Chocolate Mousse Pie

Hi moms, hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  I'm constantly reminded of the battle moms are fighting every day.  Raising children is a messy business of course, kissing boo-boos and purchasing lollipops bigger than your kid's face seems to be quite manageable.  But figuring out how to raise your children well, is an unrelenting obstacle.  Sometimes I feel like I am on that show called "Wipeout", the announcer screams "Look at her fly", in a foreign language and the crowed cheers as I launch across the first part of the course in great stride only to suddenly get socked in the gut with a giant foam fist. I then plummet into the murky water below.  Moments spent watching your kid reply, " No mom I didn't eat any of that cake" as a chocolatey stained grin spreads across their face are just laughable. But what about teaching them not only honesty but selflessness, humility and faith. How do we raise our children to love others and to love themselves? How do we teach them to understand their worth? Answers to these questions are unclear to me most of the time,  but I know that all I have to do is try.

 I pray that some how "good" sticks to my daughter like glue and that if anything, I myself learn how to lead by example.  Thank you to all those moms out there who inspire me to do more and to be more.  I love you for the example that you set for me and those around you. 

For moms that need a moment of your own, pie is always the answer.  Store it in the freezer.  Then, late at night when the kids are sleeping and you are snuggling into the best place on earth (i.e. your bed), cut yourself a slice of mousse pie and enjoy your mommy moment.     

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Crust:

2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

4 Tbs. melted butter

1/3 cup rice checks crumbs

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Filling:

1 cup milk chocolate chips

6 Tbs. sugar

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup milk

1 and 1/3 cup of whip cream

1 tsp of vanilla

Directions:

Mix together graham crackers, rice checks crumbs and chopped pecans with melted butter.  Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan to form the crust.  To make the filling, in a medium size bowel combine the cream cheese and 2 Tbs. of sugar with an electric mixer.  In a sauce pan over medium heat or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips and 2 Tbs. of milk. Once the chocolate is smooth, add the remaining milk to the chocolate mixture. Let the chocolate mixture cool a bit and then slowly add it to the cream cheese mixture while continuing to beat.  Mix thoroughly.  In a separate bowel beat together 1 1/3 c of whip cream, 1 tsp. vanilla and the remaining 4 Tbs. of sugar, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form, don't be afraid to overbeat the cream.  Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate/ cream cheese mixture and spoon filling into the crust.  Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.  Before serving; whip up a bit more whipped cream using 1 cup of whip cream, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Spread whipped cream over mousse.  Use chocolate shavings to decorate this scrumptious pie!

For Clara On Your Birthday...

It's my niece's birthday today. 

She would've been 4. 

Clara passed away November 7th of last year. She was diagnosed with High Risk Stage 4 Neuroblastoma (a childhood cancer) when she was 2 1/2 and struggled an unbelievable battle before her time was over. Clara and her family spent many months in hospitals, living hours away from home, and still to this day remain the strongest family I know. You can read about Clara's journey HERE. It is one of the most touching and beautiful blogs I know of. I think everyone goes away from their blog feeling a sense of hope and peace.

For Christmas my brothers and sisters draw names and this year my husband and I had Brian and Natasha's name (Clara's parents and my brother). I wanted to do something special since it had only been 6 weeks since Clara had passed. This is what I came up with...

As my mom was leaving the funeral home one day she looked in the sky to see one tiny leaf hanging on for dear life to the tree branch. She said it reminded her so much of Clara, hanging on until she just couldn't anymore. I remember everyday for months waking up wondering if today would be the day. Sweet little Clara didn't want to leave her family. When printing the funeral programs Natasha found the perfect tree that represented Clara in a perfect way...

How To Strip and Stain Wood

A few weeks ago Jill from One Good Thing By Jillee 's daughter in-law asked me to refinish her dining table and chairs... as soon as I saw it I knew I'd be up for the job. I LOVE tables like this, big and chunky with cute, dainty chairs.

I'll be honest, staining is not one of my favorite things to do! :) I LOVE the end result, but the process can be rough. HOWEVER, don't be discouraged! I finally found some paint strippers that I can't believe I've lived without for so long! It makes the process much more doable!

So why do I stain if I despise it so much? Well, this might sound crazy, but in this weird DIY mind of mine, there's nothing like taking an old piece of furniture, removing all the nasty, clumpy layers of paint, then seeing that bare surface and bringing it back to life with a beautiful stain. I know, I'm crazy, but if you've refinished before you SO know what I mean! :)

Club Chairs

This next project although successful, I think... is not truly in keeping with my personal design fancy.
But, 
I wanted to share it with you anyways because I think that it is important to design outside your comfort zone every once in a while, which is what I did when revamping a scary pair of dated club chairs.

THE POINT OF NO RETURN:

You may already be aware but several weeks ago Ashley entered LYB into a contest called "Designing With the Stars".  We were chosen to compete in a DIY contest in which we had to complete a project within a week.  The project was then submitted and readers voted for their favorite projects.  Ashley and I realized we had reached a point of no return. We were in and we had to deliver.
Can I just say, I do not work well under pressure. I get all sorts of crazy and every word that comes out of my mouth truly sounds like a bark.  My family completely stops trying to understand me and we switch to a sort charades as a form of communication.  I yell, “bark, bark, bark” , as my arms flail about and people scurry past me with their heads hung low and their arms across their chest.  I don’t know if this is to protect themselves from any physical abuse they might receive while passing my way or if they are simply praying for the possibility that I didn't even notice them. Either way I become a monster no one wants to see.

Where was I going with this? Oh yes, because Ashley and I were literally shocked we were selected  I was panicking hoping I would be able to finish any project, let alone a good one.  I could literally feel the zits popping out the second Ashley called and told me we were in!

Short story, long, this set of club chairs was our submission for the contest (click this link to few the other entries).

Although I am not posting a tutorial for this particular project, I did want to share a few details about the products I used to complete the task.

1. I used upholstery spray paint to turn the brown faux-leather to black.  Did you know you could paint upholstery?  You can purchase this type of paint at a specialty store that stocks auto paint.

2. I used metal coating to refinish the wooden legs of these chairs.   This is a product produced by Sculpt Nouveau and you will definitely be hearing more about this product from me.  I am sure to use it in future projects, it is such a versatile product with endless finishing options.

Perfect, Gooey Rice Krispie Treats

One of my friends asked the other day how to make Rice Krispie Treats really gooey without them hardening after just a few minutes. I'm embarrassed to admit in college my roommates and I went through a phase of making them just about every night. :/ Whoops! Apparently you can get away with that when you're younger though, right? 

Anyway, I can't even remember how we came up with this, but the secret to 

perfect Rice Krispie Treats 

is.... 

via

Double the butter.

Trust me. Don't listen to your thighs. Just do it.

FAQ Barn Door Headboard LIGHTS and the Giveaway Winner!

Thank you for entering our Spa Vapor Diffuser and Grapefruit Essential Oils Giveaway! 

We love giving away essential oils and hope it brings more awareness to how great they are!

Congratulations  Michele Faulk ODonnell

You're the winner!

Please email us at littleyellowbarn@gmail.com 

with your information so we can get your prize to you asap!

FAQ Barn Door Headboard Lights

Don't Pass Me Up Carrot Cake!

If you haven't ENTERED our current giveaway for a 

Spa Vapor Diffuser AND doTerra Grapefruit Essential Oil

you can enter now by following this link!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter and eating delicious foods and lots of goodies.  I feel as though I only eat a real meal on holidays. The other 300 some odd days of the year are spent picking through old takeout boxes and settling for hot rubber in a bottle that is packaged and labeled as "cheese". 

But I'm sure you homemakers out there cook your families hot, tasty meals more than once in a lifetime. Which is more than I can say for myself.  One day I will conquer the kitchen, but today is not that day.   

Although hot meals are not my specialty, my grandmother did raise me to prioritize the art of baking.  So, even though I should be spending the little time I have allotted for "minutes spent in the kitchen" on brewing up Roasted Salmon with Spicy Cauliflower, I prefer to bake something for late night study sessions and "I'M STRESSED OUT" moments, that commonly occur when you are a nursing student.

Now, I know that this time of year you are bombarded with carrot cake recipes from Pinterest and fellow bloggers, but let me share a secret with you. If your recipe doesn't have pineapple and nuts in it, I'm not sure you can really call it carrot cake. 

Here is my Aunt Kathy's "Don't Pass Me Up Carrot Cake". 

Essential Oil GIVEAWAY!!

We decided to celebrate hitting the 2000 "like" mark on Facebook with a giveaway!

Thank you to all of our fans, we really appreciate you and couldn't keep this up without your support!

Little Yellow Barn is giving away a 

Spa Vapor Diffuser AND  doTerra Grapefruit Essential Oil 

to one winner.

Favorite Chicken Noodle Soup

via

Before the summer comes and soup making comes to a bitter end, you NEED to try this version of chicken noodle soup.

 Mel's Kitchen Cafe is one of my favorite cooking websites. I've NEVER made anything that wasn't anything but delicious from her. We must have similar tastes because everything is amazing!

It's off!

A big thank you to all of our readers who took the time to vote for the projects on the "Creating With The Stars" challenge.  We are so disappointed that Ashley and I didn't even make it through the first round.  But we have a few new projects to share with you as a result of the contest and we will be sharing those in the weeks to come.  If you missed the line up of who won in last week's round.  Visit East Coast Creative HERE to view the projects submitted by the contestants.  I did want to share the project that received first prize which was submitted by Karianne (Thistlewood Farms) & Whitney and Ashley (Shanty @ Chic).
The Bicycle Wheel Clock was genuinely original and classy. This project received my 1st place vote for sure.

Again, thank you to all who supported us, we are grateful for the opportunity to participate and hopefully we will get another chance in the future to redeem ourselves!

VOTE FOR LYB!!!

It's on!!! 

Creating With The Stars started this week. 

If you haven't read about it, it's a 4 week competition over at East Coast Creative. 

Each week 12 bloggers are given a certain theme to create a project with, then readers vote on which projects they like best. At the end, 3 teams are eliminated each week until the grand prize winner is chosen.

Jourdan was a GEM for tackling our project this week with the theme of "Upcycle". It's times like these we REALLY miss being apart! We could've had so much fun this week, but instead I worried about her sanity and had to sit back and do nothing while she created awesomeness. 

In the end, I cannot tell you what an amazing job Jourdan did this week!!!

I could not be more proud of her representing our team with what she upcycled. She worked her butt off this week and it definitely shows!!

Unfortunately we aren't allowed to tell you which project is ours since this is based on which project readers like the most without any biased opinions. I know, sad. I wish I could shout it from the rooftops and tell everyone I know which project is ours. BUT you'll just have to use your best judgement and head on over to East Coast Creative to place your vote.

We really need our readers participation in this. It will only take a second and you'll get to see some amazing projects. Help us out and we'll reward you with a giveaway this week :) . 

Click HERE to place your vote. I hope it's for us!!! :)

WE ARE IN!

If you have been following LYB's FB, you probably have heard about the 

Creating With The Stars Event hosted by 

East Coast Creative!

Ashley and I are one of 12 contestants chosen to compete in a four week long event. 

Each blogger contestant is matched with a blogger star  to collaborate with.

Each week the teams submit one themed DIY project These projects are submitted anonymously.

Then, voters... that's you guys... vote for their favorite projects.

Each week 3 contestants are eliminated, yikes!  

LYB has been paired with Beth from 

Home Stories A to Z.

How To Stencil Fabric

I'm a cheap-o as most of you know and buying home decor items is NOT my strong suit. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to browse, but my eyes turn very quickly as I see the price tags hanging from the items. Not in my budget! I've had a set of curtains from my old house just sitting in my closet for a few years now and finally decided to put them to good use.

I'll be honest, this was my first time attempting stenciling and I could not believe how easy it was to do. And don't get me wrong, I panicked over it for weeks trying to decide if I should do it and worrying that I'd just screw them up in the end anyway!

Decided to go for it. Couldn't love them more! :)

I will say, the one nice thing about stenciling curtains is you get the effect of a stencil without having to paint your entire wall. They're replaceable and moveable if in the next few years you get sick of them or want to accent a different wall.

Bam Bam's BBQ Restaurant Preview

We're so sorry for the slacking on the blog. I can only give one excuse. My husband "Bam Bam" is opening up a restaurant here in Utah in the next month. It has been a whirlwind so far and I'm sure it won't be any different for a few more weeks! I'm sure any of you in the restaurant business know what I mean!

Anyway, I'll be honest, it will be fun to get this place in tip top shape. As for now, here is a preview. And let me warn you, this is not a Pinterest worthy post. I think that's a worry in the blogger world these days, that not everything will be exactly what people want to see. But this is it, in its pure form. :) Not a beauty to look at, but she will be when we're done with her....

CHEAP DIY Pillow Forms

It's almost not even worth making your own pillows when you figure the cost of fabric these days. Not to mention the pillow form inserts that go INSIDE the pillow cases. They're almost as expensive as buying an already finished pillow!

If you've never made your own pillow forms, now is the time to start. Decorative pillows can be so expensive so here's your chance to make your own and actually have them be cheaper! 

Growing up it seemed like sewing your own things was way cheaper than buying them. What happened to that?! When did fabric get to be $8.99-18.99 for halfway descent stuff? I'm always blown away when I look at the price tags! 

Ok, hello tangent.
Here's how to make your own pillow forms...