Make It /// Easter Bunny Envelopes

Hey there.
Happy Monday and Happy Snow Day to us!
I just kinda realized that Easter is this week(Wait... this week?!)...So, I thought I would share this super-quick and easy
little project just in time for Easter.
I think I first saw this idea in Martha Stewart Kids Magazine many years ago. Man, I loved that magazine.

How cute is that anyway?
Really the best thing is how simple they are to make and that you will have everything you need to make them
around the house already.
Charlotte and I are going to make some of these for her class this week, just perfect for kindergartners I think.

You Will Need ::
Envelopes
Scissors
Pencil
Glue
Fabric
Candy

These don't really take much explanation at all ...
Just seal your envelope, draw outline of bunny face, cut it out, glue on nose, inside of ears, etc...
And fill with candy!

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Happy, happy day to you!

(Filled)With Love

I thought I would show you a little bit of the LOVE going on around here today and 

what I still have in the works for Thursday for my three favorite people.

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But first, let it be noted here, that for me personally, I'm not super into Valentine's Day 

for myself but I do like to make it a little special for the kids. 

I loved  the Valentine's Day parties at school when I was a kid; my very favorite thing was

 making those shoe box mailboxes.  Ahhhh.... the memories.

I made these super easy paper candy-filled Valentine's for the kids today.

I am not the mom that stays up until midnight working on these kinda projects--

 it's gotta be fairly quick and easy..... and I'm in!

Just cut two hearts out of brown craft paper( I just used a paper bag), 

stitch it up most of the way around, add candy +  finish stitching it shut.

Super easy and super cute.

Tonight we are going to work on some special Valentine's for their teachers and grandparents.

Glitter , glue ribbon + tape... all the fixin's for the perfect Valentine.

Thursday night we have Lego Club at school so we won't be doing anything special

 + we won't have a whole lot of time,  but I am going to make my 3 favorite people a special treat.

The kids(and Eric) all love brownies so I am going to make them heart-shaped brownies in these 

cute little tins-- yet another thing we got from Eric's grandparent's house recently.

Uhh... brownies with chocolate frosting + sprinkles? 

They will be so happy when they come home from school on Thursday and see their little 

personal brownies.

Do you have any Valentine's Day traditions you like to do for or with your kids/husband/family?

Any fun crafting ideas?

Favorite Valentine candy? Activities? Meals?

Tell me all about it... I wanna hear!

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Happy Tuesday, y'all, hope it's a good one.

DIY /// Crackers + Fancy Shoes

I thought I would share two simple little DIY projects today, and I am really kinda
stretching it to even call them "projects".
The first is these super quick + easy seasoned oyster crackers.
Eric made homemade chili last week so we had a bunch of oyster crackers left over and I thought they
would be good with soup this week, but plain old oyster crackers are not my favorite.

So here's what we did, and I have no measurements, just use your judgement.

Pour oyster crackers in a bowl and add a little olive oil, maybe a couple of teaspoons
Add a little sea salt(or regular salt) and pepper, mix up well with spatula
Add a little garlic powder and Italian seasoning, mix well
Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 200*

Yum.
Now all you need is some tomato soup!
I think I need a good recipe for homemade tomato soup. Anyone have one?

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These brown Mary Jane-style shoes of mine needed just a little something extra so I thought these orange flowers would dress
them up nicely for Fall.
The flowers are actually an old pair of clip-on earrings that I found at an antique store for a dollar or two.
If you wanted to attach the flowers permanently you could hot glue them on but I wanted to be able to
take them off so I just attached them temporarily by sticking the post through the hole and bended the earring post around the strap.

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Simple, cute + quick.
That's my style.
Happy Thursday, y'all.
Oh and a little shop update-- HERE.

DIY /// Hillbilly Pumpkin Spice Latte

Hey there.
So, you might have heard me mention my homemade Hillbilly Latte before and today I thought I would show you
how I make my own Pumpkin Spice Latte at home.
It's pretty simple and I am sure there are many much better recipes/ways to do it out there, so if you have any suggestions
or tips,  let me know.

*While I am typing this I am listening to 80's alternative on Pandora and Crowded House's 
"Don't Dream It's Over" just came on,  and I just had the weirdest flashback of listening to this at home in
 my bedroom on a TAPE PLAYER trying to picture what my life would be like when I was a grown-up.....
Weird.

Anyway.
I used Target's Pumpkin Spice coffee that I got from my Fall Swap partner(if she blogs I don't know it but she really spoiled me
though with all kinds of really fun stuff!) otherwise I might not have ever tried it.
I know some people use pumpkin pie filling/puree in theirs but since I already had the pumpkin spice coffee I skipped it because
I didn't want it to taste too pumpkiny.
So I made espresso as usual and because my milk steamer on my espresso maker does not work,
I heated the milk in a pan on the stove, I always use skim milk.
You could also use your steamer or microwave to heat it.

Normally, when making my Hillbilly Latte, I don't put whipped cream on top but a frothy milk topping.
Since the frother/steamer thing on our espresso machine is broke I make my own, you can read more about that here... talk about Redneck.
But today I used whipped cream and lots of cinnamon because I can never have too much cinnamon,
then I added a tiny pinch of nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice.
Just a pinch or two to taste.

And that's it, there's my version of a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte.
What do you think?
Do you like the Pumpkin Spice lattes?
What is your favorite holiday/seasonal drink or treat?

I have to say, Winter is not exactly my favorite season but I do look forward to
Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha, it just kinda makes the snow, freezing weather and holiday shopping just a little bit more bearable.

Polka Dots + Pumpkin Pies /// DIY

Last week I was cleaning up staring at the mess in my office and came across a few little projects I
have been working on and realized that I don't share too many of my DIY Projects here.
Not sure why?
I think somewhere in the back of my mind I think that there are a million other * better * ones out
there and who am I to be showing others how to make something that they could probably do on their
own anyway...
Isn't that dumb?
Yeah, it is.

So today we will fix that.
Here are two super easy projects I did this week.

Wednesday night after the trip to the Pumpkin Patch that I didn't really have time for, I thought I
would throw in a little random mini pie-making...that I didn't have time for.
I used this recipe from Bakerella as far as the ingredients go but didn't really follow much else
besides that.
It was easy, I didn't ruin them, and that makes me super happy.
And my kids really love pumpkin pie so they were happy, too.

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And here's the shirt I made for Charlotte this week.
I made the polka dots using the eraser end of a pencil; just dip, dot, dip, dot, dip, dot...
So easy.
The only thing I didn't do,  that I should have, was stuck a piece of cardboard inside
the shirt so the paint didn't bleed through.
And actually it didn't bleed through to the back, luckily, just to the inside of the shirt.
So there you have it.
simple + quick + cheap = Love.

Yay for polka dots!
And Fall!
And mini pumpkin pies!
And Friday!!!!!


Hope you have a great weekend.
We are celebrating the kid's birthdays tonight, Charlotte's birthday is tomorrow.
Six.
Sigh.
And don't forget, the huge sale in my etsy shop is going on tomorrow...one day only!
Don't miss it!