Delicious Summer Baking...

The girls enjoyed these this week for a fun summer treat...

Made by a friend & I thought they were soooo cute.

The base of the sandal is a Nutter Butter Cookie.

Spread a small amount of frosting over the top of the cookie to help secure a fruit roll-up piece to add some color for the base of the shoe.

Then topped off with some more frosting to hold the Sour Straws into place as the strap of the flip-flop.

If the flip-flop's don't look like something you'd like, you could give these a try...

Don't they look so cute?! You can find the recipe HERE on Shutterfly's blog.

They look easy enough & don't require any odd ingredients. (Always a plus!)

What a great idea to add green "glaze" for the rind.

I can not wait to give them a try with M & M. It would be a perfect project for a rainy day like today if I didn't have so much laundry to catch up on! Maybe later this week...

Too cute & yet so easy to create... I'm sure they'd be a hit with any little one!

Enjoy! s.b.

May Basket Treats

Hooray... It's almost May! Our family continues to count down the weeks until baby M3 arrives, so we're thrilled to be so close to yet another month. We're also loving the warmer weather. Today we made after Easter treat using the jelly beans from the Easter bunny. They turned out so cute & we're calling them May Baskets! YUMMY!

I bought these from the store to use for the handles of the baskets...

Then used a pizza cutter to slice them a bit thinner...

I also lined them up & let them sit over night thinking they would harden a bit to make a more stiff handle, but they were still pretty soft the next morning. Definitely didn't do what I wanted them to do but it was worth a try! Maybe another day would have done the trick?

Then I made a batch of rice krispie treats according to the directions.

Sprayed our muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray & started adding spoon fulls of rice krispie treats to each muffin cup. Pressed them in firmly & made a small indent in the center of each basket.

For the "grass" we mixed a mixture of powdered sugar & water to a thick frosting consistency & added a few drops of green food coloring.

Spoon a small amount of the green frosting into each basket & top with a few jelly beans or M&M candies. 

Press the "handles" into the rice krispie baskets firmly. Ours stood up pretty well & didn't fall over like I expected them to.

Not that we need any more treats in our house (there is more candy here than we need from Easter) but these were a fun treat for the girls. We'll deliver a few to the neighbors as well.

Enjoy! s.b.

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

Looking for a festive appetizer to bring to a Halloween gathering? Look no further...I made this pumpkin shaped Carmelized Onion Cheese Ball last year for a Halloween party & am looking forward to making another next weekend.

It turned out so cute & tasted pretty good as well. Added bonus: the orange on the outside is created from crushed Goldfish crackers... a staple in most houses with little ones.

I found the recipe here- Taste of Home 

Did I mention I love Halloween??!!

Enjoy! s.b.

Homemade Candy Buttons

We can thank the October issue of Everyday w/ Rachael Ray for this fun one.... candy buttons! These were a big favorite of mine when I was little, so when I saw the recipe I knew they'd be a hit with M1 & M2 as well. My god-daughter was here also & she's a bit older so it was a lot of fun for her too. Exp. since she's actually eaten them before & knew exactly what they were. Super easy & the final product tastes JUST LIKE the originals.
Supplies- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, 1 egg white, food coloring, Ziploc bags, Mixing bowl, Mixer, Scissors & A few sheets of white paper. (I used 8.5 x 11 Printer paper!)

1. Mix together the sugar & egg white until mixture is thick & smooth. (A few minutes.)

2. Divide the sugar mixture into several different bowls. (Divide into as many

different colors you'd like to have.)

3. Add a few drops of food coloring into each bowl & mix well.

4. Spoon the different colored mixtures into individual Ziploc bags.

5. Cut about 12- 2 1/2" wide strips of paper & line them on a hard working surface.

6. Cut the corner of one of the Ziplocs & begin to squeeze the sugar out onto the strips as shown below. (I made about 6 rows of a solid color & then moved on to the next color.)
7. Repeat with the remaining colors until the strips are full and/or the sugar mix is gone.

8. Allow the candy buttons to sit @ least 8 hours or overnight.

(We let them sit overnight & they turned out perfect. Again... EXACTLY like the originals. They even pop off w/o the paper stuck to them for the most part. We did have a few w/ a little paper that M1 wouldn't eat!)

Enjoy! s.b.

Candy Pencil Treats

How cute are these?

I'm thinking of making a few of these for M1 as a little "you did it" treat for next week when I pick her up from school. I found them in a google search & think they are so cute. She officially started 3 year old preschool today & did so well. No tears & she wants to go back... I would call it success!

Below- All dressed & ready to go...

Below is another google image that I found. Just a sligtly different variation from the first one & a bit easier. A Hershey Kiss, I'm assuming a roll of Life Savers wraped with yellow paper, a Rolo & a red Life Saver. So easy & so cute!

I wish I had seen this while I was teaching, it would have been a great first day of school gift for my students as well! Hopefully all your little ones had a great first week of school (if they've started) or good luck to those who start next week!

Enjoy! s.b.

Easter Egg Dippers

This was a last minute creation that we made today. We're headed over to a friend's house for dinner & to Grandma's tomorrow so we'll bring half to each house. I saw them on a commercial & then found the recipe http://www.ricekrispies.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=rice%2Bkrispy%2Btreats&utm_campaign=Brand#/recipes/easter-egg-dipper-treats  I shaped the eggs & then let M1 help with the dipping which was right up her alley. She also ate two of them before we even began dipping... We love festive treats!
Happy Easter to All...Enjoy! s.b.

Sweet Heart Treats

Ok, so this might be more of a mom project but M1 had a ton of fun helping & decorating herself. I have a new love for baking & decorating cookies. (I will post the baby shower cookies again soon.) I found a great recipe HERE that I just love. They are easy & freeze well. These hearts were made a few weeks ago & taken out of the freezer yesterday to be frosted. I started by frosting a "base" layer. Then I mixed more frosting & put it into bottles that I purchased @ Michael's. If you don't have them, you can put the frosting in a ziploc bag & cut the corner off... which also works well if you're doing it yourself, not if you're allowing your toddler to decorate! M1 did take her turn decorating a few of her cookies. (If you look closely @ the top of picture #3, you'll see a few of her masterpieces!) Then I placed them in clear plastic bags (also found @ Michael's) & tied with a white ribbon. We're looking forward to delivering our valentine treats to friends later today. Enjoy! s.b.