St. Patrick’s Printables

A couple of printables for St. Patrick’s day…takes on the “Keep Calm” trend .

Click to bring to full size and then right click,  “Save As” to download.
Would appreciate a follow if you download.

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I Knocked It Off

The February Open House link party is still going strong here and you can link up and enter to win the giveaway through Sunday night.

I’ve seen lots of fun framed typography prints in various boutiques and on line and decided to try my hand at knocking one off because well, they “ain’t cheap”!
Here’s one from a great site I recently joined called Joss and Main.

Smith & Co

You can join Joss and Main for free and receive emails with their daily “events” which are limited time offers to buy home décor, kitchen items, accessories etc. Prices range, well they range! Something about the above print by Smith & Co just caught my eye but reg price is $186, on sale for $99.

So I downloaded a free parchment background ( googled parchment background) and then imported into my graphics program and went to work on letters. Ended up having to do them one by one in order to get the same effect but it wasn’t too bad.

I had a coupon burning a hole in my pocket for my favorite frame store, Aaron Brothers. Found a frame for $24.99, 40% off that and my additional 20% off that…$11.99. Had a mat in my stash and since I was making my own print, printed my image to fit my mat.

I am really happy with the end result but I was not happy with the pics of the end result so I uploaded the file I created to Picnik and put a digital frame on it so I could zoom in on the lettering to show you better. I also added the word “JOY” to mine because I like that word and that way the copyright police won’t come after me!

So what do you think? Did I knock it off? (Or should I knock off the knock offs?)

Linking Up At:

  

February Open House Link Party !

Welcome, so glad you could drop by for my monthly Open House!

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day ( lots of chocolate) and can’t wait to see what everyone’s been working on since last month. Whether it's a fashion re-do, upcycle, home dec, jewelry, paper craft, card, recipe ...you name it! Just no advertising or etsy please, and make sure and link to your specific post !

This month I am THRILLED to be able to offer you super cool giveaway from Shannon at :

Shannon is a business owner, a blogger, and an incredibly talented crafter and she is offering one of my followers a chance to win this gorgeous Irish Blessings Sign (just in time for St. Patrick’s Day):

AND….

A $20 gift certificate to her shop!!! How sweet is that?!

To be eligible for the giveaway ( US and Canada only ) :

• Be a follower of The Answer Is Chocolate…leave a comment
• Link Up Something to the party….leave a comment
• Become a follower of Shannon’s blog…leave a comment

That’s three chances to win!

The party will be open through Sunday 2/20 and the winner will be chosen on Monday 2/21

Best of LUCK

Copycat Crafts....Too Cool!

I was visiting my friend Kathleen's blog Charm Bracelet Diva  who has been featured on a site I hadn't heard of but am totally in love with now! It's called Copycat Crafts

You know how we all love to do knock off projects from Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, West Elm, etc.? This is totally the place to check out because that's exactly what they specialize in.

Here's Kathleen's Ballard Designs knockoff:

Gilded Chalkboard Inspired By Ballard Designs

Wearables, Home Design, Recipes, Holidays! So cool! For example, I've already seen people working on Easter projects and there's a link to a tutorial on how to make this Pottery Barn egg wreath.

And...you can submit knock off projects you've done and you could be featured too!! I'm so excited because I have been feeling a little slumpy this week so this is just what I need!

February Open House Link Party Friday 2/18!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I may just be on chocolate overload but I'm sure I'll get over it. Just a reminder that this month's Open House Link Party here at The Answer Is Chocolate will be this Friday, February 18.

I'm super excited to have a sponsored giveaway to go along with this month's party so definitely don't want to miss this one! You'll just have to come on Friday to find out what it is :)  I'm sure your eyes will be smiling! See you Friday !!

Happy Valentine’s Day

Wishing you a day filled with Lots of LOVE and of course, chocolate!

Awww...Mr. C just brought these:

Sweet Treats for My Sweets

I spent the afternoon today making some treats for my two favorite guys. No not you Johnny Depp. Mr. Chocolate and Chocolate Chip (aka, son).

We were at Costco yesterday and they had chocolate dipped strawberries for sale and Mr. Chocolate said “I bet you could make those” So it was kind of an Iron Chef throwdown. OK it’s not like it’s hard.

Dry…make sure you dry your berries

Melt…I used dark chocolate candy melts

Dip…Grab your berries by the hair ( or if they have them, stems) and dip

Drizzle…I drizzled w/ melted white chocolate

Claim it was REALLY REALLY hard!

For the cookies, I used my tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe, then did the dip and drizzle steps from the berries.

Tried and True Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 2 sticks butter ( not margarine), softened
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 3/4 C Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1Tsp Vanilla
• 2 1/2 C Flour
• Chocolate chips

Cream butter, add both sugars and cream well.

Add eggs, and mix thoroughly

Add salt, baking soda, vanilla, mix well.

Add flour mix well. I use an electric hand mixer up to this point

OK about the chocolate chips…

I don’t measure I just add some, mix with a spoon, decide not enough, add some more until I’m satisfied.

Chill dough for at least an hour. Form into balls , bake on ungreased cookie sheets ( or you can line w/ parchment paper) @ 375 for approx 10 min ( ovens and cookie sheets vary…I like mine just when they start to brown on top) .

Chase cookie dough stealers away with wooden spoon while threatening to never make cookies again.