I know; I'm having my doubts, too. Yet I'll admit; it looks mighty tempting! Check out the written instructions below!:



Step 1: Put ingredients in smaller bag
Put the milk and sugar in the quart-sized bag and seal it. For vanilla ice cream, add vanilla extract; for chocolate ice cream, add cocoa powder. Throw in a quarter of a cup of chocolate or butterscotch chips if you like.

TIP: Experiment with other varieties by using ½ to 1 tsp. of flavored syrups like strawberry or caramel or extracts like lemon or almond.

Step 2: Make an ice bag
Put the ice and the salt in the gallon-sized bag.

Step 3: Put small bag inside big one
Put the smaller bag inside the bigger bag and seal it.

Step 4: Shake it
Shake the larger bag vigorously for seven to 10 minutes.

TIP: Wear winter gloves while you shake; the bag is cold!

Step 5: Enjoy
Remove the small bag, which now contains ice cream. Snip a hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze it into a dish. Makes one serving.

Have a look at this party. You think you know who's designed it, don't you? Could your first guess be Martha, perhaps? WRONG! Looks like Amy of Eat, Drink, Chic is giving Ms. Stewart a run for her money -- buffet style. How lovely is this ice cream party, complete with DIY-inspired tutorials, printables and adorable personal touches? I'd love to throw a similar occasion to welcome in the fall, with a different color scheme but the same chic style! Amazing!

I'd include fall-inspired M&M's with autumn colors like orange, red, brown and yellow, chocolate ice cream, chocolate sprinkles and the like. Wowza. That sounds so good just typing it all out! I doubt it would be as pretty as Amy's party, but at least it would taste luscious!

For more party-inspired ideas, why not check out a few other inspired ideas from DIY Life?:
-How to Host a Progressive Dinner Party
-Daily DIY: Green Your Child's Birthday Party

Who says ice cream is just a summer treat? Certainly not my husband, who loves to eat a big bowl of ice cream every night. It can be snowing, wind blowing and 5 degrees outside, but that doesn't matter to him. He just really loves his ice cream.

I have never made homemade ice cream, though I think I will try now, since I found some neat homemade ice cream in a bag recipes at Kaboose. All you need is a pint size Ziploc bag, a gallon size Ziploc bag, milk or half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, rock salt, ice cubes and a child who is willing to shake the bags for 5 minutes. Okay, so you don't need the child, but let them get in on the fun too!

I think experimentation is the key here, but only try different flavors once you get the hang of the shake down and perfect ice cream is made at every attempt. I love chocolate mint, so that would be my first try, after I tried Kaboose's ice cream recipe for my husband, of course! What homemade ice cream recipes have you tried? Please feel free to share them in the comments.

Last week, I made a little post called Pottercraft, which some of you seemed to like. But no sooner had the post gone up than I discovered a whole new cache of Harry Potter-related projects to delight and amuse... or bemuse, depending on your personal feelings about rampant fandom.

Many of the following projects were found on Instructables, and most are costume-related. A few are quite technical. While it's too late to work them up for a book release party, you can still get a head start on a cool Halloween costume or a present for your favorite Potter fan. There's also a contest where you can vote for your favorites (though not, alas, SophieAngele's dragon wheelchair, which she posted on Craftster).

Join me after the break for more wizardry!