Guest Post from Oh, Mrs. Tucker

While I am getting used to having a newborn around some wonderful bloggers has stepped in to help out with some fabulous guest posts! Don't worry I will be popping in here and there to give updates and of course do the Show Off Your Stuff Party! We have a great line up for you all!

Up Next is Patti from Oh, Mrs Tucker! 

 Hello, Firefly and Jellybeans Readers! I'm Patti from Oh, Mrs. Tucker! I am a longtime writer/blogger and new grandmama. As soon as I found out I was going to become a grandmother for the first time, I envisioned building a site where grandparents and parents could come for information and fun. When Fawnda sent out a call for help via posts, I quickly volunteered (so I could meet you!) and she graciously agreed to let me fill in for a day. I hope I don't disappoint.
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 Some days nothing but a frosted brownie will do. Hello, lover...
(photo credit: Oh, Mrs. Tucker!)

 Yep, some days require a little one-on-one time with some quality chocolate and a generous dose of cream cheese frosting. Hello, darling...
(photo credit: Oh, Mrs. Tucker!)

 The dirty little secret here, is that sometimes I bake from a box and add a splash of my own homemade signature ala Sandra Lee. Sure, there might even be a little imbibing while I'm baking. Listen, if I'm gonna Sandra Lee something, I'm going all in. Ready for the recipe?

  BROWNIES:
Open 1 packet Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate brownie mix.
 Mix.
 Pour.
 Lick spatula.
 Bake.
 Cool.

  FROSTING:
 Powdered sugar (you decide how much)
 Softened cream cheese (you decide how much)
 1-2 tbsp softened butter (why so precise? because everything is better with 1-2 tbsp of butter) 
Mix.
 Place frosting into piping bag.

 Go crazy.

 Take a photo for Pinterest.

 Eat your mistakes.

 Take more pics.

 Enjoy!

 So. Good.

Guest Post from Todd&Lindsey

While I am getting used to having a newborn around some wonderful bloggers has stepped in to help out with some fabulous guest posts! Don't worry I will be popping in here and there to give updates and of course do the Show Off Your Stuff Party! We have a great line up for you all!

Up Next is Lindsey from Todd & Lindsey

Hello there! I'm Lindsey from toddlindsey.com. (I know, how original, right?) 

I'm an art teacher that spends ALL my free time crafting, cooking, baking, making miniatures and in general, just detoxing myself from kids and school. I love the creative process of making. Anything. I especially love when that process results in food. Or really beautiful things. Or cute things. 

I guess I should share who Todd is, since he is the other part of our blog name. :) Todd is my very outgoing, comic-loving husband of a little over one year. Todd and I have three children... I mean pets. Lily and Jose are cats and Banner is our beagle! They all turned five at the beginning of the year. (No, that's not a coincidence; I just made all their birthdays at the same time for the sake of my sanity... Can I do that for our future kids?) 

Feel free to visit us at toddlindsey.com for easy and yummy recipes, DIY home decor, room reveals, dollhouse miniatures and more! 

Now on to the sweet stuff. 

I am SUPER excited to share this recipe with you all. Oh. My. Goodness. These cookies are amazing! And really easy to assemble. I got this awesome recipe from my friend Becca. Once you try these, you will never want to go back to boring Peanut Butter Blossoms. :) Okay, so that may not be true. But trust me, these are so good!!!

Ok. So you start off real complicated with some store bought refrigerated dough. I bought this kind:

You will also need a bag of Reese's cups. (Funny story: So I always pretty much know what's in my pantry. I like to keep a bag of peanut butter cups on hand so I knew I had a full bag in my pantry when I started this baking project. Howeverrrrr, when I went to go make these, I realized someone *hint hint* had eaten almost the whole bag! Thatsomeone left a measly two cups left. I had to run to the store, which is literally across the street, to restock!)

But back on track now.

Separate the dough according the the pre-portioned pieces.

Place some mini muffin liners in a mini muffin tin. Place one lil' mound of dough into each liner. They are so cute right now! :)

Bake for 9-11 minutes at 350*. While they are baking, unwrap all the peanut butter cups. Try not to eat any!

When the cookies are done, gently press a Reese's cup in the center of each cookie. Work quickly!

Remove to a wire rack to cool. They are yummy warm, room temperature or cold!

Don't eat them all in one sitting! I mean, it will totally be worth it "in the moment".

Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is!

I look forward to having you visit toddlindsey.com soon! 

Guest Post from Chill Thoughts

While I am getting used to having a newborn around some wonderful bloggers has stepped in to help out with some fabulous guest posts! Don't worry I will be popping in here and there to give updates and of course do the Show Off Your Stuff Party! We have a great line up for you all!

Up next is Cristyl from Chill Thoughts

My name is Cristyl and I write over at Chill Thoughts. I haven’t been blogging very long; just a few months! I write about my life, my family and pretty much anything that comes to mind; I’m currently wallpapering my desk in post-it notes with ideas for my future posts! I’m excited to be chosen as a guest blogger at Fireflies and Jellybeans while Fawnda is out enjoying her precious new little one!  Congratulations, Fawnda!  Today, I’m excited to share my Garlic Crouton Recipe with you!

I love a good salad!  Especially dressed up with lots of veggies, bacon bits and croutons.  Lately I’ve been making my own croutons and I’m loving how cost-effective and super-tasty they are.  And they’re so easy to make!  Here’s what I do…

I use bread I have on hand to make my croutons.  I’ve used cheap store brand wheat bread as well as sourdough bread.  DH says he prefers the sourdough, so that’s what I used for my latest batch.  I use 4 slices of bread for a batch of croutons (in these photos I was making a double batch because we love these so much).

  I use four slices of bread per batch; cut the slices into 1” cubes (you don’t have to be precise – make the cubes whatever size you prefer).

Place the cubed bread into a bowl with a tight-fitting lid.

This recipe only requires three ingredients other than the bread; I told you it is super-easy!  Melt a 1/4 cup of butter (half a stick) in a microwave-safe bowl.  Mix 1 teaspoon of parsley flakes and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt into the melted butter. (I prefer super-garlicky croutons, so I usually use about twice as much garlic salt.  Feel free to adjust to your preference.)  Now pour the butter and spice mixture over the cubed bread, place the lid on your bowl and shake vigorously to coat all the cubes in the mixture.

Spread the coated cubes on a baking sheet of your preference; I just love my Pampered Chef stoneware for making croutons (and just about anything else).  Pop that into a pre-heated 300 F oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.  After twenty minutes, turn the croutons and return them to the oven; set a timer for another twenty minutes.  Bake the croutons until they begin to brown nicely (I prefer mine more crisp so I let them get very brown; feel free to adjust the cooking time to achieve the perfect crouton).
 Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

That’s it!  Super tasty, easy to make and much cheaper than most retail croutons!

I hope you will stop by my blog to check out what’s going on; I plan to share more of my favorite recipes as well as sewing projects, craft projects and just daily life!

Baby Boy 1 month

This week our baby boy turn 1 month old.  

It seems fast and slow at the same time.  

In some ways it seems like just yesterday I was pregnant waiting for our baby to arrive and in other ways it seems like he has been part of our family forever. 

Going from 2 to 3 kids has been a big adjustment for us. It is has been much harder than when we went from 1 to 2 kids.   I am still trying to find my groove as a mom to 3.  But I know we will find our way!  And these little feet make it all worth it! 

Life has been busy trying to keep up with the older kids schedules now with a newborn in tow. Now that the weather is finally nice it has been easier.  Not having to bundle everyone up to get out the door makes my morning so much easier! 

But there is always drama!  : )

followed by some sweetness! 

Guest post from My Repurposed Life

While I am getting used to having a newborn around some wonderful bloggers has stepped in to help out with some fabulous guest posts! Don't worry I will be popping in here and there to give updates and of course do the Show Off Your Stuff Party! We have a great line up for you all!

Up next is Gale from My Purposed Life

 

I am so happy to be sharing here today!  I have been reading Fireflies and Jellybeans for years. 

So, who is My Repurposed Life?  A middle aged woman named gail who is in the process of repurposing her life by showing others how to repurpose unwanted thrift store or curb finds.  I do it all on my own, no Mr. MRL to help me cut, saw and build.  I like to redesign items and make them new and useable again.  Many of my projects are too difficult for a beginner, so today I’ll show you an easy project anyone can conquer.

This magazine rack has been a very popular post for me.  I call it a shutter, but it’s actually half a a bi-folding door, with every other slat removed.  You can get shutters for about $5-10 at your local habitat for humanity Re-Store. 

What you will need:

• Shutter or bi-folding door
• Hammer
• Paint (I recommend spray paint for any slatted project)
• Sawtooth hanger
• optional: wood putty or spackling if you would like to fill the holes left after removing the slats

Use the claw of your hammer to snap out every other slat.  Place the claw on the slat you want to remove and give a quick twist.  It will break the slat allowing you to remove it.

After you have your slats removed, you can use the wood putty or spackling to fill in the holes where the slats were. (you may notice that this is the back side of my magazine rack-hanging it like this would make it difficult to hang magazines)

Paint your new magazine rack a fun color. As I noted above, there is a right and wrong way to hang your magazine rack—before you add your saw tooth hanger you will want to grab a couple of magazines to test the orientation of your magazine rack. 

I like to have the wider portion on the top, with the magazines flowing behind each other.   After you give it a test run, you are ready to attach your saw tooth hanger.  Embellish any way you’d like.  You can do this to a tall shutter or bi-fold door and lean it against a wall instead of hanging it.  You could also display vintage towels or small blankets instead of magazines.

You can check out the complete details of this shutter magazine rack on my site. I make mine a little different now, but it takes more tools.  I wanted to show you that anyone can make this project.

If you love to make old new again, you can check out these great projects:

This kid’s bench was made from a footboard and a headboard.  I made the table to match from scratch. This project is currently the most popular post on My Repurposed Life.

Here’s another great kid’s piece.  It’s a toy box bench made from a salvaged crib.

This is my all-time favorite project.  Many of my projects find new homes, however I couldn’t let this one go.  I use it in my bedroom for extra storage.  I fondly refer to this tall lingerie chest as the “tower of terror”.   It was definitely a fun challenge.

I hope you visit My Repurposed Life soon, I’m sure you’ll find something to inspire you to repurpose and reuse some unwanted items. You can start by checking out my galleries on my sidebar.

Thanks so much Fawnda for letting me fill in for you today!  I wish you all the best with your new bundle of joy!  Such a blessing!

gail