Thursday, May 29, 2014

Fresh Fruit Hand Pies





I wanted to share a recipe for some homemade fruit pies. I made them small like little hand pies. I found this on Pinterest but of course I modified it a little bit like always:


Cream Cheese Pastry

(courtesy of Kraft foods)

2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter or margarine

Put in a food processor and pulse all ingredients, (then divide into two portions if you are using it as a double pie crust) (I wrapped it up as one piece of dough)

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm.


Here is how to make the little pies:

1 recipe for pie crust as above
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup fresh fruit, cut up
1 egg beaten

Preheat oven to 400. I divided the dough into 6 parts and rolled out each one into a circle (maybe 6", you don't want it so thin that it breaks and won't hold the juice in). Then in a small bowl combine the fruit with sugar and cornstarch, mix well. Spoon 2 tbsp of fruit mixture onto half of the circle of pie crust. Fold over to make a half circle (see pictures). Using the tines of a fork, crimp the edges of the pie so it will stay together. Prick the top of your hand pie with a fork to vent. Brush the top of each pie with egg. Bake them on a cookie sheet sprayed with non stick spray for 15-20 minutes at 400.

Cool and pass them around....they don't last long!




Click here to go to the source of the recipe


Wednesday, May 28, 2014

"You Light Up My Life"

Hello there, blog world!

It has been a busy, busy week for me so far. Getting ready for my summer class to start next week. I am taking classes to further my nursing career. It's going to be a crazy year, but I am ready!!

Also, over the next couple of days I will be baking for a bake sale for our youth group. The bake sale is Saturday, so I have a lot of work to do! I will share with you this weekend what I made for the sale. Stay tuned for all the goodies and the recipes!

Tonight I have a card to share. This card was made for the photo/color challenge over at the Peachy Keen Stamps blog. I used a sentiment and the lightening bug from the May stamp release. I was inspired by the bright colors in this photo.




I made this card a little different. I used a flattened toilet paper roll to make a pocket card. I didn't take a picture of the back of the card, but I just wrapped the paper all the way around. Then I folded the bottom of the paper up and glued it down (like wrapping a present) to seal off the bottom. The top of the polka-dot paper is folded down into the opening of the roll and glued to make it look neat and finished. I used a circle punch to cut the half circle notch at the top of the card, so the tag can be pulled out. The tag is made out of a cereal box and is covered in card stock. Take a look and let me know what you think.





I love making things with toilet paper rolls because you are re-purposing it instead of throwing it out. I have made a couple mini albums before using flattened toilet paper rolls as the pages. It works so well! As you save the rolls, the best thing is to store them flat. Fold them flat and keep them under a big, heavy book, or clipped together with binder clips.  Then when you are ready to use them, they are nice and flat.

Hope everyone is having a great week!! Come back this weekend and check out how the bake sale went.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Road Trip!!

I just returned home on Monday from a road trip with my grandma. Our trip to Missouri was great! We visited with family and had a good time. I went fishing with my brother and step-dad, did some crafting with my mom, went shopping,  had a yummy fish fry, and sat on the porch swing and enjoyed the opportunity to relax. We went so my grandma could visit her cousin and her son, who is sick. I am glad we were able to make the trip for to be able to see them. 

I have many good memories of road trips to MO with my nanny. Her and I made a lot of trips together and we always had so much fun. Her family is from MO so we have always had a reason to go there. Plus, my mom, step-dad and my brother live there. (My step dad is also from Missouri)

I just wanted to share some pictures of a few of my favorite things.

On the way there, we like to stop at a pajama outlet. They have all kinds of discounted nightgowns and pajama sets. Then the next stop is in Choteau, OK. The Amish place has all kinds of neat goodies. I stock up on preserves (this time I got peach and strawberry rhubarb), bulk spices, candies, rada knives, and they have misc kitchenwares.
In Choteau, OK. Love this little place

This is in the same building as the
Amish Cheese House. She has the
best homemade breads and goodies

Beautiful view at the lake by my mom's house

The hummingbirds zip by you on the porch
to get a drink. I love watching them 

I spent a lot of mornings on the
porch swing...so relaxing listening
to the birds


My mom also took me to a beautiful quilt shop there to find fabric to make me a junk bag. It was fun going through all the fabric and picking out what colors to use. My bag is so pretty....more on that later.

We had a good time, but I was ready to get home to my hubby and kids.
Do you have any fun trips planned this summer?


Lemon Pound Cake


My grandma and I went to Missouri last weekend to see family. We stayed with my mom and step-dad. I wanted to make something to take with us.....something yummy! I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try.  This pound cake is very good and very easy to make. I also took one to work this week for a coworker's birthday. It was a hit.

This would be good served with cut up strawberries and whipped cream. 

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups unbleached flour + teaspoon salt, sifted

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a bundt pan, or use baking spray with flour. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Fold in the flour and salt mixture in 2 batches, mixing after each addition until well combined. Be careful not to over mix. Spoon the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the cake comes out clean. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil if the crust browns too quickly. Remove the cake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

See link above for source of recipe




My favorite mixer








Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Peachy Keen May Linky Party

Hello folks! I am joining the PKS blog linky party for the first time. You have to make a project using something from the new May release stamps. I just so happened to win two of those sets for free! This is one of the sets I won:


Find it here
Isn't it so fun?!

I decided to make a cute little birthday card with these stamps.  They are so adorable! I started with kraft card stock as the base. I used some patterned paper as the background.  The banner on the side is stamped with the cute phrases in the set and embossed with black powder. I love the effect this gave it, it looks toasty! I used colored pencils to color the stamped raccoon and fire. Then on the inside I stamped the rest of the cute sentiment. 
So what do you think?



Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco

My family loves this easy dish! I love using my Deep Covered Baker from The Pampered Chef. I like that it uses fresh ingredients. I sautéed the chicken with garlic in a hot skillet. Also, I do not use the wine that it calls for. We do not drink wine (or any alcohol for that matter) so I do not cook with it. I just used more chicken broth in its place. It is simple and easy and that's what I like! All the family liked it so that is always a plus.
You can find the recipe here.

The Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker is amazing! It enables you to cook meats in the microwave that taste great. It is like using a brick oven.


Inky Antics HoneyPOP Card

I discovered something new at Michael's last week. And I had a coupon.....bonus!!

Inky Antics is a company that makes stamps. They have this paper called HoneyPOP.  It's honeycomb paper to add 3-D effects to your crafting. Also, they have many stamp sets that go with this paper. The stamp sets can be used by themselves or they have a template stamp to stamp on the HoneyPOP paper to make the 3-D object. 

I only got one set so far. It is a turtle and some cute little birds. These stamps are so much fun!! As you can see in the picture there is a shell stamp to use if you are not using the template with HoneyPOP paper, which is what I did for the first card.

InkyAntics.com

Are you ready to see the super cute card I made with these stamps?


The sentiments that come with these stamps are so cute. You can go to the site from the link above and look at all the available stamps in the HoneyPOP collection. 

I made a 5x5 square card. I colored the stamped images with colored pencils and used a colorless blending pencil to blend the colors. I embossed the grass with the Cuttlebug swiss dots folder. Then I put it all together.

I made an alternate for the inside of the card using the HoneyPOP paper, to show you how it works. For this to work you score your card in the middle about 1/4" apart, this makes room for the thickness of the HoneyPOP paper shape.
Score the fold so it has a 1/4" section in the middle
Here is what the finished product looks like. I know the lighting isn't great, but I hope you can see the 3-D effect it adds. So fun!



Sunday, May 11, 2014

Three Days of Mother's Day Cards

Day 3

Happy Mother's Day ladies!
Unfortunately, we are staying in today. I am feeling sick....thinking it's a stomach bug.
I missed this last night. But here is the third card I made for Mother's Day.


This one is pretty simple. I knew the patterned paper was perfect, but I only had two strips of it. I cut the center piece using my Cricut and Gypsy.  Then I embossed the sentiment with silver. I have a bunch of different colors of this thin lace that my mom gave me. It works great for bows!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Three Days of Mother's Day Cards

Day 2


Ready for the second card? 

This was a little more difficult. I had some papers that I wanted to use for the colors, I just had to figure out what to do with them. So I ended up punching the circles with a circle punch and layering them on the card. I stamped the pattern on the purple paper across the top. The sentiment came from Stampin' Up I believe. It was stamped with versa ink and embossed with silver. 

What do you think? 






Thursday, May 8, 2014

Three Days of Mother's Day Cards

Day 1

It POURED down rain all day today. So, I sat at my craft table with the blinds open and made some cards. I was kind of pushing it since I needed to mail two of them. But, I got them to the post office and hopefully they make it on time. I left for the post office and it was still and quiet out. The rain had a brief pause. By the time I was headed home, it was a torrential downpour!! I haven't seen that much rain in a long time. Anyway, let's get down to it.

 Mother's Day is this weekend, so I thought I would share three cards I made. I had so many ideas for what to make but I chose three fairly simple layouts. It is important to chose a design and color scheme that the recipient will like. I had the general ideas in my head and then dug through paper to find the right colors and patterns. Cards are one of my favorite things to make! They are fun, and quick......usually.


Made for my grandmother

 For this card, I cut the jar and flowers from my cricut. The jar is from the "Doodlecharms" cartridge and the flowers are from "Walk in my Garden." I used ink to ink up the jar and make it a little more realistic. The tag on the jar came from my cricut also, but I'm not sure which cartridge it came from. I used my Gypsy to design it all before I cut it. I actually cut the card shape out with the cricut also. All I did was find the shape I wanted on the Gypsy, make two of them, and line them up. Once they are "welded" the part that is overlapping will not cut (my fold line.) I stacked the yellow layer on the card and put it all together. Then just added the lace. What do you think?

Come back tomorrow to see another Mother's Day card I made. 

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Shayla's Egg Custard

The BEST egg custard!

Have you ever tried egg custard? I had never tried it before last year, and really did not think I would like it. I found a recipe on Pinterest, of course.....my favorite place for new recipes. :) The first time I made it, it was okay. The custard was a little bland and boring. It was a little too egg-y! It needed some richness and depth to it. So, as usual, :) I changed it up. I was a little weary about it and wasn't sure if it would mess it up to change the ingredients. However, I came up with my favorite version, by far!

I make this in ramekins. It is pretty thick like a pudding. I have another version that I used for egg custard pies around the holidays. They were a huge hit! I will share that recipe later. It works better for pie though.



Shayla's Egg Custard


4 eggs

1/2 can of eagle brand milk

Skim milk

About 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Dash of sea salt


Whisk eggs by hand until well blended. Whisk in sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour eagle brand milk into a big measuring cup. Add skim milk to make 3 cups total of milk. Microwave milk until scalded (just under boiling). SLOWLY whisk hot milk into egg mixture. If you go too fast you will cook the eggs. Keep whisking, slowly, until you have added all the milk. Pour egg mixture into ramekins and place them in a larger baking dish. Fill the outside pan with warm water to surround the custard cups. You can sprinkle the custard with nutmeg if you like. I like it better without. Bake at 350 for 30 min, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. The custard may jiggle a little bit, but test it with a knife. The custard will set while it cools. I leave it in the water bath for about 15 more minutes once I remove it from the oven. Then I remove them to a hot pad to cool.

Store in the refrigerator after they cool, I just cover the ramekins individually with foil.

With the sweetened condensed milk, this is so creamy and just right!!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

About me....

My husband and me last fall

My name is Shayla.
I am a nurse and I love my job! I am married to my best friend, he is such a great husband. We have two daughters here with us, and a little angel named Abigail in heaven. We are blessed to have each other and are loving life. Life as a wife, mom, full time nurse, and a student is very crazy! But my creativity is my relaxation and stress relief.

I love cooking and coming up with new recipes that my family loves. I also love making things, cards and scrapbooks.....anything DIY really. I like to knit small projects (quick results or I get bored), make gifts, wood crafts....you name it and I have probably tried it or at least thought about it. 

We have a big family around us and love bringing everyone together. We also are very involved with our church and have a large family there too.

It is my goal to just share some fun, good food, fun crafts, and family with you. 

Monday, May 5, 2014

My Homemade Laundry Soap



If you have never made your own laundry soap, you are missing out! I have made homemade laundry soap many times. So far I have liked them all. The liquid version I made worked well, but it was more time consuming and hard to make.

I was almost out of soap today and thought I would just make my own since I had everything on hand.


This is what I used:


1 bar of laundry soap (Zote or Fels Naptha)

1/2 box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1/2 box of borax

1 container of store brand OxiClean


Process the bar of soap in a food processor to grate it up. I used the shred blade and then switched to the regular blade to mix in the powder. The soap will still be a little chunky but processing it with the borax helps brake it down further.

The borax is usually a little clumpy so this is the one I added to the food processor with the grated soap. I chose only this one because it will not all fit in my processor. After the soap and borax is smooth, add them to a large container. Mix in the remaining ingredients. I put the lid on my container and shook it up to mix it.

You can also add scent boosters if you want. I like the Gain In-Wash Scent Booster the best. It takes just a small amount per load so I keep it separate and add some in as I want to.

That is it!! Use 2-4 Tbsp per load. I measured and found that the scoop that came with the OxiClean was 2 Tbsp so I use that. I put a note on my container that says: 1 scoop for small loads and 2 scoops for large loads.




Peachy Keen Challenge 14-07 :: Sketch Challenge

My FIRST Peachy Keen Sketch Challenge



I just got this new stamp set in the mail and I love it! It is so fun. 

I used kraft card stock as my card base. The yellow layer was embossed with the paisley folder on my Cuttlebug. The bird and the "Spread your wings and fly" came from the April 2013 Peachy Keen stamps set. This is such a fun set, I can't wait to make more creations with it. The other sentiment came from a My Pink Stamper set of animal puns.


The sketch challenge

I hope you like my take on it!

Fairy Garden

Have you ever seen a miniature garden? They are so adorable! My 12 year old daughter and I started looking into them last year. Pinterest is a good source of inspiration for such cuteness. We bought some miniature items from Hobby Lobby and had a plan. Well, life got in the way and we didn't get to it then. 

This year I was determined to do this before she gets too old to be interested! So, I went to a local nursery and found some adorable little plants that would look perfect in our little fairy world. We finally finished our project this past Saturday. The results were perfect! She absolutely LOVES it! Now we get to watch it grow and she can learn how to take care of her own little plants. 


We started by covering the bottom of the pot with rocks to help with drainage. Then, after filling in with dirt, we mapped it out and decided where everything would go. We used glass marbles for stepping stones and the water. 

This was such a fun project for us to do together. I hope she will have good memories of stuff like this someday!