Colorful Valentine's

Aren't these just the cutest? I love the color! We have had a week (AN ENTIRE WEEK!) off of school/work because of snow. I thought this would be a great time to go ahead and get Cash's valentines ready since there was a little more time than usual. I debated for a while on what kind to make, and I knew I wanted him to take something that wasn't candy. However, we settled on this recycled crayon idea since we already had everything needed, and couldn't exactly get out to the store because of the snow and ice. Plus- Cash and I made these this past Easter to give to the kids at church, and he loved them. Check the tutorial here.

Valentine and St. Patrick's Day Charms

Jewel Kade has released these beautiful new Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day charms! Please contact me if you are interested.... Violetpixi@gmail.com or check out our JK website....JewelKade.com/TracyCrosby.

**ALSO, any purchases made through me between now and Jan.21st receives 15% off!! **

XOXO

Here is my Valentine wall. I needed to make things kind of festive around here. It's always so blahhhhh after taking down Christmas decor.

Classic Chicken Casserole

Now, I know that everyone out there already has a chicken casserole recipe. However, you don't have this one. :) It's the best one I have ever tried, and I always ALWAYS get rave reviews when it is served. It's in NO way dietetic, but it's definitely one of those yummy comfort foods that can get you through these cold winter nights. One of my dear old friends from college, Jonathan, gave me the recipe years ago. I think it might have been his moms...

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
4 cans of cream soup * I usually use 2 mushroom & 2 chicken.*
2 cups of chicken broth
16 oz of sour cream
2 sticks of melted butter
2 cups of instant rice
1 onion, chopped
olive oil
1 box of Ritz crackers

How To:
1. Cut up chicken into pieces. Cook in skillet with chopped onion and a drizzle or so of olive oil. You can add salt and pepper, or Tony's seasoning at this point if you'd like.

2. In a large bowl, mix cream soup, rice, broth, & sour cream.

3. Shred chicken in food processor, and add to bowl with soup mixture.

4. In a second bowl, crush two rows of Ritz crackers, and add melted butter.

5. In 9x13 casserole dish, add 1 layer of crushed crackers, then the chicken/soup mixture, followed by remaining crushed crackers.

6. Bake 30 minutes on 350 degrees.

** Sometimes to cut back on calories I use low fat soups and sour cream. Also, I usually use two smaller casserole dishes, and freeze one for a later date. This is a great dish to make if you are taking a meal to friends or family (After birth of baby, or death in family, etc.) In this case, I send one dish over, and keep one dish for my family. It's plenty for two families.**

"Painting" the snow

It's been snowing here since last night, and we have accumulated more snow than we've had in years! Of course, school was canceled! YAY! So we headed outside for some serious cold snow playtime. I remembered how Erin from A Bird and A Bean used spray bottles to paint the snow. I made my husband run inside, and whip up a bottle for Cash to use. He LOVED IT!! I do wish I would have remembered to look for some easier to use squirt bottles when I was at the Dollar Tree the other day, but that'll have to wait for next time. (To be fair, my mom reminded me to "paint" when we spoke on the phone.)
Super easy: water, food coloring, squirt bottle. DONE.
Squirt and color the snow to your heart's content!

A worn out bunch of Crosby boys!

A Few More Presents

I made bookmarks for all the girls in my book club, The Belle Skirts, as a little Christmas gift. I shared two other ways that I made them here. After I made the previous ones, I decided it would be cool to try using some bottle caps. (I am all about re-purposing!) I used beads in some, stickers in others. I used Mod Podge dimensional to create them I plan to post a short tutorial on how I put together the bottle cap portion, and all the things you can use them for...LOVE IT! So check back with me, 'cause that will be coming up soon.
For these bookmarks, I just hot glued the over sized paper clip (4 for $1 at Dollar Tree) to the bottle cap, then cut a small circle of felt (about the size of a quarter) to hot glue over the back of the bottle cap/clip, so that you don't notice what type of bottle the cap came from. :)
Ok, so again, will be showing an actual tutorial on how to make these, but wanted to get these pics out there before Christmas was too far behind me. Plus, I think they turned out super cute! Sure hope my Belle Skirts liked them!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2011

Well. Heeeeellllllllooooooo 2011! Can you believe it? 2010 was a truly fantastic year, and was full of so many lovely moments (and crafts!) I have a sneaky suspicion that 2011 is going to be even better! I speak it!

To start the year off on the right track, I made some friends little "New Year's" happy gift. These packages contained everything, (almost) needed to make chocolate pecan muffins. My thought was that everyone is probably DONE with dessert by January 1. I mean, I know I had fallen off the wagon in the month of December, and had become quite the glutton. (Since, I have repented, and sworn off the temptation that is CHOCOLATE!) Anyway, I figured this would be a nice gift to have around in a month, or so when we all have forgotten how we gorged in December on sugar cookies, fudge, and little green and red M&M's. Like I said, this was MY figuring.
These are really sweet, no pun intended, thoughtful gifts that are inexpensive as well. Also, great for single guys...right Debo?

Here's what you do:

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl (a great job for kids). Carefully pour the mixture into a clear cellophane bag big enough to hold about 5 cups. Next, top the mixture with the chocolate chips followed by the pecans to create a layered look. Seal the top of the bag with clear packing tape. Then tie on a ribbon and a card with the Chocolate Pecan Muffin recipe instructions printed inside. I also added a little bottle cap magnet that I made with my friends' initial on it. (How to make those is coming soon!)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
  
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Instructions to print and attach:

1. Heat the oven to 400° and butter the bottoms only of 12 regular-size or 6 jumbo muffin cups.

2. Pour the muffin mix into a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. In another bowl, whisk l large egg. Then blend in 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1/3 cup of vegetable oil.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour in the liquid mixture and stir just until smooth. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups.

4. Bake the muffins on the center oven rack until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes for regular muffins or 20 to 25 minutes for jumbo muffins. Serve warm and enjoy!