A Simple Valentine Centerpiece

Last week I started a couple of Valentine projects to spiffy up the house for February. 

Here's a super fast & easy Valentine centerpiece that you can whip up in under an hour!

All you need is a large cylinder vase, 3 paper doilies, paper hearts (I cut mine with my Cricut from some pretty scrapbook papers), a sewing machine, thread, & some baker's twine.

I started by laying out the paper doilies & arranging the hearts.

Then, I simply fed them through the sewing machine using a wide zigzag stitch.

I wrapped it around my vase & secured it with some turquoise baker's twine.

I added my trusty battery operated pillar candle.

Done!

(At night.)

I also cut some extra hearts & put them in my seasonal wreath. (You can see more seasons here & here.)

It's official: The Valentine's decorating has begun!

Have you started decorating for Valentine's Day? What kind of decor do you enjoy?

Check out more of my Valentine's crafts & decor...

A Valentine candy box

A pink rag wreath

Last year's Valentine vignette

And an owl gift bag & card

~~~~~

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Enjoy your day!

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The Organizing Itch - Ribbon Organization

The organization itch hit at the beginning of January. After all the Christmas decor is taken down & put away, it just makes me want to redecorate & organize the whole house! If only I didn't have to drive the kids to & from school, do laundry, & clean the house, then I would have time to do all the organizing & decorating my heart desires. Not to mention crafting & scrapbooking! :)

Even though I'm a busy mom, I have done a few little organizational projects recently. A couple in my craft room too!

I had lots of loose strands of pretty ribbon that I wanted to get under control as well as some larger rolls of ribbon.

I had these glass jars from Ikea that I've been using in my craft room for other craft supplies that had dwindled from use so that one of the jars was quite empty. Perfect!

Out came my package of clothespins from the dollar store & I started wrapping.

Here's how:

Don't they look pretty all displayed in the jar together?

Now onto the spools of ribbon. After looking around the house for something that might work, I came across a little wire basket that I got on a thrifting trip last year. 

The ribbon spools fit perfectly!

I added some command hooks to hang it on the wall.

It's a nice little storage update to my craft space!

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Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Brownies with Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

Romeo & Juliet.

Salt & Pepper.

Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy.

Spaghetti & Meatballs.

Some things are just meant to go together. Like Chocolate & Peanut Butter.

Can I get a witness?

And what better way to celebrate this celebrity food pairing than to make Peanut Butter Cup Brownies!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Brownies  (Print recipe)

makes 16 brownies

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cocoa

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/8 tsp. salt

8 or more Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt butter (I melt mine in the microwave) & stir in cocoa. Set aside.

In medium bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, flour, chocolate chips, & salt. Don't stir yet. Pour cocoa mixture over top & stir all together. 

Scrape half of the brownie batter into the pan. Top with the peanut butter cups.

Then top the peanut butter cups with the rest of the brownie batter.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes before frosting.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cup icing sugar (also known as confectioner's sugar)

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

5 Tbsp. milk

Cream the butter & peanut butter together. Beat in the vanilla. Stir in the icing sugar, cocoa, salt & milk. If it's still too thick, add more milk 1 Tbsp. at a time until it is a nice smooth, spreadable consistency. 

Frost the brownies. 

Wouldn't these make a great Valentine's treat? 

Nothing says "I love you" like some yummy chocolate treats. :)

If you love peanut butter & chocolate you may also want to check out some more yummy recipes:

Peanut Butter Nummies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Pie

Almost Instant Buckeyes

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Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!

Over The Rainbow Card

Do the dreary days of winter ever get you down?  I, for one, sure love to see colour & clear skies during these cold months!

Another thing I love during the winter (well, really anytime of year) is connecting with friends. Wouldn't you love to receive a happy, colourful, cheerful card from a friend on a cold, dreary day? 

Me too.

The idea from this card was lifted from a card I saw in a magazine awhile ago - I think it was Paper Crafts magazine.

I just love the colourful rainbow effect of the ribbons!

Owl Valentine Printable

I'm getting ready to do a *bit* of decorating for Valentine's Day. It doesn't feel quite close enough to me yet, so as of right now I'm just compiling my goodies.

This year I wanted to use owls (still in love!) in my vignette & I wanted some kind of printable to add to the mix. I couldn't really find a printable that suited my idea, so here I go again...

I made one!

Just right click to save to your computer & use as you wish!

Enjoy!

What about you? Are you decorating for V-day yet? I need to get on the Valentine card wagon soon too. The pink & red day will be here before we know it!

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Enjoy your day!

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This printable was featured at:

Cheater's Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie

For the past few weeks, I've been wanting to make a coconut cream pie. Having never made one (from scratch or otherwise) I wasn't sure what all went into making one. In my ignorance, I grabbed a few things at the grocery store that I thought would work to make one. Then I went on a search for a recipe. 

I think I did things backwards. 

I couldn't find a recipe that worked with the ingredients that I had. 

So, um... I made one up.

It turned out really good & my family loved it!

Here's what I started out with:

Cheater's Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie

makes 1 pie

1 Pie crust

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened and divided in two 

1 pkg. vanilla instant pudding

1 pkg. chocolate instant pudding

2 cups milk, divided in two

1 cup coconut, divided in two

4 cups whipped topping, divided

Here's what I did:

Bake pie crust according to package directions. Cool.

Mix chocolate pudding mix with 1 cup milk until well combined. Add half of the package of cream cheese & mix well. Add 1/2 cup coconut. Fold in 1 cup whipped topping. Mix well. Pour into cooled pie shell.

Repeat process with vanilla pudding. Carefully spread vanilla mixture over chocolate mixture. Top with the remaining whipped topping. 

Let set in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

You're done!

Cut a few slices & share with your friends & family.

It's a perfect pie to make when you're short for time.

YUM!

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Letter Sweater Pillow {Breaking In My New Sewing Machine}

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have heard that I was blessed with a new sewing machine for Christmas.

Last weekend, I finally carved out some time to break it out of the box & try it out! 

This was my first project. 

Since I'm such a beginner at sewing I didn't attempt to do up a tutorial, but just wanted to share it with you. 

I used a thrifted sweater to sew the pillow cover & then used my cricut to cut out a template for the "P". I traced the "P" onto some grey felt, cut it out & sewed it on. 

It was pretty easy & didn't take me all that long.

My son, Parker was really excited to have a new little cushion on his reading chair. His reaction was priceless. Who knew a 9 year old would get so excited over a pillow? He must be a chip of the old block, as they say. :)

Here's to many more successful sewing projects!

Thanks for reading. If you like what you see here on Silver Boxes, I'd love it if you would become a follower on Google Friend Connect, subscribe by email (sign up on the right sidebar), 

or follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter. 

And please leave a comment when you do so I know who my new friends are! :)

Enjoy your day!

Check out the great parties I link up to!