Make a Diaper Cake

I made a diaper cake a few months back for a baby shower. Now I am getting ready to make another one for another good friend. (Shannon you lucky girl!)

There are places where you can buy ones pre-made but, they are simple enough, and more cost effective to make your own. Plus, you can personalize it for the mom-to-be.

I used the directions from WikiHow to learn how.

Since I rolled each diaper individually, and then secured the entire layer with several rubber bands, I didn't need a support dowel rod, bottle, etc. I just stacked each layer on top of the next and it held together really well. I wrapped each layer of diapers in a receiving blanket. It was held in place by a large rubber band. Then to hide the rubber band I used some coordinating ribbon. When it was done, I put some pink crinkle paper in between the layers, and decorated with items off the registry.

Swap Sites

www.paperbackswap.com
www.swapacd.com
www.swapadvd.com

Here's some sites I came across today.

How it works: You become a member (for free) and post your original good quality books, cds, or dvds that you no longer need. Likewise you create a wish list/search for items you are looking for. The site connects you with people looking for your stuff, and you can clear out some unneeded items. What you send is theirs to keep, and what you get is yours to keep. The only "catch" to this free service is that you do have to pay shipping to send the items out. However, when you receive items, the sender pays the shipping for your items. Since you are in charge of the sending, you'll know you'll pay the exact cost of shipping, not some puffed up shipping & handling charge.

Craft of the Week

Tutorial - Quilted Fabric Crib Rail Guard Protector

Here's a great tutorial from a blog I visited this week. Check out http://newenglandquilter.blogspot.com/ to see the full tutorial.

My Newly Painted Bedroom

Well it took some doing but, we are finally, well almost, done with our bedroom. After painting, and repainting, my mom suggested the mini cans (auditions) from Lowe's. We bought 3 and found the perfect color. The color looks a bit brighter in the picture, it is more of a gray blue. We still have a few loose ends like some decorative pillows, and eventually we will get a chair for the corner. We have this great reading nook in our room, and one day we will actually use it for it's designed purpose.

Things kids say...

I taught elementary art for five years, and taught over 1000 kids in that time. As a teacher you hear some great takes on life from kids. I found a list of my favorite kid sayings from when I taught.

"Look at my picture Mrs H! ....and this is Jesus' horse because it can fly!" - kindergarten girl

"Mrs. H, I am going to Alabama over spring break. Yeah, I am going to be homesick...no, wait carsick." - 1st grade girl

"My grandma likes to sew, but she died so she doesn't get to do it anymore." - 1st grade girl

"Does Chuc Norris know anything about airplanes?" - 2nd grade boy

"...butt doctors make a ton" - 4th grade girl

"My grandma says I am a Christian, but my dad says I am a Republican. I guess I am just half and half." - 4th grade boy

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe makes dinner, plus two other dinners as you'll freeze two pies.

2 pkgs. - Pillsbury Deep Dish Frozen pie crusts (4 pie tins)
1 pkg. - Pillsbury Refrigerated rolled pie crust (2 rolls per box)
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream chicken soup
1 - 16 oz. pkg frozen peas & carrots (or mixed veggies if you like)
4 tbsp margarine or butter
4 tbsp Flour
1 cup milk
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
3 medium sized potatoes peeled, cooked, and cubed
3 hardboiled eggs -chop the whites and the yolk

Prep:
- Tell husband you will cook tonight, if he will clean the kitchen.
- Remove pie crusts from fridge to thaw.

- Boil eggs. Remove shell & chop cooked Eggs.
- Cook & cube Chicken (optional: reserve broth from cooked chicken)
- Peel, cut, & cook potatoes in boiling water
- Boil frozen veggies for 3 minutes.

In large pot melt margarine, stir in flour. Whisk in chicken broth, cook until smooth & bubbly. Stir in cream of chicken soup, and then the milk. Cook until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.

Make a pie crust assembly line with 3 pies of the pie tins (the remaining one will be one of the tops.)

Add cut cooked chicken, eggs, veggies, potatoes to pot with soupy mixture. Gently stir in each ingredient before adding the next.

Use 3 pie tins for the bottom of crust. Add 3 cups of mixture to each pan.

Fill pie mixture to the crust. Carefully lay the remaining pie crust on top of one of your pies and pinch the crust. Cut slits to let steam escape. Unroll the 2 packages of refrigerated pie crust and place on top of the other two pie crusts. Cut off extra dough, pinch the edges, and cut slits to let steam escape.

Cook pies at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Freeze remaining pies by placing in large ziploc bag. Write cooking instructions on top of bag before freezing. Remove bag for cooking.

Look at the disaster zone which is now your kitchen. Be glad you didn't skip step 1 of the prep.

Note: A frozen pie takes forever to cook, like 2 hours. Ideally, put a frozen pie in the fridge in the morning, and then put it on the counter to defrost around lunchtime. It will still take about 45 min - 1 hour to cook then.

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

We had a Pampered Chef Party at our house yesterday. Here is the recipe we made. Hands down the best brownie I have ever had. Happy Baking!

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies
From: Pampered Chef Season’s Best 2007 cookbook

Ingredients:
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 – 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate morsels, chopped
1 (18-21 oz) pkg brownie Mix**
¾ cup brown sugar packed
1 cup salted mix nuts, chopped***
5 rolls of rollos (or 1 big bag of rollos milk chocolate-covered chewy caramels)****
Vanilla ice cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly brush oil, or spray non-stick cooking spray into shallow baking dish (Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan.)

Chop 1 ½ cup of chocolate chips. Combine brownie mix, water, oil and eggs & ¼ cup brown sugar; mix well. Fold in chopped chocolate. Pour batter into bar pan, spread evenly.

Chop nuts. Combine ½ cup of nuts & ½ cup of brown sugar in a bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle nut & sugar mixture evenly over brownie batter. Bake 20-22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cut 16 caramels into quarters. Place remaining ½ cup chocolate chips in microwave on high 1 minute until melted, stirring after each 20 second interval. Spoon melted chocolate into Ziploc bag; set aside.

Remove bar pan from oven. Place on cooling rack. Immediately press remaining 24 caramels even into brownie in four rows of six caramels each. Sprinkle quartered caramels and remaining nuts over brownies. Trim corner of chocolate filled bag and drizzle chocolate evenly over brownies. Cut into squares, serve warm, with ice cream, if desired.


**I used Betty Crocker Hershey Original Supreme Brownie Mix with the Hershey’s syrup packet in it 22.5 oz
***I used a can of Plantar’s salted mixed nuts
****You need 40 individual rollos, unwrapped.