This made me smile....

You know how sometimes you just see a fabulous creation and it makes you SMILE? THIS is one of those creations..
Beautiful!! You must go see how Kristy made this piece. Shes SO talented!!
And LOOK at that HUGE sign....
You must see all the smiles on the Portfolio Page of Gorgeous Shiny Things!
AND this fabulous tea sandwich tray from Copy Cat Chics Babyshower

Whats making you smile today??
Big Hugs From Texas, Tara

THE Ultimate I LOVE BEING A Girl Party!!!!

WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!! I think that this party from Couture Parties is THE most beautiful GIRL CELEBRATION EVER!!!!

First, being a chip and dip girl, I LOVE the individual dip cups idea. SO COOL!!! Hello, lipstick on the mirror!!! SWOON!!!!

I might just pass out at the sight of this dress made of carnations and magazines & the "chandelier" made of Christmas tree icicles.! DOUBLE SWOON!!!

Stephanie's "THIS IS ME" wall has sent me over the edge and into a river of triple SWOON SOUP!!!!!!!!!!

YOU MUST my bloggy girlfriends go check out all the SWOONY details at Hostess with The Mostess Blog and then check out The Couture Parties Blog!

I LOVE BEING A GIRL!!!
Big Hugs From Texas, Tara

"All You Need is LOVE!"

Happy LOVE DAY bloggy friends!!! I hope you and yours have a WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Big Hugs From Texas, Tara

More ice and snow.....

is headed our way SO thought I better come up with a game plan for how we will spend our day. I think we might have to try this YUMMY recipe from Food Wine and Modge Podge!

Look at this yummy deliciousness!!!

Bacon-Cheese Pull Aparts from Why Not On a Tuesday!
Ingredients:
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1 (16.3 oz.) can Pillsbury® Grands® Flaky Layers Refrigerated Original Biscuits
4-6 slices crispy bacon, cooked and broken into 1/2-inch pieces (or you can use 4-6 Tablespoons packaged real bacon pieces)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4-1/3 cup finely chopped green onions (4-5 medium), using both the green and white parts of the onion
1 (4-ounce) can mushroom pieces (optional)
cooking spray
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11×7″ or 12×8″ (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray (if you don’t having either of those size pans, you could probably use a 9×13″ pan–it just may turn out a little flatter). In large bowl, beat egg and milk with wire whisk until smooth. Separate biscuit dough into 8 biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters. Gently stir the biscuit pieces into egg mixture to coat evenly, then fold in bacon, cheese, onions, and mushrooms, if desired. Spoon the mixture into your sprayed baking pan and arrange biscuit pieces in a single layer. Bake 23-28 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm by cutting into squares, or just pulling biscuits apart. Makes about 8 servings.



Since Bugs Preschool Valentines Party will probably be postponed...
We might need to make some of these cute heartbreaker valentines from Made!

We will have to decide what we plan on freezing too. Bug LOVES doing freezing experiments. (Did I mention that Capri Suns DO NOT freeze? The hubby figures its the packaging.)
What are y'all cooking, making and freezing???

Hugs,
Tara

Grocery Shopping Made Easy??? Yes, please!!!!!

I ran into a mom from "Bug's" dance school at the grocery store, a few weeks ago and she shared with me her SUPER COOL shopping list, idea. I came right home and typed up my own and it has made grocery shopping MUCH more quick and organized. No more doubling back to the other side of the store, right after my lil ones have decided they are DONE with the store. WOO HOO I simply typed up a list of the usual grocery store "suspects" and then put them in order by aisle's at our Target. I saved a little room on the side for extra stuff we might need.
See.....

We highlight things as we run out and I underline the items that I have a coupon for!!! Cool, huh? (Ok, Im sure this idea is allllll over blogland but it was the first time I had ever seen it and I LOVE it!!!)What other FABULOUS organizing ideas have I been living without all these years????
Hugs,
Tara

"Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...But Inside Its So Delightful!!"

Its been a crazy weather week for us here in Texas. Tuesday night we got hour's of freezing sleet, which turned into streets covered in ice. Basically our entire area has been shut shut down for 3 days. We have been having tons of fun...


making copies....

doing freezing experiments..



making stew...
hanging with daddy...

and having a toilet paper party...


The low for tonight is 8 and more snow is expected SO I am sure we will be having lots more family fun!!! What do y'all do on your snow days???
Hugs from Texas,
Tara

"Formal" Crafting Home Office Family Play Room

Ahhhhhhh, its every new homeowners dream. A beautiful formal dining room, picture perfect room. Just waiting for a formal dinner party, candlelit with guests eating off of fine china. (insert record scratch here......)

THIS is our beautiful "FORMAL" dining room.....
I LOVE it. Its the only room in our house that is always spotless. BUT! We have lived in our home for 6 years and have only eaten at that table about 9 times.
We entertain A TON but our dinner parties happen in our family room with everyone gathered around our kitchen island.

Back to our "dining room." I shopped and shopped for THE perfect dining room set, back in the day. THANKFULLY, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. We purchased this very traditional set from a friend and used our money to buy our family room couches, that we use everyday.

Since we don't live in a museum, I decided it was time to utilize this room for family activities and we have. Stay tuned and I will show you how we have turned our formal dining room into a home office and family gathering spot. I am thrilled to say it is still the most beautiful and spotless room in our house.....you never know when former President George Bush and Laura Bush, might drop in for a visit. ;)
Hugs,
Tara

This Post Brought To You By The Letter P!

This week Bug is learning about the letter "P" at Preschool!!! Tomorrow for show-and-tell she wants to take POPCORN!!! We decided to package some up to share with each of her friends. I think she did a FABULOUS job on the "P" labels!! Learning is so fun!!!

Big Hugs from Texas!
Tara

Make Your Own Minnie Mouse Birthday Party Invitations

Hot Dog!!!! Plans for Baby K's Minne Mouse Birthday party are underway. As promised, I wanted to share with you how I transformed these bargain wedding invitations that I bought at MJ Designs for $14.99 (Gartner Studios Tall Fuscia Floral Invitation Kit SKU: 86191) into SUPER CUTE MINNIE BIRTHDAY PARTY INVITES!


I started with my Mickey Ear Paper Shaper!

I used it to punch out the flower!



Then I attached the black card stock included in the set!

Then OH TOODLES....I opened my brand new Silhouette and he cut out cute lil Minnie Bows on The Paper Studio's Hot Pink w/ Polka Dots Paper (item # 466268) from Hobby Lobby! Added some text and the bows and Meeska, Mooska MINNIE MOUSE!!!! We have SUPER CUTE MINNIE MOUSE INVITES!!
I'm even using the reply cards, included in the set, as THANK YOU's!!!

More fun times in Mommyland!!! I love it!! I'm thinking with the left overs, I might have to make some fun Valentines cards!! What have you been working on???
Hugs
Tara

Too Cute Minnie Party Ideas

Baby K Turns 2 in a few weeks and shes is allllllllllll about Minnie Mouse. Ive been doing some research and have found some cute ideas for her party! There is NOTHING better than hearing her yell "Min Mouse! Min Mouse!" when she is watching me do her party research!

Loving the foam Minnie table decor from Heavenly Blooms blog!

Loving this Mickey wall decor from Catch My Party!

I am especially GIDDY about these wedding invites that I found at MJDesigns on sale for $14.99.
Stay tuned to see how I will be turning them into SUPER CUTE MINNIE BIRTHDAY INVITES!!!!

Hugs,
Tara

Merry Christmas!!!

Hugs from Texas,
Tara

Im Dreaming Of A White Christmas...mantel

Last year when I was planning Baby K's "Winter One-derland" Birthday Party, I fell in LOVE with SNOWFLAKES! I decided to keep this year's Christmas decor simple, elegant and SNOWFLAKE inspired!





Grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoys 100's of FABULOUS mantels!

Happy Holiday Hugs,
Tara

"Its Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas"

My friend Emily is the QUEEN of decorating. I tell her all the time that she needs to start a blog so we can borrow her ideas. I guess getting paid to decorate other peoples homes keeps her super busy. Thankfully she shared some pics of her beautiful Christmas decor. Enjoy!!!






I LOVE that her tree has lots to say.....






SWOON!!! This entryway says come on in and NEVER leave!!






Every inch of her kitchen is decorated with just THE perfect amount of Christmas love!




LOVE the lighted packages and look in the background...




NOEL!!!




We will start our decorating tomorrow. Cannot wait to see how all my bloggie friends will be decorating!
Hugs,
Tara

Pumpkin Pie...Preschool Style

Bug's class had their Thanksgiving feast this week and everyone in the class was asked to bring a dish. We were chosen to bring Pumpkin Pie!


As I looked down the list of food items, I noticed that everyone was being asked to bring finger foods, like turkey slices rolled up, grapes and cheese cubes. I wanted to figure out a way to make Pumpkin Pie more 4 year old friendly. That's when I remembered these...
I bought a mega sized package of these at Party City, so that "Bug" could take ranch in her lunch. (Yes, I had to ask the 20 something guy for the jello shot containers, before he could figure out what I was looking for...giggle! )


Lined those little dip cups up....


Grabbed the melon baller and dipped out a portion for each of our lil preschool friends...


Quick visit with my computer and pumpkin pie becomes pumpkin pie dip!


Put our Pumpkin Pie Dip in baggies with a few Scooby Doo Graham Cracker Sticks. I'm thinking that's how the pilgrims ate theirs, right?



The teachers were thrilled and said it's the first time they had an entire class eat pumpkin pie. We will SO be serving Pumpkin Pie Dip at our Thanksgiving Feast!
Have a blessed holiday!!
Hugs,
Tara

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