Does this count as a Craft Fail?

A couple months ago a blogged about how I made a book box for my son. To decorate it a bit, I wrapped some leftover black yarn around the top of the box.  Apparently what I saw as decoration, my son saw as "leash." I was working the kitchen the other day and turned around and saw this:

Lesson learned: Firmly secure all decorative items before putting them anywhere near a toddler.

Apple Cinnamon French Toast (Visually)

I've been on a warm fall foods kick in our house. Last weekend it was baby cinnamon rolls. This week it's Apple Cinnamon French Toast.  The apple flavor is subtle but a great way to gussy up the french toast if you aren't normally a fan of the whole grain flavor.

If you prefer your recipes in standard layouts that are easier to read (or print), this recipe has also been posted on BakeSpace here. If you are a newbie or just like watching the process, read on!

How to Make Baby Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday I told you about getting to meet Heather from Dollar Store Crafts at the premiere party for her new show, Get a Little Creative. And as you all know....a party isn't a party without great food!  The night before the party, I was stressing a little about what to bring because I needed to bring something either awesomely creative or super tasty....but I had no time to invest in making something awe-inspiring. I didn't have time to run to the store, either, which meant I needed to come up with something great using items I already had on hand. A tall order!

I remembered I had a roll of low fat crescent roll dough in the fridge and with some pantry staples figured I could gussy them up a bit to make something. A little of this and a little of that and these babies were born. And boy were they awesome!  They turned out even better than I had hoped. Plus they were easy and quick to make. I'm sure they will be making appearances at future potlucks and fall food events this year!

Get a Little Creative Premiere Party

Have you heard about My Craft Channel's line up of new shows this fall? They have about a dozen shows that have a brand new webisode each week. This is is the same place that The DIY Dish girls have their show (love them!).

So in addition to getting more of Kris and Kim (that would be the DIY Dish girls), I'm excited about a brand new show called Get a Little Creative. Jennifer Hadfield (of Tatertots and Jello), Heather Mann (of Dollar Store Crafts) and Becky Farrant (of Infarrantly Creative) highlight projects from different bloggers as well as share tutorials, food, holiday inspiration and more. In a word: this show is going to be full of Awesomeness.

So to celebrate the kick off of Get a Little Creative, I was invited to the Portland premiere party hosted by Heather and her mom, Kathy. My little guy had fun playing with her three little guys while the grown ups got to play with fun craft supplies that Heather brought back from her adventure in New York filming for the Martha Stewart show. We made cards and bookmarks and buntings and I made a little coin purse out of fun patterned duct tape, too. Crafty times were had by all. PLUS I got to meet celebrity craft blogger, Heather Mann in real life (I may be having a bit of a fan girl moment here).

Highchair Re-Do

Back before Kaypha was even a twinkle in my eye, we decided we wanted to get a high chair to have at home so that when our friends who did have kids came over for dinner their kids would have somewhere to sit. We were lucky to be able to get a highchair off of Freecycle:

It's used and while it's not super stylish, it did a great job. When my cousin moved to town, though, we let her take it and after a year and a half of daily use, it's falling apart. The vinyl is worn (that's not glare in the picture...the light spots are where the color has rubbed off), hard and crunchy and cracking.

It's gotten so bad that her daughter had to sit on top of a towel on the cracked cover to keep from cutting up or irritating her legs. That's no good. So I took it home and decided I'd try to make a new cover.  I think it turned out alright

The fabric is way cuter at any rate.  Here's how I did it:

Pro Tip of the Week: How to do Matts for Your Framed Art on the Cheap

I was cruising the entries for Crafting with the Stars (which you can enter to compete in through Thursday, September 15th....so make sure you crafty types go check out that link!) and saw this great tip from Kari over at The Sunset Lane.

She writes:
I love a good matted picture and frame, but sometimes they are so expensive!  I sometimes just buy a cheap frame and matte and spray paint them to black frames and white matte.  But, I had quite a collection of frames with no mattes. So, I made my own :)

You know what the best part is? You can buy the big posterboard you need to do this at the Dollar Store and it's enough for several frames. Which means you can matt your photos for about $0.33 (or less!) instead of for $5 or more that you'd spend on pre-made frames.

Check out Kari's tutorial here.

Be a Breakfast Time Hero: Strawberry Yogurt Waffle Stack Recipe

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls on behalf of Dannon. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program but my opinions are my own.

For more information and recipe ideas, visit www.oikosyogurt.com or www.Facebook.com/oikos. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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It's coming. The cool nights are setting in. The clouds are coming back. The corn stalks are drying up. Just this week you could start to feel the first hints of fall in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to all of the fabulous things that fall brings: deep jewel tones, scarves, crunchy leaves, the last of the fresh produce, warm cinnamon scents, beautiful scenery....I know for a lot of you, it's also bringing school: which in my house means a panic about what to feed everyone as life gets busy again.

This is the Blueberry 'fruit on the bottom' kind - yum!

This week I was given an opportunity to try Dannon's new Oikos® Greek yogurt. I'd tried a different brand of Greek yogurt at my sister's house a few months back, but this stuff was way better. It was super thick and creamy - like the yogurt equivalent of super premium ice cream. You know....the kind of thing that you're sure has a ba-jillion grams of fat and might make you gain 5 pounds just by thinking about it. What's amazing, though is that is fat free. I'm told that's because Dannon® Oikos® is created through an authentic Greek straining process which gives it a rich and creamy-thick texture. Straining out the extra whey is what keeps more milk solids and gives it that awesome texture without the fat. The texture reminds me of something that's a hybrid between cream cheese and standard issue runnier yogurt. The thicker texture also conveniently sticks to little spoons so my one year old with only budding silverware skills can eat it with way less mess.

Not only is this yogurt pretty fabulous by itself, but I think you could definitely go a long way with this as a recipe ingredient or maybe even a condiment. Oikos® is so thick and creamy, that you could spread it on your bagel instead of strawberrry cream cheese for all the flavor but none of the fat. And it was exactly that thought that inspired my recipe below. It is super fast and easy to make, is packed with protein and is low in fat. I personally think it would be a great way to start your day on your way out the door to work or school.


Dannon is also offering a coupon to try this yogurt for free! (we all know that's my favorite price). Head over to their Facebook page to 'like' them and grab the coupon.(update: It appears this current promotion was so popular they have run out of coupons. If you visit the page, you can still click the link to get a coupon for the Stonyfield Oikos and by liking the page you'll be able to find out about new coupon offers they have in the future)

Strawberry Yogurt Waffle Stack

Ingredients 

2 Frozen Waffles (I used multigrain waffles from Trader Joe's)

1 container Strawberry flavored  Dannon® Oikos® greek yogurt

2 or more strawberries, washed and sliced

How to be a Breakfast Hero in Less Than 5 Minutes

Battle of the Zucchini Fries

My sister is out of town for a couple weeks and has asked me to take care of her garden while she's away. Since she'll be gone for a while, she's also said that I can have any produce that ripens while she's gone. So far, while gone, her garden has produced two MOSTER sized zucchinis. No joke. These things are practically the size of my one year old:

I put out a cry on Facebook for good zucchini recipe suggestions as my main go-to recipes for zucchini aside from dunking raw pieces into ranch dip are Angel Hair Primavera and Antipasto Pizza....and I've got about 8 times as much zucchini as either of those recipes needs. When my cousin suggested frying it, I was reminded of some zucchini fry recipes I'd seen on pinterest and thought I'd try something like that. When I ran out of bread crumbs half way though making the baked fries, I thought I'd try frying some up as well and Battle of the Zucchini Fries was on!

Panda Pancakes!

I've been seeing pictures floating around pinterest of some awesome pancake art. Most of them are from Jim's Pancakes - who has brought pancaking to an art form. Amazing stuff. Check it out if you are looking for awesome pancake inspiration!

I'd had the idea in my head to do panda pancakes for a while. I tried the "blob" technique where I just blobbed the batter onto the pan, and while it looked okay on the griddle:

It did not look so great when I took it off. So un-great in fact, there is not even photographic evidence of it's existence.

For my next attempt, I decided to try watered down batter in squeeze jars. These turned out much better:

Here is how I did it: