Saving Money is a Good Thing

I don't mind saving money, especially on groceries. It may be kind of lame to post about my grocery savings but that is what I made this blog for so that I can remind myself that I do like doing Grocery Smarts. And to "toot my own horn" as my dad would say. Here is what I accomplished on this particular shopping trip.What I would have spent: $154.98

Total spent: $38.68
Total amount saved: $116.30

Ahh, I feel good.

Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee is my absolute favorite desert! I happened to find this little recipe to make a de-lish creme on the Good Things Utah website. So instead of putting it in my favorites folder and never finding it again, I thought I would post it as well as share it with you! I still need to buy some ramekins so if you happen to make it before I get around to making it, let me know how it is!

Classic Crème Brûlée

Baked with love by Tiffany Spegar from Lorken Food Finery at Gardner Village! Classic Creme Brulee Ingredients 8 egg yolks 1/3 C sugar 2 C heavy cream 1 t vanilla 1/4 C sugar (for caramelizing the tops) Preheat oven to 300. Whisk yolks and sugar together until thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla and mix until blended. Strain and skim, then divide among 6 ramekins and place in a baking dish/water bath (in a baking dish, make sure water is half way up the sides of the ramekins... this allows moisture to flow through the oven and keep the custards soft). Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the outside edges are set and the center is still loose. Remove from oven and cool in water bath. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. When ready to serve, sprinkle sugar to cover the entire surface of each custard. Fire with a hand held torch until caramelized. Additions for making brulee "3 ways" Add 6-8 berries (we like raspberries best) to the custard before baking, while in the ramekins and bake as instructed above... AND/OR: add 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon sugar to the custard before baking, while in the ramekins and gently stir to mix... bake as instructed for classic brulee. Garnish with berries, a cinnamon stick or mint leaves.

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P.S. The big surprise/reveal is less than 2 weeks away.

Finished Memory Board and Nursing Cover

Do you remember the memory board I made a little while ago? Now it is complete! I finally found some buttons for my little memory board at Joann's. They are a little shiny and I really love what they do for the board. I attached the buttons by sewing them on through the ribbon, fabric, and canvas. And Wha-la!

The craft of this past week was a nursing cover. Yes, I know it is pink and yes I realize that I am NOT expecting a baby...let me reiterate for all the relatives (my mom and mother-in-law especially)...I AM NOT PREGNANT!!

Now that we have that out of the way...here is the nursing cover that I made! It was pretty easy and I'd love to give you a whole tutorial on how to make one for yourself but Made by the Momma Monster has already put a tutorial together. Just click here and you will be able to make your own. Happy Sewing!

Boy, Do I Have a Surprise for You!!

I am planning something BIG!! All will soon be revealed so keep in touch.

Don't Tell

Check out the Aprons!

My crafty cousin over at Brassy Apple makes the cutest aprons! She has just come up with another knockout pattern but doesn't know what to name the new pattern. So she is doing a giveaway!
Just go to her blog and post in the comments section what you think the new apron's pattern should be called. The one that she thinks fits the apron will win one of her aprons!!

Why are you still here?!? Go to Brassy Apple to try to win!

Message Board

I was feeling somewhat crafty this evening and thought that I would gather some supplies to make a message board and, lucky you, gets to see how I did it. So feel free to make your own just make sure you let me know so that I can see your cute creations!

Here are the supplies that I used:

• 16 x 20 Artist Canvas
• 19 x 23 or at least enough fabric to cover the front and wrap around a couple inches in case you use a larger canvas.
• Ribbon - I just measured it out at the store (I really have no idea how much I used, at least 2 1/2 yards.)

Now you might wonder why I would make a pink and black message board when I have an almost-2-years-old little boy...Well, one day I WILL have a girl (fingers crossed) and I always keep cute girlie fabric and accessories on hand. This particular message board is probably going to be for someone who will be welcoming a little girl into her house within the next couple months.
First, I ironed out the fabric since it had creases in it.
Next, I put the fabric down on the counter, wrong side up so that the right side of the fabric would face outward then centered the canvas on top of the fabric. Stretch the fabric around the canvas and staple in place into the canvas' wood frame.
Once all the fabric is all stretched and stapled, I also stretched and stapled my ribbon.
Here is the finished product. As you can see, I used two different sizes of black ribbon. I still want to add buttons but I don't currently have any that would coordinate. Once I do add buttons I will either sew them on through the fabric and canvas OR push brads through and then glue buttons onto the brads. I guess we'll see what type of buttons I get.

Lookie, lookie! I am going to start my indoor greenhouse soon. This will be the first year that I have a place to have a garden. I can't wait!!

Let's Hang a Mirror

I bought yet another decor item at Hobby Lobby and was excited to get it hung on my wall. But, alas! It didn't have a nail hole in the back. It did, however, have some wire in a bag taped to the back. Oh Great!! What am I supposed to do with that?!? I had no idea how to correctly attach the included wire, screws and loops. I had to look around my house to try to find something else that was hung by similar fashion. Luckily, I found that my dining room mirror was hung by wire. So I took the mirror down and came up with this tutorial so that you too can hang your nick-nacks with wire if needed.


First, stretch out your wire so that you know about where you want the hook to be on the wall. (I hope that makes sense) Then screw in the holders into the item you want hung on both sides. Like so... I then wrapped the wire around the holder three times...
Before looping the wire around itself several times. Like so...
Here is the final product of my placing, screwing, and wrapping. Now I am ready to hang it.
Ta da!! Here it is hung near the front door. I was so excited to put the mirror up that the price tag wasn't taken off and it wasn't cleaned. Don't worry...I cleaned it right after I took this picture. Now what fun things should I hang from it...hmmm...I've got some ideas.

Making the House a Home

The walls are painted, the flooring is in, and now it is time to add the special touches that make this house more of a home. Here is a plate holder/hanger that I just had to have from Hobby-Lobby since it was 50% off. It even has a little touch of red in it to tie in the red-ish touches in the front room. (The plates were a gift from my sister but I do know that she got the entire set from Target.)
I replaced the light fixtures in the hall and above the kitchen sink. Gold fixtures just weren't cutting it for me. I got them at Home Depot. They only hold one light bulb so they don't give off a ton of light but just enough for places like, oh I don't know, maybe the hall and above the kitchen sink. ;)
I saw this beauty in Walmart and just couldn't resist taking her home with me. I have no idea how to take care of her. The little tag said to "Place 3 ice cubes per week on soil. Do not let your orchid sit in water. Place in bright spot of the room, but avoid full sunlight. Temp: 60-85 degrees F, never below 40 degrees F. Avoid locations with strong drafts." Is that right? If you have tips just let me know. I don't want it to die.
I found this at Hobby Lobby too! I love it. It hangs right above the stairs and is the first thing you see when you walk into my house. I bought it also at 50% off and used my Hobby Lobby gift card from Christmas to purchase it. So it was free to me!

Here is the kitchen. It looks so dull compared to the rest of my house. Hubby and I are trying to determine what to do with it for minimal cost since 98% of our home improvement budget goes into finishing the two rooms downstairs. So for a help to the kitchen I thought I would paint it but what color? I was thinking a light green. Not Christmas green or anything too dark or bright. More of just a tint. What do you think? I cannot find a picture of a green kitchen anywhere so maybe green is the exact opposite of what color you want your kitchen. If any of you have ideas for my kitchen, please feel free to direct me to a website or any type of input would be helpful.


I am working on a couple projects that I will post about next week including directions so you can make them too.

Baskets for Your Honey

My sweet sister-in-law Lynette is making Valentine's Day gift giving a whole lot easier. She makes adorable gift baskets for that special someone in your life...even if that "special someone" is yourself ;)

Click here to see what is in each basket.