It's Apron Time!!!

(a view out my front door - penguins in the arctic...)

Not really, but we might as well have penguins here. They'd survive just fine.

Just a reminder - don't forget to have your aprons in the mail by Monday if you haven't mailed them already!!! (my goal is to be done by Friday!)

And don't forget to include a funny story or something interesting about yourself!!!


And where are all of the pictures?! I'm dying to see what you guys made! (or bought)

Cooking 101 - Peanut Butter Cookies

I needed a snack to send to my daughter's class today and with NOTHING in the pantry and no sedatives to get me through a grocery shopping trip with 3 tired boys, I scrounged around the house for things I might throw together. OY...I hate that.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES! Perfect. A little substance to go with the sugar and the kids will make it through the end of the school day! Plus, who wants to be the mom who sends carrot sticks or saltine crackers?! GEEZE. Social suicide for a Kindergartener...

Here's a classic recipe I love that doesn't use Crisco. I know, I know, butter isn't great either - but it's better than Crisco!!!

CLASSIC PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES:

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I like crunchy)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, peanut butter, eggs and sugars together. Add flour, baking soda and vanilla and combine well. Roll spoon-fulls of dough into little balls, about the size of a small walnut. Gently press down with a fork, making a criss-cross shape in the middle. (don't squish 'em) Bake for about 8-10 minutes depending on how chewy you like your cookie.

For a chewy cookie, take them out just before they start turning golden brown. Otherwise, leave them in until they're golden brown a little on the edges.

Hot Mamma Pants

I'm always saying, "Put on your big-girl pants!" (you know, when adults can't act like grown-ups) but THESE pants put new meaning into the phrase! My goodness! I've gotta get me a pair of these Hot Mamma Pants!

This cute girl is Megan and she is the genius behind Brassy Apple. You have to go check out her blog and her website. I told her that I'd love to squeeze my fanny in a pair of her jeans and prance around town! Megan makes ALL KINDS of things and gives some great instructions on her site - AWESOME.

I've got a pair of 'peek-a-boo' jeans (kinda holey in all the wrong places) that maybe I could jazz up a little like 'ol Megan here - it's worth a shot. What do I have to loose? If anything, I'll prolong the life of an ancient pair of jeans!

My Valentine Present

I know, I know...you're all probably dying to know what I got myself - oh, wait - what my husband got me for Valentine's Day.... Well, okay, maybe you're not dying - but I'll show you anyway. Don't worry - it's not that graphic.





My PACKAGE came ON V-DAY and it couldn't have been more perfect!!! This just made the whole day AMAZING! I almost KISSED the UPS man, being that it was Valentine's Day and all, but he didn't seem as excited as I was, so I passed. (Plus, he looks nothing like the adorable UPS driver type that I envision in my mind, so that doesn't help, either.)




Nothing says, "I Love You" like a box full of yummy fabric! Thank goodness I had the chocolate to go with it - it would have been catastrophic NOT to have chocolate on hand for a moment like this.
















This one here is my favorite. I wonder what the heck I'll do with it...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you find loving things all around you!






Here are some things I LOVE:

A baby's laugh
A big bear hug (& kisses!) from my cute husband
Movie nights (and a good movie)
Watching my children have fun
Sunsets
A warm cookie
A clean house (a rare treat)
Chocolate, of course (silly)
A springtime garden
Sunny days

The list could go on and on, but I'll stop there because I have to get kids off to school. If you have time, I'd love to hear about some things YOU love!

Have a great day!!!

Hip Headband

I've been hunting all over for some good instructions to make these AWESOME reversible headbands! I found some really cute ones on the Etsy store Busy B Designs and decided I wanted to make my own.

This cute girl, Suzanne, at Foofanagle did all of the work for us and even gave us a template to print out and use as a pattern! Thanks, Foofanagle. You're the best! You're the foofiest foofer!

I decided that I'm going to make a matching headband to go with my apron for the swap - every girl needs her own matching headband while she bakes up something scrumptious! Don't you think? I mean, who wants that hair in their cookie?

This headband really was easy to make - but Suzanne warned that turning it right-side-out would be difficult and it was. That one step took the longest, otherwise it's a snap!

Valentine Quickie Art

This is my Valentine decor addition from last year. I LOVE (no pun intended) Valentine's Day - probably for the pretty colors and chocolate more than anything. I try to obtain one new decor item each year and I'm still waiting for the shopping fairy to come take me away this week...

For this bad boy, I just created a 3-dimentional print with my leftover scrapbooking stuff and put it in a frame I had laying around in my unused frame collection. It would probably look so much nicer in something else, but since it's only up for one month out of the year, I'm not worried much!

You could make a print like this for each season and show off your festive side! I think that everybody needs at least ONE item of decor for each holiday - everybody needs to be reminded of those little things that make our culture and seasons fun!

Now, because of the whole digital scrapbooking thing, I hardly EVER touch my paper crafting stuff - s0 maybe I'll do a digital print out of something festive for St. Patty's!

GREAT Fabric

For those of you like me who don't have access to specific fabric brands through specialty fabric stores, JCaroline Creative is where you want to go.

The prices are reasonable and they carry ALL of my favorite lines - Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman, etc.



AND...I love that I can type in a specific color in their little search window and the site pulls together all of the fabrics with that color! SO NIFTY! (I love that word, nifty.)

















I ended up ordering a yard of this one - don't know what I'll do with it but it's so stinking fun.












I LOVE these cupcakes!!!


Photo Key from Top:
Amy Butler - Lotus Collection
Robert Kaufman - Green Damask
Robert Kaufman - Pink Damask
Dena Fishbein - Sun Drop Collection
Robert Kaufman - Cupcakes

Swap Is Closed

I've got all names assigned out now. If you missed this swap, let me know and maybe I'll have some stragglers to pair you up with. Otherwise, make an apron anyway! You can't have too many aprons! You can keep it and post your photos with us. Maybe we can do another swap sometime in the summer.

HAVE FUN and don't forget to join the Flickr group (on sidebar) and post your photos!!!

Email Troubles

Holy Cow - I have no idea what happened with my email but I didn't get a bunch of your emails. So Sorry! That bothers me because who knows what other emails I haven't received? I've changed up a few settings with my email account so I've fixed the problem!! But don't worry - everybody who wants to will have a partner for the swap. Even if I have to dig up some friends!

Here are the ladies I need addresses/emails from: Jen Sue Wild, Sally, Allison and Kelli. Thanks so much!!!

Let The Swappin' Begin!

Thanks (you know who you are) for joining in the fun!! I just finished the last of the emails (whew!) and everybody has been assigned! I still need info from Allison, Brynn, and Jen. If you wouldn't mind shooting me an email, I'll send you one back with your swapping buddy.

If you still want to join in the swap, send me an email and I'll try to pair you up with someone else if I can.

Feel free to send me pictures of your creations - nobody knows who has their own name (except myself, of course, silly) so it won't matter if we see apron pictures! I'm DYING to see what everyone else comes up with!

HERE is the link to get to the Apron Swap Details. Have Fun!