PinkPetunias

Halloween Goodie Bag Tutorial

Ellie got invited to a Halloween play date at her little girlfriend's house. Each parent needs to bring one healthy snack but I thought I would also bring a little goodie bag for kids. I looked at the store and all the cute ones I could find were a little pricey so I decided I would make something.

Halloween Goodie Bag

For each bag, you will need the following:

a paper bag
a black pen or fine point marker
straight edge or ruler
rounded edge (I used a lid)
a single hole puncher
1 foot of orange ribbon
spider stamp (if you are artistic, you could draw one and skip the remaining items)
embossing pad
black embossing powder 
heat gun (if you are using embossing powder only)

Directions:

Using a straight edge, draw a centered line from the top of the bag to the bottom, dividing the bag in halves.

Draw another line from one side of the bag to the other, dividing the bag into quarters.

Draw two more lines diagonally, as shown in the picture, dividing the bag into eighths. This is the foundation of the spider web.

Working in one of the eighths sections and starting in the middle of the web and moving outward, draw curved lines using your rounded edge to make the 'ladder rungs' of your spider web. 

Continue drawing curved lines within the remaining sections being sure to line up the 'ladder rungs' as you move from section to section.

Using the embossing powder and spider stamp, stamp a spider on the web.

While the ink is still wet, sprinkle liberally with embossing powder. 

Dump excess powder back into the container.

Using your heat gun, heat the embossing powder until it melts and puffs up.

At the top of the bag, punch two holes approximately a 1/2 inch apart.

Thread your ribbon through the holes.

Tie the ribbon in a bow. 

You are done. How easy was that? Super. Now I just have to come up with a healthy Halloween snack to take with us. Any ideas for me?

An end to a great day, chicken pot pie (recipe)

Today was a really good day. Rob and Ellie got up while I slept in. Once I decided to get up, we had chocolate chip pancakes. Ellie helped and there were far too many chips in the mix. They were much more like dessert but, hey, she had fun. 

We played in her house box (that we made yesterday from a new dishwasher box), played with play-doh, did markers (that is what she calls coloring with markers), read some stories and finally took a little nap. After her nap, Rob watched football and Ellie and I went to Kid's day at Ladew Topiary Gardens. 

While we were there, she got to paint rocks, get a butterfly painted on her arm, ate candy, saw fish and frogs, danced and sang with a group of kids, colored a paper fish and did a little pretend fishing. After that, we went to the grocery store, where she got to pick out a balloon because momma refused to stand in line for 30 m-i-n-u-t-e-s for a balloon figure at Kid's day. Really, what toddler can wait that long? 

Anyhow, after we got home, she watched the last few minutes of the game with Rob while I made a chicken pot pie, recipe below. As soon as it was done, we ate dinner and then took a walk and pulled Ellie in her wagon. We came home and had ice cream cones and coffee and then did the whole bath/bedtime stories routine and she went right to sleep. 

I wish every Sunday could be this good. I hope you had a good one too.

Anyhow, here is the easiest recipe for the greatest comfort food, that is not a dessert. 

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 package of roll out pie crust
1/3 cup of butter
1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup of flour
1/2 cup of milk
1 and 3/4 cups of chicken broth (I use homemade but you can use can)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups of frozen soup veggies or fresh ones diced
2-3 cups of cooked chicken (I cook a whole chicken and use for 2 meals)
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Unroll one pie crust, place in glass or stone pie dish and poke 5 to 6 times with a fork. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.
4. Add onion and cook until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add flour and mix well.
6. Add chicken broth. (I try to use the broth from when I boiled the chicken. I usually add ground sage and bay leaves to the water.)
7. Add milk.
8. Add crushed up bouillon cubes.
9. Cook until bubbling and thickened.
10. Add veggies and chicken.
11. Pour into pie pan.
12. Unroll remaining crust and place on top of pie.
13. Trim and crimp the edges. 
14. Bake for 35 minutes. The top will be nice and browned and crisp. 
15. Set aside for 20-30 minutes to allow for the pie to set up a little. Trust me, it is too hot to eat anyway. I know some will try to immediately eat it and first, they will make a mess of the pie and second, they will burn the crap out their mouths.

Enjoy!

A little end of summer catching up, St. Louis Trip

Time to do some summer posting catch up since the summer is, well, over. 

Here are pictures of my May trip to St. Louis with Ellie.

We are not at my parents house 5 minutes and my dad already has her on the riding mower. This would be a frequent activity for the next few days. (above)


A little gardening with Pa Pa. (above)

it didn't take long to figure out why Ellie wanted to sit on Great Grandma Buckley's lap so much. She had treats stashed in her side table and Ellie had free access to them.(above)

Ellie and LaLa going for a walk. (above)  

Ellie and her Aunt Leslie (above)

Ellie chalking the driveway. (above)

Ellie's early morning walk with Pa Pa. (above)

Golfing at 6 am with LaLa on the driveway...my mother would kill me if I posted the pic of her in her PJs so you only get to see Ellie in her's. (above)
 

Me, Ellie and my dad before we head to the airport for our return home. (above)

Ellie sound asleep on the plane. (above) 

Ellie and her first state fair

The Maryland State Fair was not huge but it was great for a little one that wanted to see some animals and eat some treats.

On the day my friend Tammy and I took Ellie, some little piglets were just born and they were so cute. The girls caring for the mother and little ones let Ellie get her fill of the babies. She was so happy. Sorry no pics since it was an impossible angle but I did get a phone pic of Ellie feeding a baby goat. This little guy was only 4 weeks old and would wag his little tail just like a puppy. The little girl taking care of him asked Ellie if she wanted to give him a bottle (milk, not mountain dew) and she was so excited to help her.

Kids say the darndest things

Last night we were sitting at the kitchen counter eating dinner and my sweet little beanie girl scrunches up her nose, baring her top front teeth as if to say "ewwww, I smell rotten eggs" and proclaims in her most serious voice "daddy is a stinky butt." I busted out laughing. I know I am not supposed to acknowledge those sort of comments because she takes any reaction as a green light to continue it but come on. Really. How could I not in some way be proud that my little pig-tailed baby has started the name-calling phase? Rob was not a amused but I certainly was. If he can sing her some marching song about throwing poo at her mother, then I can laugh at her calling him a stinky butt. Maybe he really is a stinky butt...I am not going to find out.

I tried finding the words to the poo throwing song he sung her the other day but could not. I will do my best to find it and post the words. 

Cutie alert

I have tried 3 times to post this without much luck. Sometimes the iPhone does not play nice with me.

Anyhow, I just love this picture of my little cutie-bean and wanted to share it with you all.

Party Planning

I have two parties for which I have to start planning. Yes, two!

Ellie is turning two this October and I keep trying to come up with some kind of theme that she would like and that translates into a nice party for kids and adults. She has a few books that she adores but the one that I think could really turn out cute for the kids is Miss Spider's Tea Party: The Counting Book. It has great colors and the idea of bugs and flowers would appeal to both girls and boys. I also think having a little 'tea party' would be pretty simple to do. What do you think? Any ideas? I did a google search and I see they have party-ware that can be ordered but I would prefer to come up with my own decorations. Ideas please!

The other party is for Rob's 40th birthday. I cannot believe he is going to be 40. I really do not think he looks 40. Is that because he really does not look 40 or do I prefer not to admit that I look 37? Who knows but he is still a hottie to me. :) Anyhow, he will be 40 in November and since it is a big one, I have to get planning now. I do know that he loves any reason for a big party so now that we have a great reason for a big one, I need to try and make it really big.

Planning should be really fun but wow, the work is going to be tough. I have a hard enough time keeping up now. Oh well, both Ellie and Rob are worth it!

Peek a boo quilt

Ellie's peek a boo quilt is done. Do you like it? I know she does. I finished it up Saturday night around 10:30 pm. I just love how it turned out.

 
 
 
 

Another super simple quilt

I am on a roll and trying to finish my many WIPs. This time, I finished another super simple quilt for Ellie. It has cute little butterflies on it. I just took two butterfly themed fabrics and quilted around some of the butterflies. I cannot imagine her liking it as much as the first one but I do think she will like this one too. Since she takes blankets with her to daycare, I need to make sure we have plenty on hand and clean (key word is clean - sometimes the laundry gets a little backed up at our house).

 

It was a Happy Father's Day

I hope you all had a nice Father's Day. I know we did.

 
Rob and Ellie
(His sister Krissie took the pic when she was in town a few weeks ago.)

Rob's dad and Aunt Theresa came over for dinner. Thankfully we did not have any rain...what a shocker! I grilled a beef tenderloin with potatoes and onions on the grill. We had corn on the cob and a great salad. I thought you might all like the recipe so here it is.

Mexican Chopped Salad (picture by Aunt Theresa)

Ingredients

Dressing:
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 c. lime juice (approximately 3 limes)
1/8 c. orange juice (approximately 2 oranges)
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 shallot, finely diced

Salad:
2 heads of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 large yellow bell peppers, diced
1 red onion, diced
2 large firm but ripe avocados, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Directions
Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and set aside for a couple of hours.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce and cilantro so it is evenly mixed. Spoon out into a shallow serving bowl. Take the remaining ingredients and place on the salad separately. I did mine in rows across the salad but you could layer it or put the ingredients in mounds. Who knows. Just do what looks good.  

Drizzle the salad dressing over the entire salad.

How cute is this picture? (picture by Aunt Theresa)

After the huge meal we had a great pie for dessert. Thanks to Carrie over at Dixie Mango for the idea! Based on her post, I would call it Poor Man's Margarita Pie. It was so yummy!

I used a small box of lime jello (even though the jello site says there is margarita flavored jello, I could not find if after going to three - yes, I said three - stores) and instead of using just water, I used 1/2 cup of Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix and 1/2 a cup of water. I also topped it with spray whipped cream ('cause that is how I roll - I couldn't help but say that). It really was great.