SLIME fun!!

Owen and I made THIS slime after his doctor's appointment Monday. It was a big, fun, messy hit! I was unable to find the liquid starch that is called for in the original post, but I did find a non-aersol spray starch at Target on clearance for $1.60. It sounded like liquid in the bottle, so I figured I would try it :-) I have nothing to compare it to, but my slime turned out, so I think it worked just fine. The original post also calls for 1.5 cups each of the clear glue & the liquid starch. I just used 5 oz (1 bottle of glue) of each & we had plenty to play with. You do have to get in there & really work it & mix it up with your hands to create the slime. Definitely a grown-up step, because the food coloring will end up all over your hands. I didn't like the smell of the starch, but it seemed to lessen the more I worked with it.

As you can see, Owen loved the slime & played with it for over an hour! A winner for me :-)

More Pinterest Recipes

Since I had success with the last few Pinterest recipes I made, I decided to try a few more.

I made THIS cucumber, tomato, dill salad inspired by Martha. It was delicious. The best review came from Owen, who said he LOVED it & would eat it every day! Sounds like a winner to me.

I made THIS chicken, potato & veggie dish for dinner. The original pin suggested green beans (fresh or frozen) but said any green veggie would do. I decided to try it with fresh green beans and fresh broccoli.

It was SO easy & very yummy! DH has already requested it again. Another winner :-)

Pinterest Day in the Kitchen

I decided to have a Pinterest day in the kitchen & try out some of the recipes I have been pinning.

First I made THIS strawberry greek yogurt bread. It was a little heavier than I would prefer, but still yummy. I would make it again.

Next, I made some corn on the cob using THIS easy method. It was so easy & turned out perfect!

Since the oven was already on, I tried THESE potatoes. They were delicious & we will definitely be adding them to our rotation!

Of course we needed some dessert, so I tried THESE s'more crossiants. I was a little bit disappointed that the marshmallows didn't melt better & have more of a taste presence. But, everyone seemed to enjoy them so I'm sure we will have them again.

th

A Laughable: Wedges to Camp?

Owen came trotting down the stairs this morning in my cute, black, peep toe, cork bottom wedges. I don't know how he didn't break his neck or sprain his ankle in them! "Mommy, can I wear these to camp today? I'll bring my sandals to change into later."

Mom's Easy Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie

I love this easy, peasy frozen pie my mom made often when I was growing up. She usually made it with strawberry yogurt, which I prefer, but she occasionally used lemon yogurt too. I'm thinking of trying a mixed berry or orange creamsicle flavor too. Super easy & refreshing!

,

Mom's Easy Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie

-16 oz of yogurt (mom always uses 2 8 oz containers, but I used greek yogurt, so I needed 3 6 oz containers)
-1 tub of cool whip, thawed
-graham cracker pie crust (pre-made or make your own)
-fresh strawberries for garnish



-Combine yogurt in large bowl
-Fold in cool-whip
-Pour into pie crust
-Freeze at least 4 hours
-Move to fridge 30 minutes before serving
-Garnish with fresh berries if desired

Mom's Vinegar Cucumber & Onion Salad

My parents just left after an extended visit. We love having them here & it always inspires me to make some of the food I remember mom making when I was a kid. We didn't have a lot of money when I was little & my mom grew-up with even less, so everything is inexpensive & pretty easy; sounds good to me! I even used the same serving dish for this salad as mom always has :0

Mom's Vinegar, Cucumber & Onion Salad

*2 cucumbers
*1 onion (mom always used plain old white onions, but we prefer vidallia)
*vinegar
*water

Peel & slice 2 cucumbers, place in bowl

Peel & slice onion, place in bowl

Add water & vinegar to cover cucumber & onion. My mom always did a 2:1 ratio (if she added 2 cups of water she would add 1 cup of vinegar). We prefer more acidity, so I do a 1:1 ration (1 cup of water, 1 cup of vinegar).

Cover & place in fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. The longer it sits, the more of the vinegar you will taste.

Serve with a slotted spoon to help drain water & vinegar.

This is a simple recipe that is easy to adapt to your taste. Try different onions, more or less cucumbers or onions depending on your likes. Play with the vinegar & water ratio.

Chore Chart

Another craft inspired by Pinterest!

We recently started allowing Owen to earn a little money (literally: penny, nickel, dime or quarter) for certain jobs. Of course, most things are just expected as a member of our family, but for those things that really help us out, DH decided to reward him. I thought it was the perfect chance to combine several ideas I had pinned.

I took the inspiration for the magnets from HERE and the inspiration for the magnet board from HERE

-I took a cookie sheet from the dollar store, punched holes in the top for the ribbon (w/ nail & hammer) and then wrapped & mod podged fabric around it.
-I die-cut the letters out of scrapbook paper & then mod-podged them on cardstock. I mod-podged the "to do" and "done" headings onto the board.
-I mod-podged a small piece of ribbon to divide the "to do" and "done" sections
-The orginal magnetic strip did not stay on very well, so I had to change to stronger magnets.
-These new, stronger magnets had to be hot-glued onto the marble stones. So, they started to get a little heavy.
-To prevent my board from falling down under the weight of the heavier magnets (there are 10 altogether) I keep several of the extra chores on the dishwasher
-I put the ribbon through the top, tied it & hung it on a cute knob in the corner of the kitchen.

Happy Birthday America!

I had made a tulle Easter wreath & thought it would be fun to do a similar one for July 4th. I made my wreath using a similar method to this but with a few changes.

-I used an 18" metal wreath frame. In retrospect, I would have used a 16" frame, because once all the tulle is tied on, the wreath is huge.
-I cut my tulle into 12 inch strips. This is what I had done with the Easter wreath I made & it worked well, so I did it again.
-I used 1.5 rolls (25 yards) of each color of glitter tulle.
-Owen wrapped star garland around the finished wreath for firework effect

I'm loving these tulle wreaths; they are easy & fun to make & look great on the front door!

Birthday Balloon Wreath

I thought this wreath was so fun that I couldn't wait to make it! My birthday & Owen's birthday are only 3 days apart (& my mom's is the week before) so it seemed like the perfect time to make it. I really should have paid attention to how many balloons were used, because I kept running out and had to buy more. I used multi-colored packages of balloons & used at least 200, if not closer to 250. I also found the cute "Happy Birthday" sticker at Hobby Lobby, stuck it on card stock, cut with scrapbooking scissors & pinned it on. I can't wait to re-use this wreath! http://creativehomemakers.blogspot.com/2010/06/angs-birthday-wreath-ii.html

Egg Snake

We made this egg snake (as seen on Pinterest, of course) shortly after Easter. I saw it among our flowers today & it made me smile. Owen really enjoyed making the snake & I liked that we already had all the materials.

A Craftable and A Laughable

Since it has been such a hot & humid week & we have been staying inside in our little cave, Owen & I decided to make our Friday night movie night extra fun. I had seen these cars on Pinterest & thought they were the perfect project for a hot summer day. We already had a box out that Owen had been playing with & it was the perfect size. I got out some black paper plates, markers, glue stick & scissors & he set off to work. Much to my delight, it occupied him for an hour. To his delight, he had the perfect car for our drive-in movie night. We added a glow-in-the-dark movie sign & some glow sticks & served dinner in hamburger baskets & fun palm tree cups.



I thought we should continue our glow-in-the-dark day with these amazing cupcakes (also seen on Pinterest) for dessert. Clearly, that was an idea that was a disaster from the start! First, the tonic water exploded all over the kitchen (apparently it was my day for everything to explode everywhere). Second, it didn't seem to matter what I added, how much I added, how much I mixed, I couldn't get the frosting to resamble frosting. It looked more like paste than anything edible! I had promised Owen glow-in-the-dark cupcakes, what was I going to do? In desperation, I grabbed a can of Pillsbury frosting from the pantry & added the food coloring & tonic water to that. After frosting the cupcakes with my makeshift frosting, I followed the next step & put them in the freezer. I don't know if it was the heat, the humidity, my freezer or the frosting, but they just wouldn't firm-up enough for me to be able to dip them. After an hour and a half, I gave up. We enjoyed cupcakes with neon green frosting & had a good laugh!

A glowing day

It has been a very hot & humid week here, so we have been hanging out inside with all the curtains drawn & the AC on. Since we were living in our own little cave, we decided to try out our Crayola Glow Explosion markers. I had picked them-up on clearance at Target months ago for $2 and change. Not sure I would have paid full price for it, but for $2 it was definitely worth it & fun! Owen enjoyed drawing & practicing his writing with the markers, then going over with the large "glowey" marker to make them glow-in-the dark.



Next, we decided to try this fun glow stick project I had seen on Pinterest. First, the directions should mention that you need to bend/break the glow stick first to activiate it :-) Second, be careful of exploding glow sticks. When attempting to crack the second stick (since I hadn't the first time) it actually exploded all over me, the table, the wall, the rug. This has never happened to me before & I was shocked that exploded when cracking, not even cutting open. So, the 3rd glow-stick was the charm & we got our fairies in a jar to work. Owen loved it & thought it was like a little lantern! It's a little difficult to see, but here is some of our glowing results.

"I'm Sixty and I Know It"

I was lazily floating around the pool this morning while O did lap after lap. He was excitedly showing me all the different ways he could swim & why he didn't need swimming lessons. All of the sudden, he had a revelation: "Mommy, when I kick my feet it sounds like "I'm SIXTY and I Know It", listen." His kicking actually did have the beat of "I'm Sexy and I Know It", who knew? Nothing gets by this kid!