Whole Wheat Oatmeal M&M Cookies

Honestly, I'm really excited to share this with you guys!! My two favorite cookies are whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip, and M&M... so I was thinking, why not combine the two?! So that is what I did! I also used Valentine's Day M&Ms because Valentine's Day is a couple weeks away! :)

Ingredients

- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 2 large eggs

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 cups whole wheat flour

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2 cups old-fashioned oats

- 1 (12.6 oz) bag M&Ms

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line cookie sheets and set aside. I have 3 cookie sheets, and I'm pretty sure I used each one twice.

3. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the butters and sugars together. 

4. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. 

5. Slowly add whole wheat flour and beat until well combined.

6. Add in baking soda, baking powder, and salt, beating until well combined.

7. Add in oats and mix until well combined. I actually use a spatula to do this, because it's too much work for my little hand mixer!

8. Fold in the M&Ms.

9. Scoop cookie dough on cookie sheet.

10. Bake 10-12 minutes. 

Mini Valentine's Day Heart Funfetti Cakes

You will need:

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 cup butter

- 1 cup sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 Tablespoon 

- 1/3 cup milk

- 1/4 cup sprinkles 

(plus more for the sprinkles on the frosting)

I honestly don't even remember where I got these mini cake pans from, but they were cute, so I bought them! Typical right? Well I figured with Valentine's Day coming up, it was the perfect time to use them! 

They didn't turn out quite as "hearty" as I had hoped once they were frosted..but they tasted yummy! 

So here's what I did: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Beat sugar and butter on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes.

4. Lower speed, and add eggs, one at a time. Scrape bowl as needed.

5. Add vanilla, and mix until well combined. 

6. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add half of the flour/baking powder mixture. Mix.

7. Pour in milk, mix.

8. Add other half of the flour/baking powder mixture. Mix until well combined. 

9. Fold in sprinkles with a spatula.

10. Fill mini cake tins with batter. (As you'll see in my pictures, I filled them about 2/3 full, it was way too much, and next time I'll only be filling it about 1/3-1/2 full)

11. Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (Like I said, I filled mine way too full, so they took awhile.. checking with a toothpick is just always the way to go, every oven is different!)

12. Allow them to cool for a few minutes, and remove cake from pan.

13. Allow to cool completely, and frost the cakes! 

14. Top with sprinkles! 

Our Christmas Recap!

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve because my Dad was going out of town the next day! :p

We got Dad the first and second Home Alone movies!

And a blue-ray player too! 

The Husband got a movie, a video game, and a coupon book from Datevitation!  He's also getting an iphone 5 this weekend :p 

I got candy (of course), a Bath and Body Works gift card, and my favorite, a Sea Shepherd replica ship!
I am pretty dang excited to put it on my desk! Dad also got us gift cards because he rocks :)
I also got a passport holder because my mom and stepdad are taking the husband, me, my little sister, little brother, and his girlfriend on a cruise in March! 

The three of us went out to dinner Christmas Eve, love my Dad :) 

After dinner The Husband and I went to his Grandparents' house to see his Mom's side of the family.
Next year, we're going to be spending Christmas with his Dad and step-mom, I'm excited! 

We got both of our little sisters socks and nail polish, simple but fun! 

My little sister opening her's on Christmas morning at my Mom's. Miss her lots and lots! 

Our Christmas dinner! 

Merry Christmas From Us to You!

Last year for Christmas Cards we just sent out a wedding picture because we had just gotten married.

This year though, we decided to take some Christmas pictures while we were out of town for Thanksgiving.  My little sister took them, and they turned out pretty great :) Here's what we sent out this year:

(I took out some personal stuff I don't really want around on the internet, like where we work..)

{click to enlarge}
Year in Review Newsletter from: Polkaprints Etsy Shop

Christmas Photo Inspiration 

And just for fun, here are some behind the scene photos!

And my lovely little sister..

I hope you all have a great Christmas!! :) 

Glitter Light-bulb Ornaments

I used: 

- Old Christmas lights

- Glitter

- Mod Podge 

(or Elmers glue would probably work too)

- Foam Paint Brushes

- Sealer

- Hemp Rope

Each "ornament" consists of two lights

So I was at Target a couple weeks ago and saw some of these, but they were made out of Styrofoam, and I can't say it was really the kind of quality I wanted, but it did give me a great idea!
Now you might not know this about us, but we don't have lights on the house... We wanted to, but it just wasn't on top of our budgeting priority list! This is where The Husband's grandparents come in. They have a house decorating party every year, so a couple days before that happened, we asked them to keep the old bulbs that didn't work anymore. Let's just say, we left with a bunch :)

What to do:

(pictures below directions!)

1. Use a foam brush to "paint" the Mod Podge onto the light-bulb.

2. Pour glitter all over the light-bulb.. And don't say I didn't warn you that it makes a HUGE mess! 

3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 with the second light-bulb.

4. Spray with some kind of sealer. (Optional) 

     I used Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer.. it kind of helped the glitter stay on :p

     I also cut squares in an old box to set the bulbs in so they would stand up straight.. 

5. Cut a piece of hemp rope (or ribbon), and use each end to tie a bow on each ornament, connecting them together. I stumbled across this version on Pinterest, she uses ribbon! :) 

6. Hang your ornament and admire it! 

And the most important step...

7.  Have a MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS :) 

"Tangled Lights" Cupcakes

This weekend we had Tanner's little brother and sister over for a sleepover! The Husband and I pre-made some of these chocolate cupcakes because we wanted to decorate with the kids :) The best thing about these cupcakes, sloppy is better :P Super easy to do with kids because it does not have to be perfect! 

I still haven't found a frosting I'm super crazy about, I am really picky. So we just did the easy thing, and bought frosting ;) Then we used a hand mixer to incorporate the icing color into the frosting.. I would have liked for it to be a little darker, but it's okay :) And then we used round sprinkles for our "lights"! 

And our "bite in the cupcake" makes its usual appearance ;) 

Inspiration: iambaker.net

DIY Advent Movie Calendar

I wanted to make an Advent Calendar but a lot of the ones I love, like reading a different book every night and doing an activity, are geared towards kids. Well we don't have any kiddies running around, so I decided on Christmas movies! I love love love Christmas movies, even though most of them are super cheesy, it's part of the fun :) So here's what I did:

Oh, and don't forget to write your numbers :)

It would probably be easier to wrap each section, and then glue them together, but I didn't think about it until after I glued the section together, so I just wrapped the whole thing :P

Because of the fact that a few of our movies were on ABC Family, some of the movies needed to be on certain days, but most of them were chosen randomly out of a bowl :) It's up to you, do whatever is easier and works better for you. 

Here's our movie list:

December 1 - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

December 2 - Holiday in Handcuffs

December 3 - Holiday in the Sun 

December 4 - Holiday Engagement - Netflix

December 5 - Winnie the Pooh & Christmas too - ABC Family

December 6 - Mickey's Christmas Carol - ABC Family

December 7 - A Christmas Carol (the new one) - ABC Family

December 8 - Crazy for Christmas - Netflix

December 9 - 8 Crazy Nights - Netflix

December 10 - Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph (cartoons)

December 11 - Elf

December 12 - Snow Globe - Netflix

December 13 - 12 Dates of Christmas - Netflix

December 14 - Mr. Magoos Christmal Carol

December 15 - Home Alone

December 16 - Home Alone 2: Lost in NY

December 17 - Miracle on 34th Street

December 18 - Christmas Angel - Netflix 

December 19 - It's a Wonderful Life

December 20 - Secret Santa - ABC Family

December 21 - A Very Brady Christmas - ABC Family

December 22 - A Christmas Carol (the original)

December 23 - The Grinch

December 24 - The Polar Express

December 25 - The Santa Clause 

Inspiration: countryliving.com