Too cute!

I absolutely LOVE getting pics of my products from people. Whether it's vinyl or onesies, I love getting these photos! Doesn't this little man look great sporting this cute onesie I made for him? Even has his Daddy's badge number included! Love it! Too cute! Thanks!

My Stache Give-away!

I told myself that I wanted to do more give-aways this year. I have been so blessed since opening my etsy shop last year and I want to give back from my stache to yours! :)

 So...up for this give-away is the vinyl (only...not the jar) for this super fun little "my stache". Mustaches are all the rage right now. Who knows why? But I have to admit that they are so fun! (Although I have to say that I am soooo glad that my hubby is NOT participating this year (as he has in years past) at his work with Mustache March!) lol

Here's the deal: To enter, you must:

1) Become a follower of my blog

2) Post this give-away on your blog, FB, or Pinterest

3) Let me know you did the above two in the comments 

That's it folks!

Let's see how many we can get to enter and I will give a BUNCH of these away...not just one, or two, or three, but more like in the double digits if we get that many to enter! AND if we can get 50 or more to enter, I will give one finished product, jar and all, of this little beauty, to a random winner, for every 50 entered...so help spread the word!

Give-away will close on St. Patrick's Day when I will announce the lucky winnerS!

Car Roll Up

It's Tag, You're it! Tuesday! Love seeing and hearing about all of your creations! I also LOVE perusing through Pinterest and seeing all the great ideas, recipes, and tutorials there! 

Well, I first saw these cute crayon roll ups a couple years back and thought they were great. I actually had someone make the ones I have for my kids, but then I got ambitious and decided to make one with cars for my nephew. Unfortunately, I did it awhile back and never thought of making it into a tutorial, so can't help you there, but I just made it up, dimensions and all on my own and it really was easy and turned out so fun! The black and white at the bottom are actually pockets to store the cars in. If you look close, you can see the red stitching to separate the pockets there. 

Great for long car rides and little boys!

So, what are you up to? Link up any fun creations you are making this week in the comments below! I actually have a bunch of projects going on right now that I am excited to be showing you soon, so check back often! :)

Cookie Cake Recipe

Not to keep posting the same pics, but had to share this cookie cake recipe. 

The pic below is the same recipe too.

(The pic above is the property of Create it. Go! and is not to be copied, duplicated, or used otherwise in any manner.)

So, we LOVE this cookie cake recipe! I grew up eating them called Congo Bars and my mom cooked them in a 9x13. The dough is amazing too!!! Super easy and looks great! We have taken them as treats to school, used them in bake auctions, and in scout desserts. You can customize it to anything! 

As to the frosting, honestly I have some recipes I CAN make, but most the time I just buy the store stuff, cut the corner of a large ziploc to use as a decorating bag, and go at it!

So, here you go!

Congo Bars/Cookie Cake Recipe

(This recipe was originally intended to be cooked in a 9x13 pan (kinda like blond brownies), but it works great on a pizza pan as a cookie cake too. I use a stone pizza pan.)

2/3 cup shortening

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 3/4 cup flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Cream first two ingredients, add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients, mix, add chocolate chips. Press into greased 9x13 pan (or flat round pizza pan...I use a stone one.) until about 1 inch thick (or about 1 1/2 inc from sides of round flat pizza pan). Bake at 350 degrees. About 30 minutes for 9x13. (shorter for the cookie cake-about 20 min) It should start to crack some here and there and edges will be light brown.  Cool and cut into bars OR frost/decorate as a cookie cake. (Pizza boxes work great to transport them in too. I turn them inside out and decorate the box too.)

Enjoy! (This is my fav! kind of dough to eat too!!!)

What kind of things are you cooking up in your kitchen lately? Post in the comments below! 

A Comeback!

Just a heads up for you...I used to do (years ago when all of my blog was just papercrafting and stamping with a few other projects I showed here and there) From This to That Fridays.

I would show how I took simple items and turned them into something...else. lol

Well, I am excited to announce, that I am bringing them back. Although...it won't be papercrafting...unless it's here and there. So, look to Friday for some fun new things I have to show you. (I already have so many ideas, it's hard to wait to show you!!!) Think girl scout cookies for this week. lol Wanting some thin mints now? :)

Thanks to picmonkey for helping me create these cute collages. Now if I can find the time to learn how to turn them into buttons! :)

And the winners are...

Sorry I am actually a week late in this announcement. Sickness in my and my babes does me in!

Excited to announce our winners from our BElieve THEre is GOOD in the World Vinyl GIVEAWAY!
They win the vinyl of either of the two options below (minus the frames, vinyl and wood)

I honestly didn't have a lot of contestants, on my Create it. Go! pages, but had a lot more on my personal FB page. I am honestly just happy to pass this along to someone else to put up in their house though. :) We involved the whole family and I had the kids pick their favorites up the uplifting quotes submitted. It actually created great conversation in our home, so thank you!

Drumroll please...

Winners are:

Ginger
"I can do hard things." (This one is actually our own family motto that is displayed in our dining room, so this was a no brainer for us on this one.)

nid
"Together we make a family"
I can just see this one surrounding by pics of all generations past! Love!

Liz
In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured. -Gordon B Hinckley

silly-we put the fun in dysfunctional and the one that you have that says:as far as everyone knows we are a nice normal family


Congrats to all and thanks to everyone for playing along. I'll be having another give-away shortly!

Welcome! to my front porch...

Some of you have LOVED the hello! I do! It is so informal and inviting! I also love this simple "Welcome". My front door is a bit different and I have had a harder time figuring out a style and font that I would like and size and where to put it and and and...Anyone else like that? :)

Well, I decided on this and absolutely love it. I like driving up my driveway and seeing it greet me. Makes me happy. Part of it is the pennant banner...how can those NOT make you happy? 

I actually used some of my little girls hair clips to add a bit of color to the pennant banner. And notice, I even changed them from one side to the other. So many possibilities this way! Had fun with the gray chevron and other cute print and like that I can change the accessories to other colors with different holidays and season. AND it looks great indoors OR out and is washable. What's not to love?! 

 
I also glass etched the little windows in our front door last year. I didn't like how people could see right through them OR how the sun would shine right into our eyes every evening as it the sun went down...and I wanted a bit of charm in them. I like the end result. Fun and kinda cottage charming I think. Goes with our 1953 house that we bought and have slowly re-modeled almost every room in the house now. :) (Can you believe that someone carpeted over all the original hardwood flooring?!) Anyhoos....

  Fun door! And all smiles from me! 

Tell 'em you Love 'Em!

...All year long!

I made this cute little chalkboard tag earlier this year, inspired by Valentines Day coming up, but started something in our family that I am hoping will continue all year long. This last week, I wrote on it one day, and then placed it on my son's bed with why I loved him. Then I wrote "pass it on" at the bottom. I noticed real quick that he passed it on to his sister, who then passed it on to her big sister and she to her little sister (Are you confused yet? haha There are five of them!) and then she to her big brother, who passed it back to me, and then me to my hubby. AND this all happened in 24 hours. I loved it! I am hoping that it continues all year, although I don't expect it to make the rounds so quickly all year. lol

(Here it is the way I found it on my bed from my sweet 10 yr old son.)

Love is not about 

how much you say 

I love you 

 but how much you prove

that it's true.

I recently made this quote in vinyl, but haven't figured out what I want to apply it to (I have lots of quote cut out, but not put up yet. I am afraid someday, someone will walk into my home and think I went a bit vinyl-happy.) :) I know this project is about telling someone why you love them, but I am hoping it evokes more of the "proving" it is true as well. :)

It's Tuesday though, so feel free to link up anything you have made lately or have been inspired by! Just put your link in the comments! (And BTW-I thought I was so cleaver, coming up with the phrase "Tag, You're it! Tuesday and now I have seen it elsewhere...hmmm...keep it? or figure out another phrase?)

It's my 1st Measure it Monday!

I'm excited to start "Measure it up! Mondays"!!! I actually am NOT one who LOVES being in the kitchen. I enjoy baking, but cooking is just...there...to me. My husband actually really enjoys cooking and we would eat better if he was the one in the kitchen every night, but it can't work that way with his schedule. 

I am going to try and share a lot of the recipes. Many that we use are: Gluten Free, dairy free, sugar free, soy and peanut free, let's see what else??? And yes, they still taste good! Although it has taken lots of tries and continuing new things to get them that way. Others I use still have your regular wheat flours and sugars in them. I'll be posting some of both.

Just a short history...last year my husband choked and had to be put under to get the food out. Well, they found out that his esophagus was not working correctly and had a build-up of rings on the inside due to hidden food allergies...this is where our food allergy friendly food search began. It is a continuous journey, but I want to share what we have learned because it has taken me lots of time researching on the internet to learn some things, so here is a start today.

How can I make treats for the kids and not for the hubs on Valentines Day?!

I made a cookie cake (yes, from scratch and it tastes so much better than the store bought ones! recipe another time...) and cupcakes (just used boxed mixes on these) for my kids' school classes (neither allergy friendly), then a tray of cake pops/balls for each of their teachers and for my kids, and a tray of chocolate covered strawberries for my kids too. SO, I needed something my husband could eat...so I tried altering the cake pop recipe for my husband and it turned out pretty good. I use a different kind of chocolate chips for him that are dairy and soy free and melted them and used them to dip the cake balls and strawberries in and I had happy kids and a happy husband!

What do you think? Do these two look happy? 

Vanilla Cake Pop/Balls Recipe:

 (that came with my cake pop machine)

1 stick butter

1/4 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/4 t salt

1/4 t baking pwder

1/2 c milk

1/2 t vanilla

Altered Allergy Friendly Cake Pop/Balls Recipe:

1/2 cup coconut spread/butter (dairy free)

1/4 c shortening (from palm oil) OR use coconut oil

1/2 c stevia, 1/2 c honey, 1/4 c agave nectar

3 eggs (or you can substitute with ground flax seeds gelled in water. Did you know that?!)

1 c sorghum flour, 1/2 c rice flour, 1/2 c tapioca or potato starch

2 tsp xanthum gum

1/4 t sea salt

1/4 t baking pwder (aluminum free)

1/2 c almond milk

1/2 t vanilla

(You will have to cook these a bit longer than the "normal" ones and they will also need to be refrigerated if not eaten the first day.)

Dairy and Soy Free Chocolate Chips

Allergy Friendly Cake Pops:

  (The spots are from condensation. I put the cake balls in the fridge before I took the pic.)

If you have any recipes you would like to share, please leave them (or a link to them) in the comments. Happy Monday! 

(Tutorial for the little paper boats will be coming soon. They are the easiest thing ever and so handy! AND you don't need a machine to cut them out!)

Card share

I've got a card share for you today! I absolutely love this card from Anise Press. Anise Press is a letter press company that creates beautiful work. You can find them at anisepress.com and you can see them featured at Design Mom here. Love their stuff! One of my favs is one of their newest ones they have for sale. I got it for my Dad for his bday, but it would work for any occasion really!

Isn't it great?!!! I love it!

They have some other great ones and great quotes too. I love looking through their blog and seeing all that they do and how they do it. They even tell you how kids can enjoy making their own linoleum blocks to print with themselves at home!

Love the letterpress printing. Gorgeous work!

Rubik's Solution Tip

Bwahahaha!

I Love this new shirt I got off of woot.com! (Don't you just love woot?) 

Between this shirt and a friend who inspired me (Thanks Liz!), I came up with this fun little card below:

Sent it to my Dad for his bday. :)

Valentine Yummies

This is how I spent ALL day on Valentines Day...in my kitchen! I'll be posting recipes and tutorials for the cute little boats this next week!

Mustache Pencil Topper Valentines

Leave it to one of my kids to decide the day before Valentines that they REALLY want to make some Valentines!

I had seen some cute sayings with mustaches on pinterest and thought it would be so cute to make little staches on the top of pencils, where the kids could hold them in front of their faces. And again, I like that they can still use the item (pencils) again later (like the bookmarks). They are FUNctional! :) He loved the idea right away and got a big smile on his face.


So, I whipped these out this am. I can't wait for him to get home from school and see what he thinks! (And he can help assemble the rest too!)

I thought I would make a really quick tutorial in case anyone else is in the same boat as me! haha OR you can use it next year. :)

Mustache Pencil Topper Valentines
Supplies: Pencils, glue dots, string, black cardstock, printer paper, red marker, (optional: washi tape)

1-Print out your own template (or if you want mine I am happy to email it to you.) of your tag/card
2-Fold your paper in half
3-Cut into strips
4-Cut out your mustaches on black cardstock

5-If you want a bit of color on your tags/cards, you can use a red marker and a ruler and just line the edges in red,
6- OR you can line it with some washi tape. I did both.
7-Grab your glue dots and attach your mustache to the pencil with the glue dots.
8- Punch a hole in your tag and attach it to the pencil with some string.

 That's it!

Super fast and cute! I would love to see the whole class in a pic with them. How fun would that be?!

(I used my very tired little girl that is still in her pj's for a model.) :) She laughed after she did this and wanted to put the stache up to everyone's face.

 Still working on my kids' teacher's gifts. Nothing like a deadline to get me motivated. haha Have a Happy Valentines Day!

Parties this week!

Here's the start of where I am partying this week. I will continue to add to it all week. Thanks for hosting!