bunny bait mix

Here is the direct link for: Bunny Bait Snack Mix.

This pin comes from the blog, Miss Candiquik. I love snack mixes like this one. It is so versatile to add your favorite snack items to the mix. I changed things up a bit to go with my Easter bunny theme.

sticker for each bag

The blog's author, Sarah, calls for salted peanuts, Cheerios, pastel M&M's and twist pretzels. Then she coats it all with vanilla-flavor Candiquick. A great blend of sweet and salty!

To make it a little more 'bunny-like', I added to my mix Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams (a small bunny-shaped cracker), as well as, changing out the original Cheerios to chocolate flavored ones instead. Annie's also has a great tiny bunny-shaped box of pretzels too. The mix was so yummy that I gave a bag to my sister and while we were visiting, I ate most of it! I owe her another bag!

The final touch was this cute sticker atop my food-safe cello bags. I found this design from the blog, Lilac & Lavender. The blog's author, Megan, created a cute image, Sweet Bunny & Chicks,  that you can download for free. I printed them onto label paper and tied them with a pastel ribbon. Wonderful gift idea!

 
The red pin award for great recipe as well as whimsical gift idea! This recipe could be easily adapted for each season of the year.


Happy pinning!

pastel devil eggs

pale pink, turquoise and purple deviled eggs

Here is the direct link for: Easter Deviled Eggs.

Another fun Easter treat idea! I sure had a lot of fun playing this Easter with some fun pins.

This recipe comes from the blog, Real Mom Kitchen. Laura, the blog's author, says this about her eggs, "I found this to be a fun way to dye eggs and bring some color to your Easter dinner," and I would agree with her.

She recommends using neon food color dyes, which I didn't even know they existed. I found the above box in the baking isle at my local grocery store. The colors are a little bit funkier than the traditional dyes. Her instructions are easy and I had three fun colors in a short amount of time. My purple was a bit too funky, so maybe next time I would try a pale green instead.

In addition, as I have mentioned before, the comment section can be just as educational as the blog post itself. One commenter suggested the use of Thousand Island salad dressing, rather than mayonnaise, along with the mashed up egg yolks, just enough to moisten. So I tried it, and you know, it was very tasty! Next year I will put a snippet of fresh dill or parsley as a garnish for each egg. Didn't think of it ahead of time.

 
The red pin award for festive and delicious besides, a two-fer! This would be fun for St. Paddy's Day as well!






Happy pinning!

groundhog cupcakes!

24 groundhog day cupcakes

This is the direct link for: Groundhog Day Cupcakes.

Yes, I am clearly jumping from Easter bunnies to groundhog treats. This is such a cute idea I had to share it with you. I was lucky enough to have taken a photo of my little creations. If you have kids in your life be sure to pin this idea for next year!

This pin comes from the blog, Spoonful, courtesy of Disney. The idea of making these little critter cupcakes may seem a little daunting but actually, it was quick and fun! My daughter helped me and she enjoyed herself too. In addition they were a big hit at our annual 'groundhog's day' party.

To make things VERY simple, I ordered 24 cupcakes from my local Target store bakery: 12 white and 12 chocolate. They even came frosted! Plus, you get this great plastic carrying container to store and carry them in later.

The recipe was pretty easy to follow. This little ground hog consists of an Almond Joy snack-size candy bars with ears and cheeks made from mini M&M's. The only thing I did differently was use black tube frosting rather than the white. The black drew less attention to my mistakes! I also used sliced almonds for the one tooth, not the cut up jelly beans. And in the baking section of my grocery store, I found these prepackaged Wilton's candied eyeballs, shown in the photo right. They worked slick as compared to what the recipe originally called for. The 'dirt' is crumbled Oreo cookies.

It was worth all the effort with the 'cute' factor, and my kids loved them! Believe it or not, I never got to try one. But anything with an Almond Joy in it is yummy in my opinion.

The red pin award for cuteness and a fun-themed treat idea! I would definitely make them again.






Happy pinning!

chocolate hugging bunnies!

chocolate hugging bunnies

This is the direct link for: Easter Huggie Bunnies.

Remember me? it has been awhile I do admit. Autumn-Winter is my busiest season for my pattern business, so I knew I wouldn't be quick to add posts here. But this Easter season has been a lot of fun for me and I wanted to share some of my finds. Yes, Easter is over but there is always next year and no time like the present to pin this for future reference!

This pin comes from the blog, Cherry Heart, by Sandra. I first heard about these little bunnies from my friend, Beth. Last year she gave me one and I fell in love with these little guys. It is a free download pattern available from her blogspot, link above. They are a quick and easy knit. A great project for using up those scrap yarns. But of course, I went out and bought a few more fun colors nonetheless. I used Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarns. I ended up using a size 7 double point rather than the 8 prescribed. After experimenting, I determined I liked the knitted bunny to fit tighter around the chocolate egg.

Sandra's bunnies have little faces on them, obviously mine do not. After playing around with faces for a very LONG time, too long really, I decided that I didn't like the faces. And I realized, it is hard to embroider on a knitted piece, very different from embroidering on felted wool like I am used to.

finished bunny tails

But to my delight, a simple addition of a pom pom tail was just what my bunnies needed to finish them off perfectly! I made a pom pom using the white cotton yarn. Fluffed the tail up by swirling it gently between my hands, and then simply tied it to the bunny. That's all! and isn't it ever cute? FYI, I made all white tails for all colors of bunnies.

I bought a bunch of Cadbury Creme Eggs in various flavors: original creme-filled, chocolate creme-filled and caramel creme-filled, and stuffed a total of 16 bunnies!

As you can see from the photo, I placed my eggs on each dinner plate as a gift for my guests. I also treated my best girlfriends and my son's girlfriend as well.

My dream is to make a ton of these little bunnies and gift them to random people I encounter throughout the Easter season, a small version of the random-act-of-kindness-kind-of-thing.

This gets the red pin award for the cuteness factor! I will make them again and again and again!






Happy pinning!

lemon-zucchini bread with lemon glaze

This is the direct link for: Lemon-Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze.

The original photo alone of this bread convinced me to make it! The moist-looking bread with little flecks of green in it and the promise of lemon flavor -- a quick bread that sings summer!

This recipe comes from the blog, Nancy Creative. This isn't your traditional zucchini bread recipe, very fresh and light. I loved it. The recipe calls for a cup of grated zucchini, which is a medium-size zucchini. Not very much at all. The loaf doesn't taste like zucchini at all, only the hint of lemon. The lemon glaze makes the bread, giving it that added tang. As one reader comments, "Be sure to let the bread cool completely before adding the lemon glaze." I did just that and it turned out beautifully.

Lemon Zucchini bread looks good and tastes good. Can't beat that! A great addition to a brunch or tea party.

The red pin award for another keeper of a recipe! I have been very lucky lately!






Happy pinning!

quinoa & apple salad with curry dressing

This is the direct link for: Quinoa & Apple Salad with Curry Dressing.

This is actually the second time I have made this salad. The first time I deleted the photos by mistake thus no story until now. Right off the bat this should tell you something about this salad . . . it is worth making again!

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's endless website. Quinoa is such a trendy ingredient these days. Healthy too. So to find a great salad recipe using it is a nice bonus. This salad is very pretty besides. I love the crunch of the toasted almonds, the fresh mint and the hint of curry. Yum! The recipe calls for two tablespoons of dried currants which I used the first time, but didn't have on hand the second time. I wonder why? Instead I substituted dried cranberries and they worked perfectly! I diced them into finer pieces.

I took this salad to a function and wanted the apples to stay fresh-looking so after slicing them thin, I soaked them briefly in a lemon juice-water mixture to keep them from turning brown too quickly.

The red pin award, of course! This recipe is a keeper! Very fresh and delicious and a beauty to behold!






Happy pinning!

breakfast burritos

Here is the direct link for: Breakfast Burrito Bonanza.

This burrito recipe comes from the blog, Mom On Time Out. The blog's author, Trish, like me wanted some freezer meals ready for on the go, and in this case, breakfast freezer meals. My husband and I made these burritos as well as the Egg McMuffin Copycats to freeze for later.

Everybody loves these little guys! The possibilities are endless in the combination of ingredients to use. In the end, we used turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and hash browns in our burritos. I personally would love a little spinach and sausage in mine, but we made these especially for our teenagers as a quick and easy school breakfast. The tortillas I used is my favorite tortilla brand. I met a Mexican woman in the tortilla isle of my grocery store that highly recommended this brand of tortillas, and I'm so glad she did!

The recipe made 24 smallish burritos and they froze beautifully. To reheat one, all you do is wrap the burrito in a damp paper towel and place it in the microwave for 3 minutes at half power. If you don't have or use a microwave, you are out of luck here. But for a quick and healthy meal on the go, you can't beat breakfast burritos.

This recipe is a keeper as is, but has lots of room for creativity. With a side of Spanish rice, these burritos would make a great last-minute dinner idea as well. 

The red pin award for a winner freeze-ahead recipe with great taste!






 Happy pinning!

a back-to-school breakfast

A frozen sandwich right from the freezer.

In preparation for busy back-to-school schedules, my husband and I spent 1-2 hours making do-ahead breakfasts, like this Egg McMuffin Copycat, to freeze away for later. The store-bought versions of these egg sandwiches are high in fat and made with high fructose corn syrup.

Here is the direct link for: Make Ahead, Healthy Egg McMuffin Copycats. This quick breakfast idea comes from the blog, The Yummy Life. Monica, the blog's author, is amazing with all her details, photos and great tips. I love her blog for that alone!

Monica recommends creating your own turkey sausages but I used Quick n' Eat! Pork Sausage Patties instead. My grocery store was out. I also used low-fat American Cheese. My kids love them!

It has really worked slick. In fact, my son, Isaac, was telling his girlfriend about it and now she want her mom to call me for the recipes! Isaac says, "It sure makes mornings a lot easier, Mom".

I also bought the deli wrap papers she recommends at Cosco. We are going to start using them instead of plastic sandwich bags.

FYI. Next time I want to use turkey sausage to lower the fat, and also try the brand of cheese she recommends: Sargento Ultra-Thin Mild Cheddar Cheese Slices.

Overall, it takes a little time upfront, but it is well worth the effort on the other end.

The red pin award for excellent quick breakfast idea and great tutorial!






Happy pinning!

a summer well spent

someecards.com

My kids are off to school today. Feeling some sadness and the quiet is overwhelming me today. My Pinterest Summer Adventure has ended. The kids have left for school. Now what?

People I hadn't seen in a while would say, "Hey Marie, what have you been up to?" I didn't know quite what to say. "Actually tons, I am trying to learn something new each day, and for instance . . ." My kids were really starting to roll their eyes. Suppers were disrupted a bit until 'the photo' was taken. But I was learning a new routine and my family has been very supportive. We are sick of chocolate-like bar recipes. But I love how smooth my legs are and all my new favorite recipes thus far.

What did I glean from this? First off, creating an entry a day is really too much. No one was making me do this, I wanted to do it. This was for me. Believe it or not, Pinterest and my endless boards were starting to look all the same to me after a while. What I did enjoy was the fresh thinking that came from trying something new each day whether it be a new knitting stitch or an intriguing new salad recipe. Trying something new from Pinterest each day can be rather limiting actually. I can't try a new salad recipe every day, although I wanted to, but my kids would have moved out. Plus all the leftovers, etc. Thus came the variety of pins: Words to Live By, health items, craft ideas, etc. 

Blogs and their authors are amazing in how they can keep it up day after day and still stay inspired. I have seen quite a few blogs over the summer and what I loved were the blogs that gave that little added detail or two, such as where they bought their bottle in which they photographed their home-made vanilla extract in. This has inspired me for both of my blogs. I love the idea of being a resource to help others.

Many blogs frustrated me with their amazing photos but lack of detail necessary for a successful outcome. Leaving out details, like what size Mason jar they used. You shouldn't have to scrutinize each photo to read between the lines. Reading the reader's comments helped out quite a few times giving new ideas and suggestion that helped push the idea even further, adding uniqueness and zest. Sometimes these comments were more educational and sometimes more intriguing than the blog itself. But you need a blog and its entry to get the readers and their comments.

Is this the end? No, I don't think so. What I see going forward is continuing but in a more sporadic or theme-like time frame. For instance, tomorrow I have a entry or two on some Back-to-School frozen breakfast ideas. And come Halloween, a week of spooky treats and decorating ideas. And before you know it, it's Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Year's . . . see where I am going here?

What ideas would you like to read about?

Happy pinning!

my pinterest summer adventure collage

My Pinterest Summer Adventure

These are a few of my favorite things! Yesterday was the last day of my Pinterest Summer Adventure.

Boy, where did the summer go to?  In the next couple of days, I thought I would share some of the insights I received from doing this blog for 90-something straight days. Plus, talk about my plans for going forward.

Thanks for listening all these days. Stick around, there is more to come!

Happy pinning!