Valentine wreath

C found us a good idea for a valentine wreath on pinterest using Styrofoam board and tissue to make little flowers.  I got some crate paper and napkins to try at the dollar store....C chose the crate paper and I thought id try the napkins. An easy 3 dollar wreath .....but soooooooo time consuming! It took me 4 nights in a row doing it an hour plus each night.....im happy with it but it took forever!

Homemade Grape Juice

Yes this is Grape Juice! Amazing right?!? My mother-in-law made this all the time when my husband was growing up. He told me he always looked forward to drinking it at Sunday Dinner... 

I kinda came upon a ton of grapes for free. Yes in the middle of January in Utah. Lucky right???? 

This was so so easy I could have done a billion bottles if I would have more then one water bath....

Now a little something for you to know, this makes grape juice concentrate, so its not 100% juice because of the sugar. 

First, make sure you wash and sterilize your quart jars in a water bath canner for 10 min. Then add 1 cup grapes (washed and stems removed), and 1 cup sugar (also if your don't want as much sugar you can do 1/2 cup of sugar). Fill the jars with boiling water, leaving 1/2" headspace. Wipe jar tops with a clean damp cloth, apply clean lids and rings, and screw on fairly tightly.

Process for 30 minutes. That's it! Super quick and easy. Make sure to check your elevation for the exact  processing time...

Cheese Cake (no bake)

I am not a huge fan of cheese cake but my little sister got my mom a pan for christmas and I was just dyeing to try it out... I found this no bake recipe and was all for it. When I read there was sour cream in it I was a little offish but pushed through and still tried it... Amazing I loved it!!! It was very very easy. I just used some frozen strawberries and added sugar it wasn't the best but still was amazing!!!

No Bake Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

2 packages, or blocks, 8 oz each, cream cheese, at room temp
1 – 8 oz tub cool whip, at room temp
1 cup sour cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh chopped strawberries
1 – 2 tablespoons strawberry preserves (optional)
1 graham cracker crust (recipe follows) or use pre-made

Graham cracker crust ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs or about 1 1/3 packages graham crackers
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

1. Place graham crackers in food processor and turn on until crumbs are very fine. Add butter and sugar and pulse until well combined. Press in a 8 inch spring form pan or 9 inch pie plate.

2. Combine all ingredients for cheesecake, except strawberries, in a large bowl and mix with hand mixer. Mix until well combined and smooth.

A couple notes: Make sure your cream cheese is room temp or it will be lumpy. If you are going to make your own crust, I doubled it because its my husbands favorite part. Also crumbly your graham crackers to dust, If you do you will have to use more butter...

Huge Thank you too: http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/03/14/the-easiest-no-bake-strawberry-cheesecake/

Neighbor gifts Part 2

These were so easy to make!!! Everyone loved them. Here is the picture so please feel free to print them out and make some of your own :)

What we used
-scrap wood, or a 2x4 measured and cut
-paint (red or green)
-sandpaper
-mod poge
-ribbon

We just cut the blocks then painted and let that dry, mod poged the papers on. Then I sanded them to give them a ruff look. Add a ribbon or bow to finish off the look :)

Good Luck!!!

Fun little neighbor gift craft

Side Waterfall Braid with Bow

Stephy did this cute hairdo for a party for me. 

First she did a top waterfall braid

Second a french braid below the waterfall braid

Third gathered all my hair and made a little bow on the side.

It turned out really cute and was super easy. 

Homemade Febreze

I live in an old house and for some reason when winter comes my house stinks and smells linger for days.  We are on a  tight budget. If I can find any way to save I am there... I use baking soda like a crazy person. When I ran across this Homemade febreze from http://starneslifefamilylove.blogspot.com I had to make it no question... It is so easy to make and super fast. After I made it and started to spray it ever I knew I was hooked... 

What you'll need:

1/8 Cup of fabric softener (I used Downy April Fresh)
2 tablespoons Baking Soda
Hot tap water
Spray bottle (27 oz. works great)

How to make it:
Pour fabric softener and baking soda into your spray bottle. Fill spray bottle with hot tap water and shake well. (make sure you put lid on 1st)  


Store-bought Febreze: $5.59
Homemade Febreze: $0.15
Total Savings: $5.44 or 97.3 %

Thank you http://starneslifefamilylove.blogspot.com/2012/06/homemade-febreze.html

Candy Cane Dust

Best Idea Ever!!!

We had a family event where we had to bring something to decorate cupcakes. 

I went outside of the box and bought a box of candy canes and threw them in the blender. 

Candy Cane Dust perfect for the christmas season!!!!

Cake Balls

Oh my goodness if you haven't had one of these your missing out...   

They are super easy and super yummy!

What You Need:

Cake (and things to make your cake)

Frosting

Chocolate Chips

Steps:

1. Cook cake like normal then let cool completely 

2. Put in a bowl

3. Start crumbling cake up

4. Make sure cake is crumbled all the way (no big chunks)

5. Add Half a container of frosting in

6. Mix with hands until hand can come clean

7. Roll Cake into balls.

8. Place on tray on chill for 5 minutes (no longer or chocolate will crack)

9. Pour chocolate in bowl and melt in microwave. Be carful not to burn

10. Mix in a little bit of shortening 

11. Place ball in chocolate and cover completely

12. Let chocolate cool. (feel free to put sprinkles on them)

And you are all done... We have done every cake you can think of... 

I prefer red velvet with cream cheese frosting and a white chocolate to coat it.

Chocolate chocolate with white chocolate is heavenly also...

Garbage Wreaths

Oh my goodness we (stephy) saw this cute wreath on pintrest and it was a must... Everywhere we looked we could not fine out how to do it so we winged it and couldn't be happier...

Our friend Jenn came over and also did this super super cute wreath but I didn't get any pictures of her doing her's 

Left: Stephy Middle: Jenn Right: Me

What you Need:

Walmart, Target, Any kind of white plastic bag. 

A wire hanger

Scissors 

Ribbon

We did this craft 2 different ways...

The 1st way we will follow Stephy on her journey :)

She took her bag and folded in half (with hanger in the middle) and tied it in a knot continue this step. You are going to trim all the extra bag off until you get a nice even look.

Jenn also did her's this way. I love it!!!

The 2nd way is the way I tried.

I just my bags into tiny little strips and then started to tie the knot on my hanger. After you trim all the extra bag until even. This way took a lot long then would have liked I started to use Stephy's extra bag pieces to save me time.

I am not going to say which way is better because they both turned out amazing! My way took alot longer and if I wouldn't have had their scraps then I would still be there cutting my bags into strips. They were both full and fluffy. 

Now this craft may be a little messy to say the least... I could not believe the bags and how they moved from one spot to another...

 Here is the final product.... We LOVE LOVE LOVE them...

 If you have any questions please ask....