Sunday, May 29, 2011

Special Time Sunday! Take a Spring Walk


Take advantage of gorgeous weather by getting out in it. How about a walk down your street or even around the block? If you live on a country road, you can even stop and pick wildflowers along the way.

It is a great way to spend quality time with your family. Walking, talking, observing different things along the way, etc...

Don't forget your camera, you can capture some of nature's beauty!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Swap a Recipe Saturday!! Delicious Diploma Cake


Delicious Diploma Cake

I found this awesome cake design on familyfun.com!

With another school year drawing to a close, you'll want to make sure your young graduate gets his just desserts -- such as a jelly roll diploma wrapped in a fruit leather bow.

Ingredients:

2 eggs plus 1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Jelly
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp. butter,softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Decorator's gel
Fruit leather

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 15- x 10-inch jelly roll pan with waxed paper and grease the paper well.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and egg white with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract, then gradually beat in the sugar at low speed. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Invert the hot cake onto a clean towel sprinkled with confectioners' sugar; remove the waxed paper. Trim the cake edges with a sharp knife (adults only) and roll up the hot cake and towel from a narrow end. Let it cool on a wire rack.

Unroll the cooled cake, remove the towel, and spread on jelly, leaving a 2-inch strip at one end plain. Reroll the jelly-covered portion of the cake.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, and the last 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and use to frost the cake.

Use decorator's gel to pipe "roll lines" on the cake ends and the class year or your child's name onto the unrolled portion. Finally, add a fruit leather bow.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Frugal Friday! How to Save Money through Simple Changes


I found this great information on the blog: Frugal Living Tips.

Like simplicity? How about saving money?

How to Save Money through Simple Changes

It may be trite, it may be a cliché, and it may have been repeated through the ages, but there’s no doubting the fact that “A penny saved is a penny earned”. In today’s economic climate, it’s becoming harder than ever before to make enough money, and with expenses and costs soaring on the other side, the balance is skewed and tilting dangerously into the hole of debt. We’re often reluctant to save money because it’s an effort that is hard to sustain – we save one day, yet blow away much more the next thus nullifying all the good that has been done. For thriftiness to work, it must become a habit and not a one-off thing that you practice whenever the mood strikes. So if you’re looking for easy and sustainable ways to save money, read on:

•Take a jog in the park: Forget and forgo those expensive memberships at swanky and upscale gyms; instead, take to walking or jogging around your local park. Gym memberships are a waste of money, especially when you’re not regular and when you’re charged for services you never use (like a personal trainer or special equipment). A jog in the fresh outside air perks up your spirits, boosts your health, and keeps you fit and strong; and the best part is, it’s also easy on your wallet. Stay indoors during inclement weather and do some stretches, a few squats, lunges, and other simple weight training exercises that work all the muscles in your body and boost your metabolism. At the most, you’ll have to shell out to buy a small pair of dumbbells and a workout mat.

•Eat at home: It’s not only healthy for your body, but also for your bank balance when you eat home-cooked meals. You get the best nutrition, you avoid all the unhealthy aspects of restaurant food (high fat content, preservatives, reused oil and trans-fat), and you save money every month. If you can’t cook every day, make batches during the weekend and freeze them to use during the rest of the week.

•Look after your health: With health insurance costs soaring by the day, it pays to adopt preventive measures to safeguard your health and that of your family. Simple things like regular exercise (even a short walk a day will do), healthy food (less fats and more of fresh fruits and vegetables), avoiding cigarettes and alcohol, less time in front of the television and the computer and more time doing something physical (like household chores, gardening, or even just playing with your kids), and regular screenings to catch disease in the early stages go a long way in keeping your money where it belongs, in your bank account.

•Eliminate what’s unnecessary: We live in a world where there’s plenty of everything, so much so that it’s a chore to choose among all the options available. However, if you think in terms of only what’s necessary, it’s not only easy to make a choice, it’s also easier on your wallet.

Trying to save money on a regular basis may not seem easy at first, but when you strive through the initial days, it soon becomes second nature and not such a difficult task after all.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Things to Make Thursday! Dad's Faux Leather Pencil Holder


With Father's Day coming up, here is a nice craft that is created from recycling.

Dad's Faux Leather Pencil Holder

This is a recycling craft that makes a practical gift for Dad - a pencil holder with a polished finish that looks like leather!


Recycled Pencil Container

Supplies:

Container(I used a crystal light container)

Masking tape

Brown shoe polish (not liquid)

Rag for buffing


Faux Leather Pencil Holder Craft

Instructions:

Tear off small pieces of masking tape and, starting at the top, attach them all around the container. Keep tearing and breaking off pieces, working your way down the container and all over the bottom.

Draw shapes on the roll of masking tape to use as decorative accents. I used a fish and small circles for the bubbles. Cut the shapes out and stick them to the container, on top of the other pieces of masking tape.

Roll a long piece of masking tape into a snake so that the sticky side is on the outside. Place that onto the top of the container as a lip.

Take the brown shoe polish and rub it all over the masking tape surface of the container. With another piece of cloth, rub the container until shiny. It will look like leather. I think this is a great gift for DAD!

(per allfreecrafts.com)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

What to do Wednesday! Meet your neighbors.


Have neighbors that you have never met? How about taking a few hours to introduce yourself.

Make an effort to introduce yourself to your neighbors if you don’t know them well. Invite any interesting ones over for a cup of coffee and a chat, just to get to know each other better. Your neighbors can not only become friends, but can also be a valuable resource – a friendly pair of eyes on your property when you’re away or a helpful set of hands when you’re trying to complete a challenging task.

I, myself, love to take some warm baked goods as a gift :)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tips Tuesday! Cleaning Window Screens and Blinds


Continuing on with the window spring cleaning, on to screens!

Screens


Rub a brush-type roller over the screen to pick up dust.

Or brush both sides with kerosene and wipe clean with a clean cloth. This also prevents rust from forming.

For small areas, run a brush-type hair roller over the screen to remove lint and dust.

Dry nylon netting rubbed over screens will remove dirt too.

Blinds and Shades

Clean blinds by taking them off the window and laying them in a tub of sudsy ammonia. Then hang over the tub to dry.

For venetian or mini blinds, saturate a cloth with rubbing alcohol and wrap around a rubber spatula to clean both a bottom and a top slat at the same time.

Or soak blinds in the tub and, wearing a pair of fabric garden gloves, wipe each slat clean. Then hang over tub to dry.

To clean window shades, dip a rough flannel cloth in flour or corn meal and wipe shades.

A soft eraser removes spots on shades.

Clear nail polish will repair small tears

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Things to Make Thursday! CD Ornaments for Holiday or Everyday



CD Ornaments
Save those AOL CDs and fill your Christmas tree or teen girl's room with pretty, reflective ornaments.

You Need:

Two CDs you don't need
Gold Cord
Tacky Glue or Low Temp Glue Gun
Gemstones
Instructions:

Glue two CDs back-to-back, sandwiching a loop of cord between them for hanging.

Decorate with gemstones and glitter.