Yummy, SWEET Valentine's Treats That You Can Make in a Hurry!

Happy Hearts Day!!!!!

Need some last minute ideas for your sweethearts?

 (big and small ones alike:)

well I've got you covered.......and I can vouch for them all! 

(and i'm starting to look like it;)

Let's get to it.........

Oreo Cookie Balls (or Oreo Truffles)   

 So good and SO easy!

What you need:

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

40  OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided

4 pkg.  (4 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into pieces, melted

MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until blended.

SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Freeze 10 min. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan.  (Tip: use a toothpick to dip)

Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm.

(Substitute white chocolate if desired)

We have a tradition of making pink or red foods on Valentine's day.

This next drink is on the menu:)

Maybe I should stop here and get to dinner rather than dessert:)

No complicated dish here.........

Pizza with heart pepperoni!

Or take it a step further and shape your own dough in a heart:)

Me?  I'm lazy.  It's the heart shaped pepperoni for this girl:)

Okay, okay........you want something healthier, right?

How about fruit kabobs?

(Well, there IS fruit!  And marshmallows too!)

Don't you just love vintage Valentines?

The good old days:)

Sweet and Salty Valentine Popcorn

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn

1 bag Colorburst Pastels Candy Melts 

(Wiltons............or use any white chocolate to melt)

1 bag Valentine M&Ms

Sea Salt to taste

Lastly, I share you cookies made by my own little Valentine:)

Love, Love, Love on Valentine's Day!

XOXOXO

Suzanne

Made With Love....Simple Ideas for Valentine's Day Gifts and Decorating

When my girls were younger,

we had barely put Christmas decorations away

before we started decorating for Valentine's Day.  

Hearts were everywhere, and we were already thinking of

what Valentines to make and what would be on our 

Pink and Red Menu for Valentine's Day.

The past few years we've kinda let it go.

Life just got more busy, you know?

Until a few days ago, when my 12 year old niece Macy

wrote to show us pictures of how she had decorated her room.

I think she did an AMAZING job!

She finished by asking how we were decorating this year.

Ummmmm..........well,  I wasn't sure if we were.

UNTIL that email from her.

Until I was inspired by a young girl's festive spirit.

So I went online and I walked around the house,

 looking for ideas.

I found a few things I had made and tweaked them a bit

to make them work for Valentine's Day, either as a

decoration or as a small gift.

See what you think........

1.  Candy hearts look adorable in a Mason Jar pedestal.  At least I think so.......
but then, I love these candies so I would think they look great in ANYTHING!
And these are really easy to make, using a mason jar, candlestick and E6000 glue.

2.  Painted Mason Jars and Milk Bottles hold anything you can think of,

and would be a beautiful way to hold flowers, candy or special messages.

3.  Bejeweled Mini Mason Jars.......Strips of lace or burlap glued around a jar, embellished with a jewel and/or flower.  These look cute gathered on a table top and make

AWESOME gift containers!  No wrapping necessary:)

4.  Heart Garland.......dollar store craft!  

5.  Heart Pencil Toppers........Again, the wire and pencils were bought at the dollar store.

Simply twist a piece of the wire into a heart shape and wrap on the pencil tops.

 

These heart toppers are also fabulous on a longer stick and used as bubble blowers!  

Thank you Macy!

Without the inspiration from you, we might've been lazy and let this Holiday slip by:)

A few other decorations I found were these:

A heart wreath.......paper hearts glued on a wreath or any round form.

 Pom Pom Monsters!

How cute are these?  Pretty dang cute if you ask me:)

Heart Rag Wreath!  Super cute and EASY!

Yarn wrapped letters or hearts.  This is such a simple project that

will be a real eye catcher!

Well, why NOT a heart tree?  

You could write little messages on them or leave as is.........

cute either way!

  Remember the heart garland I mentioned above?

You could tie them on branches outside.  Awesome!

Alrighty then, I think that's about it.

Check back soon.......I have other ideas to pass on but didn't want

 to bombard anyone:)

XOXO

Suzanne

2015........It's Here! What are you going to do with it?

Happy 2015!

Time for the million dollar question......

Did you make a New Year's Resolution?

Maybe the question should be, what IS a New Year's Resolution?

Well, the official definition is this

New Year's Resolution: a commitment that an individual makes at New Year's Day

Okaaaay.......  

 I'll be honest.

I haven't made resolutions for years.

I think they're stupid.

And for many of us, they quickly lead to discouragement.

But then I realized I may be going about this all wrong.

I say things like "I'm going to lose weight."

Or "I'm going to exercise every day."

Who am I kidding?

Maybe I simply need to say "I would like to lose 15 lbs."

Then when I do, maybe I'll want to lose more.

Or "I would like to exercise more, so every other night I am going to

leave my exercise clothes handy to put on first thing in the morning."

These aren't really resolutions, they are more like game plans.

I could say "I'll make my bed first thing every morning:)"

Resolutions sound like "resolve", which sounds like "if you screw up, there goes another year down the tube."

When that IS NOT what this is about, I'm positive of that.

So this year I am making them, but my way.  

I'm putting the two above on my list.

And a few others.

Such as........

~ I would like to spend time with my extended family.  

Something I have been EXTREMELY

negligent about, but I would like to fix that throughout the year.

~ I would like to cultivate my friendships and possibly make a few new friends.

Friends I don't have to see, but would like to spend time with.

Chatting, drinking coffee, laughing.......being a friend.

~ I would like to eat healthier.  Less sugar.  MUCH less sugar.

Stuff like that.  Not to lose weight, but to feel better.

~ I would like to have a few outfits for each season that I can put on at

a moment's notice.......to have lunch with a friend, 

shop in a nice store, go to dinner with my husband.......

~  I want to entertain more.  

It seems as if it's all about "going out to dinner", 

and I love that as much as the next person.

But this year, I hope to open the doors to my lovely home a bit more often.

~ I would like to take a "girl's trip" with my two favorite girls in the whole world.

We used to do this......and it's a good time to start up again.  

We're thinking Texas for the Roundtop Antiques Fair.

Yep, you can call me Rachel Ashwell if you like;)

~ I would like to work on saying no if I need to and not feel guilty.

Also, taking those lazy days in stride when I can't seem to get moving.

~ I like to be happy.  Who doesn't.

But I often let the little details of the day steal my happiness, so for 2015,

I want to be genuinely HAPPY.

Totally, absolutely, crazy, stinkin happy.

That's me.

I hope:)

~ I'm going to try to be more organized.

I NEED to be more organized.

But I have a problem that seems to make this a REALLY difficult task some days.

I hope I don't miss anything important, but I vow to not be so hard on myself

when this happens.

~ I love having a blog, but you wouldn't know by how little I post.

This year, I hope to change that.

Hope.  I HOPE to change that.

Maybe I will, maybe I won't........but I do hope so.

So there you go.

My Resolutions for 2015.

Notice I didn't say "New Year's" resolution.

I personally think we set ourselves up for disaster by starting this on a Holiday.

But that's just me:)

Okay my friends,

There's my two cents worth on the subject.

It's taken me 50 years to figure this out.

And I'm STILL not sure I have.

But that's ok.

I think this will work for me.

I would like to wish y'all a very HAPPY new year.

The bright, sparkly, shiny kind of new year.

You deserve that.  Me too. i'm sure of it:)

God Bless!

Suzanne 

it's New Year's Eve. . . . . .

and the simple fact that i'm writing a blog post to help YOU

is kinda crazy.

 i'll be the first to admit it.

i'm a boring new year's person.

i don't ask for much, other than to be happy:)

let me stay home with my family and watch a few good movies

and i'm happy, happy.

oh, and let me munch on some yummy treats, too.

cause you know, the diet starts in the morning, or so they say!

i'm not even a resolution person.

but i did come across some cute things i thought i'd share with you.

maybe i'm not hopeless about new year's after all!

feel like making resolutions but don't know where to start?

here are some good ideas. . . . . .

or maybe there's something for you here. . . . . .

seems like we should be able to grab something from one of these lists,

don't ya think?

here's a cool idea i wish i'd done through the years.

use a mason jar or something similar, and writing on scraps of paper,

add memories throughout the year and then read them on

 New Year's Eve.

next, this would be cool to do each new years. . . . .

just go to thirtyhandmadedays.com for free printables

think of the adorable notebook you could have of each child someday!

IF i were having a party, it would be a family party

with kids of all ages.

so we would need goodie bags!

but remember, no stressing out over details, okay?

just be happy:)

sorry i'm not much help with a menu.

give me a big bowl of caramel corn and i'll be good to go!

but here are a few ideas.

chocolate covered strawberries. . . . .

and they only LOOK hard, because they're really easy to do.

 i love the idea of these simple frosted cookies. . . . .

personally, i'm feeling so lazy these days, i wouldn't even bake any.

these kinda look like those soft, frosted Lofthouse cookies at the grocery store

(which i love and can't have in the house:)

i would buy some, regardless of the color frosting,

and just frost/draw on a clock face.

voila. . . . .instant new year's treat!

maybe, more than anything,

we can all just remember it's a NEW year,

with NEW changes, NEW choices, 

possibly NEW opportunities. . . . .

and a year full of hopes and dreams come true.

 

whatever you do, 

please be safe this New Year's Eve!

may God Bless You in the coming year. . . . .

Suzanne

Decorating Styles.......or How Do YOU Trim the Tree?

This is somewhat of a repost from Christmas in July.
I figured some un-festive people were not too happy
when I did this in July,
so I'm posting it again today.
Soon, I hope to repost one of my reader favorites,
which was a PINK Christmas in July from a few years back:)
If you see a stray reference to summer that I missed,
sorry about that.
It was SWELTERING hot when I wrote this originally:)
Alrighty then, here we go.....

what i thought i would do is look at Holiday decorating "styles".

do you have one?

or are you more of a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of gal?

maybe your decorating is whatever your kids draw, create or want to hang on the tree.

that's what mine was, for YEARS!

i love it still.....

although now i change it up sometimes.

i'm sure when i have the empty nest, i'll bring back the kiddie tree,

just because:)

anyway, let's get started with the decorating PERSONALITY quiz.

 are you a traditional, red and green kind of person?

i'm not so much.....but i do love it when i see it.

and one of these days i'm going back.......

because i really want a red tree some day.

i know.......a red tree is NOT traditional.

hahahaha

but at least it's red:)

okay, if you go the red and green route,

you are classic, traditional, conservative and reliable.

you are okay with change to a certain extent.

but not too drastic.

decorations may change and get an update.....

but they must stay RED and GREEN.

and your lights are always white.

they look best with the red and green theme.

well, what do ya think?

am i close?  a little bit? maybe???

now, what if you use colors like

 orange, turquoise, fuschia, purple and lime in your decorating?

hmmmmm......

well, to start with ,

you would ALWAYS use multi colored lights.

the more color, the better.

you are non-traditional, obviously.

you like to try new things and you LOVE change.

you are adventurous, free-spirited, confident and outgoing.

people like being around you with your FUN outlook on life.

okay, okay.....what about all those people who have a single color scheme.....

like Pink?

well, obviously you are a bit non-traditional too,

although not necessarily "modern".

you may be vintage and classic, but just LOVE pink!

you believe in surrounding yourself with people and things that you LOVE,

that make you happy.

you don't care what others think.....you like it.

it is important to you that your choices in life reflect the real you.

you love pretty things and aren't afraid to be a lady

you are very warm and approachable and make friends easily......

especially if they like pink too:)

so pretty.....in pink:)

"i'm dreaming of a white Christmas....."

yes, let's talk about those who love their whites.

(including metallics)

that's the style i have these days.

but trust me, it isn't cold.

not at all.

mixed with creams and a bit of glittery metallics,

it's my Vintage glam" look:)

but i promise to be unbiased in my personality description here:)

white christmas lovers are......

non traditional, to start with.

i mean a giant white tree?.  definitely non-traditional!

they like beautiful things and love the idea of a 

snowy white Christmas.

they are confident, happiest when decorating their home,

a bit controlling in that they like decorations to

"go with" or coordinate with the decor.

know what i mean?

but in a good way, of course:)

they are dreamers.....and they are doers.

(had to stick that one in there:)

elegant too...did i say that?

heehee

okay, before i sign off,

just a few odds and ends.

this year, i am sticking with craft paper that i embellish real pretty

for my gift wrapping. 

i think.

if i get my act together:)

something like this......

although MUCH less professional looking:)

nice, huh?

and speaking of gift wrap, 

if the kiddies are getting cabin fever,

summer is a great time to have them make your Christmas wrapping paper.

we used to do this all the time.

just buy solid paper and stamps/sponges.

let them have at it with a bit of paint and you have great gift wrap!

 or if they are a bit older, maybe they can cut out some

COOL paper snowflakes.

lastly, any idea how these ADORABLE penguins were made?

penguin instructions

well, follow the link under the photo but here's a hint.......

they come from a soda bottle.

i'm not even giving more hints because you're going to LOVE

Lucy and her VERY creative blog!

so go meet her and look around awhile!

Be Blessed.......

Suzanne