A Forest Frolic

All in a Snow Days Work

I had so much to do today, but the winter weather kept the kids home from school and this is what we did instead:

We played in the snow...

I finished a painting that I started yesterday (while outside in the nice warm sun, I might add)...

Baby Face-timed her big sisters friends...

I made some Super-Hero cupcake toppers for a friend...

We made Perler bead projects...

The kids started to drive me crazy with their constant need to be entertained and the bickering, so I had some stress relief...

We made chocolate chip pancakes (and I did NOT eat one, yay...oh wait, I did have fresh baked cookies ;)...

We put together a couple of puzzles...

Then we went for a snow playdate with friends that turned into a fun late night game of tripoli...

Sometimes it stinks to not be able to get done what I had planned. But it's always nice to have these unexpected play-days with the girls, because, before ya know it, they'll be all grown up and, well...that's all...I don't want to get all sappy and start to cry ;)

Jamie :)

Bedazzled Mallows

Do you want a fun, festive and delicious little project idea...as if you don't have enough to do before Christmas next week ;) I can't believe Christmas is in 6 days, whaaaat!

Anywho, I went to a cookie party last night and had good intentions on making these really delicious and complicated cookies I found on Pinterest. Yeah...that didn't pan out, so this is what I made up...

...we'll call them, 'Bedazzled Mallows,' because that's what one of my friends named them when the best I could come up with was, 'Marshmallow dips,' bwhahahaha.

To make them, gather your SUPPLIES: a bag of Jumbo Peppermint Mallows, a bar of (microwavable) white chocolate, whatever 'goodies' you want to embellish them with (I chose jimmies, oreos, red hots and old-fashioned hard candies), a few zip lock bags, parchment paper and a rolling pin or mallet.

Start by covering your table with parchment paper, so it's ready when your chocolate is.

Melt your chocolate according to the package instructions. Tip: be sure to stir the chocolate well in between 20-30 second spurts of melting, so it doesn't harden or dry out. This took me a good 8 minutes since I had a huge bar of chocolate, so I double bagged and crunched my candies and cookies, while the chocolate was in the microwave.

When it's all melted, crunched and ready to roll (literally ;), you just carefully roll your marshmallow edges in the white chocolate and then roll them in your goodies, then place on parchment paper to harden (the hardening doesn't take long...maybe 10-15 minutes to be safe). Voila...

The Oreo ones were my favorite tasting, but I didn't like the way they turned out when I rolled the edges, so I spooned the chocolate on top and sprinkled it with Oreos. Oh my Oreo goodness...

The old fashioned hard candy, I think, was the most festive for Christmas though...

My kids loved these and they were a hit at the party too! Super easy and really yummy (I mean, who doesn't love sugar? ;)

It'd be fun to make these for different holidays, with the variety of marshmallows that they come up with and the traditional candies. Conversation hearts for Valentines (on heart shaped mallows), green jimmies or andes mints for St. Patties days, or candy corns for Halloween...just use your imagination! So fun!

Hope you give it a go and if you do, let me know (rhyme much? ;) I'd love to see your creations. Now, I'm off to get back to my Christmas shinanigans...wheeeee...

Jamie :)

What the Fox Say!?!

We have so much fun with our advent calendar every December and this year is no different! I found this adorable set of woodland creature ornaments and today, it was time to bring out the fox!

This morning before the girls left for school, I blasted 'What does the Fox say' on the stereo and we had a dance session as the girls met their new friend...

I'm sure you've already seen this, but if you need a good chuckle, watch this silly video. My kids favorite part it the end...

'Whaaat is yoooour sooound...wiiiill we ever knooooww?' Bwahahahah...

 

Jamie :)

 

 

Our Baby Girl is having a 'Stache Bash'

She's almost ONE!! I can't believe it...my, how her first year has flown by. This is a glimpse of her birthday invite...

 

{mustache-Gentleman clip art, GraphicMarket; crown-Hoopla kit, Glitz Design; cake-retro cut-outs:birthday, Sahlin Studio}

 I was searching around Etsy last night for ideas and inspiration and decided to create a Treasury...

All great, adorable ideas and I can't wait for the shirt to arrive! We've make cupcake toppers (of course ;), melted mustache crayons for favors and have scratch-off stickers for a game...so many sweet ideas. But do we have time for them all?! ;)

Jamie :)

Octopus Moleskine Cahier

Just made these super cool Octopus Moleskine pocket journals and popped them in my Etsy shop...

I think it'd make a perfect stocking stuffer!

I can't believe I'm already in Christmas mode. I love Thanksgiving, but don't do much for decorating for it. We go 'all out,' for Halloween & Christmas, but I need to find a good way to decorate for Thanksgiving. Other than a few pumpkins and gourds here and there, I just don't have any ideas. I don't really want a bunch of turkey's around the house...ya know, since I already have quite a few of those ;) ;)

Jamie :)