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4 Fabulous Homemade Recipes ~ Your Best Weekly Features

By Kleinworth & Co 5 Comments

Happy Saturday to you all!!

Thank you all for joining me for Your Best Weekly last Wednesday! I truly appreciate it.

I LOVE all the things you all shared & had so much fun reading your posts. I am always so inspired.

Here are some of the things that you shared…..

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers from Feeding Big & More

Chewy Granola Bars from Kimberly @ A Fresh Perspective

Raspberry Devil Cupcakes from A Handful of Everything

Cinnamon & Sugar Muffins from Peanut Butter & Jelly

I also had to share this adorable project that my girls are dying to add to their room.

Hanging Butterfly Ball from Callie’s Crafts

Then there was this from my dear friend Tiffany who ALWAYS inspires me to make things just a little more beautiful in my life. You know I love things to be organized & I really appreciate a cohesive space. So being that I buy in bulk I just fell in love with what she did to her pantry. BRAVO Tiffany!!! I love it!!!! Now I really miss having a pantry. Maybe when we move from this temporary space.

Pantry Makeover from Tiffany @ June Makes Six

And in case you missed the things I was up to this past week- here’s a recap…..

Make your own party straws – super simple! Check it out HERE

Blackberry Red Velvet Crash Cake

Banana Coconut Donuts

Don’t miss my GIVEAWAY for a $50 Gift Card to Erin Condren!!! Enter HERE

Have an amazing weekend everyone!!

Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52 & Wednesdays for Your Best Weekly

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Red Velvet BlackBerry Crash Cake

By Kleinworth & Co 19 Comments

Do you have times when you wish making a dessert wasn’t such a chore?? Wish you could just throw something together that was simple & quick but that looked amazing & your family would gush over?? Yeah- me too!! All the time. Insert the crash cake!! It’s so crazy easy & my family LOVED it. Especially the hubs because he’s not a huge fan of frosting. So for him- being able to have cake without the frosting was great.

This all came about because I went to Wal-Mart. Yeah- I usually don’t do the shopping because it’s dangerous for me to do so. But the circumstances were such that I had to head into town & take care of it. So as luck would have it- right as I walked in the door they had this huge display of glassware on sale. All sorts of things that would have made a lovely addition to my prop cabinet. I tried to use restraint but the one thing I couldn’t pass up with this trifle dish. I have always wanted one & it was just calling me. For the price I couldn’t pass it up. I would have kicked myself for not buying it- so I did.

Then I sat & looked at it for about another week before I actually did something with it. I just couldn’t decide what I would make first. I finally decided on a crash cake- mainly for it’s ease & secondly because I was craving all those flavors & what better way to nix that craving than to put them together.

Print Recipe

Red Velvet BlackBerry Crash Cake

Ingredients

1 Red Velvet Cake Mix eggs, oil & water- baked to package instructions in 9x13 pan.
1 large tub cool whip
2 boxes instant chocolate pudding
4 cups milk
2 cups Blackberries

Instructions

Bake your cake & set aside to cool.
While cake is baking prepare your instant pudding to pkg instructions with your mix & milk.
Once cake is cooled & pudding is set pull all ingredients out & prepare to assemble.
Start by cutting your cake into squares so it's easier to handle.
Pull out & break cake up into large pieces to cover the bottom of dish.
Layer in by the spoonful your cool whip.
Then a layer of berries.
Add another layer of cake pieces.
Now add your pudding, followed by more cake, then cool whip & then the last of the cake.
Top with remaining cool whip & more berries.
Keep in freezer until about 12-15 minutes before serving.

I told you it was easy!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Don’t miss my current giveaway posted on Tuesday from Erin Condren through Daily Mom!!

Head back & enter- she has some really awesome things in her store.

Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52 & Wednesdays for Your Best Weekly

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

DIY Party Straws ~ Project 52 ~ Week 14

By Kleinworth & Co 24 Comments

Hi Everyone!!! Welcome!!

Hope you had a FABULOUS weekend! I got a little crafty & creative with my food photo props this weekend. I was going to wait to share them with you until tomorrow- however I have a VERY EXCITING GIVEAWAY that you won’t want to miss. It goes live tomorrow morning! Be sure to come back & enter. I have teamed up with my dear friend- the FABULOUS Elena on her new venture Daily Mom. I will be hosting this giveaway tomorrow & will also be a regular contributor for her over there. Check it out. She has done an amazing job at putting together a great resource for moms.

So anyhow, the photo props. I purchased some of those adorable paper party straws. But you know- they can be a bit pricey when I am just using them for props. So I decided to take a bunch of straws I had on hand & do a little quick work with the Washi tape. I have collected a few rolls & have been meaning to do something with them. A million different things pop in my head of things to do – I never end op doing any of them. So this time I did. Maybe because it was for photo props- made it more of a priority I guess. 🙂

Some I taped straight down to keep the pattern as it is on the tape. Some I decided to wrap instead- came out just as cute.

As you can see- I have a thing about photographing them.

Could be my love of photographing products. I don’t know- but I couldn’t stop snapping these

So what kept you busy over the weekend??? Can’t wait to see!

Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52 & Wednesdays for Your Best Weekly

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

3 Great Projects for Tweens ~ Your Best Weekly Features

By Kleinworth & Co 3 Comments

WOW- you guys inspire me every week! In looking at all these post this week I realized that there were some really great ideas that I could not only do WITH my kids but that they were also ones that they could do on their own if I just let loose & not be so uptight about controlling everything 🙂 So this week your posts inspired…

Featured are…

Throw Pillow Covers from Kimberly @ A Fresh Perspective

Succulent Terrariums from Kim @ Little by Little

Custom Bookmark Printables from Elena @ Cropped Stories

Thank you all for participating with me each week & giving me constant smiles & more reasons to step out of the office & have some fun.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you will come up with for next week!

If you missed some posts through the week- here are some of the things I was sharing…

Chocolate Cake Donuts with Peanut Butter Glaze

Spring Door Decor

Glitter Jar Tutorial

Before I forget- have you all started thinking about Mother’s Day yet?? It will be here before you know it.

Here are some great ideas to get you started…

Funny Aprons

I’m personally loving this one right now.

Coffee Mug

Thinking I really need this one.

Posters

and Travel mugs too.

All these items are from CafePress. Head on over & check them out. They have just about anything you could ever want when it comes to things that are printed or things that can be printed on. Shirts, cups, bags & all sorts of goodies to help you find exactly what you are looking for. I will be posting a review coming up soon- so I will have an update for you on how much I love their products.

Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone! See you next week!

Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52 & Wednesdays for Your Best Weekly

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Glitter Jars {DIY Tutorial}

By Kleinworth & Co 12 Comments

I spent some time working on a little craft. I have this thing about saving used jars. I wash them, get the labels off & then I always have plans on upcycling or repurposing them into something else. Then they usually collect & collect in my craft closet until I finally realize I have way too many & I let some go. This time I actually pulled some out & did a little something with a few. I have been meaning to do this glitter jar decorating for months. Like- we are talking Christmas time people. I lay awake at night with craft projects & recipes running through my head. There are not enough hours in a day to do them all. There are certainly not enough blog posts in a year to share every single one of them with you. I have to narrow it down to just sharing my favorites of the week because I honestly can’t blog about it all. But I guess that is a good thing right??

These were so easy- quite messy & turned out so pretty. The hubs IS always finding glitter in rooms where the jars have never ventured- but I don’t care. It’s not the end of my world. I think they add just enough sparkle (no pun intended) to the room to make me smile. With all this rustic cabin decor- I needed something a little fussy & girly to jazz up the space. Like I said last week- I’m going to embrace each day a bit more & worry a bit less about the things that don’t matter. Yes I will still keep my house super clean – but I’m not going to let it get me in a tizzy if something is out of place for a short while. Life is too short.

Clean the labels off your jars- I like to soak them in soapy water & then take a spackle tool to then scrape them off.

Then tape off your jars in the desired pattern.

Pray with spray adhesive & sprinkle with glitter.

That easy!

Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52 & Wednesdays for Your Best Weekly

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Spring Door Decor ~ Your Best Weekly

By Kleinworth & Co 12 Comments

Happy Wednesday! Welcome to another Your Best Weekly!

Check out some of the fabulous things you all shared last week.

Barbecue Beef Recipe from Kimberly @ A Fresh Perspective

Amish Egg Bake from Oma @ Grandparents Plus

Lemon Crinkle Cookies from Yolanda @ Peanut Butter & Jelly

With those 3 you now have breakfast, dinner & dessert covered.

Then Elena @ Cropped Stories shared her Big Girl Room make-over & just look how adorable it turned out!!

A little change in how I am going to do things. I am going to start doing my weekly features in their own post on Saturday’s!!

So things you link up today will be featured this coming Saturday instead of waiting until next time we meet for Your Best Weekly.

I spent some time making something new to hang on the front door now that Easter has passed. I try to do a new wreath or some sort of decoration on the front door each month. I did have one for March where I utilized some blown out eggs & some paint- I never did get around to posting it. But now that Easter is behind us- I needed something that would work for April. I had picked up some chicken wire for another project that I have yet to share & I also bought the adorable little garden shovel at Target in the $1 bin. I originally planned on using it as a photo prop – but when I was pulling this whole thing together I just kept coming back to it in my head & I realized that it really did need to be a part of this project.

The white is just some fabric that I pulled through each hole of the wire. I also wrapped it around the bottom to have something to glue the moss to. Then I printed off some little flags to make the banners, wired the shovel on there & added the flowers & ribbon to hang. It didn’t take too terribly long & sums up how I plan on spending my April….. gardening.

Now it’s time for you to share!

Everyone is Welcome as long as you link back to Kleinworth & Co. or Button Up. (Buttons HERE)

Please also connect with me on Pinterest and/or Twitter

Kleinworth & Co.,your best weekly button, DIY sharing, project sharing, recipe sharing, weekly Wednesday blog link up

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To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Chocolate Cake Donuts & Peanut Butter Glaze

By Kleinworth & Co 20 Comments

Happy National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day!!

I thought that since today is National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day I would at least try to incorporate one of the two into my post today. I didn’t come up with anything fancy to tweak the good ol’ PB&J- but I did make some chocolate cake donuts & then topped them with a peanut butter glaze. Mmmmm- they were great! The house smelled like a donut house & I was in heaven. I’m telling you- it’s so bad that I have a donut maker in the house.

But the good part is that- even though these are not super healthy, they are not packed full of preservatives or chemicals. My kids are now eating home made goods for breakfast more often than they are pulling out the cereal or Pop Tarts. I know these have sugar- but my guess is that since they are minis- it’s probably less than the standard kid breakfast. I’m probably just justifying it to myself. But at the same time- I really am trying to be far more conscious about the chemicals we are ingesting on a daily basis. Plus- I just like that I can make something myself that they like. 🙂

Chocolate Cake Donuts & Peanut Butter Glaze, recipe

The peanut butter glaze was great on top of these. Really- peanut butter & chocolate... you can’t go wrong.

Print Recipe

Peanut Butter Glaze

Ingredients

2 tbsp milk
1-1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 heaping tbsp peanut butter

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients with a fork until smooth fluid.
Add additional small splashes of milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Will store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Print Recipe

Peanut Butter Glaze

Ingredients

2 tbsp milk
1-1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 heaping tbsp peanut butter

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients with a fork until smooth fluid.
Add additional small splashes of milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Will store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Enjoy with your morning coffee!!

Don’t forget to come back & join me on Mondays for Project 52 & Wednesdays for Your Best WeeklyTo see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Butternut Squash Bread {Recipe}

By Kleinworth & Co 10 Comments

As most of you know we have been getting weekly produce baskets from our local co-op. It’s really cool because we have received things we wouldn’t normally seek out & purchase at the store. This has had me brainstorming & stepping way out of my comfort zone when it comes to cooking & baking. I think it’s fairly obvious that I have a sweet tooth & I don’t venture out when it comes to my veggies. I definitely have an aversion to most vegetables. I’m trying to work on it. That is part of why I love the co-op so much.

So one of the things we had in our basket was butternut squash. I thought about it, searched for recipes & wasn’t really coming up with anything that made my mouth water. So I pulled out my old recipe box that I have stuffed full of old tried & true things that my late mother-in-law passed on to me when I first came into the family. I found her zucchini bread recipe & figured I could try it out with the squash & see how it turned out. I was very happily surprised & it’s a great way for us all to get more of these veggies that we wouldn’t normally eat.

It really did come out wonderful. I am so happy I had the chance to try it out.

Print Recipe

Butternut Squash Bread {Recipe}

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups grated butternut squash
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray- set aside.
Combine all ingredients in given order to mixer & beat until combined well.
Transfer to prepared pans.
Bake for 65-75 minutes.
*makes 2 loaves- freezes well.

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Chocolate Covered Bunny Marshmallows

By Kleinworth & Co 11 Comments

I have said it before & I will say it again….I LOVE MARSHMALLOWS!!!

Yep! I sure do!! Every year the hubs is really good about buying me some Peeps- which is great. Especially since he thinks they are disgusting. But he is also the one that does the Easter basket shopping & that means he chooses what goes into them. I love that he does this for me but you know what…..he NEVER buys enough chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies!!! He usually picks up a pack of 6- which means each kid gets 2. So if I steal one- they notice. So I can’t really do that you know??!!

A little while ago I was surprised when he came home from a trip to the store with not only a bag of the GIANT regular shaped marshmallows for me but also in the bag was a huge bag of these pastel colored bunny shaped marshmallows too. I was JUMPING THROUGH THE ROOF excited!!!!! Oh yes I was!! I knew at that very moment I would be covering them in chocolate & swooning in delight. I am not wanting for more chocolate covered marshmallows now. I have all I could want & then some. I am a happy girl.

So simple that I can’t even really justify putting in a recipe plug-in here.

Just take a 12 ounce bag of chocolate chips & 1 1/2 tbsp shortening & melt in a glass bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments.

Stir in between each 30 seconds.

Do this until the chocolate is hot & very fluid. I did mine for nearly 2 minutes.

Then dunk each marshmallow in the chocolate- turn to coat both sides if desired.

Set on wire rack to harden. I stuck mine in the freezer- because I’m impatient & wanted to try them as soon as possible.

I also piped some royal frosting on them just so you could better make out the shape of the bunny- obviously optional.

They were so good- they didn’t last long after they were photographed.

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Blackberry Whole Wheat Mini-Donuts {Recipe}

By Kleinworth & Co 13 Comments

Did you all remember to enter my giveaway for some goodies from the new Disney DreamWorks movie The Croods?? (Saturday’s post)

Okay- so you have probably seen them all over Pinterest. Seems like EVERYONE has been making donuts lately. I have been DYING over them I tell you!!! I kept wanting to purchase a donut pan but something was holding me back. Then we were out at Target- when we really had no business going in there because we are really dangerous when we shop together. So there we were milling about when I saw the little Sunbeam mini-donut maker. Really- it was on sale for only $14!!!! I couldn’t pass it up. SOOOOOO now I can make donuts in a flash, they are mini- so less guilt & I don’t even have to turn on the oven to do it. YAY!!!

I decided to jazz up these by making them whole wheat – again, less guilt.

I also decided that I would add in some blackberry marmalade that I had made for a little something extra.

You can catch that recipe in the raspberry version HERE.

Oh my word- they were SO GOOD!!!!!! Definitely making these again.

Print Recipe

Blackberry Whole Wheat Mini-Donuts {Recipe}

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
9 tbsp butter - melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg- slightly beaten
1 tbsp blackberry marmalade

Instructions

Preheat donut machine
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
Make a well in the center & whisk in butter, then milk & egg until smooth.
Fold in marmalade so it's swirled throughout.
Transfer half the batter to piping bag with large open tip.
Spray donut maker with cooking spray before adding batter.
Pipe in batter, close lid & cook for 6 minutes.
Carefully remove & allow to cool on wire rack before adding glaze.
Pipe in the next batch until all batter is used.
This made about 16 mini-donuts. (donut maker does 5 at a time)

Print Recipe

Blackberry Whole Wheat Mini-Donuts {Recipe}

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
9 tbsp butter - melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg- slightly beaten
1 tbsp blackberry marmalade

Instructions

Preheat donut machine
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
Make a well in the center & whisk in butter, then milk & egg until smooth.
Fold in marmalade so it's swirled throughout.
Transfer half the batter to piping bag with large open tip.
Spray donut maker with cooking spray before adding batter.
Pipe in batter, close lid & cook for 6 minutes.
Carefully remove & allow to cool on wire rack before adding glaze.
Pipe in the next batch until all batter is used.
This made about 16 mini-donuts. (donut maker does 5 at a time)

Now it’s time for you to share!

Everyone is Welcome as long as you link back to Kleinworth & Co. or Button Up. (Buttons HERE)

Please also connect with me on Pinterest and/or Twitter

Grab HERE

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Salt-Dough “Robin Eggs”

By Kleinworth & Co 21 Comments

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

As you have seen lately, I have been updating things around the house for spring. I’m seeing more & more signs of it all around me so I have been itching to change things around the house. You saw my coffee filter wreath I shared & I needed to add some more to the mantle & the rest of the house to make it feel less like winter in here.

I have been meaning to do a salt-dough craft with the kids since before Christmas. So I finally decided to give this little idea a try. I wanted to have a cute little “nest of robin eggs” in the house- maybe on the mantle or on the end table. I didn’t want to purchase them so I decided that we would give it a go with the salt dough & see how they turned out. I thought I would paint them when they dried but once I added the food color to the dough, they dried naturally speckled so no need for paint.

If I had really been prepared I would have had the kids use a mold of some sort to make them smooth- but you know, I sort of like them imperfect.

I love that they were carefully shaped ever so lovingly by my children. I will cherish them forever.

These were super easy to make.

Print Recipe

Salt-Dough “Robin Eggs”

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
2 drops gel food color- blue

Instructions

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.
Pour in water & combine- kneading with your hands.
Add food color & knead until the color is evenly spread throughout the dough.
Grab small portions & roll into ball & then shape into a somewhat egg form. (or use egg mold)
Leave on tray for several days to dry (or bake at 200 degrees for 6 hours)

Have fun!!!

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Carrot Cake {Recipe} ~ Just in Time for Easter

By Kleinworth & Co 17 Comments

Two things inspired this post today. First is that we joined the co-op & now I have an abundance of fresh produce here in the house & second is that while we were doing our monthly stock up at Costco we came across this Nordic Ware Cast Aluminum Fleur de Lis Bundt Pan with Cake Keeper set (Costco website wasn’t showing it so this link is to Amazon). I was dying to pick up a bundt pan & so I was so happy to have found this one. It also gave me the perfect excuse to make the carrot cake that I have been meaning to do for YEARS!!

The day after we picked up our basket I spent about 5 hours in the kitchen prepping the food, slicing, dicing & packaging it up so that most of it would go into the freezer for future use & the rest was ready to grab & use on a moments notice depending on what we chose to make. It was well worth my time & I made sure to keep out just enough carrots to make this recipe.

Print Recipe

Carrot Cake {Recipe} ~ Just in Time for Easter

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
5 tbsp hot water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease & flour pan.
Combine sugar, oil, eggs & water in mixer bowl- beat until well incorporated.
Add all remaining ingredients- mixing in carrots & pecans last- after beating all other ingredients together.
Pour into prepared pan
Bake 65-75 minutes- or until your toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack 10-15 minutes.
Gently run knife along sides to release & invert on plate, removing from pan.
Drizzle frosting over before cake cools completely.
Store in airtight container.

Frosting recipe below

Print Recipe

Carrot Cake {Recipe} ~ Just in Time for Easter

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
5 tbsp hot water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease & flour pan.
Combine sugar, oil, eggs & water in mixer bowl- beat until well incorporated.
Add all remaining ingredients- mixing in carrots & pecans last- after beating all other ingredients together.
Pour into prepared pan
Bake 65-75 minutes- or until your toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack 10-15 minutes.
Gently run knife along sides to release & invert on plate, removing from pan.
Drizzle frosting over before cake cools completely.
Store in airtight container.

This would make an excellent addition to your Easter menu. This was enough to give our family of 5 dessert for 2 nights- or 10 slices. If you were to slice a bit thinner, I’m sure you could get closer to 16 servings. We like to have a good size wedge – which is a good thing we don’t have it around all that often.

I wasn’t as successful in getting the fleur de lis shape to show like they product image does.

This will take some practice so be ready- more things to come using my new pan.

Enjoy!

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Apple- Pear Butter ~ Your Best Weekly

By Kleinworth & Co 3 Comments

First- today is my mom’s surgery. I will be away from the office as much as I can be.

I wish I could have made the trip to be with her today.

You guys knocked it out of the park once again last week. Some of the things that I was inspired by were…

This DIY Tablet Cover from Kimberly @ A Fresh Perspective

These delicious hamentashen from Tamar @ Random-osity

Thank you all for sharing your creativity with me each week!!

I think that most of you who know me well would agree that I am a complete sucker for packaging. I will buy just about anything (need it or not) if it’s packaged in an appealing way. I know- it’s bad. Really bad! But I can’t help myself. Obviously the hubs knows this & you know, he’s an enabler. He really is. One day he had to run to the new little hardware store here in town. We both have a thing for cute little local hardware stores. I think it’s because when we lived in Placerville (his home town) there was Placerville Hardware. OMG- I could wander in there all day & spend way too much. So anyhow- there he was wandering this store. He must have found the canning section because he came home with these adorable squaty, large mouth mason jars. Have I mentioned how much I love him for these random “gifts”??? I was THRILLED & started thinking of things I would make.

So I had been planning & preparing to use the pears on my counter that needed to have something done with them. Literally- for the 2 days prior I was planning on making a tart or cake or something with them. But when the beautiful little jars arrived in my kitchen I had a change of plans. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough pears to my liking for this recipe- so I added a couple apples in there too. I just started cutting & tossing things in the slow cooker until I felt it had enough of what I was looking for. I had never made this before- so it was all sort of trial & error. I was so happy when it came out the way it did.

The kids are loving it on their waffles & in their sandwiches in place of honey. Hubs grew up in an orchard & had this sort of thing available to him all the time. So he was sure happy to have a taste from his childhood memories to savor once again.

Print Recipe

Apple- Pear Butter from Kleinworth & Co.

Ingredients

6 large pears
6 large apples
3 tbsp cinnamon
1-1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp molasses
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Instructions

Core, peel & chop your apples & pears & put in slow cooker on high.
Add all other ingredients.
Cook on high 1 hour.
Ladle into blender & puree (no chunks- still thick)
Pour back into slow cooker
Stir & reduce to low & continue cooking for 5 hours.
Ladle into sterile jars.
I put one in the fridge for immediate use the next morning & 4 in the freezer for later.

This filled these 3 – small jars plus 2 larger jars

Enjoy!!!

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Now it’s time for you to share!

Everyone is Welcome as long as you link back to Kleinworth & Co. or Button Up. (Buttons HERE)

Please also connect with me on Pinterest and/or Twitter

Grab HERE

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Coffee Filter Wreath {Tutorial}

By Kleinworth & Co 16 Comments

I did it!! I FINALLY did it. I have had making a coffee filter wreath on my to-do list for nearly a year. Seriously!! Like I had the kids drawing on them long before we moved. I took their creations & tucked them away in my craft tote for the move & finally decided to do it. Push came to shove when I realized that March was here & I needed to update our mantle for spring. Hello- the red berries of winter needed to go right?! So I carved out a couple hours one afternoon & got to work. I am so happy I did. We spent the weekend getting the mantle changed out & I love how it turned out.

These images are of the wreath on the front door because it’s still pretty dark in the house with the overcast skies. I really don’t recommend putting this coffee filter wreath outside unless your door is very sheltered from the weather. I would imagine it wouldn’t be as pretty if it got all wet & soggy. 🙂

This thing is HUGE. I took one full pool noodle & another half of one & taped them together.

Made the wreath about 30″ across when complete & completely dwarfed my 10 foot tall front door.

I just love the pops of color between the white filters & the color details on the ones the kids colored.

Here it is above the mantle.

Have a FABULOUS Tuesday!!

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Raspberry Marmalade {Recipe} ~ Your Best Weekly

By Kleinworth & Co 14 Comments

Last week you guys sure impressed & inspired me!

Highlights from last week are………

Tea Ring from Yolanda @ Peanut Butter & Jelly

Free Downloadable Photoshop Template from Tish @ le mie photo

YUMMY Chicken & Gnocchi Soup from Kimberly @ A Fresh Perspective

Chocolate Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie from Tamar @ Randomosity

Pork & Poblano Pozole from Sarah @ Faith, Family & F-Stops

Thank you all for sharing last week!!! You KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!

These were awesome!!

I decided to try making the marmalade that Jaymi posted a couple weeks ago. We have a citrus allergy here in this house so I had to choose something that wasn’t going to give us all a reaction. So I chose the raspberries that I picked up at Costco. I have a huge obsession with loading my cart with as much produce as I can when I am there. Just wait until I can shop at the farmers market here instead. I am going to go gangbusters with the fresh, locally grown produce.

Print Recipe

Raspberry Marmalade {Recipe}

Ingredients

2 cups fresh fruit
3 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Wash, hull fruit.
Put in a large saucepan with water. Cover & let sit over night.
In the morning place 2 metal spoons in the freezer.
Place pan on stove, start heating on high.
Add sugar, mix & bring to boil.
Add vanilla.
Boil about 45 minutes to 1 hour on high.
After 45 minutes, place a little bit on the frozen spoon & put back in freezer for 3 minutes.
Check your spoon, it should be neither hot or cold.
Tip spoon- if it runs, boil another 5 minutes. Check again on the other spoon.
It's cooked enough when it doesn't slide off.
Turn off heat- let sit 5 minutes.
Pour into sterilized jars- refrigerate overnight.
Makes about 12-15 ounces.

The kids loved putting this on their waffles in the morning. Both jars were gone in record time.

It would also be great over vanilla ice cream or on a cheesecake.

Now it’s time for you to share!

Everyone is Welcome as long as you link back to Kleinworth & Co. or Button Up. (Buttons HERE)

Please also connect with me on Pinterest and/or Twitter

Grab HERE

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

St. Patty’s Day Cupcake Jars & Free Printable

By Kleinworth & Co 14 Comments

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I have been running around here like a headless chicken this week- but I wanted to share with you all the FREE printable that I created for you. You may have already grabbed it in my sidebar- that’s so awesome. But I wanted to share these cute little St. Patrick’s Day cupcake jars that I use the printable on over the weekend. This makes the best little gift for your neighbor- or if you are like me- treats that are going to the firehouse. So go ahead & grab it & get creative!

Free Printable Checklist Templates

Just take your cupcakes, stick them in the jar- pipe a little frosting on each one before adding the next.

Then just add the printable cupcake decoration topper & then tie another on around the jar with bakers twine for added flare.

Easy, simple & oh so adorable.

You could also string them all up as a garland for a simple St. Patrick’s Day decoration too.

They are just so happy! Who wouldn’t love to receive a jar stuffed with cupcakes??!! 🙂

DOWNLOAD FILE

Linking with: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend |Little Things Thursday | Inspiration Gallery|Show & Share

Grasshopper Ice Cream Cake ~ Your Best Weekly

By Kleinworth & Co 13 Comments

I am having so much fun seeing what you all have created. You all amaze me!

Here are some of the FABULOUS things that were shared last week!!

Triple Chocolate from Yolanda @ Peanut Butter & Jelly

Adorable Valentines from Kimberly @ A Fresh Perspective

Dipped Oreos from Tiffany @ June Makes Six

& this AWESOME photoshop tutorial from Melissa @ Serendipity is Sweet

Thank you all for not only sharing your creativity with me each week (it truly warms my heart) but for being oh so fabulous ALL THE TIME!!!

You guys ROCK!!!!!!!

For mine this week- I thought I would share with you the Grasshopper Ice Cream Cake I made for the boy’s birthday. It was so easy that I may be doing these more often than a traditional frosted cake. It was so good too. Plus- it would be great to make for St. Patty’s Day!!!

Grasshopper Ice Cream Cake ~ Your Best Weekly, weekly creating sharing, grasshopper ice cream cake, easy ice cream cake, recipe, mint ice cream cake

Print Recipe

Grasshopper Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 box cake mix
eggs oil, water according to pkg instructions
1- 1.5 qt ice cream- mint or other flavor
1/2 bag chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp shortening

Instructions

Prepare box cake mix according to instructions.
Bake in spring form pan.
When done let cool completely.
Remove cake from pan- leaving on the bottom round piece.
Using a long thin knife or cake leveler & remove the top portion of cake to make it flat.
Put the sides of the pan pack on, cover & freeze until cake it firm. About 1 hour.
Remove ice cream from freezer & allow to thaw & get just soft enough so it's spreadable- about 20-30 min depending on how warm your house is at the time.
Once cake is frozen & ice cream is soft start adding the ice cream to the top of the cake, smoothing out along the way. Do this until it reaches the top of your pan. Return to freezer to set.
Once ice cream is firm again- use a knife & run along the sides to remove it from the pan. Then remove the spring form from the cake again.
Combine your chocolate chips & shortening in a small bowl & microwave for 30 second intervals until melted & smooth.
Drizzle melted chocolate on with a spoon in whatever pattern you desire. It should firm up (like magic shell) almost as soon as it hits the frozen cake.
Return to freezer until ready to eat.
Let sit out about 15 minutes before serving so that the cake is soft but the ice cream is still somewhat firm.

Enjoy!!!

Link: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | Inspiration Gallery | Show & Share

Now it’s time for you to share!

Everyone is Welcome as long as you link back to Kleinworth & Co. or Button Up. (Buttons HERE)

Please also connect with me on Pinterest and/or Twitter

Grab HERE

Whimsical Marbled Valentine Cookies

By Kleinworth & Co 16 Comments

Oh boy. Can I tell you something???

Michael’s is DANGEROUS!!

I was in there the other day to pick up one thing- hot glue sticks. I ended up walking out of there with $50 worth of stuff in my cart. One of those things were these ADORABLE heart shaped cookie cutters. I wasn’t going to do any more Valentine’s Day treats. I really wasn’t. I have plenty of candy in the house. I didn’t need these. But once I bought the cookie cutters- well…. I obviously had to make the cookies.

I decided to not make these as carefully as I normally would have tried to do.

Yep- I purposely decorated these quick & IMPERFECT to give them a more whimsical feel. I felt it added to the marbled dough.

They were fun & didn’t last too long either.

You can print the recipe HERE.

Only thing to change is to add a couple dabs of gel food color & hand kneed in so it doesn’t color the whole batch throughout.

Then roll out instead of ball up & cut & bake according to recipe. Allow to cool before icing.

Want more Valentine cookies- you can make these

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe HERE!

When you pull them out- just push in the chocolate heart before the cookie cools.

Linking with: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | This or That Thursday | Little Things Thursday | Inspiration Gallery|Show & Share

Dish Soap Bottle

By Kleinworth & Co 13 Comments

Dish Soap Bottle

Do you re-purpose things in your house? Do you search out for things that would work well as other items? Well, something I have been doing a lot of over the last several years is re-purposing things. We started doing it mainly because we didn’t have a lot of disposable funds & I still wanted to be crafty & make things. I had to make due with the things I had on hand, so I started looking at things with a fresh set of eyes. Before anything goes in the trash I take a look at it & try to think of another way it can find a new life first.

Do you remember when the olive oil style (tall skinny bottles) soap dispensers became really popular It was so many years ago & they wanted what seemed like a ridiculous amount of money for them. So at the time I decided to take an old liquor bottle & liquor dispenser spout & create my own. It worked well for a while but I started noticing that for one- the tall bottle wasn’t very sturdy & would get knocked over quite a bit. On granite counters, that can be all bad. I also started noticing that the soap would start taking the finish off of my chrome spout. It didn’t look good & it was always goupy anyhow.

That is when I decided that I didn’t need to have the things that were super trendy at the time- I needed something that was more functional for me. I started taking notice of all the bottles we were bringing in the house & when I found that the olive oil bottles not only were less likely to knock over but also had their own pour restrictor built in-well YAY! It was a no brainer for me to re-purpose olive oil bottles & turn them into dish soap dispensers. The flow is perfect every time, they are easily cleanable & I don’t’ have to feel bad about tossing a glass bottle.

Dish soap bottle made out of an old olive oil container makes me happy!

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Almond Joy Cream Delight Bars

By Kleinworth & Co

I am a coffee NUT I tell you. Last week we ran out of our usual SUPER STRONG coffee from Costco & couldn’t get back there to pick up some right away. We had to go several days with some regular (what they called strong) coffee that was beyond weak. I was going through withdrawals So you can imagine how seriously I take my creamers too. I love them in my coffee & I love to use them (& the flavors I love so much) in the other things I make.

I have completely fallen in love with the current flavors available from International Delight & had to pick up a few. This also meant that I was already dreaming up recipes while I was standing in line at the checkout counter. So while I was standing there waiting, I found the Almond Joy bars that just happened to match the flavor of one of the creamers that I was buying. That really got the gears turning. So I decided to add them to the cart & get creative when I got home.

Print Recipe

Almond Joy Cream Delight Bars from Kleinworth & Co.

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 tsp International Delight Gourmet Coffee Creamer - Almond Joy flavor
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp salt
4 Almond Joy fun size chopped
1 12oz bag chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 9x13 glass pan with cooking spray.
In mixer combine butter, sugars, eggs & Almond Joy International Delight Gourmet Coffee Creamer mixing on low for 1 minute.
In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt & half the chocolate chips.
Stir in slowly to wet mixture on low speed.
Scrape bowl to ensure all ingredients are blended.
Transfer to baking dish, pressing down & flattening out to cover bottom of pan.
Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips & Almond Joy pieces on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Let cool & then cut bars into 3 inch squares.

These are so good. You can’t go wrong with chocolate chip bars. Rich, chewy & oh so delicious!

The kids would barely let me take the time to photograph them before they were beating down the door of the studio to get some.

If you make this recipe- please leave a link or tag me on Instagram @KleinworthCo

Looking for more yummy bar recipes?

Monster Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter Seven Layer Bars

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Don’t miss these great ideas from these bloggers….
Chef in Training – Caramel Pretzel Magic Bars
Sugar Apron – Delicious Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs
Natashas Kitchen – Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Simple Valentine Wreath

By Kleinworth & Co 12 Comments

Thank you to all of you that joined me last week!! I really truly appreciate it!

Before I get on to sharing my Valentine’s Day Wreath, Here are a couple things from last week that caught my eye…

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix- Lite from Sarah @ Faith, Family & F-Stops

This is great for when I need cocoa but don’t want the guilt.

Healthy Egg White & Avocado Salad from Jaymi @ Live Love Travel

I soooo need to make this. It looks fabulous.

Heart Banner from Kim @ Little by Little

So clever Kim! We have a thing for doilies here so I will definitely have to make this.

You all amaze me with your talents! I am so grateful for your friendship & support. Loved seeing all you shared last week!

Since it’s now February- I needed to update my front door. The January wreath just wasn’t as Valentine-ish as I wanted. I was needing something that said “Love” & shows that we are just one month closer to spring. The white & silver wreath of January is out. So I took a plain grapevine wreath & wrapped it with some funky vintage red & white ribbon & added a lace bow. I had this little heart decoration which was just far too small for this super tall front door. So I added it to the middle. Super simple Valentine wreath. I only had a few minutes & had to work with the supplies I had on hand at the time. So there you have it.

What did you create this week???

Everyone is Welcome as long as you link back to Kleinworth & Co. or Button Up. (Buttons HERE)

Please also connect with me on Pinterest and/or Twitter

Now it’s time for you to share!

Link: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | Inspiration Gallery | Show & Share

Sarah Halstead | Jenni from the Blog | Project Alicia | Live & Love Outloud | Parenting by Dummies

Finding the Light- Selfie Experiement

By Kleinworth & Co 2 Comments

I shared a few of these with you yesterday but I also have this one that I submitted to this week’s Paint the Moon’s P52 photo challenge for the This is Our Life series. This week the prompt is Finding the Light. After living in the desert for nearly 13 years- moving to the Northwest was quite a change. Seems like I really took all the available light I had for granted & all I do now is search for the light. I am so happy where we are now- getting to experience seasons, but the change has me learning photography all over again. I decided to do a little practice with the light on a cold snowy morning- working on a few selfies. Loving low key photography lately. I’m calling this set Finding the Light- Selfie Experiment. I think finding the light is a challenge for any photographer but after living where we almost always had more than enough- it’s been a different experience for me. I am certainly pushing myself to new areas. I was happy to learn from Annie that she too struggles with finding the light. Knowing that such a talented photographer like her struggles with the same thing gives me a little glimmer of hope that I am not alone in this new journey. You can view her comment on this image here. (processed with PTM- Eclipse)

Want to join in this weekly photo challenge- head on over to see Annie Manning & get the scoop.

Huckleberry Honey Lip Scrub {DIY}

By Kleinworth & Co 16 Comments

There was something that we learned very early on when we arrived up here. Huckleberry ANYTHING is HUGE here. They make it in all sorts of things & so we have been periodically picking up new things to try out. I am just chomping at the bit to get to these farmers markets I have heard so much about. I also hear that there are a bunch of farms here where I can just go picking – really looking forward to that.

One of the things we were quick to pick up was some Huckleberry Honey. A long while back we switched the kids off peanut butter & jam sandwiches to peanut butter & honey sandwiches to help cut out the sugar that might be in the jam. Yes I know that honey has sugar- but it’s natural sugar. Plus down in the desert we all had such horrid allergies that we wanted to add local honey to our diet in hopes it would help with the allergies. It did help to some extent & the kids became very fond of having more honey in their diets. So when we saw the huckleberry honey here we had to try it.

I have been wanting to make some lip scrub for a while now. The kids are not as good about keeping their lips hydrated as I am. It drives me batty, especially when I am processing pics of them & I am viewing the images full size on my screen & see that their lips are dry. So I decided to stop putting it off & make some lip scrub for them. Only I decided to use the huckleberry honey in place of regular honey.

It’s super easy- smells divine & works like a charm!

How to:

1 tsp honey

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp sugar

Mix together in small bowl until combined. Transfer to airtight container.

I re-purposed an empty jar from a sample of face cream that I had used up.

That’s it! I told you it was simple.

To see where I am linking today- visit HERE

Your Best Weekly ~ Game Day Snacks

By Kleinworth & Co 16 Comments

Welcome everyone to the very first Your Best Weekly!
I am so looking forward to seeing all the things you have created & I will feature some of my favorites here each week.

Looking for Easy Family Dinner Ideas? With the Pro Bowl behind us & my FAVORITE team- 49ers going to the Super Bowl this year- my mind is on football 24/7. I am a HUGE football fan & it’s not uncommon for the neighbors to hear me hollering at the TV on game day- I’m very passionate about my football. I have to tell you though- I am not just a bandwagon fan here. I have loved the ‘9ers since I was a little girl. They are the team I have always followed. THEN when we moved to Nevada 13 years ago we became Nevada Wolf Pack fans. (just because we now live in ID has not changed that) We watched Colin Kaepernick since the day he walked on the Mackey Stadium field. He gave me the best birthday I have ever had in 2010 by beating the mighty Boise Broncos (who happen to be our second fav college team) in a game that is still talked about to this day. When he was drafted by our favorite team- we were ECSTATIC Watching him excel & succeed here & taking our team to the Super Bowl this year- yea, we are on Cloud 9. It’s been amazing.

So in honor of the big game this weekend I want to share with you these- that we will definitely be making on Sunday.

garlic bbq smokies, Your Best Weekly ~ Game Day Snacks

Print Recipe

Garlic BBQ Smokies ~ Game Day Snacks

Servings:

Ingredients

2 packages Smokies
1 large bottle BBQ Sauce we use Sweet Baby Rays
1/4 cup mustard
1 can beer
1 tbsp minced onions
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce or Yoshi sauce
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 stick butter
Salt Pepper, Season Salt

Instructions

Add all ingredients into slow-cooker
Sprinkle with salt, pepper & season salt to your liking.
Simmer on low for 2 hours- stirring occasionally.
Turn off & let sit for 15 minutes before serving to thicken sauce.
Great reheated & will keep for several days refrigerated in air-tight container.

Notes

Make these in the air fryer - Place the smokies in the air fryer in a single layer and sprinkle with desired seasonings. Brush with desired sauce and then sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook at 340 degrees for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.

**for extra WOW - wrap with a partial strip of bacon before cooking.

Valentine Cinnamon Rolls

By Kleinworth & Co Leave a Comment

Valentine cinnamon rolls are a festive Valentine’s Day breakfast that’s always a big hit at our house. They’re a great way to start the day and make the house smell delicious.

This is one of my favorite cinnamon roll recipes for two reasons. They’re absolutely addictively delicious and they’re so much fun with their playful heart shape and pretty sprinkles.

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Black & White Champagne Overlay Conversions

By Kleinworth & Co 11 Comments

On Tuesday I shared with you my images of Mini-Me so I could show you the new Champagne textures from Life n’ Reflection. I decided to play with the images a little more & converted them to black & white. As much as I love them in color- OMG, I am just loving these conversions. Her quiet beauty is something that takes my breath every time. She & I are so much alike in our personalities. We understand each other without saying a word. I just love this girl to pieces. She is becoming quite the young lady.

I don’t usually go back & re-process images.

But I am so glad I decided to do these black & white champagne overlay conversions.

I’m loving how they turned out.

ALSO: I am offering this elliptical scarf & matching hat in various colors in my Etsy store.

Available together or separate. Working on inventory now.

At the moment they are made to order.

Also- there is still time to sign up for my workshop beginning Jan 20th.

email me at chichomeschoolmama[at]att[dot]net to sign up.

Have a FABULOUS weekend!

Linking today: The Long Road to China, Photo Story Friday, Friday Photo Journal

Slow-Cooker Split Pea Soup

By Kleinworth & Co 14 Comments

Looking for Easy Family Dinner Ideas? We have this thing. Every time we make a ham we always be sure to save the hock & use our food saver to freeze it. Then when we are ready we thaw it for a day & then make Split Pea soup in the slow cooker. It’s so easy & a great way to be sure we are not wasting any food. Since we already had the ham for another meal & most of the ingredients we keep on hand at all times, the only thing it really costs us is the bag of split peas which is less than $1. It’s great because we eat this for a couple days, then we bust out the food saver again & freeze the rest. It works out great because the frozen amount is just perfect for when we want to do soup & sandwiches for a quick & easy dinner. So really- we are able to stretch a $15 ham into at least 6 meals for our family of 5 when you count the initial meal, a dinner of leftovers & the random ham sandwich along with the soup for 2 days & then the leftovers. Not too bad. Like I mentioned before- this year I will be all about how I can stretch my dollar at the store & learning to get more creative with our meals. This is a great way to do that.

Print Recipe

Slow-Cooker Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

Ham Chunks or ham hock with remaining ham
1 bag dried split peas
1 stick butter
Seasonings to taste salt, pepper, garlic powder
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced onion flakes
1 cup water
32 oz chicken stock

Instructions

Put all ingredients in your slow-cooker on high heat & let sit for 5-6 hours.
Stir occasionally.
About an hour before it's ready- remove ham bone & make sure the ham pieces are bite size. Pulling apart any chunks that are too large.
It's ready when peas are tender & soup is thick.
Serve with oyster crackers if desired.

Linking with: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | This or That Thursday | Little Things Thursday | Inspiration Gallery

Re-Purpose Ornaments {DIY}

By Kleinworth & Co 17 Comments

I have been wanting to add some new decor to the house. It was bugging me for a long while before we moved. We had been discussing a massive purge long before we knew we were relocating & so when we found out we took that as the perfect opportunity to offload some stuff. Things, furniture, decorations that we had picked up along the many years we obviously grew tired of. We had been dragging them along & continued to display them just out of a lack of having anything else to decorate with. We didn’t even like these things anymore. They didn’t reflect who we are now, our current tastes & they certainly were not in keeping with the current trends. It’s not like they were timeless- so really, why on earth were we displaying them in our home.

It felt so good to let it all go when we started the moving process. When we arrived we immediately set up Christmas decorations. As you saw last week when the Christmas decor came down we had to address the mantle. It is much smaller than our last one & I really wanted to do something different with it anyhow. Like I said- we were ready for some changes in our home. This also carried through to the little accent touches on the coffee & end tables. I held on to the favorite photos, packed away a huge box of photos I was tired of displaying & made a list of the frame sizes so I can start planning on what I need to print to fill them.

I also needed something more than photos on the tables. I needed some visual interest. At this same time I was thinking about what I would do with all the Christmas ornaments that I wasn’t planning on using anymore. I had replaced pretty much everything that we had used for years- changed things up a bit this past year. So here I was with all these ornaments that didn’t fit in the totes & I really had no reason to keep them. Until I decided to re-purpose them.

This is what I started out with.

A little rope & some hot glue. There you go- super simple. I added a little twine on a couple because I originally wanted to do them with the twine. I lack the patience to work with such intricacy. It was way too time consuming to try to wrap these with such thin twine. So that was when I switched to the rope. Much quicker & I like how it turned out much better. Mixed with some cinnamon scented pine cones to carry the rustic feel throughout the cabin & tie it in to the mantle decor. Worked out well & I was able to re-purpose something which always makes me feel good.

Linking with: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | Inspiration Weekend

Sarah Halstead | Jenni from the Blog | Project Alicia | Live & Love Outloud | Parenting by Dummies

Champagne Overlay from Life n’ Reflection

By Kleinworth & Co 19 Comments

I had the privilege of receiving these fabulous Champagne overlay textures along with the Love Spell overlay from Kristy at Life n’ Reflection. It really gave me an excuse to pick up the camera for something other than the landscapes that I have been so focused on since we arrived here. Other than the occasional snapshot of the kids I really have not done any “sessions” of any kind with them since before we started packing back in November. Yeah- I know- it was more than time. I had so much fun playing with these & it felt so good to sharpen my skills just a bit.

I LOVE these & I think they are my new favorite textures.

Mini-Me has been really under the weather for what seems like forever. (Although it’s really just about 2 weeks) She has been hit by whatever & it really took her down for the count. We have spent many nights up with her & I think we are all looking forward to everyone in the house being back to 100% soon. She was just to the point where the color was back in her cheeks again so I took the few moments to bundle her up & headed outside. We really only spent a total of 10 minutes at best out there, the show was coming down pretty hard & so I only took a handful of images. Here are a few of them- with the awesome Champagne texture.

Also- for you- my lovely readers & friends…

Kristy has been so kind to offer you all this Love Spell overlay for your use on your Valentine images.

Head on over & give her some love & download your file.

I decided to give it a try on this image.

Adorable!!!!

Also- there is still time to sign up for my workshop beginning Jan 20th.

email me at chichomeschoolmama[at]att[dot]net to sign up.

Linking with: 52 Weeks of Happiness, Tuesday Around the World & Sweet Shot Tuesday

Rustic Winter Mantle {DIY}

By Kleinworth & Co 10 Comments

When we first moved here it was the first week of December so we immediately set up for Christmas. So once Christmas was over I was sitting here pondering how I wanted to decorate our little family room in this cabin once the Christmas decor was packed up for the year. One thing I knew for sure was that we wanted to keep the wreath of red berries- but it needed to be larger & anchor the fireplace better. When we got here I just sort of threw it up there on the existing hook to get it out of the way while we unpacked. It just sort of stayed there after that. Brainstorming was in overdrive.

So clean slate- wanting to keep the rustic decor of the cabin carried through.

I created another, much larger wreath (like 2 feet+ diameter) & decorated it with burlap.

I anchored the berry wreath inside it with a small bit of raffia to add a bit more texture.

It was that simple & is a much better size for the space .

I wanted to keep the burlap texture carried through onto the mantle itself along with pine cones.

It wouldn’t be OUR mantle if it didn’t have the pics I did of the kids last summer.

(I really need to update those)

A little ribbon added for more color splash & to mix it up a little. My vase of the pine cones wasn’t as tall as I would have liked so adding a small wood basket underneath was just was it needed.

A few candles for added visual interest & some flowers & we are good for now.

Already brainstorming on the next season’s decor.

Linking with: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | Happy Hour

Sarah Halstead | Jenni from the Blog | Project Alicia | Live & Love Outloud | Parenting by Dummies

{DIY} Lip Salve

By Kleinworth & Co 5 Comments

I have this thing about my lips. Ever since I can remember I have had to always keep balm of some sort on my lips. I have a tube, pot or ball of it tucked away in every spot in the house so that I can always have one within arms reach. I buy them in bulk & I can’t get enough. One thing though is at night- I need something thicker but not quite as heavy as going with straight petroleum jelly because I don’t want breakouts. So I came up with a DIY solution that works quite well for me.

You know how annoying it is when you get down to the bottom of the lip balm & there is so much left but it’s stuck in the tube.

I decided to utilize that part when making my DIY lip salve.

Scrape it out of the tube with a chop stick or other thin device. In this case these EOS lip balms have a cross bar type plastic that makes it a real pain to get the rest out. So in this circumstance I snipped the plastic part out with wire cutters (you can use strong scissors too). Then I put all the unused balm into an empty little pot from some other balm I had purchased a while back that has since been used. I really like the little pot so I just keep using it when I make more. Sample sized pots from other things like face cream (washed or course) work well too.

-Then I pack the rest with petroleum jelly so it’s filled to the top.

-Microwave for 1-2 minutes & be careful when you remove as it will now be in a liquid state.

-Stir with your chop stick or stir stick until the lip balm & petroleum jelly have combined.

-Carefully put the lid on & put in freezer for about 30-60 minutes for it to firm up.

-Remove & it’s ready to use.

Perfect consistency- just thick enough to last through a whole night’s sleep but not too thick to give your complexion woes.

Linking with: Live Laugh {Linky} Thursday | The 36th Avenue | I’m Lovin’ It Party | One Creative Weekend | This or That Thursday | Little Things Thursday | Happy Hour

Macadamia Nut Bark {Recipe}

By Kleinworth & Co 5 Comments

For years I have wanted to make bark during the holidays. Remember when I told you that I have this list of holiday treats I want to make?? Yeah- this has been on it for a really long time. I really don’t know why I never got around to making it before. I guess I always thought it would be more time consuming than it really is. Or maybe I already had so many treats in the house that I really didn’t NEED to make anything else. I don’t know- but I can finally cross this one off my list & probably move it to the yearly staples list of things I just automatically do. It’s so quick, no-bake & SIMPLE. I can see me making many variations of this Macadamia Nut Bark {Recipe} for other occasions too throughout the year. This is a great thing to make as food gifts for friends for all sorts of occasions. There are so many gatherings we will have coming up where I can tweak this to work as a quick & easy treat to bring. Anything that looks like it took a ton of time but is simple gets an “A” in my book.

Print Recipe

Macadamia Nut Bark {Recipe}

Ingredients

2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 1/4 Cup White Chocolate
1 Cup Melting Chocolate I used red
1 1/2 Cups Crushed Macadamia Nuts

Instructions

Pour each chocolate in a glass, microwave safe bowl.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Starting with the semi-sweet chocolate, put in microwave for 60-90 seconds stirring half way through until melted.
Pour onto parchment & spread out to a thin layer.
Next do the same with the white chocolate but instead drop in spoonfuls all over the top of the semi-sweet chocolate.
Then do the same as the white chocolate with the colored melting chocolate.
Take a skewer or stick of some sort to pull through to swirl the chocolates together. ( I used a chop stick)
Sprinkle the nuts over the top & press in just a bit.
Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes to set.
Remove & stab with a sharp object in random places to break apart.
Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Enjoy!!!

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