My Version of Baby Legs

Baby Legs. Ever heard of them? Super cute, a brilliant idea if you ask me. I always wanted to get some for Izacc, but couldn’t ever get past the price. I mean, it’s not that they’re super expensive, but you don’t want to have only one pair, know what I mean? So I never bought any. Here comes Ian and he’s started crawling all around the joint! I need some Baby Legs and I need ‘em now!

I was wandering around Wal-Mart the other day ( I know, it’s like I live there or something) and had an epiphany right there in the women’s hosiery isle.

What if I took this

And turned it into this!

And it worked!

Here’s how I made it happen:

Get some knee highs. They don’t really make them for men and most of the women’s were pretty girly. My options were brown or black.

Cut them off at right about the ankle.

You can measure your baby’s legs to see what length you’ll need, but I figured he’s going to grow into them if they’re too long. (They were just right in case you were wondering. As if I could make anything too big for my giant manbaby)

I got this at Walmart for $1.38. A little goes a long way. I just hand wound my bobbin with it, fairly loosely.

Roll up edge to form cuff. I rolled it twice on one pair to give it more of a cuff look, but once works well too.

Stitch and enjoy. I didn’t stretch the sock as I sewed and they turned out fantastic!

Pretty close to the real thing if you ask me. And for much, much less!

They also work well as arm warmers. In reality, Izacc likes to wear them on his arms under t-shirts, but nekkid works too.

And just what do you do with the leftover sock bits?

I’m so glad you asked.

You make puppets of course!

A puppy,

This is Susan

A lion

And, of course, this is Herkey.

See what $6.38 can buy you!?

Neighbor Gifts

Picture it. West Jordan, Utah, 2006. We had just had our first baby in August and I was staying at home with him on FMLA leave. It was Christmas and I was incredibly bored wanted to be generous to all our friends and neighbors, so that year I made “Gifts from a Jar”.

Seemed simple enough, and so easy, WAY easier than making cookies, that’s for sure! I spent about a week lovingly measuring the ingredients, making them beautiful, taking far too many trips to Sam’s Club to acquire ingredients in bulk, and then for that extra special touch, vacuuming sealing them with our food saver. I mean, who wants stale cookies, right?

Oh and I had to have a variety! I made soups, brownies, cookies, quick breads, you name it. There were about 10 different recipe mixes made, to the tune of 80 jars. (No we are NOT that popular, my hubby used to work for KSL and there are a lot of people who work there who were “friends”.)

The next year, we were living in Wyoming and our new friends and neighbors did not know the wonder that indeed was “Gifts From A Jar”, so again, I went to work making the jars. I wanted to simplify it this year so I only made 60 or so and only 8 varieties this time. (See? MUCH simpler.) I spent my days with a funnel, a bag of flour, and a mantra of “This is so much easier than making cookies! It is so much cheaper! People will really enjoy these! If I have to stuff one more jar full of sugar and baking powder, I might give myself a frontal lobotomy with this here funnel.”

Needless to say, the next Christmas, jars were a no go. I thought I would save a crap load of money and just make goodies. After all, anything was better than stuffing jars with chocolate chips and brown sugar.

So I did THIS

”What can I say? I’m a slow learner.

In my defense, I was pregnant and nesting, and my other baby was with my parents, so I had A LOT of free time on my hands.

It is not an exaggeration to say I was 100% burnt out on neighbor gifts this year.

So here’s what I did.

I went to the Dollar Store and bout a bunch of wooden spoons. Used some leftover Christmas fabric from doing the jars, wrapped it around the handle, and Mod Podged those puppies right on there. After it dried, I tied a bow on. Cute, right?

Then I printed out some labels that said, “ We could all use a little extra ‘dough’ this time of year” and glued little bows in the corners.

Then I made bows with wider ribbon and a twist tie, punched a hole in a package of cookie dough, attached a little bag with a cookie cutter and some sugar sprinkles in it, and tied it to the spoon. (I know, I went bow crazy. I’m surrounded by boys, do you blame me? My femininity is being 

crushed!)

                 

I made a couple batches of brownies for people who I didn’t necessarily feel like making them make their own treats, i.e. my loveable elderly friend and a momma of 2 who just had another baby.

Their tags said “We’re going for ‘brownie’ points this season”

I know, I’m a cheese ball, but guess who didn’t go on a crazy killing spree with a funnel, a handful of waxed paper, and mason jar covered in flour? This mama, that’s who. Merry Christmas indeed!

Oreo Truffles

Speaking of all thing yummy, these are my favorite!!

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg Oreos

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

chocolate for melting, dipping, drizzling, etc.

Put whole package of cookies into food processor, frosting and all.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush them with a rolling pin in a large Zip-loc bag.  Either way, get them crushed to a nice crumbly mixture.

Add cream cheese so crumbs and mix, again, either by hand or with mixer, it makes no difference.

Shape the dough into balls, about an inch.  Chilling them works the best.  I just put them in the freezer while I melt the chocolate.

Melt chocolate.  Dip balls in chocolate.  Try not to eat them as you take them out of the chocolate.  Put them on waxed paper to cool.

 

I’m not kidding, these bad boys are so super delicious.  I like to dip mine in white chocolate and then drizzle milk chocolate over them.  You could dip them in milk chocolate and drizzle with white, or double dip in two different kinds of chocolate, or just sprinkle with nuts or sprinkles.  Really, the possibilities are endless.  Also, I think they would be yummy to make with mint Oreos and dip in chocolate, making kind of a grasshopper/thin mint flavor.  Mmmm.

And, just an FYI, since they do have cream cheese in them, you’ll want to keep them refrigerated.  What you DON’T want to do is leave a couple out in goodie bags that didn’t get delivered, go to your parent’s house for a week over Christmas, come back, see them, figure your house has been without heat and think just how delicious they are and then eat them, giving yourself a nasty case of food poisoning which will put you in bed for a day or so.  I’m just saying.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

I saw a very yummy looking treat last Christmas here, who saw it here.  I decided to make a couple batches and give out to friends and take a bunch home to my parent’s house for Christmas.  1 day after I got there, their neighbors brought over ANOTHER giant zip-loc bag of the stuff.  Needless to say, we had it coming out our ears…and it was so super delicious!!

Peppermint Bark Popcorn 

From Our Best Bites

16-20 C popped popcorn (fresh, or about 2 bags microwave popcorn) 

1 lb Almond Bark 

1 6oz box candy canes, crushed. (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best!) 

2 tea. peppermint extract 

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Get two adorable assistants to aid you in all things,

including dropping marble rolling pin onto slate floor, creating a bad day.

Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.

Unwrap the candy canes and crush them.  It is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. Our Best Bites advised putting the candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin. I tried this and was unsuccessful.  So I took a meat tenderizer to them.  That did the trick! 

Once they're crushed, dump them into the bowl with the popcorn. 

To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package.  I created a “double boiler” with a pot full of water and a bowl placed on top.

When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract. It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine. Pour over popcorn and candy canes. 

Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed. Pour the popcorn out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer, or layers, as the case may be.

Take a chili break.

After chili is devoured, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn. You can use a fork, or put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off.

Leave it until the almond bark and the chocolate is hardened. If you need to hurry it up, they suggest to do this whole process on lined cookie sheets you can pop in the fridge. 

When chocolate is hardened, use your hands to break up popcorn into chunks.

While you’re putting it into little zip-locs, so a funky little dance, look over to see your husband taking a picture of you and get really embarrassed.

          

Yeah, go ahead and leave that last step out.

I did find that the candy canes were pretty hard and gave you that “oh man I think I just chipped a tooth on a popcorn kernel” kind of feeling.  What I liked better than the candy canes were those peppermint butter mints, you know the ones.  Thy kind of dissolve in your mouth?  Like wedding mints but they’re big and white and red?  Yeah, those.  Much yummy.  

Kid’s Rag Quilts

I was perusing the pattern section at Wally World and found this:

Whatever! Super cute! I had a ton of fabric stored that was collecting dust, so I decided to make a couple quilts for the boys. The colors were not exactly perfect, but I think they turned out alright.

The turtle is Ian’s. It’s really warm and snuggly, but we have hardwood floors and it works fabulously as a play mat.

They’re quite a bit larger than I expected, as you can see by the dwarfed giant baby in the corner. This on is my nephew’s. I actually had enough fabric to make as extra one! BONUS!!

Izacc can’t sleep without his.

These are the first quilts I’ve made using an official pattern. It was interesting and I think they turned out pretty cute.