game day chex mix ♥

October 10, 2017 Raising up Rubies3 Comments

With sports season in full swing, we’re at so many games during the week – between field hockey and volleyball – it seems like we’re forever looking for game time munchies to hold us over till we get home to dinner…

My girls & I made this fall snack mix a few weeks ago and it was really good –

we found the recipe here and adapted it just a little bit

we had trouble finding the caramel bugels that the recipe called for

so we used regular ones and doubled the brown sugar topping instead

mix the chex, pretzels & bugels all together in a really big bowl

spread it all out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

mix the melted butter, vanilla, brown sugar & pumpkin pie spice

pour the topping over the dry mix and bake!

add candy after it’s cooled – as much or as little as your heart desires ♥

put your snack mix in a cookie jar, add a cute scoop and enjoy!

we munched on it the whole week and took snack bags full with us to enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate at all the outdoor games 🙂

Enjoy!

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Game day chex mix ♥

by Jaime Favor October-9-2017

Ingredients

4 cups Honey Nut Chex cereal
1 bag original flavor Bugels
2 cups pretzels
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut m&m’s
1 cup caramel m&m’s
1 cup candy corn
1 cup candy corn pumpkins

Instructions

1. Combine dry ingredients (cereal, Bugels & pretzels) in a large mixing bowl, set aside.2. In a medium glass measuring cup melt butter in microwave, add brown sugar, vanilla & pumpkin pie spice, stir together.
3. Pour butter mixture over dry mix, stir to coat well.
4. On a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper spread mixture out in a single layer
5. Bake at 275 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. Let cool completely, sprinkle with candy and store in a pretty glass container on your container – add a measuring cup or scoop for easy snacking 🙂

Details

Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 10 cups

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friendship pins

August 31, 2017 Raising up Rubies4 Comments

summer is coming to a close around here and we’re soaking up the last of it

we spent alot of time in the kitchen baking goodies & making crafts this summer

these friendship pins were probably one of our favorite projects

you can make your own with some seed beads and a few different sizes of safety pins

we purchased both at Joanns & Michaels

with a quick search on pinterest, we found a bunch of pin “patterns”

flags, animals and lots of other things!

you can find my “summer” board here where i pinned a bunch of them

it’s a little bit of trial & error, but once you start making them it’s addicting!

my younger daughter ended up finding an empty bead box in my craft room and started to use some of her spending money on more supplies ha!

her box ended up filling up pretty fast and her little fingers were working even faster!

some of the bigger beads were surplus from my supplies (mostly found on etsy)

& she had some of the character charms in her rainbow loom stash.

we found these canvas sneakers at five below for only $5

and she added puff paint polka dots to the front of the sneakers

for the hanging pin designs like the flag one – we found out how to slide the hanging pins through the loop of the main pin – just think of it like a key ring – use a small pliers or even a thumb tack to open up a little bit of space in the ring to get started – once one pin is in the opening it’s easy to slide the rest through

once all the hanging pins are on the opposite side of the closure side you can pin it to anything you want – shoelaces, jacket lapels or backpacks!

she even made some friendship pin earrings! so fun ♥

if my feet were small enough

i’d be borrowing these happy rainbow shoes from my daughter’s closet fo sho 🙂

happy crafting!

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Amish Sugar Cookies

August 1, 2017 Raising up Rubies3 Comments

it’s no secret around here that i loooooove cookies

i mean put a slice a cake in front of me and i’m like no thank you.

donuts are good, but i’m partial (like religiously partial) to Krispy Kreme

and since there’s no KK here in upstate … well then there’s not too much donut consumption happening 😦 but cookies … give me cookies everyday anyday and i’m so happy

like really happy – weirdly happy 🙂

i digress alot

scrolling the insta last week and stopped dead in my tracks for these

there’s so many good things about taste of home so i’m always inclined to try their recipes

and man these did not disappoint! they were so good we made a double batch

and then we made them again

the second time around i realized we were out of cream of tartar – and after a little research on the world wide web i learned that baking powder is a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda (how did we ever live without google?) so i substituted the baking soda and cream of tartar with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and we actually liked that batch better than the first! a very slight difference really but lotsa cookie experts over here at out house so we can tell these things 🙂

these bake up so light and fluffy, they practically melt in your mouth if you eat them after a few minutes out of the oven … two things i always do when baking cookies: 1.use parchment paper ALWAYS. it just makes for better cookie bottoms & 2. use a cookie scoop ALWAYS it makes for perfectly shaped cookies and all uniform in shape & size. both of those items are #gamechangers trust me.

this batch was going in a glass cookie jar from walmart

and over to a friends new house that she just moved in to ♥

cut some ribbon from my stash and wrote home sweet home on a paint swatch

it’s always the simple little things that we have laying around

that make the best unexpected gifts dont you think?

make these cookies guys! i know you will love them as much as we do

much love ♥

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Amish Sugar Cookies

by Jaime Favor July-31-2017

(adapted from Taste of Home.com)

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspons baking powder

Instructions

– With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer cream butter, oil and sugars– Add eggs & vanilla mix until blended well– In a separate bowl combine flour & baking powder then gradually add to creamed mixture– Using a 1.5 inch cookie scoop, drop batter onto parchment lined cookie sheets– Bake @ 375 (or @350 with a convection oven) for 8-10 minutes or until bottom edges are golden brown– Let cool for one to two minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Yeilds approx 5 dozen

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 5 dozen

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watermelon caddy teacher gift

July 14, 2017 Raising up Rubies6 Comments

another summer is upon us and as usual i’m feeling nostalgic

i’m not sure if it’s just that my girls are so big now or that it feels like time is slipping away really fast or both, but when summer comes around it always seems bittersweet …anyone else with me? anyways i saw these watermelon caddies at michaels last month and knew i wanted to use them for teacher gifts.

caddy gifts (see here & here for instance) tend to be my go-to thing when i have to come up with gift ideas, i don’t know why except all i can figure is that to get a gift that’s filled with lots of little gifts just sounds like the best thing ever to me 🙂 it’s like the gift that keeps on giving … and it’s organized and compartmentalized #ocdprobs

if you hit that “make” tab up in the navigation bar, you’ll find a bunch of gift ideas

i’ve done over the years and most of them are the same ha!

these two tins were for my youngest daughter’s 5th grade teacher and our bus driver

(we’ve had the same bus driver since the kids started school! we love her so much.

i have her number in my phone on speed dial haha)

i filled it with mostly fun things for summer that i picked up in my shopping travels

sunscreen, candy, notepads, straws and an insulated cup from target

filled it with crystal light packets and put the cup in one of the back sections of the caddy 🙂

threw some tags together in my design program and tied them on, that’s it! fun right?

there are so many gift fillers to be found at the dollar store or in the target dollar spot!

just think outside the box a little 😉

these patriotic pencils were in the target dollar bins and i couldn’t pass them up

there’s just something about the red white & blue during summer time

my daughter plays flute in the school band and wanted to bring a little something extra in for her band teacher – simple ideas for a few dollars make for cute gifts and smiling faces

who doesn’t love to feel appreciated? it’s so easy to go about our day to day without recognizing what so many people do for us or for our kids. don’t underestimate the power of giving guys!

it feels so good to give – and doesn’t have to be material or expensive it can be your time or a particular skill set to lend a favor that can be given as well

i feel like most days out society is so focused on what we can get for ourselves that to teach our kids to put others first has become even more challenging! since it’s become so counter culture – so don’t underestimate the power of giving and involve your kids!

speaking of … when did my kids get so big?

last day of 5th grade right here folks

hard to believe they were this little when i started this blog (sniff sniff)

thanks for following along with me here over the years, you really are loved & appreciated ♥

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little box of sunshine gift idea

May 19, 2017 Raising up Rubies4 Comments

we sent this happy little box to my mother in law for mothers day

and i thought i’d share here with you all in case you’re looking for a fun gift idea that’s easy to put together and is such a surprise to the recipient!

i saw the idea on pinterest and decided to put a box together to send off to North Carolina

and after a trip to target i had a bunch fun stuff …

that happiness book is really cute – there’s some funny things in it

i know this because i was chuckling in the isle at target while i flipped through it 🙂

i put all the little odds and ends in the clear catch all bag

i lined the inside of the box with some bright yellow paper & double sided tape

the brighter the paper the better! you want that box to shine when all the flaps are opened 🙂

the flat rate box from the post office is free! and you can pack it full no matter what the weight

and send it off for a flat rate fee priority mail (2-3 days) for around $15 i think, i can’t remember the exact rate but it’s around there 🙂

the paper i had was 8.5 x 11 and fit perfectly in this small flat rate box leaving only a little gap at the bottom on one side but you won’t be able to see it once you fill it up

a little trimming might be necessary near the top flaps

and i just placed a full sheet on the bottom with no tape

the best part is this clipart that i got here

from my best girl’s etsy shop – simply purchase, download, print and cut!

a little more of the double sided tape to place it where your heart desires and that’s it!

i also printed out the text from microsoft publisher on my PC – cut & taped that to the long flaps

fill you box and send it off!

i know whoever receives it won’t be able to help but be so happy 🙂

the only thing i was missing was yellow basket straw – you know that crinkled paperish stuff that comes in all different colors? filling the space at the top with that would’ve kept the yellow theme going, but i only had white tissue paper on hand, but yellow tissue paper would work too right?

some pictures of us girls on Mother’s Day ♥

that’s my mom – doesn’t she look good?!

hoping i get her slow aging genes 🙂

whatever Mother’s Day means for you i hope it was filled with joy and happines … even if it’s sort of a sad day for you whatever the reason, know that God works all things together for your good! even in the sadness (especially in the sadness) He’s molding & shaping you into who He wants you to be ♥ remember that every heartache and trial you face was first sifted through His hands before it got to you so take comfort in that girls.

much love to you

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layered chocolate brownie trifle

February 19, 2017 Raising up Rubies1 Comment

one of my favorite go-to crowd pleaser desserts is this layered chocolate brownie trifle

my cousin gave me the recipe a long time ago when we were still young and our kids were just babies

thanks cousin 🙂

i’ve made it so many times over the years

it’s always well received and there’s rarely any leftovers

here’s what you need:

2 & 1/2 cups of milk

2 packages of instant chocolate pudding (4 servings size)

1 package brownie mix

1 – 16oz tub of whipped topping

strawberries or raspberries for garnish

bake the brownies as directed on the box the night before

and the day of, all you have to do is assemble … which takes less than 30 minutes

so the next day or whenever the brownies are cool

cut them into one inch squares and set aside

to make the chocolate mousse part

whisk together the milk and both boxes of pudding then fold in half of the whipped topping

use the other half to layer between the mousse and the brownies

layer brownies on the bottom of a trifle dish

then layer half of the chocolate mousse

then half of the remaining whipped topping

then repeat all that once more 🙂

you can also switch the strawberries on top for raspberries, shaved chocolate, heath toffee bits or really anything you can think of

i added this recipe to my project life recipe book using the PL app that you can download right onto your phone for a dollar or two … i use it to document all our family photos and i’ve started organizing my recipes with it as well, i love it!

i hope you try this next time your have to feed a bunch of people dessert!

enjoy ♥

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free mini December calendar ♥

December 1, 2016 Raising up Rubies2 Comments

well i say this every year. how did Christmas get here so quick?

i was scrolling though some old blog posts and got excited about some gifts & decorations i’ve done in years past

this hot cocoa bar is coming back this year! but in a different spot and i’m gonna change it up a bit

this Christmas card / gift wrapping caddy is so handy to have around

and it looks cute on the kitchen counter or living room table ♥

one year i decked my craft room out to the max!

yeah… that’s not happening this year ha!

trader joe’s christmas cookies for the win

and sprinkles in hot chocolate

taking in the last little bits of fall this past weekend

soon it will be covered with snow

for 6 months

😦

guys. we saw Moana.

we loved it! it’s so cute!

disney never disappoints

download your free calenandar right here!

hope you are getting lots of shopping, decorating and cookie making done!
much love ♥

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shop small with me ♥

November 26, 2016 Raising up RubiesLeave a comment

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING SMALL!

AS MY WAY TO SAY THANK YOU TO YOU TODAY – USE THE COUPON CODE {FREESHIP}

for for free shipping storewide! AND with every TWO bangle bracelets purchased receive a THIRD FREE! WOW! just leave your free bracelet choice in the notes to seller during checkout!

happy shopping and thank you as always for supporting small biz!

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black friday shop update!

November 25, 2016 Raising up RubiesLeave a comment

just a little heads up to let you know there’s a black friday sale

happening in my etsy shop today!

use the coupon code {BLACKFRIDAY20} for 20% off of your total purchase storewide today only! AND receive a FREE SET of bible journaling cards/gift tags OF YOUR CHOICE with everypurchase over $25 (total amount before shipping charges) just leave your card choice in the notes to seller during checkout!

happy shopping!

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shop update! small biz saturday preview ♥

November 14, 2016 Raising up RubiesLeave a comment

happy monday everyone!

just a little sneaky peaky at ALL THE NEW fun happy stuff in my etsy shop!

i’ve been gearing up for Christmas, and hoping to create lots of new selection that i hope you’ll love while checking lotsa peeps off of your Christmas gift list ♥