Birthday Blocks

My niece turned one and her mom and I made a bunch of blocks for her both to serve as decorations for the party and her room but also for her to play with. Of course we went with a Diva theme, I mean, how could you not with a DOB of 90210 (Sept 2, 2010)

They started out with my favorite blocks from TJ Maxx....seen before on this blog:

Next up add, fun paper, sparkle mod podge and vinyl.... VOILA!

The spell out her name, her special day 90210, Hottie, Glamour, and a bunch of girlie images.

Little Man's Birthday

My Little Man turned FOUR! I know not a big deal..but since when did I become the parent of a 4 year old.

His party was Fireman Themed.

We had invitations created by my talented roomie. Favors were the fireman and police hats from the Dollar Bin at Target...and the best part....the homemade carnival game created by the hubs and me!

Supplies:

HUGE piece of plywood

Hinges
Paint
Clear spray sealant
2x4s

So first up, get your adorable hubby to cut out the cityscape outline.
Second figure out the placement of the windows and draw the general window form and the flame.
Beg and plead hubs to cut the shape of the flame and the outline of the window.

Have 4 yr old help you paint the flames red, orange and yellow.

Paint the cityscape with gray spray primer, gray paint and then realize it does not cover enough and go back to hardware store for glossy can paint and do it all over again....
Spray flames with sealant
Attach flames to open window with hinges.
Have Hubs and FIL rig up a stand using 2x4s.

Day of party, con niece, nephew and roommate to fill up 400+ water balloons.

The moment of truth, let 15+ 4 year old Firemen throw water balloons at the "burning building to put out the fire"

Birthday Boy taking his turn

A HUGE hit!

Teacher Gifts - Valentine's Day

A little late, but can certainly be adapted for end of year gifts, birthdays or appreciation days.  

_______________________________________________________

So for my wonderful teachers this year I thought I would try to make somthing. So many great ideas out in blog land.

I decided on some chalkboard frames and some heart chalk.

Supplies:

Frame

Chalkboard paint

Chalk Hearts

Ribbon

First paint your frames with chalkboard paint. I used the spray kind.  I put 3 coats to make sure it was good and covered.  Following the directions on the can let it sit and then cure it.

Next up, make chalk hearts following this great tutorial or get lucky and find a 3 pack of heart chalk at Michael's for a whopping $0.49! that is $0.17 a heart! Go me :)

Then decorate the frame. I went with hearts to go with the theme. Write a cute message in chalk.
Last wrap your frame and chalk with pretty ribbon and Voila you are done!

Summer Love

Kitchen Aid Mixer, how I love thee!!

I bought my stand mixer about a year ago when we bought our house. It was my present to myself. Now, I have made many baked confections much to the dismay of my and my husband's waist line.

So it was time to branch out...

Duh Duh Duhhhhh.....Enter the Ice Cream Maker Attachment. Purchased at Amazon

OH MY GOD, it was delicious. Like never going to buy ice cream delicious!

I have some leftover vanilla beans from my homemade Vanilla extract and went to town!

1 pint of Heavy Cream
1 cup of Half and Half
3/4 cup of Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise
3/4 tsp of Vanilla Extract (used my homemade version)

Pour 1 cup of Cream in pan and add the sugar and salt.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the pod to the pot.  Warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

(Side note about the Vanilla Beans...they are sticky and tended to clump.  I found that if I smeared them a bit they did not end up in large clumps...my hands smelled like vanilla for a day but there are worse things!)

Remove from heat and add the remaining cup of Cream and the cup of Half and Half.
Add the Vanilla extract.

Put the batter in a air tight container and in the fridge.

Next Day, add batter to your frozen bowl according to directions.  I ended up mixing for about 40 min. (The book says 20-30).

Throw it into a flat tupperware and put in freezer for a few hours.

Dish it out and top with fresh berries....OMG it was inhaled by all.

Next up, Lemon Sorbet!

New Sign

My first Upcycle Craft.

I like it!

So, I started with this that I purchased at a Goodwill store for a whopping 3 bucks. I liked the gold trim and the fact that it was a thick sign

First step, I put a layer of brown acrylic paint to cover the base

Next I streaked black and white acrylic paint. to add some dimesions...

I wanted it to look sorta like wood? Dunno, It worked.

Finally I cut my saying using SCAL. and Gold Vinyl.
Voila! It now hangs over my hall closet.

Endless Craft Possibilities

We just bought a miter saw so the possibilities have just quadrupled in my house! I can't wait to put it to good use.

A few projects I'd like to try:
Signs (name plaques, wall decorations)
Blocks and Bases for the blocks
Shelves in our linen closet
Marshmallow Guns as seen here
Memory Game

This is just off the top of my head...I know if I sit and think I will come up with oodles more!

Cookies

I love to Bake. When I was pregnant with Munchkin it was the only nesting activity I could do. We had NO space for him (he slept in the pack and play in our already cramped room) so I turned to baking. I have found quite a few recipes that I love. One is a Toffee Cookie that has become a favorite.

I have made it a few different ways and I thought I'd share them with you!

Basic Toffee Cookie
2.5 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter (softened) **
1.5 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups chopped Skor bars (8 1.4 oz bars)
** I have substitued 1/2 cup of applesauce for the butter and it was great!

1. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside
2. Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. (I usually go get the eggs and come back while it is mixing) Beat in eggs one at a time, add vanilla.
3. Add 1/3 flour mix, 1/3 skor bars, and so on until all is mixed in.  Chill cookie dough for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper ( NOT Wax paper, learned that the hard way) or Silpat. Scoop out cookie dough in small drops (about 1 inch). Make sure they are about 3 inches apart they spread like crazy!
5. Bake for 8-12 min depending on the method used (I will explain later) Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Move to a wire rack to cool. Package and make all your friends love you!

So now my many changes.
Silpat vs Parchment Paper: I found that parchment paper needs more time and Sil pat less. My first time using the Silpat I had mini toffe briquettes after 10 min.
Cookie Cake: I have baked it in a silicone 8x8 pan at 300F for about 30 min. I topped it with a choclate truffle sauce and then homemade whipped cream and it was divine!
Mini Mini Cakes: I have thrown them in mini muffin tins and baked them for 12- 15 min. They make lil cookie cups.
Mini Cakes: Just baked them in muffin tins (baked for 20 - 22 min) topped them with the same truffle sauce. Later when it was time to eat them, nuked them for about 10 seconds and topped with icecream it was so good!