what's up, buttercup?

While spending so much time abroad, I began to miss little details of American life. Like peanut butter cups. I randomly craved them one day in Denmark and..well..  I made some. The recipe is simple. I made my own, but there are tons online. 

Peanut butter cups

You'll need: dark (or milk) chocolate, peanut butter, salt, powdered sugar 

Simply melt dark chocolate and add a dollop of peanut butter to the melted chocolate. In a separate bowl, combine a few spoonfuls of peanut butter and a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Really, it's up to your taste buds. Add more sugar if you want it sweeter. A pinch of salt in the peanut butter + powdered sugar mixture provides a nice flavor balance.

I used mini cupcake liners, but you can use normal sized ones for some serious peanut butter cups. 

Start by adding a spoonful of melted chocolate into the bottom of each cup. Then, add a spoonful of peanut butter mixture. Top it off with more melted chocolate. Top with sprinkles (a cute addition when serving to kids) and refrigerate. 

They're quick, easy and delicious! 

sprinkles for the kiddos 

perfect addition to your afternoon coffee 

what's crackin'?

Graham crackers. I'd say a staple item in many households...good for baking, snacking, building, creating. We were never a graham cracker family, though. Never did I get them in my lunch bag, never were we the family to bring the s'mores fixings on our Catalina trips. But, considering all the cool things you can do with graham crackers (helloooo, gingerbread houses!!), I'd say they're a pretty nifty snack food.

Earlier this year I lived with my lovely Danish family in Denmark. Ok, let's get some things straight...when I refer to my 'Danish family' (which I will be referring to often, as they are a huge part of my life), I'm talking about the family with whom I lived for 3 years in Lithuania and then lived with in Denmark for a few months. Ok, so back to the story. While living with my cozy Danish family, I decided what a perfect opportunity to try out recipes for the kids and their friends! Score! I will ALWAYS find a reason to bake, and kids are ALWAYS a perfect audience. While in Denmark, I taught English at the local school. I worked with grades 3, 5 and 7 and taught lessons on English grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary development. In addition to teaching English, I also found myself talking about American culture often... including explaining the concept of s'mores. It's an unusual concept for a non-American, yet brilliant when you actually think about it. A toasted gooey marshmallow nuzzled with a slab of slowly melting chocolate, sandwiched between two crispy cookie crackers? Ummmmmmmm..... give me...s'more. Determined to bring these s'mores to life, and unsuccessful in finding graham crackers at local grocery stores, I found a delightful recipe online. The. kids. loved. loved. loved. s'mores. The homemade graham crackers only made the treat more decadent. 

This time, I made the graham crackers, but cut them into shapes and gifted them to my 3rd graders at Lithuanian School :)  Success! 

the recipe yields tons and tons of these cookies!

decorate with a simple powdered sugar + water icing! 

two little buddies. 

all wrapped up! 

sew cute!

I'm all about saving money. Well, more like, spending money where it's absolutely necessary and creatively compensating for things that do not necessary have to be store-bought. Like stationery. Think about it... you spend a lot of money on cute cards and then what? Is the recipient going to FRAME your beautiful, expensive card? Are they going to display it on their mantle for more than a week or so? No and no. Waste of money! Solution? Make your own!

Cute as a button cards: fun, simple, so cute and so easy to personalize.

You can add as many buttons as you wish! I made simple cards and I'll use them for thank you notes to students during the holidays.

All you need: colorful card stock paper, a needle, fun colored thread and oodles of buttons! 

Sigi says: 

This project can also be done with kids! Use larger, dull needles and yarn for a more playful look.

Oooh la lava!

For last year's science fair at VIS, my Kindergarteners and I created lava lamps! 

This is an easy and cool science project to do with children! 

All you need is oil, water, food coloring and a fizzy tab. 

water

oil

step 1: add 1-2 drops of food coloring in water.  (oooooo, ahhhhhh!)

step 2: pour oil on top of water/food coloring.
(this process  alone is amazing for kids to watch!)

Step 3: add fizzy tab, and watch the 'lava' bubble up!
Close bottle, turn upside down and watch it all over again!
Soooo cooool!