Old-Fashion Candy Dispenser

About 2 weeks ago we had the great opportunity to guest post at Sugar Bee Crafts!  We wanted to share our Old-Fashion Candy Dispenser with everyone today!

This Old-Fashion Candy Dispenser is SUPER easy!  

All you need is... 

Baby Chicken Feeder (you can find at any local feed store) for about $3,

 a Small Mouth Quart Mason Jar,

and three large bags of M&M's.

  You fill the Mason Jar up with M&M's and then it just screws onto the chicken feeder.  That's it! The best part about it is that you can change out the candy depending on the season.  You can use Candy Corn for Halloween,  and different colored M&M's for each season.   It is also great for portion control because you can only eat a few M&M's at a time (great for kiddos!)  

 

The Start of the Christmas Season

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

All of us sisters spent Thanksgiving in different places.  Brittany spent her week with her in-laws riding a train in Northern Arizona.  Bridget spent it with her in-laws in Vernon, AZ.  Brooke drove from Amarillo to Arizona to spend it with our parents.  I stayed home in El Paso because my husband had to work the entire week in Labor and Delivery.  Apparently, people still have babies on Thanksgiving.  :)  We all had a wonderful time though!  Hopefully we will be able to see each other during the Christmas holiday!

During the Thanksgiving break, my kids had an entire week off of school.  We kept busy doing all sorts of things.  One of them was the start of Christmas decorating. 

 My twins, age 12, put lights outside in the front yard. I love that they wanted to do it!  Everyone has a little Christmas tree in their room that they get to decorate however they want.  (Hobby Lobby after Christmas sale was perfect to pick those up.  You can't beat 90% off!)  Our family Christmas tree is still a work in progress, but I will post pictures of it later...

One of my favorite places to go is our front room.  Our Christmas tree is in there and well as our piano.  I love listening to my boys practice their piano songs and getting ready to play piano duets for our family in Arizona.  Having 5 boys taking piano lessons provides lots of music all day long.  Even my 2 little girls get their own "practicing" in.  :)

What's your favorite room to decorate for the Christmas holidays?

Peach Jello Syrup

Peach Jello Syrup Ingredients: 1 Package of Jello of your choice 1/3 cup Water 1 bottle of Corn Syrup

Directions: Dissolve the Jello in the water in a saucepan.  When it is completely dissolved, add the corn syrup and heat to a boil.   Cool down and Serve.

A Mrs. and A Mama: Pumpkin Rolls

We have another fabulous guest post today!  Jen from A Mrs. & A Mama is here to show us how to make Pumpkin Rolls.  But first let's get to know her...

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Let me start off by thanking the girls at Babblings & More for giving us the opportunity to be their guest today. I'm Jen; my mom and I recently started A Mrs. & A Mama as a way to motivate us to accomplish our creative projects that we are always dreaming up but not always following through with. We enjoy crafting, sewing, and baking and are usually chasing my two toddlers around all at the same time. Please take a moment to stop by our blog and see what we have going on each day from home decor projects to food adventures to time with our family.

With the holidays quickly approaching I am already getting requests to bake a few of my pumpkin rolls. I was a little intimidated the first time I attempted this recipe but the results turned out amazing and now each cake I bake turns out better than the last.

Ingredients:

Cake

• Powdered Sugar to coat tea towel
• 3/4 C. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 C. granulated sugar
• 2/3 C. pumpkin puree
• 1 C. walnuts, chopped (optional)

Filling

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 C. powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 T butter or margarine, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan, or a cookie sheet with fairly tall sides; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper; be sure to do this thoroughly because you will want the wax paper to peel away from the cake without tearing it. Coat both sides (yes, both) of a thin cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick then beat in the pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture.

Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Remove from oven and place sugar coated towel over the cake then place a cooling rack on top of the towel and flip over removing the cake from the pan. SLOWLY peel away the wax paper being careful not to tear the cake. Roll up the cake and towel together (the cake will actually be rolled inside of the cake, strange, but trust me).

Let the rolled up cake and towel cool on wire rack.



Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake.



Reroll cake.



Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour before slicing. I like to slice the ends off before presenting it, to clean it up a bit (also, because I love to sneak a taste). If you like you can dust the cake with powdered sugar but I find that the rolling process leaves a lot of powdered sugar on the cake already, but it’s your choice. I also have a few family members that like it with whipped cream too.

Are you a pumpkin fan? Take a stop by our blog, I am pumpkin obsessed and have already tried 5 other pumpkin recipes this season. Enjoy!

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Thank you Jen!  My mouth is seriously watering.  I have been craving pumpkin rolls and this recipe will do the trick!  Now everyone head on over and check out all the other pumpkin recipes these ladies have at A Mrs. and A Mama...you will not be disappointed!

My Little Legs Giveaway Winner

We are also excited to announce the winner of our My Little Legs Giveaway! 

The winner is.... #106 -  Tiffany Hutto

Congrats Tiffany!!! 

I will email you, if I don't hear a response within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Thanks to all who entered! And for those of you who didn't win and would love to buy something...take a minute to stop by and visit My Little Legs! 

Egg Salad Sandwich

Here is a yummy and easy recipe. My boys ate all of the sandwiches, which they usually aren't a fan of sandwiches. Note: 1 egg makes enough for 1 sandwich so adjust the recipe if needed.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

3 hard boiled eggs (finely diced)

1/4 c. Mayo

1 TBS. Honey Mustard

Finely cut up your eggs. Add the mayo and honey mustard. Mix well. Add to bread. Enjoy!

There are many additional items that you can add to egg salad sandwiches to make them super yummy. Try and add onions, relish, or celery for a yummy crunch. Substitute dijon mustard for the honey mustard, or miracle whip for the mayo. Or season it with paprika and parsley for a colorful twist.

What do you like to add in your Egg Salad Sandwiches? We would love to hear from you!

My Little Legs $50 Giveaway!

Just a reminder to enter our newest giveaway going on right now!  Who can turn down $50 to My Little Legs?  The giveaway ends tomorrow, so hurry! 

Click here to enter!

2nd Annual Gila Valley Stampede!

Last weekend, our Brother and Sister-in-law put on the 2nd Annual Gila Valley Stampede in Pima, AZ.  It was SUPER fun!   Here are some highlights!

 Brooke's daughter running (real fast) to catch some baby chicks!  

Brittany's son is on crutches, Bridget's son has the grey hat on, and Brooke's daughter running (real fast).

Time to let the big chickens go!

Waiting to catch the Big Chickens.

Briana's kids caught some big chickens and one even caught a greased pig!  While they where trying to catch the pig, Brooke got handed a chicken to hold.  That chicken was MEAN!  It kept pecking her!!!

Uncle Jared and Brooke's Boy

Uncle John!!!

This is our brother James.  He is the one who put on the Gila Valley Stampede!  We loved every moment of it!!!!   If any of you are in the Gila Valley next year, you definitely need to go!!!

Mandy Jean Chic: DIY Ring Holder

Today we have Mandy from Mandy Jean Chic guest posting for us.  She is going to show us a simple way to organize our rings, but first let's learn a little about Mandy....

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Hi everyone! It's Mandy from the blog Mandy Jean Chic.  As my blog description states I am a proud law enforcement wife, blogger, Mom to a rowdy bunch of Bloodhounds, fashion loving, make up wearing, shoe obsessed, 4x4 enthusiast, gun shooting, DIY project kinda gal.   

I started Mandy Jean Chic about a year ago. I love following blogs, checking out projects, trying the latest make up tutorial and the joy of connecting with others.  Mandy Jean Chic reflects me, my style, home, projects, shopping trips, make up fails, product reviews, DIY crafts, organizing, cleaning.  If its chic I will try it. 

I hope you enjoy my DIY ring holder and please stop by my blog to say hello.  

Am I the only gal who spends wwaayyy to much time on Pinterest and YouTube??  I see all of these great projects and I pin or like them but I never do them. I am on a kick to organize my craft room/woman cave/dressing room/studio/filming area/no boys allowed room.  With the holidays around the corner I wanted to keep my projects fairly budget friendly but begin this daunting task. 

After gathering inspiration from many videos I decided I had the items laying around my craft room to make a ring holder.  Before making this my rings were stored safely in a small bowl on or around my dresser. The only supplies I needed to purchase were the hair curlers and more glue. 

SUPPLIES

Box- large enough to hold rings but small enough for storage.  I used an old BirchBox

Hair curlers- enough to fill box tightly

Contact Paper

Felt

Glue

Scissors

Creativity

#1- Start by flipping your contact paper over and measuring your box.  Remember to allow for the paper to come over the sides and into the box
#2- Remove contact paper and lay flat
#3- Carefully place your box in the middle of the paper and begin wrapping the box
#4- Wrap as you would a present.  Fold edges and top into the box

#5- Remove curler from plastic clip. They should open at the clip and pull off. You can cut them off if you need to as we will be covering the curlers with felt

#6- Fill box with curlers. Make sure they are tight but not tight enough the spring out.  You can see I had to cut some to make them fit snug. 

#7- Wrap curlers in felt.  I purchased these felt sheets from the Dollar Tree

#8- Spread glue around the bottom of the box and start tucking your felt wrapped curlers in

Once you have all the rows tucked you can jazz up your box with ribbon or leave it as a drawer box.  For just a few dollars I think this ring box is a wonderful way to keep your precious rings organized and safe! 

If you make a ring holder or have any DIY organizing crafts please head over to Mandy Jean Chic and leave me a comment. I would LOVE to check them out!  I am now off to organize my necklaces, bracelets, and make up.  

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Thank you Mandy for sharing!  What a great way to organize!  My jewelry is in some serious need of organization, I really need to try this!

My Little Legs Giveaway!!

Have any of you heard of My Little Legs?  They have the cutest items for kids!  And I was lucky enough to do a review a few of their products!

I picked out the Pink Owl Hat for my little girl!  She loved it!  In fact, even my older boys thought that it was so "cool".  They wanted one...in boy colors of course.

The hat is the cutest thing ever and my daughter loves to wear it.  It's perfect because it keeps the ears warm and looks adorable!

And take a look at these leg warmers!  Both of my daughters love these and wear them all the time!  I will definitely have to buy some more!

And I was sent some Holiday Hair Clips.  They are so cute and perfect for the Holidays.  They come in a set of three.

My daughters want to wear them all the time and everywhere we go.  I just love Christmas time, so I am happy to comply. 

It comes with a Christmas tree, a peppermint and a reindeer hair clip.  How cute!

They are also selling Swaddle Blankets now!  I've never tried swaddle blankets.   You would think that after having seven children, I would have.  But for sure with my next child I will be buying these!  And yes, I am expecting another girl in February, but that will have to be for another post.  :)

So now for the big news!  My Little Legs is offering one of our readers $50 to their shop!  That is huge!  So get busy and enter, what are you waiting for?

**Giveaway open Worldwide!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received the products for this review.  All of the opinions expressed are 100% mine. 

 

It's time to VOTE!

Today is Election Day!   We just wanted to remind everyone to go out and vote if you have not already.  

  We always try to get our children involved.  The decisions that are made in this election will ultimately affect them in the future!  Every vote counts!!