Santa Train at the Strasburg Railroad

I had the pleasure of of Riding the Santa Train on the Strasburg Railroad.  I was a really fun experience for the kids, and just the look on their faces makes going in the rain totally worth it lol.

You can read my full review over on Momma Lews Blog - Strasburg Santa Train

We might even make this trip an annual tradition, especially since there are several train themes available.

Maybe we will see you there.

#NYSDairyTour2014

I had the extreme pleasure of being a guest contributor over at Momma Lews Blog for the New York State Dairy Tour of 2014.

I learned so much that weekend, you can see my full write up over on her blog by clicking HERE

Mother's Day Contest

I entered a contest for my mom to win appliances for Mother's Day.  I would love for her to win.  If you are reading this blog, could you take a minute and vote for her?  Just click on the link and click the vote button.

http://bit.ly/QgYSYb

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Snow Ice Cream

Ice Cream made from snow!

This winter has been rough.  A combination of multiple heavy snow storms and frigid temps has made this winter the harshest I can remember. And, it is far from over.

The other day I saw someone post that they made ice-cream from snow.  Well, with almost a foot of freshly fallen snow, I figured I would give it a shot.  Off to pinterest I went.

I found several links to different ways to make it.  Most called for milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and of course snow.  Well, I didn't have enough milk, so basically clicked on several links looking for an alternate recipe.  I found the EASIEST one, and it did not need milk.  Instead it needed sweetened condensed milk, which oddly I had in the house lol.

You only need the following:

about 10 cups of clean snow

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

vanilla - I like a lot of vanilla, but generally never measure it

Mix is all together and viola - ice cream.  It was really good.

I really think that the condensed milk could really make a big difference in the texture of the ice cream.  If you see in the pictures, it really does look like mashed potatoes.  Which when I added caramel on top - it REALLY looked like mashed potatoes.  I'm sure the consistency of your snow will totally alter the texture of your ice-cream.  Mine the 2x I made it was the texture/consistency of homemade ice-cream.  I think if I used the milk recipe, it would have been like italian ice.

See looks like mashed potatoes, especially with the carrots next to it lol.

Cost wise, honestly - not really a big cost savings using this method.  Using the recipes using milk and sugar is probably a *free* way to make this since most people will have that in the house.  But, even though I had the condensed milk in the house, for the second batch - I had to buy a can.

I got a can on sale for $1.65.  The next highest price (which was not on sale) was $2.29.  You can get a regular container of ice cream on sale for $2.99.  That container would last a lot longer than snow ice cream.  But, we all had ice cream (5 of us), and still stashed a bit in the freezer.  But - obviously a fun thing to do to make the best of the snow.

Oh, and it is super cold!

Reversible Dress Up Aprons

I created some reversible dress-up aprons for my nieces as Christmas presents.  They just LOVE to dress up and wanted to give them something more personal to them - or at least something that was not found in the stores.

I wanted to dress up clothes as aprons so they are easy on/off, and can be slipped right over clothes. Since it is easy hide seams if you do it reversible, I knew that was the way I wanted to go.

I made up the pattern, which at first was trial and error.  My daughter (shown above) is 4 years old and wears a 4t/5t.  The aprons also fit well on my 3 year old, and the recepient, who is 5 years old.  I put them on my son who is almost 8 - and it was too short, but these can easily be made longer/shorter/wider.  

Here are the measurements that I used.

Since this is imagination play items, I also included a little accessory for each side.

Mail Man Dress Up Apron

Includes a real pocket in the faux messenger bag, and a felt envelope

Nurse Dress Up Apron

Includes Felt Nurse Hat

Construction - Contractor Dress Up Apron

Includes Felt Tools

This dress up was created my dad's company.  He was a general contractor and thought this would be fun - and no one else would have it.  The faux tool belt has pockets for the felt tools.

Chef Dress Up Apron

Includes Chef Hat

I didn't really love this side - but whatever lol

Using the measurements above I was able to create these aprons.  It did take some thought on how to create each side.  The possibilities are endless.  I did love the idea of creating faux items (the bag, tool belt, etc)  Some other ideas of dress up stuff are road worker, police officer, fireman, doctor, waitress, sports player, telephone repair man, train conductor, cowboy/girl, pizza delivery person, soldier, scientist, etc.

These dress up aprons could go together pretty quickly once you figure out the design you want.

If I create another apron set, I will do a photo tutorial for them.

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing

Christmas Crack - AKA saltine toffee

Gotta love me some Christmas Crack

Christmas Crack is so delish!  And, seriously so easy to make.  It's probably called crack because it is so additive.

Ingredients:

Saltine Crackers

1 Cup of Butter (2 Sticks)

1 Cup Brown Sugar

Chocolate Chips, I like to use the mini ones

It is so easy to make

Your oven should be pre-heated to 400 degrees.

Step One:

Line the bottom of a cookie sheet or baking pan with the saltine crackers in one layer.  I like to put foil or wax paper on the bottom, makes it easier to get out.  Make sure to fill the entire bottom, even if that means you have to break some of the crackers.

Step Two:

Melt together the butter and brown sugar.  Let it come to a boil, lower temp and simmer for about 2 minutes

Step Three:

Pour the butter/sugar mixture over the crackers.

Make sure you coat all the crackers, you can use a spoon to spread evenly

Step Four:

Bake in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 400 degrees

Step Five:

Once out of the oven, spread chocolate chips over the entire dish

Step Six:

After a few minutes, spread the chocolate around, coating the entire pan

DONE

  

I like to throw it in the freezer to cool and set.  But, the chocolate will harden if just on the counter. Once totally cool, just break into pieces and enjoy.  Beware:  you can't just have one piece.

Dolly Donations

My Company Giggle Worm will be creating some dollys for Operation Christmas Child - and Dolly Donations

Here is my first of hopefully many dolls that I can send over to Africa for a child to love.  Every child deserves a little friend to cuddle.

Day out with Thomas

I was a guest blogger over at Momma Lews Blog, writing about my experience with the Day out with Thomas in Phillipsburg, NJ.

Here is a copy of my review from her blog.  You should check her out, she does lots of reviews and lots of give-a-ways!

The Day out with Thomas event, which was run on the Delaware River Railroad in Phillipburg, NJ, was a great afternoon for our little Thomas the Tank fans. The look on my 2 year old’s face was just priceless.

We had tickets for the 1pm train ride, and as recommended, we arrived about an hour before. While there was no parking actually ON site, there was plenty of free parking located within a few minutes walk from the station. Don’t be fooled by the lots that charge $10 for parking, we were able to find a free spot very quickly. The walk to the station is easy - although there are some hills.

Upon arriving at the station, we were pleasantly surprised to find 2 bounce houses, which are included in the ticket price. The bounce houses, a gift shop area, and also a toy train display were all located on the upper area of the station. We walked down a small hill to the train area (lower area) and there was Thomas! The kids got so excited to see him for the first time as we rounded the bend to the lower area.

Thomas fans, young and old, will love the scenic open-air train ride, pulled by non other than Thomas the Tank! Don’t forget to get a family photo before you board. There is no air conditioning on the train cars, however, there are two fans at the front and rear of each car, and of course you may open a window. The train ride departed on time and we were able to enjoy the scenic route along the Delaware River. They even had songs from popular Thomas shows being played for the entire trip. I was fun to sing along with the crowd.

After the train ride is when the extra fun started! Thomas fans could spend a few hours enjoying all the extras that are included in the ticket price. We were entertained by a juggler, then the kids went over the the activity tent, where they did spin art, stamp art, got a temporary tattoo, colored Thomas the Tank pages, played on one of the 3 train tables, created tracks using one of the 3 mega blocks stations, and visited the animals in the small petting zoo. My kids could have stayed all day.

When my kids needed a pit stop, it was easy to find a port-a-potty. There were 10 located on the upper area, and about the same on the lower area.

Need a quick snack? There was food available in both the upper and lower areas, with things like ice cream, slushies, lemonade, corndogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled cheese, etc. Very typical food for this type of event. We were able to pack a picnic lunch and ate in the shade where there was an abundance of picnic tables.

So much was included in our ticket price, the kids did not want to leave. We decided to purchase the souvenir photo of Thomas and our family. Each photo item is $17.99 or two items for $22. So, we went with the magnet photo and a key-chain  The photos were ready within minutes. We will put it on the fridge and will be a great reminder of the awesome day we had.

So, Thomas the Tank fan - get ready for a great day!

DIY Princess Castle Cake

The girls LOVE princesses and they wanted a princess castle cake for their birthday.  I am no master baker - but when they ask for a castle cake, they shall get a castle cake LOL.

Turns out my mom had the Wilton Enchanted Castle Cake Pan, yay.  This is a molded cake pan, that if all goes well you just bake it and decorate it like a castle.  Easy Peasy.

Here is my semi tutorial.  I kinda start the photos after the cake was baked - lol.

What I needed:
ONE cake mix box (plus all ingrediants on the box)
2 Tubs of frosting
1 Tube of gel frosting
Food Color
Decorator Bag + tips
Tooth picks


Step 1:  Mix up your favorite cake recipe.  And, if you are like me, that means a cake mix box.  You only need ONE box for this cake.  Just make it according to the directions.  Make sure you really really spray your castle pan with cooking spray, and for good measure I dusted with some flour.

Step 2: Bake the Cake.  Of course there is no time listed on your box for a formed pan (lol), mine took 34 minutes to bake.  After you remove it from the oven, keep it in the pan for about 10 minutes to cool.

Step 3: PRAY that the cake comes out in one piece.  After praying and hoping that it comes out, flip it onto a cooling rack and let it cool for many many hours - I cooled it for about 8 hours.  Maybe even more.

Tada

Step 4: Transfer onto your serving plate.  I used a cutting board covered in foil.  It was nice and flat and served the purpose.  Use white frosting to cover the sides of the cake and all the void "background" spots of the cake.  You can kinda see it here, the space between the towers, and all along the sides.

Step 5: Outline the castle.  This is where I used the tube of gel.  I picked a color that would contrast the rest of my colors.  I used get, but you could use regular frosting using a decorator tip.

Step 6: Tint your frosting and fill in the roofs.  This is where I probably should tell you that you will use your decorator bag and your fancy tips to create little *stars* of frosting to fill in the spaces and it will look oh so pretty.  Yeah, that might have worked if I used a super stiff buttercream, or even added some powered sugar to my store bought tub o' frosting.  But, honestly - I was trying not to stress over this.  So, when my stars turned into blobs, I just went with it.  I did use the decorator bag and the tooth picks to fill in the spaces, and honestly I think it looks great.  No stress.

Step 7:  Tint additional frosting and fill in the rest of the cake using the decorator bag and the tooth picks to get in the small spaces.

TADA - Princess Castle Cake

Craft Fair Set Up

I have searched for Craft Fair Set ups, so I figured I would post some pics of a recent fair that I did.  This was a unique fair since 100% of the items were donated, and then 100% of the proceeds at benefit a child who was recently paralyzed.  So, there was a lot of variety on the table.

Our #1 seller was double fishtail rainbow loom bracelets, of all things LOL.

Here are a few pics of our set up - oh, and if you would like more info on Yesenia Parker (the girl who benefited from the sale), you can check out her info page HERE.

Cleaning a Microfiber Couch

When we bought our couches, we didn't have kids yet (well, we had Colin - but he was 11).  We heard that micro fiber was the way to go since it really didn't stain.  Well, when I find that person that said that - remind me to smack them upside the head.

Since having the little kids, our beige microfiber couches are gross!  Disgusting.  The worst is that if we do spill something, and then wipe it even with a baby wipe - we are left with a water stain.  It really looks so so bad.

We can't afford new couches right now, so I needed to find a way to clean them.  Off to pinterest I go lol.

I found a tutorial using rubbing alcohol.  You basically put rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray on to the couch and then just rub like crazy to clean the couch.  The rubbing alcohol evaporates differently than water so it does not leave the water stain.

Well, I must say - my couches look awesome!

Here is a little before and after.

Making a mid-year resolution

I feel like this blog has taken a back seat to the rest of my life.  That is not a bad thing - but I always loved writing on the blog.  So, I am making a mid-year resolution to write on this blog more often!

It will still have things about family, crafts, tutorials, and our adventures.

Stay tuned :)

Totally Looks Like

When I was doing errands today, there was a truck in front of me that had cut trees in it.  I thought one of the trees totally looked like a face.  At a stop light, I took a picture.  And, when I got home, I did some googling to see if I could find a face that matched.

I kinda thought it looked like a chubby child, and the thought came to me that it looked like a cherub. Google image 'cherub painting' and it was on the first page........I thought it was SPOT ON.  Kinda freaky spot on.

This is the original (yes, I flipped it and reversed it)

Shaving Cream and Listerine

Shaving cream and listerine - odd combo, right?  Well, that is the combo for a foot soak for cracked heels.

I love pinterest, and found this "recipe" for getting rid of dead skin on your feet.  I have horrible feet, which is why there will be no before/after pics lol

I as with most things on pinterest, I just HAD to try it.  And, you know what - I think I got pretty good results.  It might be fair to say that I MAY have gotten the same results if I just wrapped my feet in a warm wet towel.  But, my feet really did tingle, so I think it did something more than just water.

I used gerenic listerine in the original kind, the yellow/gold one.  I used cheap shaving cream, barbasol, because I sure as hell was not gonnna use the expensive stuff lol.

I will probably do it again :)

High School Graduate AND a Kindergarten Graduate

Wow, this year, I will have a graduate from High School AND a graduate from Kindergarten.  It is so crazy that Colin is graduating from High School.  I won't lie and say it was an easy road.  But, I am so proud of him.

His actual graduation is not until next Sat, so I will share pics then.

I will have a college aged kid soon.  Makes me feel really old!

Smores Pops

We are having a BBQ for Memorial Day, and I wanted to make a simple "summer" type of snack.  Smores scream summer :)

I did not make up this treat, but rather saw it on pinterest.  Ah, pinterest, what would I do without you??

Smores Pops are a chocolate coated marshmallow covered in graham cracker cumbles.  And, yes - it is as easy as it sounds.  But, of course I have provided a picture tutorial.

I made 35 pops.  But, not because I ran out of ingredients, but rather, I only had 35 pop sticks.  I crushed 1/2 a box of graham crackers, but only used less than half of that.  I used about 3/4 a bag of chocolate.

Here are all my supplies - graham crackers, chocolate melts, marshmallows, pop sticks, wax paper, and my beating spoon lol.

Melt a small amount of chocolate.  I melt mine in the microwave using the defrost setting.  I stop it after 1 minute, and stir.  If needed, I put back in for about 20 seconds or so.

Pour the melted chocolate on to a piece of wax paper.  I like this method a lot since it allows a nice even coating.  I use the same method for my chocolate covered pretzels.

Put a pop stick in a marshmallow, and roll it in the melted chocolate.  Don't forget to put some on the top of the marshmallow. :)

Roll this your crushed graham crackers.  I had mine on a paper plate.

You are done!  I placed mine in a piece of styrofoam that I had from another project.

Looking yummy!

My husband did a little tasting, and he said they were so good.  I will wait until tomorrow to eat mine.

So, there you go - a super easy, super yummy summer treat