To Craft or not to Craft

So I've been thinking about starting my little craft business back up again. I really enjoy it but just haven't had the time. I've noticed I'm more interested in it lately so I want to start something back up. Before I used to craft almost anything.... From nursery letters, signs, and blocks. Painting/crafting with blocks was always my favorite. I'm thinking about just focusing on block crafts. I can do many different things with the blocks so I'm sure ill get into it and create fun pieces to sell.

Sooooo from now on instead of Simply Crafty..... i'll be calling my little craft business Simply Blocks. I'm excited to paint/ craft again! Here are a few projects I've done in the past......

OOTD: A little Kiki La'Rue

Today's OOTD is from my one and only love,  www.kikilarue.com
I've been so obsessed with this amazing Boutique for months now and I'm so excited to blog about it. (As if you didn't already know) :-) Kiki La'Rue is owned by my gorgeous friend Becka. Becka is such a doll, she works so hard to bring you the best pieces and the BEST customer service. It's like shopping in your best friend's closet. One of my absolute favorite pieces from KLR is the famous Piko. These tops are the most comfiest tops EVER. It's oversized in the body and it has fitted arms. It goes great with maxi skirts and my fave, leggings and boots. I was hoping for the cool weather today like we had yesterday so I could wear boots. Since it's suppose to be 90* today, I chose some cute sandals from Target.
~ real fast------ I dyed my hair last night to a vibrant red..... I'm loving it~

:)

Onto what I'm wearing.....

I'm wearing the Army Green Piko from Kiki La'Rue along with KLR black Jeggings. (Jeggings are from last season) I rolled my Jeggings a couple times and paired some tan sandals from Target with it. 

My necklace is from veryjane.com- I'm loving the white and gold lately

LOVE stacking bracelets with my watches. My watch is from Target and my two bracelets are from Charlotte Russe. 

Love how comfortable I feel in this outfit. If you don't have a Piko yet, you must hurry and get one FAST! You won't regret it. 

~ one more from Kiki La'Rue....... The So JELLY tunic. Look at this dress....ahhhhh. You know I'll be getting this.... I have to, it's named after me and all ;) 

Xoxoxo ~Jessica 

Dylan Turns 8.... Duck Dynasty Style

My son Dylan turned 8 this past Sunday. He chose to have a sleepover Saturday night with all his buddies. Our whole family is obsessed with Duck Dynasty, especially Dylan! So why not have the coolest Duck Dynasty Party ever?!

I LOVE to craft so I was excited there would be some crafting involved. I found some DD decorations but they weren't available for order til Sept 13th. So I got creative. I made a DD banner by cutting triangles with my Cricut. I printed pictures of all the guys and mod podged them to each triangle. I was happy with the way it turned out. I also cut out "beard shapes" and glued sticks to them  so the kids can have beards like Si, Willie, Phil, Jase, Jep, and Ivan's favorite.... Mountain Man. 

My cousin Tony used to be a huge duck hunter. I borrowed tons of stuff from him for the party. He had tons of Duck Decoys and silhouettes that stick in the ground. We placed them all over our backyard to make it more DD appropriate. 

We even had "sweet tea"(it was really apple juice). Dylan had a Si tea cup that he used during the party. Uncle Si is his Favorite! I loved seeing all the kids dressed in Camo and have their bandanas on. Dylan had so much fun. He said to me later that night that this was the best birthday ever! 

The party was a success... And that's a fact Jack!

Homemade Apple Cobbler

    So this past Labor Day we were at my brother in law and sister in law's house for a BBQ. We were sitting in their backyard watching all the kids pick apples from their apple tree. My sister in law said the apples are a bit bitter and that they weren't really eating them. The kids picked so many so I thought i could make a couple apple cobblers for everyone. Bitter/sour  apples work great for pies and cobblers. I've made apple cobbler before but I decided to use a new recipe and it turned out soooo good! I even had a little helper.......

We had to peel 25 apples total (I doubled the recipe) so I knew I needed help. Owen was a pro. 

What you'll need for The homemade filling:

12 pealed and cored apples, sliced

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract 

2 tbs softened butter

Batter:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 tsp salt

6 tbs softened butter

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs, slightly beaten 

Preheat your oven to 350*

~ Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl and then transfer into a 13 by 9 baking dish

~ For the batter, mix all the ingredients except the eggs. Beat your three eggs in a separate bowl then slowly add them to the mixture and stir well. 

~ Drop the batter over the apples. It doesn't have to be perfect..... The batter will spread while baking

~ Bake at 350* for 1 hour

~ Serve while warm with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream! Yummmmmmy

Again, I doubled the recipe...... Here's all 25 pealed and sliced apples.

                                      

 

Don't worry too much about your placement of the batter over the apples. It will spread while baking.

Enjoy!

Owen's First Day of Preschool

    Today my youngest boy started preschool. I was so excited for him and me! This would be the first time, in a LONG time I would have time for me. He always talks about school so I knew he would be just fine. He was dressed to a T and was ready for the day. This wasn't his first time going to school. He had attended the 2 yr old class last year and this year he moved up. It's really funny that he moved up to his Aunt's class, "Ms Randall". Ms. Randall is actually married to my brother in law.  I was a little worried he wouldn't listen to her in school and just call her "Aunt Randall" but she said he did well.

    So lets talk about my three hours of alone time! Ahhhhhhh I'm still smiling. It was so peaceful. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and got to catch up on my shows from last week. My husband ended up having the day off so it was nice he got to lay around with me. He did ask if I could make him breakfast but I just starred at him and said, Really? Hahaha not on my very first day of peace and quiet. The day started off so well and is still going great. Owen loved school and he can't wait for Thursday!