Apricot- Grapefruit Homemade soap

I have successfully made soap! Very excited about it. For this batch I used shea butter base, and made it an exfolicating apricot-grapefruit blend. Smells amazing and is going to help with my super dry skin. I'm making another batch that will be coconut-oatmeal. Bet its going to smell fabulous! The plan is to make batches- along with some sugar scrub, & homemade granola for an awesome gift basket. We'll see how it turns out!

Raindow Soda Cake!

Rainbow soda cake w/ whipped pudding frosting! This cake is so fluffy, its amazing.. Not only that its super fun to make and to eat! Its so colorful, it makes me happy. Brings out the kid in me. My babe actually helped me make it. It made him very happy too :o)

1 box White cake mix

Small package instant vanilla pudding

1 container Cool Whip

1 1/2 teaspoons Almond Extract

1 1/2 teaspoons Cherry Extract

Food coloring

1 1/4 cup Sprite

3 egg whites

1/3 cup veggie oil

2 cups Milk

You should follow the directions on the cake mix box. Oil, egg whites & instead of water we're using Sprite. Mix together as instructed, add about 1 1/2 teaspoons cherry extract. Separate into multiple bowls, however many colors you want to use.

Each bowl add your food coloring. Color to your liking.

Grease and flour your cake pans. Cake mix says just grease, but mine got stuck. So we're gonna flour it.

Poor the colored batter in one at a time, however you want. Some of each color in both pans in different orders. Or some colors in one and some in the other.

Bake @ 350 for about 33 minutes. Toothpick test. Cool completely.

In large bowl, pour in pudding mix and 2 cups milk. Place in fridge and set for 5 minutes.

Once firm, fold in thawed Cool Whip. Add Almond extract and food coloring. place back in fridge until cake is cool.

Frost stacked cake like normal. Place back in fridge and set for a few hours before serving. Enjoy.



Homemade Granola

I tried the granola recipe today that I found online. It called for dried cherries and instead I used crasians, and almond extract along with the vanilla. Its pretty good, Might have cooked it too long though.. maybe only 15 mins next time. The reason I tried this recipe is because Whole Foods has some Awesome cherry granola, but its $3.50 per lb. It goes really quick. Thought it would be cheaper to just start making my own.. anyway, heres the recipe!

Ingredients:Vegetable cooking spray
4 cups old-fashioned oats (rolled)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried morello cherries
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat a baking sheet with vegetable spray.  Combine oats, pecans, almonds, cherries, cinnamon, coconut flakes and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add vegetable oil, honey, brown sugar.  Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Add the vanilla and stir until incorporated.  Pour sugar mixture into the oats, using a wooden spoon, stir until all oats have a glossy coat.

Pour granola onto prepared baking sheet and spread evenly.  Bake, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a nice golden brown color (20-30 minutes.)  Let granola cool completely and break into chunks.  Store in an airtight container

Seashells and Sand

So I bought this cute little Apothecary jar from Hobby Lobby for 6 bucks. Sand for 2.50 and thats it. I thought it would be a cute way to display the seashells my babe and I found on our first vacay together. Very simple, but super cute!

Albuquerque Skies

Albuquerque skies... What a beautiful sunset.. They happen all the time here, almost every night.. I've never seen a sunset as beautiful anywhere else. Makes me glad I live here. Also, we just watched the Eclipse. It was amazing- being out in the open, where there is nothing to block your view is amazing. Glad I got to enjoy it with my baby.  These pictures insire me to paint.. But how to capture something so beautiful? I'll work on it. Keep you updated when finished! Off to Michael's for some canvas and paint! :o)

Our Fish

The top one is Dude, The lower is Bro. lol They are our betta fish. Dude is a crowntail betta, his fins are amazing. He is in a vase with a Peach Lilly at the top. Bro is in a huge glass bowl. He is a half moon betta- when his fins and tail are straight out, they make a half circle. We etched both of their names on their bowls too, that was my boyfriends idea- How cute!

Hibiscus Painting

Hibiscus Flower paintings I made for my bestie and I. This flower is our fave, so I decided to make us each one. Done with Oil paints. My bestie is amazing and I'm gonna miss her! She is moving to Mexico in August of this year. Its gonna be tough, but we share alot- even matching Tattoos!!

Good Times in Miami

Me and my baby on the Beach in Miami. My favorite place to visit. I'm a beach girl. Originally from North California-Bay Area, I discovered when going to Miami for the first time to see my sister graduate from UofMiami that I love the warm water of FL beaches. No Cals beaches are rocky and cold from what I can remember. One of these days we will move to FL for good. This time was just a trip to stand next to my bestie Lindsay as she tied the knot to one of my good friends Brandon. I was very happy to be there with then and to be apart of their special day. Hopefully there will be there to celebrate mine as well. 

Quick and Easy Decorations

Very easy way to match up your kitchen/bathroom color palate. I bought these flowers at the local grocery store- because I wanted some plants in the house. Only problem was that the thing they were in was horrible looking. I found these at Michael's on sale and bought 3 of them. The other is tall like the black on but with the white pattern, It sits on the kitchen table with an Orchid in it. Anyway, my kitchen is black & white so they tie everything in together. I think they fit perfectly, and its a nice way to decorate and have house plants. Now lets see if I can keep them alive :o)

Cake for my siblings

This cake took forever! lol. So its just a round 2 layer cake, Funfetti, my favorite. The fun part was the sprinkles... I got a bottle of multi-color round sprinkles at the store- it was around October so it was the Halloween mix. Anyway, I spent about 45 minutes separating the sprinkles into colors, and another 1.5 hours putting them on, and pushing them into the correct place with a toothpick. It was a lot of work, but very fun and I love how it turned out.

Green Chile Chicken Alfredo Pizza

This idea came to me while in the grocery store. A friend of mine had just bought a frozen pizza for his family for dinner, he told that it was quick, thats why he bought them. I decided to make my own pizza. Mine takes about 25 minutes, and its the best pizza ever! I use a pizza stone. Some pre-grilled frozen chicken breasts. Alfredo sauce. Green chile. Mozzerella. And Pillsbury pizza dough. This is the quickest way. Its fantastic and a big hit in my house!

OCD Much?

These are pictures of my closet- my boyfriends side and my own. I took these pictures because my boyfriend keeps telling everyone how crazy I am. When we first moved in together, his cloths were a wreak. How to you find what you want to wear if your cloths are every where?!? So I took the liberty of organizing them for him. Now if he wants to wear his favorite red shirt, he knows exactly where to go. Not to mention, knows where to put it back after doing laundry ( not that he does :oP) but you get the point. Anyway, they are in order style, and by color in that style. So T-shirts in order by color. Polos in order by color. You get the idea. Mine are by color, and tank tops to dress shirts. It makes sense to me, guess thats what really counts! lol

Cake Pop Bouquets

This time around I thought it would be very cute to make them look like a bouquet of flowers- so I could give them as gifts- to just one person/family instead of a big group. I bought the mini cupcake things, and stuck them through the lollipop stick after they had dried. I layered the purple ones with 2 different color wrappers. I had to use the long lollipop sticks to make sure they had enough height for the vase. I think they are super cute- and the girls they were gifted to loved them. The purple I used Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting w/sprinkles. The pink were French Vanilla cake with Strawberry frosting! Delicious!

Cake pops

This was my first attempt- it took me a couple of  boxes of cake mix to get the mixture right- but it was worth it. This was for a going away party at work for one of my close friends. His favorite color is purple. Anyway, I had to make enough to feed 18+ people at work. I used just regular size lollipop sticks, and bought a think foam disk at Michael's to stick them in. This way you can make any shape you want. I tied a ribbon around the outside so it looked more present able. I used Red Velvet cake with buttercream frosting for this batch.

Decorating Obsession

Since I moved into this house I've felt the need to start putting cute stuff everywhere. I'm assuming its mostly just that there is nothing to do in this town, maybe I just need a challenge, or maybe this house is just too big. Either way Im getting good stuff as a result. So anyway, I just got this random idea to put this together, headed to Hobby Lobby and it was done in minutes. I kinda love it. I just got some little accent tables for it to stand on for the corner also. It looks great.

Snack Boxes

Christmas 2011

For some reason I get very creative around Christmas. Maybe its because I want to give gifts that are going to actually mean something to the people who are recieving them. From the heart and all that ;o) So I thought- 2 different chocolate covered pretzels, white chocolate-cranberry shortcake cookies and my famous chocolate chip cookies. Bought the boxes at Hobby Lobby for super cheap. And I was able to make 8 boxes with some left over for my family at home. Great gift idea for co-workers or kids favorite teachers too!

Cheesecake Cupcakes

I made cherry and raspberry this time.. They are personal cheesecakes and are awesome for dinner parties! They are quick and super delicious :o)

Wine Glass Display case

For Christmas last year my mom asked for a set of white and red wine glasses. The ones they had didnt match and they are wine lovers. So I got this great idea! I wanted to get them wine glasses in a display case- so that it would be easier to give to them and to travel with. I looked all over the internet and in stores and didnt find anything, so I thought I better just make one. I bought a pine box at Hobby Lobby (one with a lid) and removed all the hinges and screws. I painted the whole outside of the box black and inside this gorgeous merlot color. I bought stencils there also and painted the flower in the middle on off white. Measuring the top of the box, my boyfriend made a frame out of wood to fit the top, and Hobby Lobby cut some glass for me. I used Armor Etch to etch out my Mom and her new husbands last names, and the date they got married. After painting the top as well I replaced all the hinges and it was done. It wasnt too hard, and it looked beautiful. I ended up making one for my best friend also so, not for wine glasses, but for her to put wedding memories in- They both loved their gifts :o)

Extra paint and time

Technically this was my first- but I dont really count it because I was just messing around. I was painting an awesome little gift for my mom for Xmas and had this box laying around, I grabbed it and started painting. I ended up using it as a box that I gave a Christmas gift in. I was pretty excited that it looked decent enough, that I actually bought some canvas.

My first attemp at painting :o)

My first official painting! We having it hanging in the dining room. I'm actually very proud of myself, I've never had any kind of art training before. Painting with acrylic is very easy to do, the paint dries very quickly so its easy to finish in a few hours. This is a very inexpensive way to decorate your house just how you want it- saves you from having to find art that you fall in love with, just make your own! I've done several more since then, just started painting with oil, will post more soon!