Homemade Caramel Sauce for a Cold Day

Before Christmas I made several batches of this lovely caramel sauce and divvied them up into pretty glass jars with tight lids for my girlfriends and the kids' Bible class teachers. Such fun!

To make each jar personal, I used glass etching cream and a stencil to monogram them.

A little blue velvet ribbon and a felt snowflake on top (attached with hot glue), and they were ready for gifting.

I told each girl to spoon a little into her coffee, drizzle it over ice cream or pound cake, or eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon (my personal pref.).

I keep my own little stash in the fridge and have really lavished my evening nip right out of the jar. Another delicious idea: use as a dip for apple slices. Mmmmm.

The weather where I live is actually as perfect as perfect could ever be, but I imagine that if I were locked indoors because of a snowstorm, this would be the nicest treat to warm up with.

The caramel sauce recipe I used is from The Joy of Cooking, and I found a wonderful step-by-step visual tutorial for the same recipe here, at Mel's Kitchen Cafe. 

Gingerbread Play Dough Stocking Stuffers

I ran across a wonderful gingerbread play dough recipe the other day that I think is the best! It smells so, so good. I was raving about it on facebook last week.

My four year old loves to help in the kitchen so I let him mix the ingredients. When it was time to put the pot over the stove, I took over. In just a couple of minutes, we were ready to play!

I didn't get photos of our playtime, but we pulled out the rolling pin and cookie cutters. I held the baby in my lap and Big Boy worked solo. That was the best hour! Do you make your own play dough? I actually prefer it to store bought because it is less sticky and smells so good-- plus, I know exactly what goes into it.

My oldest wanted to give some of our play dough to his little friends for Christmas, so we made a batch and divided it into baby food jars. One recipe filled five small jars for us. Then I cut circles out of cheery red and white fabric and tied a bright green grosgrain ribbon around the lid. For the cards, I used scrapbook paper and Santa stickers. 

Now... what to do with the other 737 glass baby food jars I kept for crafts? 

The recipe was found at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle via Pinterest.

Pink Sunday Sugar Scrubs (For Breast Cancer Awareness Month)

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I'm throwing a big, ole hootenanny (thank you, Google spell check).

That's exactly what the invitations say.

Actually, it's going to be a very nice come-and-go Open House with shopping and visiting and eating little foods. I'm calling it Pink Sunday and I'm expecting it to be very cute and girly-- adjectives I cling to and bear hug whenever I get the chance (one lady + three boys = my house).

Along with several vendors, I'll have a table set up with some of my own goodies to sell. My scrubbies will make an appearance. All of these recipes came from my eBook, A Year of Sugar Scrubs.

Unrelated tidbit: I cleaned house ALL DAY LONG on Monday, thinking, "I'm so smart! I spic and spanned everything a week before and now we'll just MAINTAIN until Sunday..." Nope. Not happening. Should've waited.

In other unrelated news, I'm up for some food suggestions. I need yummy (most important) and easy (closely following in importance), does not require much prep before serving (assembly night before and reheating for the party is fine) and easily eaten without a fork.

Ideas? I know, I know, check Pinterest.

Ghosts Say "BOO"

I had both boys in bed at 8:30 last night when my craftiness started flaring up... 

now doesn't THAT sound flattering?

 It happens every single night. Dinner done, boys bathed, jammies on, teeth brushed, prayers said, drink of water-- check! And mommy is running on fumes.

But just as soon as I tell the man-cubs their "nighty-nights" and "I love you forevers"and the door gently latches shut...

WHOOSH!

 A surge of energy rushes through me-- I want to slide across the floors in my socks and turn up the music!

I feel this need to be free with my crafting closet... Now doesn't THAT sound flattering?

Well, last night I was thinking about decorating for Halloween. Last year we were moving and the year before that, I was newly pregnant and not feeling well at all. This year, though, I am feeling inspired.

Project #1: a new pillow for the couch. I picked this Cynthia Rowley slipcovered pillow up at Marshall's for $10 on clearance. In fact, I grabbed two of them and removed the ruffles on the first to make my Geography Love Pillow.

The black-lined ruffles look perfectly festive so they stayed on. I cut out my letters from a heavy black fabric--almost like felt, but not as fuzzy-- and hot glued them in place.

And I even had enough left over to make my little ghost a mask for his costume.

This is not his official costume. It's mosquito netting that fits over my stroller, but he picked it up one day and called himself a ghost. I love how little kids' minds work creatively and without limits.

Now that I think about it, this is the first year he's had an opinion about his costume. 

Until now, I had always picked. 

He is growing up, but I must admit that I'm relieved he picked a costume that is still sweet and easily made at home. I just have this thing about wanting my boys to wear homemade Halloween costumes. They're so much more fun that way.

Plus, I have really special memories of rummaging through my mother's fabric drawer, jewelry box and craft supplies to come up with Santa Claus one year, a gypsy one year and Laura Ingalls Wilder another year (ha!). 

The excitement came from piecing together the perfect characters before heading out with our flashlights to fill our orange plastic pumpkins with loot.

I want my boys to remember their Halloweens like that, too. 

And I know that a time will come when they'll want to be a store-bought superhero or wear a scary mask. So I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Shared with: The Idea Room, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime

Embroidered Geography Love Pillow

Here's a sweet love story...

Boy meets girl (who lives in China and is secretly practicing Christianity under strict communist laws against it).

Boy likes girl (even though he lives and preaches in Texas and they can't see each other face to face).

Boy falls in love with girl (through emails and phone calls).

Boy proposes to girl (and spends many, many months trying to work through the Chinese government to bring her to the United States so they can begin a life together).

Boy marries girl (finally!) and they live happily ever after.

True story! We know "Boy" through our church and were so thrilled to finally meet his lovely bride a few weeks ago. Doesn't that story just make your heart swell?



To honor their unique history, I made them this geography pillow as a wedding gift.



That's China on the left.



And Texas on the right. In real-life, Texas is no where close to being as big as China. Creative license.

It was a really fun little project! Want to make one for yourself or a gift (maybe with states or one state/country with a heart at the location of each city, connected by a dotted line)?


I love the idea of making one for long-distance grandparents, too!

1. Print a map of your location and cut it out.

2. In pencil, trace your design on your pillowcase or fabric (if you're sewing it together later). I used a zippered pillow cover that I had on hand.

3. Using two or three strands of embroidery floss, hand stitch over the penciled design. I used a simple back stitch (click here for a tutorial).

That's it! Isn't it sweet and personal?



Linked to: Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Not Just a Housewife, Tales of a Trophy Wife, Blue Cricket Design, Lil' Luna, Chef n Training, Southern Lovely, Carolyn's Homework, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal

Picture Frame "Prayer List" Whiteboard

We've been letting our four-year-old say the dinner time prayers for a while now, and at first, they went something like this,

"Dear God,
Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Mimi, PawPaw, Pop, Bee Bee, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my friends, my teachers (all listed by name, by the way), the forks, the knives, our dogs, the plates, our food..." 

and on and on and on.

But we loved it and let him thank God for everything--which is what we should all be doing more often anyway.

Well, one day the kid wised up and realized that the longer he prays, the longer he has to wait to eat.

So his prayers became more like this,

"Dear God,
Thank you for the food. Please help the sick. In Jesus' name, Amen."

After a few weeks of trying to teach him how to be more specific in prayers, Jeremy came up with a brilliant idea.

"Why don't we get something to write our prayer concerns on? Like a whiteboard, or something, so we all can remember to pray often and specifically for those who have needs."

So, I made my own picture frame whiteboard that I'd been seeing all over the place.

I'm sure you've seen them, too. I just really like how this one is specific for our family's prayer list.

I embroidered a little bunting and hot-glued it across the glass in the frame. I also used some cute lined paper that I had on hand for behind the glass.

You know what?

It helps!

I find myself praying more often for those we needed to pray for anyway.

Like, um, myself...

Shared with: Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Sew Chatty, Today's Creative Blog

Library Book Tote

This summer has been stuffed full with swimming lessons, road trips, standing in front of box fans, microwaving as much as possible to keep the kitchen cool and library time.

It's hot. And dry. And hot.

A nearby town has the best air-conditioned library anyone could ever ask for (do I sound menopausal or circa 1946?) and we make at least two trips a week for story time and to stock up on new books.



I made my little bookworm a fun tote bag to lug around all those hardbacks (and crayons and McDonald's toys and used Kleenexes). There's enough room for everything!

Please just ignore that binding job. I do.



I found my tote bag tutorial from JCaroline Creative here.

Here is a great tutorial for machine binding from Red Pepper Quilts. I obviously had not found this great tutorial when I made this bag.



I have used this same tote bag pattern to make several more bags; they are great gifts for anyone, not just kids.



Shared with: I Heart Naptime

Orange Dreamsicle Sugar Scrub

I am now offering a beautiful brand-new eBook, A Year of Sugar Scrubs, 24 Original Recipes for Hand and Foot Scrubs. It is organized by month and is loaded with delicious (never before seen) scrub recipes, like Caramel Frappe, Pina Colada, S'mores and more! Each recipe can be easily whipped up in your kitchen with common ingredients. I know you'll love it!

Click here to find out more!

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Fabric-Covered Notebook and Album

Summer is almost here...

Are you as ready as I am?

I've been planning some fun things that I want to do this year like going to the pool and the beach, taking a weekend trip to pick fresh peaches, cheering for our local minor-league baseball team, the Fourth of July fireworks show.

Ahhhh. I love this perfect time of year.

I'm a list-maker and I wanted a pretty notebook to keep by my side or in my purse for planning.

So I painted the top of my spiral with Mod Podge and laid fabric on top, smoothing it out with my fingers. Then I painted another layer of Mod Podge over it and let it dry. 

The big "E" was made with yarn and a hot glue gun. I added ribbon to the edges to cover the less-than perfect cut fabric.

This also works really nicely on photo albums for gifts or your coffee table.

Look at my little stink three summers ago.

I love it.



Shared with: Fingerprints on the Fridge

Milk Monster Onesie

I hope you all had a super-duper Easter weekend with family and lots of kids running around the yard, looking for brightly painted, chocolate-stuffed eggs.

We did!

Are you ready to swear off candy forever?

We are!

Here's a little project to help you out of that sugar coma.

(I hope I'm not the only one who ate jelly beans all day yesterday!)

This is one of those takes-no-time-but-looks-so-cute kind of projects (my favorite kind).

Feel free to save the image to your computer and print it out to make your own.

If you want to make a t-shirt or onesie like my baby's, simply trace the image and words with fabric paint.

Place cardboard under the picture first so the paint won't bleed through to the other side. Then follow the paint's directions for drying time.