the {holiday sweet swap} link party is open ... let the sweets begin!!

Frosters, bakers and sweet treat makers ... the
{holiday sweep swap} link party
at pressed down, shaken together is open! 

This party will remain open from October 1st through December 31st for any and every holiday or seasonal sweet treat you can dream up!  Share your old and new recipe posts!

Now is the time to show off your blue ribbon pumpkin pie!  your family's favorite eggnog recipe!  the fudge that steals the show at every holiday party!  a great Halloween cookie!  the bread pudding that everyone goes back for seconds for at Thanksgiving!  cookies!  cakes!  candies!  We want to see it all!

I am also co-hosting this party with some unbelievably talented ladies - read about all of them here!!

My co-hosts are waiting, introductions have been made, the oven is pre-heated and I am so excited to see what you share!  So, now what you've all been waiting for ...

the {holiday sweet swap}

I'll be pinning some of my favorite recipes on Pinterest and sharing some on Facebook, too!

Can't wait to see what you have whipped up!
Keri

allow me to introduce ... my {holiday sweet swap} co-hosts!!!

When I decided that I wanted to host this fun little shindig, I knew I didn't want to do it alone.  What's a party without friends?  I put the word out and was so excited that some fellow bloggers were diggin' it and wanted to join me!  (No really, I might have been a little giddy at that first email!) 

Originally, I was only looking for one co-host each month (and was holding my breath that someone would want the 'job').  But I was super excited when I had more than 1 response and than I figured, "why not?!"  The more the merrier! 

And now, allow me to introduce...

October

1. Meet Megan ... she is cooking up a storm over at The Stoker Kitchen!  And she'll be sharing useful tips every Tuesday!
2. Danielle blogs at A Day in the Life - she is the mom of two sweet boys and a fellow scrapbooker and foodie!

November

1. Shelly blogs over at A Creative Space - you have to see the picture of her pups ... SO darn cute!  She also has great paper crafts and tutorials!
2. Crumbs and Chaos (sounds just like my life!) is the blog of 4 talented sisters - check out their weekly link party and tons of fantastic recipes!

December

1. Amber is the proprietor over at Live, Love, Green!  We've recently "met" and she is going to be sharing some near and dear family recipes!  She's also a paper crafter :)
2. Inside BruCrew Life is one of my newly discovered favorite blogs and I am so excited that Jocelyn is joining the party!!  You will definitely find something amazing to make on her blog - can you say liquid cupcakes?!  ;)

These ladies are going to share some of their own fantastic sweets, feature some of you and keep the party going!  Please stop by and show them some love!!

So keep an eye out for the party post on all of our blogs - swing by, pin, Facebook or tweet some of your favorite recipes or better yet, make something delightfully delicious to link up!!

Counting down the minutes to the party!
Keri

{create this} halloween tags for boys

What a week!!  It has been a jammed pack seven days in the pressed down, shaken together household!  Baseball season started Saturday, we threw a last minute birthday party for The Little Bug on Sunday (pics coming soon!), practice Monday, game Tuesday, practice Wednesday, 2 games Thursday ... so when I say TGIF, I mean it!

Friday also means {create this} and in between all the running around above, I was able to squeeze in some crafting to finish the rest of my halloween tags! 

The girls had fun last week with my girly set which included a cat, ghost and skull.  So today, let's hear it for the boys and make a mummy, tombstone and frankenstein! These of course start out with basic tags from the office supply store!!

Tombstone

Once again, trim your tag to make the tombstone shape:

I added "R.I.P." letter stickers (don't worry about the color of the stickers - we're going to remove them in a minute). 

Now, use a dauber (or a napkin like me, ha ha!) to dab on black ink all over your tombstone.

Remove the letters to reveal the ghostly sentiment.  I also handcut some little tufts of grass and added some inked green moss to age the stone.

Bonus cheesy valentine sentiment:  Forget R.I.P., you're a V.I.P. to me!

Mummy

Trim your tag into the shape of a head.  Easy enough. 

Now, take strips of cream colored card stock and ink the edges.  Trim it into shorter pieces and adhere all over the head in a crazy mess like this: 

Flip the mummy head over and trim the excess away. 

Ink around the edges and add button eyes.

I LOVE this one!!

Bonus cheesy valentine sentiment:  You have awesome all wrapped up!

Frankenstein

Again, trim your tag to make a boxy head.  (I forgot to take many pictures - sorry!)  I smudged on some green ink, cut hair from black paper, added button eyes and a stitched mouth.  The final touch?  Two silver brads for the bolts in the side of his neck.

  
Bonus cheesy valentine sentiment:  Frankly, you are too cool!

Here are a few fun ways to use them:

Well, there you have it!  One more {create this} for the books!  One more craft tutorial done and documented.  Hope you enjoyed it!

This post was shared at the parties on my Link page!

{taste this} golden oatmeal muffins

I'm pretty much a Fall junkie.  Which is kind of ironic considering I live in Florida and Fall is pretty much a lost season, ha ha.  But I can dream about cool weather and crispy leaves ... and I can bake!  So while it may still feel like Summer outside, we are going to eat like Fall inside!!  And with that comes ...

In the coming weeks, I am going to share delicious fall recipes that start with a boxed cake mix.  I mean, really?  Betty and Duncan do this for a living - why recreate the wheel?  ;)  I did something similar with my Six Takes on Cupcakes series - check out the Tasty Stuff page for all those recipes!

This week, we're making:

Here is what you'll need to pick up (or may already have on hand):

1 golden yellow cake mix

1 cup quick cook oats

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

**the recipe doesn't call for this, but the muffins were a bit dense, so I would add 1/4 cup applesauce or oil to provide a little more moisture**

(Not pictured:  1/4 cup applesauce/oil)

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Now, stir together the eggs, milk, applesauce/oil and melted butter (cooled slightly).  Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.   Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400* for about 13 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm with a smidge of butter and a drizzle of honey.

I love the golden color and the addition of honey on the warm muffins is absolutely perfect!  These muffins are filling, thanks to the oatmeal, and a great compliment on a cool morning to a cup of coffee or hot tea!

What else am I making for this Fall baking series?  Glad you asked!  Coming soon:  pumpkin pie cake balls, my grandma's pumpkin layer dessert and pumpkin cupcakes!!

If you find the Calorie Fairy, could you let me know?  I've got a few for her ;)

This post was shared at the parties on my Link page!

{holiday sweet swap} button & co-hosts

Just a few quick updates on the {holiday sweet swap} that starts THIS SATURDAY!  Get your recipes and your sweet tooth ready!!

• LOOK!  I have another button!  And this one only took me one try!  The miracle of copy & paste ;)  I'd love for you to grab it and add it to your blog to get the word out!
• I am still in need of some fabulous co-hosts to share in the fun!  You'll get a full feature and lots of link party traffic.  Please leave a comment here with your contact information or email me:  shakentogetherblog {at} gmail {dot} com.
• Stop by this Saturday - October 1st - to add your seasonal/holiday treats - old and new posts welcome!

Hope you have a sweet week!
Keri

{create this} halloween tags for girls

Where in the world did this week go?!  I feel like Tuesday we were celebrating the Little Bug's 9th birthday and BAM!  It's Friday!  And, oh yeah!  I'm supposed to have a craft and tutorial ... right now!  Nothing like 9th hour crafting :)

So, welcome to {create this} - my weekly craft and tutorial here at shaken together! 

Since I bought 100 tags at the office supply store for last Friday's shabby tag banners, I really REALLY wanted to make something else with them.  And I have some fun ideas that are rolling around in my brain, but nothing that was fall-ish or Halloween-y.  UNTIL NOW!  

And just so this post won't be sixteen miles long, I am going to do this tutorial in two parts.  Today, I am posting the girly Halloween tags:  a cat, skull and ghost.  (The boys get a frankenstein, tombstone and mummy next week - oooooo!)

Here Kitty, Kitty

You'll have to first trim away some of the tag to get the overall shape for the cat's head.  Like this:

Now, using my scrapbook paper scraps, I added pink to her ears, slightly slanted eyes with bright blue buttons, a little pink nose and some thread whiskers.  I, of course, inked everything and it is hard to see in the picture, but I also inked on a few stripes around her face.

If you are making these for Halloween gift tags, bonus cheesy phrases to add to the back with your to and from:  You are the cat's meow!  There's no bad luck if you cross my path!  You are purr-fect!

Girly Ghostie

Just like with the cat, you'll have to make a few quick cuts for the general ghost shape.  I used an eyelet punch to give the girly ghost a flirty little skirt/sheet? ;)

For the ghost, I added a pink mouth, a few flowers in her hair (?), a cupcake wrapper skirt and a little ribbon belt.  Inked of course :)

Bonus cheesy sayings:  Boo to you!  Have a boo-tiful day!   Ghostess with the mostess!

SweetTart Skull

And again, trim your tag to the shape of a skull.  No template;  I just free handed a skull shape.

For the skull, add a ribbon bow, button eyes with kooky eyelashes, nose and a heart shaped mouth.

Bonus cheesy phrase: No bones about it, you rock!

This post was shared at the parties on my Link page!

{life with bugs} 9.21.11

Just in case you're fairly new here (hi new followers - so glad you're here!), I am not a entomologist nor is our home running rampant with insects.  Although, during the rainy season in Florida, you really don't have a choice, ha ha!

Anyways ... The Saint and I have two boys.  One 11 1/2 and one newly 9 (yesterday, in fact!).  I call them The Bugs (my long time nickname for them shortened from bugaboo).  So, I started thinking that it might not be a bad idea to share my ...

{life with bugs}

Today, two short and sweet funny snippets from The Bugs...

The Little Bug, while doing math homework about rounding and estimating numbers, was showing The Bigger Bug his work:

"See, this gets rounded up, because 8 is a bully.  And this one gets rounded down because 4 is a wimp." 

Seriously love that kid.  And his teacher.

Now, the Bigger Bug just started middle school (6th grade/junior high - whatever you call it in your neck of the woods) this August - EEK!! - and actually, suprisingly, seems to like it!  A lot.  And now I think I know why.

"Mom, I met the love of my life:  {name withheld to protect the innocent}.  And she is SO HOT!"

Sigh.  I apologize ahead of time, lovely 6th grade girl.  When he says "hot" he really means that he thinks you're smart and you have good manners.  Oh, and he has a pretty crafty mother.  ;)

So, there you have it.  The first official installment of {life with bugs}! 

Come on back on Friday for {create this friday}!  I am sharing a new tutorial for using the office supply store tags that I used to make my happy fall & boo-to-you shabby tag banners!  And I'm starting a Fall dessert series on Tuesday for {taste this tuesday}.  I'm still looking for a few co-hosts  for my Holiday Sweet Swap - click here for details.  You can find me on Pinterest and on Facebook, too!

See you soon!
Keri

{taste this} crockpot breakfast casserole

Whoever created the crockpot is a genius ... am I right?  Crockpot tacos, soups, stews, "one pot wonder" dinners ... what could be easier?  For whatever reason, I had never equated my crockpot with breakfast until a coworker shared this recipe.  I was blown away by how easy it was to make and how much The Bugs and The Saint raved about it!

Oh, and by the way, welcome to {taste this} at shaken together!!  Here is what we'll be making this week:

So aside from a crockpot ;), you'll need the following items to layer for this breakfast casserole:

1 bag refrigerated hash browns (I used Simply Potatoes), 1 lb breakfast sausage BROWNED and crumbled, 10-12 eggs scrambled with milk and 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (or your favorite cheese)

(Just for the record, it is sorta hard to make hashbrowns and browned, crumbled breakfast sausage look appealing when dumped in a crockpot, ha ha!)  Now, set your crockpot to low and just let it cook.  (I feel like an infomercial: "Set it and forget it.")  Anyway, you know it is done when the eggs are firm and the cheese is crispy around the edges.  Mine took about 3 hours to cook, give or take (but I have a BIG crockpot, so cooking time may vary).  This is perfect for a sleepover, a large holiday gathering, brunch or a lazy Sunday morning breakfast.

We used southwestern flavored hashbrowns and they definitely had a little kick.  You could use maple breakfast sausage for a sweet and savory combination or add sauteed veggies for a meat-free version.  It is super simple and supremely delicious!

Update 1/11/13!  This recipe was one of the top 100 recipes of 2012 over at AllFreeSlowCookerRecipes.com!!  Thanks everyone who clicked, pinned and ate :)

{coming soon!} holiday sweet swap & a call for co-hosts

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!  I have a fun announcement that I just couldn't wait any longer to share!

Beginning October 1st and continuing allllll the way until December 31st, I'll be hosting a holiday sweet swap!

This three month long link party is the perfect place to share your most festive holiday candy, fudge, cupcakes, dessert, cake, baked good, ice cream or any other sweet treat!  If it celebrates a holiday from October to December, I want to see it!  And I mean any holiday!  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah ... or go crazy and share something for National Indian Pudding Day or National Dessert Day!  Seasonal sweets ... come one, come all.  Old and new posts welcome!  Look for the link party to begin October 1st!!

BUT WAIT!  There's more!

I would to have a few co-hosts to join the party - one for each month of the party!!  My three dream co-hosts would post a recipe or two, do a few feature posts and spread the word about the party on your blog, Facebook page, etc.!  If that sounds like a sweet gig to you (or if you have any questions), please email me at shakentogetherblog {at} gmail {dot} com. 

And if you have a store or business and you want to sponsor a related giveaway - recipe cards, cupcake toppers, packaging items, etc. - send me an email as well.  I'd love to promote your sweet business!

Can't wait to see your sweets and find some fantastic co-hosts!
Keri

{create this} happy fall & boo-to-you shabby tag banners

Welcome to the first official edition of {create this} formerly known as {fin de friday}!  This is my weekly craft and tutorial post and I'm so glad you stopped by shaken together.

I am still inspired by Fall - maybe it is just wishful thinking since we are still in the low to mid 90s in Florida - so this week, I've got a step-by-step photo tutorial so you can create this: 

happy fall & boo-to-you shabby tag banners

Believe it or not, these banners start out with these humble tags from the office supply store:

100 for $6 - my bargain loving little heart might have skipped a beat ;)

Along with the tags, you'll need twine, letter stamps and ink, scissors, scrapbook/decorative papers (scraps work just fine) and ribbons.  

First, stamp your message and ink the edges of your tags ...

Let's make some cute little spooky ghosts for the "boo to you" banner ...  Trim the tags into the shape of a ghost.  Punch two holes for eyes, add a mouth and ink the edges.  BOO!

For the "happy fall" banner, we'll need three pumpkins.  You'll first need to cut straight across the tag even with the bottom of the reinforced hole BUT don't cut it off!  Trim around the reinforced hole.  This is the stem of your pumpkin :)  Now you can make chubby little squat pumpkins or taller thin pumpkins by trimming the tags.  Round the corners.

Now, fold your pumpkins in thirds.  Ink the edges of the pumpkin and the folds to give it some definition and shabby chic style.  I used a smaller ink to brush on a touch of orange.  It is a pumpkin after all :)  Cut a green leaf to finish it up.  SO stinkin' cute!

The pumpkins and ghosts would also be super cute tied on a gift, treat bag, bottle of wine, basket, wreath, etc.

Once you have stamped and make ghosts/pumpkins to your heart's content, tie your tags to the twine, add a few knotted ribbons and you are all set to bring a little festive fun to any room, office or bulletin board near you!

I'll be sharing a few other variations of these banners and more ways to use these same tags in the coming weeks ... we'll get the most bang out of those $6!  :)  So, I'd love for you to stop back by!  And bring a friend ;)

This post was shared at the parties on my Link page!

{taste this} vanilla french toast with caramelized bananas

So, if you're a shaken together Facebook friend (click here if you wanna be!), you know that on Labor Day, my "labor of love" for The Bugs and The Saint was making this DELISH breakfast ...  vanilla french toast with caramelized bananas!

Since it was a seriously delicious way to start the day (and look:  healthy - there's fruit, ha!), I decided to share it for this week's {taste this} recipe!

Start with this simple vanilla french toast recipe from the BH&G September issue:  BH&G Vanilla French Toast Recipe.  The recipe makes the perfect amount for 8 slices of toast and the balance between cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg is just right!  This is totally my new go-to recipe for french toast!

Toast in progress:

The BH&G picture shows it with fresh banana slices, but I wanted to make them warm and gooey.  I mean, what says love better than caramel for breakfast?!  ;) 

While the last slices of your french toast are cooking away, make your bananas.  In a small saute pan, add 1-2 tablespoon butter to 3 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar over medium heat.  Stir together and let it come to a slow boil.  Next, slice up 2 ripe (but still firm) bananas and simmer in the caramel sauce until warm.

Top your french toast with the warm caramelized bananas, add a swirl of syrup and dive on in!  The only problem with this recipe is that now The Bugs will never settle for toaster/microwave french toast again!  Which is probably not a bad thing :)

This post was shared at the parties on my Link page!

{create this} mad scientist birthday party

Hello and welcome!! 

So glad you stopped by shaken together!!

So, the Little Bug is going to be 9 - that's right:  nine! - in 11 days.  My youngest is 1/2 way to 18 - holy moly!!  Where does the time go?!  Anyway, we are still brainstorming for his birthday party for this year - he's thinking either sharks or robots - AND THEN I remembered I threw him a mad scientist birthday party a few years ago that I have not shared with you!!  And since this is the spookiest time of year when you can actually find stretchy skeletons and gummy body parts in stores, the timing could not be more perfect!!  Most of these ideas could be incorporated into any Halloween party or creepy get together, too!  So without further ado, let's get this {create this} started!!

Lots of projects and pictures to behold ...

Laboratory Notes
This sign (sorry for the poor picture quality - this was definitely pre-blog, ha ha!) greeted our guests:

I added several other lab notes around our house, too.  One of my favorites was the "experiment" log that I added to our fishtank.  We were in the process of deep cleaning it and there was absolutely nothing in it.  Or was there???  I taped on a log detailing the progress of an invisible fish experiment that made everyone chuckle. 

On the cabinet in our dining room, I added an A-Z list of contents with all sorts of silly things ...

Mad Scientist ID Badges
Since every good scientist needs special clearance for those high security areas, I made us personalized ID badges highlighting our oh-so-scientific credentials!  Using baseball card protectors, wallet sized pictures printed on my home printer and a barcode downloaded online (added onto the back), I whipped up our badges!

Just in case you can't read our "credentials":

• The Little Bug:  Six Year Specialist, Head of Birthday Development, Dr. of Cake & Ice Cream
• J - The Little Bug's Best Buddy:  Dr. of Dental Research, Soccer Science Specialist, Dir. - Red Headology Dept.
• The Bigger Bug:  Degree in Baseball, Left Handed Specialist, Dr. of Pokemon Identification
• The Saint:  Degree in Sports, Heat & Metal Specialist, Dir. - Injury Recovery Dept.
• Me:  Dr. of Cropology, Creative Specialist, Vocabularial Expert

Delicious Dissection
Badges in hand, the mini mad scientist and his guests moved on to their first gross experiment!  The day before the party, I added gummy body parts and mini marshmallows to green jello in shallow disposable pans.  I handed out dissection trays, plastic silverware and let the sweet slicing and dicing commence!!  Everything was edible (gross, but edible!) and they had a blast digging and nibbling!

Eyeball Punch and Brain Cake

Next, we experimented with foamy eyeball punch (lemon-lime soda poured over scooped sherbet and gummy eyeballs) and goopy brain cake (baked in a bowl and piped to look like a brain!) and they were both a big hit! 

Favors:  Scientific Essentials Kit

All the scientists went home with a kit containing all their scientific essentials!  Each kit was packaged in these green plastic boxes I found at Target - you could easily use a gift bag, plastic pencil box or even a shoebox - and contained:  a stretchy skeleton, a magnifying glass from the dollar store, a field journal (you know, for important scientific notes!), crazy mad scientist glasses, pop rocks and 'specimen jars' filled with radioactive glow worms (sour gummy worms), alien cocoons (big crunchy nerds) and bug eggs (regular nerds).

The entire Bassett clan rocked the kooky glasses, too:

Well, there you have it - a little mini trip back in time (look at how little The Bugs were!) and some fun ideas for your very own little mad scientist celebration!

This post was shared at all of parties on my Link page!