We moved!

So we finally moved and are just getting settled in. I love it here. The kids have room and there are so many projects I want to do. The possibilities  are endless. You will have to forgive me for not posting in a long time but life has been crazy busy! Pictures of the new house to come!  Speaking of crazy life. Here is my latest cake. My Awesome friend Amanda got married :) and a painting I did for my sweet aunt!

Its been to long!

Well hey blogspot readers! It has been way to long, and I have been so busy with tons of projects, moving, kids, and life in general. I hope to show you all my latest work so please come back soon for tons of projects!

More cakes- Skittles cake

So of course there is always birthdays around here. Recently John's cousin had a birthday party and I was asked to make him a cake that had to do with Skittles. Skittles is a nickname that my husband and his cousin share and of course Skittles are AWESOME! So after surfing the web I came up with the idea to make it look like a skittles candy bag. It ended up being really simple and of course the great surprise was the multicolored cake inside. 

Martha gives a great tutorial here on how to make the rainbow cake: http://www.marthastewart.com/256688/rainbow-cake

and here is what the cake turned out like! Love it.

I ended up just dieing some fondant red and then cutting out letters with cookie cutters and painting the rainbow on the "bag" with colored frosting. (Later on after a few comments from my husband, I ended up cutting down the letter i , so it looked a little less like the L) 

Of course I had to make a cake for Easter, would you expect any less! I found this very simple Easter cake on Pinterest. ( Pinterest is awesome)

 I wish my peeps looked like they were in more of a circle, but it tasted the same lol 

Here is the link I found off Pinterest : http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Peeps-Sunflower-Cake

DIY Tufted Head board

I have been seeing lots of DIY head boards so I finally took the jump and made my own.

It was so simple and I love the look. The best part, it only costs me about 30.00 for everything. Can't beat that!

First I went to Lowe's and had them cut me a board down to 60" x 48", basically just one straight cut. Costing me only 8.00 for the board. (It doesn't really matter what kind of wood you get, as long as its sturdy, and I'm cheap so this worked perfect)

After I brought it home I drew a few lines and had my very awesome neighbor cut it for me. After that I drilled a few holes for the tufting. I have seen a lot of people do a lot of tufting on their headboards but I have always liked the less is more approach. So I made 8 holes, and measured them out so they were even ( well even enough lol)

After that I took my foam ( just a foam topper from Walmart, only 12.00)

I sprayed the foam and the board and applied. Then cut it down to size.

After that I wrapped it in batting and stapled. 

As soon as I did that I laid the fabric down. ( Some awesome fabric I found at Walmart for only 2.50 a yard, score! I bought 2 1/4 yards)

after pulling it tight, I stapled it around, making sure I kept it tight and smooth. 

I cut down the extras to keep it neat and clean looking on the back.

Last I took some thick string and pulled tight with some fabric covered buttons that I created with the same fabric.

I just love it! Now to get new bedding! I also found some great blogs that have made the same thing and have great tutorials! A must see :

http://jennasuedesign.blogspot.com/2012/03/diy-upholstered-tufted-headboard.html

Cupcakes

I love cupcakes, not only are they super easy to make but they are so fun to decorate!

For my sister in law birthday I made her these cookie monster cupcakes. ( I call her my cookie monster thus the cupcake theme) I found these on http://birdonacake.blogspot.com/2011/11/om-nom-nom-nom.html and they are way to cute not to make!

 Here is mine :)

You have to try these, the cookies soften from being in the cupcake and HEAVEN!

 Speaking of cupcakes my daughter just turned 12 ( wow time flys) She wanted to have a 'Paris' theme party. I wasn't able to find much in an 'paris' theme. So we came up with these cupcakes and black and white decorations. I found the chocolate mold on ebay. I think they turned out really cool. We also made black and white paper flowers, and painted little wooden suitcases for our 'trip' to Paris.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

At our house we eat a lot of chicken. I love how I can buy a large bag and get two meals out of it and chicken is really versatile. I had seen a bacon wrapped chicken on TV one night and decided to try it out. I found this great recipe from Ms. Paula Deen. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/sweet-chicken-bacon-wraps-recipe/index.html

This recipe is for a smaller version for appetizers. I decided to make them a little larger and serve them with a side of noodles and a veggie. Let me tell you, SOOO Good! A must try!

Here is the recipe: (courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
• 1 (1-pound) package sliced bacon
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a wooden pick. Stir together brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture. Coat a rack and broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken wrap on rack in broiler pan. Bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

I also turned up the oven to 400 for the last 10 minutes to crisp the bacon. ( with the larger pieces I used, of course I had a longer cook time)

Cut chicken

mix spices and cut bacon

Wrap chicken with bacon

Place chicken on pan after tossing in spice/sugar

Bake :)

Enjoy, also good dipped in ranch

Quick and healthy lasagna

Life has been totally crazy. I am sorry I haven't posted lately. As you know we are building a house and trying to get everything together for the big move.

Here is our house so far! Yea it has begun!

So in this crazyiness of packing and preparing to rent our condo. I have found quick meals to be very helpful. I found this reciepe a few months ago. I found it on the back of the Ronzoni Healthy Harvest lasagna noodle box. The best part is it has a lot of healthy ingredients. I even will add turkey meat instead of beef and the heart healthy spagetti sauce. So I just had to share.

Healthy Harvest Easy Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef (or I used ground turkey)

3 cups (26 oz. jar ) spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 cups water

1 3/4 (15oz container) ricotta or small curd cottage cheese

2 cups (8oz) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp salt ( I use a salt subsitute)

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

9 peices Ronzoni Healthy Harvest lasagna, uncooked

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, brown meat; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and water; simmer about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, one-half mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour about 1 cup sauce on bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 ( I used 4 1/2) pasta peices lengthwise over sauce; cover with 1 cup sauce. Spread one-half chees filling over sauce. Repeat layers of lasagna, sauce and cheese filling. Top with layer of lasagna and remaining sauce; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil; bake additional 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Makes 12 servings.

Valentine Garland

Ahhh Valentine's day!! This is a little something we did to decorate

First you take construction paper and cut them into about 2 inch strips.

Then you form them into a heart shape and staple.

Here is what I did to be able to staple them.

( I put the heart in place, pinched and pushed it to the side to staple)

Finally you hook the next heart on like this.....on each side and staple again

Here is what ours look like........so cute! I just love this! My girls had so much fun making these :)

Inspired paintings

So my aunt saw this painting on http://www.ballarddesigns.com/heart-s-reason-giclee-print/paintings-prints/reproduction-prints/13866 and asked if I could make her one.

Their paintings are amazing! (but an expensive I mean amazing price lol) Well lets just say a little more than we have a budget for. And for a little hard work and a fraction of the price........here is what I created.

(Its not really great pictures, but in person it looks like wood.)
 

Homemade Microwave popcorn

Who doesn't love popcorn, come on SOO good

So as always I was looking online and found this totally cool, easy, cheap way to make your own microwave popcorn. Total score. And I actually had everything I needed at home.

Here is the link that I found :) http://www.instructables.com/id/Microwave-Popcorn%3A-Home-made,-cheap-and-easy/

So two of my girls and I made some

Here is what you need:

• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 tbsp oil ( I used half that)
• salt
• paper bag
• staple or tape

First you pour in 1/4 cup popcorn in your paper bag

Next you add your oil and salt or whatever you want

Last you staple ( I was leery about this but it worked just fine, I have also seen people use tape) the bag closed and let out all the air and microwave for like 2 1/2- 3 minutes

So good!