Tell us about your proudest creation or empowering DIY moment! Here is Mine :)

I love my  frontloader washing machine with its extra large capacity loading.  My clothes not only wash quickly with less water, but are also drier when they come out, which in turn means less drying time in the dryer.  I had bought my washer only four years ago and never had any problems with it.  It not only looks amazing in my mudroom, but it works well too. 

My most empowering DIY moment was this past year when my  frontload washer had died.   I was devasted, I didn't realize how much I had relied on my washing machine until I didn't have one.  With a husband, four children, and a dog, I run my washer atleast once daily, and sometimes twice a day. After spending an entire day driving back and forth to the local laundromat lugging dirty laundry in the car and tons and tons of quarters, I knew something had to be done, and quickly. We needed to find out what was wrong with my washing machine, and could it be repaired ?

Apparently my son put a towel loaded with  a ton of wet sand in my washer and the sand clogged and burnt out the waterpump.  I actually figured this out by googling online what could be the problem.  My husband told me we needed to call and get it repaired or just go and buy a new washing machine.  I refused.  Pulled out the manual, I removed the waterpump and found the culprit (tons of sand inside)  We waited 2 days for the part to be delivered.  I needed an extra set of hands; so my husband agreed to help me.  In less than a week we had replaced the waterpump ourselves and the machine was running like new.  The part cost me a total of $52.00 ~ I am so proud of myself for sticking to my guns and insisting on trying to repair the washer ourselves !

Disney Cars 2 Video Game

img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/cars2.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=2965383858&Campaign=7051320655&Uid=138437&token=1379ad0f0668f51e46e268893b847498" alt=""/>

Easy Peasy Peep Pops !!!

What you will need 1 package of bunny peeps, 8 oz of melting chocolate, lollipop sticks, lollipop bags, curling ribbon and cookie sheet.

Step One:  insert lollipop sticks into bunny peeps and place them on cookie sheet and put in freezer for approx 10-15 minutes.

Step Two:  melt chocolate, in either double boiler or in microwave ( appprox 2min at power level 5) dip frozen bunnies into chocolate and place on wax paper and place back in freezer for chocolate to harden.

Step Three:  Wrap lollipops with colorful curling ribbon, and you are done :)

                                                                                                                                            
                                                                         

WIN AN EASTER BASKET FROM GOURMET GIFT BASKETS.COM RIGHT HERE ON JOE'S PLACE

GIVEAWAY:WIN AN EASTER BASKET FROM GOURMET GIFT BASKETS.COM RIGHT HERE ON JOE'S PLACE




http://joebloe1116.blogspot.com/

Hershey’s Drops of Happiness

I would  love to share happiness around me with Hershey's Drops of Happiness .  It a great little way to show someone your thinking of them.  I would love to share them with my children and their friends.  I would also love to share them with my children's teacher or even a friend that has been having a really bad day. 
And, why not a total stranger.  Sometimes, all it takes is the smallest notion of kindness to pickup someones spirits, and why not make it Hershey's Drops.  With two exciting flavors like milk chocolate and cookies and cream who would love a little special treat of chocolate.  I also like to bake gifts for my friends and family and these little Hershey Drops would be a great way to decorate a cupcake , cake or even cookies.  I could find dozens of ways to enhance my baked goodies with these drops. Hershey products have always been a staple in my baking closet.  It is a name I can trust for great tasting chocolate.  The possibilities are endless, from adding them as polka dots on top of a cupcake, or even spelling out a name or saying on a cake.  Another use would be filling goodie bags as favors say for a shower or party.  Also, these would make a nice addition to a gift basket for any occasion. As a fundraiser for my daughter's school, I am always making gift baskets that we raffle off, and Hershey's Drops would be great. I would even send a few bags to my college son who loves chocolate in my "miss you" boxes .  Another wonderful use for these sweet treats would be my candy dishes that I take out for all the different holidays like Valentines, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  My guests, family and friends would love these if I had them out for a snack.  The Hershey Drops are so versatile being that they are not holiday colored and can be used year round.  Having a family with four children we also do many car trips, and these would be great to take help ease the travel time we spend in the car together.  I would even pop these in my children's lunch bag as a secret treat to breakup the midweek blahs at school. So, as you can see the possibilites are endless  for Hershey Drops, and they would be a great new addition to my  daily chocolate that I love.  So from a true chocoholic I say share a little happiness and love by giving someone a bag of Hershey's Drops, hey they might return the favor :) .



I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hershey's blogging program, for a gift card worth $25 and some product. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

I Paper Clips

& Staples