Christmas In July And Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Cones…

I love “window shopping”, especially after work.  Sometimes I just get the urge to go out and browse the stores.

Well, today my son and I went to Garden Ridge and this is what we found..

Is it just me or do the stores rush the holidays?  Don’t get me wrong, I know that companies have to get their merchandise in the stores early but seriously…it’s 95 degrees outside and stores are hanging up ornaments and playing Jingle Bells!!  But there’s also a part of me that gets the warm fuzzies and can’t wait for the holidays to get here!!

How cute are these ornaments?

Too bad I don’t have any daughters, these would make a beautiful Christmas tree.

We came across these pedestals and Tre’ had to do a little posing.

Tre’- The Thinker!!

The resemblance is uncanny!!!

After “Christmas Shopping”, we headed to Mickey D’s for a Chocolate Dipped Cone…. MMMMMMMMMMMM

Have you tried these?  They are soooooooooo good and for only $1.49, you can’t beat the price.

Thanks for tagging along!!  See ya next time…

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas {Cooking}…

I love Christmas and I love giving gifts.  The problem is not having enough money to buy those gifts with.  So this year my friends and loved ones will be getting homemade gifts from the heart….and my kitchen!  And if you didn’t know- Christmas is only 164 days away!!!  So you may want to get on the ball with your Christmas List…

First off I think I’m going to make some homemade vanilla extract.

Chickens in the Road has a great tutorial for making this.

And for my friends and family members with dogs maybe some homemade doggie treats. 

A Cozy Kitchen has a delicious recipe for these treats.

Cinnamon rolls always make a great gift.

I have made The Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls twice as gifts on Christmas Eve.  They are always a huge hit.

Give these out on Christmas Eve so your friends and family can have them for Christmas breakfast.  YUM!!!

After all of that…how about some delicious peppermint bark?  Get the recipe straight from Martha Stewart’s website.

How can you go wrong with chocolate and peppermint??

Ok, are you as hungry as I am now??

Outdoor Party- Finally!…

OK, OK…so my son’s 19th b-day party was in May.  It’s now July and I’m just getting around to posting the pics.  You can see how I prepared for this party in part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

I started off by making bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers.  Nothing fancy. I  just split them in half and clean out the seeds. I then made the filling for them.  I used shredded cheddar cheese and mixed it with cream cheese.  I filled the jalapenos with the mixture and wrapped them with the bacon.  I then baked them for 10-15 mins. in a 450 degree oven.  I didn’t take an after picture but you can imagine how delicious they looked.  This wasn’t all I made  but I forgot to take pics of the other “treats” we had.

I then proceeded to make a cake.

Chase plays the guitar so I used one of his as my model.

My husband then suggested using Chase’s Flying V as the model.

Much better!  Thanks Mr. C.!!

I am in no way a cake decorator so this was the end result.  Not bad for my first decorated cake..not great either but not bad.

It was very moist and everyone seemed to enjoy it!

Here Chase is blowing out his candles.

And Chase enjoying his cake.  MMMMM Good!

I had the kids at the party pose in the field beside our house.  I thought this would make such a great picture.

I love the old house in the background.  See my cute little nephew Jake in the far right posing?

He’s such a ham!!  And I love it!!

And lastly my son, JR, gives his little brother a birthday hug.  AWWWWW

Happy 19th B-day Chase!!!

Snake Bubbles, Cupcakes and a Ghetto Slip-N-Slide…

Happy 4th of July…  I hope everyone had a great day…  I know I did.  We had friends and family over for a cookout.  I absolutely love getting together with family.  When we get together its always a lot of fun.  We eat way too much, laugh too loud and have a blast!!  Here are a few pics of our 4th of July!!!

I started out by making tie dye cupcakes. Click HERE for a great tutorial at Skip to my Lou.

I frosted mine with a cool whip/white chocolate pudding mix instead of frosting.  I mixed white chocolate pudding with 1 cup milk and beat it with a mixer.  This will be thick.  I then mixed it into my thawed cool whip.  I refrigerated it after I mixed it until I got ready to frost the cupcakes.  I then decorated them with sliced strawberries and blueberries.

My cute niece, Makayla, thoroughly enjoyed the pinwheels on the cupcakes.

The cupcakes are a huge hit!!!

I found the tutorial for these water bottle bubble blowers HERE at How Does She?  These make the longest “snake bubbles” I’ve ever seen.  Jake and Sydney try them out with great success.

Chase entertained us with some tunes.

My niece, Kendall, gets the Ghetto Slip-N-Slide ready!!!

Don’t be jealous of our slip-n-slide…you can make one yourself.  Just lay down a tarp, turn on the sprinkler and find some kids that REALLY want to cool off!!!

This is how we spent our 4th…how was yours???

Preparing for an Outdoor Party- Part 4…

This next step I modified…mainly because I ran out of time.  Instead of getting drop cloths and making cute tablecloths, I purchased $4.00 twin flat sheets at Wal-Mart and called it a day.  I paired them with a long olive green table cloth I had and said…looks good to me!!!  I made the long table by stacking Rubbermaid containers from my basement and 2 closet doors I had…And Voila!!!  An extra long table.

1. Plant Flowers
2. Paint Wicker Furniture
3. Make Lanterns
4. Fix and Paint Picnic Table
5. Make Drop Cloth Tablecloths or Buy Flat Sheets from Wal-Mart
   
6. Make Drop Cloth Drapes for Back Porch

If you don’t have sawhorses containers can work wonders.

I used 2 long closet doors as the table tops.  Remember to remove the door knobs.

Once you cover up the containers and doors you’ll never guess it isn’t a “real” table..

Preparing For An Outdoor Party- Part 3…

The next step in preparing for the outdoor party…painting the picnic table.  I found some “Ooops” paint at Ace Hardware for $5.00.  The name of the paint wasn’t on the can.  Just a sample of the color.  It looks like a deep red to me.  Not too bright…not too dark.  I lightly sanded the table and then washed it off with some “Greased Lightening”.  My son, Chase, and Mr. C. used some L brackets to make the table more sturdy and my youngest son, Tre’, helped me paint it.  I love the look.  I only wanted the seats and tabletop painted red.  I love the look of the painted and unpainted wood together.

1. Plant Flowers
2. Paint Wicker Furniture
3. Make Lanterns
4. Fix and Paint Picnic Table
5. Make Drop Cloth Tablecloths
6. Make Drop Cloth Drapes for Back Porch

Bridal Shower…

I just love Bridal Showers.  I attended my niece’s on Saturday…they’re a new beginning for a young woman.  She imagines herself using the new appliances, linens and housewares in her new home.  She imagines having dinner parties with her new place settings.  She imagines having her parents and in laws over for the holidays while sitting down to that perfectly done turkey in her new roaster…  We were all that young woman at one time or another.  And we all stopped imagining these perfect moments and faced reality when our casserole for that dinner party turned out like crap and our “perfectly” done turkey still had the bag left inside of it.  Oh yes…these moments to a young bride-to-be are priceless.  So for all of us who have been married more years than we care to “imagine” let’s imagine ourselves that young, beautiful and naive girl once again.

The cake was beautifully decorated

The host’s  house was set up and awaited my niece

My beautiful niece was all smiles as she opened her gifts

She was speechless as she opened the best gift there.  Yea you guessed it… that was my gift to her.

Cute party favors given by the host as the party ended

Congratulations Heather and Jeremy!  See you at the wedding!!!