Princess Paper Dolls

I found a website HERE with a ton of free Disney princess paper doll downloads. I remember printing off the Rapunzel paper doll as a party favor for my daughter's 5 year old birthday but I didn't realize this artist made a ton more paper doll designs. Paper dolls are so much fun! I remember playing with them when I was a little girl. Check them out!

A week in pictures

This last week was very eventful. I haven't had much time to sit down and create any new posts but I had some good excuses. =) My Mom flew out to Colorado for a couple weeks and we all enjoyed our time with her. But on a sad note our sweet almost 12 year old cat 'kitty' died on Sunday. We noticed that for the past week she hadn't been eating and then on Sunday morning she crawled behind our couch and when we came back from church she had passed. It was a sad day and we miss our Kitty.

Colorado is always beautiful, even when it's windy.

Fun around the lake

Lake Loveland

Menchies

Frozen apple pie yogurt from Menchies makes anybody happy =)

 

It's always a good idea to shop at Ikea... =)

Drove by the Broncos Stadium. Too bad Tim Tebow wasn't there.

Emma's first time ice skating. She loved it! =)

Kitty's grave

DIA on a bright and sunny January day

Not pictured: 

• Story time with Grandma
• Hot chocolate and cookies
• Hemming pants
• Many episodes of Downton Abbey
• Tapas for supper
• Walking around historic downtown Fort Collins
• Gelato
• Church, fellowship and friends
• Puppet fun
• House hunting
• Attempt made at homemade laundry detergent...success =)
• Listening to my daughter as she reads
• Date night!

John 3:16

Desk makeovers, bulletin boards and homeschool fun!

So, remember back in September of last year, I posted about finding this beauty here? =)

Well, then we had to move across the country before I could put everything together that I had envisioned but finally it's finished and looks more like this:

After a good paint job and hardware from Anthropologie, the desk was finished. Then I bought a $10 dollar bulletin board at Target and got the square shelves and chair from Ikea.
The bulletin board needed some help, though. I realized why it was so cheap...the cork came off very easily. My good friend LeAnn over at The Modest Homestead had a post last month about a fabric covered bulletin board that I thought was absolutely adorable. I tweaked it just a tad and instead of covering the whole bulletin board with fabric so the border didn't show I used upholstery tacs right up against the border.

I love the finished look! It's so easy to staple or tape things to her bulletin board now and I don't have to worry about the cork peeling off. =) Thanks LeAnn!

Now, the really fun part. It's January but Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I wanted to try to find a bulletin board idea that I could at least leave up til March or so. I found a cute idea at First Grade Blue Skies for a Snowology bulletin board. And the snowman or should I say...girl...was wearing red, so I thought it would be cute for Valentines as well. =)

Basically, 'snowology' is a term to describe anything that has to do with snow. So, I posted different facts about snow like their unique shapes and texture. I added a little history lesson about the worst blizzard that Colorado has seen...since (1913), cautions about the snow, and some fun facts, too.

Now when this school year started I did not own a laminator or a Cricut but now I see how useful these things are for creating bulletin boards. My free-hand abilities were not 'cutting' it. No pun intended. ;) I found a good deal on a mini Cricut and love it. It will cut any shape out for you and I liked this model because I only do occasional scrapbooking and school projects. I used it for making the letters in snowology and the informational flashcards.
Then I laminated everything so it would be sturdier and last longer. I used the laminator pictured below. You can find one on Amazon for about 20 bucks give or take.

Now, I'm really excited about future bulletin board and home school projects. ;)

 

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Reading for Personal Growth

These books are on my to-read list. I've heard excellent reviews on both of them and can't wait to dig into them. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is "a celebration of grace and a recognition of the power of gratitude."

  

 Give them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson is "telling our kids of the grace-giving God who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. If this is not the message your children hear, if you are just telling them to “be good,” then the gospel needs to transform your parenting too."

What are some books you are going to read this year?

Free 2012 Owl Barn Calendar

Lately I've been loving anything with owls and then I found this adorable calendar online here. 
It's totally free to print out. Here's a sample of some of the artwork.

 

Doughnut Muffins

Muffins that taste like doughnuts....mmmm. I made these little guys for a church fellowship and had a request that I post the recipe on my blog. So, here it is, Gwen. ;) I hope you all enjoy! This recipe is found on Fine Cooking and Kathleen Stewart says, "They may look like muffins, but a dunk in melted butter and a roll in cinnamon-sugar makes these luscious morsels taste more like donuts, without the hassle of deep-frying. We sell out of these muffins every morning at my Downtown Bakery and Creamery."

I used my mini muffin pan to make them because they are so filling and caloric. ;) They're just the right size if you use a mini pan.

For the muffins:

12oz. (24 Tbs.) unsalted butter, warmed to room temperature
1-3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 lb. 11 oz. (6 cups) all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1-2/3 cups milk
1/4 cup buttermilk

For dipping:

8 oz. (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter; more as needed
2 cups sugar
2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

To make the muffins:

Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the milk and buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix a quarter of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then mix in a third of the milk mixture. Continue mixing in the remaining dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dry. Mix until well combined and smooth, but don't over mix. Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin. (I used a mini muffin pan) Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about 1/2 cup. (A #16 ice-cream scoop gives you the perfect amount.) Bake the muffins until firm to the touch 30-35 mins) (25-30 if using a mini muffin pan)

To finish:

Melt the butter for the dipping mixture. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, dip them into or brush them all over with the melted butter, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.