3 Ways to Make Sparkly Easter Eggs

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I love Easter. We never really do too much for Easter - sometimes we go and visit my Dad, other years we just stay home...but there is something about the impending spring and summer months that make Easter just special.

How to Make 3D Glitter Snowflakes

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Just because school is back in session and the holiday break is behind us (can you believe it’s been a month already?), it doesn’t mean that you can’t still celebrate winter.

We are heading up to play in the snow on Monday for Emma’s birthday, so I thought it would be fun to get in the spirit and create some glittery 3D snowflake decorations. Even though Emma chose a snow trip over a party this year, I still like to make her big day special and make the house pretty and have some tasty treats to eat on her big day.

Pulling Off a Christmas Feast at the Last Minute

Pulling Off a Christmas Feast at the Last Minute

Maybe plans fell through and now you’re sitting with your head in your hands, praying for a Christmas miracle. If you just found out you’re in charge of this year’s Christmas feast—for whatever reason—don’t panic. Okay, panic a little! Is it out of your system? Good. Now it’s time to get down to business. Contrary to what you’re probably thinking, it is actually possible to pull off a delicious feast with limited time—it just takes a bit of foresight and a lot of patience. Follow these tips and throw a dinner party your loved ones will enjoy to the fullest this Yuletide season.

4 Ways to Share Joy

I have to admit, even though Christmas is a couple of days away, I haven’t felt very joyous lately. It’s not like I’m that I’m not happy or excited to make cookies and watch my children open their gifts, but I think my mood is just coming from a combination of things: extra holiday stress; a brain that doesn’t slow down; and a self-derived pity party for myself because we won’t be celebrating the holidays with any extended family this year. Add in all of the Pacific Northwest rain and gloomy weather and it just puts a little extra damper on things.

Even though I’ve been personally feeling the holiday blues a little bit lately, there have been a few things that have really lifted my spirits - and they might surprise you.

Last Minute Holiday Necessities to Have in Your House for Guests

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Can you believe that Christmas is just a few short days away? This year we aren’t having any guests over and it will just be the five of us here, however in year’s past we’ve had friends and family stay with us over the holidays, and even though I’m going to have a house full of hustle and bustle this year, I’m going to appreciate the time spent together with just us and the kids.

If you are going to have a house full of guests this next week, you are probably in full preparation mode, making sure the pantry is stocked and towels are washed. I think that it doesn’t take a lot to make guests happy, you just a few holiday necessities that can be easily created and purchased. Here are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind to stock up this next week:

White Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

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This last weekend was...kind of crazy. The kids have been rather short tempered and tried my patience at times. I’m not sure if it’s just a change in the weather (gloomy days outside), anticipation of all of the holiday activities, or what, but I knew somehow, someway, I needed to get them to change. We went and picked out our tree - that didn’t help. We got two children to agree on a tree, the other didn’t like it. We went and watched a tree lighting ceremony in our small town, and barely made it in time because they played around at dinner time. I was exhausted.

Finally, I turned up the Christmas music, and gave up. I brought out the dessert I made for this weekend anyways: a Joyous white peppermint ice cream cake made with Pillsbury™ Funfetti® cake with vanilla ice cream with crushed M&M's® White Peppermint candies . I figured, if you can’t beat them, join them, right? Sometimes it’s just better to get through the rough times by celebrating life anyways. I tried to sit back and focus on my blessings, rather than my frustrations.

White Chocolate Coconut Nutter Butter Snowmen

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Yesterday I had multiple events (again) that I was invited to attend. This time of the year is just so much fun - and incredibly busy.

We got done watching a wild middle school basketball game at 5pm and I was supposed to head off in one direction while Wayne took the kids to Noah’s wrestling practice.

But I changed my mind.

Instead, I took the girls, drove home, finished cooking tacos for dinner and sat down and decorated cookies with them, and not just any cookie: Nutter Butter cookies.

5 Ways to Get Your Face Ready For Holiday Photos

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You guys - it’s here. The Holiday season is upon us which means parties, dinners, events, and outings are surrounding us - as well as many opportunities to be featured in everyone’s photos.

It’s hard not to be self-conscious or shy of photos this year - after all, we are all eating a little more and probably partaking a little more than usual. But that doesn’t mean that next time your co-worker grabs your hand and drags you into the photo booth at the company’s holiday party that you should duck and run for cover.

In fact, I think you should do quite the opposite. This year, throw all of your insecurities aside and say ‘cheese’. Have fun, celebrate, and make memories.

An Easy Holiday Wine & Meal Idea

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The holidays are coming! I repeat: the holidays are coming! While we will be eating more than our fair share of ham and turkey over the next month, we will also have to think of other food and drinks to serve to our family and guests when we run out of leftovers...or just want something different to eat.

If you will be finding yourself like me; hosting guests for several days at a time, you have to serve pasta and wine one night for dinner.

Barilla has this pasta called Pronto Pasta that is super easy to prepare and is ready in minutes. It’s actually prepared in one pan - no need for water to boil, and there’s no draining required! The options are limitless as to what you can add in and create for dinner, but I like to make a Sweet Sausage Sundried Tomato Dish with Basil in creamy Mozzarella cheese.

5 Holiday Traditions You Need to Create

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The holiday season is so magical. This time of the year has always been one of my favorites because all of the activities promote togetherness, and making memories. These are the times for traditions and family, and I’m definitely excited to jump in and have a few magical weeks with mine.

Some of my favorite holiday memories are probably the same as yours: trimming the tree, having a big meal together, and of course decorating holiday cookies, but those aren’t the only fun traditions to keep with your family.

4th Photos

Two weeks later - photos from our 4th of July. Better late than never. :) 

~Melissa

#AD Simple 4th of July Menu Idea

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I seriously can’t believe that the 4^th of July is just around the corner. I always love the 4^th of July – it’s a great time that family and friends can gather together and eat amazing food and celebrate our nation. To me, it’s like the unofficial start of the fair and carnival season, and I love all of the tasty treats you can devour at all of the fun events. 

Yesterday though, I was exhausted. As I mentioned yesterday that kids have been quite a handful the past couple of days, and we all had to do grocery shopping too – so I loaded the kids up and drove over to the Walmart Supercenter in Salem so I only had to make one stop and could get everything I needed.

I ended up grabbing a family pack of their Deli Fried Chicken for dinner last night, as well as a cute little banner and red, white and blue washi tape… and started feeling excited for the upcoming holiday. We don’t have fried chicken too often, so of course I decided to make the rest of the traditional trimmings – potato salad, corn on the cob, a green salad, and lots of fresh juicy fruit.

I didn’t know what I was going to do with the tape when I bought it, I just knew that I liked it (don’t tell me you haven’t done that before!) however, while I was mixing my potato salad a festive idea popped into my head and I decided to make our silverware a little more festive by adding the tape to the ends. It’s great because it comes off easily and really transformed them. I also added a piece of tape onto mini mason jars and wrote our names on them, and the kids loved their own personal cups. 

 The salad I made was a Red, White and Blue Salad – it’s really easy to make and tastes amazing!

Red White and Blue Salad

4 cups of baby greens

1 cup of fresh raspberries

½ cup feta cheese

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup fresh blueberries

¼ cup thinly sliced red onion

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Mix all of the ingredients into a salad bowl and serve immediately. Drizzle your favorite dressing on and enjoy!

Makes approximately 4 servings. 

 We’ve had an overabundance of fresh little strawberries since we’ve went and picked about 32 pounds of them over the past week, so I wanted to make a fun little appetizer that was a little bit different. We also happen to have a yummy basil plant in our garden that is doing really well, so I harvested some of that, and used some fresh mozzarella and balsamic dressing to make tasty little bites that at least Wayne and I liked.

Strawberry, Basil, and mozzarella bites

 Even though life can be hectic and I’m completely exhausted at times, I’m glad that I like creating this stuff – because someday these moments will turn into my children’s fond memories.

And it all started with some yummy fried chicken. ;)

 What food do you normally serve for Independence Day? What occasions are “fried chicken” occasions? Walmart makes it really easy to create the dinner you want with their deli fried chicken! :) 

~Melissa