Scrabble Tile Necklaces

I found an awesome tutorial on how to make necklaces out of Scrabble tiles recently, and have had lots of fun making them. I've made several for myself and the girls decided that they'd like one, too. So, they each found one waiting for them under the Christmas tree. I found pictures of Tinkerbell that I liked and then sized them down to fit. I wear my Scrabble tiles on chains, but since the girls are so little they can't fasten the hooks. So, I got some elastic jewelry cord and some necklace kits with the beads in the Michaels dollar section and strung the Scrabble tile on the beaded necklace. It looks super cute, and the girls can get them on and off easily. My girls love jewelry as much as I do, so I have the feeling I'll be making more for them in the future!

Angel Wipe Case

I had a request on my Etsy store for a wipe case and matching diaper clutch. The request was that the clutch be in some kind of gingham and that the wipe case have an angel on it. This is the finished product. I'm loving the wipe case design and I had lots of fun finding the perfect gender-neutral gingham print!

The best dip ever!

Well, maybe not the best dip ever, but it's pretty darn good. I got this recipe on the 2 peas message board (I don't remember who posted it, though) and made it at Christmas. It was a hit!

Buffalo Chicken Dip
2 - 10 oz cans chunk chicken, drained
2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
1 small bottle Franks Red Hot sauce (I used their Buffalo Wing sauce)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and Ranch dressing. Stir and cook until well blended. Transfer to ovenware. Add in the Cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips, crackers and celery.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Taylor had to decorate a Christmas Tree for homework and one can't make something without the other making one, too. So, using Taylor's tree as a guide, I drew a similar tree for Megan. Then, we went to the local craft store for goodies to decorate them with. The laundry list of stuff we got was huge - and most of it involved glitter or sparkles of some kind. The resulting trees are quite fabulous and oh, so sparkly!

Cup of Water

As I was taking pictures of things for my Etsy store and my blog, my youngest became quite interested. She wanted me to take a picture of something of hers. The closest thing she had on hand? Her cup of water. So, as requested, here is her glass of water!

Farm Birthday Cake

My youngest had a Farm themed party for her 2nd birthday. I searched online and found a cake I liked and used that to make her birthday cake. It turned out really well, except for the fact that it leans a bit. I've since learned that dowels inserted inside 2 tiered cakes are a good thing! I used gum paste to make the animals on top and treated it just like play-doh. A couple of well placed toothpicks helped keep the animals together.

Salt Dough Ornaments

Every year the girls make ornaments for granparents for Christmas. This year's offering was salt dough ornaments. The girls had lots of fun creating this year. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups salt
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon alum
1 1/2 cups water

Mix dry ingredients. Add water gradually. Knead dough well. Dough is correct consistency when it forms a ball around spoon. Add additional water if the dough is too crumbly. Air dry until hard or bake at 300 degrees 30-40 minutes until hard.

The dough is thick, so you'll get a workout if you mix by hand. If you have a heavy duty stand mixer, use that! I added liquid food coloring to the dough to make it more fun. It takes quite a bit of food coloring to get darker colors. I used parchment paper when baking them. Don't forget to put a hook in the top before they harden if you are planning on making ornaments out of them.