Waldorf Red Velvet Cake

Waldorf Red Velvet Cupcakes

My husband was so excited when I told him

that me and our daughter were going to make

his grandma's Waldorf Red Velvet Cake only

we made cupcakes for portion control... lol

His grandma would bake cakes

everytime she would visit and

freeze them for when they would visit her.

The baby holding the recipe for us.

Playing with measuring cups and teaspoons.

Here is the recipe with her name next to it.

There are many steps to this recipe and the first

thing you do is cook the flour and milk together

on the stove until it is thick. 

Then put in the refrigerator until

 the cupcakes are done.

Here is what they look like before they bake.

Baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Done baking.

Mixing the butter, sugar and vanilla then the blob

on the right is the milk/flour mixture.

Frosting is a cream color

because of the 1 cup of butter.

Our daughter piped on some of the frosting.

I believe he was thinking about his grandma.

I believe she just wanted a bite.

And all she got was the wrapper...lol!!

Making Headbands For The Baby

Yesterday, my daughter came over and

we made headband for the baby.

This headband was something I found in the ribbon

isle at Joann's, it already had flowers on it.  My

daughter put a piece of velcro to hold it around

 her head because it is not a stretchy fabric.

Then she embellished it with some glitter brads and

 she covered the brads on the inside with a pieces of felt.

Giant Flower Headband

I took a flower apart that I bought at Joanns.

I sewed the button onto the flower.

Added a little hot glue to the stretchy band that I

found in the ribbon dept. of Joann's.

Sealed it good

Then hot glued the flower to the band

covering the place that the pieces were glued together. 

This band is stretchy.

Finished and too cute!!

Pre-made Flower Headband

I found these pre-made flowers

 in the scrapbook section at Michael's.

My daughter glued them to the band. 

 Using a sizzix die cut she cut rickrack and

another design out of felt and hot glued it on.

Here is the finished project.

We ended up with 13 headbands in all

and I made a felt flower wristband

with the leftover stretchy band.

Her First Easter

Pretty little Easter dress and some cool shades.

I couldn't resist these cute sunglasses.  We have a

family reunion coming up in Pismo Beach, Ca.

She's still trying to get the hang of sitting up.

No chocolate bunnies or peeps this year.

Bunny Smore Bars

I baked all of the ingredients for the

Bunny Smores in a jar but used chicks instead

and laid them on top instead of cutting them.

This is what they looked like after I baked them.

I also doubled the recipe and baked in a 9 x 13 pan.

This is the result.  It turned out like a cookie bar.

I left out the buttermilk because it made them too gooey.

So here is the recipe I used for this cookie bar:

2 sleeve graham crackers crushed

2/3 c. brown sugar

1 c. butter melted

2 tsp. vanilla

2 c. M & M's

14 peeps cut up or left whole

Mix all together. Spray 9 x 13 pan.  Place

all ingredients in pan and pat down. 

Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Cool and Serve. 

Bunny Smores in a Jar

Hope these cute little bunnies make someone smile!!!   Enjoy!!!

Everything I used I bought at WalMart

                                 Place a whole sleeve of graham crackers and 1/3 c. brown sugar

                                 in a gallon size bag and crush completely.   I used a wooden rolling pin.

                                 Place 2/3 of the mixture into a 1 quart jar.  Add 1 cup of pastel M & M's. 

                                 Then place 7 bunnies inside.  Put the remaining cracker mixture in the

                                                   middle of the bunnies and press down to fit. 

                                  I downloaded a printable gift tag with baking instructions from

                                                          Christmas.organizedhome.com

                                      Click recipes, Click smores in a jar easy holiday treats

                                      Click on free Easter jar tags and print.

                                  I used a 2 inch circle punch to punch out the baking instructions

                                   and put it on top of the jar and glued ribbon around the jar

                                                           and a bow on the front.

                                       Can be used with ghost peep and Christmas tree peeps

                                                                   Baking Instructions:

                                        Spray 9 x 9 in. pan.  Empty contents into large bowl.  

                                        Remove peeps and snip into small pieces and add 

                                        back to large bowl.  Blending well.   Add 1/2 cup

                                       melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/3 cup buttermilk. 

                                      Several versions leave the buttermilk out.  Mix well. 

                                                      Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

From Motherhood to Grandmahood

Oh no!!!  Am I ready to be a grandma?  I thought to myself...I'm way to young to be a grandma...I'm only 49 and that's not old.  As I look in the mirror and I see white hair growing in around the hair color that I have put on my hair to make me look younger, wrinkles developing on my face that I can't stop with any kind of cream that I put on and what's up with that turkey neck thing and the little hairs on my chin???  Well, this is another season of my life.  The season that I will call "Grandmahood. 

I watched with delight as my daughter's belly grew.  Who was this little person growing inside her?  I got my first glimpse of her in an ultrasound session.  Her little heart beating so fast.  Then the baby shower and then the big day.  I was able to be by my daughter's side along with her husband as she laid in the hospital bed in labor.  My daughter and her husband vowed to do this thing naturally.  I remember holding my daughters hand and putting wet clothes on her forehead.  She worked for hours and hours and was not moving very quickly.  She was tired, weak and she was trembling.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I knew that she was done.  I explained that having a c-section was not the end of the world and this would all be over soon.  She agreed.  So when her husband came back in the room, I said "She's done, she wants a c-section."  I was asked if I wanted to be in the delivery room.  I, of course, agreed.  What an honor!!!  Little Amelia Jean was born with some minor complications but left the hospital doing well.

Well, little did I know, that this precious little child was about to change my life.  She brings such joy to my heart that I can't even explain.   I never get tired of seeing her smile or hearing that cute belly laugh.  She has her Nana and Pop-Pop wrapped good around her sweet little finger.

Amelia, her mom and I went on our first shopping trip together.  At 4 months old she was sitting in the cart holding on to the bar.  She looked so proud of herself.  And never fussed a bit.  We managed to find a few things for Amelia's Easter basket.  But I think I'm going to need a bigger basket.

Don't you just love Target

Making Paper Flowers

                                                Here is how to make this pretty paper flower.

                                           I used regular cardstock and used stampin' up punches.

                                                      I pierced a hole in each flower.

                                        I layered each flower from smallest to largest on a brad.

                                                  Then I used a recycled simple green bottle
                                                    with just clean water in it and sprayed it.

                                                          Gently lift each flower to the center.

                                                               Spray and Scrunch as you go along.

                                                                         Scrunch tightly.

                                                           Use a large plastic needle
                                                    to peel the layers back one at a time.

                                       Now you can mess with it to get it the way you want.
                                            And let dry.  You can add glitter if you like.  Enjoy!!

Family Cupcake Wars

For my oldest son's birthday we celebrated by having a Family Cupcake War.  Each person who participated (2 of them were kids) brought 12 cupcakes and an item or picture that was their inspiration.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

frozen balls of pre-made cookie dough in the middle

Smore's Cupcakes

Lemon and Chocolate

Filled Cupcakes

Halloween Spider Cupcakes

baked in the cones

Peace Cupcakes

Rice Krispies Treat Cupcakes

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

baked inside a mini pumpkin, which is all edible

Everyone tasted a small bite of each cupcake and voted for their favorite.  There were many categories including most colorful and best tasting.  Each participant received an award and got to pick from a basket filled with bottles of sprinkles and cute cupcake liners.  The winners received an award for that category and a box of cake mix.

At the end of the night every family took home a plate full of delicious cupcakes.