Using Plastic Chocolate Candy Molds For Hard Candy, A Precautionary Tale

I am not an amateur in the kitchen, not even an amateur at working with candy molds. I am however, quite the amateur hard candy maker! Melting and pouring chocolates into molds is more my candy making style. Which would explain why I had way more chocolate molds than I had silicone candy molds. It didn't even occur to me that what I was about to do would result in melted plastic and inedible "candy", or in our case, homemade herbal cough drops.

When I set out to make the homemade herbal cough drop recipe, I rummaged through my bins of candy making supplies, and keeping the desired size in mind, grabbed a plastic mold that fit the bill. Although it was Christmas themed, I thought the size would work well. I must have thought at least four times before I began pouring the syrup that I should use the silicone molds instead, but I wasn't a huge fan of how deep they were.

Free Printable Valentines for Classmates

This week's homework assignment for my first grader was to write out her valentine's for her classmates. She was given plenty of time to complete the assignment and has the necessary skills to do it too. But.... This six year old girl had excuse after excuse why she couldn't do it, and why it was TOO HARD! <---- Insert six year old girl whine here! So, here we are two days out from her class Valentine's Day party with no valentines to be given, and one frustrated mama.

We had purchased some themed suckers that come with an area to write "to" and "from" on them, and she was given a class list from the teacher. But, some how, some way, she ended up with too few suckers for her classmates, and had written her teacher's name on more than a few!

A Modern Quilt for the New Year

It's been awhile since I purchased this pattern. 2... maybe 3 years. I'm not sure what drew me to it, or why I even bothered. At the time, I wasn't much for quilting anyway. I think i just had a great appreciation for the simplicity of the look, how modern it was. From time to time, I would pull this pattern out, and start to think of ways I could use it. I never got very far though, and never even opened the envelope more or less started cutting out the pattern pieces.

Just a few weeks ago around Christmas time, I thought again about this pattern, that it would look great done in Christmas prints and used for a holiday quilt. It kind of fits the theme I'm going for with our Christmas decor, and the trees could be decorated to be Christmasy.

Disney's Frozen Elsa Dress- A Preview

Elsa Dress Front

Have you noticed how Disney's Frozen has seemed to hypnotize every modern little girl in the world? Like one day, we had a nation of sweet little girls running around without a care in the world, and the next they were all like a bunch of Let It Go zombies? OK... Well, maybe not Zombies, but Frozen sure is popular! Having a five and half-year-old daughter myself, it was inevitable that we would get Frozen fever at some point or another. And, as soon as she saw the movie for the first time, she was hooked!

Sewing A Quiltsmart Mondo Bag

I finished my Quiltsmart Modo Bag last week, and let me tell you... It is indeed Mondo!

The Mondo Bag from Quiltsmart is made using fusible interfacing and 2.5" squares of fabric. Making it perfect for jelly rolls or layer cakes. It does take a few hours from start to finish, but is an easy enough project even a beginner can do it!

it is called the Mondo Bag for its Mondo size measures approx. 17" tall with a 10" square bottom. Very roomy! Measurements will vary slightly due to inseams and the amount of seams in the bag.