Oreo Pops

I told y'all I'd share a how-to on the Oreo pops I made for D's MJ birthday party... a few months later, I finally got around to it.

So I found this via Pinterest.

{this picture via}

Oreo Pops! Genius.

I didn't click on it. I just thought, "duh! I can do that!"

Nope.

I figured out real quick that they're not as easy as they look at first glance. I went back and found the pin, but the link didn't have a step by step. I decided to take matters into my own hands. If there is another tut out there, I'm not sure. I just decided to figure it out.

Here's the quick how to: {emma style}

make room for the stick. Just scoop out some of the cream filling and... set it aside.. or eat it. Go ahead. Eat it. You know you want to. Don't waste it.

Melt a few candy melts at a time in a small bowl. I forgot to take a picture of the candy melts that I used. But you can find them here or pick them up at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, or even Walmart. Melt them {*HINT: if you over do it in the microwave and the melted candy becomes thick and just isn't working, add a little bit of coconut oil or shortening to smooth it back out.*}

Grab a stick that hasn't been licked clean {I got mine at the cake/wedding section at Walmart} and dip the lollipop stick in the melted candy.

Spread it around a bit. This will act as a glue to keep you Oreo on the stick. 

Place the other cookie part on top.

If you don't know your own strength like me I guess, they may crack.

No biggie. They'll be covered soon. Place them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper

Now that all of those are on sticks you can melt the rest of the candy melts, or just a few more. Whatever you feel. Go with your gut. Follow your heart... Do whatever is easiest.

I used a spoon to cover the cookies with melted candy melts. AGAIN, don't try and make them so absolutely perfect. It's impossible. And they'll be eaten in an instant, no one will be inspecting them...  At least I wouldn't think so.

If you want them just white {or whatever color candy melt you got} and don't mind a flat side you can just put them right back on the wax paper, Or use one of these inexpensive cake pop stand things I also found at Walmart. {what can I say? Walmart is a necessary evil.}

If you want to add sprinkles you'll have to do it right after you cover the Oreo with the melted candy melts over a bowl before it dries. ONE AT A TIME. Just pour them on. Half dipped in sprinkles would look fab too!

And that's it. A little more time consuming than I assumed at first, but not to bad. You can also make them a couple of days ahead of time, just keep them covered.

Enjoy! And let me know if you make them or you come up with any new variations to try. I would also LOVE to see pictures. {email me here.}

Michael Jackson

Douglas turned 5 in November. 5 guys! 5!

I was planning a small birthday party for him. Nothing big, just a few kids playing video games. We told him that his party wouldn't be on his birthday [a Tuesday] but that following Saturday. He was cool with that.


But Douglas is obsessed with Michael Jackson.

A week before his birthday Douglas asked for a Michael Jackson party.

I had no clue what to do... but I did it.

The day before his birthday we gave him an early present.. Sparkly gloves, a fedora [thank you walmart little girls section] AND The Michael Jackson Experience game for the Wii. We played a bajillion times, my legs hurt.

The next day I let him wear his Adidas track suit to school, and let him take his hat. Then grandma picked him up from school for a fun birthday treat!

[top left: star confetti in clear ballons, top right: foam Michael Jackson gloves for balloon ping pong, bottom right: Michael Jackson Experience on the Wii.. Dace floor ready, bottom left: Michael Jackson hats with rock star stickers  to decorate them with. They were actually top hats from the New Year's section in the party store]

 The waiting drove Isabella nuts.

His delighted face was priceless... priceless I tell you.

The kids danced, played, had a blast.

The cake stumped me. But some silver sugar sprinkles fixed that. Glittery glove on the top.

Presents galore.

And that, ladies & gentlemen, is how you throw a last minute, small budget Michael Jackson party.

Homemade Ice Cream

So, you know I love pinterest. I'm sure you do too. I found a recipe for ice cream in a bag on there. I gave it a go and it worked fabulously! I wish I could give you the link to the pin and give the poster credit for it, but when I went to it again an error message popped up saying that someone had reported it as spam and the link has been removed. BUMMER!

Lucky for you, I wrote down the recipe! + even did a little experimenting. Which means that now I get to share it with you! And pinterest again.. 

You don't need an ice cream machine/maker thing... you just need 2 different sized zipper storage bags.

I use the Walmart brand freezer kind because they have the double zipper. If you're doing this with kids, you may want to label the smaller bags... "which one's mine?... are you sure?.. I don't think that one is mine! His looks better.." Annoying huh?

[Yes! Douglas likes to go by Michael Jackson.]

As part of trying to be healthier around here I think if we're going to have ice cream, even if it does have some sugar in it,the 3 ingredient kind is better for you than some of the ones you can buy in the store. You know, with all those chemicals that you can't even pronounce in them. This recipe yields about 1/2 a cup of ice cream. Perfect for a toddler or young child. Not perfect for a mom or dad who loves ice cream, so you may want to double it if you're making some for yourself. [I regretted not having made some for myself the first time. Don't repeat my mistake...] I also think that making it together is a special treat that we can have once in a while.. maybe once a week?!

Here is what you'll need:

[I'm not trying to promote Walmart here, I'm just cheap and buy their brand on things that don't really make a difference.]

1/2 cup of half + half

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The salt is for later... But you'll need about an 1/8 of a cup of it.

If you want to be a little wild and REALLY pack in some delicious nastiness like my kids did, then you can add about a teaspoon of flavored syrup. Chocolate to make chocolate ice cream OR strawberry syrup to make strawberry ice cream. I'm sure throwing in some mini chocolate chips or some small cut up pieces of strawberries would be delicious. Just don't go crazy on that though, a little goes a long way. We did NOT omit the vanilla when we did this, so I'm not sure how it would go without it.

When working with littles, I use a cup for the bag with the ingredients..

[like this!]

Because they want to do everything themselves and this keeps it confined and easier for them to work with.

Put the half + half, vanilla, and sugar in the small bag. Seal it up, and mix it up.

I didn't take my chances, I folded down the bag + taped it.

Set that aside for a bit and fill your big bag about half way with ice [you want to leave room for the ice cream bag]. Pour the salt in there and shake it up a bit.

[*The salt causes the ice to melt faster but also causes a lower freezing point... giving your ice cream a nice consistency, not just like frozen milk.]

Place the small bag with the ice cream mixture in the bigger bag with the ice in it.

I would recommend wrapping it with a dish towel so that your fingers don't freeze off AND so that the sweat from the ice melting doesn't fly everywhere... or get on the children's shirts and make Isabella freak out screaming that she needs her shirt off. Diva.

Set a timer for 5 minutes and let the kids shake it up.

Be warned: they will get tired after about 1 minute.

Hope you've been doing your kettle bell exercises. 

Ha! an easy way to do this without your arms getting tired is to place it on the counter or a table and shake it.

It should be done by the time your timer goes off and look something like this.

Cut the corner off of the bag and squeeze it into a bowl.

Or do like I do and eat it straight out of the bag.

The original post for this said that regular milk works also, but I have not tried that. I don't see why whole milk wouldn't work. Let me know if you try it with milk instead of half + half and how it goes... and if you come up with any recipes I MUST try!