Busy Week!

These days I'm not sure if I am coming, going or meeting myself in the middle. LOL School's almost out and all  kinds of end of year activities have been going on. Just yesterday we had a volunteer appreciation celebration to attend after school and Chick-Fil-A night.This was after I spent the morning weeding my garden. Tuesday we had swim and Amy's Brownie potluck. A little later today I'm headed to the school to do my part in helping Susi with her recycling program and then we have swim. Tomorrow is Field Day. Jessica's class goes in the morning and Amy's class goes in the afternoon (of course). *Ü* It's all good stuff though, so I'm not complaining. Just busy.

But I do have some stuff to share that I thought you might like. For Amy's potluck, I came across a recipe for S'more Bars in my Gooseberry Patch Quick and Easy Family Favorites cookbook (that I picked up at the school book fair earlier this year). I thought it was a neat twist on s'mores. And you know, it was in scouts that I was first introduced to the yummiliciousness of s'mores.

I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the whole pan, but we had a few left over and I snapped a shot of one of the pieces. Doesn't it look just yummy?

It's so easy, too. Layer the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 pan with whole graham crackers. Mix up a box of brownie mix (enough for a 13 x 9 pan) and spread the batter on top of the crackers. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Pull it out, sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top and some chocolate chips. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes or so (until golden) and then let it cool, cut and serve. Easy peasy and they taste great, if I do say so myself. *Ü*

Here's Amy after she got her goody bag and lots of patches the girls  earned the second half of the year (I blurred out her troop number). I joked to her that it would take me all summer to get them sewn onto her vest. On Saturday afternoon the Brownies are meeting at Build a Bear to make their bear and then headed over to the Courtyard to do the bridging ceremony (there is a bridge they will walk across...neat!) 

I have another completed  project to share. I've been working on it off and on for a bit and decided to get it done before spring is over! I found the pattern at Joann's online. Here is the pattern if you are interested.

I'm pretty happy with it. Of course, I was drawn to it because of the butterflies! LOL I used Lily Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. The wreath is from the dollar store. I used pipe cleaners for the bodies and antennae. Oh and so the leaves wouldn't droop too much, I hot glued some pipe cleaner on the backs of the leaves. The pattern has a grouping of bells on the wreath as well. I made them, but didn't really like them, so I left them off. When you look at the pattern, I modeled my project after the smaller pictured version.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a good week, too!

Rice Krispies Valentine Hearts

When I saw this idea shared on the Creative Crate blog, I knew I had to try it as a surprise for the girls and their buddies that we hang out with after school. After helping out in Jessica's class with their Valentine Breakfast this morning, I headed home to begin my project. (Amy's class was doing different Valentine activities throughout the day, they didn't have a party like Jessica's class so I didn't go to her class).

Okay, I'm gonna keep it real here! The idea sounded easy enough. Make Rice Krispie treats, cut out into heart shapes, put in fridge to set and dip into chocolate and sprinkle. Not hard, huh? Well, here's the first batch...

Yep, they fell apart! Argghhhhhh! They apparently weren't set enough(even though they'd been in the fridge for about 15 minutes). So, I tried sticking the next batch into the freezer. Then my dad called and they stayed in the freezer a bit longer than I had planned(oops). They look a smidge better!

(they are on waxed paper, if you couldn't tell). I stuck them upright to let the chocolate set, but I noticed some were still drooping as they warmed up, so after the chocolate set,  I kept them horizontal.

To package them up, I used the idea from the gal on the blog...I got some baggies and cut off the zipper opening, then tied a bit of yarn to close it up.

There were "leftover" scraps that I didn't to just throw away (nor did I want to eat them, I'd sampled a bit of my globby mess in the first picture), then it occurred to me to make Rice Krispie balls. 

By this time I was running out of the melted chocolate, so not all of them got dipped, but I tried shaking some sprinkles on the chocolate-less ones.

It turned out to be a bit more work to create these than I'd anticipated and if I did it again, I wouldn't try to put sticks in them, or make up a large number of balls to dip. LOL

The girls loved them, so it was worth the effort! *Ü*

Hope you are having a happy Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

Better Late Than Never...

The girls and I finished our baking today, which proved to be a great way to pass the morning and afternoon for two excited girls.

They both were a big help to me. First we made some sugar cookies (more on that in a bit), then we made Russian Tea Cakes, one of Steve's favorite cookies. The girls had a blast rolling the cookies in the powdered sugar.

I laughed out loud when I caught them doing this! Anticipating eating the yummy treats we'd been creating. LOL

To avoid the cheesy, forced smile they are prone to give me these days, I made Amy laugh.

Then we had to tickle Jessica...

Here are some of the other goodies we made...Honest to goodness, this breakfast bar WAS clean earlier this week, for about 5 minutes. LOL The bane of my housekeeping existence. Anyway, brown globs are what I grew up knowing as chop suey candy, but you may know them as haystacks. It's chow mein noodles and peanuts covered with melted chocolate chips. The other day we made a batch of butterscotch ones. My mom made them every year at Christmastime. They take me back to when I was a girl.

The other cookies are store-bought sugar cookies, and we added mini M&Ms. I saw the idea on a blog or the Real Simple cookie emails I signed up for. (I can't remember which).

I was struck by how cute they looked with the M&Ms making a picture of some kind, so I had the girls go to town.

Here you can see better some of the ideas they came up with on their own. I only suggested a tree (which is what I saw when I saw the idea). You've got a wreath, Santa's hat, a couple of trees and a snowman. Just goes to show how creative kids can be. These cookies spread a lot more than I anticipated (is it the thin air here...I dunno), but they sure look cute, don't they?
 (Edited to add...we also made plenty of Spritz cookies in red and green, too!) Steve really likes those, too!



We finished the afternoon watching Santa Claus is Coming To Town. I told the girls that I watched it when I was a girl, but on tv, so I only saw it once a year. They were quite impressed with that. LOL

The impromptu hugs and smiles on the girls' faces with their excited chatter about Christmas was all the gift I needed. I think my heart grew three sizes bigger today. It almost made me want to cry. (My mom has been on my mind a lot, as she often is around the holidays and special days...I still miss her so! That probably had something to do with me feeling super sentimental today, too)

I thank you for stopping by and for all your encouraging words when I post. It means a great deal to me that you care to stop and share a thought or two along the way. May your Christmas be filled with magic.

Hugs and Merry Christmas!

Rice Krispies "Gingerbread" Houses...

I was in Michaels the other night, looking for something else entirely (but didn't find). On my way out I spied sign that said the gingerbread house kits were only $7.99, so I stopped and looked and all the kits were gone. Oh well. Then I looked a little lower and found kits to make Rice Krispies houses and the kit was only $4.99 AND it made TWO houses (& more)! Works for me! I haven't felt inspired to have the girls make gingerbread houses this year(and they haven't asked, either). Maybe because I got my gingerbread house "fix" in the crocheting of the gingerbread house.. LOL Knowing how much the girls like Rice Krispies treats, I thought, we'll give it whirl.

They were quite excited. It worked out pretty well. Only there was one tube of white icing for two girls. They, of course, started to bicker over how much time the other was taking to use the icing. So, I snagged my colored gel icing from the cupboard and that soothed their restless creative souls. LOL Thought you might like to see some pictures....

While waiting for the mixture to set, I had them draw out what they wanted their house to look like. To be honest, it was more of a mommy sanity saver as they were anxious to get started and they needed to wait before they could.

Jessica and Amy both wanted to use the blue icing, which looks awfully black to me, but whatever. So, instead of bickering over white, they bickered a little over the blue. Sigh...I tried!

You can see a bit of Amy's "plan" in this photo. Those candies came with the kit. If I'd have planned this a bit better (a-hem), there would have been more and varied candies to use.

Not the best photo in the world, but you can see them intent on their project. Don't you just love how "stripey" Jessica felt yesterday in her outfit selection?Love it when she does that! LOL Hey, they are both stripes, right? That's what she tells me.

Amy's masterpiece. There was enough mixture left over for them to make a few other items, like a tree and a Santa.

Jessica's masterpiece. I love her scallops. She really tried to make patterns, but ran out of the colors needed to finish it. The circle on the side is a snowflake. It's actually a pretty good one, but white on the krispies doesn't show up too well.








I wanted to let you know that my knee appears to be fine. I think I tweaked a muscle (ligament? Connecting tissue?) rather than cause any serious damage. Only, it's colder today than it has been and I can "feel" it in the knee. Lovely. Well, that's where Ibuprofen can help, right? Thanks for the concern that's been expressed. I really appreciate it.

I will try to come back and post either later today or tomorrow morning. I have a couple other things to share that are gifts and I want to be sure not to spoil any surprises. *Ü*

Have a great day!

How About A Little Turkey?

First of all, I have to share this beautiful card I received in the mail today from my friend, Barb of The Buzz. Not sure if you can tell, but the sentiment is embossed with a gorgeous glittery embossing powder. Thank you so much Barb!! I'm so blessed by my friends!

I sure hope Barb doesn't mind "sharing" this post with the project the girls and I worked on this afternoon. This is totally not something I came up with on my own, but when I saw it on the Econobusters blog, I thought it was such a neat idea, I had to have the girls and I try it. (I've subscribed to this blog for about a month or so and enjoy the tips and ideas shared there.)

Behold a tiny turkey dinner!

Can you stand it??

You can find the information about it here.

It's all sweet stuff, no real food here. LOL

I made a few modifications to make it work better for me.

I chose not to make the cupcakes.

I used generic vanilla sandwich cookies (fake Oreos).

I found the Brach's Maple Nut Goodies at Walgreens.

Instead of melted chocolate chips, I used caramel syrup

I found the green candies (peas) in a package that had 3 other colors as well at Walmart.

I bought vanilla frosting and tinted half of it with yellow food coloring.

I used yellow gel icing for the "butter."

And here's the final result. I had the girls make enough for each of their classes with some left over. I didn't use the entire package of cookies.

Jessica got tired of doing it after about 10 "dinners," but Amy stuck it out with me until we got them all done. Yay!

They enjoyed the project and are looking forward to sharing them with their classmates/teachers tomorrow.

Just a little fun we had around here this afternoon. LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

Picket Fence Basket & Bunny Nuggets...

Happy Friday! The sun is shining today but apparently we are in for another big storm tomorrow morning. I guess they are even posting a blizzard warning from 6am tomorrow to 6am Sunday. Of course, they've been talking this storm up for a week, so it might not be all that bad. LOL We need the moisture...we need the moisture...we need the moisture...

I wanted to post yesterday because I finished the basket, but I wanted to make the nuggets, so I figured I'd wait and post them together. I copied this basket as seen on the Clearly iStamp blog. The tutorial is a good one and I had fun putting it together.

I followed the tutorial for the basket pretty much to the letter with one exception. Instead of free-hand cutting the pickets, I used my EK Success Zig-Zag border punch and cut the pickets apart. It worked pretty well, although I had to do a little trimming to clean up the edges (I think my trimmer needs a fresh blade). I don't own the stamps used to make the Bunny Nuggets in the inspiration piece so I made do with a DJ Inkers bunny face image from the Dazzle Daze CD and PTI's Polka Dot Basics stamp. The sparkly (but blurry) pom pom tail was found at Jo-Ann's in their dollar bin. I adhered the pieces on the nugget with glue dots. Oh and though you can't see it well, I added Crystal Stickles to the top of the white brad I used to adhere the Prima flowers to the sides of the basket. The punch on the handle is another new style EK Success one called Dotted Waves (I think).

I colored the bunny ears with Koh-i-noor pencils, odorless mineral spirits and used a blending stump to blend the colors. The cheeks are chalked on with pink. The acetate was purchased at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbooking section. It's by Graphix.

I think that is everything, if I've forgotten something, please ask!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Jeanne

Chocolate Gingerbread House

Happy Friday evening! I can honestly say I am exhausted. I want to go to bed right now, but if I do, I fear I'll be wide awake at 3am! So, I'm posting because my eyes need a break from the projects I'm still working on.

I volunteered in both girls' classes today for their Winter Parties. Amy's was first thing this morning (breakfast type foods) and as the girls and I entered the school, we were greeted with a crowd in the lobby by the office. I mean wall to wall people! It turns out the teachers decided to sing carols to the people entering the building. It was SO cool! The kids thoroughly enjoyed it, as did all the parents. What a festive way to start the day.

I had all the stuff I needed to bring, but wouldn't you know...I forgot my camera! Gasp! It's because I had ALL that other stuff to bring and on my mind. Oh well. The kids had fun and enjoyed making the marshmallow snowmen. I realized in my effort not to give the kids too much frosting...I actually gave them a bit too little and some of the snowmen looked a tad 'interesting' shall we say? They didn't really care, all they wanted was to eat them! LOL

When I brought in the goodies for Jessica's party (which I was too early for...my mind is so scattered) I remembered the camera. And here's why I wanted to be sure I had it.

Look at this!

And NO, I didn't make this! LOL Amy's teacher made it, actually, for the class. What is so cool about this (other than the fact she made something like this for the class) is that this gingerbread house is made of chocolate!!!! The walls, roof, and even the Santa! She told me that she has chocolate molds that she used to create it. She's had the molds for a long time, and I sure have not seen anything like this (she thought I could find it/something similar at Michaels. She also told me that inside the house was candy for the kids. They were going to break it open and eat it later in the day. I just think this is a very cool idea and wanted to share.

Jessica's party was at the end of the day and they had sundaes in addition to the marshmallow snowman activity. After the kids were done her teacher put some music on and the kids started dancing off some of the sugar. Then she played a song that you move to according to what's sung. Thumbs up, thumbs back, feet apart, knees together, bottom up, tongue out, eyes closed, and turn around. But it built up each time. By the time one is done, the legs can sure feel it. And because it's such a silly sight, the kids LOVE it. Jessica's teacher encouraged the parents to join in and I was the only one who took her up on it (because I think it's fun to act kid-like and goofy).

So, it was a pretty good day. But I'm absolutely pooped. So, I think I am going to close this post and head to bed.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the sweet comments and emails about the critters I've been creating. I was worried I might bore you with them. I'm glad you are enjoying them. Have a great night and start to your weekend!

Jeanne

Daisies, Kitty, & Cupcake...

Happy Friday! It's Friday? Seriously? Where did this week go? It whizzed by so fast, my head is spinning. LOL

Jessica got pinned yesterday and is officially a Daisy. It was cute to see the girls say the Girl Scout Promise. We had a potluck after the little ceremony and I must admit, the cake pops were a hit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls working on the cake pops, which went MUCH more smoothly than on Tuesday. (Mommy got smart with a little experience under her belt-LOL)

Notice the larger pans for the sprinkles. Ummmm yea, I had a ton on the floor the other day. Those little puppies can BOUNCE! I also moved the melted chocolate TO the table to be closer to the girls when they were ready for sprinkling. But again, we barely got done in time to head to swim class. But at least I didn't have to rush to get them done for Daisies!

And for your viewing pleasure a couple of more critters I've made:

The kitty is for Amy's friend, Hattie, who adores kitties.

And technically, I guess this one isn't a critter, but it's still cute, no?

I am getting closer to being done with all the hustle and bustle of getting gifts ready for the holiday. I still need to work on getting my cards addressed, but getting to today is a huge accomplishment!

I didn't mention it the other day, but I also put together a digital project, but I don't know if the recipient reads the blog, so I'll have to wait to mention more.

Okay...that's it from me for now. I have to finish getting ready to help out at the school today. Whew!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a great TGIF!!!

Hugs,

Jeanne

Brownies and Cake Pops

Happy Wednesday morning!  LOL Both girls have scout meetings this week and they include investiture ceremonies and a potluck. I had been seeing Cake Pops show up in the blogosphere and thought they were a really cute idea. Reading how to make them sounded pretty easy, too. Since I can't take home-made goodies to school, I thought they'd be fun and festive to make for these pot lucks. What was I thinking?! LOL

Basically to make these you bake a cake and let it cool completely. Then you crumble up the cake. Then you mix in a can of frosting and let the helpers help themselves to the leftovers.

Then you chill the mixture (for 15 minutes supposedly-but we had to but the mixture in the freezer for longer than that because we were on a time crunch to get them done in time for Amy's meeting. Roll the batter/mixture into little balls and jab a lollipop stick into them. You melt chocolate, and dip the cake pop into the chocolate (praying it doesn't fall off into the melted chocolate-don't ask). When the chocolate has dripped off and before it sets decorate with sprinkles. Stick the pops into some styrofoam so they can cool/set upright and this is what you end up with.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures of the process, because it was kind of funny, but it was taking longer than I thought to get the pops dipped into the chocolate because it took longer than I thought for the mixture to chill. These are the three that were left over after the potluck. We still have Jessica's to make, so maybe I'll take more pics then.

And here are some shots from the ceremony. Don't mind Amy's messy face...she had spaghetti and always enjoys it very much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

She earned her first few badges last night and was quite excited.

Okay...I had wanted to get this posted last night, but was distracted by other things. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by.

Jeanne