Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

Holy cow... BEST cinnamon rolls ever.

Like, these are insane.

Mix In Bowl By Hand:

*3.5 c warm water

*1 c vegetable oil

*3/4 c sugar

*6 TBS yeast

Let stand for 15 minutes

Then add:

*3 eggs

*1 TBS salt

*10 cups flour

Beat until smooth and elastic

-Roll out 1/2 of the dough unto a thin rectangle

-Spread softened butter over surface

-Spread brown sugar on top!

-Sprinkle cinnamon on top

-Sprinkle a little flour on top and roll up.

-Slice 1 1/4 inch pieces

-Repeat with remaining dough

(Tip: I like to slice them with a long piece of thread. Hold each end of thread, slide under the rolls, bring up & cross! Make sense?)

Spray some glass dishes and stuff them in there.

Bake @ 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Now, the frosting! I've experimented with all different types of frosting, and I've found this one tastes the best with these cinnamon rolls.

* 1 stick butter

*4 TBS. milk

*1 tsp. vanilla

* 1.5 pounds (6 cups) powdered sugar

-Melt butter, milk, and vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar!

Frost rolls while warm!!

Just drip it all in there. mmmmmmmmm.

And as you can see, it makes a ton-- your friends will LOVE you!

(Side note: I realized that this picture does not feature the frosting recipe I included. This one has a yummy cream cheese frosting, which is good- but almost too sweet. There really is such a thing. Unfortunately.
Anyways, don't be alarmed if your frosting doesn't look like mine!)

Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

So... I know that I blogged about Christmas the other day- but don't worry! I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving. Here are some adorable cupcakes to brighten your Turkey day!

Start by baking any flavor cupcakes (I LOVE lemon!!).

While those are cooking, grab some coconut flakes, and brown them in a pan. This is a bad example picture, I have WAY too much in the pan...which I learned the hard way. =)

After your cupcakes are cooled, frost them - and top them with a Toasted Coconut Marshmallow (they come in that flavor!!). Wet a toothpick, and poke two small holes for eyes (chocolate sprinkles) and a bigger hole for the beak (a swedish fish!)

Next, sprinkle with your toasted coconut!

Add either AquaLife swedish fish or candy corn for tail feathers. SO easy, and just too darn cute!

Cookie Sheet Christmas Countdown

{p.s. do you like my new layout? I also have a NEW button, so be sure to grab it!! Thanks!}

I've seen some of these floating around online, so I'd thought I'd give it a try!!

You start with a plain old cookie sheet! You can use either the front or back ( I chose front) - spray paint it!

To cover it, I used fabric- because I liked my fabric choices better than any paper I had. Paper works wonderfully too tho!!

I mod podged it on...

I left a little space at the top to add in some contrasting red fabric!

Then comes the fun part- making the magnets! You can use whatever you'd like- buttons, bottle caps, ornaments, paper, anything. I added the numbers in with a mixture of stickers, ink, and rub-ons.

This is your time to get creative!

I also added in a calendar template- which I made in Word. All you have to do is find the Tables button & make it 5 x 5.

Gorilla glue some ribbons on for decor and hanging, and there you have it! A one of a kind Advent calendar!

Soft Ginger Cookies

The other night our friends K&S dropped off the yummiest, softest cookies ever. These are like to die for! No joke. 

So, I grabbed the recipe from them and now am sharing it with all of you! 

*2 1/4 cups flour

*2 tsp. ground ginger

*1 tsp. baking soda

*3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

*3/4 cup butter, softened

*1 cup white sugar

*1 egg

*1 TBS. water

*1/4 c molasses

*2 TBS. white sugar (to roll cookies in)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together all dry ingredients. In another bowl cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, then stir in water and molasses. Gradually stir in dry ingredients. Roll cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll in extra white sugar and and then flatten dough.

Place on foil lined cookie sheets for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes on cookie sheet before removing.

(A tip: To get the SOFTEST cookie, cook until almost done- which was just 8 minutes for me. While you let them cool, the hot cookie sheet cooks them to the perfect temp!)

Nothing says The Holidays like homemade ginger cookies. mmm.

Cabinet Curtain

Our new place is much smaller than we are used to, and the storage is random. We have this large open storage space in our bathroom. And we've filled it with either junk I don't know where else to put or junk I just really need to get rid of.

Seeing as this is the only bathroom, I don't want our guests having to look at the mess. So I decided to do something about it!

I measured the height and width of the opening, added an inch or so on each side for seam allowances- got some CHEAP fabric, and just hemmed all the way around.

Then I folded the top down about an inch and a half and sewed across to make a casing for the tension rod to go.

And voila.

I added a little blue ribbon to the bottom as trim to match my shower curtain.

Giveaway!

There is an awesome giveaway going on over HERE. You should definitely check it out!

Bar Stool Makeover

I found this bar stool at the DI for $3! My wonderful hubby sanded it down (since it was WAY too cold outside for me).

After it was all sanded, I unscrewed the top because I wanted to make it into a cushion.

I took some brown paint...

And painted it!!

I just used pillow stuffing, wrapped some fabric around it- and nailed some furniture tacks into the bottom of the seat! It doesn't matter how messy it looks, because you won't see it.

Here is what it looked like after I re-attached the seat top.

I decided to sand down the legs a little to look more shabby chic.

The final product:

How to make a Dessert Stand

This couldn't be ANY easier! Here is what I did: Got some plates and vases from the thrift store for .25 - .50 cents a piece... I spray painted them Dover White.

Then I glued them together with Gorilla Glue, which is an awesome craft glue! =) I used a box of slim-fast to "clamp" it down for half an hour...

 And that's it!! Adorable, CHEAP, and easy dessert stands!

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake!

SORRY!  I know its been quite awhile since my last post-> we moved again and things are finally settling down. We had some friends over last night and I made this yummy Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake. Its quite delicious!!

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

*16 TBS butter

*16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

*2.5 c sugar

*4 eggs

*2 tsp. vanilla

*4 cups flour

*2 tsp. baking powder

*1/2 tsp. salt

*1/2 c milk

*12 ounces chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter, cream cheese, sugar, and eggs in large bowl until creamy. Add the vanilla, baking powder, and salt - continually mixing. Add in the flower (in small increments). Add milk last. You may not need the whole 1/2 c milk, or you may need more. Batter should be creamy, but not drippy. Stir in chocolate chips using a large spoon.

Spoon mixture into 2 loaf pans- filling each pan about 3/4 full.If you'd like, sprinkle some cinnamon&sugar on top.

Bake for at least 50-55 minutes... sometimes it takes longer, I have no idea why! =) Cakes will rise and become golden brown.

Enjoy!!