My Little Cupcake

My Little Cupcake
My Little Cupcake

Thursday, October 27, 2011

TBC (Turkey, Bacon, Cheddar) Cressent Rolls

I decided to try one of the many recipes from Pinterest that I have pinned...this one seemed yummy and simple enough to make for lunch!


What you will need:
~ Pillsbury Cressent Rolls
~ Turkey deli meat
~ Shredded cheddar cheese
~ Bacon bits or bacon pieces that you put on top of salads

Directions:
Preheat oven according to Cressent rolls instructions. Unroll the dough, place turkey, shredded cheese and bacon bits on the larger side of the triangles. Roll up and place on a baking sheet. Bake according to the cressent rolls instructions. (you may have to bake alittle longer until the rolls are golden brown on top).

Simple as that! You can alter the recipe too....I'm doing a ham and cheese version next! Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Monogrammed Pumpkins

I love all things monogrammed....especially if it's for my daugher, Kate!! So...while searching on Pinterest for cute and festive pumpkin-decorating ideas, I came across an adorable monogrammed pumpkin! Here are our Halloween pumpkins for this year!


Of course Kate gets her very own pumpkin to decorate her room with! :) :)

So, here is how I made them:

First, you will need these supplies:


Letters - I picked up these from Hobby Lobby
Paint Scribbles - to make dots on pumpkin with
Mod Podge
Ribbon of your choice
Floral wire

Attach your monogrammed letter to you pumpkin using the mod podge.

Next, paint your pumpkin with the Paint Scribbles to make different colored dots that match your  ribbon. Let the paint dry before attaching the bow.

To make the bow, I cut the ribbon (I used 4 different colors of ribbon) in the length I wanted, crossed them together and tied with floral wire.

Leave enough floral wire in the back of the bow to tie onto the pumpkin stem. If you don't have enough to tie, you can always just hot glue the bow onto the stem. Happy crafting!! :)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Ranch Chicken

This is one of my husbands favorite dishes I cook so we usually have this at least once a week! Its so simple and you can make extras and freeze a batch for another day :)



Ingredients:
  • Chicken breast tenderloins
  • Ranch dressing mix pack
  • Ritz crackers
  • Egg
How to make it:

1.  Place about half of one roll of the ritz crackers and the ranch dressing mix in a ziploc bag. Seal tightly, letting all the air out. Crush the ritz crackers until its finely crushed. Pour the crumbs into a plate.

2.  Beat the egg in a bowl. Take the chicken and dip it in the beaten egg, then coat it with the cracker/ranch mixture. Place the chicken in a 9x13 baking dish

3.  Back at 375 degrees for 25-30 mins. Enjoy! :)

Tip:  When preparing my ranch chicken, I make an extra batch to freeze. After coating the chicken with the cracker/ranch mixture, place in a freezer ziploc bag and freeze it laying flat. When ready, thaw it out and cook it at 375 for 25-30 mins.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Pretzel Candy

I must admit, I'm slightly addicted to any combinations that involves pretzels and chocolate! This is a great snack for guest to munch on at parties plus, you can color coordinate them to match your party's color scheme! :)

(I only made a few because I thought I had more pretzels than I did...oh well! Will make sure I have enough pretzels next time! )

Ingredients:
  • Waffle-shaped pretzels (I already had these 'tiny twist' pretzels and opted to use them instead)
  • Hershey Kisses or Hugs
  • M&Ms
Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Place pretzels on parchment paper on a cookies sheet. Unwrap your hershey kisses and place them in the center of each pretzel. Bake for 4-6 mins, or until the Hershey Kiss is soft to the touch. Press an M&M into the center of each hershey kiss before it has time to cool. Allow the candies to cool for a few minutes. Place in the refridgerator for at least 10 mins to allow the chocolate to set.

These are very yummy and would make great little gifts for the upcoming holiday season! Just place some in a plastic bag tied with colorful ribbon. Then write a sweet message in a card and just tie it onto the bag with the ribbon!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Easy Fall Decorations

This is such an easy and inexpensive way to decorate for fall! My good friend, Carrie Lynn, gave me this idea of using different types of peas and beans to fill a vase and use it as a candle holder!

Here's the materials I used:


  • Bag of split peas
  • Bag of small red beans
  • Bag of popcorn kernels
  • Hurricane vase
  • candles
Just layer the peas, beans, and corn kernels on top of each other and place your candle in the center. That's it!

The Finished Product:



Taco Soup

One of my favorite things to do in the fall and winter time is make (and eat!) soup! Last night I made taco soup and it was so easy and so good, I just had to share!


Things you will need:
  • 1lb ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1can pinto beans
  • 1 can whole kernel corn
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
  • 1 pkg. of taco mix
  • 1 pkg. of ranch dressing mix
Directions:
Brown your hamburger meat and your onions until the beef is done and the onions are transparent. Drain. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large soup pot, let simmer for 30-45 mins. Serve with tortilla chips, corn chips, or corn bread.

I split the lefts overs in half...half went into a container in the fridge for leftovers tomorrow for lunch, and half went into a ziploc freezer bag to be frozen for later. Freeze it laying flat. This way I'll have yummy taco soup to eat later this month when the temperature starts to drop! :)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Christmas Ribbon Wreath

Have you guys seen a ribbon wreath before?? They are gorgeous and so easy to do! I had left over christmas ribbon from last year and decided to make one using my left-overs! This is how it turned out:





I got my inspiration from here.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to add a bow to it or just leave it the way it is. I loved how it turned out! So easy but it took me a few days to finish it since Kate wasn't taking her naps good.

Materials you will need for this project:
  • styrofoam wreath (I used the 10in acorss wreath)
  • scissors
  • Ribbon - I used 5 yards of 9 different ribbon for this project
  • ruler
  • straight pins
How to make your ribbon wreath:

1.  Cut your ribbon into about 4.5 inchs long pieces
2.  Make a loop with each piece of ribbon, allowing the ends to overlap at the bottom
3.  Stick a straight pin (I used sequin pins) through the overlapping ends and securing it into the styrofoam wreath
4.  I did one color of ribbon first (pinning them all over) before going to the next color...that way you can make sure your ribbon colors are spread out evenly apart.
5.  When pinning the loops, make sure you pin the loops close together so the styrofoam doesn't show through once you're finished.

What's great about a ribbon wreath is you can customize it for any holiday or color theme you are wanting to do! Happy crafting!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fall Yarn Wreath

I found the cutest fall wreath yesterday while searching on Pinterest for fun projects and crafts to do for decorations! (Did I tell you my new obsession is Pinterest!?) Its a wreath made out of yarn!! So simple...why didn't I think of that??

My Inspiration ~ Fall Yarn Wreath from Pinterest

So of course I had to run out to buy the supplies and make one myself!!

Here is my Fall Yarn Wreath:


Its so easy to make! Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it! :)

Materials you'll need:
  • Styrofoam wreath (any size but I bought the largest they had in stock)
  • yarn
  • hot glue gun
  • any embellishments you want to add to it. (I made felt flowers from the website listed above so you will need to get sheets of felt in colors that match your yarn you choose)
How to make it:

Hot glue a starting point for your yarn on the wreath. Wrap the yarn around your wreath close together. At stopping points, I cut the yarn and hot glued it down. That way I didn't have to worry about it unraveling before I could work on it again. And that's it! So simple! If you decide to add extras, just hot glue them on your yarn wreath. I made felt flowers in colors that coordinate with my yarn colors.

Here's how to make the felt flowers:

Cut a circle out of your felt. Bigger circles make bigger flowers so cut your circle depending on how big you want your flower to be. Begin cutting the circle into a spiral from the outer edge working inward. Leave a small circle uncut at the end (this will be your bottom of the flower). Next, start at the tip you started cutting your spiral and roll inward, keeping one edge flat. Once you've rolled all the way to the end, put a dot of glue to secure it. Then hot glue the bottom to your spiral flower. That's it!


I hope you enjoy making your very own yarn wreath! Happy crafting!!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Pink Lemonade Birthday Balloon Wreath

So, I know, I know...Kate will turn 1 in December (20th, to be exact) and it's only October. However, as soon as I saw this balloon wreath on another bloggers post, I just HAD to make it for Kate's first birthday. (Did I mention her theme is going to be Pink Lemonade!?) :)


Here is the finished product! This is the balloon wreath tutorial I used to make it! I bought the K from Hobby Lobby which I think adds the pefect finish! They are so much fun to make and so easy! Happy crafting!!