Co-Host!

Hi All!  I am thrilled to be able to be a part of the 1 year blogiversary for Jaime over at Crafty Scrappy Happy!  It’s one HUGE link party so join in on the fun!!  Check out her site, and any of the other co-host sites J  And check back here later today for an easy peasy pillow cover!

Feel free to link up anything and everything Crafty, Scrappy and/or Happy!  No giveaways or etsy shops please.Check out other links, be inspired and make some new friends!Grab a button if you would!And check Crafty Scrappy Happy for features all next week!!!!

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Heading Towards a Giveaway!

In an effort to try to increase my readership, I’ve set a goal for myself and this little blog here.  I follow a decent amount of other blogs and there seems to be a common theme among those who have a good number of readers…GIVEAWAYS!  Now, I don’t have any sponsors, but I myself am  a Mary Kay consultant.  So I decided to be my own sponsor for the time being (one day I hope to have some actual sponsors!) and set a giveaway goal. 

Once I reach 50 followers, I will host a giveaway of some great Mary Kay products.  I haven’t quite decided on what product it will be, but it will be good!  So, I’m asking any of you that currently read my blog, to help me spread the word!  And I would love to get some comments from you all as well.  What kind of posts do you like to see?  Crafting? Baking? Organizing? Makeup?  I love all of these topics and would love to post about them. 

So, to follow me, just click on the ‘Follow’ link in the upper left hand corner of the page.  Once I start getting closer to 50, I will let you all know what the giveaway item will be. 

But for now, spread the word, click the follow link, and feel free to browse my Mary Kay online store and help me decide what I should giveaway to one of you lovely readers J  

Superbowl Cake Pops

For the Superbowl this weekend John and I went over to my parents house to watch.  Since they were having people over, I decided to make a few things.  The main thing I attempted to make made was cake pops.  I got a cake pop maker for Christmas and wanted to try it out.  I have the babycakes cake pop maker.

It's sort of like a waffle iron, in that you put the batter in, close the lid and let them bake.  So I whipped up some of the vanilla cake pop batter.  The instructions for which are in the booklet that comes with it.

Then, to make filling the individual compartments inside the cake pop maker easier, I poured the batter into a  baggie.

Then you just cut off a tiny part of one of the corners, and it becomes a decorating bag (not sure what the real term is here, but I think you get what I mean...right?)

So I filled up each little cake pop compartment, closed the lid and let them sit for 5 min.  Then I used the little fork that comes with the set, to pull the pops out of the maker, and let them cool on a plate.

Finally I inserted the little sticks and placed them in a mason jar to let them cool completely.

I don't have pictures of the final product with the icing on them.  I ran out of time and had to ice them over at my parents house and forgot to bring my camera.  However, let me tell you, that is a long process!  Making sure the icing stays melted (having to reheat the bowl constantly), making sure the pop doesn't come off the stick and get lost in the icing, holding the pop while the icing hardens/ stops dripping... it is very time consuming.  Much more so than making the actual pops (if you have the cake pop maker that is).  

So, needless to say I commend all those who take the time to 1 )Make these from scratch without the maker, 2) Take the time to make them look super cute and decorated.

All mine got were a layer of chocolate icing!  What types of goodies did you make over the weekend?  Did you have a Superbowl snack creation?

High Five for Friday!

Hello lovely people!  TGIF!!!  I love Fridays.  And today is no exception.  I am looking forward to sleeping in, having a productive craft day on Saturday, hanging out with my hubby and my puppies, seeing my parents, and just some basic relaxation.  This weekend I plan to work on another casserole holder for my mom.  It was part of Christmas present....just now getting to it.  Whoops!  Sorry mom :)  I posted pictures of a previous one I made here (scroll down to see it), but this time I promise to take pictures along the way and post a little tutorial.  And side note: I'm super excited to try out my new sewing machine!  How terrible is it of me to have gotten such a wonderful gift, and still not used it yet!?  That will soon change my friends.

But enough about all that, it's time for High Five for Friday! I'm linking up to Lauren again over at From My Grey Desk.  Here are my 5 favorite things from the last week (in no particular order)

1) Getting to babysit this little cutie patootie over the weekend!  

Check out his Mom's blog here.

2) Getting (semi) random flowers from my parents!

This is me trying to be artsy 

3) Our new media cabinet for the loft upstairs

4) Accomplishing my goal of running 5 days out this week :-)

Pinned here

5) Um...baked donuts?!?! YES Please!!!

Pinned here

What are your top five from the week?

Linking up with Lauren!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I know the Thanksgiving holiday has already come and gone, but I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there anyways.  I hope your holiday was as wonderful as ours!

John's cousin Alex came up from LA to spend the holiday with us.  His family lives back east and he wasn't going to be able to make it back home for both the Thanksgiving holiday and for Christmas.  So we were lucky enough to be able to have him with us for Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving day was great.  I woke up early and baked my first dessert: Cinnamon Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie.   Sounds yummy right?  Trust me, it was! It looked pretty much like this (minus the pretty edges on the crust):

Pinned here

While it was baking I had some time to sit down on the couch under the lamp, in my super comfy robe, with my coffee and both puppies snuggled up next to me and begin reading my Harry Potter book that the hubs got me for our Anniversary.  It was such a picture perfect moment, it's too bad I didn't have anyone else awake to take the photo!  Then the boys finally woke up and we all got ready and headed to my parents house.  

When we got there I made my second dessert which was a Cream Cheese Pound Cake which also turned out very yummy.  Then we all headed over to some friends house where we had our amazing Thanksgiving feast.

Things I'm thankful for this year:

Family

Friends

Health

Jobs for the hubs and myself

Our puppies

What are you thankful for?