Painter's Cupcakes

  What do you do for a friend on her 30th birthday who is also an art teacher extraordinaire?!  Why, make her cupcakes on a painters's palette of course!  Here is my latest cupcake creation:

 
   I think they are adorable and am pretty happy with how they turned out.  The paintbrushes were a little difficult, but a dozen tootsie rolls later I was able to create a couple that passed the test.  They were the perfect cupcakes to make for my artistic friend, but they would also be great for a kids birthday party.  They aren't too hard to make either.  You can make regular cupcakes from the box and use canned frosting.  I  just separated the frosting and made them different colors.  I cut out the palettes from cardboard boxes using an exacto knife for the little thumb hole.  The wood of the paintbrush is made out of caramels, the bristles are made out of chocolate tootsie rolls and the pink divider is made from a cherry tootsie roll.  Its an easy little creation that makes someones day even more special!  Good luck!

Bible Puzzle

   Word search puzzles have always been a favorite of mine.  I'm actually pretty good at them and remember winning all sorts of candy and prizes in school for finishing first in class. So, when Wil's grandmother send us a Bible word search puzzle in the mail I immediately accepted the challenge.  I grabbed Wil along for the ride and we had so much fun trying to find them together.  At first we were competing to see who could find the most (or all of them the fastest) but it quickly turned into us combining answers and working together.  We eventually found them all, but it was definitely a challenge. Just a fun little puzzle to pass the time, but I hope you enjoy it like we did.  Good luck!

There are 30 books of the Bible in this paragraph. Can you find them? This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much, he passed it on to some friends...One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo, Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, "The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight." Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus, there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found. God Bless.

Fresh Finds: Coffee Edition

Home-made Vanilla Coffee Creamer

   Home-made vanilla coffee creamer: its delicious!  Mrs Happy Homemaker's  recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and milk.   Her recipe tastes just like the creamer you buy from the store and without all of the added chemicals and preservatives.  I use vanilla soy milk in place of the milk and vanilla extract and love it just the same!  Here's my soy milk recipe:

1 14 oz. can of fat free sweetened condensed milk

1 14oz can of Silk vanilla soy milk (I measure it with the 14oz condensed milk can)

Shake these two ingredients together and store in the refrigerator.

Yup, its that easy!  You can always use regular milk or regular Silk soy milk and add a different flavor other than vanilla.  You can make it pumpkin for the holidays or hazelnut or whatever your favorite creamer flavor is.  There are tons of possibilities! Oh, and for easy pouring don't forget to save one of your old creamer containers to mix and store it in.

Joe's Hazelnut Coffee

   I ran across this coffee at TJ Maxx and completely fell in love. Before this coffee came in to my life, Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut coffee was my favorite, but now I have two favorites.  At only $4.99 per 12 oz- whats not to love! I haven't found it at any other stores yet, but I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open because you never know when TJ Maxx will stop carrying it.

Blue Whale Spoon

   With all this coffee talk, we can't forget about a cute whale spoon to stir it all up!  I have no idea where I got this spoon, but I love it.  Even though its plastic I keep washing it because I just can't get myself to throw it away.  Blame it on the kid in me, but I think its adorable!

Engagement Pictures

This post sponsored by: Mrs. Maid Of Honor!  

Be sure to head on over to mrsmaidofhonor.com for some no-nonsense wedding planning inspiration, tips and resources!

Wil and I at Cades Cove, Tennessee

   Oh how I love engagement pictures!  Sure, everyone loves their own engagement pictures, but I love looking at ALL engagement pictures, friend or random person -no matter!  Its so fun to see pretty pictures of giddy couples who are in the lovey dovey stages of their relationship.  I put together a bunch of adorable engagement pictures ideas (or anniversary picture ideas- who says professional pictures have to stop once your married?) so hopefully you can grab some inspiration from them.

{photo from http://www.amelialyon.net/}

{from http://forthedream.tumblr.com/}

                                           

{photo from http://elsajuliet.tumblr.com/post/11917407268}

{Jill Thomas Photography; photo from http://imgfave.com/view/227494}

{could not find source, would be happy to add if anyone knows}

{Untamed Heart Photography; http://untamedheartphotography.com/}

   Ok, so the last 3 photos were from Wil and I's engagement photos, but what can I say- I'm a little biased:)  You can go to our wedding website to see more of our engagement photos.  Happy shooting:)

*Update- I just did another post with engagement picture ideas.  Go here to check it out!

Olympic Events

{favorite horse for this Olympics, Australia's Rutherglen; Photo from Tophorse.com}

   Hands down favorite event to watch in the Olympics is Equestrian Cross-Country and Jumping.  I may be a little biased because of my absolute love for horses, but goodness me oh my are they not the most magnificent creatures?  I feel like a giddy 10 year old when I get to ride, groom or watch anything that has to do with horses.  So naturally, I look forward to the Olympic equestrian event every 4 years.  I watch in awe as the horses gallop and leap over things as tall as they are (with hundreds of pounds on top of them) and excitedly shout out "OOOO this horse is my favorite, its definitely the prettiest" for pretty much every horse that goes out there. Thankfully my sweet husband just nods and agrees with me even if its the 20th time I've said it, haha. Its not USA's best sport, but I'll still be there cheering them on every 4 years!  Go "Merica!

  Along with equestrian, gymnastics diving and swimming are my staple events to watch.  However, I watched archery for the first time this year and might be adding that to the list.  What are your favorite events /athletes to watch?