New Contest

Up for grabs is 3 cookbooks. They include-

Better Homes and Gardens Favorite Time Saving Recipes (1988)

Avon Muffin and Quick Breads (1989)

Snack and Party Cookbook (1954)

To win-

You must be a follower. This gives you one entry.

Bonus Enteries(Please leave seperate comments for each entry)

Twitter about this contest. Leave us a comment with the link.

Write a blog about this contest. Leave us a link the the comments.

More Details

*Winners are chosen by Random.Org.

*Winner will be announced on this blog; be sure to check back to see if you are a winner.

*Contest ends August 10, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EDT

*Open to North American and Canada addresses only

*Rules for each entry must be followed to be valid

Best of Luck to you!

We are trying to arrange monthly contest so check back with us for more!

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1 reg. jar marshmallow cream (1 pt.)

Bring cream cheese to room temperature; cream and mix with marshmallow cream

Serve with fresh fruit as dip.

Mom, it was not me!

Someone got into the flour........

No Bake Cookies or Pantry Cookies

We were looking for something to make to take to the field to feed the harvest crew. My mother in law wanted to make Carter Cookies but we were out of a few key ingredients. My sister in law raided the pantry.

These cookies are a great way to use up small amounts of things like cereal, popcorn, marshmallows, dry fruit, granola, pretzels, nuts, and etc. Play around with the recipe and find your favorite combo.

1 lb. almond bark
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 cups of whatever you like. ( We used peanuts, popcorn, and pretzels)

Melt almond bark. Stir in peanut butter. Mix in your stuff. Let cool a little. Mix together. Drop on wax paper. Cool.

Yields: 30-40 no bake cookies

Other mix in

Oreo Truffle Balls

These Delicious Oreo balls are rich and delicious. They are not at all hard to make but can be a little time consuming.

1 package OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, crushed
1 1/2 packages(12 ounces) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 package almond bark, melted

Crush remaining cookies to crumbs; place in medium bowl.

Add cream cheese; mix until well blended.

Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.

Freeze for 45 minutes

Place the chopped coating chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave stirring after every minute. Stop heating when most of the coating is melted, and stir constantly until the remaining chunks of coating have melted and the mixture is smooth and even.

Use a truffle dipper or two forks to dip a truffle in melted chocolate to coat. Remove the truffle, tapping the dipper handle or forks gently on the edge of the bowl to shake off any excess chocolate. Lay on wax paper.

Store in airtight container, in refrigerator.

A Few Summer Photos

This summer has been a super busy summer. I have not had a ton of time to blog but I have been carrying my camera around. Here are a few of my summer photos. There will be more to come.

Coming very soon-

Photos and recipes for

Tuna Patties and Oreo Balls!

Tips for a Successful Yard Sale

It is that time of the year. My annual yard sale is tomorrow. I am spending the rest of today going through all my junk hoping that someone else would like to take it home with them.



I am going to post some tips for having a successful garage sale.



Advertise, advertise, advertise!



Get an ad in your paper



Use free classified ads like Craigslist.com



Post on community Forums or message boards



Post signs in your area but be careful : some jurisdictions have limits and rules. (check those first)


Be specific about the place, date, hours.

List items for sale.



Get Ready



When you are looking through things you want to sale try to box them together according to the type of item. If all clothes are in one box it will be so much easier when it is time to set up your sale.



Save your plastic grocery bags. You will need them to bag the stuff people buy.



Know when to have your sale- when do most people in your area get paid? That would be a good time to have your sale.



Look through things you will be selling- Make sure that clothing pockets and purses are empty.



Save all those metal hangers from the cleaners. They are wonderful for sales. I do not use the cleaners so I ask my friends to save them for me. You can also buy them by the bundle at some thrift stores.



Clean items up. Clean all dirt off items that you have for sale. Things will sale better if they are cleaned up.



Bundle like items. If you have 25 pencils do not try to sale each one. Bundle them together and sale at one price.

Get Change. You will need lots of ones and fives.

The Day of the Sale

Expect early birds! If you do not want early birds say NO EARLY BIRDS when you advertise.



Make sure that every item is priced in view. You can lose sales by not pricing items. Try to put the price sticker on top of the item, not the bottom.



If the day of the sale is going to be super hot consider selling sodas or bottled waters.

Play some background music. It allows people to talk about whether they want an item without having to whisper.

Put your big ticket items near the road. It will help draw in more customers.

Be friendly and talk to people.

Have electrical outlets nearby to plug in electronics. Customers will want to make sure they work.

If you get an offer on an item that you aren't ready to come down on, offer to take their name and number in case you don't sell it.

Good Luck with your sale! If you have other tips please post them in the comments.

BIKE ACROSS KANSAS 2009

Bike Across Kansas happens once a year. 800 Bikers spend 8 days in an amazing rise from Colorado to Missouri,covering over 450 miles. This year I was able to help out a little and get to see the action. I am a member of a group that held a pasta supper for the bikers. Let me tell you they can eat!


We had tents all over town and bikes leaned against every building. It was an awesome sight to see. I had the chance to get out and talk to some of the riders. This is an awesome group of people! I have been asked to do it next year, we will have to see about that!

Swiffer WetJet Product Review

I purchased the All-In-One Swifter WetJet Starter Kit

The package contained 1 Power Mop, 2 disposable cleaning pads, 1 500 mL bottle multi-purpose cleaning solution, 1 scrubbing strip. This part cost about $30.

I also purchased an extra box of 12 pads and 4 AA batteries to run it.

According to the manufacturer-

The Swiffer WetJet Power Mop is an all-in-one mopping system that thoroughly cleans dirty floors quickly and easily. It is lightweight with a flexible swivel head that gets into hard-to-reach places. The push-button sprayer evenly distributes the pre-mixed cleaning solution which dissolves tough, greasy stains and sticky dirt. The disposable cleaning pads then pull in and trap the dirt, grime, hair and dirty water to keep it off your floors. Features a scrubbing strip on one side of the mop head for cleaning tough spots. Safe on virtually all floors, including finished wood.

I swept my floor first and went over it with my Dyson to get up all the loose dirt before using it.

PROS

*The WetJet is very convenient to use. I love the fact that you don't have to fill a bucket of water and lug it around with you to mop.

*It is faster than mopping. I can knock out my bathroom in minutes.

*It fits around toilets well.

CONS

* Solution left my floor streaky, dull floor.

* I have very high traffic floors! One bottle of solution was not enough to do my dinning room and kitchen. It even took 2 pads! That means it cost over $7 each time I mop them.

* You have to go over the floor several times to get it clean.

* The handle is way to short for taller people. It makes my back hurt.

* The smell of the cleaning solution is way too strong.

Overall-

Don't waste your money! I think you would be better off duct taping maxi pads to your feet and skating around the floor.

I refuse to buy any more solution to refill it. I am going to try to pry open the bottle and refill it just to use the other pads up. I know some people just love their Swifter WetJet but I am not one of them!

For now it has become a

Cat Toy!

Mock Iced Caramel Macchiato

I found this posted by Xcookage on Youtube. I tried it (see photo above) and must say it is not too bad. See the video below on how to make one for yourself.

Make your own scented candles!

If you're like me you've spent your fair share on those great smelling, yet some what costly scented candles and/or tarts.

I'm all for supporting work at home moms looking to make extra money by making and selling their own scented candles, however what if you can't afford those costly candles and tarts?

I recently purchased soy candle wax from Micheal's for $20 (they carry less expensive wax as well). I also purchased several 1 oz. bottles of candle fragrance (you can find these on eBay) for about $1.00 each. If I've estimated correctly, I should be able to make 25 small candles for less than $25!!



Following the directions provided on the wax box, I melted my wax in the microwave and slowly poured it into my previously used, but clean candle tins. I added the appropriate amount of fragrance and left it to harden.

It takes approximately 1-2 weeks for the candle (or in my case tart) to cure. They smell amazing and were super easy to make! They're now ready to rest on my candle warmer and scent my home!

Enter & Win a 4th of July Tutu!

Enter and Win an adorable 4th of July tutu from Little Diva Tutus!

Your choice! Take the Freedom or Patriotic tutu for your Little Diva!

Ways to enter:

1) Leave a comment telling us which tutu you want, along with the size and your e-mail address.

2) Follow this blog (leave a comment)

3) Tweet about this contest (leave a comment with your link).

4) Write about this contest in your Facebook status

(leave a comment with your link).

5) Earn an entry for every dollar spent at Little Diva Tutus (leave a comment).

6) Follow Little Diva Tutus and Beauty From The Earth on Twitter

(leave a comment).

Your e-mail address must accompany your comments so that we can contact you if you are selected as the winner!

Winner will be picked June 30th.