It snowed - AGAIN!

It snowed all day yesterday - in TEXAS!

I just couldn't believe it. It has snowed 3 times so far this winter. That is just unreal. It's like we're living in an alternate universe.

It started snowing at about 10 am and continued all day until night fall. Of course, snowing and sticking are two different things. It stuck for the first few hours and I was getting all excited thinking that the kids would really have a lot of snow to play in that afternoon. But then it started melting. Then it would stick for a while. And then it would melt.

We were afraid it would all refreeze last night and the streets would be bad this morning, but nope. It was all melted. There was a little bit still on people's lawns but the streets were all dry on the way to school this morning. No snow day today :(

It's been an exciting winter for us though - especially for the kids. I'm glad my Ben has gotten to play in the snow so much this year.

Here is his little snowman he made late yesterday afternoon on our mailbox. I got a pic this morning before the little guy melted for good. His arms had already fallen off. Poor little guy.

And now for a recipe.

Last week was the book fair at my son's school and they had this great recipe book from allrecipes.com called Easy Everyday Favorites. So, since that's my favorite website to find yummy recipes, I had to buy it.

The first recipe that caught my eye was for Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars (of course, it HAD to be a sweet!). Ben has just recently started liking peanut butter but in the back of my mind, I didn't really think he or my DH would like them very much. Maybe I subconsciously was hoping that they wouldn't so that I could eat them all myself. :)

But I made them on Saturday and they LOVED them. And I did too. They were so quick and easy and yummy, yummy, yummy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, peanut butter and melter butter. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Spread chocolate over the crumb crust. Chill for about 5 minutes, then cut into bars before the chocolate is completely set. Chill until ready to serve.

If you let them chill completely after you cut them, then you can just break them into the squares. They broke into perfect squares. I was afraid that we would have to recut them, but nope.

Click here for the "official" recipe on the allrecipes.com website.

This was an awesome recipe and I love my new recipe book. Can't wait to try more yummy stuff.

Pretty scraps

My pile of pretty scraps.

I got 5 aprons cut out yesterday and can't wait to start sewing them up. I have an arts and crafts show coming up in March and I desparately want to have a good selection of aprons.

Here is my latest one that I'm going to list later today. I call it "Two Scoops".

Snow Pics!

Last Thursday, I posted about sitting in the dining room and watching it snow.

Here are some pics of what we woke up to on Friday morning. Snow day!
We got about 6 inches. That was the most we had gotten in our area for 24 years. Wow!It was so exciting. This is my front yard. Snow ball fight with dad!
My son loved it. He played outside all day on Friday and drank alot of hot cocoa.
Of course by Sunday, it was all gone. All except the big piles from where people had made snowmen.
Snowball fight with the neighbor kids. This was declared the best day ever - at least until the next best day ever. LOL

Bathroom Remodel is Complete!

YAY! Our bathroom remodel is complete. With all the cold weather we've had lately, it took forever for the paint on the door to dry because I was painting it in the garage. But, we were able to hang it yesterday, so we are officially done!

The color is definitely brighter than the red. This color is called Dancing Mist although my DH calls it mint blue.

I've bought some soft black towels and a little black rug for the floor but haven't ordered the photos I want for the walls yet - mostly because I keep asking my hubbies opinion on the photos and he keeps changing my mind. That's why I usually don't ask for opinions :)

Look who's laying on the new rug - she likes to lay where she's not suppose too.
Isn't the new floor great? I just love it!

Swap Gifts

Guess what I'm doing right now? I'm sitting at my dining room table, watching it snow! I know the people in colder states are wishing it would stop snowing but this is really exciting and unusual for East Texas. We may even be able to make snowballs by this afternoon. There's a chance we'll get up to 4 inches. My son was so excited this morning to wake up to snow. Unfortunately, it's not enough yet to cancel school but I told him maybe they would get to go play in it this afternoon during recess. And there's always a chance of a snow day tomorrow.

So anyhoo, I participated in 2 gift swaps in January through my team, Etsy Texas Crafters. One was a Winter Blues swap where we had to use the color blue in the item that we made. The other was an "I made it with leftovers" swap, where we had to use leftover scraps of some kind to make our gift.

My swap partners for the Winter Blues swap was Duane and Ben from MoltenGecko and Surfbunny. I was so excited to get Duane and Ben for my partners because they seem like really cool guys. Since they like to read, I made them 4 bookmarks - 2 beaded ones with blue beads and 2 long ribbon ones with blue ribbon. And they sent me this awesome suncatcher: I love it! I'm going to hang it in my dining room window.

For the "leftovers" swap, my partner was Monica from theIDConnection. She made me this sweet, pink earring and necklace set as well as an ID badge holder. She also sent me a vintage tea cup set which I loved!
I do have pictures of the gift I sent Monica. I made her 3 potholders from leftover scrap fabric. The orange and blue fabric is leftover from skirts I made myself last year and the blue/white fabric is leftover from valances I made for my son's room.
It was the first time I had ever done any piecework and I was excited about how it turned out. I didn't use any kind of pattern, just kind of winged it. I want to start doing more of this kind of stuff, maybe make some pillows for my etsy shop. I've had this idea in my head for awhile and I just need to get it out. :)
Even the Insul-bright that I used inside the potholders was leftover from when I made potholders for my mom and MIL last Mother's Day. So, I think I did pretty good with the leftover idea. :)

Oh, and the bathroom is finished. I'll get pics posted soon! It looks so pretty!

Evil Sparky

I am evil Sparky.

See how sweet and innocent I look.

This is my favorite place to lay - on a dirty towel in my parent's bathroom. My daddy hates for me to lay in here and I love to irritate him. Plus, my mom keeps leaving dirty towels on the floor, so she must want me to lay here.

Hmmmm. Maybe in a little bit I'll go drink all the water out of that stupid dog's bowl. I'm sure that if I drink it all, someday mom will forget to fill it and he'll drop dead from dehydration. I hate that stupid dog. Maybe I'll go slap him as hard as I can with my little paw. I love to do that. And he just stands there and looks at me all sad. Stupid dog.

Or maybe I'll go bite someone. I like to do that too.

Stupid dog.

Bathroom remodel, Part 2 and Punxsutawney Phil

Happy Groundhog day everyone!

Punxsutawney Phil has predicted 6 more weeks of winter. :(

What was he thinking?

I think he just wanted the cracker.

Here are some pics of the bathroom remodel in progress.

This is after the molding has been taken up and primer put on the walls.

And finally, a teaser pic of things to come!

More great sale items from ETC

Buy One wine cork ornament and get one free from CorkyCrafts! So cute to use decorate your wine bottles especially for a gift.

10% off all items PLUS free shipping at SacredStonesnGifts. Love this necklace!

20% off all items in the shop from HugaBug. Sweet, sweet, hair bows! So many great ETC sales, so little time!

Great Sales today at ETC!

ETC's 1st Monday sale!! Get em' while there hot!

BigTexPhotos has 50% off all items in the shop today! They have some great photography.
I love this one mostly for sentimental reasons. I'm sad that my Thomas train days are over. :(
10% off all items in the shop at Kimberlymade. Check out these Flower Hippie Pendant charms - they are adorable!
15% off all items in the shop at CherylsPurpleCow . These red snowflake earrings are perfect for Valentine's day and she has them in other colors.

20% off all items at 2muchstuff2day.

Who could resist this baby hat?

Etsy Texas Crafters 1st Monday SALE!

It's the 1st Monday of February and it's time for ETC's 1st Monday SALE!

Take 25 % off all items in Handmade Whimzy's shop.

Take 10% off all items at Pink Pear Designs - including Clearance items.

For the complete list of participating shops with sales, click here.

Many thanks for Connie - Refabulous.etsy.com - for being our new 1st Monday Coordinator. She is doing a GREAT job!!