Quick Cinnamon Rolls

This past week, my son pulled out some Pillsbury rolls out of the fridge before breakfast and he wanted to roll them out with a rolling pin. (The day before we had used some of the package for dinner). I decided it would be fun to make some cinnamon rolls for breakfast, so here they are:

They were really quick and easy to make.  Plus, they turned out pretty good!

We rolled out the rolls...

Added cinnamon and sugar to the top...

Then, baked, according to package directions.  A delicious, fattening, and unhealthy breakfast, all in under 20 minutes!  Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese

Mac & Cheese?  Yep, it's even the stuff from a box.  Western Family brand.  Well, one day I decided to make it for lunch, and halfway through making it, forgot that we had finished our last gallon of milk for breakfast.  Well, I didn't want to run to the store, so I looked in the fridge and tried to think of something liquid I could add that wasn't water.  Then I spotted the sour cream!  It is made from milk!  I decided to give that a try.  It turned out delicious, actually!  It was creamy ( slightly sticky), and the cheese stuck to the noodles so good!  It had the texture almost like alfredo sauce. 

I know I don't share much about food around here, but I would like to more.  Recently I was thinking about how I don't post much about food.  I am usually baking or cooking something up (more than crafting, even)!  I love to cook and to try new recipes (and it's usually not made from a box).  This year I would like to share more food on my blog.

Tohoku Tote

Remember back in September when I posted about the Tohoku Tote that I made?  Well, I decided to make one for my mom for her birthday this year.  This time I followed the pattern better, and it was full-size.  (Last time I got too excited and started cutting before I read through everything, so it was more purse-sized).  Anyways, here it is:

I love the polka dots!  The hardest part was choosing what color to go with it!

Wedding Reception {Part 2} The Cake

As my sister was making wedding plans, she decided she wanted a cupcake cake, and we found this one on pinterest.  Her colors were silver and teal, so this was absolutely perfect!  She wanted me to make the cake for her...the pressure was on (for me)!

This was my second time ever making a fondant cake, so I really have zero experience.  All I know was learned from watching Cake Boss, so yeah, keep that in mind. :)  Overall, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

 We (my mom, sisters, and I) make these cute covers out of silver doilies we got at the dollar store (yay for the dollar store!)

 I made the top cake out of rice krispie treats in a spring form pan.  I greased the pan with a bunch of shortening before putting the rice krispie treats in.  I squished them down pretty tight so they edges would be more smooth.  I "glued" on the fondant with frosting.  I ended up putting on two layers of fondant because the first was bumpy because of the rice krispies (looking back, I think more frosting would have solved this problem.)

I used Our Best Bites Whipped Buttercream (from their cookbook) recipe for the frosting.  I love it because it isn't too sugary and the texture is amazing.  It does say in the recipe to store it at room temperature, but I figured it would be fine in the fridge overnight...well, I was wrong.  Check out the cupcakes above, the frosting is a little weird looking, and it started running down some of the cupcakes.  My mom and I were laughing about it though, because we were both just happy the second reception was almost over...it is a lot of work!

Wedding Reception {Part 1}

This past December, one of my sisters got married, so I wanted to share some pictures from the reception.  My mom did all of the decorating and made the food and it turned out wonderful!  I got to use my new camera to take pictures, which, after I figured out a good setting, was so much fun!  I am still in the process of figuring things out with it, but I am happy so far with the pictures!  Oh, and did you notice I have a new photostamp?  I was excited to see a post over at Sugar Bee Crafts of how to make one, that is so much simpler than the method I was currently using!

This is a picture of one of the centerpieces.  It is sitting on a mirror with some crystals.  The tables had white table cloths.  Under the mirror is a big square of blue covered by a sheer fabric with silver snowflakes printed on it.

This is one of the dividers in front of the line.  They are silver poles wrapped with lights and a big bow on top.    There were also a bunch of Christmas trees around that were wrapped in white lights that I don't have a good picture of. (Sorry)

Then on to the deliciousness!  My sister wanted cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate, and fudge for the refreshments and the table looked gorgeous.  Just looking at this picture makes me want some.  On a side note, do you read Sew Dang Cute Crafts?  She recently was on a quest to find the best cinnamon roll recipe and tried a whole bunch.  I also would like to find the best recipe, so it was fun to follow along.  I am excited to try the recipe that I thought looked the best and that she picked as a favorite.  My cinnamon rolls always seem to turn out too heavy or doughy or hard...you name it!

 Here is a picture of the plates of fudge.  Yes, plates.  There were 4 or 5 different kinds!  My favorite was one that was covered in caramels.  But, they were all delicious!  I suggested that my mom get plates and cups from the dollar store to make the trays (as I have seen on blogs and love!) and that's what she did.  They looked fabulous and I forgot to get a picture highlighting them...bummer!

Here's the hot chocolate loot.  The pink marshmallow's are peppermint flavored.  Isaac loved them.  He actually pushed a chair over to stand on so he could reach them. :)  Silly boy.  There was also lemon/lime water to drink.  The reception was beautiful and delish.  I also have pictures of the cake that I will share in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Pig Rug {Oink, Oink}

I decided to use some inspiration I found on Pinterest...

Cute rug, huh?!  You should head over to Happy Lizard Hill and read the story - it's pretty funny!  Well, my aunt collects pigs and her birthday was coming up, so I decided to give it a try.

I bought about 5 t-shirts and made yarn out of them (I googled how to do it), and then I found a doily pattern and started crocheting.  I didn't make the whole doily, but just kept going till it was the size I wanted.  I made a huge doily and then the ears and a snout, and of course it had to have googly eyes!

The whole thing was ripply after I got done and I was a little worried, but I ironed it and it worked perfect! I used a squirt bottle to dampen and then ironed and it got pretty flat and stayed that way.  I love the way it turned out...oink, oink!

Glass Bottle Snowman

I guest posted at Giggles, Glitz and Glam in December and wanted to share that project with you here.  It is really quick and (would have) only taken 5 minutes, (if I knew exactly what I was doing!)  I am going to share with you how to make this simple glass bottle snowman.

This would make a perfect last-minute gift or decoration.

 I used vinyl, wire, a glass bottle I have had for years, pliers, a hole punch, and book pages (not pictured).

 First, I made a handle around the top of my bottle with the wire.  I have seen this on pinterest and love the look!

 Next, I punched some holes out of my vinyl (much faster than getting the silhouette out).

 The next part is pretty self explanatory, but I stuck the vinyl circles in a face shape.  Next, I rolled up several book pages together and stuck them inside, and ta-da!

I love the simplicity of this project and it is so easy to change if I get tired of it in a few years!  Thanks for letting me share my project with you! Hope you all are having a Happy New Year!

Happy 2012!

Wow!  I thought I would be back, as I said in my last post, but the holidays were pretty busy, as I'm sure they were for everyone else!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!  We had an enjoyable holiday season!  My son was so fun this year and loved rearranging the tree and was a pro at opening his presents!  I got a DSLR camera that I am so excited to figure out!  Also, my sister got married over the holiday, so I have some pictures from that - I am hoping I remembered to take some anyway!  I completed a few projects over the break, including some gifts, that I plan an posting later!

I have some new ideas for the blog, including a new header for the new year, and I also have a fun idea in mind for a tutorial.