Make a Shelf Out of a Door

My hubby and I made this corner shelf out of an old bi-fold closet door we had laying around. I first got the idea here at Little Birdie Secrets and remembered the door we had in our storage room.



It was so easy and really did not involve a lot of work. It took us about 1.5 hours to make (not including the painting). Since the door was a bi-fold, we didn't even have to cut the door in half. We used a packaged door frame molding for the molding around the shelf and added three shelves on the inside. Now I need to paint my topiary tree pot anitqued black. Stayed tuned for a tutorial so you can make your own shelf.

Gift Cans

Looking for a fun and creative way to package some of your gifts? I recently heard of using food cans and repurposing them into cute gift packages.



All you need is a can that has been sterilized and cleaned with the labels removed. When you open the can, be sure to use a Smooth Edge Can Opener. These can openers leave a "smooth edge" with a lip around the end. This allows you to fill the can and then glue it back together. I have found that it is best to open the bottom end of the can (but when the paper is off, there really is no top or bottom). That way when they open the can, they can open the top of the can with their own can opener.



Simply cover your can with some cute scrapbook paper with Mod Podge. Then fill the gift with your gift items, and then reseal the lid with glue. I used my glue gun and was careful to quickly wipe up the excess glue from around the edges of the can lid. I placed a book on top of the can to hold it together while it dried. Also, if you have a can that has a residue smell leftover from the previous occupant, use some vinegar to clean it with. It should help alleviate the smell. You don't want your goodies to absorb some of the smell or they will taste funny.



Then be sure to include some directions to "open" the can with your gift tag attached to the can. With all the people on your list, there could be many different uses for all different sizes of cans and gift ideas. Go ahead and get creative. What would you gift in a can?



1. Pretty Packages
2. Giving Gifts
3. Good Friends

Baby Legs

I love Baby Legwarmers. Maybe it's because I had a pair of legwarmers my mom knitted me when I was in elementary school. Thanks to the fashion of the 80's. But for some reason, the new version for babies and little kids are way cuter than the older version (but not your incredible knitting mom :)!

I have seen tutorials for making your own all over the web for a few months now and I just barely got around to making some. I don't know what took me so long. They only took about 10 minutes total to make. I made this first pair without a sewing machine using Little Birdie Secrets easy tutorial which can be found here.

But just the other day, I ran across a site named Calico that has a simple tutorial to get your legwarmers to have a little ruffle on the end you sew. I am totally going to use her tutorial to add the ruffle to the other two socks waiting for their transformation. (I bought a really cute 3-pack of women's tall socks that were perfect to turn into leggings).

So if you have a little person on your list this year, these just might be something they could use. I bought some last year (for too much) and they were perfect to protect my baby's legs from all the rough surfaces she was crawling over. Plus, these are perfect for keeping little legs toasty warm for the cooler weather ahead!



1. Soft and Chubby Baby Legs (the skin kind)
2. Falling Leaves
3. The end of weeding! (ignore the ones you can see in the picture, I am obviously too lazy to pull those out)

'Smore Brownies

**Wow! I struck a nerve with that last post. Apparently a lot of us have dealt with this issue in our homes. I am so glad you guys responded and gave us some good advice. I agreed with a lot of you. It was starting to be a power struggle and I could see that it was becoming a battle of wills, which is not good. I like the idea of getting him more involved in the preparation and planning. My other kids all love to help me make dinner and are always helping out in some way. But as I thought about it, I realized this child does not like helping with dinner as much. So I plan to get him to help out without him knowing it is my "plan". I think that will do a lot for him being interested and helping us find dinner choices he can enjoy. I was a picky eater and did not like people telling me what to eat and like and I can imagine he feels the exact same way. It is good to take a step back and see something from a different perspective which is hard when you are the mom and so involved. So thanks for all the great ideas! I am excited to get some of your ideas implemented in the coming week! I'll let you know how it goes!

Now...here is something my child had no problem gobbling right up! These brownies definitely make you want to come back for 'some more'! I got this recipe from the Food Network! They are really rich and ooey gooey good. I however, am not a big lover of marshmallows, so instead of using whole large marshmallows, I used marshmallows that were cut in half.



Ingredients

Crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch fine salt

Brownie:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large cold eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:
4 cups large marshmallows

Directions
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. Alternatively, put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl on the pan without touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.



Copyright 2007 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

1. Chocolate!
2. Baking on a cool, crisp afternoon
3. Good Advice

Food Critics Need Not Apply...

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Seriously! Does any one else get similar reactions to their hours of handiwork in the kitchen? One of my children, who shall remain unnamed (but not unpictured) is the usual culprit at our house. He has always been picky, but for some reason, in the last couple of months, he has become really stubborn about eating. We have struggled about what to do to get him to eat without complaint or force.

Everyone eats what is on the table over here. There are no special meals made for those who do not like what is being served. Which is sort of ironic (my mom is laughing right now) because I was the pickiest eater when I was little. I lived on Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches! But my kids don't need to know about that, cause that was totally different :)!



We require him to take at least 5 bites now. But then even those 5 bites would take forever to eat sometimes. And he would still be sitting there complaining while the rest of us were cleaning up the kitchen and the doing the dishes. I didn't think it was fair for him to "convieniently" get out of helping with the dishes too.

So now if he complains about dinner I just quietly get up and set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes. He knows this means he now has 10 minutes to eat his 5 bites without complaint. The kitchen will be closed after dinner and he may go to bed hungry. This has been working a ton better and has made meal time much happier for the rest of us. He has even eaten something all gone after claiming it was "disgusting".

My question to you is...How do you deal with the picky eater at your house?

P.S. Since it is the month of "Thanksgiving" I will add three things I am thankful for at the end of each post during the month of November!

1. the blessing and ability to provide food and nourishment for our children
2. strong and independent personalities
3. eating dinner together as a family

Personalized Embroidered Hand Towels

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Make a festive hand embroidered dish towel to celebrate the season...every season. Do you remember these handtowels I made for some friends last Christmas? Well,I just made a Thanksgiving version for my kitchen.



I typed out the word blessing and then traced it onto the bottom half (in the middle) of a flour sac hand towel with a pencil. I found mine at Ben Franklin for $1.50. I have also seen them at Wal-Mart, etc. I then cut out some material (the same material I used for my oven hand mitts) and applied the flowers as an applique to the towel under the word I had penciled on the towel



Then I placed an embroidery hoop around the letters and embroidered the word using a backstitch. I wanted the word to be thick, so I used 4 strands of the embroidery floss.



The fun thing would be to have one for every holiday and season. I had planned on making one for Halloween with the word Boo, but never got around to it. Since the flour sac towels are so large, I think I will just turn the towel around and add the Boo to the other side. Then you could use the same hand towel for both seasons. Just turn the towel to the right side for the season. These could not be simpler to make.

I have this hanging on the handle of my oven door and have tied a ribbon around it, I don't have to hang it back up anytime the kids get near the towel (if you know what I mean). When the kids dry their hands on it, it actually stays in place!

If you are interested, I have posted the pattern I used along with patterns for Boo!, LOVE, and Gratitude. Click here for the downloadable version.

Oreo Cookie Turkeys

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These turkeys are really cute and are really easy to make. I made several of them for a party last year in just about 30 minutes. I had a friend show me how to make these after she made them for the preschool our kids attended together. You will need the following:

Double Stuff Oreos (2 per turkey)
Small Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups (1)
Whoppers (1)
Candy Corn
White Frosting
Black Frosting



First place your peanut butter cups in the fridge. They will cut cleaner cold. Then take an Oreo and carefully separate one of the cookies from the frosting. Gently press the pointed tips of 6 candy corns around one half of the Oreo. Take some white frosting and cover the frosting and re-attach the cookie.

Now, take the second oreo and lay it flat on the table. Pick up your Oreo with the candy corn and put some icing on the bottom of the oreo opposite from the candy corn and attach the Oreo onto the flat oreo so that it is on the back half. Prop the stuck together Oreos against a book or a wall to hold it up while the icing dries. If it does not stand up well, add some more icing.

Now take a cold peanut butter cup and cut a small section off of it so that it will have a flat side. Place some frosting on the flat section and the top of the peanut butter cup and attach it to the Oreo with the candy corn so that it becomes the body of the turkey.

Take the Whopper and put icing on the back side of it. Attach it so that it is right on top of the peanut butter cup and iced to the Oreo and Whopper. Add two drops of white icing for the eyes and a smaller drop of the black for the pupil.

For the wings, I cut the very tip of a candy corn and glued a wing on both sides of the peanut butter cup. For the feet, you can use the same tip you cut off when making your wings. Let dry for about 20 minutes before handling.



These would be so cute to give to a friend, child or neighbor. They would also be really cute holding a name place card for your Thanksgiving Dinner. You could just put the name card behind the candy corn on the top of the turkey. So cute and easy!

Here is another adorable turkey treat that my sister made for us last Thanksgiving.

**edit**I just came across another version of these from Make and Takes here.