PB&C Rice Krispie Bars

I've been craving Rice Krispie Treats lately.  I decided to make some for my kids; it's Friday night and I'm gonna let them stay up late (9:00!) to watch the Charlie Brown Halloween Special.  Anyway, I was also craving chocolate, so I embellished the treats a little and came up with this.  YUM!

PB&C Rice Krispie Bars

In a large glass bowl in the microwave, melt for 60-90 seconds:
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)

Stir in until coated:
1 package (10 ounces) mini marshmallows.

Microwave for one minute and stir.  Continue to microwave for 30-second intervals until melted completely.  Stir in:
1 teaspoon vanilla
Then:
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Spread into a buttered 9X13 pan, and use buttered hands to pat smooth.

In the same large bowl (minimal cleanup!) microwave for one minute:
1 cup smooth peanut butter.

Drizzle peanut Butter over Rice Krispie bars and spread with a spatula to cover.  Place pan in fridge to chill.

For frosting, combine in large bowl:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until smooth .  Remove bars from fridge and spread with frosting.  Return to fridge to chill completely (if you can stand to wait!)  Cut into 24 squares.  Enjoy!  I dare you to eat just one!

Hip Mama!

A dear friend of mine had a baby a while ago.  I really wanted to make her some things, not just buy something she could use.  So I made her a nursing cover, and a diaper bag. 

Now I don't know about you, but diaper bags are an oddity to me.  I never could find one I really liked.  There are the monstrous ones you can carry a week's worth of diapers in.  I bought one of those with my first and quickly realized how ridiculous it was to carry that much stuff everywhere I went!  Then there are the basic ones they give you at the hospital  I always seemed to get the lame one - either a wild, cheesy print that screamed BABY, BABY! or one made of vinyl so cheap, all the pockets were ripped out in a week.

You can find really nice diaper bags, but you'll pay a pretty penny for a good one.  So when I had baby number three, I took matters into my own hands.

I found a diaper bag tutorial online, and modified it slightly.  Then I took what I learned and made another one for my dear friend.  We visited the fabric store, she picked out the fabric and... it turned out so nice!

 I spent a lot of time matching up all the stripes - I wanted it to be perfect!  It was all worth it.  Look at this beautiful, hip mama!

Halloween Treat Bag

At Halloween, I am not the type to make three new costumes each year.  With three boys, I figure we have a good enough selection from years past for each of them to choose from!  But Halloween treat buckets have always been a dilemma.  I bought one for my oldest when he was a toddler, but my second son has always had to use some random something.  Storage is my biggest issue - I don't want to buy another bulky item that will get used once a year and have to find a place to store it the other 364 days!

So this year I decided on a solution.  I took the boys to the fabric store and had them pick out a halloween fabric.  They chose Snoopy, they love Snoopy.  So Snoopy it was.  And I made each of them a treat bag!  Three cute, matching bags that will fold flat for storage and can be pulled out and reused each year!  Perfect!

So here is my very first tutorial EVER! 
(That is my way of making a disclaimer; if my directions stink, I apologize.  I made this project totally out of my head, and I hope I can make it understandable.)

For each bag, you will need about 1/3yard of fabric, plus 24 inches of matching webbing for the handles.

 My fabric was 44 inches wide (which is pretty standard) so I cut a twelve inch strip.  First I folded the fabric in half twice lengthwise, so it would be easier to make the cut.

 Unfold fabric, here is your 12" by 44" strip:

Now fold the fabric in half lengthwise, wrong sides together:

 Then sew down each side with 1/2" seam, from the selvage edge to the folded edge:

 Here is my beaut of a sewing machine.  It's a 1950 Pfaff 130.  My Grandma gave it to me.  I love this machine!  It doesn't do anything fancy, but it does what I need!

After sewing down both sides, you will have a long 12" x 22" pouch, resembling a pillowcase.

 Turn right-side out:

 Then fold down 1/2 inch on the top edge...

 ... and top-stich together. (By the third bag, I realized that these are both selvage edges, so they won't fray.  And since they will be inside the bag, you could just stitch them together without folding down.)

 Next, push the other end of your "pillowcase" inside this end, so that you have a lined bag.  You want the end you just sewed to stay on the outside for now.

 The next part is optional.  To make a square bottom so the bag will stand up, make sure the bottom corners of your bag are squarely nested together.  Then fold each corner so the bottom seam and the side seam line up, forming a triangle at the corner (this is hard to explain, just play with it until you see how to do it):

 Stitch straight across this corner, about 2 inches in. 

 Repeat with the other corner.  The bottom of you bag will look like this:

 It will stand up on it's own:

Like I said, this step is totally optional.  If it doesn't make sense, skip it and you will still have a fun bag,
 it just won't have a flat base.

Next you will attach the handles.  I used 12" of 1" wide webbing for each handle (2 handles per bag).  Find the center of each top edge on your bag.  Then make a mark 2 inches away on each side of your center mark:

 Stitch your webbing over the first mark, then loop it around and stitch the other end over the second mark.  Repeat with the second piece of webbing on the other side of the bag.

 Turn your bag right-side-out.  And that's it!  You have a cute, sturdy little bag, just the right size for a little goblin to carry his treats in on Halloween night...

 ... or to put over his head!

Enjoy!