Hospital Survival Kit!

It is baby booming season here at my house! I have lots of friends and family having babies, also I myself am having another baby. I was trying to decide something that would be so fun for baby shower gifts that I wish that I had when I had my sweet girl. I finally came up with something and that is a Hospital Survival kit. I'm one of those people who didn't have my hospital bag packed till I was in labor and ready to go. That was probably a bad idea but I know that there are lots of procrastinators like me and they wait till the very last second to do anything. I also was a first time mom and I had no idea what to pack, but after I had my daughter I spent a whole week at the hospital because she was in the NICU so I  was able to come up with plenty of things that I wish I had during my stay and compile it into a cute gift for showers.

Here are the items on my list:

1. yummy snacks (I found out her favorites)

2. toothbrush

3.chap stick

4. make up remover wipes

5.floss on a stick

6. hair elastics

7. hand sanitize

8. deodorant

9. cozy socks

10. shampoo and conditioner 

11. travel hairspray
This is  a great starter kit for things to pack, it gets those things that you don't think about when your in labor.

          I also made this and pinned it on there and it turned out so cute. ( you can copy and print this)

Happy baby season everyone!

Cafe Rio Pork

    I have tried lots of "copy cats" for this recipe and this is by far, hands down my absolute favorite! I got this recipe from my amazing sister who is an amazing chef and has her culinary certificate to show. 

One reason I love this recipe so much is because it tastes so good , and makes great left overs the next day. When we did our daughters baby blessing we did a double blessing with DeeAnn's baby so we had a lot of people to feed and on a low budget. This meal worked so great because it went so far and was really inexpensive and also I had tons of people come up and complement how yummy it was. 

So get your crock pots out and enjoy!!


Cafe` Rio Pork

6LB boneless pork roast
2 cans Elpato Mexican tomato sauce ( I get this at winco)
1 cup brown sugar
4 cans tomato sauce (8oz cans)

Place Pork in slow cooker with 1/2 cup of water.
Cook low 6 hours or until it falls apart.
Shred and discard dripppings.
Add sauce and sugar, cook low for 2 more hours.


Now the best part is the Tomatillo salad dressing, I also use this dressing for a yummy salad the next day.


Cafe` Rio Tomatillo Salad Dressing

1 packet dry butter milk ranch dressing mix
1 cup butter milk ( in a measuring cup pour 1 tbs of vinager in and fill the rest up with milk)
1 cup mayo
2-3 tomatillos (peeled)
1 tsp crushed garlic
3/4 bunch cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime

Put all in a blender and combine. Refrigerate.


I also like to add more to my burrito like: black beans, cheese, lettuce, and rice. To add a little flavor to my rice I put some garlic salt and chicken boulion in my rice cooker. 

Enjoy!!

  

Busy Bag

My kids get bored in church or sometimes even at home so here is an easy busy bag. Not to mention something that can keep them working on their motor skills. Even my 7 yr old like to play with it. Here are just a few of the ideas I have in the bag.

First one we are making is the Ribbon and Shapes

Buttons on a ribbon

Supplies

- Ribbon

-2 large buttons

-different color felt( you can get at the dollar store of wal-mart)

-Hot Glue Gun

Directions

1. Cut ribbon as your desired length

2. Glue buttons on each end

3. Cut felt shapes how ever many you want and in what ever shapes you want.

4. Fold shapes over and cut half way down the middle to make the hole for the button to fit through. 

 Simple as that. 1 Down 1more to Go!

Cupcake

Supplies

colored felt

Directions

1.cut the brown felt into a somewhat oval shape. It doesn't have to be perfect. It will be covered up.

2. Take other colored felt and make the muffin holders. You can do different shapes edging sizes. 

3. Now make the frosting. Make tall frosting. Swirly frosting. Bubbly frosting. Be creative.

4. With the left over piece you can now make your sprinkles. 

This is so fun and so cute. And the kids get to be creative and make whatever kind of cupcake the want! Have fun. When I am all done I store them in big Ziplock bags.

All Done Let the Fun Begin!

Little Easter/Spring Time Center Piece

I'm not all that crafty but I thought this was cute and decided to try it... plus, it can stay up past Easter.

Here is what you need.

-A foam ball 
-a jar or terra cotta pot (you will want to paint if you do this)
-colorful beads if you do a jar
-easter grass if you do the pot
-a dowel rod
-washi tape  
-hot glue 
-jelly beans
(you can get most of this at the dollar store)

This was my first time making this so I am going to change the directions from how I did it.  My pictures my be a little different, but I promise it will make it better for you.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by adding washi tape to your dowel by twisting it around. 

2. If you are using a jar like I did, put some hot glue on the bottom of your dowel and glue it to the bottom. If you are using a pot put some floral foam in your pot and insert the stick into into the foam.

This is where I should have done my tape before hand.  This is where I glued my dowel in.

I filled my jar with layering beads. (if you use a pot you may want to paint it some bright spring color)

This is where I would change to make it easier. I know my picture shows different.

3. Glue Jelly Beans to your foam circle until full.

4. Add a foam ball to the top of your dowel. I put a hole in it first for where I wanted it to be. I would even suggest to do that before adding Jelly Beans that way you know where to stop.

5. Top off with a ribbon or piece of burlap around your dowel. ( which I now notice I did not so I better get to that)

Voila!

SOOOO easy and so cute!

      

EASTER BASKETS!

Everyone does their Easter traditions a little different, so I thought it would be fun to share mine. I always grew up where we all had an Easter basket full of fun surprises, then my dad would hide them around the house and we would have to find them. (of course I always had the worst luck and would find mine last.) Now that I have my own cute little family I have been starting that little tradition. 

Here are some great ideas if you are struggling to find things to put in your family members' Easter basket. 

Little girl's Basket:

My favorite place ever is the dollar section at Target. Pretty much everything here was 5 for $6.

She loves to help mommy in the garden so I got all these cute miniature things: a Watering Can, rake, shovel and these little gardening gloves. (from Walmart)

Another tradition we had, is my mom would always buy me Easter bunny ears. (even when I was 18)

Next from Target is the light up wand, side walk chalk, Easter bunny sippy cup, and sunglasses.

Then last but not least if you haven't bought it yet is Frozen. (by the way it was only $13 at Target for the blue ray!)

The Woman's Easter Basket:

This would work great for your wife or a teenage girl. 

SHOES.

From bath and body: Car freshener and fillers, body wash, and don't forget the lipgloss.

Who doesn't love a good MAC item? I got the mascara (which is amazing).

Lastly Glitter is always so great for those who love to craft. (From Hobby Lobby)

 

The Man's Easter Basket:

These baskets are seriously always so hard to come up with. Some things in his basket are kind of an inside joke kind of thing, like the Camo Crocs. My husband is so obsessed with camo and would wear it as his everyday  outfit if he could, I am a croc lover and I always would joke with him that I wanted to get him some, so this might be the only way he will wear them. 

Yes I know what you're thinking the tooth brush and Socks seem so boring, but he is one of those guys who loves getting socks and he goes through them like crazy, same with the tooth brush. 

Pens and Body wash are next from walmart.

I love the t-shirt I got him, it's great for wearing outside while working on the lawn or for something to wear to school.

Don't forget guys love the cool water bottles they are great and very useful.

I hope that this post will help you with your last minute Easter shopping. Happy Easter everyone!!!

Fun Easter Wreath

I got this idea from a cute cousin of mine.  She posted a wreath similar to this on Facebook.  I went nuts!! I have been wanting to make one of these forever!! So I looked through a bunch of tutorials on youtube and combined the best tips.  This wreath was pretty easy and only took me about 45 min from start to finish.

Supplies: 

3 colors of deco mesh (you can do more or less...I just found 3 looks best)

1 wire wreath frame...they sell these at Hobby Lobby.  I have also found a bunch online.  I love that they have the mesh holders already on the frame.  You can do this on your own by using pipe cleaners if you can't find the frame with the holders.

Cut 18 pieces of deco mesh 10-12 inches wide.  There are 18 pieces on my frame.  Yours might be more or less.

Take each piece and gather it in the middle

With all 3 colors in your hand with the middle pinched, wrap the holders around your mesh tightly. 

When finished check to make sure all of the wrap holders have been used.  The more full your wreath gets the easier it is to miss one or two.  If your mesh holders do not match your mesh you can tuck them towards the back.  You can't see mine at all so I left them as is.  You can also include ribbon, sticks, signs, pipe cleaners...anything else to decorate this.

The finished project!! I love it!! I have a pretty big front door so I used the large wire frame.  Do not just measure the frame and call it good...this sucker will expand big time.  I would buy a couple frames and take back the ones you don't use.  This really makes my front door scream spring and Easter.  I can't wait to make one for the 4th of July.  Happy Creating!!

a ball of cake

 Cake Balls:

     The best thing about making cake balls is you get to make it you own flavor, as you can see I'm a HUGE chocolate lover. I choose to make mine with everything chocolate. I have made them with red velvet cake, and also  fun fetti cake with white almond bark, and they all taste so good.

First thing you need to do is make the cake, by just following the instructions on the box.

Next destroy your cake and put it in your mixer, add 3/4 cup of your frosting choice (this is the perfect amount, it's not good with any more) *optional: add Hershey's chocolate syrup for more chocolate! I do about a teaspoon maybe a little less.

Roll them into balls, I do some a little bigger and some smaller. I throw in some bigger ones for daddy bear and some little balls for baby bear. Then when you have completed this step, place in fridge for about a half hour. (you can get away with doing less if you are on a time crunch)

My least favorite part is dealing with the almond bark but don't worry you will get the hang of it. I have tested so many ways to melt this and I have found this is my favorite, I take a pan a put water in it then put my small pot in the water, this will help it so it doesn't burn and melts so perfect.

The best way I have found to help your chocolate look smoother and great is I just drop them in and  use a fork to drain off excess chocolate then whalaa you're done!

You can finish them off with taking your fork at the end and flicking melted chocolate over them to get this great look.

Watch out because theses are so addicting and so fun to just keep popping in your mouth all day! enjoy!