Sugar Cookie Heaven!

Hubby & I were craving something sweet last night. I found this ridiculously yummy sounding recipe on Pinterest for Sugar Cookie Bars. You can find the recipe on 'A Little Bit Crunchy, A Little Bit Rock n' Roll's' blog. She has lots of other amazing recipes on her blog too, so be sure to check it out.

Let me just say that these were super easy to make & probably by far one of the most delicious, yet simple desserts I have ever made! Karl & Brooklyn devoured them & so did I. These would make perfect birthday treats!

Aren't they gorgeous? Brooklyn wanted purple icing & matching sprinkles! Kind of looks like an Easter treat!

Roman Shades & Free Quilt Pattern!

I have been looking for a fabulous fabric to make a roman shade for the laundry room for quite a while now. I want to make a roman shade similar to the photo below. Jen Duncan's blog has a complete tutorial that we are going to attempt in the near future.

I have been a fan of Heather Bailey's fabrics for a while now & became an even bigger fan when I saw her Garden District line of fabrics, which can be seen here.

I am going to be using the St. Charles Bouquet in Pink. Isn't it gorgeous?

Then I happened across this amazing quilt pattern using the materials from this wonderful line.

My mom actually just purchased all the fabric to make this quilt & I am so excited to see how it turns out in person.

And check out this site for a bunch of free quilting patterns!

Lastly I found this awesome tutorial on how to 'frost' a window with contact paper. My mom & I are going to attempt this today! I can't wait!!! Found the inspiration on Pinterest from Seven7th House on the Left.

30 Sec. Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug!

Oh for the love of Pinterest! So many deelish recipes, so little time! I was having a major sweets craving & found this fantastic recipe on Pinterest from Back to Her Roots' blog. Check it out, its super easy & bakes in your microwave in just 30 short seconds. You can't ask for anything better!

The chocolate chips make this dessert to die for! Yum!!!!

I made some red velvet chocolate chip cookies last week too for an ornament exchange party I went to. Check out these beauties! :) I am not going to post the recipe I used because I felt like it was lacking a bit. They were very dry & crumbly. However, here's another recipe I found from Baking Serendipity, I think this recipe this has a lot more potential! :)

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Laundry Room Update

Holy cow, I cannot believe it has been so long since I last blogged. I fall off the blogging band wagon fairly easy as you can see! LOL!

Anyhow, I thought I would post some before & after photos of our laundry room. Its pretty much done. I want to get some white blinds for the window, as well as have a cute roman shade made for it. Hubby also has to install the new faucet for the sink sometime soon. Eventually I would like to remove the single shelving unit & have some smaller cute shelves put in its place. But I am happy with how it turned out!

Check out the cute chandy from IKEA & the gorgeous ceiling pendant too! Love it!!!

Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats!

Yes, you did you read the title correctly. Cake batter rice rice krispy treats are pure deliciousness sent from heaven. Where else did I find the recipe for this, but good ol' Pinterest.

I made two batches for Brooklyn's 6th birthday. She took them to her 1st grade class to share with everyone & from what I hear they were a big hit!

Here's the recipe & photo (thanks to Gimme Some Oven!) for all of you who want to test them out. I assure you they won't last long...

Stay tuned for red velvet krispy treats... coming soon!

Check out Gimme Some Oven's blog for more fantastic recipes.

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Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter
1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
1/4 cup yellow cake mix
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles
Method:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.

Ali’s Tip:

I actually increased the cake batter to 1/3 cup for my recipe to give it a little extra cake batter kick (the 1/4 cup seemed just a little too subtle to me), but add as much in as you like! (And you better believe I used the 1/4 cup option for full cake batter taste!)

CrossFit

Now that my kiddo is in school all day long I have decided that its time for me to get my butt in shape! I am not getting any younger or any thinner, so what the heck?! Especially since one of my good friends has started doing fitness competitions, I figured if she can get her body in amazing shape, so can I!

I found a place here in Castle Rock that offers the CrossFit program for $100 a month. For those of you who are not familiar with CrossFit, click here for more info on it. I went to a free class today to get a feel for the program & I really liked it. Although I can now barely walk down the stairs & I am sure I will be feeling sore as heck by tomorrow. I went ahead & signed up for a monthly membership & am excited to start next week! I'll have to take some before photos, but don't expect me to post those photos, at least not anytime soon. LOL!

Laundry Room Board & Batten

Our laundry room has been an ongoing project for a good two months or longer now. Not sure how the smallest room in the house can take this long to finish. But I guess we are getting closer to completion.

We painted the laundry room a few months ago & then my hubby tiled the floor a few weeks after that. I begged my hubby to start the board & batten treatment & finally he gave in. After purchasing several crappy paint sprayers & finally getting one that wasn't a total P.O.S. (excuse my abbreviated french) we could finally move forward & finish painting all of the boards, etc.

The painting was the biggest ordeal & once that was done everything else seemed to fall into place within a few hours. Here's a photo of the progress. We aren't quite finished. We still need to fill in the nail holes & do some touch up painting. I ordered a ceiling medallion for the chandelier & am trying to pick out some cute photographs that I can frame for above the shelf. I am also going to add some cute little hooks in between the boards & ask my mom or aunt to sew a pretty little window treatment for me. Then everything should be complete. Stay tuned for the final before & after photos. :)


Here's the prints I am leaning towards... So beautiful! Check out Ciao Bella Photography's Etsy store for more gorgeous finds!

Oh & quick question for you all. See how I left the inner part of the window white? Should I paint that the aqua color too? Does it look strange that I didn't paint that part of the room? Thanks for your input!

Last but not least we finished that old bench that we picked up at a garage sale in the beginning of summer. Here's a before & after. I think it turned out pretty good. All I need to do now is add a few pillows & figure out a good location for it in the house! :)