Accordion Albums

Here are some pics of two Accordion Albums I made some time ago for two little munchkins on their First Birthday. I made EVERY Page!! Built the suckers from the ground up!! I have since then come to my senses and vow to PURCHASE Accordion Albums from this point forward. But at least I KNOW it can be done!!

Circus Fare--Beef Lo Mein

Please let me know how we went from, The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls to Beef Lo Mein?? Beef Lo Mein! That is what we tackled today!!

Rule #1: WASH UP!!!


Tossing in the "little trees."

Eating the yellow bell pepper!

Cooking up the noodles.

Making a joyful noise in the kitchen!! ;)

Straight outta the garden ya'll!!

Adding Secret Ingredient #1

Mincing the garlic.

Adding Secret Ingredient #2!

Loving what they made, yet not eating enough to earn a dessert. I know, I know....mean ole mama!!

Family Fun Magazine's Beef Lo Mein with a few Bearded Lady Twists!!

Ingredients
8 ounces thin spaghetti, broken in half
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil (I used 2)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups chopped broccoli (I also added 1 yellow bell pepper)
1 1/2 cups sliced onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (COMPLETELY OMITTED! Ginger offends me.)
4 garlic cloves, minced (6 garlic cloves, minced!!)
12 ounces sirloin tips, cut crosswise into thin strips
3 tablespoons beef broth
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar (3 tablespoons of brown sugar!!)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce (COMPLETELY OMITTED!! Oysters are even MORE offending!)

Instructions
Stir the spaghetti into a pot of lightly salted boiling water and cook it according to the package directions. Drain the noodles well, then return them to the pot and toss them with the sesame oil.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and onion and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add Secret Ingredient #1 (2 teaspoons of Tony Cachere's!!) and garlic and continue stirring while the mixture cooks for another 30 seconds. Add the sirloin and cook it, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink.

In a small bowl, mix the broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and Secret Ingredient #2 (a pinch of red pepper flakes!) Add the soy sauce mixture and the pasta to the skillet and continue cooking, stirring often, for 1 to 2 minutes or until everything is heated through. Serve the lo mein hot.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Cupcakes in the House!!

Ohhhhhhh how I NEEEEEEEED this book!!! Ohhhhhhhhh how I HOPE I win this book!! It would make my life so SWEET!! After all, TODAY IS MY BLOGIVERSARY!!!!

Katie, I am after your winning streak!! I will live up to my end of the bargain and ship mini Carter and Pudge cupcakes to your doorstep.

For the rest of you....it is only fair I tell you how YOU TOO could win this FABULOUS Prize. Check out Mini Baker's adorable site!! PLEASE NOTE!!! If you win, you will be in charge of cupcakes for Barnum's Birthday in November and Bailey's Birthday in December!!!

'sup yo?

Autumn Banner

14 years ago, I embarked upon my first craft project that would be for public display. A dear friend and I stayed up into the wee hours of the night, eating JELLO Pudding Pops and painting our High School Senior Shirts!! TOOOOO FUN!!

She deemed our little shop, Just a Little Creativity. Therefore, in honor of a super fun memory, any of my craftiness I choose to post will be under the title, A Little Creativity.

DISCLAIMER!!! I am VERY new to organizing, inking, and gluing pieces of paper! I am aware that I have A LOT to learn!! Thankfully, I have Great Teachers!! Here and Here!

Enjoy!!

Circus Fare--Popcorn Balls

We are starting something new at this here circus! Barnum, Bailey and The Bearded Lady will be cooking it up in the kitchen on Sunday to share with you on Monday!

First off.....The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls!!

Barnum is popping the popcorn and performing QA testing on the Caramel Bits!! (Thank you heaven and Kraft for the Caramel Bits!!)



Yum, yum good!! It is a GO on the Caramel Bits!!



Here, Barnum is carefully considering QA testing on Mommy's finished product.

Barnum PERFORMING QA testing on Mommy's finished product.

Good gracious hallelujah!! They are deemed worthy enough to feed to little brother!!

Why is it sticking to my hands?? I'm not so sure about this!

I LOVE it!! Oh, how I LOVE it!! More, more, more!!!

The World's Easiest Popcorn Balls-courtesy of Grammy

3 regular bags of Orville Redenbacher's Natural, Simply Salted, popcorn-popped

1 11 OZ package of KRAFT Caramel Bits

2 Tablespoons of water

1/2 stick of butter (to use on your hands to form the balls)

1. Pop all of your popcorn and place in a large mixing bowl. (It may take 2 bowls.)
2. Melt an 11 OZ package of KRAFT Caramel Bits and 2 Tablespoons of water in a microwave safe bowl. (It took us 2 minutes in the microwave. Be advised...cooking times will vary ;)
3. Pour melted caramel into bowl of popcorn and stir with a spoon to mix.
4. Greasey up your hands with the butter and TEST THE TEMPERATURE OF THE CARAMEL!!!! You DO NOT want to start stirring up the caramel and popcorn with your hands unless it has cooled to a bearable temperature. We learned the hard way!! Sorry, Barnum!! Please forgive Mommy!!! (PLEASE note..it wasn't a burn just more of a SHOCK!)
5. Begin forming popcorn balls to your preferred size and place on wax paper.
6. Drizzle with extra caramel if desired and let set for 10 minutes to dry.
7. Gobble them all up or store extras in sandwich bags!

Also, it would be selfish and sinful of me to not share the additional awesomeness I happened upon this morning!! Because I do not desire to be selfish and sinful:

Picky Palate's Pumpkin Spice and Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

Prepare to die a thousand deaths from AWESOMENESS!!!!

Application ACCEPTED!!!

Many thanks go out to my loyal readers!! Because there was much discussion regarding our failed attempt at rescuing a dog, we are now the proud owners of a DOG!!

A friend told a friend, who told her scrapbook club and (well, you know how it goes!!) about our experience with trying to rescue a dog. A member of said scrapbook club was horrified by our experience and CAME TO OUR RESCUE!!!!

The Scrapbooking Diva very generously GAVE us our sweet Little Ruby!!

Not only did she give us Little Ruby, but she gave us 2 leashes, 3 dog beds, a see through kennel, a bag of toys, a bag of dog food, and 3 bags of treats!!! The Scrapbooking Diva admitted to referring to her three Shih Tzus as "The Nieman Marcus Dogs!!" I cannot believe she was so willing to part with one!!!

I have to admit...Little Ruby has been in our possession for over 3 weeks now!! I have just been bombarded with life and my dream of becoming a paper crafting queen that I haven't updated the blog. My apologies!! Ruby is the SWEETESTand most well behaved dog I have ever owned. She doesn't make a peep (NO barking, growling, grunting!!), she doesn't jump on or off of furniture, she demonstrates an INSANE amount of patience with Barnum and Bailey and she is perfectly housetrained.

WE LOVE OUR RUBY!!!!