January Giveaway. Pink & Black Zebra Duct Tape Accordion Wallet for a Lady

January Giveaway!!!

Winner is... Ethelyn Campos

This month we are giving away a Ladies Accordion Wallet.

This is made from Pink/Black Zebra Print, Black and Silver Duct Tape.

Has a large compartment to store bills and coupons and also has to credit card slots.

Closes with velcro under the flower. 

Personally made by Me :)

To enter contest just leave a comment below

Contest closed January 13th Midnight

Happy Tuesday Everyone. 

Organizing and making your Linen Closet Pretty

How many of you have the wire racks in your linen closet. Even though they are easily installed and can hold quite a bit, things like to fall between the cracks. So I decided to fix that problem. 

You will need cardboard, 12x12 scrapbooking paper (any design you wish), white paper (I used card stock), adhesive ( I used my pink scotch advanced tape glider), scissors, ruler, pen, marker and alligator clips.

So start off with some card board. I used mailers that I had sitting around. ( this is a good way to reuse mailers that you receive in the mail.

I picked a cool black and white designed paper (by doodlebugs) and got out my handy dandy tape glider. If you don't have one of these you need to get one, they are fantastic.

Each of my cardboard sheets measured 20 1/2" x 11" approx. So I needed (2) 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper per sheet of cardboard. Now I marked on the back of my scrapbook paper a 1/2" line (this is where you are going to fold it over the edges on the side. Do this on both sheets of paper. (put the line on the R side of the paper that is going on the L side and the opposite way for the R side. I ran my tape glide parallel to that line and also added a strip down the opposite side of the paper and 2 down the middle. (R photo shows the tape areas)

 Once the Adhesive is on the scrapbook paper. Grab your card board sheet and line it up to the 1/2" mark (remember this is one of the sides NOT the front. Just so you know the reason I cut my cardboard sheet to 11" High was so I could wrap the paper over the front area.

Your card board sheet should look like this now. with 3 edges have an overhang.

 To fold. Do the sides first. Run adhesive down both sides on the white area 

and then fold over the edge of the cardboard. 

Now do the same thing to the front piece. 

Photo of the scrapbook paper folding over the edge

Perfect corners!!!

Here is what the piece should look like once you are done. 

Now we need some labels so things will be all sorts of crazy organized.

You will need another piece of the same 12x12 scrapbook paper, l

eft over bits of cardboard and a piece of white paper.

Here are the dimensions for each piece you need to cut out

 (you will need 1 of each 3 pieces for each label):

Patterned Scrapbook Paper: 4"x 5"

Cardboard: 4"x 2 1/2"

White Paper: 3 1/2" x 2

Extra white piece (you will only need 1 of these): 3' x 1 1/2"

 Take your scrapbook paper and the card stock and place the card stock in the middle of the backside of the paper. Make these lines. Now put glue on back of card stock and place in the rectangle.

 Just like the larger pieces do the sides first.

 Now do the top and bottom. It does not matter if any of the cardboard is showing because you won't see it when you put it up.

 Here is what the front looks like.

 Take a marker and run it around the edges of your white sheet. This will make it pop a bit more.

OK this is where the small white sheet comes in that you only have to cut once. Place it in the middle of your white sheet and trace around with the same marker. This makes a border.

 Now you can personalize these to fit your needs. 

 Take a couple Alligator clips and hang from the wire shelving under what that shelf is holding.

 Here is a before shot. things just didn't want to stay where they should.

 and here are a couple after shots. My closet looks so much better and anyone could find what they were looking for now.

Chocolate Wafer Recipe

So I went to the store the other day searching high and low for some chocolate wafers to no avail. I guess nabisco is the only one that makes them and there hard to find. So I ran to the world wide web and found a HOMEMADE recipe for them from smittenkitchen.com

I was so excited about this. smittenkitchen uses hers for making icebox cupcakes. But I was on the road to making a delicious Vanilla bean cheesecake with chocolate crust and salted caramel topping. ( I will share the cheesecake later). AND another plus is there so much cheaper than store bought too. You would need 3 boxes of the Nabisco Chocolate Wafers which cost $4.00 a piece. Yes a whole whopping $12.00 for just the crust. But this way I had all of the ingredients on hand. they are all basic ingredients you should have in your baking cupboard and the butter & milk in the fridge of coarse. So it will cost maybe $3.00 in ingredients if that. 

Chocolate Wafer Recipe

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened

3 tablespoons whole milk (I used 1% and it was fine)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

So here we go. Add all of the dry ingredients into your Kitchenaid.

flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and baking powder

Mix til blended well. maybe a minute.

Now cut your butter into several pieces and one by one with the kitchenaid mixing add the butter. Once all the butter is in an mixed in well mix the milk and vanilla together first and then add to your mixer. Mix for a minute or two and it will look like this.

Dump your mix onto your clean counter and hand knead for a couple minutes. Then shape into a 14 inch log, wrap in plastic and place in your fridge for 1 hour. until it is firmer.

Place your log onto your counter once again and using a sharp knife, carefully and slowly make 1/4 to 1/8 inch slices. 

Place onto a well greased cookie sheet and place in the oven.

Oven should be set at 350 degrees. 

Place your top rack on the 2nd to top insert and the 2nd rack on the 2nd from the bottom.

Put your cookie sheets in and time it for 6 minutes.

Now rotate your cookie sheets and turn them at the same time. 

leave in for another 6 minutes. 

Take them out and either cool them on the sheets or a cooling rack.

Once cooled and they stiffen up a bit they are now ready for your crust recipe.

Or to just snack on :)

Happy Baking!

Mint Cookies

Today I am going to teach you 2 different ways to make these easy mint cookies.

I have been dying to try out my new mold (seen below)

All you need is oreo cookie's and chocolate.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (do this in 30 second increments so that

 you don't end up burning the chocolate). add a little bit of mint extract.

 Spoon the melted chocolate into the mold. fill about 2/3 of the mold. 

Now... take your cookie and press it into the mold. the bottom

 of the cookie won't have chocolate on it. 

Place in the refrigerator until firm.

Once they are firm they should pop out with no problems. 

 Now for the second way to make mint cookies...

Melt the chocolate again (same way as above) in a bowl or cup.

now add a little bit of mint extract. (not to much because a little goes a long way)

Once melted drop a ritz cracker into the chocolate and full cover. 

 I used my tongs to grab the cracker and tapped on the side of the cup

 to get rid of excess chocolate. Once you think you have enough of the extra

 chocolate off. place on a piece of waxed paper and let dry.

Don't these look yummy. and the green ones have those terrific winter

 designs on top from the molds. The mold I picked up from Michael's for $2.00

Hope you enjoy!!

Favorite Family Cheeseball

Many years ago I played around with a couple cheeseball recipes until I came up with this one that has become a family favorite.  Christmas around our house isn't the same without this yummy munchie.
We like it best with "Wheat Thin" crackers, but you can use any kind you like.  One of these cheeseballs, along with a bag of crackers, makes a great holiday food  gift, also.
                           
                                            FAVORITE FAMILY CHEESEBALL

                                            2 oz crumbled blue cheese
                                          * 1 [8 oz.] jar Kaukauna sharp cheese spread
                                             2  [5 oz.] jars Kraft pimiento cheese spread
                                             2-3 [5 oz.] jars Kraft Old English cheese spread
                                             2 [8 oz.] pkg. cream cheese, softened.
                                             6 TBS. dreid parsley leaves, crushed
                                             4 tsp. dried minced onions
                                             1 cup finely chopped walnuts

                                              2 TBS. dried parsley leaves, crushed
                                              1 cup finely chopped walnuts

*If you can't find the "Kaukauna" sharp cheese spread [or an a similar brand container of sharp cheese] , then substitute another kind as we did here. Thie sharp cheese tubs are usually found in the deli or refrigerator cheese section.  For these balls we substituted a "cheese whiz" type brand, but my preference of taste is a sharper cheese]  Also, the small jars of cheese can be very expensive so watch for them to go on sale. Super Walmart sometimes carries these at the lowest prices.
If you're not a big fan of blue cheese, don't be afraid of using it here. People can't even tell it's there, but it certainly adds to the wonderful flavor of this cheeseball.  I always add some crumbles, mix and then taste.  You don't want the blue cheese to over power the other cheeses, but to just compliment the overall flavor.

In a large bowl, blend cheese sperads, cream cheese, the 6 TBS. parsley leaves, onion and 1 cup chopped nuts. [I usually mix this together with my hands] This picture shows the bowl of second cup of chopped nuts mixed with the 2 TBS. crushed parsley leaves to roll the balls in later.

Shape into six round balls. [they may flatten out a bit at this stage] Place these balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Cover loosely with foil and place in the frig for a few hours or overnight.

Remove cheeseballs from the refrigerator and with your hands, shape into a round ball.  Roll the ball around in the nut/parsley mixture. Wrap each ball in a square of plastic wrap and store in frig until ready to serve.
[wrap a second time in foil if they are going to remain in frig for a few days to make them air tight.]
They can be refrigerated for up to a couple weeks and stored in the freezer for up to 6 months.

We hope your family and friends will love this cheeseball as much as our family does