Bridal Shower Piggy Bank

This Spring I was the Maid of Honor (or Best Woman) in my very dear friend's wedding. Our families are very close and she is basically the little sister I never had. We joke that we were forced to be friends so it is a good thing we like each other. Anyway, while her mother and I were planning her shower she told us that her fiance might be attending the Shower. We had already planned a wishing well for the Bride (cookie cutters since she is a outstanding baker and makes cookies to DIE for) but now we needed to somehow include something for the Groom. What can you ask people to bring for the man who has everything? Well, after some conversations and texts with the Bride we found out that he likes cash and gift cards. Now we had the challenge of finding a creative and non-tacky way to ask our guests to bring money for the Groom's wishing well. This is what we came up with...

In the invitation we asked our guests to bring some spare change to "stuff the grooms piggy bank". That's right a Piggy Bank. But not just ANY piggy bank but one that people could write on. I found this one at the local Walmart. It is a chalkboard piggy bank. I left it on a table with some colored chalk and a note for people to put in their "Two Cents" for the Groom.

People utilized all sides of this bank!

After everyone had added their advise I simply sprayed it with some clear coat. Some of the writing looked faded once it was sprayed. In the future I would have guests use metallic Sharpie markers. 

One of the guests was the Groom's sister-in-law. She brought with her part of the family coin collection that her husband was holding on to. That gift tied in perfectly with our Groom's Piggy Bank.

So the next time you have a Shower to plan, whether it is for a wedding or a baby, get yourself a piggy bank and you can create a advise or well wishes gift that can double as a way to start a savings fund.

Stepping into the world of "Homemade" -- Laundry Soap

For quite some time now I have been collecting "pins" on my current addiction, Pinterest. My boards are a mish-mosh of ideas and interests including one called "Money Savers." Who doesn't want to save money right?! The first money saver I tries was making my own dishwasher detergent. I got the recipe here. It is amazing and has worked wonders on my dishes. Well, since I had not started my own blog when I made it I have no nifty pictures to show so... I decided to share with you my latest money saving venture Homemade Laundry Soap. I got my recipe here.

It started a few months ago when I was just about out of detergent. I had decided that once I run out of a product I would like to try making on my own I would not BUY but MAKE what I needed. I shared my idea with idea with a friends (who have two more children than I do so quite  bit more laundry to do than my daughter and I) and we decided that we could go halves-ies. We made a trip to the local Walmart with a list of ingredients and supplies in hand. We left the store with about $45 worth of products (so yeah I saved the receipt so I can do a cost breakdown, but it did not make it to my new place when we moved...plus we bought all of this about 4 months ago) and every intention of making soap. Well, I don't remember what happened, but all of our good intentions and supplies ended up in my friends' garage until last week. No worries my friends gave me laundry detergent to get me through until the time for soap making was right.

When I was down to my last Tide pod thingy I decided to bring the soap making supplies to my house and start working!

Her are the supplies I used: 

One box of Borax, one box of A&H Super Washing Soda, one 4lbs box of A&H Baking Soda, two bars of Fels-Naptha soap, one container of OxiClean, and two bottles of Purex Crystals. Also one cheese grater, one bowl and one large bucket with lid.

I started by grating the Fels-Naptha soap. I took me about 30 minutes to grate the two bars. Since doing this I learned a method where you can achieve the same results using the microwave (this method is shown on the original blog where I got the recipe I used. You can see it at the link above). 

And yes it really does look like grated cheese!

It was now time to combine all of the ingredients. 

As I added these items I learned a few things...

When powders in boxes are stored in a garage they get VERY lumpy. I used my fingers to break up the lumps as each was added.

Always check the containers for coupons and scoops before pouring them into the bucket.

 On the back of the OxiClean scoop there is a nifty point that can be used to cut the perforations on cardboard boxes. This will save many a fingernail in the future! 

Now it was time to mix it all together. I decided to use a method that I use with my toddlers and preschoolers at work. 

Before the mixing.

I removed the handle form the bucket.

Made sure the lid was on nice and tight.

And then rolled and rolled and rolled the bucket!

I rolled the bucket up and down my hall several times. I also made sure to flip it end over end to get the best mixing possible. 

And here are the results. A completely combined mixture!

(As you can see the bucket is only half full.)

As suggested in the original blog I used the Purex container for easy access and measuring. It is a great way to share with my friends and the lid has marks on it for measuring our the detergent. While filling the containers I learned a couple more tricks.

Seam rippers are a handy tool to have around. They are great for removing shrink-wrapped labels.

The OxiClean scoop can also be used to fill the Purex container. I didn't have a funnel so I simply set the container inside the bucket and filled away.

Time for the first load of laundry!

(My hands were covered with the powder by the time I was finished. No worries it is just soap and washed right off)

My laundry smells fresh and clean! And the bucket of soap stores easily in my small laundry room. It has also doubled as a step stool for reaching the top shelf above the washer and dryer.

So there you have it. My first attempt at laundry soap making was a success! I have a feeling this is going to last me a LONG time. In the future I might try and find an alternative to the Purex Crystals. I think I may have found a way to make my own...but that will be in another Blog ;)

"Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue Cookies"

My company store sells some VERY tasty and expensive chocolates at a great discount (they are the "seconds" so there are minor flaws). I usually keep a bag on hand in the freezer for those chocolate emergencies that may come up. I just happened to have white chocolate raspberry filled stars just waiting for such an emergency. I also had a tube of sugar cookie dough that was about to expire and a 4th of July BBQ to go to. As we all know you can't show up to a party empty handed. So the creative juices started to flow. This was how the "Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue" cookies were born.

This is where the journey ended up...now let us rewind and see how I got there...

I started with a tube of sugar cookie dough, white chocolate stars, blue sugar, and sparkling red decorator gel. (next blog I will be sure to crop and edit the pictures before posting. I kind of did this on the spur of the moment)

I divided the dough in to 24 equalish pieces and rolled them into balls with my hands (and yes I did wash my hands before starting). Then I dipped one side of each ball into the blue sugar. The next step is VERY important!

I placed the formed dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while the oven preheated. As you may or may not know sugar cookies are mostly made of butter. If the dough is not chilled the cookies will spread too much during the baking process. I learned this the hard way when I tried to make "Witches Fingers" for Halloween. An epic "Pintrest" fail...but that is another story.

I baked the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. They puffed up nicely and were just a little golden when I took them out.

While the cookies were still hot I placed one star on each (just like making kiss cookies). Now here is the thing. I just moved into my new apartment. This was the first time I cooked/baked since moving in. I was ready to take the cookies off of the cookie sheet and place them on the cooling rack when I realized I had no idea where either of my "cookie lifters" were. You see I have only unpacked as I have needed things (it is the procrastinator in me) and the only things I have needed in the kitchen so far are plates, cups, and flatware. So what does one do when there are no cookie lifters to be found?

Yup that is a DD box you see. It was time to get creative and improvise.

Worked like a charm! "Look Ma I can lift three at a time!"

Once they were cool I zig-zagged some sparkling red gel on each cookie.

Here is the tray that I brought to the BBQ. You can see I also made chocolate chip cookies in my mini muffin tins. Some were decorated with blue sugar and red gel to be festive (the rest were left plain as requested by my Tony).

All together they were a big hit. In fact I only got one.

Recipe

• one tube of sugar cookie dough (divided into 24 equal parts)
• blue sugar
• 24 raspberry filled white chocolate stars
• sparkling red decorating gel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After dividing dough into 24 equal parts roll each into a ball. Dip one side of each ball in sugar and place on a plate. Cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet 8 at a time leaving room for them to spread. Bake each batch for 10 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges. Remove from oven and immediately gently press one star on each cookie. Wait 5 minutes and move the cookies to cooling racks. Once completely cooled place cookies on waxed paper and drizzle sparkling red decorator gel on each.