Rubber Band Guns

This Christmas 2011 my husband and I made rubber band guns for all of the little ones in the family. We purchased (3) - 1" x 4" x 6' boards at 3.98 each. I made a gun pattern from an old BB gun we have, its about 21" long and we cut 6 guns from one board. The clothespin is 10" from the front of the gun and a number 64 rubber band fits the gun perfectly. I used a Jig Saw to cut the shapes (not perfect). Then my husband drilled a hole for the finger portion, just right for small hands. He sanded the guns and used a Router to round the edges on the finger hole. He used a pneumatic staple gun to staple the clothes pin on because the nails were splitting the wood on the clothes pin. He sprayed the guns; he sprayed the boys camo colors and the girls guns were sprayed pink, except mine. I took Sharpie's and stencils and drew scrolls on all of the girls guns. Grandma Red gets hers personalized, Yea Me! They were a hit at the Christmas party. The older kids got in on the rubber band shooting and Mom asked why I didn't make guns for the older kids? I knew the little one's would tire of the guns and the older kids would take over...it was fun!

Cleaning the Dishwasher

I saw a "How To Clean your Dishwasher" on the Internet the other day so I decided to try it. I unscrewed the plate at the bottom and it was disgustingly dirty....now clean. Then it said to pout 1/2 cup of CLR into the dishwasher and run it for a cycle. I poured a half a cup in and there was a some left so I poured the rest in. I didn't measure the extra poured in, but if half a cup is good more is better. I hear the water run into the dishwasher and it starts the clean cycle....all of the sudden suds start pouring out of the bottom of the dishwasher. And I mean a lot of suds. I placed a tub under the door and sat there trying to make it run into the tub. I emptied the tub three times before it stopped. The morale of this story is follow the instructions or just use vinegar like Mom said.

Elfcapades

Those Elves are causing trouble all over town!! Tori and Bishop forgot to change their advent calender so Kiko is reminding them. Snowflake took a ride on Payton and Paxton's Christmas tree train. Sprinkles found Barbie and climbed in Alivia and James chandelier. And the naughtiest elf was Buddy. Buddy wrote on Preston and Emily's bathroom mirror with their mom's lipstick! But it did say "have a great day" so I guess he's not so naughty. I hope they brushed their teeth because he is sitting

there watching!

Ornament Chalkboard

Change your message every day or use it to count down to Christmas....an ornament chalkboard.
I had some 1/4" black foamboard that I cut a 5" circle with a 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" lip. I brushed on a couple of coats of some chalkboard paint. I cut a piece of gray paper slightly bigger than the lip, inked the edges and glued it onto the lip. I bent a piece of wire and stuck it in the foam. Be Naughty, Be Nice or Merry Christmas. Just remember Santa's watching!

Mississippi Mud Cake

I have tried many variations of this recipe but this is the BEST. It has a fudgey brownie bottom and the usual marshmallow and chocolate topping. I could just eat the whole thing by myself but that wouldn't be nice. 5 star*****
Mississippi Mud Cake
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 cup of Parkay margarine
1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate bits
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of flour
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13" x 9" pan. In a microwave melt the chocolate bits with the margarine in a large bowl, remove and stir until the chocolate bits are all melted. Add the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla, stir until well blended. Stir in the flour. Pour into prepared pan and bake 25 - 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle will still have moist crumbs attached. When there is 10 minutes left on the baking time, make the frosting.
Frosting
2 cups of mini marshmallows
1/4 cup of semi sweet chocolate bits
1/2 cup of Parkay margarine
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 lb of powdered sugar
In a microwave, melt the chocolate bits with the margarine. Add vanilla and powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, stir well. Add the marshmallows to the warm frosting, if the frosting gets too thick add a tiny bit of milk. Spread the frosting over the hot brownies.

Upside Down Pecan Pie

This is not your normal pecan pie! This pie is baked upside down and then flipped over onto a dessert plate. I have to say the flipping over part is the hardest part of this whole recipe. It even tells you "Invert onto a plate carefully, caramel is very hot" and it is! But it's GOOD!
Pate Brisee (that's French for pie dough)
1 1/4 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
8 Tbls Parkay butter- 1 stick
1/4 cup of ice water
Combine flour, salt and sugar. Cut butter into small pieces. Cut the butter into the flour mix until it resembles course meal. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Flatten into a small disc and wrap in cling wrap. Chill for 1 hour.
Upside Down Caramel & Pecans
12 Tablespoons of Parkay butter
1/2 cup of Honey
1 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
4 cups of pecan halves
3/4 cup of heavy cream
In a 12" cast iron skillet over medium heat, combine butter, honey and sugars. Bring to a boil and let boil for 4 minutes. Add pecans and heavy cream and boil for 3 minutes longer. Remove form heat and let stand for 30 minutes to cool.
Mound the pecans and caramel into the center of the pan leaving a gap between the pecans and the edge of the pan. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees with the rack in the top 1/3 of the oven. Roll out dough to 1/8" thick. cut to 13" diameter. Place the pastry over the pecan mixture pressing the pastry down into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake 25 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Invert onto a plate carefully, Caramel is very hot.

Scrunched Scarf

I bought 1 yard of a chiffon material and cut it lenghtwise on the fold. I sewed the two ends together to make one long piece. I turned the edge over 1/4" and hemmed the two long edges. I ran a gathered stitch down the center of the fabric. Then I ran a gathered stitch on both sides of the first one. I hemmed the bottom and there you have it a long scrunched scarf. Most scarves aren't very long and barely wrap around your neck, this scarf is long and goes down to about my knees. You can wrap it around you neck and the one down your back. You can pull it to the front and tie a knot about half the way down.

Elves LOVE Hot Chocolate

Uh-oh!!!! Snowflake the Elf found Payton and Paxton's hot chocolate. Who is gonna clean up that mess?

Elf On The Shelf Ideas

Elf on the Shelf Ideas

-He can leave nice and naughty reminders, frozen because they have come from the North Pole
-Elves like to take pictures of themselves
-Elves like to read and he likes “The Night before Christmas” read to him.
-Put him next to things your kids talk about the day before as a reminder that he is listening
-For a birthday sit him next to the person’s photo
-They like to wrap gifts
-They will help with chores, put dishes away, clean kitchen
-The elves like to make snow angels in flour or fake snow
-He can make cookies while you sleep and he has been caught next to the bowl with the spoon licked clean and cookie crumbs all around him.
He’ll make gingerbread houses and leave icing & sprinkles so you can help.
He likes popcorn but he leaves a mess all around himself.
He will drink a mug of hot chocolate and sometimes he spills the marshmallows all over the table.
He can make pancakes for breakfast but he makes snow angels in the mix.
He will eat cereal and has been caught hanging half out of the box with cereal all over the table
-My elf was in the fridge eating a cold snack…he is from the North Pole.
-Elves like to make paper snowflakes, he has been known to be caught in the middle of the paper scraps with scissors in hand and he will hang the snowflakes above the table.
-My elf would hang extra Christmas lights around, in the bathroom, over the kitchen table, etc.
-My elf sometimes hides the children’s stocking, leaving clues.
-They like to make paper cup towers.
-He likes Christmas music and he likes it loud
-He likes to help decorate. You might find candy canes or tinsel all over the house.
-Elves like to make things for the kids. He will make a scarf by cutting fleece and he was caught with the scissors and scraps.
He sewed red bows and Christmas buttons to mittens, I saw him with a needle, thread, ribbon and buttons all over.
-Elves are mischievous:
-Play with the kid’s toys & games – tea party, Play-station, cards, He really likes to ride in Barbie cars or play with Lego’s
-The elves will wrap the living room in toilet paper
-They Hang underwear or socks on the Christmas tree
-They are caught climbing in the Christmas tree
-They will put toothpaste on the mirror
-They will be caught sitting on a pillow in driver seat of car with empty
food container because he went for a pizza or burger run
-Once they drove the car and parked it sideways in the driveway.
-He will try on your hats and gloves and hide all of your socks
-They will put all of the ornaments on one side of the tree
-If you have more than one elf, be careful, they have been known to have cotton ball snowball wars
-One time our elf unrolled a whole roll of toilet paper onto the floor.