Ice cream Sandwich... Cake?!

There's no denying it... I ADORE Pinterest! It has everything I could possibly want to do in just one small website!! Friday, at work(pretending to work), I stumbled across a recipe for an ice cream sandwich cake. It looked easy & appealing enough to try. So I printed it. Despite what the original blog said about making a reason to make it, I really didn't have any intentions of making it immediately. That was until BFB & his brother saw the recipe. Yesterday, Saturday, fake BIL went & bought all the ingredients that weren't already in the pantry....

Here's the guidelines::

24 ice cream sandwiches
16ozs (large tub) cool whip
1 jar caramel (if you want to drizzle the top layer with caramel you'll need either a piping bag or a small zip lock bag)
Your favorite chocolate roughly chopped. (I used half Reese's & half snickers)

The hardest part of this recipe is unwrapping all the candy & ice cream sandwiches.
Line a 13x9 with foil.
Next you lay a layer of ice cream sandwiches(you'll want to lay them vertically if your 13x9 is length wise in front of you). You'll probably have to cut down some of the sandwiches. It's tragic I know, having to consume some of the sandwiches, but you'll survive. (0; back to the recipe... The bottom layer will get 12 ice cream sandwiches.

Next you put about half the container of cool whip. I did a little less than half & saved the outside edges for when I finished the cake.

Now half the bottle of caramel. You want this room temperature. Cold won't pour & hot will melt the previous ingredients. This layer doesn't have to be pretty. I spread mine with a plastic spatula to make it even.

It's time for a candy sprinkle. You can choose how much you put on but do remember you'll be putting a candy layer on top as well. I was liberal but like I said earlier... I used two candies.

The rest of the steps are pretty much repeating. You put the ice cream sandwiches down, you cool whip it(this is where I cool whipped the outside edges)...

Now pause!! This is where I deviated from the plan. The original recipe said to just repeat all layers & call it done. I personally like my cakes a we bit more visually appealing.

SO, I layer out my candy next. Same as before, liberally. Half Reese's. Half snickers. I grabbed a piping bag(if you don't have these on hand its not a crisis. A sandwich bag will work just as well. I recommend ziplock because they tend to be of a more durable quality), pour the remaining caramel in the bag, cut the tip off(or tip off of the corner of the ziplock bag) & pipe your little heart out.

It's difficult but you'll have to let it set a bit before you tear into it. Otherwise it'll fall to pieces.

This truly is such a simple recipe for how delicious it is! I hope you enjoy it!

Birthday cake...!!!!

Every year on his birthday (since we started dating...6 years and 1 day ago) my lovely boyfriend (who I refer to as BFB) acts like his life is over. And we're not merely talking about one foot in the grave... We're talking he built his coffin, grabbed a pillow & closed his eyes. It's only that day, day of. For the next 364 days he's perfectly normal. So I started making him cakes. Themed cakes to be precise. You see, bfb is a firefighter. Not just any old firefighter but a Captain with the fire department and a member of the south Carolina urban search & rescue team(soon to be an assistant squad officer). So, said themed cakes... Always firefighter themed.

I've made him a fire engine cake, structure fire cake, Dalmatian cake & this year a fire station cake. Yes, I know that doesn't add up to six. Birthday one I was in Florida on vacation. We'd literally just started dating a week before. Year two I made a three tiered cheesecake (white chocolate, chocolate & butterscotch)... This was the first time I'd witnessed the birthday tude first hand.

Long story short... This is BFB's 35th birthday cake...

It's a marble pound cake with my cream cheese frosting recipe. He loved it. Is he spoiled? Probably. (0:

Chili... With potatoes?!

A few years ago I went camping with my mom, her boyfriend (we call her "S.O." aka significant other) & my boyfriend(BFB). My mom has never really been the outdoors type or active type until she moved to Washington state. My mom & I aren't what you would consider the girlie type. Were essentially female jocks.. Sweats, tshirt, hoodie & tennis shoes?! YES PLEASE. but still, my mom & the great outdoors?! This was going to be interesting in the least. One night for dinner she pulls out 5 cans & one pound of ground beef. She calls it 5 can chili & when she saw my face changed the name to camp fire chili.

A little background... My mom rarely cooked when I was growing up. What she did cook was delicious (with theexception of a pork chop incident in which even the dog opted out) but I grew up thinking my mom can cook a grand total of 10 meals (and thats the benefit of the doubt). Sooo, her throwing out some random meal can be a bit intimidating. Turns out this "5can chili" is amazing. Way better day two than the first night but still delicious fresh!!

SO, today I share the recipe!! (0:

Here are the stars of our performance::

2 cans progresso minestrone
2 cans ranch style beans
1 can rotfl tomatoes
1(and if you like super meaty chili add more) ground beef

Here comes the hard part... Are you ready?!

Brown the beef... Add your 5 cans.. Heat... Eat.

That simple. Enjoy.

And now, I eat some. (0:

Lost in...

Thought?! NOPE. Try Cyber-Nation. I have been lost in the amazing world of Scentsy & Pinterest. Wow. What a site. I've made a few things. Bought the stuff to make way more than I can handle. All with good intentions. If only crafts paid the bills. My mom came into town, twice. This is the first time in the nearly ten years I have lived in the south that her job has brought her to me! I LOVE IT. I recently went to Jupiter, FL for spring training baseball!! I loved it. I love baseball! Great past time.

Other than staying busy with work & Scentsy, not too much else has happened. My cousin Amber, of the blog Glitter & Dirt, & I may be doing a switch party!! If you know or follow the tales of Amber & her son CJ than you know she sells Mark make up. If you don't, now you do. (0: In addition, if you don't follow her... Do! Not to mention we do giveaways of our products!! What's better than free?! Back to the point... Be on the look out for a switch party. Am selling Scentsy, Me selling Mark.

Last I checked in I was throwing a donation drive. It's with a slightly heavy heart that I write to say... We didn't even come close. However, this is not the end!! If we have to do this donation drive for years than so be it. SO, that being said. Be on the lookout for a new flyer. If you can't help out financially, we completely understand. All I ask is if you see a post about it via blog, Facebook, twitter or any other form... Pass it on. It's for a good cause!

I feel as though this is all I have to rant about for tonight. I think my next blog shall be about something I have crafted since I went into cybernation. Heres to a great Friday for all!! And a safe & enjoyable St Patricks Day!

DIY or Don't!: {Challenge & Giveaway!} Easter Lily Backdrop

DIY or Don't!: {Challenge & Giveaway!} Easter Lily Backdrop

Our Scentsy Donation Drive...

One night before Christmas, I was thinking about how nice it would be to donate anything to anyone. I strongly welcomed the thought. The problem was the only thing I have to donate is my time. Which there really isn't nearly as much spare time in my days as I like to think. As much as Id love to donate my time, I felt like donating objects would bring more smiles. If you know me, you know how much I love to make others smile and laugh. Problem with this idea is I'm too broke to be able to afford any form of donations and there isn't anything in my house that would make others smile. I knew it would take a LOT of effort for me to make something happen, and in the spirit of donations and smiles. I'm ALL in.

I have more resources at my finger tips than I ever think about. I sell Scentsy Products as a business... Kids smiles melt my heart... Scentsy has some great Buddies(super soft plush, naturally hypo-allergenic stuffed animals)... What children would appreciate these more than any?!

... And the Scentsy Buddy Valentines Day Donation Drive was Born. (0:

Here's a little information and background about this drive and the people putting it together and raising the donations. There are 4 Scentsy Consultants doing this Drive.

Rachel (Me)
Laura
Robyn
Melissa

We together like to call ourselves Aiken's Wickless Wonders... This is the name of our Facebook page. Laura has 2 kids and 1 on the way. Robyn has 2 kids as well and Melissa has one. I have dogs. Lol. Two of us are servers, one is a stay at home mommy and the other works at a local government site. We all understand what its like to not have money, to live off the generosity of the public or have to find other jobs to make it. This is the basis we built this drive off of.

That being said, DONATIONS OF ANY DENOMINATION ARE WELCOME. If you wish to donate a Buddy, then you have the freedom to choose which buddy you would like to donate. Each Buddy is $25. There is one Buddy that cost $30, She is Sasha.

Let me give you a little back ground on Sasha. Each catalog Scentsy does what we call a cause. Last catalog was Autism Speaks and Scentsy raised over $500,000 for this cause. Sasha, is this catalogs cause. Each and Every dollar raised from the purchase of Sasha goes to The Ronald McDonald House Foundation.

That being said, all the donations raised, with the exceptions of the previously chosen Buddies, will go towards the purchase of Sasha. This, we feel, will be an even better way to give. This will essentially double the impact of the donations! The kids in our local hospital get stuffed animals for Valentines Day and The Ronald McDonald House gets the financial donation of what we helped raise!!

This Drive is running through the end of the month (January 31st 1159 EST) to allow enough time to get these shipped and ready to be delivered.

Our Goal is to give each kid at the Children's Center in the Medical College of Georgia a Scentsy Buddy. Think you can help?

Ive set up a donation account through PayPal to help us attain this goal. the widget seen below can be used by anyone. So, if you want to help and cant afford it, add the widget to your website, blog, email signature... whatever you can and that will help us out more than you know!

Below I'm going to put a link to the Scentsy Buddies so you can see what we offer and also a link to our Facebook page. Feel free to like our page to keep up with this drive, specials, discounts and anything Scentsy.

I greatly thank you in advance for your time, donations and anything else you may help us with. Here's to a great day filled with Perfect Scents

Scentsy Buddies Offered


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