Mother Goose Popcorn

This recipe has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember! It is so easy, and yummy too! Growing up, I remember my Dad making this for us kids as a special treat to have while watching movies. So I asked for his help in showing me how to make this recipe so I can share it with you! 

Here is what you need:

-10 cups plain popcorn

-4 Tablespoons butter

-2 teaspoons vanilla

-3 Tablespoons water

-3/4 cup sugar

- Food coloring

For the popcorn, we just used plain popcorn kernels and popped them in the microwave. To do this, add a little bit of oil in a glass bowl, and put in about 2 T. kernels. Cover with a ceramic plate, and microwave for 3 minutes, or until all kernels have been popped. If you have a traditional popcorn popper, use that instead. Or use any kind of popcorn you think your family would like. 

1.  Pop 10 cups of popcorn, and place in a large bowl. 

2.  In a sauce pan, over medium heat, melt butter

3.  Once butter is melted, add the vanilla, water, sugar. Mix together, then add food coloring until desired color has been met. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the sugar doesn't burn. Let mixture boil for about 1 minute, or until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Take mixture off of heat and pour over the popcorn. Stir popcorn and sugar mixture until all popcorn is evenly coated.

5.  Let stand for a few minutes to let the sugar cool down. 

Enjoy!

DIY Sunflower Card

Hey there! Wedding season seems to be winding down as fall fast approaches, but an in-law of mine recently got engaged, and is getting married in October of this year. As the happy couple was busy with wedding plans, the family immediately jumped on planning the bridal shower for our new sister. My assignment was to make the invitations. They were doing a sunflower theme, so immediately, I hop onto pinterest to see what everyone else has made, but didn't find anything that caught my eye. I don't have any software on my computer where I can design an invite, nor do I have any cool cutting machines that cut out fun patterns on paper for me. So I had to find something that I could accomplish with my good old scissors and glue stick! So, I came up with my own idea... 

The cool thing is... this is exactly what I had in my head. After much trial and error, I finally got it right. Once I got the pattern figured out, then came the fun part... making 30 of these bad boys! Here's how:

First, download the printable template here and here so you have the right pattern to make the card. As you can see, there are 3 different pieces to cut out. You can change the color to make it your own too! 

To add a little bit of contrast on the petals, I took a small ink pad and used the side edge to draw a line. The nice thing about doing this is you don't have to be perfect at it. Each stroke should be different and unique like a real flower would be. And don't worry about the ugly lines in the middle of the flower, once you add up all the layers, you won't see it.

For the center, I happened to have the random dot stamp on hand with some white ink. If you don't have a stamp like this, be creative! you can use the back of a paint brush, a pencil eraser, or even a q-tip to give you the little dots in the middle. Try a few different things out until you find what you love the most. 

All that is left to do is glue them all together, wrap it up in some baker's twine, raffia, ribbon (or nothing at all), and send it to someone you love!