Oreo Birthday Cake

This past year for Summer's birthday she decided she wanted to pick her cake from Pinterest. An who I am to tell the girl no when I get to try something new?!? So after scouring for an Oreo cake, she found this one and that is how we ended up with an Oreo Birthday Cake.

This birthday cake was amazing! And really fun to make. But first, I want to share where I found it.  QUEENSLEE APPETIT is the blog I got it from! And I think it is safe to say Summer loved it! (And her birthday was in September, so I am super behind on sharing this!)

It really was a process and I made the cakes on the day before and assembled them the day of her birthday.

This was actually the only picture of the inside of the cake! Darn It! It was already dark in my house by the time we ate cake and by the next day it was falling over because it was so heavy! So this is all you've got! But I promise it tasted good!

I'm not really a chocolate cake fan, but since this one had coffee in it, it worked for me! (Yes, I let my 7 year old have coffee cake!)

There is literally no way for me to share this recipe without copying it word for word because I followed her recipe step by step.  So instead, just go to her blog, QueensleeAppetit for the recipe.

Summer thought this cake was amazing, and she's not wrong! She was so proud that I was able to mostly duplicate it! 

This cake was insanely rich and I'll be honest, after the small pieces we ate on her birthday, we only ate a few small bites here and there. And afterwards, I ended up throwing the rest of the cake away because there is just no way we could eat another bite of it because it was just so sweet! Tasted amazing though!

Essential Oil Toilet Bombs

In an effort to keep myself and my family healthy I started using my essential oils to make things to clean my house to reduce the chemical load that we brought in. And that is why I decided to make essential oil toilet bombs to start!

One day when I was using a chemical-filled toilet cleaner I found myself coughing uncontrollably and it actually took me a moment to put it together and walk out of the room to realize that my lungs were reacting to the cleaner.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure if someone came to my house and looked around they will see plenty of things that are no good for my family to be using. I'm not sure my house will ever be completely chemical-free - (I mean, I love my nail wraps and if you've ever used them then you know the smell that is there when you open that package) But I do try to eliminate what I can!

These were really easy to make and I made the mixture in about 5 minutes. But then I did let them sit on the counter to harden overnight before I took them out of the trays.

I started with mixing together the soda and citric acid, then the oils then slowly, the water.

Once everything was mixed well I added it to these ice cube trays that I picked up from the dollar store just to make things like this! Make sure you pack the mixture in well!

And then, as I said above, I just let them rest on the counter overnight to let them dry up.

Toilet Bombs

• 1 1/3 cup baking soda


• 1/2 cup citric acid (I found mine in the canning section)


• 1 teaspoon water


• 30 drops Lemongrass Essential Oils


• small spray bottle


• a mold to put the mixture in. (I used a regular ice cube tray.)

1. Mix the baking soda and citric acid 


2. One drop at a time add EO in. Stir well.


3. Using a spray bottle with water, spray the mixture once then stir. Spray again then stir. It’s important that you don’t overspray as it will make the mixture sticky, but if you don’t use enough it will be dry and crumble. 


4. Use your hands to mix until it is lump-free and just the right amount of water. 


5. Pack the mixture tightly into each mold you are using. Let them dry overnight, then carefully remove them from the mold.


6. Store in an airtight container. 


7. To use, drop one toilet bomb into the toilet. After is fizzes scrub with a toilet brush. Let sit for 10 minutes before flushing.
   
   

Have you ever used or made Essential Oil Toilet Bombs? What did you think?

If you're interested in other Essential Oil DIYs, check out this Healing Salve. And following along on Instagram to see more of my favorite essentials!

Essential Oil Healing Salve

Essential Oils aren't new to me, but if you follow along with my social media then you have probably started to see me sharing them more and more. And really, that is because I finally am feeling more confident in sharing and feeling like I might know enough to help others.  And that is why I wanted to share this Essential Oil Healing Salve.

The first time I tried essential oils was clear back in 2016- so yeah, in comparison to how long they've been around, I'm still a newbie. Summer was having a playdate with a preschool friend and her mom and I were talking about digestion, a total mom conversation, right? She made me a roller bottle with DigestZen and told me to roll it on my belly. I did and it worked basically immediately.....

But then I forgot about it for the next 6 month or so. Obviously, I wasn't committed. :) Over the next couple of years, I used my DigestZen roller when I remembered, along with the On Guard I acquired from another friend and finally decided to just dive it. Really, I am so thankful that I did. The times I used my oils were helpful enough to keep my coming back and wanting to learn more.

This essential oil healing salve is pretty new to me but I noticed a difference on my dry hands and feet so quick after I started to use it that I decided I needed to make my own so that I never ran out! And thankfully it was easy to make!

Adding all ingredients except your essential oils, heat until they are melted and then set aside to cool for a few before adding your essential oils so that you don't scorch them. You also don't want to let your mixture come to a boil.

Once I had the mixture melted, I set it aside to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, I set out my containers.

I actually waited a tiny bit too long to pour mine into the containers and when I scraped the side of the bowl it left it a little bumpy and not as pretty. But that is okay.

• 1/2 cup Coconut Oil


• 1/2cup +2tbls Raw Organic Shea Butter


• 4 tbsp beeswax


• 1 tbsp Vitamin E oil


• 20 drops Frankincense


• 20 drops Lavender


• 20 drops Copaiba

1. Using a double boiler heat coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax and vitamin e oil over medium heat.


2. Stirring occasionally, heat until everything is melted


3. Remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes


4. Add your essential oils and mix well


5. Add mixture to your 2 oz tins and let harden for a couple of hours before using.

If you don't have a double boiler you can do like I did in the pictures. I used a saucepan with just an inch or so of water and then put a glass dish over it that fit without falling or touching the water.

Also, you could use this base to make so many different salves based on what you are needing it for! So change up the oils you add to work for you!

This Essential Oil Healing Salve is so awesome and it filled 6 tins! Eczema? Diaper Rash? Dry or chapped skin? This is for you!

Follow along on Instagram for more Essential Oil tips and tricks.

Winter's Night - 3rd Grade Art Project

This past Friday I spent a couple of hours in Tyler's class helping with another art project. I have really enjoyed helping each month and this month, with all of the snow we have gotten I felt that this Winter's Night - 3rd Grade Art project was perfect.

When I first found my inspiration on Pinterest I showed Tyler and asked if he thought it would be a good one. He said it looked hard, but I really have confidence in these kids and felt like they could do it!

I turned to my trusty DecoArt paint for the win! They were so amazing and provided me with all the paint I needed to do monthly paintings in Tyler's class this year, which was awesome!!

I also got a super cool product because I knew I wanted to do some sort of "snow" project over the winter, and this SNO-TEX was so fun!

We started with making a curved line across the bottom area that would end up being our snowy hills, and a circle in the middle that would be the moon. I then used the blue to paint the rest of the background. And next, I added a very thin layer of the sno-tex using a popsicle stick.

One tip I would have for the sno-tex is to drop a pile of it onto your project and spread it around a bit thick, but then use the edge of your popsicle stick to scrape off the excess until just a thin layer is left.

I used mainly white for the moon, however, I did add a small amount of grey around the edges of the moon. I also used only white for the trees and snowflakes.

With the snowflakes, I used the edge of my foam brush to make the snowflakes. This proved to be harder for the kids as they tend to push down on the brushes rather than be light as a feather.

The snow texture is so much fun and gives the picture an extra fun dimension. The kids seemed to struggle with spreading is a little, but it wasn't too bad. And the drying time was pretty fast- within a half-hour or so.

I think this was the hardest painting the kids have done so far, and we had a few struggles, but I think they still did really great! You can check out our Witches Feet, Fall Leaves and Ornaments to see the other projects we've done.

What do you think? How did they do?

Winter's Night - 3rd Grade Art Project

Zero Point Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of those amazing desserts that I love to love. I have made many versions of cheesecake over the years that were amazingly delicious, and I won't say that this is better than peanut butter or toffee filled cheesecake but this Zero Point Cheesecake is the best zero-point cheesecake I've ever had!

This cheesecake from Pound Dropper was actually super easy to make! It really needs to refrigerate at least overnight. Really, the longer the better.

And mix using a spatula rather than an electric mixer.

It was pretty thin, but the original recipe did say to use up to 5 cups of yogurt if you want it to be thicker and since it was the first time I was making it I just kept to the basics.

Once it chilled in the fridge overnight I finally got to give it a try. I decided to smash up a few blackberries to add on top with a little fat-free whip cream and it was perfect.

• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1  (1 oz.) small box instant Sugar-Free and Fat-free Cheesecake pudding
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp sugar substitute (I used Swerve)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. Using a mixing bowl add eggs, sugar substitute and vanilla and using a wire whisk, mix well.


3. Add yogurt then dry pudding, mix well.


4. Lightly grease Springform Pan and pour the mixture into the pan.


5. Bake for 30 minutes. (It will like it isn't done, but it is! And will set as it chills!)


6. Cool for 20 minutes before covering it with plastic wrap


7. Put in refrigerator and chill overnight.

I also tried her Mocha Chocolate Cheesecake and it was soo good! (It wasn't very pretty so maybe when I make it again I will share!)

This is zero points based on WW freestyle program. For other info on this zero-point cheesecake check out Pound Dropper - She has amazing recipes on her site!

Tree Ornaments - 3rd Grade Art

The holidays may have come and gone but I still wanted to share this super cute project that I did with Tyler's grade class just before the holiday break.  Tree Ornaments were the perfect thing for these third graders to take home to their parents for Christmas and they really had fun making them.

I started by heading to my dad's house. He always has tree limbs around and he let me know he had a few he thought would be the perfect size for what I was wanting to make. And he was right. Two different branches that were going to work great.

Next, I turned to my trusty DecoArt paint. They have been great to me this year, providing all the paint I have used in our projects this year. If you haven't, check out our Fall Leaves project and the Witches Feet we've already made. Between the paint and the paint markers, DecoArt had me covered!

Next, I did a quick, thin coat of paint. These are both super basic and simple for the kiddos! Once the paint was dry,  you can then add the face. That took a little bit with the kids because their coat of paint was thicker than mine.

After the paint was dry the kids each picked either the twine or the string, then I cut off small sections and tied knots for them to add to their ornaments.

I inserted the string, unknotted side first and just pulled it through the loop to tie it around the wood.

The kids did a great job and had a lot of fun making the tree ornaments! Only one of the kids made the Santa ornament and the rest all chose snowmen and they turned out really cute!

Tree ornaments turned out to be a great third-grade art project!

How cute did they turn out?

What are some of your favorite projects to do with your kids?