Stickers made easy

If your child happens to be like my child, then they love stickers. if you happen to be like me, then you hate the work that entails for you.
Well, years ago working in the daycare world I discovered a wonderful trick. Instead of trying to peal off sticker after sticker for the children, I would pull off the surrounding "waste" and it made it easier for those little fingers to get the stickers off.
Occasionally I would find they still had trouble. In most cases you can bend whole sections to the backing back a bit. Exposing the edge of the stickers.
It's been helpful, children get the satisfaction of being a bit more independent and I, I don't have to pick at endless sticker edges.

Ball pit

For Christmas this year my grandfather sent my boys some money. And i decided to get them a ball pit. But have you seen the cost of those things? Yikes! So, to save money I diy it. I bought a set of 100 balls and some tents. Sadly the tents did not have a bottom. Which was a flaw when trying to contain the balls. I plan on getting a kiddy pool this spring, but they don't care those things in the winter, in Idaho, go figure. Turns out that people like to stay warm in the winter. And then for my sons 1st birthday he received my parents 200 balls. This would not do to have 300 balls that just sit around until I could contain them.
Enter the solution! One of those wonderful pool noodles with the hole in the center (there is no end to the usefulness of pool noodles!) Pair it with a tension rod and a hallway, instant ball bit!
Take the pool noodle and the tension rod and size then to the hallway. Slip the rod inside the noodle and slide into the hallway. If you have no doorways you will need two.
It works great containing the balls, well minus the children you will add to the mix. Once kids go into the ball pit, balls wont stay as well. But works well other then that!

Waffle Fa Laffle

Tonight we had waffles. I love waffles. And since re discovering butter I enoy them even more. But something that I do not enjoy so much, the drippings. You know what I'm talking about right? The guts from your waffles. And what can you do with them? Clean it up? Yah, if you like burned fingers, be my guest! Leave it there, great then you have to scrub off the caked and baked on over spill. Real fun. Here is my solution. A paper plate. Sure you can use a regular plate or a cooking tray something like that. But then you still have to scrub off the mess.
I on the other hand finish my cooking, wipe off the side of the waffle iron, and then toss the evidence of my overly messing cooking experience. Paper plates are great. They are also handy in the microwave, as a splatter guard. Fantastic. Just toss when they get too dirty. You can use them as a make shift paint pallet, to catch the glue from your glue gun. I am quite sure the list could be endless. But have no fear I am not a total eco-hog. In this house we have a set of plastic plates that we use for big groups. And indecently they work great for waffles, big lip all the way around, no escaping syrup.

Mmmmminty

Last night as I was cuddling with my husband watching some tv. After a long day and even longer weekend of him begin gone. I was hit with the over whelming craving for something mint. Chocolaty mint to be exact. After consulting my dear husband as to him desire, I set off to make some brownies. 

This recipe I got from my mother, who got it from her mother and I have no idea where it came from before that. But it's amazing. You might notice in the picture that the brownie seems small. Well it is, but trust me if you did a normal size slice you will find yourself possibly outmatched in richness. Besides you can always go back for more- which I do.

These are called Mint Sticks, and they are fantastic. A slight resemblance to Andres mints, which indecently are also fantastic. 

Here is the much awaited recipe. 

2 sq unsweetened chocolate (or 6T cocoa+2T oil/shortening)

1/2 C margarine, melted

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1/2 C flour (optional 1/2C shredded almonds)

1/2t peppermint flavoring or 3 drops oil of peppermint

Combine eggs, margarine and sugar well. Add chocolate and peppermint, stir till blended. Add flour, Mix well. Pour into a greased 9" square pan. Bake at 350* 25-30 min.  

Frosting

2T margarine

1T milk or cream

Blend well

Add 1C powder sugar, shifted

and 1t peppermint flavoring  or drop of oil of peppermint 

After brownies are cooled. Frost when firm

Spread: 1 square of Chocolate, unsweetened (or 3T cocoa+1T oil)

with 1T margannine Melt and mix. 

Spread the mixture over the frosting on the brownies.

Refrigerate and cut into "sticks" of 48 pieces. size should be 3/4x 2 1/4 

These are so very addicting (granted if you are not fond of mint or chocolate you will be able to withstand their tempting powers) you will be sneaking pieces with out your children seeing you. Like a drug addict.  

Diy cloth doubler

I recently made the switch to cloth diapers. After many attempts at potty training boy number one I wanted to make boy number two easier. And I had read different studies about how using cloth diapers make the transition easier. That and the initial up front cost is steep, you can quickly get your months worth out of them. I got my diapers from Sunbaby diapers, worked out to about five bucks per diaper. And they are great, but the need a little extra for the night time. After reading a few blogs I decided to make a doubler. 

It's really very simple. You need microfiber cloths ( I got these from Walmart six of them for Five bucks.) You will also need some scrap fabric. The fabric I used was from the flannel receiving blankets I have never really used. They are much too small for the size of baby we tend to have in this house. 

You will take the micro cloths and fold them into thirds, laying them down on to the flannel, with the loose side against the flannel. Pin them into place and cut to size. 

Then all you need to do is sew them together. Sewing down the center first. You can just do 5 individual lines, or you can sew so you have one line. Sew down the center then with your needle down and your foot up rotate the fabric clockwise. And sew again, when ever you get to a corner simple pivot and keep going. You will end up with two sets of loose strings instead of ten. 

Be sure to keep the flannel side next to your baby. The microfiber will dry their butt up. I did these four in 30 min or so, not the best quality sewing but I figure they won't see the light of day much, and if all they are going to do is catch poop why spend a lot of time and energy making them look amazing? 

Shhhhh... It's a family secret....

Every Christmas and July I make what I like to call my "Christmas Birthday bread" and I might add a few more days in there so that I can make it more. My father made this every Christmas for as long as I can remember. And my parents had these at there wedding. 

My brother recently got married and they had more of a brunch then a lunch so I made several batches of this bread. Five to be exact and each batch can be rolled out into four loves. I did eight so they were smaller loaves. The picture below is the cream cheese mixture for inside the roll. As you can see their wedding colors are purple and blue.

Here is the recipe for the bread:

Cream Cheese Braids

1c. sour cream

1/2 c. sugar

1 tea Salt

1/2 c. melted butter

2 pkgs dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water

2 eggs, beaten

4 c. plain flour

-cream cheese filling

-glaze (optional)

Heat sour cream over low heat, stir in sugar, salt and butter; cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over warm water in large bowl, stirring until yeast is dissolves. add sour cream mixture, eggs, and flour. Mix well, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day pull out the bread and then make the cream cheese mixture. Once the mixture is done start with the dough. Divide dough into 4 equal parts; roll out each part on a well floured board into a 12x8 in rectangle. Spread the mixture on the rectangle and then roll up jelly roll fashion, beginning at the long sides. pinch edges together and fold ends under slightly. Place the rolls seam side down on greased baking sheets, slit each roll at 1in intervals about 2/3 of the way through  dough to resemble a braid. Cover and allow to raise till double (about an hour) bake at 375* for 12-15 min, until it's slightly golden brown. 

Cream Cheese filling

2 oz cream cheese (softened)

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg beaten

1/8 (pinch) teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the cream cheese and sugar until well blended, mix in rest and mix well.

Here is the finished product.This is a beloved family tradition for me, and I hope that it can hold the same place for you as well! Happy baking! 

DIY coffee table

Well, we are in a small apartment and which makes having space almost impossible. And while I have a wonderful coffee table that I adore I don't really have the space for it. We will soon have a crawling baby and I wanted the extra space for that coming moment.
The coffee table I have is large, sturdy and very helpful. The top pulls apart to reveal a compartment to stash things. I enjoy it enough I don't wanna get rid of it, so when my little brother got married and they needed a coffee table I thought perfect they can use it!
So I told my brother and his new wife that they could take the coffee table, paint it stain it, they were just not allowed to get rid of it.
So I set out to make myself a new one. I had recently found some old spools in my parents back houses. So I got one and spray painted it. In the future I will do a base coat. I painted it grey, and it's a darker dull grey, where I would have loved a brighter crisp grey. Oh well live an learn. Also another freebie for you, buy the nicer spray paint it's worth the cost.
After I finished the spray painting, minus the top and bottom, I brought it home to my place (I was painting it at my parents place) I covered it with some batting and fabric, using a staple gun I secured the batting and fabric to the table, and tada!
I have a wonderful stable and small coffee table. All for about 10-15 bucks! Score!