Cookie Dough Freezing

Sorry, I know this picture isn't the greatest but it is what I have.  We have this AWESOME Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that I got from my friend in town Seantylle.  Problem?  It makes about SEVEN dozen cookie.  Other Problem?  Making cookies is a COMMITMENT with a 2 year old around that loves to help.  (Sometimes it is fun to bake together, other times, not so much depending on both of our moods).  But the real problem is the MESS that making cookies makes.  SOOO, last time I decided to freeze some of the cookie dough so that I could make a dozen at a time as I wanted them.  It worked out great.  The cookies still tasted wonderful.  I baked them for about 1 min longer than they usually bake. 

How to:

1. Bake your chosen cookie dough.

2. Tear off about 18"(?) of wax paper. (size will depend on size of your dough balls and how you arrange them)

3. I placed three dough balls on then rolled the wax paper until they were covered.

4.  Place two dough balls on the next row; one each in the spaces created between the three in the first row.

5. Repeat until one dozen have been placed and wrapped in the wax paper.

6. Wrap the wax paper package in aluminum foil to help prevent freezer burn (that is, if dough can freezer burn I guess).

7. Pull out as cookies are desired.  Place directly on cookie sheets; no need to thaw dough.

I LOVE to do this.  Actually, I love it when I decide I want cookies and realize I don't have to clean up a big mess because I already have dough frozen for making warm, yummy cookies.

Glitter Wreath (from Homemade by Jill)

My front door has been bare since we moved to Virginia over a year and a half ago. I saw this glitter wreath on Homemade by Jill and thought it would be fun to make, especially since I have never done any glittering and what girl DOESN'T like things that SPARKLE?!?

It was super easy to make.  The only thing I did different from Jill's tutorial was that after glittering I also sprayed the leaves with a sealer to help prevent excess glitter from glittering my front step.

Materials:

2 pieces of cardstock

3 or 4 colors of glitter (I like Martha Stewart  brand because it is really fine)

spray adhesive

wreath styrofoam ring

hot glue

Home Organization #2 - Diaper Box Toy Box

(As a disclaimer I have to admit that I got the idea for an organizing series from this great site: Crap I've Made; no, I am not kidding, that really is the title, and she does some WONDERFUL crafts)

I didn't have enough room for all of the stuffed animals my daughter has magically acquired in her toy cabinet. (PS -How do kids gets so many of these? I don't think I have bought a single one, yet we don't have enough room for all of them.) After months of seeing them piled in a corner I decided to do something about it.

That is how this little gem was created.

I made this toy box out of a diaper box!  Love it so much I made one to pile my shoes in also since I don't want to spend money on a shoe rack.

Materials:

diaper box (any cardboard box will work)

coordinating scrapbook papers cut into 4" squares (It took me about 5 pieces of 12"x12" paper)

Mod Podge

sponge brush

1. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to one of your 4" squares of scrapbook paper.  Paste onto diaper box.

2.  Repeat Step 1 until entire outside of box is covered, overlapping in a crazy manner like above to add character.

3. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge on top of scrapbook papers to seal and add a slight protective layer.

4. Fill up with toys, shoes, or whatever you need!

Apron String Rosettes

I made this super cute apron for my 2 yr old for Christmas. Problem was, she would always pull the ribbon out of the casing when she would take off the apron.

Solution? I made some cute little rosettes and sewed them onto the insufficient knots.  Problem solved (and some super cutesness added)!

Materials:

2 lengths of ribbon (I used 5/8") cut at 12"

needle

coordinating thread

1. Sew along one edge of the ribbon, stitching at about every 1/4" or so.

2. Pull the ribbon so that it gathers tightly.  Once it is gathered stitch through a couple of the ruffles to secure.  3. Taking the gathered edge in hand, twist ribbon in on itself until you are satisfied with the resulting rosette on the opposite side. 

4.Secure with some more stitching or hot glue.  (I would recommend stitching since the kids pulling on it could stress the hot glue.)  

5. Sew rosette onto knot at the end of apron strings and you are done!

Home Organization #1 - Medicine Buckets

(As a disclaimer I have to admit that I got the idea for an organizing series from this great site: Crap I've Made; no, I am not kidding, that really is the title, and she does some WONDERFUL crafts)

Does the top of your fridge or a cabinet in your kitchen or bathroom look like this?

Well, I got tired of the top of my fridge looking like this so I decided to do something about it.

I went to the dollar store down the street and got a couple of these little storage buckets.  (I love this green apple color.)

I then made a couple of labels: one each for adults and kids; you can obviously label yours however you want, but I figured this was a good way to separate medicines.  I used stamps and acrylic paint; you could also use markers or stencils, whatever you like to use.

Here is the finished product!

Materials:

2 coordinating scrapbook papers (at least one should be solid for ease of reading labels)

acrylic paint

sponge brush

stamps

2 pieces of 5/8" ribbon cut at 12" lengths

buckets

razor

hot glue gun

1. Use a ruler to figure out how big you want your labels to be; this will depend on the size of your bucket and stamps.  My background paper is cut at 5"x2" and my foreground paper is cut at 4.5"x1.5".

2.  Stamp labels and allow to dry.

3.  Attach label to background paper.

4.  Cut 7/8" slit with razor on each side of the label for lacing ribbon through. (Make your slit 1/4" larger than whatever ribbon size you use.)  Lace ribbon through slit.

5.  Apply hot glue to edges of label (you could use craft glue if  you prefer, since my bucket was plastic I figured hot glue was a better bet for me) and apply label to bucket.

6.  Stretch ribbon around to the back of the bucket, apply a dot of hot glue to each end and stick to back of the bucket.