Tissue Paper Mugs

This is a super fun, simple craft that you can do alone at home or for a girls night! All you need is these few simple items:

• Plain coffee mugs (you can choose any color)
• Fun tissue paper
• Water-based Mod Podge (ONLY water-based will work)
• Paint Brush

All of these items can be purchased at Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Target, or really anywhere you shop! Mod Podge can also be ordered on Amazon if you’re like me and love to online shop! Either way, this craft doesn’t require a lot of spending to create! It’s the PERFECT craft for a girls night in…and you get a cute mug out of it to have a warm cup of joe on a Saturday morning!

This is the tissue paper we decided to go with…very affordable and very summer appropriate. We snagged these bright colors from the dollar section at Target!

For coffee mugs, we went with white but any color will do as long as they’re smooth and don’t have any grooves or ridges!

Here is the Mod Podge…most water-based versions of this have blue labels so it’s not hard to find! Water based is safe for dishwashers so this will be safe for your mug!

To begin the craft you will start by ripping or cutting pieces of tissue paper that will fit on the mug. Ripping creates a little bit more of a messy effect…I love that look! If you want more of a clean cut you may want to have scissors readily available!

You will want to brush a light coat of Mod Podge over the back of the tissue pieces and put them on the mug–smooth out any wrinkles and be super careful not to rip the paper! (Good news is, if you mess up, you can just peel it off and start over!)

Once the mug is covered how you want it let it sit and dry for at least 20 minutes. After your dry time is over, you’ll want to cover the entire mug with a coat of Mod Podge! Let it dry…and repeat!

Before using your new mug make sure to pay attention to the Mod Podge bottle for instructions. Ours says wait 72 hours before getting it wet!

All done!! Enjoy a hot cup of tea or coffee in your new mug!

Philly Cheesesteak Sliders

Ingredients

• 12 Slider rolls
• 1 pound Thinly sliced steak
• 1 Green pepper diced
• 1 Onion diced
• 6 slices Provolone cheese
• 2 tablespoon Mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoon Butter melted
• 1 tablespoon Onion finely diced
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Separate the tops and bottoms of your rolls and place the bottoms in an 11″ x 7″ baking dish or on a baking sheet.
• Cook the steak meat in a skillet, adding salt and pepper to taste. When done cooking set aside.
• Saute the pepper and onions until they are tender.
• Prep the bread by spreading a thin layer of mayo on the tops and bottoms of the rolls.
• When the meat, onions and peppers have finished cooking spread the steak, then peppers, and onions evenly over the bottom pieces of bread in the baking dish.
• Place a layer of provolone cheese over the peppers and onions.
• In a small bowl combine melted butter and 1 tablespoon of finely diced raw onions.
• Place the top pieces of bread on top of the cheese and then brush the tops of the bread with the butter mixture.
• Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes (or until cheese is melted).
• Cut and serve.

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Recipe Source: Pinterest

Banana Bread

Are you in need of a yummy treat for all of those kiddos at home right now? This is it! This a banana bread is so simple but so delicious! Following along to have this sweet treat at your house.

What you’ll need:

• 8 Tablespoons Butter (1 Stick) melted
• 1 Cup light brown sugar
• 2 Large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-5 very ripe bananas
• 1 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• (Optional) 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray your dish with non stick spray. Line the dish with parchment paper.

Step 2:
Add butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla into a bowl and mix. Then add the bananas a little at a time until incorporated in.

Add eggs

Add butter

Add brown sugar

Add vanilla

Mix it up!

Step 3:

In a different bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.

 

Step 4:

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (Add pecans if using)

Step 5:

Pour the batter into the dish and bake about 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Italian Crescent Rolls

Do you need a yummy, yet simple appetizer or side to pair with a pasta or another dinner of your choice?  These Italian style crescent rolls are quick to make, affordable to buy, and will leave you and your family satisfied!

 

I cannot take credit for this recipe…I got it from @BitsOfBri on Instagram.  They looked extremely yummy and easy so I gave it a shot!

Here’s what you’ll need:

•  Crescent Rolls
•  Mozzerella or White Cheddar Cheese
•  Olive Oil
•  Italian Seasoning
•  Minced Garlic
•  Garlic Powder

 

First, you’ll want to preheat your oven according to the crescent roll package.  Next, lightly grease a baking pan and roll out the dough into their pre-cut triangle shapes.  After you have them rolled out you will want to add a little minced garlic to the dough and spread it evenly around the triangle.

Sprinkle your cheese of choice onto the triangles…Roll ’em up!

You will need to lightly brush the top of the crescents rolls with olive oil and then sprinkle a little garlic powder and Italian seasoning to each one!  You’re done!  Now bake according to package!

 

These bad boys were so yummy!  We ate them hot and fresh out of the oven…so fresh, we forgot to take an after picture!!  Let us know if you try them!

 

 

Leather Earrings

Hey friends! Today we decided to get crafty and make our own leather earrings. No matter if you have a cricut or a hand held leather cutter this is a simple and fun project for the girls! You could wear the earrings you make or send them as a gift. We made a couple different styles. Continue reading for some basic instructions on how to make your own earrings!

Supply List:

-Leather

-Cricut or handheld leather cutter

-Hole puncher

-Leather scissors

-Earring hardware (earring hooks)

Step 1: Pick out your leather and earring design, or shape. If you have a cricut set up your template and let it do the work for you. If you are doing this with scissors or a leather cutter you could trace a stencil onto the leather to follow or just go for it.

Step 2: Clean up the edges. If you have used a cricut some of the edges could be a bit frayed or loose so you can use scissors to tidy up.

Step 3: Once your earrings look the way you want them to it’s time to make holes for the hardware. Take your hole puncher and line it up where you want the hole to be and go for it!

Step 4: Attach your hooks or whichever hardware you choose to the earrings and viola! Beautiful leather earrings!

THE END!

Meatless Meal-Black Bean Quesadilla

With all that is going on right now in the world I thought an inexpensive recipe is good for the budget.  I found this recipe to have tons of flavor.

Black Bean Quesadillas:

Servings: 2 folded 8-inch quesadillas

 

Ingredients

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

6 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for brushing the tortillas

3/4 cup minced red onion

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

1  1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 cup black beans (drained, canned)

2 tablespoons lime juice

Kosher salt

6 plain flour tortillas, 8-inch

4 cups Pepper Jack cheese shredded

Instructions

1. Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until kernels begin to brown and pop, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer corn to medium bowl.
3. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering; add red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.
4. Add garlic and chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes; stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
5. Return corn to skillet and toss to combine; gently press mixture with spatula to lightly crush black beans.
6. Transfer mixture to now-empty bowl, stir in lime juice, and season to taste with salt.

I made a small salad and cut up and avocado with some Greek plain yogurt and salsa! A very good vegetarian dinner.

Happy Cooking!!

Easy Mother’s Day Idea #1

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching and the unknown situation of the quarantine being upon us…we thought it would be appropriate to share some simple ideas for gifts in case we are still without our department stores and malls come Mother’s Day!

For this craft all you will need is a herb of your choice, a coffee mug, a popsicle stick, tape, and a way to print!  (Or you could have the kiddos draw hand made signs and make it even more personal!)

We chose to use mint and thyme as examples.

You can use any color or design of coffee mug!  We just chose plain white mugs!

All you have to do is transfer your herbs into the mugs!  This is a cute way to gift the herb to your mom, or really whoever, but if they want to keep the plant thriving–it might be best to plant it in something that can properly drain water!

For the next part you have to get a little creative to use the names of the herbs in the card you make.  Here are some examples:

•  Thank you for your commitMINT
•  Thank you for your thyme
•  You are a big dill
•  You are sup-herb

Of course, there are a million more creative & punny phrases you can come up with!  Here are the ones we did.  I created the signs on Canva.com but as I previously stated if you have little kids to make the signs homemade, it would make it all the more special for mom!

We actually forgot to grab the popsicle sticks but we just used the name cards that came in the plant to tape the paper to and it worked just fine!

Ta-da!  Super cute, super simple, and a special little gift for mom or grandma!  If you come up with more creative sayings, we’d love to hear them!  And as always…if you decide to take on this craft, make it your own and let your creativity run free!  

Sock Bunnies

Easter is approaching…

I know some folks aren’t too fond of bunny decorations–but this was just a fun little Spring-time craft…that also makes a really cute piece for your desk at work or mantel décor (if you aren’t opposed to Peter Rabbit!)

What you will need:

•  Socks (men’s socks work best because they are bigger)
•  Rice (these take quite a bit of rice–we were able to make 4 bunnies with 5 pounds of rice)
•  Twine
•  Ribbon of choice
•  Paint markers or Sharpies
•  A roll of tape (optional: it just makes filling the socks easier)

 

You can choose any color socks you’d like and any color or design of ribbon that you’d like as well.  The pack of socks I found were cream, olive green, and brown!  But if you could find some bright purple or yellow socks; fluorescent bunnies would be so cute and would resemble Peeps!  As I always encourage…be creative and make this craft your own.

The roll of tape is optional but it did help so much when you fill the sock with rice!  So that will be your very first step…fill the sock with rice!

Here’s a little live action footage pouring the rice into the sock!

 

 

 

 

After you get your sock nice and plump you will want to tie the top of the sock so your rice doesn’t fall out.  The next step will be to section off a little tail as pictured and you will tie the twine around the tail.  You will repeat the same step with the neck!

Once you get the body of your bunny the size you want it, you can go ahead and untie the sock…you will then tie another piece of twine around the top of the head.

 

 

 

Make sure that all of your ties are very tight (the tighter you tie, the more sturdy and firm your bunny will be!)

 

 

Next step…ears!  The ears can be as long or as short as you want them to be.  I accidentally picked up socks for “big & tall” men…that’s why there is so much room left!  You can cut the ears to your desired length and after you get them the length you want them you will cut straight down the middle.  After cutting the sock down the middle you will want to cut each side in a slanted direction toward the end of the sock (this will created the pointy bunny ears).

The last step for the sock bunny will be to draw your face and then tie a little ribbon around the neck!  This isn’t hard to do because if you fill your sock right and tie it up tight enough, the heel of the sock will be the bunnies head so it’s pretty simple to find a good placement to draw the eyes and nose.  Check it out!

I don’t think you’re ready for this cuteness….

How stinking precious are they?!?!  This was a very fun, easy craft and they truly make the cutest little mantel décor!  Show us your sock bunnies if you try this craft!  Happy Spring and Happy (early) Easter!

No Bake Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

We had quite the sweet tooth today here at the office and decided to make these super simple but delicious cookies. With everyone being home due to the quarantine and social distancing this would be a fun activity for kids and adult of all ages. And who doesn’t love chocolate?? I would venture to say you probably have most of these ingredients in your home right now. Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

-2 Cups Sugar

-1/2 Cup Milk

-1/2 Cup of Unsalted Butter

-1/4 Cup of Cocoa Powder

-3 Cups Oats

-1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

-1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Step 1: Add 2 Cups of Sugar

Step 2: Add 1/2 Cup of Milk

Step 3: Add 1/2 Cup of Butter

Step 4: Add 1/4 Cup of Cocoa Powder

Step 5: Stir the mixture. When it comes to a boil let it boil for one minute.

                                           

Step 6: Add 3 Cups of Oats and mix well

Step 7: Add 1 Cup of Peanut butter and Mix Well

Step 8: Add 1 TBSP of Vanilla Extract

Step 9: Grab a palm sized ball of the mixture and place on the cookie sheet. Then place the cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer fro 15-30 minutes.

TADA! Yummy chocolate and peanut butter cookies!

ENJOY!

Easy Burlap Bunnies

With Spring upon us and Easter right around the corner our winter decorations must come down and spring decor go up. While pondering what to use for spring I came up with these cute little burlap bunnies. Bunnies are cute, they are born in the spring and they are for Easter.  Making burlap bunnies is a perfect decoration for Spring and Easter.

Not having a bunny stencil I decided to use a paper plate to make my my own stencil. I used a three per bunny.  I tried a few different cuts but this seems to be my best one. I used tape to keep my pieces together so I could trace them.

Next, I traced around the paper plates on the burlap fabric and cut the bunnies out. You will need a front and back for each bunny. After cutting these out you can trim them up to be the same size so when I sew them together the two match. This can be done now or after they are sewn together.

When cutting out your bunny cut inside your lines or you will have marker on your fabric.

Now  you need to pin your bunnies together using straight pins. I have not trimmed my bunny yet. I choose to at the end. The burlap does fray and needs to be handled gingerly to keep it together. After it is sewn it will not fray as much.

When sewing your bunnies together you must leave a hole for the stuffing to go in. The head of the bunny is the best place to leave open because it is in the middle of the bunny and you can stuff the ears, the head and the body through this area. I used a pencil to push stuffing into the ears and I didn’t put a lot of stuffing there.

After stuffing, sew the hole closed that you left open. At this point you can trim your bunny up and use twine or ribbon to make a bow or use no bow at all. This is my creation. This is a easy project that you can even do with your kids as a art project.

We hope this inspires you to try this DIY Spring decoration. Let us know if you have any questions. Happy crafting!