2016 -- Year in Review --

If you haven't had a chance to check out my crafting and cooking channel on YouTube, please do!

How to Make Cheese Fondue

Family Favorite Recipe: Festive Cheeseball

Making a Gluten Free Gingerbread House

DIY YouTube Christmas Ornament -- Play Button Ornament

Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting

Creative Christmas Treat Ideas!

DIY Magnetic Nativity - Great for kids or advent

Christmas Pancake Art

How to Make a Gift in a Can

DIY Pumpkin Pie Candles

How to Make Whipped Cream Frosting

Pumpkin Cookies 2 Ways (Gluten Free Option)

Testing Thanksgiving Pinterest Pins!

A New Kind of 3D Drawing Pen! Gel 3D Pens

Had fun with this one!  Totally different than other 3D pens I've tried!



Found here: https://youtu.be/vUKNdCuPvVY 

Disclaimer: I received this product free to review.  This is not a paid/sponsored post.  Link is an affiliate link.

DIY - How to Make Roses out of Leaves (Fall Craft)

FUN FALL DIY DECOR

Easy Halloween Treats - Spooky Pretzels - No Baking Required!

Halloween Pancake Art

Severed Hand Halloween Cake (Tutorial) With CRUNCHY BONES!!!

Simple Halloween Cupcakes! *Halloween Treat Collab*

Product Review Time! Wooden Rolling Pin

You may or may not have heard about Amazon's change in their Terms of Service, but it essentially means that product reviews that are given in exchange for free or discounted items are no longer allowed.  I was really enjoying doing them, and I'm sure I'll review some products now and then, but not nearly as much before.

As for the item I got this time to review, it's this cool rolling pin.  If I were to be completely honest, I wish I had gotten a large one too for working with fondant, but this little guy is going to be lots of fun with smaller projects.  Or perfect for polymer clay work as well.

This shape is particularly good for fondant because you can gently "roll" or "drape" the fondant on it to transfer to your cake.  It works much better than with the types that have rolling handles.


Disclaimer: I received this product free to review/share.  This is not a sponsored/paid post.  Link is an affiliate link.

Surprise Candy Corn Cake!

Basic Buttercream Frosting

How to Make Marshmallow Fondant

4 Ways to Enjoy Leftover Doughnuts!

LEGO PARTY IDEAS!!!

I had the privilege of getting a set of these cool lego silicone molds a while back to test and review and I've been meaning to make a fun party themed video for ages, finally got around to it!  Would love for you to go check it out :D

Disclaimer: I received the silicone molds free or discounted to test and share my experience with them.  This is not a sponsored/paid post.  The link to purchase is an affiliate link.

13 Fun DIY Gift Bag Ideas

I got the chance to get a boat load of plain white gift bags and go to town with them.  I stormed up 13 different ideas and had some fun with it.  Here are some sneak peeks and the video showing how I made all 13 :D

Disclaimer: I was provided the gift bags free to share my honest and unbiased review.  The link is an affiliate link.

DIY SPRINKLES!!!

I'm not 100% sure where I got the idea, probably browsing on pinterest once upon a time, but I came across the idea of making your own sprinkles.  How cool is that?  You can customize the colors, size, shape, etc.  I even made mine marshmallow flavored (though when they're that small....they  mostly still just taste like sugar lol)

It's a really simple process, for directions check out my video here:

Polymer Clay Beads

I have a lot of fun with polymer clay.  These 2 beauties were actually created using some scraps from a larger project.  I just let the creativity take me where it wanted to and I loved the results!  The video is here: 

Russian Flower Piping Tips (Trial & Error)

I got a set of these new trendy Russian Flower Piping Tips to try.  I didn't realize they were as popular as they are until my first attempt became my 2nd most viewed video on YouTube.

Here are my 1st and 2nd attempts at using these cool tips!

Disclaimer: Links are often affiliate links, that means I will receive a small kickback from Amazon if you order from the link. The price will be the same for you either way.

Doctor Who Cupcakes!!!

I was inspired by something I saw on pinterest and then realized how I could make it even better!  We are sci-fi lovers.  Star Trek, Wars, Gate, Dr Who.  All of the good stuff.  I plan on making some fun things down the road to celebrate all of those geeky loves.  For today, here's your Doctor Who fill :D  Enjoy!

DIY (Decorate It Yourself) Cupcakes Kits

Ok, these are just adorable.  (At least I think so.....)

Grab some 1 cup or pint canning jars, cake mix, frosting, decorations, and a few more things and you're all set to make an EPIC thank you gift, birthday gift, or heck, a great gift for almost any occasion!

Check out the full instructions here:

Pokeball Pizza ~ Pokemon Go ~ Gotta Eat 'Em All!

Are you into the fun of Pokemon Go?  I was never a Pokemon player growing up but my husband was.  We've had some fun collecting them.  We're on a humble level 12 right now :)  For his birthday, I decided to make some fun pizza :) 

Let me know in the comments, what level are you on Pokemon Go?

100 Layers Challenge - Have You Heard of the Challenge?

There's a channel on YouTube called Simply Nailogical- she does nail art tutorials.  She posted a video a little while ago of her applying over 100 coats of nail polish to her hand and issued a challenge for people to do better.

And the YouTube community went crazy.  250+ coats of nail polish, and then it spread to the rest of the beauty community-100 coats of mascara, foundation, blush, liquid lipstick, false eyelashes.....and I thought it would be fun to bring some of that game to the culinary community.

This is by far my most popular video so far on my new crafting and cooking channel!  Check it out :D

Awesome Possum Product Reviews :)

It's been a while since I shared some product review goodies with you guys.  I've got 4 awesome things for you that touch on a few of my hobbies :)

 

The first item I wanted to share was this cool Dino Trivia Game.  I changed the rules a bit to make it more my style, but I had fun playing it with my brother and his wife and kids.  I feel like it's maybe better suited for teachers than the average household. 

 

Next up-Nail Decals.  I have had fun with these.  I've been inspired by a nail art channel on YouTube and wanted to give it a go (I'll talk more about that in a post soon, possibly tomorrow.)  I'm definitely not an expert, but I've had some pretty cute nails because of these lately :)

 

Next up-this Selfie Right Light.  I recently got a microphone for my cell phone and now with this, I'm all set up for better pictures and video on my cell for my YouTube channels :)

 

Last but not least, another hobby is our container garden.  It's pretty small this year but we're also in a new place where we don't have automatic spinklers so we have to balance the hoses and sprinklers and drip lines with the grass too.  I recently got this kit to help with that!

 

Disclaimer: I received these items discounted or free to test and share my honest feedback.  This is not a paid/sponsored post.

Healthy & Easy Breakfast~Mini Quiche & Rye Biscuits

Need some lean, veggie packed, flavor packed, protein packed, whole grain packed goodness packed into your morning? 

I know I do.

These are SO good! 

Check out the short video here:

If you end up making some, let me know what you think!

Making Custom/Recycled Crayons!

This is something that I've enjoyed doing and have tried multiple methods over the years-double boilers, ovens, various brands, you name it.  I share my tips and tricks with you in this short YouTube video :)

Fun Back to School Treats (Easy to Make!)

I had fun with this one!  These are rice krispy treats ready to go into your kiddos' lunch boxes! 

For full instructions check out my video!

Where to find an Affordable Modest Dress!

I was a bridesmaid just about a month ago (wow time flies!) and we were having a bit of a dilemma finding bridesmaid dresses that everyone wanted to wear.  A big thing for all of us gals was modesty-covering up a bit to be comfortable and to match our religious commitments. 

Finding bridesmaids dresses that aren't short and revealing is 1) ridiculously hard and 2) expensive.  As we were helping the bride look for options, I was literally looking online for Mother of the Bride dresses because I knew that more of them would be modest.  Some were still more revealing than we'd want and those that covered up were either limited in options or "mature and maternal".....let's just put it that way.....


The bride stumbled upon a website none of us had heard about before, it's called kcouture.com  We were so impressed with the selection they had-different cuts, styles, colors, sizes, lengths etc.  They'll make something custom if you need.  I wish I had my bridesmaids order from there when I got married!

Anyway, I did a short video going over my experience-the good and bad.  This is definitely a dress I'll be wearing again and just wanted to share that resource with those that might be in the market :) 

You can check out my video review HERE and the dress website HERE.

Disclaimer: I received a small discount to share my honest opinion and experience with this company but I was not paid, this is not a sponsored post. 

How to Make Fench Onion Soup

I love making french onion soup because it's simple and budget friendly.

Start with a few onions.  TIP: If you have contacts and glasses, wear the contacts-it reduces eye irritation!

 For the onions to really be the star, you need to caramelize them well.  TIP: Don't overcrowd the pan!  Too many in 1 pan makes them sweat, not caramelize.

 Spices, beef broth, simmer away!

And last but not least, some baguette with guyere toasted! 

To watch the recipe video as well as some others in a soup recipe collaboration I'm participating in, go check them out HERE.

3D Doodle Pen Tips & Tricks

Have you had a chance to try 3D Doodling Pens?  While not exactly a practical tool for an adult, it's still super fun!  I demonstrate and give some tips in a video I posted recently.

You can get one of these 3D pens HERE.

(Pen was received free or discounted to review & share my honest and unbiased feedback, this is not a paid or sponsored post.)

 #leungyo3dpen

Carved Peek-a-Boo Polymer Clay Project

Just a quick reminder, we have this contest about to end, please drop by and vote on your favorite submission!



On to the featured fun :)

The inspiration for this came from a combination of candle art I've seen as well as the art I remember doing as a kid where you scratch off black crayon to see a colorful design underneath, it's just so fun!

I actually made this as a wall plaque and as a focus for my new crafting & cooking YouTube channel called Jenn's Creativity Corner.

For a list of supplies and to see the whole process, check out the video :)

GIVEAWAY + ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Hey guys, I'm having another giveaway over on my YouTube channel.  It has 2 prizes, a box stuffed with TONS of fun stuff for kids as well as a purse stuffed with goodies.  I'd LOVE for you to go check it out and enter!

Details and Entry HERE


Also,  I just started my own crafting and cooking channel and I'd love your support over there!  I have 2 videos out today!

My new channel is called Jenn's Creativity Corner.  If you're the type that likes to watch more than read, you'll get your regular dose of creativity there guaranteed!

And last but not least, I'd really love for you to go take a peek at my last post and vote on the craft contest I'm hosting.  Voting ends in just 3 days.  I appreciate your time and support! 

Mystery Box Craft Challenge Voting!

I had fun collaborating with 5 lovely ladies on a craft challenge.  Let's go over the rules, prizes, and outcomes!  Please make sure to vote in the comments section down below!  1 comment/entry per person/household.

The rules:
-Each person received 1 small box of random craft supplies.  No 2 boxes are alike.
-They have to use at least half of the supplies to make art/crafts.
-They can include any other items and supplies to make their creations.
-Multiple creations are allowed, as long as at least half of their mystery box is used.
-Each person is to take photos and video of their creation(s) and the process.
-Voting ends 11:59pm MST 7/29.

The prizes:
1-$10 Amazon.com Gift Card
2-Handmade Purse filled with Goodies

1 winner will be picked by votes received here (so make sure to vote!) and 1 will be picked by my husband and I :)  The winner who gets the most votes here gets first choice of the prizes.

Here are the entrants with their videos.

Cookie Tux

Stouts on the Side

Natasha & Cory Tell a Story

2 more entries pending.... 

And as always, I appreciate your support on my vlog channel, I'll be having a craft and cooking channel coming out soon as well! 

Wedding Fun! (Epic Groom's Cake)

One of my best friends got married yesterday :)  She was one of my bridesmaids and I was hers, it was so fun to see her and her sweet husband tie the knot.  I just wanted to pop on and share a couple of fun things.

The first one was actually a product review item-I got a package of these tasty strawberry candies to review and I decided to take them to the bachelorette party I threw for her.  I flew into town so I wasn't able to do much in the way of baking but some of the other girls made some goodies.  Not many of the candies were eaten there because we had so many treats, but we decided to add them to the candy bar at the wedding reception-they matched the colors and they were all happily snatched up :)

And a feat I'm really proud of was making this awesome Nintendo Themed Groom's Cake:

The bride wanted to surprise the groom with this and she had something lined up but it fell through the evening before the wedding.....so a mutual friend of hers and I said we'd make it happen!  Quickest cake of the type I've thrown together!  It's far from perfect but I LOVE how it came out considering how little time we had and his reaction was priceless when we brought it out.  It makes me want to get back into cake decorating :)

I've got tons of footage to sort through for my week of fun excursion with the wedding and more and my husband has been filming his adventures while I've been away.  If you want to see our fun vlogs, subscribe to our channel HERE. 

Book Review: Granted

First, I want to let you know about the limited time deals for this book in case it sounds interesting for you!

-Granted will be available for $2.99 June 30th - July 7 (discounted from the regular price of $4.99) HERE. 
-Readers can enter to win an autographed copy of Granted HERE.
-They'll be giving away some physical copies too on Goodreads HERE.

 

Granted is a wonderful story told through the eyes of a twelve-year-old genie, Brielle.  It begins with her experience with being assigned a lamp.  A Rite of passage for young genies.  To her dismay, the lamp is in storage, and she must wait for someone to rub the lamp to gain her magic, and begin her time granting wishes.

    Jump ahead four years, and she still hasn’t been summoned, and she is beginning to lose hope that she will ever gain her magic.  Until finally, she is summoned on her birthday.  The story continues as she experiences the life and dangers of being a genie in a world of humans.  Very quickly Brielle learns that being a genie can be deadly when genies begin to die because their lamps are broken…

    Of course if you want a better summary of the book pick one up and read it yourself.  When I read Granted.  I was immersed in a world of genies and magic where wishes can be granted by someone who looks like someone you know.  The Author’s writing is spectacular, and her storytelling flowed like a river.  Though I read an unpublished version of the book, I found it to be refreshing to see the care that was taken in crafting this rich story and the characters that dwell in the fantastical world.  It was refreshing to also see that through the course of her writing and revisions, the author completely removed the spelling and grammatical errors that can pervade some of the more recently-published books that I have read recently.

If you could call it an issue, my only one is: If this book is intended to be a standalone, the ending left me disappointed.  Too many loose ends, and a feeling of incompletion of the story.  However, if this book is intended to be the first in a series, then I look forward to reading the sequel.  I must note that this book left me feeling a desire to read more.  The loose ends were left in a way that brings me to believe that the Author has at least a full story arc prepared for a larger series.  One that I look forward to reading after (or before) publication.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Granted from Future House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Product Review: Mediderm Skin Care Products

I got the privilege to try 3 Mediderm Laboratories skin care products for free.

My favorite is the Sensitive Skin Foaming Cleanser.

It hasn't caused any problems with my sensitive skins and leaves it feeling clean and smooth.  It smells slightly coconuty to me.  One thing that is a little different than expectations is that this does NOT foam...not sure why they called it a foaming cleanser.  I can't get a lather at all, but I was actually told that if it foams, it's probably too harsh for your facial skin, so I suppose that's a good sign.

Next favorite is their WhiteDerm Sun Shield SPF 30 Cream

I've only had a couple of times where I've used this, but I had no irritation and it seemed to work well.  You don't get much, but a little goes a long way.

Lastly, I have to confess that I only had a chance to use it once, but I liked the way it felt and with how the other products work, I'm sure this one will be nice to lighten imperfections.

If you want to check out any of these items or any of their other skin care line, go HERE.

#WhiteDermAPlus

Disclaimer: I was provided a free sample of each item mentioned.  I was asked to share my honest opinion, this is not a paid or sponsored post.

How to Make an All-American Cake! ~4th of July Cake~

It's videos like this where I can show off that I indeed do have a culinary degree that I use :P I had fun making this cake for this video and seeing the creativity of the other YouTubers that participated in this 4th of July Collaboration. My husband and I are actually eating some of this cake right now lol.

Check out the short video here: 

I also made a sister video to it on how I made the embellishments and how I make other embellishments like cute eyes that you can put on monster cupcakes or the like:

Day 9: The 3 Week Food Storage Only Diet!

Day 9, Sunday

Today was a pretty crazy day for food.  On Sundays we leave for and come back from church kind of at an odd time, so we only usually have breakfast and a late lunch/early dinner.  Today I made turkey.  We're talking a 31 pound, are you sure it's not Thanksgiving...kind of turkey.  And it's actually my first turkey :D  All things considered, it turned out pretty well.  I made gravy from the drippings and we ate rice from food storage and a tomato jam/syrup that we canned last year from tomatoes in our garden.  It was a lot of work but It. Was. Amazing.

It's not lost on me that if this were a real emergency situation that involved not having power, all of the things in our freezers would have spoiled (or had to be eaten first) long ago.  I also know that cooking a turkey over a campfire would be quite a tricky adventure.

The bones are boiling on a stock pot right now to make bone broth-yummy, nutritious, free :)

I also made a rather elaborate dessert for being on such a tight meal plan.  It's a 4th of July themed cake and I was happy to have all of the ingredients I needed.  The video should be up on my YouTube channel in less than a week.  I do anticipate having to break the 3 week diet sadly for a commitment that I had made prior to starting this.  I agreed to do a product review of this cool set of cake decorating tips and I just used up the last of our powdered sugar :-/  So I'll have to buy for that, but that's all I should have to buy.  I'm excited to see how they work and I'll have that up on my channel as well.

Speaking of this cake and emergency food storage and product review items.  I was given an opportunity to get a set of these vegetable seeds to review.




I genuinely think it's a great idea to have a pack of seeds like this in case of an emergency and you have to grow your own food.  Having our own container garden, I've been able to enjoy some fresh raspberries during our no-grocery shopping fast.  I actually used some in the cake I made today :)

Anyway, on to another week!  My husband gets free lunches at work M-F this week so I plan to use up our canned peaches and frozen fruits and spinach to make smoothies for most of our lunches.  And we'll be eating turkey in various ways for days lol.

Thanks so much for joining me on this fun adventure!


 Disclaimer: The seeds and cake decorating set #nozzle were free or deeply discounted for me to try and share my honest and unbiased feedback.  This is not a sponsored/paid post.  Links, if you choose to buy, may be affiliate links. 

3 Week Food Storage Challenge: Days 6-8

Sorry I haven't been updating this daily, life is crazy with preparing to move-packing, garage sale, etc!

We've made it a week!  We're 1/3 into it!  We guessed that it would start getting harder at this point and I'm not too sure it will, I'll talk about that in a little bit, but first, how have we been doing the last 3 days?

Days 6,7,8

In addition to the muffins, english muffins, and toast that we had stocked up on in the freezer (I inventoried, we have more than enough to last us!  This is a good opportunity to shrink that down so they don't get freezer burned!) for breakfast, we've had some fun lunches and dinners. 

Lunches have mostly consisted of homemade lunchables.  I used up the last of the ham we had in our freezer, used most of our string cheese from the fridge, and a lot of the Ritz crackers we have on hand.  The only fresh vegetables we have left now are some carrots and celery so I prepped some of that as well.  Healthy, easy, fun, nostalgic.

The other day we took some "chow mein"-the fancier version of ramen noodles basically, and prepared them according to instructions, then added some peanut butter-pad thai :)  I think peanut butter is a great staple for food storage-it's a convenient and tasty source of protein!

Other than that, we made 1 last batch of crockpot chili with the last of our frozen ground beef.  Not your normal summer menu item, but it's undeniably tasty and helps use up a lot of food storage items without being demanding of time. 

As for our future plans, I took the time to sit down and actually make a menu plan.  I know that when I do, we're more organized and eat better.  Knowing what we're going to have for the next 2 weeks is helpful to plan ahead in a few ways, one being knowing what to pack!  I started packing up spices and other foods that aren't on the list.  I'm leaving all the "snacky" foods like popcorn, dried fruits and nuts unpacked, but lentils aren't on the menu, so in a box they go!  I'm actually supposed to be baking a somewhat elaborate cake this week for a YouTube video (4th of July collaboration) and I was worried because I thought I had used up the last of the granulated sugar.  I was thinking about having to adjust a recipe or find one that calls for brown sugar, but I found a bag of regular sugar in my pantry packing :)  I definitely need to stock up on that more.  Now I just hope last of all that I have enough powdered sugar for all of the frosting (I think I do)  YUM! 

We also had to plan in the fact that my in-laws may be coming for a few days to visit and help us with our move.  I don't know that they'll love eating on our food storage diet, but it's not like it's rice and beans for 3 meals in a row :P 

We've got some fun meals planned next-lots of recipes with turkey and chicken, and even some Polish food :)  Stay tuned!

Star Wars Party Ideas :)

I've enjoyed lately making some party idea videos on my YouTube channel.  Here is today's:

I was inspired by the silicone molds that I got to review-so fun!!!

You can get a full set of the molds HERE.

Disclaimer:

Silicone molds were provided free of charge or discounted to review.  This is not a paid/sponsored post.  The link provided is an affiliate link.

3 Week Food Storage Challenge---Days 4 & 5---

Day 4, Monday

We had our usual toast/english muffin breakfasts.  I think that will just go as an assumption for a while because I looked in the freezer and we have plenty!  Andrew ate PB & J for lunch and I think I skipped lunch...or just snacked on this and that..... For dinner we shared leftover chili and steamed broccoli.  I went into our extra freezer and pulled out a huge turkey to thaw and cook as well as some muffins that I made quite some time ago that are amazingly not freezer burned. 

Day 5, Tuesday

Between the usual breakfast fare and the muffins we fared well for breakfast, about the same for lunch as the day before as well.  I had some ramen noodles (we don't have a ton, but a decent amount in our food storage) and finished our last can of black olives.  RIP the black olives.  To sweeten up the muffins (they're pumpkins, zucchini, whole grain....so they taste healthy) I opened up the 1 package of chocolate frosting we had in food storage, I hope it was well sacrificed lol.  I just wanted some sweetness :P  For dinner, we actually had Dominos pizza.  Before you get disappointed that we gave in so early, we actually followed our rules that we would eat something that wasn't in our storage if it were free.  T-Mobile has an app where you can get freebies on Tuesdays and I decided to try it out and got a code for a free 2-topping medium pizza :)  It kinda tasted like crap though, so that was anti-climactic.....Oh well.

Last Minute Father's Day Gift Ideas (And other cool things ;)

Yesterday I posted a short video on my YouTube Channel with a list of some cool gift ideas for Father's day.

The one I'll specifically list here has already been gifted to my dad (we're horrible at shipping things on time so this year when my parents were in town my mom got her gift late and dad got his early lol).  My dad's the outdoorsy type-loves to hunt and fish.  Mostly fish nowadays.  I gave him this fanny pack.  Now, you may laugh at the fanny pack fashion statement, but you can't deny that they can be very useful, and c'mon, camo makes it better right?  :D

If you want to check out the other cool items listed, check out the full video:

If you want to snag one of these for yourself, you can order HERE.

If you don't have an Amazon Prime membership, this ships free with a membership and you can try a 30 day free trial of Prime HERE.

I also wanted to mention a couple of other cool products that I've had the chance to review recently.

Firstly, I've been dabbling in essential oils.  I wanted to try some lavender for my husband to help him sleep better.  I do a ton of shopping and reviews for items on Amazon.com but this one in particular is actually through their own website.  Here's the direct link to the lavendar oil:  https://www.aveniroils.com/shop/lavender-essential-oil/

They have a bunch of different recipes/recommendations for the use of different oils and I found this article helpful about allergies and how lavender, as well as other oils, can be helpful (again, my husband and that dang hayfever lol)  https://www.aveniroils.com/essential-oils-for-allergies/

And last but not least, this fun Adult Coloring Book :)

If you too love kanines and have hopped on the adult coloring train, you can order your copy HERE. #promotion


Disclaimer: I received the above items free or discounted to review.  I was not compensated, this is not a sponsored post.  Some links are affiliate links (which means I get a teeny tiny commission if you choose to buy through that link).