CHEAP St. Patrick's Shamrock Door Decor

You can't beat $1 and 2 minutes of your time to make this cute little shamrock for your door!  I can't believe I still don't have anything to hang on my door for St. Patrick's Day when I have something for every other holiday throughout the year. 

I was browsing the aisles at Dollar Tree when I came across this big felt shamrock and it looked like the perfect size to hang on the front door.  All I did was grab some green ribbon and a big industrial-size needle to make the hanger.  I threaded the ribbon in the needle and then made a loop at the top of the shamrock to create the little hanger.  For a minute, I wondered if any craft project could really be this easy...but it was!

I love how it looks from the street when you drive by our house.  It's a little pop of color on our white door!

Low-Fat Pizza Dip

The husband and I made this as an appetizer for a tv date night after our son went to bed.  We loved this and definitely pigged out way too much!

Adapted from The Meltaways

Ingredients:
• 8 oz. low fat cream cheese (softened)
• 1 packet Italian dressing mix
• 1 jar pizza sauce (I think we used about half of a large container)
• 1/2 onion (chopped into small pieces)
• 2 oz. turkey pepperoni (chopped into small pieces)
• 1/4 c. parmesan cheese
• dippers (crackers, bread, etc)

Cook onions over medium heat until soft.

Combine the cream cheese and dressing mix.  Spread into the bottom of a small oven-safe bowl.

Add the onions on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Pour sauce over the top, sprinkle with cheese, and top with pepperoni pieces.

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes or until warm throughout.

Serve with dippers and enjoy!

Swiss Cheese Beer Bread

We love beer in our house and use any excuse to crack open a cold one after the little guy is asleep! Unfortunately, Hubby picked out some weird beer that he heard was good from a friend and it turned out to be terrible. I hate wasting, so I tried to find some fun ways to use up the extras - beer and cheese bread!

From Taste of Home

Ingredients:
• 6 oz. shredded Swiss cheese

3 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 bottle (12 ounces) beer

2 tablespoons melted butter

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir beer into dry ingredients just until moistened. Mix in shredded cheese.

Transfer to a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 375° for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Valentine's Day Toddler Painting

I think this Valentine's Day kids painting project has been all over the internet this year, but I wanted to share our version of it.

This was probably a little too advanced for a 17 month old, but I'm trying to pass on my crafty genes to him.  I used a toilet paper roll and shaped it into a heart.  The rubber band around it that you can see in the photo helped keep it shaped perfectly.  I got Connor undressed and he sat on Daddy's lap in the bathroom to do this craft.  I think it's easiest to do painting right next to the bathtub so he can go right in and get washed off when we're done.

Instead of just using a plain piece of paper, I thought it would be fun to design a little Valentine with a cute message.

The end result was adorable and we passed them out to family over the weekend!