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An Inexpensive Fairy Garden for my Grandkids

1/28/2022

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This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.
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     The weather in Phoenix has been pretty nice lately!  Sorry all of you snowed in people, but this is the time of year that we're glad to live in the desert.  Alicia and her family were here for a little less than a week and she helped me do some gardening.  We took a trip to Dollar Tree and while looking for things for the garden, we found something to keep the kids entertained out in the nice weather!  
     Dollar Tree has adorable Fairy Garden figures in many styles.  I let my granddaughter pick out some of the pieces.  At $1.25 a piece it was a real bargain! Another nice thing is that many of the packages have multiple figures.  Here are some link to some of the choices:
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     When we brought the figures home,  My granddaughter found the stump that she wanted to use to make her fairy garden on.  I also scavenged my craft supplies and found her some odds and ends to embellish her fairyland with.  Her brother joined in the fun as well.  They gathered rocks from the yard and grass to spruce things up.  Their creations turned out so cute! 
     I picked out our fairy pieces in the store, but you can order the entire set of your choice from Dollar Tree online as well.  As far as I can tell, the price online is still $1 per piece instead of the store price of $1.25!  If you have them shipped to the store, you can get free shipping! 
     These little fairy pieces will be a great way to entertain kids in the backyard while the weather is springlike!  
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More fun posts about entertaining kids:
  • Spring Activities with Kids
  • 5 Tips for Throwing a Kid's Birthday Party
  • The Best Books to Encourage Outdoor Play
  • Frugal Fun in Phoenix
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Make Homemade Butter in Your kitchen aid, plus a flavored honey cinnamon butter!

1/25/2022

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This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.
Homemade Butter
     I grew up living out in the country.  It was so great.  I wish my kids could have had that lifestyle in some ways.  For one thing, I knew where my food came from.  We gardened and raised chickens and sheep.  We sold corn 12 ears for a $1.00 on the side of the road.  We sold eggs for 50 cents per dozen.  Our family didn't have cows, but our neighbors did and we were often the recipients of delicious fresh milk.  My mom would skim off the cream and we would pass the container around shaking it to make butter, just like the pioneers.  That was some delicious butter. 

    Lately, I've seen some ideas for making flavored butters as gifts to enjoy with various crackers and breads.  Most of those recipes used butter purchased in the store, softened with herbs, etc. added to it.  That seems nice.  But, to me, if you are going to "make" a homemade gift, then it should really be homemade!  Butter is super easy to make and you don't have to shake the cream forever to turn it into butter!  I mean, that can be a lot of fun as a family activity to teach your kids how butter used to be churned.  But, with modern technology, like a stand mixer, making butter happens much more quickly! 
    Here are the steps to make your own butter: 
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I started by pouring my heavy cream into the bowl of my Kitchen Aid. I had 2 pints and a little bit that I added for good measure.
I started out mixing with the whisk attachment. First, your cream will become whipped cream. Don't quit and just eat it!
I switched to my paddle beater to finish the process. It is getting thicker here and beginning to turn yellow.
As you continue to beat, the cream will begin to "break" as the buttermilk separates from the fat.
All done and ready to strain off the buttermilk. The entire process so far took about 10-15, so be patient as you beat it. It will happen!
My yogurt strainer was the perfect device to strain off the buttermilk to save for cooking later. Knead the butter to encourage the buttermilk to drain off. Then remove the bottom of the strainer and just use the mesh part to rinse and knead the butter to remove any more buttermilk. Finally, knead in about 1/4 tsp of salt.
I packed my butter into these cute Tupperware mini bowls. They are so cute! The butter equals about 3 sticks of store purchased butter, or 1-1/2 cups.
Just another shot of the butter in the cute bowl.
I collected a little over a cup of buttermilk. It will be perfect for a cake or biscuits or pancakes.
    I then decided to make one of my little bowls of butter into a flavored butter.  I knew that Honey Cinnamon would go fast around here.  But, you can flavor your butter in a savory way as well.  
​     To make the Honey Cinnamon Butter, I put the butter back into a larger bowl to mix in the ingredients and continued to squeeze out buttermilk (without adding it to the jar of course) as I mixed it.  Here is the recipe:
Homemade Honey Cinnamon Butter
     I'm not going to pretend that this butter is less expensive than store bought butter because it is much more expensive to make.  But, it does tasted so good and fresh!  Also, as a gift, it is just a little extra effort that will be appreciated.  Or, if you just happen to have a chance to get some fresh cream from a friend with a cow, then making your own butter will be very cost effective!   Plus, these kinds of projects are so good to do with kids so that they can learn where their food actually comes from. 
homemade butter
    After packaging the butter and making the Honey Cinnamon Butter, I got onto Avery.com and used some of their cute stock ideas and customized and printed some labels for everything.  This will be especially important to do when making flavored butter gifts. 
homemade butter
homemade butter
     Have you made butter with your kids? They will get a kick out of it! Here is the link to the Lit'l Bowls by Tupperware.  I also found them on Amazon.  (See Below)
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January 23rd is National Pie Day

1/21/2022

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This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.
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     It is hard to believe that a day so close to the holidays is claimed as National Pie Day, (not to be confused with March 14th.)  But, if you love pie, then it is just fine! 
     Pie is a big part of our food traditions in our family.  Here on the blog, we have posted a number of posts about all kinds of pies! Just type "Pie" in the search bar, and you will find them all.  Or, you can purchase our downloadable e-book, For the Love of Pie,  from our Etsy shop and have most of the recipes at your fingertips! 
     For the Love of Pie usually sells for $10, but for the next few days only, we are slashing the price in half and only charging $5!  Yes, we love pie that much and want everyone to be able to celebrate Pie Day with us!  (It seems to me that there are a number of Pie Days throughout the year, so you can be prepared for all of them!)
     Here are a few of my favorites from the blog:
  • Upside Down Pecan Apple Pie
  • Grass Hopper Pie
  • Vanilla Apple Galette
  • How to Make a Pie Cupcaken
      What is your favorite pie?  Will you make a pie for National Pie Day? It could be an easy way to add a little celebration to your family's lives! Let me know if you celebrate with us! 
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Unconventional Family Traditions

1/17/2022

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This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support
        
           It is Martin Luther King Weekend.  It is always great to have this long weekend after throwing ourselves back into reality when the holidays are over.  This weekend always stirs up memories of one of our family traditions from when our kids were young.  If there was snow in Flagstaff, AZ, we would always go up and play in it on MLK Day.  
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This great photo is from Flagstaff, AZ's page. Good info there.
      We would often go to a park in the middle of town, just down from the Lowell Observatory, The kids would play in the snow, and behind the park was a steep hill that we could all slide down for a really long distance! Some people even skied down it!  I guess people were getting hurt there or something, because now that hill has barricades to keep you from sliding down it.  It was fun while it lasted.  We found other places to go sledding after that.  
        I know that some of you just need to open your front door to "go to the snow".  But, here in Phoenix, we have to drive a couple of hours to get to it.  This was a highly anticipated outing for our family.  We would pull out our tub of sundry snow clothes and  mittens  and see what fit whom that year and what we needed to find as far as  boots, scarves and  beanies.  We had some misfit outfits, but when you only go to the snow once a year, you don't invest in chic. Since we were going after Christmas, we could usually find some good clearance  items at the sporting good stores.
          After a couple of hours of playing, everyone would be cold and worn out. We would pile back into the car, change into dry socks and pants and whatever if necessary, and head home.  But, one of the things everyone looked forward to the most was stopping at a restaurant on the way out of town and getting a mug of hot chocolate, piled high with whipped cream.  
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        This was the kind of tradition that has stories that we tell and retell and laugh about.  Sometimes other families went with us and added to the fun, but usually it was just us. 
          Many people have expressed surprise and curiosity when we have told them about our MLK Day tradition.  Some of them have adopted our tradition or created a similar one of their own.  I love that!
            My roommate from college, Debbie, told me that her family never had traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.  Her family always went skiing on Thanksgiving and ate turkey sandwiches!  What a great memory!
              Does your family have any a little bit off the wall traditions that are not the norm for everyone else?  I would love to hear about them!  
                 Now that our kids are grown and we don't do the MLK Day tradition anymore, I don't really miss going up to the cold and all of the prep work, I have gotten a little too old for the sledding.  ( The last time we went it took my husband and I a month to recover!)  But, I cherish the memories and I still love a good cup of hot cocoa!  Maybe that is what inspired us to come up with Hot Cocoa Bombs!  
               
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    Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs!  (copyrighted)
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    Author

    Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven!  I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born.  Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out!  Read more about us here!
        

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    Click this link and visit 3WinksDesignShop on Etsy. Find our Hot Cocoa Bomb Idea Book, our For the Love of PIe e-book and more of our creations!
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