No Sew Oil Cloth Placemats

It is such a rainy day and I have to go to the craft and fabric stores for school supplies. I thought of a great rainy day project for me to do with the Reeseter. No Sew Oil Cloth placemats. I will use my Hancock coupon and this should be great! I found a how-to over at Pink of Perfection. Check it out! It really is a cute, easy, fun idea for home or for a gift.

Cake Pops - Yummo

Well, Cake Pops seem to be the rage. If I drive by Starbuck's my four-year-old always asks for a pink one. Well, I was inspired this week by a post on Couponing to Disney to try this out. I have taken the recipe from Veronica's Cornucopia. Try it out this week while mix is on sale. There are also some great coupons out that you can use to make the mix and frosting a super deal!

Cake Pops
http://reciperhapsody.wordpress.com

What you will need:
1 (14.25 oz) box cake mix, any flavor
1 (16 oz) tub frosting, any flavor (you will not need all of it)
or 1/3-3/4 cup homemade frosting
1 (24 oz) package of almond bark/candy coating (white or chocolate)
Sprinkles
Lollipop sticks
3″x4″ cello bags*
Curling ribbon

Directions:

Bake the cake mix according to package directions. Once it’s cool, crumble the cake into a large bowl. I prefer to process mine in the food processor to fine crumbs. Place in a large bowl and stir in about 1/3 cup of frosting. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined and thick like a truffle center. Mix in additional frosting if necessary. You only need enough to get the crumbs to stick together when you roll them into balls. Do not add so much that the mixture becomes soft and mushy!

Roll mixture into 1″ balls and place on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. I usually do this step the day before and then dip them the following day. Do not freeze them before dipping or the chocolate coating may crack.

Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the flat end of the cake balls. (Bakerella says to insert a little less than halfway, but I go more than halfway b/c I imagine they stay put a little better when dipping.)

Carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered, remove and softly tap and rotate the stick on the edge of the bowl until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too. Immediately cover with sprinkles before the chocolate has a chance to set, then insert in a styrofoam block to harden. Continue with remaining cake balls.

Once finished with all the cake pops, begin packaging them in the same order they were dipped. This part is easiest if you have a helper. Place a cello bag over the top, bring it down and while someone holds it, tie some curling ribbon below the base of the ball. Curl the ribbon and continue with the remaining pops. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you want to freeze them, I'd recommend moving them to the refrigerator the day before serving so they can thaw at a slower rate and you don't risk as much condensation. They will get quite wet if you move them directly from the freezer to the counter top, and if you have sprinkles, the color will run. Serve cold (not frozen)or at room temperature.

Makes 40-50 pops

*I found this size of cello bags near the cake decorating and wedding supplies at Walmart. They were Wilton brand, called "treat bags."

*Go to the link to see some great pictures!

Super Easy Homemade Ice Cream for Kids

This week I tested out come Kitchen Chemistry in my classroom and it went really well! We made easy ice cream and at it within 15 minutes. I know they have those super cute balls you can make ice cream in, but this is easy and inexpensive. You can easily double the batch or even more. Just keep the same rations.

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Place all of the above ingredients in a quart sized Ziploc. I DO NOT suggest the zipper type, but the regular or even the freezer. Place the quart bag inside or a gallon baggie. Fill the baggie with about 2 cups of ice and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of ice cream salt or rock salt. Move around the baggies for 10 - 15 minutes until the ice cream is frozen.

This was easy and the said it was so good and better than Blue Bell. With the summer coming this would be a great activity for kids of any age. A preschool class has done this and I did it with 10 and 11 year olds. Fun Fun Fun.

Headband - Ponytail - Barrette Holder A fun craft!

I have to give credit for this. I saw this as a post on a friends Facebook page. (Thanks Emily Wedgewood). This is a link to another blog, and a cute activity for older girls. Reese is a little young, but would be cute to do in a year or two.

Headband - Ponytail - Barrette Holder

Check out the Live Life Create Art Blog!

http://livelifecreateart.blogspot.com/2010/09/headband-ponytail-holder-and-barrette.html

Reindeer Food

Well, the days have gotten away form me and I forgot to purchase the ingredients for reindeer food. What will I do? Improvise. I will have the kiddo help me crush some peanuts, pecans, and a few pretzels together. I already have these ingredients as well as a little glitter so the reindeer can see in the dark. Quick, easy, mom forgot to make it, reindeer food.

Melt it Down - Crazy Crayons

I don't know about you but I have a TON of broken crayons around the house. I was about to throw them away, but I thought about something I did a while ago. I took a small microwave safe glass and put the pieces in the bottom. I put several of the same color next to each other. I did stack a little so the dish wasn't a think pancake. I slowly melted the crayons in the microwave (10 seconds at a time). This allowed the crayons to melt, but still hold a lot of the original color. I do put in the freezer so I can pop them out easily. This little project I think I will do during nap time tomorrow. Then in the afternoon we can have "Crazy Crayons" to color and write with.

If you have cute glass or tin molds this would be a great little favor for the kids class. You could do shapes or letters and numbers. Think about making a set for your child's letter or number of the week and send to her classmates. Too cute!

Play Doh

I bought two cases of Play-Doh last Black Friday. One was a kit and the other contained 24 of the large cans. I have to say what an investment. Under $7.00 each and I can not count the number of hours spent in Play-Doh heaven. Well, heaven for my daughter. I am not a fan of picky up the gooey mess off of the floor.

Here is a suggestion. When you see Play-Doh go on super sale, go ahead and buy it. I did that and I am still able to get out fresh cans a year later. My daughter can honestly entertain herself for an hour when she plays with Play-Doh. It is so hot here that we have played a lot lately. Look for the sales and put it under the tree at Christmas. One of the most inexpensive yet best gifts ever.

Beads, Beads and More Beads

It is another rainy day. My mother keeps my children sometimes and she always has a craft for my three year old to do. One of the favorites is beads. Mom purchased a few bead kits and they were able to play for hours. All of the strings were used or lost, and honestly Reese will play and take apart and play again. I have found the shoelaces are a great substitute. Just make sure the bead hole is large enough. So, for today and other rainy days keep a bead box around. Great idea and will really pass the time. And if you are lucky your child can play independently!!!