Shoe Rack used as what?

I have shoe rack that proved to be useless in my closet, as the shoes NEVER made it to the rack.. so now, I still have a pile of shoes in my closet (I will work on that another time.. but I now have a nice TOWEL rack in my bathroom. YAY.. easy. Now if I can work on those darn shoes!

we rent, so I couldn't do anything permanent.. (which stinks, because there is a lot I would LIKE to do, but can't)

fudgy cherry brownies

I got hungry last night, so I whipped up some brownies and added some leftover cherries and fudge from the sundaes we made a week ago. They turned out so good I had to blog about it. Yes THAT good. I just followed the brownie recipe on the back of the can of cocoa, substituting the butter with crisco instead. (we are out of butter, MUST go shopping) I drained MOST of the juices out of the jar of cherries, leaving about 2 tbsp and dumped the contents into the mix. Then I just baked. The recipe called for about 30 minutes, I baked for 25.. I am impatient. But it didn't matter, just made them even better IMO. After they came out of the oven, I poked holes throughout the brownies (easy since they were still warm) then dumped all of hot fudge we had left all over said brownies. We didnt' even wait to cut them. We ate them warm. Had to scoop them onto our plates. They were EXCELLENT.  The picture does not do any justice.

In case you wanted he recipe, it is below. I added my own tweaks as well. :

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used crisco, worked just as good)

1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
6 tablespoons Baking Cocoa
1/2 cup Sifted All purpose Flour.
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't use)

Also, I added the cherries, with about 2 tablespoons cherry juice. (maraschino) I mixed all the ingredients first, then folded these in.

Cream Butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Blend in Cocoa. Stir in flour and nuts. (and cherries). Bake in greased 8x8x2 inch pan at 325 for 30 to 35 minutes. (I used a 9x13 pan bc I couldn't find my 8x8 lol.. and baked for 25 minutes) Cool. (another option I did not go for, couldn't wait)

Enjoy! My kids had whipped cream on top of theirs too. Another added option to this yummy goodness. Now I am going to pin this. Have a nice day!

Nothing new to show off

Its been a quiet first week of the new year.. I am hoping to jump back on the creating bandwagon very soon, starting with a Longhouse project my stepdaughter has to do for school.. (her doing most the work, of course). It will be a good opportunity to break out the glue gun though. :) 

I was thinking about learning to Knit this year. I have tried and failed miserably at crochet, numerous times.. so I just gave up on that, but NEVER gave knitting a thought. Its worth a shot. Those are good traits to have. I can sew (though I suck at using my machine, I do pretty well by hand). I do need to learn all of these traits, IMO, because it would be nice to make things myself. A little self satisfaction is in there of course. ;) 

Are there any traits that YOU hope to pick up this year? Crafting/Cooking or anything?

Easy dollar store craft

Another craft to let my 3 year old get into.. super easy and I let him have the GLUE!! It really IS a big deal.. since I don't let him get into my messy stuff that often. The look of concentration! All I used was a foam shape from the dollar tree (came in a pack of 8) and some pom poms.. thats all. He decorated and was done. 

the finished product:

clothes pin reindeer

Years upon years ago (without revealing my age) My brother came home from school with an awesome ornament from his teacher, made from Clothespins. How neat! Just layer them together to make 4 legs, then reverse a 3rd clothespin to create the "face" and antlers. Then apply googly eyes and a pom pom for a red nose. I let my 3 year old go to town making his own today, I think they turned out great! LOVE 3 year old art. Keep in mind, they are still in the drying stages, we plan to hang them when they are finished. :)

 

Upcycled Pringles Cans

Yet another reason to love PINTEREST. I find most of my inspiration from there now, it is definitely a great place to hunt down, well, pretty much anything and everything. I found a wonderful idea using Pringles cans to hold homemade cookies as a gift. Here is what I found: cookie holder  I decided, instead of Cookies I want to make chocolate dipped pretzel rods. I haven't made those yet though, I plan on handing them out Christmas eve, so I want them to be fresh lol, but even so, the idea is still the same, and a great way to use up scraps of holiday wrapping paper, instead of throwing it away. (I have tried saving it, but the scraps always end up ruined by next year, so lets face it, its trash). Anyway, here is my creation: (not quite like that found on pinterest, but nobody is perfect. ;p

Cookies in a jar

In case you were looking for a super easy and inexpensive gift for a neighbor, or a friend, why not go with the classic "cookies in a jar" ? Now, not everyone bakes, so take care in who you give these to, as I know my brother would find absolutely NO use of this gift, unless he used the sugar for his coffee, and chocolate chips to munch on, the rest would be wasted. I followed the recipe used here to create these simple gifts. For an added touch, I included a wooden spoon for flair. Have a wonderful holiday season!