DIY Magnet Calendar

I found a frame for $5! I wanted to create something and thought I need a large calendar in our home. It needed some TLC, but was perfect for my calendar creation. I wanted to make a calendar I could put our busy schedule on and have enough room for several events in the day. Sticky notes sounded great and thats when I chose metal instead of a white board! You also can fit more information on them than writing with a white board marker.

Instead of sticky notes you can always use cute scrapbooking paper and put those decorative magnets to use.

What you need:

• Frame
• Sheet of metal from Home Depot 
• Tin Snips
• If your frame doesn't have a board for the back you can buy a thin piece of wood at Home Depot. 
• Decorative masking tape
• Decorative Magnets
• Small magnets from Joann's (one side of the magnet has a white board finish to write on. These are used to number the days in the month)
• Spray paint with primer and paint in one
• 1/4-1/2 Small nails

Directions:

1. To protect your floor outside put down an old sheet or plastic sheet. Then prop your frame up with something so it doesn't get stuck to the floor. Put about 2-3 coats of spray paint depending on the desired look. 
2. Once your frame is dry flip it facing down and measure the frame including the lip. Then you will get your tin snips and cut the metal to the appropriate size. 
3. Put the decorative masking tap on appropriately to 7 days of the week. I used a measuring tap and marked the lines with a marker before I placed it on the metal. 
4. Place the metal in the frame and then place the backing board and secure the board. If you have an old frame like I did then I used the small nails, angled them into the corner of the lip of the frame, and nailed them in to secure the back of the frame. If you don't have a hanger on the back. I used a small hanging kit from Home Depot and nailed on two hooks to hang it on the wall.
5. Then you can hang it on the wall, place your magnets on and use a white board marker to write the month and more! 
1. I used a permanent marker to write on my magnets for the days of the month. 

Healthy & Tasty Baked Vegetables

I am proud to say we make some tasty baked vegetables that all our friends and family love. This is a recipe slightly tweaked from Demarle at Home. It's easy, tasty and good for you so I thought I would share.

Most evenings we look at what veggies we have in the refrigerator and throw them in a bowl. Often enough we use the same combination of vegetables in the recipe. If you have other vegetables that are your families favorites feel free to switch the combination up!

Things you will want or need:

• Silpat & pan (You can buy one at Demarle at Home. They are great products so your vegetables don't stick to your pan and it makes for an easy clean up! It is also great for backing and more)
• Large bowl and spatula 

Ingredients: 

• 2 small zucchini's or 1 1/2 large zucchini's
• 2 bunches of broccoli
• 1/2 of a white onion
• 1/2 of a sweet potato (you can substitute other potatoes if your like)
• 2 carrots
• 1/3 cup of fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese 
• about 2-4 TB of olive oil
• 3-4 tsp of Herbs to Province Seasoning (You can also buy this through Demarle at Home or we get ours at Fry's)
• Few turns of fresh pepper

Directions:

Set your oven at 425 degree's.

Cut your sweet potato in small 1/2 inch cubs so when they bake they get cooked well. Slice your carrots in half or fourths depending on the thickness. We sometimes use our food processor to make the perfect slice. Your zucchini should be about 1/4 slices, the broccoli you will want to trim a lot of the ends off and cut the heads to medium bit sizes.

Next your onion (make sure to breathe through your nose ONLY! Then you wont cry while cutting it!) cut  it like an apple. Cutting it in half then cut the halves in half and maybe even another cut depending on the size of your onion. You will have 1/2 inch wide slices. We always take the first two layers out of the onion and then separate the rest and throw them in the bowl. (If you are not fond of onions put in only half)



Now all your vegetables are cut and they should be in a large bowl. You will then add your olive oil, drizzling it over the vegetables. Then put the Herbs to Province in your hand and use your fingers and pinch the seasoning between your two fingers to break the herb up. Next add you couple twists of seas salt and pepper. Toss it in the bowl with your spatula and then lay it out on your Silpat. Next sprinkle with fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese.





Put them in the oven for 18 minutes.

Then be prepared to taste some delicious veggies!

Skinny Wonton Tacos Quick & Easy!

Another family favorite recipe we altered from Pinterest! The wonton wrappers & ground turkey help cut back on some calories, but still taste wonderful.

Supplies Needed:

• Muffin Tins (We have the wonderful Demarle at Home cupcake mold)
• Large cooking pan
• PAM
• Spatula

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of Ground Turkey
• 1/2 of a medium white onion (chopped)
• 3 tbs of taco seasoning
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 can black beans/ rinsed & drained (you can use refried beans)
• Grate 1 1/2 cups of Cheese (Mozzarella or Colby Jack cheese)
• 1 Package of wonton wrappers (if left overs put them in the freezer for next time)

Directions:

Preheat your oven at 375 degrees

Chop your onion up (remember to breathe through your mouth ONLY! Then you wont cry while cutting up the onion). To make for easy chopping, slice one end off of the onion. Peal two layers of the onion off then slice the onion from the right-side over, not cutting all the way through. Then rotate the onion and do this the opposite way. Then it will look like a blooming onion uncooked see the pictures below.

Next lay your onion on its side and cut, now your onion is chopped into the perfect sizes!

You will put your pan on med-high heat, spray PAM and throw your onions in cooking them for about 5 minutes while stirring so they don't burn. Then add the ground turkey, taco seasoning and minced garlic. 

Get your wonton wrappers in each muffin tin cup. Scoop 1/2 tbs of black beans on the bottom, 1 1/2-2 tbs of taco meat and then sprinkle a pinch of cheese on top. Repeat this until they are all full.

Place them in the oven for 7 minutes and they are done!



This makes about 2 1/2 pans full or about 30 tacos. If you have leftovers they stay well in the refrigerator for 4-5 days and are just as yummy reheated.

Simple DIY Silky Baby Blanket

I love the soft minke material and wanted to make a blanket out of it. I was at my favorite discounted fabric store SAS and found a couple yards of minke fabric. I had to snatch it and make it into a blanket for our new baby girl. I wanted a blanket that was thicker and a little larger to wrap her in for our weekly runs to the park. Also a blanket she could grow into as a lap blanket.

Supplies needed:

• Sewing machine
• Rotary cutter & cutting board
• Round kitchen plate
• Thread to match your fabric
• Pins
• 1.5 yards minke fabric (you can choose other types of fabric and adjust the size if you want)

You can do all types of dimensions, but to make it simple I just kept it 1.5 yards. I took a round plate and a rotary cutter to cut the corners so they where rounded. Beware minke fabric sheds a lot so you will want to vacuum after.

Next I placed the two fabrics, right sides together, and pinned them around the edge. I used the sewing machine and sewed around the edges leaving a 2 1/2 - 3 inch opening. Next you will flip the blanket right side out through the hole. I then used an iron to flatten the edges. 

Next I did a wide zigzag stitch around the whole blanket to close the hole and add a little decorative stitch. (feel free to use another type of stitch)

It's as easy as that and you are done!

Skinny Blender Cheese Pancakes

This is my families favorite pancakes. I have been eating these my whole life and they are delicious! They are light almost like crepes, but on the healthier side. They are yummy with fruit, peanut butter or syrup on top!

I am always trying to substitute and look for ways in cutting back those calories or fat grams. I don't like a bunch of preservatives in my food and try to do things as homemade as possible. (However I do still buy flower or other products which I cant or don't have time to grow and make from scratch).

We always double or triple the recipe since so many disappear after they are made. They freeze really well so I separate them with parchment paper and stick them in a freezer bag for the next week or two. We like to pop them in the toaster and eat them with other things besides eggs, such as green smoothy/protein shakes.

Supplies needed:

• Food processor (or blender)
• Pancake griddle 
• Sifter
• PAM
• Spatula 

Yields: about 14 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup cottage's cheese
• 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup of all purpose flour or oat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Instructions:

Put the eggs in the food processor till they are blended. Then add your cottage cheese till it is blended. next you will add your greek yogurt and blend again.

In a separate bowl you will use the sifter and add your flour, soda and salt. Then blend it in with the rest of the ingredients in the food processor. Next you will pour the batter in the bowl you had the flour in for easier access when dumping on the griddle.

Heat your griddle so its really hot. Mine goes to Med/Hot around a 6. Then you spray your pan with PAM really well so they don't stick. Then scoop about 1/4 cup onto the griddle. You will need to spread it out since the batter tends to be a little thicker than normal pancake batter. I use a measuring cup. You will want to do this quickly so it cooks evenly. Then flip them when ready.

If you want the pancakes smaller scoop less batter into the measuring cup!

ENJOY!

Tool Bench Tutorial

My son LOVES his tools. He is very much a boy and has both his grandparents and mom's handy man skills. Our family room is small since we still live in an apartment for now. I wanted something to organize his tools and have a space for him to play with them. I didn't want to spend much money on a tool bench, but wanted one that was sturdy and went with our room. Rather than a big hunk of plastic.

Supplies Needed: 

• Measurements of all of my wood. (I used old kitchen cabinet doors, an extra shelf from a book shelf we had laying around and some scrap pieces of wood from my brothers) You could go by a sheet of plywood or wood of your choice and get these cuts if you like the size of our tool bench. 
• One Top piece 26'' x 13''
• One Top Back piece 18'' x 21''
• Four Small pieces of wood to be nailed around the boarder of the top back piece 1 1/2'' x 18''
• Two Side legs/support pieces 21 1/2'' x 13''
• One shelf 9'' x 21 1/4''
• Back lower support 22''x 10 1/2''
• Two 11 1/2 inch long 1 1/2 inch thick rectangular pieces of wood to support the top piece of wood from falling over (You can use other types of large support brackets, I was trying to use my scraps to save money).
• Four L-brackets 
• Package of screws (about 20 & length of screws will depend on how thick your wood is)
• 26 small nails 1/2 inch long
• Electric saw
• Power drill 
• Drill bits
• Two cans of Spray Paint & Primer in one (we get ours from Walmart they are cheep and it finishes nicely)
• Glue gun / Gorilla glue or some type of tough glue to hold your tool holders on the pegboard. (You don't want them being loose with toddlers because they take them off and throw them around the house. Then you step on them and it isn't fun. Trust me that is what happened to us!)

My friend an I went to a cabinet and door warehouse and found three awesome real wood cabinets for $6. We then went to Home Depot and got four L-brackets, tool hooks for pegboard and a sheet of white pegboard. I went to my brothers home since he has easy access to his tools to put it together using a few scrap pieces for extra support. I was 9 months pregnant and needed a little assistance. My brother is a handy man just like our father and it felt like old times being at home making things with our father.

Step 1: Once your wood pieces are all cut you will first take the Top Back piece and use the small nails to nail your four small pieces of wood around the edges so it looks like you are making a frame around the wood. I would use three nails for each piece spacing them out. This is important so you can have space between the wood and your pegboard. Otherwise your tool hooks wont go in the holes. (Glad my brother had me do this because I hadn't thought that far ahead yet!)

Don't nail the pegboard on-top yet if you want the pegboard to stay white or be a different color than the rest of the tool bench!

Step 2: Next you will grab the top piece, top back piece and the two 11 1/2 inch long 1 1/2inch thick rectangular pieces of wood. You will need your power drill, drill bits and screws for this. First place your top piece right-side up on the floor, then put your top back piece horizontal and place your two rectangular pieces on the back. I spaced them out about 2 1/2 inch away from each side. then I marked where they were going to go so I knew where to pre drill holes.

I drilled three holes spaced out on the rectangular pieces so it was easier to screw in. (If you use other supports instead of the wood skip this part). I then screwed the rectangular pieces of wood onto the back of the top back piece. Then once that is complete I flipped over the top piece and pre drilled two holes into the wood and rectangular pieces of wood. Then I screwed the two piece together. So now your pieces are connected!

Step 3: Next you will gather your two side/support pieces of wood, four L-brackets and screws. You will want to pre mark where the L-brackets will be going and drill small holes. Then flip your top piece upside down (we used a work bench to let the top back piece hang over allowing for more leverage when drilling and screwing it together) connect the L-brackets to the bottom. Flip it right side up with the side pieces underneath to connect the side brackets. (You will need another person helping to support them).

Step 4: Next you will add the shelf. Mark where you want it to go. We placed ours flush to the front leaving some space in the back. (If you want your shelf flush to the back support make sure to measure your piece now and cut it appropriately). We pre drilled holes where we marked and then with one person holding one side you will screw it together. (Make sure to screw it in strait so they don't peak out of the wood on the shelf).

Step 5: Next ***please remeasure***your space on the back to make sure your back support fits nicely. We had cabinets like I mentioned before and they had groves we nailed into. So if you have regular fresh cuts of wood please remeasure. Then you will pre drill holes and screw in your back support. If you want your back support to go flush to the ground again please make sure to measure your cuts and do that now!

If you want rounded edges please use an electric sander to get the appropriate look you want. 

Step 6: Next you will spray paint your wood with the paint & primer in one. It will take several coats about 3-4 depending on your desired look. Once it is painted and dried for at least 24 hours then you can use gorilla glue or a glue gun to glue your tool holders on the pegboard. (Again if you didn't see my comment about this before, this is IMPORTANT if you don't ant your child taking them off and throwing them on the floor everyday. This is what our son has done. So I have had to glue them on after we have nailed the pegboard on, which makes gluing them on much more difficult and messy).

Let the glue dry appropriate to the packaged directions (this will very depending on which type of glue you purchased)

Step 7: The last step! Use the small nails to nail the pegboard on-top of the top back piece of wood. I used 12 nails spreading them out on all four sides.

Then you can have fun placing the tools on the tool holder and buying some cute tubs or plastic bins to organize the tools!

Your hard work has paid off, you did it!

Good Behavior Sticker Chart

Since my daughter was born in November we have been struggling with my son adjusting. Many people recommended to praise with good behavior. I wanted to have a sticker chart for good behavior that wasn't an eye sore on the wall. So I created this and we love it! When Parker has good behavior he receives a sticker. I put it in a frame in the front room of the apartment so he always see's his progress and gets excited for more stickers.

When he gets a sticker in each category for a full week strait he will earn a trip to the dollar store to pick out one thing. If he gets two stickers in each category for one week strait he will get to do something for $5 or less. We are in the trial period right now and I will update you on how the chart is working for us.

We used this method for his potty training sticker chart and he still loves his Ninja Turtle and Avenger stickers. I will post the potty training chart later in the month to download.

There are three versions of the chart below:

• For a Boy
• For a Girl
• Black & White version

Good Behavior Chart

Good Behavior Girl Chart

Good Behavior Chart Black and White

Ellie's Baby Blessing Dress Tutorial

I searched long and hard online to find a tutorial to make a cute baby blessing dress. I wasn't successful in finding anything that was a long puffy and had a bonnet. So I thought I will make my own! This was my first attempt at making a dress for a baby and made sure to draw out my ideas many times. 

I am in love and can't wait to hopefully have another girl and make another one. The photo below shows it off wonderfully thanks to Claire Brown Photography. 

Supplies Needed:

• 1 yard of lace (I bought a stretchy silky lace so it laid and flowed nicely)
• 1 yard of a soft stiffer fabric (I chose a material similar to what prom dresses are made out of however it had a little bit of a give or stretch so it wasn't really constricting) 
• White thread for a serger and for a sewing machine
• A serger and a sewing machine
• Iron, ironing board and starch 
• Pins
• Two buttons
• 0-3 month white sweater (I bought mine from Target for about $13 online)

Step 1: Picking out your material. I went to the discounted craft store called SAS and bought 1 yard of a stretchy prom dress material and 1 yard of stretchy lace that flowed. This only cost me about $6. Then I went to Michaels and purchased two buttons to sew on for about $4. I didn't want to tackle sleeves so I made thick straps and bought a sweater from Target. The sweater cost more than the dress it was about $13.  

Step 2: I  took a 0-3 month baby dress and used it as a template. I laid out my prom dress fabric and traced the dress on it and then cut it out. I will be honest this took me three attempts till it came out the way I wanted it. 

Once your material is cut and you have both a front and back of the dress you will cut out the lace. You will use your two patterns you just cut from the prom material. Pin the prom material over the lace. Then trace it and cut out the pattern you just traced. So you will end up with two prom dress material patterns and two identical patterns in the lace material. This constitutes two front and two back pieces. Then start cutting the rest of the lace material up. You want about 2 1/2-3 inch strips of lace as long as they will go and as many as you can cut. To make sure you have enough strips of lace you will want to lay them out over your dress and overlap them about 3/4 of an inch to make sure you have enough. Since your lace will eventually be ruffled you will want to double if not triple the length to make it around the whole dress once it is ruffled and serged. 

Step 3: You will need a sewing machine and a serger (the serger makes for quick and easy use when creating the finishing edges for the lace and dress.) I am sure you can do that with a sewing machine however I didn't want to attempt. 

I pined the lace right side facing out on top of the prom dress material and used the serger to sew the two front pieces together and the two back pieces together. So now you have one front and one back piece connected. Then I pinned the front and back pieces together. The right sides facing each other. (This is just like when you sew a pillow case and then you turn it right side out when you are finished.) You will sew just the two sides together and leave the four thick straps open. 

Get your lace strips and you will sew one side of every lace strip. The serged edge will end up being the flowing finished edge once each of your strips are sewn on. 

Step 4: Then go to your sewing machine and gather on of your bottoms you are using to enclose the top four thick straps. (Not connecting the thick straps allow for easy access when dressing and undressing your baby. I am so glad I did this instead of complicating this with buttons or a zipper on the front or back to irritate the baby. The bottoms are out of the way on top of the baby's shoulder. ) Get your button foot and attach it to your sewing machine. Then make sure you have the white thread for both your bobbin and in your top stitch. Use a scrap piece of prom dress and less material to get the full effect. Place your button in the button foot and make sure it is a success. Once you have that down take your dress and on the front two thick straps you will mark where you want the button holes to go with a pencil. Then go to town and sew those button holes on the straps. I did mine leaving a few centimeters from the top and sides. Then I sewed the buttons on the two back thick straps. 

Step 5: Next is sewing on your lace. First you need to ruffle it up a little bit. (If you don't know how to ruffle just watch a youtube video.) Then take your ruffled lace pieces and I just eyeballed how much I would need to make it around the whole dress. If some of my pieces where to short I sewed some together so you only have one long strip for each layer. I also eyeballed how many layers I wanted. This will be dependent upon how many layers you want and how long your dress is. I started slightly under the arm pit of the dress about 1/2-1 inch or so and laid out my layers to overlap about 1/4 inch. 

Once you figure that out then you will pin your first layer starting from the top of the dress right below the arm pit. I then stitched the first layer on once I made sure the pinning job was straight and to my liking. (I always triple check myself so I don't have to pick it all apart.) Then I lifted up the layer after it was sewn and pin my next layer slightly under the first so they overlap. Then your off and keep repeating this until your last layer is complete. As you can see in the picture below I had layers go until the very bottom of the dress so the lace was longer than the actual dress I was sewing on.

Step 6: Next I wanted that nice finished look on top of the first layer of lace. I took the prom dress material and cut out a 2 inch wide strip of fabric to wrap around the lace. (I always add length since you can trim it if necessary.) Then I got out my ironing board and pressed the fabric. I folded it in so there are no unfinished edges and pressed it again. This should result in the size band you want wrapped around. My band was about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Then you will pin the pressed folded fabric over the very top of the first layer of lace. Eyeball it until it is to your liking. Then you will take a single stitch and sew all the way around close to the edge. Then you will do it again on the opposite side till it looks like the picture below. 

The back of the dress has the seam that I folded and sewed like the picture you see below. 

Step 7: If you where like me and bought a sweater I then took extra lace and trimmed it down. Then I eyeballed the length of the lace to the sweater and cut it. Then I took my sewing machine and sewed on the edge of the sweater so it didn't cover the open wholes where the buttons go. I tapered the edges in a little at the top and bottom for a more finished look. 

My sweet little girl was blessed this January 2014 and she wore white tights with crochet booties my wonderful friend Abby made for her. I also had a pink headband with a white flower on her head!

If you complete your own dresses please comment and let me know how it went and post pictures! Good luck!