Apple Salad

Today's winning recipe...
3 cups salad
2 tablespoons each feta, sliced almonds, cranberries, and balsamic vinegar dressing
1/2 green apple
1/2 Gala apple
Mix together and enjoy!

Oatmeal recipe

I started the new Weight Watchers Points Plus Program today. I think it looks like a great program and I look forward to loosing 35 pounds on it. Here's my first yummy breakfast recipe.
Fruitalicous Oatmeal
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1/2 banana
1/2 apple
1/2 oz walnuts
Cinnamon to taste
7 points plus
I loved the taste. Did not miss the sugar because the fruit had plenty. My daughter is not quite sold yet. She wanted the kind in the package. Hopefully I can get her on board as I'm trying to cut the sugar consumption at our house.

Have Been Creatin, Just Not Postin

Well, just by chance that you've happened by my blog and think that I haven't been taking time to create, it's not true! I've just been a loser when it comes to posting, plus my camera is broke again. Here's a few things that I've accomplished so far this summer and the sites where you can see my idea inspiration. The first two sites are two of my new favorites.
- Scrappy Clutch
- Buttercup Bag (This was so easy to make and it's a FREE pattern. I am going to pay for it to get the bigger version though)
- Fabric Flowers
- Pillowcase Dresses (These aren't the exact directions that I used, but pretty close minus the elastic. I just used ribbon like a drawstring)
- Busy Pads
- Invites to my sister's baby shower
- Invites to another baby shower
- Wands and crowns for my daughter's birthday
- lots of SMART Board lessons for my district

That's so far. I'm blessed to be a teacher so I can do a little more in the summer. My next round of fun includes...
- party favors for two baby showers
- more purses
- whatever else I see on the web that I think I have to make

Even if you don't have tons of time, take time to create. I think handmade shows that you care about someone and for the most part creating is a great stress reliever. Recipes, paper crafts, sewing, whatever your craft, just take time.

Hugs,
Jennifer

Easter Baskets

I enjoy giving friends little things to celebrate holidays. For Easter, I made these cute little Easter baskets with eggs. I found mini-plastic eggs at Hobby Lobby. The eggs are filled with Hot Tamale Jelly Beans (yumalicious!!), Life Saver Jelly Beans, and some other yummy kind of bean.

I got the idea from Split Coast Stampers and altered it to dimensions that fit the eggs I bought. I cut 6 x 3 1/4" paper for the basket and scored at 1" on all sides. I'm taking a guess at the handle, I believe it is 6 x 1 1/4".

Hugs,
Jennifer

Weekend Fun

Spring Break is almost to an end and I used most of it up keeping my house clean. So, I decided to have a crafty weekend. Here's what I've accomplished so far...two Secret Sister gifts, a boss gift and a hubby gift.

Chocolate Box and Candy Wrappers

I got the box idea from Kay at Creations on Paper. I used her dimensions exactly. The candy wrapper idea is from Barb at Stampin is my Job. For three Snickers or Muskateers, I used a 5X6" piece of paper. For two Kit Kats I used a 5X7" piece of paper. The longer side goes around the candy.

For this wrapper, I used a 5x7" piece of paper.

I used 7x7" piece of paper for this wrapper.

I'm always looking for inexpensive gifts to let my friends and family know that I'm thinking of them, hopefully these will do the trick.

Take some time to create,
Jennifer

Birthday Tea Pics and Projects

I think the birthday tea may need to be made into an annual event. We had a lot of fun eating and creating. Instead of presents I asked all my friends to donate a box of granola bars for students who don't always get to eat breakfast at school. As a thank you, I planned three projects for my friends make.

Here's a pic of the table setting. This is at my mom's house with her china. We had scones with Devonshire cream and jam, cucumber sandwiches, tuna salad sandwiches, and chocolate cake.



Projects
This is one of my favorite stamps from River City Stamp Company. The inside says, "God watches us at all times, let's try to be entertaining."

This is another favorite stamp that I found at Hobby Lobby. The inside of the box holds six Treasure chocolates. Each of my friends brought a bag and we swapped flavors. Each chocolate is wrapped in a stamped address label.

The flower on this bag is the new big flower punch from SU.










Make sure to take time to create this week.
Hugs,
Jennifer

Chocolate Boxes

I'm always looking for quick and easy (but cute) gifts to give. The directions for this cute little box is on SplitCoastStampers. You can sign up for their weekly emails or just search their site. I enjoy searching their resources and galleries. Tons of my ideas come from SCS. The paper flower is my new favorite accent. So simple to make! My last post has the link to the directions.

Hope you have a great week. Hugs to you all!
Jen

Birthday Projects

I decided to throw my own birthday party this year. After 21, birthdays aren't so special, so I decided to make it special myself. I am having my own tea party and chocolate swap. I requested that all my quests bring a bag of Treasures or Nuggets to share (hopefully we'll get a variety). We'll trade chocolate and make a box for the little bits of heaven. We are also going to make a card. I encourage each of you to treat yourself to a special birthday this year and enjoy it with your friends.
My mom had a good idea that I also encourage you to adopt on your birthday...instead of a present, ask your quests to bring a donation to a local charity. I requested breakfast bars for our students that don't always get to eat breakfast at school.
The following are my b-day projects Hope my quests like them. :)
My Invitation

Chocolate Box

This is a matchbox type box. I looked the Stampin' Up! catalog for how the template looked (p. 201 of current catalog). Hopefully someday I can have my very own Big Shot and dies, but for now I make my own. I love the little flower. I got the super easy idea from Inking Idaho. I also had to use my favorite chocolate stamp. It's so true. 

Card

This is another one of my favorite stamps.

"Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends leave footprints in your heart." Eleanor Roosevelt

I think the card needs a little something extra, just not sure what it is.

Project for my hubby

My husband is taking classes right now to become a x-ray tech. I'm very proud of him. When he asked for a gift card holder for his teacher, I jumped at the chance to make something special. This is a super easy gift card holder. I LOVE the little flower. This flower idea came from Carrie Stamps. It is definitely a keeper of an idea. 

Cut your paper 4 3/4"x4 3/4". Score at 1 1/2 and 3 3/4, turn and score at 5/8 and 4 1/8. Round the corner as shown in the picture. Cut a strip of coordinating paper 2" x 5 1/4". Wrap the strip around the holder and tape ends together. Attach flower. 

Hope you have a super day and take some time to create.

God Bless

Valentine's Fun

I've had a fun time making Valentine projects. Crafting/baking is really a good stress reliever. If only I had someone to pick up after me. The following are this year's Valentine projects. Enjoy and maybe you could tweak them for St. Pat's day. :)

Grandma Ruby's Famous Sugar Cookies - Project 1 of 4

I really like this sugar cookie recipe for many reasons. Mostly because it's my Grandma's. She's a great cook and baker. I also like it because it's a quick and easy recipe and it makes a lot of cookies. It's definitely not low calorie with two sticks of butter and a cup of oil...but nothing with sugary goodness is low calorie. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do.

• 2 sticks of butter
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil (I used canola)
• 1 t. butter flavoring (I ran out and didn't use any in my last batch and they tasted fine. I do like them with though.)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2 t. salt
• 5 cups flour
• 2 t. baking soda
• 2 t. cream of tartar (this gives them a little bite, kind of like a snickerdoodle)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, oil and salt. Then add flavorings. Combine dry ingredients and add to other mixture. Mix well. Chill if you'd like, but not necessary.
Make dough into small balls (I used the med. Pampered Chef cookie scoop). Roll in granulated sugar. Flatten with small glass on your cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Less time for a soft cookie, more time for a crisp cookie.
Make approx. 6 dozen cookies.

Milk Cartons and Holder - Project 2 of 4

I found this project on my favorite blog Inking Idaho awhile back. I bought the tutorial for $3.95. All of her tutorials are well worth the money. These cartons are mini versions of her design that I designed. I got all four cartons out of one piece of 8.5x11 cardstock! I am stingy with my Stampin Up! paper. I put jelly beans in them for my Secret Sister.






Candy Matchbooks - Project 3 of 4

Most of my projects I find on other people's blogs. Couldn't tell you exactly where I found this one, but I know I've seen it several places. Sizes vary depending on what kind of candy that you're using.
Cut paper 3 1/4 x 7 1/8"
Score at 3/4, 4, and 4 1/4"

I made these for my fifth grade daughter's class. I really enjoy making my girls special things that nobody else will have. I hope it makes them feel special.

Gum Holder - Project 4 of 4

This cute little project is from the blog Impressions by Rochelle. She has a lot of gift ideas on her site that are easy to make. I used her directions except in place of her word window punch, I used the scallop border punch. I only did this because I don't have a word window punch. The scallop punch worked great and it was a nice decorative touch.

These were for my husband's class. He is taking courses to become an x-ray tech. He printed off the clipart for me as I didn't have any medical themed stamps (Although I think I have almost everything else under the sun. :)

 I found five stick packs of Trident at Dollar General for about $1 for a four pack.




Hope you've enjoyed my Valentine's projects and I hope you take some time to create this weekend. God Bless you and your family.
Jennifer

Valentine Sucker Holder

While searching for Valentine ideas, I came across a cute one on Leeann Greff's blog. I modified it a bit and came up with this...

What do you think? Super cute and best of all easy. Here's the directions if you would like to make some yourself.

Cut out a 4 1/2 inch square of paper. Score the square at 1 1/2 and 3 inches. Turn the paper and score again at the same measurements. Punch a hole at each corner.

Using square scallop punch, punch out four pieces of paper and adhere to 4 1/2 square.

Cut a 12 inch piece of cordinating ribbon and thread through holes as shown below.

Place a sucker in the middle. I purchased some nice 1 1/2 inch ball shaped suckers at Dollar General for $1 a bag. Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops would work too. This is how I tied mine and it worked great.

Using the circle scallop punch, punch a circle out of cordinating paper and punch as shown below.

Attach stamped image punched out with 1 3/8 inch circle punch and then thread over sucker stick.

Told you it was super easy. :) Now only 24 or so more to make.

Happy Creating!

Jennifer

Easy Black Bean Soup

Winter is the perfect time to cook up a pot of your favorite soup. I came across a recipe for black bean soup, doctored it up a bit and thought I'd share. I liked it so much, I made two batches this weekend!

Dump the following ingredients into your slow cooker. Cook 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups chunky salsa
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Top with one or more of the following: cheese, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, etc. 

Happy creating!