placemats repurposed

once upon a time, i collected strawberry themed stuff.  oftentimes, collections lead to bad choices and hoarding. like these placemats. 

so, i revamped them with a little help from hendrix. the idea came from the say yes to hoboken blog. i love how they help hendrix set the table at dinner time.  you can read all about how to do it here.



{TIPS}:

if kids are helping...i would go ahead and cut out the stencil ahead of time.  also, make the stencil one sheet of freezer paper that is slightly larger then your placemat.  that will help keep the paint only where it needs to be.  

really make sure your paper is ironed on and stuck on your placemat before you start painting. otherwise, the paint will bleed.

you can only cut one sheet of freezer paper at a time.

i used this for my utensil template and just traced my plate. 

iron the waxed side of the paper onto the placemat.

use fabric paint.

let dry completely and wait a few days before you wash it.

monday jumpstart

photo via bhg



hello! did ya'll have a nice weekend? we did, but towards the end got pretty sneezy. ick.  however, we are plowing ahead because who has time for such things.  here are some things to jump start your {food} week...

peanut butter banana bread with quinoa flour - yum!

let's open the conversation between farmers

preserving {food + friendships} house

the mornings feel like fall around here.  which always makes me want this one dish dinner.

these placemats are on the "craft to do list" this week

overloaded on cherry tomatoes? make this!

mike got a fire ring to cook food on. we're having a halloween party to unveil it's greatness!

garden inspired food + drink ideas for the last days of summer

GSW menu :: twelve

if hendrix can make dinner. so can you.



it's thursday! which means that it is one more day until friday and the weekend! it also means it is time for next week's menu plan.  this weather is making me want to give mother nature a big ol' wet one.  right on the lips.  if only she'd send {more} rain...

onto the menu.  we're going to still celebrate summer's bounty, but we're going to add some fall flavors, too.  because why not?  some kids are already in school and this summer was one giant heat wave. here it goes...

1. shrimp tacos with spiced peach jam
2. slow cooker jambalaya

3. eggplant stuffed with couscous + pine nuts (sub other nuts if you like)

4.  chicken, butternut squash, and quinoa stew (weekend dinner alert!)

5. quick miso glazed salmon with your freshest veggies on the side

make a pie because the weather is nice....

brown sugar peach pie with coconut streusel

salad for lunches...

arugula with pecans, roasted squash, goat cheese, and bacon

herb garden going a little too crazy? start freezing!

how to freeze herbs

kids already back in school and you are frazzled?
top 10 quick {DALS} weeknight dinners

on a schedule

photo by cami rawlings

i'm sure you have all seen the schedules on pinterest.  there's one for SAHMs or cleaning or menu prep, etc, etc.  they are enough to make anybody feel overwhelmed.  who has the time for such schedules? apparently i do.  apparently my organization skills are just borderline ocd.  i've talked about breaking up the cleaning duties and keeping up on the daily messes before and when i talk with the women of the pathway program during our "managing a home" discussions, i tell them the same thing.  something about cleaning your entire house in one day, while children run underfoot, is soul crushing.  and, really, aren't there other things to do.  in general, i don;t mind housework.  i even kind of like it.  see the line about possible ocd above.  however, i do not like it while i am doing it and hendrix all sudden needs me to do one million things for him.  also, a toddler's help is cute and all but let's fact it...it is not really all that helpful or realistic . he has his own chores like picking up after himself and feeding the dogs so i am not too worried about him learning about cleaning. so, i decided to come up with daily must dos along with one chore a day that would help me keep up on the actual cleaning of the house, as well as, the picking up, dishes, etc.  that way i can spend most of hendrix's naptime doing more important things like staring at a wall and building up my energy resources. i've been doing it for a couple of months now and it really has been working. who knows how it will work in the future or if we add more kids to the mix, but for now it works. and that is all that matters. the house is clean and i have time for my ever growing list of projects and more time in the garden.

MON: purge traffic areas (these get cluttered over the weekend) &
help hendrix pick up his playroom (the rest of the week i don't care where the toy is as long as it is in the play room, but on monday we re-organize and throw away any broken toys or trash) | 30mins

TUES: dust | 20 mins

WED: clean bathroom | 15 mins

THURS: do floors | nap time (it's all wood floors or tile in my house)

FRI - SUN: off or time to do projects

DAILY: dishes, laundry, pick up the house, and sweep (we have 2 large dogs and 4 cats)

what do you think? do you clean when the feeling hits you or do you break it up over the week? am i crazy? don't answer that.  i'm off to clean to clean the bathroom. however, i don't think i am only one that is struggling to find ways to keep the house together while teaching the kids the importance of cleaning up after themselves.  and still finding time to spend with our families and doing the things we enjoy.  it's a conversation i have often with my friends who are mothers. so, perhaps a schedule isn't the worst idea?
......
also, i leave you with this quote for Design Mom's Living with Kids post yesterday:

Motherhood is such a demanding career, yet it makes me restless. I felt trapped in the early months caring for an infant both times. I wanted to get things done, to be on the go, but I was needed to sit, nurse, and be still.
and check out this article for some discipline problem solvers.  i have put some of them into practice and let me tell you...they are working. for now.

happy birthday to the best husband!



photo by hendrix


today is mike's birthday.  thank god he was born.  hendrix took this photo of his dad a few weeks ago.  mike has been enamored with hendrix since the very second hendrix was born.  he always has this look of  being completely entertained and satisfied when he looks at hendrix. he is better than anything or anyone i ever dared to dream for myself.  fatherhood and marriage have only made him more attractive in my eyes.  he is not one for birthdays and longs for his his youth some days.  but i wouldn't take him any younger or different.  celebrating himself is not his way.  celebrating others is, though.  so tonight we will have spaghetti & meatballs for dinner.  hendrix and i are making a chocolate cake filled with cherries for him today, too. afterwards, he'll probably go out and work on hendrix's play barn.  i love this man.  more than my heart can stand some days.  more than i can put into words. he is better than a dream.  happy birthday, my love.

play barn



a few months ago my friend, amy, posted a link for a slideshow of play houses.  they are amazing.  we were already planning on building hendrix a sandbox, so i thought he needed a little barn to go with it.  except play houses can be pretty pricy.  then mike found this cheap framer kit for a garden shed that with a little customizing on our part...would make the perfect play barn for hendrix...for much less than a play house.  then when he and any other children are done with it...it can be a garden shed or drinking barn (in mike's dreams). this weekend, we gathered our materials, picked the paint colors, built the base and leveled the ground.  by the end of the week, hendrix should have a play barn that is painted orange on the inside and red on the outside.  orginally, he wanted the outside to be painted both red and orange, but mike looked like was about to faint at the thought of that.  something about all the "other farmers" driving by and seeing that.  so, we compromised and will paint the interior orange with some leftover paint from hendrix's bedroom.  hendrix informed me that he would be putting all of his tools in it, so he "could do his work".  oh sweet boy.  he's still under the assumption that "work" is fun. ha! the barn is 7 ft x 8ft with 8 ft high ceilings so i will put in some shelves for his outdoor toys and a solar powered light because he will never go in it if it is dark in there.  next to it will be his sandbox and on the other side a parking spot for the tractor that his grandma got him for christmas last year. this place is kind of my inspiration except on more of a kid scale.  most of the decor will just be repurposed scraps that i have laying around, but i am super excited for hendrix and his friends to have a little play spot out in the yard and garden area.  personal spaces that are beautiful are something i hold dear to my heart...so i hope hendrix can love it as much. we'll post pics when it is complete.

the joy of color

watermelon is ready!

let's make some marinara.

zinnias make food gardens happy.

eggplant on the move.

butternut squash almost ready to be soup.

nature makes blue. naturally.

black beans. hooray!