Yesterday I made this Birthday card. The paper is from The Angel Company it's called Tutti Fruitti and the Happy Birthday Stamp is from Stampin Up. Ribbon I buy from JKM online. Purple ink I used a Color Box Petal Point Classic Pigment Inkpad. very simple lay out.

Sugar Cookie Icing

I was asked how I make the hard Shiny Icing for my sugar cookies and what my secret was to keep my cookies soft well I make a basic sugar cookie recipe but instead of butter or margarine I use a block of cream cheese instead. Makes them a lot softer and keeps longer to. I also eliminate the vanilla for a flavor like Almond or Lemon. When I make my icing I will use the same flavor extract as the cookie. So here is my icing recipe and you will need to adjust it it never comes out the same.

2 cups powder sugar
flavor extract of your choice
3 Tbls corn syrup or more
2 Tbls warm water..

You will need to use a kitchen aid blender for this hand mixers tend to burn up. You will need to adjust the corn syrup most likely adding more. You will add until it is thick and shiny then color it to any colors you feel fit..I don't really have a precise recipe I just adjust the corn syrup as I go. I know what I like it all depends on you. I do know to much makes a hard icing to little it just doesn't work right. the icing should smooth out of it's peeks when drizzled that's when I know it's done. It should not get to hard if it does you've used to much corn syrup..I use the warm water when it gets to thick. to thin and it runs all over...try it and enjoy decorating fun with your kids.

Buttercream Frosting Recipe

1 cup shortening
1 cup butter
8 cups (2lbs)sifted powder sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbls Milk

In a Mixer blend shortening and butter until well combined add half the sugar and Vanilla blend, then add remainder sugar and by tsp.add the milk until you get the right consistency. You may not need all 2 tbls of milk you may need to add more all depends. make sure you sift the powder sugar though it makes a huge difference..You can color this frosting..really yummy on cakes and cookies for cookies I recommend you make it a bit thicker..Enjoy!!!

Norwegian Pancakes w/Huckleberry Sauce

To start you will need 6 large eggs or 7 medium eggs,1 cup flour,1cup sugar,and 1cup milk

crack eggs and put in a blender with milk blend on slow for 30 seconds then add sugar and put blender on low while slowly pouring the flour into the wet mixture. Put lid on and blend on medium speed for at least 1 minute. Let stand until bubbles are gone about 3 minutes.

Heat an 8" pan to medium high and spray pan with pam or you can use cooking oil just make sure the pan is lightly oiled. Pour batter in the middle of the pan and roll batter until it just comes up the sides of the pan. Let cook until edges come to a golden but not to golden brown then flip pancake let heat a few minutes until bottom gets a little spotted brown.

Then fold in half and then in half again and put on a platter.

HUCKLEBERRY SAUCE

2 cups Huckleberries

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

2 Tsp. Corn Starch

3 TBLS Water

In a sauce pan combine berries,lemon juice and sugar heat on medium heat until bubbles form.

Prepair Corn Starch mixture with Water then add to bubbling berries and stir until it gets to a medium thickness top pancakes with the Sauce and YES you must add a huge helping of Whipping Cream to the pancakes to. I didn't have any..Then Enjoy the yumminess..

You can eat these pancakes with Syrup and butter also. I usually butter mine when I take them out of the pan.

ENJOY!!!!! THIS IS A FAMILY RECIPE FROM MY NORWEGIAN SIDE OF THE FAMILY!!!

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This morning I got busy using my new Flower Soft Products that have been sitting on my craft table for a month. The picture doesn't show the dimension of the flower soft at all. I hope to be able to capture this some day. I used All Solid Color Papertrey Ink Cardstock and the DP is from Memory Stor. No stamping was done the rest was from my Flower Soft Starter Kit. I purchased all these items from online stores. Thank You and Enjoy...If later today I can find the time I will try to post my Nowegian Pancake Recipe with Pictures. I'm still de-cluttering my Kitchen and Deep Cleaning it to. Moving all the Appliances has been an exhausting chore but it had to get done it was just making me miserable. I hope you all will enjoy today and find time to create something fun or de-clutter a room.

Getting Started

Well lets start this blog out with a simple Hello and Welcome to my Blog. I'd like to hear from you what you'd like to see and learn here. I have 33 years of Cleaning Experience and can pretty much figure what it takes to get it done. My first and for most rule to a clean home is
"GET IT ORGANIZED"..then the rest comes easy. Organization means less is more people!!! There are rules to follow if you want tidy. Don't think cause you've gone to someones house and it's clutter free it's sanitary and clean. Many people do not know how to clean they think they do but they don't. A sanitized house is impossible no one has that not even a hospital. A good clean home is possible but remember start from the top and work down that's key. Rid of clutter..if it's in a drawer and not being used what would you normally do? Well ask yourself these questions.

1) When did I last use this?
2) What's it's purpose?
3) Do I really need this?
4) Can I sale,re-purpose,or give this away?

Many people collect clutter they pile their mail and adds all over their counter tops and then shove them in drawers. If it's dated and over the date toss,toss,toss it..I find that I was better organized if I had a big desk calender on my desk and took my kids school papers and announcements and wrote time,date and what it was for to keep myself on top of her school things. If it piles on a counter you won't look at it again and sometimes you won't be able to find it. Once the kids hands that announcement to you go write it down and toss the paper. There are so many things you can do to de-clutter..Kids these days have more toys then they will use in a life time. Keep their toys to a minimum amount. If it brakes and you don't fix it that day then toss it the next. It will not get fixed. I promise this is a big thing..If it sits in a toy box longer then a year toss it or donate it or give it away to some kid that will appreciate it and play with it. Lots of children out there that have nothing. Cloths if not worn out or torn up and no longer fit, have no reason to be in a drawer of closet..if you haven't worn it in a year you won't wear it and Ladies (I'm one of them) Skinny jeans..OK good come on how long have you held onto those skinny jeans anyway? Over a year? Then get rid of them..the style changes so why hold on? Really now why?? Will I ever wear my size 10 again? I say not and Mine finally went bye bye three months ago oh girls it was painful very painful but really holding onto cloths for 25 years is stupid...LOL...My belts though are still in my closet and I do wear them..Vintage belts are amazingly fun to wear..I do own some Vintage clothing but I can wear them still and I do. Then there were cloths I bought dummy me did not try them on when I got home..Well did I find they were wrong for me and held onto them..oh I did..many gals can wear them and would love new cloths. Consignment stores are good to make a few bucks from. I know I Managed one when I was in College it was amazing how many things you can find in good and new condition for a fraction of the cost. I took new cloths that didn't fit or look good on me to a Consignment Store. If it didn't sale in a few months a good Consignment Store would call and let you know. Check monthly on any sales you may have gotten. You can make some good bucks this way. I also say do this with baby stuff to and good quality items to. With the Economy the way it is people will be thrift shopping away now. Well this has got me in the mood to do a funny card now..maybe tomorrow I'll post a card tutorial..And those of you that don't make your own cards shame on you shame shame..It's so simple and you can buy pre-cut kits from all sorts of sources and I'm one of them..LOL.. A handmade card is more sentimental and enjoyable these days and also eco-friendly cause they can be re-used for scrapbooking.. I'll get to that someday..but for now..Let's all get to Organizing our Homes!!!