The winner is.....

We have a winner for the Gift Package worth over $50 in celebration of our 50 followers!

It will contain items from
http://www.beautyfromtheearth.com/
and
http://www.littledivatutus.com/


is........

Shelly - Ravish30

Meatloaf Graves with Mashed Potato Ghost

This weekend we had 8 kids for pumpkin carving. I thought it would be awesome to make a special treat for supper. I made them meatloaf graves with green grass mashed potatoes, and mashed potato ghost.

I simply shaped the meatloaf into serving size ovals and baked them on a cookie sheet. Then I made mashed potatoes and made some of them green with food color. I put the green potatoes on a tray and put the meatloaves on top. I then put a little potatoes in a plastic bag, cut off the tip, and made little ghost using that.

They were a huge hit!

What is in your purse? A Purse Review-

This is the photo from Avon's site. They explain it as --------An Avon exclusive! Go from messy…to neat! Everything has a place…and stays in place! No more digging to find your cell phone. No more searching for your lipstick. No more emptying your bag to find your keys. Organizer tote with five compartments for everything from your wallet to cosmetics. Vinyl. Fully lined, with zip pocket. Recessed zipper closure.

So I purchased one. It was $20 with a $15 purchase. I think that was a special for last month and I am not sure it is still active. You would have to check with your local Avon rep. So, on to my review.....

So here you have it...... this is what is currently in my purse. Can you tell I have kids? LOL

Look like a huge mess? I can tell you that it was in my old purse.

You have to see this to believe it.

* This purse has cool little divides in the bottom that hold your stuff. No more digging all over the place to find what you are looking for. This is the best part.

* The size is great. Not too large or small.

* On the downside it only comes in black. I wish they had more colors. I would own one of each.

Overall I would suggest this for anyone but especially anyone who carries a ton of stuff.

Oatmeal Cookies and Bath Time!

I have a good friend who has been living in an apartment without a bath tub. Can you imagine?!? I spend a good 30 minutes every night soaking in a hot tub and relaxing! It's my ME time. Well, she got good news that she is getting to upgrade apartments and the new one has a tub. She is super excited to be able to kick back in it and relax nightly.

I thought it would be nice to make her apartment warming gift and what would be better than something for a bath! I came across a recipe for Oatmeal Cookie Bath Soak and it was super simple to make. I think I will even make some to give out as Christmas Gifts.

You will need

1 c oatmeal

1/2 c baking soda

1-2 tsp cinnamon

Dump it all in a food processor and blend together.

That's it! How easy is that?

I put hers in a jelly jar with a piece of scrapbook paper cut to fit under the ring, tied on a ribbon, and card. I put the instructions ( Pour 1/2 cup or so into a running bath then slip in and relax, repeat daily).

I made a little extra and I am going to try some as soon as I get kids off to bed.

I have 50 Followers! Time for a Giveaway!

We are giving away a Gift Package worth over $50 in celebration of our 50 followers! It will contain items from

http://www.beautyfromtheearth.com/ and http://www.littledivatutus.com/ as well as other things!


How to Enter

1. Become follower of MrsSuzieHomemaker Blog and post a comment.

2. Become a follower of LittleDivaTutus on Twitter and leave a comment here on the blog.

3. Blog about this contest and post a comment.

* Contest will be open until Midnight MT on November 3rd.

* Winner must have a US or Canadian mailing address!

* The winner will be randomly selected (from random.org) and announced on November 4th. You MUST check back to see if you won, or leave your email address with comment. The winner will need to contact suziehomemakerblog@yahoo.com to provide name and shipping address.

The kids love these!

On a recent trip to Wally World (WalMart) I saw this cute sandwich cutter. I grabbed it for about $2. My kids are loving their heart shaped grilled cheeses. On my next trip I am going to buy the one that makes dinosaurs.

Triple Chocolate Cake

When my kids requested a chocolate cake I went straight to allrecipes.com. I love to be able to reads ratings on a recipe before I make a new recipe. Today we tried Too Much Chocolate Cake . It came out wonderful! The kids insisted that we give each piece a dollop of whipped cream and some orange sprinkles since it's almost Halloween.

If you like a rich chocolate cake this is the cake for you!

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

I used a 9 by 13 and I put on store bought chocolate icing. :)

Hygiene Drive with Giveaway- Repost this on your blog. :)

There are many people here in the USA that do not have the resources or money to purchase necessities such as hygiene products.

This Christmas Beauty From the Earth will be sending Hygiene Kits out to the needy. These kits will be handed out to many men, women, and children who are not as fortunate as many of us.


Last year we were only going to send them to homeless but we found that there are many people out there that can not afford the items that are not homeless. These may include mentally handicap persons or the victims of domestic violence.

Our goal is to send at lease 200 kits out.

We are still in need of many more items.

We would like to invite you to participate in this event.We need the following items-
Shampoo
Conditioner
Hand lotion
Bars of soap
Dental floss
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Tampons
Sanitary napkins
Diapers
In addition of these items we will also we collecting color books and crayons for children.

If you would like to donate please mail your items to -
Beauty From The Earth
PO Box 315
Syracuse, Kansas 67878

Every person who sends items for the cause will get 20% off their next order at http://www.beautyfromtheearth.com/
and will be entered to win a 100.00 gift certificate also from Beauty From The Earth.

Let's keep this going! Post this on your blog. I bet we can send out many more than 200 kits!

You can see the orginal post at-
http://beautyfromtheearth.blogspot.com/2009/10/there-are-many-people-here-in-usa-that.html

Apple Cream Cheese Dessert

I was looking for something to make with a roll of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls last night and made up a recipe. It came out awesome.

1 roll of Pillsbury crescent rolls

1 8oz block of cream cheese softened

1/2 c white sugar

3 apples, chopped

1 t lemon juice

1/2 c brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

Heat oven to 375. Separate the dough into 2 long rectangles. Place the dough in an ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan; press in bottom to form crust. Seal perforations by pressing them together.
Bake the crust at 375 for about 7 minutes.

In small bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar & vanilla until smooth. Spread mixture over partially baked crust.

Toss chopped apples in lemon juice then toss with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle apples over the top of the crust and "sauce"

Bake at 375 for an extra 25-3o minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm

Store in the fridge.

The best caramel corn recipe ever!

Happiness in my oven!

This amazing buttery caramel coated popcorn melts in your mouth and is super addictive. It takes a while to make but it is well worth the wait! For a little something extra add in peanuts or drizzle with chocolate.





This is the original recipe but I have changed to make it even better.






INGREDIENTS


1/2 cup real butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bags buttery microwave popcorn popped and kernels picked out( you can use regular popcorn but it is not as good)





Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and pour on to wax paper. Let cool completely before breaking into pieces. DO NOT LET COOL IN PAN! It will stick.

Pumpkin People. :)

Last weekend the girls and I spent Sunday making pumpkin heads for scarecrows. We have not had a chance to go to Goodwill to buy them clothes. As soon we do we plan to make each a full size body. For now I wanted to share a couple of photos of our family pumpkin style!

Makeup Storage for small counter tops

If you have a small bathroom these storage drawers come in very handy. I use two stacked together. They do not hold my whole collection of makeup but they hold what I like to have handy for daily use. I picked them up for $7 each. It is the perfect solution for me!

For more tips check out this video by Petrilude