Mini Halloween Album-Part Two

I really meant to post yesterday, but I got so engrossed in my new book that I just wanted to finish it. So I did. And then I was tired and went to bed! The book was good, my favorite genre (cozy mystery), but I did figure out who did it before the end. This is a regular series that I quite enjoy and the author includes recipes!

As I mentioned in my last post, I watched some scrapbook videos that really gave me inspiration. Last night, oldest DD and I stopped at Joann's where I got some more paper and then today I had some fun! I even changed part of what I did on Tuesday. I apologize for the poor photo quality. As I've mentioned several times, my camera isn't the best. I'm really hoping for a new (better) one for Christmas.

 This is what you see when you open the front cover. The patterned paper on the left has candy corn and witches shoes and says trick or treat...smell my feet...give me something good to eat.

 Also on the left...there are two pockets with removable tags. That paper is an orange plaid.

This is what came out of the pocket on the right side. It's a mini mini album :)

 Here it is opened.

 And again, with the two removable tags.

 This is the other side of the tags. It's not plain white...more of a cream, with a little interest around the corners.

 The page with the mini mini album folds down and reveals a...

 Tri-fold!

 And here is the top right. One flap is opened here.

Rather than bore you with photos of each flap open, I just opened them all :)

In this 6x6 album there is room for 23 photos and several journaling opportunities. Can you believe it holds so much? I really love how it's looking so far. When I have time (maybe this weekend) I want to see what embellishments I can find. I had gotten some stickers, but now that's turned out so well I want to see if I can find something more. And add pictures of course!

Can't wait to make another one!

Mini Scrapbook Part 1

Yesterday I mentioned the women's meeting I attend on Monday nights at my church. Well last night was a blast! We always have a good time, but yesterday we made mini scrapbooks. It was a very simple project that didn't take a lot of time and yielded a wonderful finished result. I thought it would be fun to make one for each holiday/season or even just make them for gifts. Really, with the array of papers out there, there is no end to the possibilities! I thought I would start with Halloween from this year.

Here's the book I made last night:

Isn't it cute? I just love it!

Today, I spent some time watching videos by Kathy Orta on youtube. She has some amazing mini scrapbook tutorials and I can't wait to try some of them out. She gave me some ideas that I'm thinking of incorporating into my Halloween album, but my oldest daughter wanted to make an album today. So, I started it, but will finish tomorrow once I figure out what I'm going to add. Here's what I have so far:

Since I'm using it for Halloween, I thought I black and orange color scheme would be appropriate :) I also have some sweet embellishments to add. The kids will be back in school tomorrow, so I plan on working on the album/finishing it tomorrow and will post my results. Stay tuned!

After Halloween Cookies

I have my church women's group on Monday nights and I usually volunteer to bring refreshments. I love to cook and bake and it's one way to give me a creative outlet without expanding my waist line any further than it already is. Since Halloween was last week I knew exactly what I was going to make for tonight's meeting: After Halloween Cookies. What are they? Tasty little treats chock full of chocolaty goodness. There a few different base cookies you can use...sugar, oatmeal, even peanut butter, but I went with chocolate chip. Instead of adding chips though, I used chopped up candy. Delicious! And lest you think I took candy from my kids bags, I purchased it after Halloween for more than 50% off at my CVS :) Do you have candy to use up? Here's the recipe:

After Halloween Cookies

Cookie Dough*
2 cups chopped up candy**

As mentioned, I used a chocolate chip cookie dough sans chips. It's the same one on a Nestle bag, but just in case you're out of chocolate chips, here it is.

*Cream together 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter with 3/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Add two eggs and blend well. Add a tsp of vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and a dash of salt. Add to the creamed mixture. You can do this in increments but I'm a rebel and just throw it all in.Stir in your chopped up candy. Now you can do one of two things. The first is, you can drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes *or* if you're feeling quite lazy pressed for time, you can press the mixture into a greased jelly roll pan (I just used a cookie sheet), and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

I was thinking that this would be good for other holidays too, especially Valentine's...one of those heart shaped boxes of assorted chocolates. yum!

 ** Chocolate candy works best in this recipe. I do not recommend using hard candy or anything gummi. I also don't recommend Kit Kats. The wafers don't really translate well into the cookie. For these cookies, I used a mix of Resee's, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Hershey bars, Cookies and Cream, and Milky Way.

Enjoy!

MPM-November (week 1)

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that it's November already. It hasn't been the best year, but it's certainly flown by. In just a few short weeks we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving and then a few short weeks after that it'll be Christmas. Time to start thinking about those goodies that need to be made and gifts that need to be purchased or made.

For the past few weeks I've had my kids helping with the menu planning. One of these days I'm going to take them shopping with me one on one. Last week my youngest son helped pick the meals and this week it was my oldest daughter. If my thoughts seem disjointed (it seems to me they are), it's because a) I have a headache and b) there is too much background noise going on.

At any rate, here's the menu for this week.

Monday- Pork chops (new recipe), golden nugget squash (new food and new recipe!), corn

Tuesday-Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Wednesday-Shepherd's Pie (using leftover roast and potatoes)

Thursday-Crock pot chicken and dumplings

Friday-Date Night

Saturday-Leftovers

Sunday-Beef Stroganoff (I think)

For more menu ideas, check out orgjunkie.com!

A Long Day

Yesterday was a very long day and I apologize for no post. We spent a good portion of the day (9-4:30ish) at a local middle school for the FLL competition and then went out to dinner. What's FLL? Well, that stands for First Lego League. We simply refer to it as Lego Robotics. The kids (team) built a robot from Lego's and then used special software to program it. There are several missions for the robot to do on the board and you get points (or lose them!) for how well you achieve the mission (or not). It's a bit hard to describe, but know that it is a very cool, challenging program. Our team won the Judge's Award and I am very proud of all of them!

 Preparing the robot.

 More competition.

 These are my two youngest. It was pretty late in the day at this point and they were pretty bored!

Winning the Judge's Award!

Trying Again

Going to try this posting thing (NaBloPoMo) again for November. I wasn't doing too badly for October, but then life just got in the way. November has its fair share of activities, but I'm hoping it will be better than last month. To get started, here are my kids last night as they prepared for trick or treating.

In the back we have Dr Who (the 11th Doctor) and a Weeping Angel (it's hard to see her wings, but they are there!) and in the front we have Darth Vader and a peacock!

Monday I'll be sharing a great recipe to use up leftover Halloween candy!

MPM-October 28-November 3

Have I really not posted since October 15? Wow! All I can say is that I've been super busy around here. We had a Cub Scout camp this past weekend, my oldest son is gearing up for a Lego robotics competition this weekend, and we have been house hunting. Plus we've started rehearsals for the Christmas program at church. Just crazy. If it makes you feel any better, my house isn't even decorated for Halloween yet. Of course, it's not my house (and boy I can't wait until I have one!), but I'm still going to throw up a few seasonal things. I should have some time today to assemble some things (I hope!).

On to the menu. It's been colder than usual here lately, though Thursday it's supposed to be pretty toasty (almost 80!). Lots of comfort food on the menu though, to go with the colder weather.

Monday

Pan fried pork chops
Parmesan potatoes
Creamed spinach
Corn

Tuesday

Peanut soup
Crusty bread

Wednesday

Pasta bake
Salad

Thursday

Not entirely sure yet. Something Halloween-y

Friday

Date Night

Saturday

Leftover Feast

Sunday

Meatball stew
Garlic bread

As always, for more menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com!