Homemade Crayons

Hello there friends! This post has been a LONGGGGG time coming. I made crayons for Teddy's classmates and friends for Halloween and then I did it again for Christmas gifts for his buddies! I really enjoyed the whole process. I thought he would want to help me, but both times, he said "I want YOU to do it, mommy!" Haha! I'm sure at some point he will want to help me with these things! :) But, if not, I'm okay with that too. I love doing this stuff!

I started the Halloween crayons on a Friday night that the hubs was gone, so after I put the kiddos to bed, I poured a glass of wine and watched Parks and Recreation and got to work, peeling! That is what takes the most time and totally messes up a pretty mani but it is totally worth it! 

  I can't ever over how many crayons I peeled for this batch! 

 Here are some of the finished crayons! I LOVE all the bright colors mixed together! 

So happy and fun!!!

Here are the bags that I made. I couldn't find a jack-o-lantern stamp anywhere! So ridic! So, I made one quickly! I had purchased a bunch of the stamp making essentials awhile ago, so I had them here thankfully!

The treat bags were purchased from my precious Paper Source. I couldn't find them online but I linked an adorable polka dot version! I know the store always has the basic brown paper version that I used. The washi tape was purchased there as well. Again not online. I think it's because it's a fall color!

In each bag, I included: crayons, stickers, pads of paper, glow bracelets and bat rings. I added a lot to these bags because I signed up to bring bags as part of the Halloween party. :)

So fast forward to December! I made little Christmas trees and gingerbread men! Love how they turned out!

Just loved how they looked all ready to be baked!

Massive amount of peeling and the crayons! 

I used mini treat bags again from Paper Source. I love having one of these so close by. Seriously a huge lifesaver. Now, if only I had a Hobby Lobby around the corner, I'd be happy...well, maybe I need a Jimmy John's too and then I would be happy! :)

I'm so happy with how they turned out and Teddy was so excited to give them to his buddies! 

I baked my crayons at 250-275 for about 10-15 minutes. You really have to watch them. I also swirled them after I took them out of the oven to give them a more swirly look! :)

 You can purchase the pumpkin silicone mold here, the Christmas tree silicone mold here and the gingerbread man silicone mold here. I am amazed by all the molds that are available. I am going to overdo the crayon giving if I'm not careful. Ha! Luckily I can use these all again and again! I thought this and this would be fun for Halloween and Christmas as well. You could give each child, one huge crayon as opposed to a few small crayons! Just a different spin on it!

Anywho, crayons would be a blast to try for Valentine's Day if you haven't already given them a bunch this school year like we have! :) You can purchase heart molds here! Now go make some crayons and make sure there is wine involved! :)

xoxo,

Ashley

Presidential Donuts

Happy Thursday! This week flew by! No surprise there! It was quick but also long on some days. I think the past few weeks are catching up to me. Monday was MLK day, so no school for the Tedster! He had given me a mini donut pan and some donut mix for Christmas and I have been wanting to try them both out. I decided late Sunday night, as I was going to bed that I would make some donuts for the kiddos since Teddy had the day off and we didn't have to race him to school! I knew that Teddy probably wouldn't eat the apple cider donut mix that he gave me so I needed a different recipe. When I got home from my gym class that am, I was searching online and couldn't find a recipe quick enough, so I had a crazy thought that I'd try to come up with one. 

I bake quite a bit so I figured a main cast of characters would suffice! I threw together some flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, etc and figured it would either be great or awful! Ha! I was pretty happy with how they turned out! Reagan and I loved them! Teddy is such a picky eater so I never really gage anything on him. Ha! I had to scrape the Valentine's colored sprinkles off his and re-dip his in chocolate sprinkles and then he ate it and loved it...to me all sprinkles taste the same, but whatever! They were enjoyed by all! He ate two more the next day...I made the second batch all chocolate for him! :) He actually decided that he wants to take these for his class, next week for his birthday treat at school, so I'll be baking these again next week (Still can't get over the fact that he is turning FOUR next week!)! 

I think they turned out adorable, as well as delish!

A random fun fact about me, my parents owned a small donut shop for a short time. These donuts turned out pretty delish but not overly sweet, which was a good thing to me. Whenever I eat a donut in the am, I feel awful the rest of the day. Too much sugar in the am is not good for moi! I wanted them on the less sweet side and that was the outcome that I achieved! Woohoo!

We spent the rest of the day off, hanging out! 

This little lady is such a daredevil! Makes me so nervous, but I love how much joy she had from hanging on the bar like a big girl! :) Please ignore my hair...still icky from the gym!

 Teddy enjoyed his day off! Seriously love the crazy "cheeeeeeseee!" smile that he gives me lately! And I love the bow tie. Makes any outfit, fancy! :) 

Posing. :)

Here is the donut recipe in case you want to try the exact ones that I made! Again, this is just a random recipe, so I can't promise that it'll be the best donut of your life, but we thought it was pretty good!

Presidential Donuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 cup All Purpose Flour (might try gluten free flour for Teddy's class)

1/2 cup of Sugar

1 cup of milk (I used nonfat. might try almond milk for Teddy's class)

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 egg

Mix all ingredients together. I threw it all in my Kitchen Aid and mixed on low until it was smooth. I baked then for about 8-10 minutes. You really just need to watch them though! 

This made two pans of mini donuts.

Glaze 

(this is more of a trial and error to get the correct consistency) 

1 cup powdered Sugar

1/4-1/2 cup milk (start with 1/4 and add more if needed. Glaze should be pretty runny)

1/2-1 teaspoon Vanilla

I just dipped the warm donuts into the glaze and stuck them in the sprinkles immediately. Worked out perfectly! Let me know if you try them!

Hope you have all had a nice week so far! I am ready for a relaxing weekend!

xoxo,

Ashley

A few of my favorite things!

Hello lovlies! Since I haven't blogged since September (Seriously? Really? It's January?!) and even though, I have at least 8 half written posts, to finish and publish, I decided I would start out 2013 with a list of a few of my favorite things right now!

First up is always a winner in my book! Sugar Advanced Lip Therapy by Fresh! This stuff is amazing. I go through it like crazy! I prefer to use the advanced therapy version at night, sans the SPF(in the one that I use during the day), too much of the SPF seems to dry my lips out.

For the daytime, I use the Sugar Lip Treatment with SPF 15. I love the clear and rose color. I always have these in my car, purse, diaper bag, etc! Love them! I have been using this lip treatments for over a year now and am always recommending it and giving it as a gift. I just love it! 

While we are on the Fresh products, I am also loving their Soy Face Cleanser. It is seriously amazing. I have tried LOTS of face wash products. This one takes the cake! It removes makeup like a dream...even mascara which is a huge bonus and time saver!

I have also started using their Black Tea Age Delay Cream and Face Serum and Age Delay Eye Cream. I have to admit it stresses me out a tad to start "age delaying" products, but the sooner the better I suppose! Ha! Fresh may need to hire me as their spokesperson. :)

I just discovered The Wet Brush! I'm not sure how I am just now hearing about it?! My hair gal told me that it was a necessity for me, as she was brushing out my dreadlocks a couple weeks ago (I go to bed with my hair wet a lot and my hair is just so knotted...brushing it is just the worst)! So, I bought one for me and one for my sister, who also has horrible knots and we both love it! I am about to order another  for myself and mini one for the little presidents' hair too! Anywho, I can't say enough good things about this brush...life changing for sure!

These Driving Moccasins from Gap are seriously so comfy. I bought for my mom and sister for Christmas too! I am wishing I would have purchased in every color because now they are sold out in my size! :( They had pink, green and blue too! The brown are such a basic staple color, so I am thrilled that I snagged them, especially with a 30% off coupon! Woohoo!

These Lula Glitter Ballet Flats from J Crew are another favorite of mine. You can add sparkle to any outfit by wearing them. They make me smile...just like the glitter on my fingernails and the glitter on my iPhone case. Just little happy makers that bring a random smile to my face
throughout each day! :)

I had been wearing Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer for as long as I can remember and suddenly this fall, it started making me break out on my chin...no thank you! Time for a change! I tried this VitaZing SPF 15 Energy-Boosting Moisturizer with Mangosteen per the advice of a guy who was helping me in Sephora one day and I am in love! It's awesome and even lighter weight than the tinted moisturizer that I had been wearing for all these years. I think my skin just needed a change. :) It feels great on and totally blends in with your skin tone. 

Onto Pjs or Jams or Jammies or P-jammies (as Teddy calls them). I have become obsessed with the Xhilaration brand Pjs at Target. They are seriously adorable and some of the coziest jammies that I have ever worn. I ended up buying a bunch and monogrammed the pocket to give as gifts and of course for myself. They were a huge hit and now I am searching all Targets to buy more to keep on hand for gifts, etc! They are too cute! They were on clearance when I went two days ago and they had pretty much nothing left...so the search continues for more, but as of now, I have three new pair of comfy, cozy and monogrammed pjs to sleep and lounge in! :)

Since Reagan and I can't resist bows, I am loving these bow print cords from J Crew for moi and these bow printed skinny jeans from Gap for her! Seriously too cute! 

I have a little obsession with fun pants! Clearly! I think of them as a collection! These sequin leggings from French Connection were an early Chrsitmas gift from my hubs and I absolutely adore them! I wore them to a family dinner with a black top and blazer a couple weeks ago and I also wore then during our quiet NYE here at home, with a big cowl-neck sweater! They are just so fun! 

I feel like I have a bunch more to add to the list. I think I might have to try and do a "what I'm loving" post weekly. As we enter into the new year, I am hoping to find time to blog more. I want to document more of the daily life of the little presidents and keep track of what is going on with them! We shall see if I can keep up!

*I wrote this post before New Year's Eve and am just now publishing it! Time flies! We had a rough week last week and I am still is a bit of shock of all that occurred. Just trying to get back into the swing of being back home! I am praying the rest of 2013 is pretty uneventful for us and our family and friends. I hope you are all happy and healthy and that 2013 is blessing you so far!

xoxo,

Ashley