Amish Sugar Cookies

it's no secret around here that i loooooove cookies

i mean put a slice a cake in front of me and i'm like no thank you.

donuts are good, but i'm partial (like religiously partial) to Krispy Kreme

and since there's no KK here in upstate ... well then there's not too much donut consumption happening :( but cookies ... give me cookies everyday anyday and i'm so happy 

like really happy - weirdly happy :)

i digress alot

scrolling the insta last week and stopped dead in my tracks for these

there's so many good things about taste of home so i'm always inclined to try their recipes

and man these did not disappoint! they were so good we made a double batch

and then we made them again

the second time around i realized we were out of cream of tartar - and after a little research on the world wide web i learned that baking powder is a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda (how did we ever live without google?) so i substituted the baking soda and cream of tartar with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and we actually liked that batch better than the first! a very slight difference really but lotsa cookie experts over here at out house so we can tell these things :)

these bake up so light and fluffy, they practically melt in your mouth if you eat them after a few minutes out of the oven ... two things i always do when baking cookies: 1.use parchment paper ALWAYS. it just makes for better cookie bottoms & 2. use a cookie scoop ALWAYS it makes for perfectly shaped cookies and all uniform in shape & size. both of those items are #gamechangers trust me.

this batch was going in a glass cookie jar from walmart

and over to a friends new house that she just moved in to ♥

cut some ribbon from my stash and wrote home sweet home on a paint swatch

it's always the simple little things that we have laying around

that make the best unexpected gifts dont you think? 

make these cookies guys! i know you will love them as much as we do

much love ♥

print recipe

Amish Sugar Cookies

by Jaime Favor July-31-2017

(adapted from Taste of Home.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspons baking powder

Instructions

- With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer cream butter, oil and sugars- Add eggs & vanilla mix until blended well- In a separate bowl combine flour & baking powder then gradually add to creamed mixture- Using a 1.5 inch cookie scoop, drop batter onto parchment lined cookie sheets- Bake @ 375 (or @350 with a convection oven) for 8-10 minutes or until bottom edges are golden brown- Let cool for one to two minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Yeilds approx 5 dozen

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 5 dozen

watermelon caddy teacher gift

another summer is upon us and as usual i'm feeling nostalgic

i'm not sure if it's just that my girls are so big now or that it feels like time is slipping away really fast or both, but when summer comes around it always seems bittersweet ...anyone else with me? anyways i saw these watermelon caddies at michaels last month and knew i wanted to use them for teacher gifts. 

caddy gifts (see here & here for instance) tend to be my go-to thing when i have to come up with gift ideas, i don't know why except all i can figure is that to get a gift that's filled with lots of little gifts just sounds like the best thing ever to me :) it's like the gift that keeps on giving ... and it's organized and compartmentalized #ocdprobs

if you hit that "make" tab up in the navigation bar, you'll find a bunch of gift ideas

 i've done over the years and most of them are the same ha!

these two tins were for my youngest daughter's 5th grade teacher and our bus driver

(we've had the same bus driver since the kids started school! we love her so much. 

i have her number in my phone on speed dial haha)

i filled it with mostly fun things for summer that i picked up in my shopping travels

sunscreen, candy, notepads, straws and an insulated cup from target

filled it with crystal light packets and put the cup in one of the back sections of the caddy :)

threw some tags together in my design program and tied them on, that's it! fun right?

there are so many gift fillers to be found at the dollar store or in the target dollar spot!

just think outside the box a little ;)

these patriotic pencils were in the target dollar bins and i couldn't pass them up

there's just something about the red white & blue during summer time

my daughter plays flute in the school band and wanted to bring a little something extra in for her band teacher - simple ideas for a few dollars make for cute gifts and smiling faces

who doesn't love to feel appreciated? it's so easy to go about our day to day without recognizing what so many people do for us or for our kids. don't underestimate the power of giving guys! 

it feels so good to give - and doesn't have to be material or expensive it can be your time or a particular skill set to lend a favor that can be given as well

i feel like most days out society is so focused on what we can get for ourselves that to teach our kids to put others first has become even more challenging! since it's become so counter culture - so don't underestimate the power of giving and involve your kids!

speaking of ... when did my kids get so big?

last day of 5th grade right here folks

hard to believe they were this little when i started this blog (sniff sniff)

thanks for following along with me here over the years, you really are loved & appreciated ♥

little box of sunshine gift idea

we sent this happy little box to my mother in law for mothers day

and i thought i'd share here with you all in case you're looking for a fun gift idea that's easy to put together and is such a surprise to the recipient!

i saw the idea on pinterest and decided to put a box together to send off to North Carolina

and after a trip to target i had a bunch fun stuff ... 

that happiness book is really cute - there's some funny things in it

i know this because i was chuckling in the isle at target while i flipped through it :)

i put all the little odds and ends in the clear catch all bag 

i lined the inside of the box with some bright yellow paper & double sided tape

the brighter the paper the better! you want that box to shine when all the flaps are opened :)

the flat rate box from the post office is free! and you can pack it full no matter what the weight 

and send it off for a flat rate fee priority mail (2-3 days) for around $15 i think, i can't remember the exact rate but it's around there :)

the paper i had was 8.5 x 11 and fit perfectly in this small flat rate box leaving only a little gap at the bottom on one side but you won't be able to see it once you fill it up

a little trimming might be necessary near the top flaps

and i just placed a full sheet on the bottom with no tape

the best part is this clipart that i got here

from my best girl's etsy shop - simply purchase, download, print and cut!

a little more of the double sided tape to place it where your heart desires and that's it!

i also printed out the text from microsoft publisher on my PC - cut & taped that to the long flaps

fill you box and send it off!

i know whoever receives it won't be able to help but be so happy :)

the only thing i was missing was yellow basket straw - you know that crinkled paperish stuff that comes in all different colors? filling the space at the top with that would've kept the yellow theme going, but i only had white tissue paper on hand, but yellow tissue paper would work too right?

some pictures of us girls on Mother's Day ♥

that's my mom - doesn't she look good?!

hoping i get her slow aging genes :)

whatever Mother's Day means for you i hope it was filled with joy and happines ... even if it's sort of a sad day for you whatever the reason, know that God works all things together for your good! even in the sadness (especially in the sadness) He's molding & shaping you into who He wants you to be ♥ remember that every heartache and trial you face was first sifted through His hands before it got to you so take comfort in that girls.

much love to you

a play restaurant kit in a box ♥

my youngest had 2 birthday parties to go to this past saturday 

and we recently printed & laminated this cutest ever play restaurant kit (so cute i die) from my dear friend AmyJ's etsy shop. she recently opened a separate store just for kids printables, and really there's so much in there that you'll just want to make & play with and you'll be sad you're a grown up. i'm serious.

so i had the idea to print out sets for birthday presents and to put everything in a sort of kit so the recipients would have everything they needed to play. aren't the menus cute?! 

here's some info about everything i bought and used :)

- the yummy food restaurant kit 

(can be purchased here)

i'll explain a little about how i laminated the printables. you can use them just as printed on paper but if laminated they can be used over and over with dry erase markers. this little scotch laminator is available at so many stores. i bought this at joanns for $25 after using my coupon and i think i saw it at target in the back to school section last week for a reasonable price as well. the laminating pouches came in a pack of 50 at target for $13 or so. reasonable i think, since we use the laminator for a lot of other things ...

so you'll see below i laminated some as whole sheets and some i cut before laminating. it turns out that just laminating everything and then cutting later with a paper trimmer was easiest and worked the best. for the coins in the kit i punched them out with a one inch circle punch and then laminated them in a pouch, then cut around each coin. time consuming yes, but i coerced my girls to do it for me while they watched a movie :)

-storage bin 

(i bought this one type but with half the depth from target and everything fit perfectly)

-play food (in toy section at target) & kiddie plastic plates, cups & silverware 

(in kitchen section at target and only .79 cents each!)

 -a small three drawer organizer (target)

-pack of dry erasers (not pictured)

for this little organizer box i printed an extra menu from Amy's kit and cut the name to fit into the top of the box like you see here.

these drawer labels were not part of the kit, i just whipped em up in publisher and printed them out and laminated. then used hot glue to attach

-you'll need large rubber bands or long cord for the name tags

 -play apron (we got one at joanns and decorated it a little bit)

and i think that's everything! we put everything in the storage bin as shown and wrapped a ribbon around the whole thing. they were a huge hit! if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments, and i'll do my best to answer them :)

much love ♥