Heirloom Pillow: My Grandfather's Neckties

My mother sewed the most beautiful throw pillow from my grandfather's old neck ties.  She has made about eight of these pillows for all of the grandchildren.  She carefully picks out the ties with similar color patterns and matches them to each grandchild's home decor.  My grandfather wore a LOT of ties!   I cherish this pillow since it is one of the few things I have to remember my grandfather by...and it is beautiful!  I thought I would share my mother's brilliant idea for all of you sewers out there...as I am not one of them.  : )

 I took some pictures of the pillow details below:

Winter Trail Mix

Here is an easy and inexpensive Christmas gift idea...

1. Mix dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and almonds.
2.  Fill a small mason jar.  I used 1/2 pint jars.  You can find a case of 12 for less than $10 at Walmart.
3.  Cut out circles from your choice of Christmas fabric.  An easy way to find what size you need is to use a piece of wax paper as a pattern.  Experiment with the wax paper to see what size fits well over your jar.  Use this circle to trace on the back of your fabric.  Cut out and place the fabric circle on top of the metal lid and underneath the metal rim.
4.  Create a  label.  I Googled "Christmas Labels" and printed some off on my computer.  I then used matte Mod Podge to paste them on and coat over the top of the label.

Viola!  A cute little handmade gift for less than $5 per jar!

Halloween Dinner for Kids

     My girls and the neighborhood kids had a lot of fun with our Halloween dinner last year.  Just something to make the day special before heading out to Trick-or-Treat!

Wormy Hot Dogs:  Stab uncooked spaghetti noodles through hot dog chunks and boil until done.  The shapes and creations are limitless here.  Just don't have too much of the noodle on the inside of the hot dog or they won't fully cook.

Fanged Apple Mouths:  Toast pumpkin seeds to your liking, we add oil and seasoning salt and bake.  Cut an apple in half and core.  Remove the inner wide slice to create an open mouth.  Spike for teeth with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Carrot Fingers...just add ranch dressing

Katsup...for the blood obviously!

Words of Affirmation: Mother Tested, Hubby Approved!

So, it has been a very fun and  busy summer.  I haven't posted since May!  Time flies with  lots of vaca and family in town. I have been doing tons of projects and crafts with the kids and house but haven't had the time to post them.  That, and we all have to eventually break down and clean the house!
Now, finally getting back to blogging...

I wanted to do something nice for my husband and practice my belief in the hierarchy of life...

God

Spouse

Kids

Family & Friends

Ministry

The kids always seem to climb to the top of that list so I needed a daily reminder.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to make my own.  So crafty and cheap!

To Make:
1.  Buy  picture frame with glass covering.
2.  Insert decorative paper with your printed words of choice.
3.  Embellish.
4.  Hang in a convenient location! : )

I used 2 different scrap paper designs and then printed on them using my computer.  I added some vine ribbon and a butterfly cutout.  I glued all this together and stuck it into the frame.  On the outside I hot glued two paper flowers fastened with a brad onto the top of the vine.

The glass in the frame becomes your dry erase board.  My frame was only $5 and I had all of the other scrapbook stuff, so no breaking the budget here.  I hung our " I love you because..." frame on the bathroom wall and now my husband and I write notes back and forth each morning before going to work.  It is so wonderful to read that when I first wake up to face my day.  It brings a little more love for my husband into each moment of the day as I pass by. Love, love.

Original Pin: http://toppics.homenet.org/picture/447615650433628743

Java Chip Frappuccino

Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino

This is what started my coffee obsession!

You will need...

Mocha Frappe Coffee Mix (from Costco)
Skim Milk, 2% Milk, or Coconut Milk
Crushed Ice
Hershey's syrup or Torani Mocha Syrup
Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Shots of Espresso or strongly brewed coffee (optional)






These directions may seem too time consuming for your average crazy morning with two small children.  So I have learned to make a triple batch (or blender full) and freeze the remainder in single size servings.  The next morning all I have to do is melt the outside of the frozen glass of frappe until it is loose enough to fall in my blender.  I then add 2-3 oz of coconut milk or an extra shot and blend until smooth.  It actually turns out better the second day and I am out the door within 5 minutes.

Directions: 

1.  Crush a gallon size bag of ice and save in freezer.  To get crushed ice, I double bag ice cubes in a gallon ziplocks, toss it on the sidewalk outside, and hand the meat hammer to my 3 1/2 year old.  Works beautifully!  Only use the flat side of the hammer though, or you will get too many holes in your bag.

Capresso Espresso Machine 

2.  Brew a triple-shot of strong coffee or espresso, if you want an extra kick.  The mocha mix also has coffee in it.

*I invested in the Capresso machine and absolutely love it!  It was only $60 on Amazon.com and we use it every single day now.

3.  Add 2 Tbsp of chocolate syrup to the warm  shots. Chill this in the freezer until step 6.

4.  Place 4 scoops of Mocha frappe mix in a blender.

5.  Add 3/4 cup of milk.

6.  Add your chilled shot of coffee/espresso if desired and blend.

7.  Now add 4 to 5 cups of ice and 1 cup mini chocolate chips.  Blend until smooth.  If it seems too thin, you need to add more ice.

8.  To get fancy, line your cup with chocolate syrup and then pour in the blended frappe mix.

9.  You can also pre-freeze shots of espresso in ice cube trays to add to the left over frappe the next day, works great!

Chocolate fix in the morning....yes please!

Teacher Gift

I wanted to do something special for my daughter's preschool teachers at the end of this year.  I wanted it to be creative, yet inexpensive and found this idea on Pinterest.  I loved the end result and the total gift only ended up costing $12-$15!

To make this:


1.  I bought a penny jar at Target ($5).
2.  I wrapped the outside of the jar with ribbon.  I used double-sided sticky tape for the orange ribbon, and the purple ribbon was a self-adhesive scrapbook ribbon...sweet, less work!

3.  I wrapped the lid separately with ribbon to match up with the jar.  This allows the lid to come on and off without cutting the ribbon.
4.  I fastened paper flowers together with a decorative brad and glued to the lid with a hot glue gun.

5.  I made the tags with my computer and left over scrapbook paper and feather butterflies (all this stuff can be found at a craft store ($2-$5). I tied the tag on with ribbon and a hollow brad.
6.  I let my daughter fill the jar with Hershey's hugs and kisses.
4. Inside I tucked a personal note to each teacher, thanking them for the specific work they did this year with my daughter and then taped the lid shut.

The teachers loved them and my daughter loved gifting them.  

So true the statement..."better to give than receive'!

Kid Tested: Raisin Fishing

This was an fun Pinterest kiddo idea we did the other day called "Raisin Dancing".  We turned it into a fishing game and made it even more fun.  Toss some raising into a clear glass of 7-up and the bubbles make the raisins rise up to the top and fall again...as if they were dancing.  When they got to the top, my daughter would try and catch them with her hand.  She loved it.  I managed to get some numbers lessons in there too by having her count out 15 raisins in a line to put in the glass, and then count how many she caught.

Easy, quick entertainment for the kids!

Original Pinterest Pin, click here: Dancing Raisins  

Mud Room Shoe Shelf

My Entryway is Finally Organized!!

Before the new shelf

Our entryway chaos was making our lives feel chaotic!  Inspired by my cube bookshelf from

Target, I drew up a draft of a shelf I thought would work great for our mudroom.  The design was for a shelving unit that would fit both shoes, boots, and leave a place for the catch-all items such as hats, gloves, sunglasses, etc.  My handy-dandy husband and father-in-law went right to work...

The shelf turned out even better than expected.  My husband made the horizontal shelves adjustable by having them easily slide in and out of a groove in the vertical wood panels.  This allows us to adjust for taller boots, etc.

He also made the shelf deep enough to fit a second pair of shoes behind the first if we need to.  To fit on the wall just right, the middle shelf had to be skinnier than the rest, and so we designated that the kid shoe section.

The top middle section will eventually have 2 or 3 small drawers in it for our sunglasses and work badges.  But, that is for another day.  Right now we found a small bin and use it to put all the baby shoes in. 

The top squares are a great fit for the Target cloth bins and now each of us has a designated bin for our hats, gloves, etc. 

 

I love the final result on this project.  Thanks to my hubby for making my idea a reality!!

Mint Coconut Mocha Frappuccino

Mint Coconut Mocha Frappuccino.....aahhhh! 

 My blissfully refreshing morning energy booster.

I needed to trim the budget and the column exposing the $60 a month coffee habit had to go!  Here is how I learned to make Frappuccino's from home.  This one was an attempt to copy City Brew's Mint Mocha Frappuccino.  Now I prefer my recipe.




You will need...



Mocha Frappe Coffee Mix (from Costco)
Lite Coconut Milk
Crushed Ice 
Hershey's syrup or Torani Mocha Syrup
Mint Chocolate Chips
Shot of Espresso or strongly brewed coffee (optional)






These directions may seem too time consuming for your average crazy morning with two small children.  So I have learned to make a triple batch (or blender full) and freeze the remainder in single size servings.  The next morning all I have to do is melt the outside of the frozen glass of frappe until it is loose enough to fall in my blender.  I then add 2-3 oz of coconut milk or an extra shot and blend until smooth.  It actually turns out better the second day and I am out the door within 5 minutes.

Directions: 

1.  Crush a gallon size bag of ice and save in freezer.  To get crushed ice, I double bag ice cubes in a gallon ziplocks, toss it on the sidewalk outside, and hand the meat hammer to my 3 1/2 year old.  Works beautifully!  Only use the flat side of the hammer though, or you will get too many holes in your bag.

Capresso Espresso Machine 

2.  Brew a strong double-shot of coffee or espresso, if you want an extra kick.  The mocha mix also has coffee in it.

*I invested in the Capresso machine and absolutely love it!  It was only $60 on Amazon.com and we use it every single day now. 

3.  Add 2 Tbsp of chocolate syrup to the warm  shots. Chill this in the freezer until step 6.

4.  Place 4 scoops of Mocha frappe mix in a blender. 

5.  Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of skim milk.

6.  Add your chilled shot of coffee/espresso if desired and blend.
7.  Now add 4 to 5 cups of ice and 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips.  Blend until smooth.  If it seems too thin, you need to add more ice. 
8.  To get fancy, line your cup with chocolate syrup and then pour in the blended frappe mix.

Hellloooo morning...now it is going to be a wonderful day!

Strawberry Dip

Once you make this one, you will have no need for all those other recipes...
My aunt made this for me one summer and I have been wowing my guests ever since.  It has 2 ingredients and requires no measuring...now that is my kind of baking!

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme







Mix two ingredients together with a mixer until blended well.  Serve with sliced strawberries.
Yep, that is it!

Organizing the End Table

Having ten million remotes scattered all over the end table and falling off everywhere was driving my organizing obsessed brain crazy!  So...I asked my handy husband and father-in-law to make me a little wooden unit that would contain the remotes, kleenex box, and still leave room for our drinks.

They took measurements of the top of the end table and designed a wood unit that fit perfectly over the top of our old table, just like the lid on a gift box. And, it is removable in case I need the table for something else later on.





 They also crafted a perfect spot for the kleenex box.  I love it!  Wish I would have thought of this one 5 years ago!

Almond Poppy Seed Cake

My relatives can't get enough of this cake.  It tastes like Costco's poppy seed muffins, only better!  It is a moist,dense cake with a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth orange juice glaze.  This is a great one to bring to someone's house for dinner.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp poppy seeds

2 3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 tsp vanilla

3 tsp almond flavor

3 tsp butter flavor

1 1/2 cups milk (any % works, but whole milk tastes best)

1 1/4 cups oil

Put all ingredients into one bowl (so easy!), dry ingredients first.  Mix until blended and pour into a greased bundt pan (I like to use a flexible rubber bundt pan).  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. 

Cool for 5 minutes and then flip upside down onto serving plate.  Flipping the cake over before it cools helps the moisture settle to the bottom of the cake and makes removal from the bundt pan easier.  After it cools for 15-20 minutes, remove bundt pan.  If you use the rubber bundt pan, you can just peel the pan off by rolling the sides up.

Glaze:

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond flavor

1/2 tsp butter flavor

1/2 tsp vanilla flavor

Cook the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the texture is smooth.  Let this cool for 10 minutes.  Brush the glaze on the top and sides of the cake.  Enjoy!!

Chocolate Syrup Ice Cream Topping

Chocolate Syrup ice cream topping:

I grew up having my mother make us this on Sunday nights.  So quick and so good...Hershey's syrup doesn't even hold a candle to this!



Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp white Karo syrup
2 Tbsp milk








1.  Mix sugar and cocoa together in small saucepan until blended.
2.  Add remaining ingredients.
3. Stirring constantly,  bring to a boil on med to med-high heat.
4.  Boil for 80 seconds, stirring constantly.  This is the crucial step...too long and it becomes hard, too short and it will be thin.
5.  Serve on ice cream!

• For caramel syrup, you can substitute brown sugar for white sugar and omit the cocoa.
• To make The Outback's "Sydney"s Sinful Sundae",  add toasted coconut and sliced strawberries. Mmmm...so good!

Easter Bunny Tracks

Last year for Easter, the "Easter bunny" left his tracks all over our kitchen, on the chair, in one door and out the other.   It made the Easter bunny visit real for my 3 year old and was easy to do.

1. Draw and cut out footprints from a piece of cardstock or heavy paper.

2.  Spray or sponge water on the area of hard floor that you want the footprints to appear.  Place the stencil over this area.

3.  With a cloth or sponge, blot the stencil with flour or powdered sugar.  Remove stencil and brush or blow away excess.

  It was fun to have the bunny come through the patio, jump on the chair, drop off the Easter baskets and head out the door.  Kinda fun to have it drop some candy "droppings"  in a pile by the door too. : )

Monkey Brains

 Monkey Brains are super easy, melt-in-your-mouth caramel rolls.  This has been my most requested recipe and always a hit with my husband's coworkers.

Monkey Brains

3 buttermilk biscuit tubes (the skinny ones)

sugar & cinnamon mixture (1/2 c sugar + 5 tsp cinnamon)

1 cup vanilla ice cream

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

 1.  Cut up biscuit pieces into halves with scissors and toss in plastic bag of sugar & cinnamon mixture.

2.  Put into a 9x13 pan, just until touching, (not squished in or the middle ones won't be cooked completely)







3.  Melt vanilla ice cream, butter and brown sugar in microwave.  Pour over biscuit mixture.

4.  Bake according to directions on tube (usually 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes).

5. When they are done, turn them upside down on a foil lined jelly roll pan.

So good!  These are great for brunch or dessert and heat up great the next day.  Enjoy!