Brownie in a Mug

I always get those late evening cravings for something chocolate or sweet, but don't have the energy to make and clean my kitchen again! I have found a few brownie in a mug recipes that I liked, but they all seem to be either too dry or too wet. Thus, I started playing with it and found that this worked best for my tastes. So enjoy and here's to only washing ONE cup!!!

4 tablespoons all purpose flour (or 12 teaspoons)
4 tablespoons sugar (or 12 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (or 6 teaspoons)
a dash of salt
a dash of backing powder
1 tablespoons 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil (or 5 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons water (or 6 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

**For those who want a little more chocolate add a few chocolate chips
**Also if it is a little too dry add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil instead of 1 tablespoon 2 teaspoons.

Mix together with a fork all the dry ingredients in an 11oz coffee mug or bigger. Usually the coffee mugs that come with your dinning set are 11oz. Mix in all the wet ingredients and chocolate chips if so desired. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the mug, I use a small spatula for this to make sure I got everything off the bottom! Microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes and you are done! Make sure you let it cool down some before diving in and I like to add some chocolate syrup if I don't add the chocolate chips!

ENJOY!!!!

 

Stache my pencil HERE *Picture Tutorial*

I have had many people ask me if it is really that easy to place vinyl on things like buckets, water bottles, glass containers, etc. I can honestly tell you, YES!!! It really is very simple once you see how simple you will be personalizing and creating every and everything you can think of! My favorite gift thus far this year that I have made is the, "Stache my pencil HERE" pencil holder for Manni's teachers! I LOVE the mustache craze and also chalk board vinyl so I created something that incorporated the two!!! Below is a quick picture tutorial on how easy it is to make something like this and the cost is less then ten dollars. Now note you can purchase little buckets like this almost any place for a dollar of two. I buy mine at Hobby Lobby and the dollar store but I have also seen them at Target and Michael's.

So with out farther a due here is a short picture tutorial!!!

This is how my vinyl applique's come to you in the mail.

 With the tape already on them, but you still need to press firmly

on the vinyl to make sure it sticks to the tape!!!

Start in one corner and lift the tape away from the backing.

As you see the vinyl will or should stick to the tape. If

for some reason it is not sticking place the tape back over

the vinyl and press a bit more firmly.

You can either pull the whole thing off in one piece or do

what I did below and cut the pieces smaller before 

pulling the tape off with the vinyl stuck to it!

As you can see the vinyl is stuck to the tape!

Carefully position the vinyl on your bucket or item!

Make sure you start in the middle of the vinyl and work

your way outwards! I make sure I have something holding

 my bucket in place like two books on either side. Leaving

both hands free to position the vinyl.

Once the vinyl in in place make sure you press FIRMLY

on the tape over the vinyl. 

Starting in one corner pull gently away from the item,

leaving the vinyl sticking to it. If for some reason the

vinyl is not sticking place it back on the item and press 

FIRMLY again!!!

My chalk board mustache doesn't need tape. Chalk board

vinyl is a bit thicker and is easier to place!

Gently lift the chalk board vinyl off it's backing!

Starting with the middles place the chalk board vinyl

on the item. Press firmly over the vinyl a couple of times,

paying close attention to the sides!

Here is what mine looked like when I was done! 

Very easy and it took less then ten minutes to make!

Here is one of Manni's teacher's gifts for 

Teacher Appreciation Week!!

If you have any questions please feel free to message me and I will be more then happy to answer!

Enjoy and CRAFT ON!!!!

Vintage Baby Doll Crib

Isabella and I were walking around a quaint little antique store today when we came across the CUTEST little doll crib.

As soon as you walk through the doors of this old rustic cottage you are hit with the small of old books and wood! The smell reminds me of the past and my imagination starts to run wild with excitement! I look at things not just for what they once did, but what I can use them for today!. Antique stores are like a treasure chest waiting to be opened! 

My eyes land on a small, round glass container with a specked gold lid on it! I start to think about the vanity it must have once sat on and who must have owned it! A gentile southern woman who must have taken a lot of pride in the way she looked and smelled like! Her house was once adorned with lovely glass and gold objects and she sat on her porch with her husband every night talking about the days passed!! I had to have it, it was just too much so I walked over to the shelf hoping it was not overly priced and was shocked to see a five dollar sticker on it! It was MINE!!!

Bella and I slowly walked around the cottage and looked at every booth. We have a rule of thumb we walk around looking at all the wonderful things in the store then we take a second trip around getting down and looking under shelves and in those hidden corners! That is when Bella found her treasure!!!

"AAAAWWWWW!!!! Mommy, look at this bed, I SO think Kit could fit in it!"

I walk over to were Isabella was standing and look down at this cute, but not so sturdy doll crib. It looked like a crib from the 50's error and all in all was in good shape considering it's age! One of the side boards was going to need to be replaced and for the right price it would be a good toy for her! 

I reached down to flip the price tag over and said, "It's twenty dollars Bella, and I am not sure we can fix the side panel right away."

Bella pulled her beaded green purse up and pulled her money out. "Five, ten, eleven, twelve! I have half of the money Mommy, can I get it?"

"You know if it going to take almost all your money Bella and like I said I am not sure we will be able to fix the crib today, we might have to wait till next weekend."

"That's okay Mommy, I really want to get it for Kit," in a sweet yet overly excited voice.

I picked the crib up from the floor and walked over to the counter with my five dollar treasure and Bella's treasure. Behind the counter was an older woman in a flowered shirt and jeans. She had the cutest long gold chained necklace on with a flowers adoring it! She reached down over the counter hitting the edge with her gold bangle bracelets to take the tag from Bella's hand.

"Um, can you ring those up separably please? My daughter has to pay for half of the crib and I want to have an accurate price for her!"

"Oh, my she is going to pay for half?" then she looked down at Bella and said in the sweetest, southern voice, "You are such a responsible young lady and since this is going to be yours I am going to give it to you for fifteen dollars with tax included! Do you think you can pay your mommy the seven dollars and fifty cents?"

With her big green eyes staring up at her and a huge smile on her face Bella softly said in her cute little voice, "That's so nice of you, thank you! I can give you the seven dollars and fifty cents if you want and then my Mommy will only have to pay her half!"

With a chuckle and broad smile on her face she looked at Bella and then at me and said, "I'm sure Mommy can pay for the whole thing and then you can give her the money later on."

Her laugh lines were like a map of the many laughs and smiles she had given to people over the years. Her demeanor  a gentile one and she had the warmest, most welcoming eyes! She then took the five dollar tag off my wonderful treasure and added up my total.

"That's going to be twenty dollars and forty-one cents."

I pulled my card out of my back pocket and handed it to her! She carefully wrapped my glass cotton ball holder and stuck the recite in the bag! Before taking the bag I thanked her and walked out to the car!

All the way home Bella could not contain herself she was so excited she had bought this crib and couldn't wait for Daddy to see it!

As soon as we walked in the house Bella was bustling with excitement telling Jason all about the antique store we had gone to and what she had found. After careful examination he determined with a little TLC and some creativity on my part we could fix the crib for her and Kit could sleep in it tonight!! 

So here are the pictures of the before and after of Bella's treasure!!! ENJOY!!!

The crib minus the broken board

The board that the doll lays on I decided to refinish it 

by adding some left over batting I had!

As you can see I folded the batting to make it a little 

thicker!

I then put the fabric over it and flipped it over.

I hot glued the fabric down and did one side envelope 

style. By the way is not so very easy on an old 

piece of wood and a hot glue gun!

The other side I pulled over tucked the end in and 

hot glued it! Very easy and the best method if you ask me

Here's the finished mattress for the doll crib.

Since we had to repair the side board

it looked very ugly. So I picked out

the Pairs theme paper since the blanket

is Paris and glued it with decoupage on

both sides!

Here's Kit sleeping in her NEW bed!!

Bella is very happy with her purchase! 

Cori Sue

For those who don't already know my sister-in-laws niece was diagnosed with MLD!! For those who don't know what MLD is I would like to give you a quick education!!

Definition:

               MLD is short for metachromatic leukodystrophy. Translated from doctor talk MLD means: meta - change, chromatic - color, leuko - white matter, dystrophy - degeneration. MLD's name therefore comes from degeneration in the white matter of the brain and Central Nervous System (CNS) which has a color on staining that should not be there. Staining was how the disease was observed before the advent of the MRI. -


Biochemistry:

                Basically people who are affected by MLD lack an enzyme in their blood called Arylsulfatase-A, (ARSA). Without this enzyme, sulfatides are NOT broken down and instead build-up in the white matter of the brain and CNS causing destruction of the myelin sheath, or demyelination. Without an intact myelin sheath there is a breakdown in communication between the nerves and the brain. This loss of or miscommunication - accounts for the loss of acquired functions paralysis, blindness, seizures and eventual death seen in MLD.

Types of MLD:

                Generally, there are considered to be three main types of MLD that have different ages of onset: late-infantile, juvenile, and adult. The late-infantile form of MLD is the most commonly observed form of MLD. The most common gene mutations have been identified for both the late-infantile and the adult onsets, however, there are many other less common mutations. MLD is not contagious and can not be passed to others through any sort of contact - it is a genetic condition.

See more at: http://mldfoundation.org/MLD-101-what.html#sthash.S1WX146C.dpuf


Cori Sue is a two year old little girl with MLD and it just happens that she is also my sister-in-laws niece, her brothers little girl. They live here in Houston and are such an inspiration to me. When most would have found tragedy and hopelessness with such a diagnosis they found love, and companion! They trust in God and His will and charge forward with a strength that could only come from the love they have not only towards Cori, but God as well! My heart breaks every time I read about Cori, but then I rejoice in the love and faith her parents have! They have truly inspired me to be a more faithful servant and enjoy every minute of everyday I have with my kids!

Cori Sue and her family need our help to get to Pittsburg for an MLD convention and to have a follow-up with her specialist! I pray and hope that we not only help them meet this goal but far surpass it to help cover any medical bills and things Cori Sue might need!! Please follow the link below and if you can't give SHARE on Facebook, twitter, heck smoke signal if need be just please SHARE!!!

CORI SUE's Story and Fund

Strawberry Picking

For many year now we have gone strawberry picking and it has now become an unspoken tradition each year! We were so very fortunate to go last weekend and pick some very YUMMY strawberries! So very yummy that Donato would pick two and eat one, making it very difficult to fill his bucket! It was a lot of fun and not too hot and not too crowded either! I hope to be able to make another trip with Emanuel (he was at his Dad's house) and the rest of the kids before the season is over! I'm also planning on trying to make some strawberry jam this year. I'm sure that will be an interesting blog post because I have never made it by myself before!!

ONTO THE PICTURES!!!

 Isabella, Donato, and Gabriele's first pick of the season!!

 My two cool dudes!!!

 Gabriele found a BIG one!

Isabella found a nice big one too!

Donato finally picked a red one:)

 We filled our buckets quickly because of the abundant 

amount of ripe strawberries!

Donato said he wanted to "sample" the strawberries!

Isabella and Gabriele 

Three of my four little rascals!!!

"I Love You BUT.....

It comes as no surprise to anyone that know Jason and me that we would have a very head strong, spunky, go getter for a daughter, Isabella. It is also no surprise to anyone that knows our family that Isabella tends to always have the last word. She has one older brother and two younger brothers so she learned very quickly how to hold her own. So the conversation we had the other day should not surprise anyone who knows our spunky little girl.

The other day I was in the kitchen cooking diner when Isabella came in, jumped onto the counter, and sat down on the edge. (Don't worry it was next to the sink away from the stove:)

"Mommy, can I help?"

"UUUUMMM, no not right now, I am just waiting for the water to boil," hoping that would pacify her.

"Mommy, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, what do you want to ask me?"

"I was wondering if its okay for me to be a teacher and a nurse?"

Turning to look at her with a loving smile I said, "You can be both, you can teach nursing! That way you are teaching and are a nurse at the same time."

"Yeah, I don't know, I will have to think about that. Maybe, I can just be a kindergarten teacher and have fun all day playing with kids!"

Turing my head slightly to the left with a more serous look I said, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, but you know you don't PLAY with kids all day, you have to teach them."

With a sweet smile Isabella said, "I KNOW! Well, I will teach and I can bring my two kids to your house and you can watch them for me!"

"Yeah, that would be nice, but things can change and I might be working some place else!"

"MOMMY, you can't work some place else who's going to watch my kids while I go to work? Any ways, I will be living right down the street so they can just walk down here in the morning before I go to work!"

Looking at her with a big smile on my face now I just knoded and poored the rice into the pot. Thinking the conversation was over, I started to busy myself preparing the rest of dinner.

"Mommy," in a giddy sort of voice! "I love you!"

"Thank you Isabella, I love you too," kissing her gently on her head.

"I Love you Mommy, BUT I can't live with you when I get older!"

Looking surprised and rather amuzed I said, "Really! Why do you say that?"

"Mommy, you know that I love you a lot, but I don't want to fight with you when I get older! I can just live down the street from you that way I have my own space!"

Looking rather surprised and amuzed I asked the ulitmate question, "What do you mean you don't want to fight with me?"

Sitting up straight, Isabella placed her hands on her hips and looked at me with a matter of fact look. "Mommy, you know we fight now because I am JUST LIKE YOU! SO, I don't think we should live in the same house because I am going to want my house my way and you want your house your way. The problem is you are going to be OLD and I don't want to hurt your feelings because my way is better. So it's better if we just live in different houses. I Love you that much Mommy!"

I just look at her and chuckle to myself, because my eight year old daughter is just too much! In one conversation she let me know that I am going to take care of her TWO kids while she is at work, live down the street from her, that I will be OLD, and that her way is better then mine!

YES, that is my daughter through and through and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

 LOVE YOU ISABELLA, my sweet girl!!!!

"That Taste Like Honey"

"OOOH, that taste like honey!"

I causally turn down the review mirror hoping that Donato isn't eating something totally and utterly discussing. With a weary smile I ask the question I would soon regret!

"What taste like honey?"

With a huge smile on his face and a devious look in his beautiful hazel eyes, he proceeds to shove his chunky little figure into his nose. Before I could utter stop he shoves his fingers into his mouth and smiles a huge smile!

"That taste like honey, Mommy!"

OH MY GOSH! My four year old just eat his boogers and then explains to me that it taste like honey! What do you say what do you do other the gag or throw up! Being oh so clever and thinking quickly I didn't react the way I wanted to and pull over and vomit, no I instead became proactive.

Glancing back at him in the review mirror I smile a queasy looking smile and shake my head at him!

"Donato did you know that your boogers have germs in them?"

"WHAT!? Mommy is that the truth they really do have germs in them?"

"Yes,  Donato they have lots of germs I them and you just put them in your mouth."

Donato looks at me with a sickly look and starts to wipe his tongue with a napkin out of his car seat cup holder.

"Wait a minute, your saying they have bugs in them! Wait, Wait, Wait, I just eat BUGS and they are I my nose!! Mommy germs are little bugs and I eat them"

"OH MY GOSH, I just eat a ROACH and it was in my nose! Mommy bugs are in my nose and I hate roaches so NO it doesn't taste like honey!"

He then looks at his sister and tells her with a very matter of fact attitude that there are bugs her nose too and she should NEVER try to eat her boogers!

A morning in the life of a four year old, whom is too smart for his own good:)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup (Crock Pot Style)

Ingredients:

1 Medium Onion, chopped
1/3 cup Unsalted Butter
Minced Garlic (2 to 3 Cloves)
6 Tbs (tablespoons) all-purpose flour
2 (12 oz) can Evaporated Milk
5 cups Chicken Broth 
4 cups Broccoli (16 to 24oz bag; I like a lot so I use a 32oz bag)
1/4 tsp (teaspoon) Thyme
16oz Heavy Cream
Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Sprinkle on top)
Salt
Pepper

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, until melted. 
2. Add onion into melted butter and saute until soften.
3. Add garlic, flour and lightly season with salt and pepper
4. Cook for approximately one to two minutes; stirring constantly.
5. Whisk evaporated milk into mixture and cook until it begins to thicken.
6. Pour into Crock Pot along with chicken broth, broccoli, and thyme; stir together.
7. Cover with lid and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours
8. While on warm add cream and let it sit for approximately 10 minutes.

Serve and garnish with sharp cheddar cheese if desired.

REWIND........Super Hero Birthday

This has been a LONG time coming since Donato's 3rd birthday was WAY back in the beginning of February of last past year. Sorry it's so late, but yet again life and my MANY projects and responsibilities have taken over!!!!

My sweet baby boy turned 3 on January 27, 2013 and I was SO very excited to create and make his SUPER HERO dreams come true! Both my younger boys Donato and Gabriele (5) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, super hero's. SO it was only natural for Donato to ask for a super hero birthday party and of course he wanted to look like CAPTAIN AMERICA, his fav. super hero! I was all for the challenge, but I bit off more then I could chew with this project for sure!

My Little Super Hero Donato

Shirt made by Create Sew Embellish

My first order of business was to create a unique and fun invitation for my special little guy. This was not as hard since I looked around and took idea's from different sites that I liked and meshed them together. I then uploaded the invitation to Shutterfly and had them printed out and sent to me in a 4x6 picture! They came out better then what I expected and I just LOVED them!!!

CUTE I KNOW:)

The next order of business would be to now take and tie the theme and graphics into the cupcake toppers:) This was a lot harder then it looks because I was working with Photoshop and didn't know exactly how to make the circle the exact size I needed!!! Once I figured it out though it was very simple and anyone can do it all you have to go is YOUTUBE it!!! It is kind of lie looking up your sons algebra homework online and watching a teenager explain it to you. After the fact realizing it was something very simple!!!

 I didn't make the cupcakes but I did the toppers:)

 I LOVE how they turned out. I did buy the "super girl"

off 2 Cute Party Prints but did the rest!!!

Donato's BIG cupcake!!!!

I am also trying to set these up in my shop as well:)

I also did super hero stickers for the bottom's of Hershey Kisses and LOVED the way they turned out. I make matching 1 1/2 inch stickers for all the party favor bags. I am working on putting these in my shop to offer but till then if you are interested please message me via Facebook thru, One Sassy lil Sweet Pea. I would be more then happy to work with you and personalize them as well!!