Santa Hat Mini Brownie Bites #BakeInTheFun

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, MARS Incorporated. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeInTheFun #CollectiveBias

I love baking during the holidays! I grew up baking with my mom and siblings 

and we especially loved making treats to share with friends and family. My mom 

learned from her mom how to make delicious treats and I love that she passed it 

on to me. Now it's my turn to make delicious treats during the holidays and we 

can share with friends and family. It is so fun to get my kids in on the baking 

and creating. They really love helping and delivering the goodies to their friends.

 My Isabella loves to do the grocery shopping with me for the ingredients for our

holiday treats. So, we headed to Walmart to do some shopping and find the
perfect ingredients for our Santa Hat Mini Brownie Bites! We found the
Pillsbury™ Family Size Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix, 
Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Vanilla Flavored Frosting
and M&M’S® Brand Minis Milk Chocolate Baking Bits on baking 

aisle. We grabbed all three and headed home to bake.

First, we mixed up the Pillsbury™ Family Size Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix
and used our mini ice cream scoop to spoon it into the mini muffin pan. I used
cupcake liners on half of them and the other we didn't use liners. I wanted liners
and Isabella didn't, so we compromised and it worked perfectly. After we baked
them we let them cool on the cooling rack and then got to decorating.

Next, we used a decorating tip to pipe the red hats onto the mini brownie bites.
My baking hack for filling a frosting bag is to use a tall glass to hold the bag.
This leaves your hands free to fill the bag with frosting and makes it easier to load.

I used a medium sized tip for piping the red portion of the Santa Hat, but you
can use whatever you have on hand. If you don't have any decorating tips, you
can just cut a little hole in the corner of your plastic baggie and use it to pipe
instead. I've done this in a pinch and it works fine, especially if you you're not
looking for a fancy frosting shape.

Look at my cute little hats all ready for the white icing. This time I use a pretty
small decorator's tip for the white frosting. It all depends on what look you want.
Isabella had a great time helping me turn the little brownie bites to get the white
on them just right.

We decided to embellish our little Santa Hat brownies a bit and used the 

M&M’S® Brand Minis Milk Chocolate Baking Bits to add a little bling. This
was Isabella's favorite part and it was fun to give her a job that she could do all
by herself. If you think your hats are looking a little droopy, then pop them in the
refrigerator and they will stiffen up nicely.

I can't take a treat to a friend without a cute little printable note to go with it. So
I whipped up these cute cards that you can pair with your treats when you share
them with friends, family, co-workers or neighbors. I think baking as a family
really brings us together and helps makes the holidays extra sweet. I especially
love that my kids are so excited to share what they make with others. It helps to
spread the holiday spirit and cheer and helps us to get a boost from giving
those around us.

Do you bake with your family at the holidays? What's your favorite treat to make
with one another? Do you keep them all for yourself or share with others? I'd
love to hear about your baking holiday traditions! Share in the comments below!

Layer on Love with Holiday Blessing Bags #LayerOnLove

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #LayerOnLove #CollectiveBias

There is something in the air during the holiday season that makes me count my
blessings a little more often. I contemplate just how blessed my family is. I think on
how thankful I am that I have family, friends, and many of life's blessings that are not
afforded to others around me. It makes me want to give it forward and help
layer on love in my own community.

I was really excited to hear that Coca-Cola is partnering with the non-profit organization
One Warm Coat this holiday season. One Warm Coat's mission is to provide anyone in
need with a coat free of charge. Coca-Cola and One Warm Coat want to layer on
love this holiday season by helping to donate a half a million coats to those in need. A
warm coat is something a lot of us take for granted on chilly winter mornings.
Coca-Cola's goal to help provide a layer of love in the form of a coat is a wonderful
way to pay it forward and I'm glad I can help share the message of this campaign.

I was inspired by Coca-Cola's mission with One Warm Coat and want to give it forward 

in my own little community. I decided we would put together holiday blessing bags 

for the homeless in our area. I hope this simple act blesses the lives of others and helps
my kids look outward this holiday season. I want them to focus on giving to and
serving others instead of their own wish lists.

Before we went shopping for the items in our holiday blessing bags, I did a little
research about what would be most useful to include. One thing I discovered was
to not include soap in the bags because it makes any food in the bag taste like soap.
Also, including soft food items like applesauce and pudding are better choices
than crunchy granola bars or sticky candy because of lack of regular dental care.

I also found out that socks are one of the most needed items and one of the least
donated. This prompted me to want to do a little more than just our blessing
bags. So, we also decided to organize a sock drive at church. I had the kids help come
up with an action plan on how to collect the socks. We'll put bins out where others can
drop off new socks. If it goes well, then we'll try to expand the drive to our neighborhood.

There are a lot of useful things you can include in your holiday blessing bags, below is
a list of ideas of what we included to get you started.

{ITEMS FOR HOLIDAY BLESSINGS BAGS}

• warm hat
• gloves
• socks
• petroleum jelly
• deodorant
• wet wipes
• lip balm
• tissue
• mini first-aid kit
• sunscreen
•  gum
• applesauce
• fruit cup
• peanut butter
• beef jerky

Then, take all of your items and pack them into a large gallon size resealable zipper
storage bag. I made a printable note to include in my holiday blessing bags. When
we were packing them, I found it easiest to put the note in first and then layer the items
in on top of it. When I make these again, I will put the food items in a separate smaller
zipper bag, and then put it in the big bag to keep them separate from the toiletries

Making the blessing bags was such a joy! We had so much fun shopping at Walmart
for the items and finding little things that would be good to include in the bags. I was glad
my kids were getting in the spirit of giving and learning to layer on love.
It was fun to see the holiday themed bottles of Coca-Cola products while we were
shopping and remember how Coca-Cola encouraged us to give back to those in need.

My life is always so blessed when I remember to reach out and serve others. I hope that
this small project helps my family to remember to serve this holiday season, lift where
we stand and bless others.

By coming together and donating to One Warm Coat on Coke.com/LayerOnLove,
we could collectively help to put a coat on one million people in need this winter.

Tutorial: Favorite Music Lyrics Piano Tote Bag

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #ExpressUrSelfie #CollectiveBias

I love music. It has always been a huge part of my life and I love

how hearing a song can take you right back to a particular moment in time

and it feels like you are living it all over again. I always have a song running through

my head and can almost always think of a song lyric for any particular situation.

My friend once said, "You really do have a song for everything!"

It's so true! One day I'd love to put together the soundtrack of my life playlist

and have all those important songs all together make a musical trip down memory lane.

I'm so excited about the Share a Coke Sweepstakes! Especially because of the awesome

"Share A Coke Share A Song" bottles with favorite song lyrics on them!

Enter to win the Share a Coke Sweepstakes at cokeplaytowin.com/shareacokesweepstakes for a chance to win tickets to the American Music Awards® and more.

1. Snap a selfie with your favorite lyrics on a Share a Coke® bottle or can*

2. Upload your selfie to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ShareaCokeSweepstakes

3. Enter up to 12 times to increase your chances of winning a trip for 2 to the2016 American Music Awards®, along with hundreds of other great prizes! Including: wireless headphones, wireless speakers, a 1 year Premium Music App Membership or a $50 Music Gift Card

 

I had a blast at my local Albertsons going through all the bottles of Diet Coke® and 

Coca-Cola Zero™ and finding bottles with lyrics from some of my favorite songs.

You can even download the Shazam app on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and other

devices to find your Coca-Cola Share a Song! So fun!

It inspired me to make a tote bag that was inspired by one of my favorite song lyrics

"But I won't last a day without you." It totally takes me back to road trips with my

family to Idaho to visit my grandparents in the summer. And I love sharing the song

with my own kids as we make summer memories.

To make this musical piano tote bag you will need:

Rotary cutter

sewing machine

1" masking tape

seam allowance gauge

 Black fabric cut to the following dimensions

3 pieces 18x14

1 piece 6.5x14

1 piece 8.5x14

10 pieces 1.75x3.5

Contrasting black fabric cut to the dimensions

2 pieces 16x14

2 pieces 5x26

White fabric cut to the dimensions

1 piece 15x8

 

1. Cut your 10 pieces of fabric 1.75x3.5 - these will be your keys.

2. Using your seam allowance gauge, iron three of the side in a half inch

on the bottom and long sides to make the .75x2.5 in size.

3. Fold the white piece of fabric in half and iron.

Using the masking tape, start .75 inches from the sides, mark 1" intervals.

Then sew down either side of the tape with black thread to make the white keys.

I used a triple stitch on my machine to make them more pronounced.

 4. Pin the iron black keys onto the white keys using the pattern

3 black, space, 2 black, space, 3 black, space, 2 black.

5. Sew the pinned black keys to the white keys.

6. Now take the 6.5x14 piece of fabric and pin it to the top of your black

keys with right sides together and sew.

7. Repeat with the 8.5x14 piece by sewing it to the bottom of the white keys.

I top stitched along the seams to keep them laying nicely.

 8. Take two of your 18x14 pieces of black fabric and your two

contrasting 16x14 pieces to make some pockets on your bag.

9. Iron your 16x14 pieces in half  so they are 8x14 and pin them to

your 8x14 pieces of fabric and sew with a basting stitch around 3 sides.

10. Fold the piece in half and mark the middle with a piece of masking tape

and then sew down that middle mark to make 2 separate pockets on each.

11. Choose your song lyrics and sketch them onto your fabric above one pocket

with a white fabric pencil. Then hoop and use a back stitch to embroider them

onto your bag.

 12. Now all your pieces are ready to put together into a bag! Put

the keyboard and song lyrics with right sides together, pin, and sew with

a 3/8" seam allowance on three sides, leaving the top open. Repeat with your

interior lining pieces.

13. Pinch and flatten the corners of each "bag" and sew a line 1 1/2" from the

point to create a boxy bottom.

 15. For your straps, take your 5"x26" pieces and iron them in half with

wrong sides together. Then open up and iron each side into the middle crease

you create. Then fold over and iron closed do you don't have any exposed seams.

16. Turn your interior lining piece right sides out and slip it inside your piano/lyrics

exterior fabric so that the right sides are together.

17. Pin your straps in between the right sides about 2.5" from the sides of the bag.

 18. Sew up the top of the bag with a .5" seam allowance, making sure

to leave a 2"-3" opening for turning the bag right side out.

19. Turn your bag right side out and then push the lining into the bag

and top stitch around the bag to make it looked finished and close up the

hole you left for turning.

Now you have an adorable bag that you can carry around that will remind

you of a special moment in life. I know that whenever I load this baby up with

Diet Coke and Coke Zero and head out with the family, I'll always remember how

special those summer road trips to my grandparents were and try to make

memories with my own kids.

I know that expressing myself through music is already rubbing off on my

kids because they love singing and I catch them singing lyrics to some of our

favorite songs throughout the day. I love how sharing music as a family helps

us anchor to one another and have a shared interest that we can all participate in.

It's really fun to break out the disco ball wireless speaker, throw on our favorite

songs, and sing our hearts out while having a dance party.

I know that music has gotten me through a lot of tough times in my life and

whenever I need a little pick me up I find good songs with lyrics

 that either lets me mope until I feel better or rev me up and snap me out of it.

Is music a big part of your life?

What lyrics speak to your soul? I'd love to hear them!!!

Let's Share A Coke and A Song!

Becoming Adventurous: Family Adventures with an Adventure Impaired Mom

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #allfreeclear #CollectiveBias

It's no secret that I'm not an outdoor-adventurous kind of mom. The dirt, the mud,

the grass stains, the mess, the horror! I get a little panicky when I think of all the laundry

and mess that goes along with outdoor adventures. However, in an effort to step outside

of my comfort zone and be a cooler and more adventurous mom, I've started trying

new things with my kids over the past few months to get us outside and more active.

This means more fun, but it also means more muddy laundry, so thank goodness for

all® free clear detergent to save the day and calm my adventure impaired heart.

After an afternoon of geocaching and climbing through weeds, bushes, and shrubs,
it's nice to know that I'm washing my kids' clothes with #1 recommended brand by
dermatologists, allergists and pediatricians. And while all® free clear detergent is
100% free of dyes and perfumes, it is not intended to treat or prevent allergies.
However, I take comfort in the fact that it removes 99% of the top every day
and seasonal allergens - like dog and cat dander, dust mite matter, ragweed,
and grass and weed pollen. This is important to our family because all three of my kids
have allergies and sensitive skin. I love that all® free clear detergent gets rid
of the allergens, is gentle on their sensitive skin, and gets the play clothes
clean and stain free.

I love that the kids can enjoy a day at Adventure Playground with friends, exploring all

the dirty, unstructured play that it has to offer, and I can sit in the shade and not worry

about all the "things" they will bring home on their clothes. 

I know that all® free clear detergent will take care of all of those "things" 

and won't irritate their skin in the process.

Adventure Playground is the perfect place for them to explore and create

and just be kids. I really appreciate that our city has created a setting that allows for this.

Regular parks are great, but I love the open space and the non-directed play areas

that allow the kids to just be kids without too much adult intervention.

My Isabella has the most sensitive skin of all three of my kids. She has to be really 

careful with what comes in contact with her skin and I have to be extra careful

with what I wash her clothes with. There were times she would scratch 

herself to bleeding and I felt helpless to know what to help her. 

Since using all® free clear detergent over the last few years, 

she has been pretty much rash and eczema free and I'm so thankful!

So whenever we're running low, I head to Sam's Club and pick up 

all® free clear detergent so that I can keep the kids' clothes clean, allergen free,

and ready for our next family adventure. It really has been good for my family for me

to feel like I have the freedom to let my kids have those adventures.

I honestly used to send the kids with my husband for the "dirty" things because it

was just too anxiety inducing, but now I'm the one leading the walks and hikes.
I even planned and executed a family camping trip during spring break and I loved it.
Who am I?

So, if you are adventure impaired like I am, there is hope thanks to all® free clear detergent.

I know my kids are a lot happier when they're unplugged, outdoors, and are given the

chance to explore and play without too much direction from me. Especially since

I no longer shout - be careful, you're going to get dirty!

Are you adventure impaired like me?
Or are you an adventure loving mama?
How do you help create opportunities for adventure and free play for your family?
I need all the help I can get!

Taste the Madness: Play to win with Coca-Cola and OREO

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GreatTasteTourney #CollectiveBias

 
How do you prepare for the Madness? Have you filled out brackets with coworkers, friends or family?  What kind of snacks do you make to get ready for the Big Tournament? We always stock up on Coke Zero and OREOs, and come up with ways to make them fun while we watch the games.

When you buy Coke Zero and Nabisco products, like OREO, at Albertsons, Safeway and other banners (Tom Thumb, Acme, Shaws, Pavillions, Star Market etc.) you can enter to win tons of cool basketball themed prizes… even a chance to attend some of the final games!

Available Prizes:

64 Cola-Cola ZeroTM Cap and Basketball

32 Over the Door Basketball Hoop

16 Albertsons $50 Gift Card

8 Electronic Basketball Game

4 10 ft Basketball Goal

2 Gift Card for TV/Surround Sound System

1 Trip for 4 to the 2017 NCAA®

Men’s Final Four® in Phoenix

 ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN GREAT PRIZES! 
HOW TO ENTER: 
1. Purchase participating* Coca-Cola or NABISCO products
2. Upload a photo of your receipt showing your qualifying product purchase
3. Register and upload receipt photo to: cokeplaytowin.com/tastethemadness 
 4. Receive 1 entry per qualifying purchase for a chance to win prizes!

• Mondelēz International and Coca-Cola are Corporate Champion and Partners of the NCAA.
• NCAA and Taste the Madness are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
• © Mondelēz International group © Coca-Cola Zero is a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company.
• NABISCO is the Official Cookie & Cracker of the NCAA®
• Coca-Cola Zero™ is the Official Fan Refreshment of the NCAA®

Ghoulish Goosebump Movie Cupcakes and Family Movie Night

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MakeItAMovieNight #CollectiveBias

We love a good family movie night. It gives the kids something exciting to

look forward to after a long week filled with school, dance, water polo, Cub scouts,

piano lessons and homework. They love taking turns to choose a movie each Friday night,

but sometimes they both unanimously agree on a movie for the family movie night.

When they heard that Goosebumps was being released, they were both on board

for a fun family night with this spooky movie.

 I wanted to make the night special since this is a movie I knew we would all

enjoy and so I headed to Walmart to pick up some supplies.

I have a thing about themes - I really like them. Themes and parties, they just

go together. So sometimes when we have family movie night I want to create

snacks, desserts and maybe even a craft that follows the theme of the movie.

Goosebumps is the perfect theme for a fun family night!

 At Walmart I saw a display that caught my eye - Make it a Move Night!

Perfect! If you buy Orville Redenbacher popcorn, M&M’S® Chocolate Candies,

Coca-Cola, and a Sony Pictures movie in one transaction between 12/22/15-2/2/16, 

snap a picture of your receipt, and visit uploadreceipt.com/movienight

and submit it by 2/9/16 you can get a $10 VUDU credit by mail!

Done! I grabbed all four and headed home to whip up some delicious treats.

First up were some delicious (and ghoulish) Diet Coke Cupcakes.

I love the kick that the Diet Coke gives to the cake and the frosting.

Not only is there a kick with the Diet Coke, but the cake is nice and moist!

I had to add a little bit of green food coloring to make them perfectly Goosbumps

worthy for our family movie night.

If you want to try these yummy cupcakes for yourself, follow the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake you'll need:

1 white/vanilla cake mix (I used a french vanilla mix)

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup Diet Coke

2 tsp vanilla

green food coloring gel 

For the frosting you'll need:

4 cups powdered sugar

2 cups butter (room temperature)

1 jar marshmallow creme

1/4 cup Diet Coke

INSTRUCTIONS

1.Melt the butter. 

2. Combine the cake mix, butter, eggs, buttermilk, Diet Coke, and vanilla

in a mixing bowl and beat on low for 30 seconds until well combined. Then, beat on

medium for 2 minutes. 

3. Add in the green food coloring gel until it's the perfect ghoulish green.

4. Line two muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners.

(I just happened to have some Halloween liners lefetover!)

5. Fill each liner with about 1/3 cup batter. 

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

7. Let cool in pan for 3-5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, combine all the ingredients above and mix until well combined.

You may need to add a little bit more of the powdered sugar, depending on how heavy

handed you are with the Diet Coke.

I like to pipe my frosting, so I snipped the corner off a plastic storage bag, inserted my

decorating tip, and piped on the beautiful green frosting. You could just frost with

a knife if that is more your style.

They turned out perfectly and were delicious. I had some gummy zombie hands leftover

from our spooky Halloween dinner, so I added them to a few of the cupcakes just to

put them over the top in the cool department with my kids.

The flavor was fantastic and they were a big hit with everyone.

I couldn't help myself and I popped up some of the Orville Redenbacher movie theater butter

popcorn and made a creepy popcorn cake that I decorated with M&M’S® Chocolate Candies

and some gummy eyeballs. The kids got a big kick out of the creepy cupcakes and popcorn

cake when they got home from school and couldn't wait to watch Goosebumps as a family.

Since we needed to wait for Dad to get home, I gave the kids some construction paper

and paper lunch sacks and had them create their own ventriloquist dummies.

It was such a great activity and it was fun to see their creativity come out.

Isabella was intent on making herself into a ventriloquist dummy and JT wanted

to make a Slappy puppet since he had been him for Halloween.

Do you love having family movie nights? What's your family's favorite movie?
Be sure to check out more fun movie night ideas and be sure to take advantage of the
awesome VUDU offer!