Magnetic Calendar and Shopping list

On my recent shopping list, was "magnetict shopping list pad" (ironic, I know) and "small simple calendar"


Im sure I could have found one at Dollar Tree or someplace, but I wanted one and was at WalMart. Checking their stationary section, I found a magnetic shopping list for $4+ and there
were some non-magnetic Post-It list pads for $1. The $4 one had an ugly decorative border too. i thought, I can just Post-It the current list to the fridge until I find an affordable magnetic list pad.
Also in the stationary section of Wal-Mart, I got a calendar ($3) that was the same brand as the Post-It list, thinking it was also Post-It-able.

At home I found that the Calendar was NOT stickable, hmmmmmm. Then I got an AH-HA moment and remembered a magnet calendar (from 2007) that I had come across in my Craft Room Overhaul, not one to throw away something I can re-purpose, I had saved the magnet. Also I had "fridge declutter" on my "To-Do/To-Blog" list and I knew I had a handfull of useless magnets on the fridge also... (yes they were all PIZZA places, I had purged a bunch of magnets before I moved, but had a hard time throwing ALL of them away)

The wheels in my brain started turning, some creaking and squeeking and leftover Chex Muddy Buddies later, I decided how it would work:


I inserted them all, magnet side up, into my Xyron with a Pernament refill installed.

I had cut one of them in half, while still on the wax paper, to make it fit.(I had tested the magnet streghth by putting multiple magnets under the back page of both items and sticking it on the fridge, all the magnets I had were plenty strong enough.)
TA-DA!

Project Cost:
List pad: $1
Calendar Pad: $3
Magnets: $free
about 6 inches of Xyron refill: $0.28

i'm linking back to Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays party

and It's a Blog Party's Show Me How party

and Sugar Bee- Craft Edition's Take a Look Tuesday

and Get Your Craft On

Quick Fridge Make-Over

So I have found the front of a fridge to get cluttered easily, and look cluttered even more easily. Mine is often covered in useless magnets, outdated notes/coupons, too-weak magnets(re-use idea here) etc.
Here is my super quick fridge front decluttering:

THE BEFORES:

THE AFTERS:
I just took everything off the fridge that was useless, or that wasnt pretty to look at, or that I didnt love.
left on my fridge (left to right) are:
Bag for can recycling, this will move to my new recycling area when my Craft Room Overhaul is done.
House Rules (written with my 4yr old nephew, when he comes over, I move them to the front of the fridge so he can see them, and we talk about them again each time, as a refresher)
Darling picture of 2 of my neices, I put in a picture hanging magnet (that was on the fridge, but empty in the before picture)
Magnetic Shopping/T0-Do list.
Magnetic Calendar.
Cute little magnet that reminds me to eat more veggies.

Great picture of my nephew and I baking cookies a few years ago, makes me smile when I see it from the stove area.
Conversion chart magnets for measuring ingredients and stuff.
Cheat sheet for my Tupperware Fridgesmart containers.
Easy reach potholder/hand towel Command Hooks. (click for the website and printable coupons!)

This is so much easier on the eyes, and helps the kitchen seem a little less cluttered.

ETA 1/19/11 I can assure you that the fride has stayed uncluttered! no new magnets. only the occassional post-it that was removed when finished doing its job, and only new item is a small stack of important papers clipped to the side, cant lose them! I even tried to keep the top uncluttered too!

Even though the Challenge was to clean the inside of the fridge, Im linking to A Bowl Full of Lemon's Day 16 Organizing Challenge, The Fridge

Let the Thanksgiving Planning Begin

OK so the Menu was the easy part, since this isn't my first (or 8th) Thanksgiving in the last 6 years. Recipes:
~~~~~~~~~~


Parmesan
Chex
Mix


(mostly copy/pasted from Chex.com)

Ingredients ~3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
~3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
~3 cups Wheat Chex® cereal (or any combination of cereal totally about 9 cups) (off brand is fine)
~1 cup mixed nuts (or more if your family is nutty like mine)
~1 cup bite-size pretzels (I have sticks leftover from Halloween spiders)
~1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces (the mini ones are hard to find) ~2 cups Cheeze Its ~ Parmesan flavor
~6 tablespoons butter or margarine
~2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
~1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt (sometimes I leave this out)
~3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
~1/2 teaspoon onion powder
~A tub of Parmesan cheese (from the cheese section, not the Kraft shaker canister)

Oven Directions: (you can google the recipe to get the microwave directions, I prefer the oven)
Heat oven to 250°F. In large ungreased roasting pan, (I use the big disposable foil one I will cook the turkey in, its easy to wash after), mix cereals, nuts, pretzels, crackers and bagel chips; set aside. In microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in seasonings and Worcestershire sauce.
Gradually pour butter mixture over cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. For the last 15 minutes, mix in Parmesan cheese. (if making more than a day ahead, save this step for same day to finish up.) Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

Note: Can be re-baked if begins to stale a few days later, (if it lasts that long)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Artichoke Dip
Ingredients:
~1/2 Costco size jar of marinated artichoke chunks, drained well
(you can buy multiple little jars from other grocery stores but its cheaper to buy a full jar from Costco/Cash & Carry than multiple little jars and you can freeze the other half of the jar, people will request this dip again)
~2 bricks cream cheese softened
~1 can diced green chilies (or diced jalapenos, more or less, depending on personal taste)
~about 1/4 cup of mayonnaise
~1 - 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese (from tub works better than the bag for some reason)

Directions:
~I put a Ziploc bag on my hand as a glove to break up the artichoke chunks, its easier and funner than with a knife or bare hands.
~Add the cream cheese, if its not softened, put the bricks in the mixing bowl with the artichokes and microwave for 30-45 seconds.
~Mix with potato masher
~Add mayo (I don't measure, just plop in a big spoonful), the diced chilies and 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese.
~Mix until, well, you know, mixed.
~Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
~Cook in a 375ish oven for 15 mins or until hot and bubbly. OR as I usually do, Microwave on high, uncovered for 5-10 mins (depending on the size/shape of the dish)

Note: Microwaving works great if you bring this dip to someones house, or a workplace potluck. Serve with tortilla chips, or our favorite Tomato Basil Wheat Thins.

Another note: Can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, wrapped tight and cooked day of.

Yet another note: I recently tried this with a small crock pot for the first time, because it would be served in a colder building, and it worked very well. My crock pot has a removable microwave save crock, I made the dip the morning of and stashed the crock it in the fridge. i took it out and microwaved it for about 12 minutes (the crock is deeper/denser than average casserole pans) then put it in the crock pot on "warm".

One last note: a more shallow baking pan will create more of the bubbly cheesey crusty top that people love.

~~~~~~~




Sugared
Cranberries




photo courtesy When Pigs Fly




Ingredients:
~1 bag of cranberries
~tiny bit, like 1 tablespoon, juice or water
~less than 1 cup of regular table sugar

Directions:
wash and dry the cranberries watching for any mushy or icky ones.

add juice or water (i have a pampered chef spritzer thingy) to lightly coat berries
add enough sugar to coat, tossing often in a big ziplock bag, .
remove from bag, store uncovered, the sugar will dry and get crusty, which is good.

Note: I wouldnt make more than 1 bag worth, people like them, but dont tend to eat many of them, unless you invite my sister to the party, then they will all get eaten.

~~~~~~~

Mom's
Fruit
Salad





photo courtesy Something So Clever



Ingredients:
1 big can of fruit cocktail
1 medium can of pinapple tidbits
2 small cans (or like 10 fresh, peeled & sectioned) mandarin oranges
1/2 lb of green or red grapes or both
1 green apple, diced small
1 red apple, diced small
small amount of lemon or lime juice
2 bananas, cut in half lenthwise, then sliced (or left bigger if there are banana haters in your family)
1/2 lb strawberries, if in season
1 bag mini marshmellows
1 small tub whipped cream, or make from whipping cream/sugar/vanilla
(other fruits can be added or omitted depending on taste)

Directions:
Drain canned veggies very well. (offer pineapple juice to sister, but then drink it in front of her)
toss cut apples with small amount of lemon or lime juice to prevent browning.
mix all fruit together except bananas, mix them in last so they dont get too beat up and mushy
fold in marshmellows and whipped cream.

Note: when making ahead of time, drain and mix fruit (all except bananas), and wait to add bananas (cut them right before adding) marshmellos and whipped cream until within a few hours of serving.

~~~~
Roasted Turkey with Herb Medallions

has its own blog post

~~~~


Cheesy
Green
Bean
Casserole.


pic shown without mushrooms because its courtesy Things We Heart

This recipe originated from the back of the French's Fried Onions can, but made less mushy, and with more flavor.

Ingredients:
~about 2lbs fresh or frozen greenbeans (or however close you get with the bag sizes this isnt chemistry lab) frozen is usually better, since theyre not in season. and more affordable, less prep work too.

~1 large can of lower sodium/lower fat cream of mushroom soup. (off brand is fine, we'll be dolling it up.

~1 large can of French's Fried Onions, regular or cheddar flavored

~1 lb fresh mushrooms (buy them cleaned and presliced if you'd like, but not too far in advance, or save $ and buy whole.

~1-2 tubs of parmesan or mixed italian shredded cheese, or 1.5 cups shredded sharp cheddar~several cloves garlic, or prediced garlic from a jar

~EVOO/butter, pepper, soy sauce(optional)

Directions:
if you bought them whole, brush off mushrooms (dont wash) to get dirt off. Slice mushrooms. Super awesome tip: use one if these fancy egg/strawberry/mushroom/kiwi slicers. (mine is from Pampered Chef)

Save 5-7 pretty looking slices aside. Then crumble (easy job for kiddos to help) the rest into chunks, no need for a knife, just break the slices up. (I do this sitting down at the table, to save my feetsies from getting to tired, can also be done night before)

~sautee mushroom chunks in garic/EVOO/butter until carmelized (the picture isnt carmelized yet)~ add soup, pepper, dash of soy sauce and 2/3 can of onions. (skip the soy if you got regular sodium soup)

~ set soup mixture aside, (on a warm burner if you have one empty) cover or my mom will constanty have to "taste" a few chunks of mushrooms, you want to save some for the casserole.

You have 2 options to cook the greenbeans:

~If they came in a steamer bag, or if you just prefer to, go ahead and steam them until tender, but not over cooked.

~Otherwise, blanch them in boiling water until tender, but not over cooked. (while waiting for water to boil, prep a large bowl of ice water). When cooked, drain and dunk collander in ice water to stop the cooking process. (or simply run cold water over top from the tap)

~In large casserole pan, mix 2/3 of the cheese, the soup mixture and greenbeans.

~Cook, covered, at 350-375 (or whatever tem the rest of the T-day oven co-habitants are hanging out in) until hot through. Plan for this to take about 20 minutes, depending on pan size/oven temp etc. A few minutes before serving, top with remaining cheese, fried onions and fresh mushroom slices, and finish cooking uncovered, so the cheese gets bubbly and the onions crisp.

Note: The casserole can be done ahead of time, even the night before, then just cooked day of, heating through will take longer though than if starting from warm soup/beans.

Another Note: I have made this and then put it into a crockpot instead of casserole pan. It worked well, the top doesnt get crispy like it does in the oven though. (it was for a potluck at work, no ovens) this year, I am going to try to put it in the crockpot, but then top with broiled-crispy fried onions, and see how that works. There is always so much shuffling going on in the oven, and this year, all the dishes have to be carried downstairs to our home theater/shop for the buffet. My loft just wont hold 30-40 people comfertably, so luckily we have a shop-turned-banquet hall for large gatherings.

~~~~~

Sausage

Mushroom

Stuffing

photo courtesy Mikes Table

This recipe evolved over years of making it up as I went along. I'll be honest, I used to pull out a box of Stove Top and just make it with turkey stock instead. Then I started adding to that, chopped celery and onion, then my mom made stuffing one time using boxed stuffing cubes looked easiy enough. So I started doing that, recently, I added the sausage. Bringing this to my then-boyfriend's grandma's for Thanksgiving sealed the deal for his family and he was forbidden to break up with me. This year I will be bringing it again, as his wife.

I appologize for the measurements, I'm not so great at measuring, just eyeballing stuff. Ingredients:

~1 lb italian sausage.(or whatever sausage you like)
~1 box/bag seasoned bread cubes(or crumbs)
~1 egg
~a bunch of store bought or homemade chicken/turkey stock (I usually make some with turkey neck/giblets and ends/scraps of the veggies that go in the turkey, poultry seasoning, and boullion cubes) but have to supplement with more from the store. I prefer the box version over the canned, because its easier to store leftovers in the fridge.
~1-2 lb of mushrooms sliced then broken into peices
~2 stalks of celery, diced
~1 or 2 carrots, diced fine
~about 1/4 cup chopped onion
~about 2 cloves garlic (or prediced jarred equivilant)
~EVOO (or butter) (or reserved sausage drippings)
~poultry herbs: sage, rosemary, thyme
~optional: meat picked from the neck(that was cooked in the stock) and additional scraps of turkey meat (if this is being prepared at about the same time as the turkey is done)

(this is half or 1/3 of what I usually make)

Directions:
~to save effort on T-Day, I brown the sausage up a few days in advance, draining the fat, and store them seperate. I also chop veggies a few days in advance, but you can brown the sausage same day, draining, set aside.
~in butter/fat/evoo: saute veggies, starting with onions/carrots/garlic most of the way, then add mushrooms. Mix in warmed (usually in microwave) pre-browned sausage and turkey meat bits. add finely chopped herbs.
~toss veggie/sausage mixture with the bread cubes. add enough stock to moisten very well, (i toss with my hands so i can feel it) when mixed, add a gently scrambled egg(for binding) pour into buttered casserole dish.
~bake covered, until hot through at 350-375 (or whatever temperature other T-Day oven occupants are hanging out in after the turkey is removed from the hot-box). (if it will be a while before ready to bake, cover and store in fridge). remove cover for a few minutes at the end of bake time to crisp top.

Note: I use some leftover stock to remoisten and bake leftovers the next few days. or make a patty and fry in a pan for a ultimate sandwich with turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce.

~~~~

Pumpkin

Cheesecake

with pecan crust

photo courtesy Leites Culinaria

So I goofed and lost the recipe I have used for the pumpkin cheesecakes I have made the last few years, but when I saw this one in All You magazine, it looked pretty close.

I will be making mini cheesecakes with foil cupcake liners in cupcake pans. I really cannot be bothered with a springform pan, water bathes, or cutting and serving each slice. Cupcakes are kind of my signature....

I just spoon a bit of the crust mixture into each cup, pressing into the bottoms with the end of a shot glass (I havent got the fancy Pampered Chef Mini-Tart Shaper yet). The rest of the directions are pretty close to what I do. I also top each cheesecake with a candied pecan (store bought) so people know there are pecans in it.

(Copy/Pasted from All You link above)
Ingredients
CRUST:
1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (from about 30 cookies)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
FILLING:
3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
Preparation
1. Make crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan. Cover outside of pan with 2 layers of foil. Stir together all crust ingredients. Press into bottom and up sides of pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

2. Make filling: With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and both sugars until light. Beat in eggs and yolks, 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour and spice. Pour into crust.

3. Place cheesecake in a large roasting pan; fill pan with 2 inches of hot water. Bake until cake is set around edges but still slightly jiggly when lightly shaken (cheesecake will firm as it cools), 55 to 65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 10 hours or up to 2 days.

This recipe from Leites Culinaria is also pretty similar to the one Ive used before.

~~~~~
Im linking to Its A blog Party's Days of Thanksgiving Holiday Party

gift wrap organization.

So, to be green and to save green, I am always saving gift bags, tissue and ribbons. The reuseable gift wrap in addition to rolls of paper, greeting cards and gift tags have, for years, just stored in a long tote. It seemed however to just get fuller and less organized as time went by. Recently when wanting to wrap a gift, I had to all but dump the entire box out to find the right sized bag, or right color tissue paper.

Then to make matters even less organized, came the bridal shower and wedding gifts. The influx of gift wrap made some changes to the organization nessesary.

This does not include any specifically Christmas wrapping stuff, it has its own box in the attic it only comes down when the Christmas decor does, I can wait to wrap gifts for now.

~~~~First, the before:

~~~~~2nd: take everything out of the tote and sort it:

I decided that the best place for all the gift wrap(for now) is back in this box. It is as large of real estate as I wanted to allow the gift wrap to take up, its perfect lenth for wrapping paper rolls, and most everything fit inside before it was organized.

~~~3rd: put it back, but organized this time,

From my previous efforts to organize this box, I know that the rolls of paper should go along one side, stacked up (rather than along the bottom, where they'd get buried, or the top where theyd be in the way).

I rubber banded the rolls, and tucked scraps of paper inside an empty tube (I opted to use the empty tube, rather than a full tube because it will remind me there is paper inside, rather than forget there is blue paper inside the flower paper roll. )

To keep the rolls from rolling across the bottom of the tote, I inserted a shoe box (that previously housed bows and ribbons) this kept them all stacked nice along one side. (this later was moved)

Let me share an easy tip for next time you open a roll of paper: Slide the paper out of its cellophane sleeve, cut a piece of the sleeve off, and then slide the band of cellophane back onto the roll when youre done wrapping.

No need to find a rubber band, no icky sticky tape to tear off next time, and its right there, and free. (You can even make a few extra bands, for previously opened paper you already have in your bin) And no unrolling!

Another gift wrap organization tip: Buy generic paper, its often cheaper, and you can use the same roll for multiple different occasions, for boys or girls birthdays, for anniversarys (really, how many anniversary gifts will you give this year?) baby showers etc. just dress it up with ribbons, bows, stickers etc. Ive been doing this long enough most people know which gift is from me, because of the solid colored paper. This prevents you from having a different roll (or 2) for every gift giving occasion to store. (Same idea goes with ribbons and bags, the receiver can reuse the bag for any occasion) Next, I started putting in the gift bags, somewhat organized by size. The larger ones had to be folded against their natural folds, to make them fit and not flop open, I used some tape.

all the bags go in the box:

But I'm not done, thats not all I took out of the messy box.

I found a bunch of small bags and boxes (you would think I get a lot of jewelry, nope) all the bags and boxes were nested inside another box I had been saving for gift wrapping.

Dont forget all that ribbon (a lot of leftovers from my Spring Wreath):

Gift tags always got lost amongst the bags and tissue, now theyre all together in a Ziplock:

Another thing that found a new home in Ziplocks, tissue paper:

Each color got its own bag, easy to find the right color for the gift! (mostly organized Roy G. Biv style, I love that guy)

~~~~Now, the moment we have all been waiting for (some longer than others):

You will notice I have a baggie for the tape, pen, and Paper Cutter having it all handy makes for easier wrapping, they all go back in the box when wrapping is done.
I highly reccommed the Scotch brand wrapping paper cutter. Its important to get the one designed for wrapping paper (rather than other crafts) because it has a little bump thing on the back for curling ribbon(others do not). The paper cutter makes easy work of cutting wrapping paper straight, and the tip is great for peeling up price tags. It takes less space than scissors, safer for kids to use, and, wont get stolen out of the gift wrap box to be used for other purposes. (most ribbon can also be cut with it). I used to have a small pair of kids scissor in the tote before i found the cutter.

I have a seperate one in my Christmas Wrapping paper box, so I dont forget it on one box or the other and have to go up in to the attic to get it for January birthday gifts.

Note: Now I had originally thought I would have to keep out the specifically "wedding" gift bags(I had soooo many), tissue and ribbon, but I ended up having plenty of space for those in this box, all the bags are together, same with the tissue and ribbon though, so that I can find them easily, and if need be, move them to a smaller, seperate bin later on.

Eventually, I would love to have a space like Jenny Free Style has, check her out! She shows how to make the organizer board on her post!

gorgeous and fuctional!

I'm linking to We're Organized Wednesdays at Organize and Decorate Everything

and Iheartorganzing Gift Wrap link list

Craft Room Overhaul Begins!

So my craft room, as you will soon see, needs a major cleaning, organizing, repurposing, OVERHAUL.

We went from moving in, to wedding(crafts, getting dressed, gift storage) to halloween (costumes, storing stuff that was cluttering our other rooms) and only really stopped to clean (aka, push things in the corners) once.

Before I start with the Christmas crafts (and soon after that, have a baby) this must be fixed!

So brace yourself, here are the BEFORE pictures.

Scarey I know, but I do enjoy organizing, sometimes, so this will be fun, right?.

The 1st thing I did, was pack up all the sewing stuff. for 3 reasons: A. Rediculously sheddy faux fur from a wolf costume, and 2 I very rarely sew (last time was 3 years ago I think, for halloween) so the machine, fabric, and notions all go in 1 box, that doesnt have to be easily accessable, and D: It was the latest project, so everything from the box is near the top of piles.

I folded up all the leftover scrap fabric, it, the machine, cords, and any notions I found around the room, went into the box. The box got its lid and was moved out of the way.
~~~~~

Next, I closed my eyes, and pointed randomly at the cluttered shelf, to pick something to get me started on my next project. The leftover goodie bags from the wedding and extra cheap toy/favor stuff I had placed next to them(when I was cleaning elsewhere in the house, like items together were at the end of my finger.

I dumped all the bags out, fit all the non-candy contents into a ziplock, moved the candy to the halloween bowl, and tossed the ties and crumpled bags. Then, along with the other favor items, they went back into the cute blue box (from when they sat out at the wedding) went onto a shelf.

~~~~~~~

Now that I had a (mostly) cleared-off table again, I was ready to do one of my favorite organization techniques, start some SORTING boxes/bins/baskets.

With whatever misc boxes,bins, etc I had around, I started sorting things into them. I made quick labels for the boxes from scrap paper, tape, and a sharpie(since theyre temporary). I continued to fill the boxes up. eventually, the "OUT" box was full, I took out all the "KITCHEN" items out and started a new box for that. When it was full again, and I started a "BEDROOM" box. I had boxes for: "OFFICE" (supplies)"TO FILE", "KEEPSAKES"(paper-ish items to go in scrapbooks)"SBOOK SUPPLIES" "GLUE"(glue sticks, glue guns, craft glue, were all not where they belong) and a few others.

I had multiple "misc. stuff" boxes that had been created when I had cleared off surfaces on multiple occasions ever since I moved in. One by one, each box, bag, drawer, got sorted into the SORTING boxes.

Along with my trusty stack of scrap paper strips, I also labled boxes I had previously started for "CHRISTMAS GIFTS" "WEDDING" "DOWNSTAIRS". with each new box, I looked around the room to find items to add to the box.

~~~~~~

The next leg of my journed needed to be the corner next to the freezer, its higher purpose is to be a pantry wall, not a baby changing table covered in misc random"throw it in the corner" stuff. It needed to be next because takeing up precious space is an unassembled wire pantry shelf unit, and an unassembled food can organizer, both need new homes. On the wire shelf when anything "pantry" around the room, there were: 2 bags of sugar, almost empty large jug of vegitable oil, waffle iron, lunch bag, Big Top Cupcake pan, and some serving platters. In my living rooms was this: a table of wedding gifts (and some randomness) many gifts were pantry items.
they moved to the wire shelf, the gifts to return (or exchange, rather) went in a stack by the door, the random stuff, well, I wont lie, its still on that card table.

All the pantry items went to the wire shelf, then, I went shopping for Thanksgiving food, and added that to the shelves. I know this looks crazy full, but that is temporary, until my darling husband assembles this bad boy:
This will fit beautifully between the wire rack and the wall. (currently this is in 2 boxes, one in my office and one big one in the living room, but it requires lots of space to assemble the in-laws also have one in their garage). The food items on the wire shelf will move to the can spaces and empy shelves of the Shelf Reliance rack, and a few more kitchen items will then fit onto the wire shelves, clearing up another cupboard that would rather be used for other things. (basically were playing musical storage spaces)

~~~~~~

More transformations to come...

why grannie, what a big nightgown you have.

Owoooooooo! Who's that I see walkin' in these woods? Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood. Hey there Little Red Riding Hood, You sure are looking good. You're everything a big bad wolf could want.

So I didn't take pictures as I made our costumes but wanted to share them anyway.

After much deliberation over a fun couple's costume, we decided on Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

First I looked at a pattern to make a Little Red Riding Hood costume (couldn't find a premade maternity one at the stores), but thinking of my time, sewing skills, and budget, I decided to make the hood and apron and wear clothes I already had.


for the hood, I used a hoodie, laid it with the top of the hood on the fold of the red fabric, and cut around it, not cutting the folded side. (basically a rectangle with a curved corner) then i sewed the seam up the back, and a hem around the face.

To make the ties, I cut a strip of fabric, about 4 inches wide along one end of the fabric. i cut it in half so i had 2 22"x4" strips. folding the peices right sides together, i sewed a seam along the edge and one end and turned it right side out.


For the cape, I pressed and sewed a seam along the 2 sides and bottom of the cape.

To attatch the hood and ties to the cape, I folded and pressed a 5/8" seam along the entire top, then centered the hood on that edge of the cape. Then, right sides together, I pinned the hood and ties on and sewed a seam along the entire edge, reinforcing the stitches where the ties were attatched.

Ta-Da a hooded cape. I did not however prewash the velvety dark bright red fabric, so my hands, sewing machine and clothes I wore were tinted red. oh well.


For the apron, I followed a pattern I bought at walmart. had I thought ahead of time, I could have found an appropriate apron for less $ than the materials and pattern, but I enjoyed sewing it, and have pride in having made it myself. HS Sewing 101 was a long time ago.

For the Big Bad Wolf, originally we planned to attatch peices of faux fur (remarkably hard to find, wasn't at JoAnns or Wal-Mart) to a brown sweatsuit. Then we decided we wanted the wolf to be dresses in Grannies clothes. We scoured a thrift store for a nightgown, but ended up getting one at KMart (my hubbys a big guy, needed womens 4x size).

After putting the gown on, we found that only the hood, neck and ankles of the sweatsuit even showed, so remembering our budget and body temperature when my hubby will be drinking at the party, we decided to scrap the sweatsuit and return it for $20 back.

He had some old ratty sweat pants that I stitched, essentially faux fur leg warmers, to.


For the hood, I made a hood similar to the Red Riding Hood, only i left the seam around the face big enough for a drawstring, and made it longer so it would drape down his neck.

For the chest, I just cut a rectangle with a neck sized hole out of it, then a cut in the back. this was wrapped around his neck, laying on his shoulders and chest, and safety-pinned in the back.

I had intentions of makeing glove type things for his hands, but ran out of time.

The great thing about my costume, it was super comfertable and warm. Other girls at the party were in short skirts, as one admitted after a bunch of drinks "a lotta lycra under here" and high heels and not comfertable. Mikey lost his chest peice, then pants, and eventually his hood/make up before too long, and ran around in this nightgown most of the night. At that point he was pretty comfertable...

invite this guy to your halloween party

I got the idea for the super yummy mummy from a Taste of Home Halloween fun food magazine, where they had used cheese logs covered in piped cream cheese. well cheese logs are expensive and never get eaten all the way. I had already planned on making brownies (got a new brownie pan & brownie mix for a wedding gift) and I had leftover home made cream cheese frosting from wedding cupcakes.

Wilton Bake It Better 12-Cavity Bar Pan

The brownie pan only made a little under 1 box of mix, so I used a regular small rectangle cake pan (also a wedding gift) for the rest of the batter. Using a regular knife I shaped the head/torso out of the full pan and added the individual squares as the appendages, and cut them in half for the shoulder/hips(cut on diagonal) and arms (cut lengthwise). The legs are 2 full bars. Some scrap from around the head became the eyes.

Then I cut a slit in a freezer Ziploc (usually I use cheaper storage Ziplocs, but the cream cheese was cold and i didn't want the bag to split) to pipe on the bandages.

total project cost

$FR.EE, (well whatever about a cup of oil and 4 eggs and an hour of electricity costs)

but if you weren't gifted the brownie mix and didn't have leftover frosting, it would cost about $3ish for the mix, cream cheese, powdered sugar, eggs, oil etc.