Category Archives: etc.

New House Numbers

October 27, 2012

So, I’ve picked some new numbers for our house. I shared a collection of numbers a week ago. I had decided to go with the Mission numbers from Restoration Hardware, but alas they were out of 2’s. So, I decided that the modern fonts were really fun as well. And while we were at Home Depot picking up sprinkler parts, I saw these numbers.

They are perfect. I love the bronze color, it goes with our new hardware on the door and the modern font was just want I was looking for. And to make them even more ideal, they were really inexpensive, $5.99 each. Now to hang them tomorrow.

Lonnie and Dylan are going camping this weekend with my brothers and their two sons. They are going to have so much fun. They can be real men without moms there to worry. I made sure to send them with lots of treats. What’s camping with out good snacks? Denali made them chocolate chip cookies, I made them a big batch of Pumpkin Spice Poppycock, and they are going to have Sweet and Sour Meatball Hobo Meals for dinner tomorrow night.

We’re looking forward to some girl time here as well. There won’t be time for cooking meals that’s for sure. I don’t know if you’re like me, but if the hubby is gone, I’m not really into cooking meals. Time for take out or maybe just popcorn for dinner. I’ll also be putting finishing touches on Halloween costumes this weekend. And Denali’s birthday party is a week away – so I’ve got a lot of work there, but it’s probably my favorite kind of work. What do you have planned for this weekend?

Oh one more fun thing. My little blog has been nominated for Skinny Scoop’s Top 25 Creative Blogs list. There is just 2 more days to vote. I feel silly asking, but if you’d take the time to vote for Oleander and Palm, I’d sure appreciate it. Thanks friends.

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Metamorphosis Halloween Costumes

October 25, 2012

Well, last year we had to come up with 3 Halloween costumes that would go together. Pairs are much easier. So, my kids went as metamorphosis. I’ve told you before that I’m married to a Science nerd. Lonnie is a biology teacher, so this one was all his idea. Denali went as a butterfly, Dyl was the chrysalis, and Olivia was a caterpillar. We thought it was a pretty clever trio.

The chrysalis costume was the easiest. I tea stained a couple yards of unbleached cotton fabric and a yard of gauze like fabric and then tore it into 4 inch strips. I actually sewed the stripes to his pants and t-shirt. I penciled on his face some more strips and we baby powdered his hair and face.

Denali’s costume was a bit more time consuming. I followed Martha Stewart’s Butterfly Wing Pattern to make her wings. It was actually a couple days of sewing, but I really think they turned out beautiful. We decided to make our own species of butterfly. This butterfly comes from Papua New Guinea it’s the Graphium Weiskei (we have a framed one like this). Since that’s where Denali was born and I grew up, it had some significance to us.

We obviously had some fun with the makeup. Denali flipped out we a showed her the fake eyelashes. She sure is one beautiful girl.

Olivia’s caterpillar costume was made by her aunt. Auntie Jacq did an amazing job making this super cute Hungry Caterpillar costume. It was perfect for a 1 month old. She stayed warm and cozy in it all night.

You can see more of our Halloween costumes by clicking the links below.

Shark and Scuba Diver

Cowgirl and Indian

Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia

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Chalkboard Rocks for Halloween

October 22, 2012

I love it when I make something that I actually use over and over. I made these Chalkboard Rocks a really long time ago. I used them for Thanksgiving decor and even place cards. They really are one of the simplest things ever, but they continue to be one of my more popular posts of all time.

I’ve written cute Halloween messages and images on them now. This time I used a chalk pen, which gives fantastic, clean, crisp results (see sources below). I filled a large mason jar with the rocks to decorate my tabletop.

I little natural twine around the top of the jar adds the finishing touch. My kids will have fun drawing and writing on these rocks as well.

I had a hard time finding a white chalk pen at local craft stores, so I’ve listed to great sources for them below.

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Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Halloween Costumes

October 21, 2012

I’m having so much fun going back through pictures from Halloweens past. This was probably Dyl’s all time favorite costumes. He was and still is a HUGE Star Wars fan. You can see how much he loved his Light Saber.

For Dylan’s Luke Skywalker costume I made him a simple lined tunic and a brown sash belt. He wore his one brown pants and carried his Light Saber. For Denali’s Princess Leia costume I made her two braided buns for her hair. I simply braided really long lengths of brown yarn and the hot glue them into spiral cones. Then we bobby pinned them to her own smaller buns. I also made her a long, turtle neck dress with wide sleeves. She wore sandals and one of my metallic belts.

These Owl Pumpkins were probably the cutest pumpkins I’ve ever made.

I obviously have to have some influence on my kids costume choices if they are going to have costumes that go together. But, every year I try to pick something they are really interested in. I want them to be excited about their costumes. Do you let your kids pick a character from their wildest dreams, do you give them very limited choices, or do you have 100% control over the selection?

You can see more of our Halloween costumes by clicking the links below.

Shark and Scuba Diver

Cowgirl and Indian

Metamorphosis – Butterfly, Chrysalis, and Caterpillar

Wizard of Oz – Dorothy and Scarecrow

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New House Numbers

October 19, 2012

Well, we got rid of our old door and replaced it with a beautiful new front door. If you follow my instagram, you might have seen some of the progress I’ve made this last week. We’ve (well mostly I’ve) stained, sealed and painted the trim on the door all week. It’s tough to leave your front door open all day in between coats and keep a very busy 1 year old out of the mess and in the house. But, it’s done and I saved myself $500 (that’s how much they were going to charge to have the door finished).

Now I’m on the look out for some new house numbers. It’s one of those cases that once you fix one thing, you find 10 other things that need to be fixed as well. But, really after all the money and work that went it this new door, shouldn’t we have fancy new numbers to go along with it?

I’ve searched high and low and these are my favorites. Some are way out of my price range and some totally unpractical, but they all have great design and style. I definitely don’t want something traditional, at the least, I need a more modern font for my numbers.

Top // Grass Numbers // Stainless Modern // Wide Modern

Middle // Stencil // Nail Head // Mission

Bottom // Succulent Number // Oversized // Twig Numbers

What would you choose to go with my new front door or maybe for your front door (if you need/want new numbers)?

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Cowgirl and Indian Halloween Costumes

October 18, 2012

So, this obviously is from a few years ago. Oh my gosh, those little guys were so dang cute. This is 2007, and we were living in Sanaa, Yemen. Believe it or not, the international school the we taught at actually had a dress-up day on Halloween. It wasn’t called Halloween, but it was Halloween to us.

Denali’s outfit was all hers, not even a costume really. She got the pink boots from her Grandma when she went to the rodeo in Idaho. She wore them the whole time we lived in Yemen. Our little blonde would march around the cobble stone streets in her pink boots. The horse I bought for her at IKEA in Dubai (how exotic).

Dylan’s costume came all the way from Canada. My mom found it, his moccasins, and the dream catcher in a thrift store. Dylan was in preschool at the time and he loved his costume. He stayed in character all day. You can see him dancing.

And if you need a quick last minute costume idea, dress as a baker. I made a simple chefs hat out of tissue paper and card stock, wore an apron, put some flour on my face and carried a bowl and whisk.

You can see more of our Halloween costumes by clicking the links below.

Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia

Shark and Scuba Diver

Metamorphosis – Butterfly, Chrysalis, and Caterpillar

Wizard of Oz – Dorothy and Scarecrow

etc.

Shark and Scuba Diver Halloween Costumes

October 16, 2012

I LOVE Halloween costumes. And I love to dress my kids in costumes that go together. We’ve come up with some pretty creative ones (well that’s what I think) over the years. So, over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share some costumes from Halloweens past. The Shark and Scuba Diver costumes are from Halloween 2010 (pre Olivia).

Denali’s Scuba Diver costume was one of the easiest ones I’ve ever made. She simply wore a long sleeved black t-shirt, black jeans, and a black ski hat for her wet suit. Then I spray painted 2 large soda bottles silver and attached a scuba sticker to them for her tanks. I used wide elastic to make her a weight belt and straps for carrying the tanks. She wore her own snorkel and mask and carried her fins.

Dylan’s Shark costume was a whole other ball game. I didn’t have a pattern, so I used pictures from the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue to come up with his. I used two tones of grey polar fleece and batting to hold the head and fins up. It turned out pretty cute and it didn’t cost me anywhere near the Pottery Barn price tag.

You can see that my kids had a lot of fun with these costumes. My favorite shot from the night is the scuba diver attacking the shark. Dylan’s face makes me smile.

You can see more of our Halloween costumes by clicking the links below.

Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia

Cowgirl and Indian

Metamorphosis – Butterfly, Chrysalis, and Caterpillar

Wizard of Oz – Dorothy and Scarecrow

etc.

Cheddar Apple Biscuits

October 15, 2012

These are soooo yummy. In the last week, I’ve made these twice for my family. These tender, slightly sweet biscuits need absolutely nothing on them, not even butter. I served these with my Curried Butternut Squash Soup.

Cheddar Apple Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup grated apple

1/2 cup grated shape cheddar

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients together.

Using a pastry knife, cut the COLD butter into the flour until it looks like course meal. Stir in the apple and all but 3 tbsp. of the cheese.

Add the milk and just barely combine the ingredients by tossing it gently with a fork. The less you handle the dough the more tender it will be.

Roll out to 1/2 inch and cut into circles, squares, whatever shaped you’d like. Top each biscuit with a sprinkling of the remaining cheese. Bake at 400 F for about 12-15 minutes. Enjoy them while they are warm.

I hope you had a great weekend. We had some great family and friends time. Saturday night I had 8 children under the age of 10 years old all by myself for 2 hours (then Lon came home). I’ll have you know, I made dinner and fed all of those kiddos too. It was some very fun chaos.

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October Memory Verse

October 13, 2012

I thought this was an appropriate verse for October. I had fun with this one. I hand drew the garlands and lettering. I’ve shared that we celebrate Halloween without the spooky stuff. This is such a comforting verse for little ones to learn, whether it’s Halloween or not. You can print your own copy HERE for free.

Well, I’m finally back with another printable memory verse. I kind of felt that no one was using these. But then recently, I received a few messages and comments about how folks enjoy these. So, we’re back! I’ll make sure to post the months that I missed.

If you want to know more about my Monthly Memory Verse, read here. And I’d love some feedback. Do you print these verses for your home? Looking at all the months I’ve put together this year, which is you favorite? And what colors, patterns or verses would you like to see in the months to come? I value your opinion.

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Curried Butternut Squash Soup

October 12, 2012

This Fall soup is full of flavor and is such an inexpensive, healthy meal. Yummy roasted squash is paired with the heat of curry and the sweetness of apples. It can be a vegetarian meal as well. I used chicken stock, but vegetable stock could be easily substituted. This is a recipe that my good friend Gwen used to make. I’ve changed it ever so slightly for my family, but it’s a Fall favorite in our home.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
2 lbs. butternut squash (cubes into 1″ pieces)
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups chopped apple (granny smith or another tart apple)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. curry powder
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
4 cups chicken or veg. stock
salt and pepper

Place squash on a foil lined baking sheet. Toss with 2 tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for about 40 mins. in a 400F or until the squash is tender.

Sautee the apple onion, celery and bay leaf in 2 tbsp. olive oil until tender. Stir in the curry powder and garlic. Add the squash, broth and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to medium heat, simmer for 30 mins.

Blend the hot soup in a blender until smooth. Serve with cheese, chicken, a dollop of sour cream or
just by itself.

My cute bowl is from West Elm. Olivia loves this soup. Because it’s a puree, it’s like gourmet baby food. And I’m sure it would freeze well. We ate the whole pot, so I couldn’t save any for later.