Winners for the Clorox Power a Bright Future Contest:

Just wanted to give everyone an update on the Power a Bright Future Contest. 


The Grand Prize Winner is awarded a $50,000 grant. Also there were three 'Category' winners who received $20,000 grants.


The Grand Prize Winner is:
Metrolina Christian Acadamy with their entry "Bring our Warriors Home"


The three "Category" winners are:

In the Play Category:

The Collingswood Language Acadamy with their entry "We Need a Safe Place to Play"

In the Learn Category:

Archimedean Middle Conservatory with their entry "Making History Every Day"


In the Create Category:

Mountain View High School with their entry "Coming Together is a Beginning, Staying Together is Progress, and Working Together is Success"



Feel free to go check out the schools and their programs!

Superstar Spotlight: Sheri Gilbert!

This Spotlight is on Sheri Gilbert! She is a terrific lady, who lives in Beaumont, Ca.  Sheri read about my blog 60 pot holders in 60 days, and was so inspired she wanted to do something to help out too!  Sheri decided to help two of the local students from San Gorgonio Middle School make marshmallow pretzel pops to sell at the Dickens Festival.  So despite the busy holiday season she set aside some extra time to have the kids meet with her and make these wonderfully sweet and gooey treats. Lucky me, my camera and I got to join in on the fun, and even got to try one too!!!
Ok, so what exactly are marshmallow pretzel pops? (besides delicious!) They are pretzel sticks topped with chocolate and candy coated giant marshmallows. They are also easy, and fun, to make!

First you need a few ingredients:

Pretzel rods (the longer and thicker kind)

Some form of Meltable chocolate chip
A candy sprinkle or topping
and the Giant size marshmallows.

Ok, first Sheri  put wax paper on every counter/surface that was going to be used. To anyone who is interested in making these this is a MUST, otherwise the clean up afterwards would be crazy. Then Sheri had the girls sort through all the pretzel rods. The great thing about this is that even if the pretzel rods are broken they can still be used! As long as there is at least 3 or 4 inches of pretzel sticking out after the marshmallow is stuck on it, it is still usable. Then after that she had the girls skewer the marshmallows with the pretzel rods.  This was done with lots of shrieks and giggles from them since not all the pretzels wanted to stay in one piece and would snap as they were being pushed into the marshmallow.  Fortunately most of them decided to snap at a reasonable length and therefore could be used to make another pop.

Then Sheri melted the chocolate and began dipping the marshmallowed end of the pretzels in.  Now a tip to anyone who wants to try this, make sure the chocolate is well melted! If it isn't the marshmallow gets kinda stuck and the pretzel will break!

The chocolated coated marshmallow pops were than quickly handed to the girls who rolled them in a variety of sprinkles. The girls discovered that patting the marshmallows in the sprinkles worked better to fully coat them then actually rolling them, this is also important to note if you are interested in making you own. The newly covered pops where then placed back on the wax paper to dry. 

After about 30 mins. the chocolate had hardened enough to wrap them up in plastic wrap and get them ready for the festival.

Don't they look wonderful? So be sure to come by the festival and get some! Make sure you come early or they'll all be gone! If you happen to see Sheri be sure to tell her thank you. The children definitely appreciate the time and effort she put in to helping them make these wonderful creations for their event! Thanks again Sheri!

So every once in a while I would like to acknowledge someone that has gone out of their way to help out a local school. If you know someone, and would like to have me interview them for a Spotlight email me at aimeelavalle@gmail.com

Want an Easy Way to Donate to Schools?

People always say that they want to help but they don't have the time or resources well here's another way you can help with just a few clicks.  No need to even leave your computer area, much less your house, and it won't cost you anything but a few moments of your time: Ok, so Bing is continuing its effort to help out schools. It has launched it's $1 Million Dollar Giving Challenge.  From now til January 15, 2011, Bing wants to donate $1 Million Dollars to schools. How do you help? Easy. Go to: $1 Million Dollar Giving Challenge,  click on the click here button (it's orange you can't miss it)  Scroll down past the pictures and click on the Help Now link. A nice little window then pops up that gives you the choice of having Bing donate $1 on your behalf to donorschoose.org, or you can choose to make Bing your home page and you will recieve a donation code for $5 to use at donorschoose.org. Simple easy and no money out of your pocket. Plus no need to even leave your house.   

San Gorgonio Middle School Dickens Festival and "Scrooge a Christmas Carol"

If you've been reading my post 60 potholders in 60 days, then you're well aware of the Dickens Festival that San Gorgonio Middle School will be holding. Well I now have definite dates and times. So if your in the Beaumont, Ca, area, be sure to stop in and show you support for one of your local schools. They will have food, crafts, and much more.  The Dickens Festival itself is open from 6-8 on December 3rd and noon to 6 on December 4th. The play "Scrooge a Christmas Carol" will be performed at 7pm on the 3rd and at 2pm and 5pm on the 4th. Hope to see you there!