Mini Figure Jar Toppers

If every surface in your house is covered in Legos like mine is - you are going to LOVE this project.  It's a cute way of organizing your kids' Legos and who doesn't need more organization in their life?  I know I do!

This is also a super simple way to make use of those pesky little black display pieces that come with the mini-figures!

Here's what you'll need for the project:

super glue

mason jar lid and ring

mason jar

mini-figure Lego display pieces

spray paints of your choice

Begin by gluing the mason jar lid together so that the ring and the lid will not separate.  Then when that is dry, glue the mini-figure display piece on the top of the lid.

Take it outside to your favorite spray painting spot and spray away!  I chose the dominant colors to match Fender's most popular Legos - yellow, white, red, blue, and green.  Then top with your favorite mini-figure!  Mine is definitely Evil Knievel.

And of course what it looks like at the end of the day!

Have fun!

Star Spangled Fourth

I fell in love with this star on Pinterest a while back - oh Pinterest - how you temp me with crafty ideas!  I finally sat down and decided to make it.  I had always intended to do it for Christmas, but then figured if I made it for the 4th and painted it red - it could possibly be used for both holidays!

I love how it turned out and it made decorating for the 4th so much fun!  You can find the basic instructions on how to make it here!

I spray painted my completed star red - but it seemed too much, so I decided to make it more distressed by glopping a lot of white acrylic paint on it and wiping and sanding a lot of it off.

 

I really like how it turned out and it goes much better with my funky maroon walls than if it were entirely red!

 

 

 

Here's the other side of the room, where I went with red white and turquoise that I hope I can stick with for the rest of the summer!

 

 

I love these coffee pots that my mother-in-law gave me!  They are absolutely my favorite part of the mantel (besides the star of course!)

 

Then outside I couldn't resist to give these a face lift in festive colors as well!  Now off to barbeque!

I hope you all have a Happy Fourth of July!

Easy Peasy Greek!

If you're looking for a new dinner, I have to share with you our easy Greek dinner that you can whip up in a jiff!  I call it our Greek dinner, because it is really dC's specialty to cook around here, but when I'm feeling adventurous I use his ideas as my own!

It starts with simple ingredients...romaine (we have tons in our garden and are always looking for ways to reinvent the salad!), tomatoes, red onion, feta, and kalamata olives.  Then pound out chicken breasts and pan fry them with a little salt and lemon juice for a tangy bite. 

Nothing goes better with Greek salad than hummus and pita.  I make an easy faux hummus that costs less than a dollar and no one ever notices!  Just put chick peas, lemon juice, salt, a clove or two of garlic (or garlic powder if I don't have any fresh!) in a food processor and blend with olive oil until smooth.  Warm the pita a bit in the oven and add a little extra olive oil on top of the hummus to keep it moist.  YUM!

Roll it all up in the pita (dC style) or make a salad out of it (kC and Fender style!) with a little vinaigrette and you are set for some easy peasy Greek! 

Cooking with Lavender

I've had a small lavender plant for about a year now. Lavender typically blooms twice a year, so I was excited to see it do just that! The first time I clipped the buds, I hung them in our bedroom during the winter time and let the fragrance fill the room. Since then, I've been coming across so many fun uses for lavender in the kitchen that I decided to try my hand at baking with it!

I made these lavender lemon cookies. They are really floral and pretty fancy! I can imagine serving these at a tea. Since they are sweet, of course Fender says they are his favorite!  The lavender is used right in the dough.  I'm not going to lie...biting into a little piece of lavender was a bit alarming!  That is why this lavender-honey ice cream was MY favorite...

I could have eaten it all... Who am I kidding? I basically did.  The lavender flavor was extracted by steeping the flowers in the honey and then straining them out before making the ice cream.  I would even love to make just lavender honey for my tea.

If you've ever wanted to try cooking with lavender, I say DO IT, and then tell me how it goes!

Garden Update

Our little garden has had some ups and downs...but after dC and I spent a few hours weeding it this weekend, we've been able to really see what's doing well and what isn't. The romaine, spinach, onions and cucumbers are all thriving! We've even brought the spinach in for a salad! (PS~ super cute garden spoons courtesy of my friend Jessica)

Getting ready for spinach salad!

The ones that aren't doing so hot were the broccoli and cantaloupe.  Could have called the cantaloupe, but Fender REALLY wanted to plant it because it's his favorite!  So we went back to the garden store today and are going to try our hand at late sowing and see if we can get some sugar peas and jalapenos before the summer is over!



DIY Fourth of July Wreath

I've never been one to decorate for the 4th, but this year I was excited to do something new!  There have been so many book wreaths out there - I thought I would create a tutorial to make your own patriotic flag version for your home.

Materials:

Old book

red and blue spray paint

foam wreath

hot glue and gun

marker

Start by finding an old book with weathered pages that you wouldn't mind parting with.  I found mine (with 600 pages = many projects!) for $3 at a thrift store.  Section the book of into thirds, and spray paint the edges of the book with

...blue...

...red...

...and leave the other third blank. 

Make sure to wait until each section is dry before painting the next.

Section off a foam wreath (I got this green one at the $1 store since you'll cover it ALL up the color doesn't matter).  Leave more space for the blue section since it will be in the upper left like the blue of an American flag.

Cut out the different colored sections of your book and begin building your wreath.  I like to twist the pages in all different directions before hot glueing them onto the wreath.  I glue the book page into the shape I want then add it to the wreath where it fits best!  This is where you can let your creative juices flow.  Fill in the empty spaces and make it as sparse or full as you'd like!  Just make sure to alternate red and white around the rest of the wreath.

Then using basic star origami I created 5 stars out of whiter book pages so that the stars would stand out a bit more against the older worn pages.  There you have it!  In less that 2 hours and for under $10 you can have your own wreath to start the summer off right! 

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Simple Strawberry Jam

We went strawberry picking this last weekend and with so many berries, I couldn't resist the idea of making jam!  Fender and I used this kid friendly recipe and the results were delicious!

The best little helper

Quality control!

Then I made a strwaberry rhubarb pie, and some strawberry cheesecake ice cream.  Both were delicious and recipes that I will use over and over again!

 

Five Years Coming! Month 1

Before Fender was born five years ago I received a Martha Stewart Living magazine in the mail celebrating her 15 years of the magazine.  (I know, I know everyone has their opinion of Martha, but I love her - sorry!)  In it she celebrates by baking a cake a month for a year.  I was intrigued.  I would come across the magazine and think - I should do that!  I tried knitting a sweater a month last year and didn't get past February...but cakes - those are doable!  So since starting a resolution in January tends to flop for me, I'm starting with July!!!

The cakes for July are simple - two pound cakes covered in whipped cream and berries.  One raspberry and one blueberry, trying to fight the rain here in Washington!

Drum roll please.......

My first post!

Even though Summer has not yet arrived here in Washington, my garden is dertermined to prove us wrong!  Our sweet peas were abundant!  They are so delicious to eat raw and if I was more adventurous, I might shuck them all and serve them for dinner.  The whole family loves them and will be snacking on them for weeks!