Birthday Cards and Cake Balls!

I've been in the mood to make birthday cards! Partly because there are alot of people having birthdays and partly because I'm trying to get organized for the year!

This first card uses the Laura's Sketch 42 from 2S4Y. My sister, Teresa, gave me this quickutz cake die that I've been wanting for a long time for Christmas and I just had to use it! The paper is DCWV and the lace is Fancy Pants. The tag is also a quickutz and I used one of the dollar stamps on it!

I'm going to save this for my mom's birthday in June!


A guy at work had a birthday on the first and I tried my new cricut "Sweet Treats" cartridge to make this birthday cake card. The paper on this is Basic Gray "Cupcake."

I used some stickles to make it "sparklier!"










I had so much fun with this cricut cartridge that I made several different versions using the Basic Gray paper....












And then I used some other paper I had that said Happy Birthday so I didn't cut out the sentiment for the front!












My friend Bonnie's birthday was this last week (although she was in Arizona and won't be back till Sunday) so I found this cool tutorial on Split Coast Stampers for a "flower pot" card. I used birthday paper for the "pot" and then cut out flowers and leaves with my sizzix. These were so fun......










That I made 24! I used the non-birthday ones for thank you's for x-mas presents and little things people gave me at work! Here they all are (picture isn't that great but you can see I was busy!).














I also made these yummy cake balls to take to work this week. They are super easy and look cool! Here is the recipe:

1. Make a cake (any flavor) from a cake mix in any sort of pan (I used 9 X 13 because it was the easiest).
2. When the cake is done, crumble it into a large bowl while it is still warm. Stir in a can of frosting mix (any flavor) until well blended.
3. I then let it set an hour or so to cool down.
4. Form small balls with the cake mixture (the recipe I found on the internet said to use a melon baller but I found it just as easy to roll in my hands). I then put them on a plate in the freezer for a 1/2 hour or so.
5. Dip the balls into melted chocolate and place on wax paper to set.

Everyone at work loved them!

Recipes!

It was totally cool that I got a mention at 2 Sketches 4 You about the food I posted about a week ago. The lava cake has a link to the recipe but the other 2 don't have the recipes posted! So here goes:

Breakfast Egg Bake
6-8 slices of bread with crusts removed
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
12 eggs (I've used "fake" eggs and it works just as well and is lower in fat)
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp dry mustard
1-2 lbs sausage, browned and well drained (I've used turkey sausage to cut the fat down)
1 small onion chopped and browned
salt and pepper to taste

Grease a 9 X 13 pan. Line pan with bread slices, covering the entire bottom of pan. Sprinkle with cheese and sausage/onion mixture. Beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper, mustard together. Pour over everything. Refrigerate covered overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until eggs are done.

Overnight Maple French Toast
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 syrup
1 TBSP margarine or butter
10 (1 inch thick) slices french bread
4 eggs (again you can use "fake" egg if you want)
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries
1 to 2 TBSP's powdered sugar

1. Spray 9 X 13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, syrup, and margarine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute.
2. Pour syrup mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan. Arrange bread slices in even layer over syrup mixture. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, combine eggs, milk, vanilla and salt, beat with wire whisk until smooth. Pour evenly over bread in pan. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
4. To bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover pan; bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. (I usually use a temperature between the 2 recipes and just watch them - that way I can bake them together).
5. To serve, top each serving with 1/4 cup sliced strawberries; sprinkle with powdered sugar.

5 servings

Yogurt Pie
This pie is a weight watchers pie I've been making for years so I really just make it from my head!

Reduced fat graham cracker crust

boil 1/4 cup water and whisk in a small package of fat free/sugar free jello
After that is melted, whisk in 2 8 oz yogurts (fat free) of the flavor (as the jello)
Then fold in a small fat free cool whip

put all in the crust and put in the fridge for a few hours. It is such a tasty and low fat treat! You can try it with lots of different flavors!