Tada's Simple Tip- Yogurt and a straw

[This post is sponsored by every mother, everywhere, who is SICK of cleaning up yet another mess from their children ;)]  

OK not really.. but it should be!

This is a trick I learned from my next door neighbor,  who actually learned it from my niece(you know.. the one who designed our beautiful blog)

Any way.. sick of cleaning up, yet another spilled yogurt.

Frustrated because the kids love them so much but you don't wanting any more messes on top of all the others.

This will do the trick!!!

(In pictures)

 (baby just 1 year old, can drink the yogurt without the mess!  Wohoo!  score 1 for the mom team!)

(3 year old's who can drink with out messes but one still likes the straw..)

Baby leggings for under $5

I was just a few days away from getting Annalee's 1 year old pictures taken and I thought I had everything ready.  But then I remembered that I had NOTHING for her to wear during her cake smash pictures!  So.. I know it's not the end of the world.. but I needed something!  I looked for cute ideas on pinterest and there were a ton of cute babies in leggings and a big bow on their heads.  Only problem, there isn't a lot of places near by that sell baby legging (well for less than $15 a pair!) and ordering online wouldn't have gotten them here in time.  All the leggings she already had were not the colors or style I was looking for so I did the next best thing....  I figured it out myself.  

I do that a lot,  I have since I was little...  If I didn't like how something fit I would cut it up and make it better.  If I wanted a certain style of clothing that I knew we couldn't afford I would find something similar and change it to work,  and so it goes with my daughters style... If I can't find it for a decent price I will figure out how to make it myself.

Later that day at Target I was walking down the sock isle and they have tons of women's knee length socks for $2.50.  Perfect length for baby leggings!  

After the socks all you need is thread for sewing and some elastic for the end.

First, cut off the feet part.. just above the heel and straight across.

Then, take your elastic ( I had 3/4 in on hand but next time I will use 1/2 in) and cut it to fit the full circle of the sock...  basically the socks width x2. (see picture below)

Fold it over itself into a circle.  I did a little more than a half inch overlap.  I just eyeballed it.

Then sew it~

It will look something like this...

Then I turned my sock inside out and slipped the elastic over it and down into place.

Fold over, just enough fabric to cover the elastic and give you a little space to sew.

Then get to sewing,  if you have elastic thread that would be ideal so that the stitching will stretch too but if not then as you sew,  stretch the fabric as much as you can so it has more give and the elastic can actually do it's job  when you put it on baby:) (I hope that makes sense) 

All that's left is to flip it right side out and repeat on the other sock.

And ... Wahla!!!  Adorable baby legging for less then $5 and a big handmade bow to match!

Happy 1st Birthday my little Annalee!!

Chocolate Oreo Raspberry Cheesecakes

About a month ago I needed to make two desserts for two different things that were happening at the same time.  (story of my life!)  Well I searched for a good cheesecake recipe because my husband thought it sounded good, and I figured that is a great, peanut free idea! (One of the kids at one of the events has a BAD peanut allergy). I found this recipe for raspberry swirl cheesecakes and thought that I would make a double batch so as to feed both the masses.  I got all the ingredients and my regular grocery shopping done and was in the check out lane when I had a sinking feeling and decided to read the ingredients to my gram cracker crumbs... lo and behold, right on the box it says 'may contain peanuts!'  UGH!!!!  I could have seriously made a horrible mistake, but thankfully it was caught in time!  But being in the check out lane I had to think quick.  I looked to my right and saw a stack of Oreos and a new recipe, with chocolate came to mind!!  So here it is, my twist on the original recipe!

Chocolate Oreo Raspberry Cheesecakes

1 box of Oreo cookies

6 oz. fresh raspberries
2 T. granulated sugar

2 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
2-4 T. cocoa powder (depends on how chocolaty you want it)


Preheat the oven to 325*.  Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Drop on Oreo into each liner.
Make the raspberry sauce by mixing the raspberries and 2 T. of sugar in a food processor or blender.  I used my blender because it does an amazing job at pureeing things. Process until smooth and then pour through a sieve to remove any seeds. set aside.
Next you want to make the cheesecake filling.  By beating the cream cheese with a mixer (I used my hand held) until it is fluffy. Mix in the sugar until smooth and then add in the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder.  Beat in one egg at a time, making sure it is incorporated well before adding another.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake liner until about 2/3 full (it was about 2 heaping Tablespoons) then dollop a few drops of raspberry sauce (about 1 teaspoon) onto each cheesecake.  With a toothpick swirl together to give it a marble effect.
Put in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes.  transfer to a wire cooling rack and then place in the refrigerator for a few hours to get cold.  

Strawberry French Toast and Home Made Whipped Cream

Who needs an idea for a Valentines day inspired breakfast?!?!  This one is going to make your families really love you!   With the fresh strawberries and the gourmet flavor you can't loose.
I love stuffed french toast!  Every time we go to IHop that is probably what you will see me get.  So a few years ago when this recipe showed up in my Gooseberry Patch Calendar  I knew it was going to be a real winner!   

Strawberry French Toast

8 oz. ricotta cheese
3 T. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
16 slices french bread
2 eggs
1 c. milk
*heavy whipping cream (I get the small containers... about 2 cups)
*1/2 c. granulated sugar (more or less to taste)
sliced strawberries

In a bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Spread a little of the mixture over 8 slices of bread and top with remaining bread (like a little french bread sandwich).
Beat eggs and milk together in a dish big enough for the bread to lay in.  Soak the sandwiches in the egg mixture for 30 seconds to a minute on each side and then cook on a hot, greased griddle or pan for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown.  ***In a big bowl mix together the whipping cream and granulated sugar on high with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.  When french toast is done top with whipped cream and sliced strawberries!!  Happy Valentines Breakfast everyone!!

Bath Fizzies (free mustache valentine printable)

 Have you always wanted to make your own bath fizzies?  Well we thought it would be fun to do.  I had pinned this on pinterest back in December because we had planned on making these as Christmas presents, but, you know, life gets crazy sometimes.  So we decided to make them for Valentine's Day instead.  I think they turned out pretty cute. 

 Bath Fizzies

3/4 c baking soda
1 c corn starch
1/2 c Citric Acid
Spray bottle with cold water
Food coloring
Essential Oil (we used lemon grass)
Rubber mold (we used a rubber ice cube mold that we bought on Amazon)
(This recipe makes enough to fill 3 molds)

In a large bowl, mix baking soda, corn starch and citric acid.  Now at this point you should decide if you want  your bath fizzies to be one color or several.  Each of my kids wanted a different color so we divided the mixture evenly between 3 smaller bowls.  Each child added 3-4 drops of the color they wanted and 4 drops of essential oil.  Then using the spray bottle, spray water a little at a time into mixture, then stir.  You don't want to spray too much water at once because it will fizz up.  Spray a little at a time, stirring in between until you have a mixture the consistency of damp (not soaking wet) sand.  Just enough that when it is pressed together it sticks.  Once you have it to this point, press your mixture firmly in the mold.  Then let it dry overnight.  Remove from molds once it's dry.  Enjoy!

 A few things we learned from this:

1.  Citric Acid was a little tricky to find.  We found that in most stores you can buy it in the pharmacy behind the counter, but it is in capsule form, not powder and it is very expensive ($17.99 for a small bottle).  We found this to be true at almost each pharmacy we went to.  Finally as a last resort I called the health food stores in town and they sold it in powder form and by the pound.  So we bought 1 lb, at $9.  (It was way too much.  You only need about 1/2 lb.)
2.  If you get your mixture too wet and then try to press it into the mold it will fizz up.  This happened with the first batch we made so I went back and added a little more corn starch and baking soda to it to make it less sticky and it worked much better.  The other batches worked just fine once we figured this trick out.
3.  Rubber molds are best to use for the bath fizzies since they can be a little tricky to get out of the mold once they are dry.

 

For our valentines we bought the 50 count, Wilton treat bags found at Walmart.  Then we printed our valentine toppers and stapled them on.  My kids are very excited to hand these out to their friends for Valentine's Day.

Click Here for PDF File.

Dr. Who Valentine

Do you love Dr. Who?  My daughter MaKady is a huge Dr. Who fan.  My brother and sister-in-law got her hooked on it several years ago when she stayed with them for a couple of weeks during the summer.  She has been obsessed ever since.  This year she wanted to make her own Valentine's with a Dr. Who theme.  Here is what she came up with (she designed them and has given her permission for me to share them here on Tada's.  I am amazed at the things teenagers can do these days).

 She designed 2 different cards with a couple of her favorite quotes from the show.  We printed them out on card stock, then we glued chocolate hearts to one and we found some wax teeth at our local party store that we glued on the back of the other one.  She can hardly wait to hand these out to her friends for Valentine's day.

Click HERE for the pdf file.

Homemade Crackers (2 versions)

Remember when we made our gold fish?  Well that got my thinking.  Why couldn't we just change the recipe up a bit and make a couple of different versions?  Of course we can so, here you go. 

Sun dried Tomato, Olive Oil & Sea Salt Crackers
(Can be adjusted to be Dairy Free)
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
6 TBSP Butter (we replaced ours with Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks to make these dairy free)
1/2 to 2/3 c cold water
1/4 c sun dried tomatoes (we chopped ours up using the food processor)

Mix flour, baking soda, butter and tomatoes in the food processor.  Then add water, a little at a time till it starts holding together.  You don't want it sticky, so don't add too much water all at once.  Once you have a nice dough formed, sprinkle counter with a little flour and roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.  Place cutouts on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Then brush each cutout with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until they start to turn a golden color.

Parmesan Cheese & Garlic Crackers
1 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
6 TBSP Butter
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP cold water

Mix cheese, butter, flour, salt and garlic powder in food processor.  Then add water a little at a time till it starts holding together.  Once the dough is formed, sprinkle counter with a little flour and roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.  Place cutouts on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until they start to turn a golden color.

Both of these crackers were delicious, and each had a very different flavor than the other.  We had them with tomato soup and they were amazing!!  We made them using our mini heart cookie cutter.  My instructions on how to make mini cookie cutters can be found here.  Enjoy!

Juice Box Robots

Juice Box Robots
Favorite Boxes of Juice
Mini Nerds
Laffy Taffy
Starburst
Chocolate Hearts
Googlie Eyes

We started out by gluing the eyes to the box of nerds and the heart to the front of the juice box using regular craft glue.  We let that dry overnight.  Then we hot glued the starburst on the botton of juice box for the feet, then laffy taffy to the sides of the box as arms.  Next we glued the Nerds to the top of the juice box as the head.  That's it.  Easy.

I have seen several versions of this cute project floating around on pinterest.  It was my son's birthday this week and this was the treat he picked to make for his preschool class.  All the kids loved it.  These would also be super cute as Valentine's.

Valentine mailboxes and the 14 days of Valentines!

I was wanting to decorate the buffet in my kitchen for Valentines because I have really slacked in the Valentine decor the last couple of years.  I also wanted to do a craft with my kids that would be Valentines theme.  I walked in to Target one day to get something completely different but looked over at the $1 bins and WA-la!  I killed two birds with one stone, as they say, because I had the best idea for a craft and a decoration  and it was super cheap and easy, can't beat that ;)

(mailboxes- $1 each at Target, stickers and washi tape- also $1 each at Target.)

After I got supplies at Target I went next door to our Michael's Craft store and picked up a couple wooden candle sticks and because Kleyton wanted it, a wooden block. They were each a few dollars.

        Then we got to painting, each child chose a different color and a paint brush and went to work...

Well except the baby... she just watched... and drooled.

     When my boys were done painting  we pulled out the stickers and tape and this time the baby did help...

We waited for everything to dry...

           And when it was all dry I just hot glued the bases to the mailboxes!  They were all pretty excited!

          Now I have a cute decoration and the kids love to tell everyone how they made the mailboxes.

And just because it's fun we started the 14 days of Valentines!  The mail boxes open up so since the 1st we have put in some stickers or a love note or a piece of candy from Mom and Dad.  The kids really like it!  The little prizes don't have to be big at all, it's actually been stuff I already had on hand. It's nice to show our little ones how much we care about them!  And I know it's a little late to start the 14 days now but you can always do the week before Valentines!!  (PS check out this cute tutorial for the xoxo garland in the picture!)

Felt Valentine's Day Banner

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?  Or is your house still missing a little something? This felt banner might just be that perfect finishing touch.

Start with several pieces of felt.  *I used the flimsy kind of felt since my sewing machine has a hard time with stiffer fabrics.

 Next:  on a sheet of white paper draw your shapes.  I used a cookie cutter I had for the heart then drew my X and O to be about the same size. 

 Once you have the shapes you want, cut them out.

 Using a sharpie trace your shapes onto the felt.  Then carefully cut them out, making sure to cut just inside of the line you drew so you don't have black sharpie marks all over your banner.  I used 2 sheets of felt for each shape.

 After you have all your felt cut out, you should have piles like this.

 Now the easy part.  Using a basic straight stitch, start with one shape and sew along the top.  Right before you get to the end lay the next shape down, do this for each shape until they are all sewn together.  Tada!! All done.  *I used 6 sheets of felt, which made a really long banner, but my sister just cut it in half and hung it up in a couple of spots around my her house (I made this banner for her since I already have one myself).  It looks great!