Toilet Paper Tube Binoculars

I made these simple binoculars to sell as an inexpensive impulse item at Kira's craft show that she had on Monday. I only made 3 pairs and was selling them for $1 each, and I sold them all!

I'm ready with my new binoculars! Looking for... sweater monsters! I heard there are some living in the Lyndonville area...

Materials & tools:

• colored duct tape (I used green, but there are all sorts of cool colors and patterns offered nowadays! You can find colored duct tape in most craft stores. I saw some military camouflage patterned tape the other day that I think would be great! )
• 2 toilet paper rolls
• ribbon
• hole punch

It's super easy! Just wrap the duct tape around the toilet paper rolls to cover the outside of each tube, then tape the two rolls together. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in each side and tie the ribbon onto the tubes. Voila! A quick and fast pair of toy Binoculars for your little explorers! This would be a great craft to accompany teaching little ones nature themed topics...like safari or bird watching!

"Oooooo I see something..."

I see adventure!..... a leopard...or wait...a cheetah! Shhhhh you will disturb it! Wait, what is a cheetah doing in my living room? :)

Burger Cookies

I always used to bring these "Burger Cookies" to parties and they were always a hit! I made some this week to bring to my daughter's friends' house for 4th of July. These would be a cute addition to any summer party!

(shown with flip flop cookies)

BURGER COOKIE Ingredients:

• Vanilla wafers,
• Peppermint Patties
• Shredded Coconut
• Frosting
• Food coloring. (green to color the coconut/lettuce, and yellow for frosting/mustard)

Place a few drops of liquid green food coloring into a bowl of shredded coconut. also color some frosting to look like mustard or ketchup. I prefer mustard it is prettier and easier to get a good color. (Red just turns pink.)
Unwrap the peppermint patties and place on vanilla wafer. Vanilla wafer is bottom side up. Place on a microwavable tray.

Here is the tricky part.... microwave just so they "START" to melt so they are soften enough to press together. you can tell by how shiney they are. My microwave, I used 20 seconds.

Sprinkle green coconut on the warm wafers.

Use a little yellow frosting to top off the burger.

You can leave the top plain if you like. I put a "Secret topping" on for the bun. I used to use seseme seeds on top but after having diverticulitis I don't use seeds....just in case someone can't have them (like I used to not be able to have before my surgery. Sesame seeds are on EVERYTHING! It's very frustrating!).

I think I first saw these pictured in a magazine YEARS ago (like, back in the 80's) and I have tweaked the process a bit to make them better. Like the microwaving them to melt them a little and colored frosting to help "glue" them together too. When I worked at the McConnell Air Force Base Hospital in Kansas, I was once asked by a Drug Rep to make them for a conference she was having on Cholestorol. She served them to everyone. It was a huge batch...I think I made more than a 100 of them and she paid me very well for it. Hey, look!...I guess I can add "caterer" to my resume! LOL!

Yum! :)

Hope you all had a Happy 4th of July! God Bless!

Flip Flop Cookies!

These are Flip Flop Cookies I made last summer for the BOCES classroom I worked in as an aide. They'd be great for a child's summer birthday party. If you frosted them with red, white, and blue, they would also be good for a 4th of July picnic!

Ingredients:

• Vienna Cookies
• Frosting
• Food Coloring
• Gummie worms

Note about ingredients: The bulk section gummie worms are better than the pre-packaged ones. They are thicker and hold their shape better. Also, the regular white canned frosting is better than the "fluffy" canned frosting. Fluffy kind is not stiff enough to hold the gummie worms up.

Split gummy worms down the center (Pampered Chef kitchen scissors are a wonderful tool!) Kitchen shears work best, but carefully using a sharp knife may work as well. (Be sure not to split it completely in half! It still needs to be together at one end!)

Color your white frosting by mixing in food coloring. (I chose blue.)

Frost the top of a Vienna Cookie with the colored frosting. Then place the gummie worm on the frosted cookie and arrange to look like flip flop straps. The frosting should act as "glue" to stick it on. Repeat for the second "flip flop".

You are "supposed" to serve the cookies on graham cracker crumbs so it looks like "sand". (Waste of good graham crackers I thought though!)

Enjoy!