Blueberry Oatmeal cookies

Happy President's Day! I LOVE Monday Holidays, don't you? One more day to sleep-in, and enjoy the kiddos being home. When my kids are out of school, we usually bake something fun. Unfortunately, I haven't been to the grocery store all week, so we needed to bake something with the ingredients we had on hand.



Cue...Oatmeal Cookie Recipe...

1 Cup Shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour, scooped and leveled
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. hot water
1 1/2 Cups quick rolled oats ( I substituted blueberry flavor oats here)

Directions:
Cream shortening, add sugars and cream until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla:



Add flour and salt, then add soda that's been dissolved in hot water; blend. Stir in (blueberry)rolled oats:

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet/ungreased cookie sheet about 1.5 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until barely browned and still a little puffy.

Remove to wire rack to cool.


These cookies were so simple to make, and yummy! Crispy-ish on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Easy cupcake flowers...TUTORIAL

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone gets to spend lots of time with loved ones. I woke up this morning to gobs of CHOCOLATE, and a gift card to a nail salon...loving cute, pedicured toes for SUMMER. What a WONDERFUL husband I have!!!

I wanted to share this great idea, my mom shared with me, for putting flowers on cupcakes.

You start with mini marshmallows and a pair of scissors. (Please wash your scissors BEFORE and AFTER) Cut your marshmallows in half~ corner to corner.



Next,gently push the sticky end of the marshmallow onto some pretty, colored sugar.



This is how the marshies look, when covered with the sugar.



Arrange them in a "flower" pattern on a frosted cupcake...



and, lastly, add a gumdrop to the center.




This was super easy, and we decorated 30+ cupcakes in less than an hour.



What do you think? Will you give it a try?

One Dollar Wednesday... Valentine's Day Tree

I found this fun Valentine vase at the Dollar Store a couple weeks ago...

As soon as I saw it, I knew just what to do with it!



I gathered some old branches from my yard.



and sent them out to Spray Paint Place for a quick coat of white.



I arranged them in the little vase,



and cut out oodles of scrapbook paper hearts.



I used my large hearts as "ornaments" and sandwiched a piece of ribbon (also from the dollar store)between the layers.



I added my small hearts at random spots on the branches using my glue gun to attach them.



This is what I ended up with...(CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)



I LOVE the whimsy it adds to this corner! (CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

One Dollar Wednesday...framed card

This was, by far, my easiest One Dollar Wednesday project. I love it when I can find simple, inexpensive, little crafts to add to my home.

This one started with these darling Valentine's Day cards that I found at the Target Dollar Spot~~LOVE that place!


(please forgive this picture...every time I loaded it blogspot flipped it...but you get the gist)

I picked up a couple matching frames at The Dollar Tree, but knew their color had to be changed.



Out to Spray Paint place for a coat of primer....



and a couple coats of Fire Engine Red!



I framed up my cute cards, and ended up with this...




and this...



What do ya think? Easy, quick, and cute...can't ask for more than that!

One Dollar Wednesday...a weathered Valentine

I was so excited when I found these heart "cut-outs" at my local Dollar Store. They have all the colors of my home in them, so I knew I would want to incorporate them into my Valentine decor.



I went to my hubby's scrap wood pile, and pulled a piece of lovely weathered plywood.
I measured around my hearts, and marked where I wanted to cut.



Then I pulled out the POWER TOOL! This was a little intimidating for me, but it cut like a charm.



I sent the pieces out to Spray Paint Place for a quick coat. I didn't prime them, because I really wanted to keep a weathered look.


Time for some Mod Podge magic....


Before I top-coated this one with Mod Podge, I decided to stamp the word "love" onto it.


I topped it off with Mod Podge, and a couple hours later, I was able to add these pieces to the hutch in my entry.



Here are a couple close-ups. I just love how the turned out!!!

Tidy Tips: Protecting Your Sofa

Having a toddler is doing major damage to my sofa.  I finally decided to be brave and throw the cushion covers into the washing machine on the cold, extra delicate cycle.  I let them hang dry and it took all the spots out, HOORAY!  The only problem was that nakie baby in the background, we didn't want him ruining the cushion in the interim of the washing and hang drying process.  My husband had a brilliant idea.......

He grabbed one of our extra crib sheets and it fit perfectly over the cushions.  I loved the idea so much, I almost want one on there all the time, LOL!  The sheet is from IKEA and it measures 52"x28".  As for the spots on the sofa that I can't throw in the washer, I saw this post on Pinterest, great idea!

One Dollar Wednesday... it's all about FAMILY

I have said it before, and I'll say it again... I have a plethora of picture frames. Yes, they are random as can be. Different colors, different shapes, and different styles. For today's project, I'm focusing on some that I picked up recently at the dollar store/thrift stores.

See~~random...



but, a quick trip out to Spray Paint Place, and they're starting to look a bit more uniform!


I selected some fun scrapbook paper (from my VAST COLLECTION), and proceeded to print out the word FAMILY. Each letter, on it's own piece of paper, and in it's own FONT.


I framed them up lickety split...


and laid them out on the floor, as I wanted them on the wall.


Here's the final product...adding a little color to this quiet corner of my kitchen!