Nutter Butter* Truffles

After the wild success of my first attempt at Oreo Truffles, I decided to get a little 'nutty'.  

Get it, nutty??

I have a list of cookie truffles that I want to make..

but for now, let's just concentrate on these peanut butter cookie ones :)

Here are my ingredients.

Target brand peanut butter cookies 

(because they were cheaper than Nutter Butters).

A brick of cream cheese.

A tablespoon, or so, of ground flax seed.  

You know, to make them healthy.

Chocolate chips.

How to:

Crush an entire package of cookies.  I used my food processor.  

You could put them in a ziploc bag and smash them with a rolling pin too. 

Add to a medium size bowl.

Combine softened cream cheese to the crushed cookies.  

I do this by hand, it seems to incorporate quicker.

Once it's all combined, roll ~1" size balls.  

Place the balls on a parchment lined pan.  

Put them in the fridge for an hour or so to set up.

When you're ready, melt the chocolate chips. 

 I dropped 2 or 3 Nutter Butter* balls into the chocolate & rolled them around so the chocolate covers the entire thing.  

Place the chocolate covered truffle back on the parchment paper.  

If you want, you can sprinkle some of the extra crushed cookies on top.  

Once they are all covered in chocolate, I put them back in the fridge to harden. 

1

For the record, it took longer to write this post than it did to make these - they're that easy.  

Oh and yeah, they're DELICIOUS!

a gift to myself

Some of you may know my birthday is coming up...(in 13 days, to be exact).  

I've been looking around for fun ideas for my 40th Fiesta - here's my Pinterest board. 

I wanted something special to wear, like jewelry.  

I'm not a flashy jewelry person.  I like simple, classic & unique.

  I'm loving hand stamped, washer-style pendants. 

In fact, I made some for Mother's Day a few years ago.* 

While searching online for my own hand stamped cutie, I decided to try making one (again).  

*my first attempt left me frustrated & needing to wash out my mouth with soap.

This time went much better. 

Here's what I started with.

I got my stamp set here.  The washers came from Lowes (~$1.20/3) 

Oh, grab a Sharpie too!

I picked 9/16th size washers because I liked the size 

(and I had lots of letters to add)

 I kind of eyeballed the placement of the letters, that's why they are a little wonky.

After I filled in the letters using the Sharpie..it looked like this

Dampen a paper towel with rubbing alcohol to remove the 'extra' marker 

I plan on trying it again, to see if I can even out the names.  

And to make better impressions of all the letters.  

But you get the idea.  

I'll probably hang it on a simple ribbon 

(maybe with a bead) and give it to myself as a gift :)

Have a great Tuesday!

and don't forget to enter the O.R.E Originals giveaway HERE

my weekend

The weather was gorgeous here this weekend.  Mid 70's and sunny!  Perfect weather to be outside.. I, on the other hand, spent most of Sunday working on my 'craft cave'.  

This is what it's looked like for a while...

 

Last week, Michaels had their storage stuff 50% off and I couldn't pass up the bargains. 

I picked up a few pieces.  

I also snapped up a Martha Stewart cubbie storage for $39 at Home Depot.  

This is what it looks like now...

Slowly, but surely the room is coming together.  It will take a little more time to get the room the way I want it...I need shelves and whatnot..but for now, it's more and more like a craft room!  

The lizard and ladybug call it my 'office'.  

Now if I could just make some moola while I'm in there :)

I hope you all had a productive weekend too!!

Fab Finds Friday (NYE inspiration)

I can't believe this will be my last post in 2011!!  

Where has this year gone?  

Today's finds are all about New Year's Eve...and last minute party ideas.  

Whether your celebration is HUGE or low-key (like ours), 

I hope you find a little inspiration today.  

Plus I'm sharing my own little NYE kit :)

If you're still looking for decorations, Piggy Bank Parties has 3 great collections!! 

They are a deal, only $5.00!! 

If you're not stalking Oink! The Blog of Piggy Bank Parties...you really should be!  

It's one of my FAVES!

Looking for a fun, festive dessert?  

These New Year's Eve Midnight cupcake from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen are perfect!

How adorable are these?

Click here for the recipe & instructions.

Looking for something fun to do with the kids? 

Mique of 30 handmade days is sharing this great resolution activity printable. 

Click here to get yours.

I've already printed some for our NYE!

Another great activity for the kids comes from The Idea Room.   

New Year's Eve Countdown Activity Bags.

 

Click here for the instructions (and free printables) along with Amy's activity ideas.

Here's my contribution.  

A NYE kit for the kids.

Borrowing this idea from One Charming Party.  

I got a few aluminum pans w/lids from Dollar Tree.  

The graphic is from Graphics Fairy - enlarged to (sorta) fit the pan.*  

You could use any color paper and hand draw a clock too :)  

I'm filling the pan with candy, noise makers, masks & 

anything else that will keep the kids entertained. 

If you wanted, you could add clock hands and have the kids countdown to midnight.  

Lots of ways to use this simple NYE kit.

I wish you all a very very Happy New Year!!

 

New Year's Eve (flashback)

I plan to share lots of great 'new' New Year's finds tomorrow...

but in the meantime, here's another look at our NYE party from last year!!

Here are some of the highlights.

The table before the 'real' food.  

I had a branch (already painted from Halloween) that I added black and white poms to (thanks to Kristy - The Purple Pug for that idea).  I used a cake stand to hold the paper fortune cookies we made (got that idea from Home Confetti).

Oreos baked inside brownies = Black and White brownies

My 'countdown' cupcakes.  I used black card stock and metallic pen.  

Dipped a marshmallow in clear sprinkles (for the sparkly effect) 

and added it all to a lollipop stick.  

The cupcakes are Funfetti (of course)!

Champagne 'bubbles' (donut holes) - thanks to Kim - Party Frosting!

I used my New Year's printable (attached to card stock & a dowel) as centerpieces.  

They are standing in jars of black eyed peas:)

A can of Rotel and black eyed peas became our 'lucky' salsa.

The pasta was festive because I used bowties and curly noodles.  haha

A little bubbly.  I punched 2" circles of silver card stock then used a 1" punch.  

The glasses cheapo plastic came apart so I could add the 'bling'.

 I can't have people leave without something.  

Some reNEWing hand scrub for the girls, chocolate bars for the guys 

and some snazzy sunglasses (since we were whooping it up during the day)

The kids LOVED counting down and yelling 'HAPPY NEW YEAR'.  

They loved it even more when the saw their bubbly :) 

Kiddie Cocktails (cherry Caprisuns with a few cherries)

Everyone had a fun time.  The weather was great..the company was great & it was early enough for everyone to get the heck out so I could get to bed early :)

Cheers to a fabulous 2011!!

------------------------------------------

I hope you're all having a great last week of 2011!!

Hanukkah party (flashback)

Tonight is our Hanukkah party and I'm in full prep mode!  

Don't forget my FranklinCovey weekly planner giveaway.  

Enter HERE!

Here's a look at our Hanukkah party last year!

 _______________________

I wanted to share some of our Hanukkah party before next week...

Here are some highlights: 

all of the printables are from Frog Prince Paperie (love them)

 

 yes..dreidels (part tres)

chocolate chip cookies and blue candy canes = yummy menorah

jelly filled donut bites

ravioli, fried cheese and more donuts

Star of David made by the lizard (popsicle sticks and crayons)

the glass bottle (Starbucks coffee drink) filled with blue colored rice

all the kid's crafts.  

Noodle art/jewelry, coloring pages & crayons.  

White lunch sacks to make luminaries are there too.

We had a fun night. 

Ate way too many donuts :)

Next week, more holiday goodies..

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Super easy last minute gift (freebies)

Are you looking for a really Really REALLY easy gift?  

Of course you are!

Do you have access to sugar and soap?

And a clear container (glass or plastic)?

Then you too can make

semi-homemade Soap Scrub!

Here's what I used:

1. extra fine sugar

2. peppermint soap (the moisturizing kind) from Bath & Body Works

3. 4oz glass jars

  *I chose these jars because the opening was the perfect size & they weren't too big.  

I would also suggest a clear container so your 'giftee' can see all your mixing :)

I filled my jar ~2/3rds full with sugar.  

Then I started pouring in the soap (no exact amount).

  

Use a knife to mix it together..trust me, it makes it easier.  

I ended up with the consistency of thick molasses.  

You can adjust the soap to sugar ratio to your liking.  

Put on the lid & your gift is done.

Add a cute tag.  

I found mine at The Celebration Shoppe 

(it's free from Kim's Facebook page..so go LIKE if you haven't already!) 

I used a 2 1/2" punch and added my own little tag to the top.

Here's the link to my tags if you'd like to use them.

I hope you all have a great Monday! 

Holiday Sparkle & Cheer

You may remember, I recently signed on with Pamela Smerker Designs 

(home of Party Starters and PS Harvey).  

Basically, Pam creates great designs & I get to 'craft' with them.  

I LOVE IT!

She recently sent me party shapes from her Holiday Sparkle and Cheer collection.  

First off, I love the colors.  

There's something so fresh about pinks, greys & blacks for the holidays.

I knew I had to come up with some fun ways to use the tags.  

Cupcake toppers/food stakes are a perfect way to use them 

but I wanted to do something a little different.

My first thought when I saw the 'cheers' tag was drinks!  

So I cut my shape (using a paper cutter) and added a hole (using a hole punch).  

I grabbed some twine and..

super cute drink tags!  

Another fun idea, adding the tags to a candle.  

I happened to have this peppermint candle so I added the 'sparkle' tag using glue dots.  

I love how it turned out.  

These may show up as a few gifts this holiday season!

Speaking of gifts, using the 'for you' tag on a jar full of candy was a no brainer!  

(I picked up lots of these jars from Dollar Tree).  

Fill a jar with store bought or homemade goodies, 

add one of these tags, 

tie up with a bow & you have a fun neighbor, teacher, friend gift.

Check out Pamela Smerker Designs for more great ways to use these printables!  

Or get you own HERE & start creating!

Don't forget to enter the Diaper Dude bag giveaway HERE!