Midwest Coupon Clippers

Cudding Coupons and Saving You Some Moolah


Lumber Jack Birthday Party

By Leave a Comment

Lumber Jack Birthday Party

When your son asks for a ‘sawmill’ birthday party you stop and ponder how does one make that happen? I knew there was no way to make a physical ‘sawmill’ cake for him!  So after a little searching around we settled for a more streamlined Lumber Jack Theme!  A few easy treats and toys we had already made for an adorable tablescape!

The CAKE – a Tree Stump!

I baked 2 round cakes and stacked them on a cake tray.  For the frosting you can use a store bought or homemade buttercream.  For this, I made a classic buttercream.  Once mixed, I removed a few cups and added a sprinkle of cocoa powder to tint it slightly tan.  Then added more cocoa powder to the rest and some brown food color to get deep brown bark color.

For decorating:

Fill a piping bag or ziptop bag with the dark brown frosting and snip a small opening.  Making straight lines up and down cover the entire cake.  Neatness doesn’t matter and it doesn’t have to be exact. Just get that tree stump covered in bark! Then make a circle around the top, outer edge of the cake.  Let frosting set and slightly dry for about 20 minutes.  Using a flat edge (knife, narrow spatula or flat pastry spreader) press the frosting upwards to give a pattern of bark, slightly overlapping each pass. Again, neatness isn’t required and there is no exact science! You cannot mess this up.  For the top, simply fill another piping bag with the lighter frosting.  Swirl in circles and create a ‘growth ring’ like pattern.

The SNACKS!

Birch Logs: 

Dip pretzel rods in white melting chocolate.  Drizzle with dark chocolate or black melting wafers to create the ‘birch tree’ look.

Acorns:

Using the melting chocolate from the logs above put a small dab on Hershey’s Kisses & press onto Vanilla Wafers. Top with a butterscotch or peanut butter chip using the same melted chocolate.

Evergreen Trees:

Melt green melting wafers and put in a piping bag or ziptop bag.  Lay pretzel sticks on parchment paper and carefully drizzle the chocolate side to side into a free form tree shape over the sticks.

Fire Wood For Sale:

Pretzel Nuggets in a bowl

Wood Chips:

Mini Marshmallows, Mini Chocolate Chips, and Granola in bowl

To finish out the table, I added a log hauling truck we had, plus a few chain saw toys, logs, and photo props to add to the fun.  Plus we used red balloons, bowls and plates over a black table cloth bringing the lumber jack ‘flannel’ into the party.

 

📍 Pin HERE

 

 

 

Healthy Baby Snack Puffs Recipe

By Leave a Comment

 healthy baby snack puffs

Healthy Baby Snack Puffs Recipe

This quick recipe makes good use those half empty jars of rice cereal most parents with little ones have sitting around.  Babies, toddlers, & even older kids will devour them. Plus, by adding veggie purees they are a great way to sneak in some hidden nutrients.

Pin It Here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/420101471473024749/

What you’ll need:
IMG_1474

 

  • 1 cup rice cereal (any brand or flavor)
  • 1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
  • 2-4oz. baby food purees* OR 1 cup apple sauce
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons water

 

 

 

How to do it:

  • Mix all of the above together into a thick batter. If dough does not completely combine, add a few more drops of water.
    IMG_1476
  • Line a cookie sheet with parchment or foil and lightly spray with non-stick oil.
  • Using a pastry bag (or ziplock with corner cut off) pipe into stars, long teething sticks or simply spoon onto a cookie sheet and slightly flatten for cookies.
    IMG_1477IMG_1479
  • Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes until browned and firm. A bit longer for a crunchier style snack.
  • Cool, and let the kiddos enjoy.
  • Store in an air tight contain for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
  • These are slightly chewy and a bit more firm than the store bought puffs so watch those babes carefully when trying new foods!!

*use any baby food purees you have. Sweet potatoes, carrots, squash taste great and the kids never know there are veggies! I usually do one veggie and one fruit or the fruit/veggie blend purees.IMG_1488

Homemade Baby wipes

By Leave a Comment

homemade baby wipes

Homemade Baby wipes

Pin It: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/420101471471254801/

What you will need:

wipes 6

  • 1 roll select a size paper towels
    (Bounty is best but Up & Up works well also; generic thin towels will not work)
  • 2 c. tap water
  • 1 TBSP Baby Wash
    (any brand or scent works; whatever is used in the bath)
  • 5 drops lavender essential oil OR 1 TBSP baby oil
  • Prepared Container
    (I upcycled a pretzel rods tub, but one can be purchased for use. Large plastic coffee can work also!)

Directions:

wipes 7wipes 9wipes 5

Bring the water to a rolling boil in a microwave safe bowl. Set aside to cool for at least 1 hour. Do not skip this step or the wipes will mold and smell musty.

Using a serrated knife, cut the paper towel roll in half. A clean hack saw blade also will work for this task. Takes a little elbow grease, and it is okay to smash the roll a bit in the process. Neatness is not required.

After water has cooled, add oil & shampoo. Mix.

Place paper towel roll, cut side down, in the storage container.

wipes 4wipes 3wipes 2

Pour liquid over toweling and let rest for 30 minutes.

The cardboard core will now easily lift out. Carefully reach in and pull out the innermost paper towel. Feed the starting wipe through your container lid. Wipes will easily dispense one at a time like store bought. Store out of direct sun.

To prepare container lid:

Using a sharp utility knife, make small slits in a circular pattern in the middle. Trim the middle just a tiny bit to make a small circle for the wipes to feed thru. It does not need to be a large opening, the wipes will quickly dry out otherwise.

wipes 8

 

Fisher Price and House Party, two AMAZING Companies!!

By Leave a Comment

Admin Sarah here, and I wanted to take the time to mention how AMAZING House Party is, and how generous their sponsors are. About a month ago, I was accepted for the Fisher Price Playdate House Party.


THE PARTY PACK
I got an email stating that my Party Pack was on its way. Imagine my surprise when a very large, very heavy box shows up, packed to the brim with OVER $350 worth of toys!! I was just blown away, they went above and beyond anything I had imagined. They had also shipped out the Party Favors, for me to give to the guests, and even those were very generous. The guests each got a coloring book, a Wheelies vehicle, a dvd, a cd, a $5 off $25 coupon, and more. They even sent the gift bags and tissue paper!! My daughter, because of her age(26 months), received the Toddler pack. This included the Disney Princess Little People Songs Palace, along with two Figure packs, the Little People Wheelies Loops N Swoops Amusement Park, and the Servin Surprises Kitchen & Table set, along with 5 Accessories, including the Tea Party Set, the High Chair Set, the Birthday Set, the Ice Cream Party Set, and the Barbeque Set. On top of all this, they also sent 14 AA batteries!! I was just astounded at how much they sent, and amazed that they would be so generous!!

MY HOUSEPARTY
So this past Saturday, we had our Party, and the kids LOVED it!! My boys, 5 and 7, were playing with the Wheelies set all day, they loved the full loop the cars made going down the steep slide. My daughter and her friends played with the Princess Castle, which I think is amazing, when you set a Princess on the pedastal and push down, she says her name, a phrase from her movie, and then sings part of a song from the movie! My favorite is Ariel, who sings “Part of that World”, can’t wait for The Little Mermaid to come out of the vault in Fall of 2013 so I can buy it in Bluray! My nephew, who just turned 1, mostly played with the Wheelies cars, he was too cute, driving them around the bottom of the Rampway and Amusement Park, making his little motor sounds. They were not too interested with the Kitchen, but I have no doubt that as my daughter gets older, she will definitely play with it. It was so cute to see all these kids crammed into my daughters’ bedroom with all the toys. We have been Fisher Price customers for a long time, so on top of the 2 Little People sets they sent, we set up a “village” and added them to my daughters’ Castle, Zoo, Farm, House, and Rampway that she got for her 2nd Birthday.

(Me, right, with my mom and little sister)                                         (Me, right, with my little sister)

GREAT MEMORIES
When I was little, my parents invested in all of the Little People sets, and my sister and I would be out on the living room floor bright and early setting up our village, we played with those sets for hours!! When she was first learning to talk, she referred to them as Peepios, and the name stuck! Our parents would lay down on the floor and play with us, driving the little cars around our town, taking kids to school, the park, the swimming pool, the grocery store, etc, and we were so happy that they were playing with us!

A MILLION THANK YOU’S
So I want to thank House Party and Fisher Price, your generosity truly amazed me, and I am absolutely thrilled that I get to carry on a great part of my childhood, and repeat the playtime with my children. I am almost 30, and still enjoy those “Peepios” just as much as I did when I was 5!!

Deals

More Deals

Coupons

More Coupon Posts

Sweeps & Giveaways

More Sweeps & Giveaways