LollyChops

Front Porch Kits - Reveal Day!!!

It's later than late and I've 100% turned into a pumpkin...but I wanted to drop in and announce the winner of the Our Best Bites cookbook giveaway!!!

...and the winner is...
Big congrats to Jeanette - whose favorite meal is a big juicy hamburger (but she also evidently likes to make a wild rice casserole too)!  I think that sounds pretty darn good!  Maybe she'll share the recipe with us if we ask nicely?!?!?!?

Front Porck Kits - Friday Night Live!!!
Today is reveal day for the April kit over at Front Porch Kits!  You can check out all of the project pics and full kit content list HERE!

We'll be on UStream tonight (starting at 8:30CST right HERE) for a super goofy and fun show (there will be overalls and singing involved) so I hope to see you guys there!

Vacation time for The Chops Clan...
I'm going to be taking a little blog vacation for the next week or two (prolly just a week cause I'll miss you guys too much).  RonChops and I have a LOT of yard work to do so crafts are gonna have to take a little holiday on their own to the south of France while I dig around in the yard looking for our lawn...I know it's in there somewhere underneath all the weeds that have come up)!  I'll be back soon so keep the teal fires burning!!!

P.S.  I'll miss you guys.  Try not to have too much fun without me!  XOs!   

Front Porch Kits - Fresh from the Garden

Hi everyoneI!! I'm back (and twice in one week no less...  it's an outright teal colored miracle)!

I wanted to drop in and share a couple of sneak peeps from our latest Front Porch kit... we named it Fresh from the Garden (and don't worry... The Teal of Fortune game will be back next month - so get your letters lined up for a hopping good time with prizes)!

This month's kit is pretty unique and has the cutest little alterable you'll ever meet (she has a name of course and I'll introduce you guys to her during Friday Night Live (which you can read about HERE))!

Here is peep numero uno!

MomChops had something to do with those little red fellas...
(she's still working on the last few as her knee heals...  she told me she's seeing them in her dreams now!!!)

...and here is peep numero two...
(two cause it's late and I don't know if it's doh's or dose or dos... my spanish gets rusty this late at night)!

...and in case you can't think of something crafty to do with the chicken inspired metal element...
(a.k.a. chicken wire)
You can always corral a herd of chickens and have them bust out some eggs for you!

mmmm...  eggs sound good right now.

And now for a little episode of "Gettin my country on..." with Lolly
So if yer kinda thinking you might want to git one of these here fancy schmancy kits-loaded-with-crafts, dust off your wanglers and boot scoot on over to the Front Porch Kits website over YONDER to get your pre-order in.  We opened up pre-orders yesterday and the kits started flying away like flapjacks on Christmas morning (whew...  I just re-read that and I'm tellin' you...  it's late and I feel way goofier than nermal... can ya tells?).

P.S.  Do flapjacks actually fly away on Christmas morning?  Should I be pondering such deep thoughts so late at night...  does anyone other than me still call them flapjacks???

P.S.S.T.  I am heading to the kitchen to make a midnight run on some some scrambled eggs.  HUGS Ya'll! I'll be back Friday (oh and don't forget about the Our Best Bites cookbook giveaway over YONDER... it's open till this Thursday night)!

Our Best Bites... Cookbook Giveaway!

Hi everyone!  I am totally thrilled to introduce you guys to some very sweet blog friends of mine, Kate and Sara from Our Best Bites.  I met these two girls (virtually of course) when I first started blogging a couple of years ago!  We have co-posted several times over the years and have always had a blast with our craft and cooking collaborations!

I am super happy to share their very first cookbook with you today!  It's called "Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen" and you can get it HERE!

Through the years...
Some of the recipes and download and print freebie tags and label posts we have created together include a super amazing chili spice mix (that I have on hand at all times), a double chocolate waffle mix and the nearly famous mini pies in a jar.

I remember one reader writing to let me know that her and her mom were so inspired by the pie post that they immediately made up 50 mini pies and stowed them away in their freezer!!!!  ...and then promptly made mini pies every night that weekend for dessert...  single serving fresh pie hot out of the oven...  it's a good thing that can go to your hips real real fast if you're not careful!!!

Here are the linky's for each of our posts on these recipes:

Chili Spice Mix
Lolly Chops - Download and print freebie post is HERE
Our Best Bites recipe and how-to HERE

Double Chocolate Waffles
LollyChops - Download and print freebie post HERE
Our Best Bites recipe and how-to HERE 

Mini Pies in Jar
LollyChops - Download and print freebie post HERE
Our Best Bites recipe and how-to HERE  

(Tip:  for the download and print freebies, once you get to the download links from those posts... right click and save the PDF to your desktop for best results)

Sew... on to the giveaway!
To enter to win a copy of Kate and Sara's new cookbook...  all you have to do is leave me a little comment letting me know what your favorite meal is!  It's that easy...!

Make sure you head on over to Our Best Bites to see what the girls are cookin' up this week... AND... if you are looking for RonChops #1 ALL TIME FAVORITE MEAL ON-THE-PLANET...  you simply must try their Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos with Lime Cilantro Dressing (this dressing is so good I've often thought about putting it on my pancakes).  When RonChops and I first discovered this meal, we made it every week for 9 solid months (and fed it to every single person who walked through our front door... we keep a batch of the taquitos in the freezer at ALL times)!!! 

...and last but not least...

Guess what it's time for!!!

Our April kit - Fresh From the Garden...will be ready for pickin' tomorrow!
You can head on over to the Front Porch Kits website bright and early Tuesday morning to get in on the pre-orders!

Below is a teeny tiny little sneaky peep of one of the projects I made using our April kit!

Official reveal day is this Friday - April 15.
We'll be doing a live show on UStream that night (it's Friday Night Live) and will have giveaways galore and lots of fun project shares!

I'll be back Friday morning to share ALL of the details with you!

P.S.  I'll also be doing a Live with Prima show this Thursday evening (April 14 - the show starts at 8:30CST).  We'll be transforming small wooden embroidery hoops into this sweet little wall hanging (psst... the inspiration for this project came from my friend Susan... thanks Susan!!!).  You can watch the show HERE. I hope to see you guys online later this week!

P.S.S.T.  The Our Best Bites cookbook giveaway is open until Thursday (I'll announce the winner in my post Friday morning)! 

Quickie Cork Tray

Hello everyone!  This past weekend was one of those so busy you can hardly see straight weekends (it was mostly dog washing, DogChops summer hair cuttin' and craft room cleanin"....  oh my was the craft room a mess...  I should have taken before and after pictures.  I think the craft room lost at least 50 pounds (and she could still stand to lose a few more))!

Sunday evening RonChops and I wandered over to my folks house to visit with my sister.  SisterChops is in town to take over MomChops knee watch duty (MomChops is doing GREAT with her new bionic knee).  My sister brought 4 solid suitcases full of thrift store finds and crafty goodies for a week long craftstravanga/MomChops knee watching party (MomChops showed RonChops the franken-knee and I think he almost passed out... EEPS)!!!

One of the finds SisterChops brought us was a wooden serving tray that was PERFECT for lining with corks... the sucker was only $4.00 (traveling all over the country as a flight attendant leads her to the BEST CHEAP junk on earth)!!!  We have all been searching for the perfect tray since the family pottery weekend with PamChops last October (this little photo here is one I took of PamChops tray)... and SisterChops found one for us!  YAY SISTERCHOPS!!!       

I could not even believe how fast it went together!  We got home from hanging out with them around 5 and I had the whole thing together about an hour later!  It's SUPER fast and easy!

The biggest pain was filling in the holes on the edges and sides.  That required some cork cutting... and I can honestly say that cork cutting is not my favorite thing on earth...  BUT... once it's all done it makes everything ok!  I know my mom is really going to love using this tray and I was happy that between the corks my friends and family have been saving up for me and this tray my sister found, that she's going to have the perfect serving tray!

 

I used hot glue to secure these corks.  I put the glue directly to the tray so I could position the corks the way I wanted them!  It was just much easier that way! 

Soooo.... on to the giveaway winners from last week!!!

The results are as follows:
Green 47 (seriously folks...  green???)
Blue 46

Pink 39
Purple 38 (so close!!!)
Red 28
Teal 24 (poor teal)
Yellow 12
Orange 8
Brown 3
White 2
Black
Gray 1 (poor grey!!!)

Can you even believe that green beat teal?  I feel sad but happy at the time (kinda)!!!

Sew... the winner of the giveway is Becky T!!!  Congrats Becky!!!!  You should have an email from me already!  I hope you enjoy your goodies!

I'll be back next with another giveaway (this next time it's gonna be food related)!!!!!  Amazing food related...  think cookbook folks!  I hope you'll be back for more!

P.S.  Thanks for all the well wishes for MomChops!!!  I hope you guys have a wonderful week!!!