13 Friday Jul 2012
Posted in Inspiration, Likes, Party!
Tags
farmer's market, flowers, Gowanus Brooklyn, Inspiration, Instagram, reception dinner, the Green Building, Union Square Greenmarket, Union Square NYC, wedding reception
Instagrams from the week:
*Sweet Pea at the Union Square Greenmarket
*Reception dinner at the Green Building
*Berries at the market
*Dancing with Uncle Frank
*Bee on the cut sunflowers
*Love
Have a wonderful weekend!
12 Thursday Jul 2012
Tags
baby gift, diy, Ebay, Etsy, flowers, new parent gift, plants, vase, vintage baby gift, vintage planter
11 Wednesday Jul 2012
Posted in Projects
Tags
banana peanut butter popsicle recipe, breakfast, food, honey, ice pop diy, natural peanut butter, popsicle molds, popsicle recipe, ripe bananas, yogurt
It is entirely too hot around here to eat a warm breakfast. (Or even one that is room-temperature, in my opinion). We came up with these as an alternative. They include some of our breakfast favorites, which are even better frozen. Put your favorite smoothie in the freezer! To make this version you need:
* 2 Very Ripe Bananas
* 1 Cup Milk
* 4 Large Spoonfuls of Yogurt
* 2 Large Spoonfuls of Natural Peanut Butter
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 1 Teaspoon Honey (Optional, depending on the sweetness of your yogurt).
* Blender
* Popsicle Molds
1. Blend together until smooth.
2. Pour into ice pop molds and freeze for 1-2 hours.
*Makes enough for six standard popsicle molds*
10 Tuesday Jul 2012
Tags
Better Than Bullion, egg-drop soupe recipe, food, fresh pea recipe, Martha Stewart recipe, parsley recipe, Pea Lemon and Egg-Drop Soup, pea pods, shell peas, vegetarian
Our CSA brought a pile of green pea pods and parsley last week. I like looking up new recipes once the ingredients arrive. This one is a variation on Martha Stewart’s Pea, Lemon, and Egg-Drop Soup. To make the lemony, summery soup you will need:
*1 1/2 pounds fresh peas in pods
*5 cups stock (We make ours using Better Than Bullion. The mushroom and veggie flavors are vegetarian and really yummy)
*2 large eggs, lightly beaten with fork
*1 bunch of parsley
*zest + juice from one lemon
*freshly ground pepper
1. Shell peas and place pods, parsley and stock in medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and partially cover. Simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Strain pods and parsley and return stock to pot.
4. Bring stock to a boil and add peas. Simmer 3 – 4 minutes until they turn bright green.
5. Turn off heat and slowly pour in stream of eggs and stir with a fork to make strands.
6. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Grind in pepper to taste and serve immediately.
09 Monday Jul 2012
Tags
Acorn Toys, child teepee, diy play teepee, diy play tent, diy teepee, Ikea fabric, indoor play camping, Sew Mama Sew
I made this teepee for Ada when she was little, (although I think technically Santa gets the credit). She and Josie have been using it to play at camping in their room together lately. Our teepee is based loosely off of this pattern by Sew Mama Sew. Ikea has lots of inexpensive upholstery fabric in bold patterns and the stiffness of the fabric is perfect for keeping tent sides straight. To make a tent similar to ours, you will need:
*3 Yards of Stiff Fabric. (We used this Ikea version)
*5 Wooden Broom Handles
*5 Rubber Chair Stoppers
*Leather Lacing or Strong Twine
*7-9 Large Wooden Beads (Ours are 3/4″)
*Scissors
*Drill
*2 Large Buttons Optional (We used these at the top of our tent to button fabric around poles)
*Sewing Machine Optional (We hemmed our edges, but the above pattern is all done with grommets)
1. Follow pattern and cut as shown here at Sew Mama Sew. Adjust length – longer if you plan to hem fabric as we did, or shorter for shorter poles.
2. I added two button holes and ties at the top of our teepee to tie around the poles. (Sew Mama Sew uses smaller bamboo poles and plastic rings to attach fabric to poles). Ties made from our fabric scraps are stitched inside our tent secure the fabric to poles. We can adjust our ties to have the tent stay open or closed. I like having ties rather than fixing fabric permanently to the poles for ease of washing.
3. Drill 1/4″ holes 4″ down from the top through each broom handle. Attach rubber stoppers to the bottom of each pole.
4. Thread lacing through bead, pole, bead, pole until all poles are used. There should be one bead between each pole as shown. These will help keep poles in place when the tent is set up. Pull the the lacing to pick up slack and tie knot. We added beads at the bottom of each tie for decoration.
5. Spread the tent poles out, fanning out with even space between each one.
6. Drape fabric over poles, secure ties and buttons if you have them.
7. Break out the s’mores!
*Acorn Toys in Brooklyn has a beautiful version here if you prefer buy to DIY*
06 Friday Jul 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Instagrams from the week:
*Giraffes
*Ada’s Lego Fan
*Nan’s Garden
*Summer Shoes
*Ada’s Forth of July Decoration
*Giraffes and Piggies
Happy Weekend!
05 Thursday Jul 2012
We are excited to say that one of my favorite blogs, Apartment Therapy Family has featured Clementine’s Orange and Yellow Party in it’s Best Kid Parties today! Thanks Apartment Therapy!
05 Thursday Jul 2012
This idea came from Ada’s three (brilliant, loving and fun!) teachers. They suggested we try this as a way to help her start making connections between words and objects over the summer. Ada would have us read to her 24 hours a day if she could, so we have encouraged her to learn more about the letters as she shows interest. We are so excited for her to explore books on her own when she is ready. She will devour them! We used markers and card stock to make big labels around our house. Painter’s tape looped on the back makes them easy to remove from the walls. It feels a bit like an ESL classroom around here, but she seems to love it.
03 Tuesday Jul 2012
Tags
Bargain Balloons, Cliff's Ice Cream, DIY kids birthday, DIY tissue paper flags, giant balloon, Martha Stewart, Shop Sweet Lulu, summer birthday, tissue pom poms
I grew up in a family full of summer birthdays. Summer always meant ice cream cake and swimming and parties and I assumed it did for everyone else as well. My mom was great at whipping up a party for very little money. We would make pinatas from paper grocery bags, use dress-up clothes for relay competitions and hand-crank homemade ice cream. We are thrilled to have two summer birthdays (and a third on the way!) amongst the sisters and cousins in the family now. I love a summer party! This is Clementine’s first birthday, with orange and yellows as color inspiration of course:
*Tissue Pom-Poms, Martha Stewart has great directions here.
*Kid Snacks in fancy cups. These paper snack cups from Shop Sweet Lulu make even healthy snacks seem like party food.
*Giant Balloon from Bargain Balloons.
*Rainbow Veggies and Hummus.
*Paper Flags. We made these by folding tissue from Nashville Wraps in half and cutting a triangle shape with point away from fold. Unfold into a diamond, put a bit of glue stick along the fold, reposition and fold over some twine. Easy!
*Rubber Frog Pool Toy employed to hold down the napkins.
*Sunflowers.
*Under the umbrellas.
*Homemade Lemonade with Mint.
*Guest in Orange.
*Flags on the Fence.
*Ice Cream Cake from Cliff’s. Ice Cream Cake = Party Essential!
*Dusk.
Happy Birthday Clementine!
02 Monday Jul 2012
Tags
diy, diy knitted toys, free knitting pattern, I Like Lemons Blog, ice cream cone knitting pattern, knit ice cream, olive knitting pattern, play kitchen food, scrap yarn
Knitted cones from a free pattern at I Like Lemons. I made these for my niece last year and used scrap yarns and seed beads. They take only a couple of hours each, or less if you aren’t having to rewind skeins from toddler hands. I always get the urge to knit during the hottest months, but luckily this project inspired some taste-testing to get the colors right. I Like Lemons seems to have ended her posts, but there are more cute free patterns in the archives. Her Olive and Ball projects are pretty amazing. Etsy has a variety of knitted foods here if you would prefer to buy instead of knit.
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