Friday, June 26, 2009

Yo, Yo-yo.

One Pretty Thing (my all time favorite website: www.oneprettything.com) featured this totally adorable bracelet a few weeks ago. It looked so fun and simple that I had to try it.

Zakka Life (http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-make-fabric-yo-yo-bracelet.html) posted a fantastic tutorial for this project.

So, I looked through my scraps of fabric and found this really fun yellow banding with bright blue and red flowers. I thought that, all yo-yo'd up, it would be really fun and look nice with a lot of different outfits. Slightly harder was finding the buttons (I really need to get a stockpile of buttons. I wonder if I can find jars of old buttons at antique stores?? Hmm....I smell an antiquing trip!).

This is how it turned out!



It was suggested to make eight yo-yos to fit around the wrist. I don't know if I have tiny wrists or what, but, as you can see, it was really about two yo-yos too big.



When I finished this bracelet I knew that I had to give it to my darling Traci. She has to wear black at work all the time and this is just the thing to put some zing in an all black outfit.

Seriously, I did this in a morning...less than 2 hours worth of awesome crafting. This has so many possibilities...different buttons...fabrics...threads...so awesome.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Wiggle, little Caterpillar!


The other day we were bored. It was rainy and we needed a craft. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, I have to use what I have on hand for crafting. I didn't have much...but I did have markers, egg cartons, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.

PERFECT FOR CATERPILLARS!



This was SO easy. I thought that this sort of craft was sort-of "standard", but the kids are showing them off to everyone and people keep saying, "Woah, that's so creative! I would have never thought of this." hm.

So I cut the top off an egg carton and then cut it in half. The kids colored their caterpillar sections and then I poked holes for them to stick in pipe cleaner legs and antenna.

Then they stuck on their googly eyes. I'm tellin' ya, these kids went nuts over this. Who would have thought? They made them crawl all over the house, they showed them to all their friends, they named them. It was awesome. And easy. You should try it!

Friday, June 12, 2009

A bit of Bubbly?

I found an awesome experiment. The thing about this experiment is that pretty much every kid in the history of kids has done this...but I never did. So it totally rocked for all participants.

PLUS, this was SUPER easy.

Here's how it's done:

Jar (baby food jars are about the perfect size)
Vinegar (enough to fill half of the jar)
1 tsp. baking soda
3-4 drops food coloring
2-3 drops liquid dish soap

I filled each jar for the kids and let them mix in the food coloring of their choice and the dish soap. Then they dumped in the baking soda and...woosh! It all came bubbling out the top. It was awesome.



And, of course, we can't just let that be good enough. We had to mix and stir and fester it all so the explosions lasted longer and got bigger.
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This was a way fun activity to do and, since each of my boys had to do three colors each, it took a good 45 minutes. Perfect for a rainy morning!

*NOTE: I had them conduct their experiments on baking trays. It made clean up a breeze with a rinse off in the sink.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

I'm such a Lush




I've found it. Natural, good-for-me soaps, hair care and moisturizer. It's amazing.

Lush, which is very popular in Europe and Canada, is finally making a huge presence here in the States and there's actually a store at my local mall (I can't even tell you how amazing that is).

Everything basically smells like nature and it's so wonderful and nice. The best part, though, is that I can read and understand every ingredient used. It's so earthy and actually real. It's amazing. And they have vegan options, you know, if you swing that way.

Bonus: Lush products are also beautiful in that natural way. I can't say enough about their products. *sigh* I just smelled myself. It was amazing.

Check it out: www.lushusa.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Delish



A couple weeks ago, my dear friend Traci and I had a dinner party with some very cool gals (and my Other). We made this amazing lasagna (which I've never made before) and cheater tiramisu cake. It was delish.

Basically all this cake consists of is a boxed cake mix (I told you...cheater cake!) soaked in super strong coffee and then layered with a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, powder sugar and whipped cream. The recipe called for "whipped topping", but that stuff scares me. And then you grate all the chocolate you can handle and layer it up! It was SO good.

I tried to make it again for Easter, but forgot the chocolate. Woops! It was alright, but not nearly as good as the first time.

And how about those flowers? That's a super easy arrangement to make. Just get the little carnation bouquets from the grocery and a pretty bowl. Cut the stems so they will lay nice in the bowl and just pile them in! Traci still has it (2 weeks later!) and it still looks beautiful.

Next post? Probably my DUCKLINGS! Wee!!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Centerpieces


I've been asked to make centerpieces for Easter Sunday breakfast at my church. I'm really excited about it, but don't have a whole lot of money to spend. My initial thought was to do something with flowers, but that can add up quickly, even if it's just carnations. But then I found this pinwheel creation.

I like the way she's done hers and I think I can modify it to be more Easterish. I'm planning a trip to Hobby Lobby to find some double-sided springy scrapbook paper to make the pin wheel and the base with. And then I'll fill the cups with Robin Eggs (you know, those malt ball candies!).

It will probably be super cute and I'm way excited about it. I'll take pictures and post the results!

Monday, March 23, 2009

A New Home




Monty found this woolly little critter in Grandma's yard the other day and, of course, it had to be adopted as a pet. I didn't want the poor thing to die and I thought it would be pretty neat if Monty could see it transform into an Isabella Tiger Moth (I did my research!), so I decided to build a small habitat for it. I did this on Tuesday of last week and it's still alive, so I think I'm safe posting this and saying it will work.

I used an old plastic fish tank with a lid on it. It's pretty good sized, probably 12 inches by 6 inches and about 8 inches high. I found a special little spot next to the barn that had several different types of lawn weeds (clover, grass along with two other annoying plants that people spend a lot of money to get rid of...not us, though, we welcome lawn weeds!). I wanted to give Wing-o (that's the caterpillar's name) a variety of plants to much on. I dug down about three inches so the roots would have some dirt to live on. I placed the hunk of lawn in my container, gave it some water and found a couple of sticks in the yard.

Wing-o's new home is now on Monty's dresser and he's very proud of keeping him safe at night. And that, my friends, is how to create a caterpillar habitat for a 3 year old!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Spring! (kinda)


I've started my lettuce garden! Lettuce is a cool weather crop, but due to Indiana having crazy snow storms in April and the fact that there is about 9 feet of M U D everywhere, I was unable to start my lettuce garden in the beautiful garden box that Other built.

However, with the handy help of a 3 year old and some egg cartons, we're starting the garden in the house. I received some seeds from an amazing gardener. He said "It's lettuce." I have no idea what kind, other than the romaine strips that he gave me. Romaine seeds often come embedded in these clothy-papery strips. I planted them in the top part of the egg carton.

Once my seedlings are big enough and I'm sure it won't snow again, I'll transplant them into their proper home. The best part about lettuce is that it's great early in the spring, but gets very bitter during the summer. I'll rip it out come June, plant some corn and green beans, and then rip those out in late September and plant some fall lettuce to have all the way through November (snow pending, of course!).

We'll see how it works! I, and my tortoise, are ready for some fresh lettuce!

Friday, March 13, 2009

RRR


I've had a blessing of an amazing idea come over me and I must share it! This could already be happening, and if it is then awesome! If not, I hope I can start a little trend.

The idea? RRR.

Triple R.

Relax. Read. Recycle.

I love to read, and I read a lot. Therefore, I have quite an accumulation of books. However, unless a book is really really good, I usually only read a book once.

So, my dear friend Traci is going to help me with my glorious idea. We're hosting a party. Everyone invited brings a book that they already own and have already read. Each book, upon arrival, is numbered. Everyone present draws a number and finds the matching book and takes that book home to enjoy themselves.

It's a win-win situation! You would be able to enjoy a wonderful evening with friends who enjoy reading. You would get rid of a book you may never read again. You would get a great new book that one of your fantastic friends enjoyed (so you'll probably enjoy it, too!). PLUS it's the ultimate form of recycling. After all, who can bear to throw away a book...or even put it in the recycle bin? No. Way.

Now, I've been an active participant for years in passing books along. I've given away and received several books...I'm just going to make a party out of it. A Triple R party!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Snake Made Us Do It


Sometimes my family makes me smile just because they are there. Other times, my family makes me smile because of the hilarious antics that happen in my home.

The other night, for example...

Monty needed some help in the bathroom. As he was sitting on the pot, he looks up at Other and says:

"So, Dad...can you tell me the history of snakes?"

That's right. The history of snakes. I was in the living room and I overheard this conversation, which made me laugh. A lot.

After much laughter, Other debated on what to tell him. I decided to inform him of the Christian creation story, much embellished (to tell you the truth, I practically turned Adam and Eve into Superheros with God being the Superhero mastermind. It was genius.)

So once creation was explained, I got to the snake part.

Long sigh from Monty.

"Finally...you're to the snake part."

That's right. He sighed at my awesome story. All the kid wanted to hear about was snakes. He was totally serious about it. Turns out, he really just wanted to hear about the different kinds of snakes and which ones have poison. Then Other and I had a debate about the most poisonous snake in the world.

Other says water moccasins.

I say King Cobra.

I'll Google this.

In crafting/baking news: nothing is new. I have a rockin' turtle stool waiting for a cushy cover (but I can't find the staple gun). I've done several baking creations, but always forget to take pictures. Sad.

I'll have something soon.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What's Boston good for?


Boston Cream Pie. Mmmm.....

I found these delicious little cupcakes in Martha Stewart's magazine and I had to give them a try. I made them for a function for our middle school youth group at church...and they loved them. (Which is good...I thought they might be a little too much for them and they wouldn't appreciate my hard work. But they did.)

You can find the recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/boston-cream-pie-cupcakes

I've always had issues with gnashe glaze. It just doesn't work out for me. However, I had to kind-of make up my own recipe. I didn't have any heavy cream, so I just used milk. I actually like this a lot better. It didn't seem to be quite as runny and it got harder (but not too hard) quickly. It made for the perfect topping for these individual little cream pies.

The recipe as a whole was very simple to make. I put everything together from start to finish in a matter of a few hours, which worked well while doing laundry, tending children, etc.

Monday, February 2, 2009

This will probably come out wrong.


So I've been doing some late-night blog reading lately about people and their travels through life. These people are strong...they are blogging about losing their children and how these experiences have made them more understanding, more blessed people. And it makes me feel guilty.
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I told you this would come out wrong.
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I feel guilty that I have two perfect, beautiful children. They are full of personality and life and love. And it makes me think...How did I ever ever ever get so lucky? Why have these other good people had to lose so much? And could I ever do that?
I don't know.
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This was my initial response to all of my reading. Guilt. Then I got to thinking about it. I think that the real crime comes when parents look at the smile of their baby and don't realize how amazing that is. The true guilt should be put on the shoulders of people who have children and don't see that they are a little person...don't see that as important.
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So I've concluded that the lesson to be learned from this online community is to feel that pain of what could have been, but to be thankful, not guilty, for what has been given. Feel the wonder of parenthood. See the magic of your children.
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This post may be a little...I don't know...sappy...lame...whatever. But I had to get it off my chest. I actually cried while reading about the lives of people I'll never know. And that, my friends, is the amazing part of being a human being.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Onion Soup



Yes, I know...I know....it's been forever. I had my Internet taken away and now I have it back again, for good this time (cheer!).

I've been busy. So busy, in fact, that I also haven't had time to post on my blog and I also haven't taken pictures of the amazing things I've been doing.

My newest adventure is bread baking. I'm doing pretty well so far. I've tried three different recipes and I simply love it. All of it. The smell. The kneading. The eating.

Which is what inspired the above picture. Onion soup. Beautiful Traci decided she needed it one evening. I don't really enjoy French Onion Soup, but every now and then it's alright. Plus, I had a few pieces of home made bread that were perfect for it. And, let me tell you, I make a mean French Onion Soup. If you're nice and ask I'll make it for you sometime.

It had like an infinity of cheese on it. Good cheese, too. Oh it was delicious.

Up next: a turtle plant stand that I'm turning into a stool for Monty; baby shoes; cake!