Friday Fun For All- Holiday Houses

I want to do a contest. I think it will be really fun, but I need you all to play along. I want to do a gingerbread house contest. I have a great recipe for ginger bread that isn't great for eating, but it bakes up like plywood and holds up wonderfully for making holiday houses. And I will post that, but I don't care if you use a kit from your local grocery store or even an old school lunch milk carton covered in icing and decorated.

Here are the rules:

*Everything must be made out of something edible and held together with frosting. Exceptions-I don't care if your base is not gingerbread and if it is held together with hot glue, but everything else needs to be held together with frosting.

 *If you want to team up with someone else to create your house, that is great. Call your kids together and make a plan, design a house and then build it together. Great family times here.

*After you are finished with your house take a picture or two of it- front, back, sides, inside if applicable and then send the picture to me (post it on your blog if you want) I will then post all of the pictures on my blog and we will all vote on them- I will figure out the categories and let you know by next Friday. I will also figure out some cool prizes to go along with the categories and let you know what they are as well.

 So start thinking about what kind of gingerbread house you want to make, so start buying those candies now when the Halloween stuff is going on sale- small candy bars are great bricks, tiles, shingles, logs, skittles and m&ms are great for rocks.

Anybody willing to play along? and if you have friends that you think would enjoy this, invite them because the more the merrier I always say.

Houses need to be finished and photos to me by Dec. 4th. Voting will then be Dec. 5th to the 12th so I can send prizes before Christmas.

I will post my recipe Monday along with pictures of a house Jess and I made a few years ago when I had extra time.

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Indeed.

Friday Fun For All- Menu Board

Before I go to the grocery store, I take stock of what I have in my pantry and storage room and then I check the calendar and the weather forcast for the next week (do I want soups and stews and chili or sandwiches and salads). Then I make a menu for the week and a grocery list. I write the menu on a piece of paper and hang it on the fridge for everyone to see so they know what we are eating and can help out or start it if I am late coming home or if it is a school night for me.  The plan at the beginning was to recycle the menues but I never seem to want the same combination of meals so I have a file folder full of menues and that was beginning to annoy me.  Then one day I was blog surfing and saw a really cute idea for a menue and I decided to make my own version.

Old cookie sheet

Found at yard sale for 0.25 cents

(frog at the same sale also 0.25)

Cleaned the cookie sheet and painted it black- 2 coats

Then I got some chalkboard paint ($4)

I gave the cookie sheet 2 coats of that

when it was dry I glued some small ribbon across the top

(ribbon- free out of my craft stash)

 I took an old calendar magnet off of the fridge

and my label maker and made labels of foods that

we like to eat regularly.

I included one that says: find your own for those

nights I know I will not have time to cook between

work and another meeting/kid thing/class/whatever.

I put the labels on the magnet and cut them out.

I also made Sunday/Monday/Tuesday etc. labels

And this is the result.

I did the chalkboard paint so that if I didn't have a label

or if the meal is a once in a while thing

or I can write the page of a recipe.

And switching the meals around during the week?

So easy now and no messy scribbling.

Now I need to find someway to hang it on the wall by the stove- maybe put some cutsie something on it.

Either way, I am really liking my new menu board.

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Indeed.

Friday Fun For All- Garden Stool

Remember this stool from the beginning of the summer projects? 

The seat fell apart when I tried to screw it back onto the legs.

I went to Home Depot to get a 12" circular stool seat.

They don't sell them anymore.

Neither does Lowes.

Or Roberts.

Or Hobby Lobby.

Finally Jacob just cut me one.

I think his is better anyway.

He was concerned that it wasn't perfectly round;

but I told him it did't matter because I was just  going to put it in the fairy garden  sit a pot of white flowers on it to bring

a bit of heigth to the garden.

But now I am not so sure I want to put it in the fairy garden with flowers on it.

I may just leave it on the porch.

Or still put it in the fairy garden sans flower pot.

What do you think?

And a stray, random musing that just ran through my mind- What color should I paint my nails?

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Indeed.