Coconut-Lime Tropical Smoothie

Since Mother Nature is loving me, and wanting to help me through my stress, we were granted a full week of 70-ish degree (give or take) weather.  Pure. Heaven.  I wore skirts, flip flops, and the weather was warm on my skin.  Whatta sensation!  I'm definitely not used to that.

So what you do when there's a house full of kids, it's toasty outside, and everyone is tearing off clothing?!  (well, maybe it was just me tearing off clothing... kids were begging me to stop...I can't remember now...)  

We make smoothies!!

This was one of those things where I was craving something and I happened to have some key things in the pantry/fridge.  So I started playing!  Food is play for me.

Here's the gist of what we put in this triumph:

A blender 2/3 full of ice to start with..then...
3/4 can of coconut milk (or the whole thing depending on how much liquid you need)
1 can crushed pineapple, juice included
Juice of 1 lime (no zest, though--makes it too zesty)
2 bananas
about 1/2 c. sweetened, shredded coconut
1 T. sugar (or you could use honey) to taste.  Add more if it's not sweet enough.
1/4 c. wheat germ
Handful of chia seeds
(you could even put spinach in this and tell the kids that it's lime!  haha.  How sneaky of you!)

Blend and serve.  As it is with all smoothie recipes---if it's too thick, add milk or liquid as you go.  You could also add some yogurt - I'd suggest something mild like vanilla. 

Job Jars

Can I tell you how much I LOVE these jars?! My girl, Elizabeth, told me about this great idea and I knew it was one I could do! She saw it somewhere and passed the idea on to me, which I took and did my own thing with it. {'cause I'm a tweaker!} Each task is given a pom pom value - do that job and get that many pom pom puffy balls! Simple! My kids know that every day they're required to do their room and one other big task - the rest is up to them.

I don't follow through with actual job "charts" so this is good for me. They're great, but I'm more inclined to follow something like this rather than rotating a job chart. AND....this way my kids can come up with random things to do, knowing they'll be rewarded for even the little things.

So when they come to me and say, "I'm bored", they can refer to the chart on the fridge for something to do. When they say, "I wanna play the DS...I wanna pack of gum...I wanna play on the computer..." then it's going to cost them. They've quickly found that they really don't want to waste their puff balls since it was so hard to earn them. HA! That's the grand beauty of this idea!!!

Homemade Playdough

It's summertime {yessssss} and I've been hunting for some fun things to do with my kiddies to keep them busy. I found this playdough recipe over at Skip to My Lou and I LOVE it! It's very soft and lasts for a long time if you put it in a container in the fridge.

These little dough balls would be cute to give away as party favors or as an inexpensive gift, complete with little tools to use! Kids love this stuff!

100% Calorie Free Cupcakes

These are pretty much the only cupcakes I need to have in my life. Aren't they scrumptious?! They're going to be glued to some hair clippies but I couldn't resist showing them off before I finished.

You can make these quickly, using my handy stitch guide, and you'll have a dozen before you know it.

Just glue a piece of felt to the back, clip around the edges, and that's it.

I'll show you the clips later when they're done!

Blanket / Pillow Snugglie

This is the post I put together for Stephanie over at Somewhat Simple yesterday for our Blog Swap. That was pretty fun!

This project is a *yummy* fleece blanket/pillow that seriously takes 30 minutes start-to-finish. {I'm not kidding} You could give these as gifts, or make a few for the house to warm you up during the Holiday season!

You can use this cozy blanket as a pillow, or you can unfold it and wrap up in it, and tuck your cold toes into the pocket while you curl up with a good book. This one here is nice and long - just perfect for a grown-up, but my kids love theirs that I made them - I just made them shorter for kid-sized legs!

So let's get started...

(just click on each picture below) Again, you might need to minimize your screen a little in order to keep the pictures in a straight line - they'll probably be easier to follow that way.

I forgot to take a "big picture" of the pillow pocket stitched onto the blanket {oopsie} and some people have been confused by this. So pin the pillow pocket in the center of the blanket, lining up the bottom, just like in the picture...

Then SEW the pillow pocket onto the blanket, starting at the right-hand corner, leaving ONE INCH AROUND THE SIDES for fringe, ending in the left-hand corner. And that's it.

Following the last step there, trim all of the fringe on the pillow pocket, and then all around the blanket.
















To fold into a pillow, lay the blanket flat, pocket-side-down, fold the length in thirds, then fold down in thirds, wrapping the pocket around.

Blog Swap with Stephanie!!

I am SO excited to be taking over Abby's blog today! Her blog was one that inspired me to start a blog of my own! Isn't her creativity fantastic?!

My name is Stephanie, and on most days you will find me over at Somewhat Simple. I am a wife to my very best friend and mom to my 3 favorite kids in the world! I come to you all the way from sunny Arizona- and yes, it is still very sunny... even in November!My family moved to Phoenix 4 years ago from California and we love living here!

I thought I would share a really cute and very simple project I made for my home a few weeks ago that has been a lot of fun so far. We call it "The Celebration Chalkboard"- its our family's place to write any reason at all to celebrate for the day- it just makes me smile looking at some of the reasons my kids come up with!

(This was MY reason to celebrate last week- our whole family seen by the dentist and not a single cavity in anybody's teeth- even after Halloween! Its a miracle!)

Here's how to make your own:

(just click on the pictures if you need to enlarge them)

Some of our reasons to celebrate have been:

-Ethan lost his tooth!

- Everyone did their chores!

- We're going to the Hockey Game for FHE!

- It's Friday!

- Uncle Ron is now a missionary!

... just to name a few!

Seriously, my kids try to come up with something new EVERY DAY!

So make your own "Celebration Board" and you'll always find some reason to be happy, no matter how silly the reason is!

I invite you all to check out what else is going on over at Somewhat Simple- more crafts, yummy recipes, monthly challenges and giveaways. In fact, I am getting ready for a huge giveaway coming very soon, check it out here:

Thanks again Abby for blog-swapping with me today! You're the best!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sparkly Bead Bracelet Tutorial

I guess everybody wants to make a pretty sparkly because I got so many emails about the one I posted the other day! Great! We all need something sparkly to wear year-round. AND...this is a great activity for the kiddies to do with you. My 7-year-old daughter made a SUPER adorable one-strand bracelet that would surpass those fancy boutique ones.

Now you get to go BEAD SHOPPING and it's like buying wearable candy!! {yay for you!!!} Very addicting!

**Also NOTE: this is a long post with big pics, so if your computer screen is stretched large, try to minimize it a bit, make the screen skinnier, so you can follow the instructions better.







So go gather all kinds of beads in colors you love. Try to get big, chunky ones, as well as medium ones, and even the tiny seed beads. I'm just using what I have here - I have nothing to wear with this bracelet I'm making, but who cares, right?! As long as you love the colors, that's what matters and you'll always find a place to fit the bracelet into your wardrobe - especially if you make a cute necklace or earrings to go with it.

You're also going to need some nylon coated wire, metal crimps, jump rings, and clasps. They should all be in the beading section of your craft store.

Tools you'll need: wire cutters, and needle-nose pliers. I have round-nose pliers pictured here, but you don't really need them.

Cut THREE strands of the nylon coated wire longer than you want your bracelet to be - just to give yourself some room.

On all three separate strands, you're going to put a crimp at the end of each one. Loop the wire inside, pull tight just to give yourself a tiny loop - below.









Using your needle-nose pliers, (or a crimping tool if you have one), squeeze the crimp hard, binding the wire in the metal. Either clip the remaining wire tail or string the beads over the top of it.


Now you're ready to string your beads.

Have fun with it, but as you see in the picture below, make sure you vary the locations of your chunky beads. You're going to braid your three strands together, so you don't want your chunky beads to overlap. Make sure each strand is different in bead placement.


To test your length, make sure you can wrap the bracelet around your wrist and your first and last beads should touch together. You're going to give yourself space when you attach your rings and clasps - it will loosen the bracelet and fit perfectly (hopefully).

Then, add another crimp just like we did in the beginning; clip the remaining tail. If you're super talented, try to feed the wire back down into the beads before you secure your crimp. (it's a major pain for me, so I don't bother...)


With all three strands together, you're going to attach one jump ring to secure them together.









Using your pliers, just open the ring enough to slide your loops inside, as well as your clasp.



THEN - braid the three strands together and carefully slide the ends into another opened jump ring, as well as the other clasp piece. I don't know what it's called - the thing that you hook the clasp into.


























And you're done!


Try it on and enjoy your sparkly creation! And when your friends gasp loudly and ask you "where did you get that utterly amazing piece of jewelry?!" you can just smile inside knowing they all desperately want a sparkly pretty and you can grant them their greatest desire. What a good friend you are!

Monogram Tutorial

So my Fave Crafts link is gone! {aahhh!} SO sorry about that!!! I should have posted the original tutorial on my blog anyway - but I figgered "why do it twice?" So here we are - back to this same 'ol monogram frame - with instructions this time. I'm doing this from memory - so bear with me here.

This is probably the easiest project ever - a child could do it start-to-finish. So here's what I did:

1.) Find a cute font on your computer, type your monogram letter and increase the font size as big as you need it. I'd suggest staying away from curly, intricate lettering - stick with solid, simple ones. Print that out on cardstock, cut it out.

2.) Using the WRONG side of the letter (flip it over mirror-image-like) and the WRONG side of your felt, trace your letter. This way your markings won't show and your monogram will be facing the right way, too. Cut out your monogram.

3.) Iron a piece of fabric big enough for your frame. Using a tiny bit of fabric glue or tacky glue, secure your monogram onto the fabric by putting a little, teeny tiny strip of glue down the center of your letter. You don' t want glue anywhere else because you won't be able to stitch through it, silly. Gently press your letter onto the fabric and let it sit for a minute.

4.) Using 2 strings from some DMC floss or 2 or 3 strings of sewing thread, thread a sharp needle (not the blunt ones). I use the amazing Heather Bailey technique HERE, but do whatever works for you.

5.) Time to stitch! If you have a letter with a circular shape in the middle like "e", or "R" - start on the lower left-hand, inside line of the curve. So you'll stitch the inside edge of your curved section and then move on to the outside edge of the lettering without having to stop. Make sense? Now stitch your letter all the way around.

6.) If you're going to embellish your monogram, cut out shapes - mine was a little birdie - and stitch them on, as well, careful not to create too many layers if you're framing behind glass. If you're not framing behind glass, then pile it on, baby.

7.) Time to frame. Using your frame's glass as a template, cut out a piece of thin cardboard (like from a cereal box) and secure your fabric to the cardboard using spray adhesive or tape on the back. Secure your frame and you're done!

SO easy - now go out there and make a bunch. OH! I almost forgot - you can also make a banner with this technique, too - just sew right sides together with a coordinating fabric, leaving the top open, turn right-side-out, press, top stitch, and string the lettering together using a long string of bias tape.

Flower Clips Tutorial

It's FLOWER CANDY! I could EAT it all! Power to the flower, girls. And just in time for May Day! (whatever May Day is...) But how fun to give one to each of your friends on May Day!

So apparently BIG FLOWER accessories are all the rage right now and I've seen these all over the place. Naturally, on account of my need to fit in at all costs, I had to make my own.

You can clip them in you hair, clip them on a purse, glue them on a skinny headband, or clip one on your shirt as a brooch - the possibilities are endless. UH-DOR-ABLE.

I have no more words.





















































Okay - so you'll need a few supplies. Flowers, buttons, sparklies, etc., and whichever clip you're going to use. I prefer the "aligator" clip - the top one - simply because they're SO versatile. I get mine at "Ribbons and Bows, Oh My!".

DON'T FORGET TO PLUG IN THE GLUE GUN!


















First I wanted to show you that if you're loving your purchased flower just the way it is and you don't want to take it apart, you can remove the middle, glue in something pretty there, and add your clip to the back and be done.



Just make sure you clip off the stem before you glue the clip on.


































Otherwise, take ALL of your flowers apart, throwing away all of the plastic pieces. You don't need 'em.





Now is where it gets really fun. You get to totally play!! Using the larger petals on the bottom, play with your colors, shapes, and designs until you get something you love.

Once you're satisfied, turn them upside-down and work from the bottom. Lay the bottom piece down, add a little glue around the middle, and stick the next piece on top of it. Keep going on this way until you've got your flower all glued down.










If your bottom petals are too floppy, add a drop of glue to them and press them to the middle petals.


Now you're ready to finish off with a middle sparkly.












If you choose a button with a back on it, I'd suggest cutting it off somehow. Otherwise, you can sew the button to your flower with a needle and thread *carefully* because you have dried glue to deal with. I will guarantee that you'll loose your sparkle button if you try to hot glue that knobby end to the middle of your flower - unless you use 5 glue sticks to make a giant mound of glue! (eww. don't do that.)

To make a covered button, you'll need this handy little kit from your craft store. Covered buttons are SO cool. I think you should get this kit just so you can make one and use it on something random!

The back of the packaging has good directions but I'll show you here, as well.





I wanted a specific part of my fabric scrap to be in the middle, so I held my button there while I cut around the fabric.






Then you put the fabric inside the little rubber mold thingie - and put the button piece in the middle of the fabric. Trim up the edges of your fabric a little bit to prevent bulging.





Press everything together with the tool and you have a custom-made button!!!







I tried using felt to secure my clip to the flower but I like using this method instead. (The felt was making my hair slip out of the clip!)

Using a small flower, put your clip right in the middle of one of the notched areas. You're going to put glue on the petals and the back of the clip, securing it to the big flower.

Make sure you're able to open the clip before the glue dries - sometimes the glue can leak and make everything stick together.

















Now it's totally secure and WON'T slip. (and it's a cute way to finish off.)









I'm crazy in love with this green and white one! I love green! And, apparently, everybody is going green nowadays, so I guess I am, too.










ENJOY your clippies!!!