Alternative to the Crayon Roll

The Crayon Roll is a great crayon holding device!!

I love it, but I kept thinking, I could make it better, this is what I came up with....

It is a book that ties to close, but when you open it.....

You have everything you need for quiet, creative fun!

16 crayons on one side...

A tablet of paper for coloring or writing on the other.

And the tablet can be removed/replaced when it runs out. And you can also use the pocket to put your best work in to save until you get home!!

Well, that's it, my great creation for the day!!

Hope you enjoyed!!

Please be kind and remember that this is my creation. Although copying is the greatest form of flattery, please do not reproduce or sell this.

Thanks.

Christmas Goodies....

I love Christmas goodies. Actually I love all goodies, but Christmas is when I get them the most!! YUM! Well, like some of you may do, I bake treats and take them around to the neighbors. This year I have been wanting to mix it up a bit and do some new recipes along with the old and trusted favorites.


I first started with the divinity. Growing up, I had a neighbor that made the best melt in your mouth delicious divinity. Last year I finally found a recipe that is just that good. But as I was making it, my kitchen aid, (which I think the motor is going out in), started to struggle. I figured I would save the mixer and cut the last 2 minutes of whipping the mixture.....BAD idea.
However what I ended up with was absolutely delicious homemade marshmallows. Who knew? If you have ever had homemade marshmallow, you know what I am talking about!! SO YUMMY! So I decided that I would dip them into chocolate and count it as my new recipe to add to the neighbor gifts!!


Just in case your mouth is watering thinking of either homemade marshmallows, or divinity, I'll post the recipe.

Perfect Divinity or Marshmallow

2 ½ C. sugar

½ C. corn syrup

½ C. water

¼ tsp. salt

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

In a 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt. Cook to hardball stage, (260 degrees), stirring only until sugar dissolves. Meanwhile, as temperature of syrup reaches 250 degrees, beat egg whites till stiff peaks form. When syrup reaches 260 degrees, very gradually add the syrup to the egg whites, while beating at high speed with electric mixer. Add vanilla and beat. For Marshmallow, beat 1-3 to minutes. For divinity, beat 5-6 minutes (it will start to loose its shine). Quickly drop candy by the teaspoon full onto wax paper, swirling the top of each piece. Let cool.

Enjoy!!

QUILLOWS

Okay....so what have I been working on lately...(besides the other things).......QUILLOWS!!!

For those of you who don't know what quillows are?? They are quilts that fold up into pillows.

I recently made some for a friend to give to her daughters for Christmas.

I think they turned out pretty well...what do you think?

Until next time....

Thanksgiving Decor

As the weather here continues to be cold, I find myself wanting to become a hermit and just stay inside. And as I take a good look at my home, I see a GREAT lack of Thanksgiving decorations in comparison to my Halloween and Christmas ones.


Let's face it, at most major retailers, it's Christmas. Now some boutiques and craft stores do have a small selection of Thanksgiving decor, but they are just so expensive!! As a solution to both problems, I decided that I would do some activities with my kids, and by myself, to make some Thanksgiving items. Now I am not, or do I ever claim to be super cutesy and crafty, but this is what I came up with a couple of years ago.....

And because I love it when things can serve 2 functions, I did this for the back...

We haven't gotten anything new done this year, due to my sewing projects I am working on...I'll post those later, but I have great intention's!!

Like these from Martha Stewart...

We will definitely be trying this from Family Fun!!

I'll post pictures when they are done.

I hope that you can look into trying some of these fun ideas, or doing some of your own, because spending time with our family's and remembering why we are so grateful to have them is what Thanksgiving is all about!!

Oh How I Love Halloween.....

So with Halloween over now, I thought I would recap of all the fun things I did.... 

We did the fun sugar cookie cutouts and pumpkin faced apple pie.

We carved amazing pumpkins....thanks to my husbands artistic talent, we didn't have to use stencils or anything! We made fun Halloween costumes....... we did it all!!

Well, now it's over, I should be ready for winter right?? Well, I am not. I still need my fall fix, so today I decided to share a couple of my favorite fall dessert/dinner recipes.

Apple Crisp

4 medium tart apples, sliced

¾ c. packed brown sugar

½ c. flour

½ c. old fashioned oats

1/3 c. butter or margarine, softened

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

¾ tsp. ground nutmeg

Ice cream (optional) Vanilla or French Vanilla is best

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8-inch square pan or 8-inch round pie plate with shortening or cooking spray. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients, except ice cream, until well mixed; sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

(Recipe via my personal creations)

Pumpkin Roll

3 eggs                    1 C. sugar

2/3 C. pumpkin       ¾ C. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon                1 tsp. baking soda

Combine ingredients and pour into a jelly roll pan lined with wax paper, or parchment paper. Bake 15 minutes at 350. Turn onto a cheese cloth, or towel dashed with powdered sugar, while warm remove paper. Roll into log and let cool.

Mix filling ingredients:    

1 (8oz) cream cheese         ½ stick butter or margarine

1 C. powdered sugar                           1 tsp. vanilla

Unroll pumpkin roll, spread filling mixture and roll-up again. Chill and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

(Recipe from my Mother-in-law)

Creamy Baked Ziti

3 C. uncooked penne pasta

1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

3 oz. cream cheese, cubed

8 oz. sour cream

Mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed, drain. In saucepan, heat marinara, tomatoes and cream cheese until well blended. Add pasta, pour ½ mixture in 9X13 baking dish. Spread sour cream over mixture, sprinkle with cheeses, then cover with remaining pasta mixture. Top with remaining cheese and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

(Recipe from Kraft Food and Family Magazine)

Well, I hope you are able to try these recipe and let me know how you like them...cause I sure LOVE them!!!

Even Babies can show their Spirit....

Okay...so this week I have been doing a lot of sewing and catching up on baby gifts. (Seems like everyone is having one these days!!)   Anywho...I have a good friend who just had her 4th baby, a boy! He is super cute too! Well, by the time you have your 4th kid, (3rd boy for her) you would think that you have pretty much everything you would need. So as I thought of what to get the little guy, I was walking through our local Hobby Lobby (love that store) and I saw some BYU fabric. Then it hit me..they are totally huge BYU fans. So then I came up with this....

It's got some soft minki, and ribbons to play with!! I quickly drew up the letter "Y" leaving room for seams and everything, then put it with as few other baby things, and tadah! Unique personal baby gift that I am sure she won't get from anyone else.

I have been making these, what I call little "blankie buddies" for quite some time now. They are super simple. Here's how...

Find or draw a simple picture, whether it be a owl, an octopus, or a plane. (Make sure it's slightly bigger than what you want your final size to be.) Cut out the fabric and pin the ribbon to the right side of the fabric, sandwich with minki right side down, then sew inside out leaving just enough room to turn right side out, and stitch again for security!!

Okay, so I am not very good at describing how to do things, but I promise I will get better!

Learning the 411 of Blogging

Wow!! So I thought that blogging was no big deal, I have several friends and family who have blogs, and they down play it..."it's so easy.." "it walks your through everything.."

However I beg to differ. I consider myself pretty tech savy, but I definitely did benefit from my sweet sister-in-law taking 15-20 minutes to show me all the ins and outs of finding backgrounds and figuring the layout and the what not's of blogging.

Anywho....this blog is mainly for me to ramble on, share awesome recipes (I admit I am a pretty good cook), show off my sewing creations, or anything else I decide to pass along. So if you are willing to read, leave comments,or just look at my cute background.....then I am definitely willing to share!!