Okay, so we are not so great at taking photos (closeup without mad flash!) but we are adventurous bakers!

Last night our two oldest nephews came over for a hang out. They pretty much know that when they come over two things are going to happen: 1) there will be video games and 2) there will be baking. Now most often, we will do cookies, but this time, I decided to catch them off guard and try something new: DONUTS!

I have never made donuts before last night so it was an adventure for us all. My hubs probably thought I was crazy, but he didn’t fight it. I looked up a few recipes to get a feel for what I was getting myself into and ended up having to mesh several recipes together to get the perfect (and most easy) recipe together (Recipe below).

Follow along!

First I made the dough (ingredients below). I chose this recipe because it had basic ingredients that I had in the pantry ready to go and I didn’t have to let the dough refrigerate at all. I pulled out my round cookie cutter set and grabbed the 3″ and 1″ cutters — the boys went to town cutting it all out for me!

While we were cutting the dough, I had a pot of oil heating up to 350 degrees. This was the most important part — so watch carefully everytime you add donuts because you do not want the oil to get above or below that temp. This is where your patience will come in handy. I was sure to check the temp with my candy thermometer after every two batches, just in case. TIP: If you don’t have a candy thermometer, simply check the heat by throwing in a small piece of bread… if it browns up within 40 seconds you are ready to go, but be sure to lower the fire so it doesnt get much hotter.

Frying the donuts took a little bit of time but nothing gruesome! The boys played some games while I continued the work in the kitchen (after the initial excitement of watching the donuts fry had faded a bit!). I recommend using a slotted spoon to flip your donuts and a small pot for frying. I used my large pot and way too much oil. I wasnt sure how the donuts would fluff up and wanted to be sure I had enough in there. I used 1 and a half bottles of vegetable oil! I could have easily cut that in half considering how thin I cut the donuts (1/4″); near the end of the batch, I felt more comfortable doing them about 1/2″ thick and frying them at about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Once you see it golden, you should be good – dont want to overcook!

I did a quick vanilla icing recipe that is pretty common for sugar cookies — Powdered Sugar and Milk (and a bit of Vanilla or Cocoa). MmmMmmm, Can you say SUGAR!? That is exactly what my nephews were saying as they snuck little licks when it “accidentally” got on their hands (smirk). Kiddos are pretty darn smart! We started with some spreaders but then realized that spoons would be much easier!

QUICK TIP: Place some wax paper on a cookie sheet for quick clean up! Trust me, 100% worth it… as you can see below, it was a very messy (but delicious) task for the boys! I also laid out a piece of wax paper underneath a cooling rack so that we could let the icing set and the drippings had a place to go. Wanna know how long it took for us to clean up?! 10 minutes! That is including all dishes, woo hoo!

Final step was to take photos of our creations and then pick out which donut we wanted to eat!

Was this post long enough for you? heh, I just couldn’t eliminate any fun photos! I hope that they help you when you decide to try out some homemade donuts! Enjoy the recipe below:

Homemade Donuts:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon ** I used 1/2 tsp and probably would use a bit more next time
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Qt. Vegetable Oil

1. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C) ** Remember that keeping it at this temp is VERY important for it to cook through
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk and egg until smooth. Knead lightly, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat to 1/4 – 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter, or use two round biscuit cutters of different sizes. ** I used a 3″ and 1″ cookie cutter
3. Carefully drop doughnuts into hot oil, a few at a time. Do not overcrowd pan or oil may overflow. Fry, turning once, for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Drain and cool on paper towels.

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. Milk
*Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla for Vanilla Icing
*Add 1 Tbsp. (+/-) Cocoa for Chocolate Icing

Not my family! I love my family! We stick together through the good times and the bad. We are there for every single celebration, big or little.

And there they are… the whole gang (missing: Joe, Ixchel, Julianne and dear Grandpa (RIP). I just wanted to share how special my family is to me. We are unique from many families out there. Many families desire to be close to their families the way that we are. As the grandchildren continue to grow up, get married, graduate from college and succeed in their careers, we are slowly seeing each other just a little bit less and it makes you miss the old times when responsibility didn’t come in the way of family. But we are strong and I don’t see us ever stopping the love and time together.

And just for the fun of it, I thought I would include a video the usual fam jam session and a photo of myself with my Grandma and cousin Jasmine. This photo is my favorite photo right now. The smile on my Grandma’s face is priceless and she is beautiful!

This last week I was working oober hard on my cousin’s wedding photo board! It was the worst week ever to have a major creative block… But I made it through. Once I decided to make my own roses, versus using fake ones, things started rolling a bit more smoothly for me (the NIGHT before the wedding!!!!). Thought I would share a quick little tutorial on how I made these cute little gals!

All you need are the following:

• Glue Gun (& Glue Sticks…)
• A 3×3″ or 4×4″ Piece of Cardstock
• One or Two 1″ Strips of Paper (I don’t really recommend cardstock for this)
• Pearls or Buttons or Brads (anything really!) for the center.

Now, just follow these easy steps:

1. Fold your 1″ strips of paper in half (lengthwise) and crumple it up in a scrunching motion.
2. Then twist the paper while continuing to scrunch. (This is the crazy part, because you may not fully understand that last step but you just need to play with your paper in order to make the rose they way you want)
3. Make a small 1 1/2″ circle of glue on the cardstock square
4. Quickly curl the first end of your scrunched strip of paper into a small circle and press down onto the glue.
5. Add more glue around the edge of your center circle and press the remainder of your strip down.
6. Once your flower is the size you would like, simply cut the flower out of the cardstock square and glue down your rose center of choice (I used 3 pearls for my larger roses and 1 for my smaller ones)

The best part about these roses is that you can make them as crumpled or smooth as you want and really cater to your project by using different types of paper or center embellishments! I love an accessory that is versatile! Yay! I used them all over the photo board for the wedding, along with some left over fake leaves I had. I think it turned out beautifully, myself :)

The whole wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Hot pink with some orange, light pink and greens throughout… it was perfect for Katie (who was even more gorgeous). We danced the night away and had a blast. Here is a photo of  the finished product and a couple of the wedding itself, because it was too beautiful not to share :) Have a wonderful weekend!

I hope that you all have a very blessed Easter with your families!

Just a quick reflection on what Easter means to me: Each year, I walk through the aisles of Easter candy (and toys) and can never get myself to purchase anything. While it is just my hubby and I, I cant deny the temptation to make him a basket full of goodies — but when I am there to pick it all out, I just cant! I am not saying Easter baskets are bad or that I wont do them for my children in the future… but I do know that I want to keep the reason for Easter the most important point of the day/week. Christ died FOR ME so that I wouldnt have to take on the punishment for MY SIN. That is huge! There are people I would die for… but Christ carried every single one of our sins (the entire world’s) on His back, making His death beyond anything we could ever imagine. I am so thankful for His love, that He would carry my sins for me.

If anyone has any fun ways to keep the fun traditions of Easter without taking away from the true reason of the celebration, I would love to hear them! ** Check out some fun activities at the end of this post to try out too!

Blessings to you all as you spend this day rejoicing in the Lord’s sacrifice and vitctory! I have also included a passage that I will hold on to during the day tomorrow…

Isaiah 53

¹ Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

¹¹ After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Easter Activites

Bunny Pops!

Rubberband Egg Decorating

Martha Stewart Table Place Cards

Peeps Sushi!

This year, I decided on a Mustache Party! Did I know that this theme existed? No. But it sounded pretty hilarious and what better reason to grow a mustache than the fact that it is ‘Mustache March!’ I definitely wanted to share some of the fun photos but also some of my favorite inspirations and products that helped make this party a huge success (see below)! Enjoy!

We had the party Sunday afternoon (and it was the perfect day for a pool party in March! yay!) and had an amazing spread of delicious Mexican appetizers and sweet treats. I made a bunch of milk chocolate and dark chocolate Mustache lollipops (link below) and stuck them into some styrofoam that I had placed in some mini bowls. They were the perfect touch to the chocolate section of our spread (right next to the chocolate covered strawberries!). I also hopped onto Photoshop and created some fun name tags for the drink cups — I simply grabbed some images of different mustaches from the internet and made them gray on the tags, printed them onto mailing labels and chopped em up. Easy Peasy!

Another fun thing I did was I created a few mini signs to place around the house and the food spread to reinforce the mustache theme. The sayings were: ‘Never transport leftovers with your mustache,’ ‘With great mustache, comes great responsibility,’ ‘ Don’t get caught in public with a naked upper lip,’ and ‘Savor the Flavor.’ Simple and fun. I printed them up on green cardstock and matted them with black cardstock — here is the thing though… I NEVER USED THEM! Amongst all of the craziness of preparing and trying to keep everything a surprise, I totally forgot to set them out :(

I know that there are a ton of other fun ideas for a mustache party, but I wanted to keep it fairly simple; didn’t want it to be too childish for my big man! Here are a few other ideas I had (or found):

• Pin the mustache on Burt Reynolds,
• Print names of all of the famous people (list below) that were known for their ’stache and have each person wear one on their back when they get there (everyone has to guess who they are by asking others Qs about their own character — great ice breaker!),
• Play Pictionary with the list of Famous ’stache wearers,
• Mustache Trivia of some sorts (ask questions about different styles, famous staches, etc). Fun stuff!

My Mustache Inspiration:

• Fashion in Motion Mag: Movember ‘09 Post
• Erin Conrad Photography: Stache Bash ‘09 Post
• Hostess with the Mostess: Mr. Man Party
• Deal Extreme: Fake Mustaches
• Bake It Pretty: Mustache Lollipop Mold
• Martha Stewart: How to make a Mustache on a Stick
• How Nice Etsy: Mustache Magnets (photo below)
• LittletJane Etsy: Mustache Stamps (photo below)
• BirdofaFeather Etsy: Mustache Chapstick (photo below)

Fun Garland for an added touch (unfortunately, I ran out of time to make one :(

Fun little saying (again, didnt save the source! To put around the house/food spread!)

Adorable Mustache Card (Sorry, I didnt save the source! Too cute not to share!)

Too dang cute: Mustache Chapstick!!Fun Magnets (or buttons if you want)… I used these as the prize for ‘Best Stache’

Fun homemade Mustache Stamps

‘Stache Character List: (I am sure there are more that you could come up with!)

Yosemite Sam
Captain Hook
Burt Reynolds
Gomez Addams
Mario
Luigi (Mario)
Wimpey (Popeye)
Ned Flanders (Simpsons)
Hulk Hogan
Nacho Libre
Charlie Chaplin
Clark Gable
Jacques Clouseau (Pink Panther)
Adolf Hitler
Alex Trebek (Wheel of Fortune)
Prince
Ron Burgundy (Anchor Man)
Capt’n Crunch
the Burger King
Cheech Marin
Sonny Bono
Albert Einstein
Magnum PI – Tom Selleck
Robin Hood
Wyatt Earp
Teddy Roosevelt
Mike Ditka (Coach for Chicago Bears)
Mr. Moneybags (Monopoly Mascot)
Mr. Potato Head
Zorro
Capt’n Jack Sparrow
3 Musketeers
Walt Disney
Robert Goulet
Edgar Allan Poe
William Faulkner
Freddy Mercury (Queen)

So now, I would love to share our little piece of Christmas spirit with you all…

Due to a late start, we did a lot less this year with family and friends… it was okay though, sometimes it is nice to keep things simple, right?! The weekend we decided not to move out, I broke out the Gingerbread cookie mix and got to baking the little guys! Gare helped me decorate them… such a fun little activity to get the Christmas spirit started. That weekend, we also went and got our Christmas tree (which we didn’t think we were going to have this year!) and I love it! Words can not explain how special the Christmas tree tradition is to me and I felt it more this year than any year before. We also realized that we need some more Christmas ornaments with color in them — problem is that we like the very traditional colors — no black, purple, blue, etc. We are also pretty picky about our ornaments so we need to be present together to purchase them (I know, I know… the perfectionist couple!!). Enough about the Christmas tree… on to the *new* recipes of the year!

It is my personal tradition/goal to try out at least two brand new recipes every Christmas. No leaning on the familiar, there are just too many great holiday recipes out there! The center photo above is how it all turned out — Oreo Truffles and Peppermint Fudge. Now I admit, not too challenging or adventurous, but as I said earlier, this year we had to stick to the simple stuff to stay sane :) The Oreo Truffles were a HUGE hit at both mine and Garrett’s workplaces and at our community group. I am still always amazed at how easy fudge is to make! I love it. I simply added some peppermint extract to the fudge for a minty flavor (Peppermint Mocha style!) and sprinkled some crushed peppermint candies on top. Click the links to check out the recipes… you wont regret it!

I truly hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season with their friends and family! Many blessings to you and yours on the special day, however you celebrate!

They dont know if this is going to be a boy or girl (crossing our fingers for a girl!) so I went with a Purple, Blue and Green color theme. Peacock feathers were my initial inspiration, but I never ended up using any in the decor — mind you, I had them, just forgot to use them! Woops! I wanted the shower to be elegant, so I had some fresh flowers, crystal glasses and we even had it outside; what a blessing to have warm weather the week of Thanksgiving! Ever seen anyone use POTS as elegant decor? Well, my dear friend, Karen came up with this great idea to use them to hold the Cotton Candy Cones and the Champagne… all it took where a few extra strands of ribbon and voila! Beautiful!

I couldn’t pick just a few photos to show you, so I placed them in a slideshow below … Enjoy!

The Menu:

Lemon Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies
Cafe Mocha Creme Sticks
Cotton Candy in Paper Cones
Cherry Cordials
Grape Mike N Ikes
Blueberry Candy Canes
Sugar Plums
Champagne with Raspbrries
Sparkling Cider with Raspberries

Inspirational & Helpful Baby Shower Sites:

• Lolliblog – Sugar Spice and Everything Nice
• Hostess {with the Mostess}
• Shower Games A to Z
• Create My Event

Thanks for taking a peak at all of the fun I had this weekend! Now off to get into the Thanksgiving spirit!

Many Blessings to you and yours!

I just realized that I never shared any photos of my 1920s style Birthday Party! It was a huge blast and I am thankful for everyone who was there and dressed up ever so wonderfully. (The photo above from the Left: Kate, Me, Grace, Holly, Jenn & baby Noah)

We had a ton of fun and creative ideas that me and my girls threw together for a great party! We had plenty of wine, champagne and sparkling punch to drink (Boxed grape juice for the kiddies)… Grapes, Cubed Cheese, Crackers, Olives, Old-Style Candies all dished up in some beautiful crystal bowls and dishes. We of course had a pie contest and the winner was my Grandma with her Lemon Meringue Pie (which is my all-time favorite by the way).

For fun, we set up some lounge areas complete with a single red rose in a small glass vase and a strand of pearls. The guests enjoyed some night croquet that was lit up by some lovely Mason Jars with candles that lined the whole backyard. My friend Karen and I also created some fun paper lanterns to hang (using white paper bags, stamps, ribbon and fake tealight candles from the $1 store)… template, courtesy of Martha Stewart!

Other decor included some gorgeous long-stemmed ostrich feathers in vases, Dark Turqoise Velvet Draperies, Poker Tables, and we even dolled up the Wine Glasses. I found this absolutely gorgeous gold paper and printed up a bunch of “Important People” of the 1920s (a.k.a. Bonnie & Clyde, Charlie Chaplin, etc), used my punches to punch em out and adhered them on some black squares. I added a couple pearl accessories, glue gunned some gold ribbon so that it would hang around the stem of the wine glasses as a simple name tag. I think they turned out beautifully!

Enjoy the photos :)

Me & My hubs, Garrett …………………….. Our Nephew Ty with Garrett

The boys from the Left: Seth, My Big Bro Tim, Owen, Ty and Dad

Garrett is preparing to enter a Munny contest. If you dont know what that is… you will probably hear more about it here in the near future once he completes his “Munny” or you can google it right now. Me… I am just scrapping as usual :) Thought I would share what our different work spaces too…

Amy’s Space:

Garrett’s Space:

Each of these cards uses a different sketch plus one other challenge that is out there in blog-land. The first card uses Sketch 3 from Cardvaarks as well as A Spoon Full of Sugar’s Challenge to use Distressing. I simply sponged some chocolate ink around the edges of the cream paper to make it pop off of the kraft paper some more.

The 2nd Card uses this week’s 2 Sketches 4 You Sketch, along with the ABC Challenge to use Circles. I am sure you can find enough circles on this one to qualify :)

The final card uses this week’s CPS Card Sketch with Practical Stampers challenge to use Stamps and Stamp Simply’s challenge to have an Overstamped Sentiment (where you stamp the Sentiment over another stamped image.

ALL PRODUCTS USED ON THESE THREE CARDS ARE PAPERTREY INK — Minus the Pearls, Buttons and Ribbon. Hope you enjoyed and cant wait to see what everyone else created on this long weekend!! Happy creating!