I Love Washi Tape Swap!

Hello! Did someone say Washi Tape?? 
Me!
I am so excited! My great friend Torrie over at Fox + Hazel hosted a washi tape swap, which I have been wanting to participate in SINCE WASHI TAPE WAS INVENTED! Why I never hosted one I don't know but she did and that's that. 
I was paired up with Jacky at The Sweetest Petunia. She sent me, quite possibly, the best washi tape ever! I had been dreaming of getting triangle washi tape, but could never find one that I liked. Until I opened her package. Plus she sent me two other really amazing tapes that made me get extremely excited to craft my little heart away with this trio.

Thank you Torrie for hosting a fun swap! So glad I got paired up with Jacky and made a new bloggy buddy! And thank you Jacky for the best washi tape ever! You totally rock my socks! 

A Little Bit Of Valentine

We aren't much of a Valentine's Day family. The extent of our celebrating includes baking whatever treats I signed up for at the beginning of the year for Bry's class and making Valentines; but I also limit myself to one decoration, one craft night, and one swap. 

I made a felt heart garland to put up on our fireplace as our one decoration, made a sewn paper heart garland and scratch lotto Valentines for The Chirping Moms Virtual Pinterest night and my one swap was pretty rewarding. 

Lyndsey of The Stationery Place hosted a Handmade Valentine Swap where we were assigned into a group of five and you were to make a handmade Valentine for the four other ladies, all swapping with each other. I was partnered up with some pretty creative and talented gals and love each one of my handmade Valentines. Thanks ladies! 

They fit perfectly with my garland on the fireplace!

Fabric Swap

Who doesn't love fabric? Even if you're not a sewer, fabric is still amazing and can be used for tons of other crafts and DIY that do not involve sewing. I know that I love me some good Japanese import fabric and I actually have about {30} yards hoarded in my garage in bins. Im horrible! So if you love fabric like me, lets have a swap!

Here are the rules:

Must be one continuous yard of fabric {one yard, all in one piece}

Quilt-weight cotton

Max of $15/yard

Limit 40 participants

Here are the steps/timeline:

Email me at willow.little {at} gmail {dot} com to sign up. Sign ups close February 7th.

An email will go out February 8th with a small questionnaire. Respond no later than February 10th.

You will receive your swap partner on February 12th. I encourage you to email your partner. Say hi, visit their blog, IG, Pinterest, etc... get to know them. This isn't just about swapping fabric, it's about making friends!

Go out and shop for fabric for your new friend! {friend=swap parner} 

Mail off fabric no later than February 20th. If you purchased their fabric in a cute lil' shop, grab a business card and include it for them!

No need for a blog post {unless you really want to!} about it; but please share your fabric on Instagram using hashtag #csfabricswap. 

Be sure to thank your new friend for your awesome fabric! 

OPEN TO US AND CANADA ONLY!

If you have any questions please send me an email or comment on this post! 

Let's swap some fabric!!

You've Been Mugged | A Mug Swap

Last month Heidi over at Mustache Mama and I hosted the You've Been Mugged Mug Swap. We had so much fun hosting and seeing everyone's little updates on IG. I'm so excited for the link up so I can see what everyone got!

Meet....

Heidi of Mustche Mama and myself; Ashley Marie of Chevron Stitches.

My mug swap partner was no stranger to me. I was partnered up with Andrea over at Shabby Kitteh.  Back Story: Andrea and I were paired up, randomly, in the Share Your Style Swap. Since then we have become good bloggie friends. With this mug swap, Heidi partnered up the ones that contacted her {including myself} and I partnered up the ones that contacted me {including Heidi}. So, when she partnered me up, I got Andrea! So awesome! Ok, back to this story...

I had a lot of fun shopping for Andrea and I sure hope she loves her goodies!

Andrea knows my {small} love for owls and sent me the biggest and coolest mug ever, plus some goodies for the family. 

Isn't the mug awesome? I poured my coffee in it and I didn't need a refill all day! The whoopie pie mix we are making next week {it's on our Advent Calendar!} and my daughter loves, loves, loves the snoopy cocoa mix. 

Now for the link up! I'm so excited about this! Submit your link below of your post on the mug swap. I hope everyone had fun and got to meet some awesome peeps. Even though I already knew my swapper, I was stoked! 

Thanks Heidi, for asking me to co-host with you!

November Recipe Swap

I hope you all had a lovely Holiday! I sure did... I ate until my stomach was literally hurting! 
Then, once I recovered from all of that food, I jumped in the kitchen and cooked up a couple dishes from my recipe swap partner, Allison!

Unfortunately I am a horrible swap host and forgot to take photos of the process and even the finished dish! But I thought I would share with you a couple of the recipes she sent to me. Which, by the way, were on adorable polka dot paper.

Hey; at least I took a photo of the happy mail, right? 
She sent me some amazing recipes, some yummy potpourri, and fun little fall cupcake liners. Definitely going to be making some red velvet cupcakes in those for Christmas!
Okay, so now on to the yummy stuff...

Skillet Pastaitsio

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 onion
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. tamato paste
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
3 c. chicken broth
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 c. {dry} elbow macaroni
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 c. grated parmesean

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Method:

*For this recipe, use a skillet or dutch oven that can go right from the stove to oven*
Saute onion in butter. When softened, add beef. Cook until just barely pink. Add cinnamon, tomato paste and oregano; cook for 30 seconds.

Stir brth, 1/2 c. cream and dry pasta into skillet and cook on medium high for 10 minutes, stirring often. Macaroni should be tender.

Whisk remaining 1/2 cream and cornstarch together. Stir into skillet and cook another 2-3 minutes, until sauce is thick and creamy.

Add 1/2 c. of parmesan to mixture then top with remaining parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Wow! Does that sound yummy or what!? Well, let me tell you... it was! This might be a weekly thing. And, it was so easy! I had Bry help me add the ingredients when needed while I stirred the mixture. This is sure to make your family full!

Now, for the desert!

Impossible Coconut Pie

*Note: this recipe does not call for a crust because the filling makes its own crust

Ingredients:

2 c. milk
1/2 c. biscuit mix
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. white sugar {you could use raw sugar, but you won't get the 'white' look}
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. flaked coconut

Preheat over to 350 degrees {or leave it on from dinner!}

Method:

Grease a 9 in. pie pan

Combine milk, sugar, biscuit mix, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a blender. Blend on low speed for 3 minutes.

Pour into prepped pie plate

Let stand for 5 minutes then sprinkle with coconut

Bake for 40 minutes

{Can be served warm or chilled}

The recipe says to serve warm, but I popped mine in the refrigerator over night and ate it for breakfast and it was amazing! I love coconut so much and I have always wanted to make a coconut pie! I am sure you will love it too. 

Thank you all for participating in the recipe swap! I hope you were able to add to your collection of recipes and get to try something new. Please be sure to link up your posts!