Strawberry Cheesecake Santas

My husband and I had friends over for a bit of pre-holiday celebration which made me want to whip up some sort of holiday treat. I found a version of these Santa strawberries that I thought were just ok looking on a website but they were definitely missing something. The Santa's I found were made just from whip cream, which is boring. So it was my duty, really, to bring to life more excitement in these little holiday fat guys. Here are mine:

After I cut the strawberries I switched the whip cream filling with no-bake cheese cake filling. I sat them on a bed of graham cracker, and I decided the whip cream could stay but only for dipping and only if it was homemade. The cheese cake was easy enough right out of the no-bake box which conveniently had the graham cracker crust already included. I used chopped chocolate chips for the eyes. The whip cream is 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 table spoon powered sugar, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 cup whipping or heavy cream whipped together at high speed until fluffy enough to look like whip cream. Perfect holiday bite sized strawberry cheesecake Santa snacks.

PBS Sprout TV Birthday Card

Kalynn and I get up every morning, have our milk (coffee) while we watch the Sunny Side Up Show in the Sunshine Barn with Chica on PBS Sprout TV.

Chica, the little stuffed chicken puppet, and whoever the host is that week, sing a happy birthday song and open a very few, hand selected, homemade birthday cards sent in from viewers. This year Kalynn is old enough to submit a card, so we did! There are requirements, such as certain colors that show up best on television, PBS character placements, and a picture of the birthday kid. So we followed the rules, got a little creative, and made a card that looks just like the Sunshine Barn! Tune in January 12th on the Sunny Side Up Show to see if our card was chosen and wish us luck!

Kalynn's first Christmas card

Kalynn's 1st Christmas card 2010

Jewelry Box Overload

I love jewelry. I have so much of it, it's taking over my jewelry box. I have halloween jewelry, fancy diamond jewelry, play jewelry, going out jewelry, party jewelry, bartending jewelry, wedding jewelry and any other kind of jewelry that you could need. My philosophy is that there is a perfect piece for every occasion no matter what or how small the occasion. However, this has also lead me to the issue of where to store it all. I have a couple of very nice jewelry boxes that house the smaller pieces, but the long dangling earrings, the necklaces, and the delicious gaudy over-the-top costume jewelry has no place to live. So I've come up with a solution. I found an old cork board at a thrift store down the street.

The majority of our bedroom is stainless steel, whites, greys, and blacks. I like the fresh look of black and white. Our bed is a light grey comforter with stark white sheets with our wedding photo framed above in a black frame. Wanting to stick with the same color scheme,  I detached the cork from the frame and painted it with a silver spray paint, and the frame with a flat black. Here's what it looks like now.

I nailed it to the wall above my jewelry box on top of my vanity table and it works perfect. At the same thrift store, I'm constantly finding really cool old frames with strange pictures inside that I would never keep. I found this one with a puke 70's green color and it had a photo of a cartoon cow in the middle. After a coat of paint, a photo distraction, and a couple of pieces of fishing wire, here's what it looks like now.

Now I just need to find something creative to store my shoes!

Broken Powder Makeup

I've never considered myself a tight wad. With that being said, I see no point in spending money on replacing something that can be easily fixed with the smallest of effort. So today when my daughter dropped one of my favorite eye shadows I was pretty bummed, but certainly not ready to whip out my wallet and head to the mall to buy another.

Here's what you need: A small medicine dropper, a plastic bag, rubbing alcohol and a quarter or spoon

This works on any type of broken powder: bronzer, eye shadow, pressed powder or whatever else. Put a few drops of alcohol with your medicine dropper into your broken powder. Mix it into a soft paste. Don't worry about the alcohol drying up your skin because it wont. It'll completely evaporate from your makeup and leave little to no residue which is why it is commonly used on wounds. Plus the stink of the alcohol will evaporate as well. No one wants to walk around smelling like a medicine cabinet all day, so not to fret, you're in the clear. Next, carefully slide your compact or casing into a plastic bag and press down on the outside of the bag with a quarter to reform the makeup (or a spoon if you're fixing a bigger makeup such as bronzer). 

After it sits over night, or at least for a couple hours, you're back in working action and ready to doll up that gorgeous face again! (not that you need it, right?) Your makeup may not look as perfect as it did at one time, but I guarantee it works the same!

Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego!

A friend of mine had a meeting in San Diego change at the last minute even though the non-refundable hotel room suite had already been booked for the weekend. So who is lucky enough to receive these delicious left overs from the most gracious and giving friends of all time AND have Grandma agree to babysit?? Me and my hard working husband! So where will we be if you need us this weekend? Oh that's right, we'll just be hanging out here:

The Nursery

Now that the lady baby has officially become a lady toddler, I find myself wrestling with the issue of what to do for her "big girl" room. Before I change anything, I'm taking pictures so I never forget what her original Alice in Wonderland nursery looked like:

This old night stand was from Jason's bachelor pad days. He didn't want to completely get rid of it, but I didn't want to completely keep it. So we compromised and I gave it a new paint job. I also drilled a hole in the back and now it houses our WiFi router.

This used to be my toy box when I was little. Its amazing what a sander and a coat of paint can do

My Uncle Don made this for Kalynn out of an old entertainment center

This personalized Pottery Barn embroidered polka dot chair was Kalynn's first birthday present from her Aunt Kari and Uncle Nick.

Ok, well maybe I won't change anything. It is pretty cute...

Chapter two

 Many of you know, (or maybe you don't, I really have no idea) that I kept up a blog for about 6 years on another popular website. After the birth of our gorgeous daughter and our wedding, I decided it was time for a fresh start in the blogging department. Out of love, growth and opening up, The Brighter Writer idea was born. I want to share all the little details that make my family smile.
This is us...