Happy Valentine’s Day!

Good morning!  It’s been awhile.  I have a great Valentines post for you all today.  My daughter and I put together a great little owl box for her Valentines and it’s easier than one might think.  

Items you will need:

1. A box of your choosing

2. Glue

3. Construction or craft paper

4. Two pipe cleaners

5. Scissors 

6. Exacto knife (for mom or dad to use)

Instructions:

We started by taking a few sheets of construction and craft paper and folding to cut hearts of similar size.  The hearts were then mixed and matched, staggered, and simply glued down for the feather look.  Take a larger piece of paper and give the scalloped look for the top head piece and glue down. 

We then cut three circles with different sizes of jars in the kitchen and used them for the eyes.  Then cut a small triangle for the beak and two more symmetrical triangles for the ears.  The bottom of the triangle for the ears we folded slightly and used the bottom folded edge to glue them down and have them stand up.  

For the wings, I bent a single pipe cleaner to fit inside two of the largest hearts we cut and glued the hearts together with the pipe cleaner inside, just the end of the pipe cleaner hanging out so I could poke a hole in the box and stick it inside. Do the same for the other wing.  Use an exacto knife to cut a hole in the back and voila, a cute box for school Valentines!  

Let us know in the comments what you made for you kids this year!  Happy early Valentine’s Day!

Pots with Prints!

For Mother’s Day we wanted to get a little creative, although I know how enthusiastic Kimmarie can be when she’s painting so I knew I was in for a handful!  Note: see prior pairing experience below ;)

Although, these pots turned out far better than I thought they would. The mini fingerprints worked great for bees and butterflies.  We used acrylic paints and washed up right away, allowing each color to dry inbetween applications.  These pots are so much more special than the plain terra cotta ones I bought. 

Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I'm happy to say that I'm back at my blog! It's been an adjustment period with the arrival of our new little girl, but I must say I wouldn't change things for the world!  She has only made life more enjoyable and each day is a memory I cherish!

However, that being said, having a new little one and getting back to work and my normal routine has been a challenge.  Thus, the great invention of the crockpot comes into play!  I couldn't survive without my crockpot!  I've found a great new addition to my recipe repertoire and my husband loves it (and he is sometimes hard to please).  I thought I'd share the addition of this easy recipe with all of my followers, so here goes nothing.

CROCKPOT BROWN SUGAR BALSAMIC GLAZED PORK TENDERLOIN
Note from Author:  This recipe is adapted from:  http://laurassweetspot.com/2013/06/12/crockpot-brown-sugar-balsamic-glazed-pork-tenderloin/

• 1teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2teaspoon salt
• 1/4teaspoon pepper
• 2cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2cup water
• 2pounds pork loin roast
• 1/2cup brown sugar
• 1tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2cup water
• 2tablespoons soy sauce

1. Mix together the seasonings : sage, salt, pepper and garlic, and rub over the pork loin.
2. Place 1/2 cup water in slow cooker, followed by the pork loin, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours (depending on size).
3. "MY QUICK AND DIRTY METHOD FOR THE GLAZE":  Just before the roast is finished, mix together the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan : brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water, and soy sauce.
4. Heat over medium and stir until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes.  Serve on top of roast.
5. "FOR THOSE WITH THE LUXURY OF TIME GLAZE":  The original recipe states to prepare glaze 1 hour before roast is done and then to brush roast with glaze 2-3 times during the last hour of cooking.  You can also caramelize the glaze on the roast by lining a pan with aluminum foil and placing the roast on the pan, and then placing under broiler for 1-2 minutes until bubbly, repeating until crust consistency is reached.  
6. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

ENJOY!

DIY Painted Onesies

Start by printing a template that you like.  I simply used Microsoft Word and found a fun font.  If you don't have one that you like, download one for free from 1001 Free Fonts.  

After getting my text typed into the word processing program, I then found my clip-art that I wanted to pair the text with.  In Microsoft Word you can view a ruler, thus, allowing visual measurements of how big your onesie design will be when printed.  I measured my onesie across the chest and found a good height and width for it, then proceeded to print.  Every brand of onesie varies in size and also depends on style, so measuring is a must for best fit!

After printing out my onesie design, I cut it out with scissors and traced it onto my onesie.  It would have been easier to use my old trick of printing out on freezer paper (plastic/waxy side down) and then ironing on the letters and peeling them off after tracing, but I just held them in place because I was feeling lazy).

Completed template shown above.

After I started filling in the letters and outlining.  I let dry between each color to avoid smearing and mixing of colors.

COMPLETED ONESIE READY TO BE WASHED AND WORN BY MINI MONTROY!  I think it's super cute!

Daddy Survival Kit for Labor and Delivery

Since we have one day until Baby Montroy has made it until 40 weeks, both Mommy and Daddy have been going stir crazy.  Since I've had extra time to pass, and my birthday and Valentine's Day are around this time, I didn't want my husband to feel left out, so I undertook making him a Daddy Survival Kit for Labor and Delivery!

As you can see there are many of the essentials he may require during the waiting time for baby!  I've included many of his favorites and a few surprises I'm sure he will love, but the joy is that these kits can be customized for the particular labor coach it is being given to.  My husband's survival kit includes:

• Mountain Dew (his caffeinated drink of choice)
• A 5 Hour Energy (in case Mountain Dew just isn't cutting it)
• Great Value Penguin Cheddar Crackers 
• Life Savers Gummies and Hard Candies (because let's be realistic, he's my "lifesaver" and I couldn't do this without him!)
• Snickers Minis (Since we all need to remember to laugh at times)
• Trail Mix to snack on and something relatively healthy that I may also snack on since it's light and hopefully won't upset my tummy
• Kleenex with Lotion (because he may just need a soft tissue to wipe his own or my tears and the hospital ones you can pretty much see through)
• A shirt for him to wear that will make him smile (Proudly displaying the quote "I make adorable babies")
• A book for him to read to our new little peanut

Although this has been what seems like the longest pregnancy ever, I am grateful that our baby has made it this far and has been given the best chance for a healthy delivery.  In addition, being allowed the extra time to do some "fun" stuff for my husband and baby has been very rewarding, especially since I find crafting and using my creative side to be most relaxing!

One of Many Christmas Traditions---Cookie Baking With Grammy

It's that time of year once again, Christmastime!  One of my favorite family traditions is that of baking Christmas cookies with my Grammy.  We usually tackle many cookies and recently added this family favorite.  From our family to yours, I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family and friends do!

OREO BALLS

Ingredients:

16 ounces Oreo cookies, crushed (typically 1 full package & five extra cookies from another package)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

White or Milk Chocolate Bark for dipping

1.      Crush Oreo cookies in the food processor.

2.      Mix crushed Oreos and softened cream cheese together.  I use a wooden spoon and cream together.

3.      Roll into walnut size balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

4.      Freeze in deep freezer for an hour and a half.

5.      Melt chocolate bark.

6.      Stick toothpick in Oreo ball and dip into melted chocolate bark.

7.      Place on wax paper and remove toothpick.

8.      Allow to harden.

9.      Drizzle with alternating color chocolate if you so desire.  To achieve the look as shown, I put melted chocolate into a small Ziploc and cut a very tiny corner off and then quickly squeeze back and forth above the Oreo balls.  Once again, let harden completely and then store Oreo balls in refrigerator.

**To make mint Oreo balls, add ¾ tsp mint flavoring and use Mint flavored Oreo cookies.  They taste just like Andes mints!  Yum!**

DIY: Tiling Under the Bathroom Sink

A super easy project I tackled in two hours and it changes the whole look of the bathroom!  I got those peel and stick tiles in the bathroom section for 89 cents a piece from Menards.  I started in the corner and measured the tiles according, just cutting with scissors and box cutter around the shelving and edges.  After I was sure they would all fit and had them cut according, I peeled off the sticky backing and started at the right and going left to get a tight fit.

BEFORE

AFTER

It looks great and is so much easier to clean!  Such an easy and cheap update for under $10.  I also repainted underneath the sink to get rid of those stains.