This Little Man...

This little man has been keeping me very busy.  He's been crawling around so much and getting into everything-cupboards, pots, pans, Tupperware, and closets now.  I realize that I could train him to leave those alone, but he loves to explore and I don't want to limit his explorations to his toy bin.  This in turn leaves me cleaning up behind his whirl wind.  We're also working on remodeling our 90's kitchen and this includes painting the whole main level.  I've got the colors narrowed down to a general brown gray, here's our top four contenders. 

They are from the left:  Brown TeePee, Pony Tail, Earthy Cane, and Reclaimed.  We have really tall ceilings so I'm leaning towards the darker one or maybe a few shades lighter than Reclaimed on the far right.  I'm pretty sure that anything would be better than 'desert rose'.  Decisions decisions.  The next big decision:  go to the transportation museum with Colby today or work on putting the garden in...hmmm. 

Cork Board Redo with Map

 I got this cork board from my mom and it has been hanging boringly on our wall by our dining room.  I was waiting for some inspiration to hit me, and finally, yesterday I was struck.  I frequently visit the paint and wall paper section of Menards and I saw these dry erase maps.  The downside was they were 20 dollars, but I think it was worth it.  I had to trim down the sides a bit to fit in the frame and used a credit card to smooth it out.  If I don't like it I can always peel it up and stick it to a wall somewhere.  Pretty fun and we can write messages to each other on it.  

Adventures

Little man has been discovering so many things lately.  We took him to a beach the second week in March, it was 80 degrees and there was still ice floating in the lake.  Crazy.  I'm looking forward to exploring more parks with him in tow.  I've been in a bit of a craft funk lately, but right now I'm trying to do some maintenance projects that have been neglected.  We're also in the process of updating our kitchen which is quite exciting-minus the price tag.  Best of luck with your projects-and my promise to you-I will get back on the craft horse.  Until next time-enjoy the little things

T-shirt Rug!

Well, I finally finished my t-shirt rug for Colby's room.  It is about 3 feet by 2 feet and contains at least 12 different shirts.  It was quite the time consuming process, but once I got the knack of it latch hooking was a good activity while watching tv.  I was doing my darnedest not to start another project until I finished the rug so that is part of the reason I haven't been posting much.  The other part is that March felt like summer and when I wasn't feeding the babe, we were outside playing. 

Basically I cut all my t-shirts into really long strips, then cut those balls of yarn into little strips about 4 inches long, and then I latch hooked them onto the rug backing I picked up at JoAnns, and then I gave the rug a hair cut so all the ends were even-which worked much better than when I try to cut my own bangs.   Any who, good luck to those that attempt this it takes a lot of time and a lot of t-shirts. 

***Tips*** use all cotton t-shirts because they form a nice curl when pulled.  Also I found latch hooking in a diagonal pattern was faster than hooking them on horizontally.  If you go to church garage sales I have found that the last few hours they let you fill a whole bag of clothes for a few dollars-or maybe this is just for me since I always look a bit disheveled carrying Colby around on my hip.  Anywho, good luck***

It's about time...

Well, life has become quite chaotic in my family lately-and with all the worrying, it diminishes the importance of crafting and doing fun things.  My niece at 10 months was diagnosed with Leukemia so she's been going through chemotherapy and staying at a Children's Hospital.  We live quite far away and there isn't much to do to help the situation-because the only thing that helps is my niece getting healthy.  My sister also went through a roller coaster with her 3rd child who was breech.  Now for my other impairment, I started this silly t-shirt rug made out of strips of t-shirts and latch hooked on.  It's been sitting on my coffee table haunting me while I watch tv idle handed.  I made myself promise not to start any more projects until that was completed, and now, finally it is done. 
Here' s my motivation for the rug at xoelle.com:

I also just have to make a comment how I find it ridiculous that one of the only pictures repeatedly repinned on Pinterest is the one I think is the ugliest.  Sorry dear people that have repinned this-but it is hideous, and I even mentioned that in my original post.  And for all of you, here is the picture-Yoyo blanket and the source was lost along the way:

Spoon Ninja

Here's a few updated pictures from Little Man, now one year old and getting ear tubes next week so hopefully help him feel better. 

Little Almost Naked Man

Here's all of our animals basking in the sun. 

Who knew flour could be so exciting?

Paralyzed by Indecision

I'm not sure it this is just what happens in the middle of winter, but I can't seem to make up my mind about anything.   I've got so many different projects that I have supplies for but I just haven't decided all of the details about how I want to get things done.  To start off with I want to paint our whole main floor (kitchen, dining room, living room) because it is painted a shade of pink tan that looks like the underbelly of a pig in certain light.  I've been playing with paint chips and placing them all over and rating them in different lights.  I've finally narrowed it down to a yellow hued tan (top row left two).  The other things include cutting my hair or growing it out, painting chevron stripes on Colby's wall or doing a mural, making new diapers for Colby or just keep using what we've got, what sort of diapers to make for my friend, and the list seems to go on and on.  I was reading about choosing paint color and I was reassured by the statement that there are many different shades that will work great so just pick one.  I think with this warm day I'm just going to hit it this week and make decisions. 

Coconut Lime Chicken

Well I saw the original Coconut Chicken on Pinterest and it looked awesome and deep fried.  It's  pretty delicious and with the lime gives it a Hawaiian flavor.  I think it needs a creamy warm pineapple dip, but I haven't figured it out yet-until then barbeque sauce will have to do.

Okay, mine didn't look very appetizing when I took a picture at night and with my little camera.  Pic from here

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
flour
1 egg
1 cup of panko (I only had seasoned bread crumbs)
1 cup of Shredded Coconut
Canola oil for frying
1/4 cup of lime juice

Directions: 
1.  Cut chicken into strips about 2 inches wide or narrower for crispier chicken. 
2.  Place egg, flour, and panko with coconut in their own shallow pan.  Dip chicken in egg, then flour, then panko mixture.
3.  Heat oil in pan.  Place chicken in oil until golden brown then turn to brown other side.  When both sides are browned sprinkle lime juice on chicken and cover with lid.  Turn down to medium low and heat until chicken comes up to temp (185).  Enjoy!

Homemade Cheese Balls (Blobs) Recipe

These are far too addictive and easy to make-so unless you've got a few extra calories to spare, beware, you will make these again.  I've been tweaking the usual breading I use after I made the chili glazed tofu where it called for cornmeal and cornstarch and it seems to work out pretty well.  I'm sure they would be great with panko or with really good cheese, but I just used some block mozzerella and colby cheese.  Fried cheese, what could go wrong?

Ingredients:
Cheese cut into little squares
Beaten Egg
1 cup of Itailian Bread Crumbs or Panko
1/4 cup of Cornstarch
1/4 cup Cornmeal
1/2 cup of flour
Canola Oil for Frying

Directions:
Mix bread crumbs, cornstarch, and cornmeal in a shallow container.  In another container place beaten egg, and in another container place flour.  Place oil in a skillet and heat at medium, I use probably about 1/2 an inch of oil, but the more oil the more likely they will come out in ball form instead of flat little blobs.  Depending on the amount of cheese balls being made the ingredients can be doubled or halved.  Dip cheese chunks in flour, then egg, and then breadcrumbs, turning to coat well.  Test to see if oil is hot enough by sprinkling some flour in it, if it fizzles up right away the oil is hot enough.  Place cheese balls in oil and turn when brown ( a few minutes).  When browned on all sides place on paper towels to take some of the oil off.  Eat and Enjoy!

***So I just looked at some other recipes and it looks like mixing shredded cheese, egg, flour, and salt and pepper together and then coating those in bread crumbs could be the way to go, but these were delcious and a simple addition to a meal when preparing breaded chicken anyway

Frequented Blogs

Well this week has been a bust.  Colby has been up a few times each night and is not napping well at all-which leaves me a bit unmotivated to do any projects.  We're finally getting to see the ear specialist  Wednesday after a three week wait.  In the mean time here's some of my favorite blogs, it seems to me that everyone and their dog has a blog these days and there are a lot of neat ones for ideas. 

1. Sewinginnomansland  is great for inspirational home sewn skirts, dresses, and little girls' clothes.  The premise of the blog is that she is the wife of a foreign service officer and moves every two years  to isolated locations so she started with her fabric stash to see how far it could go.  I believe she is in America now, but she does some awesome photography. 

Picture from sewinginnomansland.com.  Link is here. 

2.  Cluck Cluck Sew is a great blog for quilting.  I don't quilt yet, but the more I look at the beautiful quilts she makes the more I want to try. 

Picture is from Cluck Cluck Sew.  Link is here. 

3. Grosgrain is a great crafty/stylish blog that has doable projects with minimal investments.  She does a nice job with the photography as well.

Picture from grosgrainfabulous.com.  Link here. 

4.  Craftgawker is a blog that I ran across, probably off of Pinterest;  it has tons of pictures of projects and then if you click on the picture if takes you to a tutorial for the project.  This blog is even more dangerous than Pinterest! 

Picture from Better Homes and Gardens (bhg.com), but found on craftgawker.com.

5.  Okay, speaking of Better Homes and Gardens (bhg.com), that is an awsome site-not necessarily a blog but they have great ideas for decorating, crafting, and cooking. A few other resources I love on the web are marthstewart.com, lowes.com, and mycolortopia.com which is sponsored by Glidden Paints. 

Happy Birthday Colby!

Well, our little man was born a year ago today a week late and after three days of intense labor We're amazed at how quickly the year has flown by.  I made him a little cake in a pyrex dish and made some frosting using yogurt and powdered sugar because I ran out of butter or any other tasty subsitiute.  I even got my frosting gear out from a Wilton cake decorating class I took several years ago, unfortunately the frosting was too runny so it just poured down the sides, Colby didn't mind though.  He dug right into the cake, then squished it all around his high chair.  Happy Birthday Little Man!

DIY Rugs

Well, I've been accumulating a ton of old clothes that aren't even up to Goodwill's standards so my stash has been building downstairs of t-shirts, dress shirts, and jeans.  One prime spot for a rug would be for in Colby's room since the dog can't go in there the room stays much cleaner.  My favorite rug is this one from xoelle.com.  She cut all of her t-shirts into strips and then dyed them a dark gray.  I think I'd like to dye the shirts all different shades of blue, green, and gray so it gives the rug a watery appearance. Here's a few of the best ones I've seen.

Picture found here at xoelle.com

Lovely braids.  Found here at craftpassion.com

 

 

Loving the different colors, found here at creativejewishmom.com

I love these braided rugs-the colors are great.  Found here at moddish.blog.com

I'm not so into the pink but this website has good directions. 

Chili Glazed Tofu

Oh me oh my, I had my first adventure with tofu yesterday.  I bought it a few weeks ago and finally I had the nerve to try out the recipe from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.  It turned out quite well but I was a bit squeamish at first at the odd texture:  it is crunchy on the outside like fried chicken but soft and creamy on the inside.  The sauce turned out alright, but it would probably just be as easy to use some sweet and sour sauce over them instead. 

For the tofu:
28 ounces of soft tofu
3/4 cup of corn starch
1/4 cup of cornmeal
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons of canola oil

1.  Cut the tofu into 'fingers' and spread out on paper towels over a cookie sheet to get some of the excess juice off.  Leave on the towels for 20 minutes.

2.  Place paper towels on a plate and then place in oven at 200 degrees.  This is so you can place them on the plate after they are done frying. 

3.  Mix cornmeal, salt and pepper, and cornstarch together in a shallow dish.  Coat the tofu with the mixture pressing and rolling it on.

4.  In nonstick skillet heat oil up and place about half of your tofu fingers into the hot oil.  Cook until golden brown on each side about 10 minutes.  Once done place on plate in oven. Add oil to pan and finishing cooking the rest of the tofu.

5.  For the glaze mix together in a small bowl 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of rice vinegar (I just used apple cider vinegar because I didn't have any rice), 1/3 cup of sugar, 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 teaspoons of asian garlic sauce, 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.  Add mixture to a hot skillet and simmer until reduced to almost half.  Add 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro and pour mixture over tofu. 

6.  Enjoy. This dish would be good with some fresh steamed vegetables and rice. 

Grandma Margaret's Orange Drop Cookie Recipe

This was another first try at cookies from my Grandma.  I have a terrible time actually following recipes precisely and I usually switch things up so a recipe never turns out the same twice.  For the frosting I used butter instead of Crisco and then added a teaspoon of orange extract for more orange flavor.  When I make them next time I'm going to see what happens when I use butter instead of crisco in the cookies and I will use the extract in the cookies as well so they have a stronger orange flavor.  My husband likened them to soft animal crackers-a compliment, I think.  Enjoy.

Ingredients for the cookies
1/2 cup of Crisco
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of orange zest
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions:  Preheat oven to 375.  Mix Crisco, sugar, salt, eggs, orange zest, orange juice.  Stir in flour and baking powder.  Drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. 

Frosting:
1 Tablespoon of Crisco
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Directions:  Mix all together until smooth and frost cookies while still slightly warm if desired. 

***lemonade and lemon zest can be exchanged for the orange juice if desired***

Accessories for the Nursery

Well, this should be the last official post about baby room decor, until I actually get my tush in gear and make something.  I'm thinking making a baby lounger would be awesome, although it will probably just end up being a golden retriever bed.  Once I pick a color scheme and just go for it I think the room will come together. 

Good Old Martha, can you ever let us down?  Oh that's right you've been to prison.  Link here.

Cute little lounger with directions here.

What a cute little rug.  Link here. 

So cute, but Colby will pull these off once he can reach.  Link here.

To measure...here

Yes, yes more baby rooms

Okay, I apologize for all of the baby rooms, I'm sure those of you that are reading this, yes I know readership is limited (hello Maggie, Chelsea, and Tyler) I will soon be getting back to actually doing things, but for now here are more inspirations for Colby's room.  By the time I get his room done he'll be a teenager and probably won't let me in to paint a cute little bunny mural. 

This is probably something more doable for Colby's room.  Link here.

Maybe just some stripes?  Link here.

This is a super stylish room, a girl can dream, right?  Link here.

Loving the tent! Here's the link.

Wall Murals

Well, I'm still on this decorating kick for Colby's room and pretty soon I'm just going to have to start into it and let it work itself out, but for now I'm trying to accumulate all of my options before I decide.  So far he's got all different wood tone furniture and light green walls-other than that it is a blank slate.  So here's some murals I'm debating about:

This is one of my favorites-a bit retro it came from here.

Perfect for Minnesota, eh?  Came from here.

I love this book, but monsters may be a bit too scary for Colby...it came from here

Or possibly I should go for something more simple.  From here