I like CARBS and I cannot lie.

The weather seems unseasonably warm at my house.  All the stores are selling sweaters and warm things to bundle up in while my kids are running around half naked.  I don't mind the warmth, but I am ready to start baking some bread.

Braided Bread recipe from MADE

I invited my friend/neighbor over to learn how to make bread today.  I thought making Dana's braided bread would be a great for her first try.  We made one loaf normal and the other filled with cinnamon sugar.  It is so divine.  If you haven't tried this bread before - go make it right now!

You may be thinking I am obsessed with Made.  The circle skirt yesterday, now bread today.  Blah Blah.  May be I am.  So what?  The bread is good and I like carbs.

Twirl Baby Twirl!

Have you seen Dana's circle skirt tutorial yet?

I think it's awesome.  I read the post in the morning and less than thirty minutes later, Tess had a new skirt.  

I kind of cheated and only serged the hem, but I love it.  

This is the perfect skirt for Tess.  I made the skirt and set it down so I could get Collin dressed.

I heard Tess in the bathroom and asked if she was okay.  She told me not to come in, and that always makes me nervous.  Tess then made a grand entrance dressed in her new skirt all ready for the day.

I need to got pick up more elastic so I can whip up a few more of this for her.

I want to meet a Trader

I love sweets.  This is probably not news to anyone that reads this blog, or actually knows me.

When I was a little girl, I loved when my Dad would bring home this blue tin of butter cookies.

Maybe someone else has had these-

I would only eat the round ones with ridges.  For some reason I thought they tasted the best.  Looking at the tin now, I think they probably all taste the same. 

I still enjoy my self a nice buttery cookie.  My Mom went on a road trip while she was here, and stopped at Trader Joe's.  She brought back these tasty butter cookies for me and the kids.

We had no problems gobbling these up.  

I have never been to a Trader Joe's, but have enjoyed a few things from their store.  

The nearest store to me is located in Las Vegas.  

Have you been to a Trader Joe's?  What do you like there?  

Is the store worth working into my next road trip?

La Photo

I was perusing Poppytalk and found a link to La PhotoCabine.

It is a vintage photobooth.  The kids loved the sound effects and hearing people talk in French.

Check it out for some photo frenzy fun.

Oh, Look at that!

My husband, Mike, jokes that I am a sucker for marketing.

I would have to agree.  I was walking through the produce section at the market and saw this fun kiwi display.  Zespri was giving away these cute spoon-knife utensil.

How could I resist a cute yellow spoon for FREE!

I grabbed four spoons and a few kiwis.  

I don't normally buy kiwi.  The spoon got me, and the marketers won.

Did you know there were gold kiwis?  I didn't.  This one was so juicy and sweet.  This goes along very nicely with Made's Celebrate Yellow!

Davis loved the spoon and couldn't wait to try it out.  After eating a few bites of a kiwi he told me it made his throat tickle.  I told him he didn't have to finish it, but he was still griping about his throat.  All of a sudden he ran to the bathroom and threw up.  He was totally fine before and after.  Weird.  Now he thinks he is allergic to kiwi.  I am allergic to mangos, but I get a rash not an itchy throat.

What do you think?  

lunch

Last night my friend, Rachel, taught me and a few other ladies in the neighborhood how to make pie.

Fresh Peach Pie.

The crust is buttery and flakey like a beautiful pastry.

I am eating it for lunch.  My kids are eating cookies and cream ice cream.

A little notepad

A little while ago, I posted about some notebooks I wanted to make.  I was perusing the school supply section of the store and found these really cute half size index cards.  I thought they were the perfect size for little notebooks.  I gathered up a few other supplies and set out to work.

I followed this tutorial to bind my books together.  They sort of became addicting to make.

Besides the half size index cards, I also used plain white paper, graph paper, some lined paper, and scraps of brown paper bags.  I love the way to graph paper looks in a little book.

I was planning on saving these for Collin's birthday party next month, but the kids were really excited to have one right away.  Tess loved to draw pictures of people.  The girls always have really long eyelashes.

Collin wanted his right away too.

They are the perfect fit for his little paws.  Don't you love baby scribble scrabble?!

Rachel at One Pretty Thing featured another great book binding tutorial.

Last night I couldn't stop thinking about this book from Poppytalk.

I think some handmade journals would make an awesome gift.

Have you made a notebook before?

The Craft In Me

In my effort to bring back the craft in me, I looked around the house to see if there was need for anything.

A few months back we bought a new desk for our computer.  Our mouse doesn't really need a mouse pad, but the desk was getting a little scratched up.  A quick fix to our problem was a piece of construction paper.  It is time for the paper to go.

I have been looking for a stylish mouse pad, and found that it didn't really exist. 

Out of the blue, I had an AHA! moment.  I ran down stairs to my stash of fabric and found a piece of pleather.  The mouse moves nicely over it, but it was sliding all over the desk.  I just happened to have a bunch of left over non-slip shelf liner from another project.

1.  I cut each piece of each material into a 10x10 inch square. 

2.  I set my sewing machine to the longest stitch length and sewed 

them together about 3/4 inch for the outside edge.

**  Stitching them together made the material pucker and do weird things.

I picked out the stitches.

3.  I sewed a border around the pleather to create some detail and 

cover up my original stitches.

4.  I used tacky craft glue to glue the pleather to the non slip liner.

**  I didn't use a hot glue gun because I was worried it would be bumpy.

If you don't like the orange peeking out (I actually do), you could use materials that are the same color.  

Ta Da!  My craft is back.  Ha ha.

Have a great weekend.

Do you

Ever feel like not being crafty?  

I am tempted to lay on the couch and make my kids watch tv with me? 

I think I might be coming down with a cold.  I am so tired lately.  I have gone to bed by 10 o'clock for the last three nights.  That is unprecedented.  

Maybe I need to craft that cold away.  I'm off to make something.  I don't know what, but I will make something.

Photo by: My sister, Noelle, using my camera.

world record breaker

My baby sister, Cherie, is a crack up.  I don't know if she has ever taken a normal picture in her life.

Cherie posted about being a part of a huge water balloon fight, and

a music video.  

 Check out her blog, The Last Abiang Standing, for more videos.

The Diet Coke Lover

Can you tell the difference between caffeinated and caffeine free Diet Coke?  

My Mom is an avid caffeinated Diet Coke drinker.  She was sure she would be able to tell the difference.

Mike put my Mom up to a little taste test challenge.  When everything shook out Steph, my Mom, got them all wrong, and Mike got them all right.  It was pretty funny.

My Mom has spent the last two months with us.  She was supposed to fly home last week, but kindly extended to help me after the dreaded kidney stone fiasco.  The kids and I dropped her off this morning at the airport, and now I have a small emptiness in my heart.  Collin started crying for Grandma when he saw me posting these pictures.  We love you Grandma.  Thanks for all of your help this summer.  Come home soon!

On my mind

Does a butterfly have a simple life?  Do they just fly around from flower to flower?

Today I am thinking about a friend of mine who is starting chemotherapy.  Today I wish she could flutter around happily like a butterfly.

Earring Frame Project {part 2}

 I like the thought of displaying my earrings on a frame for several reasons.

1.  It feels good to organize them.

2.  It's easier to see what you have when you are not rummaging around in a little jewelry box.

3.  I think it can look like art.

This project is super simple.  I tried several different ways to glue this frame together.  I wanted a process that would be easy for anyone to do.  With the brain storming power of my Father-in-law, I give you the best way EVER to make this frame.  

Supplies:

2 Frames

Liquid nails (only a couple of dollars at Home Depot)

Nylon, or aluminum Screen (enough to cover the size of your frames)

Wax paper

A heavy bucket or clamps

Kitchen Sheers

1.  Place your first frame face down on a sheet of wax paper.  Apply Liquid nails glue to back of the frame.  Not inside the glass lip.  I ended up adding more glue than you see in the picture.

2.  Set your screen on top of the frame.

3.  Flip your frame, and screen, over and press into the wax paper.  You have several minutes to work with this glue, so you can move the frame around to get it just right.

4.  Let you glue set overnight to get a good bond.  Peel off the wax paper.  Take your kitchen sheers and trim off an excess screen around the edge of the frame.

5.  Grab your glue and slather it on the back of the frame again.

6.  Set your second frame on so the two are back to back.  The screen should be sandwiched between them.  I could only find one of my claps.  I ended up putting my sugar bucket into a pan, and setting it on top to press the frames together.  This actually worked really well.

I let the frames sit over night to dry.

Wasn't that simple!?

-If you want a super polished look, glue some ribbon around the outside edge of your frames.  Then you won't see the screen peeking out.  

-Would you rather hang your frame?  Use a staple gun and attach some ribbon, in a loop, to one side of the frame.  

-Don't want to paint your own frames?  Find some you like as is at the store.  All my wooden frames were from the Dollar Store.  The green frame, in the pic above, is from Ikea.  If you find frames you love, you are one step quicker in making this project.

Fill your frames and enjoy your earrings.

Earring Frame Project {part 1}

I have been working on this project for several months.  I encountered a couple of hiccups and lost motivation for a little while.  Today I am happy to finally be sharing my earring frame project.

I wanted my first frame to look like the tables at Cafe Rio.  I love all the colors.  If you have never been to a Cafe Rio, I am sorry.  It is truly delicious, and their tables look like my painted frame. ;)

Supplies:

2 Frames 

Pliers

Sand paper

Paint and brushes

Cardboard or newspaper to work on

1.  Take out the glass and back to you frames.  Use pliers to pull out the metal tabs.  Sand your frames a little to rough them up.

2.  Apply a base layer of paint to your frame.  You might have to do a couple of coats to get the color you want.  Be sure to let the paint dry between layers.  I added a second color on top of the first.  I didn't worry about getting in the grooves because I wanted it to look shabby.

3.  Once all the paint is dry, sand down a little through the top paint layer.  It should look like the third picture.

You could also use crackle finish paint to get a similar effect.

I thought it would be cool to have a fabric covered frame too.  By using Mod Podge, you can get a canvas look.

Supplies:

2 Frames

2 fat quarters, or enough fabric to cover you frames

Rotary cutter and mat

Mod Podge

Foam brush

1.  Lay your fabric over the frame.  Use your rotary cutter to cut out the fabric in the center of the frame. Be sure to keep enough fabric to wrap around the back for the inside and outside of the frame.
2.  Brush on a little Mod podge to tack the fabric to the face of the frame.
3.  Take your scissors and snip the fabric, on inside of the frame, at an angle to the corner.
4.  Spread your Mod Podge on the inside lip of the frame and press your fabric down.  Trim off any excess fabric.  Repeat on remaining sides.
5.  Flip you frame over and start gluing the front of the frame.
6.  I wanted to include the grooves in my frame, so I made sure to put glue in the cracks.  I used my nail to crease the fabric into the grooves.
7.  Trim off extra fabric and glue around towards the back.
8.  Try to lay your corners down as flat as possible.  Glue in place.
9.  After the fabric was pretty set, I painted more mod podge all over to give the fabric that stiff canvas feel and look.

Let your frames dry over night.

Check back tomorrow to see how I put the earring frame all together.

Chocolate Rush

A couple of weeks ago, Mike spent time in Brazil for work.

Every night he would tell me about how wonderful the food was, and how delicious all the desserts were. 

He brought home soccer jerseys for the kids, and some chocolate for me!  The kids were so excited about dad being home, and the candy, that they wouldn't sit still for a picture.  This is the best I could get.

Mike didn't know what candy to get, so he picked up a few different things.

We sat around the table, with the kids and my sister, and devoured the bag of assorted chocolates.  Collin was upset that I stole his candy to take a picture.

We throughly gorged ourselves on some very delectable chocolates and treats.  We won't be doing this again.  Chocolate is a contributing factor to my kidney stones.  I'm sure this meal of chocolate didn't help my cause any.

Do you like to try candy from other places?

Happy Labor Day.