Cutest Halloween Costume Ever

Here's the Halloween costume I finally finished for my little girl. I made the cowprint vest, denim skirt, and the stick horse. The hat is from gymboree (it started the whole idea) and the boots are from target. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Photo Book Deal!

I ran across a great deal and would like to give you the opportunity to get a discounted photo book! It's a website I found called artscow.com and they are just another online photo website. Anyways, they have 30 page photo books for $11.99 where other sites run around $30 for an equivalent book. Great deal if you get the chance. I posted the coupon codes below for anyone to use. They can only be used once so if one doesn't work, use another.
ZRWQ18M
ZYJ1B2C
ZVPU1T9
ZGBEVWQ
ZCAUN9X
ZSN35K3
Z9QZ13E
Z972SJK
Z1NSPA5
Z4MRKJU

http://www.artscow.com/Create/ShowProduct.aspx?ProductId=315

I created a cutie :)

My Country

My blog is centered upon creating and I can't think of a better thing to talk about than our country. It was created for our freedom. With election day coming up I strongly encourage all of us to research the candidates, congressmen, governors, anyone that's running and VOTE. Be knowledgeable; don't just vote from what you've heard on TV or the radio. My mom sent me a very inspirational clip that the catholic church put on. I thought it was very moving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wj4tJICcc

Zoey's Blanket

I was bored one day and decided to make Zoey a blanket. Most of her stuff is very girly (pink, purple, etc.) so this blanket is more fun. It was super easy and though it is far from perfect, I liked how it turned out. --sorry the pictures are bad; I took it with my phone's camera so I could text it to my mom.

Wacky Wallet Wipes

I am selling these wet wipe covers at my etsy store and soon on my own website (cortscouture.com coming soon!) They are so fun to make and pick out colors for.

Wheat Dough

There's a really amazing team of women who go around Utah Valley teaching sisters how to make bread/anything with dough. Their business is called "Pantry Secrets". I learned about them when I attended one of their classes at my mother-in-laws enrichment night. They taught us how to make a really simple and quick recipe for bread dough. With this dough they made pizza, cinnamon twists, bread, breadsticks, raspberry cream cheese braids, and probably more just in that night. Their secret ingredient is called Soy Lethicin which takes place of the oil. Because of this the recipe is also food storage friendly. This was really exciting for me because I really don't know how to use the wheat in my food storage. Now I do! That night they taught us they used bread flour because it has more gluten but they said wheat works good too. I bought a years supply of soy lethicin (it stores forever she says) which only cost me $28! It was really enlightening fore me. Since then my mother in law and I have made a few batches of bread dough both white and wheat and everything has turned out pretty good! We've made pizza's the most and for conference I made cinnamon rolls.

Anyways, I posted some pictures of some pizza I made the other night with wheat dough. The difference this time was that I ground my own wheat (well Andrew did most of it) with a hand grinder and mixed it by hand (Andrew really did help a lot :). So, now I know how to make pizza using my food storage and no electricity! I'll post the recipe and I'll try to describe how to do it but if you want there's a DVD these ladies made you can buy from their site. pantrysecrets.net

Recipe:
10 1/2 cups bread flour or wheat flour
1 T salt
3 heaping Tablespoons of yeast
1/2 cup honey (or you can use sugar)
3 T Soy lethicin (it's too sticky for normal Tablespoons so she just squeezes 3 quarter size blogs into the dough)
3 cups very hot tap water

First you get all your dry ingredients (flour, salt, and yeast)-kitchen aid I've heard can only handle half a batch at a time. A bosch works the best or you can do it by hand like me :)
Then add the soy lethicin and honey and then 3 cups of hot water. Once the 3 cups is mixed in if it looks too dry add more water. The dough consistancy should be pretty soft and easy to work with (softer than normal dough you would make). After all the waters in let it knead (in the bosch or by hand) for five minutes with bread flour and ten with wheat flour. Then the dough is done and ready for whatever you want to make. But I really suggest getting the DVD because it tells you how to make rolls, pizza, desserts, buns, and so much more. It's great. Plus they explain much better how to make the dough.

They had this great idea of making stuffed crust with string cheese! So easy. They just rolled the dough past the edge of the pan and lined it with halves of string cheese and then folded the dough over it. So clever!

Creations...An Inspiration for my Blog

The first post to my new blog. It's hard to know what to say so I'll just begin with why I am starting this blog. President Uchtdorf, a leader in my church, gave a wonderful talk that inspired me to start this new blog (I pasted the section on creation below and hope you all enjoy it). It taught me a lot about my nature as a daughter of God. I love creating things and sharing them with others. When you share things with others it builds confidence in one's abilities. This blog will be an effort to share my "creations" with all of you. It also gives me an outlet to express and share my talents. I welcome any and all to comment and share their thoughts and advice. I would love to post links to the creations of others if you are willing to share.


"The Work of Creation The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children. You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.” If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination. But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things. If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next. You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it. Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.” The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."