Organizing cords

I know- it looks crazy but it works!! I have them on the back of my desk right now!

Pumpkin Muffins!

Finally the weather feels like fall – it means the 4 yr old has to learn to wear jeans instead of stretchy pants, the 8 yr old is just dying to wear his big winter coat and the 13 yr old wants to make so much apple cider that I am googling homemade recipes because those dang little packets are rather spendy.

And in honor of fall I would like to reiterate how fabulously scrumptious these muffins are. I originally got the recipe from Linda (http://www.sundrymourning.com/) and they are my go-to for fall. Teachers, coworkers, bus drivers, principals- everyone just loves these. My sister in law prefers them without the chocolate chips (scandalous!) . I use canned pumpkin and vary the chips – for grown up I might use gerhidelli, for the kids I cut back a little or use minis. I have made the giant size, the muffin tops, the minis and all sizes in between with this recipe.

Insanely Good Pumpkin-Chocolate Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour                   1 1/4 cups sugar                    1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt                                             1 tsp ground cinnamon         1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger                            1/4 tsp ground allspice        1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 can pumpkin [ ‘regular’ size can, not the large — original recipe calls for 1 CUP]
1/2 cup milk                                            1/2 cup vegetable oil             2 tbls molasses
Some amount of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400˚ and lightly grease a 12 muffin tin (I use paper holders). Sift (I don’t) flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices together in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix (I just do it all in 1 bowl- because I roll like that). Stir in your desired amount of chocolate chips (to taste). Fill the muffin cups 2/3s full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until tests done.

No photo – because I am lame like that. But, trust me, these are *awesome*.

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I’m faster that a tree!

Saw this. It made me smile.

Not sure I am faster than a turkey. Don’t they flap and fly a bit??

Also- piglets are fast! Not sure I would be faster than one.

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Make Your Own Shrinky Dinks

Does everyone know that #6 recyclable plastic (usually clear take out food containers) is shrink plastic?

It is true!

So, here is what I do. I save it up and trim it down (using my scrapbooking trimmer, scissors, craft punches, etc). I round the corners using a corner punch and punch holes using a hole punch.

Then let the kids write or trace a drawing on it. They shrink up thicker and heavier than the storebought film.

I also like to make teeny tiny ones & have the kids write their names and the year on them. I use them to tag certain xmas ornaments so we know whose are who’s. Plus seeing their penmanship is always cute! I use a jump ring to attach the nametag and it is small enough that it is unobtrusive.

And because I am often lame about taking photos as I craft here are some other photos to show the shrunken size.

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