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Roni

Beauty

DIY Faux Makeup Kit

When I was little, my mom gave me a makeup kit filled with a thick theater makeup – reds, blues, blacks, pinks, oranges. You name it, I probably had the color. Now, I know I made a mess with it and probably looked like a clown most of the time.

As I got older, I realized there was “big girl makeup.” That’s the eye shadows, lipsticks, mascara, and blush. I loved it. I still love it. So when I was visiting a friend with daughters, I was more than happy to pop open my makeup bag and let them try my colors (with mom’s permission, of course). It’s funny how exciting makeup is to a little girl, pretending to get dolled up for a faux party, or a night out (in this case, pizza downtown).

Faux Makeup Kit for Kids

So when I got home, I had an idea. For those days that mom just doesn’t want the girls playing with real makeup, I made a fake case. One that doesn’t actually get any makeup on the girls’ faces, but still let’s them pretend to put some on. And all it took was two things: an empty eye shadow case and some nail polish. Volia! Faux makeup case!

Faux Makeup Kit for Kids

All I did was clean out a case, dry it, then I poured nail polish into each of the wells. When it dried overnight, the paint had condensed, so I did a second layer and let that dry. Took 24 hours. I think I might be more excited than the girls! I even bought them new eye shadow applicators in a rainbow of colors (click here) or you can find them at your local Kmart or Wal-mart usually.
).

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June 19, 2014 by
Food, Savory

Campfire Pizzas

Campfire Pizzas

The smell of campfire is just finally coming out of my hair. It’s almost been a week since I’ve been in Vermont, but there’s something about campfires that you just can’t shake. Makes me think about the campfire pizzas that we made while I was visiting my family.

My mom and I used to make them every time we would go camping. We used to go to the Cape in the summers and we always made a stop at the supermarket to pick up food for the week. The staples included food for campfire pizzas. It’s one of the easiest – and most likely, one of the best – foods you can make while huddled around a campfire. All you need is a campfire pie maker. If you camp and you don’t have one, it’s an investment you must make.

Campfire Pizzas

Campfire Pizzas

Gather
English Muffins
1 jar of pizza sauce
1 small sweet onion, diced
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Butter

Warm a cast iron pie maker in the fire.

Split an English muffin open and butter the flat side. Place, butter side down, in the heated pie maker. Top with two spoonfuls of pizza sauce. Add a sprinkling of onions, and top with cheese. Close pie maker and heat over flame, but do not place into the ashes.

Heat for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bottom of English Muffin is toasted and crunchy. Remove from pan and let cool before eating.

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June 18, 2014 by
Food, Sweet

Sand Pail Pudding Cake

Sand Pail Pudding Cake

When I was visiting Vermont, I spent a few nights with one of my best friends (Mallory), her husband, and three of the most adorable children you’ll ever meet. And lucky me, she had to make a pudding cake for her son’s seventh birthday.

I CANNOT believe he’s seven already! I remember holding him in my arms and he was so tiny. Now he’s running around the house, driving a four-wheeler, and probably a better swimmer than I am. He’ll have a job in no time.

Anyway, he apparently is like me, and would rather have vanilla than chocolate when it comes to desserts. He’s also not fond of cake, so a pudding pie was on the list of options for his birthday cake. And Mallory had a fantastic idea to make a sand cake. I also love putting it into a sand pail instead of little cups. And she used sour worms as sand worms. So cute!

Sand Pail Cake

Gather
1/4 cup of butter, room temperature
8 ounces of cream cheese
1 cup of powdered sugar
2 (3 1/2 ounce packages of vanilla instant pudding mix)
3 1/2 cups of milk
12 ounces of Cool Whip
14.3 ounces of Golden Oreo cookies, crushed finely
Sour candy worms

Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix milk and pudding. Fold in Cool Whip. Combine the two  bowls by folding until combined.

In the pail, alternately layer cookies and pudding mixture (start with the cookie layer: three layers cookie, two layers pudding). Add worms every other layer. Top with worms and refrigerate until ready to eat.

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June 17, 2014 by
Food, Sweet

Campfire Pies

Easy Campfire Pie - Blueberry

I took a trip to Vermont this weekend to visit some family and somehow with trying to find somewhere to stay, I ended up camping with my grandparents, aunt, and uncle. Oh yeah, and the furry, friendly Miss Gracie who was trying to steal all our leftovers.

I was super impressed with myself, starting and maintaining a fire for us to roast marshmallows and make campfire pizzas (which I’ll blog about later for you all to learn about). And then my grandparents found out I had never had a campfire pie. It was shocking, to say the least. I’d heard about them for years, but never had one. I think it was assumed I had.

So out came the cast iron pie maker, butter, white bread, and pie filling. The key, my grandfather told me, was to use a round pie maker, not square. “Seals in the crust.”

A lot of patience, the right heat from the fire, and letting it cool just the right amount, and I took my first bite. So buttery, so good, and I still can’t believe I hadn’t tried this before. Perfect for family camping trips. Easy, too!

Campfire Pies – Blueberry

Gather
White bread
Butter, softened
1 can of blueberry pie filling

Heat the pie maker in the fire pit until hot.

Heavily butter two slices of white bread (only one side). Place a piece of bread butter-side down in the pie maker. Add three spoonfuls of pie filling on the bread, top with other piece of bread (butter side so it will touch the top of the pie maker. Close pie maker and place over fire.

Cook for 5 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the bread does not separate when opening the pie maker. Remove from maker, and let cool. (The inside will be SUPER hot.)

Enjoy!

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June 15, 2014 by