brownie mix and brownies

Today was the day! I have this little obsession of getting a pretty good recipe and then adjusting it (taking out as much sugar, fat, etc. as possible and then making it as simple as possible) until it is perfect. I have been working on this one for a year or two and it may still have plenty of the make it taste great stuff but it is simple, easy and today, finally perfect.

It starts by making a mix. This simplifies the whole process by making half of a few batches of brownies all at once.

Brownie Mix

6 cups flour

8 cups sugar

2- 2 1/2 cups cocoa

2 tsp. salt

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. Store in an airtight container. A Zip-lock bag works great but remember to label it or it may turn into a bag of brown mystery powder in the pantry. And, yes I may be talking from experience.

Brownies

Preheat oven to 350.

4 cups brownie mix

1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter and then cool to room temperature. Mix the four eggs, water and vanilla into the butter. Add this liquid to the brownie mix and stir. It will be fairly thick. Spread into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 30 to 33 minutes and, as with anything chocolate, ENJOY!

fun felt birthday cake

My girls love to play birthday party. They were always stacking up cups for the birthday cake so when I saw this cake at ikat bag I thought I would give it a try.

You first start with three foam circles. My nice husband was kind enough to cut these out with our electric carving knife. We probably only use this knife once or twice a year but it sure does come in handy. Mine were about a 4,6,8 inch circles.

I left the top two circles whole and covered them in felt but I cut the bottom piece into six pieces and then covered them individually. This way they could serve one piece cake to party guests.

The decorations and candles are the fun part. Everything sticks on with velcro. I cut out polka dots and hearts for the cake decorations.

Candles:

Cut a rectangle shape out of felt.

Embellish with ribbon.

Sew in a tube shape

Cut two circles for the top and bottom.

Make a flame shape and hot glue together.

Cut a slit in top circle and insert flame and hot glue under side so it won't pull out.

Glue a small piece of velcro to the bottom piece.

Stuff and sew on top and bottom with a blanket stitch.

Make a Wish!

we LOVE birthdays

Is there anyone under that hat???

We LOVE birthdays at our house. Who doesn't? I bought this birthday hat at the dollar store a few years ago and it has become a great tradition at our house. This hat is always waiting for you at breakfast when you wake up on your birthday morning and it can be worn where ever and as much as you would like only on that their day. (We found one at Oriental Trading Co. in primary colors for Dad so he would have to wear a pink one.)

Family traditions are what make fun memories even if they are simple like this.

The other birthday traditions that our girls love are:

*Choose the menu for the day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My mom did this when I was little and I loved it.

*Other family members pick up your jobs for the day.

*You can stay in your pajamas all day if you would like.

Here was the outfit of choice for this year. Great for dancing!!!

fun and fancy hairdos

When I was a little girl I loved having a french braid crown around my head. Now that I have some little girls of my own they love fancy hairdos as well especially for fun holidays like Christmas. They don't always turn out perfect but I am getting better with more practice. I thought I would share a few fun blogs that I found where I get ideas.

The Story of a Princess and Her Hair

Girly Do's By Jenn

(It looks like she may be taking a break from her blog but she will leave her great ideas there so you will have to check it out. )

Babes in Hairland

There are all types of hair styles for those just learning and some for advanced hair stylists. This is an example of a style that requires no french braiding and stays in really well for shorter hair. It is fun to have new ideas for the holidays. Here are some of our other favorites.

Flower Bun Ponytail

Fancy Princess Hairdo

Barbie Doll Princess Headband

Heart Ponytail

Heads Up Do

Curlformers

simple christmas ornament

My sister has some similar ornaments like these on her Christmas tree and they are some of my favorite. This year I finally decided to make some. They are really quite simply to make.

1. Begin with some clear glass christmas ornaments. Every craft store has some in many different sizes. I found these at Hobby Lobby. They can be a little tricky to find this time of year because they are a popular item.

2. Find an image that you would like to use. It could be a family picture, you can scan an image in, or use an image on your computer.

3. Decide how big your image needs to be for your glass ornament. Mine was a square about 2.5 inches. You can put many of one page and then print them out.

4. I took mine to a local copy center and had it copied on to a transparency. This allows you to see the image from both sides.

5. Cut them out and round the corner to create a circle.

6. Roll them up and stick them into your glass ornament. I used a pair of tweezers to get them positioned just right.

7. I added a little glitter snow to sit in the bottom and tied a ribbon to the top. All Done!!

I love how you can personalize these with whatever picture you would like. We made a bunch for little gifts for friends and teachers. I now need to make our tree some.

the great gift idea exchange - part two

This took us a little longer to complete than we thought due to the fact that we have both been fighting the flu with our families. We apologize for the delay.

Here are the rest of our favorite gift ideas. May they help you in your gift buying quest!




Frosty the Snowman Kit
Include a hat, scarf and gloves made from felt. The carrot nose, black eyes and buttons can be made from felt or wood and put on dowels to poke into the snow. My kids received one of these from an aunt a few years ago and they are still excited to get it out and use it each winter.

May you have a fun and FROSTY holiday!


Gift card for dinner and/or a movie
Sometime when families have to cut back financially these are the first things to go. Whatever the case may be, this give families an opportunity to spend time together having fun during the Christmas holiday.

May you make wonderful family memories this Christmas season.


Heat Pack
Make a small pillow and instead of stuffing it, fill it about 3/4 full of rice, wheat, or dried corn. It is a good idea to make a little pillow case with ties for a cover that comes off to be washed but it works with or without one.

A 5x7 pillow takes about 1 minute to heat up in the microwave and will hold it's heat for a while. Be careful not to over heat these and do not use them with babies or anyone in a condition where they can't tell if it is too hot. My kids like to put them in their beds just before they get in. They also work well to warm up cold hands and feet that have been playing in the snow and soothe sore muscles after a day on the slopes. It makes a great gift for kids and also works as a family gift.
May you have a WARM and wonderful holiday.

Dinner Kit

Include all the ingredients for a favorite dinner and if you would like to add to the gift, include a new pan, or bowl, or apron. Here is a favorite:

Fill a new pot with:

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can tomato sauce (small)

1 can corn

1 bottle salsa (small)

1 package taco seasoning

1 bag tortilla chips

Add instructions and a list of any other ingredients needed.

To make taco soup dinner you may also need:

1 pound ground beef

grated cheddar cheese

sour cream

Instructions: Drain and rinse beans. Put 4 cups water, 1/2 cup of the salsa and all the other ingredients in pot and bring to a boil. Add 1 pound browned ground beef if desired. Turn down heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve in bowls with chips, cheese and sour cream. Enjoy!

Muffin Mix

Mix up a big batch of our muffin mix and put 3 cups in each cute cellophane bag. Tie with a bow, and add instructions and a card.

Magnets and magnet board

This is a great gift for a teen or for a whole family. We created this one by filling the frame with metal that we cut to fit and covering if with a favorite scrapbook paper.

Embroidered Pillow
You could find a pattern for this or just print out a fun saying in your favorite font. Place a piece of muslin over the paper and trace the print. Embroider, sew the pillow, and stuff. This is fun for young kids to make.

Fun Holiday Decor

A snow man rug, a festive throw pillow, holiday paper towels or just a big pack of red napkins tied in a green bow. These things are fun additions to any one's holiday and kids love little details like this to spruce up for the season.

Personalized Gift Certificate Gift

Create a fun personalized gift like:

a purse filled with a gift card to a favorite store, a gift card for lunch nearby and a certificate for a shopping friend for a day.

an apron, wooden spoon and a certificate to a cooking class.

a space poster and tickets to the planetarium

(If the gift is for a child include a certificate for free taxi service provided by you.)

HAPPY GIFTING!

the great gift idea exchange - part one

We have so many great gift ideas so we are excited to share them with you. Some gifts would be great for family and others are smaller that would be great for neighbors, teachers, and friends. We decided to share 5 ideas at a time so here is our first five. The others will be posted in days to come.

1. Lantern with Candle- These are a beautiful addition to holiday decor and a scented candle only helps this cause, but we also found when our power went out , this makes a safe and practical source of light. It would also be fun to etch the family initial on the glass First get the stencil made out of vinyl and then follow the directions on the etching cream which can be found at most craft stores. The lanterns are available at IKEA for $6.99.
May your holiday be merry and bright!

2. Windshield Wiper Fluid- If you live in a cold area get the kind that doesn't freeze. Add a cute little tag like. This would also work for some fun hand soap.
Here's washing you a Merry Christmas!

3. Family Fleece Blanket- These are especially fun with the family name embroidered on it.
May you have a warm and wonderful holiday.

4. Wooden Block Photo Puzzle - I think these are so fun. Here are a few different instructions.

HowDoesShe

Not So Idle Hands

5. Your favorite family card or board game.

May you have a FUN and wonderful holiday.

congratulations to our winners!!!

Thanks for all your comments and great gift ideas. We almost have them complied and ready to post. Our Great Gift Exchange winners are Kim and Alysha. Kim won the growth chart sticker and Alysha won the apron. Congratulations and thanks again!

simple way of giving thanks

Make a thankful book.

This would be a great activity for little ones while waiting for the delicious dinner or anytime this next week. All you need is:

Scissors

Old Magazines

Paper

Glue

My 4 year old loves loves to cut, glue, color, and tape so this was to perfect afternoon activity at our house. For others not so good with scissors yet I has a pre-cut pile of pictures from old magazines to choose from. We stapled a few pages together to make a book and they decorated to cover. We then chose all sorts of things that we were grateful for and pasted them on all the pages. It was very simple but very fun.

Here are some other Thanksgiving ideas that we thought would be fun.

Nature Give Thanks Banner

Pumpkin Pie Bites

oops, how to get stickies off your iron

Ironing Dryer Sheets

I am sure I am not the only one that has made this mistake so I thought I would share. I was working on a project and while using iron-on-interfacing I did not cover it with the paper completely. Needless to say I had a big mess and one sticky iron plate. So what do I do when I have a problem like this, right google it. I read that you can purchase and expensive iron plate cleaner or you can just iron dryer sheets.

I put an old towel under the dryer sheet, set the iron on to a pretty hot setting, and started ironing. It did take a a few sheets but it is now as good as new. Quick tip that I am sure I may need again in the future.

the thankful tree

We came up with this a few years ago for the Thanksgiving season. We call it the Thankful Tree. I placed a twig from outside (we found a lilac bush to have the best little branches) in a small pot and then filled it with Plaster of Paris. You can find this at any craft store. After this dries place a little bit of moss on top around the twig.

I then cut out some varies colors of small paper leaves , hole punched the top, and threaded a piece to hemp (or string) through.

I then attached this little poem that we had written. You can then write things (or draw pictures) on the leaves and hang them on the tree. This a fun to do throughout the month or on Thanksgiving day. These also make fun little gifts.

I also think that it would be fun doing a similar thing with bigger paper leaves and hang your "Thankful Leaves" on a piece of twine or ribbon. Something like this at Pottery Barn.

password keeper

Do you have a hard time remembering passwords and login names for all of the shopping, bills, registrations, emails, etc. I know that this was becoming a problem at our house. We started writing them on a paper by the computer but were running out of room quickly. We found that an address book worked great for this. I found this one at a dollar store. You just jot down your login and password under the alphabetical letter that is applies to. A is for Amazon, B is for Barnes and Noble, C is for Chase and so on. I hope this helps with the missing passwords at your house.