I make these for my grandsons for their birthday.  You can put any amount of money that you choose, but as they pull it out, the more the better.  I have done it with m & m candies, but my oldest grandson asked for sour patch kids.





1. Take an empty toilet paper roll and place it in a mason jar.
2. Fill around the container with your candy of choice
3. Lay the money end to end and tape the ends together.
4. Fold the money accordion style and allow a bit of it to stick out
5. Decorate the lid if you so desire and place it on top.

The kids love it.

Countdown to School

I made this countdown calendar for the start of school for 2 grandsons.  There are 23 pockets, but I think next time I will cut it in 1/2 and put grommets in the bottom half and have two. I bought the over-the-door shoe holder at Target for about $8. Then I found some things that I thought they would like. Many of them came from Below 5 and Target's cheap isle. 

Menu white board

In making a menue for my refrigerator, I use an 8" X 12" white board. I use a permanent marker to make the lines for 7 days. I write Lunch and Dinner on the two sides. You could put the days of the week on the side, but I never make them the day it says. I just have my meals for the week and make them whenever I desire.

Then I use a white board marker that can be erased for my meals for the week. I put the page number and the recipe book at the bottom of the entry.  This is really a nice way to keep track with what's for dinner.


Mirror Redo

This is the mirror with the corner pieces glued
in place.  Be sure to tape them until the glue sets.

What has been cooking the last few days at the Edwards' you may ask.  O.K. so you didn't ask. I'm telling you anyway.  I saw a great idea on Pintrest and decided to try having my mirrors framed in the bathroom.  I had that ugly builders mirror in both of the bathrooms.  I'll spare you looking at them both, since that are just alike, same molding and everything. This is where I got the how-to http://www.diynetwork.com/videos/frame-a-mirror/4798.html

This is the molding and corner pieces
I choose to use. I bought the kind you

paint yourself.

This is the finished mirror in the

master bath

This is the finished mirror in
the guest bath.

Of course, when you redo the mirrors, you see that you need to redo the wallpaper.  I would love to take it all down and just paint, but talk about a big job.  Don't know if I'm ready to take-that-on.
One thing that they didn't tell you in the tutorial from diy was that there are mirror clips that you have to notch around. I also had those ugly rosettes they screw on the mirror.  Fortunately, I got new counter tops and they had to remove the mirrors anyway. So they glued them on the wall and put the clips on the top and bottom.  I also need to tell you that I didn't do this myself.  I have a handy-man that does many of those kinds of jobs around The Edwards' house.

Grandkids Treasure Hunt

I realize that this post doesn't belong in a cooking blog, but I wanted to share this idea. It is my blog, so I can do anything I want.  When Stacy and Randel were young I started making a treasure hunt for them.  This was before the age of computers, so I would draw a picture of a bathtub, a bed, couch, etc.  It had to be simple, because I was not gifted in that area. By the time my grandchildren were old enough to do it I was fairly computer savvy, so I would print out pictures of things in my house from my PrintMaster ( see Expressit.com ). Now that a few years have passed, I use my digital camera to take pictures around the house and print them on my computer.  The following is a sample.

After printing and cutting them, I put them in little envelopes. I made them out of construction paper that I folded up to form an envelope and taped the sides closed.  I write where it goes on the outside so I don't have to look inside the envelope when I am hiding the clues. Give the first clue to the child.  Example:  the snowman doorstop.  He goes to the snowman and finds the next clue, the entry hall desk with lantern.  The last clue will have the prize.  I usually make it the oven, the refrigerator, cloths dryer, or the shower so I have enough room to place the snack.  At an early age, they don't even care if there is a prize; the hunt is enough.