DIY Up-cycle Home Decor

I love monograms.  There is just something so classy about them.  A while ago I saw this framed monogram over at The House of Smiths and really liked it.  I wanted to make something similar and kept my eye out for oval frames for quite a while.  I finally snatched this one up at a garage sale for a few dollars.

I then went on a search for the perfect monogram.  JoAnn's, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby all carry wooden letters of different sizes and styles.  This one from Hobby Lobby was just what I wanted.

I gave the frame and letter P a few coats of spray paint and then added some fabric to the background.  I love how it turned out.



I originally had it sitting on my fireplace mantle but later decided to move it over here to the wall.

It really helps fill up the empty wall space.

Do you have any monograms in your home?

Chocolate Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

It seems the secret is out.  The secret to wonderfully soft, fluffy chocolate chip cookies is adding pudding to your cookie dough.  I discovered this secret several years ago and recently wondered what it would taste like if I subbed chocolate pudding for the called-for vanilla.  So I finally decided to give it a try.  And the verdict is: 2 thumbs up!

Here is my adjusted recipe:

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c butter, softened

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. sugar

1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Set oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the pudding mix until blended.  Stir in the eggs and vanilla.  Blend in the flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls (on the small side) onto ungreased or parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-11 minutes.  Edges should be barely golden brown.

*This recipe is adapted from Rookie Cookie's Chocolate Chip Cookies . . . which is no longer available on her site.

Book Review, Kids Craft, and Giveaway

I recently received a few craft books from Stackpole Books, Painting with Mixed Media, Christmas Crafts Scandinavian Style, and Artful Collage from Found Objects  I've always enjoyed art and had fun looking through these books.  There were a ton of inspirational ideas.

I love the Scandinavian style Christmas decor.  This book, Christmas Crafts Scandinavian Style, is full of beautiful and festive ideas.  Handmade fabric bags make a perfect touch for delivering a special gift, darling embroidered motifs, dainty Christmas ornaments, and one of the classiest advent calendars I ever did see were a few of my favorites.  I love that the book includes templates in the back so you can easily duplicate each craft.  There is even a guide for the different embroidery stitches for people who like me who have no idea about those kinds of things.  I really want to incorporate some of these ideas into my decor come Christmastime.  They'll go perfectly with the look I'm trying to create in my family room.

My kids really loved looking through Artful Collage from Found Objects with me.  On just about every other page my daughter would tell me, "Ooooo.  I want to make this one!"  This book is all about giving new life to what's inside our junk drawers and believe me I have plenty of "scraps" left over from previous projects that I'm happy to use for crafts like this.  It was a tough choice but she declared this Under Water project her favorite.

This project made for the perfect afternoon activity one hot muggy day a few weeks ago.  My daughter and I brainstormed together how we could recreate a similar scene using items we had on hand.  She decided to make seaweed by water coloring some packing paper.

She then cut it out into strips and crinkled it up.

We gathered a blue poster board, the water colored sea weed, some green tulle, and made shimmering fish out of aluminum foil.  Then everything was ready to be glued together.

My daughter had a blast with this project.  She mentioned over and over again how this was the funnest fish project ever! 

She was proud of her artwork and had a so much fun using her creativity to put it together.  Artful Collage from Found Objects was great inspiration for this craft and I think we'll be using it for many more.

The kind people over at Stackpole Books have offered to giveaway one of these books, Painting with Mixed Media, Christmas Crafts Scandinavian Style, and Artful Collage from Found Objects to three lucky readers.  Enter through Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Good luck!

*Giveaway open to U.S. and Canadian residents only

Simple Frame Makeover

I wanted to let you in on a great deal going on right now at Paper Coterie.  All first time customers can get a free $40 credit off their first order!!! Plus there's no minimum purchase. Enter code WELCOME2012 to get your free $40! They have books, cards, calendars, decor, journals, memory keepers, planners and more. Take a look.

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This is my latest dollar store project.  You just never know what little treasures that store is going to have.

I just couldn't resist this little easel when walking through the dollar store.  I thought it was so cute . . . and only $1 so I had no excuse.  I thought it would be the perfect thing to put in my kids room with a picture of them all together.  They are siblings, but I want them to be best friends too.

Next I needed a frame.  The dollar store has plenty of those too.   I thought this one had some potential. 

I spray painted it in a glossy white and love how it turned out.

This sweet little reminder of friendship now sits so nicely on the kids bookshelf.  Now to clean off all the other clutter on there and I think it will look pretty good . . .

Simple little project.  Simply lovely.  Total cost: $2.

What are your favorite things to pick up at the dollar store?

Raspberry Lemonade

For our back to school feast I wanted a fun drink for our cute little mason jars.  Raspberry lemonade  is always a favorite of mine . . . if it's the real stuff.  So I set out to make some.  I looked on pinterest and found a bunch of recipes all of which entailed me squeezing my own lemonade.  Not quite simple enough for me.  So I decided to make up my own recipe.

Here is what you need: 

*frozen lemonade concentrate

*frozen (or fresh) raspberries

*water

First I placed my raspberries (about a cup?) into a pot of water (around 1 1/2 cups?) and brought them to a boil.  Once they boiled for about 4 minutes I strained the berries--getting as much juice from them as possible--and kept the raspberry water.  I then followed the directions on my can of lemonade--using the raspberry water instead of plain water.  I didn't have enough for all 4 1/3 cans called for so I used plain water for the rest . . . which was perfect!  (I think it would have been too strong had I used all raspberry water.)

I then put it in the fridge to cool it off.  When I served it I dropped a few frozen raspberries in for garnish.  It was a huge hit at my house and a perfect summer-y drink.


 

Back to School Feast!

On Sunday we had our 3rd annual Back-to-school feast.  Every year, usually the night before school starts, we have a little "feast" and introduce a new school year theme for our family.  The boys work on the menu together and I make it "fancy".  "Fancy" around here mostly consists of a table cloth and some display of our theme.  Our theme this year is:  Choose The Right (or CTR).

The menu consisted of hamburgers, homemade fries, fresh fruit and veggies, and raspberry lemonade (recipe to come).

I even got ambitious and made felt crowns for each of the boys.  (Would anyone be interested in a simple tutorial?)

This is such a fun tradition for our family and the boys look forward to it every year.

Hopefully their enthusiasm carries throughout the school year and our theme gives us a good reminder to make good choices!

Do you have any back-to-school traditions at your home?

Captureing Everyday Life and a Gievaway

I love journaling.  I love capturing everyday life with words and pictures.  I have probably half a dozen different journals, all with a different purpose. There's my personal family blog that I turn into a book at the end of each year.  There's the little leather journal I keep on my night stand that I record the blessing I receive each day.  There's the one that I use to keep quotes and inspirational messages.  Another one holds the family letters that I type up each month to share with family what we've been up to for the past four weeks.  I also have a journal I write for each of my kids documenting their milestones, funny or kind stories, and accomplishments they've achieved.

All my journals are treasures.  I feel that if I don't write it down then before long it becomes lost.  I know I would have forgotten about how my daughter used to be afraid to step on the sidewalk cracks when she was one year old or how my son loved the pez dispenser his grandma bought him so much that he slept with it every night for weeks.  Fun, sweet things to remember.

One of my favorite things to document are the funny things my kids say.  I love to go back and read them over and over again.  I crack up every time.  When they say something funny I always pause and grab a paper and pencil and jot it down or sometimes if I'm out and about I'll send myself a quick email using my phone so I don't forget that funny or cute thing they said.  It takes less than a minute and it is so worth it!  I have a list where I compile all their quotables on my computer and I later add them to their journals and to the end of my blog-turned-book each year.

So, of course when I saw Paper Coterie's new Quotable Book I fell in love.  What a great idea for capturing all those cute kid quotables!

Each book can be personalized with up to 19 photos and is full of space for writing down those sweet things your kids say.  Keep it handy and it will become a treasure to look back on for years to come.

I thought this was something our readers would love as much as I do, so we're giving one away (free shipping included too!).  Enter through rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Giveaway ends Thursday, August 30th.

Want to buy one to document what your kids say, or to give one as a gift?

Visit Paper Coterie and enter promo code QUOTABLE through September 2nd to get one for only $12!

Good luck!

 

Homemade Jello

We were at a dinner party several weeks ago and our hostess asked my daughter if she would like some jello.  My daughter looked hesitant for a moment and then looked up at me and said, "Mom, what's jello?"

Wait.  Time out.

What's jello?

I couldn't believe my ears.  How does my daughter not know what jello is?  What kind of childhood is she having anyway???

Now I have to say that I love jello.  I really do.  I mean, who doesn't?  My favorite jello growing up was orange jello with mandarin oranges in it.  Yum.  When I was pregnant with my daughter I stocked up on all kinds of things to get ready for the new baby and I distinctly remember the long row of jello, in every flavor imaginable, in my cupboard.  I guess for some reason I felt that if I had enough jello to last me a year somehow everything was going to be okay.

When my daughter was two she had some sort of strange allergic reaction.  For a long time I thought it was food dye related, but later realized it was something else.  In the meantime I did A LOT of research on food dyes and decided that it was probably better to eliminate them from our diet as best we could.  Llately we've been trying to cut down on our sugar intake too, especially since the new year.  I've been trying to be very diligent about it.  Needless to say, between food dyes and sugar, jello is something we haven't had for quite a while. 

The other day I came across this fabulous little recipe for homemade jello and since it's made from 100% fruit juice I figured it couldn't be too bad for us.  And more importantly every child just needs to have jello every once in awhile. Right?

The best part about it is that it takes just as long to make as any ol' jello and tastes just as good too!  Plus there are a lot of health benefits to consuming gelatin, like healthy hair and nails.  It's also good for your digestive system, joints, and metabolism.

All you need is three simple ingredients.  100% juice, honey, and unflavored gelatine.

My kids love to help make this favorite treat.  It's a simple enough recipe that they can help do most of it.  Measuring and mixing are the perfect way to let kids help in the kitchen.

It makes a great snack to pull out of the fridge in the afternoons.  Yum.

Juice Gelatine

4 cups juice

4 packets unflavored gelatine

2 tablespoons honey

Pour 2 cups juice in bowl and stir in gelatine.  While this sits heat the remaining juice and honey to a boil.  Pour hot juice over juice and gelatine mixture.  Stir for 2-3 minutes until gelatine is completely dissolved.  Pour mixture into 8 x 8 pan.  Cover in plastic wrap and chill for three hours or until firm.  Cut into squares.

Enjoy!