Peanut Butter Magic Wands

A fun snack for an afternoon treat or a Harry Potter or Halloween party. The inspiration for this project was the carmel chocolate wands at the following site: http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/heather_bailey/2009/07/swish-and-flick.html My son didn't want chocolate as it aggravates his acne, so we decided on making them peanut butter instead. Items used:

• 1 pkg. Peanut butter chips (we used Reece's)
• 1 pkg.Pretzel Rods
• 1/4 cup Sunflower seeds
• 2 TBSP milk.
• Double boiler or eqivalent
• Baking Parchment or wax paper
• Cookie sheet
• Large spoon
• Large bowl or mug(s) to pretzels up in after dipping.

Fill the bottom pan with water about 3/4 full and put the top pan in. Add more water if needed. Put the chips in the top pan of your boiler and turn on to medium heat, stirring occassionally with a large spoon.

When the chips have mostly melted, add in the 2 TBSP of milk. Blend melted chips and milk together. Coat the top of the pretzel with the melted chip mixture.

Place the completed pretzels in a bowl or several mugs while finishing up the pretzels. Place parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet spread out the sunflower seeds and roll the top of the pretzel in the seeds to coat them. Place completed wands in the refridgerator to harden for a few minutes, then serve.

Broccoli Salad

Good way to sneak in broccoli to a meal that kids will eat and it is quick and easy to make. It is best if made the night before and allowed to sit for the dressing to seep into the other ingredients. Ingredients

• 1 12oz bag broccoli slaw or rainbow salad
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 3 oz bag of bacon bits or a few strips of fried bacon, crumbled
• 1 cup of Miracle Whip
• 2 1/2 TBSP white vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Mix the Miracle whip, sugar and vinegar together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

Add in the packaged broccoli slaw, bacon, sunflower seeds and toss until mixed, then put in the fridge until ready to be served.

SUNFLOWER FASCINATOR

 
This was made with scraps and leftovers from other projects. Items needed:

• Fabric
• Button
• Thread
• Scissors
• Needle
• Hot Glue Gun
• Glue Stick
• Hair Clip

 
Cut 12 petal shapes - sort of like an Conehead Easter Egg shape - into the fabric (I folded my fabric over several times then cut several shapes at once).  Note: The button that I used for this project in the picture below is a DIY Dorset button made out of the plastic ring off of a milk jug and scrap of fabric. The tutorial is here: http://craftsandcreationswithkathy.blogspot.com/2009/04/diy-fabric-buttons.html

Fan out into a basic flower shape with 6 of the petals, then put the other six petal in between the lower layer of petals.

Hand stitch the petals together at the base all the way around until you come back to the first petal, then pull the thread taut to pull all petals towards the center.

Stitch the button to the flower. Use the hot glue gun to glue the hair clip to the back of the fascinator.

I made this awhile back, but I am linking it up on  Blue Cricket Design's "Show and Tell" Wednesdays as we could all use a little bit of Spring in our lives and I always think of Spring when I see sunflowers.   There are lots of other cool projects linked up - click over on the hyperlink to check them out and happy crafting!

Hearts of Romaine Salad

• 2 heads romaine lettuce hearts
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seed
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated romano cheese
• 1/4 cup lite ranch dressing (optional)

Rinse the lettuce in cold water and tear into bite sized pieces into large salad bowl.

In another bowl, mix the Sunflower Seeds, Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Grated Romano together. Pour this mixture on top of the lettuce and toss until mixed, then toss in in dressing.