Dainty Blossoms

I fell in love with Riley Blakes, Dainty Blossoms line the second I opened up the box. I knew that I wanted to make something for my little girl but was undecided what to do. I also knew it had to be something easy and quick because when it comes to sewing projects for me I am an instant gratification kind of girl. Funny enough Walmart gave me the inspiration I needed... A cheap Hanes pink t-shirt & here is the outcome (drum roll please):

I am not one to pat myself on the back but how cute is this dress?!? It such a cute little spring dress for any little girl and took me about an hour and very little fabric. The look on her face when I showed her the dress would have been worth 10+ hours of work to me :)  

Back view

When it comes to making something I fly by the seat of my pants and wing it, so unfortunately I don't have any instructions. If anyone is interested in them let me know and I will attempt to make a tutorial.

What are some of your favorite creations that you have made?

<3

What's for Dinner?

Ever have one of those days when you desperately need to go grocery shopping but don't have time, no money for take out, and need to make something for dinner? Yup been there also...just this last Monday actually.

Here is a simple, no need to grocery shop, majorly family approved recipe for you all. Unfortunately I only got a picture of my husband's leftovers for lunch because by the time I got back from school it had all been devoured :) 

Crock-pot Apple & Onion Pork chops

Ingredients:

1. 4 boneless pork chops (bone in is fine or chicken breasts would be yummy too - whatever you have in the freezer)
2. 1 small onion (don't have on hand no problem you could use dried minced onion or onion powder)
3. 2 apples (any kind)
4. 1/2 cup brown sugar
5. 1/2 cup of apple juice
6. 1/2 cup of water
7. Approx 1 tbsp of Mrs. Dash Original (this is what I had on hand but many other seasoning mixes would taste yummy)

Directions:

1. Place pork chops in crock pot (they do not need to be thawed. I didn't have much time so threw them in frozen and they still came out extremely tender!)
2. Slice up apples and coarsely chop up onion and put over pork chops
3. Sprinkle brown sugar over pork chops
4. Pour apple juice and water over everything
5. Sprinkle Mrs. Dash all over (put as little or as much as you like)
6. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high
7. Serve with favorite sides (I served with rice cooked in bold chicken stock adds great flavor! and green beans)
8. Enjoy!

<3

Upcoming

For the past few weeks I have been going through all of my fabric catalogs circling, uncircling (and recircling), and debating color schemes and patterns on upcoming fabrics that I think would be great additions to the shop. It is really hard sometimes in choosing fabrics, because even though I might absolutely love it, others might not. Vice versa also it might not click with me but could be a best seller. That is where my friends and family have been really helpful in giving their opinions on upcoming lines I have thought about purchasing. So I thought they have been so great in helping why not toss my ideas to all of you guys out there and let me know your opinions on what types of fabrics you would like to see in the shop Here are a few lines I am currently debating on:

First one is called Crabtastic by Blend Fabrics and gets released in April: LOVE LOVE LOVE! What about you guys?

2nd Line is called Rhapsodia and would be a debuting fabric in the shop for Art Gallery Quilts and is also an April release: I am loving the boho feel and retroish colors!

3rd line is called Tinsel by Blend Fabrics & would be Fabric Nerds' first holiday line being offered: I think its super cute!

The final line is called Aubrey and would also be another debuting fabric this time for Studio E Fabrics: I think these fabrics would make an absolutely gorgeous quilt!

So let me know what you guys think :)

<3

I {heart} You

I have never been one to make Valentine's Day a big deal but since having the kiddos I try to do inexpensive cute little things to celebrate, like buying some of my hubby's favorite candies, doing a cute craft, or making a special meal they all love. Unfortunately this Vday I have classes all night so we won't really have time to do any celebrating on the actual day so this past weekend I made a special little breakfast for them; Homemade Heart Donuts. They are delicious, inexpensive, cute, and kid approved. So I thought I would share it with you.

Heart Donuts:

Ingredients:

1. Bisquick Homestyle Grands Biscuits
2. Heart shaped Cookie Cutter
3. Oil of choice (I use vegetable oil)
4. Powdered sugar
5. Brown Sugar
6. Cinnamon
7. 2 brown paper lunch bags
8. Wooden spoon

Directions:

1. Put about 1 1/2 to 2" of oil in a large high-sided skillet and heat on medium heat.
2. Separate biscuits and let stand at room temperature for about 10 mins.
3. Take cookie cutter and cut biscuits into heart shapes 
4. Take the excess dough and make into small round balls ( will make little munchkin type donuts)
5. Check to see if oil is hot enough (if you are like me and don't have any fancy things to check the temp of the oil and easy way is to take the handle of a wooden spoon and place in the oil if the oil rapidly bubbles around the wooden spoon it is hot enough and ready to start frying)
6. Place 3 donuts and a few "munchkin" donuts in the pan for about 1.5 - 2 minutes until nice golden color and then flip (I use a pair of tongs) over and let fry up for another 1.5-2 minutes.
7. Place on a paper towel lined cookie rack
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 for remainder of the donuts.
9. Now its time for toppings! I used brown sugar/cinnamon and powdered sugar but you can use glaze, melted chocolate, sprinkles, anything you want.
10. Put a mix of brown sugar and cinnamon or powdered sugar in a brown lunch bag and place a couple donuts in and close up back and shake shake shake.
11. Remove donuts 
12. Continue finishing other donuts with your favorite toppings
13. Enjoy your special Valentine Treat!

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Donuts

Kid Approved

Wishing you all a Valentine's Day full of love, hugs, and giggles.

<3 

Taste Tested and Delicious

If you are like me you probably sometimes get stuck into a boring repertoire of dinner foods. Mine usually involves a lot of pasta, pork, and ground beef/turkey. In hopes of getting out of this cyclone of boring meals I went to what I am known best for...google searching and found a bunch of easy, inexpensive, yummy meals. All which are kid and husband approved.

The first recipe comes from Weelicious and is absolutely fantastic:

Crockpot Pulled Pork Tacos

Photo courtesy of Weelicious

Pulled Pork Tacos (Serves 6-8)

1 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Salt
1 3 1/2-4 Lb Pork Shoulder, rinsed and cleaned
1 16 oz Jar Mild Salsa (I used Pace Chunky Salsa)
1 Pkg. Tortillas, corn or flour tortillas

Condiments: Salsa, Big Kid Guacamole, cilantro, diced onion, shredded cheese, sour cream

1. Place the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and mix.
2. Place the pork shoulder in the Crock Pot (slow cooker) and rub all over with the seasoning mixture.
3. Pour the jar of salsa around the pork shoulder.
4. Cook on low heat for 8-12 hours.
5. Remove the pork to a plate and using 2 forks, shred the into bite size pieces (I like to remove the visible pieces of fat).
6. Pour a scoop or two of the juices into the pork and stir to combine (If you want to remove the excess fat from the juice you will use, pour it into a cup and refrigerate it until the fat solidifies and can be easily scooped out. Only the juices will remain).
7. Place the pork into the tortillas.
8. Serve with desired accompaniments.

The second recipe comes from Mama Loves Food and is also a crockpot recipe.

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

Photo courtesy of Mamalovesfood.com

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup Ingredients:

• 5 pounds russet potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch(ish) cubes
• 1 medium/large yellow onion, diced
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 5 tsp of jarred garlic)
• 64 ounces (8 cups) chicken stock or broth
• 16 oz cream cheese, softened (I use low fat)
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt (I used Original Mrs. Dashes)
• optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup Directions:

1. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning, and chicken stock to slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
3. Add the softened cream cheese and puree soup with animmersion blender until the cheese is incorporated and about half the soup is blended. (I used my little food processor and removed  half the soup and added cream cheese to an upright blender, then re-incorporated).
4. Stir well, top with your choice of garnishes & enjoy!

NOTE: You can use cream instead of cream cheese to help in the calorie department but the cream cheese just gives it a nice baked potato tasting kick.

WARNING: Yields TONS of soup :)

Last Recipe Courtesy of Pinterest:

Taco Bites (Was the kid camp out spot at Super Bowl Party and gone within 10 mins). Also great for an appetizer dinner night paired with your other favorite appetizer recipes.

Taco Bite Ingredients:

• Wonton Wrappers
• 1 lb ground beef/turkey
• 1 pkt of taco seasong
• Shredded cheese of choice
• Shredded Lettuce
• Diced Tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Brown ground beef/turkey
3. Add taco seasoning (follow directions of back of packet)
4. Press a wonton wrapper in each mini muffin tin cup
5. Fill each cup with ground beef mixture
6. Bake in oven for approx 10 mins
7. Add toppings
8. Chow down!

Yields approximately 24 Taco bites

Hope these recipes help inspire your dinner meals. I have a bunch more in my binder of recipes to try, as they get taste tested and approved I will post more for you all :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

<3 Kristyn

My Little Artist

My little girl absolutely loves all things art (a girl after my own heart). She absolutely loves to draw and paint, especially when it comes to making serious silly pictures of her mommy and daddy. This past December she moved upstairs to her very own "big girl" room and I knew that I wanted to make a special place to display her beautiful works of art. I was thinking picture frames, cork board, magnetic strips but nothing ever came together in my head. Thank goodness for Pinterest and Ikea. At Ikea I found a cute little hanging rack and knew it would be perfect for holding her crayons, scissors, glue sticks, markers, and other art supplies and then on Pinterest I found an awesome way to use an oil drip pan. Make a few buttons in to magnets and a cute kid sign about being an artist and the outcome....

A super easy diy home decor project. You could make it into a family command center, chore chart, office calendar, or magnetic toy for kids to learn their alphabet and words. The possibilities are endless with this one. 

Want to make one of your own? Here is how I did it...

Materials:

Oil Drip Tray ($9 Walmart)

Fun Buttons (Walmart)

Children Art (Children Inspire Design)

Command Hanging Strips (Walmart)

Hanging Rack (Ikea)

Containers (Ikea)

Super Strength Magnets (Etsy)

Super Glue

Metal File

Snips

Double Sided Sticky Tape

Laminate Sheets (Optional)

To hang drip tray follow the directions on the back of the Command Hanging Strips. I then used a laminating sheet and laminated the Children's Art and stuck it on to the drip tray using double sided tape. I snipped the back of each button off and filed them down so the backs were flat and super glued the magnets to the back (let magnets stand for about 30 mins before using). Finally I attached the hanging rack by just using magnets and it holds up nicely even with markers and crayons in the containers and voila your little munchkin has a great "art studio" to share their creativity with everyone! 

What did I tell ya, Super easy right?!

<3