Tag Archives: easy

Monkey Bread

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I was looking for something ‘fun’ to make for Thanksgiving morning breakfast. My first thought, “monkey bread’.  My husbands response, “What’s monkey bread?”

Where did I go wrong?

How long have we been together and I have never made Monkey Bread?

This travesty must be righted.

There are several different recipes for Monkey Bread. They all have the same basic set of ingredients so here is the one that I used. I am sure you could class it up and make the bread but come on it’s monkey bread.

You will need:

  • 4 Cans Refrigerated Biscuits (7.5 oz)
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 2 – 3 Teaspoons Cinnamon  (Depends on how much you like cinnamon)
  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 3/4 Cup Butter
  • Chopped Nuts (Optional)

  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. Open the biscuits and cut them into fourths.
  3. Combine the cinnamon and granulated sugar into a gallon zip bag.
  4. Put all the biscuits in the bag and shake to evenly coat them all. If you are using nuts add them here.
  5. In a small sauce pan melt the butter and add the brown sugar. Mix until dissolved.
  6. I used a springform pan but a bundt pan would also work. I also sprayed the pan. You might be tricked into thinking all the butter will do it but no.
  7. Put all the biscuits into the pan and pour over the melted butter/brown sugar mixture.
  8. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes depending on the size and depth of the pan you are using. (Tip – put a cookie sheet under the pan you are using as it is likely to leak a little)
  9. Once done baking let cool for 10 minutes before trying to turn out the pan. It is easiest to put your serving plate on the bottom and turn it over slowly to ensure it releases.

Best served warm or reheated in the microwave for breakfast for the rest of the thanksgiving break.

Luggage Tags

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Summer travel season is in full swing. A good rule for travel, whether you are going to day camp, the grandparents or around the world, label everything. So I thought what better way to start getting ready for our upcoming vacation than to make luggage tags. I made these as favors for the guest who traveled to my wedding and they were a huge hit. It also gave my daughter a chance to customize one for her own bag.

You will need:

  • Self Laminating Pouches
  • Paper or postcards
  • Stickers
  • Hole Punch
  • Marker
  • Ribbon or Plastic Tag

  1. Cut the paper or postcards down to the desired size. Make sure to cut it smaller than the pouch so you have room to seal it.
  2. Decorate, Decorate, Decorate. I bought some beach themed stickers for our trip this year. My daughter tried to use them all on one tag. She likes a lot of flare.
  3. Write the relevant information on the opposite side of the tag. She opted to have the tags be different colors on each side. So I taped the two together.
  4. Place them inside the pouch and seal it tight. Remember to go over the edges carefully and get any air pockets out.
  5. Take the hole punch and make a small hole in the end. In the past have used a set of tags that was designed to be luggage tags. These are a bit smaller than the ones I used here. I need more room to decorate. 
  6. You can either use ribbon or a plastic strap to attach it to the bag.

Enjoy your trip and Thank You for Playing.

Felt Boards

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Summer travel season is upon us. This means countless hours spent in confined spaces doing everything and anything we can to prevent our kid from being “That Kid”. My child much like every child in the world loves stickers. Wait I mean “LUV” stickers. She can never have enough. I mean truly how many stickers can one human need. The answer is infinite…

Here is my answer to the travel sticker question. This is great for your kids to participate in choosing their own shapes and colors to make their board. Even better they are are easily transportable.

You will Need:

  • Foam Board
  • Felt (Adhesive Backed)
  • Felt (Multiple Colors)
  • Adhesive Velcro (hook side)
  • Cutting implement(s)
  • Buttons
  • PomPoms
  • Ribbon
  • Anything else your heart desires
  1. Take the piece of adhesive felt and measure it against the foam board. The foam board will give the felt rigidity.
  2. I used a rotary cutting tool, mat and ruler to measure and cut the foam board.
  3. Remove the adhesive and apply the base felt level to the foam board.
  4. Let your imagination run free. Shapes, Flowers, Buttons, Ribbon, Foam People, Oh my. Cut the items down to desired shapes.
  5. Place a small piece of the hook side velcro on each piece of decoration. A great job for little hands.
  6. Place all the bits in a zip bag for easy travel.
  7. Sit back and enjoy the countless hours or minutes of silence this craft brings. And yes that is a glitter shoe on my table too.

As you can see we went with your basic red glitter house with black glitter roof, a neighborhood staple, and giant flowers that dwarf the people living there. A magical place for sure.

Thanks for playing.

Making Butterflies

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Mariposa. Mariposa. Mariposa.

All my daughter seems to talk about lately is butterflies or since she learned the word in Spanish class, Mariposa. “Say it with me mom, Ma-ri-posa.” So this week’s craft is a butterfly.

You will need:

  • Paper Towels
  • Food Coloring
  • Clothes Pins
  • Marker
  • Small Bowls
  • Water

  1. Fill the small bowls with some water and add a few drops of food coloring to make the desired color. Much to everyones surprise, we went for a light purple, light pink and yellow. This was a great lesson in creating color and how we mix colors to get other colors.
  2. Take the paper towel and fold it up. We tried a few different ways, folding it as a square, a triangle and even crumpling it up. We got a kick out of seeing how the different folds made new patterns.
  3. Dip the paper towel into the colors. Depending on how much liquid they absorb you may want to wring the towel out a bit before moving to the next color.
  4. Unfold them and put them out to dry.
  5. Take the clothes pins and with a marker make a face for the butterfly. Yes, I gave a Sharpie to a toddler.
  6. Once the paper towels are completely dry you can assemble your Mariposas. Gather the center of the paper towel to make the body.
  7. Secure it with the clothes pin.
  8. Enjoy your own butterflies.

Thanks for playing.

Strawberry Napoleons

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I love the unexpected surprise life hands you. They can make for inspiring creations.

On Mother’s Day weekend we went to our local farmers market to get a few things. We stopped to get some organic strawberries, my daughters favorite thing. We asked for the two baskets we typically get but they looked so good I asked for one more. The woman said, “Here a special for you” and gave me half a flat of strawberries. My daughters eyes just lit up as if she had just won the fruit lottery. I graciously thanked her but on the way to the car thought to myself, How will we ever get through all these?”

Insert Happy Accident.

We were having people over for dessert on Mother’s Day and I thought Strawberry Napoleon’s. Now this sounds like something very daunting that you would only ever order in a restaurant but I assure you they are very easy.

At least my way they are.

You will need the following:

  • Puff Pastry
  • Vanilla Pudding
  • Strawberries
  • Powdered Sugar

Recipe

  1. Start with the pudding, as it will need time to set up. You can use a boxed vanilla pudding but it was Mother’s Day. And let’s be honest I was serving this to the woman who gave life to my husband so I classed it up a bit. I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Vanilla Bean Pudding. It was very easy to make and tasted amazing. I was plating 9 desserts that day so I doubled the recipe.
  2. Set the puff pastry out to thaw on the counter.
  3. Cut the strawberries and place aside.
  4. Once the pastry is thawed, un-fold it. Divide each package along the folds (i.e. one sheet of pastry will yield three rectangles.
  5. Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake according to the manufacturers directions.
  6. Remove them from the oven and place on a rack to cool, completely.
  7. Start the assembly: take each rectangle of puff pastry and with a sharp knife cut it into three squares. Press two of the squares down with your hand so they are a bit more level.
  8. Spread a layer of the pudding on the bottom layer and top with strawberries.
  9. Repeat on the second layer and stack them on the plate. Top with the remaining square.
  10. Dust with powdered sugar.
Sometimes the unexpected kindness of others leads to amazing things. Enjoy.