Frugal Friday: Dollar Store Car Oranizer

We recently took a long road trip with the kids and I found so many great ideas on Pinterest to keep the kids happy on the way.  One thing I loved was this idea to use a dollar store organizer on the back of the car seat to put the kids stuff in.  It worked perfectly for my kids!  They started out with some books, treats, markers, etc and as the trip went on they got some new things to keep them busy that they stored in this, too.  (I'll share some of my other travel ideas next week!)  Usually the kids' stuff ends up all over the car when we travel, but this helped so much to keep things in one place. 

Mini Muffins

I had wondered if it was possible to make Mini Muffins, baked in my grand daughters cupcake maker, and I found out how fast and easy it was. She was so excited to share and so proud of how many we got in a short time. They were eating them almost as fast as we were cooking them.... but then they just kept cooking too fast. We made their 2 favorite flavors and here are the recipes to share.

Lemon Poppy seed & Chocolate Chip Coconut Zucchini

We even tried Weight Watchers Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookie dough, and they  weren't too bad as muffins.

LEMON POPPY SEED MUFFINS  adapted from a recipe my friend found on the internet.

1 box lemon cake mix (or yellow cake mix with 2 tsp lemon juice added to the water)
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. oil
1 sm. box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/3 c. poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all ingredients together.

Fill muffin cups about half full. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

 Makes approximately 3 dozen mini muffins

Chocolate Chocolate Zucchini Coconut Muffins -adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe

1 pkg. Devils Food chocolate cake mix 

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 C vege oil

1 1/4 C water

1 C choc. chips

1/2 C flaked coconut  (optional)

1 C shredded zucchini ( I grate and freeze 1 Cup portions for future recipes in the winter)  

Preheat oven 350 deg. 

Spray muffin maker the first batch and not necessary for the rest. 

Combine cake mix & cinnamon & choc. chips. Add eggs, oil and water, blend. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed, then fold in zucchini.

Using a teaspoon fill cups 1/2 full and following the timing constructions on your little muffin cooker in approx 3-5 minutes you have muffins.

I'm sure you will like them as much as we do.

                                                                                                     -Buff-

WIWW- Casual Dressed up a Bit

There are days that I dont have to leave my house and I love those days. Here is what you might find me in on those days if I haven't climbed back into my jammies! If I do end up having to run a quick errand, I just dress it up a bit with a fun necklace and some colored shoes.





Top- Target
Cream Tank- Downeast
Jeans- not sure they are really old
Belt- F21
Shoes- Discount Shoe Factory
Necklace- Dollar Store

-chelz

Linked to: Rae Gun Ramblings, The Pleated Poppy, Real Momma, Rolled Up Pretty & Transatlantic Blonde

Teacher Appreciation Ideas

Teacher Appreciation week is just 2 weeks away (May 7th - May 11th).  I know teachers do so much for our kids and I am a firm believer in showing my gratitude to them.  I mean, they are with my kids the majority of the day, so they deserve an award for that alone! :P  Anyway,  I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite ideas from my Teacher Appreciation Pinterest Board.

This one got the most repins from my board.  It is from Build It Sew It Love It and she even gives you a cute little matching printable.  I had totally planned to do this one for Cailyn's teacher until I found out she already has this book.  Darn!

How cute is this eraser gumball machine?!  I think this would be a great gift for the classroom!  

We made some of these book labels for Cailyn's teacher last year.  Very inexpensive but very cute!

I think this supply bucket from Corner House would be greatly appreciated by any teacher!  It is such a practical gift that can be used in any classroom. 

Haphazard Happenstances has cute printables to go along with small gifts -- so you can bring your teacher a gift a day!

Have you decided what you'll be getting your teachers this year?

Sunday Best Link Party

Thanks to everyone who linked last week! Here were a couple favorites:

What a cute and fun way to recycle and reuse your old dvd case from Stacy.

I just love this cute fun dress from Andrea and the way she dressed it up! 

RULES:

1. Link to a specific post on your blog.

2. Add the g*rated button to your post.

3. Make sure you check out other links to get ideas.  And no one would mind if you left a comment on their blog. :)

4. Follow g*rated.

<center><a href="http://griffithsrated.blogspot.com/search/label/sunday%20best" target="_blank"><img alt="g*rated" src="http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z426/griffithsrated/button2-1.jpg"/></a></center> <br>

The Midnighters Series

This was a fun and easy series to read through. The concept was fun, but I think the creatures of the blue moon could have been more realistic. However, I enjoyed the books and found myself wondering it would be fun to see some of the aspects of this series portrayed in a movie, such as Jonathan's ability.



  The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this book to be a quick and easy read. I like to read these types of books in between reading more intense books. This is a fun series so far and I have been enjoying it. It is hard to believe that this series is written from the same author of "The Ugly Series". His style of writing is so different from that series. The concept in this book is kind of fun and I look forward to then next book.


Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the faster pace of this book than the last one. I will say that I did get a little annoyed at how annoying Jessica could be about not breaking curfew, but other than that I had no complaints about this book. I liked the twist and turns through the book and the involvement of the "stiffs" in this book. There were some parts that actually made me laugh and I couldn't stop giggling:) *Sometimes I may or may not have a goofy sense of humor! Anyways, loved this book and can't wait to see what problems arise in the next book.


Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book the most of the series. It kept me turning the pages and I couldn't put it down! I liked the curve ball that Angie's stories of the lore threw into the mix and what that meant for the midnighters. Still again annoyed by Jessica during the big battle when all she was worried about was her sister cause the other midnighters had people to worry about but were able to focus on the bigger picture. It was a good ending, but still felt like there were a lot of unanswered questions.

Toasted Coconut Smores

I LOVE anything coconut! So, I decided to try using the toasted coconut marshmallows on s'mores. It was  amazing! This is a no brainer kind of treat that you can have at any time. When we are not camping, we just heat them up in the microwave and eat! Now that we have tried them this way I don't think we can be talked into going back to just regular marshmallows!




-Buff-