Super cute, Super YUMMY, heart-shaped marshmallow treats

(with homemade marshmallow)!

Disclaimer: I am not a food blogger, and this is not a food blog LOL (pictures and lack of detailed information reflect such!)!   BUT…these are very easy to make and super impactful on the cuteness and YUMMINESS meter, so I thought I’d share.

Don’t be intimidated by homemade marshmallows, they are in fact, very simple and WAY yummier than any you buy…I promise you’ll be making your own from now on (okay, maybe not promise, but the odds are good!)

The fantastic thing about making these marshmallow hearts is you can make the marshmallow and the treats all in one step because when you make your own marshmallows they are warm when you take them off the mixer, so no melting them like you would in the traditional recipe, just add butter to your mixing bowl containing the warm mallow and add Rice Krispies cereal…TADA!

Okay, so step one is to make the marshmallows.  This is the recipe I’ve been using for years and it’s very simple and it’s been good to me and always turns out perfectly.  **And you can vary it for Christmas and other Holidays by adding peppermint extract, etc!**

During the last two minutes of whipping the marshmallows in the mixer, I added a couple drops of pink food coloring, and literally two drops did it…don’t need too much Red #40, ya know!  So it turned the mallow a lovely light shade of pink which made the hearts even cuter, I think!

It’s a one bowl project which is awesome in my book!  So as soon as the whipping was done I took it off the stand mixer, added the melted butter (3Tbs) and an entire box of Rice Krispies cereal (and truly, I could have used more cereal…these treats are SUPER marshmallowy…but that may not be a bad thing…but even an additional quarter cup would have helped!

After several stirs I called in for reinforcements; because, Oh My Gosh, my arms about fell off LOL.  Granted, if hubby wasn’t home I could have managed just fine, but reinforcements are always welcome.  So he finished the mixing of the mallow, cereal, and butter!

I then turned the awesome mixture into two greased dishes (one 8X11 the other 9X13) and using a lubed (hee hee…lubed…see, told you this wasn’t a food blog!) or rather greased spatula, I spread and pressed the mixture flat into said dishes.  Then covered and let sit overnight (at least 4 hours).

Using a heart cookie cutter I cut out hearts and inserted a stick.

Then for added dazzle, I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips (although I would have preferred milk chocolate…but alas, it was not in the pantry during this escapade) and dipped half of the heart into the chocolate, then added sprinkles and let sit in a cool place for an hour to harden…and TADA…super cute, insanely yummy, Valentines heart treats

Are you ready for a little riddle; okay, here goes: What takes 500 years to break down in a landfill and the average woman uses between 10 and 15 THOUSAND in a lifetime…OH..and they may be hazardous to our health and reproductivity?  PERIOD.  While “period” isn’t the answer to the riddle, it is the reason we use feminine hygiene products which create those stats.

I’ll be honest, I knew little (okay nothing) about these stats before this post.  I never questioned my monthly routine (monthly except for those 22 months after the birth of both children when I didn’t have to worry…YAY!)  But… talk about a wake-up when I started researching and reading.  I’m not your crunchiest crunchy…never did cloth diapers, never made my own soap or detergent; I suppose I’m a mainstream crunchy :o)  I actually didn’t know Luna Pads existed before a year ago; cloth pads and a “cup” you insert instead of the gold-standard tampons..No thank you! 

Ignorance can be bliss; but NOT in this situation. I hope I haven’t lost you…you might relate, hang tight!  Just like some women make the decision to breastfeed, first for the cost-savings and not necessarily for the health benefits (while obviously an awesome “bonus”) and other women choose cloth diapering for the lessened impact on our Earth and aren’t making their decision to switch based on the long-term cost savings; YOU will make the change to a healthier alternative to your current monthly routine for your own reason(s) and that’s cool…and how it should be!  I would just love the opportunity to make the case for the other options that aren’t so mainstream (okay, in my world they aren’t mainstream at all…so I feel like I can really be helpful from both perspectives!)

Here’s the quick and simple case for why Luna Pads and/or a Diva Cup might be a better and safer alternative to your current routine:

Your Health and Reproductivity => “Feminine hygiene products may contain deodorants and absorbency enhancers, as well as artificial fragrances that can irritate…” “The exact components of tampons and pads are trade secrets.” (Ugh…in other words they don’t have to disclose what they are ACTUALLY putting in these products that reside in such a sensitive and important place of ours) “Bleaching processes have also improved, but bleached cotton and rayon in pads and tampons can still be contaminated with traces of dioxin, a carcinogen created during the bleaching process” (Sure, give me the cancer stick please; I’d like to insert it into my vagina every month for the next, oh, I don’t know, 40 years!!!) The Guide to Less Toxic Products (the quotes are from The Guide; not my sarcasm!)

The Environment => “American women throw away 60 million disposable feminine hygiene products each year. The average American women will use between 10,000 and 15,000 disposable pads, tampons and applicators in a lifetime. Tampon applicators make up 2.2 percent of trash collected between 2001 and 2006 by The Ocean Conservancy—more than syringes, condoms and plastic six-pack rings combined.”  EcoStiletto

Cash Flow => Whole Foods Magazine suggests “…while the initial investment may be more than disposables, quite a bit of money is saved in time. One manufacturer estimates a cost-savings of $200 per year.”  And Luna Pads has a very good chart breaking down costs/savings as well!

Can I be honest, you wanna know when my AHA moment was…I watched this YouTube Video one day and it sold it for me; I had to make a change.

So whether you are a tampon, pad, hybrid (or panty liner) girl…there IS a better alternative.  It just comes down to when you are ready to make the change; and hey, maybe now is the time! 

Thanks to Luna Pads we have THREE Starter Packs to give away!!  You can enter via the tab on Facebook or on the blog! Oh…and there is a Hot Mama Gown giveaway going on too..see..it’s ALWAYS good to read to the end!! Good Luck Mamas..on all FOUR prizes (3 Starter Kits from Luna Pads and a Hot Mama Gown of choice!!)

One of the newest additions to HotMamaGowns.com is trash…well, some would view it that way, but really, it’s GOLD!  I’m talking about the scraps or remnants of fabric leftover from the production of Hot Mama Gowns!  Did you ever wonder what happens to the scraps of fabric from ANY production…they are thrown away…THROWN AWAY!!! 

Well, not in our little corner of the manufacturing world; we pride ourselves on reducing, reusing, and recycling as much as possible, and with that comes POUNDS of scrap fabric!!  It really is a big win for us, our environment and our customers…it’s upcycling heaven!!  You can buy our scraps starting at $10 with free shipping…and our scraps are comprised of mostly larger pieces, which ROCKS for you!

I’ve been thinking a lot (A LOT) these last couple of days about Christmas projects and what types of homemade gifts we’ll be making and giving this year.  I admit, my goals are always much bigger than the reality…but I think dreaming big is a start :)  My ideal Christmas giving would be comprised of all homemade, very personal gifts that were given much thought for each and every individual on the receiving end…like I said…my goals are much bigger than the reality at this point…but I WILL get there one day!!

Here are just a *couple* of projects that I’m in love with and fit PERFECTLY with our scraps; I would LOVE to see ANY of these projects made with our 100% Organic Cotton fabric…how sweet!!  And in the same way I would LOVE for you to link up projects you’ve found that have inspired you, or that you’ve created yourself, or that you’re dreaming of…link to them in the comments section…who knows whom YOU may inspire!!

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I can think of SO many ways to use these beautiful birds..as a mobile in a baby’s room, as tree ornaments, sitting on any ledge or shelf…and my mind keeps going…how about you?!

The pattern can be found here.

These birds were made by The Green Bag Lady for Harmony of Harmony Art!

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I love, love, LOVE this idea!! Fabric bag ornaments; perfect and thoughtful for the beginner or the expert! 

Tutorial found here.

The MOST adorable fabric bag ornaments from The Green Bag Lady

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Not a sewer..want to fake it?! I love this no-sew project for fabric ornaments!! (Your secret is safe with me!)

Tutorial here.

No-Sew fabric ornaments make GREAT gifts too

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This little fabric star seems like a great project (especially for beginners) but I’m sure the expert could knock them out in no time for teacher/babysitter/bus-driver gifts!! 

Tutorial is here.

Simply perfect fabric star

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And perhaps my favorite fabric ornament ball yet (but I would use another material as the core instead of styrofoam..I’m sure you could get creative too!) 

Tutorial is here.

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**Kicker** Here’s a little fun incentive to get crafting with HMG scraps: Post a picture (no deadline..this offer ALWAYS stands) of any project you’ve done using HMG fabric on our Facebook wall and you’ll receive a $20 credit to our site (no expiration and can be transferred)  So…get to crafting and by all means SHARE; your creations will  inspire others!! *limit 1 $20 credit per person*

I am fortunate enough to have an AMAZING online community, the kind that has your back and is always looking out for you!  Well, a couple weeks ago one such Facebook friend and fan Haute Mommy sent me a message letting me know that Green Child Magazine was looking for labor/birth pictures for an upcoming article.  Before that message I didn’t know Green Child Magazine existed (how in the world had I not found them yet!!) So, thanks to Haute Mommy, I quickly emailed the editor pretty much GUSHING…you need labor and delivery pictures…I’VE got labor and delivery pictures :) And I sent her over several from our testimonials page.

I was SQUEALING with delight when the October/November issued launched; because not only am I IN LOVE with the entire magazine (OF COURSE a subscriber now!) but I saw MANY of our Mamas gracing the pages!! And it gets better…our Mamas were a part of a great article written by Shannon Harlow (whom I had the pleasure to squeeze in person in Kentucky at the ABC show last month, after well over a year (maybe 2) of tweeting!)  And it’s a great piece about how to green your hospital stay…I mean, how PERFECT, that our Mamas and Hot Mama Gowns were included (pages 26-29)!!

Page 26 is ACTUALLY a friend from College, Sheena, (how awesome!) who did a career 180 after the birth of her son and became a Labor and Delivery nurse to help other Moms and pay-it-forward (Notice the amazing skin-to-skin she is having with her baby…IMMEDIATELY)!  There are some very fortunate Mamas in Florida who will be blessed with Sheena as their L&D nurse!  Page 27 is a page of blog celebrities (didn’t you know!) The top is Jenn from Baby Making Machine and the bottom of the page is Jessica from The Mom Creative.  BOTH are Amazing Moms who write beautiful, articulate, relevant and inspiring blogs (yes, I’m a subscriber of both!)  And page 29 is made bright and BEAUTIFUL because of Ali of Mama:Inspired and her Shalon gown!!  See how Ali has Ethan tucked into her gown and having that oh-so-important skin-to-skin with him; which helps regulate his body temperature and also helps start the breastfeeding relationship!

Yes, this post was a bunch of gushing; gushing about a new magazine I *just* found and love because it’s FILLED with awesome and relevant information and gushing to see so many of our Mamas gracing the pages.

I’m not quite sure how to tell this story, or experience rather, that has ended.  I’ve wrestled with if… and how… and what would be in this blog if I ever wrote it.  We lost our third child when I was 5 months pregnant; that baby was due this month, August.

The biggest thing I wrestled with on if/when/how I was going to write this post was the sadness that it would bring to those who read it and also the unnecessary fear it might instill in all the Mamas-to-Be.  There are no two-ways about it; this story is a sad and devastating one, there is no getting around that.  And coming from me, who is an eternal optimist, I just couldn’t come to grips with what I would share.  So yes, this post is mostly for me, to get some of what I’m holding in my soul out…the rest, I’m not sure what to do with and how to process.

I told my husband we were expecting our 3^rd child on Christmas :)  I went out and bought a keychain that had 3 birthstones in it; our daughter’s, our son’s, and one for August to represent this new baby.  He was ELATED; this is a man who would have 8 children if I allowed it!  I was nauseous from conception…yes, literally!  By 5 months I had actually lost 12 pounds.  I went to my midwife for all the usual visits and had all the testing done from blood work to the tests you opt for (and since insurance pays, why not!)  One of the tests was the Triple screen which can tell you if your baby is at risk for any number of birth defects, abnormalities as well as Down Syndrome and Trisomy.  For me, with my last two pregnancies, I always opted for this test (because it meant an ultrasound, and I got to see my baby!!) So I went in at 12 weeks for this test which is a combo of blood screen and ultrasound.  The tech did the measurements, then did them again, then seemed frustrated and said she needed another opinion.  In comes the Neonatologist to perform the ultrasound (mind you I’m by myself since my husband is out of town).  He said the neck measurements seem high; stops mid sentence and announces I need to see the genetic counselor right now.  Believe it or not, I’m still not nervous, scared, etc…just more stunned that this is the way it’s going down.  So after meeting with the genetic counselor and asking her questions SHE had to look up, I felt confident that our baby was just fine.  I know stats, I understand how data is derived (thanks to a previous life in Pharmaceuticals) so the numbers were on my side.  I still left the office fearful…fearful for the unknown.  I was given the option to have a procedure done right then and there where they would take a sample of the placenta to narrow the results more.  It would still not give us definitive results so I opted to forego the test; there was NO reason to put our baby at risk because I HAD TO KNOW.  So that meant we had to wait until 20 weeks to have the Level 2 Ultrasound, which is basically the ultrasound to check for anatomy, but in this case it’s performed by the Neonatologist who is looking for very specific markers or other clues there may be a problem.  8 weeks, EIGHT WEEKS, we waited with our own thoughts of unknowing and fear and questions.

My hubby and I walked hand-in-hand into the 20 week ultrasound.  We talked about whether our baby was a boy or girl, if he/she would resemble our daughter or our son.  I think we both were ready for that “A-OK”.  Seriously.  Truly.

The tech starts the ultrasound; moves the wand around, presses harder.  The questions I’m asking about is the baby sleeping, etc, go unanswered.  She then quickly takes her gloves off and excuses herself from the room.  My husband and I just look at each other…no emotion.  Then the Neonatologist comes in and says he’d like a look at the baby, and asked if that was okay.  He proceeds to repeat the same steps as the tech; then stops, removes his gloves and announces our baby has passed away.  I had just felt kicks and movement 2 days prior.  I was prepared to be told our baby had an abnormality, I was prepared to be told our baby had Down Syndrome, I was even prepared to be told our baby wouldn’t survive much after birth; but I DID NOT expect to be told our baby died in utero at 5 months gestation.  I wasn’t prepared for it, it wasn’t even an option I had in my head.  I cried, and cried, I couldn’t see for hours because my eyes would not stop filling with tears.  I have never cried that much.  This all came at such an amazing time in my life when things were going too well; I blogged briefly about it here.

My husband was supposed to leave after the “happy” ultrasound to go away for work; he asked, pleaded even, if I wanted him to stay.  I said no.  You may judge me for that, and for some of my other decisions you’ll read in this post, but it’s me, it’s how I handle things, and it’s what I wanted.  I didn’t want to be THIS sad and have him there to just watch me.  THAT was even sadder to me.  So he left to drive about 8 hours to where he was working and I went straight to the OBGYN’s office; apparently this was out of my midwife’s jurisdiction and I had to be referred to their OBGYN. 

The OB was the most amazing MD I have ever met (and mind you I have met and had relationships with over a THOUSAND because of my previous career).  He was genuinely soft, and kind, and careful with me.  He explained to me that I was too far along for certain procedures typically performed with miscarriage, and I would have to deliver the baby.  I’m thinking…this CAN’T be happening to me.  Losing a baby at 5 months gestation isn’t bad enough, now I have to labor and deliver this baby.  We discussed how I felt movement 2 days prior so the baby had to have passed away sometime between then and today.  Then he says something I again wasn’t prepared for; I would need to be admitted today.

I call my husband who is about 4 hours into his trip and ask him to come home.  As soon as he got home late that night we headed to the hospital.  It was March 22^nd, my Dad’s birthday.  I will not go into much detail about the rest of my stay.  It was more physical pain than I’ve ever experienced and I’ve had 2 natural births, it was sadder than my heart has ever felt, and it was devastating.  I birthed our baby on March 24^th, my niece’s birthday.  Yes, I was in labor for 2 days; it was a nightmare that I prayed I’d wake up from.  I have never in my life wanted to alter my state of being, I’ve in fact NEVER done any type of drugs; and during my stay I took all the narcotics I was allowed at every interval I was allowed.  My OB was amazing and empathetic he talked to me and told me not to feel guilty for taking the narcotics.  But I did; I felt guilty for so much, and for no reason.  After a lot of hours of demoralizing pain they offered to do an epidural again, something I had refused the last 4 times they asked.  After 2 natural childbirths I felt like such a failure for caving to an epidural; I was glad I took it, because I don’t think I could have physically taken all the events and intervention that happened after.

There I sat in my Hot Mama Gown holding a baby that I couldn’t take home.   I don’t talk about this, or what happened to anyone (not even my Mom or Dad or best friend), and here is only a quarter of the story, but it’s what I am comfortable sharing.  There is no need to spread this kind of sadness, and I feel guilty for even sharing this much.  My goal is not to sadden or instill fear; frankly I’m not sure what my goal is.  I know a lot of people are curious as to what happened, etc, and I understand, it’s only natural.  No one except my husband and sister know the whole story and I am eternally sorry they have to share it with me.

I have not mourned; I don’t know how to mourn.  I have no idea how to move on, for me, it’s complicated (I’m not a “talk-it-out” type of person and it is SO hard for me to accept ANY type of help from others).  I never imagined we’d only have 2 children, never; and also never could I have prepared for an event that was so disgustingly life changing.  I have often said and truly believe the Lord does not put something in your heart unless it’s in his plan for you.  As I am now, I am blank in the topic of more children; truly and purely blank.  I don’t know what it means, I don’t know what I want; I know I don’t want to indure hurt anymore.   So, if you’d think of me this month, say a prayer if you pray, send healing; whatever you offer, I will accept.  Thank you.

From my 3yo (son) out of the blue one night “Don’t worry Mommy, God will put another baby in your belly; a boy baby”