Chocolate Dipped Oreos Tutorial for Valentine's Day

I love oreo cookies so I have been waiting for a time to make these chocolate dipped oreos.  This batch is going off to my uncle.  I know he will enjoy them because I have personally caught him hiding in the pantry eating cookies behind my aunt's back. 

My this little project you need oreo or another favorite sandwich cookie of your choice, white chocolate, dark chocolate, and I also used pink candy melts, non-pariels or other sprinkles, and conversation hearts.

Follow the directions on the chocolates to melt.  You want them really warm, but be careful not to burn the chocolate.  You should use a heavy bowl, not a plastic container.  You are more likely to burn the chocolate if you melt it in plastic. 

 I use a regular fork to dip my cookies.  There is a tool for dipping that you could buy, but why waste money?  Dip the cookie so that it is totally covered top and bottom.

 Gently tap the fork on the side of the bowl to remove some of the excess chocolate and smooth out the candy.  If you wanted to make lollipops for a school party, you would stick the sucker stick into the middle of the cookie before you dip it and then use the stick to dip the cookie. 

For this batch, I used non-pariels on some of the cookies, sprinkled on immediately after dipping.  I also drizzled melted chocolate in contrasting colors and made some chocolate hearts to put on the top of some of the cookies. 

 Place each cookie on wax paper, parchment, silpat, or a lightly greased (with butter) cookie sheet.  They set up quickly, especially if you put them in the freezer (which will help them pop off if they get stuck).  Notice how I didn't care if the bottoms were not perfect.  Once the cookies are set, you can remove the extra chocolate.  It just snaps off.  If you are really concerned, you can clean them up with a knife. 

Finally, I put them in a cupcake box.  They come in a 3 pack at Michael's for about $3.99.  The little box hold 12 cookies.  I tied it with some curly ribbon.  If I was making lollipops, I would wrap each one in a plastic candy bag and tie it closed with a bow.

Healthy & Fun Preschool Snack

I was the snack mom at preschool today.  Kamille have been so excited about it that I really wanted to make a special snack.  I looked for healthy snack recipes online, but many of them had peanuts.  I took the idea and changed it to a strawberry cream cheese dip.  I whipped cream cheese and fresh strawberries in the food processor.

I hollowed out the middle of the apple with a melon baller.  I cut a carrot in 1/2 and used it as the antenna. 

I also thought that it would be fun to do a cream cheese and cinnamon/sugar dip.

Happy Crafting!

Our Favorite Back To School Ideas

Fall is my favorite time of year! School is just getting under way for most of us. The weather is pushing our kids indoors. It's the perfect time to put on our crafting hats and get creative. I tought I'd give you all a head start by compiling this modge podge of some of my personal favorite back to school ideas.

So here we go!!

Family Fun knows back to school!!!



For the best in easy and fun back to school ideas check out Family Fun

Crafts, recipes, party ideas, and so much more. It's a go to site for me!! Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments box!

Leave it to Martha Stewart!!!

Love her ideas always but this one is sure to get a smile from your little ones. She has created this FREE printable for these super cute little lunch labels/stickers. She's got about 18 new back to school ideas to browse through!

My kids use a reusable lunch bag at our house, so I just printed the labels out on card stock and used the back to write a little "I love you".  My oldest daughter loves to find a surprise in her lunch, I think it helps with the home sickness kids can feel during a 7 hour school day! Find another use for this great freebie? Tell us in the comments!!

School Lunches

So my favorite site for back to school lunches is Weelicious. Now this is kids food at it's finest! She even has a recipe for homemade graham crackers.

This site has made it into daily browsing habits by focusing on healthy and homemade alternatives to the processed convenience foods that we find our kids asking for daily.   She makes the recipes easy to find by breaking them up into food groups or just simply by searching her recipe tab at the top of the blog. Like weelicious on facebook for updates on her son's bento box lunch. I love to see what she'll pack next. The use of a bento box really gives your kids a wide variety of things to eat with smaller portion sizes. Love them!!!

Go Green all the way to Back to School

If you have a preschooler at home (or even an elementary aged child) this fun supplies box is simple to make and FREE if you use items that you already have around the house. And best of all it's a GREEN craft!

The holes in the box top are made by poking a hole with a pencil so your child can feel super independent doing this craft. Try using all different containers for this activity. Instead of a shoe box seal up the ends of a cereal/pasta box for a different shape. Give the kids some fun alphabet stickers and let let them spell their name or the contents of the box on the side.

Just follow the link under the picture to head on over to Preschool Rock  to check all of the other awesome preschool crafting ideas they have!

The Long Thread

The peeps over at The Long Thread are forever coming up with wonderful handmade ideas for every occasion. Follow the link below to find a round up of 20 back to school ideas including the ones pictured below.

Apple backpack from Alpha Mom

Reusable Snack Sack from Reprodepot

Free Embroidery Patterns from Sarah Jane Studios

Good luck to all of you back to schoolers!!!

Happy Crafting!