Must Make Monday: Breakfast

I have been known to spend an hour or two hunting up cooking inspiration on Pinterest. Finding something healthy, tasty, and pleasing to 4 people’s special diet needs and taste buds isn’t always an easy task! If you’re in the same boat, or even just on the same river (ha!), perhaps I can save you some time with these yummy morning recipes. A few I’ve tried and some I’m just excited to try! Let me know if you’ve got any great breakfast recipes. It’s the most important meal of the day people!

gimme some oven’s 3-ingredient coconut oil biscuits – these look fantastic! I’ve got a kiddo who could eat biscuit with jam all day long, so this is one I’m definitely going to try.

Minimalist Baker’s pumpkin french toast bake and 7-ingredient muesli bread – I’ve never had muesli bread, but it looks delicious. And the french toast bake looks so easy!

Rachel Schultz’s baklava no-bake energy balls – these are not the prettiest little guys, but they sound easy to make and yummy to boot!

The Yummy Life’s blueberry maple refrigerator oatmeal – this one looks right up my alley. The fact that it is a make ahead is wonderful for those busy school mornings and the chia seeds will keep us all full until lunch.

The Clothes Make the Girl’s scotch eggs – this looks like something my girls would love to eat for breakfast, snack, and anytime in between. Can’t wait to try these out.

Make and Takes’ chocolate zucchini bread – while we don’t have any zucchini in our garden this year, I’m hoping to trade some tomatoes for one just so I can try out this recipe. Choc-o-late!

The Uprising’s vegan raspberry oat bars – I’ve made these before and they are so good! Like cereal bars, only much cheaper. Now that Pannonica has a retainer and granola is too crunchy, these may be just the thing for her school snacks.

Must Make Monday – Not your usual holiday decorations

 

Q and I made one of these today. It was super simple, although cutting the doll out was too hard for her little 4 year old hands. She could do the snowflake tutu just fine. She added a little paint to hers.

I think these orange slices would be perfect for our annual Winter Solstice Party.

These dressed up mason jars would be lovely for the party as well and so simple to recreate.

This glitter village is glorious! And it’s made from cereal boxes! I think I might have to do a glitter village making craft instead of a gingerbread house this year.

I have been going crazy for string art the past few months, but still haven’t tried my hand at it. This little doozy may just be the project. I LOVE STARS!

Alright, for the crafter who likes to use the big tools, here’s the project for you. Yet another one that would be great for Winter Solstice! These cone trees would look great as a centerpiece, on the mantel, or even alone.

This last one doesn’t have a tutorial with it, but if you are in need of a felted ball tutorial drop me a line and I’ll send you to a couple of good ones. I’ve made a few felt balls in my time and have been meaning to set up a little sweatshop, ahem!, I mean workshop with the kiddos to get some made for holiday decorations. Not sure why they didn’t just string these balls up with a needle and thread, but all the colors sure do look pretty!

What crafts are you making this holiday season?

Conker (Chestnut) Crafts

It’s officially autumn. No turning back. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got at least one kiddo who’s crazy for conkers. The pocket on PZ’s lunch box is always full of the little guys. Maybe it’s because they are so smooth and shiny, or maybe it’s like sea shells, just a pretty thing to find as you wander around, but whatever the reason; (da da dum!) it’s conker season!

Q’s teacher and I were talking about them today. She has a daughter also obsessed who has squirreled away an impressive stash of conkers. What’s a mother to do? That’s right. Get crafty! Check out these great ideas!

 

First of all, did you know conkers, otherwise known as horse chestnuts, will keep both spiders AND moths away? Store them in little bowls around the house to ward off those 8 legged critters, or string them together with a pretty lace bow like Wildcraft Vita did and hang the strand in your closet to keep the moths from getting at your sweaters and wool coats.

Wildcraft Vita also has a recipe for making conker Viking Soap. Very cool!

How about taking a tip from Rhoda, the editor at Country Homes and Interiors, and use conkers in a lovely flower display. Such pretty hydrangea.

O Matko! shows some great examples of conker animals. These might be a bit tough for the kids, but I like the use of playdough.

Get into the Halloween season with a conker spider web. The Imagination Tree will show you how!

These awesome conker chairs as my favorites.

Of course, if all else fails, you can always just play conkers. Let Tea and Sympathy show you how.

And if you don’t have a 6 year old picking up every conker they spy, but you still want to get in on the conker fun, how about this fiber arts craft diy from  oddknit.

Awesome! For more ideas, check out Here We Are Together‘s Ten Things To Do With Conkers list. Happy crafting everyone!

xoxo Emily

Must Make Monday – Halloween, Holy *Beep* That’s Cool!

This Vegan Candy Corn just made my Halloween. Candy Corn is my favorite. Sure it’s a throw back, but I LOVE it! And this recipe is a lot healthier. Can’t wait to try it!

Parents‘ Spinning Spirits decorations look incredibly fun and not so hard that the kids can’t help. Now that they’re back in school, I’m really valuing our crafting time together and this seems like a perfect project we can do together to celebrate the holiday season.

Camilla from Family Chic made these awesome posable mummies for her kids and was sweet enough to make a tutorial so we can make one for ours. I’m thinking of putting a pink tutu on it. Quinby would love that!

Such a simple idea and easy craft and yet so, so cool. You cut scary eye shapes out of toilet paper rolls, stick a glow stick inside the cardboard tube, then tuck the lit tubes into the bushes and trees around your house for instant monsters/animals hiding in the dark. Yes! Thrifty Crafty Girl used orange light, but I’m thinking yellow or green for mine.

Artist unkown, I saw this on Pinterest and got excited. These are really great, but not so scary that they’ll frighten my girls. At least, I hope not!

Mine probably won’t come out as wickedly cool looking as Martha Stewart‘s, but this party punch idea is awesome and I definitely want to try it. Super cool for a kid’s party or an adult one. Although I’m thinking whiskey instead of rum. Just saying.

Must Make Monday – Dairy Free Foods

These are the yummy looking foods I want to make tomorrow. I haven’t done a lot of cooking lately, so a couple of small projects is just what I need.

This Cranberry-Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds and Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette looks like a very good lunch. Can’t wait! I think I even have all the supplies!

We aren’t eating potato chips anymore and while I love the INKA plantain chips, these apple chips look like a good way to use those pink lady apples I bought yesterday. The girls will love having these in their lunch boxes for Wednesday.

This almond milk steamer looks amazingly yummy for the girls’ at tea time. No more sneaking sips from my afternoon Chai!

This spinach tomato orzo soup and roasted butternut squash salad with soy balsamic dressing look like a lovely dinner and a great way to end the day.

Must Make Monday – Home Projects for My Late Summer/Early Fall

My first two projects are from twogirlzstuff. I saw the vintage hanky curtain on pinterest and when I went to go see what was there the above map covered tins caught my eye.  The curtain will be great for my kitchen window. If anyone has any vintage hankies they are willing to part with I would love to swap some vintage fabric for some. 

I’ve recently reorganized my jewelry and right now all my earrings are just chilling in a lidded porcelain box. Something like this cool idea from Modish would really come in handy.

 I like this woodsy hanger tutorial from The Maize Hutton Blog. It would be great for my photo shoots and for displaying some dresses on the girl’s walls. Plus I’d get to use power tools!

I’ve been meaning to make some of these potluck bowl covers for awhile. maya*made shows ya how to do it just in time for those late season picnics and get togethers.

Megan over at Ohdeedoh shows you how to make a hanging book display. My girls are in a bunk bed so I think this would work nicely in lieu of a bedside table.

Laura Normandin over at Wren Handmade had the great idea to make one of these oilcloth fabric table placemats. I’ll have to do a circle one, but I should be able to figure that out.

Better Homes and Gardens has a how-to for these really fun vintage tin organizers. Wonderful for the studio, living room, girl’s room, wherever and once again power tools!

I’m thinking this basket from Pickles will be good for getting me back into crocheting this fall. Might just have to make a few of these!

I love these memory jars from Martha Stewart. The girls and I collected a TON of seashells from our WA trips this summer and I think this would be a fun project to do with the girls before school starts.

How to Become a Handmade Domestic Goddess: Pt 3

I’ve got all the supplies and I’m totally using The Cottage Gray’s homemade laundry detergent recipe. I like the lavender oil idea. My kids are getting older and frankly I’m tired of my laundry not smelling like anything. This Handmade Domestic Goddess in training likes lavender!

While we’re getting our homemade cleaning supplies in order, how about this dishwashing soap recipe from Simply Designing. I love that it uses two of the ingredients from the laundry soap recipe. Looks like I’ll be trying this one, too!

Always a fan of good reference material, I love Creatively Domestic’s laundry stain cheat sheet printable.

I love this recipe from Pepper Paints for homemade hand sanitizer with no harsh chemicals. With two kiddos, we go through this stuff like crazy!

I’ve actually cleaned my mattress  already after seeing this post by Make It Do. I put the baking soda on before we left for a long weekend away and vacuumed it when we returned. It worked great!

How to Become a Handmade Domestic Goddess: Pt 2

So as you might have seen yesterday here and here, I’m being a bit lazy this week since I’m hosting two parties. My Must Make Monday list is being stretched out into a week long list. Make sure to come back tomorrow for Pt. 3!

Today I’ve got a couple of tips for you to help on your quest to become a Handmade Domestic Goddess. Even if you have no intention of reaching Goddess status, these tips are handy for anyone!

We are paying homage to a few of the great today. Starting off is none other than Martha Stewart herself. There is no way you can have avoided going to her site or reading her magazines or seeing her TV shows, but here is a great little tip that I can’t help but share and hopefully its one you haven’t seen before.

Martha shows us the best way to clean cast iron pans. I actually learned this one from Hubs. Anything to do with salt and he knows about it. I’m not even kidding!

This one from Real Simple was a new one for me, but what a great idea for keeping your stovetop clean!

I LOVE to bake, but my cake decorating skills are horribly lacking. This tip from Country Living is one I’ll definitely be using in the future. Maybe even today!!

Stay tuned for more great tips all you Handmade Domestic Goddesses you!

Must Make Monday – How to Become a Domestic Goddess: Pt 1 1/2

I thought I better post this one just in case anyone needed it for their festivities today.

Pink Suede Shoe will show you how to perfectly cut your watermelon. Now your melon will not only be refreshing, but look gorgeous too!

Come back tomorrow for another tip on your road to Domestic Goddessness!

Must Make Monday – How to Become a Handmade Domestic Goddess: Pt 1

Okay, folks. I realize I’ve been all but absent recently. Q is turning 3 this week and we’re having two parties for her, so Hubs and I have been being busy little bees in preparation. I don’t see that cooling down anytime soon, so this week’s Must Make Monday list is going to have to be s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to fill the entire week. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to post some other things as well. But for now…

This is the summer that I finally get my butt into gear and become the Domestic Goddess I, until recently, never realized I wanted to be. I’m hoping to get my house, meal planning, budget, looks, and family together (at least a little), so that by fall when Miss PZ starts kindergarten, we aren’t completely lost in a sea of laundry, last minute dinners, and and overwhelming grocery bills. Its a goal I’ve set for myself. Of course, we’re also still trying to have as much summer fun as we can, and I’m still trying to run my little handmade business. With a little luck, and a lot of work we should make some progress. Did you see my freezer jam?

On to the list!

First things first. You’ve got to know how to look the part. Learn how to tie a 40’s headscarf with Solanah at Vixen Vintage.

Since its the 4th today, Happy Independence Day, America!, you could always use a red, white, and blue scarf.