Happy Mother's Day!

Trading Blogs!

Hello there!

Today I'm taking part in a Trading Blogs Guest Posting Party and can be found over at Yankee Doodle Designs.  And I'm happy to be hosting Karin over here:



Hi I'm Karin

 and I blog over at Yankee Doodle Designs. Let me start by just saying a BIG Thank You to Tricia for having me guest post here at  making it feel like home at as part of the Trading Blogs Guest Posting Party over at Serendipity and Spice.



As I said, I blog over at Yankee Doodle Designs, if you would like to come check me out. Most of the time you will find me blogging about DIY crafts, home improvement projects, thrifting and finding great deals (who doesn't LOVE a great deal, right). So after I was partnered with Tricia, I came on over to check out her blog and WOW was I excited when I saw this post, I knew right then what I was gonna blog about for my guest post, it just so happens that I am working on a big project in my Family room and was just about done with this fun little tutorial, so here goes:
Brought to you by the Letter N

 I'm so excited to be here to share a simple but super cute DIY project with you today. 

This is a quick, inexpensive project that you can do in just a few minutes. I saw this project on Pinterest months ago and have been dying to make it, but of course I had to put my own little twist on it. The whole project only cost me a a few bucks. I spent $2.99 on my "N" at Joann Fabrics, the maps came from an outdated Atlas in the trunk of my car, and the Mod Podge I had in my craft supplies.  By the way right now you can buy a super cheap 8.5x11 Atlas at Target, they were in the Dollar Spot the other day when I was there and I couldn't help but buy a few just to have on hand for future projects. There are some really cute map projects on my Pinterest Boards, if you would like to check them out!

                                   My Inspiration from Pinterest

I cut out maps of all the Cities that I have lived in over the last 25 years, there were 9 all together. Being married to a Military man, I've had the pleasure of seeing quite a bit of this beautiful country and living in some amazing places. I laid out my favorite places so they would be in a prominent spot on my letter N. My NOT so favorite places ( you know who you are El Paso, Texas) wound up in the back or on the bottom. 

I brushed some Mod Podge on my "N" and than began placing my map pieces, smoothing them out and then adding more Mod Podge on top. 

I did one section at a time stopping in between to let the Mod Podge dry so I could do the bottom and back with out the front getting stuck on my paper plate.

My favorite thing about this project is that my map covered letter "N" is covered with maps of all the Cities I've called Home for the past 25 years. It makes me smile when I look at it. I can't wait to hang it up, it's part of a bigger project that I'm working on in my Family room...here's a little sneak peak

you'll have to come over to Yankee Doodle Designs  for the Big Reveal coming up in the next few weeks. Again a Big Thanks To Tricia for having me here, I really hope you enjoyed todays project and if you'd like to see more, stop on by my blog and see what else I've been up to.

Until Next Time

Karin

Oven Pancake

I found this recipe on pinterest (where else?) and made it on Sunday for breakfast.  The kids were a bit skeptical at first (a "big pancake?!") but even it even melted away Ellen's daily morning mood.

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour

1 cup milk

6 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

Blend above ingredients and pour into greased 9x13 pan.  Then pour 2 tbs. melted butter over the top (do not mix).  Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.  

Serve with maple syrup.

(I did half the recipe and used a 9x9 pan.)

Easy and tasty weekend breakfast!

Happy 4th Birthday to our Best Guy!

 We love you, Jude!  

Right now the things you love are:

Cars 2...and using floss to make a tightrope for Finn McMissile to fly across.

Hot dogs on the grill.  

Transformers (Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are your favorites).

Swinging outside on our swingset.

Carrots with ranch.

Telling us you will be "right here if you need me" when we put you to bed.

Red and dark blue.

Snack time at preschool.

Hummus.

Puzzles.

Hot chocolate...even though the temperature is warming up.

Wild Kratts and any other shows about animals.

Happy Birthday to you!!!

  

Recent Happenings/Happiness

 Clare and Jude have had the crayons out a lot lately.  I've enjoyed some of their recent creations...

"Rapunzel's Hair" by Clare

"Optimus Prime" by Jude

                                                                                

Jude was playing outside the other day and came running inside to tell me their was a "lizard" (or is it a salamander?) in the garage....

"Right there."

Yikes!

 I bought new cups for the older kids after realizing our stash of non-sippy cups was pretty pathetic.  At 44 cents a pop these plastic ones are making some people feel pretty darn mature.  

Summer popsicle stash has hit the freezer.  Someone is a "pop-a-cle" fan!

Love my stylin' new contacts case!  My favorite color, too!

And a Happy Birthday to Joseph, the baby in my family who turns 19 today!  

Good luck with finals!  

Cinco de Mayo

I'm recommending some of our favorite Mexican dishes for the upcoming weekend...

Chicken Tacos

Corn Salsa

Black Bean Salsa

Of course any of the above would be nicely complimented by one of these:

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Enjoy your weekend!

Kid-Friendly Cards

Clare is at a fun age where card games are starting to interest her.  

Uno is one of our favorites right now.

image

The only problem is that small hands sometimes have trouble handling a lot of playing cards.

We have solved this problem by making a "card holder" that I found on pinterest.

Simply take two lids from the same product and staple them together in the center.

The lids I used were larger, so I also hot glued around the staple to keep the cards snug in place.  Press together and let hot glue dry. 

Then just stick the cards in between the two lids and they stay put and are easy for a young card player to manage.

Bring on game night!  

Laundry Room Love

I am officially in love with my laundry room.  

I usually run a load or two of laundry everyday.  We also keep jackets/coats, shoes, and cleaning supplies in our laundry room, so I am in and out of there a lot during any given day.  

So why not make a room you "look at" a lot something you enjoy "looking at?"  

Last week I framed my birthday gift from Ryan.  That print is now officially hanging in my laundry room above the kids' coatrack.  A great reminder as we come and go throughout the day!  

I also bought this black metal tree that I liked the first time I saw it at Hobby Lobby.
(I came home empty handed, told Ryan how much I like it, and he sent me back to get it.)

We (finally) hung this simple curtain that I made.

Clare grew the grass at school.

And we also (finally) hung this broom organizer....bought many months ago.    

Pink broom = we start them out young!  :) 

Baskets above the washer and dryer hide the mess.  

Our basket o' shoes.

(Also seen as this in Ellen's younger days...)

Love everything together!

Excuse me while I go switch the laundry...

Linking here.

betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com

todayscreativeblog.net

Framed

I printed out a copy of this free printable from eighteen25 in grey for 

our anniversary in January.  

image

And it has sat on it's 11x14 cardstock since then....until I was browsing through Michael's the other day (without children) and came upon this chunky silver frame on clearance!  Love a chunky frame and loved the $20 price tag!  

I popped my print in and hung it in our bedroom.  

Now I just have to tackle the rest of our bedroom decor...someday!

"Lite" Chocolate Cake

When I saw this recipe on pinterest I was intrigued.  "Healthy" version of chocolate cake?  Yes, please!

This is one of those 3 ingredient wonders (if you count water as an ingredient).

Simply combine 1 box of chocolate (or any flavor) cake mix with 1 cup of plain greek yogurt (original recipe says fat free, but I had "lowfat" on hand that was due to expire) and 1 cup of water.

Mixture looks like chocolate mousse.  

Spray cake pan(s) and bake according to directions on box.  

I decided cupcakes were a better option for us because they would store better (and dictate portion control).

The outcome?  Pretty much tastes like a chocolate angel food cake.  

And my ultimate taste testers, the kids, loved them! 

And so easy to make! 

(I left these cupcakes "bald" since I didn't have any icing on hand, or want to add more calories to them.)

Might have to try my hand at the other recipes listed here.    

Linking here.  

todayscreativeblog.net

betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com