Recipe: Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

I stumbled upon this recipe via pinterest a couple of months ago and just knew I had to try it! Of course if you visit pinterest and see the photo that the original creator of this recipe posted you'll notice that mine looks not quite as pretty but I'm pretty sure they turned out just as delicious! Seriously, these were gone in a matter of days. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I did!

Recipe: Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes     Cook Time: 12 - 15 minutes     Servings: 20 cookies (approx.)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine butter and cream cheese until well blended, it should be creamy. Add in sugar & vanilla, once well combined slowly add in flour until well incorporated. Place Oreos in a ziplock bag and mash with your hands or a rolling pin until they're crumbled. The original recipe says to roll the dough into 1in. balls and dip in oreo mixture. I added my cookie crumbs to my dough mixture because it was easier. Do whichever you prefer =). Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1inch apart. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the cookies are slightly browned and puffed. Allow to cool for a few minutes before transfering to a wire rack, then cool completely. Store in an air tight container.

Christmas Gift Idea!

Here is a Christmas gift idea that I wanted to share with you!!

Get up to 6 Christmas gifts plus stocking stuffers for $175!!

It'll be 5 warmers, or 4 warmers and a Scentsy buddy, AND 21 bars, or 18 bars and 6 scents circles.

This is a GREAT SAVINGS! And you'll save time shopping for all the people on your list! Contact me to get more information or request a FREE CATALOG & SCENTSY SAMPLE!

kierstonshae@gmail.com

Recipe: {Sort-of Sweet} Chicken Chili

So, last year (on my old blog), I shared a recipe for white chicken vegetable chili.

As much as I LOVE that chili, and can appreciate how much healthier it probably is than this recipe I'm about to share, I came up with this one because I wanted something more hearty, thick, and chili-like.

The best thing about this recipe is that it took me 20 minutes to make. Tops. Which is perfect for those cool fall evenings when cooking something just sounds like a chore.

I added a little sweetness to this to offset the spicy. I'm a wuss when it comes to spicy. Seriously, it makes me sweat. And I cannot enjoy my food while I'm sweating!!

Okay, anyway. Here it is, hope you enjoy!!

{Sort-Of Sweet} Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 can, drained and rinsed, black beans
• 1 can, drained and rinsed, white beans
• 1 can, drained white chunk chicken
• 1/2 can of chicken broth
• 1 TBSP chili powder
• 1 TSBP ground cumin
• 1/2 TBSP ground oregano
• 1/2 TBSP sugar
• 1 can tomato paste (8 oz)
• 1 can rotel (tomatoes & green chiles), drained
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 TBSP minced garlic

First, I placed my stock pot on the stove and turned it on medium heat. I added the diced onion, roma tomatoes, can of chicken, and minced garlic. I let that simmer about 7 minutes until the onions were tender and the flavors were well blended. The next steps can be done in any order really. Its kind of just like a smorgasboard of ingredients! I then added the tomato paste, rotel, can of black beans, can of white beans and half of a can of chicken broth. Then came the seasonings and sugar. I let that simmer for approximately 10  minutes. Here's what it looked like after cooking before I served it (I'm sorry, it's the only picture I took!)

Mmm. Tasty. I think I'll make some more this afternoon to enjoy while I'm watching football all night! Have a great Saturday everyone! HAPPY FALL!!

This post is linked to:

Recipe: Easy Peasy Peach Cobbler

This recipe is almost exactly like the Easy Peasy Berry Cobbler recipe I shared with you, I just switched it up a smidge. It was sooo good!

Easy Peasy Berry Cobbler

Ingredients

• 1 large can (29 oz) sliced peaches, drained
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 TBSP melted butter
• 1 large egg
• approximately 1/4 a cup of cinnamon & sugar mixture

Preheat oven to 375. Pour peaches into an ungreased pie pan. Sprinkle with (a little over half of) cinnamon & sugar mixture. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and large egg. Stir until mixture resembles a course meal and pour it over the peaches. Then pour the melted butter all over the top, and sprinlke with remaining cinnamon & sugar mixture. Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Let cool and serve with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!

Recipe: Crack Dip

When we were in Florida at the end of July my sweet boy's aunt made some amazing dip that was coined "crack dip". It was so addicting, you couldn't just have a few bites. And it was gone in no time.

I'd been craving it every since we got back home, and I'm sure this is a recipe others have used or know about, but it's new to me so I thought I'd share.

PS- Like most of my recipes, it's super simple too!

Crack Dip

Ingredients

• 1 tub (16 oz) sour cream
• 1 packet ranch seasoning mix
• 1/2 cup of bacon bits
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine the sour cream and ranch seasoning mix. Add in the bacon bits and cheddar chesse. Mix it up real good! Refrigerate & enjoy with potato chips or tortilla chips! You won't be able to stop eating it either!

DIY Burlap Wreath & a Fall Mantle

Last year I made a fall wreath for my front door with supplies I got from the dollar tree. I bought some see through super thin fall leaves (that I thought, when layered, would look super cute and well, not so THIN) and I hung it proudly on my door all season.

Really, it stayed up from September to November. Apparently I am was crazy fall. And that wreath.

When I took out some of my fall decor this year I looked at my wreath and couldn't help but laugh. It was the first wreath I ever made and well, to be brutally honest with myself, it looks prrreetttty measly...

I mean, it's cute. But too NOT cutely poofy. Know what I mean?

Who knows. Maybe I'll hang it up again this year if I don't get around to making a new one for the front door.

Moral of the story: This year I made a hugemungo wreath. And I love it too. So here's to hoping you guys feel the same way!

This is the first home I've had that I've had a mantle to decorate and I'm so excited!! I've got a million ideas floating around in this strange head of mine and the scary part is that I think that I'm starting to mesh all of them and the seasons and my crafts into one season because I'm SO PUMPED to actually decorate a mantle for each season.

(Is it just me or was that paragraph redundant? I felt like I said "season" a lot. Oh well, it's late... forgive me!)

So here is my fall mantle. EEEKK!

I just love saying that.

My. Mantle.

It has a nice ring to it!

LOVE.

LOVE. LOVE.

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

That's truly how I feel about my mantle. Pathetic? Possibly. But I won't admit it!!

Here's the tutorial for the big-o-burlap wreath:

Supplies You'll Need

•  Embroidery Hoop (I bought the biggest one HobLob had..I'd guess it's probably got a 3ft diameter, but math as never my strong subject, so don't hold me to it)
• One package of THICK (2in) batting.
• One set of 3 (1in) make your own button thingmajigs (sorry, the formal word slipped my mind)
• One set of 3 (3/4 in) make your own button thingmajigs
• 3 different patterned fabric pieces (I bought mine at HobLob, so I had to buy an 1/8th of a yard since it's the smallest they'll sell you)
• 3 different colors of burlap (1/8 th of a yard, I got tan, dark brown, and orange)
• 3 yards of burlap (I did have about 1/2 a yard left over, but I'd rather have too much than have to go back. And I bought the lightest shade of tanish/white they had since my walls are tan)
• Hot glue gun and one hundred and twelve a lot of glue sticks

I separated the inner embroidery hoop from the outer one and cut the batting into approximately 3 inch wide strips. Then I began wrapping it around the hoop. I put some hot glue on the end of the batting when I started wrapping it and did a couple of loops around then glued some more then wrapped a few times then looped, like this:

I ended up doing three layers of batting all the way around (which was the whole bag of it) the hoop because I wanted it to be pretty thick. It was easy to shape the the batting once I started wrapping it with burlap too, so that was a plus since obviously you want a wreath to be pretty evenly shaped.

Then I cut my light burlap into approximately 2 in. strips began the wrapping process all over again.

I decided to do two layers of burlap around the hoop, the first to cover it, the second I did it tighter to shape it better.

Then, using a piece of cardboard I made two templates for the flowers. One small, one large-ish. (I'm sorry, I didn't photograph any of this..I needed two hands once I got started and it didn't cross my mind to pause, I was too excited!)

Once I cut out all of the pieces for the flowers I just hot glued and layered each piece..

..maybe you can tell what I'm talking about by that picture? I hope so..

Then I used my fabric and made the buttons and glued them to the center. Once all the flowers were glued onto the wreath I stuck in two loopy twirly sparkly twig things that I picked up at HobLob. I think it added just the right cuteness.

I hung it from a nail above my mantle using some ribbon I had laying around the house. The rest of my mantle decor is from HobLob, Dollar Tree, and Wally World.

I purchased the candles and candle sticks at Wal-Mart. The giant sparkly acorn, harvest tin, and some of the fillers in the vase came from HobLob. The books are just books that I wrapped in burlap and tied orange and brown sparkly ribbon around (also from HobLob). The vase I already had, and most of the fillers (the wheat, cattails, grassy stuff, and moss are all from the Dollar Tree.

Here's one more look at the complete MANTLE (I think that's my new favorite word! Ha. Ha.)

Have you started decorating for fall yet? Or made a wreath? If so, let me know, I'd love to see it!!

This post is linked to:

• I Heart Naptime
• Serenity Now - A Mommy's Solution to Staying Sane
• Sassy Sites
• Sugar & Dots
• Thrifty Decor Chick
• Just a Girl
• House of Hepworths
• Remodelaholic
• The Gunny Sack
• Ask Anna
• Home Savvy A to Z

Let's Organize: Controlling Paper Clutter

Paper clutter (well sometimes clutter in general) tends to take over my house.

I'm a piler.

Without a doubt.

Envelopes, bills, school papers, schedules, lists, copies, remodeling & home interior magazines.. the list could go on and on.

All I ever do with mail is put it in a little metal mail sorter on my desk but then it piles up even more.

Finally I decided that I needed to find some sort of system that would help me be more in control of the paper that comes and goes.

I started with one of these clear wall hanging paper sorter deal ma jigs (yes, that's the technical term!)

The other materials I used were a pack of 5 sheets of scrapbook paper from tarjay that cost $0.99, some glue dots that I had on hand, and then I repainted a cherry brown framed cork board with hooks that I've had for years..

(Sorry, I had already started painting it black when I remembered I needed a before picture!)

Then I laid the clear paper sorter on the scrapbook paper and cut out what I needed for the back of each slot..

Then I made a white fabric flower to embellish the front of it with and hung it all up. Here's the finished product!

I love it!! It matches my decor and has helped me control the paper clutter..if it isn't categorized as a bill, school, or important 'needs to be looked at' paper..it goes in the trash. It's so nice not having piles everywhere!!

How do you control your paper clutter?

This post is linked to:

• Delightful Order
• Night Owl Crafting
• Handy Man, Crafty Woman
• Thrifty Decor Chick
• Sugar and Dots
• Reasons to Skip the Housework
• Pinkapotamus
• Serenity Now - A Mommy's Solution to Staying Sane
• Tatertots & Jello
• Ask Anna

Fruit of the Spirit Wall Art

For the past few months I've had nothing hanging over my bed. The wall space stuck out like a sore thumb but I couldn't figure out what I wanted there. A little color. Something meaningful. Simple.

Well, back in July I posted about a wall decor idea that I needed suggestions for and was so happy with your ideas! I bought the supplies shortly after but just finished the project over the long weekend.

This is what I started with..

And this is what I came up with..

To make it I needed:

• 9 canvases, each with a length or width that measured the same (mine were all 8'' x something)
• black paint ( I used two bottles of acrylic..inexpensive & easy clean up)
• ribbon
• vinyl (I used contact paper..way cheaper and you get the same results) & a die cutting machiene (this was cut with my cricut)
• hot glue gun & LOTS of glue sticks

I started by painting all of the canvases with two coats of black paint

While I was waiting on them to dry I cut the letters out with my Cricut. (I used the Don Juan cartridge that came with it & they ranged in sizes from 1.75'' to 2.25''). Also, as I mentioned above in the supply list I used contact paper (what people use in their cabinets on the shelves..). I bought a hugemongo roll for like 6 dollars at wally world. And I cut it at a pressure of 5, high speed.

Once they were dry I began arranging the words/letters on the canvases until I came up with the design I liked. I knew I didn't want each one to be the same..similar yes so it would flow but I wanted each to be a little different. This is the part that took me the longest.

After my words were in place I played around with the ribbon (I used a sheer red..I like that it gives it color, but isn't bold) and began hot gluing bows and angles and stripes all over.

The tricky part was the wall placement..centering and equal spacing and all that math..NOT my strong point. I knew I wanted an inch inbetween each canvas so I added two inches onto the total combined width and length of each row and column and got to work making a gazillion few marks on the wall where they'd be hung.

DID YOU KNOW: You can use hot glue to adhere a canvas to the wall?!

I didn't but they've been "glued" there for a few days now with no problems..and I've heard a few teachers say that it can be peeled off without ruining the paint or wall either..we shall see! I wanted to avoid using nails because I didn't want a bunch of holes in the wall and I knew it'd be a balancing act to get each one to hang straight.

I love how my canvas art turned out..and it's a good inspiration and reminder of what I need to strive for in my daily life..

Have you ever used hot glue to adhere anything to the wall? If so, how'd it hold up? Did it peel off your paint? What about canvas art, have you ever made your own? Leave me a comment with a link to the post, I'd love to see it!

PS- I FINALLY got internet at home!!! Woo hoo!! And I have about 5 projects, some before and afters, and several recipes I need to post so please be sure to follow me or check back soon! I'll be posting my fall mantle and DIY Burlap Wreath within a day or so!

This post is linked to: Ginger Snap Crafts, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Cherished Bliss, Thrifty Decor Chick, Pinkapotamus, Home Savvy A to Z, Sugar and Dots, Night Owl Crafting, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Delightful Order, Serenity Now - A Mommy's Solution to Staying Sane, Tatertots & Jello

A New Addition..

Currently I have about a bajillion projects that are halfway completed.

I'm not really sure what's gotten into me but here lately I get these brilliant (to me) ideas and rush out to buy the supplies and get started then take a break half way through and never get them finished.

My schedule is pretty non stop all the time, a typical week for me is something like this:

Monday - Friday: work 8 -5, and every other Saturday work 9-4. Monday and Wednesday evenings I attend Celebrate Recovery at Henderson Hills Baptist Church, Monday night is big group, praise and worship and a testimony or a lesson and Wednesday is my small group class for which I have homework every week. So typically Tuesday evenings is homework time, and I'll be starting at the University of Central Oklahoma in a couple of weeks working towards my degree in Early Childhood Education. Plus my sweet boy is in the heat and air business so time for us is few and far between. Don't get me wrong, I see him most evenings (we're not married, yet..hopefully one day! lol, and we don't live together) but more often than not he works til nine or ten in the evenings and bedtime for both of us is typically no later than 11:30, so I usually wait until he comes over to cook dinner so we can eat together. In between all of that there's housework to be done, blogging to be blogged (and I don't have internet at home, so that's why there's been a lack in posting on my part), tons of projects I've started, quiet time in the Word of God, spending time with my dad, step mom, and my little brother and sister who you see in the picture with me and my sweet boy on my about me page. And my mom gave birth this weekend to the newest addition to our family..

Zaxton Michael. He's such a precious little boy. Love him!

Anyway, this post is me sincerely apologizing for any of you who I've let down with my lack of participation lately. I feel like I have no extra time for anything and it's given me a new found respect for all you momma's out there who's blogs I adore. So, please do be patient with me. I hope you know how much blogging and being involved with all of you weighs on my heart daily and as soon as I get internet at home again (which should be within the next few weeks since I'll be back to school) I'll hopefully be able to keep my blog more up-to-date and stay more in touch with all of you. Thank you to all of you who keep reading! If you'd like to hear from me or talk on a more personal or frequent level you can find my email address on my about me page at the bottom. God Bless, and I'll try to post soon!



Pinning for Fall

Usually by this time in the summer season I'm exhausted from the heat and dreaming of fall..crisp leaves, cooler weather, comfort food, cute decor..And this year I've been ready for fall since May.

We didn't have a spring in Oklahoma this year, basically we went from cool late winter weather to the burning heat of summer. Case in point: the high here today is 110. Ridiculous. And we haven't had a decent rain in months.

So, here I am, fall dreaming & pinning away. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you! Click here to see all of my (there's only 2! haha) pinterest boards. Happy Pinning!!

I just love love love this fall mantle. And I love that I have my first ever mantle to decorate this year!! Woo!

# 5 - I remember seeing these leaf placemats at the Dollar Tree last fall, but my mind never thought "Oh! Those would be great pillows!" Darn it. Because they are super cute. Maybe they'll have more this year? Fingers Crossed.

I just LOVE these Thanksgiving blocks. They make me want to do some for Christmas. And Easter. And 4th of July. And Halloween. Obviously, they inspire me!

Pretty pretty pumkin candle holders. I will make these for sure!

I'm excited for cute fall porch ideas..I have (not a porch) but more space beside my front door than I did last year..and I adore these pumpkin topiaries!!

I think my favorite one on this collage is the "fall" stitched pillow. Precious.

This super cute fall wreath makes the one (I was so proud of) that I made last year look measely. I think I'll be trying that craft again!