Cheese Dome Obsession

I am over here still trying to achieve the Joanna Gaines Farmhouse look on a budget, so of course I have been pinning and creating! I shop at goodwill a good bit...OK, a lot (they know my daughters name) for items I can re-create into something new. This is great for my budget and also a good stress release for me. One exceptionally fun idea I stumbled on was using a cake stand as a decoration, the possibilities were endless! Now, my cake stand is glass...very pretty but not very "farmhouse" looking. So, you can guess where I went...goodwill! (I think they should pay me to advertise for them) It took me a few visits to find what I was looking for. but I knew it when I saw it. I chose this saucer, candle stick, and cheese dome lid, there wasn't a bottom with it, so just the lid was a bargain!

I went with my go-to glue for projects like this (e600) and a can of teal spray paint. It took three coats to get it good and even. I am more than thrilled with the outcome! I will be able to change this seasonally! For Christmas I chose this sweet little truck with a bottle brush tree on the back! Simple, adorable and affordable!

Now, a normal person may have stopped there, but I was shopping one evening with my daughter and found yet another cheese dome! This one had the bottom still and it was priced at 1.99..PLUS that 1.99 tag happened to be green witch made it 50% off..so I snagged it! I also grabbed a hideous old cabin looking house. (I didn't get a before pic of that but I assure you the ONLY cute thing about it was the size) The house I sprayed white and used modge podge to "paint" where snow would naturally collect, then sprinkled that with white glitter. Then I sat the house, and some artificial snow inside my new cheese dome, I will add some bottle brush trees and whatever other little village items I come across to for winter. Now, I *should* take these Christmas things downstairs for a few more weeks since its still October, but I love them so much I think I will just leave them up...don't you judge me.

Doll Closet

Today's project is a Pinterest Inspiration, a close friend of mine messaged me to show me a doll closet she saw and I instantly fell in love. Adalyn has been asking for a "big girl doll" for a year or so and thanks to my receipt pal app I earned a gift card to target, I redeemed it for an 18 in doll and Vola now I have one stashed away for Christmas! She of course goes through the American Girl catalogs that come and wants everything from the matching outfits to the horse and stable. So, I figure some of those things we will find affordable versions of...and some her crafty momma with DIY. She is in the stage right now where I am pretty much the coolest lady she knows, and she loves it when I make her things (win-win!) How often can you really MAKE someone a Christmas gift and they will truly love it? Today was the day, after my husband went to work at 0'dark thirty, I stayed up and set to work. I pulled out a wooden crate, a quarter yard of fabric, ribbon, paint, and dial rod.
I first painted the crate, then fabric-fuzed up some little curtains (because sewing....I do not, that's my momma's department) I cut the dial rod to the right length and wood glued that in there and I even made some ADORABLE teeny little hangers from craft sticks and cup hooks to hang those itty bitty clothes up! Then I jazzed up a cheap-o mirror with ribbon and rhinestone mesh and attached it  to the side.

The only thing I think I will add is a small storage bin in the bottom for shoes/hats and other accessories that cannot be hung. I am pretty thrilled with how it turned out, and I think she will enjoy it!

Chex Scotcheroos-Gluten Free

GLUTEN FREE desserts that you cant tell are gluten free...are the BEST! PLUS, this recipe is "naturally" gluten free, so you don't have to buy anything crazy to adapt the recipe! So, whether you are gluten free or not....these WILL make your mouth water if you have a sweet tooth.

CHEX SCOTCHEROOS!!
How fabulous do these little guys look?! They taste EVEN better!

*This recipe is for an 8x8 pan (perfect for my small family of 3) but if I were taking them somewhere, or had a larger family I would definitely double the recipe and do a 13x9 pan)

3 cups Rice or Corn Chex Cereal (I used rice)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips **Hershey's are gluten-free, but I did notice some other brands had gluten in the form of barley in the ingredient list, so READ if you are making these for someone with a Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease!
1/4 cup peanut butter chips


Grease large round bowl, pour the cereal in, set aside. Grease 8x8 pan, set aside
In a pan on the stove, combine sugar and corn syrup, stir over medium heat until boiling.
Remove immediately and stir in peanut butter, pour over cereal and fold in, pour cereal mixture into 8x8 pan. In a microwave safe bowl, combine all chips and microwave in 30 second intervals until completely melted and smooth. (It took me 1min/30sec) Pour melted cips over the bars. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
Once cool, cut into bars and ENJOY!!

   

 

Big Sister Bag!

Hello Friends!
    I have not blogged in almost 9 months...after Christmas I took a break, and then soon after we found out we are expecting a sweet bundle of BOY in November! So I have been preparing for him, and trying to stay awake ;)
    However, now that we are almost into fall, there is lots to blog about! I have several fun fall projects I will be sharing, as well as plenty of baby/nursery items. But for today...The BIG SISTER bag.

   My mom is having us a baby shower tomorrow and while I am looking forward to seeing everyone...and yet another reason to have a cupcake, I was worried about what my sweet little lady would think of all the gifts rolling in...and all in blue for her baby brother. So, I set out to do something special for her. I made her a bag, and filled it with "big girl" things just for her, I think she will be thrilled with the contents!
I chose simple things, a big sister shirt, and a "tutu" skirt..I found it at Wal-Mart on clearance for $1! Score!! I added some sparkly sunglasses, nail polish, handmade (by me!) chunky necklace, hairbow (also at walmart for $1) and of course..her favorite snack!

**Chunky Necklace and Tote bag were handmade by me! You can check out my Etsy shop if you are interested in purchase!

Merry GRINCHmas!

We are moving right along in our Christmas countdown, today we watched my very favorite Christmas movie (Addie seems to really like it too!) We watched...the GRINCH!! This has been my favorite Christmas movie for as long as I can remember....back in the dinosaur ages before the Jim Carrey version was released. ;)
After naptime today we cuddled up with hot chocolate and popcorn and watched the movie together...but the real fun came after! We made these adorable cookies!

I found the idea on pinterest, and adapted them to fit out needs;
We used:
 1 box Gluten Free sugar cookie mix (Betty Crocker makes one that is phenomenal)
**I added green food coloring to the batter** and baked as directed
After they were done, I sprayed them with butter and Addie *carefully* dumped green sugar all over the kitchen..er..I mean..on the cookies. Then we added a peppermint/white chocolate kiss to each one!
 

A crafty little gift from Addie!

Well, Christmas is in full swing here at the Ronk home! We have been busily baking, coloring pictures, and watching more Christmas movies than I care to admit. But todays activity is one I thought would be worth sharing! As I mentioned earlier, I want Addie to enjoy more about Christmas than the December 25th gift opening fest, so, I decided to have her make gifts to hand out..now, finding a gift idea that a 2 year old could make...that an adult would actually want was more difficult than I anticipated, I found lots of "toilet paper tube snowmen/reindeer/angels" and a plethora of other craft items. But, We settled on these adorable candy reindeer!! The original post was cute..but Addie decided HER reindeer needed bows, so...we made hair bows and bowties for her little reindeer!

 


 

Seriously, how cute are these!? They were super easy for her to make, adorable, and something any adult (with a sweet tooth) wouldn't mind getting. We used:

2 m&M filled candy canes (they were only $1 each!)
brown construction paper
wiggly eyes
red poms
bakers twine
ribbon

VOLA, a cute gift that she will be excited to give out!

*sorry to blow the surprise to the people on Addie's shopping list, but I just couldn't help posting these cuties!

Today I'll wear...

I am taking a *quick* break from posting about Christmas....because I made something else I am pretty proud of today.

This project took all of 10 minutes, and cost me nothing because I already had the supplies! AND, it turned out just how I had hoped!



I used light pink scrapbook paper for the background and printed "Today, I'll wear..." on it I used scraps of scrapbook paper and washi tape to create the pennant banner at the top, popped it in a frame and its done! I will be hanging this in Addie's new room with some sort of cute knob under it!