DIY Play Kitchen

So another thing that is on my mind is a play kitchen for Hannah. I am in love with the ones that I have so far!! Click on the picture and that will take you straight to the site where I found these.

I like the simplicity modern design of this one.

this one is probably my favorite because of how cute and chic it looks.

This one is pretty cool because of how real it looks. If you go to the website you will see that there are actual LED lights for the burners that "work".

Mr. Rogers

We have been enjoying the site for Mr. Rogers....you might too!!



Videos
Games
Songs
Coloring Pages
The Castle
The Story Corner

Many Faces of Hannah

A Peaceful and Quiet Time at.....

McDonalds? Is that possible? It was for me last night.

I needed some time to myself where I wasn't grocery shopping alone but having enjoyable time for myself. I usually like going to Barnes & Nobles but going there I get a little discouraged because you have to pay for the books. And they are not cheap. So, I opted to go to our local library to look for my own personal books. Not children books/CD's. I went down the isle of art and looked at all of the books on photography. I want to learn more about what I am doing and do more than what I am doing. How fun would that be to shoot on Manual mode and know what I need to do for a specific shot? So....I got MANY books on photography. (Note: If Dana is reading this....sorry, I couldn't help it. But there are many more.)

Afterward it was still too early to come home. It was only 8pm and I knew that Hannah wasn't in bed yet and I didn't want to interrupt the bedtime routine. I decided on a whim to go to McDonald's down the street from me. And to my GREAT surprise it was a very relaxing and peaceful time. I have never gone into a McDonald's and experienced this feeling.

Apparently they had a fire about 3 or so years ago and totally tore down the Mickie D's and made it look beautiful.

These are pictures in the front..I sat in the way back and it was just as nice and they were actually playing classical music. And there was practically no one! Well, except for an elderly lady who came in and was complaining loudly about the size of the cheese that came on her hamburger. And that was humorous to me.

I think this meeting place with me and some books will happen again in the future.

TP Flower Art for the Wall

This was a project that I got from Twig & Toadstool. I had written about the crafts that I wanted to do in the near future and this was one of them. I just changed it a little bit.

I cut 1 roll of toilet paper 4 times. First cut the whole roll in half and then cut those halves in half, which will give you 4 pieces. I glued the petals onto one cut circle. Instead of adding 6 petals I added 7 petals. And basically used 7 different colors that I had in my paint container. Hannah started painting each flower and then when she got bored with that I painted the rest of the flower. That is how each flower went.

When my flowers were dry, I hot glued the flowers to each other to form a "rainbow".

Pumpkin French Toast

I have the book Vegan Brunch and found this recipe and made it for dinner tonight. It was great! I added some Earth Balance, Honey and diced up bananas. De-Lish!!!

1 cup pureed pumpkin (from a can is just fine)
1 1/2 cups almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 stale Baguette, sliced diagonally in 1 inch pieces (see tip), or 8 pieces thick sliced bread

Cooking oil for the pan

Mix together all ingredients (except for the bread, obviously). Spread out baguette slices on a rimmed baking pan in a single layer. Pour on pumpkin mixture and flip to coat. Let sit for 20 minutes, then flip over and soak for 10 minutes more.

Preaheat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat (I use cast iron). Spray with cooking oil, or drizzle a little into the pan, and cook about half of the soaked breads at a time for 5 to 7 minutes on one side and about 3 minutes on the other. They should be golden to medium brown and flecked with darker spots. Keep warm on a plate covered with tin foil while you cook the second batch.

If not serving immediately, cover and place in a 200 degree oven for up to an hour. Serve with maple syrup and earth balance, of course.

Welcome Fall!!

Ok, so it's a day early, but...I am LOVING everything that comes with Fall. It took me a week or so to accept the fact that summer is coming to an end but once I did, I am looking forward to many thing like:

-I am enjoying the cooler weather and not having my A/C on for the last 2 weeks!
-I already had two Pumpkin Spice Coffees!
-I am looking forward to apple desserts and pumpkin desserts!
-We are taking Hannah's preschool to Garver's Farm...
-I want to see the leaves change colors. I love my mums that are blooming beautifully!


What are YOU looking forward to?

A Clothespin

What does this little clothes pin mean to you?

To me, it means, my daughter can now find a match to her jammies. Not that it is a big deal that she wears mix match jammies but since I fold them and put them into her drawer like that I appreciate that they stay together.

I have had this idea for a couple of weeks to match up her jammies and "seal" it with a clothespin. Today, while I was yard sale hopping I came across a bag full of clothespins...for $.25!! Score!!

Now, Hannah can find her matched jammies with no problems!

I Want to Run Far Far Away

Today, and maybe only for today...maybe only for this morning...maybe only for this hour... I want to RUN, run far away from the home and not be a mom. Not have to be responsible for feeding, playing, caring for my little daughter. I'm sick and I keep getting a new sickness somewhere different in my body.

First, it started as a ear ache/infection. That cleared up after using Sovereign Silver. I put a couple of drops in my ears in the morning and then at night for about 3 days. The pain went away by the second set of drops and then the infection was gone.

Then I had an upper respiratory cold, which got infected. I went to the health food store and got Clear Lungs. It was awesome! NO side affects at all. It was expensive. I paid about $38.00, but I would have paid, $30 for a doctor's visit, then at least $20.00 for an antibiotic. So, I justified the amount that I paid. That cleared up.

Now, I have a sinus infection. I need to use my neti-pot. I know it will go away after a couple of times....but sheesh! What is going on with my body???

So, back to taking care of my daughter. I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom. I have one child, which is a little easier in some ways then multiple kids. So, I am not complaining about taking care of children. It's just that I am sick! My job doesn't stop when I am sick.

I sell my jewelry and when an order comes in, I have to fulfill it. Like this morning. I need to get those out. And the cleaning, laundry and picking up and taking care of a dog, who needs to eat and go for a walk.

I know my body is telling me to slow down. But how? How do YOU take care of your responsibilities and stay sane and sick-free?

(Disclaimer: I did not run away. Hannah is perfectly safe playing. Kid and dog are fed.)

Craft Fair and a Little Sick

I have been slacking lately with my posts. I have been concentrating on a craft fair that I attended with my friend, Genelle, of Paisley Peach Designs. I had been trying to get all of my products ready for sale. Jewelry and Hair Clips. (I don't have anything on the hair clips site yet.) This was the first real craft festival that I had my products for sale. It was a lot of fun for me. I enjoyed hanging out with my friend and attempting to sell our stuff. The first day was kind of a trial run for us. The weather was gorgeous and there were SO many people there. The only bad thing is...they weren't buying anything! I think we figured out that they were there for the fun time at the festival and only looking for cheap things to buy. The second day we were ready. We lowered prices, set things up differently, and we felt like we were going to sell! The only problem.....rain....almost ALL day long. So, about 2 hours into it, they canceled the music and people started closing down shop.

We questioned our stuff a lot...we questioned the people...we questioned everything....I just think we were at the wrong fair. We have nice handmade jewelry and hair clips. The only thing that we got a lot of business with was the "Design Your Own Jewelry" table. You could purchase a necklace or bracelet and add up to 5 beads for a super small price. Great idea...huh? It sold. Not extremely but we got a lot of sales that way.

All in all it was a big learning lesson...I am hoping to do at least one or two more by Christmas. This time, a REAL Arts and Crafts Festival.

Now, about being sick. Ugh! I have barely enough energy to write this post but I really wanted to update my blog. I have no photos ready...I have nothing really to add school wise or art wise. My mind has been completely focused on the Festival. I am hoping to post a couple of pictures of my brother and his kids last weekend...which I had a blast!

Until then....ta ta for now!