Simple Summer Fun

Most summer evenings you will find our little family out on the back deck.  We eat dinner and then hang out until Munchkin's bath time.  Sometimes Hubbers and Munchkin build with Lincoln Logs or Muchkin brings out some of his Matchbox car collection.  I planned to make some fun outdoor games before Summer got into full swing, but...it got pushed to the backburner and I kinda forgot.  Then I spied sets of dive rings in Target's Dollar Bin.  And this fun ringer game was born.

It's nothing fancy - but it's fun!  Just add water (or sand) to an old juice container and your ready to go!  It's a perfect way to pass the time while dinner's on the grill :)



I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick,

Pretty Sun Jar

Our back deck needed a little mood lighting.  And wouldn't it be cool if said mood lighting turned on automatically at dusk and didn't need to be plugged in.  Sure, I could've just popped a few solar lights around the deck, but where's the diy in that ;)  Obviously what we needed was a sun jar! 

This little baby took 3 supplies, 5 minutes of effort and about $6.  The thing I love about this is that it's versatile.  If I find a jar that I like better, it only takes 3 seconds to switch them out.  If we get tired of the blue stones, we can switch them out with clear, or whatever.  Want to make one too?  I'm sure you can figure out the few steps involved...


1 - Buy your stuff...1 solar light...1 glass (or plastic jar)...1 bag of decorative glass pebbles

2 - Strip your light portion of the solar light from it's stake (mine just pulled right off)
3 - Remove the 'glass' portion of the solar light - in my case it just screwed right off
4 - Add glass pebbles to the jar and top with the solar light

It just so happened that this solar light top was able to sit cleanly on the rim of the jar - this is what it looks like without the stones

5 - Bask in the blue alien glow

Ok, I'm going to come clean.  This isn't exactly what I wanted this to look like.  I really wanted to put the whole solar light down into the jar.  But I was impatient and any bigger jars were just too big...or they didnt' have a clear lid (kinda required for the whole solar charging thing).  So I went with what was in stock at Walmart - a small jar that has too small of a mouth (totally something that is never said about me) for the solar light to fit through.  Well, at least without me totally disassembling it...and I wanted this it be fast.  So that's why I'm on the lookout for a new jar.  But until then - I like it as is :)


I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick,

Farmer's Market Egg Bake

One of my favorite things about summer is our local Farmer's Market.  We like to go once a week and stock up on just-picked bounty of the season.  It seems like the last week in June all the good stuff really starts to crop up (heh heh heh) and we came home with tons of veggies.  Perfect for my world famous (ok, in-my-head famous) veggie loaded egg bake.

Farmer's Market Egg Bake

1/2 medium zucchini, peeled & diced
1/2 medium summer squash, peeled & diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4-5 mushrooms (any kind'll do), diced
1 cup shredded cheese (I like Monterrey jack the best)
8 eggs
1/3 cup milk
7-8 dashes Tabasco (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper (less if your not so fond of pepper)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 - Spray 9x9 casserole dish with olive oil spray (or any cooking spray) and preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2 - Layer veggies onto the bottom of the prepared dish

3 - Top veggies with shredded cheese
4 - Whisk eggs & milk together until well combined
5 - Add garlic powder, salt, pepper & Tabasco to egg mixture and mix well
6 - Pour egg mixture over veggies and cheese
7 - Using a fork, stir gently to ensure egg mixture covers the veggies and soaks down to the bottom of the dish
8 - Using the back of the fork, press down the veggies and cheese to submerge as much as possible

9 - Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the eggs puff up and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean

I like to eat my egg bake as-is with a side of fruit

Hubbers prefers to make a sandwich out of it...on toast...with extra cheese...and bacon

Munchkin prefers to eat a banana muffin instead

I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick,

Tomatoes

Today I went to a thrift store for the first time.  This obviously has nothing to do with tomatoes (as the aptly named title would suggest); Bear with me a moment.  I found the perfect frame to turn into a memo board, some soon-to-be-cloches and a candle stick.  Munchkin had a bit of a meltdown when I wouldn't let him get a broken radio.

But then I came home to a beautiful site.  Hubbers weeded my badly neglected tomato bed.  And staked the tomatoes.  And now they look like this

Yay for tomatoes...and Hubbers :)

Summer Lovin

I'm oh so glad that summer is finally (officially) here!  Time for farmer's markets, lazy days by the pool and lots of cool treats :)

1 - Pretty pedicured piggies  {source}
2 - There's nothing better on a summer evening  {source}
3 - Kennywood Park {source}
4 - Just-picked, grilled corn is one of my favorite summer eats  {source}
5 - Washed down with some ice cold lemonade  {source}
6 - Gorgeous tomatoes  {source}
7 - Beautiful - that's all there is to say  {source}
8 - Homemade juice pops  {source}
9 - Watermelon-Raspberry Lemonade!  Would anything be more refreshing?  {source}


I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick,

More Craftroom Progress

The craft room is starting to take shape :)  After much deliberation and some trial and error - Here's what part of the workspace looks like after this weekend:

My stash of buttons were sorted out into individual 1/2 pint canning jars - separated by color and hue...
 

Munchkin got to help with the sorting.  He now asks if we can sort them again.  He asks at least 3 times a day.  I should not have sorted while Munchkin was awake. 

My scissors, rotary cutter, and catch-all metal containers are now happily off the workspace and up on the wall. 

I bought 2 of these magnetic knife racks from IKEA and LOVE them!  The cylindrical containers are from JoAnn's - I bought them a few years ago for $1 apiece (they were found in the party supplies section).  The square containers are from Making Memories - they originally held paper flowers. 

I don't have a ton of fabric to display (I have lots of random fabric, just not alot that I'd like to have out) - Mostly just fabric for Munchkin's current quilt project and a few random yards that I couldn't resist.  For some of my smaller pieces - charm packs and quarters, I went with a fun display using a tiered melamine tray

The fabric that you see stacked beside the tray (in the first pic), are yards wrapped into mini-bolts using foam core.  I had hubs cut foam core sheets into 4x6 using his table saw.  Easy and cheap.

Now I just need to ask Hubs to hang a few shelves... make some cork/pin/memo boards... make the skirt for the workstation... organize the rest of the stuff... and it'll be just about done ;)


I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Marvelously Messy, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Cottage Chick,

Rainbow Snack

Ahhh summer...ok, technically it's almost summer.  Our favorite summer snack is fresh fruit...Munchkin prefers his served in the shape of a rainbow

Ok fine - our favorite favorite summer snack is ice cream...but cold, fresh fruit is a close second.  Munchkin may have eaten his weight in watermelon today.  I'm pretty sure he'll be hydrated for the next week ;)

Happy Father's Day!

{source}