Old-Fashioned Butter Mints

I don't have a kitchen of my own right now, but that hasn't stopped us from making treats to share with our family! My aunt has been graciously sharing her kitchen with us while we are staying with them. We will be here 2 more weeks, then moving closer to where our house is being built and will be in a hotel until it is finished in September. So I am enjoying this "home living" for now and it's been fun making dinners from scratch again!

My kids and I LOVE the old-fashioned butter mints so when I saw this recipe from Averie Cooks for making them from scratch (and it's a no-bake recipe so it doesn't heat up the kitchen!) we decided to try them out!

My kids devoured these. They said they were just right in the minty flavored department. They had fun choosing what colors to make them and a few are swirled with 2 colors.

Just don't leave them out, especially on a warm day. There aren't any preservatives in them and the butter will make them soften and stick together. We put them in the refrigerator and they were perfect.

I definitely foresee making these again! And since we are staying next door to my Grandmother, I went over and borrowed her little hen candy dish for the photos. I've always loved this dish of hers. And then I carefully put it back on the shelf and put the candies in a different container so that my kids could have their way with them. Ha! Total photo opp, but don't they just look at home in that little glass hen?

Recipe Courtesy of Averie Cooks 

Old-Fashioned Butter Mints (no-bake, gluten-free)

Makes about 200 bite-sized mints

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar plus 1/4 cup+, if needed
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
food coloring, optional

To the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and salt and beat for 1 minute on medium-high speed. Add 3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, milk, peppermint, and beat on medium-low speed until a dough forms. If the dough seems wet, add additional confectioners’ sugar until dough combines (I use 3 1/2 cups sugar). The dough will be crumbly but will come together when pinched and squeezed into a ball.

Taste the batter. If you want a more intense mint flavor, add additional mint extract, to taste.* Be very careful how much mint you add; you cannot un-do this.

Remove dough from the mixer, separate it into 1 to 4 smaller balls, and add one ball back into the mixer. Add the food coloring of your choice to the ball by squirting the droplets on top of the dough (careful when you turn on the mixer), and paddle on low speed until coloring is well-blended. Coloring will not blend completely into each and every speck of dough if examined extremely closely, but overall, mix until color is uniform.

Wash the mixing bowl and the paddle in between each color change and repeat until all the balls are colored. After the dough has been colored, either wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator to be rolled out later or roll it immediately.

Place a golf-ball sized amount of dough in your hands and roll dough into long thin cylinders about 1 centimeter wide. Place cylinders on countertop and with a pizza cutter (or knife – be careful of your counter), slice cylinders into bite-sized pieces, approximately 1 centimeter long. Store mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for many weeks.

{1 Hour} Summer Beach Robe Tutorial

The boys start swim lessons on Monday which reminded me of this fun project I sewed up for them last year! Seriously simple and they've used them SO MUCH!

Scroll down for our little girlie one too!

{I love my goofy little boys!}

I signed the boys up for swim lessons thinking that it would be a fun refreshing way to spend our mornings during these hot summer weeks....or not! It's been rainy, stormy, and cold! One lesson was cancelled due to all of the thunder and the other two have been chilly. Not what we were expecting, but the boys don't care. They are having fun. I still wanted to make something to keep them warm, especially since their lessons are not at the same time so one has to wait for the other.

That is where the Summer Beach Robe comes in! I was so happy with how these turned. Especially since I didn't have a tutorial or pattern to follow {and I ALWAYS use a tutorial or pattern when I sew!} So I will officially categorize this project as EASY. It's the perfect sewing project for a beginner. Just a few simple cuts and your robe is ready to sew. No sleeves, no gathering, etc. It's all made from one piece....a beach towel.

We had two Coast Guard ones that worked perfect. They were HUGE! Regular beach towels would work and even a bath towel would be perfect for a child 3-4 years old.

The boys used these this week and loved them. We came back for open swim when it was a little warmer out and Aaron would play in the water for awhile, then go to the sides to wear his robe for a few minutes to warm up before returning to the pool.

A couple of kids even stopped the boys to tell them they liked their "sweeeeet" towels. :)

So here is the tutorial. Don't laugh. It took 5 minutes and I think it should be pretty simple to follow. Much more simple than if I tried to show step by step while I sewed one up. I'm not Ashley, from Make it and Love it, lol. Tutorials aren't my thing!  

1.  Let's pretend that this piece of 8"x11" paper is your bath or beach towel. (Bath towel for ages 5 and under, beach towel for 5+. You can cut down a beach towel to make it smaller as well since they usually have brighter prints than a bath towel)

2. Fold your towel in half with the fold at the top. It is the same piece of paper as in the first photo, just zoomed in a bit so it looks bigger. Cut straight up the middle of the TOP layer of the towel. DO NOT cut through both layers!

3.  When you get to the top fold, round out a section on both sides of the middle cut for the neck. I went about 2.5" in each direction.

4. Your towel should look like this now.

 5.  Now flip your towel inside-out and try it on your child. Have them stretch their arms out to the sides and mark the under arm and the bottom of the towel where you think you'll want to begin your cuts for the sleeves and sides. Then carefully cut out that section.

6. Keep that section that you cut out and use it as your pattern piece for cutting the other side. That way it is even on both sides.

 7.  Keep towel inside-out and stitch the sides, beginning at the bottom and ending at the bottom of each sleeve.

8. Since you used a finished beach towel, the hems are already in place for the sleeves and bottom of the robe. All you need to do is finish the raw edges that you cut up the front and around the neck. I used some scrap knit fabric and made bias tape from it. Bias tape, twill tape, or ribbon would work.

For the belt: Cut out a piece of fabric 4" x whatever length you want your belt to be. Mine were 48". So 4"x48". Then fold it in half so that it is 2" x whatever length you chose and sew up the side. Turn right side-out and press. Fold in each end and pin, then top-stitch around the entire belt, catching the open ends as you go across each one.

Mark a spot on the back of your robe for belt placement. I sewed mine on in a box/square design about 2" wide to secure it. I had mine hit right above the hips on my boys.

That's it!

And a little girlie one...

I am not a professional, heck, just look at these drawings! But I hope you were able to make some sense from all of it. Let me know if you have any questions! dbnelson02 {at} hotmail.com.

Going Back to School Organized and Bright!

This post brought to you by Astrobrights Papers by Neenah Paper. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is almost time for the boys to go back to school. Many parents look forward to this time of year, but I just plain dread it! Our care-free, schedule-free lives are about to end and I miss my kids when they are at school. But there are a few nice things about school starting and so I will focus on those. One of the nice things is that it is a new year, a fresh start, and a time to get organized. And since school supplies are so inexpensive, it is nice to throw out old crayons, pencils, etc. and stock up with fresh new ones for homework projects or coloring pages at home.

 

 

The kids and I created these fun art cans to organize their art supplies. We will keep them in the office area in our new house (when our house is finally finished!) and they can just grab a can of whatever they need!

Creating these little art cans was super simple. If you would like to make some with your kids you will need:

Empty cans (we used 15 oz. cans)

AstroBrights papers

Tape, glue sticks

Art mediums such as: crayons, colored pencils, markers

Accessories: stickers, etc.

Scissors

 

First we peeled off the labels on the cans. If your cans have a sharp edge or areas that are sharp, just cover the edge with a piece of tape to smooth it out.

To figure out how much paper you'll need, use one of your AstroBrights papers, hold it up to your can, fold the bottom edge up and then cut it to fit the can. The kids used this first band of paper as a pattern for the other cans.

Then set the kids loose and let their creativity flow! When they have finished decorating their band, wrap the can and secure the over-lapping edges with a piece of tape. Fill with your art supplies and you are all set and one step further in being organized for this new school year!

Aaron drew on his as well as taped strips of paper on his can. Dallin chose to create a comic-looking can, and Kaylee glued  strips of paper and colored hers with markers. I love how unique they each turned out.

 

 

I love using AstroBright paper for projects like this. The colors are so vibrant {there are 23 to choose from!} and the papers are nice and sturdy. Sometimes card stock is just too thick, but copy paper is too flimsy. That is why I love using the AstroBrights papers. They are perfect for school or office and I like using them when creating a lesson for the children at church. Whether I am using them for the black board for a presentation, or copying a fun handout on them, they really make the project stand out.

AstroBrights papers "Give a Brighter Year" Back-to-School campaign has launched and will continue through September 10th on their new Facebook Page! Visitors who "LIKE" the page and submit a short online form will automatically be entered into a sweepstakes to win school supplies worth $30,000 for the elementary school of his or her choice.  Visitors can earn additional entries every week by revisiting the page and answering a few simple questions. 

In addition to the sweepstakes, they are running bi-weekly design challenges for all skill levels with a chance to win AstroBrights papers and other prizes. The bi-weekly challenges are simple and clear so anyone can enter!

Good luck and best wishes for the new school year!

Decorative Wash Cloths

I went to a baby shower a few weeks ago and the new mom received a pack of decorative wash cloths for baby. What? How easy is that? And the person who gave them to her purchased them from some sort of baby boutique. I loved that idea and thought my kids {and new baby} might like a set too!

The next time I was at Target, I picked up a pack of plain white wash cloths. You can get a pack of 8 for around $3.50. 

I used one cloth as a pattern and cut out a piece of flannel for each cloth. This is a great project for using up scraps. Each cloth costs about $.50 to make!

With right sides facing, I stitched around, using a 3/8" seam and left a small opening to turn the cloth right side out. After I turned the cloth right side out, I folded down the opening and pinned it. Then top stitched around the entire cloth using a 1/4" seam. That was it!

I made a few darling blue ones for my boys.

And some powder pink ones for my girls.

Add a bottle of baby wash and it is the perfect gift for a new mother!

Pony Royale {Giveaway!!}

**CLOSED**

 

Winner: Shannon who said,

"My two daughters would go nuts over these ponies!"

This post is sponsored by Pony Royale. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Kaylee was thrilled to be able to try out some  BRAND NEW toys recently from the Pony Royale collection!

Pony Royale, a new toy line starring beautiful princess ponies, brings a fresh new approach to princess play in the fashion doll category. Pony Royale combines favorite play patterns - hair play, fashion play and nurturing play – to give children endless hours of open-ended creative play with a fun and easy fashion system.

 The full collection, featuring 12 Princess Ponies, all with the ability to mix-and-match their manes, tails and fashion pieces, will hit store shelves in late July at Toys R Us.

The twelve Princess Ponies are pony action figure dolls with names, personalities, and changeable hair and outfits. • With two Pony Royale dolls, make over 60 fashion styles! • Each pony comes with a jeweled birthstone blaze • Two sets of Change-It-Up Hair and hair brush included!

Kaylee told me, point blank, "I am going to play with these for the rest of the day!" AND SHE DID! She made one the mother and one the daughter. Her bed was their castle. I love toys that inspire imaginative play and these did that for her.

She especially loved the accessories and changing out their hair pieces. I wasn't sure about those at first. I thought she'd have issues changing out the colors, but it wasn't hard for her at all. She loves "Misty" and "Rosie"!

Check out this little video that Kaylee enjoyed watching before she opened her ponies!

Since the Ponies haven't hit the shelves yet, Gluesticks readers can get an exclusive opportunity to enter to win not 1, but 2 Ponies for a little lady in your life! {Ponies will be selected randomly from the 12 available figures}. 1 winner will receive 2 ponies.

Entering is easy! Leave me a comment with your email address (required).

Giveaway ends Friday, July, 27th. Good luck! 

  Visit the Pony Royale website for more information. Look for Princess Ponies in stores starting late July! Meanwhile, be sure to check out Pony Royale’s Facebook page and follow them on Twitter!

Taco Ring {A Lighter Version}

My kids love tacos and all variations of them. Taco rings are nothing new. Especially if you've been to a Pampered Chef party, but here is our spin on the traditional dish. A lighter version.

Taco Ring

adapted

1 lb ground turkey

                                                 1 pkg taco seasoning mix                                                 

1/2 c.  cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp water

2 8 oz reduced -fat refrigerated crescent rolls

Toppings

Preheat oven to 375

Brown ground turkey.

Stir in taco seasoning, water and cheese.

Unroll crescent rolls and separate. Arrange triangles in a circle on a round baking stone with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward the outside. There should be about a 5 inch diameter in the center.

Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest ends of dough at center of ring. Bring points in and over and tuck underneath the wide end.

Bake 20 -23 minutes or until golden brown.

You can garnish with bell pepper, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, olives, etc. We like fresh pico de gallo.

Impromptu Tea Party & Mini Doughnuts

Kaylee has really been into baking lately. She loves helping me in the kitchen. We've used the easy bake oven a few times, but honestly, I HATE using that thing! It always sounds like a great idea, but the food has a weird texture and takes forever to bake. I decided to come up with some little baking ideas that she can REALLY help with.

First up....mini doughnuts!

I found this mini doughnut pan at Hobby Lobby for $9.99, but I had a coupon so I got it for $5.99! I thought that was a great price. Each pan makes 12 mini doughnuts. We used the recipe on the back of the pan and were very happy with the results.

While the doughnuts baked, I suggested to Kaylee that a tea party would be fun. She bolted down to the basement toy room to get her things and set the table all by herself.

When the doughnuts were cool, we dipped them in glaze (just warm up store bought frosting in the microwave 10 seconds at a time until soupy and dip doughnuts in glaze. Let set up on a cooling rack),  and she added sprinkles.

We made a batch of pink lemonade and were all set.

There was a tantrum or two since her brothers weren't quite catching the vision of her little feminine tea party and just wanted to scarf doughnuts.

But for the most part, it was fun! And she did such a great job putting it all together!

Mini Doughnuts

You could easily bake these in a mini muffin pan and dip the muffins in glaze. Yummy!

1 1/4 c. cake flour, sifted

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 egg

1 1/2 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.  Add buttermilk, egg, and butter and stir until just combined.  Fill each doughnut cup approximately 1/2 full.

Bake 4-6 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan 5 minutes before removing. Finish the doughnuts with glaze or sprinkles.

Makes 24 (ours made 36 donuts....weird)

Lemon Doughnuts

Omit nutmeg. Add 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest. Mix and bake as instructed above.

Vanilla Glaze

1 c. powdered sugar

1 T. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (clear is best)

In small bowl, stir together sugar, milk and vanilla extract until sugar is completely dissolved.  Use immediately to glaze doughnuts.

Hidden Valley for Everything!

This post brought to you by Hidden Valley for Everything. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ranch isn't just for salad! It isn't just for veggie platters either! I enjoy it on so many sides. Hidden Valley for Everything gives you the same bold taste of the dressing, only it is thicker and creamier! The perfect condiment...move over ketchup! Use it for burgers, fries, wings....basically EVERYTHING! I usually use the basic dressing for veggie dips since it is pre-made and just easy to pour into a small bowl, but this is even better. The consistency is just right for dips, or spread-able for sandwiches. Not runny like salad dressing or gelled like dip in the refrigerator aisle. Think of what a flavor boost it would be over plain mayo on a BLT or wrap. One of my favorite salads is a BLT pasta salad. I boil rotini pasta, and mix it with diced bacon, shredded lettuce, sliced grape tomatoes and green onions, then mix it with creamy ranch. I will definitely be using Hidden Valley for Everything next time to make it even creamier.

So try it this summer with your favorite dishes. You can find it in the ketchup aisle at stores like Walmart.

Hidden Valley for Everything even came out with a fun little game to promote it and we love little online games over here. I played the Ready, Aim, Ranch Everything game and asked my kids if they'd like to try it. Yep, they got much better scores than I did and thought it was pretty funny that they had to avoid items like puppies and beach balls with the ranch bottle. Our high score was 5350! click here to play and try to beat our score ;)

Midway

We are over half way to California! We have probably 500 photos to sift through so far and haven't even gone to the Grand Canyon yet. Derrick's view is that if we are going to drive this far, we might as well make a vacation and have fun. The kids have seen so much and done so many neat things in their short little lives, it's insane. And we are having a GREAT time. A few bumps here and there like Ruby getting pink eye, and leaving a bag of laundry (our whites!) at a hotel, but we are doing fine!

So far we've done the following:

Indianapolis Speedway, Carthage Jail, Nauvoo, Libery Jail, Independence, Far West, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Visited with cousins, Lego Discovery Park in Kansas City, 2 days in a cabin in New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument and tomorrow we are heading to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, followed by the Grand Canyon this weekend, and seeing more cousins in California after that. Point A to Point B? No way.

What has been your favorite thing so far on the trip?

Kaylee: Playing with my cousins!!

Dallin: Staying in the Cabin and Legoland

Aaron: Everything except riding in the truck!

Ha, I have to agree with Aaron, but the kids have been amazing. We've been doing short drives. Only 6 hours or less a day which has worked out really well for Ruby. She's a little trooper. Derrick has been driving in his car ahead of us and we are following behind. 4 kids, for 3000 miles by myself...so far I still have my sanity! I just give Derrick a quick phone call, honk my horn, or just veer off the road when we need to make a pit stop ;)

Grandma-Made

{Here it is!!}

A few months ago I shared the project for my Grandma that I was working on. A book, documenting some of the many sewing projects that she has made over the years. The book ended up being 275 pages and only covered a percent of the dresses and quilts that she has sewn. Truly AMAZING.

The photos came out bright, clear, and beautiful (although the photos I took of it don't do it justice with the glare). Each with a caption and date (if known) underneath.

Kaylee enjoyed looking at it before we mailed it to her. She said she wanted me to make her that dress.

It was A LOT of work. Hours of organizing, re-touching, and proof-reading, but it was so worth it. Grandma LOVED it and has shared it with many people who have stopped by to visit with her. Since I used an online photo company, the book can be ordered by any family member. Several aunts and cousins ordered a copy for themselves. She has left such a legacy for our family and now we have a little something to help us remember the love and dedication that was put into each project.

I am looking forward to browsing the book with her when we move to California and hearing the stories behind the projects, from her point of view!

Click here to view the entire book.

4th of July Cardstock Wreath {Kids Craft!}

Here is a fun and quick wreath to make this week with the kids, or without, but it is easy enough to do with them ;) To make it even simpler, you can just cut out the stars and glue them to the base instead of making them 3-D, but I think the 3-D stars are fun and aren't hard. Either way, it will brighten up your front door this week!

Click here to go to the one we made last year and the tutorial!

Here is a quick picture of my kiddos last year on the 4th of July! We added food coloring to their pancake batter to make red, white, and blue pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream!

For more summer fun ideas for the kids, check out the summer link party!

Softsoap Antibacterial & Moisturizing

This post brought to you by SoftSoap. All opinions are 100% mine.

With 4 children in our home we go through a lot of soap. Hand soap to be specific, although we recently went through 3/4 of a bottle of shampoo during one shower time session....when one of them accidently left the bottle on its side! Anyways...back to hand soap...

I always get antibacterial soap as an added bonus for my semi-germophobe tendencies. I love Softsoap because it is affordable, comes in a variety of scents and styles, kills 99% of germs and moisturizes me hands!

I love the variety of scents and colors. There is something to match each bathroom and I like that their large bottles of refills are affordable and last a long time too.

My hands are in and out of water so much that they are usually cracked and tend to bleed easily. With helping little ones in the bathroom, cleaning in the kitchen, changing diapers, etc. I probably wash my hands 15+  times a day. Not putting them in water or avoiding soap  is not an option so it's nice to find a moisturizing soap.

The pumps are easy to use and easy for my kids to use. They especially like the sea themed ones that look almost 3-D with the clear insert images. And I like that they don't leave a big mess in the sink with the Softsoap bottles vs. some of the other ones we've used in the past. Since washing hands is SO IMPORTANT, especially after using the bathroom, I try to make it as easy as I can for my kids to do it themselves. Efficiently and quickly so that they can feel independent.  

And you can recycle their bottles too. You can find Softsoap available at Walmart. Here is a Softsoap Coupon to use on your next trip! If you haven't tried Softsoap before, now you can at a discount.