Author:Lori
Holidays

Spring Cookie Crush!

March 21
No comments yet

Isn’t it hard to believe that Easter is just a few days away already?  I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling rather rushed this holiday season with all these celebrations following each other so closely!  And even though it’s so fun to have all these opportunities for festivities and family gatherings, when you mix them in with the business of everyday life it can get a little hairy!  But I still refuse to pass up a reason to create something special for the holiday…it just needs to be easy!  So what’s easier and quicker than prepared cookie dough?!  I love to keep a pack or two in my freezer so I can whip up something sweet in a pinch and with far less mess to clean up!  I’m sure you all scroll through Pinterest like I do to find inspiration for just about anything, right?  Well, I spied these adorable cookies and have been wanting to create them…so i had a little fun in the kitchen making some sweet treats for the new season!  And wait ’til you see the cuties made with the extra dough!  With Easter around the corner and spring making it’s grand entrance yesterday…you may want to try these oh-so-simple and cute cookies for your celebrations!

celebrate spring with…cookies!

Read More →

, ,
Create, Holidays

Simply Spring…

March 18
8 Comments

Now that St. Patrick’s Day festivities have come to an end, i can finally concentrate on spring and Easter decorations!  Not that I don’t LOVE our Irish traditions but it seemed a little strange to decorate for both at the same time…even though I did it anyway!  But now there’s only one holiday and new season to celebrate and I always look forward to the fresh change of color and natural elements that I add to my home!  And since Easter is only a little over a week away, some simple decorations are about all I can muster!  Fortunately, it can be really easy and inexpensive to decorate for spring!  Fresh flowers are abundant in every supermarket (and soon in the gardens!), buds are beginning to pop on the blooming bushes & trees, and of course, Easter eggs and candy are everywhere…all wonderful options for bringing springtime into my home!  Today I’d like to share some quick and simple ideas…

to celebrate a new season!

Read More →

, ,
Create, Holidays

End of the Rainbow!

March 16
No comments yet

When it comes to holidays and kids (maybe adults too!), something sweet is ALWAYS a welcome treat!  And since St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow I’d like to share with you a couple ideas on how to decorate a cupcake that’s perfect for those lucky Leprechauns!  When kids are popping in after school it’s always nice to have some easy treats on hand…and holidays are just the perfect occasion to create something a little special!  So my beverage cart became a St. Paddy’s Day dessert station piled high with mini cakes–the sweet treat at the end of the rainbow!  Let me show you how easy it is to whip up these whimsical cakes for your holiday celebrations!

Irish fun in the kitchen…

Read More →

, , ,
Create, Holidays, Savor

Top ‘O the Mornin’!

March 14
No comments yet

On Thursday morning St. Patrick’s Day will be here!  I personally think it’s OK to start celebrating as soon as March arrives…and now that there’s only a couple days left until those Leprechauns show up, I’m quite certain it’s completely acceptable for the holiday festivities to officially begin!  So on Sunday morning I decided to surprise my family with a simple and healthy breakfast.  It really is a pretty easy thing to do and a welcome “top ‘o the mornin” greeting as those sleepy heads wake up late after loosing an hour of precious sleep!  You may be familiar with my desk in the dining room…I use it all the time as a buffet to serve just about anything from after school snacks, everyday dinners, and nibbles for celebrations!  And when I’m not dishing out goodies, it makes a wonderful spot to hold extra serving dishes, holiday decorations…and even doubles as a dumping ground for backpacks and homework!  But yesterday it became a mini St. Patrick’s Day breakfast buffet to welcome the holiday week!

festive, easy, holiday inspired breakfast…

Read More →

, ,
Savor

We All Scream for Ice Cream…Sandwiches!

March 11
No comments yet

Ok, so we’ve had weather this week that makes me believe that spring is here to stay!  I know that’s not entirely true…but we are well on our way to the formal entrance of the new season and I am enjoying every second of it!  So to round out this springlike week, I decided to celebrate Friday by piling up a plate of summer sandwiches to kick off the weekend!  I purchased some wafer thin waffle cookies for this very task…to put away for ice cream sandwiches!  In the meantime they’ve been used in the St. Patrick’s Day snack that I shared last week, and plenty of regular munching…they’re really good dipped in ice cream toppings and fruit spreads!  They may also find themselves on a platter of s’mores fixin’s…but this warm weather was just the right invitation to pile on the ice cream and savor some summertime joy!  Who cares that it’s not really summer, or even spring for that matter…those seasons are coming and I’m ready to welcome them!  So yesterday I whipped up the frozen sandwiches, wrapped them up tight, and will surprise my family with this sweet treat today when they return from school!  Whether you have warm weather right now or not, defy the calendar and make an easy treat that will make you smile…

and dream of ice cream days!

Read More →

, ,
Create, Holidays

Egghead…

March 9
No comments yet

On Monday I shared my spring inspired buffet decor which included the sweet and so-simple-to-make bunny and chick eggs!  Today I’d like to share how easy it is to make these little guys!  And the best part is that you can craft these cuties with your kids…only changing a couple steps to make them little-hands friendly!  Maybe a cute classroom idea for spring?  So get your “egghead” on, get inspired, and think Easter!  Let’s get right to it and…

start some spring crafting!

Read More →

, , , , ,
Celebrate, Holidays

Spring Inspired…

March 7
No comments yet

One of the things I love most is impromptu gatherings!  It seems like as the kids grow it actually gets harder and harder to spend time with people we love…so when a spur-of-the-moment get together actually works for everyone involved–it feels like a great accomplishment!  It seems as though the phrase “we should get together soon” is said WAY too often to WAY too many of our friends.  No fault of anyone…it just happens to be the way of life right now for so many of us juggling busy schedules!  But this weekend was fabulously different when a last minute suggestion turned into an actuality!  We spent a casual evening of catching up with friends on all the goings on of family, work, school and everything else we could remember to talk about!  And the great thing about this kind of gathering was that everyone brought food or beverage making it simple for all!  AND not only was I lucky to be able to see my friends but to have them in our home…allowing me to throw together some last-minute decorations which you know I love to do!  I’ve been wishing for springtime for several weeks now…and even though it was snowing that day, I decided to go for an Easter inspired theme!  I had also been working on some holiday crafts recently…so I decided to use some of those whimsical creations on my appetizer table!  I love to share how easy it is to scour the house for things that can make a fabulous display without spending a penny…or maybe only a few pennies!  But the point is that many times you can come up with plenty of goodies to make a pretty appetizer table…even if it is at the last-minute!  Let me share with you how I dressed up the tabletop

on my springtime buffet…

Read More →

, ,
Holidays

Milk & Leprechaun Cakes…

March 4
2 Comments

Since our family has some Irish roots we take St. Patrick’s Day pretty seriously around here!  Not that we have big-bash parties or anything, but we do celebrate some family traditions and to stretch out the holiday fun I also LOVE to prepare little treats throughout the days leading up to the 17th!  I don’t do something everyday of course, but scattered about the calendar in the beginnings of March I’ll have a holiday breakfast, after school treat, or even a special holiday meal prepared as an unexpected surprise for my family. (although I’m not sure how surprised they are anymore…they just don’t know the exact days!)  It may sound like a lot of work but honestly it can be really easy to make something as simple as milk and cookies look like a party.  It might not replicate the “Pinterest” look but it can come close…and for far less time and money!  Besides, if you enjoy it as much as I do, it’s almost as much fun to create as it is to present!  So if you want to squeeze in a little extra Irish fun this March…try some easy tricks of the Leprechauns!  Make an after-school treat feel like…

an after-school party!

Read More →

, , ,
Travel

Sugar Shack

March 2
2 Comments

On Sunday we decided as a family to take full advantage of the beautiful, springlike weather to embark on a road trip!  We headed off to our family farm in Indiana…and nestled within it is a maple syrup camp!  I’ve had the luxury of not only eating the delicious, family-made syrup my entire life…but also having the opportunity to see it being made!  Our shockingly open Sunday free of activities AND this crazy weather we’ve had made it possible once again for our family to take a peek at the production in action!  The roller coaster of freezing and thawing temps has the sap, which flows through the veins of those trees, practically pouring out like a faucet!  So we loaded up the muck boots and hit the road to visit relatives, enjoy some fresh farm air, and breath in the soft scent of sugar wafting from the woods!  Have a peek at our trip to the sugar camp for some…

marvelous maple syrup!

Read More →

, ,
Create, Holidays

“Egg-celent” Decoupage!

February 29
3 Comments

Easter comes early this year…and even though I hate to jump ahead of holidays that haven’t even arrived yet, Easter follows so closely behind St. Patrick’s Day that we barely have time to make the switch!  So while we await the arrival of the Leprechauns, I decided to go ahead and start my spring crafting!  I don’t know about you, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Easter activities is decorating eggs!  It’s such a fun holiday tradition and there are so many wonderful color kits out there to dye, glitter, stamp, glue, or paint those eggs into Easter glory!  At our house we love to hard-boil a bunch of eggs, dunk ’em in all those pretty pastel dyes…and then we eat them!  But because it’s hard to keep real eggs fresh for a month or so, I also like to decorate the fake variety too!  This way I can enjoy them throughout the Easter season and recycle them for seasons to come!  The inspiration for my artificial eggs came when I discovered a pretty pack of tissues in the checkout isle…not for wrapping but for blowing!  They were way too cute to use on noses…so I decided to decoupage with them!  And as it turned out, the tissue was so effective to work with since it easily wrapped around the soft curves of the plastic eggs!  So I spent a rainy afternoon cutting out designs and crafting up some springtime joy!

a rainy day DIY…

Read More →

, , , ,