DIY: Airhead Valentine Craftiness

Heyyy, let's make a few cute Valentines out of Airheads! (and pssss, hopefully I'll win a ticket to Alt NYC).

Mini tutorial starts now...

You're kind of getting two DIY's for the price of one here... I'm going to start with the napkin ring tutorial. It's the first step in crafting the lollipop above:

1. Remove Airheads from packages and let sit until they become soft and just a bit more pliable.

2. Use a sharp knife to cut strips of each color.

3. Take six strips, three of each color and stick them together at the top, and two contrasting colors beside each other.

4. Braid the strips in a standard three string braid.

5. Attach ends and circle around a pretty napkin! Voila.

NOW, say you don't prefer the napkin ring because most people don't use them that often. Here's how you make a lollipop for your kids' friends at school:

1. Take that braid and begin looping it around itself (pardon the fact that these photos show a slightly messier braid. It's way prettier with the braid above.

2. Take a lollipop stick and stick it on the back of your pop.

3. It stays balanced if you cover the back of the stick with additional airhead "material."

4. Your kids will thank you and give you extra kisses.

There you have it! A Valentine lollipop. Who knew Airheads were such a sweet material to be crafty & creative? Go buy yourself a whole bunch. You're right if you're guessing that I ate my fair share through this process.

Love,

Kate

DIY: 5 Minutes Puff Ball Necklace

I definitely don't take crafting very seriously around here. I don't have/make the time to do "real" DIY's, but sometimes I just want something without spending money on it. Sophie loooovvves necklaces, so I tend to attach things to strings, tie, and there she has it! A free necklace. This is the one she's been wearing this week. It's little puff balls and beads in bright colors, with a pink string I thread through and tied behind! Piece of cake. Everyone's happy! Try it!

Love,
Kate

Make it: Danish Aebleskivers

I've mentioned before that I'm ethnically half Mexican and half Scandinavian. The Scandinavians hands-down win for most amazing dessert makers. They have so many recipes for sweets and treats and culturally drink coffee all day for taste rather than caffeine. I grew up eating (aka overdosing on) Swedish pancakes, Norwegian heart-waffles, and my personal favorite: Danish aebleskivers.

SO... you want a recipe? Okay, here goes:

Danish Aeblaskivers: 
3 eggs, separated
2 Tbsp. sugar
1.5 C flour
1 C milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C melted butter













1. Separate egg whites from yellows. Keep yolks in one bowl, beat whites until they're fluffy.
2. To the yolks, add flour, sugar, milk, salt, and baking powder, and then melted butter.
3. Wisk until blended.
4. Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.

Now you need an aebleskiver pan. It's worth the $20 or so to get one because they last forever!















5. Grease your pan.
6. Fill the cups to the top with dough.
7. Like pancakes, they need to be flipped when one side is done. Use a wooden chopstick or fork to carefully flip them. Cook on the other side and remove from the pan.

Add your favorite jam and powdered sugar and enjoy!

Love,
Kate

ps. Much thanks to my mom for her recipe and lesson.

Make it: Avocado Sandwiches

For the most part, we're pretty healthy eaters around here. The holidays totally get us off track, and then right after the holidays, we watch post-season football and eat heart attack food, go out for like 7 friends' birthdays that are all consecutively in January, run around, and because of the hurried lifestyle, end up eating frozen food rather than fresh. All of these things have contributed to a lack of nutrition around here, but this week we're going back to being healthy(ish... I mean, if someone offers a burrito to me, by all means...).

Fruit, veggies, fresh food for dinner. This week's mantra. It definitely means more work for me... BUT I want to tell you my family's favorite meal that does not make for extra work. We've had variations for snacks, lunch, and dinner (a dinner that I was totally unmotivated- not a regular thing!), and my children cannot get enough. Clean plates, begging for more... it's the avocado sandwich. 

If you guys are big on avocados in your house (which you should be! They're sooo good for you!), try one of these under-five-minutes-to-make sandwiches:

1. Avocado. Tomato. Bread (we like grainy fiber ones). My kids L-O-V-E it. The bread isn't dry because it's coated in avocado, and they don't even need salt and pepper like I do. I made it for lunch today and they ate 1.5 sandwiches each.

2. Avocado. Tomato. Alfalfa Sprouts. Bread. This is my go-to because I love that extra little crunch. I don't give my kids sprouts because Sophie thinks they taste like grass, and Maggie is too little for them.

3. Avocado. Tomato. Cheese. Alfalfa Sprouts, Egg. Bread (pictured above). This is my husband's favorite. Mine too, but I skip the egg out of laziness if he's not home. I actually put two eggs on his because he likes his protein. Melt the cheese a little on the bread, be sure to salt & pepper it, and you're good to go! It's honestly so, so delicious. We used to go eat brunch every weekend, but now that we have two kids, we've gotten out of that habit. This sandwich is the type of thing we ordered over and over from our old cafe, and only now I'm realizing how cheap & simple it is to make! Sooo good. ;)

Get yourselves some avocados and bread and get healthy!! 

Love,

Kate

Printable: Kids' Chore Chart

My Sophie is four now, and it's taken me this long to realize that a chore chart would be a mighty fine method of teaching helpfulness around here! She's very good about asking to be excused, and immediately taking her plate to the kitchen sink, but she definitely needs some help in other areas... it's pretty common for her to leave rooms looking like tornados rolled right through. I was thinking to myself, "gosh, how am I going to really teach her to be responsible for her cleanliness?" and thought of the age-old chore chart concept, and made it my own.

I sketched the little chore reminders, then thought other people may like to have their own for their little kiddos, so I made the chart printable to anyone! Just see the link below the chart (be sure you don't just click directly on the chart- it would print way too small), click it to pull it up in full size, be sure your printer settings are standard, and print your little heart out. :) Enjoy!

1. Click this link: 

PRINTABLE CHORE CHART

2. Be sure you have standard printing settings and send right to the printer!

3. Hang it in your home! I hung ours with pink striped washi tape from Target.

Love,

Kate

(thanks to my mom and sister for teaching me the steps to make it "printable")

A Smoothie a Day...

I've heard it's hard to get kids to eat veggies sometimes. In my house, it's harder to get my husband to eat veggies than it is my kids. He definitely thinks it's crazy when he hears Sophie request "more peas, please."

We all have our issues though, and ours is that one of my kiddos needs her digestion helped along the way... we've tried totally removing dairy, carbs, etc... but the thing that really and truly works is our new strategy: smoothies. A friend told me it gets things going, and she was so right! Smoothies are my favorite way to get all the nutrition into my children regularly. I absolutely love having no hassels to get my kids to eat more; they can just drink all they need! A good friend never used his magic bullet, so we were the lucky recipients. It makes things insanely simple. We grab whatever fruit (I keep frozen berries always) and veggies in the house, drop them in the blender, add some pear juice (or milk if your kids are fine with dairy!), and blend! The proportions are entirely up to you, but if it's not blending well, you need to add more liquid.

Our favorite mixes: 

1. Frozen strawberries, pineapple chunks, pear juice (above... popular bc it's pink!)

2. Frozen blueberries, banana, milk

3. Frozen strawberries, spinach, pear juice (below)

4. Frozen strawberries, spinach, banana and pear juice (my favorite!)

Blend away! You won't regret it. :)

XO,

Kate