Easter Centerpiece

Today I walked outside and was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful weather.  A 65 degree day, in March, in Utah is indeed a wonderful Spring day!  I was very excited to start my Easter centerpiece project to welcome this beautiful Spring and the Easter holiday.  This is what I came up with!

The paper, stickers, and twine I used are from the Doodlebug Take Note line.  This project was very easy to throw together!  I'm no usually a fan a fake flowers but these adorable polka dot Gerber Daisies just jumped out at me and I love all of the bright colors of the flowers and paper together.  I also made these pom poms and will be making more for yard decor and I will post a tutorial about them on Friday!

The paper inside the tall Mason Jar is 4 1/8 x12. I just rolled it up to fit inside the top and let it just sit how it unrolled.  Then I added some special touches to the outside of each jar with burlap, twine, more paper, and/or stickers!  I also put paper on top of the small jar with the lid on it just by tracing the lid and cutting it out by hand.  The best part about this project, you can make it all your own with whatever flowers or paper you want to use!

I am very excited to show off this piece when the whole family comes over this weekend for Easter activities!  I hope you all have a wonderful Easter holiday as well.

Happy Crafting!

Tasty Tuesday Banana Cake

Again I feel the need to apologize for the lack of crafty posts going on here.  I am still learning how to balance all my time being a new mommy.  There will be a new post of a Easter/ Spring center piece craft tomorrow though, promise!! 

For our tasty Tuesday this week I wanted to keep things going lighter and fresher to keep us feeling the spring in the air and since Easter is just a few day away, we have this amazing Banana Cake!  This is a regular at my family parties and is quite delectible.

What you will need:
Cake
1/2 C. butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 med. ripe bananas

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 3/4-4 C. powdered sugar

Cream the butter and sugar.  Next add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  mix all dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Mash up the bananas in a seperate bowl and add the bananas to this mixture.

Grease a 9x13 pan and pour in mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes.  let cool completely and then frost.  Store in fridge and serve cold.  Helpful Hint:  you can even make this cake a few days before and store in refridgerator and it will be even better.  As you can see topping with some fresh strawberries can add a little more zest and freshness to it!  I'm sure any fresh berries would be good though!

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as my family and I do!

Happy Crafting!

Tasty Tuesday Semi Homemade Lemon Raspberry Cake

I am very excited about this weeks Tasty Tuesday. It is so light, refreshing, and just down right delicious!!  I saw something on Pinterest about adding ingredients to box cake mixes to make them taste better so I thought I would try it out - and Success - it was SO GOOD.

I'm on a bit of a lemon kick right now, so I thought I would make a lemon raspberry cake with buttercream frosting.  I bought a Duncan Hines lemon cake mix and made the modifications I read about.  What I did was: add an additional egg, melted butter instead of oil and double the amount, and use milk instead of water.  I was skeptical of what it would do to the cake but I decided to experiment anyway.  It turned out so wonderfully fluffy and moist - it was a big hit with my family.  I didn't have any cake rounds so I made it in a 9x13 pan (but either way will work out fine). Make sure you butter and flour the pan so the cake comes out cleanly.

Next, I made the buttercream frosting I always use (I have added the link for you to make it easy).  Let the cake cool before taking out of the pan, cut it in half and cut all the sides off.  Also level out the top with a long serrated knife, like a bread knife.  Cutting off the top will also let the raspberry jam soak in nicely.  I recommend wrapping your cakes in plastic wrap and letting it cool in the fridge for a bit, frosting it is easier if it is cold. 

Place the bottom of the cake on your cake stand or whatever you may be serving it on and pipe some of the icing around the edge so the raspberry jam doesn't leak out and add your raspberry jam.  Then, place the next layer on top and for easy frosting you will want to pipe on the icing all around the cake and on top of it and then simply smooth it out. Lastly, top with fresh raspberries! You could also put some lemon zest on top of that, which I will be doing next time. 

 I hope you enjoy this delicious treat as much as I did!!

Happy Crafting!

Giveaway Winner Announced!

Hello everyone!  We are excited to be announcing our winner for the March Giveaway - Jennifer J is our lucky Winner for this month!  Jennifer, to redeem your prize please send your address to allscrapbooksteals@gmail.com and we will send it out to ASAP! 

This is what you won :)

 We are so excited about new lines that we have coming in this year and we are gaining more and more customers and we are so appreciative to you!  Thank you so much for your loyalty and for spreading the word about our happy little business.

I will be sure to post some crafts soon, as promised!  Simple Stories just released tons of new Sn@p accessories and embellishments which we are featuring all week! So make sure to stop by our website to save on all of our Sn@p products - they are our hottest line right now so they move fast!

Happy Crafting!

Tasty Tuesday St. Patrick's Day Breakfast

St. Patrick's Day is getting closer and closer and we have a very bright and tasty breakfast to share with you!  First off, we have some rainbow pancakes.  We just used the Krusteaz instant pancake mix, but this will work for whatever type of pancakes you want to make.  Mix your pancake mix as directed, then measure out about 1/4 cup of mix into a separate bowl and stir in the food coloring until it's combined, then cook as you normally do.  Try not to be over zealous with cooking spray or butter as your pancakes will brown and ruin the presentation of the pretty color ;).





Then, we made some green eggs and turkey (because I don't really like ham) to be our grass.  Crack your eggs into a separate bowl (not directly into the pan), put in your food coloring, and whisk together.  Helpful hint: using the paste type of food coloring will make your colors extra vibrant!

We finished off our plate with some fried bananas to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and some mini marshmallows at the other end to be a little cloud!  I love how this turned out and it was very tasty indeed!  I hope this will brighten up your St. Patrick's Day morning!

Also be sure to comment on our March Giveaway post by Friday to be entered in this months giveaway. We will announce the winners this weekend.  We have gotten some great posts so far, keep it up!












Happy Crafting!

Simple Stories 24 Seven & Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm

Hello hello scrappers!  I just needed to share this fantastic page idea for Simple Stories 24 Seven - our steal of the week this week at 25% off our already low prices! Such a great steal! The colors are great, it has coordinating Sn@p products, and with my husband being a photographer I love the little cameras.  This line is sure to get your creative juices flowing 24/7 ;).   Be sure to check it out!

Also since St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, I thought I would do a little shout out to our American Crafts Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm line.  It is adorable and perfect for your St. Patrick's Day decor and crafting needs!

Happy Crafting!

March Giveaway

Hello everyone!  Sorry it is a little late, but it is time to announce this months Giveaway!!  I am very excited about this line - the bright colors and cute accessories - it is perfect for Spring.  I absolutely love bright colors so I am especially in love with this line!  This months Giveaway is going to be the Doodlebug Take Note Essentials Kit, all you have to do to enter is comment on what your favorite part of the Easter season is! 

I just loaded up on the product from this line myself, so be sure to stay tuned for some crafting and page ideas!  Thanks for stopping by.


Happy Crafting!

Tasty Tuesday Mexican Lime Soup

Hello everyone!  I am so sorry that I had a brief moment of absence, I just finished moving this past week, and doing that with a four month old and a very busy husband I have had a lot on my hands.  But I am so excited to be back and sharing craft ideas and making tasty treats!

This week I made a delicious Mexican Lime Soup.  It was spicy, tasty, and would be great if you have that terrible cold flu going around!
What you will need:

• 1/2 c. lime juice
• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
• kosher salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeño chili, seeded and minced
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth  
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano 
• 1 can black beans, drained 
• 1 Haas avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
• 2 oz. mild feta cheese, crumbled 
• 1 lime, for garnish

Directions:

Cut 1 lime into 4 to 6 wedges; set aside for serving. In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and chili and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the broth, water, lime juice, cayenne pepper and oregano, then add the chicken to the pan. Increase the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Then bring down to a simmer. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
Put the avocado, cheese and lime wedges in separate small bowls. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately. Pass the avocado, cheese and lime wedges alongside. Serves 4 to 6.

I hope you enjoy the soup recipe, I know I did!

Happy Crafting!