tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68891245824183829012024-03-04T20:06:50.211-08:00Lavender Cloudsgood things simpleLilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-24556430425451860722013-08-12T13:04:00.001-07:002013-08-12T13:04:11.197-07:00Tennis Team Gifts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi all! I know it's been a while. I have been very busy. Today is no exception, but I just wanted to share with you these darling little tennis gifts I made for my tennis team. In case you didn't hear me, that was me tooting my own horn. I googled tennis gift ideas and searched on Pinterest. I had no luck so I was left to search my own mind. This is what I came up with. One can of balls, one bag of nuts, a laminated Coman tie-breaker card, and these cute little zipper pulls I found on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/KreativeKaleb?ref=l2-shopheader-name">Etsy</a>.</div>
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Supplies:
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Cans of Tennis Balls (I bought a case of 16 at Costco)
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x-small- 7inx12inx4in basket gift bags from Michaels (Celebrate It brand)
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Bag of individually wrapped trail mix (Trader Joes)
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Tennis bottle cap zipper pulls found on Etsy
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Ribbon
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I used a 2" decorative punch and lime green cardstock to make the tags that say, <br />
"Go nuts & have a ball this season!" <br />
Each gift comes out to be about $6 each.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-41081981841159104762012-12-07T10:40:00.002-08:002012-12-07T10:40:38.487-08:00Housewarming Gift IdeaAs if the holidays don't bring enough things to do and gifts to buy! I have 4 birthdays to acknowledge this week, all of whom are people I am very close to. If you happen to be reading this, any of you, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Also, two family members are moving this month. I wanted to put together a little something to help get them through those first few days of decorating and opening boxes. I purchased everything from Lowes, they had some great deals.
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This kit was all of $20 and includes:
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Scissors
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Indoor extension cord
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Picture hanging kit
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3M Command hooks
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Level
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25' Measuring Tape
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Paint brush and bucket for touch ups
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Masking Tape for guide to hang pictures
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Maybe I should have added some Red Bull or Advil. I tend to go through a lot of that on moving days!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-77791047788770205082012-09-22T17:03:00.001-07:002012-09-22T17:03:35.992-07:00CPK Inspired Quinoa + Arugula SaladThis is not a recipe for CPK's salad. It is a loosely based copycat, therefore inspired by, Cpk's Quinoa + Arugula Salad. You'll find their salad on their 'New Adventures' menu.
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Now that that is out of the way, let me just tell you all, in case you don't know already, some of my favorite things to eat are quinoa, arugula, and salad. Imagine my happiness when I stumbled upon this little ditty at CPK. I knew it would be fairly easy to recreate especially since they are so helpful by giving a description of exactly what they put in it. The description reads "Our super grain salad with asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, toasted pine nuts, Feta tossed in our house made Champagne vinaigrette."
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My version is slightly different, based on what I had and what I like. I omitted the asparagus, added roasted red bell pepper, replaced the sun-dried tomatoes with fresh tomatoes, and mine was more quinoa based than arugula based.<br />
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Ingredients:</div>
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1 cup cooked, cooled quinoa</div>
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2 Tbs. toasted pine nuts</div>
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1 small chopped tomato, or a handful of chopped cherub tomatoes</div>
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1 Tbs. chopped red onion, or 1/8 sliced red onion</div>
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1/4 c. chopped roasted red bell pepper</div>
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1/8-1/4 c. crumbled reduced fat Feta cheese</div>
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1 handful Arugula </div>
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1-2 Tbs. Champagne Vinaigrette (I used Trader Joe's Lite)</div>
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Combine all ingredients and enjoy. </div>
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This will hold up just fine in the fridge overnight as long as you don't drench it in dressing. </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-81940981373914151362012-09-18T10:08:00.000-07:002012-09-18T10:08:10.389-07:00BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a great way to use your leftover pulled pork and corn on the cob. That is, if there ever is any! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKUdq7w35SLi6SjOi30HM5TF5CpnMOANTd030WETwJWEig11pte_ChSXYjL942us4SVLX8Rno7JvMJqxTUo7wTO4hAMIqc2XwxRRWth8-RSz1OFKHcSN_lTKyc09MBa2L6ZyZ60H9fILY/s1600/BBQ+Pork+Pizza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKUdq7w35SLi6SjOi30HM5TF5CpnMOANTd030WETwJWEig11pte_ChSXYjL942us4SVLX8Rno7JvMJqxTUo7wTO4hAMIqc2XwxRRWth8-RSz1OFKHcSN_lTKyc09MBa2L6ZyZ60H9fILY/s320/BBQ+Pork+Pizza.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ingredients:</div>
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Pizza Crust ( I used Boboli original crust)</div>
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1 ear of corn, cooked, and shaved</div>
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1 cup BBQ pulled pork</div>
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1/4 cup BBQ sauce ( I used Harris Teeter's Original Sweet and Tangy)</div>
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1/8 cup diced red onion</div>
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2 sliced smoked provolone, chopped</div>
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1 c. shredded mozzarella</div>
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Spread pizza crust with BBQ sauce.</div>
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Cover almost every inch with shredded pork.</div>
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Sprinkle with chopped provolone, onion, and corn in that order.</div>
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Drizzle with a bit more BBQ sauce.</div>
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Cover with mozzarella.</div>
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Bake according to pizza crust directions.</div>
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I baked mine right on the rack, that way, </div>
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the crust stays crisps and is able to hold the weight of the toppings.</div>
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The measurements of toppings are estimated, </div>
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and of course, you can adjust to your liking.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-77954351028748011782012-06-01T09:51:00.000-07:002012-06-01T10:00:48.186-07:00Cake Mix Cookies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcbdwwuxH50jdATBOqmJ4iBGOaETWbPSO3qWpvRSEuPWc9mz8rkAz48tN4urkhd2Is2b2fstjGy4QQ8-FATG_nc1Fb2oeq5d-ATw7TCUjsbNAVd6fu2T9yqCFZbSmDTeb_87ZjKYagC9i/s1600/cakemixcookies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcbdwwuxH50jdATBOqmJ4iBGOaETWbPSO3qWpvRSEuPWc9mz8rkAz48tN4urkhd2Is2b2fstjGy4QQ8-FATG_nc1Fb2oeq5d-ATw7TCUjsbNAVd6fu2T9yqCFZbSmDTeb_87ZjKYagC9i/s400/cakemixcookies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Folks, you are gonna hate me for these! Five minutes of work never tasted so good! And if you're too tired to make them, they're easy enough for your kiddos to make for you. Let their creativity go wild! I used a box of <span style="font-size: large;">yellow cake and semi-sweet chocolate chips</span>. These cookies came out nice and puffy, just how I love them! They were slightly crisp on the outside and as soft as a pillow on the inside.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgYyfKmUKFBrXGAgZxk_vy3E0E2uYQ5S5tk4P3HtwDJN8Zo401PmSUQkmLm48rCcgxCMnHTXd1l4l5DkGbYm9DmFS01wfdRXEVRjUrPPUkaxioIQoyOZCvJJSUSguKXkbKw01jk0yL7vu/s1600/cakecookies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgYyfKmUKFBrXGAgZxk_vy3E0E2uYQ5S5tk4P3HtwDJN8Zo401PmSUQkmLm48rCcgxCMnHTXd1l4l5DkGbYm9DmFS01wfdRXEVRjUrPPUkaxioIQoyOZCvJJSUSguKXkbKw01jk0yL7vu/s400/cakecookies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Makes 2 dozen cookies</div>
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Ingredients:</div>
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1 box cake mix (any flavor)</div>
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2 eggs</div>
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1/2 cup oil</div>
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1/2 cup chocolate chips</div>
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If you choose to add in fruit or nuts, I would start with a 1/2 cup. These may seem oily as you are mixing them up but don't worry, they will come out perfect.</div>
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.</div>
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You don't even need to pull out your Kitchen Aid! In a medium bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix cake mix with oil and eggs. Mix in your chocolate chips. Scoop by the tablespoon onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. I found that with my particular pan I had to rotate the cookie sheet from the middle rack to the top rack after 5 minutes of baking. This ensured that they didn't burn on the bottom. I will be trying and posting more combinations I'm sure!</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-37122167469312202372012-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:002012-06-01T09:53:35.107-07:00Portable Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCgLLB5bbBCQzsSQoapAGDi0F7NsIs7HCWsDMFT5zg1qru1ZlXt0936_imLjH4dLOauPxw5-8OyY4i5gPlqu70oOnIJ3KUEs5h6xWBtKhXm2s0R4UtJzNTNYHwZpBe36jzbp1Vm3_M0TZ/s1600/048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCgLLB5bbBCQzsSQoapAGDi0F7NsIs7HCWsDMFT5zg1qru1ZlXt0936_imLjH4dLOauPxw5-8OyY4i5gPlqu70oOnIJ3KUEs5h6xWBtKhXm2s0R4UtJzNTNYHwZpBe36jzbp1Vm3_M0TZ/s400/048.jpg" width="370" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In addition to a very long week of daily pampering and gifts for Chloe's teacher we sent in some cupcakes for her this morning. For these portable cupcakes you just need a package of Wilton clear party bags, size 4 x 9.5 inches and a package of 9 oz. clear plastic cups. The 'Thank You' tags are the same ones I used last year. They were made by <a href="http://www.skiptomylou.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ThankYouTeacherAppreciationGiftTags.pdf" target="_blank">Skip To My Lou.</a> You can find them on Tidy Mom's blog. Just bake your cupcakes in liners as usual. Then you can experiment. You can
remove the cupcake from the liner and add it to the cup and frost it or you can
keep it in the liner and add it to the cup. I added either tissue paper,
decorative liners, or a regular liner to the outside of the cup and placed it in
the bag. Tie the spoon on with a ribbon, add your tag with a bit of hot glue and your set!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-38788955644900665792012-05-04T07:54:00.001-07:002012-05-04T07:55:37.127-07:00Black and Blueberry Mini GalettesI'm on the galette bandwagon. Sweet or savory, I'm in love. They are rustic, which I like to think of as easy and imperfect, but still lovely and delicious. I love my shortcuts so I start with some pre-made pie crusts. Pillsbury. You will find these in the refrigerator section near the biscuits and stuff. I didn't really follow a recipe for this, I just looked over the Internet at some different recipes and based this off that. I'll do my best to give the "recipe" here. I used black and blueberries, but you can use any berries you wish. Also, I used fresh blackberries, but used frozen blueberries. You can really use whatever fruit you prefer such as raspberries or peaches.<br />
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<strong>rus-tic </strong><strong>[</strong><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">ˈrəstik]</span><br />
1. Having the simplicity and charm that is considered typical of the countryside<br />
2. Charmingly simple or unsophisticated<br />
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<strong>ga-lette</strong>[gah-LEHT]<br />
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1<span class="ssens"><strong>:</strong> a flat round cake of pastry often topped with fruit </span></div>
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2<span class="ssens"><strong>:</strong> a food prepared and served in the shape of a flat round cake <span class="vi"><a <em>galette</em> of potatoes></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Individual Berry Galettes</span>
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Ingredients:
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2-3 cups berries, rinsed
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2 Tbls sugar + more if needed
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2 tsp cornstarch
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2 thawed pie crust circles
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Coarse sugar to sprinkle crust
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Milk to brush on crust
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Vanilla Ice Cream for serving(optional)
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Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Add your berries to a bowl. Add 2 Tbls. sugar, or more if you are using tart berries. Up to 1/4 cup of sugar total can be added. Add cornstarch to berry and sugar mixture and gently mix well. Allow to rest. Meanwhile, you want to find a round bowl or similar tool. It should be able to make 4 smaller round circles from your pie crusts. I used a 350 ml, 5 1/2 inch wide Rubbermaid container. <br />
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Cut out four pie rounds. Leaving a one inch margin around the edges, spoon berries into each individual pie round. Fold up the the sides, pinching together when necessary. Perfection in this step is not needed. Your goal is just to keep the berries supported.
Brush a little milk on the folded edges of the crust and sprinkle with coarse (raw) sugar. Bake for 10-15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes. Times and temps may vary slightly depending on your oven. Please watch these, check them often. Lay a piece of foil over the top if the crust is browning too fast. Once the berry juice starts bubbling they should be almost done.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-21821446788307047462012-04-30T14:26:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:28:37.556-07:00Teacher Appreciation CardsBelieve it or not, I do not consider myself crafty or creative. I think I get by, but sometimes I get lucky and I turn out something wonderful. I share room mom duties and it was my turn to take the lead for Teacher Appreciation Week. We decided to do pretty much the same thing as I did last year. Instead of having the kids write a card, we decided on a fill in the blank card. Then I took it one step further and decided to make unique handmade cards. 27 of them. All different. I'm not a scrapbooker. I don't own a scrapbook. BUT, I do own buttons, paperclips, cardstock, ribbon and Swarovski crystals. I bought some paper flowers, apple stickers, and teacher motif cardstock at Michaels. Here's a sample of what we ended up with.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-71476202299620252932012-03-26T08:09:00.002-07:002012-06-02T09:04:11.566-07:00Hollywood Slumber Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some notes on a few things for you...</div>
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The Hollywood sign was made from foam poster board. I basically just used a ruler and box cutter. Each segment of the letters were six inches wide and as tall as I could make them on the board. I screwed them into garden stakes and hammered them into the lawn. It was quite windy but they survived. Some of them came apart from their screws and had to be taped last minute so perhaps tacky glue and screws is the way to go.</div>
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The party room entrance and ceiling decorations are made from vinyl tablecloths that I cut in half length wise. I saw that idea on Pinterest, but could never really find specific directions for it.</div>
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The star molds on the cupcakes were done with Wilton candy discs made the same way I did my seashell candy cupcakes. However this time, I added the luster dust with a brush to the star mold tray, before adding the melted candy. This saved me from having to hand paint each star.</div>
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I made the VIP badges on Word and had them laminated at Staples.</div>
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The "Swag Bags" had a few girlie things I picked up from the dollar section at Target and Michaels. Some items were a nail file, make up bag I found in the party colors, sleep mask, and hair accessories.</div>
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I would definitely suggest having a schedule with plenty of activities planned. There are many great sites out there to get ideas from. And always have a back-up plan! Some of our favorite things we did were...</div>
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The red carpet photos</div>
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Jenga during appetizers</div>
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A question box Chloe and I made. We all sat in a circle and each girl read and answered the question. Some were easy, others really made them think. They ranged from, If you had a super power, what would it be? How many kids do you want? If you found out your friend stole something, how would you react?</div>
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Pajama Fashion Show- This was the girls favorite activity. They had soooo much fun and really let loose. I gave them props like boas, hats, glasses, and we played a song for each girl to strut her stuff. The spectating girls went crazy for each girl on the catwalk, taking pictures of them with their phones and screaming for them!</div>
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Movies-I had three choices of movies and they watched two. One before bed and one in the morning after breakfast. I had on hand, Freaky Friday, Monte Carlo, and Cinderella Story with Hillary Duff.</div>
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Breakfast was kept super simple with yogurt, granola, mini chocolate chips, fruit, muffins, donut holes, and apple juice.</div>
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For helpful links and templates I used in my planning , <a href="http://liliannagrace.blogspot.com/2012/02/hollywood-slumber-party-part-1-planning.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><span id="goog_1699057784"></span><span id="goog_1699057785"></span><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.somewhatsimple.com/" title="Somewhat Simple"><img alt="Somewhat Simple" src="http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a342/stephd757/linkpartythursday.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.bystephanielynn.com/search/label/Link%20Parties" target="_blank"><img alt="UndertheTableandDreaming" border="0" src="http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv298/theliebertfamily/party.png" /></a>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-36352656420372762342012-03-07T12:33:00.000-08:002012-03-07T12:33:58.041-08:00Ribbon StorageI have been looking for an organized way to store my ribbon for years. I have looked for storage box solutions, even trying once to make my own out of a cardboard box and a dowel. Recently I came up with this solution. While it didn't solve all my ribbon dilemmas, it's certainly a start in the right direction.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">This is my armoir. All of my craft and office supplies are stored here. And now, so is my ribbon collection. Part of it anyway.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3kYhl3RlpwDzT0Z6_vs44mo3kV0G1tJ57j2is-brDm-X2rzxeC6fhJsSfmDmm7WDaiLBFgkTFKxEB6-W1_VGnU4hyphenhyphenDnVJAriXGLf__eMB4dwQ77Vk9XqBqtDTjGHjRETC5xGDs9SOZJf/s1600/Ribbon+Storage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3kYhl3RlpwDzT0Z6_vs44mo3kV0G1tJ57j2is-brDm-X2rzxeC6fhJsSfmDmm7WDaiLBFgkTFKxEB6-W1_VGnU4hyphenhyphenDnVJAriXGLf__eMB4dwQ77Vk9XqBqtDTjGHjRETC5xGDs9SOZJf/s400/Ribbon+Storage.jpg" width="400" yda="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">I still have more ribbon to store. Some of the holes in the cardboard ribbon holder are too small to fit over the smallest tension rod. This is still leaves me with the annoyance of eventually having to remove spools of ribbon from the rod in order to discard empty ones. Oh well, I can't have it all I guess! </div><br />
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</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Do you have a great way to store </span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">ribbon you can share with me?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-46280626601112076482012-03-05T08:58:00.001-08:002012-03-05T08:59:17.434-08:00Asian Inspired No Recipe SaladGot five minutes? That's all this bit of deliciousness will take you to whip up. I love salad, I think it may be my favorite food. As in, if I were stuck on a deserted island, it may just be my food of choice. It's so versatile. My current salad kick was born out of a desire to make a salad that I didn't feel needed tomatoes. The tomatoes here are horrid right now. At the beginning of each week I chop, then wash a bunch of romaine hearts. I spin them dry and store them in a ziploc. Then, at lunch during the week it only takes a few minutes to throw a salad together. I have actually declined lunch invitations to eat salad at home. Not to toot my own horn or anything, well okay, just this once...I have been told I make the best salads by quite a few people.<br />
<br />
Here it is.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Five Minute Asian Inspired No Recipe Salad</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQse8DJZ9G2maWAM0PiezOS-0x2DNxWrvCopJPQZRR5CJyi21A2ng3ifSicw_djpPiEPiafMD1qBRbXWMQC-Ve1qxFQ9IEi9b-RpqGcCb_MRqcI5KnDoWEIZUFLKKXJYq1FJs-D1ppayA/s1600/Asian+Inspired+Salad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQse8DJZ9G2maWAM0PiezOS-0x2DNxWrvCopJPQZRR5CJyi21A2ng3ifSicw_djpPiEPiafMD1qBRbXWMQC-Ve1qxFQ9IEi9b-RpqGcCb_MRqcI5KnDoWEIZUFLKKXJYq1FJs-D1ppayA/s400/Asian+Inspired+Salad.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stuff you will need:</div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A bowl. The size will depend on how much salad you want to eat.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chopped Romaine. The first important part to a good salad is healthy lettuce cut into bite sized pieces. BITE SIZED. Think about that.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some chopped, not peeled, English cucumbers.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One or two chopped scallions. White and green parts.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some shredded carrot.</div></li>
<li><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some toasted, sliced almonds and sesame seeds. Just toast them in a pan on your stove. Takes 3 minutes!</div></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YrZGacGbhy0yGqyCCDBlPv8L9z8goGBiW65OW2iUNJs_xoooL3phKH8keg6QInnGWCwcKSIqLw-H0W_UPQz38iJyWPA7kJPm9aYmyAE9a9k6ZlREiiIprUP2unVE1FZt1XTuDCBS7jgx/s1600/Nuts+and+Seeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YrZGacGbhy0yGqyCCDBlPv8L9z8goGBiW65OW2iUNJs_xoooL3phKH8keg6QInnGWCwcKSIqLw-H0W_UPQz38iJyWPA7kJPm9aYmyAE9a9k6ZlREiiIprUP2unVE1FZt1XTuDCBS7jgx/s400/Nuts+and+Seeds.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;">Raw Toasted </span><br />
You need to have smellervision because these toasted nuts smell AMAZING! Finally put all your ingredients into the bowl and toss the salad with your favorite Asian dressing. I used Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame. It is not the healthiest, but it is really good. Besides, I don't have a good homemade Asian dressing recipe and I'm too lazy to make my own for lunch.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-49157764567435579392012-03-04T09:50:00.001-08:002012-03-04T11:25:21.495-08:00PopoversPop on over to your neighbor's house with these <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popover" target="_blank">Popovers or Yorkshire Pudding</a> known by some. Doing something nice for someone without any particular reason will not only make them feel special, it will make you feel good too. While I used a <a href="http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/nonstick-popover-pan/" target="_blank">Popover Pan</a> to make these, you could also make them in a large 6 cup muffin tin. I adapted this recipe slightly from Williams-Sonoma. I only changed the way I baked them. So I will give you the original recipe and my changes.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7H1nhj9n1b5F9CQsxAD0MdYMBRndd5VY9IFzHpczf72xGpQuUPWCRO1qR-_e2rbOX1FjnkAD5io-m3SW1eFbq3WHBD2X4Ohm4VLRBEMhx7tqsovJvr0Ps6sDuWuNlaMr31cvgsbZFQqRE/s1600/109popover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7H1nhj9n1b5F9CQsxAD0MdYMBRndd5VY9IFzHpczf72xGpQuUPWCRO1qR-_e2rbOX1FjnkAD5io-m3SW1eFbq3WHBD2X4Ohm4VLRBEMhx7tqsovJvr0Ps6sDuWuNlaMr31cvgsbZFQqRE/s400/109popover.jpg" uda="true" width="265" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqBcGcL8_N9xEhjP5jf2WCtAV-JsMHzXCttnUMvww6zigszKisuHXjfVLdmdz45Um5Bh0DLE9HD8adrfjOCivrrw23ak2ttMgyOr4EgLO6CuRzqwjq9wtut3W4njIkKmLCGPM-JpgeLMxi/s1600/101popover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqBcGcL8_N9xEhjP5jf2WCtAV-JsMHzXCttnUMvww6zigszKisuHXjfVLdmdz45Um5Bh0DLE9HD8adrfjOCivrrw23ak2ttMgyOr4EgLO6CuRzqwjq9wtut3W4njIkKmLCGPM-JpgeLMxi/s400/101popover.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUijriq-uC0BUinIoFNw3qwH9t6yEBqlVtNWOg5Ypw3E7Bk01YSSWa0JdnwuofUlqSO17GyJieb6GTCLKA0IsJTZ4oGND-BMI6Kw0RJycZNBXVpUebHfhNZrLhIbzOtZoObqWJbIaiKHr/s1600/100popovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUijriq-uC0BUinIoFNw3qwH9t6yEBqlVtNWOg5Ypw3E7Bk01YSSWa0JdnwuofUlqSO17GyJieb6GTCLKA0IsJTZ4oGND-BMI6Kw0RJycZNBXVpUebHfhNZrLhIbzOtZoObqWJbIaiKHr/s400/100popovers.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V4i1fDwZBaJDPfurNbwXHcs98oTtZK1ViDJtWFPMyLkIQy-vIo1h6Xyyuu16uB4sy8TbrZOIQXraWf2OWxXaz8iXyOzgHxQb5IVcb2jViPIHnZ6mX_J7FA3CGMdylPHh1WmkLHeFUthb/s1600/117jam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V4i1fDwZBaJDPfurNbwXHcs98oTtZK1ViDJtWFPMyLkIQy-vIo1h6Xyyuu16uB4sy8TbrZOIQXraWf2OWxXaz8iXyOzgHxQb5IVcb2jViPIHnZ6mX_J7FA3CGMdylPHh1WmkLHeFUthb/s400/117jam.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_YWfci5ssU2gCz5B9ooraTvGT_faHVGOmXDz4GtsACNp-MaEeyqSagrlU2wO8wcfKw_x-OmiTm3ERSEZDS5teL3Z5MnPDUDkQyHc7ERr5fujVOLk9FZCk3F6gv9ibHDjxzcbbrfactCm/s1600/127neighbor+gift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_YWfci5ssU2gCz5B9ooraTvGT_faHVGOmXDz4GtsACNp-MaEeyqSagrlU2wO8wcfKw_x-OmiTm3ERSEZDS5teL3Z5MnPDUDkQyHc7ERr5fujVOLk9FZCk3F6gv9ibHDjxzcbbrfactCm/s400/127neighbor+gift.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Popovers</span><br />
From: Williams-Sonoma<br />
Makes 12 Popovers<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ingredients:</span><br />
4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted<br />
6 eggs, lightly beaten<br />
2 cups milk<br />
2 cups all-purpose flour<br />
1 tsp. salt<br />
Butter and Jam for serving (optional) <a href="http://www.harryanddavid.com/gifts/store/item_____meat-pantry-entertaining-gifts_24003?sliSearch=Blackberry%20Preserves" target="_blank">Harry and David Blackberry Preserves</a><br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray cups of a 6-cup popover pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour 1/2 tsp. of the melted butter into each cup. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and milk, then whisk in the remaining 2 TBS. of butter. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt, then whisk into egg mixture. Whisk vigorously until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide batter among prepared cups and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove from oven and invert the pan onto a wire rack. Let the pan cool, then spray with nonstick cooking spray, pour 1/2 teaspoon of the melted butter into each cup and bake the remaining batter. Serve immediately with butter and jam.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My notes:</span><br />
First, I always half the recipe and only make 6 popovers. I allow the melted butter to cool slightly so that it doesn't curdle the eggs. I DO NOT pre-heat the oven. I put my pan filled with the batter into a cold oven. Then, I turn it on to 450 degrees and allow them to bake for about 15-20 minutes, watch them. Finally, reduce the heat to 325 and bake them for another 10-15 minutes, until they are the desired color. I have served these at dinner with butter and for breakfast with jam.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-17182181679538509062012-02-28T07:45:00.000-08:002012-02-28T07:45:20.203-08:00Hollywood Slumber Party **Part 1** Planning and ResourcesHey everyone, thanks for your comments and suggestions for the party. With a little over two weeks to continue planning Chloe and I have become super excited. We have been working together on all the details. We were able to get the invitations out last Friday, have picked a color scheme, started making decorations, planned the food, and shopped for dresses. Here is a rundown of what we have done so far. I'm including links for some fabulously free resources we have used.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Invitations: </span><br />
We made VIP tickets at <a href="http://www.printwithmypic.com/">http://www.printwithmypic.com/</a> with Chloe's picture on them. I also included a letter to the parents detailing the event. You can leave me a comment if you would like a copy of the letter to use. Unfortunately, the photos I took of the ticket and invitation have been accidentally deleted. Chloe helped word the ticket, and picked the picture we would use. She happened to be wearing her Dad's aviator glasses so she looked pretty famous to me. She wrote each girls name in a very artistic way on a regular envelope and we attached a big glittery sticker of the initial of the recipients name to seal the envelope. They were so cute, I'm so bummed I lost the pics! <a href="http://www.printwithmypic.com/announcements/ticketinvitations.php" target="_blank">Go here to make your <span style="background-color: yellow;">free</span> tickets</a>, then print them on cardstock. We used the filmstrip ticket template. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Magazine Covers</span>:<br />
We also designed some <a href="http://www.printwithmypic.com/pictureframes/magazines.php" target="_blank">magazine covers</a> also at <a href="http://www.printwithmypic.com/">http://www.printwithmypic.com/</a>. We will probably frame some and use them as decorations. With one, we will glue it to an actual celebrity magazine. Inside the magazine we will replace some of the faces with Chloe's face. When you go to make your magazine you will see there are only three templates. You can change everything about them from the layout, colors, and wording. We made one called Celebrity Magazine and one called Person magazine instead of People Magazine. On the covers we wrote things like "Chloe celebrates her 10th birthday in style", "Chloe-Spotted in L.A.", Chloe and Seacrest (her celeb crush)- Couple of the Year!", and "Chloe-Actress of the Year." That last one is actually kind of true, at least in our house!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Colors: </span><br />
Gold, Black, and Silver<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Photo Shoot:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>On Saturday Chloe and I went shopping to Marshalls and found the perfect dresses. She got a white and silver one with silver 1/2 inch heeled shoes for walking the red carpet. We also scored a gold sequins dress on clearance for $5 that we decided to get to do a mini photoshoot of her. We figured a girl could borrow it too if she didn't wear a dress to the event. She wore the gold dress and we did her hair and applied a bit of make-up for the photoshoot. These photos are being used for the movie poster and posterboards. This is an example of how we might use one of the photos. We used <a href="http://www.picnik.com/" target="_blank">Picnik</a> to edit, but Picnik is closing soon, so you may have to use other photo editing software.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqFvW0LUb-RBpDdptqrgF6yhMyBWolTS8m-RP6LXwgJhuudZiyy5OkSiQ9VkVLOA-S8knHTSnnmhJmVFwEMQiGke4NWAUcUUzUkdCC0cCTG6yHlQi_A2HxKKeBoIGqI-h7hTNOrBFV_IG/s1600/012+for+blog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqFvW0LUb-RBpDdptqrgF6yhMyBWolTS8m-RP6LXwgJhuudZiyy5OkSiQ9VkVLOA-S8knHTSnnmhJmVFwEMQiGke4NWAUcUUzUkdCC0cCTG6yHlQi_A2HxKKeBoIGqI-h7hTNOrBFV_IG/s320/012+for+blog2.jpg" uda="true" width="212" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">For the purposes of blog posting I have fudged the movie name a bit. I don't want to violate any trademark laws! For the party it will have the actual movie title. And of course I blurred out her face for blog posting as well. I don't need her picture showing up all over Pinterest, now do I?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Now that we have cleared that up, we are also enlarging the three of the photos on posterboards at Costco. They do this and have them ready for pickup at most Costco's the next day. The cost for a 16x20 posterboard was $14.99. It comes with a white border. I figured this was cheaper than framing enlargements. We will hang all three posterboards over the food table.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Movie Posters:</span><br />
At <a href="http://www.bighugelabs.com/">http://www.bighugelabs.com/</a> you can easily design your own free <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php" target="_blank">movie poster</a>. We designed our free poster and saved it to the computer. I had it printed as a regular 16x20 enlargement at Costco for $5.99.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Phone Apps:</span><br />
I have found quite a few free photo apps on the iphone and Droid where you can insert a photo with a famous movie star, or on a billboard, etc.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Hollywood Star Generator:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.redkid.net/generator/star/" target="_blank">Here,</a> you can add any name to a Hollywood Star. You can then save the photo and use it however you wish.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Decorations:</span><br />
Party City did have some decorations, including two sizes of red carpet. I found that Amazon had a different selection than what I found in stores. But most didn't qualify for Amazon Prime. <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/13933080067083940/" target="_blank">I plan on plastic table cloths to decorate the ceiling like I saw here. </a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Food:</span><br />
We are still debating the food, as I'm not sure if I will have any assistants on the day of the party. So I will either order pizza, or do mini corn dogs and slider. I will also do veggie sticks in cute individual cups with ranch. Presentation is everything here and I really want the girls to feel they can play the part. I will buy plastic flutes for sparkling cider and spa water.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cupcakes:</span><br />
I found a beautiful gold and crystal teardrop Opulent Treasures cupcake stand at Marshall's. I will do red velvet cupcakes with white frosting, gold sprinkles and a gold candy star with each girls name written on it in black edible ink. I will use white candy for the molds and paint them gold as I did with <a href="http://liliannagrace.blogspot.com/2011/05/seashell-cupcakes-candy-mold-tutorial.html" target="_blank">my seashell cupcakes.</a> You can find the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/CK-Products-4-Inch-Flat-Chocolate/dp/B003QP3DF0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330441081&sr=8-1" target="_blank">candy mold at Amazon</a>. It has to be the flat star mold if you plan on writing on them.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pinterest:</span><br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/lavenderclouds/hollywood-slumber-party/" target="_blank">My Hollywood Slumber Party Board with all of these resources.</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7SdAsK_8IIAmrJiojo9QMF9na9Z5utIhIdYKb_860GuF9QWpnMwqk12a2j0rJEkQTmXpfx9bJyKExX-GCLc3MYstD-4xvlx2UmWDyAOrynKz_27mpmwq-XS1ecYBsCTMvI0SW7qR_bwv/s1600/Pinterest+Screen+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7SdAsK_8IIAmrJiojo9QMF9na9Z5utIhIdYKb_860GuF9QWpnMwqk12a2j0rJEkQTmXpfx9bJyKExX-GCLc3MYstD-4xvlx2UmWDyAOrynKz_27mpmwq-XS1ecYBsCTMvI0SW7qR_bwv/s400/Pinterest+Screen+Shot.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I can't wait to share all the pictures with you! </div><div style="text-align: center;">I hope it's a day Chloe never forgets!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-60531799425895877832012-02-23T05:56:00.000-08:002012-02-23T05:56:45.237-08:00Chloe's Birthday.....Help!You all know how I hate birthday parties, right? Well Chloe is turning the big 1-0 in March. This is not one I can easily dust under the rug. She is expecting a lot. Most of all she wants a party! I hate throwing birthday parties. I suggested the idea of having a slumber party and she was all over it. She hasn't had a sleepover since we moved here. At first I told her she could invite 5 girls, but then we decided to invite ALL the girls in her class. Don't worry, there are only eight other girls in her class and I figure, they probably won't all be able to come. She has 17 boys in her class. I honestly don't know what her school was thinking making a class that is so unbalanced. But I digress. I'm sending my boys away for the night of her party so it will be girls only. Last night she picked a theme...Hollywood! Now that we have a plan and I have time enough to execute it, I'm actually pretty excited and want to make it really special for her. I spent some time browsing ideas last night. I found great ideas for activities, but I really wanted to stay away from the cheesy decorations that are available for purchase at the big party stores. Also, most of the 'Hollywood' themed parties, really were decorated more like a 'Movies' themed party. I want to stay away from that as well.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Any thoughts or links would be helpful. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'll keep you updated as well...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-43352901477202477542012-02-22T12:03:00.000-08:002012-02-22T12:03:28.940-08:00Out of The Box School Lunch IdeasEnough with artsy bento boxes already. Let's be real! We are currently a little more than half way through the school year. Frustration hasn't set in quite yet, but when May rolls around I know I'll be at my wits end trying to figure out what to pack in the kids lunches. So, I'll make a list here and refer back to it later. <br />
<br />
Let me tell you a few things about Chloe and Nash. They are really picky when it comes to lunch. Not breakfast or dinner, just lunch. They both refuse to eat the school lunches in the cafeteria and I don't blame them. Neither one likes the same thing for more than a few days in a row. For the most part, Nash doesn't like what Chloe eats and Chloe doesn't like what Nash eats. Furthermore, Chloe takes a reusable lunch box that I can fill with a thermos or Tupperware container and utensils. She always brings them home, never lost and never late. Nash on the other hand, takes his lunch to school in a paper bag and has a poor track record for bringing home reusable items. If Chloe doesn't eat something it remains in her lunch box, where I can see it when she gets home. While Nash throws everything away, I ask everyday how his lunch was and he is more than happy to share what he liked and what he didn't like with me. I would rather know that he didn't like something and try and accommodate him next time rather than have him throw it away like I used to do. What a terrible waste. Not to mention they get home two hours before dinner and are starving. That is its own dilemma.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Tips:</span><br />
I have a small chalk board in the kitchen where I jot down what I am thinking of making for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner the following day or days. I do this for myself, because often times, I will think of the perfect lunch for them and when I wake up not so bright-eyed, I can't remember what I was going to make. This little step saves me time in the morning and makes for a more balanced lunch.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjwVtC_ePrZHZZqc4qkz3Y0J2oEM3uNDly_egDTbZmd2MeEMeQDmxPVhss0SF8lo0N0ATGNEjXWwIAwsWUltnJ2g1Kvu4BJkfDS8SjqIkRTbq1gbnE1h5g7C4Q2FF12jWMMPBuETc3GAt/s1600/IMAG0732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjwVtC_ePrZHZZqc4qkz3Y0J2oEM3uNDly_egDTbZmd2MeEMeQDmxPVhss0SF8lo0N0ATGNEjXWwIAwsWUltnJ2g1Kvu4BJkfDS8SjqIkRTbq1gbnE1h5g7C4Q2FF12jWMMPBuETc3GAt/s320/IMAG0732.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I always do my shopping on Sunday or Monday. I like to buy fruit from Costco, it's one stop for the whole week. I wash it, slice it, and store it in the fridge so it's ready to go in the mornings.<br />
<br />
I searched Pinterest this morning for some new lunch ideas. I typed in "Kids lunch ideas". Mostly what came up were tons of impractical artsy bento boxes. First of all, food cut into a star shape is not going to persuade my 9 year old or high-schooler to eat it. I didn't find any of these lunches to be practical. I'm not an artist and I'm not going to wake up 30 minutes earlier to color coordinate their fruit and turn their sandwiches into funny faces! I already make a hot breakfast and two completely separate lunches. I usually have 4 dirty pans in the sink by the time we leave for school! You will get a few different ideas by searching "school lunch ideas" instead.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our Unbento Lunchbox</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62w3K6Caza9ajEIggqTt1dKi_oJXEatn1oz6bQxwT1p-FKvhDuZsSZAIrNalIrbAd2Nj8HB8PQd5HomIhyu8y5MdaTe847w6ZKnNIFBlCjoCtA4bCNwOhuTqa_AuVfha8Tl6agEg7PU21/s1600/IMAG0734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62w3K6Caza9ajEIggqTt1dKi_oJXEatn1oz6bQxwT1p-FKvhDuZsSZAIrNalIrbAd2Nj8HB8PQd5HomIhyu8y5MdaTe847w6ZKnNIFBlCjoCtA4bCNwOhuTqa_AuVfha8Tl6agEg7PU21/s320/IMAG0734.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today Chloe had soup and crackers with an apple. She eats the Gripz cookies at snack. I can't give her much more than that because they really don't have all that much time to eat. She is a pretty slow eater to begin with. If I give Chloe pasta for lunch and fruit, I always put the pasta in a one-cup container, and the fruit in a one and a half or two-cup container.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
I'm going to attempt to separate this list into three parts. One for Chloe, one for Nash, and one for both. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Chloe's Lunches</span></div>Soup<br />
Teriyaki chicken and rice (in thermos) this is her favorite<br />
Tortellini<br />
Plain pasta w/evoo<br />
Nutella sandwich (occasionally)<br />
Carrots<br />
Apple (sometimes sliced with a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar because it masks the browning)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Nash's Lunches</span><br />
Grilled cheese<br />
PB with no J<br />
Quesadilla<br />
Wraps<br />
Peanut butter and cracker sandwiches<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Both</span><br />
Salad with croutons and chopped meat (<a href="http://www.glad.com/products/food-storage/containers/glad-to-go-snack/" target="_blank">Glad salad containers with snap in dressing cups</a>. At Target.)<br />
Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches<br />
Cream cheese on a bagel (on <a href="http://thomasbread.com/Our-Products/Bagels/Bagel-Thins/Thomas-Everything-Bagel-Thins-Bagels/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Bagel Thins</a>)<br />
Turkey, salami, or roast beef sandwich<br />
Strawberries, hulled<br />
Pineapple chunks<br />
Melon chunks<br />
Kiwi quarters<br />
Orange wedges<br />
Shelled edamame<br />
<br />
They both get water everyday and one pantry item each day. A pantry item is anything that comes in a bag, ,box or wrapper, IE: granola bar, pretzels, etc. I use the small snack bags to maintain proper portions. Chloe gets an organic chocolate milk two times per week.<br />
<br />
Here are some ideas I got from the web:<br />
Milk in a thermos with a side of cereal<br />
Hot dog in boiling water in a thermos with a bun and condiments on the side.<br />
Waffle sandwich? Hmmm, I'll have to think about this one.<br />
Muffins<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I know my lists aren't very long. I would love your ideas! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">What do you pack in your kid's lunches?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-42760026319250346632012-02-20T13:00:00.000-08:002012-02-20T13:00:13.969-08:00Sneak Attack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0thoQ6sRziNETyunQ-xstgMG4xdeWxl2PnfHv-yAeFzW2AeIEosjbtslFM3d79gQVjch680fe3Bzux66Tat-ZuhDQX07vlvj6hxCsmDwBKHlwRtXi3XG9-z8PCpbCsEiqX6_nP7B17ck/s1600/IMAG0728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0thoQ6sRziNETyunQ-xstgMG4xdeWxl2PnfHv-yAeFzW2AeIEosjbtslFM3d79gQVjch680fe3Bzux66Tat-ZuhDQX07vlvj6hxCsmDwBKHlwRtXi3XG9-z8PCpbCsEiqX6_nP7B17ck/s400/IMAG0728.jpg" width="237" yda="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I get an evil type of joy from sneaking healthy food into my children's growning bodies. I've posted about sneaking spinach into smoothies before, but I couldn't help sharing again. Today I even snuck in some tofu! There is no recipe here. I'll just tell you what I put in this monster. It was based soley on what I had on hand. One banana, some frozen peaches, frozen blueberries, roughly a quarter of the package of tofu (the softest kind), a handful of spinach, and a tablespoon of ground flax. I used apple juice to thin it, until it was the consistency I liked. You could use milk too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> I forgot to snap a photo of it blended, it was just so darn good we drank it all up before I thought of it. I will apologize for the above photo however. I am just way too lazy to break out the nice camera these days. It's so much easier to snap it on my phone and email it to myself. And I won't apologize for apologizing for my photo! I once read a blog post where the poster advised bloggers not to apologize to their readers. Perhaps she thought it brought unnecessary attention to the bloggers guilt. Well guess what? I'm posting this crappy picture, which does this post no justice whatsoever, and I'm gonna apologize for it! So there!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">P.S. I'm sorry for my spelling and grammer errors too. I can bake a decent cake, but I never claimed to be a good speller, dam it!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-63712542181915789072012-02-08T13:54:00.000-08:002012-02-08T13:54:01.465-08:00Strawberry Brownie To-Go Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqQLjE5csJqbXEax3rG5y_OCX0iqyv8wBoGAtuZyICsUla8hw0P1Qbo2QpN_YkPbtUMU3JQX8qJOPxXBU4_wegAHhLJnrraZZurgMNRb5fjkD5kjuSmQP8tbNcqYzLQLLMwFu3SRjgQi0/s1600/089Cupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqQLjE5csJqbXEax3rG5y_OCX0iqyv8wBoGAtuZyICsUla8hw0P1Qbo2QpN_YkPbtUMU3JQX8qJOPxXBU4_wegAHhLJnrraZZurgMNRb5fjkD5kjuSmQP8tbNcqYzLQLLMwFu3SRjgQi0/s400/089Cupcakes.jpg" width="332" /></a></div>Yes, you guessed it, I saw these on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/13933080066907560/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> and had to try them. I thought I should post them before Valentine's Day. They were the best cupcakes ever (in my opinion)! They are <a href="http://iheart2stamp.com/2010/06/" target="_blank">brownie and strawberry cupcakes with vanilla icing</a>. I preferred them sans the icing, but I'm not a huge icing fan. They were appealing because they are so cute, but also because I was able to make them milk-free. I made these for my mother-in-laws birthday. We were all meeting up at a restaurant so baking them in ice cream cups was a perfect solution to traveling with them. My ice cream cups came with lids and little wrapped wooden spoons. I was really happy with how they turned out and they got rave reviews. Everyone loved the idea of the cup, it was great because there was no mess while eating it! Monk would have been so proud.<br />
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This recipe was originally found on <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brownie-Batter--Cupcake--The-SECOND-BEST-Cupcake-Ever/Detail.aspx" target="_blank">All Recipes</a> (one of my favorite recipe sites). Reviewers complained of two things. First, that the brownie stuck to paper wrappers. Someone suggested adding a little cake batter in before adding the brownie batter. I tried this on the paper wrappers and it worked fine. For the ice cream cups, I just sprayed them with a bit of Pam and added the brownie batter first. Second, people complained that the brownie didn't cook as fast as the cake and ended up gooey. I simply added the brownie batter to the cups and baked them for about 5 minutes. I then removed them, added the cake batter and cooked them until the cake was finished. You can do less than 5 minutes depending on how fudgy you like the brownies, but not more. Problem solved!<br />
<br />
I used Pillsbury Strawberry Cake, Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Chip Brownie Mix, and Pillsbury canned Vanilla Frosting. I chose these because they are all made without milk, however they do have a warning that they may be processed on equipment shared with items that contain milk.<br />
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<div align="center"><span style="font-size: large;">Baked in the paper wrapper:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1HHO9g8N5kE1m_yCSKY8W0i21tZN_hlgkVIkI2576f-2oWPjKNVl4qrqf_JnL31mnDdhlb18QraHcYS2xrfsVYQ8tHbofVg3VpsgVxYXXwYL_dN05oVfXYoq4PS1B9QWDoPET2-aIJJe/s1600/095cuppyinwrapper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1HHO9g8N5kE1m_yCSKY8W0i21tZN_hlgkVIkI2576f-2oWPjKNVl4qrqf_JnL31mnDdhlb18QraHcYS2xrfsVYQ8tHbofVg3VpsgVxYXXwYL_dN05oVfXYoq4PS1B9QWDoPET2-aIJJe/s400/095cuppyinwrapper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeaMa4IRbCu0xrS9ZNZZlJ3z9uS7R_rTWtxpacGRYR6ePzJYscbnZ0EK94yQzuPrza8l3R8yIfjIFfAlxth3PPMMOSMu-Cq-Pg93e408CQGsmX241BGDmD57H-dt_abJtbkgouywPGdH1/s1600/cuppy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeaMa4IRbCu0xrS9ZNZZlJ3z9uS7R_rTWtxpacGRYR6ePzJYscbnZ0EK94yQzuPrza8l3R8yIfjIFfAlxth3PPMMOSMu-Cq-Pg93e408CQGsmX241BGDmD57H-dt_abJtbkgouywPGdH1/s400/cuppy1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuvuxwn4-SuB9nhjHH7aC1sTvHP-ZcXKzuj_eLgbffot7iPpzfJjLAlPB2qR3liVi_4aBRCmKD_5p3ekBPDAkvZkgD6voaQeVtXKxsrkOWndT2S23Q0KTkvf5vXexbEGgtS1Cr1pF4Xe0/s1600/109cuppymiddle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuvuxwn4-SuB9nhjHH7aC1sTvHP-ZcXKzuj_eLgbffot7iPpzfJjLAlPB2qR3liVi_4aBRCmKD_5p3ekBPDAkvZkgD6voaQeVtXKxsrkOWndT2S23Q0KTkvf5vXexbEGgtS1Cr1pF4Xe0/s400/109cuppymiddle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These are baked in ice cream cups and wrapped up for traveling. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Only the birthday girl had this special writing that was made from Wilton Candy Chips.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggH751ruDu_LGww6bojQyR9dDwbewBJAaBbtVYiG6YAXamR18oief9q8s0kN-9yRMyHoVKq_F4ubUBKhW1YUvdvrprbFLz2MYOTmboVe_HxGrbYP_YyOmfaXyUkClhiuEeaqzPKgjnkE_W/s1600/093hapbirmimi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggH751ruDu_LGww6bojQyR9dDwbewBJAaBbtVYiG6YAXamR18oief9q8s0kN-9yRMyHoVKq_F4ubUBKhW1YUvdvrprbFLz2MYOTmboVe_HxGrbYP_YyOmfaXyUkClhiuEeaqzPKgjnkE_W/s400/093hapbirmimi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHN8ZzxSol4rBhAHrGXxPrggv8dj9gtaDRZR70ywcCMOrTzJLundhHM8ObhSDricMoPqdkvHwUYs1OlQi6YFN4mnJiwdo6ucBbOdimREftc0OQhbYdj3Uylzsrzr7DgQxjiHkq3CqBPN25/s1600/120wrappedcuppys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHN8ZzxSol4rBhAHrGXxPrggv8dj9gtaDRZR70ywcCMOrTzJLundhHM8ObhSDricMoPqdkvHwUYs1OlQi6YFN4mnJiwdo6ucBbOdimREftc0OQhbYdj3Uylzsrzr7DgQxjiHkq3CqBPN25/s400/120wrappedcuppys.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrvkDW-Kx2ij85yQWBy35iQmW-e_hGI1fVfT2ZmbvVK7SF6dU3iBlTuG2-UHTM0Gm7Yx-Ud3rIllBVQNVs6KzycN0LNAJXMxW_ryt3T4syJFw1NeJqXza8WzrkpXnSEFIA57xF1UIjHnx/s1600/117packaged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrvkDW-Kx2ij85yQWBy35iQmW-e_hGI1fVfT2ZmbvVK7SF6dU3iBlTuG2-UHTM0Gm7Yx-Ud3rIllBVQNVs6KzycN0LNAJXMxW_ryt3T4syJFw1NeJqXza8WzrkpXnSEFIA57xF1UIjHnx/s400/117packaged.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-1346490015895461822012-02-07T12:12:00.000-08:002012-02-07T12:17:39.968-08:00Salad Formula and Berry Berry Spinach Salad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjaSU72G1Ye1ocpSC2QnxIVSRDKmk7G6ZSm6ZJiG98wYlLIC_3CGDewDZi69dUF2kJl-aYT0XFOoMFpdvfTW4zfaaSTqOKsRXiIogJ5pdky0kp2ywaibpoC2-KI4SkpGrjdDJuyeOt3um/s1600/IMAG0720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjaSU72G1Ye1ocpSC2QnxIVSRDKmk7G6ZSm6ZJiG98wYlLIC_3CGDewDZi69dUF2kJl-aYT0XFOoMFpdvfTW4zfaaSTqOKsRXiIogJ5pdky0kp2ywaibpoC2-KI4SkpGrjdDJuyeOt3um/s400/IMAG0720.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>After all the football feasting we did on Superbowl Sunday, my body was in dire need of a seriously good salad. I LOVE salad. I usually will always choose a salad if I'm out to lunch and it's not even because I'm watching my weight or anything like that. I genuinely just love them. I try to serve one everynight for dinner. That was instilled to me by my aunts who both make great salads. Sometimes I get in a salad rut and only make the same one or two I have in my repertoire. Last night, I threw this together based on what I had leftover from Sundays feast. Now there are quite a few variations you could do here based on your personal preferences. For me, I have more of a formula that goes into my salad than a recipe usually. I will give you the ingredients and some variations. Also I don't really measure my ingredients for the dressing, so if you have one you use, go for it.<br />
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<div align="center">Before I added the almonds:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_sXAhj2dLnxhB6zCL0UYg6R7qZqEPsiOSqOVR8fZA341towS_mIjIZIVh_ariiP42UWZwJXzXQlvy41US1Xt16ujIon5yrKBX-Au975LvESVpmwbhrIcF7BEB6i3SoMvC_PTWGL3YYf3/s1600/IMAG0717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_sXAhj2dLnxhB6zCL0UYg6R7qZqEPsiOSqOVR8fZA341towS_mIjIZIVh_ariiP42UWZwJXzXQlvy41US1Xt16ujIon5yrKBX-Au975LvESVpmwbhrIcF7BEB6i3SoMvC_PTWGL3YYf3/s400/IMAG0717.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ingredients:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bowl of rinsed greens</span>- I used mostly spinach, which I tore into bite size pieces, some iceberg lettuce, yuck I know, but it's what I had, and I needed to add a crunchy green. Romaine would have been nice. I also added a few leaves of basil that were rolled and sliced into slivers. Arugula would be a nice addition instead of the basil. It adds a nice peppery flavor that would pair nicely with the berries.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Berries</span>- Here I used raspberries, blueberries, and quartered strawberries. If you don't have fresh fruit add dried. Dried cherries and golden raisins are my two favorites in my normal romaine salad.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cheese:</span> I usually use reduced fat Feta made by Athenos or the one sold at Costco. I like those two brands because I prefer my Feta on the dry side. The Costco brand is not reduced fat. On this salad you could probably do a goat cheese as an alternative to Feta.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nuts:</span> Sliced almonds are my all time favorite! I use them almost exclusively, toasted of course is my preference. In this berry salad walnuts or pecans would be fab. Candied, toasted, or raw, you decide.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: large;">Dressing:</span> This is a recipe I found with the same ingredients I used for my balsamic honey mustard dressing.<br />
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar<br />
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard<br />
1 teaspoon honey<br />
3 Tablespoons EVOO (olive oil)<br />
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However, I didn't follow this recipe. I always start with 1/4 to a 1/3 cup of olive oil in a glass measuring cup. Then I just add the rest by eye and taste it. I honestly probably did at least a tablespoon of honey and maybe a bit more of the vinegar and mustard. I just use a small whisk and mix it until it's nice and thick. Mine was about the color of Hershey's chocolate syrup when I was finished. Other good options for this salad would be a poppyseed dressing or raspberry vinaigrette.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Notes:</span> For our usual salad, I use baby tomatoes, halved, and English cucumbers. Do not peel or de-seed the English cucumber, just rinse and chop. I omit fresh berries and use dried. I always chop the lettuce in small pieces. They are manageable and truly bite-size. I always use Romaine hearts, chop off the end, slice it 4 or 5 times lengthwise, then horizontal in about 1 inch segments. Then I put it in the cheapest salad spinner I can buy. The self draining kind. I also usually sub Worcestershire sauce for the balsamic vinegar in the dressing. Lastly, I always buy my produce from Costco. It is much cheaper and a much higher quality than that of our local grocery store. Plus there are no produce stands open here this time of year in these parts! Serve this baby with some grilled chicken and you have a meal!<br />
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<script type="text/javascript" src="http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-60927882605723081622012-02-04T10:53:00.000-08:002012-02-04T10:53:47.218-08:00The Importance Of A Good Thank You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVJnpMt1y_boYNBThXqUxy4VN4sxG8ur13XnwKpzEN0IKXWnvsHHWiRCQzSvCQrSv58I6Ap2Dq1Ps4I4A8a1mrs4Xn4aKcun_IqBM3TljclXUz7GEZLuhKE2uRRpdyyhjxNVO5vsLl0M2/s1600/thank-you-embellishment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVJnpMt1y_boYNBThXqUxy4VN4sxG8ur13XnwKpzEN0IKXWnvsHHWiRCQzSvCQrSv58I6Ap2Dq1Ps4I4A8a1mrs4Xn4aKcun_IqBM3TljclXUz7GEZLuhKE2uRRpdyyhjxNVO5vsLl0M2/s320/thank-you-embellishment.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Photo source: <a href="http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/digitalstamps/ss/Thank-You-Printable-Embellishment-For-Handmade-Cards.htm" target="_blank">About.com</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For a minute I lost sight of why this blog was originally intended. This is supposed to be a place where my kids can learn from me. Of course, I teach our kids everyday, but I just wanted them to have something more concrete to refer to after I'm gone. That brings us to today's lesson about thank you cards. I am a huge believer in the act of writing thank you cards. And not just after you get married or after a baby shower. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Me and the kids write and send them all the time. I believe a thank you should be written, or sometimes called, to anyone who has gone out of their way to think about you. Of course, I don't think thank you cards need to be sent for Christmas presents. I'm not sure what Emily Post's point of view on that is. I suppose there are some other instances where a thank you card might not be necessary, and you will have to use your own good judgement to decide if and when that is the case.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today's lesson was sparked by a few people<span style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="background-color: white;"> I know who are notorious for not saying thank you</span></span><span style="background-color: white;">. I</span> like to do nice things for people, I like to let them know I'm thinking about them. One day I became a little bitter and resentful that the favor was never either A.) repaid, B.) appreciated or C.) acknowledged. With the exception of the USPS, there is absolutely no excuse for reason C. So I stopped for the most part and for those particular people who I felt were ungrateful. It was no longer bringing me joy, so I just stopped. Problem solved. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think I learned the importance of thank you cards from my in-laws. They send and expect thank you cards for everything. My family, not so much. Some of them do. I just don't think it was something that was heavily ingrained. Maybe it's more of a Southern thing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A thank you card is the best way to show someone you appreciated their thought. If someone goes out of their way, they take the time to make, purchase, or send you something, you should take the time to thank them or at least let them know you got it. Sometimes a phone call, email, or even a text message is enough. I'm sure Miss Post would highly disagree with sending a text, but I'm really reaching for anything here people! Of course I understand, you didn't ask them to do anything nice for you, so why should you be burdened. But that's not the point. Just do the right thing, get off your lazy, "busy", or whatever butt and say thank you, preferably in a handwritten card! And if you can't do that, you just graciously decline their niceness. Got it kids?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So Chloe, Nash, next time your out, pick up a package of blank cards, some stamps, a nice pen and a little basket. Put that on your desk and don't forget the importance of a good thank you card. I love you kids, don't ever forget that. Love, Mom</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-82263060113890711582012-01-31T18:01:00.000-08:002012-01-31T18:01:23.716-08:00Pinterest For Dinner Anyone?Exhausted. All the time. Too tired in fact to go back in for more lab work to see if Anemia is causing my exhaustion. Today I was too tired to go to lunch with the ladies and literally had to force myself out of the house. I figured laughter is the best medicine and those girls are a barrel of laughs. Perhaps it's the stress of my upcoming DMV visit that is taking an emotional and physical toll! I do however, still have enough energy to browse Pinterest for hours at a time. It happens to be a fun time for Chloe and I too. I have to be careful scrolling with her, we have all happened upon an inappropriate pin now and then, haven't we?<br />
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In order to not feel like a complete loser, I occasionally have to actually make something I see on Pinterest. I wanted to share three recipes I made today. I guess that afternoon cup of coffee really kicked in. Instead of doing something productive like laundry or cleaning the bathrooms, I got a wild hair up my...well, whatever. So I spent a good three hours in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. I made Stuffed Peppers, salad, and bread for dinner. I also made breakfast for tomorrow. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Even though the kids eat all the stuffing and leave the pepper this is definitely a keeper. I have made many a Stuffed Pepper recipe in the past and never found 'the one' until now. I'm thinking about doing Unstuffed Peppers next time, casserole style, that way the kids will be forced to eat those peppers when I chop them and hide them in the stuffing! For this recipe, I added an extra 1/4 cup tomato sauce and used ground beef instead of turkey.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/turkey-stuffed-peppers-45-pts.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="303" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQ1isW-Ot4NyLU49BBlHc4NlbElFTn8ma2GSbwoQo4qm12BB3wJAOTrXFouP6Ch8EbBQvAPoI0VO26PjA-FcvrqWQIJUsPUFB2SkfvYHglWA_A8hPmCY4oQgCSnbiK9ArvJEw15LohpuZ/s400/Stuffed+Peppers.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/11/turkey-stuffed-peppers-45-pts.html" target="_blank">Turkey Stuffed Peppers from Skinnytaste.com</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Besides a salad, I served the peppers with this Beer Bread that was a total cinch to whip up. </div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I would definitely make it again especially since it could be adapted for my non-dairy eaters. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYkgp0xdmYMhoQHXGuEx4nR8CxceX1CW_eIdQ6VvvQsh8iMYTYjUDZPeCdMPvZfHu05ZRB-DlizOZ47wQDlebwaEgwIOeS8w8Pmqe5sbTEDfBAcVUtNCIgaNcgPCbcrmFudQqdOi1bWII/s1600/beerbread.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYkgp0xdmYMhoQHXGuEx4nR8CxceX1CW_eIdQ6VvvQsh8iMYTYjUDZPeCdMPvZfHu05ZRB-DlizOZ47wQDlebwaEgwIOeS8w8Pmqe5sbTEDfBAcVUtNCIgaNcgPCbcrmFudQqdOi1bWII/s400/beerbread.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://gimmesomeoven.com/honey-beer-bread/" target="_blank">Honey Beer Bread from Gimmiesomeoven.com</a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">I made several extra cups of rice when making the rice for the peppers so I could make the kids some Arroz con Leche, for the morning. That's what we call it, you probably know it as rice pudding. I typically make a savory version with just butter, salt, and milk. I thought I would treat the kids, so I made a version based off of this. I used almond milk + water, sugar, pure vanilla bean paste, and a dash of cinnamon.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoy2WL6fow3jKqeEhgppUEC4IWhWK_4GIOCzfYBhX73D7A5ZLmB3_XcG2b8lEEqzZo6ozZJIcLAHXwV33saNqBUrzOChdKE0OMiN7YWw-It0awbj5sXxCATEOrmtDteI28SX87JApu6F8/s1600/ricepud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixoy2WL6fow3jKqeEhgppUEC4IWhWK_4GIOCzfYBhX73D7A5ZLmB3_XcG2b8lEEqzZo6ozZJIcLAHXwV33saNqBUrzOChdKE0OMiN7YWw-It0awbj5sXxCATEOrmtDteI28SX87JApu6F8/s400/ricepud.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://luxefinds.com/Redirect.php?targetURL=http%3A%2F%2Fffffood.com%2Fpost%2F31094562%3Freferrer%3DLuxeFinds.com&searchJobId=8861517&ss=Warm+Coconut+Rice+Pudding&sr=2&entityType=BE&entityId=10-6640&title=Vanilla+Coconut+Rice+Pudding&page=&sourceName=FFFFOOD" target="_blank">Vanilla Coconut Rice Pudding by Luxefinds.com</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">What good recipes have you found from Pinterest?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-63237154126089460022012-01-05T15:43:00.000-08:002012-01-05T15:43:21.300-08:00The Guest RoomThe guestroom here has been ready to go for quite a while. Unfortunately we haven't had any takers yet. I've been meaning to write this post for a while. First let me say, I am not a decorator! I'm the opposite. I have no eye for style when it comes to my wardrobe or my home! I try and look presentable and I arrange the house in a way that is comfy and inviting. There are tons of pictures of my family, immediate and extended and that is usually the focus of where I start and end my decorating. For me it's all about the pictures! I didn't really have a plan to decorate the guest room in any special way. Just throw some random stuff in there from around the house, right? Well, when I had visited back home this summer shortly after we moved, I was sharing photos of the house with my family. One of my cousins made a comment that if that ugly comforter was staying on the guest bed, he wasn't coming to visit! It was so much worse that a guy was offended by it!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3tdmMOQ2fANSEtVITBa5YdqWCBG7VbJwP5H0JLLoGv_fS-TUg4476s3-C3dVCRm42ySA7awhMrPjDKr3vNBJuj3SucI_KkE_-RyZ7NSD1zxeBlwhJEcHCTlKr_TWcPEHQooe6oBMnXMm/s1600/080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3tdmMOQ2fANSEtVITBa5YdqWCBG7VbJwP5H0JLLoGv_fS-TUg4476s3-C3dVCRm42ySA7awhMrPjDKr3vNBJuj3SucI_KkE_-RyZ7NSD1zxeBlwhJEcHCTlKr_TWcPEHQooe6oBMnXMm/s400/080.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">BEFORE</div>So I went on a mission. I happened to stumble across a duvet cover on clearance at Target. Score! And that's where my color scheme was born. Plum and Gray. Is it Gray or Grey? What's the difference, I never know? Anyway, while the bedding was taken care of I still needed a bed skirt and that became quite challenging. After a month of trying to find one that matched my colors exactly I went with this natural beige color. I loved the flowy sheer fabric and I decided that the beige would be a nice addition. It helped add to some of that romantic quality I was going for. I found it on Amazon. I think it's called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ER4G68/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details" target="_blank">Voile</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOHqKt-7X5CUBjs4JtWthVYrYOlF5H0Fo3eaBNBwtckbyaWKtVzgM2mB5EXRkPxjMRXIacO_dsv9YBPDi_Ib3oIDTzSbDIQERTO4lDJ7y0Mw_NMQpB7EbBkwYehzUGsQEs3mlVZYAj6-M/s1600/guestroom3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOHqKt-7X5CUBjs4JtWthVYrYOlF5H0Fo3eaBNBwtckbyaWKtVzgM2mB5EXRkPxjMRXIacO_dsv9YBPDi_Ib3oIDTzSbDIQERTO4lDJ7y0Mw_NMQpB7EbBkwYehzUGsQEs3mlVZYAj6-M/s640/guestroom3.jpg" width="424" /></a>AFTER</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I purchased the duvet, throw pillows, sheets, vase, lamp, Do Not Disturb sign, and Cafe painting. Everything else I found around the house.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzesEFZvWfUViPq13FdFQIH308svVUdL1RPwpODsdpGAsJIgNG-xroP49D8fxKomNXD-Qo2PfnooZUZUzN8RXjnzrPEFiw3zsfjhTjqivMN2yewxUtpA8zng4BmclwgwBpFVkUpDTUWgG/s1600/guestroom1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzesEFZvWfUViPq13FdFQIH308svVUdL1RPwpODsdpGAsJIgNG-xroP49D8fxKomNXD-Qo2PfnooZUZUzN8RXjnzrPEFiw3zsfjhTjqivMN2yewxUtpA8zng4BmclwgwBpFVkUpDTUWgG/s640/guestroom1.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJBntwLSQkTdKT3QWrkp8t5N6auLqKV23Ex4ni5UDnrjJtUR7lOWTZccl1H87Fua6ur2WilZu4uF18ThSCz1EY0MSUYms76bSlrCNkwg_DBa9B2JzSJCx_6C4p-7DjmdR-H3iVvM0GgI9/s1600/guestroom2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJBntwLSQkTdKT3QWrkp8t5N6auLqKV23Ex4ni5UDnrjJtUR7lOWTZccl1H87Fua6ur2WilZu4uF18ThSCz1EY0MSUYms76bSlrCNkwg_DBa9B2JzSJCx_6C4p-7DjmdR-H3iVvM0GgI9/s400/guestroom2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjD8LXMwO09qJlIq20XstRRcabOij2CUpzdbmqXtKrrdkYOxkksr5GNpOk5HgE7ln2NDCF_qb5ViLZfbWPRiU7Gbt3ryk6TQ7-jnX7j8-tfL36XzEpor4O3up0HwKMLAzyZkV1M519482B/s1600/cafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjD8LXMwO09qJlIq20XstRRcabOij2CUpzdbmqXtKrrdkYOxkksr5GNpOk5HgE7ln2NDCF_qb5ViLZfbWPRiU7Gbt3ryk6TQ7-jnX7j8-tfL36XzEpor4O3up0HwKMLAzyZkV1M519482B/s640/cafe.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXg0OqmYLLaQJK4CxAuOnnKcvMiHGI45ay3tq19ezd7rS8KUHiaUhu9AGgW5x49p4nFWFosA2JBgsjoK3hUgPrMtJSiyAkiAL5eLF-L7-OXzFJWEXBUlcPBghK3KwXdl5_8Aq8BImZr-1q/s1600/Do+not+disturb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXg0OqmYLLaQJK4CxAuOnnKcvMiHGI45ay3tq19ezd7rS8KUHiaUhu9AGgW5x49p4nFWFosA2JBgsjoK3hUgPrMtJSiyAkiAL5eLF-L7-OXzFJWEXBUlcPBghK3KwXdl5_8Aq8BImZr-1q/s640/Do+not+disturb.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Everyone needs their privacy.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvKNe0gzclTGV3T-MfmkqjhSg6ovVmdzwIG55fuxPPU50hW7rsuVqxHKx8PrxhEKNcduoK9w1IBSuX7wbCTGV_B5dOC36MhUqRXxEfMKzkMabzUWQe59pyLfcA_8eqW2BlIk-6-RelG_R/s1600/flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvKNe0gzclTGV3T-MfmkqjhSg6ovVmdzwIG55fuxPPU50hW7rsuVqxHKx8PrxhEKNcduoK9w1IBSuX7wbCTGV_B5dOC36MhUqRXxEfMKzkMabzUWQe59pyLfcA_8eqW2BlIk-6-RelG_R/s640/flowers.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Dried Hydrangeas, my favorite.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTs31vvaBGyaoVzVcLU7vrrEHQ7PoFoXcJmgntwdbKDgMsuyFhpgOF-kl7SZbfM7eedt_qwr_hoEWotNwNl0xmmHjkYbKUq7LIVji-5sO2dZkl26xa3TgsZukZQw0mseap0Vbp031_UUN/s1600/motherofpearlcandelabra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTs31vvaBGyaoVzVcLU7vrrEHQ7PoFoXcJmgntwdbKDgMsuyFhpgOF-kl7SZbfM7eedt_qwr_hoEWotNwNl0xmmHjkYbKUq7LIVji-5sO2dZkl26xa3TgsZukZQw0mseap0Vbp031_UUN/s400/motherofpearlcandelabra.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A Mother of Pearl candelabra hangs behind the bed.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kJAiK6Z0pAJbBVwatNw4arLbzLYfrSYeAyzrkPs2xtdbbgibZuCiNlBxAH9Q99k44SpZxz4QHwqZDEo48yl0ZSmAx1oaXDIql_k3wNfkv7byRdMio8_spHzLhv2HvEO24wdlmiSexWW4/s1600/NatsPainting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kJAiK6Z0pAJbBVwatNw4arLbzLYfrSYeAyzrkPs2xtdbbgibZuCiNlBxAH9Q99k44SpZxz4QHwqZDEo48yl0ZSmAx1oaXDIql_k3wNfkv7byRdMio8_spHzLhv2HvEO24wdlmiSexWW4/s400/NatsPainting.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A painting that a dear friend of mine made and gave me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWxtXfaxFMA7HGvVPyCvWiwbC8rSeK0jWy1dB2PVlLGHpMzJoM5W2hHD5lGWBmbx_U7ZoJOu3bUN9vgacmVYWy0HTD8wuyV0jHRZ57aW8KdRjWX2dG28aStMXJhRejHEKSEEjotAQV1pCP/s1600/guestroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWxtXfaxFMA7HGvVPyCvWiwbC8rSeK0jWy1dB2PVlLGHpMzJoM5W2hHD5lGWBmbx_U7ZoJOu3bUN9vgacmVYWy0HTD8wuyV0jHRZ57aW8KdRjWX2dG28aStMXJhRejHEKSEEjotAQV1pCP/s320/guestroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The framed photo on the nightstand holds this quote.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMwzXlZq2Ccz2_xc775aqFQ9JYjGzNSQfqA_4duSOcGKP62qRrU2cAYFDOSZfsfolDDGDKLwwflAqiMghbyMWm1s22tvVCFNuZ1FysmaRhoHkqSL8AafdbkIQiNcYs0d3g7P4V-ZL9PnLJ/s1600/Picnik+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMwzXlZq2Ccz2_xc775aqFQ9JYjGzNSQfqA_4duSOcGKP62qRrU2cAYFDOSZfsfolDDGDKLwwflAqiMghbyMWm1s22tvVCFNuZ1FysmaRhoHkqSL8AafdbkIQiNcYs0d3g7P4V-ZL9PnLJ/s400/Picnik+collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had a lot of fun doing this room up. If I could have painted it would have been magnificent I promise. But, we rent :(. My main focus was to be accommodating while keeping the room simple and romantic. Now I just need some guests, so if your ever in the general North Carolina area...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-42263326946977588702012-01-02T18:12:00.000-08:002012-01-02T18:12:00.785-08:00Easy Bread Knots<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgdOtbk4NRiKlwfzdzHoyl8Lg_gyfRzYZMIcov37KgFY454JGvzumgKJoP8QdtwRfmB4_3unQHdv0nxG4bd2YRsok32rY0unrhB_sOR9ueNKPLujob_yqzuzZv5xX1LnPIkuT7Pa50BQN/s1600/IMAG0656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgdOtbk4NRiKlwfzdzHoyl8Lg_gyfRzYZMIcov37KgFY454JGvzumgKJoP8QdtwRfmB4_3unQHdv0nxG4bd2YRsok32rY0unrhB_sOR9ueNKPLujob_yqzuzZv5xX1LnPIkuT7Pa50BQN/s400/IMAG0656.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Like so many others I spend much of my waiting time browsing <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/13933080066745509/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>. I'm happy to report I actually use quite a few recipes and ideas too. That makes me feel like I have actually accomplished something from all that virtual surfing. I have made these <a href="http://realmomkitchen.com/609/easy-parmesan-knots/" target="_blank">bread knots</a> several times. The first time I made them was on Thanksgiving and they were a hit. I did change these up to accommodate my nephew who has a severe milk allergy. My change from biscuits, which were called for in the original recipe, to breadsticks also excludes a step in this already easy process. I use Pillsbury breadsticks because they are milk free if you can believe that, and I obviously left out the cheese when I made them for my nephew. Please be sure and check your specific packaging if allergies are a concern.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguct0jIQ3Qn48ph12s8YQiHZ1Q7KZvJWvC1XI8Vr50g1xYe4dXYkhL2LCTpjOL6eedGM1HbtxlgKIM2v9T67sQULlqgMJEUqR9u4hbHLJ6fITi1HqK2iID7LU3tWXzv8UoAu8Jh-Up7RMo/s1600/IMAG0657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguct0jIQ3Qn48ph12s8YQiHZ1Q7KZvJWvC1XI8Vr50g1xYe4dXYkhL2LCTpjOL6eedGM1HbtxlgKIM2v9T67sQULlqgMJEUqR9u4hbHLJ6fITi1HqK2iID7LU3tWXzv8UoAu8Jh-Up7RMo/s400/IMAG0657.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Ingredients:<br />
1 can of refrigerated Pillsbury breadsticks<br />
2 Tbs. olive oil<br />
1 Tbs. Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning<br />
1 Tbs. Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)<br />
<br />
Separate strips of dough. Tie into 12 knots. This is an art I have not yet mastered. If you wanted to, you could press two strands together and make a large knot, giving you six large knots total. Bake according to package directions. While knots are baking, mix oil, seasoning, and cheese in a small bowl. Remove bread from oven and and immediately brush with oil mixture. Serve warm!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-8871270661641884502011-12-11T17:27:00.000-08:002011-12-11T17:27:44.679-08:00Christmas MartiniThis is my favorite mixed drink to make at home. I love how it tastes, how easy it is to make, and how versatile it is. It takes you through the holidays, straight to Valentines Day, and through the 4th of July! Just change out that sugar rim to match whatever season you will be serving it. I took these to my sister-in-laws this weekend. She had these very interesting martini glasses which hold ice underneath to keep them cold. I'm more of a traditional martini glass girl, but these were kinda fun too. I originally got this recipe of <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cosmo-style-pomegranate-martini/detail.aspx" target="_blank">All Recipes</a>, I added the sugar rim and if I don't have the same ingredients I tweak it a bit and it is just as good. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlnBbiwTkisS68UHUKI2Q3CU8djsYTWaZXYT0jyQ1ZFcvmyhWgdAwzetDW-HGA98TSS3SRmrkLHjgcm9LWJsZfMRHbxLbp1WIMoor9JfQxlLEK_IP5d2gvPXz1dja3V86_TteKkFhBF13/s1600/Christmas+Martini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlnBbiwTkisS68UHUKI2Q3CU8djsYTWaZXYT0jyQ1ZFcvmyhWgdAwzetDW-HGA98TSS3SRmrkLHjgcm9LWJsZfMRHbxLbp1WIMoor9JfQxlLEK_IP5d2gvPXz1dja3V86_TteKkFhBF13/s640/Christmas+Martini.jpg" width="426" /></a><br />
<div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient">Ingredients:</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient">2 fluid ounces citron or regular vodka</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient">1 fluid ounce Cointreau or other orange liqueur</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient">2 fluid ounces pomegranate juice</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient">1/2 fluid ounce lemon juice or orange juice if you don't have a lemon, but lemon is best</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient">2 Tbs. Sugar, I used green sugar, found in the cookie and cake decorating section</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"><br />
</div><div class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"><span class="plaincharacterwrap break">Pour sugar onto a small plate. Use a lemon wedge to wet the rim of the glass and then dip into the sugar. </span><span class="plaincharacterwrap break">Pour the vodka, Cointreau, pomegranate juice, and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker over ice. Cover, and shake until the outside of the shaker has frosted. Strain into a chilled martini glass to serve. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-22711674283282455362011-12-09T10:02:00.000-08:002011-12-09T10:02:00.414-08:00Emergency Snack Kit For The CarI have started keeping this container full of snacks and mini waters stored in the back of the car. Inevitably we will be somewhere waiting for someone or something and the kids will be "starving" or "dying of thirst." Keeping the snacks in this covered container keeps them from getting all smashed and mushed. I may have to rethink this a little more come summertime, but for now its worked out perfect. I have lied down a large sheet of rubber cupboard matting or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grip--Shelf-Drawer-Liner-Black/dp/B000KFSOFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323367793&sr=8-1" target="_blank">shelf liner</a> if you will. It keeps this box from sliding around as well as groceries, milk, and especially my cakes!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYeAAayNRmhh5jOpGVfj_XuUSOdBndCGpFqIHeOqxsmE6AxIohZ9aC9txpPyc8f8rlW5cUvhG6dywMBduQZ2TJ03aIkYadbr9lIlQEISlVZxVU-udqiAbi2YgnStwQgsjRgWpTkinkRT8/s1600/IMAG0615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYeAAayNRmhh5jOpGVfj_XuUSOdBndCGpFqIHeOqxsmE6AxIohZ9aC9txpPyc8f8rlW5cUvhG6dywMBduQZ2TJ03aIkYadbr9lIlQEISlVZxVU-udqiAbi2YgnStwQgsjRgWpTkinkRT8/s400/IMAG0615.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSkKIL8Z61rimZiKp5Y39KiXVmM7ZlFT2Fy4ukoTbG43nTKvKJDmmQUruVwxfbGQp9f2EpmMA76WWJKunh0YQfrNOlCcrXI1XZkiW1wFUt3vmKA982VouBpGjSLnjxk2Z7Qf1nhU2ACE2/s1600/IMAG0616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSkKIL8Z61rimZiKp5Y39KiXVmM7ZlFT2Fy4ukoTbG43nTKvKJDmmQUruVwxfbGQp9f2EpmMA76WWJKunh0YQfrNOlCcrXI1XZkiW1wFUt3vmKA982VouBpGjSLnjxk2Z7Qf1nhU2ACE2/s640/IMAG0616.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Pistachios, Macadamia nuts, squeezable applesauce, Cheez Its and Nutrigrain bars have been included this time. The nuts are a great snack for me in case I'm starving! And of course, don't forget the wet wipes for easy clean-up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6889124582418382901.post-35214085811021692542011-12-08T09:52:00.000-08:002011-12-08T09:52:27.954-08:00Days 9-3 of The 12 Days Of Christmas For Teacher Gift<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_9N3sj_49fhulk7VZD47QVfh2XX4v_ADguuxrEGo5uanwtFYgSVuePPtnTbQAoUh9hB2oWaPWF6QLHtf0xT5zymqyb90R8skPlDEHHHHJOmax27ePpudE5X3GGp3-u8X8a8A-dI2dEex/s1600/IMAG0605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_9N3sj_49fhulk7VZD47QVfh2XX4v_ADguuxrEGo5uanwtFYgSVuePPtnTbQAoUh9hB2oWaPWF6QLHtf0xT5zymqyb90R8skPlDEHHHHJOmax27ePpudE5X3GGp3-u8X8a8A-dI2dEex/s640/IMAG0605.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the 9th day, my student gave to me...<a href="http://liliannagrace.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-all-rage-12-links-to-homemade.html" target="_blank">Granola!</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrDJ-KJYrEkh0GPN3KpKNvGT0pYszhWDI-CGnzpzVJiC89zeAl7apI8K_vfdqn5OJmFXRMrGopbVwWrPUzMwq5DR9XrGTOJo-J-IygxOXRSn5Dvmx9OxhCMirknC239O4IVk_Dt4XE8a8/s1600/IMAG0606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrDJ-KJYrEkh0GPN3KpKNvGT0pYszhWDI-CGnzpzVJiC89zeAl7apI8K_vfdqn5OJmFXRMrGopbVwWrPUzMwq5DR9XrGTOJo-J-IygxOXRSn5Dvmx9OxhCMirknC239O4IVk_Dt4XE8a8/s640/IMAG0606.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWsT9pcXBw0bjKeJ1UnfyXk1CTH6MzeGxgOUDbpS5T316Uou0z3QGwXoUNuTF_2MmFBZYBOlNDNEa4LNsCPomjYsWb8gvP0IvXOAXy-kgWzwqKP6Q4LpcKShhguDihiZsuvI9GJmAL40C/s1600/IMAG0607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWsT9pcXBw0bjKeJ1UnfyXk1CTH6MzeGxgOUDbpS5T316Uou0z3QGwXoUNuTF_2MmFBZYBOlNDNEa4LNsCPomjYsWb8gvP0IvXOAXy-kgWzwqKP6Q4LpcKShhguDihiZsuvI9GJmAL40C/s640/IMAG0607.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liliannagrace.blogspot.com/2010/12/macadamia-nut-snow-covered-shortbread.html" target="_blank">White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSrywQijA3p3HKwRTpLyV8EknnfCIl3kdsV0SzHRGH1qyCfW0ZREyEWlQoorraUdHaOB4e1UMLzhhNq9Pr6dYDFPq3cNtp88Y9sUzxQci_uC8xh6Nv_H7kA3jx8Y901_hp2dSyJ83tsTj/s1600/IMAG0608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSrywQijA3p3HKwRTpLyV8EknnfCIl3kdsV0SzHRGH1qyCfW0ZREyEWlQoorraUdHaOB4e1UMLzhhNq9Pr6dYDFPq3cNtp88Y9sUzxQci_uC8xh6Nv_H7kA3jx8Y901_hp2dSyJ83tsTj/s640/IMAG0608.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the 7th day, my student gave to me...A giftcard of music money! ($10 Itunes giftcard)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4Ubg06JrfZwypnoj7By8pG9wlRcJ6LVI2f1nmSm60yKUYCUEW6KG-9ASFds7MOtZNIjT9zn5G22KnVDj8Uj4yqvgM3EqWmIl4NAKxL1wffdgjRUMl5qH8f_5zEeyaAYqpCtdBLLesF3N/s1600/IMAG0609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4Ubg06JrfZwypnoj7By8pG9wlRcJ6LVI2f1nmSm60yKUYCUEW6KG-9ASFds7MOtZNIjT9zn5G22KnVDj8Uj4yqvgM3EqWmIl4NAKxL1wffdgjRUMl5qH8f_5zEeyaAYqpCtdBLLesF3N/s640/IMAG0609.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the 6th day, my student gave to me...Pistachios!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIqe64bJokWbgf3l9dEGcOAFvq-b-RvI-QDrSEJRJtsbOprD7Dzw3v57P5iu_WskZxPw4_NA1_emFzBBJb9iMIJJUatKViabsH9_53Xdm8JMDDDkuEM_yu8bzuaTQJ4qeZ5GrOJdFsmHk/s1600/IMAG0610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIqe64bJokWbgf3l9dEGcOAFvq-b-RvI-QDrSEJRJtsbOprD7Dzw3v57P5iu_WskZxPw4_NA1_emFzBBJb9iMIJJUatKViabsH9_53Xdm8JMDDDkuEM_yu8bzuaTQJ4qeZ5GrOJdFsmHk/s640/IMAG0610.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the 5th day, my student gave to me...A Notebook!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUeeS8nd8YDmngKNgLJ-AXBshsT8f2cBaDRt82VrbsV0DzaXFr6Iy1NEqWhKQwdGzPzcATB06yR06Q7AXoEYZSfW6S11NnivqGPLKIC62_TKtgZSomVUXTy08_P_7C_dM3-udvc0BamI7/s1600/IMAG0611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUeeS8nd8YDmngKNgLJ-AXBshsT8f2cBaDRt82VrbsV0DzaXFr6Iy1NEqWhKQwdGzPzcATB06yR06Q7AXoEYZSfW6S11NnivqGPLKIC62_TKtgZSomVUXTy08_P_7C_dM3-udvc0BamI7/s400/IMAG0611.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the 4th day, my student gave to me...Many, many cups of tea!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71Bbt-6dcrzitZVFvIauyp4-s9Ze4rG_mAWsrPTcd3GJ-SqH1Kr21Ruako-NypPtsqTjk4Ta269L2rbbWWIOTf0YPXljh8WxhgJdm4hD2qH7VFt9_8q2dezO1ssUs6ty5Rvo8kpkTtXeV/s1600/IMAG0612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71Bbt-6dcrzitZVFvIauyp4-s9Ze4rG_mAWsrPTcd3GJ-SqH1Kr21Ruako-NypPtsqTjk4Ta269L2rbbWWIOTf0YPXljh8WxhgJdm4hD2qH7VFt9_8q2dezO1ssUs6ty5Rvo8kpkTtXeV/s640/IMAG0612.jpg" width="382" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV59-V0k6PtcnPS0hEL4OMQnPFTf265jvP0m_eJopcqNWV3p2t3qLHshPwkNT85hY6OIFdxEjAevU3PWnQOJhla4AIjtK3xCPVKeI4JjlAHDFM134_P72dNIstXUvTZP1YUfstrrQ4V5hJ/s1600/IMAG0613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV59-V0k6PtcnPS0hEL4OMQnPFTf265jvP0m_eJopcqNWV3p2t3qLHshPwkNT85hY6OIFdxEjAevU3PWnQOJhla4AIjtK3xCPVKeI4JjlAHDFM134_P72dNIstXUvTZP1YUfstrrQ4V5hJ/s400/IMAG0613.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairytalebaby/5088117292/" title="signature2 by Lilianna Grace, on Flickr"><img alt="signature2" height="100" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5088117292_e40fd9c1e4_m.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Lilianna Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18329076483354099616noreply@blogger.com0