Octopus Hot Dogs!

Start by slicing an uncooked hot dog in half, but only halfway up the length.

Turn it and slice it again, you should now have four legs!


Take each leg individually and slice that one in half. Do the same
with the other three.

Next, throw em in a pot of boiling water, I usually boil them for about 10 minutes.

The hot water makes the legs curl up slightly. And there you have it! A hot dog octopus in a sea of Mac n' Cheese!

Don't Buy Shorts!

You can easily stretch the life of a pair of jeans by making them into shorts. When your kids tear the knees or they get too short but the waist still fits cut the legs off and stitch a hem. This is especially nice because you can choose how short you want the shorts to be.


Start by cutting one of the legs off just above the tear (or however short you want them), next, fold them over.


You will want to make sure that the waist lines up, otherwise the legs won't match. Then, cut off the second leg.









Zig-zag stitch the bottom of the short legs. This will keep them from fraying.
Turn them inside out and pin the edges up. Stitch the hems with jean grade thread and viola!

Bread Heels

For some reason, I just can't eat the heels of a loaf of bread. I'd rather just not eat than to have to eat a sandwich made of heels.

I also don't like to waste.

Every time I threw away the heels I cringed. So...finally, after years and years of throwing them out (sometimes I'd save them to feed to ducks) I came up with a way to eat them where you can't tell that they are heels!

Breakfast Caserole dishes!

Basically, I keep a bread bag in my freezer and add the heels as I come across them. When I have six ends stored up I just whip up a breakfast caserole! AND you can't tell that it was made with heels!

Food Pyramid Magnets!

This is a project that I came up with, with the help of my awesome co-leader, to take the place of option #5 for the "Eat Right, Stay Healthy" Try-It. These are also a great recycle project for the girls! Start with 6 tops and bottoms from frozen juice cans. It's important to use this type because they are nice and smooth and have no risk of cutting a little one's fingers.

Using E6000 glue on some strong magnets, I prefer to just pay a little more to get a good quality magnet so they actually stay on the refrigerator. Glue them on the night (or sooner) before your meeting. The glue has toxic fumes and not good for pregnant women or children to breathe. Please, don't use hot glue, it is sure to pop off over time.

At the meeting, each girl should cut out pictures of food from ads and magazines for each of the six food groups; fats and sugars, proteins, veggies, fruits, dairy, and grains. Have the girls glue them into their lids and on top of the pictures glue the number of suggested servings per day.

Voila!

A Mountain Out of an Ant Hill

These colorful little containers of mysterious gel are the coolest things I've seen in a while! (I found them in the $1 bargain bins at Target!) They're little ant farms! I can't tell you how excited the kids were! They LOVE bugs!!!

Finding and capturing the ants...

Checking them out! Yep! They're still in there!

Wait a second...I think mine are escaping! (And they really did! The brilliant little buggers squeezed through the tiny air holes. We ended up covering ours with tape and I will let fresh air in every once in a while)

Way cool!

After only a few hours in their new home they started building their tunnels! Totally awesome!!!

My Hair Pretties

This is a craft that can be as simple as you'd like, or a little more complicated. One that pretty much all little girls will love! It's a hair accessory organizer!


Years ago, I found a dozen of these picket fences at a yard sale for $0.50 each. Originally, I was going to make them professionally and sell them at craft fairs. Since I never got around to making them before I closed my business I figured I'd let the Brownies go ahead and make them.


I've never seen the picket fences before or after I bought them so I don't know where you might find some. BUT you can easily use a simple wooden plaque instead.



I had found all the flower and bug wooden pieces at Dollar Tree, some of them were already painted, some not. You can pick up really nice pre-painted flowers at Michaels or Walmart even.



I let the girls decorate the pieces with glitter glues and rhinestones (rhinestones are a 'must have' for Brownies!) and color the wooden fence with markers. They each also got to pick three pre-cut grosgrain ribbons. I hot glued the ribbons on the back and the hanger on top (they got to choose which ones to put where).



After the meeting you need to spray the fences with a matte finish spray otherwise the marker ink with smudge and run (make sure you do this in a well ventilated area) Be sure to use matte and not glossy, glossy will make it run when it hits the marker. Also, the glossy takes a lot longer to dry and is harder to appy evenly.


At the next meeting hot glue clothespins to the front of the fence, or plaque, and then let the girls show you where they want the pieces to be. Once you glue those on you're done!

Not only could this be used for hair things but also to display favorite swaps from girl scout events!

Extreme Couponing

When I first began couponing, I had my accordian filer that all my coupons were sorted into. Until I went shopping one day and spent over three hours for not even half a carts' worth of groceries. So, my hubby and I designed a way to be able to have my coupons always ready to use!


You need to get a binder and several packages of PLASTIC dividers. Label the tabs however it best suits you. Make sure that you have some extra that aren't labeled.

Then sort your coupon packets.

Then lay them out where you can reach them.

You're going to want to cut all the coupons on the top page of each stack and place in a container so they don't scatter.

Then put all the same ones together and paper clip them. Then move on to the next page. If you cut too many pages at once you'll get frustrated trying to put the matches together.

Then paper clip them to the dividers.

I have a blank divider at the very front. As I pick out items and place them in my cart, I take the coupons and clip them to the front. This helps with checkout significantly!

In front of that, I have a zipper pouch with a pair of scissors. Always handy for the avid couponer!

Whenever I go to the store I write a list of what I'm planning to buy, but I ALWAYS take my binder just in case. A lot of times I come across un-advertised deals and am so glad I have my coupons there and ready!

Rabbit, Onion Laces, and Potato Salad, Oh My!

This was the first time that I've ever cooked rabbit, and I must say, it turned out quite well!

First, I threw all the drums and legs into the frying pan. I'm not sure if this is a normal thing or not, but they "popped" horribly in the oil so you might want to cover them while frying. If you cover them, make sure you turn down the heat a bit. Fry them for about 8 minutes on each side.

While they're cooking mix up some homemade Jack Daniels BBQ sauce.

1/2-3/4 cup Jack Daniels (depending on how well you like the stuff)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tsp Worcshesteshire sauce
a quick squeeze of lemon (not the whole thing! Just halve it and squeeze +-Tbsp into the mix)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I actually use about 1/2 tsp Garlic, Garlic by Tastefully Simple)

Mix it all together, and there you have your homemade BBQ sauce! This tastes AMAZING on chicken and ribs also.

Next, remove the rabbit pieces from the pan and place in a casserole dish. Before you throw them in the oven, smother them with homemade Jack Daniels BBQ sauce. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes turning every 10 minutes or so.

Now on to onion laces!!!

Take an onion, peel it and slice it as thin as you can. Separate the pieces and soak in milk at least 15 minutes. While they're soaking mix up the breading, 1 cup of flour liberally dusted with chili powder. Once you've mixed the two ingredients together, take the onions out of the milk and toss them in the breading bowl, making sure they are well coated before frying them up! These seriously rival the ones you'd find at those expensive steak houses! Yummy!

Easy Peasy Pizza Pie!

There's been a few pizza pies made in my kitchen over the years, but this is by far the best!

I happened upon the crust recipe completely on accident!

One day, while shopping at Walmart, I came across some white flour tortilla mix. I had made corn tortillas but not flour ones yet. So I bought a package, brought it home and made up some tortillas. They turned out pretty thick. We ended up eating them as tostadas...

Then it hit me! These would be pretty good as a pizza crust! And that's just what I did!

Combine two cups of the mix and 1/2 a cup of warm water in your Kitchen Aid, or with a mixer. When it looks like dough, stop! Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes. Next, knead it in the bowl with one hand about 8 times. (You can knead it on the counter but I despise cleaning up the flour mess.)

Take it out of the bowl and pat it inbetween your palms til it's about 8 inches across. Lay it in the middle of your pizza stone and starting in the middle pat it out with your hands til it gets to the edge, then just roll the edge up a bit to give it a ridge so the toppings don't fall off while baking.

Another way is to make them personal size, all you need to do is take two pieces of parchment paper and place a baseball sized piece of dough in between, then stick it in a tortilla press and press down the lever. It will ooz out the edges but that's okay, you want it to do that as it makes the border to keep the toppings in.

Then just add whatever toppings you want. To make it easy I just use spagetti sauce from a jar, sprinkle mozzerella cheese all over, a decent amount of pepperoni, and some sliced olives!

Bake at 400* for about 20 minutes. When it's done, let it stand for about 5 minutes. Last but certainly not least, dig in!!!

It's Cookie Time!!!

What perfect timing! I came across these on Oriental Trading Company as we were gearing up for cookie season. Every meeting, the girls run in the door and head straight for the table with the cookie games.

This is a Cookie Memory Game where the girls turn over two cards and hope for a match. If they don't match they turn them back over and try and remember where they were the next time their turn comes around. Whoever makes the most matches wins! I divided each set into two games because a full set was just too many for the girls to work with. This is a GREAT time filler! Easy clean-up too!http://http//www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=60/7039&mode=Searching&erec=6&D=memory+game&Ntt=memory+game&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=0&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=56+Pc.+Cookie+Matching+Game

Decorated Hair Ribbons

One of our recent craft projects was decorating hair ribbons. I came across some extra wide shoe laces at the flea market and my mom was so sweet as to give the troop her old fabric paints! Awesome!!!

Prep for this craft; cut cardboard or card stock into strips and tape them together end to end. Next, take some regular tape and roll it up on itself (you're basically wanting to make double sided tape) Stick the tape on the strip of cardboard and press the shoelace down on the tape. This makes it easy to move the shoelaces when they're still wet.

Then, let the girls decorate them with fabric paint.

Try-Its: Art to Wear

Honduran Cuisine

I had been craving some of my Step-Mother-in-Laws authentic Honduran cuisine, so what did I do? I googled!

Here's my first shot at carne asada and pupusas.

The carne asada was soooo tender and flavorful! And the pupusas were delish!

I think it's safe to say, my husband fell in love with me all over again tonight.

Tooth Fairy Box

Years ago, I was the Creative Activities Leader for a MOPS group when the theme was "Twinkle". Naturally, stars were the first thing I thought of. I combed the shelves of craft stores in my area and came upon these wooden star boxes at Michaels for $1.00! What a perfect box for a tooth!

Start by taking the lid off, if you paint it with the lid on it will be stuck shut forever.

Give it a couple good coats of yellow paint (I like Americana). Here comes the fun part! Get an old toothbrush, dip the bristles in the cream colored paint, and pointed the bristles at the star, run your finger over them. This will splatter paint the star giving it a little more interest. Then, using the end of a paint brush, dip it in some cream colored paint and apply polka dots all over top of the lid.

Now for the wand. Take a toothpick and cut it in half, and then paint it with the cream colored paint. Once dry, coat it in a bit of white glue and dip in a fine clear glitter. Use a star bead for the top. Apply a dab of glue in the bead and slide it onto the pointed tip of the toothpick. It's hard to see but I also took a bit of a pink feather and placed it behind the star. Then glue a tiny bow where the star and toothpick meet. Glue your wand in place on the box lid.

Once everything is dried thoroughly, use a Zig pen (an outlining pen used for toll painting, some scrapbookers use these as well) to write "My Tooth" To give your letters a more finished look, make dots on all the tips.

Another way is to use a liner brush and paint the letters on, I prefer doing it this way as it gives it a more artistic feel. Then use a stylis to apply the dots.

Some tips for prepping this craft for a crowd; I found that I could get 4 star boxes painted from a 2 oz bottle of yellow Americana (Americana is thicker, so if you go cheaper you won't have very good coverage and end up using more), also you will need to pre-tie all the little bows. Make sure you have the disposable foam brushes, they work GREAT! for this project.


Total cost of project: $2.00

Here is one packaged for a gift! The irridescent grass and ribbon makes a cute touch!

Sit Upons

For my first blog post ever, I figured I'd start with a favorite Girl Scout craft! It's called the Sit Upon because, well, you sit upon it!

To start, you need to find something soft for in the middle. There is guy at our local farmer's market that sells new, but irregular, foam. I chose a piece about 4ft by 6ft, and at one end measured roughly 2 inches and at the other end measured about 1 1/2 inches thick. I cut it into pieces that were 2 feet by 1 1/2 foot.

Next, you'll need something preferably waterproof so that the dew on the ground doesn't seep through when using it in the morning while camping.

I found a tablecloth material sold by the yard at Walmart for a great price!

Cut 2 pieces for each sit upon that you're making. Be sure to add 2 inches to each of the 4 sides. So if you used the measurements that I used for the foam you'll want to cut the tablecloth pieces 2 foot 4 inches by 1 foot 10 inches.

Place the foam between the two tablecloth pieces and punch holes around the perimeter of the sit upon.

Now here's a pretty neat and cheap idea to help the girls sew with the yarn! Make a needle out of a chenille stem (formerly called pipe cleaners). The only catch is that once you twist the end around itself make sure that the sharp point is pointing down, otherwise it will snag the tablecloth while sewing.

Total cost of project: $2.25

And there you have it!