Oreo Truffles

I know cake pops are all the rage out here in Blogland, but today I am going to show you how to make another yummy bite size treat-

Oreo Truffles!

These are the most amazing treat EVER!!!

And they could not be any easier to make!

TWO ingredients- that's it!!!

1 pack of Oreos

1 block of cream cheese

I use a food processor but you can do this without one. You just want to crush up the Oreos as fine as possible.

After you have crushed up all your oreos (I do half the packet at a time) you will transfer the Oreo crumbs to your mixer.

Then you add in your packet of cream cheese

And start mixing! You want them to combine and form almost a paste like consistency.

At this point I stick  the mixer bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This helps when you go to make your Oreo balls. (I do the same thing when making cake balls)

Once you freeze them to harden it up a little, it is much easier to roll. Then you just roll them in to bite size balls! (I usually put them on wax paper but mine seemed to have disappeared)

Once I have all the balls made, I stick them back in the freezer for at least an hour. This will make it so they don't fall apart when you dip them in the chocolate coating!

Next take some chocolate chips (or candy melts, whatever you prefer!) and melt them! **TIP** I add a little Crisco in when I melt mine. This helps thin out the chocolate a little, thus making it easier to coat the oreo truffle (or cake ball) with!

Then use a fork and dip the frozen truffle into the melted chocolate. Tap your fork on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess chocolate.

Once I have them all coated, I like to dip the fork in the chocolate and shake off the excess over the coated truffles. Just adds a little decorative touch to them! You could use white chocolate for this part too and that would look really pretty!

I then put them back in the fridge until they have harden! I made these for a Halloween party we went to over the weekend, so before we left I put them on a decorative tray and headed to the party!

These are VERY rich, but everyone LOVES them! Seriously, people will love you for making these, that are that good!!!

The reason I made these was because the hostess requested them since I made them last year! LOL!

ENJOY!

Canvas Art- Tutorial

The past month has been chaos in my house!

We remodeled our master bath and since that was going to be all new, I decided to paint our bedroom and get all new bedding!

We moved in to this house about 2 years ago and I have decorated every room but the master. I just didn't know what I wanted. I only had one wedding picture on the wall and that's it.

Now that is is painted I decided it was time to get something, anything, up on the walls!

I went to Michaels and came home with these

Some 16 x 20 blank canvas

sticker foam letters

white spray paint

Since this was going in the master bedroom, I wanted something 'romantic'. I decided to use a quote from our wedding song "Bless The Broken Road" by Rascall Flatts.

I just peeled and stuck the letters to the canvas ( I only used the white letters from the pack). **If I were to do this again, I would probably put Mod Podge down first to help them stick. The foam sticky stuff isn't very sticky.

After I had all the letters on I took it outside and sprayed it with the white spray paint. This step could probably be skipped, but I was thinking it would make everything the same color white.

After I had the quote on there, I also decided to add the year we got married to the bottom corner.

I LOVE how this turned out!

 

I am planning on doing something with the extra canvases to hang on each side of this. So look for that in a future post!

But for now, I am enjoying this one! I just need to go hang it on my wall now!!

Tutorial- Garden Gnome Hat

 Remember this post where I asked for help with a Garden Gnome Costume for my littlest girl?

Well my awesome reader Vanina left a comment with a link to a pattern for the gnome hat!

THANKS VANINA!!!

I followed her link and it brought me to the blog called Acorn Pies.

I didn't want to use the same materials she had used in her tutorial, so I just used her tutorial for the pattern measurements.

I wanted my hat to be on red wool felt. So I laid my pattern on it and cut it out. The fabric is folded with the fold on the left side and will end up being the TOP of the hat.

After you cut it out it will look like this when you open it

Fold it back in half right sides together (is the a right side to the wool felt? I thought they both looked the same, lol) and sew along the diagonal cut (where I have the pins) ONLY. Do not sew anywhere else!

Turn it right side out and this is what it will looks like (I turned it so you can see how it is the hat- the folded part is the top and the part we just sewed is the underside.)

 I added ribbon to trim mine and make the ties.  I cut my ribbon at 23 inches- no reason for this length, just picked a length that looked good and I could tie a bow with! lol.  You will need 2 of the tie ribbons. You will attach them to the shorter side which is the neck opening.  I sewed mine on, but I am sure you could use Heat N Bond or something like that.  I also cut my tips at an angle so they didn't overlap at the center back.

And then just sew all around the edges of the ribbon to secure it to the felt.

Next I added the ribbon along the face part of the hat. I attached it the same way as the ties.

And that's it! Now you have a cute Garden Gnome hat!!

I was hoping to have some super cute pics of my little wearing it... but she is 13 months. That means: 1- she does not sit still

2- she does not like hats!

Hopefully I can keep trying it on her so she gets used to it by Halloween!

But for now, this is all I got out of her!

Let me know if any part of this did not make sense!

Tutorial- EASY Paci Holder

I always swore I would never have a baby who was addicted to the paci {this was before I learned the number one rule of parenting is to NEVER say your child will NEVER do something.. lol}.

My first HAD to have the paci until about 3 months, then she spit it out and never wanted it again! YAY!

Well, my second is addicted. I mean A-ddicted to the thing. If you don't have the paci.... you are going to hear about it. And she screams LOUD!

So to make sure we never forget the paci, I have to have a paci leash. Only problem is she will only take those Soothie pacis and it is hard to find holders for those.

So I made these quick and easy holders for her. They are so cheap to make, you probably have everything you need on hand already. And since they are so cheap, I can toss them whenever they get dirty. Nothing more disgusting than a dirty paci holder!

What you need:

Ribbon

Scissors

Rubber Band

Suspender clip {the one thing you might not have on hand. I bought mine off Etsy}

Ruler

Lighter {to heat seal the ends of your ribbon so it doesn't fray}

I like the paci leash to be short. I hate when they drag on the ground when she is crawling. So I cut mine at 6 inches.

Heat seal the ends with your lighter. Then you take one end and wrap it around the suspender clip

And sew

{you can totally sew these by hand, I used to before I got my sewing machine}

Wrap the other end around the rubber band and sew

Then you have this

With the Soothie paci you will stick the rubber band through one of the little holes

Then stick the ribbon through it

And pull! Wa-La! A paci holder!

These seriously take 5 minutes to make. You can make one to match every outfit :) And although I made mine specifically for the Soothie paci, it really will work with any type!

So quick and easy! I tend to make a new one every week since hers get dirty so fast. I just cut the ribbon to get the suspender clip out and attach it to a new piece of ribbon!

Tutorial- Easy Way To Cut Tulle

If you have ever made a tutu you know it is *sorta* a pain in the neck to cut all the tulle into strips.

I buy my tulle on the roll, so it is already the right width, I just need to cut the length.

I am going to show you a quick and easy way to cut your whole roll of tulle in equal lengths in under 5 minutes! {more like 3 minutes!}

Materials Needed:

Cookie sheet

Roll of Tulle

Sharp Scissors

 

What you are going to do is just wrap your tulle around the cookie sheet

Just wrap and wrap and wrap until the whole roll is on your cookie sheet.

Then take your sharp scissors and cut along one side

Take the tulle off and you now have all equal lengths of tulle strips!

SO easy!!

I was cutting mine to make this Tutu Bow Holder

Gorgeous, isn't it? I love it. Love the yellow. Love the flower print. I just love the whole thing!

This one isn't listed in my Etsy Store right now, but it is for sale! Email me if you are interested! I can also make these in custom colors, just contact me and I will work with you to create this gorgeous bow holder in the colors of your choice!

I hope this tip helps save you some time next time you are cutting tulle!  And use your imagination! You don't have to just use a cookie sheet. You can use anything! I have used frames before because I didn't need it as long. Even a piece of cardboard would work!

Tutorial- Hand Painted Wine Glasses- Guest Post on Sweet Peas and Bumblebees

Hey everyone!

 I am sharing the post I did on Sweet Peas and Bumblebees last week in cased you missed it!

Today I am going to show you how to do something that sounds very intimidating but really, its a piece of cake!

Hand Painted Wine Glasses

And now you are thinking, "OK, this chick is nuts". But really, trust me, these are E-A-S-Y. I cannot draw to save my life. No joke. My 3 year old makes fun of my pictures!

I am going to show you how to make some very simple designs that still have the WOW factor!

I have given these to friends for Birthday presents, but I have also given them as wedding shower gifts.  You can package them up in a cute basket with a bottle of wine and you have a gorgeous hand made gift!

So lets get to it!

You will need:

Wine Glasses {hint: get these at the Dollar Store! I get all mine there!}

Gloss Enamel Paint {Michaels, Joanns...}

Paint Brushes

You are going to want to wash and dry your glasses before painting.

Once you have them all ready to go its time to decide what you are going to paint on them!

I chose to do a  polka dot and swirl pattern for two of the glasses, and a simple flower design on the other.

For the polka dots I used blue and white paint. I did different size polka dots and then used the white paint and did little swirls with dots. All of these are SO easy and take no skill {which is what I need when it comes to painting! HA!} but they look so cute!

I also did little dots down the stem and along the base

See- how easy was that?!

Now on to the flower one, which I admit does sound intimidating. But remember, I can't draw, so this has to be easy!

Take your brush- I like to use a smaller one with a little bit of a pointy tip {see, I don't even know proper terms, so I am obviously NOT an artist!}

Then you are going to make a small line that has a slight curve to it on the glass

What does that look like? Looks like half a petal to me!

So now you are just going to make a similar line but with the curve going in the opposite direction starting from the same top point

\

And there you go! You made a petal! 

Now just continue around to make your flower! You can make these with five or six petals, its up to you!

I chose to make mine with six petals

Now it is up to you how many you put on the glass and where you put them!

Get creative!

For this glass I just did six of the same size around the glass. But I have made them before with one huge flower on one side and 3 small ones on the other.... the options are endless!

I also decided they were kind of plain with just the flowers, so I added some white polka dots around the glass.

And also added a white dot to the center of each flower

Then for the base I painted a flower with the same method above but with just five petals

And again I added a white dot to the center and some polka dots around the edge

And that's it!

 For this set I was going with the Red White and Blue color scheme since it is getting close to the 4th of July.  You can paint all the glasses the same color, or each one a totally different color. I have done it all and they always look great. And people LOVE getting these. {Especially people like me because, um.... I tend to break a lot of glasses and I am always in need for more!}

** I forgot to say in my original post, that once you are done painting you need to follow the directions on the back of the paint bottle on how to set the paint. Most you have to let them dry for 24 hours and then bake them for 20 minutes or so to set the paint. The directions are right on the back of the bottle though so just do what they say :)

Don't let the "hand painted" scare you off! I promise, anyone can do these!  If you think the flowers would be too hard, make a set with all polka dots to start! 

Now, go get some paint and wine glasses and have fun!