Three Years Big!

Yup, that's right, my little baby boy Noah is 3 years old today...well, technically at 11:59 pm tonight but who wants to wait until then to celebrate and for only 1 minute! He seemed to have a blast today as at this age he very well knows it's his birthday. For the past few weeks he has been singing the Happy Birthday song on repeat and every night he has been wanting to call one of his grandparents, uncles or aunts to sing Happy Birthday to them just cause he knows how. Good times.

And, just so you know, Noah was in full force today since the minute he woke up, wanting his Cookie Monster and Elmo cakes that I had promised to make him the night before as well as a much promised toy garbage truck that he picked out OVER a month ago. We let him open the garbage truck this morning to appease him and then he had to wait for his party to open the rest...AND eat his cakes (we thought that was a good compromise, what do you think?) Anyhoo, so here are some pictures from today...enjoy!

The last known picture of Noah as a Two Year Old! **Tears**

Here are the Elmo cupcakes I made for his par-tay. He wanted both an Elmo cake and a Cookie Monster cake...this kid is so demanding, I tell you ;) I made Elmo cupcakes instead of two cakes though...I mean c'mon, who wouldn't want all these crazy mini Elmo's sitting at their party table? You can see in the picture that I made some with CRAZY lookin' mouths so they didn't all look the same, individuality...it rocks.

And here's the Cookie Monster cake that Noah just had to have...all decked out with cookies and eating cookies too. It's not Cookie Monster without the cookies, right!?!

The Birthday Boy surrounded by his Sesame Street underwear pals.

Blowing out the Big #3!

We may have done this a few times...he REALLY likes blowing out candles.

Family photo opp...3rd Birthday Fun!

Ripping into presents...here come the felt goodies :)

Whew, now I'm pooped, hope you all had a great day too!

G'night!

Sibling Love

I was going through some of the pictures we have taken over the last month and came across these:

Aren't they just so sweet, they melt your heart?

Sibling Love, that's what it's all about.

It seems my little ones have shrunken that huge gap of tiny little baby and big, big brother to two little playmates who can't be without each other...they run and chase each other, share toys and food and drinks as well as HOLD HANDS!!!! Yup, my two cuties like to do this when we go on our fun family adventures, *sigh* I just want to keep them like this forever. My little Noah likes to make sure his baby Penny is staying close by, what a good big brother he is, he doesn't want his little playmate to get lost, and I don't blame him they have way too much fun together! I love them! That's all, just wanted to let you all know :)

Felt Cupcake and Frosting Tutorial

So. I have had some readers email and write in the comment section about a tutorial for a felt cupcake. How fun, I thought...that would be a really cute felt food to make. So, here is my version of a felt cupcake with frosting. It was actually really easy to do and I actually handstitched it all in one viewing of "Eighteen Kids and Counting"...not sure why I like to watch that show, but I do. There. I said it. Please don't judge...there are worse things I could be watching, right? Please, tell me I'm right!

Looks good enough to eat!

Ok, so interested in making one of these puppies? Then, here is what you need:

Felt Cupcake and Frosting

1 brown piece of felt (or a cream colored one for a vanilla cupcake)

1 piece of felt the color of your choice (for the frosting)

polyfil

matching thread

needle

So, what I did was cut the bottom out from a cupcake liner and then cut the remaining cupcake liner to make a C-shape. These will be your templates for your cupcake! You will also take the cupcake liner (before your start cutting into it) and flip it upside down on your felt so that you can trace a larger circle for the top of the cupcake.

Then, take your needle and thread and stitch, stitch, stitch your little heart out...sewing together the base, middle section and top of the cupcake together. Make sure to leave a little opening to stuff the cupcake. I handstitched the base to the middle section first, then went up to the top and sewed that in place.

Now, stuff that sucker full, but not too full, of polyfil and sew the opening closed. Looks like a Hostess cupcake now, doesn't it? Man, I love those!

Then, just put it in a cupcake liner and there you have it...a lovely chocolate cupcake just for me...eh, Noah and Penny ;) But wait! I think we are missing something oh-so-vital to this little chocolate beauty...what could it be? Oh yeah...FROSTING!!!

Oh, Ok, that's much better! It sure was looking a little lonely, wasn't it? Wait. Do you want to learn how to make this fluffy stuff? We don't want an uproar in your home from the littles being upset about no sweet stuff on top of their cupcake, do we!?!

Ok, so to make the frosting, cut three circles about 3 inches in diameter in whatever color frosting you'd like to have on your cupcake.

Fold each circle in half and sew a few stitches down the fold.

Then, take your fingers and smoosh it to make this sort of shape...not sure what to call it...maybe a smooshed three-leaf clover? Now, go and stitch each section on the fold just like you did earlier. You should have three stitched sections on the underside when done.

Now, go ahead and sew the three smooshed flower-type things together at their pinched up bases, like the picture above.

Flip it over and Oooh and Aaahhh...now that's some frosting on a cupcake! YUM! It looks so good and creamy like it's right out of a bakery, me likey!!!

Or, what about we put the cupcake in a pretty decorated wrapper? Ahhh, that's better!

Stylish and Yummy!

Two of my favorite words :)

Crockpot Beef Stoganoff

Want an easy and super simple recipe for Beef Stroganoff, Yes Please! I pulled this recipe out of my recipe box this morning...cause it's just that time of year for beef-y/stew-y meals...and was so happy I had all the ingredients on hand (I just L-O-V-E when that happens)! It's a fantastic recipe because it hardly has any ingredients a typical beef stroganoff recipe has yet pulls off the beef stroganoff-y taste quite well. Holy Smokes, this post is challenging my spelling of 'stroganoff' BIG TIME!

I put everything in the crockpot this morning and when I came home for dinner, WOW, the house smelled heavenly. It was the perfect end to a busy day at work. Try it for your dinner soon, you won't be disappointed!

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff (Serves my fam of 4 with some leftovers)

1 lb beef stew meat

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I like the 98% fat free kind, if you cared to know!)

1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms

1 packet of dry onion soup

1/4-1/3 cup white wine

Put your meat (mine was frozen) into the crockpot and pour everything else on top. Slow cook for 8 hours on low. I really think that 'slow and low' is the way to go with this recipe, the stew meat turns out soooo tender and very flavorful! Serve with egg noodles or mashed potatoes and a green veggie to complete the meal. So easy, it's like your not even cooking!

Yum and Yum!

Felt Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream Tutorial

It's finished! I finally have the pumpkin pie and whipping cream tutorial up!!! Wahoo! Sorry about the delay, I was having a baking marathon yesterday and it just got way out of control. So, right about now you can get your felt-on and get to making this before T-Day. This way you and your littles can share in some delish dessert eating after your very own pre-thanksgiving extravaganza before you stuff yourself silly of the real thing...I know I'm going to do just that(yeah, that's right, I said it, honesty really is the best policy, right!?!)

Oh, and a little...or in my eyes BIG... side note, I have a few of these cute little pies going up for sale in my Etsy shop as well as some Turkey Dinners, holla!! So, if you find yourself running out of time or you just aren't one to pick up a needle and thread, then you must check out my Etsy shop and buy one! Thanks!!!

Here is what you'll need to make this oh-so-good Thanksgiving Dinner Finale:

Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

1 sheet pumkin pie colored felt (I found mine at the Hob Lob, Joann's had nothing, zilch, zip in this color!)

1 sheet tan colored felt

1 sheet white colored felt

coordinating thread

polyfil for stuffing

First off, cut yourself a triangle from the pumpkin and tan colored felt each. Mine measured about 4 inches at the short end and 5 1/2 inches on the two long edges.

Then, go and cut a long rectangular piece of the pumpkin colored felt measuring 2 inches by 12 inches (you'll trim this shorter once you sew it together but I think it's always good to have a little more than less when doing attaching the pieces together!)

For the back edge of the crust, you are going to cut a tan colored piece of felt measuring 4 inches wide by about 3.5 inches.

Now, take the pumpkin pie colored triangle and sew the long strip around it, like the picture above.

Next, go ahead and take your tan colored square of felt and line it up with your pumpkin pie insides so that the widths of the square match the short edge of the pie triangle (see the picture above). You are going to sew the two pieces together with the pumpkin colored felt triangle on top of the tan felt about 2 inches, this will give you the crust top at the end of your pie slice. If you click on the picture above you can see a faint line where I am going to sew the two of them together!

Then, you are going to sew up the two vertical edges of both pie and crust on both the right and left sides, see it already done on the picture above?

Next, with the pie slice still wrong sides out, just sew the "bottom" tan colored felt crust on starting with one side of the pumpkin colored felt strip and working your way around. I didn't sew the back part of the crust together because you still need to have an opening to flip the pie right side out. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and flip it right side out and then stuff that baby!

Handstitch the opening shut and you are DONE!

Hurray! A piece of pumpkin pie all ready to eat!

Mmmm...check out these yummy results!

Ok, now onto the best part...the whipping cream dollop! Can I get a woot woot for some Whipping Cream! This pie is not complete without it...in my opinion anyways :)

Start by cutting a 4 x 4 inch piece of white felt.

Then, pin the edges together, like so.

Now, take your needle with some white thread and sew the edges together. You only want to sew about a 1/2 inch in, otherwise the dollop doesn't look as good!

Next, sew through the tips of each edge and pull or gather them together to make one nice point. Push in the rest of the edges to make them look all whipped cream-y and all.

And that's it!

Hope you understood this tutorial, this one was a hard one to explain!!!

A Turkey Feast and Other Birthday Goodies

Ahhhh, so I finally finished my felt food birthday gifts for Noah...that is unless I come up with any more fun ideas. Felt foods are so easy to make and they are just so freakin' cute that a few more to make this week before his big day won't put me over the edge. Here is a look at the completed Thanksgiving Dinner. What do you think?

Besides the turkey with detachable drumsticks and the carrots and green beans I showed you in this post. I also made mashed potatoes, gravy, a removable pat of butter, crescent rolls (man, I love those things!) and a huge slice of pumpkin pie with removable whipped cream (although that is non-negotiable after my Thanksgiving dinner). This feast looks so good, I wish I could eat it, the only thing I'm missing are the yummy smells coming out of my kitchen...soon though, very soon! If only my Thanksgiving meal came together this quickly.

On top of this feast, I also made Noah lots more felt-y fun from some great tutorials on Skip to My Lou. There are lots of easy ones for making a lunchbag, sandwich, chips and swiss cake rolls. I think they all turned out super duper cute, what do you think?

The complete lunch (above). I added a carrot and a banana so that there were some healthier eating options ;)

A look at the sandwich condiments: lettuce, swiss cheese, turkey and a tomato!

And for some variety, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich too.

And a few pats of butter to have when Noah's hungry for some toast.

Here's a look at the banana that comes out of it's peel.

The pair of swiss cake rolls, yum!

Potato chips, ruffles style!

And then I also made chocolate and vanilla iced doughnuts with sprinkles. I'm going to give these to him with the book, Arnie the Doughnut. Another big thanks to Skip to My Lou for the awesome doughnut tutorial and gift idea!

Then I made some chocolate chip cookies but as counting cookies. That way Noah can practice his numbers as he plays with them...I'm such a smart cookie, eh?

I also made him a bowl of bow tie pasta with red sauce for some dinner options.

And then a bowl of ravioli in red sauce too!

I'm working on a tutorial for the pumpkin pie and whipped cream, if you'd like one. Hopefully I can get it up sometime today! Ok, off to get the littles some lunch and then off to bed for their naps!!! YAY!

Never Doubt Bakerella

So, I just have to let you guys in on one of my favorite things lately. This cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, is totally ab fab! I first heard about it through Bakerella, she is so awesome isn't she? Not only is the cookbook a good read, it also has loads of step-by-step pictures of each recipe...gotta love that! She's a blogger too, so I'm feeling some blogger-love towards her as well :) Us bloggers have to stick together, right!?!

Her recipes are country living goodies that are by no means fat-free but I think that's what I really like about them. Comfort foods in all their glory! You have to check it out, the recipes are sooooo good, pinky swear!!

Here she is, Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman!

Don't these pancakes look so devine? Am I making you hungry yet?

I'm totally lovin' on the step-by-step picture recipes!

Get one today, you won't regret it!