August 27, 2015
It’s about time Pumpkin, our kitty, was on the blog. I made him a modern, stylish kitty bed that I’m not embarrassed to have in my living room. I’m taking this DIY back to the 90’s and I’m splatter painting!!! Head over to Curbly today to see the full how-to tutorial. Oh, and I made this bed for less the $10.
August 26, 2015
I definitely take for granted that I can go to a number of good grocery stores in my neighborhood and find pretty much any fruit or vegetable. Did you know that there are food deserts in areas of our country, places where fresh produce is not accessible? Naked Juice has teamed up with Wholesome Wave to bring to life the Drink Good. Do Good campaign to bring awareness and actual fresh fruits and veggies to these places.
This is such a cool program you guys, you can use your social media to do some good. Here’s how it works!
1. Take a photo of yourself holding a fruit or vegetable.
2. Share it on social media using the #DrinkGoodDoGood hashtag
3. Tag a friend to do the same!!!!
And get this, for every picture you post, Naked Juice will donate 10 lbs. of produce to Wholesome Wave!!!! Now that’s pretty awesome. I hope you’ll join me, I’ll be watching for your posts on Instagram.
You can download 1 or all 3 of these FREE phone wallpapers HERE! Right now I have the peachy hued image on my lock and home screen. Do you have a favorite?
August 25, 2015
You know, Summer isn’t officially over yet. And it will certainly feel like Summer in Cali for a few more months. So, I’ve got a few more friends that need to be introduced. My Summer Spotlight Series is still alive.
August 20, 2015
If you’d like to have more printable memory verses for your home, be sure to check out all the other ones I’ve created.
(Note: The text at the bottom of the image may print, but it is not within the 8 X10 measurement. When you print, do not scale the image)
August 19, 2015
I’m so in love with all things grid patterned. I might have a pillow problem, but don’t most women.
These new DIY Grid Patterned Pillows I made are my new favorites. You’ll be seeing a lot of them.
They kind of work well in every room in our house. That’s the beauty of black and white and a simple pattern like grid, it works with every style and color palette.
August 18, 2015
In an effort to eat healthier, I am cutting out a lot of processed foods. I’m going back the the basics, and dressing my salads with simply oil and vinegar is a good place to start. I like to keep these ingredients on my counter, ready to be used. But, if they are going to sit out on my counter, they gotta be cute. So, I customized a couple simple bottles I picked up at Target for $4 each. Simple letters in crisp white give these bottle a clean modern look and feel.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Apply the stickers and masking tape to the bottom half of the bottle.
Using a foam brush, brush in one direction all the way around the bottle. You will probably need to paint two coats. I like the streaky finish of this paint, so I stopped at just two coats.
Allow the paint to dry completely.
Remove the stickers and tape. If the paint leaked at all under the tape of sticker, you can simple scrape away any excess now.
Place the bottles in a cold over and turn the oven on and bring to up to 325F. Bake for 30 mins and then turn off the oven and leave the dishes in the oven until they are cool. This will cure the paint.
Fill with your favorite oil and vinegar and display. Right now I’m all about good olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.
August 12, 2015
Blackberry Ginger Syrup
2 cups of fresh blackberries
1 cup of water
3 tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger
1 cup sugar
another cup of water
In a pot, crush the blackberries with a potato masher or the back of a large spoon. Add the first cup of water and the ginger. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and strain the berries through a fine mesh sieve. Pour the liquid into a large measuring cup. Add enough water (about 1 cup) to make 2 cups of liquid. Pour the liquid back into a pot and add 1 cup of sugar.
Bring to a broil and boil for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
To make the coolers, mix about 1-2 oz. of syrup with either ginger ale or club soda in a glass with lots of ice and a couple whole blackberries.
Store the syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple weeks.
I can’t get enough of ginger, it’s one of my favorite flavors. It’s bright, crisp and always refreshing. These pretty drinks could definitely be given a little grown-up kick with a splash of your favorite gin. I’m not stopping you. What are your favorite flavor combinations? Is this a series you’d like to see more of?
August 10, 2015
July 14, 2015
I don’t consider myself an artist, but I do love having opportunities to express myself creatively. I enjoy pushing myself in simple, artistic ways. Whether it’s just making something with my hands, creating a new recipe or playing with color, it helps me feel alive and energized.
We are still on our big road trip to Alaska. Our days are filled with exploring the gorgeous scenery that is at every turn. Yes, we are spending a lot of time in the car and showering a lot less, but we are creating priceless memories as a family. I know we are so privileged to have the time and the resources to do this as a family. Taking yourself away from the everyday responsibilities and schedules of life is so refreshing. It gives me time to clear my head, think and just catch my breath. And while I’m away from my studio, all my craft supplies, Pinterest, and even window shopping, I’m looking for ways to play with my creative side.
I find I’m using my phone and camera all the time to capture moments and scenes. So, as a little personal challenge, I’m giving myself little photo challenges. Like picking a specific color to hunt for. We’ve definitely seen a lot of green (my favorite color). For the next couple of days, we are camping just outside Seward, Alaska. This is a gorgeous little port town on the Kenai Peninsula with towering mountains on every side. Cobalt Blue is a color I keep playing with. We have been traveling with our new bright blue HP Pavilion 17″ notebook. It’s been an awesome tool for researching campsites and points of interest, keeping in touch with our life that we’ve temporarily left behind and storing and sharing our loads of pictures we’ve been taking along the way. So, today I challenged myself to take this gorgeous shade of blue as inspiration and hunt for it in Seward, Alaska.
This new HP Pavilion notebook is more versatile and efficient with Windows 10 already loaded and ready to go. Windows 10 is just as familiar as an old friend, but even better. You can keep all the areas of your life organized with a desktop for work and then one for home. It has a great battery life and lots of storage. And you can only buy this specific edition on HSN.
July 13, 2015
If you following me on facebook or instagram you may know that we are on an epic road trip right now. About a week and a half ago, we left our home in Southern California and drove our vintage trailer, Riley, all the way to Alaska. Our kids were troopers as we travelled over 3700 miles in 6 1/2 days. They are not strangers to traveling and long road trips, but this was the longest trip we have ever taken. I don’t think I am an expert, but I do think I have a lot of experience traveling with kids, so I thought I’d share a few tips that help make Road Tripping with kids a little easier.
1. Snacks are #1! Being prepared with healthy choices for snacking and meal times, is sure to save you both time and money. We bought an electric cooler that plugs into the cigarette lighter for this trip. I knew I didn’t want to have to mess with buying ice everyday, so this seemed like a good investment. Because we were traveling with our little trailer, we committed to cooking most of our meals. And actually we only ate out a couple of times. But, having fruit, veggies, and cheese for snacking was really helpful. We kept Snack Catchers full of healthy treats and munchies and leak proof sippy cups full for Olivia at all times. And by using great products like these from Munchkin, we didn’t have to worry about unwanted messes and spills.
6. Bring that one special thing. For Olivia it is her bunny and her Owl Nightlight. Be sure to pack that one thing that your kiddo has to have in order to sleep. We don’t pack any tools when we travel and camp. Kids can be very entertained by just rocks and sticks. But, when it comes to bed time, softies and security blankies are a must. These items can also help you child sleep in their carseat when you are driving both early in the morning or late at night.
This post is sponsored by Munchkin. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible.