Hair Bows

A girl can never have too many hair bows. I have tried many different hair accessories for my girls, but the ones I like the most are little clips and bows that have a clip attached. But it has to be the right kind of clip. Not too big or too small. I can't tell you how many different kinds there are that don't work. The velcro ones? Don't waste your money. And the plastic ones are cute but don't stay in. The right kind of clip is especially useful when your baby girl doesn't grow much hair in her first year of life and everyone who sees her calls her a boy (even when they are blatantly wearing pink)....ergh!!! Actually Peanut didn't get it as much as Princess did. I think its because her eye lashes are so long. They are the envy of every woman including me. Anyway....this tutorial is a non-crafter's dream. Its ridiculously easy. All you do is buy the parts and put them together. I did two different kinds of bows and one of them you don't even need glue.

All you need is:
Alligator clips (Or the bendy clips if you can find them)
Premade bows (seriously)
Ribbon
Hot glue gun

This is what the premade bows look like. They come in tons of different colors and patterns. The top white clip is just one I was repairing. :)

For the premade bows, all you do is stick them onto the alligator clips.....really. It has double sided tape already on it. Or you could take off the double sided sticker and slide it through the slits in the felt. It already has slits too. I mean come on! You could also get really fancy and make the bows yourself. I may do that eventually but for now the premade ones are amazingly easy.

Here is the other color I made. Love the neutral color palette.

For the second kind of bow I made, I just tied a little piece of ribbon into a bow. (Make sure to tie it tight.) And then I hot glued it onto the alligator clip and trimmed the ribbon to the length I wanted. Done!

 

My husband has been telling me that I needed to make Sounder's bows for the girls for awhile now. Now they finally have some bling (team spirit?) to wear to the games when they go. And hey, it matches perfectly with Peanut's Sounder's cheer outfit. Adorbs!

Beautiful bows! I am so glad that now I can just make the girls bows if I ever need a specific color for a special occasion or anything. Now that I can make my own, I may never go back....maybe. Those boutique bows can be so tempting! I would like to try and find the bendy clips though. The alligator clips work fine, but I feel like the bendy clips will hold more hair. And just so everyone knows....those premade bows? You can make those yourself too. And its really not that hard. There is a good (and funny) video tutorial from the blog Joyfolie that shows an easy way to make them using felt. She also sells the cutest shoes on etsy. Enjoy!  

Our Father's Day

Hope everyone had a great weekend celebrating their daddies! It was my husband's request that we get away for his special weekend. So we took off for our family spot in Hood River. It was great. We BBQ'd, shopped, layed out by the pool, went for a run, had delicious food at our favorite breakfast spot and Princess picked flowers to her heart's content. We got to test out the new Road Trip Organizer that I made on Friday and it was awesome! The only problem with it was that Princess, being strapped into her car seat, couldn't reach anything in it. So consequently I was stuck reaching back and grabbing things for her every 5 minutes! Oh well. It was pretty awesome to have a spot to store all her toys and snacks and it did great at containing some of the mess that they made back there.
Besides taking a trip for Father's Day, we also took lots of photos for our daddy to put in his office. He is always asking for new, updated photos of the girls and since they grow so quickly, they are almost always out of date! I was going to give him a photo of each one of the girls and then enlarge one of them together. But when I got to the store to print them off, I saw that they had poster options! So I thought, "What a cute and different idea!". I made a quick sign using some chalkboard paint, chalkboard markers and a piece of cardboard so that the girls could hold it up and show their love. I originally thought he could hang it in his office, but those cubicles aren't so spacious, so we are going to hang it in his side of the walk-in closet, so he can see it every day when he gets ready for work. Here are the poster children. :)

This is the one I blew up to poster size. I can't believe how cute it turned out.

I was so lucky to have gotten these photos. I got off work late and there was some ominous looking clouds coming our way, but it was my only chance to take the pictures so I had to go for it. So I grabbed the girls, threw them in the stroller, then practically ran to the park. As we were getting close to the spot I wanted to photograph them I saw the huge rain cloud coming that was obviously pouring down rain. Frantically I took them out of the stroller placed them by the pretty birch tree and told them repeatedly, "You're so pretty! Smile for Mommy! Look at Momma! Look at MOMMA!" As I clicked away as fast as I could, any passerby probably thought I was a crazy woman. They'd be right. But it was so worth it. We finished up our last few photos just as the first few drops of rain began to pour on us. Here are some of the other gems I caught.

My goofy girl

 I love how relaxed and chill Father's Day is. Even though men are typically the hardest people to shop for, they really are pretty easy to please. How hard is it to crack open a beer and prep some meat for them to throw on the grill? But the best part about it is that they bring things into perspective for us. Good food, good drinks and family time are all they want for their special day. And they may be the very things that we take for granted sometimes. Its so cool that they remind us of that on their day. To appreciate the simple, but most wonderful things in life that are right in front of us. My girls are so lucky to have the daddy they have (just as I am lucky with mine). I am so glad that they will grow up with his beautiful example of generosity, kindness and that never ending joy for the simple (but most beautiful) things in life. Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband, my own wonderful Daddy and all father's!

Road Trip Organization

I love to organize. No really.....I fantasize about it. I want everything in The Container Store. I am always dreaming up ways to keep things neat and tidy and in cute little bins and boxes. I can't say that my life is 100% organized.....far from it. But one thing at a time. We have a family road trip coming up here in a few weeks. We are driving down through California and are going to spend some time in Arizona with family. I am getting really excited. I can't believe how fast its coming up. I started to scour the internet yesterday because I realized, we have maybe 30 hours of drive time to get down there.....and that's just one way. With one that is almost 3 and the other who is 14 months, I figured I better get organized for this trip and figure out some tricks to keep them occupied and happy. So on Pinterest I found this.....pretty awesome idea. The only thing I didn't like about it was that she bought a shoe organizer, but then had to cut it in half so that it would fit. That seemed like a lot to spend on something that you are just going to cut up. So I decided to make one myself. The cool thing about making one is that I could customize it to our needs. I could make any size pockets that I wanted. I will probably have to make one for Peanut eventually, but since her carseat faces backwards, it wouldn't really work for her right now. So for now it is all for Princess. And she can test it out this weekend because we are headed to Hood River (a much shorter trip) for a little family weekend getaway. So excited how this turned out. Here's how I did it.

I had a bunch of this marine/sailor-ish fabric from somewhere. I have no idea where I got it. I think it got handed down to me with my sewing machine. Anyway, it was perfect for this project because it was super thick and sturdy. So if you plan on making one of these I would get one piece of sturdier fabric and one piece of softer fabric (so that it doesn't rough up the leather in your car). First you need to measure the back of the seat in the car where you want the organizer to hang. Mine was about 16X25 inches, so I cut two pieces of fabric (the marine fabric and some blue flannel for the back) each 16.5X25.5 inches.

Then pin them both together pretty sides in, ugly sides out and sew around the two sides and bottom. Flip it right side out and attach 2 pieces of ribbon (about 3.5 inches in from the edge) on the top of the organizer and then sew closed.

Just make sure the 2 pieces of ribbon are long enough (and strong enough) to tie in a simple knot around the head rest of the car. I had this great navy and white ribbon that I found randomly in a huge bin of hand me downs and it just so happened to match perfectly with the marine fabric I used. Keep your ribbons! They could one day be perfect for a project like this!
Then I got to work on the pockets. Otherwise known as, the painful part. I knew I wanted a large pocket for coloring books and books and a tall thin one for Princess's dolls, so I did those first on the bottom row. I used a coloring book and the dolls also, as my measuring tools. Basically all you do for the pockets, is cut a piece of fabric that will fit around whatever you are putting in it (cut extra if it is going to be something bulky, like dolls or snacks) and cut extra for turning the sides in. Then iron down 1/4 inch of the top of the pocket and sew down. Then turn in and iron down the sides and bottom of the pocket. Then pin the pocket down onto the organizer where you want it and sew along the 3 sides. It should now be attached to the organizer. Before moving on, make sure that whatever you are putting in there, fits.

See how much extra I cut for it? You don't want the pocket to be taut against the organizer otherwise stuff won't fit.

Here you can see the sides are ironed in, but not sewn yet. Pin the pocket down like this.

Then sew it down.

One pocket down. Only 6 more to go.... 

Here is the 2nd pocket. See how I pinned down the sides? There is a lot of pinning and re-pinning.

Here I am pinning it down and using my "measuring tool" (Tinkerbell) to make sure she fits.

You can see that I made little pleats/darts on the bottom to accommodate the large pocket.

See how much room there is? Tink and Rosetta will be nice and cozy in there.

Continue until your organizer is covered with pockets. And you can do the pockets in any size you want. Just think about what you will want to put in the pocket and use that as your measuring tool. Leave lots of extra room for bulkier items and you can make darts on the bottom so that it looks nice and neat.

All finished! How cute is this thing? I am so excited for Princess to test it out.

I had to test its hanging abilities on the dishwasher.

Here it is in the car. Ready for our trip!

All her goodies, within reach.

Now I just have to find exciting new things to put in there for her. Or hide some old things until we leave. I'm still in shock at how cool this thing turned out. Perfect for our long road trip.....and hello! I didn't spend a penny on it. I had everything I needed for it. It was way better than buying an over the door organizer, only to cut it up!
Time to hit the road....
Have a great weekend everyone! And Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful daddies!

Spunky Wooden Spoons

You know how sometimes your old things can just BORE you? I have tons of wooden kitchen spoons that I love, (they are bamboo, aka "green" spoons) but I thought they could use a little change...a little spunk and personality. There are lots of different ways you can decorate your wooden spoons and I thought that this way was a great way for me to use the Washi tape that I bought a few weeks ago. When I bought it, I had no idea what I wanted it for. I just saw it all the time on Craftgawker and was like, "I need some Washi tape!" I didn't even know what it was (its basically patterned masking tape, in case you were wondering too). So I finally got to use my Washi tape today! Its pretty cool stuff. I got my inspiration from this tutorial here. Her spoons are gorgeous...I just wasn't sure about using fabric to cover mine. I wasn't sure how washing them would go. I use my spoons a lot and I need to be able to wash them! I am super jealous of her shabby chic style spoons though. Oh well, another day, another project. It could also be very cute and simple to just paint the base of your wooden spoons. You can match them to the colors of your kitchen easily. I think I would like to do that as well one day.....Anyway, here's what I did to my spoons today!

You will need:
Old or new wooden spoons
Washi tape (any pattern you like)
Modge Podge
Paint brush

This picture (for once) actually DOES represent everything you need for this project.

Instructions: All you do is wrap the tape around the spoons in any design you like. You could make stripes, a spiral or tape them all the way down like I did.

This was the most time consuming part because I had to wrap and cut, wrap and cut, each piece. But I mean, we are still talking like 5 minutes here. After you have the spoon decorated how you want it, paint a layer of modge podge over it, to seal it all in so that the tape doesn't come off with the first washing (it also makes them shiny). The modge podge will dry clear. You can do one or two coats.

Then that's it! Such a super easy and quick craft! This could be a really fun present to give to friends with maybe a few kitchen towels and your favorite recipe attached.

Cooking with these guys will be so much more fun now.

Almond Meringues

So last weekend on our trip to Portland I made up a "New Home/Housewarming" gift and a "Going away/Good Luck" present for our two couple friends down there. They didn't end up looking as cute as I wanted them to, (that's what happens when you think of these things last minute. And that's why there's no picture) but I thought the idea was still pretty cute. In a basket I put 3 different bundles. The first one with a tag that read, "For nights when you feel poor" and there was 2 packs of Top Ramen Noodles and a pack of Jello. The two cheapest things you can possibly buy at the store. The second bundle had a tag that read, "For nights when you feel rich" and there was a package of yummy gnocchi pasta, creamy red sauce and salted caramel chocolates. Then on the third bundle the tag read, "For nights when you don't care which" and there was a bottle of wine and my delicious home made Almond Meringues. You can also make them in vanilla and chocolate (both delicious) but I had never done almond before so I wanted to try it this way.

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
Pinch of salt or Cream of tartar
3/4 Cup Superfine baking sugar
A stand up mixer with whisk attachment (aka the Kitchen Aid)
Almond extract (Or vanilla or cocoa powder)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. You will want to have a stand up mixer for this, because there is a lot of mixing. And you can just walk away from it while it mixes of you have one. Make sure the mixing bowl and whisk attachment are super clean and dry. Line a rimmed or jelly roll cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take 3 eggs out of the fridge and separate them from the yolks while they are COLD, (they cannot have any bits of yolk in there, it will keep the meringue from fluffing up) then leave them out in a bowl for about a half hour so that they can come to room temperature. If you separate them while they are cold, they separate easier. And you want them to be room temp, so that they fluff up really well. First beat the whites so that they get a little frothy, about 40 seconds. Then add a pinch of cream of tarter or a pinch of salt. Beat until you get soft peaks, 1-2 minutes. It will be fluffy, but it will not stand up on its own. Then add 3/4 cup of the superfine/caster's sugar a little bit at a time. Wait until the sugar is incorporated each time before you add more. Beat until you get stiff peaks. This means the meringue/egg whites will retain their shape when you make a peak with your spatula. This is a good video to watch to see what this means. Here you can either leave them as they are, or add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (or vanilla or cocoa powder). From here I usually use my pastry bag and star tip so that they come out really fancy. But you can just use two spoons and put about a 2 tablespoon size dollop on the cookie sheet and they cook just as well that way. Bake for 1 hour. Then turn oven off and leave in the oven for a few hours or overnight. They will get extra crisp this way. If you have 2 batches (which sometimes you do depending on how big you made the meringues) you can bake them both separately, then put them both in the turned off oven together when they are both done. But just bake one sheet at a time. They should end up being crispy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside, but not golden brown. You want them to still be white-ish. In the video above, she has a good tip, "If you can pull the meringues right off easily, then they are done".

Makes about 24-30 meringues. Enjoy! And be careful...its VERY easy to eat them all in a day.....so double batches are sometimes necessary. Just double up the measurements if you want extra. :)

Light, fluffy, crisp and to die for!

I packaged them using leftover mason jars from Peanut's party.

Then if you are making them for a friend, (like I was) you can package them up all pretty in a mason jar like I did here or in a to-go box with some pretty ribbon or bakers twine.

What To Do With Leftover Jam/Jelly

I cleaned out my fridge this morning.... It wasn't bad. I kind of get in the mood to clean things and the cleaning out the fridge mood happens every couple months, so it never gets super dirty. Its still pretty new too; we got it when we bought the house. So there's no like, mystery messes in there yet. I always hate the amount of food that goes into the trash when I do it and one of the most frequent things I throw away is salad dressings. I never use salad dressing....maybe because I never feel like eating salads (which might explain why I can't shake those last few baby pounds). And if I do ever buy salad dressing, its because I needed it once for a dinner party or something and then the rest goes to waste. One thing I really like to do to solve this problem is to make my own salad dressing. I used to think it was a pain, but once you learn how to do it, you can do it pretty quickly. And once you know the basic ingredients, you can start to experiment with different vinegars, oils, etc. There are tons of recipes on the Internet and usually in the back of your cookbooks, we just never think to look there. :)
Another thing that gets thrown out, but shouldn't (so don't throw it out!) is the leftover jam/jelly in the jelly jar. You can make salad dressing with the leftover jelly in the Smucker's jar! You can get every last penny you spent on that stuff, OUT of it!

Treasure! Not Trash!

And you can do it in any flavor. Strawberry, Raspberry and in this case, I used Boysenberry. It is a really good, simple dressing to use on salads that have a little fruit in them (and it only makes a little bit, so that you can use it all up). Like the salad that has green apples and purple onion or the one that has strawberries and goat cheese. This will go perfectly on any Summer salad you can dream up. I couldn't find a recipe that I really liked online, so I just made this one up, but there are versions of this online that you can find if you want to try other ways.

Jelly Jar Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
Leftover bits of Jam or Jelly
1 part Apple cider vinegar (you can also use champagne vinegar, (love) white wine vinegar or any kind really)
1.5 parts Olive oil (you can experiment with oils too)
Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
All you do is you put the vinegar and salt (just use a little salt at first, you can add more later) in the jar first, close the lid and shake, shake, shake! This will loosen up all the jelly in the jar. Then add 1 Teaspoon of Dijon (you can also omit it) and the olive oil. Shake, shake, shake again, then add salt and pepper to your taste. Done! You have a salad dressing that will last about 2 weeks in the fridge.

I made about 1/2 a cup. I wouldn't use more than that.

You can add all kinds of things to this to switch it up. You can add a tiny bit of chopped shallots (sounds gross but its actually good) or a tiny bit of chopped garlic. You can use any kind of jelly. Strawberry and Raspberry are probably the best, but any kind would be good. Oh Apricot, would be super yummy. You can change up the ratios of the oil and vinegar (I just like it this way). Really you can do anything. Just taste as you go and you will find all kinds of yummy ways to make it!

Our Weekend In Portland

This weekend we went to Portland to visit some friends and to wish them farewell as they are moving to San Fransisco in the next few weeks. Even though we don't live in the same city, it was sad to see them go, but exciting to see them start new adventures. Good luck J and M!!! We were also able to leave the girls behind so it was nice to have some adult time away. Of course I miss them the whole time, but I definitely feel like a different person when they are not around. Just being able to do my make-up without rushing off to help someone who is crying or needing to potty IMMEDIATELY is amazing. (And my make-up process takes literally 5 minutes if that tells you anything) It felt like a mini vacation.
Portland is such a fun city. Yes, its weird and random, but that's part of its charm. The naked bike ride happened to be going on over the weekend...Yep. I said naked. Really? Who comes up with this stuff? And after they do come up with it, how does it even become something that people are like, "yeah that's a great idea."? Craziness! Thank God we didn't have to witness it. It is such an interesting city. There is just stuff to do and see on every corner. We stayed across the street from a New Seasons grocery store. We had never been inside one before and oh my gosh, we were IN LOVE! Its like a cheaper, smaller Whole Foods. My husband and I were walking though the store and we were like, "look at that cheese!", "look at that salami!", "look at all these snacks!". It was like we had never seen food before and I'm sure people were laughing at us. The displays were so beautiful, the food was so fresh and in season and they had all the newest and yummiest products. I would get into so much trouble living next door. I just wanted to buy everything in there! I found some flower seeds:

Forget-me-nots, Bachelor's Buttons and Poppys.

Remember that strip of dirt in our yard where I planted Poppys and Lemon Balm? Well, some of the kids thought it would be fun to drag their feet through it and a cat thought it was the perfect place to go to the bathroom, so consequently I needed some replacement seeds. I am excited about these ones. I love flowers that aren't typical. We went to another store that had anything and everything you needed to brew your own beer. The bottles, the yeast; all the equipment. We found a Hops plant there that we have been wanting for a long time.

Its called Galena and apparently this is a female plant....So I figured, maybe we should name her Galena.

We don't brew beer, but we love the look of the plant. It grows up and up and winds itself around things and its really pretty when the hops bloom. So we have been wanting one to grow up the trellis that we will have in our backyard eventually.....hopefully this Summer.....right honey??? I have got to find a pot for it soon, so we can at least get it planted. I also got 2 different kits for making your own cheese!

Mascarpone and Mozzarella. I am so excited to try them. There will probably be a post or two about them this week....if they come out ok. How cool is that? It definitely inspired lots of ideas for me and I am so excited to share them all with you in the upcoming weeks!