Well today is the 25th. That means there is a PTI Blog Hop! Details HERE!

I wasn’t sure I was going to get to play, let alone upload, but I got it done! Feels so good to get stamping.

I LOVE polka dots, and the Polka Dot Parade patterned paper was a no brainer for me!

With the holidays quickly approaching I wanted to make some gifts that were thoughtful, inexpensive, well made, but not time consuming. I decided a recipe wrap-(AKA recipe card holder), would be a great gift idea, even for male recipients! I would include some great grilling recipes on the cards for the guy’s, or a favorite meal, once I decide who is getting what. In the mean time I can just get them ready!! We do lots of Yankee swaps and I think this would be a fun thing to give with a special set of seasonings Don’t you?

SO I got to work using the recipe cards,  the Recipe Box set, and recipe labels

So when I made my Recipe Wrap card holder I wanted it unfold, and store easily. I also wanted it to hold a nice number of recipe’s without being too much. You know when you get overwhelmed with too much of something, you end up NOT using it. That also makes me thing of it being a great FIRST APARTMENT gift idea too!!! You could even include a shopping list with the recipes you choose! This takes up NO counter space either. Something I personally love, since I don’t like too much on mine.

Front view, all tied closed.

I used my Kraft cardstock, and Aquamist for my mail color on the front.

The Recipe Wrap has 6 categories. You can make more or less if that suits you. Each slot holds 5 recipe’s! I think this is a great gift. Especially if you are a consultant for Tasefully Simple, or Pampered Chef!! The list goes on

Side view of Recipe holder

Untied, and open

Unfolded again

Close up of  first 3 categories

Close up of last 3 categories

Recipe-all unwrapped

View from the top

This is a close-up of the pocket that I created to hold the 5 cards per category. I wrapped some ocean tides ribbon across the top, for a nice finished look.

This polka dot paper makes this either masculine or for everyday, anyone. I love the colors.

I stamped the tops of my recipe cards using ripe avocado ink, and one of the card topper images from the set. I think its a nice touch.

Well what do you think? A great, simple gift for those hard to buy for on the list, or if you need a gift for someone you may not know well, or are swapping with!

Well that is all I got for you tonight.

Enjoy the blog hop

This is post 1 of 3 for today! Please SCROLL down so you see all three!!! PLEASE READ THEM! LOL! I think I developed carpal tunnel typing them all up

It’s the first of August! Can you believe that? WOW! Time is flying by. Before you know it, it WILL be Halloween. I am always looking for cool and fun things to do with my kids and/or for their classmates. Maybe this time I will be ahead of the dash (yeah right! LOL!)

Nichole has challenged the team to come up with some fun Halloween treats.

You can see what everyone else has done here:

Amy

Debbie

Lisa

Nichole

Heather

I decided to share a cool recipe that is fun, and you can let this kids help with. Hope you like it, and give it a try!

Here goes…………….I would like to share with you my Little Pumpkin Pop-In ©

This is a little container cover I made to  ”pop-in” the super cute 2.5 oz. clear top round tins. Buy them now people! LOL!

 Tin out of the Pop-In ©

I love how it dresses this little tin up. Rather than just having a wrap around the bottom, it really gives you an entirely new gift option.

Please don’t ask me for directions. This is a teaser of more to come!! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it, but that is all I’m saying for now (BHWAHAHAHAHAHA insert my evil little happy laugh). Let’s just say I have been busy, busy, busy.

OK moving on.

I used the Spooky Sweets set for my lid.

I wanted my lids to be super quick and easy to mass produce-think 3 kids……. X’s however many students they have in their classes……………so about 40 kids minimum. SIMPLE.

By now you are saying OK so how is this sharing a fun & cute Halloween treat?
Well its what’s inside that is the FUN part!

Monster Mash Make-up!

2 TBS solid shortening (AKA Crisco)

1 TBS cornstarch

4-5 drops of food coloring

Make-Up sponges

1) Mix shortening and cornstarch together in a small bowl, until smooth.

2) Add in food coloring. Mix till well blended.

READY TO GO!!

When you are done just rinse off with warm soap & water.

You can whip this up at home in minutes! The kids will love it.

OK I know you are saying EW! But the kids are saying YEAH!!!

Trust me me-Kid tested!! MOM Approved

My Little Pumpkin Amber

OK I never claimed to be an artist! This is as good as it gets. Amber saw the tin and wanted her face to be painted like the  pumpkin stamp. I have to admit I was nervous that her face would be stained orange by the food coloring, but it came right off and NO perma-pumpkin face! LOL!

Next up is Alexa-my flower child. She was not wanting her face painted! She said she just want a little flower on her cheek. UGH! That meant I had to “draw/paint”. YIKES!

Now we have Noah-who wanted to be half  ”The Hulk”, and half boy.

Unfortunately he was “itchy” and scratched it off while I got the camera. It’s one of those things-when you know you can’t touch something you have too! That is his mean face. Still looks cute to me!

All in all it was a super fun & easy afternoon craft and would make great “make-up” for girls or obviously face painting. No expensive paint kits to buy.

I love the idea of making several colors and giving these to the kids classmates. It really whips up quick, just add to the recipe to suit the number of people. The batch above fits perfectly into the tins, if that is any indication. SO each color batch makes a 1/2 of the tin.

So that’s it for me. I hope you like my idea of a fun Halloween treat! Afterall they get PLENTY of candy right?

Thank you again for checking in with me.

Well it is Wednesday. I have lots to do to prepare for the 4th!! Its my grandfather’s birthday that day, so we always try to have a celebration for him.

I am making a KILLER summer Trifle that I hope to share photos this weekend with you all REALLY FABULOUS! Need to go buy a trifle bowl, and the ingredients today to hopefully I beat the mad holiday rush.

Here is the ingredients for a PERFECT summer triffle

Buy 2 pre-sliced Sarah Lee Pound cakes (usually frozen-just de-that that before)

Frozen Strawberries (de-thawed)

Whipped cream

Raspberry Jello

Snack pack cups of Vanilla pudding (lazy man’s way) or make your own vanilla pudding

Seedless Raspberry Jam

Macaroon cookies

Using the pound-cake-and raspberry jam, and make sandwiches. Cut into small  sandwich cubes.

Layer on bottom of bowl

Squish up frozen strawberries (and a little sugar) and layer over cake

Another layer of sandwich cubes

layer macaroons, then vanilla pudding. End with cake layer.

Make raspberry jello-poke a LOT of holes into the dessert and pour into trifle mix. Make sure you make a LOT of holes so you don’t get Jello POCKETS. Refrigerate for 2 hours. When ready to serve  top with whipped cream (and fresh strawberries optional)

That is it. Its is SO delicious. If you have someone with Coconut allergies OMIT the macaroons. What I love about is its NO BAKE!!! YEAH!! So simple to whip up last minute

So speaking of celebrations………………MFT is having their 2 year Birthday release and celebration tonight. She is releasing 4 sets and 2 singles. I have a good 8 samples in all to share! LOL! But figured I’d do a little at a time

This one is of my FAVORITE creations from the release:

Be calm

Isn’t this card just that? Calming. I so love it. I love the colors and the layout. Crisp clean and simple. One of those simple OH’s!

 I am on such a button kick its ridiculous! I have no idea why, but I love  it. I have this large mix bag of buttons (I believe its from Foo Fa La) and they are just the prettiest collection, of all colors. Soooooooo happy I splurged the $5 for the bag because digging through and finding all the perfect pretty buttons to match, and actually finding them is so fun.

Next is another of my favorites :

 Gardener Flopsy

I love this one too. Summer colors, simple clean layout. I love the velvet flower in the center. Just FUN!

Call Me! PUT the sunglasses on for this one! LOL!

I love this layout too. I do love the bright cheery colors, even though its a little much. This SCREAMS teen card doesn’t it? I know I sat on the phone like this endlessly talking to my BFF’s! Or boys! LOL! This set MAKES you want to be bright & cheery.

This Making Memories paper is so fun. I have used it on numerous cards, and always like the colors.

I just took the phone from the main image and popped it out with a square punch, to make it like 2 people chatting it up The bling Bella Dots are the perfect teen touch too.

So that is that.

My Favorite Things will be hosting a New Release Cocktail Party  tonight (July 2nd) 9-11pm EST EASTERN time. July marks MFT’s 2nd birthday AND Kim’s 40th birthday, so there are LOTS of discounts and deals this month in addition to all the MFTeasers and your chance to become MFT’s next Guest Designer! Check out the MFT forum for all the details!

We are releasing:

Gardener Flopsey
I’m Pullin for You
Peppermint - Annie LaPoint
Be Calm - Annie LaPoint
Bunny Slippers
Call Me! - MINI of the month

To celebrate the MFT birthday:

*$2.00 US shipping for under under $40, and for Intl orders and US orders over $40, they’ll receive the same $2.75 discount until July 15th.

*FIRST 50 orders will receive a full sized stickles glitter glue!

*The Girl Who Wants It All special for the July Collection is $49.95. These specials will ONLY run for the release month.

I hope to see you later at the MFT party!!

It’s Thirsty Thursday! OK Kidding!!

 I cannot believe how S-L-O-W this week is going by. I took the kids to the park for 3 hours yesterday. It  was a perfect 86 degrees here. We got there at 10 am and the playground was all shaded. By the time we left at 1pm, it was getting a bit HOT. I called in Pizza Hut’s new Tuscan Pasta meals for lunch, and grabbed one for dinner ( they have 2 choices)-GO LAUREN!! with the fabulous, no cooking ideas! If you are wondering if the new Pasta dishes are good and worth it, yes the kids LOVED them. They mostly loved the cheesy garlic bread though. Each one fed all 5 of us (hubby included) with leftovers for him. Its not a HUGE amount you get, but for $11.99, worth not cooking in the heat Heck anytime I dont have to cook is great!

I got some fabulous recipe’s that have saved me many night’s last time I asked! I printed them out, and used many of them a couple times! HERE is that thread if YOU want to print them out. I aslo added a Recipe’s category! So for future reference, you can check them out.

Now that the weather is getting HOTTER (not complaining) I know I hate cooking, so figured this is a great time to share those summer recipe’s for NO COOKING, or perfect BBQ or grill/summer types of foods, pasta salad’s, salad’s, and whatever other yummy summer favorite’s, and even party dishes!

You can even shoot us a LINK to a place with the recipe so you don’t have to type it! LOL!

I do have a re-vamped 7 layer dip recipe that I thought the kids would NOT eat, but scoffed down!!

Now my kids HATE taco’s, and Nacho’s with the “fixings”-salsa & melted cheese-yadayadayada. But THIS NO COOK 7 layer dip was a HUGE hit.

So you layer in this order:

 refried beans

 Guacamole (I made mine with the new Tastefully Simple Giddy Up Guacamole-OMG! let me tell you, it was really good!!!!! if you make it you need 2 Avocado’s) (you can buy it pre-made from the store too to save time)

add the Sour cream -but BEFORE you do-mix in 1/2 ot 3/4 of a packet of Taco seasoning mix (wow did that make a difference)

 then add salsa, lettuce, tomato’s, cheese then the black olives! (OK I counted and its an 8 layer dip! LOL!)

DONE! Scoop some into a plate with Naco’s (even Doritio’s work) and you have a QUICK, no cook meal!!

I have a TON of Pampered Chef stuff I love too! I highly reccommend buying the Season’s Best books they sell for like a $1!! Those end up being my favorite!

I LOVED this one, and am always asked to make it for every function we attend! I buy a pre-made Bread Boule for it-and its good ALL year!!

Hot Artichoke Dip  Ingredients: 2   jars (6.5 ounces each) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped 1   package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained 1/2   cup sour cream 1/2   cup mayonnaise 3/4   cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese 1   garlic clove, pressed Fresh vegetable dippers (optional)  Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine artichokes, spinach, sour cream and mayonnaise in Classic Batter Bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and garlic; mix well and spoon into Mini-Baker. 2. Bake 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Serve with fresh vegetable dippers, if desired. Yield: 3 cups (24 servings)Nutrients per serving: (2 tablespoons dip): Calories 70, Total Fat 6 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbohydrate 2 g, Protein 2 g, Sodium 140 mg, Fiber less than 1 g ————————————————————————————————————-

I will be right back with some eye candy! I just wanted to keep this seperate That and I need to edit my photo’s! LOL! I know this was so NOT stamp related, but you know what, we ALL have to eat, and have busy lives right? So why not share. Plus if these tips, can save us TIME, that MAY allow us more “MYTIME” to stamp right?

Be right back. I’m waiting to read these yummy recipe’s!

Oh yeah, and feel free to ASK for a certain one, if you are looking, in the comment’s section. Maybe someone know’s of one you are looking for.

I have so many reason’s to be thankful and alot of that is because of all of you!

Your kindness, support, comments and  friendship mean so much to me. I have also gotten to know so many of you, that I never would have, had I not become a stamper.

To read the THOUSAND comments on everyone’s Egg Boxes at PTI was truly amazing. It was heart warming to read the sweetness that was poured into each one.

So the card today is for ALL of you! With a big cyber hug and kiss-MWAH!

Well, how honored do I feel being nominated for the Excellent blogger award by 4 different people!

Please check out there blogs below. They are all EXCELLENT too I am so happy to have connected with so many amazing people (aka ALL OF YOU out there in cyberspace), through stamping.

SPECIAL Thanks to these girls-I feel SO loved-seriously!

Kimmie, Michelle, Lynda and Amber

I also have received some great RAKs from Bobbie Lawrence, Debbie, Tracy, Lora, Lynda, Chelsy, and Ilysa-THANKS GIRLS!

I also want to thank Paulette who is always there to pick me up when I am down-AKA great shopping buddy and friend. It means so much to me

So here you go! My many thanks card

Not a single stamp was used! GASP!!! I know-it was hard for me to even admit as I typed.

I have to say I am totally in LOVE with it though. These are actually STICKERS I got from Heidi Swapp. I saw them, and just fell in love. Let the layering begin.

This could definitely be re-made ALL INK and Rubbah/Acrylic, but talk about a FAST card.

The “thanks!” is a rub on by making memories.

I will say getting the circle cut out-not so fast! But I have happy once I got it right.

Along the circle I needed SOMETHING!!!! So I went with the brads.

What do you think?

I’m loving the colors, ribbon and eyelets on this.

Speaking of LOVE-anyone else out there going to CKU in Manchester NH May 16th?

I know I am getting together with some of my BESTEST PSF’s ever-and am going to have quite the fun spend fest!

If you go-I’d LOVE to meet you!!!

OK I’m off -I need to do my quickie clean up then order pizza.

If anyone has a GREAT quick dinner recipe-PLEASE share! I am in a What’s for dinner? Some ole crap RUT! BLECH!!!!

Till tomorrow