Baked Oatmeal Casserole

Sorry I have been a little MIA lately... we are staining our kitchen cabinets ourselves and it is a LOT of work! You have to sand everything with two types of sand paper, put a wood conditioner on the cabinets, then stain them (twice for us!), and then put a sealer. Oh and it's very hard to do the bottom half when you find little hand prints in your fresh stain... so we've been doing the bottom at night so it can dry by morning! All we have left to do is the island... and I will show you how we did it, of course!

My sister, Rachael, baked this awesome looking Baked Oatmeal Casserole. She sent me the link from Pinterest and her pictures of the casserole. So, today she is my guest blogger! She said this casserole will not only make your house smell delicious, but it will feed you for a week! I hope you enjoy this recipe - my husband is dying for me to make it. Maybe I'll feel like baking once the cabinets are finished...

Baked Oatmeal Casserole

- 2 cups rolled oats, GF kind if you want GF
- 1/3 cup brown sugar with 1 tbsp. to sprinkle on top
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1/3 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 cups skim milk
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp. butter, melted
- 2 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 banana, 1/2" slices

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a large baking dish.
2. In a large bowl mix oatmeal, cinnamon, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, half the berries and half the chocolate.
3. In another bowl whisk your wet ingredients together: milk, egg, butter, vanilla.
4. Add your oat mixture to the baking dish. Place remaining berries and banana slices on top. Pour milk mixture on top of everything. Be sure to shake your dish to get the milk mixture down to the bottom of dish.
5. Bake 35 minutes until the top is a nice golden brown. Sprinkle tbsp. of brown sugar on top.
6. This casserole can be served immediately or can be stored in the fridge until ready to eat. Just heat it up for 2-3 minutes in the microwave.

Ingredients and pre-baked casserole

 Baked Oatmeal Casserole

Enjoy!

Brittney

Summer Dessert with Berries and Fresh Whipped Cream

We buy lots of fruit and with Summer here, our fridge is full of fresh berries! I have been wanting to make a fresh dessert with our berries and the pint of whipping cream I bought this week. Behold pound cake with berries and freshly whipped cream! This dessert is fresh and amazing chilled in your trifle bowl. I'm not going to lie, I have always wanted a trifle bowl, but have only used it a few times. I am so glad this dessert was perfect to place in my trifle bowl! If you do not have a trifle bowl, just cut a slice of pound cake and top with whipped cream and berries on a plate. The whipping cream took about 3 minutes of whipping with my hand mixer, and an additional minute once you add your powdered sugar and vanilla to the cream. Happy Summer!

Easy Pound Cake

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 cup flour (plus 1.5 tbsp of flour at high altitude)
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your bread pan.
2. In your mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
3. Add one egg at a time, vanilla and sour cream.
4. In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Slowly add dry ingredients to your wet. Pour into your greased bread pan.
6. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. (mine took 55 minutes)

Fresh Whipped Cream

- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Using a hand mixer, mix your cream until soft peaks form.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until stiff peaks form.

Assemble

1. Cut 3 pieces of pound cake about 1/2 inch thick and place on the bottom of your trifle bowl.
2. Spread a third of your whipped cream on top and sprinkle your berries on the cream.
3. Repeat two more times. Enjoy!

Pound Cake Batter

Pound Cake

Fresh blueberries and raspberries

 Whipped Cream ingredients, top right: whipped cream, bottom right: whipped cream, powdered sugar and vanilla

 First layer of pound cake in trifle bowl

 Whipped cream and berries

Summer Dessert with Berries and Fresh Whipped Cream

My boys loved the whipped cream!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Funfetti Candle in a Mason Jar DIY

I loved these candles when I saw them, so I just had to try my hand at candle making! Now my local Michael's store did not carry a lot of candle making supplies, so I ordered my soy wax flakes from Amazon. I ordered the scented meltable wax blocks from Amazon as well in "Cupcake" scent. You can use any scent you wish your candle to smell like. Also, the 2 lbs of soy wax flakes will make 2 x pint sized candles. I used 2 quart sized jars, and got pretty much a candle and a half a candle in the other jar. It is also extremely important to place your Mason Jar directly into the freezer after the pour the wax so your sprinkles don't float to the bottom of your jar!

Supplies

- Mason Jar (I used quart sized, but pint size is preferred)
- 2 lb. soy wax flakes
- 4 scented blocks of cupcake scented wax
- candle wicks
- glue gun
- 1/2 cup sprinkles
- 2 tbsp. water
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- paintbrush

1. Hot glue the bottom of your wicks to the bottom of the Mason Jar.
2. Mix your cornstarch and water together and use your paint brush to coat the inside of the Mason Jar with it.
3. Sprinkle the sprinkles into your jar and turn the jar as you add them so they stick to the cornstarch mixture.
4. Place a pencil on top of your jar and tape the wick to it so it stays straight.
5. Make a hot water bath with a pot of boiling water with a bowl inside of it. Place your wax flakes and scented wax in the bowl and allow to melt completely.
6. Carefully pour your melted wax into your jars.
7. Place jars inside the freezer immediately for candle to set for 3-4 hours.

Supplies

 Mason Jars with candle wick hot glued to the bottom

Cornstarch mixture with sprinkles

 Sprinkles on the sides of the jar

Wick taped to a pencil to keep it in place

 Hot water bath, wax and scented wax, melted wax, wax in Mason Jar (place in freezer so the sprinkles don't float to the bottom like mine did!)

 Finished Funfetti Candle

 Funfetti Candle Gift

Enjoy!

Brittney

Hashtag Tote Bag DIY

Who hasn't seen the adorable "hashtag" tote bags by Kate Spade? Well... you can make yours own for a fraction of the cost! All you need is a $5 canvas tote bag, acrylic paint of your choice, a foam brush, paint tape, and black iron-on letters. Super simple to make and all you need is to come up with your own "hashtag" to personalize your tote bag.

I originally saw this adorable DIY project on CraftyTexasGirls Blog - she has the best ideas! She made her totes for Girls Scouts and for Mother's Day for her mom.

I made four tote bags so far - and plan to make at least one more in the near future!

 Supplies: Black iron-on letters, acrylic paint, canvas tote bag, painters tape, foam brush

*Tape off your bag and make sure to press firmly on the tape to avoid paint bleeding, paint lower half of your bag with acrylic paint

 *Let paint dry completely before removing your tape

 *Select your letters to "hashtag" and place them where you want them on the bag - be sure to make your own hashtag out of other letters you aren't using (the iron-ons don't come with a hashtag)

 *Iron on your letters according to the directions

Such a great gift to personalize for friends and family! #Nana is for my mother, #GA Peach is for my sister who lives in GA, #Jujube is for a friend who loves Ju-Ju-Be bags, and mine is #Craftymom

Enjoy!

Brittney

Painting Vintage Mason Jars DIY

Beware - there will be at least two Mason Jar projects on the blog this week! The first one I did was super simple and turned out to be so pretty! I love the color I chose to paint my Mason Jar, you can really pick any pastel acrylic color you like. The sandpapering of the Mason Jar at the end can be minimal, to a lot, pending how you want your Mason Jar to look in the end. These are perfect for a table centerpiece with some fresh (or fake!) flowers. You can also use them as decorations around your home, holding a candle, or placed in your bathroom as a toothbrush holder. Since I'm trying to use up my dozen Mason Jars... the things I have listed are actually potential possibilities in my future for my jars! Or I'll just paint a bunch and give them away as gifts.

Painting Vintage Mason Jars DIY

Supplies

- Mason Jar (I used a quart)
- chalkboard paint
- foam brush
- acrylic paint

1. Paint your Mason Jar with chalkboard paint with your foam brush. Let dry completely.
2. Rinse your foam brush (or using a different one) and paint your acrylic paint over your chalkboard painted Mason Jar. Let dry.
3. Apply a second or third coat of paint as needed, be sure to allow paint to dry completely between coats.
4. Using your sandpaper, rub off the acrylic paint to your desire to where the chalkboard paint shows.

 Chalkboard paint, acrylic paint in "Sea Glass", Mason Jar, foam brush

Left: Chalkboard painted jar

Right: Acrylic painted jar

 Using sandpaper to rub off the acrylic paint to show chalkboard paint

 Finished Vintage Mason Jar with raffia bow

Beautiful table centerpiece!

Enjoy!

Brittney

Summer Umbrella Wreath

I was perusing Pinterest for an easy wreath idea for Summer. To make sure it could happen I went to my local Dollar Tree and purchased a foam wrest form for $1 and little drink umbrellas for $1. That's right, two items for my wreath, and it cost $2! Now the little drink umbrellas weren't where the party supplies were (because I looked to no avail) - but they were located near the drinks/glassware by the party toothpicks. Such a cute and simple wreath - I love it! All you do is take your form, open up the umbrellas and insert them into the foam. You can even make yours bigger and hang it on your front door, if you'd like as well. I still need to finish my 'Summer' decor, but I am working on it! Hope you enjoy my wreath!

P.S. My son is in the first picture because he thinks it's hilarious to 'photo bomb' me... oh to be 3!

 Wreath form and umbrellas, open umbrellas and stick them into the form

 Finished wreath!

I attached ribbon to hang it up on my mirror

Enjoy!

Brittney

First Day of Summer Box

As the end of the school year approaches, we are getting ready for Summer! A few things that will keep us busy are participating in our local library's Summer Reading Program, playing soccer, music camp through our Preschool, and swimming lessons at our gym. Hopefully we can squeeze in some camping and a family trip as well! To get excited about Summer, my son and I decided to make a "First Day of Summer Box," which he can open on the last day of school. Now you can surprise your child with this box of fun summer things, or you can take them to the store (because face it - your kids are always with you!) and have them help you pick some fun items out.

So, I took Kinley to Target and he selected a few 'treasures' to put in our box. The box is just a shoe box that I wrapped up with wrapping paper. A few treasures he selected were fruit snacks, gummy bears, a magnifying glass, three small trucks, a book, a DVD, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a water gun. Some other ideas to include could be a swimming suit, sunglasses, sun block, a towel, a soccer ball, etc. Have fun with this and get excited for Summer!

 Our Box

 Kinley's Summer "treasures"

Looking forward to opening his box next week!

Enjoy!

Brittney