Button, button, who's got the button?

I've got the button!  I love buttons, you can do lots of things with buttons, other than using them to keep your shirt and pants on.  Use them to embellish scrapbook pages, hats, clothes, shoes. Glue them to a glass votive holder (the lighter in color the better for the light to shine through), draw black circles near the edge of big white buttons and let your kids use them as eyes on a face they draw on paper...the buttons can be moved around to make the "eyes" look crossed. If you have a collection of favorite buttons that you would like to view all the time, either sew or glue them to a pretty piece of scrapbook paper, quilted fabric, or a solid colored piece of fabric and place them in a framed shadowbox....make a romantic heart shape with them or just do each shadowbox in one group of colors.  Let kids make mosaics on cardboard...green buttons for grass, brown for a tree trunk and if you want flowers use some green yarn and place a pretty button at the top of it.
The classic “Button Buzzer” or “Buzz Saw”
It's simply a button or disk suspended between your two hands on a 30" loop of string. When the string gets twisted and you pull your hands apart, the button whirls, first in one
direction and then the other.    My favorite thing to do with my buttons is display them in jars....but now that I have found a 1 gallon "canning jar", I think I will fill it up with all my buttons. Just remember, WATCH your children around buttons, you never know if they will put them in their mouths and we DO NOT want ANYONE to choke on buttons!!!  : )

Yummy frozen treat! : )

Frozen Chocolate "Soufflés"

prep time

10 min

total time

5 hr 10 min

makes

8 servings, one "soufflé" each

photo by:

kraft

recipe by: kraft

What You Need

3 cups Milk

1 pkg.  (8-serving size) or 2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

16   OREO Cookies, finely chopped (about 2 cups)

8 Maraschino cherries

Make It

POUR milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. Gently stir in whipped topping.
SPOON 2 Tbsp. of the chopped cookies into each of eight 8- to 9-oz. paper drinking cups. Cover evenly with half of the pudding mixture. Press gently with the back of a spoon to eliminate air pockets. Repeat layers. Cover with foil.
FREEZE 5 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer about 15 min. before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Peel away paper to unmold onto dessert plates. Top each with a cherry. Store leftovers in freezer.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Healthy Living

Save 80 calories per serving by preparing as directed with fat-free milk, JELL-0 Chocolate Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding, COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping and Reduced Fat OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

Variation

Prepare as directed, using JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding and CHIPS AHOY! Cookies. 

You don't have to put a cherry on top....try a gummy bear!

Resale shopping

 I went to the "Mikado Mall" today....actually it's St. Vincent De Paul resale shop, but since it's the only other store in Mikado....the first one being the Mikado Market.... we like to refer to it as the Mikado Mall. I love shopping there because you get great deals and you help the planet by recycling used items. In my earlier posts I made "garden art"and it was at St. Vincents where I got the supplies to do it...minus the glue. Today I bought some more "garden art" supplies and other goodies, (that are to my liking), for just under $5.00.   My goodies include a framed cork board, ceramic WELCOME house sign, a cute flower pot, glass ash tray with silver lining the edge....I don't smoke, it's just to put stuff in, a goofy glass squirrel, a glass domed cheese holder thingy (great for displaying stuff in or make a cool diorama),  hinged glass box to display more stuff, candle that smells like bubble gum, 3 magazines, white flower shaped plate, glass lily pad, and 4 vases.  What a deal! I will be making 2 new "garden art" displays out of that lot and I have ideas for the rest of the stuff. 
The picture below is inside the Mikado Mall....back where I got most of my glass stuff. Everything is priced from .10 cents up to $1.00, maybe more depending upon what it is. Plus they have half off prices...today was anything marked in red was half off.  Shopping there is like a treasure hunt! Check out your local resale shops and open your minds to the numerous things you can get cheap and turn trash into treasure. Happy shopping! : ) 

Baking Soda

Baking Soda is something you should have in your kitchen or bathroom at all times. Not only can you cook with it, but you can use it to clean sinks, tubs, countertops, pots & pans, and your refrigerator. Plus you can leave it in the frig. or freezer to collect odors. Sprinkle it on your rugs and carpet and then vacuum it up. If you run out of toothpaste, baking soda will do the job. Put some in your washing machine, it helps to clean and freshen your clothes.  I use mine mostly for cleaning my dishes, sink, and countertops, but I had a problem with the box getting wet every time I would grab it with my wet rubber gloves, so I used an old pop bottle to put it in. If you do put your baking soda in a bottle, make sure you shake it down or you may not have enough room for it all. I guess you could put a cork on the bottle, but it would be more of a hassle to get it off while cleaning, plus the cork would get wet. I keep mine open and now it is so much easier to use and the glass doesn't soak up the water. 

 

Great Jar!

I found this 1 Gallon canning jar at Walmarts for $9.99....I think I'll use it to put my buttons in. I love canning jars!

Smile.

Cute things like this, put a smile on my face!

Old Chandelier

Old Chandelier

I found that old chandelier in the trash....I just need to remove the light sockets and some of the rust, then I can paint it and put tea lights in it or candles inside some small jars. Hang it from my porch or a tree. I have it all apart, but the weather has been so humid that I have been unable to go outside and sand it down. Maybe when it gets closer to Fall.

Our favorite homemade soup.

Recipe is from Taste of Home magazine and I have changed it a little.

 This soup is great at potlucks!

Spicy Cheeseburger Soup

1 1/2 cups water.
2 1/2 cups cubed peeled potatoes. (Yukon Gold work best)
3 small carrots, grated.
1 small onion, chopped.
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped. (If you can't find a good green pepper for this recipe, do not worry about it, it still tastes good without it.)
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped.....OR you can use Jalapeno slices, enough to what you think makes 1 pepper and then dice them up.
1 Garlic clove, minced.
3 heaping teaspoons of "Better Than Bouillon" beef base...it's better than bouillon cubes and you keep it in the frig. after opening. Or you can use 1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules.
1/2 teaspoon salt.
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained.
2 1/2 cups milk....saving the 1/2 cup for the final part of the soup.
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour.
8 ounces American cheese slices....like Kraft or Borden.
1/4 to 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, optional.
Bacon....I use the already cooked Oscar Meyer bacon...a half or whole pack, chopped up or crumbled. Or you can cook up some bacon and drain it.

In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. While that is simmering or before you start, cook and drain the beef and bacon.

Stir in beef and 2 cups of milk; heat through and bring to a small boil. Combine flour and 1/2 cup of milk until smooth, gradually stir into boiling soup....constantly stirring. Keep doing this until soup becomes thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; stir in cheese slices until melted. Add Cayenne if desired. Top off with bacon in individual bowls or put as much crumbled bacon into the pot of soup as you like. Serves 6-8 (about 2 quarts) I usually double mine for 4 or more people.

My really cute basset hound!!!

Here is an old picture of my Basset Hound, Mr. Boom-Boom. He is much older now and getting very white in the face. I found this pic on one of my kodak discs and I just had to share it because he is soooooooo 
A-DOG-ABLE!!!  Just looking at him makes me want to fall asleep.  zzzzzzz.....

Garden Art

Okay, I thought that my lillypad plate was a little boring so I added my glass squirrel to it....so much cuter now! I haven't glued it on and I may not, so that I can put something else on it later.  That squirrel had been sitting in storage for a long time, I'm glad I remembered it! See what you can make with stuff you have around your house. : )

Alcohol prep pads and double sided sticky tape.

For years we have been using shrink plastic over our windows to winterize our home, and inside those  plastic kits you get lots of alcohol prep pads and a big roll of double sided sticky tape. I keep the prep pads in my junk drawer and use them to remove sticky stuff off glass or to remove the prices that our local resale shop writes in marker on the bottom of any glass or plastic items I purchase. They are also handy for cleaning up a "boo-boo". Our junk drawer is in the kitchen so it's real easy to find them and you don't have to hunt through the medicine cabinet and get out the big bottle of rubbing alcohol and put it on a cotton ball.  Inside those plastic kits you get the double sided sticky tape....also in our junk drawer....great for removing pet hair from your clothes, craft projects, and getting the sticky goo off of stuff left behind by price tags.  Great for using in handmade cards and scrap-booking....no glue, less mess! If anyone has anymore uses for those items, please post them.

"Garden Art"

Here are a couple of pics of the "garden art" I made.
I gave instructions on these on my posting from yesterday. Sorry about not adding the pics right away.

Okay, for those who like doing crafts and would like a crafty idea, this
is for you. If you like some fun, funky, and/or useful art for your
garden or yard, try this. You will need a glass vase, glass plate or
bowl or a cup and saucer, glue for glass, about a 2' to 3' long copper
pipe that you can get at Home Depot. The pipe must be able to fit inside
the vase. Glue the vase to the center bottom of the plate or bowl and
let it dry for 24 hours. When it's done drying, place your copper pipe in the ground as deep as you like and then slide the vase over the pipe. There you go, instant bird feeder, birdbath, or just a pretty decoration for your yard. You could also place a candle in or on it. Glue glass marbles or beads or even an old glass figure onto the plate... for a different look. You can even stack different saucers and cups making a tower. I will post a picture later of the one I made.

Polymer clay slugs.

 

Here is a slug I made with polymer clay....it's supposed to look like the ones on "Flushed Away".

Hello

Hello!   Yep, I am new to this blog....so bare with me while I figure out how I am going to do my blog. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!