Tie-Dye Easter Eggs

It's that time of year again. I think I'm the only crafter that doesn't really like to craft holiday crafts (if you followed that sentence, you've gotten more sleep than me). Last week I was too busy to post. I was making things for the auction we were having at church to raise money for the youth. I made two signs and crocheted two beanies and tried to finish the felt bunny I was making.

Before I knew it, it was Friday and all I had were fuzzy pictures of my projects. See below.

But I know many of you will be dying eggs in the next few days, so I thought I quickly put up this post for tie-dye Easter eggs. The only problem is dying eggs like this goes quickly because you can do 4-5 at a time. But you don't need any egg dye...just vinegar and food coloring (I like the neon colors).

First you arrange the eggs in the colander and splash them with vinegar. This cup wasn't such a good idea. I found out the a little 1/2 tsp or medicine dropper works best. You don't have to coat the whole egg...just pour and let it drip around the eggs.

Then take your food coloring and put one drop on a few of the eggs.

Then gently roll the eggs around.

Then add your second color and gently roll your eggs around. Don't roll them around too much, or you'll just get brown eggs...just roll a little.

Then pick them up and set them on a paper towel for about a minute or so. Then lightly rinse an wipe dry. And here they are.

There you go! I hope you have fun dying eggs. Happy Easter!

Look what CAN's can do!

This post is dedicated to my friend Jennifer who was staying at my house last week. And you know how on day FIVE you've both talked about your families, work, kids, church, kids, and families? And so you start talking about weird things like food storage. But not just food storage in general, but where to hide money in the house and your gold and silver coins....YEAH. That's what we were talking about. I know!

Anyway, Jen said that she saw a good idea about using a peanut can or something. Then you cut out the bottom with one of those can openers that leaves no sharp edges...you know the ones that cut the side of the lid instead inside the lid.  Here's a link to the one I have!

Empty the can, clean it out and  fill it with your valuables. Then you carefully glue the bottom back on and shove the can of nuts in with the rest of your cans in your food pantry or food storage.

So, yesterday while I was making spaghetti sauce for dinner and was looking at all those cans, I thought I'd try her idea....but not to hide valuables or money....to wrap presents.

So, I cleaned the cans and took off the labels.

I filled one of them with candies (wrapped) for a Valentine's gift. And the other one I put a present in for a friend. I even squished a hat I crocheted for a baby into one of these.

Then I glued the lid on.  I think I might have put too much glue, but I tried to use a toothpick to poke the glue into the crevices. (I used tacky glue for this.)

So you can see the glue squished out the top (that's why I think I used too much).

I just used my finger to wipe the excess away. Hopefully my presents inside didn't get glue on it.


I decided to wrap the cans with paper and ribbon. After using many different adhesives, the good old glue gun worked the best. If I had any more creativity, I'm sure I could have used cute stamps to decorate or write on the can...but it was late and I wanted to watch GLEE on DVR.

So this is how they turned out...

I thought this would be a good idea to disperse goodies at Christmas time because you don't have to buy a container, and you don't have to fill them up too much. And I think it would be fun to open these treats. You can use a regular can opener, or just use the grippy part to lift the lid on your No-sharp edges can opener.

-Put a piece of tissue paper inside and stack cookies almost the exact size of the can inside.
-Fill the can half with raffia and put movie tickets and some bags of m&m's inside for a quick birthday present.
-The small cans are perfect for lipgloss, chapstick, erasers, or any small gift.
-Or you can always fill it up with cash and store it next to your green beans.

Whatever it is...."You CAN do it!"  Cheesy, I know...but a can of creamed corn to whoever can name the movie first...

Actual Conversation Hearts

For those of you who may know me, the following fact may come as a surprise to you...I love quiet time. Most of you know me as the person who fills the air waves with constant chatter and who does everything in her power to avoid the "7 minute lull" (you know that part in a conversation where no one has anything to say?). I do enjoy quiet time when I'm by myself and/or the kids are all in bed (like right now), when I can read, or think or rest my vocal chords.

But when I'm in the presence of people, I really don't like having awkward pauses in conversation. Unfortunately, my children are the same way. They all have a story (or 14) to tell and I have to organize the conversation chaos or I'll put everyone in quiet timeout. So some of you may remember my iPod app coasters and my ideas to encourage organized family conversation (click here to remind yourself). It worked for awhile, but then they started fighting about who got which coaster. As if my kids need yet ANOTHER reason to fight.

So, this Valentines I came up with "Real Conversation Hearts." None of this Hug Me, Be Mine mumbo jumbo...I mean how does that start a conversation?

Heart: Hug me.
Person: Okay.

Nice conversation.

Heart: Be Mine.
Person: Okay or No (in which a bad conversation will start)

So I cut out paper hearts and put real conversation starters on the back. Here are a few:

If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be and why?
If you could only eat one kind of food for the rest of your life, what kind of food would it be and why?
If dogs could talk, in which ways would the world be different?
If you could choose one talent that you could have and you'd be the best in world, what would it be and why?
Try to convince the family to go on your dream vacation this summer.
Describe the person on your left in 27 words.

You get the idea. I came up with a lot of story prompts in my post for a cheap quiet book (click here to remember). I used them for my conversation hearts since conversing is different than writing.

And since texting is the preferred method of communication among our youth, I think they are missing out on the art of conversation. Hopefully this can help.

Also, to add a little Va-Voom to my kids lunch, during Valentine's season, I use a cookie cutter to cut their sandwiches into hearts.

It makes it a little more exciting for them. Maybe I'll get one of those food markers and write Hug Me and Be Mine on their sandwiches.....hmmmm.

What WOOD you do?

I was kicking around the workshop trying to get some inspiration for my upcoming post. As I was looking at my collection of crafty odds and ends, I noticed my husband has quite a collection of odds and ends as well....odd pieces of wood. There are scraps of wood he's saved from various projects in a stack under the work bench. So I grabbed couple pieces of 2x4 and cut some random size blocks.

Then I painted those blocks. (should have primed them because this bare wood drinks up craft paint!)



Modge Podged some scrapbook paper and letters on them....



Sanded and distressed a bit...



And we have ourselves some cute blocks! (just in time for a weekend with snow in the forecast!)



And the with the leftover blocks, can you guess what my son and I created?



Some paint, wood glue and twigs from the yard....



Isn't he cute? Mason did a great job!



Have a good weekend!

Yam-A-Lam-A-Ding-Dong

This week's post idea has had me in a predicament. I want to share my Sweet Potato Casserole recipe but I didn't want to make it just for the pictures, feed it to my family and then make it two more times on Thanksgiving Day for my in-laws and my side of the family. That's overkill in the yam department!

So I've decided to share it sans pictures. I want you to have it pre-Turkey Day. It's the dish that I'm asked to bring every year for the past eight or so years. It's that good! It's a conglomeration of several recipes that I've tried over time.

Enjoy!!

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 cups cooked sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
(or 2, 29 oz cans drained of syrup)
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 c evaporated milk
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup flaked coconut

Topping:
1 1/2 cup crushed cornflake cereal
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecan
3/4 cup butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 9/13 casserole dish.
• In a large bowl, using a mixer, mash the sweet potatoes and mix in the sugar, beaten eggs, 3/4 cup melted butter, evaporated milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, marshmallows and coconut. Scoop the mixture into prepared casserole dish.
• Bake 35 minutes or until sweet potatoes are slightly firm (like a cheesecake.)
• In a small bowl, mix all topping ingredients. Spread over top of baked casserole.
• Return casserole to oven and bake additional 10 minutes.

__________________________

Now I know there are a lot of people questioning the addition of coconut. Believe me...it's fine. It adds additional texture and sweetness. A lot of people don't even notice it. But if it totally grosses you out, leave it out. Should be fine. But don't tell anyone you got the recipe from me. I don't want my name attached to a casserole that is "fine." ;-)

Also, because of nut allergies, I usually omit the pecans from the topping. I don't need a bunch of puffy-tongued family members trying to enjoy their turkey! Tastes great with just the cornflakes as well!

And because I can't stand to have such a naked blog post, I borrowed the pic below from Flickr until I can come back and add my own pics.....



Happy Thanksgiving!!

Raspberry Bread Pudding

Seriously! Trying to blog this week has basically taken a miracle. Well, you all know about the move, right...and I hate to use it as an excuse for another week...but it's killing me. Right now we have no internet in the house as we wait for AT&T to take their sweet time transferring service from one home to another. For some no internet in the house is no big deal, but not to this family. My husband is a computer guy and this mommy blogger is finding it a real inconvenience.

Long story short, I'm writing this late on Wednesday. I had a whole bunch of fun ideas in my head for Thanksgiving (sorry Halloween for moving on) but none of them came fully together. So next week should be better. But this week there has been only one thing on my mind, Raspberry Bread Pudding (ala Kneaders for those of you in Utah). Maybe because it's been kind of chilly here (high 60's...I know, my Southern Californian-ness is annoying sometimes) or maybe because I've been needing some comfort food, but the tangy taste of raspberries and the crunchy crustiness of the pudding kept calling my name. So last night I made some for my family for breakfast and for a treat for the office.

I got this recipe from my friend Becca (Shout-OUT) and it's a hit every time. Today in the office 15 people tried it and 12 people asked me for the recipe. I told them it would be on my blog....sometime today.

So here is the recipe:

Berry Bread pudding

1 loaf of French Bread (15 oz)
2 cups of frozen berries

4 large eggs
2 ¾ c milk
1 c sugar
¼ c butter melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla

Cube bread.
Place berries on top
Whisk together rest of ingredients and pour over berries and bread
Let soak for 20 min.
Bake covered in 350 oven for 30 minutes.
Uncover and bake for 30 more minutes.

Sauce
2 c whipping cream (I use half and half to make it lighter)
1 c sugar
2 Tbsp flour
½ c butter
1 tsp vanilla
dash salt

1st mix sugar and flour together. Then add the rest of ingredients except vanilla. Bring to boil, boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Doesn't it look yummy. It's so good. I love nutmeg. Sometimes I add a little extra nutmeg just for myself. I love this recipe because the crusty french bread is crispy but is balanced by the pudding part. It's a fun explosion in my mouth.

So for those of you who were looking forward to one more Halloween thing, let me show you what the hubby did for scouts.

Aren't these great and the kids loved them, too.  He just got white chocolate chips (I told him the melty chips at the craft store are easier to work with because you can just microwave it and not worry about the double broiler) and dipped donut holes in it. Before it hardened he put a chocolate chip in the middle. After the "eyeball" hardens, take some food coloring and color the left over chocolate red and scoop it into a sandwich bag. Cut a tiny hole in the corner and squeeze the red chocolate on the eyeball creating the tired-look (they look like my eyeballs!!!).  And there you have it. Another quick Halloween treat!  Happy Halloween.

Babies, Reunions and Ghosts! Oh my!

I've been a bad blogger! I didn't post last Friday. I'm sure the whole world was out there sitting in front of their computers hitting the refresh button every ten seconds. I'm sorry! But I promise I have some good excuses...

This happened....



And at the same time, this was happening...





And at home this was happening...



Yep...my sister's sweet baby Jane came into the world last Friday and that night was the kickoff of my 20th High School Reunion Weekend. AND my kids were at home destroying the playroom and making sure I would never run out of laundry to do!

Needless to say I was pretty busy! Do you forgive me?

I'm happy to report that life has finally slowed down a bit so I found some time for a little crafting therapy!

I decided I needed a few more Halloweeny items so I dug through my big tote of odds and ends and found this....



I added some paint, stamped on some letters, used cotton swabs to dob on a couple of ghosts and created this....



I even used the drill by myself and put holes in it for ribbon!
And my son made an attempt to impersonate a ghost...



And since I was a slacker last week I'm tacking on a bonus item...

I always buy candlesticks and jars when I see them at the thrift stores so I can make plenty of these!





And remember this great bowl? Add a few little pumpkins & gourds and it looks so festive!



Now if only I could finish the dresser I am painting for my entry I'd have a bigger place to put all of this cute stuff! (future blog post for sure!)