cake batter cookies...

today i made some cake batter cookies... they are pretty easy and my girls love them so i thought i'd share the recipe with you... i originally saw them here... {i adapted it a little... using a yellow cake mix instead of a vanilla one and only 1/2 cup of sprinkles instead of a full cup...}

ingredients:

~ 1 yellow cake mix  {18.25 oz.}

~ 1 tsp. baking powder

~ 1/2 cup vegetable oil

~ 2 eggs

~ 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

 ~ 1/2 cup sprinkles 

  mix the cake mix and baking powder in a mixing bowl...

mix the oil, eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl... once mixed add it to the cake mixture...

stir the ingredients together... once stirred... add the sprinkles mixing them throughout the dough...

drop by teaspoon full on cookie sheet...

bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes...

it's my aunt's birthday today so while the cookies were cooling, i gathered up some cute packaging supplies... a canning jar, a polka dottie cupcake liner and i made a happy birthday tag laced with some mini-ball fringe trim...

once they were cooled... i packaged them up...

i placed the decorative cupcake liner over the top of the jar before placing on the silver lid... then i added the tag...

and there you have it... a fun birthday treat...

enjoy!

have a happy day~

angie

from my heart...

i have no pictures to share today... i'm just writing from my heart...

yesterday i went to visit my aunt who is home from texas... i look forward to that when she's home because it's always so nice to sit and talk with her... while she's here she stays at my grandparents house...

while i was very excited to see her and catch up, it's getting harder for me to see my grandma g. these days... i'm very fortunate to still have my 3 grandparents... but my dad's mom has been sick for quite a while... i have always been very close with her and it just makes me so sad to watch the decline... i pulled away a bit because it was hard for me to see her getting worse... that is selfish on my part... i recognize that... i think we all deal with things differently and i am not a fan of change... it kind of scares me... and the changes i'm seeing over there are scary ones... i went two weeks ago and it was rough... she couldn't hear me which made me so sad... and she barely spoke... the one thing she said to me was "where did the years go?"... she closed her eyes and tears streamed down her cheeks... all i could do was sit and hold her hand and cry with her... 

i went back over to see her last week and spent some time there today... when i asked her if she wanted something to drink, i wasn't sure if she even heard me... there was a little delay and when i turned around all i heard was "how about a hi-ball?"... she made me laugh... my whole life i don't think i've ever seen her have a drink, unless it was a small glass of beer with salt in it on a really hot day... when i looked back at her in her hospital bed, which is now in the living room, she had a big smile on her face which made me smile, too... then she rested her eyes again...

sometimes in life we have to do hard things... this is one of those times for me but i know that this time is precious and i am so very thankful for the time that i am spending with her...

always hold your loved ones close... 

have a happy day~
angie

hoop wall art project...

i slept horrible last night... fell asleep on the couch... never made it upstairs... woke up to the 2 hour delay notice which threw me into a tailspin... 

missed my classes again today... that made me feel irresponsible... and grumpy... it was not how i wanted to start off my day...

once the girls were off to school i tried to focus on things that needed done around here... i threw in a load of laundry {which has been piling up} and then i began wandering from room to room... do any of you do this? busy yourself about the house but you're really getting nothing done? that was me today... it was very gloomy out... the freezing rain from last night left the view from my windows a slushy, dreary mess... 

so i decided to make something... i figured that would make me feel better...  i've been wanting to make a hoop wall art project ever since i saw the liberty of london fabric hoop wall on the purl bee site years ago {you can check that out here}...

i bought these little felt flowers the other day made by basic grey {they are from the serendipity and shine on collection and the fact and fiction collection}... love the colors...

 i gathered some cute fabrics... wrapped my hoop... and began laying things out... i came up with fabric stitched on stems and leaves for the flowers...

 i wasn't really sure the look i was going for... but before i knew it, i had it assembled... and it turned out like this...

pretty cute... i think :)...

 i like the dimensional look of the flowers from the side... and the trim at the top of the bunting is braided which added some interest {that was maizie's idea :)}...

this was fun to make and i can see more of them in my future... i need to turn this into part of a grouping for our wall... that would make me happy...

now... time to focus back on my mountain of laundry...

have a happy day~
angie

sunday to sunday...

last week i did a sunday to sunday post ... i kinda like the idea of it... a little recap of the week so that i remember the little things... 

on sunday i was thankful for little, helping hands in the kitchen... her idea to help me dry and put away the dishes...

we all enjoyed having monday off from school... it was a lazy day at home, hanging out... worked upstairs a little more... tackled another pile of fabric...

tuesday was a snow day... the girls and i were so happy to have another day off together... we worked on valentine projects {you can read about those here if you missed it}... and i made some washi tape clothespins... 

and then... there was wednesday... ugh! 2 hour delay + 2 girls having to be at 2 different schools at 2 different times + myself missing 2 out of three classes and having to email 2 professors = me being 2 frazzled to take many pics during that day...

thursday was good... john and i had breakfast at panera and then grocery shopped... we were out of e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g... felt good to come home... clean the fridge and get everything put away... one thing i'd like to be better with is meal preparation... it's so hard though... any tips? pointers? recipe ideas? please share, if you do...

later that night i continued turning this...

into this...

can't wait to share what it will be when it's done...

after my classes on friday,  i met a friend at panera for lunch {obviously i couldn't get enough of that place this week... ha!}... then i spent a little time at the tj maxx... and then headed to joanns to pick up some things that i needed {and a few other items that weren't on the list somehow found their way into my cart}...

{can't wait to turn these fabrics into something cute... my mind is kinda swimming with ideas... i'm really looking forward to sewing more... i had so much fun when i was making the children's clothing... and i think i'd like to start doing that again... we'll see...}

saturday is another picture-less day... it was spent doing things around the house until later in the evening... john and i had a date night... we met friends that we haven't seen in forever at V2 {downtown}... can't believe i've never been there... it's a really nice place... fun atmosphere... for my local friends reading this... if you haven't been there... you should try it... the calamari is delish!

and... back to sunday... the girls have been wanting to do something nice for our neighbors that live on either side of us... they really are great people... they help with snow blowing, leaf removal in the fall, always bring us fresh produce in the summer and are always very good to our family... i love that the girls wanted to do something kind for them...

we decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies...

maizie and marina took turns adding the ingredients... {you have to keep everything even stephen around here :)}... and when they were finished... maizie stamped brown lunch bags with the word "cookies"... and i made some tags that said "for you"... we wrapped the packages up with a little bakers twine and went and made the deliveries... 

the neighbors were so thankful and the girls were smiling from ear to ear... a little kindness goes a long way...

tonight my heart is full...

have a happy day~

angie

valentine touches here and there...

little touches of valentine's day are making there way about our home... thought i'd share a few of them with you...

{jar of hearts... going on my dresser}

remember these hearts?... i sewed them together... 

now they're hanging from the chandelier in our breakfast nook...

and i made little tags from these supplies...

 i thought it would be cute to clip these to the front of a wire caddy that holds milk bottles that my mom and dad surprised me with a few years back... it's one of my favorite things...

i covered some mini clothespins with washi tape and clipped them on...

and i bought myself some tulips... i think that they are the prettiest flower... and look... there were 7 in my bunch instead of 6... what a happy surprise when i got home...

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now... i have an announcement... the hand knit dish cloth giveaway winner is...

 congratulations, sylvia!!! please email your info to oopsiemaizie@yahoo.com so i can get your happy mail sent out to you...

thanks to all who took the time to comment and enter...

have a happy day~

angie

milk art experiment...

ok... i'm not a very science-y girl... but maizie and marina both really enjoy it... it's maizie's favorite class {besides art} and marina loves to go to the science lab that's new to her school this year...

i saw this thing on pinterest called milk art... {you can see it here... thanks for sharing flutter, flutter}... since it had the word art in it, i checked it out because art is more my speed}...

it's like a mini experiment... and it's pretty fun to watch... 

all you need:

 milk {a thin layer of 2% or higher on the bottom of a plate}

 food coloring {i only had regular blue food coloring left so i used it and i pulled out the green gel coloring from the "rainbowl cake"} 

dish soap {i used the method brand from target}

once you have the thin layer of milk on the bottom of your plate, add drops of food coloring in the center... then squirt some dish soap in the center of that...

stand back and watch... the girls thought it was pretty awesome... {i was so busy watching that i forgot to take a picture of that step}...it all separates... and the colors move all around... mixing and blending... when it finally stopped swirling this is what it looked like.... 

the earth... 

pretty neat- don't ya think?

the girls wanted to document it, too... they always see me taking pictures of everyday moments and i think it's rubbing off on them... not a bad thing :)...

 you probably have everything you need right in your kitchen... give it a try... it's all about making memories...

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update:  the dish cloth giveaway is being extended until this friday {1-25-13} due to some issues in the comment section... if you had trouble please try again, i think the problem is fixed :)

as always, thanks for taking the time to read and comment!

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have a happy day~

angie

how we spent our snow day...

the girls had a snow day today... marina woke up at 5 a.m. and maizie was up at around 7:30... so much for sleeping in :)...

"what are we going to do today?" is the biggest question asked in our house... and it's usually as soon as their feet hit the floor in the morning... or the variation of the question... "what are we going to do tomorrow?" which is always asked at bedtime...

since we were home and there was no way that i was heading out in single digit temps, i broke out the new heart punch and some patterned scrapbook papers for me, and some art supplies to get the girls going for the day...

while they drew and painted, i punched hearts...

 bunches of them... i think i'm going to string them together to hang from the little chandelier that's in our breakfast nook...

the girls were busy drawing in black ink, on old book pages... and then painting some of the details...

a valentine girl... by maizie

a lovebird... by marina

they turned out so sweet... love them and the little hands that did the creating...

have a happy day~

angie

hand knit dish cloths... a giveaway

hand knit dish cloths are one of my favorite things... remember my spunky gram that i mentioned {here}... well, she makes them all of the time...

my mom is a bit of a hoarder with them... like, she'll never run out... she has a huge collection going... i like to stockpile them also... they are soft, with great texture... they aren't too bulky and fit down into glasses perfectly... 

i've had friends of mine take them right out of my cupboard because they love em, too...

i have a little surprise for you today... my gram was sweet enough to share some with me so that i can share some with one of you... i have a set of three... cute colors... a little dose of happy for your kitchen...

i would love if you would share the link to my little blog with your friends... 

please leave a comment below for one entry into the giveaway... if you become a follower of my blog {please see the followers/join this site section of my sidebar} then you will receive an extra entry...

this contest will go until wednesday night {1-23-13} when i'll choose a winner...

thanks to you all for taking the time to read this... your comments mean so much...

good luck!

have a happy day~

angie

sunday to sunday...

it was a busy week...

on sunday... a friend of mine invited me to try yoga... it was my first time... where the temp was kicked up a bit... it was an intermediate class that went for an hour and fifteen minutes... phew... who knew that yoga was so intense... not this girl...

i can safely say that i am not at an intermediate level... some basic yoga may be more my speed... i liked it enough to know that i'll give it another try... 

{sorry... no photos from this experience... it wasn't pretty...}

monday was back to school for me... 3 classes this semester... a special education class, a tech for teaching class and an art class... so far so good...

and maizie informed me that she no longer wants to take jazz... she'd like to go back to ballet... now i just have to see if that's still possible... i hope that it is... if so, it will be her 6th year of ballet...

tuesday... marina takes jazz and that girl loves it... they are doing their routine to "it's a hard knock life" from annie... i love that song... it takes me back to my childhood and doing plays in the front yard with my friends... singing the songs at the tops of our lungs... i know i'll cry when i see her perform on stage... i always do...

wednesday and thursday were spent doing some more organizing of that third floor space... it's coming along... very slowly... lots of fabric folding... i still have so much more to do...

friday was the father daughter dance at marina's school... the theme was winter wonderland... marina loves to be dressed up... we hot rolled the hair and did a little manicure/pedicure with pink sparkles...

 john got all spiffed up and wore a tie to coordinate with his girl...

 nothing sweeter than a daughter with their daddy... {love}

saturday was maizie's birthday party with her friends from school... i tried to make the rainbow cake that i made several years back...  it's supposed to looks like this...

well... i was in the kitchen for a couple of hours... things were going along just fine... lots of pretty colors... and it baked up perfect...

i had it all stacked up nicely and then the whole cake decided to start splitting down the center... i was pretty upset... and a bit in panic mode because the party was set to start in an hour... so i did the only thing i could do at that point...

scooped it into a large glass bowl... in rainbow colored pieces... added some sprinkles and had to let go and embrace that it wasn't going to be what i set out for it to be... instead we had this...

the "rainbowl" cake.... 

it ended up being a hit... and i was thankful that the candles stood up in it long enough for us to sing happy birthday :)...

the girls did some just dancing... lots of running around and lots of laughing... and they made some polka dottie heart art... super cute!... it was a good party...

and here we are... back to sunday... 

we went to visit my gram this morning...  she's got some spunk... and wanted to give chipotle a try... i went and picked it up and we all had a nice lunch together... she liked it a lot... i'm so thankful to still have her in my life and in the girls lives... blessed!

have a happy day~
angie

a simple valentine garland...

 i have a thing for garlands... buntings... banners... paper chains... they can be fabric {images coming soon}, made from book pages {see here}, or made from pretty scrap booking papers sewn on the sewing machine {this style will be featured in an upcoming post about marina's over the rainbow birthday party}... they add a cute touch to the decor of a party and are festive when done in holiday colors...

today i wanted to share a simple valentine garland that i made with you...  i used different sized cupcake liners and bits of crepe paper that i tie-dyed...

{to tie-dye crepe paper:  add a small drop of food coloring in a shallow bowl of water... {you only need a thin layer of water because the crepe paper soaks it up quickly...} set the roll of crepe paper in the dyed water and when you see the color absorbing slightly up the sides of the roll, pull it out of the water... set it aside to dry... we have radiators in our home so the heat from the crepe paper rolls drying on them caused the edges to ruffle slightly but i was happy with that result :)}

since i made this last year, i don't have step by step pictures but it's pretty easy... i threaded the end of a very long strand of embroidery floss with a needle...

i sorted my decorative cupcake liners, smaller plain cupcake liners and snippets of crepe paper into piles...

i flattened out the cupcake liners as i went using a mixture of large and small, decorative and plain, with the crepe paper inner mixed, threaded onto the embroidery floss to create a "pouf" effect...

i repeated this step, spacing evenly down the length of my floss... i made ours long enough to hang across our mantle... 

it's a fun little project to do... minimal cost and a really cute turn out...

hope you enjoy making one of your own :)

have a happy day~

angie

working on my creative space... part one

i was working on our third floor today... look what i found... a really neat old spool holder that came from my parents house a while back... it's old... and cute now that's it's filled up with vintage spools of thread... i unearthed this little beauty from the mess pictured below... {remember... please no judging}...

john painted this space for me several years ago... it's on our 3rd floor... so far it has pretty much been used for storage... and might i add... very unorganized storage... it's embarrassing really... when he painted it i had grand visions of this being where i would go to sew and create... i ended up sticking everything we didn't know what to do with up there and my dining room became my sewing area when i was making things on a more regular basis...

you know how it is... you're in a hurry... you set it on the steps to carry up... once you carry it up you're not sure where to put things because nothing really has a home so it just gets lumped wherever... and then you carry on and shut the door to hide it... leaving it all behind then turns into what you see above... just awful... i mean, really dreadful... {as i'm looking at it on this screen i am thinking that maybe i shouldn't post it because of the embarrassment factor... but when i started this blog i told myself that i wanted it to be real...} unfortunately that mess is very real... so i am sharing this crazy, messy pic because i want to be accountable... by spring i want to share before and afters with all of you... my goal is to turn this third floor into what it was meant to be... a creative studio space for me...  {i have really high hopes}...

today my mom came over and we got busy pulling up old carpet that was still in the one area... there were layers... old floral carpet... nasty horse hair backing... really funky diamond linoleum... and then...

fun, old newspaper advertisements {i'm thinking so that the linoleum wouldn't stick to the hardwood floors}... check them out... the first was an add from livingston's...  teeny, tiny waistlines...  

look at these fashions... and the prices... $1.99 for a pair of women's shorts... a steal of a deal...

had to look for a date... wednesday, july 6th, 1960...

the show-off bra... i think i want one ;)...

and look at the hats... it says they are a summery delight: "bird cages" and "whimsey's"... 

tearing all of that yucky carpet out was not a fun job but these adds made it more interesting :) i think i'm on a roll now... can't wait to keep going up there...

remember the picture i shared the other day of the hanger that i was wrapping in fabric?... {if not, you can see it here} welp, i finished that today and added some new washi tape to it... it turned out cute...

looking forward to adding more of this tape to my collection... amy from the the preppy strawberry gave me a heads up today... pick your plum is having a sale on some really cute washi... chevron, dots, hearts... cute colors... $1.50 a roll... that's a deal... you should check it out...

i'm happy with what was accomplished today... now i'm off to cook dinner...

do you have any projects in the works?

have a happy day~

angie