IPad Giveaway

I don't know about all of you but I am so ready for Spring.  Here in Oregon, though, that means rain... and lots of it.  But after a lifetime spent here, we're all used to it.  At least it's warm rain.  (Is there such a thing???)

So let's get spring going, and kick off with an IPad Giveaway.  An IPad people!  This giveaway is brought to you by the host,  A Little Bit of Everything.

Also brought to you by this wonderful co hosts.  Make sure to check them out.

My Four Little, Making Memories With Your Kids, Sarah SaturDIY, Life With Two Boys, Mommy Bear Media, This Girl's Life, All About the Mommies, NYSavingSpecials, Pardon My Poppet, Dutch Girl's Favorite Things, Spaceships and Laser Beams, Don't Mess with Mama, A Man's Take on Things and We Are Earthformed

Giveaway runs from April 1 until April 30 and is Open to US/Can

Enter for a Chance to win an Ipad with Retina Display 64GB.

• 1GHz Apple A5X dual-core custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics • 1GB RAM • 64GB flash • 9.7" retina display • LED-backlit glossy widescreen multi-touch display with IPS technology • Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating • Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously • 2048 x 1536 resolution • Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) • Bluetooth 4.0 technology • 30-pin dock connector port x 1 • 3.5mm stereo headphone minijack • 5-megapixel iSight camera • Built-in 42.5-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery • Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music • Measures 9.50" H x 7.31" W x 0.37" D • Package includes headphones, USB charger, USB plug, data cable, stylus pen, screen protector, and case • Available in your choice of Black or White 

You will also get a case for this great Ipad as well.  The case will be your choice from Domeo Products.  They are available online and also at Sam's Club.  Check out my FULL review.

Enter on the rafflecopter below.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

   

Disclosure: Making Memories With Your Kids is not responsible for shipment of the prize. Any questions, comments, or concerns, please send to littlebitofeverything@live.com

Cinnabunnies - Bunny Shaped Cinnamon Rolls

 

This idea is all over Pinterest and I just loved it. But what I don't love? When I click on a picture on Pinterest and it takes me no where! It just goes to the picture. I want the website and a tutorial on how to make said awesome idea. Ugh! So I had to click on a TON of pictures on Pinterest before I finally found the source of this.  Thank you to the one person who actually pinned the website and not just the picture!

So, what are they?  Cinnabunnies!  Cinnamon Roll Bunnies!  Thanks to Betty Crocker for this "pinspiration"!  =o)

What you will need:

* packaged cinnamon rolls from a tube.  I bought the big ones.  I would recommend buying the regular sized ones that have 8 in a can.  That will make 4 Cinnabunnies.

* raisins or M&Ms for the eyes

* almond slivers for the teeth

Keep one cinnamon roll intact and place it on a silpat or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Unroll one of the cinnamon rolls and make ears.  Once you shaped the ears, make sure you pinch them to the head.

I didn't have any raisins for the eyes so I used M&Ms.  (No complaining from this house.)  But I didn't have anything for the teeth.  Crud.  Slivered almonds are not something I keep around my house.

 

 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. 

Once they are cooled, frost the ears and give them a little sprinkling of sugar.

 

 

Mine aren't nearly as cute as the ones on the Betty Crocker website.  I'm going to blame it on the fact that I used Grands Cinnamon Rolls.  Yep.  That's what I'm sticking too =o)  But the kids didn't care.  They loved them!

There you go.  The perfect Easter treat!

 

Looking for other fun Easter treats to make?  How about:

 

Carrot Patch Cookies

 

 

Easter Egg Hunt Cookies

 

 

Brownies Baked in an Egg Shell

 

 

These Dye-ving Dudes are so much fun to make with the kids!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm linking to the parties on my sidebar.

Spring Time Candy Holders

 

I saw this idea years ago and thought it was pretty cute. Simple (which always catches my attention) and different. It's a candy holder. Cute, right?

 

I bought these little feeders at Wilco. Yep, you read that right. Feeders! They are chicken (or chick) feeders. At least I think that's what they are called. I'm not really a country, farm animal girl. Don't get me wrong.  I'll take a good looking cowboy anyday =o)  But knowing my way around a feed store is totally foreign to me.  So you should be proud of me for knowing what these bad boys even are.

 

Back to the candy holders...  You can buy them in plain metal (or is it aluminum?  Dang.  See?  I know nothing.)  And then you can spray paint them all sorts of fun colors.  Or you can buy these plastic ones in fun, Spring time colors.  We went for the plastic ones.   

 

 

They come with a plastic container thing.  (It's all so scientific in my house.)  But you can also use a canning jar if you want it smaller and/or clear. 

 

 

Take them home and clean them.  (You never know what strange farm animal nosed their way around them.  It's a feed store after all.  And then fill them with your favorite candy.  We went with Easter M&Ms because they were so pretty.  My daughter, of course, wanted hers to be filled with gum balls.

 

 

Mine is going on my desk at work.  The kids at my work will love it!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm linking to the parties on my sidebar.

Cinnamon Bun Scones

I have to be honest with you, I don't think I've ever had a scone. They've never really appealed to me.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's because everyone says they are great with coffee.  I don't drink coffee.  Maybe it's because they don't seem sweet enough, more like a buscuit.  And let's just be honest, I have a huge sweet tooth!  But then I saw this recipe and actually took a look at it.  Cinnamon.  Sugar.  Icing.  Yep, I'm in.

I had a meeting with some of the other District Counselors and the Assistant Superintendant to go over our Flight Team Protocol.  A Flight Team is the team that responds to major tragedies that happen in the community (when they involve the school.)  It's something that no one really thinks about until something happens and then it's invaluable.  Last summer a man in my community decided to kill his two children and his wife and then take his own life.  Something this horrific shakes a community (any community, especially a small one like mine) and the response to this is essential.  So, when having to deal with topics such as this, I bake treats.

These Cinnamon Bun Scones were delicious.  Agiain, I have to say, I've never tasted a scone so I can't compare these to anything, but I guess I am honest when I say "these are the best scones I've ever had!"  =o)  They really were good.  Just the right amount of sweet without being as sweet as a cinnamon roll.  (They seemed healthier.  Right???)

Cinnamon Bun Scones

Source: Recipe Girl

* 2 cup AP flour

* 1 cup oatmeal, quick or old-fashioned, uncooked

* 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided

* 1 Tbsp. baking powder

* 1/4 tsp. salt

* 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into pieces

* 3/4 cup 2% milk

* 1 large egg

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 1 cup Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

* 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Glaze

* 3/4 cup powdered sugar

* 1/4 tsp. vanilla

* 3 to 4 tsp. milk

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray 12x 18-inch pan with nonstick spray (or line with parchment paper).

In a large bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add Cinnamon CHips.

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg and vanilla; blend well. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir with fork or rubber spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened.

In another small bowl, combine remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar with the cinnamon; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over dough in bowl; gently stir batter to swirl in cinnamon mixture. (Do not blend completely).  If you don't have these Hershey's Cinnamon Chips in your area, you can learn how to make them here.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. I used my large cookie scoop and it worked great.   

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack.

 

To make glaze: 

In small bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk for desired consistency; mix until smooth.  I had about a half of a tub of cream cheese frosting in my fridge so I added a big plop of that to the glaze and stirred it all up.  It was amazing!

 Drizzle over tops of warm scones. Serve warm.

I don't know what scones are supposed to taste like but I'm totally making these again!

Enjoy!

We love cinnamon chip anything.  Here are some more delicious cinnamon chip recipes to try.

Cinnamon Chip Bread

Cinnamon Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies

 

I'm linking to the parties on my sidebar.

Edible Easter Baskets

I'm always looking for fun ideas of things to make for teacher gifts.  Nothing huge, but little "you are awesome" type gifts so they know how much we appreciate them.  This was perfect.  Easy (super easy) and fun and made of candy.  Is there anything better?

Edible Easter Baskets

Source: Mrs. Happy Homemaker

* glue gun

* card stock

* 4 boxes (or bags) of Easter type candy

* Easter "grass" or shredded paper

* Easter candy to fill baskets with

You can either tape the boxes together or use a hot glue gun.  I opted for the hot glue gun because it's so darn strong.  If I had used bags of candy, though, I might have used packing tape.

Glue the boxes together.  When the glue dries, flip over the box and tape a piece of card stock on the bottom.  You don't want everything falling out =o)

I cut a piece of card stock to use as a handle and glued that in place as well.

Now fill with whatever you would like.  You can make it as full and elaborate as you want.  We just wanted a little Happy Easter Basket (nothing huge) so we just did this.

What do you think?  If one of my students brought me something like this I think I would probably feint.  My students don't bring me treats =o(  The joys of being a school counselor.

I'm linking to the parties on my sidebar.

School of Wash Bath Products Review

We are bath product snobs in my house. No, let's rephrase that. We're bath product aficionados.  That sounds much better right?  We love things that smell wonderful and I've passed that love on to my kids.  When it comes to body wash, we have about 15 different scents to chose from each bath.  My daughter closes her eyes and I squirt some body wash in her hand and then she has to guess which scent it is.  It's fun and she's pretty good at guessing all of the scents.

In comes School of Wash.  Have you heard of them?  I hadn't until recently.  Where have I been?!  The website is like a dream come true!

School of Wash is a family owned and operated store who sees their customers as their family.  Our FRESH Promise: We believe fresh ingredients are not only important on your dinner table, but also in your bathroom. We only use the highest quality ingredients and make all our products at the time of ordering. Our Products are – Paraben-free, Talc-free, SLS-free, Sulfate-free, Sodium Chloride-free, FRESHLY made when ordered and contain No Dyes.

They have products for men, women and kids, all with amazing scents.  We had the pleasure of reviewing the Bath Whip and the Foamy Bath Bubbles.

Creamy, smooth, marshmellowy bath whips by School of Wash™ pamper your skin with rich and creamy love. Like bathing with whipped cream, our bath whips will make bath time FUN! Our whips are not sticky or oily, and are enriched with cocoa butter, shea butter and jojoba oil which condition your skin. With over 138 scents to choose from our bath whips smell and feel yummy on your skin.

✓Paraben free and no added colors.

Body Whip Ingredients: Glycerin, Water, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Diazolidinyl Urea, Idopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, Fragrance Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA.

We just loved the Bath Whip.  It was thick and creamy and the scent was amazing!  We chose Fizzy Pop (Pop Rocks and Soda Pop which create a sweet and snappy scent with citrusy lime, sunny pineapple, bright lemon and orange.

Get carried away with mountains of frothy, foamy bubbles! Each bottle of School of Wash™ Handmade Super Foaming Bubble Bath encapsulates the essence of your Pick-A-Scent™ fragrance. With over 138 scents to choose from your bath will smell as good as it looks.

✓Paraben-free and no added colors.

☞Directions: Pour 1-2 capfuls into water stream while filling tub.

Bubble Bath Ingredients: Water, PEG 80 Sorbitan Laurate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, PEG 150 Distearate, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Fragrance (Unless Fragrance Free), Sodium Laureth-13 Carboxylate, Glycerine, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Quantenium 15, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate.

The bubble bath was also amazing.  I hate it when we buy bubble bath and have to add almost 1/3 of the bottle in order to get enough bubbles for a bath.  Not with School of Wash Bubble Bath.  We added 3 capfuls (because I wanted to make sure and have bubbles) and the bath was exploding in bubbles!  My daughter loved it!  And the scent was wonderful.  We chose Rock Candy Star (sweet, ripe berries and a snap of bubblegum, smooth the kick of vanilla and fizzy soda pop.)  Doesn't that just scream 8 year old girl?!

Would you like to check them out for yourself?  Go to their website and read about all the other amazing natural bath products they carry and how many wonderfully delicious scents they have!  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Ruth's Brownie Zingers Review

A Brownie Zinger??? What the heck, right? What's a Brownie Zinger?  That's exactly what I was thinking not so long ago.  Then Ruth's Kitchen introduced me to them.

A Brownie Zinger is basically the crunchy tops of their (Ruth's Kitchen) famous brownies.  They are like a brownie and a crunchy cookie combined.  You get the rich, chocolatey flavor of a brownie in a crunchy brittle or cookie.  And let me tell you, they really do taste just like an amazing brownie. 

Ruth's Kitchen has three flavors of Brownie Zingers: Walnut, Chocolate Chunk and Toffee Crunch.  And get this!  They even come in gluten free varieties.  So all of my gluten free friends can also enjoy these crunchy, chocolatey treats. 

And they arrive in this adorable box.

 

I took these delicious treats to my work to share with my co-workers.  Everyone loved them.  If you are a "corner piece" brownie lover because you love the crunchy part of the brownie, then these are the perfect treat for you.

But who is Ruth's Kitchen?  From their website: 

We Are A Small, Artisanal Baking Company  

Dedicated To Absolute Perfection In All We Do...

From the beginning, Ruth's Brownie (and Cookie & Biscotti) Kitchen has been committed to baking the world's highest quality and best-tasting chocolate gourmet brownies, biscotti, cookies and cakes available anywhere in the world. We bake them for you, our customers, the most important people in the world. Named after Grandmother Ruth —and beginning with her recipes— we've created baked goods that have that memorable, delicious homemade taste we remember from our childhoods.

The Artisanal Approach... 

With the dedication of our artisan bakers, we seek perfection in each and every batch of gourmet chocolate brownies, biscotti, cookies and cakes we make. To help achieve our goal we have committed ourselves to making a handcrafted product. Each and every brownie, biscotti, cookie or cake we make is made to order one batch at a time... NO mass production methods in our kitchens. Nothing is ever frozen. Nothing is ever "from the day before."

 But don't take my word for it.  Go check them out on their website, Twitter and Facebook.

And as a special thanks to all my readers, Ruth's Kitchen is offering everyone a 20% discount on your order.  Use code 20myblog20 when you check out.

 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies with Carrot Cake M&Ms

Who knew they made Carrot Cake M&Ms.  No, that's not a question.  That's a statement.  Who knew!   I saw them over on Inside BruCrew Life and was intrigued.  I say intrigued because I wasn't totally sold on them right away.  I mean seriously.  Carrot Cake M&Ms?  If you know me at all you know about my aversion to mixing desserts and vegetables.  It's just not right in the dessert scheme of things in my book. 

Over on Cookin' Cowgirl I saw her recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies using the same M&Ms.  Again, intrigued but a little scared.  Vegetables... IN desserts!  I'm not quite sure.

So I took it slow.  You know, ease in a little.  None of this "taking the leap" stuff for me.  So I kind of revised the idea a little.  I used my all time favorite Oatmeal Cookie Recipe (found on the lid of the Quaker Oats box) and added a little to it.  So here's what I came up with.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies

Revised (a little) from Quaker

* 1/2 cup plus 6 Tbsp. butter, softened

* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

* 1/2 cup sugar

* 2 eggs

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 1 3/4 cup flour

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

* 3 cups oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

* 3/4 cup shredded carrots

* 1 bag Carrot Cake M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Add combined flour, baking soda and cinnamon; mix well.

I grated my carrots pretty small.  I didn't want giant chunks in the cookies =o)

Add oats and carrots and mix well.  Add M&Ms.

I used my medium cookie scoop to drop dough onto a Silpat (or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper).  Bake for 8 - 10 minutes.

Cool for about a minute and then transfer to a cooling rack.

They don't have a big carrot flavor, which is good in my book.  And I dont' really know what carrot cake tastes like, since I don't eat it.  I know.  Don't judge.  But these cookies were wonderful.  The Carrot Cake M&Ms are strange tasting, but good.  Strange because when I first ate one I couldn't quite figure out what it tasted like.  But again, I don't eat carrot cake, so maybe that's exactly what they taste like.  But they are fun and different, and I'm all about fun and different.  And cookies.  SO there you go.  Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies with Carrot Cake M&Ms.

=o)

 

I'm linking to the parties on my sidebar.