DIY Hanging Flower Ball

 I am throwing a Baby Shower for one of my friends on a Budget. 

I want to stay within $100.00.  

The color scheme was pink and yellow.  I wanted to make the decorations to save money.  

I made this adorable flower hanging ball.  I got this idea from pinterest and thought that it looked easy and cute.

I bought 3 bushels of daisies from Walmart and 6 in styrofoam ball from Hobby Lobby.

First, take the flowers off the stem. 

 Next, poke a hole in the ball where you want the flower to be.  Then, hot glue on the back of the flower and and stick it back in the hole.  Continue doing this around the ball.

To hang it, I pinned and hot glued some ribbon onto the ball.  Then I tied a loop onto the other end so I can hang it on a hook.   I am going to hang it over the table of refreshments with some paper lanterns and paper pom-poms.  

It is super cute and very easy.

FAMILY!

We had all of our family together during Christmas!  It does not happen too often, so we took a family picture. We would like to share with you!  

  Here is our family with all of our children!   Briana has 7 children expecting number 8, Brittany has 6 children, Bridget has 4 expecting number 5, Brooke has 3 and we also have a brother with 2 children.  There is going to be a total of 25 children and the oldest are only 12 years old!  We LOVE when all of us are together!  We have some GOOD and LOUD times!
Thank you Jess Roussel for taking our pictures at the last minute!!!

A New Addition to the Family!

We had an exciting weekend!   We all attended the Gila Valley Stampede that our brother and sister-in-law put together.  It was a family type rodeo and so much fun!  There were gift certificates and belt buckles to be won and lots of action and cheering!  We are so grateful that they put this rodeo on every year and we all look forward to it!

But the highlight of the weekend was Brittany's new baby!  She left the rodeo an hour or two early to have her water broken and a few hours later, she had a beautiful baby boy!  We were actually pretty surprised because we were all expecting her to have a girl, but we love her little baby boy.

He was born November 3 at 5:41pm. He weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 19 inches long.  They named him Preston Reed Miner.

Congratulations to the Miner family!

Spinach Dip

A few weeks ago, Brittany and I were at Wal-Mart together and saw a recipe for Spinach Dip on a Knorr Vegetable recipe mix.  We knew that we had to try it.  And it was amazing!  We served it at a little party and people kept saying that it was the best Spinach Dip that they have ever tried!  So here is the recipe and you will not be disappointed!

 Spinach Dip

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, cooked, cooled and squeezed dry

2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream

 1 cup Mayonnaise

1 package Knorr Vegetable recipe mix

1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)

3 green onions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients and chill for about 2 hours.  Serve.

Makes about 4 cups of dip.

Sunshine Award!

We recently got nominated for the Sunshine Award be Create.Craft.Love.  Thank you SO much!  If you have never been over to Jill's blog, you definitely need to head over there and give it a visit.  She is full of adorable ideas and her blog is SUPER cute!  We LOVE her!  

Thank you Jill for nominating us!

Now the details...

The Sunshine Award is given by bloggers to bloggers.  The recipients of the Sunshine Award are "Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere."

The way the award works is this:

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

Answer 10 questions about yourself.  

Select 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they've been awarded the Sunshine Award!

Don't forget to copy and paste the award on your blog!

10 Questions:

Favorite Color?
Briana- Red

Brittany- Green

Bridget- Turquoise, I love natural colors.

Brooke- Pink, I just think it is really pretty!

 Favorite Animal?
Briana- Rabbits, I used to raise them when I was a kid to earn money.

Brittany- Horse, I would rather ride than walk.

Bridget- Dog, they don't talk back and they are always happy to see you.

Brooke- Baby Bunnies, they are so soft and cuddly!

 Favorite Number?
Briana- 16, that's when I got my driver's license.

Brittany- 7, that is how many is in my family.

Bridget- 19, that is the day I had my first child.

Brooke- 13, that is the day I was born.  It is lucky to me!

 Favorite Drink?
Briana- Water, it's my "go-to" drink!

Brittany- A&W Root Beer, the best root beer EVER.

Bridget- Cherry Limeade, It is so refreshing in the Arizona summer.

Brooke- Pero, I love getting a hot glass of pero and reading on the porch before my children get up!

Facebook or Twitter?
Briana- Facebook, I don't know much about Twitter yet.

Brittany- Neither, it is a big waste of time.

Bridget- Facebook, Twitter is dumb.

Brooke- Facebook, I am not familiar enough with Twitter.

Good Book or a Good Movie?
Briana- Depends on my mood...

Brittany- Good Movie, so I can fall asleep.

Bridget- Good Movie, I am a movieaholic.

Brooke-  Good Movie, with my two toddlers at home, I really don't have the time or patience to read a good book.

 My Passion?
Briana- Music, I love teaching and listening to my children practice.

Brittany- Eating, I LOVE food!

Bridget- Gardening, especially flowers.

Brooke- Fiddling, I absolutely love entertaining people and making them happy through music.  You get to see all sorts of emotions from dancing to crying.

Giving or Getting Presents?
Briana- Giving, I love watching the surprise on their faces when they open them!

Brittany- Giving

Bridget- Giving, I am not very good on the receiving end.  I like finding creative presents!

Brooke- Giving, especially to my two children.  I LOVE seeing the excitement on their faces!

 Favorite Day?
Briana- Whatever day my husband has off, it's different every week.

Brittany-  Fridays because it is the start of the weekend.

Bridget- Saturday, I get to go yard selling and spend time with my family.

Brooke- I absolutely LOVE Sundays.  We get to go to church to be uplifted and it is the only day where my husband is home!

 Favorite Flowers?
Briana- I love all flowers!

Brittany- Sweet Peas, they just smell SO good and they are pretty.

Bridget- Sunflower or Daffodil- one comes in the spring and one in summer.

Brooke- Any kid that my husband will give me, when he actually does! :)

Nominations-

1. The Wayward Girls 

2. Adventures of a DIY Mom

3. All Things Beautiful

4. I Heart Pears

5. Ohh Baby Designs

6. Salt Tree

7. Two Yellow Birds Decor

8.Turning This Into That

9.What You Make It

10. Sweetology 101

Congratulations everyone!  I am looking forward to getting to know you all a little better!

Thank you again Jill for nominating us!

Stockings Week-Brittany

Ok I know I am always the last to get around to the blog to post, but here I am.  Growing up I remember navel oranges too, and toothbrushes.  Sometimes socks and underwear.  My favorite memory is helping my mom put out the stockings and sticking my hand in my stocking and finding an old chocolate candy or holiday eraser from the year before.  I would get so excited.  It makes me get excited right now just thinking about it.  Maybe I will go check my stocking.

My kids gets also get an orange, toothbrush and crazy socks.  (My husbands likes crazy socks).

Marshmallow Fondant and Ghost Cupcakes

Aren't these ghosts the cutest thing? They are so easy to make. We made these two years ago and I almost forgot about them.  I'm so glad I didn't!

Start off by making some yummy cupcakes.

I love using Cream Cheese frosting!  (Recipe is at the end of the post.) It's my all time favorite!

And we dyed it green.

To make the ghosts, we stacked two mini reeses peanut butter cups on top of each other followed by a whopper.  We "glued" them together with the frosting.

Next, we rolled out some fondant (Recipe is at the end of the post) and cut them into circles.  Don't forget to put down some extra powdered sugar when rolling out the fondant.  We cut out little circles for the eye and the mouth.  And then we draped the fondant over the "ghost tower".

 

We had an assembly line for the kids to walk down and put together their ghosts.  They thought it was the neatest thing!  

Perfect for a fun Halloween activity.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package Cream Cheese (softened)

1 cube butter (softened)

1 tsp. vanilla

Powdered sugar

Mix together the  cream cheese and butter.  Slowly add the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.  Add the vanilla.

Marshmallow Fondant 

My sister-in-law and I went to a cupcake class a couple years ago and was introduced to this fondant recipe.  It is easy to make and tastes good too!  I've kept in stored in my fridge up to a year and use it whenever I need it.

16 ounces white mini- marshmallow (use a good quality brand)

2 to 5 TBS water

2 pounds powdered sugar

1/2 cup Crisco shortening or butter (you will be digging into it so place it in a very easily accessed bowl)

Note: This first stage can get very hot, so please be careful

Melt marshmallows and 2 TBS of water in a microwave.  Stirring every 30 seconds until melted.

It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes total.  Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.

Grease your hands generously (palms, backs and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow and powdered sugar in the middle.

Start kneading like you would bread dough. It will be hot, so be careful!  You will see why you grease your hand at this point!

Keep kneading, this stuff is very sticky at this stage!  Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.  Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking.  If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add water (about 1/2 TBS at a time and then knead it in).  It usually takes about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cupcakes.

Store in ziplock bag in the refrigerator.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls were so good, I decided to share. The bread recipe:

4 1/2 tsp. Yeast

2 Cups warm Water (105-109 Degrees)

1/2 Cup Sugar

2 tsp. Salt

1/2 Cup butter shortening (you can find this in the baking isle, it is butter flavored shortening)

6 1/2 Cups flour

2 Tbs Augason Farms Dough Enhancer (optional)

Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 butter (softened)
Cinnamon (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let the yeast bubble. Then add the sugar, salt, shortening and 5 cups of flour and mix. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and the dough enhancer. Knead for 6 minutes. Roll out the dough and add the cinnamon mixture. It should be creamy and easy to spread. Start at one edge and start rolling the dough.  After rolling, cut about every 2 inches.  Put the rolls into a greased pan and let them rise for about 45 min. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

* The dough Enhancer makes the rolls so soft. They will stay soft for days. You can find it in the food storage section at Walmart.

** This recipe is also good for dinner rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting by Briana:

1 Pkg of Cream Cheese (soften)

1 Cube of Butter (soften)

1 tsp Vanilla

Powered Sugar

Mix the cream cheese and butter until well mixed. Mix in vanilla. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency.

These are so yummy. My husband couldn't wait until they were frosted. That is why the corner one is gone.

Out of the mouths of Babes

Mayley came up to me and gave me a hug. She then looked up at me and said, "Mom you smell good." I said, "Thanks, what do I smell like." Mayley, "Jesus."