i've been a cookie baking fool!!

So, I said one of my goals this Christmas season was to bake a lot more than I did the previous year, and I accomplished that goal!!! Growing up one of my favorite memories of Christmastime was baking goodies with my Mom. As I am working on building new traditions between Scott & I, and future traditions for our kids, I knew that I just HAD to get baking. If I can't do it when I don't have kids, I knew there would be no chance of doing it when I have my hands full someday in the future.

So, I set out to make some goodies this week. I didn't get pictures of them all but I made a lot of yummy treats. I decided to make some goody bags for my co-workers as a Christmas gift for them.

Here is what I made:

-Chocolate dipped peanut butter Ritz sandwiches

-Sugar Cookies

-Oreo Truffles, thanks Be Different, Act Normal for the recipe!

-Buckeyes

I have never made Buckeyes before, but I saw them on multiple blogs and figured if all these lovely ladies thought they were so grand, then they HAD to be good...and boy they were!! If you haven't tried them, you definitely should!

Here are the pictures I did end up getting. I love baking and what a mess it makes in my kitchen...I try not to freak out but I really hate big messes!

I normally BURN my sugar cookies, so this year another goal was to make them not CRISPY but perfectly yummy and I must say I was proud of how they turned out.

Now, here are my goodies that I made for my co-workers.

I found these adorable treat boxes at Target and I just couldn't resist!

I also found these cute snowman bags to pass out to some of the ladies I volunteer with at church. I think they are just as equally adorable!

So thus ends my Christmas baking for this year! I am so happy that I tried some new things and that I get to bless other people with some yummy snacks. I know that it always brightens my day to get some treats, so I am hoping that it does the same for them. I just LOVE Christmastime!

Lots of love from me to you,

Kimmy

Tasty Thursday

A while ago I was blog surfingand came across this wonderful recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip (sorry I don't remember who's fab blog I found it on) and I was instantly in love. I love anything buffalo chicken, seriously I could eat it all day, every day and never get sick of it. Okay, so MAYBE that's an exaggeration but I think you get my point!! I decided to make this recipe last weekend for my husband and I and we loved it so much that I had to share it with you! You can find the original recipe from Swanson here. Here is what you need to make the dip!

Buffalo Chicken Dip (from Swanson)

1 package/8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese (I am a fan of the mozz. personally)
1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing or ranch salad dressing (I chose ranch)
2 cans of Swanson Premium Chunk Chicken Breast (drained)
1/2 cup any flavor of Franks Red Hot Sauce (or your favorite buffalo sauce)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350° F. Stir the cream cheese in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate with a fork or wish until it's smooth. Stir in dressing, hot sauce, and cheese (blue or mozzarella). Stir in the chicken. Bake 20 minutes or until chicken mixture is hot & bubbling. Stir before serving. Serve with vegetables or crackers.

My tips:
I noticed the chicken chunks were on the large side and I didn't want to toss the chunks in the dip so I spent some time shredding down the chicken so it wasn't so chunky. I also topped the dip with additional mozzarella cheese because let's face it, we all love when things are cheesy and gooey! Also, I decided to serve french bread toasts instead of just chips, crackers, or veggies. Super simple to do and I liked how it tasted. I just got two small french baguette loafs, sliced into toast about an inch thick and then coated one side of the bread with olive oil. Bake the toasts at 400° F for only 5 minutes oil olive side down.

If you love spicy food and are looking for a great dip to stir things up, I promise if you try this you will LOVE it! I know that we will be making more throughout the football season in our home! I really wish I would have taken a picture of it to share since it was SO yummy looking and I know it would motivate you to make it for yourself. I guess you will just have to take my word on it, try it and love it!! :)

Lots of love from me to you!
Kimmy

a whole new purpose

So, in my last post I said I had some GREAT ideas for this little baby!!!!

As you see, we haven't gotten much use of this little white board calendar recently. Considering the last time I even wanted to update it was April and it has been sitting in my loft, I had the bright idea to re-purpose it and use it as a CHALKBOARD!! This inspiration comes in part to all the great blogs I have been reading lately and each one had some kind of chalkboard renovation on them and I thought it would be an great use of this calendar board. So, I went an got myself a spray can of chalkboard paint (under $5 might I add) and went to town! It was SUPER simple to do!

STEP ONE: Tape up the edges of the board. I just used painters tape since that's what I had on hand.

STEP TWO: Prep spray paint can. I have NEVER spray painted before and I was nervous about it since I have heard there is a "technique" to doing it, but it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. STEP THREE: Paint the board by coating evenly, I did three coats of paint total and then let it dry overnight. When it's all said and done it looks like this!!

Okay, so as you can see I had a little LEAK on the bottom edge, but otherwise I am proud of how it turned out! I really think there will be more chalkboards created in my future because it really was so easy and I love the look & feel it adds to my house! The BEST thing about it is that since it was originally a white board it's magnetic so I didn't even have to add the extra magnetic paint! Two for one if you ask me!!!

I decided to add this board to the doorway that goes from my laundry room to the kitchen. I thought it would compliment well the new decor I added to my laundry room and I love that it's the FIRST big thing you will see when you walk in the door. I think it will be nice to change the saying as things come up, events, holidays, and what not.

Isn't it cute? It says "There is no place like HOME" in case you can't read it. I think it adds even more to my cute little laundry room! This definitely makes me want to paint this room now and get a new light fixture, but like I have always said it's one step at a time!! So, tell me what you think about it?! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!! :)

from drab to fab

so, lately i have been reading a ton of GREAT home decorating blogs. i never realized how many great blogs are out there regarding home designing on a budget! i have added the links of the great ones i found to my following list (if you are interested).

i have been feeling so inspired lately because of these blogs, they really are great tools! there was a ton of awesome pictures about laundry rooms, and tonight as

i found myself wondering around tj maxx i definitely scored some great finds and my laundry room went from drab to FAB!!!

i really wish i would have taken a BEFORE picture but i was too excited to organize all my new stuff that i forgot to! i know most of you know what general laundry rooms looks like, messy, cluttered, ect. but here is my AFTER!!

don't you love it? super organized and stylish!

these polka dot storage bins were so adorable! i love polka dots, but i wanted them to not SO girly and i think this accomplishes it well! i am one for organization and the bins hold all my cleaning & laundry supplies perfectly!

so a few months back i saw something similar to this in the ballard designs magazine. it was on a much larger scale but i fell in love with the look of it! i thought this would be the perfect touch to the laundry room!

how cute does this look together?! this bucket was so adorable i just couldn't pass it up. i put the towels & toilet paper for our downstair 1/2 bathroom. it's definitely way more stylish then hiding them underneath our kitchen cabinet.

here is an up close of the bucket!

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!

and finally, what inspired the room to begin with!! the laundry sign!

i love that it's a mirror, it adds the the charm i was looking for and it's just PERFECT!! :)

overall i am VERY happy with how it turned out! i am sure there will be tweaks here and there in the future. i would love to paint the room, and change out the standard shelving it's on, but for now i simple love it!!

and here is a teaser of my next project in mind!

this is a white board calendar that we don't use very much (as you can see by the month listed) but i have a GREAT plan for this little thing! don't want to give it away but it will be grand :)

hope everyone is having a great night!!!