So Simple DIY Cake Stand

  I love this do it yourself cake/dessert stand.  Simple, cheap, and cute = my kind of project!  All that you need is a plate, candle holder, and E6000 glue.  I bought my plate and candle holder from the dollar store and already had the glue so this cost me a mere $2.00.  If you don't already have the glue on hand, I believe it costs around $3.00 at Walmart but it goes very far and is one of the best glues I've used.  So, just put some glue on the candle holder and press it onto the bottom of the plate.  I can't wait to use this at our Easter table. :)

Everything that you need

Finished product

Of course we had to make some brownies so we could use it :)

Blessings, Jen

Pajamas & Pancakes

One thing I love is parties. I came across this cute little girls pajama and pancakes party at Amy Atlas designs. I hope it gives you some inspiration.



What a great book to go with the party!!



For more on this party go to: Amy Atlas

Inexpensive Wall Decor

     I am in the process of doing a master bedroom makeover. I'm pretty excited about it! Like most moms, I always redo my kids rooms and mine sits looking pretty plain.  But, it is time and I have been searching to find cute and inexpensive ways to decorate.  I had these pretty unattractive pictures in my room that I had basically bought to fill up wall space. So, instead of buying new ones I decided to take them apart and paint the frame and matting black.  Then I found some cute dollar scrapbook paper and placed it inside the frame.  I am loving these things and the best part, they cost me only around $2.00.  Here are the before and after pics.  I am in the process of painting the walls so I will take another picture when they are up. 

Before pic of one. They were both very similar

After! :)



Second one complete




Finished products



             Blessings, Jen :)

A Walk of Faith

    Faith! This is a word that I have been pondering alot lately, over and over again God has brought me to the place of faith in Him. I do not usually share personal things but, I felt like now was a good time as it kind of has to do with the recipe I am posting. For 5 years now my husband and I have been believing and praying for a baby. I am very lucky to not only have a family who has been praying for us but, a church family who prays for us on a continuous basis. It is so sweet, I have little kids come up to me and tell me they are praying for me to have a baby too. God uses even the little ones.
   We have made a decision to stand on the Word of God and trust when He says NONE of His people shall be barren. We both would like to adopt someday but, believe God wants to give us a child first. This has been one of the hardest struggles of my life up to this point. With the times of tears, I try to remember that God has something for me in this season of life and I do not want to miss out; for this season is just that.
I am currently preparing my body for pregnancy. I have started taking prenatal vitamins, exercising everyday, eating alot better!!! I realize while it is going to take God to bring us a baby, it is my job to prepare and wait for that miracle to happen!
   The Word of God says that he will restore what the devouring locust destroy; when I was younger and unsaved I did things my way and had three miscarriages. I know the heartache of loss but, God has restored love in my life and so much more!! I look forward to the day He restores children as well and I get to hold my baby in my arms.I WILL BE GLOWING AND A CHEESY MOM:)
Here is one of the healthier recipes I made tonight, I hope you enjoy it.

SKINNY TEXAS CHEESE FRIES



Skinny Texas Cheese Fries 
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1/2 • Old Points: 6 pt • Points+: 7 pt
Calories: 259 • Fat: 12.3 g • Protein: 10.1 g • Carb: 29 g • Fiber: 2.9 g • Sugar: 1.4 g
Sodium: 590.5 mg (without salt)

If you make the homemade low-fat buttermilk ranch ad 1 point plus or 52 calories.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes (2/3 lb total), yukon gold or russet, washed and dried (skin on)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 slice center cut bacon, cooked & finely chopped
• 1/3 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp diced scallions
• 1 tbsp sliced pickled Jalapeno (jarred on canned)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Lightly coat with cooking spray.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 1/4 inch thin slices; then cut each slice into 1/4 inch fries.
In a large bowl, combine cut potatoes and oil; toss well. Add seasoning (paprika to salt and pepper). Toss to coat.

Recipe found at: Skinny Taste

Tiramisu Cupcakes

One of my ultimate favorite desserts is Tiramisu, when I saw the recipe in a cupcake I had to share.

Here is the recipe:
 Ingredients
 Cake: 1 box White Cake Mix 2 egg whites 1 egg 1/3 cup oil 3/4 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup sour cream 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 cup strong coffee

Filling: 8 oz mascarpone 1 tablespoon strong coffee 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Whipped Topping: 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1 cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pint heavy whipping cream

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.
2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.
 3. In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla.
 4. Stir cake mix into wet ingredients.
 5. Using half of the batter, fill cupcake liners about 1/3 full.
6. With the remaining cake batter, add the strong coffee and mix. (You may need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the batter.)
7. Scoop the coffee cake batter over the regular batter so that each cupcake liner is filled about 3/4. (So you have one layer of vanilla cake and a top layer of coffee cake.)
8. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
9. Filling: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon. 1
0. Topping: Using a whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla. Slowly add in heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.
11. To assemble, cut a cone shaped piece of cake out the top of each cupcake (make sure cakes are cooled). Generously spoon in your filling. Pipe your whipped topping over the hole with the filling and top with chocolate shavings and cocoa powder.
Notes *For my strong coffee, I mixed about 1/3 cup boiling water with 4-5 teaspoons instant coffee. Then I measured my coffee from that. Adjust recipe using more or less coffee depending on how much you like the flavor of it.

Recipe found at Your Cup of Cake

Easter Table Settings

With Easter right around the corner have you began to plan out your Easter Tablescape. I know that I am. Today, I wanted to give you a little inspiration and feel free to send simplyinspiredsisters pictures of your Easter table.

While I was away, A couple of Events

The last couple of  weeks have been super busy for me. I not only own my own Event Planning company but, I am an Assistant to 2 local Pastors. Sometimes both collide. The last couple of weeks I have had three different events and two of them were back to back. The first one was registration for a Doctor's conference. Easy as pie but, the other two required design, set up, serving and alot more, it is a great thing I have a wonderful team. Here are some pictures from the Women's Conference and then we had a Pastor's Conference and all went well.


The Yellow, blue and Green Table




My Husband lovingly repainted and stained this beautiful farm table





Ladies brought in Beautiful dessserts as well




We treated them to a lemonade bar





The theme was Activate and Old Military was the Decor



These are some of the pictures there was alot.......more involved and done. Now I am back to my schedule and onto Crafting and Cooking for everyone..

Pam

Some Rainy Day Fun

     Today is just one of those days where the weather makes you want to hang out in your jammies and curl up to watch a movie.  With it being half way through the school week, I thought it would be fun to make a great rainy day game for the kids to play.  Using several scraps of fabric, the kids learned how to make their own bean bags.  We cut some squares and sewed them all the way around leaving just enough room for a funnel to put the beans in with.  After filling, we quickly sewed up the remaining hole and they were done.  Easy and they were so proud to do it themselves.  Next, we found a box with a lid in our garage and cut five different squares in it just big enough for the bean bags to go through.  We then covered the lid with black fabric and glued in place.  Finally, we made some points values so the kids can keep track and this project was done!  We had a ton of fun making this and we can just keep the bean bags in the box and take it out when they want to play. :)

Kierra sewing her bean bag

Abigail sewing

Little Rider sewing :)

The bean bags ready to fill

home made funnel

Mona just wanting to help :)

Little munchkin

box with lid we used

Final product

The kids playing the game



    To add a little more fun today, I thought I'd make a fun little lunch for the kids with a little message. :)  They totally got a kick out of it! Here are some pics. Hope you enjoy!

I Love You

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

     I personally really enjoy St. Patrick's Day.  To most of us it's a day to enjoy great Irish food like corned beef.  We also get a kick out of pinching those who don't wear green. (Unless you are one of the unfortunate ones who forgot and walked out of the house without some form of green! haha)  I was obnoxiously warned by my 13 year old son as soon as my feet hit the floor this morning to make sure I wore green. Little stinker! Lol!  At least he was compassionate enough to warn his dear mother before all the other kiddos got me. (or my hubby)  So all of us made sure we had some sort of green on today.  My girls and I painted ourselves up with shamrocks so that we could wear other color clothes.  We made green shamrock sugar cookies and finished the day with a feast of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and green milk. Mmmmm! 

     With all of this being said, do you really know who St. Patrick was and why the day is celebrated?  Here is a very condensed version but gives a little insight into this great day.  St. Patrick's Day celebrates the life of Saint Patrick and is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, March 17th.  It has been celebrated for over 1,000 years.  The day celebrates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.  St. Patrick was born in Roman, Britain.  His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest.  He was kidnapped by Irish raiders when he was only 16 years old and taken to Ireland to be a slave.  He spent his time as a slave praying and talking to God.  During this time, he was told by God in a dream to flee to the coast where a ship was waiting for him.  He traveled over 200 miles and reached the ship. Then he returned to Britain where he studied to be a priest.  He felt a call to bring Christianity back to Ireland.  This is where the Shamrock came in.  It is said that he St. Patrick used the shamrock to help explain the Trinity to the people.  The sides symbolizing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He ministered to the people for 30 years.  WOW!  There is so much to learn about this man who had a heart and felt a call to change Ireland and see God move there. 

     I took a moment this morning to tell my children some of this so that they know that it's not about wearing green and funny little shamrocks hanging about.  We celebrate it for purpose, for a reason.  I think we would be doing our children a dishonor if we left all of this unknown. 

     I hope you all enjoyed your St. Patrick's Day!

                                                                               Blessings, Jen

The girls with their shamrocks :)

Our green frosting

shamrock cookies

adding sprinkles

corned beef and cabbage

our green milk :)

mmmmmm :)