Pinned It Made It Monday Week 28/Sunshine Basket

This is a BIG post, so sit back and relax with a cup of tea or whatever. Ü Today's post is in conjunction with this week's Tombow post. To see that post, just scroll down. This whole post is inspired by the Basket/Box of Sunshine ideas that are on Pinterest.

I made a Basket of Sunshine for a friend who was going through cancer over a year ago and forgot to take pictures of it. It was so much fun to create. I have been wanting to make another (or 2 or 3) for some loved ones going through tough times right now and decided this was a good time to get it done.

Ever since the first basket I made for my friend Teri, I have been keeping an eye out for "yellow" sunshine-y items I could add to a box/basket. Whenever I'm going to be out of town, I make sure to print a Hobby Lobby coupon so I can pick something up, if I come across it.

Here is the basket that I created. Last week, my DIL and I took a girl's day and went to Kearney shopping. We had some things we needed to do there, so I kept my eye out for yellow. Ü We went to Goodwill and I found some mugs that had a yellow band around them. Perfect! My purpose was to go there and get a basket or two and found them for 50¢ each, so ended up getting 3. The mugs were 50¢ as well, so that was a fun find.

I added some Lemon Zinger tea in the mug. I like this tea hot and cold. To go with the tea, I made some Lemon Biscotti that I drizzled with yellow melting discs (that I used my Hobby Lobby coupon on Ü). Yummy!

I already had a yellow dishcloth crocheted up, so added that to my basket. I like to add personal items that I have made. The flowers were some I had gotten at a store last year marked down for 76¢. I wish they would have had more of them. I think it is a perfect accent to this basket. Put them in a vase and it's sure to brighten one's day. Oh and the yellow towel I lined the basket with, is one I've had in my stash for a very long time. I have about 3 more of them, just waiting for a project like this to brighten one's day.

I then added a pkg of microwave buttery popcorn, Caramel Milky Way Bar, Peanut M & M's, Lemon Drops and Lemon flavored gum for fun. With all the school items out now, I found some yellow sticky note pads and grabbed a couple of them for my baskets. A pretty pen, I already had in my stash for when I had been yellow hunting in the past, Pina Fanta (not sure how it tastes, but it was yellow and looked like fun) and this cute tea lite that I found in the dollar section at Target. I added some yellow tape that I had in my stash around the base edge. This is really fun lit up. So much fun, I had to tell my son to quit playing with it. LOL!

For another homemade treat, I made some Lemon Puppy Chow! Oh my....this is yummy! I put it in a Starbuck's coffee jar that I decorated...in yellow of course.

I have a Biscotti Board and Lemon Board if you want to take a look at them for ideas to fill your own Sunshine Basket/Box. Be sure to scroll down to the post before this one on more details on my sun shaped card.

Have you made a Sunshine Box/Basket? I would love to hear about it and what you filled it with.

Lemon Puppy Chow
via youandmearewe blog

9 cups rice squares cereal (Chex, or your store's brand)
1 1/4 cup white vanilla chips (not white chocolate chips!) **I used white melting discs that I had gotten from Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon
1/4 cup butter1 fresh lemon
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Measure your cereal into a large bowl. In a separate (microwave safe) bowl, mix together your white vanilla chips, butter, and the juice of one fresh lemon. Microwave that puppy on high for a minute and a half - stirring occasionally. Just a tip, it's going to get foamy, so make sure you keep an eye on it so it doesn't get all over the microwave. Once the mixture is nice and creamy (you may need extra time depending on your microwave), fold it into the cereal. Make sure it's all coated nicely, then add the powdered sugar and toss well.

**I am a chocolate fan, but these were very nice and tasty and I will definitely by making them again.

Lemon Biscotti
via livlife

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1 cup sugar 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 1/2 tablespoon grated lemon rind 
2 tablespoons or lemon juice **I used 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
3 large eggs 
Cooking spray 

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Combine rind, lemon juice, and add to flour mixture, stirring until well-blended (dough will be dry and crumbly). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 7 to 8 times. 

Preheat oven to 350°. Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into an 8-inch-long roll. Place rolls 6 inches apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; flatten each roll to 1-inch thickness. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes (*I prefer to bake for 20) 

Remove the rolls from baking sheet; cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. (**I prefer to cut mine hot and not wait 10 minutes)   

Cut each roll diagonally into 15 (1/2-inch) slices. Place the slices, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325°; bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 10 minutes (the cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet, and cool completely on wire rack. ***After they cooled, I drizzled them with the melted yellow baking discs.