Valentine's Day is right around the corner and couples are getting ready to celebrate their love for one another. Now that I am a mom, I like to include my sons in all of our holiday celebrations. Some of the ways that I express how much I love them is by making little sweetheart packages for them every year that contain some of their favorite chocolates and sweets. I also like to create personalized gifts for them without spending a lot of money. This year, I spent some time in our local Dollar Store and shopped around for some affordable arts and crafts. Since we just bought them a new bedroom set and are redecorating their bedroom, I thought making a heart plate wall hanging would be the perfect gift for this Valentine's Day. Not only can they hang it up in their room, but every time they look at it they will be reminded of how much I love both of them. Dollar Store DIY: Heart Plate Wall … [Read more...]
5 Things To Do When You Are Behind On Your Bills
It happens to most of us, you take a vacation when you really couldn't afford it, your car breaks down and needs a lot of expensive work done, you lose hours or your job altogether and bills suffer for it. Life happens. You can either mope and get down or you can hustle, figure it out, and take care of it. Make a plan and prioritize- Make a list of all bills, past due and current. Grab all your bills, a pad, and a calculator and lay them out in front of you. Decide what takes priority, obviously, food and shelter are going to be right at the top. Then you can order them by their due date. Call creditors and work out a payment plan- If you are not chronically late, and often even if you are, most creditors are more than willing to work with you. They just want to get paid and a lot understand that things happen so they will work out a plan with you that benefits you both but if you don't call and try you won't know. Once when I was in a bind I was behind on my car payments, I called … [Read more...]
TMNT Whoopie Pies
If your kids love the Teenage Mutant Turtles as much as my sons and nephews do, you might want to consider making these adorable whoopie pies for their next birthday party or gathering. Not only are they adorable and easy to make, but the kids just love them. Here is everything you will need to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Whoopie Pies: INGREDIENTS FOR THE COOKIES: 2 (8.25 oz) pouches Funfetti vibrant green cake mix 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 eggs 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING: 4 cups powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon butter- softened 1/2 cup solid shortening 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 Tablespoons milk 2 Tablespoons hot water 3-4 drops food gel in red, blue, orange and purple 24-30 Wilton candy eyes -small DIRECTIONS FOR COOKIES: 1. Preheat oven to 350°. 2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 3. Pour the cake mix into a large … [Read more...]
Chinese New Year Broom Craft
Chinese New Year is also known as Spring Festival in China and falls on Saturday, January 28th this year. It is the year of the Rooster and Chinese families will be gathering on New Year's Eve to eat dinner together and to clean their homes to sweep away bad fortune before New Year's Day. Chinese children love this celebration and are excited to receive red envelopes which are stuffed with "lucky money" and well wishes from their loved ones on New Year's Day. Due to modern technology, some teens even have apps on their smartphones to receive their "lucky money" electronically which demonstrates how even this ancient tradition has caught up with modern times. Since this is the most important traditional holiday in China and signals the start of spring there, it is a public holiday in mainland China for seven days from Chinese New Year's Eve to day 6 of the lunar calendar new year (January 27 – February 2, 2017). … [Read more...]
Easy Shrimp Shooters
Shrimp Shooters are a great appetizer for any adult gathering and I fell in love with them when they were served at my good friend's wedding a little over a year ago. What I like about them is that they are really easy and inexpensive to make and I think they are a refreshing change from the traditional shrimp with cocktail sauce recipe. I had the chance to make these last week when we had some friends visit us for the weekend. Not only were they a big hit with our guests, but they were also refreshing and just a great dish to entertain with. I'm planning on making them again at our next family party or gathering because I think my family would also love them. You can choose to make your shooters spicier or milder but make sure that you are generous with the shrimp you put in each one. The small shooter glasses are my favorite because they allow you to present these appetizers in such an elegant way. … [Read more...]
Pepperoni Pizza Dippers
Now that the holiday vacation is over, we are back to our regular school schedule which includes extracurricular activities and sports. If your kids are like mine, they come home from school every afternoon starving which actually makes me wonder what they are serving for lunch daily. As a Working Mom, I have tried to come up with easy after-school snacks that my boys can enjoy and that won't take a ton of preparation. Both of my sons love pizza so I knew that any recipe involving pizza ingredients would be right up their alley. I found that I could make easy pepperoni pizza dippers with some of the ingredients that we normally keep in the house anyway. All of this equals to a yummy recipe, happy kids after school, and a mom who is super cool in the eyes of her children! Pepperoni Pizza Dippers Yields: 8 pizza dippers Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 11-15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 1 … [Read more...]
Frozen Hot Cocoa Spoons
My husband just went out to get breakfast and left the front door open when he came back in to get his car keys. I can't even begin to describe to you guys how cold it has gotten in New York City. I've never been a big fan of the cold weather but I do love certain things about this season. Aside from being able to wear tights and boots, I also enjoy winter recipes and just about anything that will warm me up when I get in from the cold outdoors. One of my favorite winter treats to enjoy are hot cocoa spoons. They are perfect for dipping in hot chocolate or even in a hot cup of milk. You can make them in white or milk chocolate and can even decorate them and wrap them to give away during the holidays. Since I love Frozen so much, I thought this would be a great theme for my hot cocoa spoons this year. Check it out! FROZEN HOT COCOA SPOONS SUPPLIES NEEDED 12 Plastic Spoons 2 T solid shortening 3/4 cup … [Read more...]
12 Ways To Save $100 Per Month
The new year is quickly approaching, and with it might come high hopes of saving more money and slashing your bills and budget. If you want to make smarter money moves in the new year, there are simple tasks you can implement each month to do just that. Take a look below at 12 ways to save $100 per month in the new year so you can start setting more cash aside. Here is what you need to know to get started! January: Call and see if your utility carriers can offer you lower rates. If you are a loyal customer, they may be willing to do that in order to keep you. Call your cell, internet, cable, and even electric and water carrier to see if they have any special rates or discounts they can offer. If you knock just 5 utility bills back $20, you have saved $100 per month. February: Check your home to make sure it is efficient. Seal window cracks and doorway cracks/drafts. Take shorter showers and use the washing machine only when full. Use energy efficient appliances, switch the … [Read more...]
Snowman Earrings
I am way behind this year on Christmas shopping. Normally, I would have already finished buying all presents by mid November. I'm trying cut down on my spending budget and making sure I give some personalized gifts that will show my loved ones just how much they mean to me. My godmother loves to wear themed costume jewelry so I thought it would be a great idea if I made her some earrings. Since it is winter and she has been rocking her winter accessories, I came up with a plan to make her some snowman earrings using supplies that I could purchase right at our local art supply store. You'd be surprised how many great gifts you could make with just a few items that you could buy locally and are pretty inexpensive. Snowman Earrings Materials Needed: Tools (small wire cutter, round nose pliers, and chain nose pliers) 22mm Fishhook earwire 3″ Head pins Glass snowman beads Tiny silver … [Read more...]
Trolls Puppet Craft
I've always loved to get artistic inspiration from the films we watch and the music that we listen to as a family. Growing up, my siblings and I loved playing with what we called our "Treasure Trolls." This is what we called these dolls we had that were a type of plastic doll with furry up-combed hair depicting a troll, also known as a Dam doll after their creator Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. Some people also referred to them as good luck trolls, or alternatively gonk trolls in the United Kingdom. They became a a toy craze in North America during the early 60's and again during the 90's when I was a teenager. Thomas Dam actually carved his first troll doll as a gift for his daughter. Later, he began selling the dolls locally after his daughter's friends started asking for them. I'm sure he never imagined that his troll dolls would become such symbols of pop culture. Now that the Trolls movie has come … [Read more...]
