Green Smoothie 1

I am trying to incorporate more vegetables into my diet. My goal is leafy greens with every meal. Breakfast can be a bit tricky but there is always the smoothie.

The Joy of Keeping Chickens

Some people might think I am crazy, but I think this picture is amazingly beautiful.  Yes, I know it is eggs!  There is something inherently beautiful about a full basket of freshly collected eggs.  Just look at all those colors and sizes!  It makes me so happy every time I open the refrigerator and see the bowl of these gems.

Collecting eggs has been especially fun for my kids.  We try to figure out and match the egg to the hen.  Having a variety of eggs has solved one of our meal time dilemmas.  My daughter sometimes refuses protein in the morning.  Now she happily picks out a small egg and is excited to eat it.

2013 Chicks with Mama Hen

"The Girls"

Both kids now freely eat eggs anytime. I think it is partly the joy of raising the hens from chicks and the task of gathering the eggs everyday.  Raising your own food brings a thankfulness and appreciation that cannot be found with going to the Megamart.  I take comfort in knowing because we pasture raise our chickens, I am not only feeding my family a superior quality protein, but they also taste better.

Ingredients to a Luscious Coconut Custard- Courtesy of Coconut Love 

Also, in the summer when the eggs are plentiful, we eat them a couple times a week for dinner.  Eggs pair well with the fresh garden bounty.  More egg recipes to come.

Snuggling with "Rainbow Dash"

Some people say that chickens are the "gateway animal" and that getting more livestock is inevitable.  I would agree.  Keeping chickens overall has been easy (despite the predator attacks) and rewarding with fresh eggs daily.  We will see.  Have you thought about keeping chickens? If you have a flock, what other kind of livestock do you keep?

Girl's Romper and Leggings Up-cycled from a Woman's Sweater

Since I have been experiencing the nesting phenomenon that happens to so many women while pregnant, I decided to clean out my closet.  Maybe not the best idea when you are far along in your pregnancy, because nothing is going to fit.   After cleaning out my closet, I took a good look everything and kept a few things I could turn into something else.  This sweater transformation for my daughter was one of those thing.  The best thing about it was that it was super easy!!!  

 

All you need to do is find a knit sweater.  I liked how this sweater had a design on the torso and the arms.   Then, cut the arms off the sweater.

 Next, taper in the sides. On a side note,  I would have hemmed the romper shorter but my girl loves long dresses.  Lastly,  hem around the arm holes and VOILA! New Romper.  The leggings were made from the sleeves and part of another recycled sweater to create the waistband and the crotch part of the leggings.  

Overall, this was a super easy outfit that I made out of something I was just going to donate.  The best thing is that my little girl loves how comfy it is and is able to run and play- a must for my active girl.

What is your favorite up-cycled project?

Spring Has Sprung

With the lime green blanket that has covered the foothills in Northern California, the excitement of Spring is in the air.  I love this time of year.  We escape the gloom of winter and get to enjoy warmer weather and the new green, the lime green of freshly budding leaves and new grass.  When the trees start to pop with buds and blossoms and the daffodils and irises sprout up everywhere, I can understand why the term spring fever was coined.  

 My family was enjoying the beautiful weather and the first day of spring break today.  The little ones gave me with best gift, a huge basket of wildflowers!  

 We filled multiple vases with these unusual beauties.  While some would consider these weeds, my children saw the beauty in these unusual plants.

  Grouped together, the spiral white flowers are so interesting, they remind me of an exotic plant.

 I am so grateful for my kind generous children who amaze me everyday!  Thank you for the happiness in a vase.

What is your favorite thing about spring?

Princess Party

For my little girl's fourth birthday, she requested a princess party.  So I planned a princess party -country style- outside in the dirt lay a little fancy princess oasis.  It was fantastic day and suited my daughter just perfect.  The mixture of little girls dressed in princess costumes and running around in the dry grass represents the complexity of my girl's personality.  I love her so much!!!

I used the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut Cartridge for the invitation.  The idea for the layout was actually found in the handbook as a princess box craft idea, but I thought it would make a super cute invitation.  The invitations were relatively simple to make and using my Gypsy to get the scale correct made it a snap mass produce.

I cut various crown and wand shapes out for decorations using a glitter card stock.  The main colors for the party were purple, raspberry (my little girl's favorite) with accents yellow.  These decorations were attached to ribbon and hung from the trees. 

I recycled decorations from last year's fairy party.  The tissue paper flowers were bunched together to create a faux pomander.  These were hung in princess tent (where the girls eat and do crafts).  The bright colors of the tissue paper always make me smile.

As accents on the food table I used some free printables from the Green Apple Paperie.  The colors worked perfect.  The tented food cards even had the purple and raspberry flags.  Similar flags were made from satin and ribbon and strung among the trees. 

My little girl requested a "Belle" cake from Beauty and Beast.  This was as close as I could get since the doll part of the cake looked nothing like Belle.

And we always need a second cake...

After much work, the day turned out nicely.  My little girl started out with a beautiful princess dress on but ran inside after the dress interfered with her running and playing ability.  At least she wore the crown.  You know it is a fun party when you forget to take a ton of pictures. 

The princess theme could not have been more perfect for this little one's 4th birthday.  What is your favorite type of party for 4 year old little girl?

Cars Lightening McQueen Cake

If you spend anytime with my nephew, you know he loves anything CARS.  One of my fondest memories happened last Thanksgiving evening after the celebration of day was winding down.  The kids settled in to watch a movie and snuggle with their stuffed animals.   Max declined an animal.   He was set- he had his matchbox cars to snuggle with.  So, it was no surprise that when he turned three, he had a CARS themed birthday party.  My sister in law was so sweet to let me to make Max his cake.

 At the time of the party, I did something a little new for me, a character cake on top of large 16" split and filled round.  The bottom cake was covered in fondant and the top character layer was decorated with butter cream. Since then I have made this cake which is another character cake on top of a large round.

Wilton Race Car Cake

This is the cake pan I used.  I modified the race car to create "Lightening McQueen." for the top.

The party was super fun and I am so glad I was able to celebrate!

Happy Creating,
Stacey

Superhero Cape

Recently, my son wanted a Superhero party for his birthday.  To add to the party fun and to create a homemade party favor, I made some superhero capes.