Chocolate Isn't a Vegetable?

One of the treats I make each Christmas is peppermint and white chocolate bark. It is super easy to make and delicious! Here's how: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Crush 12 candy canes. Melt 8 oz of white chocolate (wafers or baking bar) in the microwave, stirring every thirty seconds until melted. Add one teaspoon of peppermint extract and the crushed candy canes and mix. Quickly spread this mixture on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet to create a layer about 1/4 of an inch thick. Refrigerate for at least half an hour, then, break into pieces and serve! You can also melt a cup of milk chocolate chips or wafers and quickly spread on top of the bark before breaking it apart. Just refrigerate for another 30 minutes after adding the chocolate. Enjoy!

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on low heat in a medium size saucepan. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of baking cocoa. Next, add 1 cup of milk and whisk until almost smooth. Add 6 oz of milk chocolate chips and stir until a smooth chocolate sauce forms. In a blender, combine chocolate sauce, 5-6 pieces of ice, and 1 cup of milk. Blend until the mixture has a frappuccino-consistency, about 20 seconds. Pour into two tall classes, add whipped cream, and enjoy!

Tile coasters are easy and fun to put together and make wonderful gifts! Best of all, they are inexpensive and functional ! Here's what you'll need: Modge Podge (available at craft stores) 12x12 scrapbooking paper (scrap paper is fine too, you'll need 4x4 squares) 4x4 tiles (13 cents and up at home improvement stores) foam brush felt pads (any size, four per tile, found at Home Depot, Lowes etc.) clear acrylic spray Cut as many 4x4 pieces of scrapbooking paper as tiles. Using the foam brush, cover each tile with a thin layer of Modge Podge. Quickly press the paper unto the tile. Let the Modge Podge/paper dry for 15 minutes. Next, apply a thin layer of Modge Podge over the entire surface of the tile and paper. Let dry, then repeat. Finally, spray each tile with a thin layer of clear acrylic to seal. Add the felt pad to four corners of each tile and...Voila -water-resistant coasters that can be customized to match any season or decor!

Rock Candy is easy to make and tastes delicious! This activity is also a great science project that teaches about crystal formation. In  a metal saucepan, heat about two cups of water and slowly add 4-6 cups of water. Keep stirring and adding sugar until the solution is saturated (no more sugar will dissolve). This will create a syrup-like mixture. Divide the mixture among 3-4 glass jars and add food coloring and flavoring as desired. Soak wooden skewers in cold water and roll them in sugar to seed the crystals. Let the sugar dry completely, then insert 1-2 skewers into each jar. Put the jars in a warm, and if possible sunny place. After about one week, gently remove the skewers and enjoy your homemade rock candy!

Here is a fun way to turn an inexpensive clipboard into a message/photo board: Cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the shape of the clipboard. Cover the board with a thin layer of Modge Podge and carefully place the scrapbook paper on the clipboard. Decorate the paper with die-cuts, stickers etc. and cover everything with another layer of Modge Podge. Add a ribbon to the board's clip and place on a plate holder (available at craft stores, Walmart, etc.) to display. Now you can clip photos, shopping lists, recipe cards, and other fun things on this pretty, yet functional, clipboard. You can also cover your clipboard with chalkboard paint and then embellish it with stickers and ribbons, for an erasable message board.

Swim lessons at the Y are a wonderful idea for little ones. Swim lessons at the Y in the middle of winter - still a great idea, but getting from the building to the car - brrr! To keep Boo warm after her swim lesson, I sewed a hooded towel/cover up for her, based on tutorials I found here and here .This was super-easy to make with inexpensive towels and fabrics scraps at a fraction of the cost of commercially made, personalized hooded towels. The hooded towel above is based on the tutorial found here. A hooded towel all wrapped up - a gift to a preschool friend who loves ladybugs.  This hooded towel also served as a cover-up. I added the butterfly applique and letters for personalization.

Making marbled paper is a fun and educational activity that builds vocabulary and small motor skills! To create the marbled effect, pour liquid laundry starch into a shallow baking sheet. The liquid should cover the sheet about 1/4 inch deep. Next, mix a tablespoon of acrylic paint with two teaspoons of water, and stir well. Repeat for additional colors you would like to use. Drop as many colors as you like on the laundry starch surface. Next, use a chop stick or the wrong end of a pencil to create swirls and other paint designs. Cover the design with an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper and lift it up by the edges a few seconds later. Briefly dip the paper into a pan filled with cold water to wash off the starch. Let the paper dry on newspapers or on a thick old towel. Throughout the whole process, talk to your child about the colors and patterns she is creating. Discuss the names of the colors and point out the color names on the paint containers. After the paper dries you may have to ca...