Relief Society Birthday Waffle Bar Brunch

Recently, I put together a waffle bar brunch for our Relief Society's birthday party. Waffles are my very favorite food, and it seems I'm not alone in my love for them. The brunch was a ton of fun, really well received, and delicious.

I went with the theme We Will Not Waffle, taken from a quote from from Elder Ballard, "We've got to be so solidly anchored in our testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ that, regardless of what may come next, we will not waffle; we will stand firm in our belief..."

With a little inspiration from Burlap and Denim and Young Living Love I pulled together my ideas. 

I had a good time brainstorming ideas for waffle toppings and giving them fun church-related names. We take waffle toppings seriously at our house, so it was great to introduce some women to some new ideas. As I was refilling various bowls, I loved hearing the women ooohing and ahhhing over the offerings. I promised "all the trimmings," and I think it delivered! (Well, other than the couple I forgot at home. Darn.)

The women couldn't get enough of the waffles. The speakers, top picture, were awesome and it was an all around great morning.

I'm excited to share the printables with you! Click here to download all the signs.

Homemade Candy Canes

One of Deidra's favorite Christmas traditions is making homemade candy canes. Every Sunday night after Thanksgiving until Christmas she is likely to be found making candy canes with friends.

She made this short Instagram video a few weeks ago of the process.

And here's the recipe, if you feel adventurous and want to try it yourself!

Merry Christmas! Wish you were all near and could taste a warm, fresh candy cane!

Adding Some Spark to Your Mom Uniform

Most moms I know get used to dressing in a uniform. Before I had kids I developed my own personal winter uniform. Trouser-cut jeans, a solid colored long-sleeved tee and some sort of bold accessory, like a long necklace, dangly earrings or a scarf. Not the most imaginative, but it worked for me almost every day.

Truthfully, not much has changed with kids. The days I effortlessly put on a necklace, ring or fun earrings I feel so much more put together. Quickly putting on jewelry is so much easier than doing full-make up. My sweet eight month old is actually really gentle with jewelry, so I'm not afraid to make it part of my everyday style. (It feels silly to admit it, but since it's such a part of my style, I practice with my kids' hand being gentle on my dangling earrings or necklace and saying "oooooh" as we nurse. So far it's a trick that seems to work with both of them!) A mom has to do what she can to preserve her sense of style when her life is overtaken with kid demands!

My husband bought my engagement ring online from Shane Co, without ever having seen it in real life. It ended up being perfectly "me." The husband was pretty proud of himself. We bought our wedding bands from Shane Co as well. We love making trips to our local Shane Co every six months (around our yearly and six month anniversaries) to get our rings cleaned, polished, and, when needed, replated. Shane Co's lifetime guarantee is fabulous (they've replaced a prong on my ring that got a little abused), and we love treating ourselves to cookies and cocoa in their stores. My simple solitaire wedding set is the perfect starting point for accessorizing my outfits.

Building off my wedding ring, I like to put on other meaningful jewelry. These Capri necklaces from Shane Co are perfectly proportioned. Engraved with something personal (initials of your kids, a word of the year, or a family motto would all be sweet). They would go with almost anything, including more necklaces! Layer those babies on, with all different lengths, for a style that's all your own. I'm crushing on this beauty, also from Shane Co.

Direct from Italy, the Capri Necklace is available exclusively from Shane Co. Personalize your Capri Necklace with your initials or favorite saying.


Another meaningful piece I like is this CTR ring with Shane Co's sterling silver and sapphire line. CTR stands for Choose The Right, and it's a message I want to emulate every day, and one I want my kids to know, internalize and do. So wearing that pretty ring would be a great reminder that I have the ability to choose.

It's amazing what a little sparkle can do to an otherwise ordinary mom uniform outfit. Using jewelry with added meaning puts some personality into looking put-together.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Tape Measure Snappy Bag Tutorial

This summer I was invited to a "Favorite Things" party. I wasn't lucky enough to come home with a snappy bag, but the seed was planted and they have become my go-to sewing project ever since.

I love that they're quick, useful and I can use up some scraps to make them. The tape measure inside snaps itself straight, making for a self-closing bag. No more loose change, toys or chapstick floating around your purse!

Let's get started:

Cut two pieces of fabric, identical sizes. A good starting point is 7" x 14". I've done bigger and smaller, too.

Stack them, right sides together.

Stitch around the outside edge, leaving an unsewn opening, about 1.5". Before turning the bag right-side out, clip those corners to help those corners turn to a nice point.

Turn the bag right-side out through the opening. Then push the corners out (I use my bone folder) to get sharp corners.

Press seams open and flat.

Fold inside edge (of short end) over tape measure to measure width.

My tape measure was 1.5". Pin edge down, and mark opposite edge the same.

Sew both edges to create a channel for tape measure.

Fold bag in half, wrong sides together. Stitch just ONE length of bag closed. (I chose to stitch the side with my turning opening first, to make sure I caught that.)

After sewing the first side, measure the length of tape measure needed, accounting for seam allowance. Bend tape to length and crease. The easiest way to cut to length is to snap the tape in half with a pair of pliers (second time raiding the tool box for this project!).

Cut two lengths.

Round off the edges of the tape measure (with a pair of BAD scissors, not your sewing scissors!!) and cover the sharp edges with tape. Electrical tape works really well, but I'd raided the tool box too many times and we were out. Packing tape works well, too. You just want to cover those edges so they don't cut through your fabric. Trim off your extra tape to keep bulk down.

 

Slide tape measure into channels, making sure the concave side (the one with the numbers) is facing the lining, or inside, of your bag.  

  

Push the tape as far away from opening, pin and sew closed.

Almost done!

 

Pinch off bottom corners to square them off, making the bottom of the bag boxy. You will have a pointy triangle. Mark both corners and sew across.

After sewing both corners, clip the excess fabric.

You can zig-zag stitch that raw edge, but I've never had a problem leaving it as is.

Turn the bag right-side out (working the tape measure can be a little tricky, but just make it bend for you as you flip it out), push out corners and enjoy!

Pineapple

Hey Nik,

Do you have all your neighbor and co-worker gifts taken care of? The husband gave his last one yesterday and I got my share delivered to the women I visit teach.

About five years ago I fell in love with the idea of giving fresh pineapples. You could probably say I'm obsessed with it. I haven't met very many people who don't love fresh pineapple, and while we all love Christmas cookies and candy, I've usually had my fill before Christmas even comes. So fresh fruit it is!

I love wrapping the pineapples in burlap and yarn. I got 1/4 yard of burlap for $.80 and it covered six pineapples. (I'm a pretty big spender!)

To cut your burlap evenly, figure out your spacing, snip a thread and pull it out.

This got me thinking that I should do a burlap wreath with barn red burlap instead of the natural brown color. I loved the red ruffles!

You're left with a small little void that is easy to cut down. Doing it this way helps eliminate a mess of strands along an uneven side and make your edges fray tidy!

I sort of ruffle the front to use up the extra length of burlap. I think it gives it a fun look. The pom-pom yarn I bought years ago at the Dollar Store. I'll be sad when it's gone because it's dressed up lots of Christmas packages! I've also used plain white twine and that looks good, too.

Dressed up and ready to party!

The best part of all? When we went to the store to buy pineapples they were 99¢ each! That made these gifts well within our grad-student budget. I bought a few extra for sharing the joy!

Mele Kalikimaka!
Deid

PS—Speaking of Mele Kalikimaka... If you want to play up the Hawaiian theme, there are really cute printable tags you could print and attach to pineapples that you can find here from Loralee Lewis. I guess it's the next best thing to a trip to Hawaii.

File This Under Clever

Hey Nik,

I don't think you beat me to pinning this with your fancy iPhone, but I know we both were struck with a big light bulb moment when we saw this in Nauvoo.

 

Putting all the drips from a beverage dispenser to good use! And when doing it on our scale (much, much smaller), using a pretty little dispenser would complete the scene.  Though those gorgeous mounds of flowers are hard to compete with.

Enjoy those cool mountain nights for me. I'll be savoring the excessive heat watch (for basically the whole week) we've got going on here in the mid-west.

Deid

Sharing Bread in Strawberry Containers

Can I just tell you how glad I am to have clever sisters? This idea comes from Sister #2 and it's a great way to re-use those empty strawberry containers!

Last week we enlisted some help from a friend with a van in order to pick up our new crib. We'd tried earlier and our car was about four inches too narrow. Oops! Good thing for friends with bigger cars.

Start by washing out your strawberry container, then peeling off the strawberry packaging labels. A little water and dish soap go a long way in getting off that sticky mess. 

I had just made bread, so I set aside one loaf to show our appreciation to our friend. I cut some parchment paper to fit and nestled in the loaf of bread (made in a 5.75"x3" loaf pan). You could easily use some patterned paper under the parchment, but it was for a guy and I knew he really didn't care how cute it was wrapped up-- just that there was bread inside! I wrapped it up in some ribbon, punched a scalloped circle from adhesive paper and jotted down a quick thank you note. The sticker did double duty: holding the ribbon in place and hiding the spot where the last bit of stubborn adhesive from the strawberry label stuck.

There are so many ways you could vary this idea. Instead of a yeast bread, you could give a loaf of fruity quick bread (perhaps with a small container of strawberry butter),  use patterned paper under the parchment or use a pretty glassine instead, wrap it up with a big bow, or let the kids decorate it with stickers.

There are so many possibilities for re-using containers. Look for new ways to use containers before you throw them away!

Chocolate Covered Stawberries

Every spring I look forward to the price of berries dropping to a reasonable price. I still consider them a splurge, but one I'm willing to work into our budget.

And even better than juicy berries are ones covered in chocolate! We're having some friends over tonight for date night, including dinner and games. As we work our way closer to spring break, weeks seem to take forever! So, to celebrate Friday and date night, here are some chocolate covered strawberries!

I dipped some strawberries and drizzled on some red melts. I quickly made up little tags (using the font Kravitz, free here), popped the strawberries in lollipop bags and stapled it all shut. Ten minute favors (not counting the time it took the chocolate to set up) for a Friday night date.

What occasion could you celebrate with some chocolate dipped strawberries?

One more thing-- save those empty strawberry cartons. I have an idea for re-purposing them coming up on Monday!

Packaging Repurposing

A few weeks ago Sister #2 called me with an idea for the blog. (We love ideas from our supportive family. I get several suggestions from my husband each week!) Our sister suggested showing some ways to re-use packaging.

I can't imagine why she'd think I would have anything to work with, considering a corner of my kitchen looked like this at the time! Thousands of miles apart and the family "media" hoarding is going strong!

Oatmeal canister, strawberry carton, two pickle jars, two peanut cans, pretzel tub, jar from medication, brown paper bags and cereal boxes!

My husband was so glad to see me put some of it to use. I've started a few tutorials, but I'm afraid that a bunch of it will be going toward robot parts for the Blue & Gold Banquet I'm in charge of decorating tomorrow. You can still look forward to a few posts over the next few weeks with ideas of how to put your recycling to use at a higher (and more attractive) level. Stay tuned to see how I re-purpose my trash and clean off my counter top!

Easy to Look Good: Making a Trifle

Back in December we were invited to a dinner celebration we couldn't attend, due to being out of town for the holidays. Then we were notified that it would be rescheduled, because so few people could attend. Sunday, while at church, I was asked if I had received an email from the host. I hadn't, and apparently the dinner was that night.

Because I like food and I might be slightly competitive, I knew I had to make something good with just the things in our house. The husband and I shared ideas and then I struck gold: a trifle, of course! Pretty easy to assemble and big on the presentation points. Despite taking cake decorating classes, I couldn't decorate a cake well enough to compete with the looks of a trifle. Not to mention the effort of decorating a cake is much, much greater than layering ingredients in a bowl.

I whipped up a chocolate cake mix cake, and while it baked I mixed up a box of vanilla pudding. I also pulled a container of whipped topping out of the freezer and let it soften in the fridge. We left the cake to cool and the pudding to chill while we went to choir practice, and with just a little effort when we got home, we had a good looking dessert!

The supplies were limited and so we threw out our standard recipe (chocolate cake, caramel, toffee, and whipped topping) and went with an Almond Joy version (chocolate cake, vanilla pudding + a half capful of coconut extract + coconut flakes, slivered almonds and whipped topping). I just layered those ingredients, in that order in my trifle bowl, twice. Then I topped it off with some additional almonds and coconut, to help people know what to expect inside.

And because I had some extra ingredients, I made a mini trifle in a drinking glass for the husband who does the dishes! If you feel really ambitious, mini trifles for dessert at a dinner party would make an amazing presentation.

We walked into the dinner to ooohs and awws and several comments on how beautiful dessert looked. And we ended the night with an empty trifle bowl- my measurement for a potluck food's success!