Create Your Own Word Art

I found a great website today. You can type in any words or text that you want and it makes it into word art for you! It even lets you choose different fonts and colors! Wow, I could really waste a lot of time playing with this one, but I think it has many potential creative applications. You could print it and frame it, make it into a birthday card, use it as scrapbooking paper...the possibilities are endless! Below is the little sample I created. Now go have some fun!

http://wordle.net/

Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars

These bars have become one of my favorite treats to make. Who doesn't love a treat involving chocolate, caramel and oats? They are ooey-gooey and oh so delicious. I now keep caramel ice cream topping on hand just so I can make this recipe!

WARNING: Make these bars at your own risk... seriously, you can't eat just one!

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9x9 (or 8x8) inch square pan. Combine flour, baking soda, oats, brown sugar, salt and melted butter. Mixture will be very crumbly. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly then sprinkle chocolate chips and chopped nuts over the crust. Drizzle ice cream topping over chocolate chips. Top with remaining oatmeal mixture and press firmly. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let bars cool before cutting.

Tortellini with Summer Vegetables

Looking for something fresh, tasty, and super simple for dinner? Have I got the recipe for you! I made this for dinner tonight. It tasted like I'd been in the kitchen for hours, but I had it on the table in less than 30 minutes. And it didn't heat up the house!

* 1 package frozen cheese tortellini
* 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped
* 1 zucchini, sliced, then halved
* 1 roma tomato, cut into chunks
* 1 clove garlic
* 1 teaspoon chopped onion
* 1 tablespoon chopped green pepper
* olive oil
* salt and pepper, to taste
* parmesan cheese

Put water on to boil. Meanwhile, cook chicken in oil with whole garlic clove and lots of pepper. Cook tortellini according to package directions. When chicken is nearly done, add zucchini, onion and green pepper. Cook until zucchini is tender; add tomatoes just to heat through. Remove garlic clove and discard. Combine drained pasta and vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste and more olive oil if needed. Top with parmesan cheese and serve.

Wedding Card

Thought I would share this wedding card I made since it is that time of year. Anyone else getting bombarded with wedding invitations?! To make this lovely card, I sketched a dress shape onto beautiful shimmery paper and cut it out, then made a skirt overlay of vellum. The bride's wedding colors were chocolate brown and pink, so of course the card is brown and the bouquet is pink. :) The card base is also a shimmery cardstock. It is so, so pretty in real life!

This is an example of how a little elbow grease can save you money when scrapbooking. A little wedding dress embellishment like this would have cost $3 or so to buy, but it cost me next to nothing because I used a piece of scrap paper. Even the little rosettes are repurposed---they were on the collar of an outfit someone gave my daughter. Hated the rosettes, so I picked them off and added them to my scrap stash. Glad I got to use them!

Chocolate Covered Brownie Bites

These are a fantastic treat to take to baby showers or tea parties. They would also make great additions to a cookie plate at Christmas time. They look so dainty and fancy---no one will ever guess how easy they are to make!

Ingredients:

* 1 package brownie mix, any variety

* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

* 8 ounces chocolate chips or baking chocolate

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 1 teaspoon butter

Directions:

Preheat oven. Prepare brownie mix following the package directions. Bake. Remove from oven; while warm, trim off all crusty pieces around the edge, then cut into small squares and roll brownies into approximately 1 inch balls. Let cool.

In a saucepan on medium-low heat, add sweetened condensed milk and chocolate. Stir slowly until chocolate is melted. Add vanilla and butter; mix well. Keeping chocolate mixture warm, dip brownie balls in chocolate until coated. Place on rack for excess chocolate to drip off. Leave plain or decorate with chopped nuts, candy sprinkles, confectioners' sugar or confectioners' glitter or drizzle with white chocolate. Makes about 30 balls.

More Awesome Yard Sale Finds

I have to admit that I am totally addicted to yard sale shopping. I've gone out every Saturday possible this summer and even recruited my sister to come along a few weeks ago. I just had to share pictures of my finds from the last two Saturdays. I didn't keep track of the total as closely this time, but I think I spent between $15-$20 for everything in the three boy clothes photos, including both pairs of adorable shoes. I'm getting really close to filling in all the gaps in my clothing inventory for this little guy. Just a few pajamas and Sunday clothes left and I'll have enough to get him through to next summer's sales!
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I even found some stuff for big sister. A local church was having a yard sale fundraiser and let me fill a bag for $2. Everything in the last photo was shoved in that bag. $2 got me a pair of tall boots, a fancy Sunday dress, three shirts, a Levis brand jacket, one pair of pants embroidered with butterflies, the cutest Old Navy footed PJ's, a pair of red fleece pants and two receiving blankets, a shirt for little brother, and some socks that aren't shown. This may be the best deal I've found yet!

Soft Pretzels

This recipe has quickly become a favorite at our house. They take almost no time to make, are extremely inexpensive, and we always have the ingredients on hand. Try them and you may never buy one from the place at the mall again!

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 + cups flour

Dipping Solution
1/4 cup baking soda
1 1/2 cups hot water

melted butter

Directions
Dissolve yeast into warm water. Add sugar, then flour & mix well---do not knead as this toughens the dough. Mix just until combined well. Let rise until doubled, at least 20 minutes. Roll into long ropes. Twist into pretzel shapes, then dip into prepared dipping solution (baking soda dissolved in hot water). Place on well-greased cookie sheet and bake at 500-550°F for 4-6 minutes until golden brown. Dip face of pretzel into melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Scrapbooking On A Budget

I love scrapbooking, but I've always been on a really tight budget. I know plenty of people who spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on their supplies. That just isn't going to happen, so I've found ways to cut costs and even in the depths of poverty (aka grad school), I can still make cute pages. Here are some ideas to help you save money:

*Sales. Never buy anything full price, especially at stores like Michael's, Roberts or Hobby Lobby. They have great sales often and the 40% off coupons are really handy. Even smaller specialty shops will sometimes have racks of clearance items.

*Take advantage of local resources. I live near a paper/stationary factory. I can purchase cards, envelopes, cardstock, ribbon scraps, and many other interesting items for something like $1 per pound. Just can't beat that price. Also, a craft store near my Mom's house has a huge bin of assorted buttons. Whenever I visit, I fill a little baggie for $1. One scrapbook store charges $3/hour to use their studio, which has thousands of stamps, punches, and even a Cricut. My local dollar stores also have great deals every once in a while. So check out your area! Think outside the box and don't shop exclusively from the scrapbook section of your craft store. Another thing that helps is to shop often...good deals go fast and you never know when you'll find the jackpot.

*Bye Bye Prima. Buy a bush of silk flowers from WalMart for $1 and just rip the blooms apart yourself. WAY CHEAPER!

*Keep an idea notebook in your purse. You never know when inspiration will strike and if you have a notebook with you, you can jot down ideas as they come. My notebook has ideas for specific techniques, color combinations, sketches, things my DD says, embellishments, themes, quotes, snapshots/photography...anything and everything!

*Make it yourself. Most stores have an entire wall of little 3-D embellishments that can cost up to $4 a piece. Sorry, that's just too much in my opinion. If I see something I like, I pull out my notebook and sketch it out. Then I make my own version at home using scraps for next to nothing. Another advantage of this is that I can make it the exact color and size I want. I also make my own scallop edged paper. I bought jumbo scallop scissors for $1 and cut the edges myself instead of spending $0.80-1.00 per sheet of pre-cut cardstock at the store.

*Save Scraps. And keep them organized so you can actually use them. I have made entire pages and countless cards by just shopping in my scrap stash. To keep my scraps organized and easy to use, I have a rubbermaid hanging file box. Each file holds scraps of one color. If I need just a bit of pink on a page, all I have to do is open up the pink file and I can usually find what I need.
*Stay Organized. If you know what you have in stock, you won't overbuy or overlook things you already own. I feel hypocritical even saying this because my scrapbooking desk is always an explosion. But it does make a difference when I can see everything and get to it easily.

*Coordinate. No matter how cute it is, if you don't have other items that coordinate, it's going to be hard to use. So think about that when buying paper and other supplies!

*Paper Stacks. Now this is a tricky one. Per sheet, paper stacks are much cheaper than buying individual sheets. However, it may not be the best deal if you don't think you will USE all the paper. Most stacks have 3 or 4 sheets of identical paper. The best solution I've found is to split a paper stack with a friend (or two). Then you each get 1 or 2 sheets per pattern for a really great price.
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*Speaking of Friends... share supplies, especially reusable ones. I used to get together every week with two girls who had more stamping stuff than they knew what to do with. I shared my stuff with them and they shared theirs with me and we all had access to more supplies without having to buy anything! We would also let each other go through our scrap piles...one girl's trash is another's treasure.

* Simplify. The focus of the page should be the picture anyway, right? So add fewer embellishments. It will save you time and money!

I'd love to hear tips from all you frugal scrapbookers out there, so please leave me a comment and share the things you've done to save money and still make fabulous scrapbooks.