So Pinteresting {DIY Dryer Sheet Edition}

I have nothing against the Snuggle bear. I'm just cheap and I hate running out of simple household items like dryer sheets. So when I saw this pin, I decided to give it a whirl.

 

I took some old flannel a friend had given me (look familiar Sue?) cut it into rectangles and sewed around the edges to keep them from fraying.

 

 

 Then I went fancy and cleaned out an old dip container for the softener solution. The website had a formula for the solution - 4 parts fabric softener to 10 parts hot water - but I just kind of threw some together making sure to use more water than softener.

I let the flannel soak for a while and then tried out a load. I was impressed with how well it worked! My clothes were soft and smelled nice. I was worried that the softener would leave spots on my clothes, but I've never had an issue with that. The flannel sheets do get stiff after a few uses, but just throw them in your washer and it's good to go for the next use. Once the solution gets low, just add a bit more softener and water to cover the flannel again.

The only con to these homemade dryer sheets is the drippings. You have to pull one out of the container, squeeze out the excess and then toss it in the dryer. This gets your hands all softener-y and tends to leave drips on top of my dryer where I keep the container.

But it's a small price to pay for basically free dryer sheets! Pinterest Win!

Happy Pin-Day!

Pinterest is my new favorite way to waste time. I've gotten so many good ideas from there (Follow my boards here!) but was worried that I would never actually implement them. Thankfully I have friends who aren't afraid to call me out. :)

I actually tried the "Egg McMuffin in a Muffin Tin" idea. What it was suppose to look like was this:

I greased up my muffin tin, cracked in my eggs and it looked like this (I forgot to take a picture right away, so this was after like 30 seconds in the hot oven):

Not to bad, right? The "recipe" tells you to take a muffin, slap on the egg and cheese and you have yourself a sandwich. What they failed to mention is that the eggs DO NOT COME OUT OF THE MUFFIN TIN. And the yolk doesn't cook all the way so it looks weird.

The sandwiches were okay. The biggest downfall was in the middle you would get a bite that was only yolk *BLECH*. And I am still trying to scrub that egg out of my muffin tin. I'm seriously considering just pitching it and asking Santa for a new one.

I am considering the Muffin Tin Egg Muffins my first pinterest fail!

"Five Buck Club"

A friend recently told me about the "Five Buck Club" with Kerasotes Theaters. If you go to their website, on the left there is a button for the "Five Buck Club". Sign up (it's free), and every week they will send you an email telling you which movies are now in the "Five Buck Club". Take your card to the theater and see a movie for just $5! Now that's a bargain!

Now if only we could find a babysitter for $5...

Reading is hot...

I've always enjoyed reading and have tried to indulge myself a little more lately. There is a new Barnes and Noble in Mishawaka that I could spend HOURS in - it's a good thing that it's 45 minutes away, otherwise we'd be there a lot more! Trips to Barnes and Noble are a special treat for myself. I don't take anyone else with me - it's just "me" time.

Back in November, a group of friends and I started a 'book club' of sorts. It orignally started so we could have an excuse to get together and discuss all the Twilight books in detail (yes, we are "Twi-hard" dorks! Some of them are much bigger dorks than I am....) But this past month we finished the Twilight series and decided to move on. We drew a name to see who would pick the next book. The next book chosen? Angels and Demons. I'm glad this was chosen because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have read it otherwise! I'm almost finished - about 100 pages to go - and I can't believe how well it is written. I've been on the edge of my seat for 600 pages and have even gasped out loud a few times. Very suspensful! I've been trying to find a book to suggest for next month, just in case my name is drawn. I have a few ideas but I'm curious...anyone out there have a suggestion??

Practice a NON-random act of kindness

The below article is a post directly from the blog The Happiness Project. I thought it was really interesting and hope you enjoy it as well!

A while back, I posted about Happiness Myth #7: Doing “random acts of kindness” brings happiness. I wasn’t arguing that acts of kindness wouldn’t make you happy, but only that those acts shouldn’t be random. Random, unpredictable kindness makes people puzzled and suspicious, but purposeful kindness is exhilarating. Non-random doesn't mean that you have to know the people involved; it just means that they have to understand the context of your behavior.
For example, I was talking about this myth on a radio show, and the host recounted that he’d once been stopped on the street by a large man who announced, “I’m giving away free hugs!” and hugged him. This hug, though free and a quite random act of kindness, was not appreciated.
On the other hand, a friend told me a wonderful story about a non-random act of kindness she’d performed. On April 15 a few years ago, she was standing in a post office crowded with people who needed to mail their tax returns. There was a huge line in front of the one machine that dispensed stamps.
When my friend’s turn finally came, instead of buying the minimum number of stamps, she bought $20 worth. Then she went along the line of people behind her, handing each person as many stamps as needed, until she ran out.
The people who got the free stamps were ecstatic – and even the people who didn’t get the free stamps were ecstatic, because the long, slow line got so much shorter so quickly. Everyone was surprised, excited, and laughing.
It makes me so happy to think about this moment! For $20, my friend transformed a miserable taxpaying visit to the post office into a moment of elevation – not just for herself, but for the strangers in line with her. And for me, too.
It reminds me of Henri-Frederic Amiel’s exhortation: “Life’s short and we never have enough time for the hearts of those who travel the way with us. O, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.”
As the Second Splendid Truth sets out:
One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy;One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
A non-random act of kindness is a great way to put Splendid Truth 2A into practice. Have you ever done (or received) a non-random act of kindness that made you very happy?

Little Bits of PB and Chocolate Goodness

I found this recipe in my Food and Family magazine I get from Kraft Foods every few months. I thought I would make them for my Mary Kay meeting tonight. (It's a big recognition celebration - in which I am going to be recognized! But more about that later!) I couldn't resist posting it.

<-- Actual picture of MY baked goods! Okay, so it's the pic form the website...but mine didn't look too far off from that!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies
Prep Time: 20 min Total Time: 50 min Makes: 20 servings, 1 brownie each

What You Need!

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
20 maraschino cherries

Make It!

HEAT oven to 350ºF.
PREPARE brownie batter as directed on package. Spoon into 20 paper-lined muffin cups.
BEAT cream cheese, sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla with mixer until blended. Spoon 1 rounded Tbsp. into center of batter in each cup, pressing down slightly into batter. Bake 30 min. or until centers are set. Cool.
SERVE topped with COOL WHIP and cherries

A Mighty B How-To

With two kids still in diapers, we go through a LOT of wipes in the Rudd household. Wipes are EXPENSIVE and were eating up a big chunk of our grocery budget. So recently I indulged my inner Martha and attempted to make my own baby wipes. It was actually pretty easy. And surprisingly they work really well - so well, in fact, that I haven't bought wipes since! So now I will share my frugal wipe-making technique with you. (With the help of the cutest assistant ever!)

Step 1: Gather your materials.

You'll need baby wash, baby oil, a roll of paper towel, and a container that seals. (Yes, this is a wipe container that I 'scrapbooked'. This was done during my nesting period of pregnancy. Don't judge me. :-) )

Step Two: Take the paper towel and cut the roll in half. Remove the inner cardboard tube and pull the towels out from the middle like so:

Step Three: In your container, mix 1 1/2 cups of warm water with two tbs of baby wash and one tbs of baby oil. It helps if your "stirrer" is adorable:

Last step - place the paper towel in the container, close the lid, and flip upside down. Leave in your sink (because it may leak a little) for approximately 10 minutes to allow the fluid to soak into the paper towel.

I used Kleenex Viva towels as the are strong, really soft, and were on sale at Target. :-)

Let me know how it works for you!!