Monday, August 22, 2011

My latest reads :-)

There is nothing better than getting lost in a good book!

So I used to suggest a book every month for my Bug a boo book club, but I have not posted one in several months because I started to worry that maybe you guys were not interested in those posts, but I decided I am going to start posting them again in case some of you are interested :-) 
I have been reading several biography's this summer which is not my usual style of reading, but it is helpful when you are reading about amazing people :-) .  It started out with Benjamin Franklin. He was such an amazing man!  So much that we enjoy today is because of him.  Truly one person can make a difference
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

I also read the Biography of Spencer W. Kimball  This book was so interesting.  And I learned things that I never knew about him before.  I did not know he was great athlete and that he was a wonderful singer and piano player. 

Product Details

And I am currently reading the Biography of Ezra Taft Benson I am enjoying this book so much!  His life was truly incredible.  It is probably my favorite read out of the 3 so far. 


After this I am going to read the last Fable Haven.  I still have not read it!  I guess I am avoiding it because I know I will let everything else in my life go to pot until I have it finished! :-/

Anyway now that the kids are all getting back to school take the time treat yourself and read a good book :-)

Friday, August 19, 2011

Lemon Buddies!

These sound so yummy to me! I totally want to try them!
 I saw them on the Chex site and they get a 5 star rating so they must be pretty good.  I have heard that they tast like mini lemon bars. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Glitter toes tutorial :-)

I got to go to girls camp this year with the Young Women in my Ward. The girls enjoyed doing pedicures and Glitter Toes to each other!   This whole glitter toes thing was new to me so I thought I would share how it is done :-)

Here are the supplies you will need
Finger nail polish 
 glitter the same color
gel glue
 clear finger nail polish
First you paint all your nails the color of your choice.
Next  you apply the glue.
Use the tip of the glue to evenly spread it on each nail.
Next comes the glitter.
sprinkle the glitter on all the toes and push it evenly onto each toe nail.

Next the clear nail polish.
clear any excess glitter around each toe nail and then apply clear nail polish on each toe nail
There you have it! glitter toes!
It was cute my daughter could not stop looking at her glittery toes :-)

My 3 sisters garden.

Remember my wild and crazy garden ideas a few months ago?  Well it is paying off!  I was so afraid that I would fail at growing corn, but my crazy adventure worked :-)
Remember a 3 sisters garden is when you grown corn, squash and beans together.  The corn is the pole for the beans.  The squash shades the weeds and the beans help stabilize the corn stalks from the winds etc. You don't grow the corn in rows like a traditional garden.  This link from an earlier post explains it better.



Here  is some of the corn that is ready to pick!  If you look close enough you will notice the evil grasshopper sitting there just waiting to eat my corn!
So my dreams of eating fresh corn straight from the garden have actually come true!


So far only a couple looked ready to pick so here they are husked, trimmed and ready to go in the boiling water.
The trick to cooking corn is not to over cook it.  You only need to keep in the boiling water for no more than a minute.
We had to split them in half and share since only two were ready to pick.  My son was privileged to be the first taste tester.  Don't mind his mop head.  He is getting a haircut this week from his favorite hairdresser (that would be me!).
He loves it! Said it was the best corn he has ever eaten!  What a Corney smile (literally)  :-)
I had to agree with him about it being the best corn he had ever eaten.  It was deeelish!  Nothing beats fresh corn straight from the garden.
 here is a close up pic of the squash plants at the base of the corn stalks.  I wonder how many pumpkins we will have this fall :-)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

There is Sunshine in my soul!

Here is another Stitchery I finished this summer.


Oh and by the way I just joined Pinterest recently.  If you want to see the things I love and be inspired by others then check it ou!. you can find my page here.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Add flare to onesies and T-Shirts!

My baby just turned 3 :-(
 I can't believe how fast time is flying!  There are so many projects that I intended on doing when she was a baby and just did not ever do! 
My sister in law is expecting a baby in October and had her baby shower a  week ago.  In deciding what to do for a gift I remembered that I had onesies in my craft room that I never did anything with.
I really liked the ruffle butt idea I saw here.  So here is what I came up with.  I wish I had a baby to display it on, but I think you can get the idea :-)



And I did this cute stitchery on this Onesie a while ago,

 but I had never done more with it and it has been sitting in my craft room waiting to be given away. I felt it needed more added to it though so I added this ruffle skirt to the bottom of it.







Here is another fun Idea I found @ Sir Bubbadoo.  Freezer paper stenciling!  This looks so fun and easy!

And check out this idea using bleach!

you can find this idea @ Home maker.

Do you have blog envy?

I have been blogging for 2 years now and I often ask myself why do I blog?
I want to believe that I blog so I can share some creative ideas that I might have that would be helpful to others out there, but I will admit like anyone else out there in the blogging world I do enjoy getting a pat on the back and seeing comments on my posts.  I do check how many hits my blog gets each day. And I am always happy to see a new follower :-)
  I love being creative, but it can be a little discouraging when I follow other blogs that they are clearly more creative than me.  It makes me question if I have anything worth contributing.  That may be why I have not blogged much over the summer.  But when I think back over my summer I have done a lot!  And because I have decided it probably is  not creative enough or interesting enough to others out there I have not shared.   And so I have decided that I don't care anymore!  I am just going to be me and I am not going to worry if others think I am interesting enough or not :-)
So I am going to share the things I have been up to over the summer through out this week.
 I love this post by Marta @ Marta Writes. It really hits the nail on the head about how I feel about blogging and blog envy.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Weekly Menu board

I think this is the cutest thing ever!
 I am such a sucker for this kind of stuff!  I am wanting to make something like this.  or turn my exsisting magnet board into something like this. You can find this idea @ Here.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Blueberries! and home grown Oregano!

I meant to post this in July, but my summer has gotten away from me!

So anyway one of the thorns in my side is
You can't grow blueberries in Utah! Something about the soil being too acid or alkaline I can never remember which.  It is very sad :-(
However my Dad was visiting my sister Paula in Nashville and They picked a bunch for me after much begging from me!


 They picked them at this Church that has tons of blueberry bushes.  You can pick as much as you want, but they encourage you leave a donation.
These blueberries were so yummy!  I made all sorts of blueberry recipes!  Blueberry muffins, blueberry waffles, blueberry syrup etc.

 Then I decided to flash freeze the rest of them so I can use them the rest of the year.  If you have never flash frozen fruit before here is how you do it.  You spread the fruit out in one single layer on a large cookie sheet.
Then stick it in the freezer and let them freeze until solid.  Then pop them off the cookie sheet and put them in a bag.  by doing this they do not stick and freeze together.  You can do this with any fruit. I do not have the patience for canning fruit so I just freeze it.  I froze my apricots and peaches last summer.  It sure beats buying expensive frozen fruit at the store and it tastes better too :-)

Another thing I did earlier this summer was pick and dry my Oregano.  I had just run out of my oregano from last years picking and so it was perfect timing :-) I have a big Oregano plant in my rock wall garden in my back yard.  I clipped the whole top of the plant.  Then I rinsed the clippings and let them drip dry on a paper towel. 

Then I tie the end together with a string and hang it from my pot rack. I let it hang until it is all dried out ( like drying flowers).
Once it is all dried out I crumble off all the  leaves from the stems and store them in an air tight container. I put mine in a zip lock bag.

 It has been nice to have a new batch of Oregano to cook with :-)


Saturday, August 6, 2011

Love this Birthday idea!

 
I have two daughters having a birthday within a week of eachother.  While looking up birthday ideas I came across this one.  I think it is so clever!  Although I wont be able to use it I thought some of the rest of you might be interested. Paula I especially thought of you.  I could totally see Ben enjoying this Birthday party idea :-)  Find it here at Plucky Momo.