Kitchen Makeover...COMPLETE!!!

So, it might have taken a little longer than expected, but my Aunt and Uncle's Dream Kitchen Makeover is complete! For those that don't know, they won a $30,000+ Dream Kitchen Makeover from one of their local TV stations a few months back. They are happy to have a kitchen back, and not just any kitchen...you won't believe the difference!

BEFORE...remember the avocado counters and wallpaper and dated cabinets?

AFTER...take a look at the new, modern kitchen, complete with granite counters and stainless steel appliances!

Amazing, right?!?!?!

Sooooo happy for them...there's nothing like a beautiful kitchen to spend time in with family, for those brithdays, holidays and other family get-togethers that make up so many great memories!

Congrats Aunt Kate & Uncle Bob! :)

I retired from FCCB... :(

Those that know me know that I have been a part of Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB) since day 1.  I absolutely LOVE everything about it and I have been proud to be a part of the Design Team.  But things have gotten CRAZY around here with moving and so I had to take a few things off my plate for now...FCCB was one of those things.  :(

So, I have officially "retired" from FCCB so that I have more time to get what I HAVE to get done, done.  I will still be checking in for the Daily Inspirations:

Monday: Challenge Me Monday

Tuesday: Quick Tip Tuesday

Wednesday: Wednesday Winners

Thursday: Thursday's Tutorials

Friday: Fantabulous Friday

Saturday: Scrappin' Saturday (sniff, sniff!)

Sunday: Sunday Spotlight

And maybe, if things EVER slow down around here, maybe I'll try playing along with one of the weekly challenges!

If you haven't had the chance to head over to FCCB and check out the amazing Design Team inspiration, fun weekly challenges and other great tips and techniques, PLEASE do!  You won't be disappointed!!!

And, to Robin, founder of FCCB...YOU ROCK!  I have truly loved working with you and will so miss being a part of such an amazing thing, all of which you created!  You're an amazing talent and truly a wonderful person!!!  :)



Valentine Lollipop Flower Pots

I made little lollipop flower pots for the Mess Maker's preschool teachers last year for Valentine's Day, and decided to do them again this year for her new teachers.  I couldn't find Tootsie Pops (?????) so I had to use Blow Pops, which have the wrappers twisted at the top.  So I just used glue dots to hold the wrappers down over the lollipop.  Problem solved!  My original directions and lollipop flowers can be found here.  I used flowers cut with my George cartridge and dot embossed cardstock in light and dark pink.  Sooooo easy and fun!

Things may be crazy at our house right now, but I can't completely stop crafting!  Yes, I have to keep my craft room looking "pretty" for showings.  No, I can't leave my Cricut, cartridges and paper all over because it wouldn't be attractive to prospective home buyers.  But I CAN do a quick little craft to show the Mess Maker's preschool teachers they are appreciated for Valentine's Day!  And yes, I cleaned up every last tiny piece of paper in my scraproom when I was done...

One Pot Dinner...YUM!

Things are C-R-A-Z-Y around here right now...we're in the process of moving.  You know, selling...buying...packing....entertaining children...AHHHHHHH!  It becomes absolutely necessary to make easy dinners these days unless I want my family to survive on fast food alone.  This is one of my all-time fave EASY meals...I have had it for years and I have no idea where it originated from, but it's TASTY!!!

One Pot Dinner:

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 C chopped celery

3/4 C chooped green pepper

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt (optional)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 C uncooked no-yolk egg noodles

1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes

3/4 C water

1 beef bouillon cube

In a large saucepan, cook meat until no longer pink; drain.  Add onion, celery and green pepper and cook 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Add Worcestershire sauce, salt, basil and pepper.  Stir in egg noodles, beans, tomatoes, water and bouillon.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and cover.  Simmer 20 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Serves 5.

I've had a LOT of requests for this recipe lately, so here you go everyone!

P.S.  This is a super-easy meal to take to a new mommy or someone in need of a home-cooked meal...just whip up some cornbread muffins and you've got a complete meal!

"Support The Cause" FCCB Challenge #45

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Support The Cause"...create a project in honor of a cause that's near and dear to your heart.  This card is a breast cancer awareness card.  I recently had to purchase a new Cricut Expression (the LED screen on my other one went out) and I found the pink one with the "Pink Journey" exclusive cartridge included.  Hadn't had a chance to use it until this project!

I cut the ribbon and shadow, the scallop oval, and the "Hope" sentiment from Pink Journey.  I used a scrap of pink/brown butterfly paper I had in my stash for the card mat.  I popped the ribbon and oval sentiment with foam dots and added a butterfly mirror I had in my embellishment drawer.  

Hope you'll head over to FCCB and enter your own "Support The Cause" project for your chance to win this week's prize!  :)

Happy Crafting!!!

Kitchen Makeover....PROGRESS!!!

Thank you again to those of you out in Blogland that voted for my aunt and uncle to win the $30,000 Dream Kitchen Makeover, given away by one of their local TV stations!!!
(Original post can be found HERE)

They won (thanks to an amazing number of votes!!!) and the makeover is in progress!  Thought I'd share some of the photos my uncle sent me on what the kitchen looks like now.  It's not completed (as you'll see), but it should be done in about a week or so.  I'll definitely show you the final result. 
Are you ready for this???  :)

Before...notice the lovely green, uh, I mean "avocado" countertops with coordinating wall paper:

During the "demolition":

My uncle and my dad, "supervising"...keep in mind that they are the premiere experts in anything having to do with home building/remodeling/fixing, having been "secured" up on the roof to help their grandfather re-roof the house when my dad was only 4 years old:

The damage...I guarantee you my dad and my uncle kept some of this scrap material for little "projects" they want to complete:

AND, the current condition of their kitchen...TOTALLY 100% empty:

They're making coffee in the bathroom, storing food in the dining room and appliances in the office.  They're troopers, I tell ya!  But I know they'll think it was well worth it when they get their dream kitchen!

More to come...stay tuned!  :)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner of the FAB CTMH blog candy for answering my question: "What should I do with this???" (see post HERE)

This was the Blog Candy up for grabs:

I loved all of your ideas...but since things have been a little crazy lately, I've yet to actually put the rack into use.  Soooooo, I don't have any photos yet.  But when I do get around to using it, I'll post the pics!

And now for the winner....

Nancy Watson said:

"So funny! My husband would not have gone to the dumpster for me

as he is mortified that I dumpster dive! But, I can't tell you how many things

I have been able to get to organize our house with that way.

Anyway, my first thought when I saw this is if you put down some cardboard on the

 shelves you have the perfect place for storing your GlimmerMist.

However, this would also work for re-inkers and ink pads (as I have one and

that is what I use mine for). Also, you could get those tiered spice shelve things

 and put one on each shelf and store your wood stamps on this too.

Have fun with whatever you do!

THANKS Nancy!  I have a TON of re-inkers and ink pads and I think this would be a great solution!

Please contact me at the email address below to claim your prize!

TheHouseholdCEO (at) live (dot) com

Wedding Cake Card: Fantabulous Cricut "Sweet Shop" Challenge

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Sweet Shop": create a project incorporating some type of sweet...cake, ice cream, candy, etc.  YUM!!!

My Design Team project is a black & white wedding cake card.  I love black and white for wedding projects.  I used a white card base, with a black swirl lace cardstock for the mat.  I cut three sizes of black/white patterned papers into rectangles and matted them with white cardstock.

I adhered them to the card with foam dots for dimenstion.  I tied a narrow white ribbon around each cake layer and then added a three-layered flower over each knot.  The flowers were cut with George & Basic Shapes at 3/4", 1" and 1 1/4".  The centers are red pearl brads (Eyelet Outlet).  To finish, I stamped the word "love" onto white cardstock using CTMH ink/stamp, inked the edges in red and adhered with foam dots.

Now I just need to find someone that's getting marries to send this to!!!  :)  Hope you'll play along with this week's "Sweet Shop" challenge at FCCB.  You can make any-themed project for any season or holiday, just make sure to incorporate something sweet & yummy on it!

Happy Crafting!

What Should I Do With This??? (BLOG CANDY!!!)

You know the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"???  Well, it's true.  And I'm living proof...

Sunday is "doughnut day" in our family and we go get doughnuts at the doughnut shop and coffee from Starbucks.  Anyway, this morning when we pulled up in the drive-thru line at Starbucks (because there is ALWAYS a line), I happened to look over at the dumpster and see this perfectly good wire rack sitting next to it.  Why would they throw out a perfectly good rack?!?!?

The Household CFO was not excited about this, but hung his head in shame anyway and went to get this beauty out of the trash for me, right in front of everyone in line.  Now THAT's love I tell ya!  :)

I just know I have the perfect use for it...I just don't know what it is at the moment.  Sooooooo, I'm asking for your help.  And, for helping me out, I'm offering up some yummy

BLOG CANDY!!!

Contents (all CTMH): two mini stamp sets, 1 sheet of textured stickers, 1 package of "sweet leaf/colonial white" embellishments and 1 package of ""twilight/colonial white" embellishments.

All you have to do is give me an idea of what to use this storage rack for. 

If I choose your idea, you win.  It's that simple!  Please leave a comment below by this Friday, January 14 to be eligible.

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to hearing your creative storage ideas!  :)

The Mess Maker Turns Four!

We had a party at My Gym for the Mess Maker's fourth birthday this weekend...she had a blast!

She LOVED the ball pit and spent the majority of the party in it with friends, but I think the highlight for her (judging from her face anyway) was the "birthday motorcycle"...

She wanted a "Dora" theme (surprise, surprise), so we had Dora balloons, Dora serveware and Dora cupcake toppers...that pink icing is going to show up later, I just know it!  :)

The Noise Maker had a blast, too!

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate with us and make her birthday so much fun and so special!

Snowflake Card: Fantabulous Cricut "Snowy Delights" Challenge!

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Snowy Delights": create a project incorportaing snow or snowflakes!  Perfect for this time of year, don't ya think?

For this mini card, I used a scrap of pink/blue patterned paper that reminded me of snowflakes for the mat on the front of the card.  Using my NEW Winter Lace cartridge (LOVE IT!), I cut the snowflake and shadow at 3".  I ran the cream layer through my Xyron and sprinkled glitter all over for some sparkle (which unfortunately doesn't show up well in the photo).  To finish, I tied a sheer pink ribbon around the center of the snowflake and added a blue pearl brad before adhering the layers together and adding the snowflake to my card.

It may be cold, but this little snowflake card makes me all warm and cozy!  :)  Hope you'll play along with this week's Snowy Delights challenge at FCCB...head over and check out the prizes up for grabs! 

Happy Crafting!  :)

Dora Birthday Cake and Party!

Me: "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?"

The Mess Maker: "Dora."

Me: "What kind of Dora cake?"

The Mess Maker: "PRINCESS!!!"

Can I tell you how HARD it is to find Princess Dora birthday party supplies?????  Luckily, it wasn't hard to make a Princess Dora cake which I think made the Mess Maker not notice the fact that all of the princess-themed decor wasn't actually Dora!

To make this cake, I used the Pampered Chef Batter Bowl.  One cake mix is baked directly in the bowl and then inverted.  I baked another cake mix in two 9" round cake pans.  I stacked the round layers, placed the dome layer on top and placed a Dora doll on the top. 

I iced it in pink (it HAD to be pink!) and then added fondant flowers I cut with some flower-shaped cookie cutters and sprayed with edible food coloring spray.  Super-simple and yummy!  Oh, and the cake was PINK (of course!)...strawberry.  Mmmmmmm....

BLOG CANDY WINNER!!!

Wow, we had a FANTABULOUS Crawl over at FCCB and we thank everyone for "crawling" along with us and entering your own projects in the challenge!

I apologize this post is a "little" late...okay, a LOT late!  With the holidays and traveling, etc. I completely forgot to post my winner!

Using Random.org, my winner is.....

#39 Joanne!!!

Joanne said, "What an adorable way to showcase your family! So cute! Oh, and I can't wait to try your cookie recipe, they look so yummy!"

Thanks, Joanne!  Please contact me at the email address below with your mailing address so I can send you your CTMH Felicity Kit!  You have two weeks to claim your prize!

TheHouseholdCEO (at) live (dot) com

Fantabulous Cricut Deck The Halls Crawl!

Welcome to Organized Chaos and the third Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop!

In honor of the approaching Christmas holiday, we're having a
"Deck The Halls" Crawl!

Each Design Team member will be featuring an original Christmas/Holiday-themed project to decorate and spruce up their homes for the Holiday Season!

If you've come from visiting Leinad at Scrap-Stickle-Pop, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE.

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration! There will be PRIZES along the way at our DT members' blogs, AND there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a "Deck The Halls" project at FCCB!

How fun is that?  :)

For my project...I made a sign for the wreath on my front door:

I recently got the new Car Decals cartridge and I've been wanting to make a little family sign for our house.  Since it's Christmas time, I decided to make a Winter-themed sign for my Winter wreath, to jazz it up a little!  The red sign came from Hobby Lobby last year in the Christmas section.  It was 50% of $5.00 at the time.  I used Cricut white vinyl to cut the winter characters (using the "Athlete" feature) from Car Decals at 2 1/2" and 3".  The snowflakes came from Joys of the Season, cut at 1".  The lettering is from Lyrical Letters, cut at 1/2".  It was super-simple to do and I just love the result!

Okie dokie, now for the details of the prize I'm giving away...

CTMH's "Felicity" Collection!

This set is valued over $30 and is no longer available!  It includes 3 color schemes, 6 pieces of double-sided decorative die cut papers, 6 pieces of double-sided beautiful patterned paper and an exclusive, and a full-size stamp set that includes flourishes, flowers, birds and an entire alphabet!

To be eligible to win this prize, you must:
1.  Be a follower of my blog, Organized Chaos.
2.  Leave a comment on this post telling me your MOST favorite cartridge (only one!) and why it's your "must have" cartridge!

That's it!  Easy peasy!  Now it's your turn! Let's see your Christmas/Holiday-Themed Decor projects! Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project!  And make sure to link up your project to FCCB no later than Sunday at midnight for chance to win the Grand Prize!

Next stop...Melin's blog, Cooking With Cricut. Go see what she has in store for you today... it's sure to knock your "stockings" off.  HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Happy Crawling!

Yummy, Yummy, To My Tummy...COOKIES!!!

I made these super-yummy Chocolate Andes Cookies for a cookie exchange party last night with the girls...soooo fun!  They turned out really good and were really simple to make, so I'm sharing the recipe for anyone interested. 

The recipe originally came from Jackie Schmidt at AllRecipes.com:

Chocolate Andes Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 C butter

1 1/2 C brown sugar

2 T water

2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

1 1/2 C flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 (4.5 oz.) packages of Andes mints

Directions:

1.  In a saucepan, cook sugar, butter and water until melted.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted.  Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.

2.  Pour chocolate mixture into large bowl and beat in eggs, one at a time.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt and stir into chocolate.  Cover and refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.

3.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets.  Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

4.  Bake for 8 minutes in the oven.  When cookies come out of oven, press one Andes mint into the top of each cookie and let sit 1 minute.  When mint is soft, swirl with the back of a spoon to make a pattern with the green filling of the candy.

5.  Let cool.  Makes approx. 40 cookies.

Enjoy!  :)