Night Night Teddy Bears

I am in the process of creating a fun website with crafts kids can make for deployed members of the military.  This hits especially close to home because my husband is currently deployed.  I found this craft and decided to try it for myself, and it's absolutely adorable.  These little bears would be great to send someone who's far away, whether it be a deployment or even a business trip.  They only stand a couple inches high, so they're perfect for small spaces or to just set on the night-stand for your loved ones to look at.  And best of all, these are so easy and cheap to make.

Here's what you need:

• 1 1/2'' pom pom (body)
• 1'' pom pom (head)
• 2 5/8'' pom poms (legs)
• 2 1/2'' pom poms (arms)
• 2 3/8'' pom poms (ears)
• black scrap of foam or felt
• 2 wiggle eyes
• tacky glue

Here's what to do:

Using tacky glue, attach the head to the body.  Glue on the legs and arms.  Next, glue on the ears and wiggle eyes.  Cut a small circle out of felt or foam (you can also use construction paper) for the nose and glue on. 

You can do these in any color pom pom, or a bear of all different colors.  They can be cute for party favors for a children's birthday party, or a little "just because" gift for that special someone. 

I just wanted to share this with you all and I hope you like it.

Feature Friday: Refreshed with Roses

I have spent years trying to get my husband to understand that sending a woman flowers JUST BECAUSE makes her feel so refreshed and appreciated. Well, it took him getting sent overseas for 7 months to get it, but better late than never!

Since fall is rapidly approaching, and as much as I love this season, I wanted to bring back the vibrant colors of spring for this Feature Friday. Like I said, my husband is currently overseas on a deployment, and about a week ago, he sent me roses just because he misses me. Awwwww. I know, I know, ::gag::. They couldn't have come at a better time though. I was having the worst day. I couldn't get the printers working (that's right, there was more than one), a cat stepped on the power converter and reset the computer in the middle of me working on my website, the dog was being extra-needy......shall I go on bitchin'?

Anyways, just when I was about to throw in the towel, along comes a knock at our front door, followed by a growl from my dog, and the UPS man running across the front yard. FLOWERS!!!!!! I yanked the string to pull the blinds up in my work room to let the sun beat in, put the beautiful flowers in a decorative glass vase, took a long, deep breath and all of a sudden, I felt refreshed. I felt like everything that happened prior to that moment just didn't matter anymore, and that what was more important was that my husband, who is 8,000 miles away, was thinking of me.

It's amazing how little moments like that can really put life in perspective. Something as small and insignificant as a dozen roses, end up being the most significant. Even from thousands of miles away, my husband can still make me smile. (Guess I shouldn't complain about the mound of laundry he left laying in the middle of our floor!)

Thank you so much for reading this week's Feature Friday. Next week, I'm going to be sharing something so near and dear to my heart, that you're not going to want to miss it: my late grandmother's Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. These are absolutely to die for....they're bananas! (Thank you Rachel Zoe for that phrase you should have copyrighted)

How-To Bath Salts: Victorian Rose

I started making homemade bath salts because I was looking for a unique and creative alternative to buying them. I made some for my Mom, and now she loves getting homemade bath and body products for mother's day, her birthday and Christmas. Bath salts are so easy to make and there are tons of different recipes. I wanted to share how I, personally, make bath salts. This particular recipe is for Victorian Rose bath salts. However, you can make bath salts using any essential oil that you find appealing. Here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup Epsom salts


• Bowl


• Plastic spoon


• Eye dropper


• Glycerin (optional)


• Victoria Rose essential oil


• Red food coloring

Here's what to do:

Put 1 cup of Epsom salt (found at any store like Walmart or Rite Aide) in a bowl. Add about 4 drops of red food coloring. Mix well so that all the color blends into the salts. You should have a pink-ish color that looks something like the picture below.

Next, add a few drops of glycerin. This ingredient is optional. I like using glycerin in my bath recipes because it makes your skin really soft. You can find this at Rite Aide as well. Again, mix well.

The last touch is the essential oil. In this recipe, I'm using Victorian Rose, but you can use any essential oil that you like. I also like to use Pumpkin Spice, Lavendar, Vanilla and Sandalwood. I'm also infamous for mixing my essential oils too, which is a lot of fun. Ok, so add 3-5 drops of essential oils using an eye dropper and mix well.

At this point, wherever you're sitting, it should smell fabulous. Once I make my salts, I usually decorate a glass bottle I pick up from the dollar store with ribbon and some embellishments. I then add a tag with directions or what the essential oil is typically used for.

I hope you enjoyed this how-to. I would love to hear ideas on how you make bath salts and how you give them as gifts.

Feature Friday: Disney World

While on my hiatus from ADP, my husband and I went to Disney World. There is nothing more magical and inspiring than "It's a Small World" or "Journey to the Imagination". The colors, the sounds, the smells of Disney World are unlike anywhere I've ever been. And did I mention the dessert is as sweet as a two-year-old's tea party.

Oh hot diggity!

This just happens to be a delectable chocolate bunt-cake, with vanilla ice cream slathered on top, with chocolate syrup just seeping from the building's pores. The mountain rained jimmies and atop the masterpiece was a single piece of white chocolate that said, "celebrate today".

For anyone who's every been to Disney World, you know that their desserts are friggin' amazing! Desserts are my guilty pleasure (and I get that from Aunt Dottie, by the way). And I think I ate a dessert at every meal down in Disney World. This particular dessert was at Cinderella's Castle Royal Table. It was first time I had ever eaten there, and it was wonderful. If you can make reservations 3 months ahead of time, I highly recommend it.

On a side note, my husband screams like a girl on this ride.

(Sorry hunny)

And this is me eating my most favoritest dessert of all, the class mickey mouse ears....on a steek!





We love Disney World. My parents took my there all throughout my childhood, and I got to watch my husband enjoy it for the first time about 3 years ago. So we went there again last month and it was just as wonderful as it was the first 15 times I've been there. I would go back again in a heartbeat!

Sale, Sale, Sale!!

And we're back! Sorry to keep you waiting, folks. The author of this blog (ahem....moi) took a hiatus to spend some time with her hubby before his deployment to Iraq. But now that he's gone, and I'm "rone-reeeeee, so rone-reeee"...I can start writing posts again.

And just in time too! Aunt Dottie's Pantry has an awesome sale going on right now in preparation for the holiday season. It's our FALL SALE! Get 10% off any order of $30 or more. Did you hear me?? 10% OFF ANY ORDER OF $30 OR MORE!

You can so much bang for your buck at ADP. As you know, we now have recipe card boxes. They are so adorable! You saw the camo box in a previous post, but here it is again.
Here are a few other recipe card boxes that are posted on our website that are just to die for!

(Pssst! Tell your friends!)

Halloween is also just around the corner. That's right boys and gouls (don't even act like you all didn't know that was coming). I've designed some really cute Halloween recipe cards that are great for fun, "just because" gifts. Aunt Dottie's prices are so out-of-this-world reasonable, it's hard not to give cute gifts like these.

I know you're simply dying (tee hee) to get your hands on these cards. Don't forget that you can email me anytime at rachel@auntdottiespantry.com if you have any questions or special requests. Thanks for reading! Have a fangtastic day!