PRINTABLE BUDDY PETS PAPER DOLLS

Have you ever noticed that a child can be just as happy

with a little piece of paper as they are with a $50 gift?

Our granddaughter had a little piece of carpet that she

carried around for a long time and loved it as a friend...

it was very special to her...and myself, as a kid, I cherished even

an empty cookie package that my dad handed to me and jokingly

said "here this is for you"!

...my mom still said after I grew up that I put everything my dad

gave to me into my dresser drawer to save...

but to me...it was priceless...

and those are the things I think about when I see a simple

little project like this...all you have to do is print it,

cut it out and hand it to the wide-eyed child standing alongside

of you and I guarantee you will make them smile...

...these are very cute...you can also print them in black and white

so your child can color them if you prefer to do that..

I love the simple things in life!

..there are many other designs including some for holidays...

you can find these at this wonderful link...

http://www.freekidscrafts.com/paper-doll-buddy-pets-color/

"EASY PEESY' BROCCOLI CHEESY SOUP

Broccoli is one of those foods that I have had just

a little bite of here and there...I never really gave it much thought

over the years...

I wasn't sure if I would like that fuzzy part of it...

(I didn't even know for sure how to spell the word!) ....

the times I have had a bite or two of it in a meal

at someone's house or in a restaurant,  I just ate it because there it

was mixed into something...

but...now that I watch what I eat very closely most days I have

found a new interest in it...we were out for supper recently

and the meal my husband ordered had a side of  steamed broccoli...I got

brave and ate a little of it...now I want to try more...

...so I spent some time recently looking up different kinds

of recipes that include it and I came across this delicious looking

cheesy soup with chopped broccoli in it...

it probably is a bit high in sodium with the Velveeta cheese and 

chicken stock but

I am going to try this soon...it looks really good...

...recipe here...

http://comfyinthekitchen.com/2011/02/easy-peesy-broccoli-cheesy-soup/

#15 - 4TH OF JULY - DOUBLE DIP SUGAR COOKIES

Well, another week has flown by and that finishes

up my 4th of July posts for this time...

I hope you have found something fun to make for your

family or guests, or to bring along to a gathering

to celebrate this holiday...

You can always find nice festive recipes on the

Betty Crocker's website...I always check it out

when a holiday is close by...

I found these pretty little sugar cookies there and thought

I would wrap up my 4th of July week with

this one...I like the dipping idea because it makes frosting

cookies so fast and kind of gives them an elegant look too...

aren't they pretty ?

....find recipe here...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/double-dipped-sugar-cookies/7dd569f3-7b0b-4081-b921-31f602b19e0b

#14 - 4TH OF JULY - SNACK CUPS

This one came up on my Pinterest today

so I had to add it to my 4th of July week of

posts...

I think it's just so cute and colorful and would be

very handy at a party...

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

is a beautiful website that shares so many wonderful

things...lots of projects for kids and grown ups to make...

be sure to check it out...

....you get get this printable with two on a page here...

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/07/01/diy-fourth-of-july-snack-cups/

#13 - 4TH OF JULY - REDVINES for ALL

Such a simple and easy party idea...

of course you could do this to wrap any brand of

licorice sticks or whatever kind of candy treat you want

to serve...I like the look of the red licorice for these patriotic ones and you could

easily change this to any holiday just by using an appropriate

designed paper...the choices at the craft stores are endless...

...get this project and more here...

http://roomtoinspire.blogspot.com/2010/07/redvines-for-all.html

#12 - 4TH OF JULY - GIFT BAGS

They call these gift bags and that's what they are

but they are more unique than the usual gift bags as

they look more like a cone shaped gift box to me...

either name you give them, they are really cute!

...they would be fun to hand out at a Independence Day

gathering as people are leaving for home...or to set outside

of your neighbors door...just be sure to attach a little card or

note so they know it was you that put it there ! You don't

want to scare your friendly neighbors....!

...this website has two designs of these to choose from for

the 4th of July...

...get printable here...

http://printthistoday.com/free-printable-july-fourth-gift-bags/

#11 - 4TH OF JULY - CUPCAKE WRAPPERS

I can't let a holiday go by without posting some

printable cupcake wrappers...

I love them...

These are cute and so patriotic looking...

...printable here...

http://www.thebestmoms.com/best/free-4th-of-july-printable-cupcake-wrappers

#10 - 4TH OF JULY - PATRIOTIC HOT DOG TRAY PATTERN

This is a fun idea for picnics or anytime you serve

hot dogs...

you don't even have to use bunches of ink to print them as you

just make them out of the heavier weight scrapbook paper...

I think these would be great for the 4th of July...

when people are watching those fireworks and still want more

to eat but already had their big meal on a plate...they can just

grab a hot dog and carry it outside in one of these....

...clever idea and so easy to make...

(now I'm hungry for a hot dog!)

...you can find the pattern here...

http://lilluna.com/patriotic-hot-dog-tray-pattern/

#9 - 4TH OF JULY - COLORING PAGES

                                                                                                     

Have I said on here that

I  STILL LOVE TO COLOR ???

I am going to get out my handy-dandy markers

and print these out for myself to color...

not sure what I will do with them when they are

done but it sure will be fun....

I have such strong memories of the exact spot that

I sat in and colored every day in one of our childhood homes...

I remember every detail of it...and I also remember when I

would be coloring a picture I was always looking ahead in the

book because I couldn't wait to see what other pictures I

would get to do next...

well...a massive tornado destroyed my little coloring spot

but not in my memory....maybe that's why I still love

this little activity so much yet today...we seem to have a

tendency to hang onto those things that meant so much to

us as a child....

...this set of printable coloring pages has

18 different pictures and they are free to print..

just click on them and enlarge...and enjoy with your kids!

...print these here...

http://www.raisingourkids.com/coloring-pages/patriotic/4th-of-july/

#8 - 4TH OF JULY - PATRIOTIC FUDGE

Wow!

Pretty...easy to make...sugary sweet I'm sure...

but so fun for the 4th of July...

Oof-da!

Everyone has to love the look of Patriotic Fudge

whether they eat it or not...it's just so colorful

and festive looking...

....recipe here...

http://lilluna.com/patriotic-fudge/

#7 - 4TH OF JULY - PIE TARTLETS

I didn't see an actual recipe for this one but

I think it's pretty easy to figure out on our own right ?

...just cut pie crust circles....

put them into a mini muffin tin...

fill with cherry pie filling and use a cookie cutter

to make the little star on top...

I didn't see any instructions on how long to bake them

but I guess you could just watch them and know when they

are ready to take out of the oven...

I just thought the size of them and the idea

of putting the little pie crust star on top was

cute....

...so pretty for a 4th of July food table...

...this is a link to the site where I found these...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/last-minute-fourth-of-july-decorating-tricks?crlt.pid=camp.EBHbxAA2cQwR#.avRjPr4BM

#6 - 4TH OF JULY - PAPER LANTERNS

Are these not cute ?? I love them...

it's another one that is so easy to make and kids can

be involved in creating them and so proud to see them

hanging up in their home....

This is a project that can be changed easily

for any holiday of the year...including

birthdays and anniversaries....

...instructions here...

http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/06/paper-lantern-kids-craft4th-of-july-style.html

#5 - 4TH OF JULY - CINNAMON-SUGAR TORTILLA STARS

These look so good...

I bet they are one of those foods where we all

could say "I bet you can't eat just one"!

....I am going to make them even more tempting by

saying...wouldn't they be good dipped in whipped topping...

(sugar free whipped topping of course!)

or a nice fruit dip...

....they look sweet and sugary and crispy...

what more could we want for a quick snack huh?

well if you make them...enjoy them...and pass some 

around to say Happy Independence Day to your

friends, family and neighbors....

...recipe here and it looks pretty easy to make too...

http://www.cheekykitchen.com/2010/08/cinnamon-sugar-tortilla-stars.html

#4 - 4TH OF JULY - POPSICLE STICK STARS

If you are one of the wonderful people who like to

follow my blog you probably have noticed that I like

Popsicle stick and wooden clothespin crafts...a lot...

they are just so handy...anytime you need to make something

quick and fun it seems like you can always rely on those two

items for the base of it...

...another reason I think is because I worked with kids so

much over the years and there are so many children's craft

ideas using Popsicle sticks....

...when I saw these stars I had to include them in my

4th of July week because they are not only cute as they

are,  but there are so many ways you can dress them up...

I think glitter and rhinestones would be fun for them....

or little buttons to give them that touch of a country look....

...whatever idea you come up with, I hope you enjoy

making some of these...

...instructions here

http://www.happinessishomemade.net/2014/06/27/4th-july-kids-craft-popsicle-stick-star-streamers/

#3 - 4TH OF JULY -RICE KRISPIE POPS

I love these Rice Krispie Pops

cut out in star shapes for the 4th of July...

most of them are the ones where you dye the

recipe in red and blue...but these are easier since

you just add the colors to the top of them instead....

...great idea!...

...recipe here...

http://cincyshopper.com/summer-treats-on-the-cheap-crispie-pops/

#2 - 4TH OF JULY - PRINTABLE CROWN

Kids love crowns...they would have a lot of fun

walking around wearing one of these on the 4th of July....

I would wear one myself but I'm thinking people would

wonder about me if I did !

but anyway....this is easy to make...just print, cut out

and attach together...and let the fun begin !

....find it here...

http://www.familyshoppingbag.com/img/thumb/jump/3036/Crown#.VWJUC9JVhHw

#1 - 4TH OF JULY - BOOKMARKS

It seems like I just finished up with my Paper Plate Week

and here it is almost the 4th of July...

I have to dedicate a week of crafts and recipes to

this holiday... I hope you enjoy what I have for you

here to help you have a super great time celebrating...

I always see a lot of interest in holiday bookmarks

when I post them so I thought I would start out this

special week with these 4th of July designs...

...you can print these here...

http://www.familyshoppingbag.com/img/thumb/jump/3033/Bookmarks#.VWJUfdJVhHw

.4TH OF JULY CRAFT AND RECIPE WEEK

I have many 4th of July memories from my childhood...

it was pretty much the highlight of the summer at our house...

it meant my parents coming home from the store with a big

watermelon...and we couldn't wait until we could have a nice

slice of it...I got excited about it every year even though I

never really liked watermelon too much...there was just something

so pretty and 'holiday' about it....

...and then there were the little round firecrackers that we threw

onto the sidewalk and they popped...I loved those things...when we

got older...I think around eleven or twelve we got to have the mini firecracker which I think were called Lady Fingers that you actually lit and tossed away from you...supposedly

...but I did have one blow up in my hand the first time I used them

...it wasn't serious because they were so tiny but

 it did make me respect them

enough to be careful from then on....

....the total highlight of the day was after dark when we got to use

sparklers...oh how I loved those things..I remember my dad lighting

them for me and my two brothers and he would always tell

them to watch out for my hair when swinging them around....it was

great fun for all of us...

....the only problem was...as I remember it...we always ended up with

storms on those nights...my parents would tell us that the fireworks

brought them on...I'm not sure if they were right but when I looked

at the sky and saw it lighting up all over from the big fireworks around

town I thought that sure was what caused them....

....so, with all of those memories and more of the 4th of July I wanted

to do a week of crafts and recipes that all of you can consider making...

I hope you will find something that you enjoy for this

fun holiday...and hope it's a great memory maker for you and your family!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Wishing all Dads a very happy Father's Day...

http://happyfathersdaypoems2015.com/best-20-happy-fathers-day-quotes-images-free-download.html

2 INGREDIENT COCONUT BARS

I have not tried these yet but I must do that soon...

these take only 2 ingredients to make...

seems almost impossible doesn't it?

...but they sure look good...

I have tried other recipes from

Crystal at

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/

and every one of them were delicious...

so I am sure this one will be too...

check out her website, it's a good one!

...easy recipe here...

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2014/11/2-ingredient-coconut-bars/

S'MORES BITES

I know there are thousands and probably millions of

S'mores recipes out there in computer land...I have posted several
variations myself....
but....

this is the first recipe for making them bite sized that I have seen...

I think they are really cute and we all know anything S'mores is

very tasty..too tasty...too tempting..too...tooo...too...well...you know

how it is...almost everybody loves them!

....the idea of making them little like this would be great for bringing

along to picnics or showers or even to serve them at weddings and

anywhere else you want to have goodies on the table....

...they are easy to make and just use the regular

S'mores ingredients plus a little powdered sugar so they are perfect...

...have fun with these...

...recipe here...

http://thefirstyearblog.com/smores-bites/

MY REVIEW ON THE BREAKFAST ENCHILADAS

Hi again all...

when I post a recipe on here I like to try it out myself...

sometimes it takes a few months before we get around to it

but eventually we do...I can't say we get to trying all of them

but most of them that we do are as good as they looked

when I posted them....

...tonight I made this one from a few

weeks ago and it was really good...

I used real bacon instead of the bacon bits or pieces

because I didn't have any of those on hand and it was

great....it didn't take too much to add just a little of

that bacon taste...

I also cut the recipe to 3/4 of the original

and next time I will be cutting that to half...

even the 3/4 was too much for the two of us to eat...

but that's okay because it gives my hubby

a lunch or supper that he can just heat up and

enjoy tomorrow.....

I added 10 minutes to the 35 that it suggested

with the cover on in the recipe because when I checked

it the eggs and half and half were still pretty runny...

after the extra ten plus the 10 uncovered it was 

just perfectly done...

so total baking time for me on this one was
55 minutes in the oven...

I hope some of you will try this delicious meal

and when you do drop by and tell

Julie how good it was!

http://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/2013/01/breakfast-enchiladas/

GRILLED POTATOES

Yesterday my husband was making ham on the grill and it

was my job to come up with something for a side dish to go

along with it...

so I started searching around the internet for some ideas for 

something a little different and

I came across two that really interested me...one was

this Paula Deen recipe for grilled potatoes...

don't they look good ?

you just boil the potatoes for about 6 minutes and then

slice them pretty thick and put them on the grill...

she has a recipe for a seasoning to brush on them if you want

to follow that but I can't imagine using a whole cup of salt for

anything....unless you are cooking for huge numbers of people...

we will cut back on that for these potatoes...

...recipe #2 that I found interesting was for wrapping carrots

in foil and putting them on the grill...it says they get a 

nice 'crispy tender'....

...as it turned out...we had neither of these with our ham

for supper...my husband made himself a baked potato

and I had hash browns for myself...ha!

...anyway, on a day that we are more energetic we will

try these grilled potatoes and carrots....

...recipe here...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/grilled-potatoes-recipe.html

PAPER PLATE CRAFT WEEK :

_______________________________________________________________________________

KhristelleGraphics

#13 PAPER PLATE CRAFT - RED WHITE and BLUE FAN

Well, this one will pretty much wrap up my week of

paper plate crafts...

I hope all of you have enjoyed it and have found fun projects

to do with your kids..remember...

summer fun creates memories for them to think about

when they go back to school in the fall...

...if you like what I did here please leave a comment or

send me an email and I will continue to do more week long postings

like this...

I also again want to say thank you to all of the bloggers who created

these projects and allowed others to share them too..

I believe that is the fun of having a blog...

so here is the finishing one for this week...

I thought a 4th of July one would be good since it's so close...

...instructions here...

http://breezymama.com/2011/06/30/4th-of-july-crafts/

#12 PAPER PLATE CRAFT - TAMBOURINE

Okay now, I know how much you parents just love for

your kids to have noisy toys...right ????

well then, here we go..how about letting them

make themselves a paper plate tambourine!

Fun, yes ???

...not only noisy and fun but it's very cute and everyone will love it..

(NOTE: please don't give these to really young children due

to the bells being a danger should they come off)

...instructions here...

http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Music/Paper_Plate_Tambourine/Paper_Plate_Tambourine.html

#11 PAPER PLATE CRAFT - BASKET

Here is a paper plate craft idea that is probably

more for adults to enjoy making and using...

how many times have you set up a table serving different kinds

of treats and realized in the process that you just don't have enough

of the right sized bowls to put them in...either everything you

have available is bigger than you need or too small and you

have to plan on watching to be sure you know when you need to

refill it...

well here is a good solution...

you can make as many paper plate baskets as you need and

decorate them any way you want to match in with your table plans...

I love these...very clever idea!

...these would be great decorated for any holiday...

http://sarahhearts.com/2011-06-28/paperbaskets/

#10 PAPER PLATE CRAFT - SNOWMAN

I realize this is just the beginning of summer

but I just had to include this cute snowman paper plate

craft idea....you can always save him for the Christmas season...

I think he is so cute and would be a good size to hang up with your

other holiday decorations too....

...instructions here...again she has many other

great crafts for children...

http://www.craftymorning.com/diy-snowmen-paper-plate-winter-craft/

#9 PAPER PLATE CRAFT - RING TOSS GAME

Here is a clever idea for paper plates...

everyone loves playing ring toss games...

and this is so simple to make too...

She suggests to make the plates stronger

you can attach more than one together ...that

way they can be tossed further for older kids...

...instructions here...

http://alittlelearningfortwo.blogspot.com/2010/11/paper-plate-ring-toss-game.html

#8 PAPER PLATE CRAFT - NATURE COLLAGE SUNCATCHER

This is a fun one because not only do they get to

put it together but they get to go outside and find nature

things to put inside of it...of course you can put whatever you

want between the clear paper but I really like this because of the

outdoors adventure to collect everything....

I have always loved the clear contact paper and I used

a lot of it when I did daycare crafts in the past...I used to pay

a lot more for it than now because you can buy a roll at the

dollar store...it's plenty enough to make many projects...

I'm thinking maybe sometimes in the near future I

might do a week of contact paper crafts...

sounds fun doesn't it?

...so here is this cute idea...

the green and orange plates make it look so pretty...

...instruction here...

http://handsonaswegrow.com/craft-for-toddlers-nature-collage-suncatcher/