Just One Mom Trying

Monday, November 7, 2011

Alternative to Cupcake Liners

Today I made a bunch of pumpkin bread for some thank you's today. I had some left over batter and wanted to make some pumpkin muffins. Instead of cupcake liners I used a 5" x 5" piece of parchment paper as my liner. I love the look of it! And, since it's parchment paper, it's meant for baking and it doesn't stick.

The paper peeled off great when they were done! I will be doing this more often, especially for gifts. I wonder where I can get different colored parchment paper? I know they have it in a tan color. Hmm...Anyone?

Wrap these up in cellophane and tie a ribbon around it. I'm sure it would look so cute. (This bag is a little too big for the muffin. A jumbo muffin would look a whole lot more awesome.)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Preschool Thanksgiving Costumes: Indian Vest

Emily 11:23 AM 8 Comments

When I was a kid we had a Thanksgiving feast at preschool. We all dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians, sat cross-legged on the floor, and ate popcorn and creamed corn. It was so fun! This time I get to dress up my own preschooler. Here's the first tutorial of Thanksgiving costumes. We will tackle the Pilgrim next time.

To make your Indian vest you will need a brown paper grocery bag.

I turned this brown paper bag inside out because I wanted my vest ALL brown, even on the back. I then crinkled the bag up to give it a leather look. If you really want to get fancy and you have some time, spray the paper bag with some water and then crinkle. It looks really nice and it's a LOT easier to crinkle. I rushed through this "vest" so it's not going to be pretty or fancy.

Open your bag up again.

Take a warm iron to flatten the vest out again.

Cut holes for the arms and neck, and one straight cut up the front for the vest opening. Here's a rough diagram of how to cut the bag.

It should look something like this.

Cut some "fringe" along the bottom of the bag, and decorate! Markers aren't the best for decorating. I prefer tempera paints or crayons. You could also use ribbons, rickrack or colored paper to add some flair.

We just might have to make these for dinner one of these nights and make up Indian names for each other.

# dress up # Fall

Count Your Blessings

Emily 11:21 AM 0 Comments

Thanksgiving is in a couple weeks which means that it's time to be grateful. Take some time to count your blessings.

In our house we put up this tree (made for a bulletin board). We are adding one leaf for every blessing we can name. No repeats!

We have a lot of laminated paper leaves (that we are actually going to write on with a wipe-off marker so we can use it next year) and we also have some pretty silk leaves to add to our tree. I think we got a pack of 75 silk leaves from Michael's craft store for a buck or two. MJ loves decorating this tree!

Since we hold preschool at our home the kids will be able to add to the tree when they come. This tree has an extra insert to make it taller but I kept it out so that the kids could reach the branches without any problems.

I would have preferred to make my own tree out of brown butcher paper as shown on THIS site (scroll to the bottom to see the picture) because it is SO much cuter, but I already had the tree and we needed to get this thing started ASAP.

# Fall # preschool

Gingerbread Graham Cracker House & Frosting Recipe

Emily 6:34 AM 2 Comments

Halloween is officially over and Christmas is right around the corner! I'm getting excited because there are so many fun things to do!

One thing that I love is decorating gingerbread houses. This is a great activity for a family night, preschool, or even a party. I'm not into making my own gingerbread but I do buy my own gingerbread graham crackers.

These crackers are fun because they smell and taste like gingerbread but still have the texture of a nice graham cracker.

**With Halloween just finishing set aside some hard candies from that bucket and save them for when you assemble your gingerbread house. (Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, Skittles, Candy Bracelets/Necklaces, M&Ms, etc.)

Here are some "not so great" pictures of a timed gingerbread house contest we did YEARS ago. I couldn't believe I still had these pics. Here are my "out-of-the-box" favorites.

Lemonade Stand

Vegas

"No Boys Allowed" Tree House

Below is a great recipe for graham cracker house frosting. It is easy and holds very well.

Graham Cracker House Frosting

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

3 c. powdered sugar

1/8 tsp. cream of tarter

Directions:

With an electric beater, beat the 2 egg whites in a glass or metal bowl until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the powdered sugar.
Add the cream of tarter to make the frosting shiny and smooth.

TIP: Spoon the frosting into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Snip the end off one of the lower corners and use as a piping bag.

ENJOY

Click HERE or on the image below to download and print this recipe.

# Christmas # crafts

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Homemade Strawberry Shortcake Costume

Emily 7:29 PM 0 Comments

I love the vintage Strawberry Shortcake with her cute dress and pinafore. Unfortunately the vintage Strawberry Shortcake costumes aren't sold anywhere. I thought it would be fun to have MJ dress up as Strawberry Shortcake and to have Peanut dress up like Custard, her cat. MJ wanted my husband to be Pie Man. If I had more time I would have made a Pie Man apron and hat but I didn't get that far.

I took on this costume project and this is what I came up with. (This was the best picture I could get.)

I sew stuff but not clothes- there's too many directions and curved seams. ;) But, I decided to do it anyway. I made it a size too big because I wasn't sure if she was going really wear it. She wanted to be the Little Mermaid for a little while but I convinced her that if she wore the Strawberry Shortcake costume she could chew some strawberry gum. That did the trick. She was so happy to wear it AND she SMELLED like strawberries. Her white and green striped tights are in the mail. Supposedly they're a popular item EVERYWHERE! Who knew? I think I'm also going to cut the yarn hair a little bit shorter. It looks a little like Raggedy Ann.

All in all it was a success. I have a couple more days to make last minute adjustments.

# crafts # dress up

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sew Much To Do

Emily 7:24 AM 2 Comments

I finally got out my sewing machine and sewed this weekend! I finished this textured blanket. It's not very cute but it's fun.

I was tired of using plastic bags to hold toys for several reasons:

1) Plastic bags should be kept away from children

2) The bags wear out

3) Children can't close them easily

4) They don't hold a lot of toys

My solution: make drawstring fabric bags! I ended up making 3 bags since they are so easy to make. I made one for MJ's tea set, one for play food, and one for little cars. I tried to use fabric that symbolized what was in the bag. It makes it a whole lot easier to sort and find toys for little ones. You will notice that this fabric bag with teacups holds MJ's tea set.

Project #3: Fabric book. I made this book for a friend's baby shower. I LOVE fabric books. They last a lot longer than board books. They are harmless and baby can turn the pages easily.

Peanut wished this one were for her.

I am also sewing a costume for MJ. I usually don't sew clothes because it requires more than just straight seams (notice my 3 previous projects above) and it takes time! I like easy, quick projects. I need to have the costume done by Wednesday so I hope to post it sometime this week.

# baby # books

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Delightful Dining: Halloween Week

Emily 11:43 AM 0 Comments

It has been a while since I did a post for family dinners.

This week make your family dinners fun and interesting with these ideas:

DELIGHTFUL DINING: Halloween Week

Come to dinner dressed up in your Halloween costume.
Make a dish or dessert that includes pumpkin as a main ingredient (pumpkin stew, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, etc.)
Serve gruesome dishes. (Brains and blood = spaghetti, mummies = hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, make homemade pizzas and create monster faces with toppings, etc.)
Have dinner in the dark. Cover the table in a white table cloth and turn on a black light, or eat by candle light.
Have a murder mystery dinner. Invite some other families over for some extra fun. HERE's a great site for CLEAN games on sale now!

TABLE TOPICS:

What do you want to dress up as for Halloween?
If your whole family had to dress up together for Halloween, what would you dress up as? (Scooby Doo and his friends? The Simpsons? A bunch of cowboys and cowgirls?)
What is your favorite part about the fall?

FLAVORFUL FAVORITES: Mac & Cheese

This is a homemade recipe for mac & cheese that tastes good and that your kids will eat! I love it too. It's made with real ingredients and the "cheese sauce" is creamy! (I used ditalini pasta noodles so both my toddler and 1-year old could eat it without problems)

6 oz. pasta noodles (about 1/3 of 16 oz. box)

1 egg

1/2 c. evaporated milk

cheese, shredded (to liking)

salt

Cook your pasta, drain it, and return it to cooking pot. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, milk and a couple pinches of salt. Pour mixture over noodles. Stir in shredded cheese. Add more salt to taste if needed. If you'd like it extra creamy, add more milk. If you add too much cheese it will dry out quicker. You can't really ruin this recipe. It's very adjustable to your liking.

# delightful dining # family dinners

Monday, November 7, 2011

Alternative to Cupcake Liners

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Preschool Thanksgiving Costumes: Indian Vest

Count Your Blessings

Gingerbread Graham Cracker House & Frosting Recipe

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Homemade Strawberry Shortcake Costume

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sew Much To Do

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Delightful Dining: Halloween Week

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