Fun finds

Foodie Love

March 20, 2012 By TheLocalHoney 2 Comments

I {heart} food. Yep, I sure do. I have 3 large binders stuffed with recipes. Those tried and true as well as a zillion I’d like to make. Now thanks to Pinterest I also have a board of foodie love. I wanted to share some of my favorite pinned recipes with you. Some I have tried and others I am eager to try.

Tried and true

I have a friend that loves peanut butter. For his 40th birthday I was tasked with making cupcakes and of course, he wanted peanut butter. So I searched Pinterest and came up with these although I cheated a bit {using store bought devils food cake with a heaping spoon of pb thrown in the mix}. I did however make this amazing peanut butter frosting. Then I dipped the Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties in it. Oh. My. Yum. My sweet friend Stacie came over as I was frosting and decided to just grab a spoon. Yes, it was that good. Oh, the birthday boy? He also loved them. Yeah success!

pb frosting Foodie Love Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes from Grin and Bake It.

I recently needed a dish to take to a family we know going through some hard times. I was trying to be unique as they have received a lot of meals as of late. I also had company coming over so I whipped up a double batch. It was a hit. It is a very rich meal but the flavors were delish together.

Creamy White Chicken Artichoke Lasagna Foodie Love Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna by Tasty Tidbits

Who hasn’t heard of The Pioneer Woman?? Well she has this yummy recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes. Tried em, loved em!! I will be making these again. They make a great side to a tri-tip.

potato 300x199 Foodie Love Crash Hot Potatoe from The Pioneer Woman

I was searching for an easy cinnamon roll to make and take to my sister in law’s baby shower. I typically try and stay away from cooking with yeast. It feels like an extra step that I just don’t want to deal with {silly maybe?}. I came across this recipe and I have made it a couple times since. They are amazing and easy too. The perfect combo of a recipe if you ask me

Easy Maple Pecan Cinnamon Roll by Bakingdom

I have a friend who {hearts} Blue Moon Beer. So of course I had to make some of these Blue Moon Cupcakes for her. The first time was because she had us over for dinner and I offered to bring desert and the second time was for her birthday. Now, both times they were all gone. None came home with me. The orange is subtle and the overall flavor is not too sweet. The frosting almost has a meringue quality to it. Will I make them again? Yes!!!

Blue Moon Cupcakes by Simone Anne

Stuffed Shells with Sausage and Spinach oh how I love thee! This has become one of my favorite meals and it makes great leftovers as well. The only thing I do different is add a huge scoop of premade pesto. Just for a little added somethin’ somethin’.

Stuffed Shells with Sausage and Spinach by Inspired Taste

Another tried and true recipe. I actually found this one prior to seeing it on Pinterest but once I saw it here, I had to repin. This was actually requested for desert at Christmas by my father in law. I have made it a handful of times. I love apples and the caramel glaze is to die for. Ask my youngest son, he would eat it by the spoonful.

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake by My Recipes

On my cooking ‘to do list’. Also recipes from Pinterest that I have yet to make – but want too!

Cake Bark from Sweetapolita

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad from What’s Gaby Cooking?

Baked Chicken and Spinach Flautas from Healthy.Delicious

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken by Pip & Ebby

Spinach and Feta Muffins by I like Ginger Bisquits

Butternut Squash Ziti by Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Salted Mudslide Cookies by How Sweet It Is

Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa Recipe by Cookin’ Canuk

Cilantro Lime Shrimp by Never Enough Thyme {how cute is that name?}

Cream of Spinach and Asparagus Soup by Everyday Occasions

Caramel Budino with Salted Caramel Sauce by Bon Appetit

So there you have it, a little journey of what’s cooking in my kitchen and also some future eats and treats here in my house. Where do you pull recipes from? Magazines? Blogs? Do tell

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Fun finds, In the Kitchen Tagged With: Fun finds, recipes

Lovely Yellow

March 8, 2012 By TheLocalHoney Leave a Comment

Oh hello bloggy world ~ I have missed you! Due to ‘technical difficulties’ I have been unable to blog or get much else done via the computer. {Insert explicits here}. I have not been a happy camper and let’s just say that having to contact the help desk in India 3 times in two weeks has not been super productive due to the language barrier. Ugh. I was so close to throwing my computer out the second floor window. Yes, really.

Anywho, on to some blogging!! I love Jones Design Co. and her fab monthly giveaways. This month she is doing a yellow giveaway with a handful of yellow goodies. For details and to enter, click here to be redirected to her site. Now aside from her fun yellow inspirations, I have a little yellow happening in my own home right now. I put away the red from Christmas and Valentine’s and pulled out some fun yellow throw pillows and ‘yellowed’ up my mantel. It’s springy without the pinks and greens which I am just not as drawn too. I know, Easter is so close but I just don’t have a lot of bunny decor but I will gladly eat some candy coated chocolate eggs. Yum! The weather here in No Ca has been a little um, moody? I don’t really know how else to put it. Monday was in the 70′s and beautiful. Then it rained that night and got cold. Very cold. The past two days have been sunny and windy. And cold. Very cold. Still, spring is in the air. Trees are blooming {cough cough – hello allergies} and people like me are getting pedis and wearing flip flops. In honor of this, I wanted to share some of my favorite things in hues of yellow.

These fabulous yellow earrings.

As featured on the above giveaway, these happy Chevron pillows. I {heart} chevron.

Oh I do love this sweet lil’ owl planter.

I just bought my 1st pair {yes, 1st – I am already planning to buy a second pair cause they are soooo comfy!} of TOMS. How cute are these yellow ones?

yellow toms 195x300 Lovely Yellow Bunting is such a fun way to accessorize.

Notecards are always good to have on hand and these happen to have my last initial on them. Perfect!!

Bakers Twine is a happy way to embellish gifts tags, gift wrap, notecards — it’s a pretty universal ribbon and comes in an array of colors.

I am a sucker for words that inspire. This would be fabulous in a little girls room.

I think yellow is such a happy color. Do you have a happy color?

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Fun finds

Creative Valentines {non foodie creations}

February 7, 2012 By TheLocalHoney 4 Comments

Love is in the air. Can you feel it?? It is that sweet time of year when kids are picking out Valentines cards or creating something special and unique — probably with the help of mamas {hand raised over here}. It seems that there are more and more kids with food allergies. Some schools have very strict rules about what you can and can not bring to share as far as foodie treats to holiday parties. Some schools even enforce a ‘no treat’ rule. This being said, I wanted to share some fabulously creative ideas for non-edible Valentines. I am about to submerge myself into handmade Valentines with my boys. I found this super cute idea over at Whipperberry and I just HAVE TO DO IT! It’s such a sweet way to share the love on Valentines Day. I used a couple of 40% off coupons at Michaels to buy the heart molds and then I searched {and searched and searched} on-line for a rolling alphabet stamp. There are more listed today then there was when I bought mine and they are in South Korea so ship time wouldn’t work if you wanted it for this Valentines Day which is *gasp* a week from today!! I love how it is something non edible and the saying is so sweet!

Here are some more sweet and creative ideas. There are so many printables out there to help you create a lovely and custom package as well. Just do a search for “free Valentines printables”.

This idea for this little bookmark is super easy and it can be used time and time again. Plus it’s great for little readers. They will love having something special for their favorite books.

These sweet pencils are handy and have a fun message on them. She custom ordered her’s but you can find Valentines pencils at Target 20 for $2.00. I actually picked some up for my kiddos class this morning.

I do love owls so this sweet card really stood out to me. They show a pencil or a lolli but obviously, for non food Valentines I’d use a pencil.

Kids love bouncy balls {and they keep them busy for awhile too}. This cute idea says, “Valentine, you make my heart bounce”.

You’d have to move fast to get this one done in time {we are at nearly 30 kids per class so I couldn’t get this done in time!} but the friendship bracelet is a fun way to say, “thanks for being my friend”.

G*Rated featured this idea for giving play-dough as a gift. If you have younger kiddos, Play-dough is always a hit. You can buy the little ones, stick them in a bag with this cute printable or click here for directions on how to make your own.

I plan to do something similar to this for my kids teachers. I picked up some red mugs today and I want to do their teachers 1st name initial. Click here for that fun Anthropology inspired idea.

There you have it ~ some sweet and fabulous ways to share the love on Valentines Day. If you are looking for foodie options, Design Finch shared 50 ideas for creating Valentines.

Are you a store bought or handmade Valentine giver? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Crafts, Fun finds, In the Kitchen Tagged With: Crafts, Fun finds

Valentine’s Day Mantel

January 31, 2012 By TheLocalHoney Leave a Comment

Ah yes, another holiday is another reason for my to switch up my mantel. As I may have mentioned, I am not typically drawn to pink. Sometimes I adore pink like on babies or my sweet friend Kelly who adores pink and wears it so well but mostly I like earthy colors. Except that one blue. You know, the one that seems to be everywhere as of late. A bit of a light turquoise/robins egg/grayish blue. It’s somewhere in that color pallet and I <3 that color. My obsession with blue is not what this post is about though so let me move on …

Home Stories of A to Z is doing a fun lil’ Valentine’s linky party. I love linky parties! My color pallets was cream, red and black. I saw this fun art piece at Homegoods and just had to have it. The best part? My friends come over and act like they are taking an eye test. It’s quite comical watching them cover an eye and read the letters. They think they are pretty funny

I also added a fun chalkboard {thanks to a thrift store frame that I turned into a chalkboard for under $2}

And one of my favorite parts? The pennants I added using some jute, burlap ribbon and then I cut out some black hearts to tie it all together.

So there you have it ~ My Valentine’s mantel.

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Crafts, Fun finds, Holidays Tagged With: Crafts, Fun finds, Holidays

Valentine’s Day Fun

January 23, 2012 By TheLocalHoney 2 Comments

Hello there, I am suffering from a ’9 year old party of 6 sleep over hangover’. Was that run on or what? What it means is that I am a little loopy and tired today. I did get a little cat nap in and now my boys — hubby included — are at the neighbors watching the Niner game. I don’t do sports so it was the perfect excuse to get a break. So here I sit, listening to the rain outside, enjoying a crackling fire and eating some clam chowder and crusty bread {thanks to my hubs for the store run}. Since I have Valentine’s on the mind, I thought I’d share some fun finds with you.

I love this cheery mantel over at Landee See Landee Do.

I do love me some burlap and this ‘love’ pillow over on Etsy is just so fun! I might have to try this whole stencil on a pillow thing. It seems to be quite the trend.

Another sweet Etsy find. I love burlap and pennants so how perfect!! The background is also quite perfectly romantic don’t you think?

This cute little combo is popping up all over Pinterest. I sign everything with xo so I love it extra

So Craftalicious did a fun wreath using strips of fabric. I did something similiar for Christmas. It’s such a great way to use scraps of fabric.

This fabulous idea came from Whipperberry. I love it so much that I already plan to do it for my boys classmates for Valentine’s Day gifts. I picked up the heart baking cups at Michaels {using a 40% off coupon of course!} and I found the stamper on-line. It’s such a sweet and crafty idea.

This sweet little necklace that I saw on Pinterest is so simple yet sweet.

Of course the options for Valentine’s Day crafts, decor and goodies is endless. I could sit and share all night but I will leave you with just a little bit of sweetness for now. I am still working on my Valentine’s Day mantel. I will be sharing that with all of you soon. Until then, Be Love.

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Fun finds, Holidays Tagged With: Fun finds, Holidays

Organizing Your Spaces

January 13, 2012 By TheLocalHoney 1 Comment

With a New Year comes a couple of things. Purging {oh it feels soooo good!!} and trying to organize the leftover chaos of the past holiday season. I have successfully purged about two carloads of ‘stuff’. I get a little to excited about that kind of thing. Organizing makes me happy. So does redecorating but I am all about doing this on a dime. I am in the middle of a bedroom redo for my almost 9 year old. I say this as my hubby is watching video of our home being built back in 2004. Seeing my big boy as a baby? Sigh. Where did that time go?? Any-who .. that is a whole other post

Here are a few of my favorite storage ideas and spaces of late.

I wish I had a space for a table with built in benches that allowed for storage. What a great idea! Plus you feel like you are at a restaurant even though you aren’t.

bench storage 256x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

This closet is organized perfectly. I love the use of canvas bins.

Space Saving Ideas storage 237x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

I recently copied this idea for all of my cupcake holders. It is a cute and easy storage idea.

Source

What a great way to save space and organize your wrapping paper.

550 1016540441 225x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

I love this idea for under the kitchen sink. Especially the hanging bottles of cleaning solvents.

Source

I have complete closet envy over this one. It makes me think that I might need to rethink my last purge cause my closet still runneth over. Plus I now feel the need for pretty new bath linens. These are so fresh and bright. Mine have been around for some time and don’t have the brightness that these do.

linencloset 225x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

Oh wow — do people really organize their freezers this way? It’s amazing and oh so inspiring.

freezer 225x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

Baskets are one of my favorite ways to organize. It keeps things in one place and also a little hidden ;)

baskets 225x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

How about this pretty lil’ garage? OK – maybe a dude would not like the green and white checkered peg boards but the organization of it all? Pretty great.

garage 300x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

House of Smiths is one of my most favorite blogs and I love this idea. As a matter of fact, I am working on my own version for my house.

Organizational Magnet board thehouseofsmiths com 200x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

Here is a lovely organized laundry room.

laundry 225x300 Organizing Your Spaces Source

The resources for inspiration are never ending. I think the key is to remember that less is more. At least once a year, go through your home and get rid of what you do not need. Can you donate it? Have a swap with a friend or group of friends? Recycle? Try and be resourceful. Also try to follow a rule when you make a purchase — do you love it? Will it be in your home for a long time to come? We have landfills filled with things that are tossed out. If you think a purchase through instead of being impulsive, you are more likely to own the item for many years to come.

How do you stay organized?

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Bee Organized, Fun finds Tagged With: Bee Organized, Fun finds

Christmas Crafting and Gift Giving Ideas

December 16, 2011 By TheLocalHoney Leave a Comment

Tis the season ~ and my how fast it is going! Insert sigh. I get so sad at how fast this time of year is. How about you? Are you all about the season or ready to see the craziness end? I never seem to do all that I want to do. Thanks to Pinterest I am reminded of the million and one ideas that I’d LIKE to do. It’s OK, I seem to do plenty and it is all so much fun! The kids are officially on Winter Break as of 12:35pm yesterday. After two days of parties and some very cute renditions of Christmas songs and The Night Before Christmas, I am ready for things to slow down. No schedules and time with my kids to be Merry & Bright. Of course on the list is some holiday crafting! Some of the below we will do and others are on the future holiday to do list. Enjoy!

Whole Living Magazine shared this idea for herbal firestarters. A warm, cozy fire that smells good? Sign me up!

Oh Martha — she just has some of the best ideas! You can find so many ideas on her site but I will share some of my faves with you.

a98492 1200 candycanes xl 240x300 Christmas Crafting and Gift Giving Ideas Pipecleaner candy canes. Too cute {and easy!}

ft dec04msl10 xl 240x300 Christmas Crafting and Gift Giving Ideas Seed packet ornaments. My in-laws would get a kick out of this idea! What a fun way to decorate for an avid gardener.

tvs3789 xl1 240x300 Christmas Crafting and Gift Giving Ideas A great way to use old buttons.

living cookiecutter p64 xl 240x300 Christmas Crafting and Gift Giving Ideas I have wanted to do this idea for a couple of years. I even bought the cookie cutters but that is as far as I have gotten

Homemade lip gloss? Yes really. This cute idea came from Cheeky Kitchen.

I heart wood blocks and all of the things you can do with them. I really love this idea for wooden photo holders over at Under the Table and Dreaming.

I also found these fab no sew wine bags on Under the Table and Dreaming. I have the felt but I have not made them … yet!

Every year we make plates of treats for the neighbors. As part of our gift, we also prepare a bag of reindeer food for the little ones in the house. The boys help me assemble these bags. The Idea Room had a little blog post and a printable for this sweet idea today.

Once again Pinterest strikes ~ this time I saw these glizty cardboard stars on a site called Make Something. They are so fun! Apparantly they were used in a store front window display but hmmmm, they sure would add to my decor. Perhaps strung loosely across the ceiling? They are fun and simple.

Do you have any holiday crafting or easy gift ideas? I’d love to hear them. Happy Holidays. May they be full of all things happy for you and yours.

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Crafts, Fun finds, Holidays Tagged With: Crafts, Fun finds, Holidays

Avalanche Bars

December 16, 2011 By TheLocalHoney 1 Comment

All that I can say about this recipe is yum. So delish and perfect for a cookie exchange. Which I happen to be going to in an hour. Also, I should mention that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory makes a version of this which is what pulled me in when I found it on Pinterest courtesy of Cookies and Cups.

{my camera has gone all crazy lately so I am sharing one of her pics — they do look this perfect }

Avalanche Bars

1. In microwave-safe bowl dump in white chips and heat on med power for 1 minute. Stir and continue in 30 second increments until chips are melted.
2. Combine the peanut butter with the melted chips
3. Add the krispies.
4. Let cool approx 15 – 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so to help cool.
5. Add the marshmallows and the mini chocolate chips and stir to combine.
6. Dump mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly, pressing lightly with the back of your spoon, but do not compact too much, otherwise they will get hard.
7. Press the remaining chocolate chips into the top for garnish.

Filed Under: Fun finds, In the Kitchen Tagged With: Holidays, recipes

Holiday Mantel 2011

December 6, 2011 By TheLocalHoney 1 Comment

I adore the change of seasons but mostly I love September – December when my mantel changes nearly monthly. It is so fun to be expressive and creative with holiday decor, candles and whatever else I can dig up. Every year I seem to recreate my decor. Partly because I forget exactly what I did the year before. I always say that I will take, print and file photos to remind myself of what I did — but I always forget. This year will be the year .. maybe My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia is featuring a fun mantel linky party. This is a blog that I love to follow. Her home is beautiful and her ideas inspiring. Head on over to check out my holiday mantel and others. Bee inspired!

My sources? I created the M {for our last name of course} using a cardboard M from Joann’s and covering it in red burlap. The wreath was a Target find a few years back. The cranberry garland is a Michaels find. The bronze candle decor is from Pier One. I found the sweet little frame at HomeGoods. My holiday candle is from Bath & Body. I always pick them up when they are 2 for $20. I found the little red mercury tea-lite holders at Target just this year for 99 cents. Most of the stuff has been around for a couple years but every year I find something new to add to my collection.

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Fun finds, Holidays Tagged With: Fun finds, Holidays

Getting Crafty with Advent Calendars

December 6, 2011 By TheLocalHoney 1 Comment

I see so many ideas of crafts I’d like to do. Especially now that Pinterest has become a part of my world. I do {heart} Pinterest!! I recently hosted a little Holiday Open House to showcase some of my crafts. It was first attempt at hosting such a thing and I think it went well. I sold some, had requests for other things and learned a lot! I had some other fabulous vendors here as well. Curious? Here are the Etsy links:

Buffalo Hill Designs {hey, that’s me!! My shop doesn’t have a lot at the moment due to holiday events and keeping my home stocked to sell.}

K Andez It’s a Bow Thing {who happens to be my cousin as well — craftiness runs in the family }

Love Your Body Essentials

Lumen Candles

The Local Honey Market

Now aside from all the fun I had at my Open House, I wanted to share one of my creations with you. Maybe it will inspire you to get crafty or at least do an Advent Calendar with your kids. Or maybe you will contact me and say, “Hey, I’d love to buy one of those nifty advent boards you made.” Which by the way, I have not listed them on Etsy but they are $35 {shameless plug over here!!} Regardless, I wanted to share them because I think they came out so cute! Instead of goodies, I put little notes in each day that gave something to do. These are special things to do as a family. Won’t you remember the moments instead of candy? I found this idea on Pinterest, click here to see the original.

140 200x300 Getting Crafty with Advent Calendars

Filed Under: Bee Inspired, Crafts, Fun finds, Holidays Tagged With: Crafts, Fun finds, Holidays

Foodie Love

Lovely Yellow

Creative Valentines {non foodie creations}

Valentine’s Day Mantel

Valentine’s Day Fun

Organizing Your Spaces

Christmas Crafting and Gift Giving Ideas

Avalanche Bars

Holiday Mantel 2011

Getting Crafty with Advent Calendars

Welcome! Come Follow Along …

Contact Me

Find it Here

Get Posts Via Email

Blogs & Websites I Adore

Grab A Blog Button!

Visit My Shop

Recent Comments

May 2012
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Apr
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Welcome! Come Follow Along …

Contact Me

Find it Here

Get Posts Via Email

Blogs & Websites I Adore

More Honey

Grab A Blog Button!

Visit My Shop

Recent Comments