Kids and Conference!

If you haven't seen these yet.....take a look! It just might help you get a little more out of conference this weekend!:-) I am excited about the memory game! I just came across that. I'm going to print it and then laminate them! :-) Of course I am! Good luck for a more kid-involved conference!

Kids Conference Packets-a 14 page, fun filled activity booklet including word searches, ties to color, matching games and MORE!!
Memory Game- a Quorum of the Twelve Apostle Memory game (Also great for an entertaining game on any Sunday)
~Lindy

Samoas anyone??

Ok, I LOVE Samoas!!!! I'm going to try this! If anyone has a different recipe let me know!

Homemade Samoas (a.k.a. Caramel de-Lites)Cookies

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

up to 2 tbsp milk
Preheat oven to 350F.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Topping3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)12-oz good-quality chewy caramels1/4 tsp salt3 tbsp milk8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies

~Lindy

You have a birthday....so why not get free stuff!

Another blogger compiled this list ( freebies4mom) and I just wanted to share it and point it out. All the blogs I have on the right side are wonderful blogs! Check one out! Or all!
Birthday Freebies 4 Mom & Family:Stores
Ace Rewards – $5 off $20 coupon
Border Rewards – free dessert and 15% coupon
DSW Rewards – $10 off $10 when you join, plus birthday coupon
Hollywood Video - free rental on your birthday, no sign-up
Sephora - vanilla cupcake bath & shower bubbles
The Children's Place - coupon for 20% off
The Coconut ScrapShop – gift certificateSweet Treats: Coffee, Ice Cream & Donuts
Baskin Robbins Birthday Club – free ice cream
Bruster's - free ice cream
Caribou Coffee - free drink
Cold Stone Creamery Birthday Club – free ice cream
Culver's - free sundae when you buy one
Dairy Queen- free Blizzard when you buy one
Dunkin Donuts - free ice cream (thanks Cheri)
Krispy Kreme- free dozen when you buy one
Sheridan's Frozen Custard - free treatRestaurants
Applebee's - free dessert (no sign-up)
Arby's Extras - free food w/purchase
Bd’s Mongolian Grill – free food
Bakers Square- free pie
Biaggi's - free dessert
Black Angus Prime Club – free dinner w/purchase
Black-eyed Pea - free food
Buca di Beppo eClub - free dessert
Buffalo Wild Wings - free dessert
Dave and Busters - $10 game play
Duke's Chowder House - free entree
Famous Daves P.I.G. Club – free food, kids included
FirstWatch Cafe - free entree
Friendly’s Birthday Club – free ice cream or kids meal w/ purchase
Fuddruckers - free shake w/purchase
Houlihan's - free entree
Islands - free entree and dessert month after your birthday
Joe's Crabshack - free appetizer w/purchase
Macaroni Grill- free dessert w/purchase
Maggiano's- free dessert
Moe's Southwest Grill - free entree
Noodles & Company - free entree
Orange Julius - free food
Old Country Buffet- free buffet when you buy one
Outback Steakhouse - free dessert on your birthday, no sign-up
Provino's - free meal, no sign-up
Ram Restaurant- free Mile High Mud Pie
Red Lobster - free food
Red Robin – free burger
Rita's - birthday discounts (thanks Cheri)
Ruby Tuesday - free dessert
Salsarita's - free burrito w/drink purchase
Sonic Cruisers - free food
Sweet Tomatoes - free meal
Texas de Brazil - free meal w/purchase
Texas Land & Cattle- free food w/purchase
The Melting Pot's Club Fondue - free dessert with purchase
The Keg Steakhouse- free prime rib meal, in-store sign-up
Timber Lodge Steakhouse – free food
T.G.I.Friday's - coupon
TODAI – free meal on your birthday in party of 3, no sign-up
Birthday Freebies 4 "Kids Only":
Bob Evans Kid Times Birthday Club - free food (12 & younger)
Burger King - free kids meal
California Pizza Kitchen - free meal (10 & younger)
Chuck E. Cheese's - free tokens (12 & younger)
Denny’s – free meal (10 & younger)
Geoffrey’s Birthday Club – free toy with $3 or $5 coupon (ages 2 to 10)
HEBuddy Birthday Club – free points and coupons (Texas only)
IKEA Kids Club – free stuff (in-store sign-up)
Marble Slab Kid's Club - free ice cream (12 & younger)
Michael’s The Knack Kids Club - coupons all year long (12 & younger)
Shoney's Kids Club - free meal (10 & younger)
Sonic Wacky Pack Birthday Club – free meal (13 & younger)
The Old Spaghetti Factory Kids Club- free meal (12 & younger)
Zaxby’s Kidz Club - free meal (10 & younger)
~Lindy

Free book downloads

http://www.kids.audible.com/ is giving away 9 free story downloads to help promote children's literacy. These include
Rapunzel
Gift of the Magi
The Tell-tale heart
Rikki-Tikk-Tavi
The Emperors new clothes
Rip Van Winkle
Peter Pan in scarlet-the 1st chapter
Rotten School-the song
Interview with Lemony Snicket
Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click the picture on the left side where it says Free Downloads for children's literacy.
They have many many books you can purchase and download also. Happy Listening!
~Lindy

Family Home Evening

If you have never heard of www.sugardoodle.net then you need to check it out. Not only is it an amazing resouce for any church calling you may have, but it's also wonderful for Family Home Evening. Check it out! You can find TONS of stuff on there! I get a lot of my stuff from there and then I laminate it! Big shocker! :-)
~Lindy

Gear up for Christmas and do a craft with your kids!

This is a small assortment of the ones we did this year and last year. There are more:-)

You can buy a ton of different ornament kits to make from Oriental Trading. At our house...we all love to do crafts. This makes it REALLY super easy for me! I dont have to cut and buy all the seperate pieces we need...it all comes...though occasionally you are missing a piece in your bag...but they give you a little bag of spare parts! So, check it out. These are just some that we have made this year. After we make them we pass them out

to teachers, neighbors with cookies, and give all our family members one.

And, my frugal comment about the ornaments: if you check after Christmas time...a lot are on sale. Some are on sale before also...but especially after:-) You can do these for as little as .33 cents each! Happy crafting!

~Lindy

My Favorite Things

From now on each Wednesday I'm going to post one of my favorite things. I realize today is Thursday...I was slammed yesterday. So, here you go!

This week my favorite thing is my.............LAMINATOR. I used to use contact paper and "laminate" all the things I made for my kids. It would start peeling and it was such a pain to lay it without it getting bubbles or wrinkles etc. A friend of mine told me about her laminator about a year ago and I HAD to get one! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I laminate LOTS of stuff! I've been able to help friends laminate their stuff. Now, when I spend my time on FHE lessons, I laminate them so I can use them again later! Instead of the pieces getting destroyed. I bought it at Sams and I also buy the laminating sheets at Sams. They come in a 200 pack for about $20. :-) Happy Laminating!

~Lindy

Sand (salt) Art!

One of my daughters and I did this as a parent/child activity when she was in Pre-K. It was so much fun that we have done it at home just for the fun of it and even done it at a birthday party she had for a party favor!-Their very own art! All you need is a bowl, salt, colored chalk, and a container to pour it into.

1st pour your desired amount of salt into a bowl and pick your desired color of chalk. Take the chalk and stir the salt until it's the color you want. The longer you stir the salt the darker the color will be. It goes a bit faster if you kind of rub the salt against the bowl with the chalk.

Make as many colors as you want and create a masterpiece your child will be proud of. My kids sand art are in the living room displayed on a shelf. :-) Enjoy!

~Lindy

Dried flower art

I needed some kind of art for my bathroom, so I went and picked some little purple flowers that were growing in my yard (yes they were basicaly weeds...but they were free). I dried them and then arranged them in my frame. This cost me absolutely nothing because I already had that frame. But, if you need a frame they are always on sale at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I tied a bow to make it look like a bouquet with some rafia ribbon.

~Lindy

Decorate your own cakes-save some money!

I am so far from being a good cake decorator it isn't even funny. BUT, I managed to decorate this cake (and several others) and make it look decent. I used a container of icing that looks like a cheez wiz can but comes with some decorator attachments. There are two brands at Wal-mart-Betty Crocker and Wilton.. and they come in several different colors. So, for $5 I made and decorated this cake instead of spending nearly $20 on one purchased from the store! Think about it and give it a try! AND you don't even have to clean the decorating pieces! You just throw them away!

~LINDY

Pot holder 1st aid kit

This is an awsome idea. My sister-in-law showed me this that she made at enrichment in her ward. And you probably already have the stuff to make it! You need a potholder, snack size sandwhich bags, a piece of ribbon, and a sewing machine ( or a needle and thread).

You can use it for a 1st aid kit ( I would) , a travel make up bag....I'm sure there are a million ways you could use this! And, attach a button on the opposite side and loop the potholder hanger onto it to keep it closed!
~LINDY

Birthday Banner

A friend gave me a link that had a picture of one of these that someone made...so me and my sister made them! It's something we will have forever and will become a family tradition! I used my cricut machine to cut the letters. Then we traced them onto cute fabric and did a lot of cutting! :-) We also used the iron on stuff to attach the letters to the squares we cut and sewed. Then we sewed each square onto a piece of ribbon.

~LINDY

My place for my stuff

I decided I wanted to do this blog as an outlet and possibly as also input to my crafting world. I love love crafts and I love finding new ideas! So....here we go!