Middle East & Magnums

{Happy Easter!}

Hope your egg hunts were full of fun,

and your heart full of hope!

He has risen!

Picture taken April 2000 at the Garden Tomb in East Jerusalem. 

Via Rebecca Balsteadt Cole (a great friend that I met at the BYU Jerusalem Center)...Magnum's are in the US!  For the 4 months I studied abroad in the Middle East I gained a great appreciation for these sweet little chocolate covered ice cream treats.  We would be out in the middle of the desert at some special, sacred site and there would be a vendor selling Magnum Bars.

At each place I would get a Magnum Bar, still down, and slowing eat the bar have what I called a "Magnum Moment".  I was flooded with these memories when Rebecca told me they were here.  The Red Sea, Capernum, Petra, ahhh...if I close my eyes I can almost feel the wind blowing!

Now I can have my own "Mom Magnum Moments" & you can too! 

(and yes, I intentionally got the mini ones--swimsuit season is coming!)

Do you have a special treat that reminds of you a special time?

Well, whether you do or not I hope you enjoy this Easter Sunday!
Love,
Toad

EASY Free Stuffed Chick Pattern & Tutorial

{Spring Chicklet}

Hey there little fella'! You've been waiting a while to wave your wings at us & the time is finally here! How about we show these great crafters the story of your little life...shall we?

What's that? Oh, right...I'll be sure to tell them about the tutorial booklet that's also available.

{Simple Starts: From Scraps to Stuffing}

To follow along,  print out the pattern and grab the following:

To see exactly how much fabric you'll need, just check out the pattern pieces. FYI: All of the pieces fit on one printable 81/2 X 11" sheet.

   -Soft fabric for the front and back

   -Scraps of fabric for the eyes, wings, and beak {FYI: My wings are made of Amy Butler fabric.} 

   -Approx 10” of string/ribbon for the legs {5” for each leg-depending on how long you want them}

   -Stuffing

Aw, look at you! 

But we all know that it's "not good for man chick to be alone"...

Ah, yes. That's much better! 

 {Printable Booklet} And now that you've heard the story, you must know all of the talk in the nest...

You can have this simple tutorial at your fingerprints in seconds! 

The entire pattern and tutorial {as well as additional added tips and tricks} is available as a printable booklet for $3.50:

So what are you waiting for? You've got Spring Easter Baskets to fill, right?:)

{Bliss}
What's that you're saying Mr. Chick?

Aw, Happy Easter to you too! 

And we hope you and your soon-to-be-made friends find their way into many Easter baskets this year!:)

Have fun!

Love, Emily aka "Toad":)

Hurray for Easter!

How will you spend this Easter? With family, friends, & a thankful heart? Me too.

Twas the night before Easter and I'd never made a skirt before. So I called my friend Heather {who has 2 sweet girls} and we made our 1st attempt. Tanya's pattern and tutorial was the perfect match to these great prints, and look at the result! {And you know it was EASY if I made it!}

We hope your Easter is full of hugs,

loving guidance,

hidden treasures, {or not so hidden}

baskets full of treats,

eggs full of symbolism,

fun adventures,


and exploring new things.

And although our lives our not perfect--and like those lemonheads may be sour for a brief moment,

we know what there the "sweet treats" of peace, comfort, love, & life after death will come--through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderul Easter!

Flower Cookie Bouquet {the 411}

{Flower Cookie Bouquet}

Hello! For those of you who missed this post during the "Sporatic Spotlight" over at Crystal's Craft Spot on Monday here you go! And if you haven't visited her blog lately she is sweet gal and she's having several guest post each day for this whole week! I just checked it out and there is a TON of great ideas from ALOT of great bloggers!

Okay, this is a little late notice...sorry! I just got back into town after playing with my parents {visiting us from Oregon} so I'm a bit out of it. {And you know me-- the pictures will be coming!;)}

Anyway! This one would be a great centerpiece on any table {Easter dinner?} or as a sweet little gift for a friend or neighbor.

{Make Circle Sugar Cookies}

First you have to grab your favorite sugar cookie recipe and make a nice, fresh batch of dough. If you don't have a recipe or just want a REALLY good one here's the link {scroll down in the post to find it} to the one I use. I LOVE it...well, except when I'm trying to lose a few pounds.;)


While your dough is chilling {or baking}, let's make your sticker flowers! This is the size of label I used to make my flowers. If you decide to download the ones I made {please feel free to!!} the you will get 12 pretty little flowers.


Now download, print, and cut out your flowers...

Nice work!

Now pull that dough out of the fridge, roll it out, and cut it in a circle shape...
{I just used a kitchen drinking cup--it was the closest I had to the size of the stickers. I'm all about just making it happen with what you have!}


This next part has several options. You could use popsicle sticks, toothpicks {for tiny little cookies}, or anything else you may have. I opted for the wood skewers.

Now just squiggle that "stick" into the center of the cookie from the bottom as shown below. Just make sure that the stick is in the middle of the dough so it will stay in the cookie once its baked.


MMM, love that smell! We'll just let these little guys cool for a while...


Once they are cool, just put a nice royal icing on them. Using this type of icing keeps the frosting from sticking to the wrapping. Need a recipe? Here the one I used.

Optional: Cut around the Edges

This next step is optional. If you were lucky enough to have a cookie cutter that made the cookies the size you wanted then you don't need to cut around the edges.

Cutting around the edges just a allows for more control over how your flower will look...

Time to wrap! All you need is some clear wrapping to put around the cookies...once again, I always just try to use what I have on hand, and this time it was some leftover clear party bags:

I just cut it open and then wrapped that cookie right up!

Tie the wrap {so it won't come off} and put your cute little sticker on it!

Here's your chance to be the florist you always wanted to be. Flower arranging has never been so EASY, FUN, or YUMMY!:) If you missed my post about planting grass and would like your flowers to be in home-planted grass here you go! Otherwise--look around your house and find something fun to use! Maybe a vase, or that green sponge stuff that florist use, or just tie a few flower cookies together and make a "cut" bouquet!:)



Tah Dah! Don't you just love Spring...and cookies?! Happy Easter!!