Candy Turkeys

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? Mine was great!

I convinced my mother to use my china with dinner and let me set the tables. I never get the opportunity to host a holiday to I am slowly trying to take domination over what I can. I also made all the desserts: Pumpkin pie, apple pie, and my candy turkeys.

I learned how to make these every year since I was 11 years old, and I have made them every year since. They are easy to make and are a great activity for kids.

You can't go wrong with the classic combination of peanut butter and chocolate...

Candy Turkeys

You will need:
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (one for each turkey)
Nutter Butter Cookies (same)
M&M Mini's (one tube per 5 turkeys)
One tube of Icing
Candy/Indian corn
Platter/Plate

1. Take a Nutter Butter cookie and swirl some frosting on the bottom half of the cookie. Unwrap a Reese's and place the bottom part on the frosting.

2. Make a rainbow arch of frosting on the top of the Reese's cup.

 

 

 3.Take five Candy Corn and set in the frosting. Flip the turkey over!

4. Squiggle a crooked "T" with a tail shape on the upper half of the cookie, and pipe on a small straight line on the bottom.

 5. Apply green/blue/ or brown M&M's for eyes, orange/yellow for beak and feet, and one red M&M for the waddle, slightly to the side.

 And there you have it! Adorable and delicious turkeys to be sent home as a goody (in case you want all that leftover pie to yourself).

I like the geometrical pattern on the plate

 'Gobble, Gobble' them up as they tend to go fast!

Deuteronomy 8:10 – "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."

Crotchety about Crocheting

I have been trying to teach myself crocheting for the past week and it's been a-slow going...

To have time to sit and watch TV is hard enough to do, but to: sit, concentrate, and count, all with the unending prayer that I don't mess up somewhere and drop a stitch.....ugh! Least to say, I am one of those frustrated learners :)

I am enjoying myself though. I learned how to crochet plastic grocery bags into mats for the homeless, which is a pretty nice way to step into a craft like this. I have been doing that since March, but that only requires a single crochet and chaining. Now I'm branching out...slowly.

But...I'm getting impatient. Like when I started to learn how to play the piano. A few months into it, after learning the basics and lots of practice, you want to start doing the fancy tricks to show off to your friends and family.

Looking online I found some great easy projects that beginners like I can make, all for free. I love free. 

One great "dreaming of what could be" site is:  http://www.favecrafts.com/Crochet. Check it out when you get the chance, it's great. They offer free patterns, discussions boards, tips and sharing.

I'm excited to start making toys for my baby and his friends, Amigurumi!

Adorable Bee

goldfish

Hand puppet scarf!

So enjoy and challenge yourself if you are like me and learning this new skill.

And as always, have fun and make something beautiful.

25 days of Christmas: Gifts! #2 Magnets

I know I am not the first person to post this, in fact the news about making your own beaded magnets has been out and about for quite awhile now. But, I wanted to include them in the possible gift category. They are cheap, easy-peasy to make, and can be very personable.

 Things you will need:
Mod Podge (or glue)
Scissors
Clear glass stones ($.89c for 25!)
Magnet roll ($1, cheaper then individual ones)
Pencil
Paintbrush
Newspaper
Scrapbook paper, magazine clippings...(I do not suggest using any photographs, they do not hold up well over time and the colors warp with temperature/chemical changes)

1. Spread out the newspaper to protect your work surface. Take a stone and place over your paper where there is a nice design that fits into the stone. Trace around the stone lightly and cut out the shape just slightly within the line. I traced one stone 5-10 times on a piece of paper and had very little variation when putting these together, all differences can be trimmed off to fit that particular stone.

Flip your stone over and apply a very small amount of Mod Podge....











Then apply your cut out circle to the back, picture part facing in.

Check your work and make sure everything looks OK. Use this time to trim the edges of the paper so it is flush against the back of the glass stone. You can also move the paper gently if it is not centered how you would like it.

Wait about a minute for the glue to set (or longer) and cut a small piece of the magnet off to size. I prefer the magnet roll because it is cheaper and it already has a tacky side that you just peel off and stick. For added security you can hot glue the magnets on, but the adhesive is already really strong.

And there you have it. Economical and beautiful gifts that fit any budget and style.

Total cost of each magnet? $.07!

Use them as a stocking stuffer,
Gifts to add to homemade cookies and ornaments, 
Easy gifts to personalize with someones favorite: band, movie, phrase, inside jokes, colors, holidays etc..