Polkadots on Parade: June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wow Me Wednesday #16

Welcome to the party!!

I'm so excited to see all your fun projects!

Grab the WOW button,

check out other entries that catch your eye,

and leave a little crafty comment love along the way!!

Ready, set, GO!!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Go Mama Monday: Lavender is Lovely

I am a pink girl.

I love pink.

And hot pink I ADORE!!

But lavender is lovely, so I broke out of the norm and made this quilt for a friend of mine having her second baby girl.

The appliqued flowers were a pain in the patootie. I've gotten so spoiled by sewing on paper...it doesn't move.

A card to match of course! So much fun.

Here's to new babies!! Congratulations Brenda!!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Foodie Friday: A Crafty Cook

Welcome to the tastiest day of the week here at POP!!

Today we're so lucky to have our guest Erin, from A Crafty Cook!

She's always got something tasty on her blog, so check her out!!

My name is Erin. I'm the author of A Crafty Cook. I graduated from BYU with a degree in Sociology a little over a year ago. My husband works hard as a software engineer so I'm lucky to be a stay at home mom to one little 7 month old boy. I really enjoy cooking, baking and crocheting. It keeps me busy and therefore sane. I started my little blog as a way to share the recipes and crochet patterns I try, at least the ones that turn out good. I'm relatively new to the blogging world so I am ecstatic to be posting here today. It's my first guest post ever!

I thought I would share a nice simple summer dish. First of all, I love easy, whether easy means a fast meal or only few ingredients. When summer rolls around easy is the best. No one wants to spend hours in the kitchen, so here is a nice easy summery Italian Pasta Salad.

You are going to need some rainbow rotini, Italian dressing, Parmesan cheese, sliced olives (I use the kind with the red jalapenos mixed in) and some pepperoni preferably the kind that is chopped in little cubes or a chunk that you can chop yourself (you can be like my mom and cheat and buy the slices and chop them in fourths, but just be warned that the sliced tend to clump together.)

Don't hate me because some of the
ingredients in my photo are half used.

First you are going to boil your pasta. Then, of course, you are going to strain it.

Next dump that past in a big bowl and toss it with a good 1/2 a cup or so of Italian dressing. Use enough to coat the noodles but don't drown them.

Next, dump in your chopped up pepperoni, drained olive slices and about 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Mix it all together.

Put it all in the fridge and let it chill for an hour or two before serving. Sprinkle with a little more Parmesan cheese and enjoy. (It makes a great side dish at a potluck or a BBQ.)

I hope you all enjoy my recipe. Check out my blog or my facebook page and maybe you'll find some other great stuff to try too! And thanks to Jaime for the chance to guest blog.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wow Me Wednesday #15

Welcome to the party!!

I'm so excited to see all your fun projects!

Grab the WOW button,

check out other entries that catch your eye,

and leave a little crafty comment love along the way!!

Ready, set, GO!!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Toast of Tuesday: Yum Yum!!

OH MY!!

Last week's linky party was full of some AWESOME food ideas!!

Here are a few of my favorites!

I ADORE trifle, and this red, white, and blue concoction from

A Heart Full of Love is soooo cute!! They remind me of some tasty little things I made over at Funky Polkadot Giraffe recently. :)

This delicious ice-cream from MD School Mrs. is actually pretty healthy with frozen bananas, PB, and dark cocoa!!

These scrumptious cinnamon roll pancakes are served up by our last Foodie Friday guest hostess Nikki!! If you missed her delicious post, you can check it out here!

Oh boy, this pizza could definitely be on my menu every week!! Food, Folks, and Fun took us on a Roman pizza excursion!!

Thank you all for linking up your fantastic food!!

If you were toasted today please grab a button!

See you tomorrow for another Wow Me Wednesday!!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Go Mama Monday: Cute As a Button Flag!

I love buttons.

I love how creative people have been with buttons!

I decided I needed my own button art.

Just in time for the 4th of July, here she is!!

I love that I had everything on hand for this project!!

A cheapy frame, white scrap fabric, assorted buttons!

Cut your fabric a little larger than the cardboard frame insert.

Iron all the wrinklies away!

Stretch the fabric over the front of the cardboard and glue it.

Lay out your buttons and glue them in place dot...by...dot...

Ric-rac for the pole and a random star for fun and you're done!

Simple, but cute I think.

And it goes so well with my patriotic printable!!

Download yours today for FREE and get decorating!!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Foodie Friday: Chef In Training!!

Today I have a special treat for you!!
My blogger friend Nikki is here to share a fabulously yummy recipe with you! I am in love with all the recipes on her blog,
and I know when you check out her blog, you'll want to be a follower friend too!!

I was SO excited when Jaime offered me to guest post on her blog! Thanks so much for letting me be here! I love being able to share some of my favorite recipes with you!

My name is Nikki and I am an aspiring chef/baker/cook! I am the cook behind Chef In Training. My blog is centered around recipes that I LOVE! I got my passion for cooking from my mother. My mom is one of the best cooks I have ever met. Growing up and eating her wonderful food, I would often think to myself, “That is exactly what I want to do!” My major in college is to be a dietitian, but I had to take a break due to having my daughter. She is now almost 2 and my best bud! To add to that excitement, in a three short weeks, we will be adding a baby boy to our home! I love being a stay at home mom, but sometimes it can make for some pretty long days at home. I began filling my extra time with cooking and experimenting in the kitchen only to find out that I truly love being in there! I love to cook for people! It has become a passion of mine and one of my hubby's favorite things about me haha!

Today, I am going to share one of my husband's favorite dinners with you! When we were first engaged, he told me, "If we are going to get married, you need to learn how to make Chicken Pillows." I had never heard of this before, but I knew I wanted to marry him so I set out to find the recipe! haha! It is so easy to throw together, with really basic ingredients and one of the great things about this recipe is that both adults and kids love them! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

CHICKEN PILLOWS

here's the recipe:

CHICKEN PILLOWS:

1 can of 8 Pillsbury crescents
8 oz. block of cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
2-3 cups chicken-cooked and shredded
1 egg
saltine crackers

TOPPING

1 can cream of chicken
sour cream (a couple spoon fulls worth)
milk
shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 400 F

Soften 1/4 cup butter and 8oz. block of cream cheese. Then stir to a smooth consistency. Add cooked shredded chicken to the bowl.

Lay out the 8 crescents on a cookie sheet.

Stretch the crescent out. Place a couple spoon fulls of the creamy chicken mixture into the center of the crescent to fill it. Then fold the crescent around the mixture so that none of it is showing. I'll call this the "pillow"

In a separate smaller bowl, put the egg and a little bit of water, maybe a couple Tablespoons worth and beat together.

Dip the "pillow" into the blended egg.

After dipping into the blended egg, proceed to dip it into the crushed saltine crackers and place on cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining 7 crescents.

Cook the pillows at 400 F for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them your oven might cook them quicker.

SAUCE TOPPING:

Put can of cream of chicken and milk into a sauce pan. Add as much milk as you want to get it to the consistency you want i.e. thicker or runnier. When hot enough add 2 spoon fulls of sour cream and cheese to your liking.

Enjoy!

Thanks again for letting me be here and be sure and stop by my blog and say "hi"! I love to meet new blogging friends!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wow Me Wednesday #14

Welcome to the party!!

I'm so excited to see all your fun projects!

Grab the WOW button,

check out other entries that catch your eye,

and leave a little crafty comment love along the way!!

Ready, set, GO!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Toast of Tuesday!!

It's the eve of Wow Me Wednesday

and time to share my favorite links from last week!!

85 links!! WOO HOO!!!

Love Sweet Love shares this darling wreath

for all our patriotic holidays!

BONUS, it's so inexpensive!!

Laura from Come Together Kids busts out the power tools

and a little PVC pipe to make this fun sprinkler!!

I told my husband we're totally making one.

Grey Luster Girl created the most beautiful

thread holder I've ever seen! LOVE IT!!

I think I want one in teal.

Thanks to everyone who linked up!!

If you were toasted, please grab a button!

See you tomorrow for another Wow Me Wednesday!!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Go Mama Monday - Sew Cute Cards!!

Hey everyone!!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!

We had some great family time, and we were gone, gone, gone,

so I'm just getting this post up now!!

I've been loving all the sewn cards out there and have been trying some of my own. The best part is that they really don't require a lot of material, so my scrap pile gets used, which I LOVE!!

This one was my first, for my sweet nephew, and used material from the Lightning McQueen quilt I made him for his 1st birthday.

This one was for a friend's little guy who was born on Cinco de Mayo! These are the fabrics from his quilt as well.

This one was inspired by some felt hair clips I saw on a little girl at church! Felt is everywhere now, and I'm amazed at the versatility of it!

I had these cupcake cut-outs left over from OMTWI

and thought they would be so cute on cards!

I think I'll save this one for a "SWEET" friend.

See you tomorrow for the Toast of Tuesday!!

P.S. Have you entered the GIVEAWAY yet??

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Foodie Friday!!

Welcome to the tastiest day of the week here at POP!!

Come drool with me!!

This Cinnamon Apple Ice Cream Pie is from one of my most faithful followers, Sugar & Spice in the land of Balls & Sticks!

And that my friends, is an oatmeal cookie crust!!!

A Crafty Cook shared her Slow Cooker Ribs! I LOVE RIBS!!

And look out for her guest post on Foodie Friday, coming soon!!

Six Sister's Stuff is at it again, sharing two fabulous recipes this week! First, this Stuffed French Toast that has me licking my fingers before I even make it!