Giveaway Numero Dos: Target Giftcard!

Here's the thing... I totally meant to do another giveaway when I reached 500 followers as a big huge THANK YOU to those of you who took the time to click on that little "follow" button over there.  But then surprisingly and excitingly I was at 500 one minute and then 530 the next!!  I couldn't believe it.   It did, however, make my "500 Follower Giveaway Plan" suddenly very awkward.

Thank goodness another reason came up to celebrate.... MY BIRTHDAY!!  Yes, it's today, and yes I like attention for it.  And YES, I am very unselfish and giving so I'm going to give a present to YOU (well, one of you)!  :)

The prize?  $50 Gift Card to Target a.k.a my Happy Place.

All you need to do is 1) become a public follower (or be one already) and 2) leave me a comment on this post!

I really do want to thank you all for being so nice with your comments and following me.  It makes my hobbies and blogging so much fun!

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

And good luck!!

(This will stay open for one week.  I'll pick a winner at midnight on Saturday night, May 7th).

Card Club: April

I am in a monthly card group.  We meet once a month and exchange cards we have made while noshing on finger foods and socializing.  We actually took a bit of a break recently and I am so glad it is back on. I need something like this to force me to delve into my supplies and create some cards!   As much as I love making cards I never seem to do it if I don't have a deadline.  

To me cards are like little mini canvases.  A piece of art on a 5.5 x 4.25 inch piece of paper.  People love receiving handmade cards too.  It's a gift all by itself. 

So here is this month's card which I finished just in the nick of time (card club is tonight!).  And here is how it came to be.  

I was flipping through a Best of Paper Crafts Magazine book when I saw this:

Totally cute and I love that the tree top is just a circle punch (which I'm basically obsessed with and have one in each size 3/4" to 3").

Here's my take on it using what supplies and paper I had:

I love how just changing out the papers and supplies it has a whole different feel.  It's like American Idol...I took that card and made it my own.  :)

I ended up making 10 of them and can't wait what I get in return at card group tonight.  If you've made/posted a cute card let me know!  I'm always looking for a great card to copy inspire me.

Linking up here!

From Door Step to Mantle in Under 72 Hours

I had a busy week last week.

I was watching my friend's 5 year old daughter while they went to Hawaii.  She and my daughter are BFFs so it was a non-stop party!  But in addition to her, I was also watching my adorable 16 month old niece while my SIL & BIL went to Bali.  You heard me....BALI!!  Who goes to Bali, right?  So cute Ally was here for 10 days and she left yesterday.  I should feel nothing but relief but I miss that little girl.  She was my buddy and her thighs and upper arms were so squishy I could hardly stand it!  She tolerated all my kisses too, which I appreciated.

So I thought I'd soothe myself today by posting about something we did while we were out visiting Ally's house over Spring Break.

Shelly (Ally's mom/my SIL) wanted a new GIANT family portrait for her mantle and so we got to work.  From snapping the photo to custom framing it and having it up on the mantle it was under 72 hours and around $50.  Here's how it all went down.

6pm Thursday:  Rolled into town.  Shelly & fam were all dressed and ready for their family picture to be taken.   We went out on her front step and I took less than 30 shots.  We wanted this to be as painless and as least traumatizing to the kids as possible.  Luckily I got a couple good shots as the kids were the perfect models!  We decided on this one:

(what did I tell you about Ally?  You can't see her upper arms or thighs here but seriously... squi-shy and yummy)

10am Friday:  Upload and order this photo from Costco as a 20x30 on poster board.  I hope hope hope you have seen this option at Costco!  I love their poster board prints!  Great quality and price.  You upload your image then to the right you'll see "CREATE GIFTS."  Click on that and then click on "ENLARGEMENTS & POSTER BOARDS."  The prices are $9.99 for 11x14, $14.99 for 16x20 and $24.99 for 20x30.  You cannot beat that.  And the best part?  Done in a couple of hours!

2pm Friday: Pick up 20x30 family portrait from Costco (and maybe a pizza or two to feed all the kids that night), sit and stare at it and marvel at the technology which made it all possible.

5pm Friday:  Head to Lowe's to get some moulding for the frame.  Laugh when the old-school elderly man who works there asks "Does your husband have a power drill?"  and resist the urge to go all feminist on his hiney.  Pick up four L-brackets and some liquid nails if you don't already have them.

1am Saturday (Friday night):  Assemble frame.  Yes, it's 1am but this is how Shelly & I roll when we get together.

FRAME ASSEMBLY

Items Needed:

• Enough moulding to go around whatever size image you are framing (we got nice chunky 5" moulding)
• liquid nails
• 4 L-Brackets and screws
• wood filler

1) Cut moulding at 45 degree angles to fit around image.  This takes brain power to figure out which way to cut it to make sure the inside edge is always where it needs to be but I believe in you.  Shelly had a power saw but I've done it using a $15 miter box before...it's not hard!

2) Lay out moulding on flat surface to make sure it all goes together like you want it.

3) Glue pieces together with liquid nails (or I'm sure regular wood glue would do the trick too).

4) Figure out where you want your L-brackets and drill small pilot holes where the screws will go.  This is especially important with MDF type moulding to prevent splitting.  Fasten the L-Brackets on with the screws (make sure screws are not longer than your moulding is thick!).

5) After attaching all four corners, flip frame over and fill in the gaps with wood filler.  I really love this Elmer's stuff.  It comes in all colors, is paintable, sandable and, above all, manageable.  No big caulking guns to wrestle with or anything.  I dip my finger in water to smooth out the filler and make a nice surface.

2am Saturday morning:  Get "second wind" and paint frame.  Shelly had some left over paint from her living room she wanted to use.  It's called Kentucky Haze and it's a Benjamin Moore color.  Gorgeous.

Allow to dry overnight (or in our case, whatever is left of the night).

10am Saturday morning: Glaze!!  My favorite activity ever!

I mix a small amount of dark stain into some of the Valspar mixing glaze and the slop it on the frame (that's the most fun part).

I then took paper towels and began wiping it off.   I think of it as the opposite of sanding off the raised areas to highlight them.  Glazing settles down in and highlights the crevices.

Noon on Saturday:  After the glaze has dried, duct tape the photo onto the back of the frame (who is looking there anyway?), place the finished product on the mantle and step back to admire.  Fight back the tears of joy & accomplishment.

20x30 photo....framed with 5" moulding all the way around = a nice 30x40 high impact piece starring the people you love the most.

Here is another angle (with the kids totally not appreciating all our hard work) for you to get a sense of the scale.

I plan to make many more of these in the future.  How much would a store bought frame at this size be anyway?  I shudder at the thought.

Linking up HERE and here:

Truffle Round Up

I mentioned that I love dipping stuff in chocolate, didn't I?  


Yes, I'm sure I did.  It's usually my opening line when meeting people.  "Hi, I'm Landee....I love dipping stuff in chocolate...oh, and my kids..and um, my husband and stuff."  ::awkward silence::


So, of course, truffles are the perfect treat for me.  They're easy to make.  They impress the pants off of people.  They look adorable.  And the very word "truffle" is extremely fancy.  Plus... dipped in chocolate, yo!  


I rounded up my three favorite truffle recipes I've found so far.  Should you have any others I would be most obliged if you shared.  Like, I would love you forever, like you for always, etc. etc.  

And no, I don't usually make this many at once.  That would make me a certified truffle freak!  I had to make this many for a stake training meeting so I took pictures.  That is all.  NOT a truffle freak.  Not.  ::ahem::

CAKE BATTER TRUFFLES 

(the most delicious of these three recipes if you ask me) 

adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup yellow cake mix

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

3-4 Tablespoons milk (says the girl, but I actually ended up using close to 1/4 cup)

2 Tablespoons sprinkles

Vanilla Melting Chocolate


Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand. Roll dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.
 

While dough balls are chilling, melt vanilla melting chocolate and then dip away!  Place them on wax paper to set up, top with additional sprinkles and you're done!

Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles.

How cute would these be with just pink or blue sprinkles for a baby shower, huh?  Red & green sprinkles at Christmas?  Or pastel sprinkles for Easter...or...or...or... you get the idea.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH TRUFFLES 

(found at recipegirl.com who found them on Food Network)

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Milk chocolate melting chocolate for dipping!!

Additional chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc., optional for topping the truffles

1. In a large bowl, use electric mixer to cream together butter and brown sugar. Add vanilla. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until it is mixed well. Beat in sweetened condensed milk and mix until well-combined. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

2. Cover bowl and refrigerate until dough is firm (at least 1 hour). Use cookie scoop to scoop out heaping tablespoonfuls, roll into balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Place all of the rolled balls back into the refrigerator until you are ready to dip them in chocolate.

3. Melt chocolate and dip.  Top with additional mini-chocolate chips (or whatever, really).

Makes about 30-40 truffles.

OREO TRUFFLES

1 pkg. Oreos, crushed (I put them through the grater on my food processor)

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese

White chocolate melting chocolate

Chocolate melting chocolate for drizzling (optional but it looks nicer)

Mix Oreos and cream cheese until well blended.  Form into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Chill in fridge until firm.  I usually have better luck with the dipping if I freeze them first.   Dip in white chocolate and allow to set.  Then drizzle on milk chocolate to make them look fancier.   Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Makes about 30-35 truffles.

I've made a sheet which contains all these recipes on it for your ease and enjoyment.  Click on it to enlarge and then right click & save.

Again, don't hold back if you have any delish truffle recipes you've tried.  I'm counting on you.

Linking up to some fun parties here!  

Paper Crafted Spring Mantel

Now don't think for one second that I believe anyone is sitting around on pins & needles waiting to see what I've done with my mantel for spring.   I know darn well that is not the case.

However, I did do some stuff.  So I will share.  Next year I hope to get it done & up earlier.

First of all, I'm a paper crafter from waaaaay back.  It was my first crafting crush.  Paper is cheap, easy to work with and the options!  Endless.  Fabric always seems like such a commitment.  But not paper.   And that's just how I like it.

So I decided to try and make several projects this spring out of paper...or at least using paper.  And here it is in all its springly glory.

Projects were:

1) Egg Garland.  Made simply by tying together oval shaped pieces of patterned paper with some cute ribbon.  Easy enough.

2) Decoupaged Eggs.  I took them from this:

To this:

I just decoupaged strips of the same patterned paper I used on the egg garland onto cheap plastic eggs.  They aren't perfectly smooth or anything but I like the end result.

I also found this beauty at Goodwill for 99 cents:

And then subsequently decoupaged the crap of it too (see my SPRING PRINTABLE there in the background?):

4) The Wreath.  I got 8 yards of ribbon to wrap my straw wreath and apparently needed 8.5 yards.  I did the whole close-my-eyes-and-take-a-deep-breath thing and then decided to look at this as a chance to flex my creative muscles a bit.

I figured I'd just pin some strips of the same patterned paper I'd been using all along and no one would ever know.

I now think it turned out much better that way than anything else I was planning on doing.  I mean, what else WOULD I have done?  Right?  So, thank goodness for happy accidents. 

I then cut a bunch of different sizes of the same flower on several different sheets of paper with my Silhouette,  inked the edges a bit and pinned them on in an aesthetically pleasing manner.  

5)  Hydrangea Ball & Egg.  The second I saw this on Lolly Jane I knew I wanted to make one for my mantle!  So cute.   

Easy to make too.  

Step One: Drive to Michael's and throw down $10 for the Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch.  

Step Two: Justify purchase all the way home by thinking of several other things you plan on using it for besides two little things on your spring mantle.

Step Three:  Punch out a ton of flowers!  Or better yet, make your 5 year old daughter do it.  I decided to do a multi-colored one to make it a bit funkier/non-traditional.  

Step Four: Stack two flowers on top of each other, skewer with a pin & fluff petals.

Step Five: Attach to styrofoam egg or ball.

And that is it!   I grabbed a few things I had around the house (birdhouse, empty frame, my framed spring printable, pedestal thingy) and I stood back to enjoy for the next week or so.

Did I mention I love paper?

PS  Linking up to some fun parties here.

PSS  For those of you "in the know," how hard would it be to build a mantel around that lame drywall one I've got going on now.  I mean, wouldn't it just require some molding and a nice piece of wood on top and a bunch of white paint?  Really, it must be done ASAP.  Either by me or a professional (if you all agree it's too hard & tricky), but it MUST be done.

Spring Printable

I'm working on my "spring mantle" decor.  I know I should have had this done a while ago but I've been too busy dipping egg-shaped marshmallows in chocolate.

I'm sure you understand.

I thought I'd share with you one part of what I've done in case it's something you'd like to incorporate as well.    I came across this cute quote from Robin Williams and decided to make a printable to go along with what I've got going on so far.

If you'd like to have it, it's yours for the taking!  I only made it in a 5x7 size because I didn't think anyone would want it much bigger than that.  And I need it as a 5x7 so, you know, my laziness set in & this is what we have.

Just right click & save (and tell your friends)!

I literally printed this on regular copy paper (whatever was in the printer), cut it to size and put it in a Goodwill frame.

I heart Photoshop.

Linking up to some fun parties HERE.

EggMallow Treats

Did you guys know these existed??

If you did, then I'm mad at you for not telling ME about them.  If you didn't, then let me inform you.  Jumbo EggMallows exist!  I was walking through the grocery store today, minding my own business, when I spotted these on an end cap!  I'm not exaggerating when I say my entire To Do list for the day went out the window as I grabbed these and stuffed them in my cart.  Too cute and a hundred billion times yummier than those nasty Peeps.

If you read this blog long enough you will probably realize that I love melting chocolate.  I love making shapes out of it, dipping stuff in it,  drizzling it on pretty much anything.... it's so versatile and yummy.   So my mind started going & I got out my stash of melting chocolates and sprinkles and went to work.

Adorable, right?

On the back of the package it suggested spreading peanut butter on one side and THEN dipping it in chocolate.  Yes please.

After trying to dip the entire thing in chocolate, I realized it was easier & just as yummy to just dip one side & call it good.   Here is what it looks like in the middle.

I'll let your eyes tell you how amazingly delicious this is.  No wait, I'll just tell you.  Amazingly delicious, it is.

Now to cute some of them up.   I didn't have any pink melting chocolates but I did have red & white.

So I mixed them together.  I did the same with some dark green ones to make a more spring green color.

Now to decorate I did all kinds of things.  Dipping in various ways & colors.  Using a fork to drizzle on a contrasting color.  Adding sprinkles.  You name it.  If you want a little more control with your drizzle I would suggest either a squeeze bottle like the one above or put the melted chocolate in a sandwich baggie and snip off a tiny bit of the corner.

So here are all the ways I came up with to decorate with what I had in my cupboard.  My only regret is that I didn't stop and get some blue melting chocolate.  Ah well....

Putting them on sticks made it easier to take their pictures and, sure, it's fun to eat anything off a lollipop stick but how cute would it be to get some packaged up so cute like this?

I'm thinking teachers, neighbors, visiting teachees, grandparents, friends, etc.

As a side note, while both kinds are very tasty, the ones dipped in milk chocolate are a little tastier.  The ones with peanut butter dipped in milk chocolate are way tastier.  But the white/colored chocolate ones are prettier.  I tell you this so when you wrap these babies up and give them to someone you will be sure to give them a few of each kind.  They will thank you for it.

2nd side note, while I hurried and did these while the kids were at school I decided we may be doing these as a fun FHE activity on Monday night.  I think the kids would have a blast dipping & decorating! Treat plus activity...check & check.


Linking up to some great parties HERE.