This Lil' Birdie Likes Food: Cheerio Bars

Two posts in one day!  YAY!  Both food!  YAY!  Bad for diet but who cares!

Cheerio bars.

I think these might just be the perfect snack.  Salty, sweet, peanut butter, cheerios... What's not to love?!

What you'll need:

5 cups Cheerios
3 tbsp butter (yes, this must be real butter.  because I say so.)
1 bag mini marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy, smooth, organic, doesn't matter)

Toss all the butter into a big ol' pan and heat it over low heat.  Don't burn your butter (it smells icky)

Once it's all good & melted, toss in your marshmallows & keep it on low heat

Now, you want these to completely melt.  No big ol' lumpy clumps.... It should look less like this and more like this...

When you get here, dump in your peanut butter and stir it all up...

Obviously I used crunchy pb cause that's all I had and it's just better that way....
Then take it off the heat and throw in your cheerios...

Mix well and be sure you've greased (aka: Pam'd) a glass baking dish...

Then dump your cheerio/marshmallow/peanutbutter mixture into the baking dish...

I stuff my hand into a plastic bag and push it down flat.  Like such.

And then you just let them cool and then cut into squares.  Cheerio Bars.  Yum!

P.s. This recipe is super easy to half which is what I did for this recipe since I had a half a bag of marshmallows cause I ate the rest.... :)

This Lil' Birdie Likes Food: Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

I promised this recipe a few days ago, but I'm a smudge late.... Apologies!

I could live off of Chocolate.  Couldn't you?

So this year, for Thanksgiving, instead of basic pecan pie (icky nasty caro syrup filling nastyness), I decided to make Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie.  Yes, you read that right.  Chocolate Chip.  Pecan Pie.  Yum!  And that's exactly what it was! YUM!

This was my first time ever making pie, and let me just say, it was super simple!  Here's how you do it:

You'll need:

Pie Crust (refrigerated, uncooked, just one in the pack of 2)

Chocolate chips (semi-sweet) 1 cup

Caro syrup (light, 1 cup)

Brown sugar (1 tightly packed cup)

Vanilla extract (1.5 tsp)

Whole pecans (1 cups) 

Chopped pecans (1/2 cup)

Butter (2 tsp, melted)

3 whole eggs

(not shown, 1/2 tsp salt)

Unroll one of the pie crusts and press it into a 9" pie pan (mine's pyrex... never burns the crust!  My dream pie pan?  This one... so pretty!)

Then mix all of the ingredients except for the whole pecans together in a big bowl... It'll be really soupy...

Then pour it all in your pie pan...

And then just top it with your whole pecans & bake for 50 minutes at 350degrees F (if the edges of the pie crust start getting brown too quick, cover them with foil).  Cool completely on a wire rack and you can store this for up to 3 days before you need to serve it (covered with foil, of course!)

Then consume....

Best served warm with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, and a lil' chocolate syrup.  Decadent?  Yes.  Necessary?  ABSOLUTELY

Enjoy :)

My Favorite Things Part 1

I'm picky by nature.  I can't help it.  So here are a few of my favorite things (and trust me, I'm picky enough to say with authority that these are the "best"....)

Mascara (but only this or Lorac Lotsa Lash)

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! Mascara, Sephora $19

Pretty much anything burlap, ruffled, or from Etsy... Even better? All three in one!

Urban farmhouse table runner from The Shabby Chic Cottage's Etsy Store ($34)

Truthfully, I love anything sweet but apart from cupcakes, these are my favorites...

Cheerio bars.  Yum!  I'll share my recipe tomorrow -- trust me, you NEED them in your life :)

Merry Christmas in 12 days!! YAY!!

This Lil' Birdie is Crafty: Felted Flowers

So I'm pretty much the queen of flowers right now... They're pretty much the ultimate accessory for me!  I wear them on jackets...

(UGH... that FACE!!!)

I wear them on belts....

And more than anything else, I wear them on shirts...

Dresses up that insanely boring ol' t-shirt doesn't it?

Well, because I love ya so very very much, I'm going to show you how to make this adorable houndstooth flower!

This lil' guy has become a staple on my red winter jacket just to spruce things up (especially during football season... Roll Tide!), and really this is incredibly easy to make.  And of course, it's hot glued (like most every craft project I do...).

Here's what you need:
-1 piece of felt (not felted wool fabric; I'm talking cheap-o felt squares in the kids craft section at Hobby Lobby 4/$1.00... I picked houndstooth, but there are about 60 other choices -- glittery silver, anyone?)
- hot glue (surprise surprise! <--- it took me 4 times to spell that right....)
- 1 pin or clip or something to attach it to your clothing/headband/whatever...
- Pearls, beads, or something to cover the hideous center of the flower (you'll see what I mean in a minute)
- 15-ish minutes & some Advil for the hot glue burns (no, seriously)

Start by drawing & cutting out 6 large petals, six smaller petals, and a circle (not pictured) from your felt square....

I free-handed mine which is why they're really not perfect.  Just as an fyi, on printed felt it's easier to draw & cut from the back (non-printed) side... I used a sharpie.

Next, you're going to use your hot glue gun to smudge (yes, that's a real word) the ends of each of the petals like this...

 Just make a little accordion fold & get some glue in between.  No worries if they're perfect, you won't be able to tell.  Do this to the 6 big petals, and then the 6 smaller petals just fold the bottom corners towards each other & glue... you'll see... I didn't take a picture...

Then you'll glue each petal onto the felt circle you cut earlier... Start with the bigger petals on the bottom & just arrange them to look like a flower-ish thing-a-ma-doo....

Easy as pie... with hot glue burns... yum!

Then do the same thing with the smaller petals but this time you'll glue them on top of the bigger petals.  I like to arrange them pretty before I start glue-ing....

See how the smaller petals are just glued at the bottom instead of the little accordion I showed you earlier?  Easier to do... Prettier on top....

So see what a hideous center we have there?  No worries, this is where your pretties come in!  I used one big pearl and tiny grey-ish pearls to cover the center.. Just hot-glue them into place....

I made one the other day and used a beautiful vintage button I bought from Etsy.... It was beauti-mous!

Then glue your holder (pin/barrette/etc) to the TOP of the felt circle on the backside... very much like what we did for the Pretty Flowers...

And voila!  You're done!  Now go wear your flower with a big ol' smile (proven to make you feel better about everything -- flowers & smiles that is!).

I'll post a picture of my flower on my coat soon... Until then, go make your own & link to pictures of yours if you do make these (and P.s. these make GREAT Christmas presents... I probably just ruined a few of my own gifts... )