November Birch Box is HERE!!

My November birch-box just arrived and i got some pretty awesome things this month! (If you don't know about birch-box check out my previous post about it).  Check out these pics of what was included...

Ribbon Wreath Tutorial

Okay, so i know all of y'all have seen these super cute ribbon wreaths people are making these days. And when i started researching to make my own, i couldn't find directions that didn't leave out the little parts that i was really unsure about. So, i decided to make my own tutorial for everyone out there trying to make one of these and hopefully mine will be more helpful than most i saw.

To begin here is what you will need:

Straight Pins without the colorful little tops (you don't want these showing on your wreath)

Ribbon and LOTS of it (at least 8 different designs)

Tulle that in a color that matches with your ribbon

A 14" round foam wreath form

Optional: 

Wooden Letters

Fishing Line

Elmer's Glue

Hot Glue

Glitter

Step 1:

Gather all your supplies neatly, you don't wanna have to look for things as your making your wreath.

Step 2: Wrap the wreath in tulle so the areas you may not cover with ribbon don't show through.

Step 3: Cut 3 inch pieces of all of your ribbon designs. Do more than you think you will need its better to save some for later than to have to stop and cut as your making the wreath!

Step 4: Shape your piece of ribbon into a circle. This is how you will pin it on the wreath.

 Step 5: Using one design at a time and starting with your widest piece, pin the ribbon pieces evenly around the circle like i have pictured below. (if your using more ribbon designs than me, you may want to spread these out a little more) On the wider pieces i used 2-3 pins.

Step 6: Continue around the circle with your second design (next widest) and fill in spaces between the first ribbon pieces. You can follow the next few images if you are wondering how to place  pieces as you keep moving around the wreath.

TIP: If you don't like the way a piece of ribbon is falling, pin it the way you want it to go. Don't be afraid to touch up with pins especially after you have it hanging, that's when i noticed most of my wreaths flaws.

Optional Part: Wooden Letters

 Step 1: Glitter your letters in a color that matches your wreath but also stands out a little. For mine i chose silver.

Step 2: Once the glitter dries, hot glue pieces of fishing line to the back of your letters and tie them to the wreath. Tip: hold the wreath up after you put on each one so you can see how they will fall.

BirchBox

For those of you who don't know what a birchbox is, let me introduce you. Its a $10 dollar a month subscription in which you get to sample the latest and greatest beauty and health products on the market! What girl wouldn't want to take part in that??? I just recently joined and received my first birch box a few days ago and oh man, do i love the stuff they sent! 

(Items in box in clockwise order)

1. Supergoop City Sunscreen Serum. This stuff is lightweight and can be worn directly under your makeup. 2. Mary Lou Manizer by the balm cosmetics highlighter and eye shadow. This  is seriously my new favorite for everyday wear 3. Luna protein bar in chocolate peanut butter.... was soo good! 4. Mox Botanicals Lip Butter. Unlike the heavy chapstick like balms, this one is mousturizing with out feeling like you have a ton of grease on your lips 5. Harvey Prince Eau Flirt in Lavender Pumpkin. They had me at pumpkin! Im pretty much obsessed with anything pumpkin now that fall is in the air!

If your not already intrigued by the photos check out all the latest products and sign up for yourself at birchbox.com!

DIY Football Door Hanger

Football season is right around the corner. Here's a cute way to display your love for your favorite team on your door for around 20 bucks (or less if you have a lot of these materials on hand.)

What you will need:

5 different patterns of ribbon in your team colors

Puff Paint in two colors (one dark, one light)

Paint in your favorite team colors

Bags or Newspaper for stuffing

Round foam paint brush

1/2 yard of burlap

Stapler

Sharpie

1. To begin trace out your football shape onto the burlap to use as a guide for cutting.

2. Fold burlap in half and cut the two sides completely out. You may want to line up your sides before painting to make sure they match correctly.

3. Trace out the design you are going to use directly onto the burlap.

4. Lay down the base coat of paint and don't worry it will take a good amount to completely cover the burlap. (make sure you have something underneath as it does seep through. Go green and re-use a shopping bag!)

5. After the first coat has completely dried, use your round foam brush to make the different color circles on the white trim. And outline your team name/logo in your lighter puff paint color.

6. Once the circle have completely dried, outline your white trim and top laces in your darker puff paint color. Wait for it to dry and then line up your two pieces and staple together until you have just enough room to stuff the football. Then, using your recycled newspaper or bags, evenly stuff the football until it is nice and puffy and without wrinkles.

7. Cut one long piece of ribbon (use your thickest one) to use as the hanger for the football. Staple this piece to the back of the football. Then cut 6 inch pieces of your remaining ribbon and tie them to the middle of the large ribbon.

8. Hang on your door and let your team spirit show!

Barberitos at Home!

For those of you who love the southwestern food chain barberitos as much as i do, you know it is not practical to go to the restaurant and get some every time a craving hits you. So after much researching on the internet and a little testing in the kitchen i have come up with a recipe to make one of my favorites at home with a few shortcuts!

Skinny+ Taco

Ingredients

1 can of dole diced tomatoes with onions

1 small container sour cream

Chicken cut into small cubes 

1 can of diced jalapenos

Small flour tortillas

1 can black olives

1 can black beans

garlic powder

Lime juice

cilantro

salt

Directions

1. Get a small bowl. Place chicken cubes, enough lime to almost cover the cubes, garlic powder, and salt to taste and allow chicken to marinade while preparing everything else.

2. Put black beans in a small microwavable container and microwave for about 2 min if your using the whole can.

3. Open tomato can, drain extremely well, then add in chopped cilantro and jalapenos to taste.

4. Cook the chicken with the juice in a skillet until the lime begins to caramelize and you get a nice brown color.

5. Place one flour tortilla on a microwavable plate and sprinkle just a little water on top ( too much will make it soggy) and microwave for 30 sec.

6. Assemble ingredients. I like to start by spreading the sour cream on the tortilla first, followed by the beans and chicken and then all the toppings.

Beer Pong Cake

This is the LARGEST cake by far that i have ever made! It was so big the pan would not fit in our teenie oven so i had to walk back and forth between my house and my grandmas to get the thing baked! Thank gosh she lives next door! So to begin you will need the following:

13x19 inch sheet cake pan ( Wilton pans have never let me down!)

1 small box (1.5lb) wilton ready to use fondant

Bake Easy Non- Stick Spray by Wilton

Three big boxes of rice krispy treats

LOTS of Buttercream

4 boxes of cake mix

Gold cake gel

Cake Tool Organization

For any of yall who like to create fun cakes like me, you know there are lots of tools and supplies involved. Shoving them in a drawer somewhere means they end up lost, especially during those times you really need them. SO, i created a box to keep all my things neatly organized in one place! And you know i had to place a cute monogram on the front to add a touch of "pretty".

As you can see in these last two pictures, these little snapware containers have been one of the greatest little things ive found yet! They come in sets of two with a lid but you can keep adding on. Ive added another two for more room and just put the extra lid in a safe place in case i ever need it. You can find these at any store that sells storage bins etc.

Nurse Cake

This is the cake i made for my moms birthday. I have no formal cake training and just kind of started making them on a whim. For those of you who look at this and say there is no way i can do that, YES YOU CAN! Molding fondant is like playing with edible play doh and i know we have all done that a few times in our lives! And no i did not carve this cake, i have a t-shirt shaped pan from wilton which is retired but you can always find it on ebay for 15-20 bucks. Its a good investment and can make anything from baseball jerseys to baby onesies.

I baked two layers of the tshirt shaped cake, covered it with a crumb coat of icing and stuck in the freezer to let it set. While it was in the freezer, i rolled out the fondant ( i buy the ready made wilton kind so theres no measuring/ messing up involved) to a rectangle using my cake pan to measure out to the correct size. When the cake was ready, I rolled the fondant up loosely onto my rolling pin and draped it over my cake and worked it in until smooth. I used the leftover pink to make everything else you see on the cake. I died a small portion black to make the pen and stethescope and i used pearl dust to make the silver items. This was an EASY cake great for those just starting with fondant like me.

Farm Cake

After weeks of planning and shopping for materials, here it is The Farm Cake! This cake was the most challenging one i have made to date. I was having a lot of problems with fondant cracking because i was not taking my time like i should have. So i ended up doing some things twice. The barn is made of rice krispies stacked flat (two rows of them) and then carved a little at the top to form the shape. I literally rolled out the red fondant and laid the the rice krispy barn over to cut out the shapes for it. For the roof, i measured the length the strips needed to be then cut out a few and stuck them in the fridge to let them get hard. For the fence, (this is the part that really took the most time) i rolled out my brown fondant and using a piece of paper as my guide, cut straight long strips down and then came back in and cut across for the length i needed. To make the rows behind the tractor, i used a star tip and brown butter-cream mixed with a little bit of cake crumbs and kind of twirled my tip as the icing came out to make it look like the tractor was plowing. Everything else on the cake is free formed to the best of my abilities including the pig, the rocks, and the chicken.

Lasagna Roll Ups

Lately I've become bored with my old recipes, so I decided to start switching things up. Here is a much easier and faster way to make lasagna in individually packaged bundles.

Recipe

Makes 10 Servings

10 Uncooked Lasagna Noodles

Meat Sauce

1/2 lb Ground Beef

1 Can Your Favorite Spaghetti Sauce

1/4 Tsp. Minced Garlic

Salt to Taste

Cheese Mixture

15oz Ricotta Cheese (small container)

1 Large Egg

1 3/4 Cups Mozzarella Cheese

3/4 Cup of Grated Parmesan Romano Blend

Salt To Taste

Topping

1/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese

Sprinkle of Grated Romano Parmesan Blend

Left over Sauce

Directions 

1. Cook Lasagna Noodles To Al Dente According To Box Directions (about 8 min). Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. While noodles are cooking brown ground beef in a pan, drain off grease, and add in sauce, salt and garlic. Set Aside.

3. Mix together all ingredients in cheese mixture. Set Aside.

 4. Lay out one lasagna noodle as shown above and place three spoonfulls of cheese mixture along the length of the noodle. Take your spoon (and using a mashing not spreading motion), mash the cheese mixture so that it covers the entire noodle.

 

5. Use about one spoonfull of your sauce mixture and spread it out along your noodle. Roll up the noodle and place seam down in a pan.

6. Spread Remaining Sauce over the roll ups and sprinkle with cheese. Place in a 350 degree oven covered with tinfoil for 25 minutes.

Summer Treat Number One: 

Homemade Strawberry Daiquiris

50 Calories

Recipe

1/4 Cup Master of Mixes Strawberry Daiquiri Mix

1/8 Cup Heavy Cream

10-12 Ice Cubes

1/4 Cup White Rum

Throw into the blender until combined. Makes one serving.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls with a Pecan Brown Sugar Glaze... can you say yummmmmm??

Recipe

Cinnamon Rolls

1 sheet of puff pastry dough

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

1/8 cup white sugar

1tbsp cinnamon

Glaze

6 tbsp butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pecan pieces

pinch of salt

Directions

1. Grease 24 cup mini muffin pan. Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. Mix together butter, salt, and sugar for the glaze. Place a tiny dollop in each muffin cup (dont worry if it doesn't look like a lot, it will spread out when you bake). Put a few pieces of pecans on top of each dollop.

3. Unfold thawed pastry dough and smear with the two tablespoons of butter.

4. Sprinkle brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon over the butter. Cut sheet into three parts.

5. Roll up each sheet individually, cut each sheet into 8 pieces. Place cinnamons rolls on top of glaze, bake, and enjoy!!

Monogrammed Brita Bottle

For those of you who are as crazy about monogramming as I am, here something new I decided to try. I dont have a fancy vinyl cutting machine so i usually just go to etsy to order mine for about 2 bucks a piece. For those of you who dont know what etsy is, check it out, it is awesome!! 

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Frittatas!

36 Calories per piece

These yummy and quick mini frittatas are a great breakfast for people in a hurry. Make the night before and pop in the microwave in the morning and you have a delicious low calorie breakfast! 

Recipe

6 eggs

1 cup skim milk

1 tblsp butter, melted

6 pieces turkey bacon (cut into 4 pieces each)

1 tsp salt or to taste

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped green onions (optional)

Cooking Spray

Mini muffin pan (makes 24 mini muffins)

Oven pre-heated to 350

Directions

1. Whisk together eggs, melted butter, milk, and salt.

2. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray

3. Cut each piece of turkey bacon in to fourths and place one piece in every hole.

4. Pour egg mixture into pan. I filled each hole almost all the way up leaving a little room to add cheese and to let it slightly rise. It's also easier to put egg mixture in a small measuring cup to pour it in.

5. Sprinkle cheese on top of egg mixture to your liking

6. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until slightly brown on top!