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FUN/DIY

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

 

My girl, Jenna, wrote a great post on Love.  I printed it and hope to refer back to it often.

So what do you do to celebrate Valentines Day?

Our family tradition is for the kids to wake up to a breakfast table full of treats and small gifts.  Sugar for breakfast on Valentines day!!

Todd gives the girls a few bucks to spend on me for Valentines Day.  They get so into it, I always love to see what they chose for me.

This year, we are so excited about a gift that is being given to our family.

 During my cancer battle, we have had meals provided by people at my church, at least 5 days a week.  We have been getting meals since September and it will continue until the end of February!

One of the people in the meal rotation is a guy named Mark.  He is just awesome.  He is a great cook. He helps with children’s church so my girls know and love him.  We have had a blast getting to know him.  He was scheduled to bring a meal on Valentines Day, and asked if he and his girlfriend, Joy, could take the girls for the evening while Todd and I enjoy a quiet house and a special gourmet meal made by them.   The girls are so excited because they will be spending the evening at Chuck E. Cheese with Mr. Mark and Miss Joy.  I can’t wait to enjoy the food–he said they have “practiced” making our meal and that “it’s gonna be goooood!”  How awesome is that???

We feel so loved.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!

Thank you so much for reading, supporting and loving me!

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Books/ Spiritual

One Thousand Gifts-The Book!!

If you have read this blog long enough, you will know I am a huge fan of Ann Voskamp and her blog–The Holy Experience.

  I was so excited when I heard she was writing a book.  I ordered it from last week Amazon, it arrived in two days, and I am reading it through for the second time.  I can’t tell you how much I love this book!  I feel it changing me already.  It is called:

–a dare to LIVE FULLY right where you are.

It is the perfect book for me to chew on as I am entering in the (hopefully) final phase of this cancer fight-6 weeks of radiation.  After fighting cancer, I have a huge desire to fully live. This book is giving me an idea of just how to do that.

 I. Love. It.

I want to buy a copy for every one of my friends!!
It is that good..

Here is what the back cover of the book says:

One Thousand Gifts beckons you to leave the parched ground of pride, fear, and white-knuckle control and abandon yourself to the God who overflows your cup. As Ann Voskamp invites you into her own moments of grace, she gently teaches you how to biblically lament loss, turning pain into poetry; intentionally embrace a lifestyle of radical gratitude/ and slow down and catch God in the moment.

Please take a peak at this awesome video.  It speaks my heart.  It puts into words all the things that this battle for my life has caused me to think about, to ponder.

If you are interested in the book, you can order it at Amazon, where it is doing quite well!  It has 5 stars and 215 reviews…I’m not alone in my praise of this book!

If you use this link to purchase the book, I will get a small percentage to help support this site.  Thank you!

FUN/DIY/ Homemade Gifts/ Valentine's Day

Healthy Valentine Chocolate Mud Balls

I’ve posted this recipe here at New Nostalgia before.  It is a favorite of ours.  It is a great way to get a chocolate fix and at the same time some wholesome goodness from healthy ingredients.  I had these miniature red polka dot paper holders on hand and thought they would be a great holder for our Chocolate Mud Balls.  I think they make great little Valentine treats!

The original recipe calls for wheat germ, oatmeal, chocolate chips, sesame seeds, peanut butter, and honey.  I was out of sesame seeds, so instead, we threw some homemade granola into my food processor and gave it a whirl. I also didn’t have enough peanut butter on hand, so I added some almond butter.  It worked out well, although I do think I should have added a touch more honey for a bit more sweetness.

Peanut butter & honey, melting together.  The spoon had some dry ingredients left on it, which is why you see some chocolate chips and lumps in there. 🙂

My youngest is really getting into cooking and baking lately.  It has been so much fun to have her in the kitchen with me.  She is confident and very independent in her skills, which is really refreshing when it comes to cooking!  It was her idea to make a homemade Valentine treat to take to our neighbors, so she got really into this project!

Adding dry ingredients to wet.

It is quite thick…takes some muscle.

No baking! Here is the finished product, rolled and packaged to hand out to our neighbors for

 Valentines Day.  You can find these containers at the Dollar Tree, 4 for $1.00 for this small size (6×6), and 3 for $1.00 for a round cake pan size. (8×8)  I have talked about these pans before, when I used them to package up  Christmas Cinnamon Rolls for our neighbors

.

We used this fun printed tape to secure the packages.  I found it on clearance at Micheal’s for .50 cents.  Great deal.

My little one found a heart sticker and wrote a little love note on it.

She had great fun delivering them to our neighbors.  It was so fun to see her walk in the snow delivering her gifts.  I was really proud that it was her idea and she followed through until it was complete.  She is my perfect Lil’ Valentine!

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DIY/Crafts/ Holidays/Parties/ Roundups/ Valentine's Day

Valentines Day Craft Ideas

7 Valentines Day Craft Ideas

Egg Carton Heart Art from A Little Hut

I just love this. You could make all kinds of shapes and colors out of these egg cartons. What fun!

 

Button Heart Valentine’s Day Card from K Werner Design Blog
Simple and Beautiful.

 

Puffy Tissue Heart from Kaboose
I remember making tissue art as a kid. These are cute, my girls could do this craft without much direction from me. Bonus!

 

I think this is so elegant. You could use any color felt and a heart-shaped foam form. These white ones would be beautiful to decorate a winter wedding. Red would be great for Christmas. Brown for fall.

 

Potato Stamp Art from Cafe Mom
I plan on using the inside of brown paper grocery sacks for this project.

 

This idea almost seems cruel! It smells like chocolate, looks like chocolate, but you can’t eat it!

 

I have never seen this craft before. What a great way to package little Valentine treats!

 

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FUN/DIY

Dollar Store Burner Covers Transformed Into Art~

A Guest Post From Megan At Brassy Apple:


I love crafting and repurposing when it’s on the “cheap” but chic side. I gave myself a challenge this fall to create a series of useful items very inexpensively with a material that could be easily found. I came across a 2pk of Burner Covers at the $1 store and said “That’s it!” And since then I have ran with it having more ideas than time to create. (I am sure you ALL can relate)


I shared all the ideas I had crafted up with these “out of date” materials in this day and age of flat top stoves and gas ranges on TV show this fall. 





Some of my favorites have been…..
I love ART in any room but especially in kids bedrooms. Love it even more when it has a function like these sports balls I created for my Son’s room. Paper work and pictures can be easily displayed! 
Perfect for the car, the waiting room, church or just to keep little hands entertained wherever! I also like that it isn’t too bulky or big that I can slip it into my purse or diaper bag. Just a little chalkboard paint, markers, magnets and imagination! 
Add pattern and color to the counter top or even the wall! A little fabric or scrapbook paper and mod podge and you can create a message center. Great for holding recipes too!
Here’s a bit about me:

My name is Megan and I am the creative force behind Brassy Apple Designs.  Designing allows me to do something I love while still being a Mom and striving to reach my own goals, dreams and further develop my talents.  I am a passionate DIY-er and love to refashion clothing as well.  There is never enough time in the day to complete all the projects running around in my head.  BUT the ones I do get done I share on my blog!
From home decor to crafting with kids to upcycling those boxy t-shirlts into something chic for YOU!  I’m just carving out my path one day at a time….
For More Of Megan:

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FUN/DIY/ Homemade Gifts

Fireside Mocha Mug -Easy Teacher Gifts!

I made 2 homemade food gifts this year.  Clone Of A Cinnabon pans for neighbors and co-workers, and these Fireside Mocha Mugs for Teacher gifts.  Both of these food gifts started with a trip to my local dollar store.  Foil pans with lids for my Cinnamon Rolls, and these super fun mugs for the mocha mix.  I love the dollar store!!
{bags and ribbon from Micheal’s, snowflake tags from Target}
I could not believe how fast and easy this mix was to make.  It sure beats making a gazillion Christmas cookies!  It tastes really good– creamy and delicious!  I made extra to store away, and when I think of one more person I’d like to give a gift to (mailman?) I simply grab a bag and mug, pour a cup of mix in, tie with twisty and tag, and stick in a candy cane.  So simple!  
This is also really cute packaged in a mason jar.  Last year I used mason jars for my Peppermint Stick Hot Cocoa, click through for packaging idea.

 I did a few packaged like this, inspired by some expensive gift mugs I saw at the mall displayed in this way. Most of the mugs I kept simple, as in the first picture above.  I thought they were cute adorned with the candy canes, and it saved money and time to skip the cellophane and wire ribbon.

 I found the recipe at AllRecipes.com.  I did change it up a bit after tasting a mug.  I used less coffee, more cocoa mix, less nutmeg, and some salt.

Here is my version:
Fireside Mocha
1 cup powdered creamer
11/2 cups powdered hot cocoa mix
1/2 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix together in a large container and distribute into jars or bags.  Instructions attached should read “Mix 3-4 heaping spoonfuls in a mug of hot water”
*I quadrupled this to make 13 mugs.  Each mug contained about a cup of mix.
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