Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 bag of popped popcorn

Directions

1. To make the caramel sauce, heat a saucepan over medium heat to melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn, stirring to coat.
2. Place coated popcorn in a baking dish and bake in 250 degrees F oven stirring after 2 minutes, for 4 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before serving.

Enjoy these crispy and crunchy bites! You'll be done before the movie starts.

Paper Flower for Gifts

 

When you run out of gift wrapping paper, save money and use your creativity to awe your friends and family. This is such a simple technique that uses only construction paper, hemp, and a medium-sized brown paper bag. Once you try this thoughtful idea, you'll always look forward to gift-giving all throughout the year.

 

Materials:

•   Brown paper bag (any size depending on gift)
•   2 colored constructions paper
•   1 inch circular object (i.e water bottle cap)
•   Hemp
•   Pencil, scissor, glue

How to Make it:

1. To make the flower petals, trace 8 circles using a water bottle cap and cut them out. Pinch the end of one circle together with glue. Repeat with one more circle. Place each one on top of the other for a double petal. Cut the end off of the third petal to fit on top of the second petal and glue it together.  Hold in place until glue sets.
2. For the other side of the flower, use one circle to make the base of the flower. Glue it over the first petal. Continue Step 1. 
3. Fold the last two circles in half and glue one over the other. Cut the ends off to make a pointed triangle shape and glue it to the center of the flower.
4. To make the leaf, trace 1 circle on a green construction paper using a water bottle cap. Fold in half and glue one side on the gift wrapping paper.

DIY Paper Latern

I once made this cute paper latern for my Hawaiian themed 18th birthday party. I couldn't believe how easy they were to make and appear so festive. These decorative paper laterns can be embellished to suit any occasion.

Here's What You'll Need:

• One 8.5" x 11" piece of paper (construction paper, bond paper, or even cardstock.)  
• Scissors 
• Tape or Stapler
• Ruler 
• Pencil 
• Hole puncher
• String or Ribbon 

 

How To Make It: 

1. Fold paper in half lengthwise. Cut slices about an inch in width and making sure to stop about 1″ from the edge. 
2. To assemble the latern, unfold the paper and  roll it into a tube shape. Match the long edges together on the lantern and use tape to hold it in place. 
3. Hole-punch on the top of each side of the latern. Loop a string through both holes and knot the ends together.
4. If you plan on having the lanterns on the ground or sitting on flat surface outdoors, it is recommended to wrap and glue your latern around a tall glass vase that holds the candle since the paper you're using can be a little flimsy. 

Meatball and Garlic Bread

I really love these savory meatballs. Toothpicks were only inserted to help with the mess. The garlic bread was very useful for placing the meatball and complemented very well with the marinara sauce. You might ask why I didn't opt with spaghetti... well, it's definitely something I'd like to do but I still need to figure out how to hold it together.

Serves 3: Ground beef, ground pork, garlic clove, salt & pepper, breadcrumbs, and egg

The garlic bread was store bought but goes great with the rest of the ingredients. Normally there are two long loaves of garlic bread in a packaged box that is already pre-cut for you. I only used one loaf and each slice was big enough to cut in half. I made a total of 20 meatballs and paired 16 garlic breads to each one. I could've made at least 32 which would have been nice to take to a party!

To lessen the mess, I poured warm marinara in a sauce bowl for dipping. This method is the preferred option since you can dip however much marinara you'd like without the mess. One problem I had with the garlic bread was that I left it in the toaster-oven a little too long and it turned out a little hard, but I still enjoyed the crunchiness!

Rice Krispies Lollipops

Special occasions always inspire creative creations in the kitchen or elsewhere. While I was planning my birthday celebration, I knew I was going to feel appreciative towards the people that showed up to my party. As a nice gesture, I wanted my guests to take home something special. The heart and circle shaped cookie cutters that I found lying in my mom's pantry was a fine discovery and the best tool to use when you don't want your hands to be doing 100% of the work.

Serves 25: 2 large boxes of rice krispies cereal, 4 bags of marshmallows, 2 sticks of butter.

I have grown very fond of microwavable chocolate chips. Due to many failed attempts to melt regular chocolate chips in a pot over boiling water, I needed a quick and simple alternative solution. Using a butter knife and small spoon, the melted white chocolate is spread over the heart-shaped rice krispies after a 2 minute cool down. I carefully dipped one side of the remaining circle-shaped rice krispies halfway into the melted milk chocolate and sprinkled finely chopped peanuts for an added crunch.

Skewers came in handy when making these treats resemble a lollipop. It is recommended to insert the skewers or lollipop sticks before refrigeration or else it would be tougher to get them in when it hardens.

I made a stop to the craft store and found candy wrappers to cover the finished treats. The candy wrappers came with wire twist-ties, which was useful and easy for unwrapping the treats. Lastly, ribbons are always a great touch to the complete look!