A Beautiful Tea Party!!

Last Saturday I had the honor of attending a wonderful tea party. It was all decorated so cute, and all the ladies brought lovely little finger foods. It is such a blessing to get together with friends from church and catch up on each others lives. Girl talk is just so much fun, don't you agree?? Here are some of my photos from that day, (perfect weather!!) Maybe you'll be inspired to have a fun ladies party as well.

Movie Night: Letters to God

     This is a wonderful movie based on a true story. A young boy is fighting cancer and his family had previously lost their father in an accident. Tyler writes letters to God, and when the postman reads the letters his life gets set on the right path just by seeing this little boys faith. It's a very heartwarming story, but also very sad. I cried my eyes out at the end, especially when they showed more real life miracles of cancer survivors. It especially hits close to home for me because my cousin's fight against a brain tumor ended last November. It's the worst thing to lose someone you love, but it's better knowing they're in heaven.  This movie is one I want to own! Hope is contagious and you never know how many lives your life will touch.

Grocery Shopping with Coupons!!

 So I've been watching the show Extreme Coupon. It's crazy how much they can save but they're hoarders! Who needs a thousand tubes of toothpaste? And their stores double coupons and all these other deals. Unluckily where I live there are no stores that double, but that doesn't mean you can't find deals. Here are some great deals I found. 

All this for $60!

 Hy-Vee Trip

 3 bags frozen vegetables- (On sale 3/$3)= $1.00 each
3 boxes Eggo waffles- (On sale 3/$5) + ($.75 off coupon)= $1.41 each
2 boxes Cheerios- (On sale 2/$5) + ($1 off coupon)= 2.00 each
2 boxes Chex cereal- (On sale 2/$5) + (2 $.50 off coupons)= 2.00 each
4 boxes Kelloggs- (On sale 4/$10) + ($1.50 off coupon)= $2.12 each
1 gallon milk- (Coupon from buying 4 boxes Kelloggs cereal)= FREE!
1/2 gallon chocolate milk- (On sale)= $1.59
4 lbs Strawberries- (On sale, originally 8.98)= $3.99
2 bags coleslaw/salad- (On sale, originally 1.98)= $.77 each
(Cream Cheese and Eggs bought at Price Chopper...)
TOTAL FOR HY-VEE: $32.36
AVERAGE PRICE/ITEM: $1.61
SAVED: $15.08

Wal-Mart Trip

Lays potato chips- ($.55 off coupon)= $2.00
Lays Kettle chips- ($.55 off coupon)= $2.28
2 bottles Suave wash(20% more!)- ($.75 off coupon)=$1.55 each
Twin pack Speed Stick deodorant- ($.50 off coupon)= $1.68 each
2 packs Trident Vitality gum- (b1g1 Free coupon)= $.48 each
2 bags Pretzel Twists= 2.96
Salsa= $1.98
Sour Cream= $1.34
TOTAL FOR Wal-art: $18.93
AVERAGE PRICE/ITEM: $1.57

SAVED: $3.31

Price Chopper Trip

Cottonelle tp 12 pk- (On sale, saved $3.90) + ($.50 off coupon)= $3.49
Puff tissues- (On sale 10/$10) + ($.50 off coupon)= $.50
Eggs- (On sale, saved $.64)= $.99
Best Choice Cream Cheese- (On sale 10/$10, saved $.29)= $1.00 each
Plus $.05 off for bringing my reusable bag!
TOTAL FOR Price Chopper: $10.52
AVERAGE PRICE/ITEM: $1.31
SAVED: $7.00

Total shopping trip:  $61.81

Saved 25.39 (29%)

I know I did go to three stores, but they're all close to each other, and close to home. Clipping coupons and matching them to sales isn't that hard. It just takes time. And I'll get better as I go along. Saving money is great, especially with gas prices going up like crazy!

My Craft Room and Cockrell Mercantile

Life gets busy, and blogging gets lower on my list of things to do...

For instance, we're trying to sell our house, and much of my time has been spent cleaning.

 This is the cleanest my craft room will EVER be!

 It does look very nice and organized doesn't it?

Don't look in the cabinets... they're stuffed with craft supplies!

Where is the fun in a craft room this clean?

I guess the fun is that it'll help sell my house.

And of course I can still craft in my bright and cheery orange room!!

As long as I clean up before a showing!

And this weekend a group of us girls went to Cockrell Mercantile.

It's the cutest place and it's only a couple miles from where I grew up.

I highly recommend that any ladies that live in the area should visit here.

Especially if you like to keep home. (like me!)

CockrellMercantile.com

There are five buildings to visit. (Photo from their website)

 

Photo from their website.

 Check out the awesome, old cash register that they use!

And they offered us free tea and coffee,,, so good!

 The Cockrell Annex has some great outdoor pots and decorations.

 Me and my sister! Thanks Megan for planning the girls outing!

 The Cockrell Cottage... I wouldn't mind living in any of these houses!

This is a cool building,,, to bad it's private.

Just a side note: 

They're having a Spring Open house

Music, food and prizes galore!!

I love making my house a home.

And places like Cockrell help make it fun!

Have a wonderful day ladies.

~Erin~

I've Been Quilting!!

I posted earlier about my Unfinished Projects Box.

So, ALOT of my unfinished projects weren't even in that box! I had seven,,, SEVEN!,,, quilts that I had started but hadn't finished. Most were started in high school! Yay for 5 years since graduation!! (hmmm, haven't heard anything about a reunion... oh well) So here are my quilts!

Quilt #1

 This is how I left it. It's a small tabletop quilt.

 So, I sandwiched batting between the fabric...

..And experimented with stippling.

Don't look too close, it's not perfect!

 Used my ruler and rotary cutter to even up the batting and backing.

And also cut the binding fabric.

 This is the FIRST quilt that I hand stitched the binding to the back. 

I was so proud of myself!!

 Now I'm ready for the Fourth of July!

Quilt #2

This was supposed to be for my room when I was in college,

Obviously that didn't happen.

I sewed the turquoise and pink designs on my sewing machine.

And hand embroidered the flowers with floss.

And I haven't finished this quilt, but hopefully soon!

Quilt #3

A high school t-shirt quilt!

I'd been keeping all my shirts to make a memory quilt.

On the left: shirts roughly cut out w/ interfacing ironed on

On the right: Shirts nicely cut and stacked

They're going to stay nicely stacked for now.

They take up so much less space than the whole t-shirts!

Quilt #4

 Such a sweet quilt, Pinwheels flying in the wind.

This is how I left it, and I've worked on it randomly over the years.

I finished all the pinwheel squares recently, sewed them together,

and bought fabric to finish it,,, hopefully soon!

Quilt #5

This one still hasn't been touched.

I can't decide whether I want to finish it,

or make it bigger to fit on a queen/king bed.

I just don't know!

It'll be a lot of work to make more of the squares from scratch.

Quilt #6

 This quilt was started a year ago. 

And I got frustrated with it, 

so it went in the unfinished projects box!

But didn't it turn out just adorable!

  

This is why I was frustrated. /\ /\ /\ /\ /\

The fabric was from a jelly roll,

and the strips didn't sew together straight.

(I had to do ALOT of trimming to make it square)

The back fabric is fun and cordinating.
I pieced together the binding.
And this is the 2nd quilt I hand finished!
(I'm slowly moving to bigger quilts)

Quilt #7

This is one of my favorites, b/c it's so different!

I bought all these 9 Squares at a garage sale.

 

Unfortunately, almost all of them looked like this.

But, I'm resourceful, and couldn't stand to throw them away.

So I trimmed them to 8 inch squares.

 Here I'm playing around with the placement of the squares.

I got all the squares sewn together.
I had to purchase border and binding fabric.

And they matched perfectly with the style of the quilt!
I'm half tempted to save this quilt for when we have a baby!

Food Friday!! Chocolate Cake, Brownies, Hummus... Yumminess!

 The Not-So-Diet Chocolate Cake

This cake is awesome! It disappeared in one day around my family. It's super moist and super chocolatey.

Find the recipe on AllRecipes.com here. I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream and powdered sugar instead of white chocolate. It's a hit!

 Healthy Fudge Brownies

Healthy? Really? Oh yeah! 86 calories, no sugar added and they've even got some fruit in them. I've made these brownies 4 times this month! My husband loves them, and so does his best friend(he's diabetic so these are great for him!)

I found this great blog that tells all about it, you can find the recipe here.

 

 Pita Chips and Hummus

(From Jillian Michael's book: The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook)

 

Pita Chips

4 (6 in) whole-wheat pita breads

3 Tb extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed (or garlic salt)

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400. Spray 2 rimmed sheets with olive oil.

Use kitchen scissors to cut outsides of bread. Then cut into bite size wedges or squares. Arrange pita on prepared sheets with inside of pita bread facing up.

In a small dish, combine olive oil and garlic. Lightly brush each pita chip with mixture, brush only the side that faces up. Sprinkle the pitas with salt.

Bake until chips are lightly browned. Turn pan once. 8-10 minutes. Cool slightly. Store 3-4 days.

1 serving: 54 calories, 2.9 g. fat, 1.1 g. protein, 6.2 g carbs, 89.9 mg sodium

Hummus

1 (15 oz) can no-sodium chickpeas

1/4 c. lemon juice

3 Tb tahini or 1 1/2 Tb peanut butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped or 1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cum

2 tsp EVOO, for garnish

sumac or paprika for garnish

Drain chickpeas, reserve 1/4 c. liquid. In food processor place lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt and cumin. Process. Add chickpeas(& liquid) and process until smooth, scraping down sides. Taste and add more lemon juice or spices if desired. Store in fridge up to 1 week.

 

Peanut Butter Popcorn

My friend from work recommended this, and I was skeptical at first. She said it's good for Weight Watchers (I don't actually do it though) My husband loves this. He's asked for it the past couple of nights. He started eating it with a spoon so his fingers wouldn't get all peanut-buttery. It's actually kinda fun!

I use my presto popcorn popper for the microwave. It's awesome! No oil needed to pop!

Pop 3-4 Tbs. of kernels

Warm 1-2 Tbs. peanut butter in the microwave. (about 30-45 seconds)

Drizzle over popcorn. Sprinkle on 1 tsp brown sugar. Stir or shake to coat.

Enjoy! 

 One more thing! I need advice!
I started this quilt in highschool. Should I make it bigger (5x5 squares) I have enough fabric to do it.
Or should I just make it a lap quilt- make a border and just be done with it?
I think it'd make a beautiful quilt for a bed, but I've kinda lost motivation, and finishin a quilt on a different machine isn't always the easiest thing to do to get the seams just right.