Ornament Wreath DIY

I've seen these ornament wreaths floating all over Pinterest! It looked pretty easy, so I thought I would try one out for myself. If you've never checked out Pinterest, you must go check it out! It's my new addiction.  If you need an invite, just send me your email and I'll send you one.

I decided to go with purple. You could choose other colors or mix and match. All you do is take a coat hanger, and form it into a circle. You then thread your ornaments onto the hanger until it is full. The tutorial I first came across was over at Eddie Ross. I've also found tutorials that show gluing the ornaments to a wreath form, but I say use what you have. I used a total of 56 shatterproof ornaments. I would have probably added a few more if I would have had them. It's also suggested that you glue the cap to the ball with a little hot glue. I only had to do this to two of mine. The others were already attached, a time saver for me! I've also seen some pretty satin ribbons wrapped around the top of the wreaths. I may add that to mine later, but don't have any right now. Very easy and  not time consuming. Go for it! I'd love to see if you've made your own.

Save money on gas!

I just wanted to share Lowes Guel Rewards with you, in case you haven't heard of it. I saved $.10 off each gallon of gas I put in my Explorer today. It's not a whole lot, but every little bit counts. It's simple, you just shop at Lowes Foods and use your Lowes card and let the rewards rack up. I wasn't sure how it would work since I was paying in cash. This is a new program and they had a sign up by the Wilco Hess gas pump. I went inside to let them know and they told me to go ahead and fill up then come inside. When I was done filling up, I came in and they scanned my Lowes card. It automatically deducted $.10 off each dollar. You have to buy groceries and have to buy gas. You might as well save a little bit of money while you're doing it.

Images came from the Lowes Foods website. There is also a listing of the Lowe's Foods fuel locations and WilcoHess locations on their site.

Apple Cinnamon Raisin Muffins

Aren't the little things cute? The recipe is below.

Apple Cinnamon Raisin Muffins Submitted by Andrea Woldman (IL)

Ingredients
Bountiful Beer Bread Mix^®
12 oz. lemon lime soda
4 Tbsp. applesauce
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup raisins

Directions
Combine ingredients; stir to blend. Place batter in greased muffin tin. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 Servings.

Notes:
I made mine in mini muffin tins, so it made more then 12 and didn't take 20-25 minutes. Just keep an eye on them if you decide to use the mini muffin tins.

I also dabbed a bit of cream cheese on them. Yum!

If you would like to know where you can find some of the Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, check out my site here.

Also, check out how many different ways you can prepare the Bountiful Beer Break Mix, here.

Candy Corn Sunshine Cupcakes

I made these candy corn cupcakes over a month ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting them. Aren't they cute? I originally found the idea over here at Easy Recipes for Real Life. It's a great way to use up some of that candy corn. It will probably be on sale soon also, if not already.

Ok, so here is the recipe:

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Submitted by Bonnie Ask (MN), HQ Team Member

Ingredients

Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™
¾ cup (1½ sticks) melted butter
1 cup water
1-2 drops yellow food coloring
16 oz. container cream cheese frosting
Candy corn
Mini chocolate chips
Thin red licorice ropes

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine first 3 ingredients; stir to blend. Fill paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full with cake batter. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely. Add food coloring to cream cheese frosting. Top cupcakes with tinted frosting. Arrange candy corn around the edges of cupcakes, use 2 mini chocolate chips for the eyes and form a mouth with red licorice. Makes 12 servings.



NOTES:
I used orange food coloring, instead of yellow because it's what I had.

For the smile, I used pull and peel Twizzlers.

If you would like some of the Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix, you can order it here.