B is for... Bean Bag!

Ok... technically it's a corn bag, but what? ... that just sounds weird. Okay- so the other night my neighbor and I put these bags of blissful, beaming, bendy, blue, bean (corn) bed buddies together for those bitter cold, barefoot nights in bed... brilliant! Seriously, they could bump sliced bread off the "coolest" thing invented block... I love my bean bag buddy! Alright.. enough blabbering... Here's how to make your own:

Get some really cute fabric (and a 40% off coupon- yay).. I used flannel to be extra soft, and muslin for the inside lining... go to your local farm supply store and grab a 50 lb bag of whole feed corn (do not use any other corn, it will pop in the microwave) and try not to buy the cute lil potbelly piggies, and then gather up some thread and cute buttons laying around.. and that's it! My 2nd favorite part of this project (my favorite being that I have warm feet at night now) is that the total cost per bean bag buddy = $1.82... awesome.



Cut fabric (inside muslin- 6.5 in X 20.5 in. after folded in half.. and outside flannel- 7 in. X 21 in. after folded) and get sewing! The inside bag will look similar to this ... fill with 7-10 cups of corn (make sure to leave enough room that it can still mold around your feet, neck, stomach, back etc...) sew up the last side, and repeat with the outside layer (except don't sew the last edge shut so you have a way to remove the case and wash it...)



I microwaved the muslin bag for 2-3 minutes and let cool before putting it inside the cover (the corn tends to "sweat" a lot the first time you heat it)... then add your bling and buttons and you've got you're very own beanbag buddy!



Note to self: Don't use metal buttons to decorate it with ... hence the whole microwaving metal issue.. Don't heat more than 3 minutes in the microwave...

P.S- This also can be done with uncooked rice or dry beans but the corn is cheaper, holds heat longer, and doesn't stink up the whole room when microwaved.

W is for... Worms!

For our annual Farr Halloween bash I made my usual treat suspect... Jell-o worms... these are really fun and the kids really enjoy wolfing down the wiggly, wacky, wobbly, withering worms... I got this recipe from theidearoom.net, it takes quite a bit of time to do and is much easier with lots of people to help get the worms out of the straws but this is the basic how-to...

Take 100 of these... (straws not glasses..)



and fill up the cup with the jell-o recipe mixture... pop in the fridge overnight, remove the worms from the straws (hardest part of the recipe by far), crush up some oreo cookies to create a nice home of dirt for the worms to live in... and you've got a creepy, crawly Halloween treat for all to enjoy! ...( and a huge mess of semi-melted jell-o and cookie crumbs all over your kitchen... ) But it's all worth it... Enjoy!

A is for.... Avatar!

Alright this is what I've been up to for my latest Halloween crafting fun... crafting myself and husband into avatars!... Check out these amazing, articulate, artsy, agile avatars! (Full story on our family page joelandkell.blogspot.com). This was lots of fun, I had planned on getting avatar contacts (yellow with green edges) but they wouldn't get here till today.. bummer, maybe next year... I also made various Halloween treats bat sugar cookies, oreo mummies, and chocolate dipped pretzel mummies... but failed to capture them on film before they were captured by people's stomaches... I apologize... anyway I hope you enjoyed your Halloween!



P.S. We aren't by any means more articulate or agile in these costumes.... it was just wishful thinking....