Fabric Pins

Tesha and I were shopping and saw some fabric pins and she said "I've seen these before - they're like the ones you made!"Yep, I made a bunch of these back in the day. I'm not sure they were ever 'in' style so can't really say they are back in style now hahaha, but they are pretty and I forgot all about them so I'm sharing even tho this isn't something I've made recently. I only have this one picture so can't show you the steps involved in making them, but you can pretty much see how I did it - for each pin you'll need 3 graduating sizes of flower shaped fabric and 2 buttons, and a pin for the back so you can attach it to a lapel, purse, backpack, whatever.

To assemble: stack the fabrics on top of each other largest to small. I used 2 different sizes of buttons stacked together for the center of the flower, sew thru the buttons and all layers of fabric to hold the bundle together. Attach a straight-backed pin (or a safety pin) on the back.

I made a cardboard template of 3 different sizes instead of free handing each one, but you can wing it if you prefer. If you use fabric that might ravel I'd sew around the edges before attaching to the pin.

Sorry I don't have better photos to show you!! But you get the idea right? These are all in darker, heavier fabrics - they'd be really pretty in bright springtime colors.

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 6)

Dear Campers ~

A quick recap in case you missed anything this week:

Posts ~
2/2: 🔥week 5
2/3: doctored brownie mix
2/4: tip-sy Tuesday: lilies
2/5: Jen's baked pork chops
2/6: TBT: alligator pear salad
2/7: candy slider box
2/8: super chocolatey kiss cookies

a funny from my sis 😂 so true!!!

Keeping this short and sweet today, no time for my rambling! I'm off to visit my mom in Tennessee and have so much to do - I need to work on my procrastinating!

Hope you had a great week, stop back often to see more fun projects, recipes, whatever I can think of to make. Bye!

Sincerely ~


Jill
camp counselor and alligator pear lover

Double Chocolate Kisses Cookies

I've never seen this done and it's a great idea - add cocoa powder to store-bought chocolate chip cookie dough to make chocolate-chocolate chip dough. Smart. And delicious. Unless you don't like chocolate-chocolate chip cookies in which case stop reading 'cuz it'll be a waste of your time ;)

• 1 package (16 1/2 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup chocolate sprinkles (or another kind if you don't have enough of the chocolate ones - I used a Valentine mix)
• 2 T. milk
• about 40 dark chocolate kisses, unwrapped

1. Preheat oven 375'. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment. Put the cookie dough and cocoa powder in a bowl and combine with a mixer until the cocoa is completely mixed into the dough. You could also mix together by hand, or put in a big ziplock and knead them together. 

2. Place sprinkles in a shallow dish or small bowl. Place milk in another shallow dish or bowl. Shape dough into 1" balls. Dip balls in milk to moisten, then roll in sprinkles to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.

3. Bake in preheated oven about 8 minutes or until edges are firm. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Makes about 40 cookies. 

Store cookies layered between waxed paper in an airtight container. Store at room temp for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

recipe from midwestliving.com

Candy Slider Box

This is a repeat but I love making these slider boxes so much I have to share again!

from 2016:

I made a video to show you how to make this cute slider box filled with wrapped mini chocolate bars for Valentines day - I was having a hard time demonstrating in pictures so hopefully doing it on video makes sense to you and is easy to follow along this way! There is a base to hold the chocolates and a wrap sleeve that the base slides into, then you wrap the chocolates with strips of paper that have letters on them to spell out whatever word you want. I'm making these to put on everyones place setting at our "Palentine" dinner party on Valentines day - a nice little gift for them to take home. This is definitely a craft kids can do, no hot glue and just a bit of cutting. It's mostly folding and sticking the pieces together once they are cut out.

  

Supplies for each slider box:

-3.5" x 10.5" cardstock for the base (I used white)
-4.5" x 9"      cardstock for the top (I used patterned)
-ruler
-tape or adhesive
-scorer (optional)
-pencil
-scissors
-9 1"x3" strips of paper with a letter printed on each one (computer or handwritten)
-9 Hershey's Nugget chocolate bars
-Optional: things to decorate the slider box after it's completed - scrap cardstock, ribbons, etc.

Watch the video for instructions on how to make this slider box - you could also customize it for any occasion - the one I made holds 9 mini chocolate bars, if you want this as a thank you or birthday gift I would either shorten the box a bit or wrap the extra chocolate in a label that is plain, or maybe put a picture/symbol/sticker on it. That'd be cute!

Note:  Oops, I mistakenly bought Hersheys miniatures instead of Nuggets at first...and they don't fit in this size slider box - use Nuggets for this project to work. If you want to make it using different sized candy you will need to adjust the dimensions of the slider box. Just a warning - I don't want you to be surprised if you get miniatures thinking they are the right size!

2026 UPDATE: I don't know what happened to the video but this post is pointless without instructions hahaha. Click here for the link to the video on youtube. I posted an update with some photos, click here.

TBT: Alligator Pear Salad

Alligator Pear? Are you, like me, wondering what the heck that is? Is it an old variety of pear we don't have now? Nope - it's an avocado! Why they didn't just call it an avocado I cannot say - I guess an avocado does look like a pear with alligator hide haha. Whatever the reason, it's in my new/old cookbook and today's 'Throw-Back Thursday" recipe - alligator pear salad is just an avocado sliced into wedges, placed on top of lettuce leaves, drizzled with dressing. Tasty for sure - only thing I did different is used bagged salad so there's a little bit of carrot and radicchio in the mix, and I sprinkled on coarse salt and pepper. The recipe calls for French dressing which is not like our present day creamy ketchup-based French dressing - the one in the book is more oil and vinegar based and I'll share that with you next week. For now just top with whatever dressing you want (the current French dressing would also be good!).

Here's the official recipe as written in the cookbook:

ALLIGATOR PEAR SALAD

• 2 alligator pears
• lettuce leaves
• french dressing

The alligator pear, or avocado, is now available in all markets at very reasonable prices throughout the greater part of the year. Cut each pear into six pieces, giving wedge-shaped sections, and if these are too large, cut each section again lengthwise. Peel and arrange wedges on beds of lettuce leaves. Either French dressing or Russian dressing may be used, but the fruit is so rich that French dressing is preferred by most people.

Baked Pork Loin Chops by Jenny

Gotta prove I’m capable of feeding myself when my sister is off gallivanting in the California Sun… oh wait.. maybe I should be proving I CAN’T feed myself or her niece when she is gone so she will come back?? Hmmmm… thoughts to ponder.

Anyway- headed to Costco Sunday and got these lovely pork loins.  Yum.  Decided to venture out and not just smother them in delicious cream of mushroom soup.  Decided instead to try something different.  Found a couple variations of this on the internet so mixed a couple together and gave it a whirl.  Delicious. 

½ cup spicy mustard

1 cup Italian dressing

¾ cup brown sugar

Patted dry the pork with a paper towel, salt and peppered both sides.  Placed in a baking pan that I sprayed with cooking spray.  

Mixed all the above ingredients together to make a sauce and poured over the pork.  Baked 30 minutes at 400, then broiled for another 5 to get the top brown. 

I also used the extra sauce over Udon noodles as a side.  The negative with that is that even though the sauce was amazing it was all to much the same flavor.. GREAT flavor but the same flavor.  HAHAHAHA. If I had poured the sauce over my salad as dressing the entire meal would have been complete. 

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.. yum.  And perhaps drank the rest. 

Jill here ~ new category, it's not "my sis is hungry" and I'm feeding her, now it's "my sis is hungry and she fed herself"! hahahahaha. Nice job sissy, these look delicious and I'm going to try your recipe for sure!

Tip-sy Tuesday: messy Lily pollen

I love a flower arrangement that includes lilies (or only lilies - one of my favorites is an all white bouquet of them), but if you've ever had them in your house you'll know that the stamens open up and drop this orange dusty pollen which makes a mess - and if you get the pollen on anything good luck getting it out! Here's a little trick I learned a long time ago in a flower class - remove the stamen before it opens up! Just snip them right out of the center of the lily and save yourself a load of trouble. 

In the next picture you can sort-of see the sprinkling of orange powdery dust on my fingers after removing the stamen.

2.4.19: man-day monday
2.4.18: last minute super bowl ideas
2.4.17: super bowl party games
2.4.16: super bowl party planner

obviously super bowl was early this year!

Football Stadium Brownies

Did you see the football brownies that I made for Super Bowl yesterday? They look really cute but more importantly they tasted really good!  (hmmm, is that true? Is it more important they taste good, or look cute?). Baking brownies is always a crap shoot for me, I don't want them over-baked so I usually pull them out too early and the middle sinks. For whatever reason this time they were perfect! I used a box of dark chocolate brownie mix for a 13x9 pan and doctored it with a few add-ins -
I used 2 eggs, replaced the water with cooled coffee, added a pinch of coarse salt, a teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips. Baked exactly 20 minutes, removed from oven and immediately covered with foil; let cool. They turned out moist and chocolatey, perfectly level with no sinking in the center, and the edges were not dry.

I frosted them with my standard buttercream, added a few white lines and a "50" at the center line; decorated with sprinkles in the end zone sort-of giving the look of people in stands, gummy bears for the players (how much time it took me to figure out positioning was ridiculous!), striped Hershey hugs for the refs.

Tip for making straight frosting lines - I laid a skewer down on the green frosting to make a slightly indented line, then traced over it with my white frosting in a decorator squeeze thing with a small round tip.

 To keep the sprinkles from going everywhere I put them in a funnel - put my finger over the bottom opening and then slowly lifted my finger and directed the sprinkles into the end areas I wanted them. Worked like a charm.


2.3.19: 🔥
2.3.18: football toss game
2.3.17: super bowl party
2.3.16: cookie bites

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 5)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap of what happened at MMDC last week in case you missed anything:

Posts ~
1/26: 🔥week 4
1/27: DIY not DUI
1/28: tip-sy Tuesday: microwaving tip
1/29: lemon rosemary chicken (rotisserie hack)
1/30: tbt: cardinal salad
1/31: Al's Napa salad
2/1:  Miss Lori's wintery wreath

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read "Face-Off", a compilation of short thriller stories with a cool twist - each story is written by two authors using their main characters. I read the story descriptions of each one - lots of the authors and characters I don't know, so I skipped the ones that the story didn't appeal to me so I can't really give it a good or bad review. I enjoyed the stories by the authors I know, I'm not a huge fan of short stories tho because if it's a good story then I want to read more about it! So I'm only going ⭐️⭐️ and 1/2 mostly because it's not my favorite type of book. 
• also read "Long Road to Mercy" by David Balducci, it was just ok - lots of detail about things not pertaining to the plot line (lots of weightlifting stuff, etc.) and too longwinded about bombs and politics that I don't care about. Still, having said that, I did finish it and it is an interesting story line, I just didn't love it. Also give ⭐️⭐️ and 1/2
• My friends and hiking buddies Mark and Chuck are on their way to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro! How cool is that? I'm so jealous and can't wait to hear about their adventure and see the (what I know will be) AMAZING photos!

Are you ready for some football? I heard two guys greet each other this morning with "Happy Super Bowl Sunday" LOL. Like it's a holiday. I made these cute football brownies for our party:

Have a great week - stop by often to see what other things I think of to make at camp :)

Sincerely ~


Jill
camp counselor and wannabe mountain climber


2.2.19: groundhog day
2.2.18: superbowl games
2.2.17: preserved lemons
2.2.16: storing wrapping and tissue paper

Miss Lori's Winter Wreath

Miss Lori sent me these photos of a beautiful winter wreath she made, isn't it gorgeous? Funny, I just said to Dave this morning that it seems like winter is over and I should take down the winter decorations we have up around the condo by the beach - he said no, it isn't even February yet and still very much winter! I forget that Michigan will be cold and snowy for quite a while... in case you're feeling cooped up and want to craft, you still have lots of time to enjoy this pretty wintery wreath. 

Here's what Lori wrote (and yep, I totally get the need to make stuff!):


We were predicted to have a good bit of snow today so yesterday I went to JoAnn’s and gathered items from the 80% off room to create my Mom a winter wreath for her front door.  All the items came to $19 and I put it together tonight so I wanted to share with you!  It’s nice to have someone that understands the need to craft!

2.1.19: baby poop party dip
2.1.18: squat challenge
2.1.17: triple berry muffins
2.1.16: make a hanging wire and cork memory board