Roasted Green Beans with Mushrooms

While trying to make the rest of my family eat healthy foods with me, I stumbled across this blog post from Pinterest a few weeks ago, and it looked really yummy! http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/01/recipe-for-roasted-green-beans-with.html I decided to give it a try and had picked up fresh green beans at Trader Joe's the week before. It's definitely a keeper with a few tweaks.

The above picture is mine and hows how our dinner looked before the oven. The smell of this recipe before it went in the oven was absolutely divine. However, it tasted like it needed more balsamic to me. I love the taste of balsamic vinegar , and while it smelled like a strong balsamic, it tasted a little bland on that end. These were really, really yummy though, and I'll definitely make them again. Enjoy!

Cleaning the Microwave with Vinegar

While I know that steam helps loosen everything inside the microwave, I was a bit skeptical of this pin after reading the comments. However, my microwave desperately needed cleaning for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I decided to give it a try. My end result wasn't too bad.

Here's the original blog post that I pinned on Pinterest--http://lifehacker.com/323232/steam+clean-the-microwave-with-vinegar . I started out by filling my bowl with half water and half white vinegar. I love the smell of white vinegar, so I wasn't worried about the comments that mentioned the smell. I was worried about the comments that said their bowl exploded, so I started out at 2 minutes and then added one minute and then another minute for 4 minutes total.

I will say that even after 4 minutes on high, I still had to scrub a bit in spots, and the cleaning wasn't as easy as I had hoped. It was definitely easier than before, and my microwave looks clean. Let me know how this works out for you if you try it.

Cyber Monday!

Cyber Monday Sale Starts now through Tuesday morning--25% off anything in my Etsy shop using the code CYBERMONDAY. Happy Shopping! www.tscrapper.etsy.com

This includes ceramic coasters, party supplies, luggage tags, checkbook covers, and more--everything! I am also including custom orders, so if you don't see exactly what you want, please message me.

The Dollar Tree Mug Art Project

I'm sure many of us have seen (and pinned!) the Dollar Tree mug/ plate art project on Pinterest (original blog post is here http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/31-insanely-easy-and-clever-diy-projects ), and I'm here to tell you that we tried it. Super easy+super cheap=we will be making many more of these. Little one loved it!

 First, we got out all of our Sharpie markers. From teaching and crafting, I had several colors on hand. Little one created drew her pictures on the mug for Daddy, and we baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

It appears to be a great mug, but I haven't tried washing it yet. I'm only going to handwash it. This project was a total success and makes a great gift for just a little cash. Enjoy!

Shutterfly's New Card Service--Treat!

Have you heard about Treat yet? All of you know that I love Shutterfly and the quality of their products. Treat is Shutterfly's new greeting card service with cards for all occasions that be personalized and sent directly to your recipient!

Your holiday checklist just got shorter. Create and send a totally personalized greeting card from Treat for FREE. Whether saying thanks for Thanksgiving, wishing a best friend a holiday birthday, or simply sharing the holiday cheer with a just because card, Treat lets you create a one-of-a-kind card that is sure to impress. Use the code TREATBLOGR today, 11/19 or tomorrow, Tuesday 11/20 for a free card.

**Disclaimer--I am receiving free cards from Treat for this post.

The Calming Jar

When I pinned the calming jar on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it out for my five year old. She is a very well-behaved child normally, but she does go from hot to cold pretty quickly. She loves glitter and all things girly, so it was worth a shot.

The original directions came from this blog here--http://www.herewearetogether.com/2011/06/27/another-mind-jar/ and worked fairly well. I used purple glitter glue, warm water, a mixture of regular glitter (just added until it looked like enough), and some drops of vegetable oil to help separate everything. I used an empty jar from the pantry, but it is important to know your child here. Do not give a glass jar to an upset child that may be tempted to drop or throw it. You could always use an empty peanut butter container or other plastic jar. Once everything was mixed together, we still had big glops of glitter glue, but she noticed that if she shook it sideways, it started breaking up.

The above picture is our actual calming jar, and it's a beautiful purple color. The whole project took less than 5 minutes to make. While I'm not sure how effective it will be for calming/ replacing time outs, she does like it and enjoys spending time watching it. Hope this helps some of the other Moms!

Thanksgiving Learning Activities for Kids

While I took yesterday off for my birthday, I'm back today with a few items that we are loving around our house this time of year. My daughter loves themed printables and games for the holidays, and Pinterest never disappoints me. I find tons of activities for every holiday and season on there. Thanksgiving was no different.

I've mainly focused on math activities and games and crafts for this holiday because it really seemed to sneak up on us this year. I swear it was just Halloween last week! Not sure how Thanksgiving can really be in less than a week from today. Anyways, here are the activities that we've been working on this week in our house--http://blog.maketaketeach.com/?p=3460 for basic addition fact turkeys (shown above) and http://www.readingconfetti.com/2011/11/word-family-turkeys.html for word family turkeys (shown below).


Both of these sites have some fabulous learning activities for kids that are free, many printable, and fun for the preschool/ Kindergarten/ early first grade kids. I love that they also turn into holiday decor! Hope everyone has fun learning this week!