Chocolate-Coconut Bars

These rich bars are inspired by hello dollies,a popular treat in the South. You can use practically any cookie for the crust:grind in a food processor until crumbs form

Ingredients:

3 cups finely ground cookies

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup pecan pieces

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly splash a 15x10 inch rimmed baking sheet evenly with water: then line with parchment paper

2. In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs,sugar, and butter until combined. Evenly press onto bottom and up side of prepared baking sheet . Bake and rotate halfway through until firm about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, cool about 20 minutes.

3. Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans and chocolate. Pour condensed milk over the top spreading to cover completely. Sprinkle with coconut.

4. Bake until coconut is toasted 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. Cut into squares .

Under Bed Storage

If you don't have a dedicated craft room....No problem.

These plastic under the bed storage units are great way to keep organized and things all in one place.

And when you are not using them you can slide them under a bed for out of the way storage.

Coatrack Storage

This is a great idea for storage. We all have bare wall space.

This is simply a coat rack attached to the wall and galvanized buckets hanging from the hooks.

This would be ideal over a 2 seater desk.

Clever Desk Accessory

Turn an old wooden plane into an all in one desk set simply by drilling a few holes. Look for inexpensive or damaged planes at flea markets, garage sales and auctions.

I thought this would be cool for a man's office.

Supplies:

Wood Plane
Ruler and pencil
Awl or hammer and nail
Drill with a 5/16 inch drill bit
Masking Tape
Sandpaper

Directions:

1. Mark the spots for holes in the flat surface of the plane, spacing them evenly to form a grid pattern. The pictured plane has a grid of 4 rows of 3 holes each

2. Determine the depth of the holes. Wrap tape around the bit at this point to help drill holes of equal depth.

3. Drill a hole at each marked point,taking care to drill straight down and not at an angle. Drill only to the edge of the tape. Lightly sand around each hole to remove shavings and burns.

4. Place a strip of tape across the bottom of the plane's shavings hole to seal the opening beside the blade. Fill the shavings slot with paper clips and the holes with pencils and pens.

Paint Cans Turned Organizer

This is a great idea, created just from paint cans. Now I know from personal experience that you can go to your local paint store or even Walmart and buy these quart size cans for just a couple dollars each.

Now you can decorate these with scrapbook paper or wallpaper. The paint stores always have discontinued books of wallpaper samples, that they are willing to give you for free. Just ask .!!!

Use spray adhesive or double stick tape to adhere the paper to the cans. Then glue the cans together.

You could also get gallon cans for bigger items.

Cool,Huh??

Fall Pumpkin Roses Centerpiece

This centerpiece is along the same lines as the previous one that I shared with you. I personally love roses, and maybe you do too.

This is constructed the same way, only without the candle. The flowers they used are apricot colored roses, cockscomb,hypericum berries, seeded eucalyptus, and bittersweet vines.

This would be nice for Thanksgiving dinner.

Fall Pumpkin Candle Centerpiece

Here's a sweet way to display pumpkins and candles for fall entertaining!!

Supplies:

Medium size pumpkin
6 inch pillar candle
Sprigs of leaves,vines or artificial berries

Instructions:

1. Snap or cut off the top of the pumpkin. Placing the bottom end of the pillar candle on the top of the pumpkin, lightly trace the perimeter of the candle's bottom with a marker.

2. Using a sharp knife, cut vertically just inside the traced outline. The cut portion can then be discarded.

3. Wedge the candle securely inside. If you've cut the hole a bit too large, simply place a can or other object inside the pumpkin as a base for the candle.

4.Tuck in a few leaves and sprigs of vine around the base of the candle.