TREASURE Balls!!!

 

We've moved our blog, please click here to go to our new blog and view this post and many more FUN projects and recipes. (=

 

 

http://www.ShenaLeonard.com

    

Update: 6-24-11

We bought so many extra goodies for Treasure Balls that the boys thought we should do a drawing so you can WIN a FUN, FREE Treasure Ball! (= You can leave a comment on this blog post (and/or on my Facebook post if you are Facebook friends with me) and we will draw the winner’s name on Sunday night. The winner will get some FUN MAIL in their mailbox next week! (=

-- Riley said if you comment here and on Facebook you get your name in the drawing twice. (=

I ran across this fun idea for Surprise balls on the  Artsyville blog  the other day and the boys and I were all immediately intrigued! But, the boys did decide that these fun creations should be renamed "Treasure Balls" because of all the treasures they have wrapped up in them, and because as Riley said, "it just sounds cooler." (=

We have already made a few Treasure Balls for various recipients, and although they are a little hard to get perfectly rounded (see the look on Riley's face when he is making his first one) we think they turned out well.

Basic instructions:

1. Go shopping for lots of fun small-ish goodies, along with a bunch of streamers. We went a little overboard on buying goodies (it was so fun picking out all the stuff!!), but at least we had tons of streamers left over from birthday celebrations so we didn't have to buy them. (=
2. Start with your largest item and begin wrapping it in streamers, as you go add in other items to help round our your ball, saving the smaller items for the outside layers of the Treasure Ball. 
3. When you are all done, tape the very last end down and add ribbon and a tag for a completed Treasure Ball.

The boys have already made/given one to their dad and grandpa for Father's Day (and we have another in the mail to a birthday girl whose name we can't say so we don't give away the surprise). I think the funnest part is watching someone open them - all of the unravelled streamers add quite a festive touch to any day. And we didn't use any confetti in ours so clean up was easy!

The boys and I highly recommend you make one of these for someone you love on a special day - or on a normal day.... Maybe plan a TREASURE HUNT for the kiddos in your life and make these for the Treasure!

Brownie Covered Oreos.... mmmm mmmm good.....

We've moved our blog, please click here to go to our new blog and view this post and many more FUN projects and recipes. (=

 

 

http://www.ShenaLeonard.com

 

Since the Dad in the house LOVES Oreos, we decided to make him some fabulous Brownie-Covered Oreos for Father's Day. But, you don't have to wait for a special occasion to make these nummy treats - they are actually pretty easy to make. They are a little messy though so I recommend having a kid help with the preparation. (=

I ran across the idea on this site awhile back, but after the first try we decided to do ours a little differently.

What you need: Oreos, a package of your favorite Brownie Mix (and all the ingredients needed to mix it up), Cupcake/Muffin Cup Liners and Pam.

Here are the basic instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners. (Others have made these without the liners and have just greased the muffin tins well. When we tried this it was very hard to get them out even though we used a lot of Pam - so we recommend the liners! You can even spray a light spritz of Pam in the liners to make them easier to get out.)  
3. Mix up your Brownie Batter.
4. Dip an Oreo in your brownie batter, get it completely covered with goo, and drop it in a muffin cup. Repeat until all 24 muffin cups are filled with brownie/Oreo goodness. If you have some brownie batter left over, split it between the muffin cups so they are all contain generally the same amount of batter.
5. Wipe up all the extra brownie batter that got dribbled on the pan so it doesn't burn and then Bake for about 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool. If you want, you can also drizzle some frosting on them - but they really don't need it. (=
7. Pour a tall glass of milk, grab a Brownie Covered Oreo and ENJOY!

Here are some photos of Riley baking the batch for his dad today.