To Our Creative, Talented and Compassionate Readers, Would You Be willing to Donate Your Handmade or Business Items To This Family’s Silent Auction?

1 Mar posted by Plum Adorable

On December 7, 2012, our neighbors received a phone call that is every parent’s nightmare. Their 27 year old son, Timmothy, was in a tragic car accident. As you can imagine, the weeks that followed have been extremely difficult. But, in the midst of this tragedy, there have also been many miracles.

Timmothy has a long recovery ahead of him. Please take a minute to watch the video below. The amount of injuries that Timmothy suffered is overwhelming, but more importantly this video shows what an inspiration he has been to everyone around him. Thankfully, he is expected to fully recover, but his medical expenses are immense and continue to rise. On April 13, 2013, there will be a silent auction to help with these rising expenses.

Here is where you can help!

We know how many creative and talented readers we have out there. We realize that many of you don’t know this family, but if you were in The Lang’s situation, you would be beyond appreciative for the support!

The silent auction will have a variety of things donated. There will be some big items as well as some themed baskets with lots of smaller items. If you feel led to donate something from your business

please contact me here.

I will email you the address of where to send your donations. Click on the donation form below to download and print.

If you are able and feel led to help with a monetary donation, please click below.

https://www.wepay.com/donations/timmothy-lang-fund_1

You can also follow his Facebook page Love For Timmothy

The Lang Family appreciates your support!

Crash Survivor, Timmothy Lang

Click on either image below to download and print the donation form.

You are the best!

Thank you,

Jenny

Tooth Fairy Pillows

28 Feb posted by Plum Adorable

The Tooth Fairy has been an EXTREMELY busy lady around our neighborhood these past few weeks! Our oldest was SO EXCITED to lose his top two teeth last week within days of each other and within days of his best friend losing two of his teeth too and then another one of their great buddies lost one of his too, both while at school! Which of course makes it even more exciting!

Our littlest one, has her bottom two teeth on the verge of coming out any day now, a first for her! So not only is the tooth fairy incredibly busy, and going a little bit broke, but also getting a bit sleep deprived, waiting to make the tooth-for-cash swap!

I happen to have an AMAZING mother in law who has made each of our kids really adorable Tooth Fairy Pillows and I can not thank her enough for these nifty inventions! They have made the tooth fairy’s job so much easier and my kids LOVE their pillows!!

When each of my kids got their first wiggly tooth, Grandma started sewing (so thankful Grandma can sew since I have STILL not mastered that!) and then sent them a special package with their very own tooth fairy pillow. So once the teeth come out, I place it in a small plastic bag, slip it in the pillow, and then they put it right under their pillow for the tooth fairy to find! Much easier for the tooth fairy to find a pillow than a small bag or envelope underneath a pillow! Kaylee, my youngest, is still waiting for that first tooth to come out so she can officially use her pillow for the first time!

I did end up adding a piece of ribbon to each pillow so that now each pillow hangs on the kid’s bedframe instead of going under their pillows! I have some light sleepers and the tooth fairy was having some issues with the older one waking up a lot!

Here are pictures of our Tooth Fairy Pillows!

If you don’t have a fabulous grandma in your life who can sew them for you, I have seen them all over Etsy or if you can sew yourself, I have seen tons of pictures and patterns all over Pinterest! It would be a fun project you could do with your kids too!

~JESS

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Filed Under: Crafts, Fabric, Kids

Valentines Décor (Free Printable sign And Banner)

12 Feb posted by Plum Adorable

I decorated for Valentines around the middle of January. I know some may think I’m crazy, but here we are, two days away from Valentines Day and I’m glad I got to enjoy it since it will be over before we know it! I created the printable sign below. I love the saying. I also created the triangles with hearts in them and made a banner. And, because I can’t leave well enough alone, I put glue inside the hearts and added red glitter. Glitter makes everything better.

I used the same “Love is patient…” printable that I used last year. Click here or on the picture below to download and print.

I made these crepe paper flowers glued to balls a couple of years ago. You can see above the white part of the balls is showing. I didn’t complete the whole ball. One because it was tedious. And two because it was easier to put them in jars like this. I had planned to put something inside the jar, but then I sort of liked it just as it was.

I also finally got around to cutting out pieces of tulle and putting them on Christmas lights. I have been wanting to do this for the past two Christmases, but never had time, so I thought they would be just as cute with Valentines décor. I bought that little box at Joanne Fabric and painted it white and distressed it.

I realize there isn’t much time to decorate, but I say it’s never too late! Scroll down to download these free printables!

For our new readers are some other fun ideas for Valentines Day. Homemade Chocolate Peanut Cups plus free printable tags.

Or print one of these four printables.

Or if you somehow missed seeing these bleach pen t-shirts then click here!

Or if you are looking for a fun craft to do with the kids, these yarn wreath hearts are fun!

__________________________________________________________________________

I created the signs to be printed off on 8.5×11 inch paper, but the box around them is an 8×10 so that you can frame it. If you want to go even fancier, you can cut around the scalloped scroll and add it to something else! Click on the title or the picture to download and print.

Brown- “A Life Without Love Is No Life At All”

Black- “A Life Without Love Is No Life At All”

Triangles for Banner

Happy Valentines Day!

~Jenny

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Filed Under: burlap, Crafts, Fabric, Free Printables, Kids, Kids, Misc., Paper, Recipes, Sweets, Valentine's Day

Create your own inspiration Boards

10 Feb posted by Plum Adorable

One of my favorite blogs is I Heart Nap Time. Jamielyn has just launched a very fun and creative site called The Inspiration Board .

This site allows you to create personal inspiration boards. You can choose the size of the board you want and then dress it up to make it your own unique board. She plans to add more ‘goodies’ in the future.

Below is the board I created. My inspiration is my sister’s wedding. She plans to have it in a barn. It is going to be so much fun!

Starting tomorrow, Monday, February 11th, you can vote for your favorite board. Create a board yourself and link it up and/or vote for your favorite! If you happen to like my board of course I’d love your vote. Click here and vote for #107!

I think you will love this new site! You can create as many boards as you’d like and save them to come back to later.

Have fun and let us know if you create a board!

~Jenny (AKA #107)

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Filed Under: Crafts, Fabric, Misc., Recipes

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

29 Jan posted by Plum Adorable

I think there are things in life that are meant to go together…peanut butter and jelly, biscuits and gravy, bacon and eggs, salt and pepper, Batman and Robin, Mario and Luigi, cake and ice cream, Jess and Tyler (that’s the hubby for those who don’t know Mr. Plum Adorable’s real name yet) and of course Peanut Butter and Chocolate!! But wait…Peanut Butter and Double Chocolate Brownies with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips sprinkled on top?!? OF COURSE! DESTINY!!

So when I came across this pin on Pinterest… I knew that I would not be disappointed!

Thank you SO MUCH Baked Perfection for sharing this recipe with the world!!!

Like, Baked Perfection, I also took the easier route and did not make my brownies from scratch and chose to make the mini bite size brownies rather than 12 cupcake size brownies.

Here are the ingredients you will need!

Brownie Mix (whatever additional ingredients the box mix requires)

Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter Chips

Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Crisco or Cooking Spray for your Muffin Pan

Prepare the Brownie mix as directed on your box. Make sure to liberally grease your muffin pan! I have made these about 5 times now and twice have had issues with them getting stuck in the pan. (This tends to happen if they are undercooked and under-greased!) If you are making the mini brownies, cook for about 13-15 minutes and remove when a tooth pick inserted comes out slightly wet. (Erring on the side of a little more done has been better in my experience with them. ) If you are making the full size, I would refer back to Baked Perfection and they’ll refer you back to another site that did the larger brownies!

Once you remove your brownies from the oven, upon cooling the centers are “supposed” to cave in on themselves some creating a small bowl in the center but this has never happened for me in the 5 or 6 times I’ve made them. So while they are still fairly warm, tap the center of each brownie with the end of a spoon to create a crater in the brownie where your peanut butter will sit.

Place peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl, microwave for 45 seconds seconds and then spoon into the middle of each brownie with a teaspoon while brownies are still warm. Add a couple peanut butter and chocolate chips to each brownie top. Cool completely in pan.

ENJOY! They are seriously SO GOOD!!!

~JESS

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Filed Under: Recipes, Sweets

Blow Me A Kiss Valentine! {Free Printable Tags}

21 Jan posted by Plum Adorable

This weekend I went to the craft store Ben Franklin and saw this cute idea. Gumballs with a Hershey’s Kiss on top. Hence, ‘Blow Me A Kiss’! Ben Franklin actually made them in stand up plastic tubes. But, since they are .99 cents each, I thought they would be cute in pretzel bags. And lucky for me I had a bunch left over!

Here is what you need…

Gumballs (Ben Franklin had LOTS of different colors!)

Pretzel Bags and Hershey’s kisses. I think I got all 75 of those pretzel bags at Walmart for like $2.99. Much better than .99 cents per plastic tube.

Layer your gumballs in your bag. You can choose how many. I didn’t fill them to the top, so I cut off any extra plastic bag that was hanging over. The bags are a little big, so push your gumballs to one side. This picture doesn’t do a very good job of showing you, but you get the idea.

Then put a piece of tap on the back where I folded it.

Add a cute ribbon, or use the silver ties that come with the pretzel bags. Print out our tags and attach them to the ribbon or tie.

So cute right?

My second grader is very excited to give them to her friends. But, my fifth grader said, ‘Mom, I can’t give those to the BOYS!’ :)

Click on the image below to download and print.

Shortly after I posted this I found this cute blog that made them with the plastic tubes!

Also, for those of you that missed it last year check out these free printable cards. Click on the images below to take you to the post.

Have Fun!

~Jenny

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Filed Under: Free Printables, Kids, Valentine's Day

Book Recommendation- Wonder By RJ Palacio

16 Jan posted by Plum Adorable

Two days ago, I shared with you my list of 130 books that I read in 2012. (You can find my list here.) The book that I am about to tell you about didn’t make that list because I found it right after the start of the New Year. I happened to find it sitting on a shelf of “Best Bets” at our local library. These are the books that the librarians have a hard time keeping in stock because they are in such high demand. The shockingly blue cover and one-eyed faced on the cover instantly caught my attention! I am instantly drawn to books because of cover art. I’ll have to do a post sometime on some of my favorite book cover art, there are some truly GORGEOUS books out there!!!! ( And NO, you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover, I have been lead astray MANY times!!)

But back to this WONDER-ful book…Wonder by RJ Palacio. (See what I did there?!)

I can NOT recommend this book enough!!! Read it for yourself, then read it with your kids (it is recommended for age 10 and up) and TALK about it with them! My oldest is 8 and I am going to read it with him before too long. Before I get into WHY I loved this book so much, let me tell you a bit about it…

The publisher’s description:
August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances?

This story was truly unforgettable for me. I loved Auggie’s family by the time I finished this book! You not only get to hear from Auggie but the story is told from other points of view as well, including his older sister Via, who is protective, fierce and loving, but still struggling with the realities of being a teenager who has grown up well before her time. You hear from some of Auggie’s classmates and friends as well. I laughed out loud, and I sobbed as I read through Auggie’s story. I wanted to yell at some of these kids and how they treated this boy just for simply being different, and even worse was seeing how some of those children’s parents acted too! But while there were some truly mean-spirited and down right horrible people in Auggie’s story, there were some TRULY kind and wonderful ones too!

This book is such a good reminder of how important it is to simply be KIND! To teach our kids how important kindness and empathy can be. To remind ourselves that we are the examples of this to our children.

So go out, find yourself a copy, you can get it here, or from your local library! And be ready to cheer Auggie on and to be inspired!

~JESS

‘Pin The Kiss’ Game

16 Jan posted by Plum Adorable

My daughter made up this game last year when my son turned four. We played it at his family birthday party and the kids thought it was so funny. I can’t believe he is going to be five soon. My baby is growing up!

This game is very simple to create. Take a picture of your ‘victim’ with his/her mouth open and hands up.

Print it out and hang it on a wall. I think I only had 8.5×11 inch paper at the time, but it would be fun to print a really big one!

Put some tape on the bottom of Hershey’s kisses and have your guests try to “Pin the Kiss’ in their mouth or on one of their hands. Here is the birthday boy pinning on his kiss!

First sister checking her ‘pin’.

Second sister taking her shot. Soon to be Uncle thought it would be funny to place himself in front of the picture which threw her off.

Yeah…not even close…we gave her a second chance.

The first of my sister’s taking her turn…pretty close!

Second sister…she got it right in his mouth! It was cool, until we got her to admit she could see through her blindfold!

The kids wanted to write their names next to their kisses just to MAKE SURE who was closest in the end. Honestly we had not point system, but it would be simple enough to make one up if you were having a bigger party. Ten points closest to the mouth, five points if you pin it on the hands. You could even give each person two kisses if it was a bigger print!

Points or no points the kids thought it was fun and it’s such an easy game to create!

~Jenny

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Filed Under: Birthdays, Kids

100 Books In One Year

15 Jan posted by Plum Adorable

Hi Adorable Friends! We’ve missed you guys! Sorry for the delayed absence. Jenny and I have had a rather long absence from the blogging world that wasn’t necessarily by choice. Long story short there was a broken computer, Holiday craziness, dance recitals, out of town guests, and a few other life issues that just made it a little difficult to make time for blogging! But we are back and ready to craft, cook, and blog!

Right about this time last year, I decided that one of my goals for 2012 was to read 100 books throughout the year. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read but have never kept track of my reading so I had no idea if this was actually a realistic goal or not. My good friend, Karla was actually my inspiration behind this idea, she had done the same thing and posted her book list on her blog last year. And, she is always passing along great books for me to read too!

So last January, I just kept reading (since I am pretty much ALWAYS reading SOMETHING) and then started keeping a list! And each time I finished a book, I just added it to the list. By the end of January, I had read 16 books! So if I kept up that same pace, I could EASILY make 100 books (almost double it in fact!!)

I did NOT double my goal but I DID surpass it! By the end of December, I had read 130 books!!! Some of which I LOVED!!! Some I liked and some I wanted to throw away. Actually I think there were only 2 of those and I ended up quitting them and didn’t add them to my list!

So here is a copy of my list! Just in case you are looking for some great reads! You’ll find that I tend to read pretty much all Fiction (there is little bit, teeny tiny bit of Non Fiction) and a ton of Christian authors, some Young Adult, a lot of Romance, Mystery and Fantasy. I am always looking for suggestions so most of these are suggestions from other friends or other blogs. My favorites from the year are starred. *

*Jenny here, interrupting Jess’ post. I think some of you may be thinking ‘yah right’ who can read that many books. Well, I am here to tell you that Jess can! I will never forget when I gave her ‘Water For Elephants’ and she finished it in like 3 days. Who does that? I seriously think she took one of those courses that teaches you to speed read…seriously, she is amazing.

January

1. Sarah Dessen- Along For The Ride

2.Susan May Warren- Noble Legacy #1

3. Susan May Warren- Noble Legacy #2

4. Susan May Warren-Noble Legacy #3

5. Cassandra Clare- City of Fallen Angels

6. Rachel Hauck- Dining with Joy

7. Susan May Warren- Sons of Thunder

8. Susan May Warren- Nightingale

9. Becca Fitzpatrick- Silence

10. Ally Condie- Crossed

11. Susan May Warren- Double Trouble

12. James Patterson- Now You See Her

13. Beth Pattillo- Dashwood Sisters Tell All

14. Susan May Warren- Licensed for Trouble

15. Nicholas Sparks- The Best of Me

16. Suzanne Collins- The Hunger Games **

February

17. Rob Lowe-Stories I Only Tell My Friends

18. Julie Klassen- The Girl in the Gatehouse

19. Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck- Love Lifted Me

20. Christopher Paolini- Inheritance

21. Stephanie Perkins- Lola and the Boy Next Door

22. Krista McGee- First Date

23. Colleen Coble- Smitten

24. Julie Klassen- The Silent Governess

25. Susan May Warren- The Shadow of Your Smile *

26. John Green- The Fault in Our Stars

27. Marian Keyes- Watermelon

March

28. Suzanne Collins- Catching Fire *

29. Suzanne Collins- Mocking Jay *

30. Julie Klassen- The Maid of Fairbourne Hall

31. Tracie Peterson- Chasing the Sun

32. Richelle Mead- Last Sacrifice

33. Lori Copeland- Outlaw’s Bride

34. Lori Copeland- A Kiss for Cade

35. Lori Copeland- Walker’s Wedding

36. Lori Copeland- Three Times Blessed

37. Megan Bostic- Never Eighteen*

38. Maureen Johnson- The Last Little Blue Envelope

April

39. Gilbert Morris- A Conspiracy of Ravens

40. Lyn Cote- The Desires of Her Heart

41. Gilbert Morris-Sonnet of a Dead Contessa

42. Lori Copeland- One True Love

43. Lyn Cote- Her Inheritance Forever

44. Lyn Cote- Her Abundant Joy

45. Cayla Kluver- Allegiance*

46. Karen Kingsbury- Loving

47. Linda Windsor- Maire

48. Maria V Snyder- Touch of Power*

49. Lauren Destefano- Fever

May

50. Laura Hillenbrand- Unbroken*

51. Cynthia Hand- Hallowed

52. Tracey Bianchi- Mom Connection

53. Jodi Picoult- Sing You Home

54. Jennifer Rothschild- Lessons I Learned in the Dark

55. Siri Mitchell- A Heart Most Worthy

56. Lauren Oliver- Pandemonium

57. Emily Giffin- Heart of the Matter

58. Charlaine Harris- An Ice Cold Grave

59. Cassandra Clare- City of Lost Souls

60. Peggy Orenstein- Cinderella Ate My Daughter

June

61. Susan May Warren- Heiress

62. Emily Giffin- Baby Proof

63. Emily Giffin- Love the One You’re With

64. Erin Morgenstern- The Night Circus

65. Sophie Kinsella- I’ve Got You’re Number *

66. Charlaine Harris- Grave Sight

67. Sarah Addison Allen- The Girl Who Chased the Moon*

68. Lisa Dale-A Promise of Safe Keeping

69. Mary Jane Clark- Dancing in the Dark

70. Jodi Picoult- Lone Wolf

71. Nicole Baart- Beneath the Night Tree*

72. Nicole Baart- The Moment Between

73. Sarah Addison Allen- The Peach Keeper*

74. Nancy Moser- An Unlikely Suitor

July

75. Nicole Baart- After the Leaves Fall

76. Nicole Baart- Summer Snow

77. Veronica Roth- Divergent*

78. Sara Zaar- Once Was Lost*

79. Nicole Baart- Far From Here

80.Rachel Hauck- The Wedding Dress

81. Kathy Herman- Relentless Pursuit

82. Tamara Leigh- Leaving Carolina

83. Tamara Leigh- Nowhere Carolina

84.Tamara Leigh- Restless in Carolina

85. Jenny B Jones- Save the Date *

86. Janet Evonavich & Dorien Kelly- Love in a Nutshell

87.Eva Marie Everson- Waiting for Sunrise

88. Jenny Han- The Summer I Turned Pretty*

89. Tamara Leigh- Splitting Harriet

August

90. Kristin Cashore- Bitterblue

91. Emily Giffin-Where We Belong*

92. Karen Kingsbury- Coming Home

93. Jenny Han- We’ll Always Have Summer

94. Tamara Leigh- Perfecting Kate

95. Kristin Cashore- Fire

96. Sophie Kinsella- Twenties Girl *

97. Eva Marie Everson- Chasing Sunsets *

98. Stephanie Grace Whitson- The Key on the Quilt

99. Betty McDonald- The Egg and I

100. Eva Marie Everson-Things Left Unspoken (Book 100!!!)

101. Veronica Roth- Insurgent*

102. Julianna Baggott- Pure

September

103. Eva Marie Everson- This Fine Life*

104. Tamara Leigh- Faking Grace

105. Sophie Kinsella- Can You Keep A Secret?

106. Deborah Rainey- After All

107. Vanessa Diffenbaugh- The Language of Flowers

108. Jenny Han- It’s Not Summer Without You

109. Nicole Baart- Beneath the Night Tree * (second time reading this one!)

110. Susan May Warren- Baroness

October

111. CF Dunn- Mortal Fire*

112. Gillian Flynn- Gone Girl

113. Jan Watson- Skip Rock Shallows

114. Mary Connealy- In Too Deep

115. Tracie Peterson- Taming the Wind

116. Ilsa J Bick- Ashes * (This series is a zombie series, not something I would have EVER thought I would like, but I seriously could NOT put it down!)

117. Ilsa J Bick- Shadows

118. Colleen Coble- Blue Moon Promise

119. Anna Jean Mayhew- The Dry Grass of August

120. Stephen Chbosky- The Perks of Being a Wallflower

November

121. Katrina Kittle- Reasons to be Happy

122. Sibella Giorello- The Clouds Roll Away

123. Robin Jones Gunn- Secrets

124. Robin Jones Gunn- Coming Attractions

125. Robyn Harding- Unravelled

December

126. Ann Patchett- Bel Canto

127. JRR Tolkien- The Hobbit *

128. Stephen R Lawhead- Hood

129. Robin Lee Hatcher- Heart of Gold

130. Susan May Warren- You Don’t Know Me

What are some of your favorite books?

Have you read any of the ones above?

~JESS

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Filed Under: Books

Sausage Stars Appetizer

13 Jan posted by Plum Adorable

This is one of my favorite appetizers to make.

They always get eaten up so quickly. Luckily they are really easy to make. I’ve been making this recipe from Gooseberry Patch’s the Christmas Cookbook for many years.

I made these on New Year’s Eve and I was in a bit of a hurry, so the lighting is not quite right and the pictures don’t do them justice. But, trust me, they are delicious! It’s as simple as baking won tons for five minutes in a muffin pan.

Then mix up the ingredients (sausage, sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, ranch dressing, black olives and red peppers). Scoop them into the won ton wrappers.

Put them in the oven for another 5 minutes.

And they come out bubbly and hot…so good!

These would make great appetizers for the upcoming Super Bowl!

Sausage Stars

Ingredients:

25-count pkg. won ton wrappers

1lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled

1.5 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1.5 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup ranch-style salad dressing

2.25 oz. can sliced black olives

1/2 cup chopped red pepper

Press one won ton wrapper in each cup of a muffin tin; bak at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove won tons and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining won tons; set aside.

Combine sausage and remaining 5 ingredients and evenly fill baked wrappers. Bake 5 more minutes or until bubbly. Makes 25 appetizers.

Enjoy!

~Jenny

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Recipes