Easy Granola Bars

Do you all want an awesome granola bar recipe? Well look no further! My sister-n-law Jessica was kind enough to share this one with me. Thanks Jessica!

I wanted to make something for Carsen as a quick snack. Thankfully he loves these granola bars & they are very healthy for him as well.

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe as much as we do!!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup peanut butter (I used about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup butter melted
2 tbs vanilla
2 cups quick oats
1/3 cup wheat germ (I added alittle more because its so good for ya)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 coconut (optional)
1 cup choc. chips (I used about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven 350*
Mix first 5 ingredients together. Add remaining ingredients.
Spray 9x13 pan. Smooth even layer of mixture in the pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Don't leave them in there too long! Cut into squares & enjoy. :) A big cup of coffee makes them even better.

* I think some dried cranberries added in would be yummy too!

St. Pattys Day Ideas

Alright, so I don't really get into decorating for St. Patricks Day but with it about a month away I thought that I would share a few things that I came across online. So if you are a someone who likes to decorate for St. Patty's Day you would have some fun ideas.

This one is from Tatertots & Jello (you can click on the picture & it will take you right to the tutorial on how to make this)

Here is a cute banner you could hang somewhere!

Great idea from Rebecca @ Simple as that

Umm.......I may have to make these! They are so cute & look very easy to make. Dana from MADE has some really great ideas on holiday decor, handmade clothing, gifts, & fun things for kids!

And we are all ........

(you could use this year round) :)

Please....I would love to have a wreath like this!

Well, hopefully this is enough to get you started!

St. Patricks Day is  March 17th

Newspaper Baskets

Good Monday morning! :) Last week I worked on a small project using old newspapers. I had plenty from a couple Sundays ago when I had my husband go out & buy 5 papers. What? There were 4 coupon inserts in each newspaper so I wanted to stock up on my coupons. I just know there are going to be some good sales coming in the next few weeks! Hope so anyways. I didn't want to just throw the papers out so I made this..............

I also made a smaller one but I didn't get a picture of it.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to create your own!

Supplies:

Newspapers (I had 5 Sunday)

Glue

Staples

Rotary cutter & Mat

Start by taking the paper to the cutting mat.

I cut off just enough to get rid of the folded edge (you will need individual pieces).

Next you will fold one side (length wise) in half.

Then fold again, & then once more until you have a piece about 1" wide.

Next.... you just start weaving!

In the pictures that you see here I was making the smaller basket so you will need to glue 2 pieces together length wise to get the bigger basket which measures 14x14. The smaller one is 6x10.

Also the measurements kinda depend on how many pieces you weave in.

Whenever I would weave a new piece in I would glue it down. I did find that if you staple the piece together it works really well too. When I reached the sides I ended up only using the staples to hold them  together & then once I was finished with the top I removed all the staples at the end.

I realized that I didn't get any pictures during the

weaving process. :(  What is wrong with me? If I am going to share these things with you I need to get it together! Sorry.There are tons of papers left so I will try & update this tutorial when I start another one.

I did tell you to get a bigger basket like the one above you will have to glue your individual pieces together length wise. For that particular basket I glued 2 pieces together & then ended up having to glue 3 to get around the sides.

I am thinking this will make for some great storage in my craft/sewing room!

Have a great day. :)





Valentines - Heart Shaped Felt Pouches

We have a Valentines party at church for our Sunday school class. I was needing to come up with something to give each couple that is going to be attending. I could have just went & bought the little box of valentines & been done with it but I wanted to do something a bit more fun! No, I don't want to go to the store & have to buy anything so I looked all over the internet for some fun ideas & came up with these.

I only had to make 25....1 per couple so it didn't take that long.

I happened to have all the felt & embroidery thread on hand already so it worked out great.

You can open these up & put candy inside!

It closes up nicely after the candy is inside.

I think everyone will enjoy them almost as much

as I enjoyed making them!

Paper Rosette Letter

Hey! I have been working on a small project the last couple of days.......yes I said days because it took what seemed like FOREVER!

It really wasn't all that bad really. When you look through this post you will see what took the most time.

I have seen different pictures of these paper rosettes used on all kinds of stuff like wreaths, Christmas stuff, home decor, etc.......

I had this letter B cut out of wood by my wonderful husband.  It had been sitting on my porch for quite a while looking pretty bare. So I decided to do this!

Pretty cute huh?

I tried to remember to take pictures as I was making this so I could make you guys a tutorial. :)

Supplies: Letter (wood, cardboard, etc...)

Old book

Scissors

Hot glue gun

First you want to start with your letter.......this could be out of wood, cardboard, pretty much anything you can get your hands on.

My husband had already spray painted it for me from last year which if you didn't have spray paint on hand I don't think that it would really matter since you are going to be covering the whole thing anyways.

You are going to need an old book.....I went to the goodwill & got a few for $2 each. The books that I got are pretty thick & I only ended up using about half of one book for this project. When you get your book home go ahead & take the front & back covers off. You are not going to use these on this project but I have set mine aside & will use them for something else. The book I bought was hardback so I thought I might be able to use it for a purse bottom? We will see. :)

Tear out several sheets (trust me you are going to need them). I started out only tearing off a page at a time & cutting out one circle at a time. I ended up tearing out several sheets & cutting out 4 or 5 circles at one time & then just separating them afterwards. For this particular book I got 1 to 2 circle (spirals) to a sheet.  Cutting the spirals different sizes make the roses smaller or larger which makes for a variety.

In the picture above you cannot really tell how the circle is cut out very well. So maybe this one below will help?

Sorry...this is what takes forever!

You want to take the tail of the circle (on the outside) & start rolling it  around & around...........& around.......& around..... ;)

I bet I made 100 of these little guys...ended up with a few extra that I used for spots that didn't get covered quite as well as I would have liked them to.

Once I had it all rolled up I sat it on the table & let it go!

There is your rosette.

Hot glue them on any design you like & will have an awesome paper rosette letter.

Haven't decided exactly where I am going to put it yet.

I was thinking of hanging it on our front door but without spraying it with some kind of sealer ....don't think that it would hold up in the weather even though our porch is covered. Will be fun to find a place for it!

Thanks. :)



Roll-up cosmetic brush holder

Shhhh...... I made this really cute brush holder for my sister (which I haven't sent to her yet) :(

I don't remember the measurements right off but as soon as I can get that together I will put a tutorial together!

Its fun because you can roll it up & pack it in a cosmetic bag or just throw it in your suitcase.

Was fun to make & WHEN I send it to her I am sure she is going to like it! :)