week!

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Funky Junk Interiors

Tricked out goody bags

 I'm slowly getting things together for the "Trick or Trunk" Halloween party my brother and sister-in-law are hosting. Its still a week away so the baking will have to wait but I got a head start on the goody bags. I caught a pic on pinterest and followed the link.. it ended up that someone was selling these cute bags with faces printed on them. I found slim tall pretzel bags at Wal-Mart on the Wiltons baking isle. (which happens to be in the craft department) They were only $1.50 each.

I took a black sharpie and went to town making my own silly faces.

Filled them up with some goody's and tied with ribbon.

No shipping and handling fees here! For photo purposes I used left over candy corn from when I made the krispy treats. The faces will show up better if you can find a solid colored candy. Using white candies you could make ghosts as well!

Vintage Birdcage

Hi all! Remember my weekend of Antique Alley and I found this vintage birdcage?

I removed everything from the inside and painted it white. I had saved the flowers and birds to reuse once the paint was dry.

Deciding not to put all the greenery back in I think worked out well. Keeping with neutral tones and rearranging the birds having them both on the inside. 

I did make one mistake which was not lifting the door when painting. So you can see the green in certain spots but hey its not going to be opened for anything I can think of so who will know, right? 

Now to figure out where in the house to display my new birdcage..... 

Have a great weekend :)



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Tempt me Tuesday! Chocolate Swirled Banana Bread

Oh wow... oh my goodness... ohhh yummmy! Yes you might be saying those exact things soon too if you try out this recipe from Our Best Bites. Seriously I don't like bananas but I do like banana bread. Of course I love chocolate so when I spotted this over on their blog I raised an eye brow.....

Picture from Our Best Bites

Chocolate Swirled Banana Bread

2 c. flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

¼ c. butter, softened

1 ½ c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3-4 medium bananas)

2 eggs

1/3 c. plain lowfat yogurt or sour cream

½ c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups and level. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream sugar and butter. Add bananas, eggs, and yogurt, beating until just blended. Add flour mixture. Beat on low until just moistened. Microwave chocolate chips in a medium bowl for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 c. batter to chocolate, stirring until well-combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter (so you have stripes of plain and chocolate batter) in an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters with a knife.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes (give or take a little; I’d probably set your timer for 1 hour and 10 minutes to be safe) or until a knife comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan and then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

I used the sour cream and it ended up baking for 1 hour 11 mins before it was done. It was moist and banana chocolately  oh man was it so good!

Put your best face forward..plus a treat!

 Hello! Its October and I'm cooking up some rice crispy treats with a twist today! Thought I would surprise my son with them as an after school snack. I bought frozen pot pies, hot pockets and his favorite snacking foods because tomorrow I am having my wisdom teeth removed. I just won't be up for cooking much for a day or two. So while he gets to pig out I will be having soup, oatmeal and fruit smoothies! haha!
 While I was shopping I stopped to check out a foundation makeup that my sister told me she uses. I don't wear makeup at all. I have issues with my face being very dry even if I moisturize and so foundation makeup looks terrible sorta like a bumpy chipped sidewalk! Plus now that I'm older I am lazy and don't take the time to apply it. I've decided to change that!
 I purchased L'OREAL True Match Naturale-gentle mineral powder foundation with spf 19 and L'OREAL Go 360 Clean Deep Exfoliating Scrub.
 Lets start with the exfoliating scrub..

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WOW is about all I can say. This really works and smells good. The small scrublet is soft and gentle but when  paired with the scrub it removed everything. Blackheads gone- dry patchy skin gone and I was left with soft glowing skin!

 Now for the foundation..

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 My sister was right this is awesome! Swirled this all over my face with the brush and it looks like a light foundation with just a hint of a powder. No messy liquid goop and my face didn't look like I had smeared thick icing all over it! Loved it! I applied some neutral eye shadow, lightly did the eye liner and some mascara... ok I'm back to being hooked on makeup! In my opinion this was a little pricey at just over $10 (Wal-Mart) but after the results I think its worth it! 

 Hmm what about the twist on the treat you mentioned earlier, you say? Alright..  look what I also found!

Yummmmmy!

According to the back of the mallow bag you need:

One bag pumpkin spice mallows

1/4 cup or half stick of butter

6 cups of rice cereal

In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter then add the mallows and turn to coat. Return the bowl to the microwave and heat mallows on high for 45 seconds. Then stir and place in microwave again for about 40 seconds. Stir well making sure the mallows have melted. Line a 9x13 pan with foil, leaving the ends longer to use as handle and lightly coat with cooking spray. Add the 6 cups of rice cereal to the melted mallows, stir well trying to incorporate the cereal. I sprayed a little of the cooking spray on my hand and pressed the mixture down into the pan. Let cool then remove from pan using your foil handles. You can cut into squares or use pumpkin shaped cookie cutters to make them super cute! I chose embellished them with candy corn. 

So good with a light hint of pumpkin spice.. yummmmy! I'm thoroughly enjoying my new look and a new treat!

I was not compensated for my opinions on products mentioned in this post. I was only really impressed and wanted to share with all of you!


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Kitchen Transformation

If you don't know we have a 1976 model single wide mobile home that we got for free. All we paid was to have it moved. Talk about brown yucky paneling everywhere! Slowly we have been remodeling and it was finally the kitchens turn! Yipee!!! I'm so thrilled with how this has turned out so far, since we are not 100% finished. We tore out everything built a new wall where the bar use to be, sanded and stained new cabinets and installed everything ourselves. The original before picture is when we very first looked at this house so there was trash and trash and more trash all over the place. I painted the cabinets a creamy white with blue trim sometime along the way so when you see that know its still a before pic lol

Yea like the avocado and orange wall paper there? This is a view from the living room looking toward the kitchen. This was back from 2003 the house had stood vacant for two years and was in need of alot of work.

A view standing in kitchen looking toward living room. Ugh what a mess!

And this is right as we started to do the remodel (creamy white and blue phase that we had for years) with a new floor we had started.

The amazing hubby started demolishing in sections as we still needed a sorta functioning kitchen. Here the bar was ripped out and framing for the new wall was going up.

Still had some sheet rock going up in this picture but the cabinets slowly started coming together. I chose to use bead board on the walls. This is a mobile home after all so I wanted to keep it simple and thought a fancy back splash would be a little too much.

Look at the difference already!! I was so excited!

The day of no sink or water to the whole house, but thats alright I can make sacrifices! 

Last look!

As of today  months have passed since we started the kitchen and...half of the ceiling hasn't been painted and the trim is still in progress of going up, kick plates and electric outlet covers need to be done. But thats alright it will be soon and I am loving using my new kitchen! Its so beautiful and I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who worked many hours on top of his regular job to get done to this point! So here is how it looks today...

woohoo! The drop leaf table is going to be refinished eventually.

View looking toward living room, big difference!

 Loving the new deeper sink!

Mason jar pendant light and the cute dish wind chime!

Turning around a view of the other side.. you can see we have started on the hallway

I need to invest in a better camera I tried several times to get this shot brighter

Cast iron kitchen towel holder ($2 Goodwill) now used to display vintage utensils

 My collection of red glass

This old mailbox was found in my grandparents garage. Just love the worn and distressed look of it!

And a look from the living room, no more bar! In its a place a nice wall to hang things..

Hoping not to be old and weak for a very long time! We still have so much to do on this house!! Its been a long journey but one well worth it. 

Thanks for stopping by and having a peek!

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