Helping a friend with a birthday party

 Today, I am helping a friend put together a birthday party for her little man.  These are my inspiration pictures and I will post the finished results once the party is over.  Happy crafting for a pirate party!

Making Frozen Yogurt with a friend

Today is frozen yogurt making day! We used a recipe as a guide, but didn't measure most the ingredients and it turned out great!
2 smashed  bananas
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 cups of yogurt
1/4 c of sweetener (we used corn syrup, but agave nectar or honey would be good too)
milk
a lot of helpers

We just poured it all into the ice cream maker, turned it on and 30 min later, all of our hard workers helped us enjoy the treat. MMMMmmm!

Beaded Sun Catchers

For this entry, I wanted to create a visual separation that had motion to it.  I started this project like many others where I rummage through my craft supplies looking for inspiration, then I found them, my neglected pony beads. 


Our project was simple, to occupy  an hour of time with my busy kiddos. So, we set off to make sun catchers.  You will need:

ceramic, metal, or glass dishes
     I used mini quiche dishes
plastic pony beads (ours were semi-opaque)

Directions: place the pony beads into your dish into any pattern or design you wish, then melt them in an oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. You are looking for them to be melted together, that part will happen fast. Cool on a rack in the dish. Once you hear them 'ping' they are cool enough to be peeled out of their baking containers.  Hang and enjoy the view!

Garlic Scape Pesto

Our garlic in the garden is growing big and since this is my first time growing the bulb, I Googled 'growing garlic' to see what these curly buds were and when it is time to harvest the garlic.  It turns out that these shoots are called scapes and if you snip them off the plant after they curl around one time (but before they curl around a second time), they will be at their most tender and full of flavor.  The entire garlic plants are edible and useful, so here goes my first attempt at making the most of the tender blooms. 

I washed the scapes and then pulsed them down in my processor until they were a fine paste, then added about 1 1/2 cups of nuts, some olive oil, and salt. Voila! Scape pesto and I can't wait to try it over some blackened chicken and pasta.  Yum! 

Ruler growth height chart (or cute wall hanging)

This post is going to focus on kids growing. In my case (and I suspect most everyone else's too), they grow too fast.  I have long been wanting to create a growth chart for them since we will eventually move and won't be able to take the tic marks in the garage with us.

So, I created the ruler growth chart out of a discarded piece of fence board.  It was super easy to make and now, I will always be able to cherish how little my kids were without worrying if the marks on the wall have faded.