Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How To Make Geoboards ~ Homemade Gifts for Less Than $5

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Cantina sent in this idea, along with instructions and pictures. This is a great homemade gift for kids!

geoboard 1

Our middle child loves to build and he is great with a hammer. With a little help he is making geo-boards this year.

We had a scrap piece of lumber that he spray painted (picture above is the first one we did and it wasn’t painted). Then we use graph paper to hammer in nails in 2 inch squares. Don’t nail them all the way down. Then with colored rubber bands you can make all kind of fun shapes. My children have had the best time with this board and Elijah is now making a few for Christmas presents. The nails cost $1.97 per pack and the rubber bands were $.97 a pack. Since we had the scrap lumber and spray paint these will cost us under $5 per board.

How to Make a Geoboard

Thank you, Cantina! I think I will put my 12 year old on this project. What a fun idea!

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Homemade (Real Food) Mint Oreos

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This recipe needs no introduction. It’s a homemade mint oreo.  What more do I need to say? It’s happy, happy, delicious, happiness – perfect for a holiday gathering.

Besides the fact that these are made with whole food ingredients, perhaps the most exciting bragging point of these cookies is this:  After you eat one of these, you can smile at your friends without fear of having “oreo teeth.” You know what I’m talking about, right? Oh my goodness.

oreos 1

Allow me to introduce you to your new friend:

Homemade Oreo CookiesYum

1 cup melted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sucanat or brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (less or more as needed)

Stir together melted butter, cocoa powder, and sucanat. Add eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in flour. Use a cookie scoop to place cookie dough two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 350° oven. Once the cookies have cooled, use the following filling recipe to create cookie sandwiches.

Filling

3 cups unbleached powdered sugar (more or less as needed)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
4 Tablespoons milk (more or less as needed)
Sprinkle of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer until smooth and it has reached desired consistency. Spread filling onto cookies to form sandwiches like oreos.

Makes about 25 Mint Oreo Cookie Sandwiches. Want just a “plain” oreo? Simply leave out the peppermint extract in the filling recipe.

Homemade Mint Oreos

As you can see, some of mine are “regular” and some are “double stuffed.” This is because I care so much about perfection and consistency while I slap on the filling. Eh, life is entirely too short to spend time frosting cookies evenly. I especially feel this way because no one – I repeat no one –  cares about perfect cookies when they are eating a Homemade Mint Oreo. They are simply happy to be eating this treat.

Here is the part where I tell you to eat these in moderation, and to be sure to eat vegetables in great abundance before, after, and during your homemade oreo eating event. (You knew this was coming.)  After all, eating these may not leave you with oreo teeth, but you could end up with other issues, including but not limited to a suppressed immune system and cavities.

Wow, do I know how to ruin a great cookie recipe post or what? Never mind all the vegetable talk. You just make this recipe and enjoy your homemade oreo cookies!!! After you’ve eaten a large tossed green salad.

It has become clear that I cannot talk about sugar without encouraging vegetables. Hey, at least I didn’t tell you to add spinach to the cookie dough or frosting. Although now that I think about it…..
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Menu Plan for the Week, Using Fresh Cranberries, and Price Matching at Wal-Mart?

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I bought a few groceries at the beginning of the week:  broccoli, pears, cantaloupe, spinach, cottage cheese, cucumber, raspberries, clementines, blackberries, and petite carrots. All but the cottage cheese and half the cranberries are gone already.  Time to go back to the store.  This is a good “problem” to have. I am so thankful for all the delicious variety of produce available.

dec 6 groceries

By the way, that cantaloupe was the sweetest we’ve eaten in a long time. That’s amazing to me, seeing as it’s December. We devoured that melon.

I came up with a fantastic Cranberry Almond Orange Bread recipe this weekend, which I’ll share with you during our 5th Annual Heavenly Homemakers Christmas Brunch. But regarding cranberries – I’m curious what you make with fresh cranberries? Leave a comment to let us know how you like to eat them and what you like to make with them. I’d love to hear your ideas.

You might remember the Orange Cranberry Scone recipe I shared two years ago. I rarely make this, but the Christmas season is definitely the perfect time to treat my family to this. :)

Orange Cranberry Scones

Here’s what our menu includes this week:

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Fruits and Veggies (I serve 1-4 per meal)

  • Mixed Greens
  • Green Beans
  • Peas
  • Broccoli
  • Applesauce
  • The rest depends on what I get at the store – spinach, pears, apples, clementines, carrots…

Oh! And we have an Aldi in Lincoln now, so I’ve heard I can start price-matching at Walmart since it’s 50ish miles away. I’m excited to learn more about how this will work. Any expert price matchers out there with tips for me?!

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2-Ounce, 4-Ounce, and 8-Ounce Vanilla Extract – For Sale Now While Supplies Last

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It’s time! We’ve got our Homemade Vanilla Extract bottled up and ready to send you. As you can imagine, our house smells delicious. :)

vanilla_two

We always encourage you to make your own batch of vanilla extract. It’ll save you lots of $$ and give you the most delicious and pure vanilla ever! If your batch isn’t ready yet or you don’t want to make your own, we are excited to offer ours twice each year. The timing for this sale is perfect for holiday baking and gift giving. We have plenty of 2-ounce and 4-ounce bottles as these are perfect stocking stuffers, teacher appreciation gifts, gifts for neighbors, gifts for co-workers….yes – these make awesome gifts!

The prices below include all shipping and handling fees. There will be no charges added to the amounts below. We do have to limit this sale to U.S. for shipping purposes.

Ready? When we run out, we run out, so don’t wait if you want some! We’ve sold out within only 5 hours before – that was one crazy morning! I try to keep this post updated when the supply begins to run low.

Have fun. We can’t wait to get this liquid gold in the mail to you. Mmmmm, deliciousness!

2-ounce bottle
$8.00
Add to Cart

8-ounce bottle
$29.00
Add to Cart

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Pinecone Holiday Decor ~ Homemade Gifts for Less Than $5

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I can’t take credit for this idea, which is probably obvious to you once you see how clever, beautiful, and well-done this decoration is! Vickie sent in this idea with fabulous instructions and pictures. Bless you, Vickie!

pinecone decor

I’m super impressed that this entire craft decoration (worth $20) only cost Vickie 50¢. Amazing!

Here’s Vicki:

This gift has about a $20 value and I made it for 50 cents out of stuff I already had.
  • 12 pinecones (selling for 50 cents each at the local store or harvest them from your backyard for free)
  • 2-3 ft of ribbon ($4-6 or use repurposed ribbon for free)
  • basket ($5-10 or again, repurpose one for free. You can also shop 2nd hand stores for baskets.)
  • craft paint ($1 per bottle)  I used 1/2 bottle of yellow and a smidge of white. You can also use any old leftover paint.
  • glue
  • optional picture hanger and felt pads (cost ?, I found these in my tool drawer so for me they were free)
Wash and paint your basket to the desired color. Dry brush the tips of the pinecones with white paint. You may want to wear gloves if you have sappy pinecones like I did. Let everything dry well. Arrange the pinecones in a decorative manner in the basket, remove carefully trying to remember your pattern, then apply glue to the back/bottom of cones and replace in basket. You don’t want the glue to show when finished. Wrap with a festive ribbon and you are done! If you want to hang your basket you may need a picture hanger of some sort. Mine had a smooth wood back so I screwed and hot-glued the hanger to the back. I also added some felt pads to protect any surface it may hang/sit on.
This took me one full day with dry time. The basket, painted yellow and white, makes a nice seasonal decoration that can be hung on a door/wall or just set on it’s side.
Pinecone Holiday Decor for Less Than $5

This is such a lovely idea. I think my boys might even enjoy collecting and painting pinecones for this. Vickie:  Thank you! Keep the ideas coming, Dear Readers. I love your brilliance and creativity!

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Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares ~ Share Your Story

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I loved reading this story of how Kelley blessed her brother with a delicious, home-cooked meal! Our Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares recipe was a highlight of this story, as was our Salmon Patties recipe. It doesn’t have to be difficult, just cooked with love. :)

Share Your Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Story

 

Hi Laura!

Last night my brother was coming over for dinner. He works so much, he rarely gets a home cooked meal, so I decided to make it special and make your pumpkin-pecan pie squares. :) They were such a huge hit! My husband said they were even church worthy!! To those who don’t understand, most of the ladies at church dinners have at least one special dish that they excel at and everyone asks for. So, anyway, that is the first time I’ve had a “church worthy” recipe so I am super excited!! For supper we had your Salmon Patties that I tweaked a little (think some Italian seasoning and heavy whipping cream), coleslaw, and roasted Italian/Rosemary/Garlic potatoes. Needless to say, there were NO leftovers!

Kelley

kelley 1

Such a delicious spread!

kelley 2

  I’m not sure which recipe Kelley used, but here’s my very simple Creamy Coleslaw recipe if you’re interested. Kelley’s looks so pretty!

kelley 3

These Salmon Patties turned out looking so good! I think I’ll start making mine big like this too. My boys would appreciate that. :)

kelley 4

These look great, and I bet we would all love having the recipe. Pretty please, Kelley?!?!??! :)

 kelley 5

Last but not least, Kelley’s plate of Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares.
If you need an easy and delicious dessert this holiday season, these are a great choice.
“Church worthy” according to Kelley’s husband. Yes!

Keep sending in your stories. I love them!

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Easy Veggie Dip (With Homemade Seasoned Salt)

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It’s been exactly 21 hours and 4 minutes since I posted the Homemade Seasoned Salt recipe, so I’m assuming all of you have some mixed up and ready by now? Perfect. You’ll be needing it for this Veggie Dip recipe. You have cucumbers and carrots on hand, right? Perfect.

Easy Veggie Dip 1

One of the recipe cards that we made to go with your Seasoned Salt gift package shares this Easy Veggie Dip idea. Right after mixing up my first batch of seasoned salt, I made some Perfect Potato Wedges (a recipe also found on the free recipe card printable) and some of this Easy Veggie Dip. It was so….well, easy. The only way I can get my family (including the mother – that’s me) to eat cucumbers is if I supply dip. Typically, I go for ranch. But cucumbers with this Easy Veggie Dip is delicious. Even my hubby, who doesn’t really dig cucumbers, was enjoying the combo. Yay – another great way to eat veggies!

Easy Veggie DipYum

Easy Veggie Dip (With Homemade Seasoned Salt)
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 2 Tablespoons real mayonnaise (I use Hain safflower mayo)
  • Seasoned Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. In a bowl, mix together minced onion, sour cream, and mayonnaise. Add Seasoned Salt until mixture changes color (it should become a light peach color), tasting as you go for desired flavor. Chill for at least one hour before serving. Serve as a dip with assorted raw vegetables.

You’ll find our Seasoned Salt recipe here, along with this recipe (and 3 others) on cute printable recipe cards. This makes a great gift! This dip is great for holiday parties, or simply as a way to get your family to eat vegetables (like cucumbers!) any day of the week. <—- I’m looking at you Coppinger Clan.

Can’t wait to hear how you like this Seasoned Salt and the recipes to go with it!

Easy Veggie Dip with homemade Seasoned Salt

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Win “The Healer” From Perfectly Posh

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You know I always encourage the importance of being careful about what we put on our skin. I love that Perfectly Posh agrees with me. From their website:

Perfectly Posh products are naturally based and made right here in the USA. You can rest easy knowing that there are no harmful ingredients (no SLS, no parabens, no paraffin, no petroleum byproducts, no gluten, no soy fillers, and no lanolin) in our products…you will find only pure, fresh, and clean ingredients.

Putting natural products on your skin is so important. Did you know that whatever you put on your skin is absorbed directly into your bloodstream within 30 seconds, and is found in your cells within 20 minutes? What you put on your skin is just as important as what you put in your mouth.

Yes! We need to be  so careful about what we eat and about what we put on our skin.

So, what to do when we get a burn or a cut, have a scar or stretch marks? Laura A., consultant of Perfectly Posh, recently sent me one of their products called, “The Healer.” I grabbed it three nights ago right before sitting down to watch a movie with my family and rubbed it on a small cut I had on my finger. I kid you not – that cut was gone by the time the movie ended. Wow. What is this stuff?

the healer

Well obviously, I had read the ingredients before putting it on my skin. But after it healed my finger so quickly, I was eager to read more carefully. It’s ingredients are:

Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)
Cera Alba (Beeswax)
Citrus Sinensis (Orange) Oil
Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla) Oil
Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Oil
Tocopherol
Tocopheryl Acetate.

 

Hold on a second. Toco-what?  I had to look those up. Ohhh…naturally occurring Vitamin E. So shea butter, beeswax, essential oils, and vitamin E. This naturally creates a fast working, healthy for the skin – healer.

 

The next item on my agenda is to rub some on my 17 year old’s nasty scar from his run-in last summer with a branch in the lake at camp. (We have pictures. I’ll spare you.)  With how quickly it worked to heal my cut, I am eager to see how The Healer might help take away his scar.

 

How would you like to give The Healer a try? Laura A. is giving away 4 of them! Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one. I’ll draw four random winners on Tuesday, December 9. Be watching for a post stating the winners as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.
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Homemade Seasoned Salt with Recipe Cards Attached ~ Homemade Gifts for Under $5

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Homemade Seasoned Salt is a recipe I’ve had on my list to try to recreate for several months. What better time than now while we’re thinking about inexpensive gifts!

Homemade Gifts for Less Than $5

What’s fun is that not only did I come up with a very easy and MSG free way to make this seasoing (similar to Lawry’s), I also came up with ideas for delicious ways to use it in new yummy recipes. Now we can mix up some Seasoned Salt for gift purposes, as well as print off cute recipe cards so our recipients will have fun ideas for cooking with their gift. Package it all up together and it will be a hit!

Homemade Seasoned Salt Shaker Gift

Homemade Seasoned Salt

Homemade Seasoned Salt with Recipe Cards Attached ~ Homemade Gifts for Under $5
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • ½ cup sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons sucanat
  • 1½ Tablespoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
  • 1  teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients well.
  2. Funnel mixture into a salt shaker.
  3. This recipe makes about ⅔ cup of Seasoned Salt.

(I use Redmonds Sea Salt.) This seasoning is perfect for your French fries, for your burgers or steaks, for chicken – for adding a little pizzazz to just about any food. In addition, you’ll want to download these Seasoned Salt Recipes for tasty and easy ideas. Mixing this seasoning up to give as a gift? Print those recipe cards and include them in the package.

Look how pretty all the colors are before you mix them all together!

Homemade Seasoned Salt Recipe

I found the shaker jar for this at Wal-mart for 97¢. I’d look at the dollar store too for fun shaker variations at a low cost. The ingredients cost a minimal amount, making this gift delicious, fun, and inexpensive too!

More Homemade Gifts for Under $5 coming soon. This is too much fun!

Download Your Free Seasoned Salt Recipe Cards here.

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Quick and Easy Fabric Bracelets ~ Homemade Gifts For Less Than $5

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Homemade Gifts for Less Than $5

Don’t even want to spend $5.00 on a gift? Well then, how does 8¢ sound to you?  Yeehaw.

Remember when I asked “what do you get when you cross some scraps of fabric with shower curtain rings?” THIS. This is what you get. (I found the idea here.)

Easy Fabric Bracelets for Less Than $1

Now I know what you’re thinking, but just settle down. Cute as these are, you need to leave your shower curtain right where it is. Your family will not be nearly as thrilled to see your creations at the end of the day if they walk into the bathroom and see the shower curtain crumpled on the floor.

Instead, I suggest that everyone of you needs to head to the store right this minute (after you finish reading this) to pick up a package of shower curtain rings. I got a 12-pack for just 97¢.

If you have little girls in your life, you should pick up several packs because these bracelets are sooooo much fun to make! These would be perfect gifts for friends at school, cousins, nieces – and if you cut off the end of the ring, these should fit many adult ladies too.

I made 12 bracelets in less than an hour using my handy new $3 hot glue gun. If I can make these, anyone can make them – guaranteed. If you have bits of fabric lying around, this is a great way to use it up and avoid spending extra money on this gift.

Fabric Bracelet Supplies

How to Make Quick and Easy Fabric Bracelets

What You’ll Need

  • Shower Curtain Rings
  • Fabric Scraps, cut into about 1/2″ x 18″ strips
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Scissors

What To Do

  1. Begin by hot gluing one end of the fabric strip to the inside of a shower curtain ring.
  2. Tightly wrap the fabric around and around the ring, adding one or two more drops of hot glue to secure the fabric as you go.
  3. Cut any left-over fabric off at the end and glue in place.

Quick and Easy Fabric Bracelets

I plan to gift some of these to my elementary-aged prayer pal at church – a little reminder that I’m praying for her. I’ll let my nieces pick out a few. Malachi even suggested that we send some to Gladis. Won’t she have fun sharing some of these with her friends!

Hope you have as much fun with these as I am having. Thanks to everyone who has sent in Homemade Gifts for Under $5 ideas. Keep them coming! I’ll be sharing them here soon. You won’t believe how many great ideas there are for inexpensive homemade gifting!

Now, go. Go buy shower curtain rings.

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