{Last Minute} teacher gift

on monday, someone asked me what cute idea i had for a teacher gift...ahhh, i forgot all about a teacher gift!!!

i knew the teacher LOVES and collects everything i love lucy

so yesterday i found this image on line and printed it on june taylor's sew in fabric sheets (i like using the white ones, rather than the muslin colored)

i had some swell fabric in my stash and had to hand sew a ruffle because my bernina isn't a happy camper right now.

after a couple set backs and the help of a dear friend (thanks sharyn!)

mrs. blackwell received her i love lucy pillow. or as masyn keeps saying "la la lucy":)

Life's a Bowl of Cherries

...that would make a great theme for a summer party.

and these would be oh so cute favors!

Talented & Nice!!!

i thought i'd share this great gift idea.

thanks sheryl!
i LOVE it!

Teacher Gift

it's so hard to come up with a hand made teacher gift every year.
i am thankful that i am surrounded by creative people and my sister is definetly one of them!
she came up with the idea of an apple pincushion.

we ended up making the apple from heather bailey's pattern. we wanted to package it in a clear acetate box from garnish {LOVE that store!}, so we cut the pattern down by a 1/4 inch and used a piece of branch from the plum tree for the stem instead {we were short on time} the leave pins are from joann fabrics. and some grass, ribbon, tulle and a felt apple tag {made with a cricut} and your good to go.

{for next year , of course!}

hope everyone survived the many parties, graduations, promotions and late nights that go along with this time of the year! happy summer!

Garnish!!!

i truly believe it's all in the presentation! the simplest gift is beautiful and well recieved when presented in such a way that says, "i care..."

i found the BEST blog/shop ever. i am in GARNISH heaven!!! just take a peek at some of the ideas they share on their blog...

this one is from better homes and garden, they used the berry basket and created a cute breakfast. i wish i would have seen this earlier, it would have been a cute teacher appreciation gift. {we had to bring a breakfast something...}

this one comes from another great site i just found...

amber from givers log, came up with this idea using this container.

love it!!!

and i love the idea of tying a bow around the water bottles! perfect!

{Cupcakes} for baby

jodi over at pleasant home made these stinkin' cute cupcakes and i just had to share it with you!!! i love, love, love them!

you can click here to view her post and tell her how much you love them!

happy baking!

Serving Others

is so much easier when you have a plan.

i have two meals that i make when i get the opportunity to bring a dinner to a family.

(i'd like to add that i take the easiest route when putting these together and often times that means ready made crust and frozen veggies...)

the first is a chicken pot pie, salad and banana bread.


chicken pot pie


1 pkg. of pillsbury pie crust
2-3 cups chicken breast (cooked and diced)
16 oz. cooked mixed veggies
1/3 cup butter
1 1/3 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper


melt butter & add onions until they are tender. add flour, salt, pepper, broth and milk and cook over med heat until thick. remove from heat and add chicken and veggies. spread crust in pie plate and add mixture. cover with top crust and flute edges (cut away excess dough) with excess dough roll and cut out a cute shape with cookie cutter. cover edges of pie crust with foil and bake at 425 for 35 min.


my notes: i always double this and make two. i only use pillsbury pie crusts, the others are yuck! i only use the bags of frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast tenders. (don't ask) i haven't always been too thrilled with my fluting and you might feel the same way. don't worry no one notices!


the banana bread recipe is so yummy!!!
i actually got it from here!

i'm SuPeR excited because presentation is ReAllY impotant to me and i found a great way to dress up the bread! penny from sew take a hike has an amazing blog full of great ideas and tutorials like this one. so nice!


and if it's a new baby your visiting, she has a great tutorial to make a changing pad.

ok, so that's the first...

the second meal is just as easy. it's an enchilada casserole, spanish rice and a 'sante fe' salad.

enchilada casserole

16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. jar of salsa
1 can (10.75) cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup diced onion
6 (12") flour tortillas, cut into strips
6 boneless, skinless chicken breats cooked and shredded
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

mix sour cream, salsa, cream of chicken soup and onion. layer the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with 1/3 of the tortilla strips, 1/3 of the chicken, 1/3 of the mixture and 1/3 of the cheese. repeat layering with remaining ingredients. bake at 350 for 20-30 min. or until bubbly. enjoy!!!

i make spanish rice to serve with it. i got a great recipe here!
the salad is a pack called 'sante fe' salad.
it's pretty darn good.

and for a yummy treat make this canned corn casserole.

corn casserole

15 oz can drained whole kernel corn
15 oz. can creamed corn
1 box jiffy corn bread mix
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 stick of margarine, melted
8 oz sour cream

mix all ingredients together in a bowl. pour into a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish. bake at 350 for 45 min. or until center is firm.

well that's it. i hope you weren't disappointed.

What 'cha Do On Wednesday

i realized that my what 'cha doin' wednesday should really be, what 'cha do ON wednesday because by the time i get to post this it's already thursday for some of you...
so here's what i did on wednesday...

i made this banner (inspired by my sister's) to go on my headboard. with this stuff from michaels (with the exception of the rick rack)

i made a valentine t-shirt for the little princess that i forgot to take a picture of so i'll show it to you tomorrow.

i loaded this quilt...

i decorated these for the little princess's school party tomorrow.

i put these together to deliver to some friends tomorrow.

and i made this special valentine for the best teacher ever!

what did you do?

A Valentine Treat

for all to enjoy! how cute are these?

cute as a button, i tell you!!!

yes, these are called pretzel buttons! who knew? you can find the recipe here.

if you make them , i'd love to here are they turned out!

i think this will be my fhe (family home evening) treat for next monday...you guessed it we're having a valentine (love) theme. i'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

Giving Gifts

is definetly my favorite part of Christmas. if your like us, you have many friends and neighbors that you give a small gift to. most of the time i try to give a handmade or homemade gift, although, there are times when i come across an inexpensive item that is perfect for gift giving. i must admit it is, at times, difficult to come up with something that will be practical as well as pretty. the presentation is key. which brings me to the next photo.

this is the inspiration to my "presentation" this year. i hope she doesn't mind that i copied her. (it is the best form of flattery right?) anyways, i have a friend that is the most creative person i know. EVERYTHING she does is beautiful and well designed. i'm sure you have a friend like that too. the above photo was the gift she gave me. i LOVE it. but let me just say this...i'm not sure that even martha herself could've made the candle look as cute. perfect example of practical and pretty! thanks karen!

so once i had my pretty figured out, i set out to find my practical. i decided to make up a bunch of yummy banana bread and christmas trail mix (a favorite of "bob's"). i also found gingerbread lotion in gingerbread man bottles at the dollar tree that were super cute. i packaged everything up, loaded the kids in the car, turned on the christmas music and off we went, delivering gifts. it is by far one of my most favorite christmas traditions.

merry christmas.

A Festive Fall Treat

that's easy to make. in an earlier post i gave the ingredients to this tasty trail mix. sissy reminded me that i left out 2 key ingredients. so without further adoo, here's the recipe. mix together the following. m&m's, peanuts, candy corn and the all important, goldfish and mini oreo's. really, it's yummy. if your interested in making a gift out of this yummy treat, (thanks to my sister) i found the jars at pier one. enjoy the giving as well as the treat.

Happy Halloween

everyone. i hope your halloween was fabulous! i'd like to share an unfortunate motto that has taken my life my storm. it reads, "if it weren't for the last minute, i'd get nothing done." halloween was a perfect example of this. i woke up thursday and realized that halloween was the next day. as i mentioned earlier, sissy had to remind me to get pumpkins. i also realized that i hadn't put my treats together for the families who were coming over to eat and go trick or treating. friday morning i set out in a frenzie getting everything together and in the last minute it all came together. here's how it turned out.

i put together these

and these for gifts. (sorry karen, i owe you...)

for the first year, sissy didn't trick or treat with us. instead she went to a church sponsored halloween party on a horn blower cruise. fun.

although sissy was gone, there were plenty of little (and big) goblins that filled our home. we all gathered early for chili and cornbread with yummy cupcakes.

once we filled our bellies, we went trick or treating.

we visited my cousin who lives down the road, and enjoyed the many neighbors who's homes were decorated and "spooky". there seemed to be a lot more trick or treaters than there have been in several years.

we even ran into this great man who was patroling our streets. thanks. we had a great time, i really love halloween and its traditions.