whole wheat blondies are GOOD for you

At least that's what i tell myself!
Well, hope everyone out there is doing well. I realize i've kinda fallen out of touch with my blog this month...i've been tired and overwhelmed...you know, the feelings that are most common with moms of young kids. But anyway, i thought i'd share my stand-by dessert recipe with you. I made these on Sunday when some good friends came over and since they are so quick and easy i thought you should make some too! I've added to and changed several things about the original recipe that i now claim it as my own. :)

Whole Wheat Blondies

2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup butter

1 tsp instant coffee granules

2 eggs

2 tsps vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/4- 1/2 semi sweet chocolate OR 1 square unsweetened chocolate chopped up

1. Grease a 13x9 baking pan. In a medium sauce pan melt the butter, brown sugar and coffee on med. heat. stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and melted. Take off heat and let cool slightly before adding eggs. Add eggs one at a tine, stir in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in half of the white and dark chocolate pieces and stir gently. They will melt and swirl

2. Spread into baking pan and then sprinkle with remaining chocolate pieces. 

3. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. I always check it around 18 to make sure it doesn't get too cooked. You want to take it out when the center is just set. Cool and cut into squares. 

If you don't over bake these, they have the perfect texture to be cut into shapes if desired. Stars or holly cut-outs maybe?

So, enjoy! I have big ideas to make and post, but for now they are just ideas in my head, so we'll see if they come to anything. Oh, and thank you for all your very nice words about my craft show. You all are so nice. :)

happy thanksgiving...

to all the indian warriors...

and indian princesses ;)

craft show

Here are a few pictures from the craft show on saturday.  handy andy and i (bless his heart for wanting to hang out with me) had a great time, sold quite a bit and had the pleasure of being around some really fantastic local art and meeting some equally great artsy people. This gal and this gal were two of my favorites.The first one also happened to be the organizer of this event.

Well, anyway, here's my table. Lots of thanks goes to handy andy for the structural stability of the bunting dowels, meg + andy chalkboard and shutter display that held the mini chalkboards- all his ideas and all fabulous. :)

dollies galore

With all the tons and tons of snow our part of Colorado got in the last couple of weeks, there was also an abundance of fallen tree limbs. While it was very sad to see so many of our cities trees damaged or destroyed, i was pretty happy to go branch scavenging. Some of which i used to make this little hair clip tree.

These little owls were a new edition this year. They provided such a quick and creative outlet for me after making so many dollies...

Here's handy andy's handiwork- both the display and the chalkboards. Didn't they turn out great?! 

Thanks to our wonderful grandparents for watching all the kids so handy andy could hang out with me for over 1/2 the day! so fun.

oh, and i thought i'd give a little close-up of this lovely lady. Greta, if you're reading, i'd like to introduce you to your namesake. ;) Do you all read picnics in the park ? Because you should. She's one of my favorite destinations these days for inspiration in almost every department- style, motherhood, homeschool, authentic everyday living. Very refreshing.

Well, anyway, we had a great day at the show and since not everything sold, i'll be filling up my little shop here soon. Now to go tackle the ginormous mountain of folded, but yet to be put away laundry. :(

why i've been a bit absent..

I"m getting ready for my 2nd ever craft show. So, i've been busily sewing and crafting in every spare moment. Wellllllll,  that's not true...in my spare time i've also been keeping up with all my favorite blogs, pinterest, and tv shows. Don't worry, i know how to keep my priorities straight. :) Anyway, if you're in the Greeley, CO. area, you should stop by! This show/ market is held in a super cute old building turned theater in downtown Greeley and will be lots of fun.

Ok, so here's a little of what i've been working on lately...and don't you think that handy andy hasn't been put to work as well, because he has! And he keeps coming up with such great ideas for my little booth that its almost getting annoying.... i shouldn't even joke, because honestly, some of my ideas are really, seriously brainless. For example, i wanted some pole type things on either side of my table to hang bunting on.

* My brains thinks like this: "I'll find some 5 or 6 ft. long dowels at hobby lobby(?) then i'll get a couple of tin cans, fill them with cement, when it's almost dry i'll shove my ginormously long dowels into the cans and hope they stick up straight. Then i'll put the cans inside a couple pots and kind of push them under the the 2 sides of the table and then string my bunting across the wobbling, possibly snapping dowels. riiiiight."

* Handy Andy's brain thinks like this: "First of all, does my wife's brain reeeally think that illogically??

Either way, I'll get a couple 2 feet dowels, find two substantial aspen logs from our wood pile, drill a hole in the center of both. Fit the dowel into the hole, put the log on top of either side of the table. String bunting. done." SO smart. 

Well, that's all for tonight. I have a bit more sewing and pricing to do and then i'll be sure to share some pics from the actual show next week. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

harvest...halloween.. DRESS-UP day

I could definitely do without all of the scary and ick on this holiday, but the fun of letting these little people dress up and run around makes for a pretty great night.

I think big family/group themed costumes would be awesome, but as the kids are getting older, they have opinions. This year, their opinions fell in the "ninja", "bunny princess" and "doggie superhero" categories. :)

Will put his costume together all on his own...even down to where he wanted his face paint.

Sophie knew from the beginning she wanted to be a doggie. But then about an hour before our party she began to get "super hero" dreams in her head. Thanks to my hot glue gun and lots of old t-shirts, i quickly made a super hero cape with an "S" on the back. She was delighted.

Madelines' two favorite things in life these days are bunnies and princesses. The combination of the two was obvious.

Here we are visiting our best neighbor, Charlene.

Ben was, of course, a sock monkey. And he played the part perfectly: cuddly, squishy and adorable.

Handy Andy out did everyone and threw his clown costume together in "LITRALLY" (parks and rec, anyone??) 15 minutes AND provided tons of entertainment with his unicycling and juggling...seriously, his talents are endless...

We went "treating" with a big group of friends around one of the loveliest, old neighborhoods in our city.

Look at all those beautiful princesses....and doggie ;)

It was a super lovely night. The kids scored some awesome candy which Handy Andy and i thoroughly enjoyed sorting and gleaning from that night.

DIY- Vintage Suitcase Makeover pt 2: map lining

So, after i removed the lovely, but smelly vintage lining and cleaned it reallllly well, i started thinking of what to line it with. My first idea was a vintage bed sheet, which sadly failed. The second idea was using my ever so handy road atlas and it worked perfectly! :


1st Plan : FAIL 
Materials: mod podge and vintage sheet
Method: Pre-treated the fabric w/ mod podge (coated it, then let it dry over night)
Put a 2nd coat on the dry fabric and coated the bottom of the suitcase with mod podge and then slowly tried to cut, fit and press it around the bottom and edges of suitcase
Problem: Did not stick, was not smooth, bunchy corners...majorly annoying

Here's a picture of the stiff, peeling, bunchy corners. I had such high hopes for a cute vintage sheet lining....oh well.

2nd Plan: SUCCESS!
 
Materials: Road Atlas!!, Hot glue gun and a little mod podge
Method: Used smallish pieces of atlas, hot glued around the edges of the paper, put a little mod podge on the center, kept layering, hot glueing, cutting...painted a top coat of mod podge over the top when the inside was completely covered in atlas paper.
Problems: None, except that after the first fail, i was sooo done with the project waaay before it was actually completed. :)

 - the little pieces of paper were able to fit the curved corners perfectly and the hot glue did a great job of keeping it stuck-yay!

If you missed the first part of the Suitcase Makeover project, click HERE

linking to: tutorial tuesday