Author Archive

Amy’s Notebook 05.08.13

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

Mother's Day table setting

Source: Joy The Baker

 

Wouldn’t you love to spend some time at a beautiful table like this for Mother’s Day?

I’m not sure if these kitchen storage ideas are life-changing, but some of them are really cool, especially using a fun soap dish for brush storage.

I’ve got to try making no-sew washable pillow covers made with glue – it sounds like a quick and easy way to update using some new fabrics.

I’m excited to find this super easy and adorable way to store twine – it’s easy to use and looks good at the same time!

This small hallway makeover that used maps for wallpaper is so amazing.

Thai-Chicken-Satay-Peanut-Sauce

Source: Simply Scratch

 

I love Thai flavors, and chicken satay is a favorite – but combining it with a ginger-coconut rice? Yum!

Okay, peanut butter, chocolate, and pretzels together in a cookie? My kids will LOVE these.

Oh my goodness, I’ve got to find some opportunity to make these sweet little cupcakes that look like mini tubs of popcorn!

This lemon asparagus couscous salad with tomatoes would make a perfect light lunch – maybe for a Mother’s Day luncheon?

Camping party theme

Source: Vixen Made

 

This is seriously a great party theme – how fun! And it would work for men, children or anyone who likes camping and the outdoors.

No way I would’ve ever thought this fun necklace started out as gift cards!

I love doing this kind of melted crayon art with my kiddos – and the fact that it helps to use up those crayon pieces that seem to multiply each year!
amys_notebook

I hope you enjoyed this collection of gathered links to DIY crafts, food projects, and thrifty ways to spruce up your home. Nothing brings me more joy then to highlight other fabulous bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration!

 

Quick & Easy Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Quick & Easy DIY Mother's Day gift ideas

Mother’s day is coming up – are you all set or are you still looking for some special, and more importantly – meaningful, gifts for your moms and grandmas? You probably know that around here we think that gifts we make ourselves are the most meaningful, as they truly have a little bit of us in every gift we give.

Along these lines, I’ve searched the archives of Mom Adivce to bring you some of our quickest and easiest DIY projects that would be perfect for the women in your life! I’ve grouped them into four categories that moms are guaranteed to love:

DIY Flowers – who says you need to buy traditional flowers that last only a little while? Try crafting a bouquet or floral jewelry that will last much longer…maybe forever!

Fun Breakfasts – whether for a special breakfast-in-bed or a family brunch, any of these favorite recipes will help celebrate mom.

Pampering Gifts – these easy to make projects will make mom feel special – just make sure she gets the time to use them!

Special Confections – not your everyday sweets, these are certain to show mom your the extra care you took to shower her with love…and sugar!

Finally, these tips on how to use Goodwill items for your gift wrapping may spark some ideas to make even the presentation special:
Creative_Gift_Giving

I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day – either giving or receiving!

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Apron Full of Giveaways 05.07.13

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

brown and green apron

Source: Creative Chics,  $40.00

 

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways! I hope everyone is having a great week this week! As we do each week, here is our round-up of giveaways for our readers. We hope that this is beneficial to you and your family! Please let us know if you guys win anything- I love to hear the success stories!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we are not giving away the aprons just showcasing them! Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Kid’s Movies).”

Good luck to each of you!

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Baked Strawberry Doughnuts

Monday, May 6th, 2013

Baked Strawberry DoughnutsIf there is one thing this family loves it is baked doughnuts. Today we baked up a bath of baked strawberry doughnuts that would be perfect to enjoy during the summer months. Walmart challenged me to share a fresh new take on a strawberry recipe and I couldn’t wait to share this doughnut recipe with you!

Fresh StrawberriesPicking the perfect strawberries for your dishes is relatively easy compared to other fruits where the flesh is hidden from view. I always pick the package up and examine underneath since bad berries can be nestled on the underside of the package. Be sure to select berries that are not overly ripe, mushy, or are starting to mold. Since berries have such a short shelf life, you want to make sure you are really off to a good start with the best berries from the store.

Did you know strawberries taste best at room temperature? If you are eating them whole, pull them out of the fridge one hour before eating to eat them at their peak flavor.

Baked Strawberry Doughnuts

Baked Strawberry Doughnuts

I found a great recipe for beautifully baked strawberry doughnuts from Cooking Classy that I couldn’t wait to try. To really heighten the berry flavor of these doughnuts, the glaze incorporates both fresh and freeze dried berries. You can find freeze-dried strawberries over in the same aisle as the nuts, granola bars, and dried fruits. When these freeze-dried berries are broken, it creates the pretty color and adds a burst of berry flavor to the glaze that would be mild in comparison with the fresh berries.

The flavor of these is surprisingly light thanks to the buttermilk and fresh berries that are thrown into the batter. The glaze adds that bright berry flavor to the coating and makes these baked doughnuts feel truly indulgent.

Baked Strawberry Doughnuts

Baked Strawberry Doughnuts
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author: Adapted From Cooking Classy
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 18
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup canola
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup finely chopped strawberries (I use my hand chopper to chop these)
  • Strawberry Glaze
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries
  • 1/2 cup (6 g) freeze dried strawberries, finely crushed to powder (place in a Ziploc bag, crush with rolling pin)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease doughnut pans well by spraying with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  3. Make a well in center of mixture and set aside.
  4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs and then pour into well in flour.
  5. Using a wooden spoon, stir mixture just until combined, then fold in 2/3 cup finely chopped strawberries. Spoon 2 1/2 Tbsp batter evenly into each well of the doughnut pans.
  6. Bake in preheated oven 11-13 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of doughnut comes out clean.
  7. Prepare glaze just before dipping cooled doughnuts. In a mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries and half of the powdered sugar. Stir until mixture starts to become moistened, then allow to rest 1 minute.
  8. Add in remaining powdered sugar and freeze dried strawberry powder and stir until well combined . Use glaze immediately. If glaze is too thick, thin with 1 tablespoon of milk.
  9. Allow to cool several minutes in doughnut pan then invert onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  10. Once cool dip top halves of doughnuts into glaze and allow some of excess to run off, then return to wire rack, glazed side facing upward.
  11. Transfer doughnuts to freezer to allow glaze to set, about 5 minutes.

Recipe Slightly Adapted from Cooking Classy.

walmart_mom_disclaimer
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19 Awesome Ways to Show Teacher Appreciation

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

19 Teacher Appreciation Ideas
As you may have guessed by now, we love our teachers and we love letting them know how thankful we are for all the time, energy, and love they put into educating our children! I look forward to Teacher Appreciation Week each year (May 6-10 this year) as a time I can really let them know how we feel (though of course telling them all through the school year is allowed, too!).

Today I’m excited to share with you 19 of our best teacher appreciation ideas – all pulled from the archives of MomAdvice! Some years I have more time and some years less, so there are ideas for gifts that can be created in minutes like Oreo Cookie Biscotti:

oreo biscotti

Or if you have more time there are some super special ideas that are guaranteed to knock their socks off like a Rosette Bib Necklace:

Rosette_Bib_Necklace

Need a few more ideas…how about 17 more? These are some of the best projects I’ve come up with over the years – and I found them to be a great way to show love to the awesome teachers in our lives!

1. DIY Book Page Flower Bouquet (this year’s teacher appreciation idea!)

2.  Teacher School Supplies Cake

3.  Raise Your Hand If You Mustache a Question Printable & Mustache Mug

4.  Rolled Rosette Pins

5. Light & Fluffy Baked Cake Donuts

6.  No-Slip Bookmarks (3rd project in the post)

7.  Oatmeal Cookies & Milk Bath Soak

8.  Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Brownies

9.  Easy Felt Fabric Brooches

10. Light Snickerdoodle Biscotti

11. Rolled Rosette Ribbon Rings

12. Fabric Flower Pins

13. Honey Nut Granola

14. Knitted Coffee Cozies

15 DIY Monogrammed Wine Glasses

16. Six Stitch Knitted Ruffled Scarf

17. Easy Microwave Peanut Brittle

What are some ways you’ve found to say thanks to teachers?

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Amy’s Notebook 05.01.13

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

Duct Tape Bags

Source: Little Birdie Secrets

 

I’m totally in love with these adorable Duct Tape Bags!

If you’ve been making a lot of crafts with washi tape (remember these cute thumbtacks from a previous Notebook?) than you’ll love this Washi Tape Storage Ideas round-up.

I can think of so many times this personalized countdown calendar-in-a-jar would be fun to have – Christmas, birthdays – even waiting for a vacation or visit from grandparents!

2013HulaHideout

Source: Apartment Therapy

 

I think these bed canopies created with hula hoops are so fun and beautiful!

Have you ever thought about spring cleaning your make-up drawer? It’s not the first thing I think about when Spring cleaning, but this is a great reminder.

I think this diy sheet music wall art would be awesome in a music room or a music-themed kid’s room.

Using my instagram photos to make sticky notes just seems like a match made in heaven.

easiest-crock-pot-salsa-verde-

Source: Skinny Taste

 

With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, this easy crock pot chicken for tacos and tostadas just might have to be on our menu.

Why not make it an international week and include a refreshing rice noodle bowl with shrimp and vegetables on the menu? I love mixing our menus up!

This hazelnut chocolate torte with espresso ganache is going to have to make it onto the menu soon, too!

And this homemade conditioner from easy-to-find ingredients? Awesome!
amys_notebook

I hope you enjoyed this collection of gathered links to DIY crafts, food projects, and thrifty ways to spruce up your home. Nothing brings me more joy then to highlight other fabulous bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration!

 

DIY Book Page Flower Tutorial (With Free Printable)

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

If there is one thing our family loves to do it is spoil our teachers. Today I am sharing how to make book page flowers out of old books to brighten a teacher’s day. I hope you will enjoy this book page flower tutorial and be able to use our free printable to create your book page flowers.

As you know, book page crafts are something that I have recently grown fond of and I wanted to create a bouquet of book page posies that you could share with a favorite teacher. A great way to build upon this thrifty gift is to pair it with a gift card to a favorite local bookstore for your teacher.

Supplies Needed:

1 old book/textbook (I picked one up at Goodwill for $.50- it was WELL loved with loads of notes, yellowed edges, and bent corners.)
Jar or Vase
Grilling skewers
Hot Glue Gun
Glue Sticks
Book Page Flowers Template

Directions:

1. Cut out your five flower petals from the provided flower petal template

2. Begin by pulling out five pages of your book and leave them stacked. Using one of your flower petal templates as a guide, cut out your first petals. Since you are cutting through the stack of papers, you should have five petals cut. Repeat this process with the other four petal templates until you have five of each kind.

3. Using your grill skewer as a paper shaper, roll each of the petals to create curving of the petals around it. I simply rolled these around the skewer, then released them.

4. Pull out another page from your book and tear a strip lengthwise from the book. Just as you would with floral tape wrap, pulling down gently, the skewer with the strip from your page. You may need two strips to cover the entire length. (pictured above).

5. Tear another strip lengthwise and roll this at the top of your skewer to create the center of your flower (just ignore that bare stem!).  I just add a bit of glue at the beginning and then a bit of glue at the end to hold it together. Now you are ready to start adding your petals.

6.  Add a drop of glue almost at the edge of the bottom of your petal and begin with the smallest layer. Add these petals all around the flower center. Repeat this process with the petals the next size up. Repeat again, again, and again until all of the petals are attached to your flower. If the base feels loose at all, add a little dab of hot glue around the bottom of the flower with your hot glue gun.

DIY Book Page Flower Tutorial
7. Finish by placing them in a thrifted jar or vase and spread and fluff the petals of your flowers. Give these to your favorite teacher with a gift card to their favorite bookstore.

Be sure to check back this week for more fun teacher gift ideas!

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Apron Full of Giveaways .04.30.13

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

vintage floral apron

Source: Cotillion Vintage,  $22.00

 

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways! I hope everyone is having a great week this week! As we do each week, here is our round-up of giveaways for our readers. We hope that this is beneficial to you and your family! Please let us know if you guys win anything- I love to hear the success stories!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we are not giving away the aprons just showcasing them! Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Kid’s Movies).”

Good luck to each of you!

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Skip to My Lou Teacher Appreciation Series + Giveaway

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

Today I am over at Skip to my Lou guest posting today for a Teacher Appreciation Series.

As part of the series I get to share this fabulous: Show your Appreciation Giveaway {1 for you and 1 for your favorite teacher}!

This is one AMAZING giveaway!
We are giving away a fabulous Prize Package worth more than $1,000!
One lucky winner and their favorite teacher will receive…

Watch your creativity take shape! Using unique rolling technology, the Cricut Cuttlebug(tm) machine can cut shapes, emboss shapes, or cut and then emboss shapes to add texture and dimension to your latest creative endeavors. Great for School projects!
Did you know the cuddlebug accepts the dies you already own? Plus the Cricut Cuttlebug(tm) loves the materials you love, freeing you to cut and emboss from a wide range of crafting materials.

  • 2 Michaels gift cards $50 each Don’t forget to tell your teacher they can get 15% off every day at Michaels with their special teacher discount!
  • 2 Bundles of a years worth scrapbook supplies from American Crafts (valued at more than $1,000)! Basics like paper, scissors, trimmers, glitter, etc. – and then some fun patterned paper to take you both through the entire year!

It is easy to enter simply wait for rafflecopter to load and enter there.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you really want to win Remember to follow the entire series because you can get a new entry each day by visiting the featured blogger!

Amy’s Notebook 04.24.13

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

broccoli kale slaw Source: Shutter Bean

Remember when I said last week that I want to find ways to add kale to our meals? This broccoli kale slaw is making the list for sure.

I’m hoping my family will flip for these quesadillas filled with breakfast foods, because they look so good!

This chicken skillet dinner looks amazing and would be an easy weeknight meal.

Goodness, I think I’m going to have to make these incredible cream cheese brownies with toffee and pecans soon!

Wine-Cork-Pendant-Necklaces Source: Fiskars.com

This has got to be one of the cleverest ways to use old wine corks that I’ve seen in a long time – I’m already thinking of the people in my life who would enjoy getting a wine cork pendant necklace as a gift.

We always seem to wear out our fitted sheets before the top ones, so I’m excited to find this tutorial on how to make a flat sheet into a fitted one!

I’m loving this neon dip tote bag – a great way to add a bright and fun accent for the warmer months.

I can never get enough organizing tips so I’m finding this post on how to organize your house really motivating – and really pretty, too!

outdoor tic-tac-toe Source: Chicken Scratch NY

This diy tic-tac-toe game made with painted rocks and wood is seriously cute – it’s making me anxious for the days of hanging out in the backyard with the kiddos!

Here’s a fun and unique idea – make cute flower planters using large cardboard paper mache initials.

I really like the way this front door and porch makeover refreshed this porch – especially the color choice for the door.

This recycled key wind chime looks like a quick – and quirky – craft to do with the kids. Now just to start collecting old keys…

Spring always makes me think about spiffing up the outside of our home, so I found these ideas to add curb appeal to your home really inspiring!

amys_notebook I hope you enjoyed this collection of gathered links to DIY crafts, food projects, and thrifty ways to spruce up your home. Nothing brings me more joy then to highlight other fabulous bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration!