Cupcake deliciousness!

Ok, so I promised that I would have something to share with you. I have to tell you, it's hot, I'm sweaty and my oven is NOT going on! I know you can all empathize with me, right?

So I am giving a shout out for all my local friends (sorry far away readers...are there any of you?) of the most delicious cupcakes ever! They are from My Delight Cupcakery and oh my gosh, talk about fun flavors. I got a few different flavors in the mini size just to sample them out. Here's what we had:

Apple Pie. This was my favorite! It had apple pie filling inside and was ooey gooey delish. Not much else to say except it was OMG good.

The Breakfast Cake...oh yeah, that's bacon people! A buttermilk cupcake with bacon, mapley (is that a word?) frosting and crumbled bacon on top. The boys said it tasted like pancakes, bacon and syrup all mixed together. Since I am the type of girl who likes my food separated (except on Thanksgiving but that's a whole other Oprah), this was not my favorite but still good.

Vanilla. Ahhhh vanilla. So boring, so sweet, so freaking delicious! I am telling you, these people have a way of turning boring old vanilla into something worth commiting crime over. Well, probably not the crime thing but this was good too! Vanilla cupcake, vanilla frosting and that cute little flower. Love. It.

I am glad I don't live that close to this place or all my weight loss plans would be foiled. You know, more than they already were with the Almond Joy, popcorn and Diet Dr. Pepper I had at the movies today! :)


Ok, well I am going to sit my fanny down and watch Boston Med on the TiVo. I love that show! Anyone else watching it?





Have a good week!





Jill

Well hello friends!

Friends! Are there any of you left? It's been awhile, I'm sorry life got the best of me. I now have a few weeks off from work and my studies so I thought I'd say hello :)

I'll be back with some ideas this week, I promise!!!

Jill

The easiest dinner eva!

I am going to show you the easiest, yummiest dinner evvvvvver! Again, it's a Crockpot dinner which I love for so many reasons, the biggest reason is that I'm lazy and have been sick all week. This takes two ingredients, well, three if you count the Crockpot :)

So, you will need either flank steak or pot roast. You can probably use whatever cut of beef you like, but these two are good because they require some serious slow cookin' to make them not taste like shoe leather! We prefer flank steak because it is leaner than pot roast but it is a personal preference.

Okay, so here we go. You will need one flank steak and one jar of pepperoncinis. I like the sliced pepperoncinis but my Wally World was out so I used whole and it was fine.

Put your meat in the Crockpot and pour the entire jar of pepperoncinis on top. Let it cook on low for 6-8 hours. The time is key to this, I have tried it after 4ish hours and it just wasn't the same.

When it's all finished, you get tender, juicy meat that shreds with a fork. I use this for everything! Last night we made burritos which is the favorite way to eat it around here but it is good with mashed potatoes, on nachos or whatever your little heart desires.

Here's the finished product:

It was so super good! Believe me, you will love it.

Now, I have to show off our new family pet, Sundae or Sunday-I'm not really sure what version my son picked but you get the idea. We got her on Friday because I am a total SUCKER and can't say no to baby animals. Really, ask people who know me. I can't say no! Anyways, she's cute and is a nice addition to this house of boys!!

I'm off to find out what my son is 'making for dessert'...that's never a good sign coming from 5 year old! Have a good week!

Jill

What's for dinner?

Well, at our house, this was!

I had forgotten how easy and delicious this slow cooker recipe was, I don't know why I don't make it more often. I found it here, at Sparkpeople.com and the best part is that I usually have all of these things in my pantry so it's a no brainer.

Here's what you will need:

Put your chicken breasts in your slow cooker *mine were frozen* and sprinkle with taco seasoning.

Mix your soup and salsa in a bowl *I didn't have Cream of Mushroom soup so I substituted with Cream of Chicken-works beautifully!* and pour on top of your chicken. Set on low for 6-8 hrs.

Here's what you get! I have used this chicken for a bunch of different things, tonight I shredded it and put it over baked potatoes. The recipe says to put it over rice but it is really good for shredded chicken tacos too.

I made these also:

They were met with mixed reviews by the boys. They didn't like the topping *wha? They can't be related to me!*. I told them "It's streusel people! How can you not like streusel?!" Blasphemy. Anywho, I found them here. They are banana-streusel-deliciousness.

Have a good week :)
Jill

Easy glass etching

I am always looking for new gift ideas and was running out of ideas for Christmas this year. I found the cutest salad tongs for my friend here and needed a bowl to go with them. I couldn't just find any bowl for my fabulous friend so, one night while I should've been sleeping, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. my mind went on a rampage! I had done some etching years ago for some bathroom cabinets but never decoratively. I remembered it being a big ol' pain but thought, what the heck...let's try it again! I found a great bowl at Cost Plus and had a lady on Etsy make me a monogrammed vinyl.



These are pictures of a vase I made for another friend last week. I didn't take pictures of the original bowl-what was I thinking?!



I found this vase at Crate & Barrel and it worked out perfectly. You want to find something that is flat and isn't too curvy or your stencil won't stick right and you will have leakage :( That is very bad in the world of cream etching!

This my friends is Armour Etch it can be your best friend or your wicked enemy. Be nice to it and everything will work out fine. It can be tricky to find but my local Michael's has it but you have to ask as it is locked up-remember the wicked side!? This is a small bottle and it did 2 small projects with a smidge left over.

So I apparently forgot to post the picture of just the vinyl laid out on the glass. Sorry. What you need to know is that you can have vinyl cut for you *like I did*, use your Cricut to cut out your image or you can go real old skool and cut your image/word/letters out with Contact paper and an exacto knife. Whatever you choose to do will be fine, you must listen carefully though. Whatever you choose must stick well to your surface or, well, you're screwed.

Once you line up your vinyl on your glass where you want it you have to rub it on the glass until all the air bubbles are gone and your edges are stuck. You don't want to see any creases because creases = leakage!!! Remember, leakage is BAD people!

Ok, on to the next step. Give your Armour Etch a good shake and then poor a thick, generous layer on to your vinyl, like this:

This is not the time to be stingy or your etch will look spotty and weird.

Spread it around with a toothpick or an old paintbrush until your image is totally covered. Be very careful you don't get any outside the lines *remember, it can be wicked and won't come off!*

The back of the package says to let the cream sit for 5 minutes. I am not a rule follower and let mine sit for 10, I know, I live on the edge! The first project I did I followed the directions to the 'T' and my glass looked spotty and kind of greasy so now I let it sit for 10 minutes and it looks great.

When your time is up, carefully wipe off all the excess cream, then rinse it off and THEN peel off your vinyl. If you peel your vinyl first, it will leak and remember, leakage = BAD!!

Be very careful when wiping off the cream because even the tiniest speck can fly off and ruin your project! Also, this cream will also etch your counters, sink and pretty much anything else in it's path *it's wicked, remember?* so be careful! And for goodness sake, keep it away from your kids and animals! PSA over. On to the finished product...

Etching is kind of hard to photograph so here is a little better picture.

This is a very fun and economical project. It takes a bit of time to get the hang of but is well worth it, I promise.

You can usually find 40% off coupons for Michael's which you can use on your Armour Etch. Your glass piece will probably be the most expensive part of the project but you can find cute jars, bowls or vases at Wal Mart or Cost Plus for cheap. It will be a unique gift that any gal *or guy I suppose* would be happy to receive!

Have fun!

J

Super cute ribbon topiary

I have been dying to make a ribbon topiary for months now and I finally got 5 minutes *ok, a couple hours* to make one. I was inspired by Whitney Caroline Designs so I made one for Valentine's Day. Here's the lowdown:


You will need:
1 wooden dowel
Ribbon cut into 3" strips
Straight pins
Styrofoam ball (mine is a 3" ball but you can get them itty bitty to huge!)
Container/pot to put it in
Floral foam or styrofoam to fit inside your container
Spanish moss (forgot to show that-sorry)

Take your ribbon strips and loop them around like this:

Stick your pin through your loop and into the styrofoam ball:

Keep pinning *and pinning, and pinning, and pinning* and voila! Here's the finished product:

Super cute, right? The only downfall is this:

I was watching E! and wasn't paying enough attention apparently. Oh well. It was so easy and I think really cute. I can't wait to do more!

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