Thursday, July 28, 2011

Made in the Shade: My DIY Kid Play Tent

A few months ago I saw a few different designs for kid reading tents floating around on Pinterest. I love the idea of a little reading spot or shade nook. I wanted it to be super portable, though so I could take it to the beach, park or grandparents house. I tried a couple different ways to make them and ended up with this final design:

I love it because it is super portable, sets up in less than 3 minutes, and doesn't take up much room to store.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

DIY Ginger Syrup for homemade soda

My family has been trying to find healthier alternatives to traditional soda. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is not only horrible for you, but almost all of it is made from genetically modified corn - which we oppose on moral grounds. Plus drinking lots of extra calories is bad for you. Diet sodas aren't too much better. And with all the hub-bub going around about caramel coloring causing cancer, it's enough to make you give up soda altogether.

Except I'm addicted. I think it's the bubbles. I find plain club soda has a weird bitter taste so I still need it flavored somehow. And it needs to be inexpensive.

I've seen a few recipes for infused syrups that you can use to make homemade sodas floating around online about thought I'd give it a shot.  I love that I have 100% control over what goes into it and it's not pricey! It turned out pretty tasty, too, if I do say so myself. Plus I think it makes a fun inexpensive gift. So without further ado...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Pop-Mania Part 2: Blueberry Lemon Pops

The Pacific Northwest heat wave has waned quite a bit but nobody needs to twist my arm to eat tasty frozen treats! These pops turned out tasty and creamy with a bright lemony flavor that I love.

Tasty Pop Flavor #2: Blueberry Lemon pops

Blueberry Lemon Pop Recipe:
  • 1 box vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 cups of milk
  • 1 cup vanilla flavored whole milk yogurt (I used Stonyfield)
  • 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Monday, July 11, 2011

Mr. Mustachio

I love a good mustache on a kiddo. We did mustachio Valentine's Day cards this year and when I found out the my friend, Patti's, new baby is going to be a boy I wanted to help spread the mustachey love with....

Mustache Binkies!

They were super simple. Some brown craft foam, some mustache shapes from the internet, some glue. Slap it on some brand new binkies and you have a super cute baby fashion statement. 


Kaypha is nearing the end of his use of the binky (hopefully!) but I made one for him using an old binky so he could model it for us:

Friday, July 8, 2011

Pop-Mania Part 1: PiƱa Colada Pudding Pops

It's been warming up here in Oregon. I'm a classic Pacific Northwest girl: I start to melt once it gets above 85. So in preparation of our heat wave (stop laughing...I realize that's about 20 degrees shy of what constitutes a heat wave where some of you are from) I've been experimenting in the kitchen to develop some tasty frozen concoctions to help us make it through some hot days without air conditioning.

Tasty Pop Flavor #1: PiƱa Colada Pudding pops


PiƱa Colada Pop Recipe:
  • 1 box vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 1/4 cups of milk
  • 1 can of pineapple chunks
  • 1/2 cup Cream of Coconut

Thursday, July 7, 2011

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This is the first year I've really gotten serious about doing a garden journal. I've been taking pictures of my garden in progress to put together into a photo book at the end of the season. I've also been labeling some of the photos with what kinds of seeds I used so I can keep track of which things are doing well.  The first one I did of my plants in May looks like this:


If you save your layers in photoshop and keep standing in about the same place, you can drop a new pictures in every so often and just make minor adjustments to make sure the arrows are still pointing at the right plants. I love watching the progress of how things are growing.


Here are some progress pics of my front planter (One pic for each month. Also, if you'll remember, it used to look like this!)



Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Fourth!

This year is just flying by! I feel like I just brought my little man home from the hospital a few weeks ago and now this week he has launched himself into full-fledged toddlerhood by walking all by himself. Everywhere. Proud of you, little guy!

Speaking of letting the year get away from me, I finally finished my Fourth of July / Summer wreath for our front door last night.  I saw an idea that I loved over at Pickup Some Creativity and ran with it. I already had an identical wreath form from the Dollar Tree so I picked up some material to make the bunting (I didn't have much in the way of red, white or blue scraps). I didn't pink the edges because simply by cutting the fabric on the bias, you keep it from unraveling.  I cut out three different sizes of pennants and sandwiched them into some double fold bias tape. I added a little chalkboard hanging from red ribbon and covered my front door's wreath hanger with red ribbon for festive flair.


Friday, July 1, 2011

Recipe Review: Spinach & Artichoke Pizza

I was cruising Pinterest last week and saw this amazing looking recipe: Creamy Spinach and Artichoke pizza from The Sweets Life. Just like the ooey gooey dip but reinvented into a healthier (way lower fat) form. Plus I thought it would be a great way to use up my ready-to-harvest spinach in my front garden. Turned out pretty tasty. Check it out:

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Made in the Shade: My DIY Kid Play Tent

A few months ago I saw a few different designs for kid reading tents floating around on Pinterest. I love the idea of a little reading spot or shade nook. I wanted it to be super portable, though so I could take it to the beach, park or grandparents house. I tried a couple different ways to make them and ended up with this final design:

I love it because it is super portable, sets up in less than 3 minutes, and doesn't take up much room to store.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

DIY Ginger Syrup for homemade soda

My family has been trying to find healthier alternatives to traditional soda. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is not only horrible for you, but almost all of it is made from genetically modified corn - which we oppose on moral grounds. Plus drinking lots of extra calories is bad for you. Diet sodas aren't too much better. And with all the hub-bub going around about caramel coloring causing cancer, it's enough to make you give up soda altogether.

Except I'm addicted. I think it's the bubbles. I find plain club soda has a weird bitter taste so I still need it flavored somehow. And it needs to be inexpensive.

I've seen a few recipes for infused syrups that you can use to make homemade sodas floating around online about thought I'd give it a shot.  I love that I have 100% control over what goes into it and it's not pricey! It turned out pretty tasty, too, if I do say so myself. Plus I think it makes a fun inexpensive gift. So without further ado...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Pop-Mania Part 2: Blueberry Lemon Pops

The Pacific Northwest heat wave has waned quite a bit but nobody needs to twist my arm to eat tasty frozen treats! These pops turned out tasty and creamy with a bright lemony flavor that I love.

Tasty Pop Flavor #2: Blueberry Lemon pops

Blueberry Lemon Pop Recipe:
  • 1 box vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 cups of milk
  • 1 cup vanilla flavored whole milk yogurt (I used Stonyfield)
  • 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Monday, July 11, 2011

Mr. Mustachio

I love a good mustache on a kiddo. We did mustachio Valentine's Day cards this year and when I found out the my friend, Patti's, new baby is going to be a boy I wanted to help spread the mustachey love with....

Mustache Binkies!

They were super simple. Some brown craft foam, some mustache shapes from the internet, some glue. Slap it on some brand new binkies and you have a super cute baby fashion statement. 


Kaypha is nearing the end of his use of the binky (hopefully!) but I made one for him using an old binky so he could model it for us:

Friday, July 8, 2011

Pop-Mania Part 1: PiƱa Colada Pudding Pops

It's been warming up here in Oregon. I'm a classic Pacific Northwest girl: I start to melt once it gets above 85. So in preparation of our heat wave (stop laughing...I realize that's about 20 degrees shy of what constitutes a heat wave where some of you are from) I've been experimenting in the kitchen to develop some tasty frozen concoctions to help us make it through some hot days without air conditioning.

Tasty Pop Flavor #1: PiƱa Colada Pudding pops


PiƱa Colada Pop Recipe:
  • 1 box vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 1/4 cups of milk
  • 1 can of pineapple chunks
  • 1/2 cup Cream of Coconut

Thursday, July 7, 2011

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This is the first year I've really gotten serious about doing a garden journal. I've been taking pictures of my garden in progress to put together into a photo book at the end of the season. I've also been labeling some of the photos with what kinds of seeds I used so I can keep track of which things are doing well.  The first one I did of my plants in May looks like this:


If you save your layers in photoshop and keep standing in about the same place, you can drop a new pictures in every so often and just make minor adjustments to make sure the arrows are still pointing at the right plants. I love watching the progress of how things are growing.


Here are some progress pics of my front planter (One pic for each month. Also, if you'll remember, it used to look like this!)



Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Fourth!

This year is just flying by! I feel like I just brought my little man home from the hospital a few weeks ago and now this week he has launched himself into full-fledged toddlerhood by walking all by himself. Everywhere. Proud of you, little guy!

Speaking of letting the year get away from me, I finally finished my Fourth of July / Summer wreath for our front door last night.  I saw an idea that I loved over at Pickup Some Creativity and ran with it. I already had an identical wreath form from the Dollar Tree so I picked up some material to make the bunting (I didn't have much in the way of red, white or blue scraps). I didn't pink the edges because simply by cutting the fabric on the bias, you keep it from unraveling.  I cut out three different sizes of pennants and sandwiched them into some double fold bias tape. I added a little chalkboard hanging from red ribbon and covered my front door's wreath hanger with red ribbon for festive flair.


Friday, July 1, 2011

Recipe Review: Spinach & Artichoke Pizza

I was cruising Pinterest last week and saw this amazing looking recipe: Creamy Spinach and Artichoke pizza from The Sweets Life. Just like the ooey gooey dip but reinvented into a healthier (way lower fat) form. Plus I thought it would be a great way to use up my ready-to-harvest spinach in my front garden. Turned out pretty tasty. Check it out:

 
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