Cute Little Magnet Gifts

I was pointed in the direction of a very cute craft at The Polka Dot Chair  the other day and thought it would be perfect for gifts for my nieces, nephews and my own kiddos. I thought, this way, they each could display artwork or special notes or something on the fridge and they could take ownership of all their hard work. Kids like to be recognized for stuff like that right? Seemed like such a good idea. Now the beautiful watercolor art that they bring home won't be tarnished by the broken Spongebob magnet remnant. 

I recommend you go make some of your own. Cheap, cute and useful. The best kind of craft.

Step one:

 Paint the fronts and side of the wood pieces and allow to dry.

Step two: 

cover the face of the wood with decoupage medium, cover with a square of scrapbook paper and smooth out the wrinkles.

Step three: Sand the edges (carefully) with fine grit sandpaper and (gently) pull off the excess paper. 

Step four:

Sand the sides of the wood shapes to smooth out the edges.

Step five:

Cut out the names or phrases that you would like on the project and apply a think layer or decoupage medium to the entire surface of the shape. Apply the letters and coat them in another layer. Allow to dry.

Step six:

Attach heavy duty magnets to the back with super adhesive such as E-6000. Then embellish the front if you desire. I did add some bling and flowers and buttons to the girl ones, but decided to leave the boy ones alone. 

I gave these gifts to my nieces and nephews this afternoon and they were a big hit. It was fun! Of course, the Valentine themed gummy bears that I added to the packages didn't hurt either. :)

Super Bowl dip

We just got back from watching the Superbowl at my brother's house and I brought a dip that was a super duper hit. I had never made it before but already had most of the ingredients so I went for it. Give it a shot and you will be popular. I almost promise. ;-)

I found it on Allrecipes.com.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Ranch dressing
• 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
•  
• 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
• 1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers

Directions

1. Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.