Oatmeal Cookie Balls

 I was making the classic Oreo cookie balls and thought why not try a different type of cookie and boy, I'm glad I did.  These are so good.

Here's what you'll need:

a package white chocolate chips, 1/4 c. vanilla frosting, 8oz cream cheese and 1 14oz. package iced or not oatmeal cookies.

 I have no patience so everything but the chocolate goes in the mixer.

Mix until it forms a dough.

Roll into balls. I use a small ice cream/melon scoop. Place the rolled balls in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When hard, dip one ball at a time into melted chocolate chips and shake off excess chocolate. (Melt chocolate in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until smooth. (Add 1 T. of vegetable oil at a time if the chocolate is too thick)

Rest on wax paper.

Serve when set.

Tangled Lap Desk

I just love these lap desks you can pick up at Micheal's for about $7. I painted this Tangled inspired desk for a friend of my daughters using POSCA paint pens. They are wonderful!

All that Glitter Shoes

I came up with this idea using Stampin Up's double sided sticky sheets and fine glitter. First remove the boring laces. Start placing shapes in the shoes and work into carfully into the shoe. Then peel back the top layer to expose the sticky part. Apply the glitter and shake the rest back into a pan to recycle for future use.

Don't remove all the sticky sheets at once or your whole shoe will be the same color of glitter. I used some matching ribbon for the laces and added a few extra designs to the rubber outer sole using a Sharpie marker.

My daughter loves these. We did this for a girls weekend project and moms and kids alike made a pair. The shoes where $3 at Wal-Mart. How can you beat that?

Monster Hats

So here is my son, Dawson with his MoNSteR HaT. What a cutie!
I saw this idea in Family Fun magazine a while back and tried it. I got the hats for $1 at Wal-Mart. The felt is sticky felt I found at Micheal's. I used a large black button and some embroidery tread.
I used sticky felt because I can't use a sewing machine and don't even own one. It's on my wish list one day to learn how to sew. I cut triangles and used them as teeth, hiding them under the brim. Then sewed an "X" for an eye and added the other eye using a standard button stitch. Easy Peasy Factor: 2/10

Alice in Wonderland Party Highlights

Here's a few highlight from Katie's 5th birthday party. We had face painters and a craft station, too.

I bought cute hats from Oriental Trading. Paper Lanterns lined the center of the table.

We took large paper tissue flowers and put them in tall vases that were filled with gumballs.

12x12 scrapbook pages acted as place mats. We also had bags of frosting along the table so each guest could decorate their own cupcake.

Little touches with "eat me" and "drink me" added a nice flair to cookies and tea pots.

Birthday Cake Rice Krispies Treats

What's not to love about birthday cake, right? How about birthday cake and a Rice Krispies treat combo? I took a recipe I found for these treats and changed it a bit and made both cupcakes and birthday cake Rice Krispies treats. These are super yummy.

Birthday Cake Rice Krispies Treats
3 T. butter
1 (10oz) bag of mini marshmallows
1/2 c. white cake mix (dry)
6 c. Rice Krispies cereal
1 (1.75oz) container of sprinkles

Instructions:
Melt butter in a large pot over low to medium heat and add marshmallows. Stir until just about melted then begin adding dry cake mix a little at a time until combined. Toss until blended well then add Rice Krispies. Add half the container of sprinkles and stir again. Press into a 13x9 pan that's been sprayed with Pam and then cover with wax paper. Gently press your hands against the wax paper to evenly press the mix into the pan. Gently remove the wax paper and discard. Let sit about 30-40 minutes before cutting. I use a Sur La Table® Stainless Steel Dough Scraper that's really great for cutting treats like these among other things.

White Cupcakes
I used the remaining cake mix and made cupcakes but needed to tweak the recipe since I removed 1/2 c of cake mix from the lot.

Here's what to use:
2 eggs
1 c. water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
remaining cake mix

Blend and bake according to package directions.

Alice in Wonderland Cake

For Katie's birthday I decorated this birthday cake for her. It was her own personal cake since the other guests decorated their own cupcakes. The topper is an ornament I found at the Disney Store that later made it back to our Christmas tree. The letters on the cake I found at a craft store scrapbook section. I used a twig I found outside my house for the top and hot glued candy coated sunflower seeds to the branches for color. Hearts added a nice Queen of Hearts flair to the cake plus a few candy roses to finish it off.

Valentine Party

Katie has some friends over Saturday for a little play-date Valentine tea party. Here's some of the highlights.

M&M Sugar Cookies

Candy bar favors

Marshmallow pops

Printable Coloring pages from www.Crayola.com

Sweet Heart Cake

For Katie's party we needed a little sweet treat for the moms so I got our my heart-shaped pan. The trick to any shaped pan is Pam cooking spray and flour. I've messed up plenty of cute cake molds to figure that one out so make sure to treat your pan before pouring a cake mix into it. I used a Devil's Food cake mix then took a tub of frosting and loaded half of it into a pastry bag, snipped the tip of the bag and drizzled the frosting back and forth around the cake. I added rose colored Wilton food coloring to the remaining frosting and loaded the rest into the same bag. You'll get this white and pink streaming effect which I think is pretty cool and messy looking. I pipped the rest of the frosting around the cake then topped it with silver shimmering sugar from Williams Sonoma. I love that the cake is pretty yet messy.

Valentine Marshmallow Pops

Katie is having a little Valentine's day tea party today and we are getting all our treats ready. Here's our Valentine marshmallow pops decorated with red chocolate and red, pink and white sprinkles. The party flags are printables I purchased from http://www.etsy.com/people/SweetScarletDesigns?utm_source=convo&utm_medium=trans_email&utm_campaign=convo_html.

Super cute stuff that helped put the party together. More photos to come.

Bubble Gum Mason Jars

Mason jars are awesome and now everyone is using them in a myriad of ways. From desserts and drinks to candy and storage solutions. It's amazing what you can do these things.

For today's treat I matched up a cupcake liner and some gumballs I had on hand. I took the cupcake liner, wrapped it over the top and tied it with some pink and white twine, and finally added a button. Think of ALL the cupcake liners out there and ALL the possible combinations. Ahhhh, It makes me smile.

Chocolate Dipped Valentine Brownies

I adore brownies and my hubby made me some last night. What a great guy. So this morning I'm looking at the pan thinking I bet these would be really yummy with a little something on them. With my heart cookie cutter at the ready I dove into the pan and came out with this cute and significantly sized heart-shaped brownie. I warmed some red chocolate and dipped one side in then added a few candy hearts for good measure. This makes a plain brownie a bit more sophisticated and a great finish to a lovely dinner party. Don't you think?

Banana Bread with Mini Chocolate Chips

Instead of the design table we are in the kitchen today making banana bread with mini chocolate chips. Serve it warm with butter. Yummy

2 mashed bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup margarine
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan, or two 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. Combine banana and sour cream. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and banana mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; stir into the banana mixture, finally add chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan or pans.
3. Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.           

DIY Headboard

So we're living in a rental house until we find a home to buy and doing without some of our furniture since it's in storage. Katie was without a headboard so I did some looking around Pinterest for some ideas and saw something I liked and thought, I think I can make that! I made a trip to Lowe's, bought some wood, nails, sand paper, paint and stain and got to work. And did you know that Lowe's will cut your wood for you if you have your dimensions ready? Pretty cool since my power tools are not at the ready and who really wants to cut wood, right?

Katie's room is doubling as a guest room and I think it fits both she and our guests great. Sweet dreams, Katie. 

here's the inspiration from House Tweaking. Thanks!

http://www.housetweaking.com/2010/11/30/diy-fence-board-headboard/

Photos in to Note Cards

I've been taking photos for a while but still have a lot to learn. I took these at these photos at the Dallas Arboretum a while back and with the help of Kodakgallery.com I made prints that look amazing. If you haven't uploaded or used kodakgallery.com before you should. I added a couple effects, like frames and a metallic finish and love the result. I took the 4x6 prints and added them to card to stock, bundle them with some envelopes, and finish with a ribbon and clear package and they look great. Made a great gift for someone special.

Heart Garland

I'm in the midst of decorating the table for Katie's Valentine tea party. This was a super easy way to jazz up the lighting over the table as well as the center of the table.
Easy Peasy Factor of 1/10.

Valentine Yarn Wreath

I'm not much for Valentines day or at least since my husband started boycotting the holiday. (He thinks it's too commercial and he would rather exchange niceties throughout the year. How can I argue that?) But now that I have kids it's taking on a new meaning for me. I get excited for them to exchange Valentines at school and wear cute little t-shirts that say, "Heart Breaker" which my son is BTW.

So to make something festive for the door I created yet another yearn wreath, but this time I added some alternating hearts. 

Photo Peeps Valentine

So, I posted a tutorial on how to make chocolate dipped heart Peeps and wanted to show you what I ended up doing with them. These are for my daughters class Valentine exchange. She signed her name on the back of all 23 of them. I wish you could see her cute little tights but I had to make them smaller and had problems with the photo sizing. Next time I'll know.