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Happy 1st Birthday Abigail

Today my sweet Abigail turned 1, and I cannot believe how time flies.  We rescued Abigail when she was 4 months, and she is a ball of fire, making us laugh everyday.  I tried a new recipe for “pupcakes” and it is Abigail approved  (we enjoyed them also). Abigail’s are the ones with the dog bones in them.

 

 

The recipe was very easy and the ingredients are already in everyone’s pantry.  You should stop over to this incredibly cute food blog, We are not Martha, and try this recipe out.

 

Peanut Butter Banana Pupcakes
Course: Dog-Friendly Recipe
Servings: 24 pupcakes
Author: We are not Martha
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Banana Pupcakes:
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I use natural, unsalted)
  • 1/2 cup mashed banana
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup water
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a mini muffin/cupcake tin.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, old-fashioned oats, and baking powder.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together peanut butter and mashed banana. Mix in eggs.
  4. Mix in flour mixture, alternating with water, until just combined.
  5. Fill mini muffin tin cavities about 3/4 of the way with batter.
  6. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
  7. Let cool in tin for a few minutes before moving to wire racks to cool completely.
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine cream cheese and peanut butter and beat together until creamy.
  2. Fit a pastry bag with tip (I used a Wilton 2D) and fill bag with frosting.
  3. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake and top with an additional dog treat, if you desire.

Share your recipes with us, puppy and human, and drop us a note if you try this recipe (don’t forget the dog pictures).

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Keep Calm and Pinch On…

 

 

What does keep calm and pinch on mean?

 

Pinching people is a St. Patrick’s day game. People who wear green pinch people who don’t.  “Pinch on” simply means “continue pinching.”

I like St. Patrick’s Day, but I don’t usually spend a lot of time decorating for this day.  The first thing I usually do is……    change the outfit on my geese.  Yes, geese, lol.  A very long time ago a very good friend of mine gave me geese, with a complete wardrobe.  You’re never too old to enjoy playing dress up with your stylish resin geese.  Thank you Molly 🙂

I love to decorate my fireplace and wanted to do something simple, and I LOVE bunting.  I saw this cute tutorial and decided to make it.  My friends give me their old books that are all beat up, so I had everything I needed.

I am looking forward to cooking a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, who doesn’t love corned beef !  I think I may even try it in my Instant Pot!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

 

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DIY Paper Straw Wreath

Project Found On: Ruffled

Woman’s Day Magazine featured a paper straw wreath on their December cover in 2011, and I have been in love with them ever since.

Wreaths are fun, and they are fun to make.  If you have been to my house, you know that it is an addiction of mine.  I have made wreaths out of dried peas, grapevine, melted spoons, you name it, so why not paper straws?  Follow these simple instructions and learn how to make this adorable wreath.

For this project, you will need:

  • 75 striped paper straws (available in many colors at Sincerely Liz)
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun and at least 5 glue sticks
  • a 4″ floral ring (or a ring cut out of a strong recycled box)

 

 

1. Place a layer of full length straws around the floral ring, and glue with hot glue. Leave some space between the straws. Line the straws so that they hang over the inside of the floral ring just a bit.

 

 

2. Take a straw and cut about 1.5 or 2 inches from the end. Use this as a template for the rest of the straws you cut.

 

 

3. Place these cut straws in between the full length straws and glue in place. Line the inside of the straws up with the long straws from the previous step. By now, there should barely be any of the floral form showing, but there will be large gaps on the outside of the wreath, between the straws.

 

 

4. Take another straw, and cut about 3 inches off of one end (from the original length). Glue these on the second layer. Try to place them on the gaps between the straws on the first layer.

 

 

5. Finally, to fill in the last areas of the wreath and to make it look fuller, take a straw and cut it almost in half (use your judgment on how short you would like it to be). Pinch one end of the straw, and glue this in the small gaps that remain on the second layer.

 

 

6. Once that step is complete, you should have a full looking wreath!

 

 

I want to give credit for this project again to Ruffled, Stop by their site and check out all of their wonderful projects and wedding ideas!

Please share your finished creation here, we would love to see it.

 

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Easy Jelly Bean and Tulip Centerpiece

How cute and easy is this jelly bean Easter centerpiece? Use fake flowers, or use real flowers by placing a smaller vase with water in the middle and filling in the gap between the two vases with jelly beans.

 

 

Supplies:

  • 2 nesting glass vases or containers (such as a drinking glass), one shorter and at least an inch narrower.   I used a square container and a salsa jar
  • Jelly Beans
  • Fresh or fake flowers, I use fake because I have animals and I never know what is poisonous

I inserted the smaller vase inside, then filled the gap with my jelly beans.  Finally, I placed a bouquet of tulips in the salsa jar and that is all there is to it.

 

 

Tulips are available at Sincerely Liz 

 

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Paper Floral Wall Cones

I love making cones out of old dictionary pages, newspapers and colored paper.  It is the perfect vessel for candy and beautiful hung on the wall with silk flowers.

 

People sell them on sites like Etsy and Ebay, but over $10.00 for 20-25 pages made in to cones?  I have a large collection of old dictionaries, but if you live by a Goodwill store, Salvation Army store or have a library that has a yearly book sale, you will be able to pick several up for almost nothing.  A whole book !!

Looking for the perfect silk tulips?  Sincerely Liz has a large selection in stock here.

I came across this lovely blog, a subtle Revelry, who had an amazing, simple and beautiful tutorial on how to make paper floral wall cones.

You can see the blog here, and I would love to see the finished project, please share with us.

 

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A New Year and New Beginnings!

A New Year and New Beginnings!

Many of you may know me as “A Ponytail Kind of Day” on WordPress, so I hope you enjoy following me on this new journey.  With the new year, it is the perfect time to think about making new beginnings in your life.  Maybe this will be the year that you redecorate your living room, make a new wreath for the front door, brighten up your back porch, or something as simple as changing the silk flowers on your dining room table.

I love exploring Pinterest, looking at all of the creative ideas people have and testing them myself.  With this blog, I will post projects that I am trying and will post the results, both successful and unsuccessful.

How will you be making a new start this year?  Just ask yourself, what will we be making today and come and read my blog for inspiration.

If you have any ideas, comments, questions, requests or suggestions – I would love to hear them.