Monday, May 12, 2014

Homemade Coconut Sugar Scrub

Hey Hey and Happy Monday to you all! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day! We had a great time down in southern Indiana spending the day with my Mother-in-Laws. We went to church together, they shared stories of past Mother's Days with me, and then we enjoyed a delicious homemade brunch. Speaking of homemade...

I know that there are some gifts that money can buy. Cars, trips, and Spa days are all nice, but not in my wheel house. I personally like the homemade gifts. Those are the ones that take time and effort and some special thought, but not a lot of money. 

Like I mentioned the other day, I have several "Mom's" in my life. So to help make them all happy and my wallet this Mother's Day I decided to make some Homemade Coconut Sugar Scrub!
I went over to my big sister's house the other day (I know her by Sarey, but most of you will know her as Thrifty Decor Chick. Check her out, she's awesome!) and made her up a jar. It smelled absolutely amazing! And it was so easy. Just add 2 parts sugar to one part coconut oil.
Stir it up. Add any essential oils you want. Put a lid and a cute ribbon around it, and you're done! Super easy and so much cheaper than going out and buying a gift. My sister loved it! Score! And, it's edible!

Directions:

In a small jar, combine 2 parts sugar with 1 part oil. My measurements were 1/2 Cup sugar and 1/4 cup coconut oil. I used coconut here, but you can use olive oil or even canola oil. Or for a sweeter scent, you can use brown sugar instead. Seriously, so easy.

If you want to make a fragrance, add in your favorite essential oil. Some suggestions are lavendar, mint, lemon, raspberry, peach, whatever you like. 

To go a further step, add in one to two drops of food coloring to make it your favorite color. That's it!

Did you have an amazing Mother's Day? I hope whatever you did, you got to see your loved ones and do whatever it is you wanted to do! Now I need to start thinking of what I want to make for Father's Day. Got any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to the scoop, titus 2 tuesday, create link inspiretutorial tuesday, flusters creative muster, wicked awesome wednesday, whats cookin wednesdayinspire me wednesday, whatever goes wednesdaycreate it thursday, full plate thursday, the homeacre hop, friday flash blog, kitchen fun and crafty friday, weekend potluck, creativity unleashedlink party paloozacreative collectionbest of the weekendamaze me monday

Friday, May 9, 2014

Open-Faced Fruit Pie

Happy Happy Friday Y'All!! I'm so excited for this weekend! It's Mother's Day and I am so blessed to have so many amazing women in my life who represent what a Mom is. Giving birth to someone doesn't mean you automatically earn the title of Mother. Teaching someone, caring for someone, supporting them, encouraging them, yelling at them when they need to hear the truth, building them up and giving unconditional unbreakable love is what makes a mother...in my eyes.

Lucky for me there are several women in my life that fit that definition plus do so much more. I've been so blessed to be surrounded by women who inspire me and teach me and show me what a real Mother is. Someone who kisses boo boos and holds hands walking into the first day of elementary and cheers the loudest at basketball games and gets there first to choir concerts to score the best seats and works numerous jobs but still makes it to every t ball game and loves their kids no matter what. I mean no matter what! I am just so lucky.

So to celebrate all the amazing moms out there, I'm sharing a quick and easy breakfast even the most cooking-challenged dad/son/daughter/boyfriend/significant other can make to serve that deserving mom breakfast in bed. I call it an Open-Faced Fruit Pie!
All you do is lay out a pie crust:
Add some fruit:
Sprinkle on some sweet stuff and wrap a pie crust around it (use a premade crust to make it that much easier :):
Bake and you're done!
Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 1/2 Cup fresh fruit, rinsed
4 Tbsp cold butter
1/4 Cup flour
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1 egg white
1 Tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lay out your pie crust on a floured surface, then transfer it to a baking stone.

Place the fruit in the middle of the pie crust, leaving about 1 1/2 inches on the sides.

Cut up the butter using a pastry cutter (or a knife if you don't have one). I use the one my mom-in-law bought me :) 

Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl. Mix in the cut up butter and sprinkle it over the fruit. Pour the vanilla over that.

Fold up the sides of the pie crust over the fruit and pinch the sides together to keep the fruit from spilling out.

Combine the egg white and water and brush over the pie crust.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool another five minutes on the stone before serving. Cut it up, and bring it to the beautiful deserving mom for breakfast in bed!! Enjoy!

So what are you doing for your Mom this weekend? Is she a breakfast in bed kind of lady or a brunch and mimosa's gal? Either way, I hope all the mom's out there have an amazing weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to the creative collection, link party palooza, amaze me monday, much ado about mondayfrugal crafty homethe scooptitus 2 tuesdaycreate link inspiretutorial tuesdayflusters creative musterwicked awesome wednesdaywhats cookin wednesday, inspire me wednesdaywhatever goes wednesdaycreate it thursdayfull plate thursdaythe homeacre hopkitchen fun and crafty fridayweekend potluckcreativity unleashed

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

A Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!

HEY ALL! Welcome to another Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop! I am so excited to be co-hosting with Sinea again. She is absolutely amazing! Wanted to show you what I've been up to lately in case you missed it:
Cherry Lemonade Jello Popsicles

Easy-Made Monkey Bread
Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Cake

Now that you're all caught up, let's get on with this great party!

So glad you came to party with us. We have been having such a great time.   Today we would like to introduce you to our 6 new May co-hosts!  Six co-hosts mean that you get your posts seen on 7 blogs!!! Isn't that great?



From top to bottom, left to right:
Elie of Organizer By Day
Ali of Jam Hands
Dawn of Spatulas on Parade
Diane of Recipes For Our Daily Bread
Tammy from CreativeKKids and Ultimate Linky
Nicole and Susan of Flavors By Four

Please be sure to follow our host and co-hosts on social media (below)


Here's a recap of last week's record-breaking blog hop!

The best "how to succeed on Pinterest" post I've ever read was also most viewed on last week's hop! If you have any interest in honing your skills with Pinterest, this is a must read. In fact, it is a must SAVE. I have pinned it to my Blogging Tips board and have set it to open on my desktop until I am satisfied that I have really absorbed it.  Thank you, Alice of Mums Make Lists, for taking the time to share it.


MOST VIEWED


Record breaking?  Oh my my my, we had 352 wonderful entries last week!  "Ta da!!!" (Trumpet sounds...drum roll) The April co-hosts worked so hard to get the news out and you all came a runnin'! Wow. Any possibility we can reach 400 this week?  If we all joint in and tweet and share, we can do it!

So, who was number 352?  It gives me great pleasure to share her FREE MOTHER'S DAY PRINTABLES post with you...and she is a newbie blogger, too! I liked her Facebook page and I am her 12th fan :)  Be sure to follow her on social media and give her a boost! Number 352 is "Editor's Pick"


Editor's Pick




.

So let's party!  Simple Guidelines:
  • Please follow our host and co-hosts in as many ways possible (social media links below) 
  • PLEASE TWEET THIS PARTY !!!!  We want everyone to know about it!
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like, no giveaways please.
  • Visit three or more others. Let them know you've been there!
  • When you are PINNING, remember to do it from the original post. 
  • If you are new, be sure to let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. 
  • Thanks for joining us!
Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row
Blog / Bloglovin’ / Email / Facebook / Google+ / Pinterest  / RSS / Twitter

Tammy of Creative K Kids
and…The Ultimate Linky

Elie from Organizer by Day

Nicole & Susan from Flavors by Four

Diane Recipes for Our Daily Bread

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade

Love this party?

Let's invite more people!


Monday, May 5, 2014

Cherry Lemonade Jello Popsicles

Hey Hey it's another great Monday! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! We FINALLY finished the garden. Whoo Hoo!! I've been working on that thing since the middle of April. I'll be sharing all about that journey with you guys soon!

Today, though, I want to share with you this sweet treat that I can't.stop.eating. And it's just perfect for our upcoming hot spring/summer days. Cherry Lemonade Jello Popsicles!
These are so delicious and absolutely effortless. All you do is make jello like you normally would, but instead of putting in the fridge, you put it in the freezer. That's about it!
I combined together a cherry and a lemon mix and the flavors together are absolutely perfect.
I can't wait to share these with guests when they come by this summer!

Ingredients:
1 box cherry jello mix
1 box lemon jello mix
2 Cups boiling water
2 Cups cold water
Decorative containers (I used Patty Pan Pantry baking cups)
Wooden kabob skewers, or popsicle sticks
1 sheet of aluminum foil

Directions:

Lay out your decorative containers on a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Ready a piece of aluminum foil that will fit over all the containers. This will help the skewers stand upright. Cut each skewer in half.

Combine the two packages of jello in a large bowl that has a pour spout. The pour spout makes it easier to pour the mix into the containers.

Boil 2 cups of water and stir it into the jello mix for a couple minutes, or until all of the powder is dissolved.

Add in the 2 cups of cold water and stir. Pour enough jello mix into the containers to almost fill them.

Place the aluminum foil over the filled containers and poke the wooden skewer through the foil into the container. The foil should make the wooden skewer stand upright. Obviously it's ok if they fall over. They'll still be delicious!
Set in the freezer for about five hours, or overnight if you have time. Remove and peel off of the container. Bite and enjoy!

This recipe made exactly 16. I couldn't believe how perfectly it filled the containers without any leftover.

I think these will be a new summertime favorite of ours! What are your favorite summer treats you make at your house? Would love more ideas!


Need some Patty Pan Pantry Cups?

Patty Pan Pantry Baking Cups


Got Kabob skewers? These are the ones I use.

Farberware Classic 12" Bamboo Skewers

Thanks for stopping by!


**I linked up to the scoop, simple supper tuesday, titus 2 tuesday, create link inspire, tutorial tuesday, creative muster, wicked awesome wednesday, whats cookin wednesday, inspire me wednesday, work it wednesday, whatever goes wednesday, full plate thursday, create it thursday, pin it thursday, bloom designs, the homeacre hopthursday style, kitchen fun and crafty friday, friday link party, weekend potluck, weekend bloggy reading, creativity unleashedthe creative collectionlink party paloozaamaze me mondaymuch ado about mondayfrugal crafty home