Mama’s Kitchen – Page 38 – Pollywog's Place Blog

DIY Walk-In Pantry Makeover #2

Published on December 9, 2023September 15, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog8 Comments

Hey, ya’ll! It’s been a bit busy around here with this pantry makeover. I know I’ve mentioned it a few times but I haven’t really posted many pictures because it wasn’t really to the point that I was quite loving it.

How many times does it take to get a pantry just right?

Well, after seven days and about seven different configurations, I think I have it where I ~~like~~ LOVE it. The best part is that this isn’t permanent(although it could be) and it would be a great option for anyone renting or just needing something temporary. It has definitely brought things to my attention and helped me create a better flow for our kitchen areas. Here is the post about my original DIY Pantry that I have been missing!

Here is the best picture I have of where we started from:

It worked but it wasn’t the best use of space and I just wasn’t happy with it. We have a second refrigerator to the left of this picture and I really didn’t like it being in that area.

We had drawn up some ideas to build a room here to use as a walk-in pantry but we decided that we needed to do some other projects before we do this so I needed to do something very budget-friendly as Christmas is coming up soon too! I’ll post links for the supplies at the end of the post.

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Cocoa and Cookies

Published on December 8, 2023December 11, 2023 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

It’s that time of year when the cooler weather seems to make us crave some hot cocoa. We have set up our ‘Beverage Station’ at home and the kids asked for cocoa. It just happened that we had some packets in the cupboard so I added them to the assortment of things they could choose from along with some marshmallows in a jar for them to use.

These recipes would be great for taking along with you on a car ride to look at Christmas lights. Many of them could even be used to make Gifts in a Jar to give away for the holidays. These would even be good to sip and snack on while snuggled up with your favorite book on a cold winter evening… mmmm.

You can create some really wonderful memories with your kiddos or grandkids as well by letting them help to make cookies and cocoa… these would be memories that stick with them!

Here are some of our All-Time Favorite cocoa recipes:

Cocoa In A Crockpot

Hot Cocoa (Powdered)

Single-Serve Hot Cocoa

The Best Hot Cocoa

You could easily replace the sugar with another sweetener if you are trying to eat healthier.

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Update with more pictures! Preparing for Christmas… St. Nicholas, Gifts in a Jar, and so much more!

Published on December 5, 2023February 22, 2024 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog5 Comments

We’ve had a busy weekend… well, I have. I’ve been working on my pantry makeover and I’ve completely moved things around 3 times already! I will post pictures as soon as I have it the way I like it but it is an improvement already and I think it makes better use of the breakfast nook space that just didn’t work for us.

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Getting Ready for the Holidays Week 8 (3 Weeks Before Christmas)

Published on December 4, 2023September 16, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog5 Comments

This week we will be having our St. Nicholas Day celebration and putting up our Christmas tree and Winter decor so those will be our main focus but we also have our annual Polar Express party coming up so we will be focusing some attention on that as well. Here are some of the things that we will be working on this week:

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Holiday Planning Progress

Published on December 1, 2023November 29, 2023 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

How is everyone doing? I hope we all made it through Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday without any serious damage. I also hope everyone has a good plan to get through the next month… we have definitely had some unexpected challenges around here like my oven and some sickness but we will survive!

We’ve been enjoying our Advent Study by Amanda Bennett with the lap book and other Christmas activities that we have been doing. The kids have been reading ‘A Christmas Carol’** aloud and doing a unit study** that goes along with it and we plan to watch the movie when we finish the book. **You can find the unit study HERE.

So far this week we have been able to gather all of our notes, menus, and lists from Thanksgiving to add to our Holiday Planner. We have put away the Thanksgiving folder and have pulled out our Polar Express folder, St. Nicholas Day notes, and of course our Christmas. I also probably need to pull out the New Year’s folder too but I haven’t just yet.

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