New Layout: Waiting on a Blessing

And a whole lotta waiting it was...

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What We're Eating: Triple Berry Turnovers

Recently I purchased a huge bag of frozen raspberries because I had this amazing idea to make about a million raspberry cream cheese muffins and send them to people as "I'm thinking of you" gifts. It was a sweet idea, wasn't it? Yeah, it was! But all the sweet ideas in the world are just frozen raspberries if they're never made into muffins.

Last week, I bought ANOTHER bag of frozen berries, this time a raspberry-blueberry-blackberry mix, for Thanksgiving. The hubbster doesn't like pumpkin pie or pecan pie (the two kinds of pies being provided by my mother-in-law) so I decided to earn some pie-points and bake him his own non-Thanksgiving-themed pie.

So I went to my freezer last night, and I had two half-eaten large bags of frozen berries. I was running out of room for all of my other freezer stuff (like the 10 boxes of Weight Watchers frozen desserts I've got in there). Something had to be done- and fast.

I did my normal problem-solver: www.foodnetwork.com, of course. And that's when I found heaven in the form of Triple Berry Turnovers- adapted from this recipe by the Neeley's.

WARNING: This recipe makes WAY too much filling for just 8 turnovers. We were happy about it, because we like berry stuff to accompany our vanilla ice cream once in a while. If you don't want extra, cut first six ingredients in half.

Triple Berry Turnovers

Servings: 8
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value per serving: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) frozen raspberries
• 4 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) frozen mixed berry blend (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry)
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium pot, combine the first 6 ingredients and mix well.
3. Cook on medium heat until berries are thawed and mixture is syrupy.
4. Allow to cool in refrigerator for 1 hour.
5. Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle on a well-floured surface and cut into 8 squares.
6. Place onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the edges of the square with the beaten egg.
7. Place about 2 1/2 tablespoons of filling in the center of the square, leaving 1-inch on all sides clear.
8. Repeat until all the puff pastry is used.
9. Fold the turnover into a triangle, seal edges with fingers.
10. Brush egg wash on top of each triangle.
11. Bake the turnovers until puffy and golden brown, about 16-20 minutes.
12. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

New Layout: From Smiles to Snark

I swear, when Aaron turned 3, he turned snarky. No lie.

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New Layout: Meeting Big Brother

We got some adorable photos when the kids met for the first time.

I made this layout for this Two Peas in a Bucket challenge.

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A New Baby = A New Scrapbook

Abby was born in August- that means I get to start her scrapbook! Here's the first layout:

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Giveaway- WE HAVE A WINNER!

On Monday, BowDacious Babes offered a giveaway so that one lucky commenter could get their hands on one of her bows FOR FREE!

Congratulations to Jessica! Check your email for BowDacious Babes' contact info and send her your address to get YOUR FREE BOW!

Thank you to all who participated!

And, of course, a VERY special thank you to BowDacious Babes for being featured and for being so giving.

Featured Artist: BowDacious Babes Rockn' Hair Accessories

I know, this is my scrapbooking blog. I know, I don't really talk about anything except scrapbooking here- but I just had to make an exception today. I am so excited about this brand new store- and all of the possibilities for little ones and their hot mommas offered by it- that I couldn't keep it to myself!

I got to sit down with Crystal, the owner/operator of BowDacious Babes recently- here's our interview:

ShellinaScrap: Crystal- this new store is awesome! Tell us about how it came about.

Crystal:   In the beginning though all the inventive Ideas were flowing for months, BowDacious Babes Rockn' Hair accessories was officially created in January 2011. I was always a fan of hair bows and head bands for me as well as for babies and toddlers..all ages really, but, I was never a fan of how big, identical, and ordinary and expensive they were. So as the months went by of sheeting all my business plans, stores like Joanns, micheals and whatever other stores were of my interest became my daily to do list, except, it was more like Idea list. So one day, as I was walking through the gates of paradise in other words, Joanns haha, I walked to the fabrics and it hit me!!Custom fabric head bands and bows!

ShellinaScrap: What made you choose to use Facebook as your selling platform as opposed to other crafty selling sites?

Crystal: I chose to open and sell my product using Facebook for now because I feel its a smart move as a new small business, not to mention it provided me with everything I needed to build my clientele as well as my store front, provided by 'payvement' (sponsored by paypal) so that all my customers can conveniently shop just by allowing the app. Starting this way enables me to do **FREE Shipping** and allows me to constantly be able to tend to all needs and/or requests.

ShellinaScrap: We love awesome customer perks. It looks like you've got a lot of sales going on- who's helping you get all this work done?

Crystal:  Because I am so particular as others would call, a perfectionist, my husband is the only one who helps me on occasion(when hes not on duty for the military) and he is a great help.Other then that its just me, myself and I that makes and ships all orders, and I'm darn good at it!

ShellinaScrap: You're such a confident business-owner. What do you love about owning your own business?

Crystal: I love owning my own business because instead of giving pieces of your hearts desire into someone else's goals, you can put all your hearts desires into your own career and its path, it just depends on how high you want to make your mark.Taking the bull by the horns as I like to say, metaphorically of course!

ShellinaScrap: Okay, the question everyone is asking- How did you come up with that awesome name?

Crystal: The name BowDacious Babes was created  by me and my amazingly talented sister! For days we conversed about what the name should be and because my bows and bands are for all ages I didn't want a name that was going to give the impression that it was only for their little angel and not for them. I want all my customers, whether they're mommies or not, to enjoy my product for themselves as well, because nobodies too old to make their hair BowDacious!

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After our interview, I asked Crystal if she would be interested in offering a giveaway- and you know what? She was more than happy to do one! BowDacious Babes will send one lucky ready two custom bows- one for momma and one for baby- FOR FREE! Comment on the post telling us which bow you love the most in Crystal's collection, and a random commenter will be chosen on Friday March 25! (see example of custom bow below)

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Like what you saw here? Contact BowDacious Bows at the following links- and share them with your friends!

Facebook: http://www.facbook.com/BowDaciousBabes 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BowDaciousBabes 

Contact Email: BowDaciousBabes01(at)Gmail(dot)com

A very special thanks to Crystal from BowDacious Babes!