Lil' Luna

Lil’ Luna Link Party #65 + $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Lil' Luna — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:56 +0000

Today’s Link Party is Sponsored by Appliances Online’s Tumble Dryers:

Appliances Online are the largest online appliance retailer in the UK, stocking kitchen appliances from all the major brands. Delivery is available 7 days a week, along with a no fuss 10 day returns guarantee, ensuring the customer is at the heart of everything they do.

Today, Appliances Online and myself are hosting an awesome link party where you can enter to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card!

That’s right – $100 to spend on anything at Amazon.com!

Sweet!!

The entries are easy…

TO ENTER:

Required Entry:

1. Link up one of your own creations and include this text underneath your picture in your post:

My entry to the appliances online crafty creations competition. You can enter too at Lil’luna!

Extra Entries:

2. Follow Lil’ Luna on Facebook HERE

3. Follow Lil’ Luna on Pinterest HERE

4. Subscribe to Lil’ Luna Feeds HERE

5. Say what you would get with the $100 gift card if you won.

*You can link up as many projects but must have the required text under your picture in EACH of those posts.*

Please leave a SEPARATE COMMENT for each entry.

For the required entry, please leave a comment saying with link # yours is.

Giveaway ends next Tuesday at midnight.

Now on to the party…

LAST WEEK’S MOST VIEWED LINK WAS:

Wood Block Crafts from Ginger Snap Crafts

OTHER TOP HITS AND FAVS:

TOP: Baptism Subway Art from Oopsey Daisy - Hallway Command Center from Positively Splendid - 2 Ingredient Cake from Lady with the Red Rocker

BOTTOM: 5 Tips to a Beautiful Party from Inspired by Family Magazine - Pretty in Pink Popcorn from The Sweet Spot – Luck Printable from I Should Be Mopping the Floors

TOP: Creamy Chicken Florentine from It’s Overflowing – Lace Mason Jars from A Pumpkin and a Princess - How to Sew a Bib from Sunny Vanilla

BOTTOM: Household Binder from Crafting and Creativity – Crepe Paper Flower from Creations by Kara – Candy Buffet from Bargain Bound

Thank you to all those who linked up!

You guys ROCK!

Here’s to an even BIGGER and BETTER party!

RULES:

1. Link to the specific post for something YOU have created – craft, recipe, idea (and not to your main blog page).

2. No ads for shops, giveaways, etc. please

3. Grab the Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna Button to add to your blog {which is under construction}

4. Be sure to spread the love and visit other posts and leave them a comment!

Can’t wait to see what everyone links up!

Boston Cream Poke Cake

Lil' Luna — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:00:19 +0000

I am on a BAKING kick right now, and I can’t stop. I’m having so much fun experimenting in the kitchen.

Recently, I decided to make a Boston Cream Poke Cake. My Oreo Pudding Poke Cake was so popular (and delish) that the hubby suggested doing a Boston Cream Version. Sounded good to me! Not only was this recipe so easy, but man, was it good. Tasted just like a Boston Cream donut (which is mine and my hubby’s FAV!)

If you like Boston Cream donuts, I promise you’ll like this easy recipe.

Boston Cream Poke Cake

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: Kristyn {Lil’ Luna}

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 12-16

A simple and delicious cake-version of Boston Cream Donuts

Ingredients

- Yellow Cake Mix (and cake ingredients)
- French Vanilla Pudding (5.9 oz. box)
- Chocolate Pudding (5.9 oz. box)
- Milk

Instructions

Make cake as directed in a 9×13 pan.
Poke holes into cake using the end of a large wooden spoon while cake is semi-warm.
Make French Vanilla pudding as directed. Wait a minute for it to thicken up a little more and pour over cake.
Make Chocolate pudding as directed. Pour over cake as well.
Refrigerate at least for 30 minutes and serve.

This cake is seriously so quick and yummy!

Let me know if you try it out.

ENJOY!

Cupcake Liner Party Favors

Lil' Luna — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:00:55 +0000

Hi there. Whitney from Home Delicious here!

Today I wanted to share some really cute party favors with you. February, March and April are birthday party months around here. My almost 11 year old went a little crazy and invited 15 girls to her party. That is a lot of work for mama! Luckily, these favor packets are easy enough for her to put together herself.

Materials needed:

Cupcake wrappers

glue stick

embellishments

favors

Instructions:

1. Pull the pleats and folds out of the cupcake liners, flattening them a bit.

2. Using glue stick, glue 1/2 of one liner to the other. Just glue the edges and make sure you leave an opening big enough to put your treats in.

3. Glue the embellishments on top. I used a simple flower cut out with a heart on it. I can imagine some darling printable from you creative ladies with a professionally printed “thank you” on it. I love it!

4. Insert your favors. We made some earrings, hair clips, etc. and threw in some candy for fun.

5. Glue the rest of the of the paper together, again gluing only the edges.

There you go! A simple, easy and adorable way to hand out party favors!

———————–

Love it – Thanks, Whitney!

Be sure to go on over to Home Delicious to check out more amazing projects from Whitney.

For more information about Whitney, Please go HERE.

Organizing and Tax Time #XACTO

Lil' Luna — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:55:56 +0000

It’s Tax Season!

Are you done? Have you even started?

The hubby and I are always a little anxious each year to do taxes hoping that we will get back at least a few pennies back.

Now that I’ve started to make some more money through the blog (you can learn more about that HERE), I’ve had to do all sorts of things to keep track of the money coming in, and the money going out. To do that, I’ve tried to be more ORGANIZED, which is easier said than done.

Don’t know if you remember awhile back but I’ve been spending a ton of time trying to get my ENTIRE house and life in order. Not so easy and it’s slow going, but I haven’t given up. One of the places that needs the most organizing is my Craft Room. Trying to get that organized, along with organizing the site and my Lil’ Luna documents/receipts hasn’t been simple, but I’m working on it! Now that it’s tax time, I’m so grateful I’ve been somewhat organized so that it hasn’t been too much of a hassle.

Here are some TIPS that can help you as well to stay organized, especially at tax time:

1 – Have a place designated for all your papers. Whether it’s a box, an accordion file, a folder – it’s essential to have one place that you can turn to that has all of your documents/receipts.

2 – Keep your papers organized in your set location. If you need to document things by year (like you do for taxes), have your receipts organized by year.

3 – Label your folders, papers, receipts. Your life will be so much more simple if you can visually see where everything is and WHAT everything is.

4 – File and organize as you get your documents. There is nothing worse than having to go back through a HUGE stack of papers and receipts to figure out what they were for and where they get organized.

Here are some Pics from my “Still being Organized and Decorated” Craft Room:

My Craft Table/Desk with my laptop, calendar and tax folders.

Folder, Receipts and more. Don’t know what I would do without my folders – they keep me organized… and sane!

More Folders to help with even more paper organizing.

A super trendy and awesome X-Acto Spira Pencil Sharpener to keep close during tax time (so handy!)

I’m definitely a Pen Girl, but HAVE to use pencils when I’m jotting down important info or scheduling things. Having this pencil sharpener in a close spot is super handy!

The unique design of this sharpener also saves on space, which is awesome. And I’m so glad it came in RED!

I used a coupon for this sharpener. If you would like a coupon too, you can get one HERE.

My Desk

Gotta love ORGANIZING and TAX TIME!

What do you to stay organized, especially at tax time??

For More Paper Organization Tips, and other Organization ideas you can visit my Organization Board on Pinterest HERE.

And for more Pictures from my Shoppertunity, you can visit my Google+ Story HERE.

And for more information about #XACTO or #Elmer’s go HERE or HERE.

ENJOY!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All Opinions are my own.

Cold, Cough and Flu Gift Kit #FloridaOJ

Lil' Luna — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:41:10 +0000

Who here dislikes Cold and Flu Season as much as I do?

I feel like our family has been sick on and off for the last 3 months, and I’m kind of done with it. We’ve had lots of family and friends who have constantly been sick, so I decided to come up with a Cold, Cough and Flu Kit for some friends in particular who have been sick for the last month. Sometimes I feel like there isn’t much I can do to help and thought this kit might be helpful as well as brighten their sick days.

I filled it will all sorts of great things. First and foremost, 100% Florida Orange Juice. I’m a strong believer in lots of liquids and vitamins when you are sick (and to prevent getting sick), and OJ is the first thing my family gets when we are sick. I also included Clorox Wipes, Cold-Eeze, a movie, popcorn, Kleenex and Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap. This kit was inspired by Safeway pharmacy’s “Be Well. Save Well.” Pamphlet. This is a pamphlet found at the Safeway Pharmacy that has all sorts of tips and tricks for being well during the Cold & Flu Season. It also has several coupons on items that might be useful while you are sick (score!)

{Evie, my baby, was my shopping companion. She’s definitely the easiest to cart along!}

Safeway also had all sorts of brochures, coupons and tips on how to stay well during the cold and cough season.

{The Be Well. Save Well. pamphlet filled with tips and coupons.}

The kit is super easy and fun to do and will definitely brighten the receiver’s day.

Here is what you’ll need if you want to make one too.

SUPPLIES:

- Cold & Cought Items – OJ, Kleenex, etc.

- Box

-Scrapbook Paper

- Scissors

- Hot Glue

- Shredded Paper Grass

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Begin by finding a box that all your items will fit in. I cut off the flaps of my box.

2. Cut paper to fit the sides of the box and glue on.

3. Save and Print Get Well Tags by clicking on the image and then clicking again and right-clicking and saving. From there you will print and punch out.

4. Make a paper accordion for the front. To do that you will cut two strips of 12 inch scrapbook paper. Each strip of mine was 2 inches wide. Then I folded the paper back and forth (zig-zagging) until the end. From there I hot glued the ends together to form a circle. Then, I pushed the centers in hot glued. Add Get Well Tag to the top.

5. Hot glue accordion and tag to your box.

6. Fill box with goodies and put shredded paper in the excess areas.

Now you have a super cute Cold, Cough and Flu Kit that you can give to your friends and family to show that you are thinking of them and that you love them.

100% Florida Orange Juice and vitamins (like the gummie kind) are also a great way to help your kids get the vitamins they need without realizing it not only prevent sickness but helping them to get better, which is always a bonus. These, as well as the other items including in the kit play a huge part in keeping our family well during the harsh winter months.

For more information about Safeway, you can go find them on Twitter HERE or Facebook HERE. #FloridaOJ

And for more photos from my shop, please visit my Google + Story HERE.

My question to you – is there anything YOU use to help keep from getting sick or to help when you are sick to get feeling better quicker? Would love to hear!

ENJOY!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All Opinions are my own.

Cheesecake Factory’s Avocado Egg Rolls Recipe

Lil' Luna — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:59:12 +0000

Have you ever been to Cheesecake Factory?

If so, have you ever tried Cheesecake Factory’s Avocado Egg rolls?

If not, I am tell you that you MUST! These beauties are to die for and can be eaten by the dozens.

My mom recently found a recipe for them and tried them out and we were all oooh-ing and awwww-ing over their DELICIOUS-NESS!!

She found the recipe HERE and made a few modifications.

Cheesecake Factory Avocado Egg Rolls

Recipe type: Appetizer

Author: Kristy {Lil’ Luna} via Food. com

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 3

A copy cat recipe for Cheesecake Factory’s Avocado Egg Rolls

Ingredients

DIPPING SAUCE:
1-4 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1 pinch powdered saffron
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 TB granulated sugar
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil
EGG ROLLS
1 large diced avocado
2 TB sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 pinch salt
3 egg roll wraps
1 egg, beaten

Instructions

Stir together vinegars, honey and saffron in a microwave safe bowl, and heat for 1 minute. Puree first mixture in a blender adding cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper and cumin. Pour mixture into a bowl and add oil. Stir and refrigerate. Stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 tsp. cilantro and salt. Add 1/3 filling onto the center of each egg roll wrapper. Position the wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up 1/4 way over the filling. Brush remaining corners and edges of the wrapper with egg, roll up from side to side, fold top corner over all and press to seal. Repeat for the remaining wrappers. Deep-fry egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes or until wrappers are golden brown.
Serve with dipping sauce.

WOW! So good. Am drooling right now…

ENJOY!

Quote Gallery Wall

Lil' Luna — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:11:58 +0000

I LOVE Gallery Walls.

A few months back I decided to make a Quote Gallery Wall.

I tried to narrow down some of my favorite quotes and sayings and came up with these ones.

My inspiration came from Pinterest. I’ve tried tracking down the original source a gazillion times with no luck.

{If you know the original source, please let me know so I can link to it here}

The gallery was so easy and fun to make.

If you’d like to make one too, here is what you’ll need:

SUPPLIES:

-Wood – 1 ft. x 4ft. pieces sold at Lowe’s for $6

-White Spray Paint (I use Rustoleum)

-Black Spray Paint

-Vinyl

-Spray Polyurethane

-Sand Paper

-Hooks

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by designing, cutting and weeding the vinyl for your quotes to fit the size of boards you made.

2. Spray Paint Boards White (or whatever color you want the words to be). Let dry.

3. Add vinyl to the boards.

4. Spray Black Paint (or whatever color you want the board to be). Let dry.

5. Peel away vinyl. The vinyl letters should have worked great as stencils. I use Rustoleum Spray Enamel for the paint colors because I feel like they work really well in covering.

6. Sand to distress and spray with spray Polyurethane and let dry.

7. Add hooks and hang.

I’m hoping to be able to add more to my wall as I find more quotes I love. More than anything I love that I can see all these great quotes and sayings each day that will inspire and remind me about all the important things.

PS – Painted the walls a butter-y yellow, so had to redo my Vinyl Gallery Wall.

If you want to see the directions for that go HERE.

ENJOY!

Sonoran Living Segment – Last Minute Valentines

Lil' Luna — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:16:55 +0000

Ask and you shall receive…

Several friends, family and readers have asked to see my Segment on Sonoran Living that was this past Monday.

Let me say – it was a TON of fun! I was a bit nervous, but they are so fun and relaxed on set and that definitely helped! I was so excited to be sharing a ton of last-minute DIY Valentines and had no idea we’d be talking about Pinterest at all, but I didn’t mind considering Pinterest has really helped my traffic! It’s a great way to find awesome stuff but also to get your stuff out on the web!

Any who – back to the segment… SO, Lo got the morning off so he could come with me and my mom was kind enough to come watch the kids. We took off pretty early because I wanted to make sure I got there with plenty of time. I was one of the first ones there. I got my table set up and just waited for the time the show went live. I was EXTREMELY excited to find out that Chris Powell from Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition was on the show that day. He came into the Green Room with his wife and baby and I just had to act cool and not freak out like I wanted to inside. The hubby and I watched the whole first season of EMWLE so we love Chris and love how inspirational he is by helping so many people lose weight. We had a nice chat with him and his wife, and it made us like him even more. He also has an adorable son named Cash that I was able to hold and play with for awhile. He is so stinkin’ cute, and he made me miss my Evie even more that morning. It was fun sitting in the Green Room watching everyone come on and was even more fun when they called me over and had me put on my mic. I went onto stage and talked to Stephanie for a bit and before I knew it we were live! And then before I knew it, it was all over! I felt like I didn’t say any of the things I had practiced or wanted to mention. Oh well!! I had a good chat with Stephanie afterwards and was so happy that she allowed me to be on the show. In case you missed any of the Valentines I posted here on the blog, you can find a round-up of them HERE. I know V-Day is over, but you can always bookmark and pin them for next year.

Without further adieu, here is my first TV appearance.

{And yes, unfortunately, I’m just this nerdy in person!}

And here is some pics from the set, including one with Chris Powell.

{Dang – I’m white!!!}

ENJOY!

Lil’ Luna Link Party #64

Lil' Luna — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:03 +0000

Happy Valentine’s, my friends!!!

I hope you all have HOT DATES planned for tonight. ;)

LAST WEEK’S MOST VIEWED LINK WAS:

How to Thrift Store Shop from A Diamond in the Stuff

OTHER TOP HITS AND FAVS:

TOP: Have a Ball Valentines from Tattered & Inked - Freebie Valentine Hershey Kiss Labels from Shindig Parties - Be My Valentines Printables from While He Was Napping

BOTTOM: Tic Tac Toe Valentines from Creations by Kara - Valentine’s Candy Sundaes from Cute as a Fox – Baby Boy Diaper Cake from Daylights

TOP: Photography Tips fro Sweet C’s Designs - Conversation Heart Paper Plate Baskets from Shaken Together - Custom ABC Board Book BOTTOM: from One Dog Woof

BOTTOM: Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu from Chef-in-Training - St. Patrick’s Subway Art from Every Creative Endeavor - Brownies Bites from A Pumpkin and a Princess

Thank you to all those who linked up!

You guys ROCK!

Here’s to an even BIGGER and BETTER party!

RULES:

1. Link to the specific post for something YOU have created – craft, recipe, idea (and not to your main blog page).

2. No ads for shops, giveaways, etc. please

3. Grab the Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna Button to add to your blog {which is under construction}

4. Be sure to spread the love and visit other posts and leave them a comment!

Can’t wait to see what everyone links up!

Wood Blocks Craft

Lil' Luna — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:00:13 +0000

Hello, everyone!

I’m Ginger from

Ginger Snap Crafts,

and, let me tell YOU, I am so

excited to be at Lil’ Luna today.

Kristyn is an amazingly talented lady,

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her blog,

& I am truly honored to be here! Yay!

Over on my blog, I LOVE sharing cute, simple & easy crafts.

When you see one of my projects, I want you to say,

“Yes! I can do that (& I can do it even better!)”

I hope to share fun ideas that inspire YOU to create along with me.

Today I’d love to show you how to make

these super fun & versatile

blocks {that say a lot}.

From these 7 blocks with 4 letters on each one

you can make 15+ seasonal words!!

(I originally got the idea to make these from here.)

You’ll need the following supplies:

a 4×4 cut into 7 square blocks

(You can buy 4×4′s at

Home Depot or Lowes.)

paint & paint brushes

sand paper

*vinyl lettering

*For my vinyl lettering I used a few of my favorite fonts.

I wanted my blocks to be mismatched & kind of fun.

FYI: I used a different font on each block.

Fonts I used:

cafe rojo, hula skirt, ck chemistry, elise,

fontmoochers, high tower text, impervious

(All these fonts are free,

just search for them online

& they should be really easy to find.)

I slightly sanded my blocks,

and then I painted them.

FYI: I also painted each block a different color.

Thought they’d look cute like that.

Then I let the paint dry,

and then I applied the vinyl lettering.

For more detailed vinyl lettering instructions you can go here.

BLOCK 1- H, Y, E, D
BLOCK 2- A, C, R, S
BLOCK 3- R, P, E, T
BLOCK 4- V, N, L, O
BLOCK 5- E, O, M, D
BLOCK 6- S, M, K, I
BLOCK 7- T, F, B, W

That’s it! Super cute & easy!

Here are some of the words you can spell:

Family

Blessed

Snow

Home

Harvest

Spooky

Winter

Mother

Dream

Easter

Freedom

Welcome

Friends

Faith

Hope

Monster

Can you think of any others???

Pop over to my blog today,

& I’ll be sharing the tutorial on how to

make this easy {established block}

to go along with my new seasonal blocks.

They look really cute together!

Thank you so much for having me over, Kristyn!

———————-

Such a great idea!! Love all the words you can come up with.

Be sure to go on over to Ginger Snap Crafts to see all the lovely projects Ginger has made.

And for more information about Ginger, Please go HERE.