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Showing posts from July, 2011

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookie...

Delicious and Easy No-Knead 2-Seed Whole Wheat Bread

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There's nothing quite like slicing in to a still-warm-from-the-oven homemade bread at the dinner table, but between work, the kids' activities, and keeping up with the day-to-day, finding the time to make a good home baked bread can be a challenge.  Enter the no-knead bread:  Stir together a few ingredients at night before bed, turn out on a counter the next afternoon, pop in the oven an hour before dinnner time and poof! -- a perfect loaf of bread to enjoy with your meal. Back in June I featured a recipe for a No-Knead Ciabatta -like bread made with white all-purpose flour, based on the Jim Sullivan recipe from the NY Times.  Today, I'm pleased to share my recipe for a wonderful whole wheat version crusted with toasted seeds.  I've put together a timeline for the bread to be ready to eat at 6:00 p.m.  You can adjust the schedule as you see fit. Enjoy! No-Knead 2-Seed Whole Wheat Bread Ingredients 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flou...

NEWS FROM THE NEST: Giveaway Winner & Free Back-to-School Scrap Sheet

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A tremendous thanks goes out to everyone who participated in and supported my  Elmer's Craft Camp Giveaway!   Be sure to check back during the week of August 1 - 8 for  BACK-TO-SCHOOL WEEK I'll be sharing ideas for school lunches, first day of school projects, a back-to-school party , a giveaway and much more! Congratulations to Deb who said: In gratitude to everyone who helped make this giveaway such a success, I'm sharing a free Back-to-School scrap sheet: Click on the image above to download.

How to Stencil Fabrics with Freezer Paper: a Guest Post from Running With Glitter

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Did you know that there's a way to make professional-looking custom prints on clothing and textiles without a fancy and expensive machine? For the small investment of around $6, for a roll of freezer paper, you can make miles of marvelous stencils to liven up your clothes, pillows, placemats, etc... Today, I'm so pleased to introduce Kelly from Running With Glitter . Kelly's creative blog positively shimmers with inspiring ideas.  She's genuine, kind and someone you'll want to get to know.  I'm so happy that she's here today at Rook No. 17 to share her technique for stenciling with freezer paper!   Hop on over to Running With Glitter , say hello to Kelly, and check out her inspiring DIYs and tutorials.  If you drop by today, you may even find someone familiar guest-posting there -- tee hee! ---------------------------------- I'm Kelly, I have a fun little blog called  Running With Glitte r .  I'm really Excited to ...

6 Must-see Upcycling & Repurposing Projects: A Little Birdie Told Me No. 30

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"There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all.  Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns." -- Edward de Bono Welcome to  "A Little Birdie Told Me..." Tuesday! If you're here to share a craft, recipe or project post, you'll find the linky and the specifics on how to  join the party after the features below. ------------------------------------------------ I'm so excited about this week's features. In these SIX repurposing and upcycling posts you'll learn how to transform: 1.  Junk Mail into Handmade Paper 2.  Plastic Grocery Bags into Sewable Fabric 3.  Bar Soap into Body Wash 4.  An old Sheet into a Woven Rug 5.  An outdated Bed into a Garden Bench 6.  An outgrown Sundress into a Chic Skirt ------------------------------------------------ WANT TO WIN $75 IN CRAFT SUPPLIE...

Folding Cupcake Stand Tutorial -- Elmer's Craft Camp for Kids, Part III

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The stand, cupcake wrappers and cupcake picks were all made by the 6 & 7 year-olds that attended the Camp Cupcake Party This is a tutorial for one of the crafts that I came up with to use for CAMP CUPCAKE using the materials provided by Elmer's/X-acto.   The basic concept of this cupcake stand is a versatile one.  Using any size or shape of foam board, you can simply adorn it with a pretty scrapbook paper, trim with a coordinating ribbon, and add the sturdy PVC feet.  You can make multiple stands in descending sizes for a tiered cupcake display. Using the mini bi-fold foam board that came with each Elmer's Craft Camp Kid Kit, the "campers" and I fashioned these 19" x 13.25" cupcake stands that will hold two dozen cupcakes.  They fold in half for easy storage. ------------------------------------ If you'd like to enter for a chance to win an Elmer's Craft Kit loaded with craft supplies, including two packages of the X-acto...

Make Your Own Cupcake Wrappers - Free Cupcake Sleeve Template

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As part of the Elmer's Kids Craft Camp CAMP CUPCAKE , I taught the "campers" how to make custom cupcake wrappers using a simple template, scrapbook paper, and the Decorative Edge Scissors from X-Acto . Today, I'm sharing a free printable template so that you can make the cupcake wrappers too! Just click on the image above to download. To make your own cupcake wrappers: 1.You can print the document in color on a heavy stock paper and use the wrappers just the way they are. --or-- 2. Cut out a wrapper and use to trace the shape on a decorative scrapbook paper of your choosing.   3.  Use decorative edge scissors to trim 1/4 from the top of each wrapper. 4.  Tape or glue ends together. 5.  Pop in a cupcake! If you'd like to enter for a chance to win an Elmer's Craft Kit loaded with craft supplies, including two packages of the X-acto Decorative Scissors, visit my giveaway HERE. (Ends Wednesday, July 27, Midnight PS...

CAMP CUPCAKE: An Elmer's Kids Craft Camp Party + Giveaway

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What do you get when you cross cupcakes and frosting, arts & crafts, four little girls and a crate full of supplies from Elmer's? --CAMP CUPCAKE-- A crafty summer camp that really takes the cake! WANT TO HOST A MINI CRAFT CAMP OF YOUR OWN? Details on how to enter to win craft supplies from Elmer's at the end of this post! I'd be willing to bet that you'd be hard pressed to find a creative person whose earliest experience with art did not include some sort of Elmer's product.  My earliest childhood craft projects would be just a mess of construction paper clippings and loose macaroni if it weren't for Elmer's Washable School Paste. So, it was with great excitement and a nostalgic heart that I jumped at the opportunity to take part in the Elmer's Summer Craft Camp program. Here's a 2 minute slideshow that shows the whole process, from start to finish! It all started with the arrival of this crate... ...filled ...