Quite possibly the easiest wreath ever!

I've seen this idea on several different websites and had to make one of my own! It didn't turn out to be as easy as I'd hope and I'm not entirely sure I'm pleased with mine but I can always tear it apart and start over! 

Supplies needed:

Floral wire- you can get a 6 foot roll for $1 at DT which is probably enough to make two wreaths depending on the size you'd like

Various ornaments- I used some that I had on hand and picked some more up at the DT. You can use various colors and sizes or the same colors and sizes. Up to you. 






*A little tip to make your life easier-hot glue the tops of the ornaments on. This will save you lots of trouble and ornaments popping off in the long run! 


Just take the ornaments then and string them on the wire. There doesn't have to be an special pattern to it. You can add as many ornaments as you'd like but keep in mind that they'll have to be pretty compacted to make the wreath look good. When you're all done string on ornaments just take the two ends of the wire and bring them together. Twist them into a circle and you have a fabulous new wreath!  




Ta-da! I'm not crazy about the color gold at all which is why I might end up tearing this one apart and starting over. But you get the idea! Let me see pictures of yours!

                                                             

Memo Keepers

So, like I said I'm working on crafts for my aunt's craft sale. I saw an idea for these somewhere online and thought they'd be perfect! And I'm always loosing stuff on my desk so I decided they'd be another perfect (simple) craft! 

You can get the plastic frames for $1 at the Dollar Tree or for $0.96 at WalMart. 

Take some pretty scrapbook paper, add stickers if you so please and place it inside the frame. 

 Take a post it note pad and stick it on the frame with double sided tape and voila! 

Super easy, super way to keep your note pads visible! 

Another great thing about them is there are so many different ways to personalize them to fit the people you gift them too!

Chilly days

Brr! It's getting chilly here in Wisconsin! It's about 44 outside right now! This means that I'm staying inside! And what better thing to do than crafts?? I'm working on Christmas stuff now as I've decked the house too full capacity for fall. And I like Christmas better anyway. 

One of my aunts owns a nursing home and each year they do a craft fair. As I'm out of school this year I've had a bit more time on my hands so I've actually been working on crafts to sell there! I've been working on several different projects but here's is the first completed project: 

I saw these about a month ago at Shopko for $5.99 a piece. I mainly thought of how to make them so I could put them on one of (my three...yes three) Christmas trees. Then I decided to share the cuties and sell them at the craft sale. These are so simple!


Supplies needed:
Black paint-I had this on hand
Orange paint-I had this on hand
Paint brushes
Red pipe cleaners-$1 for a pack (of around 50) at DT
Red pom poms-$1 for a pack (of around 50) at DT 
Glass ornaments-6 for $3.99 at Fleet Farm  ( I think you can get them for $2.44 at Walmart)
Fake snow-$3.49 for 3.5 quarts at Fleet Farm ( I didn't even use half of this bag and I made a dozen of them) 

So the price was $13.47 for 12 ornaments! Or $1.12 a piece. And I still have most of the pipe cleaners and pom poms left and half of the fake snow! Can you say good deal?? And they're adorable aren't they? I can't get enough of them!

Drunken Apples

As I've said before fall is the perfect time for apple treats! Steve and I vacationed in Wisconsin Dells a handful of times since we've started dating. We had dinner once (maybe twice) at a restaurant called Famous Dave's BBQ. Almost all of the meals come with corn on the cob, corn bread and something called Drunkin' Apples. SO good! They're baked apples in a cinnamon and amaretto sauce. Yum, yum, yum! 

I've had a recipe for them bookmarked for quite some time but just never made them. Until tonight. This recipe calls for rum but you could easily substitute for amaretto, brandy or whichever kind of liquor you please.


Drunken Apples

4 tart baking apples
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons dark rum (or brandy or bourbon)

Core and slice apples into thin wedges. Place slices in a small baking dish. Cut butter into small cubes and scatter over the apples. Sprinkle the sugars, cinnamon and drizzle rum over the apples. Cover with foil.

Place the dish into a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes. Carefully uncover and stir. Recover with the foil and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Serve as a side dish or as a dessert over ice cream.

And enjoy! 

I, of course forgot to take a picture. Ahh..such is life.

 

Pizza Monkey Bread

I LLOOVEE pizza! My boyfriend, Steve probably thinks it's disguising because I could probably eat pizza at least 5 times a week. Over the years I've learned to create pizza different ways so it doesn't seem like I'm always eating the same things. Most recently...pizza monkey bread. Yum!

I'm terrible at getting photos of the entire stage but I'll work on getting better at that. K?

 Pizza Monkey Bread

• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 lbs pizza dough (Your favorite recipe or store bought-doesn't matter)
• 6 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes (you'll need ~48 pieces)
• 48 slices of  pepperoni
• 2-3 cups marinara sauce, warmed, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat garlic and butter over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and let sit.I also added some Italian seasonings, garlic powder into the mix. Add in whatever seasonings you like.
2. Lightly brush the inside of a bundt pan (or other oven-safe dish) with garlic butter.
3. Pull off large marble-sized balls of dough and flatten (a kitchen scale makes this very easy). Top with a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella.
4. Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, pinching well to seal.
5. Very lightly brush the pizza ball with garlic butter and place into the bundt pan (I dabbed the pizza balls on a butter-dipped silicon brush)
6. Repeat until all of the dough is used.
7. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, while preheating the oven to 400.
8. Bake for ~35 minutes, until the top is very brown.
9. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
10. Turn out onto a platter and serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

And enjoy the deliciousness! :) 

How I do love the smell of Cinnamon & Spice!

Another WAY simple idea for decor? But photo frames. Doesn't matter what size, shape, color. Whatever fits your style & decor. I used all the same frames for mine but I think it'd be really neat to use ovals, squares, rectangles all mixed together. And of course they'd be black as that is my personal style :) So, I'm not sure decor could get much easier with these. Buy the frames (or use ones you have), buy some pretty paper (JoAnn's has an amazing selection!) and then print out your letters. I printed mine of via Word and then traced them onto black paper and cut them out. Simple! And I love them! You could do this for anytime of the year. Easter, Christmas (Ho Ho Ho), Halloween. Send me pictures if you do make them! I always like to see other people's ideas! 

Hurricanes

I'm falling in love with decorating. I can NOT get enough of it. I'm even more in love with cheap decorating. As long as it's chic looking of course ;0  I'm into glass lately. Glass bottles, jars, plates, vases, etc. I've wanted hurricanes to use as decor for awhile now but could never find any that fit in my budget. 

For example, these William Sonoma ones are gorg right? But $ 68? For reals? 


Forgetaboutit!





I set out to make my own. For cheaper. I headed to the Dollar tree. Vases-check! Candlesticks-check!

 $2 hurricanes. Can you say TA-DA?!? Love them! And you can't go wrong getting two for $64 cheaper than you could have bought one. Super simple craft! Now go make your own!



 

Candy Corn Galore!

So I'm a sugar addict. I mean it, full blown addict. I think sugar. What do you want for breakfast Stormy? Cake! What do you want for lunch Stormy? Laffy Taffy! What do you want for dinner Stormy? Ice cream with chocolate syrup & toffee! See what I mean? Sugar. 24/7 SUGAR! It's disgusting really but I can't help myself. I try to talk myself into avoiding it but I can't. I can try to make myself stay as far away from it as possible but the plate always gradually creeps it's way into my lap. Stupid magical floating plates! 

Anywho. In attempts to make my sugary treats inedible I decided to make fakes ones or cover them in hot glue. It worked to some extent. Cept' for the extent where I didn't use all the candy corn up & decided I had to eat the rest. Mission failed! But here are the creations:

Candy corn wreaths:

 Totally easy to make. But whichever size foam wreath form that you like. I'm partial to the $1 ones at the Dollar Tree (cheap crafting=best kind of crafting). Cover the wreath form with black crepe paper. And hot glue candy corns all around it. I had a bit of a pattern going and then stuck all kinds of extra ones on the front for some more dimension. Simple as that!

 

And Fake candy corns: 

  

Again, so easy! Buy foam cones and yellow, orange and white yarn. And then you wrap, wrap, wrap and wrap, wrap, wrap some more! And when you're done with that you wrap some more. I didn't use any hot glue on these. Just wrapped the yarn around really tight and tucked the ends under. 

Cute, cute, cute if I do say so myself! :) 

Apple Muffins. Perfect Fall Treat!

 When I think of fall I think of apples...so I think fall baking calls for apples to be involved. I've never baked too much with apples...a Dutch apple pie here or there and applesauce are about the extent of it. And those are easy peasy (which is totally my baking style!) The most recent attempt was Apple Muffins. Delic! 

Not the greatest photos but I'm slowly working on my photography skills. We'll get there!  

Apple Muffins
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Cream together:
2 cups sugar (I use 1 1/2 cups)
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Sift:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups peeled, cored, diced apples (around 3 apples)
Brown sugar for topping (around 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners.

Cream together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon (I never sift and they turn out fine). Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Add the diced apples.

Fill paper liners almost to the top, about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

S'mores Cookies

I think every little kid loves to stand over a fire a roast a marshmallow crispy and smush it between chocolate and graham crackers. What? You didn't? That's alright-I loved it enough for the both of us :) Now, as an adult I don't get many chances to hover over a fire with my marshmallows so we had to come up with a plan B so I could still enjoy the warm gooey-ness. So...we have S'mores Cookies! They are (in my opinion) to DIE for! SO good! 

S'mores Cookies
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. Whatever sized pan you prefer can be used.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). Depending on the size of your pan will determine how many graham crackers you need to use. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

And We're Off!

Alright. I've been blogging on a private blog for about a year now...good way to vent about life ya know? Most recently there's been a lot going on in life (house renovations, crafting :), baking and just life in general). I've had people express interest in the crafts/baked goods I make so I thought I'd start a blog and allow people the chance to try out there inner craft & baking goddess-ness. We'll see maybe it'll be a bust. Lol. If all else fails you'll enjoy the AH-mazing music right?