Sweets & Treats: PB Temptations & Whale Pillow Pet DIY

Ok so I'm going to slightly combine two posts here.  The Peanut Butter Temptations are mine, my mom and I have been making them for years.  They are seriously simple, so I am not sure why I don't make them more often...oh wait, they're loaded with sugar, peanut butter, & chocolate...yea, that's why ;).

Still kind of melty...yum! 

The second is just a photo and the link to an adorable sewing project: a DIY whale pillow pet!  I found the link on Pinterest and just knew I had to make one.  Now that she has opened her gift, I can show you the one I made for my friend Lexi's baby shower!  Impossibly adorable.

So cute! 

First things first, Peanut Butter Temptations
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup Peanut Butter, creamy
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cup Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
36 Reese's Miniature Peanut Butter Cups

Straight-forward ingredient list. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a mini-muffin pan, or use a nonstick one.

Cream together sugars and butter.

Add peanut butter, then add the egg and vanilla.

In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Shape into 1 inch balls and place in mini-muffin pan openings.

Bake 8-9 minutes, meanwhile unwrapping the plethora of peanut butter cups!

As soon as the pan comes out of the oven, press a peanut butter cup down into the center.

Allow them to cool, move to a cooling rack to finish up.

Enjoy!

Make a Whale Pillow Pet!
Meet this adorable, cuddly little Whale!  I made this one for Lexi's soon-to-be daughter Liliana, but I have a feeling there will be more of these in my future for all the little ones in my life.  I just followed Hannah's directions here, and it turned out like a dream.  Start to finish it only took me just under two hours, and that included cutting out the pattern, so in the future it will be less time.  I chose to forgo the eyes since it was for a newborn and I (with some input from my friend, Haley) decided that I liked the "softness" of it plain.  I used snuggly flannel fabric so it would be extra cuddly.  I plan on using more of her tutorials, she has tons of stuffed animals that are precious!

Jamison is for scale, this fluffy guy (or lady?) is pretty big!