Shannah, Author at My Suburban Kitchen

Valentine’s Day Crafts

February 14, 2012 By Shannah 1 Comment

I’m back to share more of the fun ideas that was shared over at the Valentine’s Day linky party. At last count, there were almost 50 great projects linked up. Is one {or more} of them yours? I hope so.

Let’s check out a few of the ones linked up since our last look.

Over at the Pursuit of Happiness, Lisa shared these adorable footprint valentines.

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Pinterest Projects: Chickening Out

February 14, 2012 By Shannah 37 Comments

Ok, so today I am going to talk about one of those famous Pinterest items that you see everywhere. I’m talking about shredding chicken in your KitchenAid Mixer.

We use a lot of shredded chicken so I was hoping this really was as easy as it looked/sounded. I’ve seen it re-pinned so much that I figured I should finally give it a try.

The first step is an obvious one: buy some chicken breast and cook it.

I did mine in the crockpot which is why you see the chicken stuff in the broth. Now, transfer the hot chicken to your mixer bowl.

Put on your flat beater attachment.

I also used my 1-Piece Pouring Shield

Then, I flipped the switch and watched as it shredded my chicken! I did about 3-4 of the breasts at a time and had all 8 of the chicken breasts done in less than 5 minutes!

This is such a time saver! Oh, and my hands thank Pinterest too because I won’t be hand shredding chicken anymore!

The Birthday Round-up

February 13, 2012 By Shannah 3 Comments

Did you guys enjoy meeting some fabulous ladies last week? A huge thanks to Andie, Kaysi, Jennifer, Karah, Tonia and Ginger for doing guest posts so that I could take some time off for my birthday!

So, what did I do with my time off? I had a really great surprise planned by my husband and friends. Shopaholic’s birthday is the day before mine so our husbands and friends got together and planned a surprise day trip to some local vineyards.

We stopped for lunch at Market Salamander for some delicious soups and sandwiches.

Then, it was time for some wine tasting!

It started snowing while we were out which was fun. For the past three years, all birthday plans have been cancelled due to massive snow storms so I was glad this snow was light and fluffy.
After doing some wine tasting, we headed home where I had another surprise waiting for me: dinner prepared by my mother in law and daughter!

I even had some help blowing out the candles!

I also had another cake and visitors to celebrate on Tuesday…my actual birthday.

Thanks again for all of the birthday wishes!

Ribbons and Flowers

February 13, 2012 By Shannah 6 Comments

I didn’t do much Valentine’s Day decorating this year. I had the XOXO ceramic and the sparkly heart that took up residence in our mirror but that was the bulk of it. As I looked at all the fabulous projects linked up at the Valentine’s Day linky (open until tomorrow by the way!), I decided that I at least needed to put a wreath on the door.
So, I grabbed a wreath form and some ribbon.

I wrapped the ribbon around the wreath and then hot glued some flowers I had picked up from the Dollar store around it.

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Meet Ginger from Ginger Snap Crafts

February 10, 2012 By Shannah 1 Comment

We are finishing out the week with one of the first blogs I started following! I am so excited to introduce you to Ginger!
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Hi! I’m Ginger, & I blog over at Ginger Snap Crafts.

It’s a fun place where I share my cute & easy craft projects.

Would love to have YOU drop by sometime.
I was so excited when Shannah asked me to share something on her blog.
I met Shannah when we both competed on One Month to Win It. 🙂

Today I’d love to show you how to make

this cute {you & me} Valentine block.

You’ll need:

mod podge
(Never mind the spray adhesive…I didn’t end up using it for this project.)

Valentine scrapbook paper

paper cutter

paint

ribbon

vinyl lettering

5X7 inch wood block (painted pink)

oval wood plaque (painted white)

(I found my plaque at Walmart for $1.00.)

First cut your scrapbook paper to fit your wood block.

Then mod podge your scrapbook paper onto your wood block. Let dry.

I used Elmer’s glue to glue my oval wood plaque onto the wood block.

Then I applied my vinyl lettering.

(For more detailed vinyl lettering instructions you can click here.)

FYI: “You” was cut using Hiccups font,

the “&” was cut using High Tower Text font

and the “me” was cut using Monster Paparazzi font.

Then I tied a red ribbon around my block.

There you go! Super easy & cute!

For more cute & easy projects please visit my blog.

Here’s a few of my most popular projects. Just click the links below for the full tutorials.

1. Personalized Photo Pendants

2. Adorable Burp Cloths

3. Easy Bandana Shorts

4. Grandma’s House Knob Block

I also have a fun link party on Wednesdays!

Would LOVE to see what YOU have been up to!

Thank you for having me over, Shannah!

Hope you all have a lovely Valentine’s Day!

Thanks Ginger! I love the Valentine’s Day blocks! Happy Friday!

Fabulous Freebie Friday #16

February 10, 2012 By Shannah Leave a Comment

Time to link up those giveaways again this week!

The “rules” of this party:

1) Be sure to link to your specific giveaway post and not to your overall blog.
2) Put the name of your giveaway and an end date in your link title.
3) Please put my button (found over on the right side of your screen!) or a link back to here in your post so your readers will know where to come find yours and other fabulous giveaways each week.

Meet Tonia from The Gunny Sack

February 9, 2012 By Shannah Leave a Comment

Are you loving all of these fabulous ladies who have been sharing projects with you guys this week? I hope so!
Today, I want to introduce you to Tonia from The Gunny Sack! I found her blog through one of the linky parties I like to check out each. She hosts one of her own on Monday too so be sure to check it out!
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Hi everyone, my name is Tonia and I blog at The Gunny Sack. I’m excited to be here at Just Us Four! I am a wife and mother of 3 (a teen, a tween and a
youngster). I’m an aspiring photographer and lover of chocolate &
coffee, who enjoys crafting, cooking, DIY and sewing.

On Monday’s, I host a link party called What’s In The Gunny Sack? that I would love for you to join! On Tuesday’s, I try to post a crafty tutorial. Wednesday’s, is for recipes or something food related. On Thursday’s, I will often post something related to kids but am going to try to start posting photography tips that day! On Friday’s, I do Spotlight Friday where I try to place the spotlight on a product or company and on Saturday’s I post the features from that week’s link party. Of course, this is a very loose schedule, with the link party being the only exception, because life is too busy and hectic to be super rigid!

Today I will show you few of the Valentine’s things I’ve done this year:

My favorite project are these Go Ahead BURST By Bubble Valentines. The treat and a message are inside the balloon and the recipient must pop the balloon to get it!

I made these simple Valentine Pencils with my tween.

I hung these hearts that I got on clearance after Christmas in the windows.

And of course, I’ve done some baking! I made Valentine Cookie Sandwiches.

And I made colored sugar that I used to decorate…

…these sugar cookies! I have a few more Valentine ideas but I’m running out of time! What about you? Have you done anything special for Valentine’s Day or is it one of the holidays that you don’t get excited about?

Thanks so much for having me as your guest today, Shannah! I hope all of you stop by The Gunny Sack to check out my tutorials and recipes or just pop in to say hi!
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Great Valentine’s Day projects, Tonia! Thank you so much for sharing. Be sure to click over and visit Tonia to see the other awesome things she has been doing recently.

Resolution Check-up

February 9, 2012 By Shannah 2 Comments

It is February which means that it is time to take a good look at some of the resolutions we made during the month of January. A biggie in that category for me was to eat better and lose some weight.

[How to Get a Small Waist]

Now you may remember that, awhile back, I was looking into different options for weight loss such as the Slim Fast plan, Weight Watchers, etc.

[Shake Recipes]

It amazes me all of the options out there for people who are looking to reduce their weight. And if one doesn’t work, there is always something new to try.
If all else fails, of course, there is also the option of lap band surgery. Of course, unlike replacing meals with shakes for a while, lap band surgery is a serious procedure that take a lot of time and should be completely thought out before pursuing. However, I know people have had great success with the procedure so it is an option out there for people who may want or need it.

So, where am I with my resolution? I have improved my eating habits a little but still have a long ways to go. I got something new to help me with that for my birthday too which I’ll share with you soon {once I put it into action}. I’d love to get to the gym more often but I need about 4 more hours in my day to realistically go as often as I’d like to. Baby steps I guess. Some things that have helped me so far:
1) Reminding myself each day that smaller size = more energy!

2) Pinterest is full of inspirational quotes that are always good at helping keep me focus.

[Your E-Cards]

3) Pre-planning meals as much as possible. I find that, if I start off with a good breakfast, I am more likely to make smart choices all day. Oh, and no matter how much I try to convince myself…cookie dough does not make for a good breakfast!

[Shutterstock]

4) Enlisting help! I try to have Mathlete or even other friends help keep me on track. This is especially true when we are out to eat because it is so easy to fall into the trap of making poor meal choices.

[Microsoft Help]

5) Watching the liquids that go in to my mouth. It is amazing how many calories you can rack up with drinks and not even realize it. I’ve cut back on my Starbucks (cut back…not cut out) to help with this.

How are your resolutions going? Is one of them to lose weight? If so, what steps are you taking?

I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for lap band surgery and was compensated. However, the views, opinions and weight loss struggles are all my own.

Meet Karah from The Space Between

February 8, 2012 By Shannah 4 Comments

Today’s guest post comes from another blogger that I adore: Karah from the space between. Last month, she did an awesome feature called Imagine the Possibilities where she managed to hang a gallery wall with only one screw. Awesome, right? My plan to participate went pretty far (I actually got fabric for my curtains) but then got derailed a little bit by an unplanned hospital visit for my mom. The challenge was still awesome though because I did move forward and start working on my project even if I didn’t finish it by the 1/31 “deadline”.
Thanks for the challenge and a big thanks for being here Karah!
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Hello, hello to all of you fine Just Us Four readers!

My name is Karah and I blog at the space between. I e-met Shannah in the beginning of the year when I read her post about the Cayenne Candied Bacon, a perfect Superbowl snack. Seriously?!? Cayenne. Candied. Bacon. YES PLEASE!

And, lucky for me I am a life long fan of these guys and find myself needing a few fun Superbowl snacks. 🙂

PLEASE NOTE: As a guest poster I have written this post prior to the actual playing of the Superbowl and understand it will not be published until after the big game. So, depending on what happened, let’s all say one big Hooray! for the Pats win. 🙂

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