Archives for September 2014

Family Movie Night with #IntelAIO

September 30, 2014 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

#spon: I am in a partnership with Intel. Through this partnership I gain access to content, product, or other forms of value.

I am all about creating traditions. I remember as a kid watching movies Sunday night and having popcorn and apple juice with my family. Sometimes my brother would even make treats one of his specialties being fried cheerios. We now carry this on having family movie night with my little family. The boys love it and look forward to it all week! We watch a different movie each week and I make or buy a special treat for us to enjoy that night.

With the weather cooling down we took advantage of a warm evening and had a special movie night with the kids outside. They thought it was the coolest. We set up blankets and pillows and snuggled up in the backyard with our popcorn and treats. Our Intel AIO made it so simple to set up! We simply took it outside (we have a strong wireless signal) and opened up Amazon to stream a movie. The screen was just the right size. Big enough for everyone to see, but small enough to be easily portable and take no time to set up.

We have gone through quite a few movies since we started family movie night. We have built up quite a list of movies for families with small kids. Here are a few of our favorites that aren’t the obvious choice of the latest cartoon:

The Sandlot
Anastasia
A Little Princess
Savannah Smiles
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the original)
Pippi Longstocking
Pete’s Dragon
An American Tale
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
E.T.
Never Ending Story
The Wizard of Oz
Mary Poppins
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Parent Trap
Freaky Friday
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Flight of the Navigator
Heavyweights
The Game Plan
Little Rascals
Cheaper By the Dozen
The Absent Minded Professor
Swiss Family Robinson
Tooth Fairy

What are some of your favorite family friendly movies?

We love family movie night and the fact that our Intel AIO let’s us easily move it outdoors!

I am Brave and Beautiful

September 29, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 11 Comments

I am Brave and Beautiful – a beauty movement that is sweeping the globe. Colbie Caillat started it with her recent song and video called TRY. My blogging friend Megan of Brassy Apple wanted to push this movement along and invited women from all over to share what they looked like without make up and I joined in!! Colbie’s song says, “Take your make up off. Let your hair down… Look into the mirror at yourself, Do you like you? Cause I like you… “

Megan and her friend Cobi of Peacefrom6pieces have been the team behind this whole project. Their worldwide vision included creating their own video inspired by the song TRY. The talent of Robbins Creative made it possible for them to pull it off. You have to click play and see the beauty and bravery displayed and you might even recognize a few faces in there.

Me along with 101+ other blogging women from different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, ages, shapes and sizes have decided to be Brave and Beautiful! You can join in this movement too by sharing what you look like without makeup on. You don’t need a blog either! Just tag your photo with #IamBraveAndBeautiful on Instgram and search the hashtag to see who else has joined in. ALSO, if you tag it with a second hashtag – #ColbieTRY we just might be able to get Colbie Caillat’s attention since she was the inspiration behind it all!

Are you brave and beautiful? I am, here I go!

And minus the makeup…

As the years go by, I notice the appearance of wrinkles, age spots, and the ever present baby bump. But, as I grow up I also realize that these are not things to be ashamed of. I earned every one of them.

My wrinkles are from laughing until I cry with my sisters and crying myself to sleep because I lost a baby and feel completely broken. My spots remind me of times building sand castles at the lake with my kids and growing up in sunny Southern California. My baby bump was earned by creating three precious little lives that I would give anything for, including a flat stomach. They show people that I live my life and wear my emotions happy and sad, beautiful and difficult. This body is not what you would find on a magazine cover, but it created life.

Beauty does not come from the absence of lines, freckles, gray hairs, or muffin tops. It comes from owning who you are and sharing your true self with others. It’s about liking yourself for the things you are and can become, not for the things you put on. I am a daughter of God and my beauty comes from within myself, not within a make up case.

I think this quote puts it perfectly…

“Do you suppose it matters to our Heavenly Father whether your makeup, clothes, hair, and nails are perfect? Do you think your value to Him changes based on how many followers you have on Instagram or Pinterest? Do you think He wants you to worry or get depressed if some un-friend or un-follow you on Facebook or Twitter? Do you think outward attractiveness, your dress size, or popularity make the slightest difference in your worth to the One who created the universe?
“He loves you not only for who you are this very day, but also for the person of glory and light you have the potential and the desire to become.
“More than you could ever imagine, He wants you to achieve your destiny — to return to your heavenly home in honor.” Pres. Dieter F Uchtdorf

Don’t stop here. Get clicking around – its a blog hop! Below are more brave and beautiful women bearing more than their natural beauty. They each have a little bit of their heart to share with you. Some get very personal. Some share stories. For some this was very hard to do yet they gathered their courage and did it anyway. We hope as you click around (and YES pin these different posts!) you will feel the importance of it, the empowering effect it has and that it encourages you in some way.

>>>>>>>Important info! Blog Hops often have glitches the first day. If the link has an ERROR, simply click on the HOME button for each site, or google the blog name next to the link, and you should see their brave and beautiful post there. Links will be updated as soon as possible.<<<<<<<<<<<<

1. BrassyApple 2. Peace from 6 Pieces 3. Is this Really My Life 4. Among the Young 5. Love Me Dani Marie 6. Sweet Charli 7. Kim Orlandini 8. XO, Ashton Tilton 9. She Calls Me Mama Leisha 10. Raising Memories – Canada 11. A Little Tipsy 12. Amy Cornwell 13. A girl and a glue gun 14. My Craftily Ever After 15. Maybe I Will 16. WhipperBerry 17. Paging SuperMom 18. All Things Thrifty 19. Ashlee Marie 20. The Project Girl

21. One Little Momma 22. Entirely Eventful Day 23. Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl 24. Tips from a Typical Mom 25. Utah Sweet Savings 26. Flats to Flip Flops 27. One Krieger Chick 28. What Meegan Makes 29. Simply Kierste 30. Live to be Inspired 31. HoneyBear Lane 32. Pretty Providence 33. Ma Nouvelle Mode – in FRANCE 34. MomEntity 35. Serger Pepper – in ITALY 36. Kiki and Company 37. Girl Loves Glam 38. Thrive

39. The Potters Place 40. Crafting in the Rain 41. Cooking With Ruthie 42. Delineate Your Dwelling 43. The Pennington Point 44. Bakerette 45. The Happy Scraps 46. Shannon Baird Photography 47. Tried and Tasty 48. Lionesses at the Gate 49. Fry Sauce and Grits 50. Lolly Jane 51. That’s What Che Said 52. Sugar Bee Crafts 53. Your HomeBased Mom 54. Happiness is Homemade 55. The Crafted Sparrow 56. R&R Workshop 57. I Should Be Mopping the Floor 58. Sassy Steals

59. Let’s Eat Grandpa 60. Being Spiffy 61. Sumo’s Sweet Stuff 62. Ginger Snap Crafts 63. Bless This Mess 64. Apronista 65. Dreaming About Someday 66. Frenchie 67. Tastefully Frugal 68. Four Marrs and One Venus 69. Your Sister Circle 70. Over the Big Moon 71. See Vanessa Craft 72. Infarrantly Creative 73. Family StoryTelling

74. Albion Gould 75. Life as Mrs. Larson 76. Tried and True 77. Play.Party.Pin. 78. Bite of Delight 79. Ink Happi 80. ObSEUSSed 81. U Create 82. My Mommy Style 83. Find it Make it Love it 84. The Contractor Chronicles 85. Novae Clothing 86. Mommy Makes Things 87. At Home with Sweet T 88. We Like to Learn As We Go 89. House for Five 90. Organize and Decorate Everything 91. Sassy Southern Gurl 92. The Creative Mom 93. Keep Moving Forward with Me

94. The Benson Street 95. Mom 4 Real 96. Sowdering About 97. illistyle 98. The Crafty Blog Stalker 99. A Fiery Red Life 100. Cupcakes & Crowbars 101. One Sweet Appetite 102. My DayLights 103. Restless Risa

104. Sypsie Designs 105. Vintage Mother 106. Like Mother Like Daughter 107. 30 Handmade Days 108. Queen B and Me 109. Apples by Ashley 110. Boutique Cafe – in CANADA 111. Just My Little Mess 112. Bombshell Bling 113. Sarah Tyau 114. Taradara Make it 115. Capturing Joy 116. Ivory Lime Photography 117. Jenkins Kid Farm 118. Free Time Frolics 119. Bella Storia 120. Dana Ohlsen Photography

Ready in join in?Snap, hashtag and share! Tag @BrassyApple and @Peacefrom6Pieces if you can too!

Also follow our Bravery and Beauty PINTEREST board for more inspiration!

DIY Fall Decor with Not Just a Housewife

September 26, 2014 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

Hello! I am Stacy and I blog over at Not Just A Housewife. I am so excited to be guest posting for one of my favorite people in the world…. Michelle! Isn’t she amazing?! And I am so happy to be help out a little so she can snuggle that sweet baby a little more.

I love Fall! I wish it lasted longer. I love decorating for Fall and doing fun things with my kids. Here are some of my favorite DIY Fall decor projects from the past couple of seasons.

As part of a knock off challenge, I made this Pottery Barn star sign. It was easier than you might think. The full tutorial is on my blog.

This was a fun, albeit a little messy, project we did for family night one year. We just added watered down Elmer’s glue to a paper bowl and ripped strips of construction paper that then got dipped in the glue. We placed the paper over balloons and let them dry. A little more construction paper for leaves and some pipe cleaners for the stem and Voila! A paper mache pumpkin 🙂

I usually have a foam board that I painted with chalkboard paint that covers up our TV when not in use. But last year I made this simple fall art using 1/8 plywood, stain, and a little paint. The full tutorial is on my blog. Super easy!

I was challenged to decorate a table for fall last year and I had so much fun! You will have to click over to see all the details up close and for where I got all the products. Those plates are still my favorite!

I am not big “scary” Halloween decor type of person but I try to add some Halloween items and not just Fall things. This pumpkin topiary was one of the things I made. My kids loved it!

I hope you all have a wonderful Fall season this year and enjoy the cooler temperatures, the crisp air, and the changing leaves. Come on over to my blog sometime and say hi. I would love to have you check out some of my other projects too.

Pumpkin Pecan Loaf from Cooking with Ruthie

September 24, 2014 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

Hi everybody… It’s Ruthie from Cooking with Ruthie.

I hope you’re having a totally fabulous morning and Happy Autumn! Oh my. It’s Pumpkin season and that’s one of the BEST times of the whole entire year 🙂

My Pumpkin Pecan Loaf with Orange Glaze will put you in the mood for some fall baking for sure! Yummmm.

You maybe thinking that pumpkin and orange isn’t supposed to go together but I’m here to tell you that in these little loaves- it’s magic.

Delightful. You’ve just gotta give them a try and then you’ll see exactly what I mean 🙂 Everyone that sampled them could nothing but rave about how much they liked the pairing.

Pumpkin Orange Pecan Loaf

Recipe Type: Bread

Author: Ruthie

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
zest of one orange (approx 3 Tbsp)
juice of one orange (approx 1/2 C)
1 1/2 C sugar
1/4 C canola oil
3/4 C fat free vanilla greek yogurt
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 C pecans, chopped
Orange Glaze:
1/4 C butter, softened
2-3 C powdered sugar (depending on the thickness you desire)
2 Tbsp orange zest (approx half an orange)
Juice of one orange (approx 1/2 C)

Instructions

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Coat 2- 9×5 loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans with cooking spray.
In large mixing bowl combine eggs and sugar; cream.
Add oil, orange juice, orange zest, greek yogurt, vanilla; mix to combine.
Add all dry ingredients, mix until 80% incorporated.
Add pecans, mix just until combined.
Don’t over mix.
Divide batter between loaf pans.
Bake mini loaf pans 25-30, full size 45-50 or until toothpick inserted in center removes clean.
Cool 5 minutes in pans, remove to cooling rack.
Orange glaze:
In a small mixing bowl, cream butter, add 1 C powdered sugar; mix.
Add orange zest and orange juice; mix until creamy.
Add remaining powdered sugar 1/2 C at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Drizzle on cooled loaves and enjoy!