Since those of you who know me best know I am not a kitchen whiz, I have always stayed away from asking for "kitchen-y" items for celebrations. This year, however, I was surprised with a few neat items that I would have never bought for myself but I am very glad that I have in my kitchen now.
This mini-bundt pan was a real surprise gift from my husband's grandmother and grandfather. It is great for me, as I continue to work on losing weight with Weight Watchers, to have smaller options for cake. I am not the type of person who can leave cake alone. If it's in the house, I WILL eat it. With this pan, I can be a little more fancy than cupcakes and enjoy an "entire" cake while not feeling guilty. Plus after feeding the rest of the crew here, I can ship the rest of the cakes out to Patrick's friends, who are always happy for home-baked goods.
I also received a Wilton Cupcake Stand that I have looked longingly at for over a year. I felt a little silly putting it on my Christmas "wish list" but as they say, ask and you shall receive! My aunt was kind enough to indulge my fun side with this surprise gift. Ever since I opened it, Morgan has been asking to make cupcakes. Tonight I agreed and she excitedly added the ingredients, stirred, and lined the pan with the cupcake liners. After she went to bed I iced the cupcakes and put them in the display stand to surprise her in the morning when she gets up.
************************************************************************************
Another way to keep some fun items in your kitchen, don't overlook the food section of after holiday sales. Sure, mostly they are filled with boxes of chocolates and tins of cookies, but trust me, you will find some great purchases to put in your kitchen, or come from your kitchen.
The best kitchen purchase I got this year were these three cans of Wilton icing with icing tips for 50 cents each. Yes, you read that right...WILTON-ICING-50-CENTS! Sure, they are red, green, and white, but those colors can be used in ANY decoration, not to mention Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day which are coming up soon. This icing will keep for practically forever, and if you have older children it is a great way to let them help with the decorating without costing a ton for the frosting that will be in their hair, mouths, on fingers, shirts, chairs, etc.
I also like to look for items that can be given as gifts later. Purchases like these freeze-dried coffees will also keep for a very long time, and I will be turning these into 3 gifts along with a coffee mug from the Dollar Tree and some free Coffee-Mate flavored creamers that I always load up on when I go into Sheetz gas stations to get my husband coffee (for the record, he drinks his coffee black, but they don't know that!). Grand total for 3 gifts...$3 for the coffee mugs and $2.50 for the coffee at 75% off = $5.50. For three gifts!
Another gift I picked up for Patrick's grandfather was a cute little cutting board, mini butcher knife, crackers, mustard, and sausage set. Patrick's grandfather loves these types of sausage (Hickory Farms or similar) and all I had to do was peel off a Christmas tag sticker. Voila, birthday for Ralph is done!
Thanks to Alaina for hosting Keeping Creative Kitchens! Be sure to stop over at her site and see more ways to keep a creative kitchen.
No comments:
Post a Comment