Brownies Stuffed with Chocolate Bars

I LOVE CHOCOLATE! And I love to shout my love for chocolate when typing because I love it so much. This is the one recipe that my friends love and hate. They love the chocolate stuffed in the middle of the brownies with the caramel on top and they hate that they can't eat just one. 

This is one of my favorite desserts to make for baby showers. It hits that chocolate craving caused by those hormones cause like no other. 

So lets get started on this chocolate deliciousness.

What you will need: (I always make a double batch.)
Two boxes of your favorite turtle brownie mix (this contains nuts for those with allergies)
Oil, water, and eggs per the box directions x2 (remember we're making two boxes)
Vanilla Extract
A lot of chocolate bars

Preheat your oven per the directions. Dump both boxes of brownie mix in a large bowl along with your oil and water.

Add your vanilla extract. I don't actually measure how much I put in. But if I had to guess I would say a tablespoon per box.

Crack those eggs into the bowl.

Get to mixing.

Once your batter is throughly mixed get out a 9x13 pan. I like to line my with foil so i can remove it from the pan which makes it easier for cutting and cleaning. You'll see down below.

Pour half of your batter into your pan.

Smooth it out so its in the corners.

Time to break open those chocolate bars. Layer then on top of the brownie mix.

Sometimes you have leftovers which is a nice treat for not licking the batter out of the bowl. (Which can make you sick...but I like live dangerously.)

Pour the rest of the batter on top of the chocolate bars make sure everything is covered and the mix is in the corners.

Use the provided caramel packets and make a lovely zig zag on top of the brownie mix.

Use the spine of your butter knife and drag it through the caramel sauce to make a pretty design.

Place this bad boy in the oven. I like to add an extra 10 min of cooking time so I know my batter is throughly cooked since you can't check the middle with the chocolate bars.

Once they are done let them throughly cool. (I bake in bulk!)

Once they are cool lift the foil out of the pan and use your favorite knife to cut them for yourself friends.

Mmmmm....chocolate. Does that make your heart as happy as it does mine?

This is the stuff dreams are made of. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

What is your favorite chocolate dessert?

Easy DIY Fabric Banner

So I have a bit of an obsession right now.....Fabric Banners. I have made 5 of them so far. I made one for my daughters room, one for our dining room, one for my bestie's baby shower (it doubled as an extra gift) and two for Christmas. I'm going to show you how I made them.

First pick up some fabric you like or sort through your scrap pile. I cut all my fabric into 1 inch strips. If you're feeling a more free spirited just cut a slit in the fabric every inch and pull the fabric into strips. (My preferred method but for Christmas I wanted nice clean lines.)

Cut a large piece of twine (I prefer to make it bigger than I need and trim down as needed). I like to start in the center and work my way out. So I fold my twine in half and find the center.

Grab your first piece of fabric and fold it in half.

Place the fabric behind the twine with the fold at the top.

Open the fold.

Then pull the fold over the twine.

Feed the bottom of the fabric through the loop.

Pull on the bottom of the fabric.

So it secures around the twine.

Ta-da! You've got your first one done!

Now to add the rest of the fabric strips! You can leave them spaced out or you can pull them in snug and close.

Next thing you know you're done! And it really doesn't take long. Then you have to decide where you want to hang it next and how many more you're going to make!

Here's the larger of the two on our catwalk. It's one of the first things you see when you walk into our home for Christmas this year.

I hung a smaller version on some original artwork in our dining room.

Here's my main dining room banner which is the first thing you see when you walk in.

My favorite of all the banners is the extra large one I made for my baby's room.

What's your favorite and inexpensive way DIY way to decorate?