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by Shelly Hill

Are you considering making your own chocolate dipped strawberries this year for Valentine’s Day? Making and dipping your own fruits is really a lot easier than you might think and only take a few minutes to do.

If you don’t have a fondue pot, you can still make them by using a double boiler or by using specially made chocolate that you can melt in the microwave oven. When dipping fruits, you always want to purchase fruits that are ripe, firm and free of blemishes. Wash and air dry them before you even begin.

Here is what you will need to make your very own Tuxedo Striped Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.

milk or dark chocolate
white chocolate
fresh whole strawberries (not frozen)
fondue pot, double boiler or purchase chocolate that can be melted in the microwave oven
tongs
silicone spatula
waxed paper
wooden spoon

Step 1: Lay waxed paper on top of a baking sheet. You will lay your dipped fruits onto the waxed paper to harden.

Step 2: Melt your white chocolate first until it is smooth and creamy with no lumps. I use a silicone stirring spatula so that the chocolate doesn’t stick to my spatula.

Step 3: Take your tongs and grab the strawberry at the top. Dip your strawberry into the melted white chocolate covering about 3/4 of the berry. Hold the berry over the pan to let the excess chocolate run off and back into the pan for about a minute. Place berry onto the waxed lined baking sheet to dry.

Step 4: Once all of your berries have been dipped in white chocolate, clean out your pot and melt your milk or dark chocolate. Again, make sure it is completely melted before you start to dip. Using your tongs, grab the berry and dip it into the chocolate at an angle so that it makes a v-shape onto the berry to resemble a tuxedo jacket. Hold berry above the pan and let the excess drain back into the pot.

Step 5: Dip the end of a wooden spoon into the chocolate and make two tiny circles on the white chocolate to resemble the jacket buttons. You only need a little bit and apply those circles while holding the berry sideways. Once done, lay the berry onto the waxed line baking sheet to dry.

If you are in a hurry, place the baking sheet into the refrigerate to speed up the hardening process. Once they are completely done, store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator. If you started off with nice berries, they should keep for up to 3 days refrigerated.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys cooking, baking and canning. You can visit Shelly’s Shakin ‘N Bakin in the Kitchen Blog for free cooking tips and recipes at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com You can find a photo of how the strawberries should look once dipped on Shelly’s blog at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-make-your-own-chocolate-dipped.html

Article Source: WAHM Articles

How To Keep The Kids Busy On Bad Winter Weather Days by Shelly Hill

During the Winter Season we are often hit with bad winter weather here on the North East Coast. That bad weather can consist of blizzards, snow storms, ice storms, sleet, freezing rain, you name it, we pretty much get it all here.

When the bad weather strikes, businesses, schools and daycare’s close down by the thousands, leaving many children stuck at home with not much to do. When our daughter was little, we decided to make “bad weather days” our family’s arts and crafts day. As I look back over the years, we made some pretty awesome things…many of which I still have today.

The first thing I recommend that you do is to make up an arts and crafts bin by purchasing a plastic bin at your local discount store. Then, you will head to the dollar store and your local craft store and pick up some supplies. You should really fill up that bin! Here is a list of general supplies that every craft bin should have.

Straight Edge Scissors, Designer Edge Scissors

All Purpose Liquid Craft Glue and Glue Sticks

Construction Paper, Watercolor Paper and 8″ x 11″ sized scrapbooking paper

Stickers, Rubber Stamps, Ink Pads, Magnet Backs, Wiggle Eyes

Scraps of Ribbon, Lace, String, Yarn, Feathers, Popsicle Sticks, Craft Sticks

Buttons, Charms, Beads, Faux Gems, Rhinestones, Small Silk Flowers,
Jewelry Findings

Markers, Colored Pencils, Crayons, Water Paints, Finger Paints, Acrylic Paints and Paint Brushes

Modeling Clay and Optional Clay Molds

Paper Mache ~ Trinket Boxes, Ornaments, Photo Frames, Etc.

Coloring Books, Water Paint Books, Activity Pads

Foam Craft Sheets and Sheets of Craft Felt

Once you purchase the basic supplies which are suited for both boys and girls, you will want to keep your bin in a handy place. Once all of those “bad winter weather” days hit, you will be prepared for some Arts and Crafts fun with your children! You can visit various online web sites to get some great craft project ideas to use up all of those supplies. Keeping children busy during bad weather days doesn’t have to be a stressful task so view it as a great way to have some family bonding time.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in central Pennsylvania who enjoys crafting with her daughter and grand daughter. Shelly has been crafting for over 30+ years and enjoys crocheting, beading, scrapbooking and cross stitching. You can visit Shelly’s online craft blog called Passionate About Crafting at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com for free craft project ideas and patterns

Article Source: WAHM Articles

by Shelly Hill

When our daughter was around 8 years old, she invited over a few friends for the day to do some crafting with us. Since it was the beginning of November, we decided to make a Thanksgiving holiday garland.

This project can be done in one afternoon. If you are doing several of them at a time (group project), I suggest precutting all of the fabric strips ahead of time.

1 roll of sisal twine (2 or 3 ply for durability)
scraps of homespun fabrics
all-purpose craft glue (or glue gun with adult supervision)
acorns, twigs, pinecones, dried pods
scissors

Step 1: Measure out the length of sisal twine that you will need to make your garland. We usually do 3 to 4 feet. Cut it from the roll. Tie each end into a loop, this way when you hang it up, you can easily do it via the loops.

Step 2: Collect scraps of homespun or various fall print fabrics. We like to use 4 to 6 different prints and/or colors. You will want to cut out strips that measure approximately 1″ wide by 4″ long, or however long you would like. I usually cut out 50 to 75 of these strips when I make a garland.

Step 3: Lay your sisal twine out across the floor. Take your strips and lay them out in front of the sisal twine and alternate your colors and prints. Let the children sit on the floor to do this part of the project. You will want to tie all of the fabric strips onto the twine until your garland is filled up. There is no wrong or right way to do this. You can make your garland as full or as sparse as you would like.

Step 4: Take a nice walk outdoors and collect some fall theme nature items, such as: pinecones (small and medium-sized), acorns, dried pods, small twigs, pieces of bark, etc. Once you have your items collected, you will want to glue several of them onto your garland. I like to space them out about every 6″ or so. Let your project dry for a few hours to make sure all of the items are glued firmly into place.

Now that your garland has been made, you can decide where to hang it. I like seeing them hung on a mantle, across a doorway or up a staircase.

Optional: If you don’t want to use found nature objects to decorate your new garland, you can visit your local craft store and purchase fall or thanksgiving items to glue onto it.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania. Shelly has been crafting for over 25 years and enjoys a variety of crafts. You can visit Shelly online at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com for craft projects for kids or her recipe blog at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for family friendly recipes.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Thanksgiving Day Greeting Cards from Tiny Prints

5 Important Back To School Subjects To Discuss with Your Children
by Shelly Hill

Summer is over and it’s time to get back to school. This time can be stressful for many families as they all try to adjust to new routines. You can lessen this stress and set up some guidelines by sitting down with your children for a family discussion.

Here are some important things you should be discussing with your children, before they head back to school this fall.

1. School Bus Safety – It is important to speak to your child about what kind of behavior you expect from him or her while they are at the bus stop or riding on the school bus.

2. Classroom Behavior – Let your child know what kind of behavior you expect them to exhibit while at school. All teachers expect different things from each child, remind your child to be respectful of others at all times. I think this is a good time to bring up the topic of bullying with your child. Let them know how to report this to their school officials and to you, should they know of any children who are being bullied or those who are doing the bullying.

3. Homework and Grades – If you expect your children to follow a homework routine, now is the time to outline that routine with them. I found it helpful to let our daughter know up front what the consequences would be if she did not complete homework assignments on time, or if she got unacceptable grades.

4. Stranger Danger – Your child will come into contact with many people while involved with school activities or while attending classes. It is important to go over with him or her all of the safety precautions that they need to know to protect themselves from stranger danger.

5. Family Emergency – When our daughter was young, we gave her a new family password every few months. If a family emergency would occur and we would need to send someone to the school to pick her up, they would have to provide the secret family password to her before she would even leave the school office with that particular person. Even if your child knows the person who is picking them up, it is important for that person to provide the secret family password to your child.

Heading back to school doesn’t have to be a stressful time for you and your family. Take the time out of your busy schedule and communicate with your children about what you expect from them this school year. It is important to be flexible and to have an open door policy in regards to communication.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. Shelly is a mother and grandmother living in South Central Pennsylvania and found that she could reduce back to school stress for her family by being prepared ahead of time. You can visit Shelly online at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com or her recipe blog at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for free recipes.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

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by Shelly Hill

During the holiday season, we like to entertain friends and family members here at our home. Along with our traditional holiday spread of delicious food, I like to serve a cranberry holiday punch.

You will need to purchase a large punch bowl and punch cups to serve the following recipes. You can use traditional flavored ice as explained at the end of each recipe or you can make an ice ring mold to keep your punch cold.

How To Make An Ice Ring Mold:

Making a punch bowl ice ring is really easy. Buy an inexpensive gelatin ring mold, fill the mold with punch juice and freeze for several hours. Remove the ice mold from the ring and add it to your punch bowl before pouring in the punch juice. Making an ice ring mold from punch juice keeps your party punch from getting watered down, which is what would happen if you use traditional ice.

Cranberry Mixed Fruit Punch

1 quart bottle 7-Up soda
1 pint cranberry cocktail
12 ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate
12 ounce can frozen pineapple concentrate
1 quart raspberry sherbet

In a large punch bowl, combine all of the above ingredients together in the order that they are given. All ingredients should be chilled or cold before placing into the punch bowl.

Punch Bowl Ice: Take 4 ice cube trays and purchase an additional bottle of cranberry juice. Pour juice into the ice cube trays and freeze. Use cranberry ice in your punch bowl so that your punch doesn’t get watered down.

Cranberry Apple Punch

1 large bottle cranberry juice
1 large bottle apple juice
12 ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate
6 ounce can frozen pineapple juice concentrate
6 ounce can frozen grapefruit juice concentrate
2 liter bottle lemon-lime soda

Pour all ingredients together into a large punch bowl in the order that they are given in the recipe. All ingredients should be chilled or cold before placing into the punch bowl.

Punch Bowl Ice: Take 4 ice cube trays and purchase an additional bottle of apple juice. Pour juice into the ice cube trays and freeze. Use apple ice in your punch bowl so that your punch doesn’t get watered down.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. Shelly enjoys cooking and baking and entertaining her friends and family during the holidays. You can visit Shelly online at her Shakin ‘N Bakin blog at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for additional free recipes.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Thanksgiving Day Greeting Cards from Tiny Prints