Valentine Trees

Trees are just for Christmas are they?  They can be used for any season depending on how you decorate them...  Well, I am not one to leave my Christmas tree up and decorate it with Valentine's decorations but I had some styrofoam cones that I bought to make at Christmas and never got them done.... So now they are going to be for my Valentine decorations.

Valentine's Giveaway

 ** This Giveaway is Sponsored**

Giveaway Details

Date: February 1-14th 2015 11:59PM EST

One item for per winner selected!!

The giveaway is for:


1 set of Old fashion Candles


1 set of Jamberry nail wraps


1 iBbeautiful inspiration box


1 copy of Skeleton Key book


1 copy of a Tommy Nelson book


1 Purex detergent


$10 gift cert to Bonegrill


$10 gift card to PDP game system online

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine Bottles

I have always wanted to decorate bottles and have loved the bottles decorated with jute or twine.  So this year I decided that I was going to do it and I love the results.  They are easy to make and you could use them for vases or even just as a decoration.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #132

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing.. Partay!

We are having such a great time here at Foodie Friends Fiday

and 

I hope you are too.

Frozen Michigan Sunrise

Have you ever looked at a recipe and said to yourself.... I can do this?  It looks so good and easy to make and then go to make it and it doesn't turn out properly.  That is what happened with this recipe but I made it work.

Valentine's Mocktail ~ Orange Pomegranate Mocktail

Love is in the Air o

It is time is time to start thinking about what you are going to make for your special Valentine's meal. Do you have a plan of what you are going to make?  Do you make a special meal for your loved ones?  I have made you a Mocktaill that would be perfect for you and this can be even shared with your children..  gv 

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #131

Welcome back to Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

I can't wait to see what you bring this week..

We had a wonderful party with great links.

Crazy Ingredient Challenge - Lemongrass and Quinoa

It is time to think outside of the box and use ingredients that you may not think go together or that you may not ever tried before.  This month's ingredients are Lemongrass and Quinoa, two ingredients that I use frequently, although the Lemongrass I usually only use for tea.

Spring Craft Blog Hop #SCBH2015

Welcome to the first spring craft blog hop challenge for the spring season! We're challenging you to create and share a Valentine's Day, President's Day, or Mardi Gras craft tutorial. This hop will run from January 20 - February 17 and you can share your creations in the link-up at the bottom of the post.

Meet all 18 hosts!

*Please follow your hosts on at least one or more social media platforms of your choice. Let us know you're following from #SCBH2015*

• Erlene @My Pinterventures Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Lou Lou Girls @Lou Lou Girls Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Sarah @Creative Ramblings Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Rachel @Craving Some Creativity Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+
• Shirley @Intelligent Domestications Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Julia @Happy House and Home Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+
• Amanda @The Kolb Corner Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Misty @The Lady Prefers 2 Save Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+
• Emily @Our House Now A Home Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+
• Shana @Technotini Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB
• Sahana @Vilkapah Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Jessica @Designer's Sweet Spot Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+
• Theresa @Beauteeful Living Pinterest/Twitter/FB
• Lauren @Mom Home Guide Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+
• Jamie @Tiger Strypes Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• 
• Beverly & Gloria @Across the Boulevard Pinterest/Twitter/FB/G+/G+
• Renee @Creative Mama Messy House Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+
• Marlys @This and That Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/FB/G+

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I am so excited be a host to this Spring Craft Blog Hop with all this great crafters.

This is a great opportunity for me to be able to get some of the crafts ideas that I have stored up in my little brain and also I know that I will be able to find some great inspirations from all the crafters around the world that will be linking up.

For my first project of this season, I made a simple candy jar.  I found these cute little jars in the dollar bins at Micheals Store and I really wish I would have bought more than 2.  Hopefully they will still have them there when I am able to get back to the store.

This project I thought would be a great Valentine's gift to make and give for family and friends.  It is also a great craft that you can make with your children and give as a teacher's gift.  

Candy Jars

Materials:

Jars with lids (I bought mine from Michaels but you could use any kind of jars)

Washi Tape

String

Buttons (or any type of embellishments)

Valentine Tags

Glue

Candies to fill the jar

Directions:

Wash and dry your jars to make sure they are clean.

Apply Washi Tape on jars and lids.  I taped one or two stripes around the jar.  I did make a design on the lid of the small jar.

Attach buttons or embellishments with glue.

I did make some Valentine Tags which you can print out and use (for some reason my printer doesn't want to work.  I will add a picture when I can get one.

For this project I added hugs and kisses candy to one and the other one I added S'More Goldfish crackers so my tags correspond to these.  Below are the tags that I made.  Print them, punch a hole in the corner and add them with a string to your project.  I have both tags on the same page.  Let me know if you just want one of them and I will make a new you a printable with just one of the tags.

Remember to scroll down to the bottom and link up your Valentine's Day, President's Day and Mardi Gras crafts... I can't wait to see what you will bring.  This blog hop is open until February 17th so you have lots of time to come up with your wonderful crafts.

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Spring Craft Blog Hop - Valentine's Day, President's Day, & Mardi Gras

RULES

1. Link-up your craft or DIY tutorial that fit the themes of the Spring Craft Blog Hop. Links that do not fit the themes will be deleted.
2. DO NOT link-up food or recipes.
3. DO NOT link-up round-ups unless all the craft posts are yours.
4. Link directly to your post and not your blog.

Show us what you've created and be seen on 18 blogs!

An InLinkz Link-up

Perfect Cup of Coffee (and free printables)

Do you have to have coffee first thing in the morning?  Can you make it through a day without a cup? Are you one of  of the 54% of American's that drink coffee everyday?

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #130

Hope you enjoyed our wonderful party last week... We had so many great recipes, crafts and DIY links.  I can't wait to see what you will drop off this week.

Travel to South Seas Island Resort #JustEscape

Is winter getting you down?
Is the snow and the cold too much for you right now? 

Are you ready to for some fun in the sun?

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #129

• Hope everyone is having a great week and staying warm.  We have had a week of cold and snow.. I am getting so tired of it.  So tonight I am going in and check out all the wonderful links you will be bringing to our.....

Quinoa Oat Cereal

I am not an oatmeal person but I love this recipe.  It is full of goodness, sweetened with maple syrup and dried fruit and an added crunch of nuts.  This recipe is made overnight and heated in the morning, so a quick breakfast.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #128

Happy New Years!  Hope everyone is still in a partying mood as we here at Foodie Friends Friday are ready to bring in this New Year with a bang and celebrate in the style I know that you all want.. With new recipes, crafts and DIY.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party - Christmas Edition

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and not too stuffed to come party with us tonight... We are still ready to party and see all your great uses for any leftovers you may have...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

May the peace and blessings

of Christmas be yours

And may the coming year

be filled with happiness.

Gingerbread Eggnog Mocha Latte

I have to tell you a secret... I don't like the taste of eggnog alone..... BUT...  I do like the taste of it in baking and in my coffee.  And what could be better for you Christmas morning coffee then a Gingerbread Eggnog Mocha Latte.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #126

One week to Christmas are you prepared?  Me, I am not really going to be doing anything special, so I guess I am ready.  Although I haven't really got lots done, I love checking out all the links that have been left on our parties.  I am sure there will be more today...

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

I love to make ornaments.  For years I would make my nieces and nephews a new ornament each year.  This year I have made a couple of different ones that I want to share with you.  They are all easy to make.

Gingerbread House ~ Blogger's Christmas Series #4

Gingerbread House

Gingerbread houses originated in Germany in the 1600's.  They became even more popular after the story of Hansel and Gretel written by the Brothers Grimm.  No one knows for sure if gingerbread houses came first or if the story came first.

Building a gingerbread house is a tradition in many houses.  Although these houses are not always made of gingerbread anymore.  You can make them using graham crackers, shredded wheat and even make a house out of non-edible materials like cardboard and sticks.

There are many recipes for gingerbread that you can use, over the years that I have made my own gingerbread I have used a couple of recipes.  The recipe that I used to make the above gingerbread houses was this one - as I didn't use molasses in this recipe, the houses were lighter.

My plans for the gingerbread houses that I made this year was to make a small houses that can sit on a side of a cup but I made them too big, and I also didn't cut the door big enough so they wouldn't sit on the side of a cup.  So it is back to the drawing board for me... Hopefully next year they will work out the way I wanted them too.

I am not a decorator and I do not profess that I know what I am doing, but I do like to make these houses.  I like to use royal icing when I made my gingerbread house as I find it hardens fast.  I also do my houses in stages.  First "gluing" the pieces together and then doing the decorating.

I made this house above a couple of years ago.  I did a post and showed how I decorated it.  Do you make gingerbread houses?

This post is the last of Blogger's Christmas Series.  Along with myself there are many other awesome bloggers that have written blogs for this series.  I hope that they have given you some inspiration to help you with your Christmas preparations.

An InLinkz
Link-up

Walnut Grape Salad

This recipe is awesome as it can be used as a salad or you can use it as a dessert.  It is sweet with just the right amount of crunch.  It is easy to make... What can be better? especially during the Christmas season when you are so busy.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #125

How is your Christmas preparation going?  Do you still need some recipes and crafts ideas?  Then you came to the right places because it is time for.....

Decorating for Christmas - Blogger Christmas Series #3

Have you started decorating for Christmas yet? ~ Or are you like me and not have a stitch of decorating done this year.  I usually have at least something done but not this year.  So instead of showing you my decorations, I am going to be showing some of the decoration and how I decorated in past years.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #124

Are you busy getting ready for Christmas?  Need some inspiration for food and crafts?  Look no further, you can get lost of inspiration here at Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.

Gingerbread Eggnog Latte Cookies ~ Fill the Cookie Jar

As I was trying to figure out what type of cookie I should make this month to Fill the Cookie Jar with I had found a cookie that was in a shape of a cup.  It was made with premade cookie dough and used chocolate as the latte and a pretzel as the handle.  And that is how this cookie began......

Oh Christmas Tree ~Blogger Christmas Series Blog Hop #2

Do you put up a real or an artificial tree?  If you put a real tree do you go out and cut down your own or buy one off the lot?  For my second post of the Blogger Christmas Series I am going to show you some of the Trees I have decorated and some of the trees around my town.

PIkkupullat ~ Finnish Sweet Buns

Last week my furnace decided to that it needed to take a break.  While I was waiting for the repairman to come ~ and as the house got colder and colder I decided to do some baking.  Sweet bread making as that way I could keep the oven on for a long period of time.  Instead of making my pulla into loaves, I decided to make them into "Pikkupullat" ~ small buns.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #123

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends.

I hope that you are not all to stuffed or out starting early Black Friday shopping...

to join our

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.

Link up your favorite recipes, crafts or DIY

Blogger Christmas Series Blog Hop #1

I am so excited to let you know that I have joined a wonderful group of bloggers to bring you Blogger Christmas Series Blog Hop.  I hope that this series will give you inspiration with your Christmas preparation.  My first post in this series is about Christmas Past.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #122

Hope everyone is having a great week and not living in a deep freeze or under snow banks.  Right now I feel that we are in both here.
So grab your coffee, tea, hot chocolate or whatever you need to keep you warm and let's party...

Citrus Breaded Tilapia with Citrus Salad ~ CIC

It is time again for our Crazy Ingredient Challenge.
This month our ingredients are Orange (or Citrus) and Breadcrumbs.

It's All Greek To Me - Bulgar Wheat Salad and giveaway

I am so excited to be part of the Fall Tour for a wonderful cookbook It's All Greek To Me by Debbie Matenopoulos.

Disclosure: I was given the book to review and all opinions of this cookbook are my own.

#FallForGreek

Fall Foliage Wreath

Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  I love the changing of the colours and living up here in the UP it is magnificent.  We all know that even though this season is beautiful,  colours only last for a short while and very soon the trees are bare and all those colours are fluttering to the ground.  One way to preserve all this beauty is to make a wreath with the flowers and foliage.

Something to be Thankful For (free printable)

Thanksgiving is approaching.  A time to be thankful for all that we have and have been given to us.  I have created a picture that you can download and print.  All pictures are slightly different and are 8 X 10 printables.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #121

Digging myself out of the snowbank so that we can have a great party!  I can't wait to see what you will bring to our.... Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #120

I have made it home.. after going through and visiting 7 states and 1 province.  I took lots and lots of pictures and hope to share some with you.  First, it is Thursday and Thursday means ....

Fill the Cookie Jar with Biscoff Chai Cookies

Can you believe that it is already November?  The only great thing about the beginning of the month that it is time to Fill the Cookie Jar again.  This month's theme is Thanksgiving.  Do you have a favorite cookie that you serve on Thanksgiving?

Goat Burger

Goat meat is widely consumed in most countries except America.  I wonder why is that?  Is there a reason that you don't eat goat meat?  I do know that for myself I probably would never eat goat if it wasn't for my husband.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #119

I hope that you are having a great week... I am as I am on vacay... Finally I am able to get away and relax.  It has been a great week and I hope to post of the places I have been and the things that I saw soon... But first we need to partay... with

Vampire's Blood for Halloween

I am not a Halloween person but this year I have done a few crafts for this holiday and decided that I wanted to make a drink.  I first want to make something with candy corn as that is my favorite Halloween candy but I couldn't figure out how to make the colours to stay layered.

Pumpkin Bacon Ratatouille - #CIC

I was excited when I saw that pumpkin what one of the ingredients for this month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge.  I wasn't sure if I would have time this month to make my dish but luckily I did and it was AMAZING or at least I thought so.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky party #117

Have you ever had weeks where you feel that you are so far behind?  I am having that kind of week one this week.  I feel that every step I take forward, I am taking two or three steps backward.   That being said my party is finally getting done and posted.

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Chocolate Latte

What does Salted Caramel, Maxwell House International Latte and Green Mountain Coffee - Pumpkin Spice have in common?   You guessed it... An AWESOME SUPBERB LATTE perfect for Autumn.

The Princess & Her Cowboys Birthday Giveway

I have joined up with some awesome bloggers to help  Britney from The Princess & Her Cowboys to celebrate her birthday.  We are celebrating it with a great giveaway.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and I am sure all my Canadian family and friends are gathering together and enjoying a turkey meal or two.  As we enjoy food, family,friends and fun do we remember what Thanksgiving is all about?

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #116

It is Thursday and guess what that means?  It is time once again for Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.  We had a wonderful party last week and I hope you enjoyed checking out all the links as much as I do.

M&M Candy Corn Cookie Bar Jar Recipe #printables

Last week I made some M&M Candy Corn Cookie Bar and promised to give you some free printables to give these as Recipe Jar Gifts.

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party #115

Two years ago we had a Crocktober Party and it was awesome, so we decided to do it again... I know that you have more crock pot/ slow cooker recipes.... I have seen them floating over the social media. I can't wait to see what you will bring to the party.

M&M Candy Corn Cookie Bars to #fillthecookiejar

I can't believe that it has been a month ago since I was writing up my post for Fill the Cookie Jar. These months are passing by so quickly.  October is one of my favorite months.. I love all the autumn colours and the crispness in the air. It is also the month of Halloween.  I am not so much  a Halloween person but I love all the Halloween candy that have been floating around.  My favorite being Candy Corn.