Patriotic Burlap Bunting

This summer is flying by so fast! We've been keeping busy with vacations, youth activities, swimming lessons and basketball tournaments. I'm loving all the fun things we're doing but not loving how fast the time is going. Can you believe the 4th of July is next week?  
We've been so preoccupied with things that I haven't done much to prepare for the holiday until yesterday when I decided to make this simple patriotic bunting for the mantel. It was easy and didn't take much time at all.

To make the bunting, I took a roll of burlap and cut 6-7" X 9" pennant shapes. Then I googled star templates and printed and cut out the of size star I wanted on cardstock. Taped it to the burlap and painted inside the star shape with white paint and a foam pouncer. You only need to use a little bit of paint on the pouncer, this way it doesn't soak through the burlap and dries quickly too.

Then I took some ribbon and hot glued it across the top and used fray check on the ends of the ribbon.

To hang the pennants from a small rope, I used mini clothes pins. To make the pins more festive, I used washi tape to decorate the tops and bottoms.

I also used some red, white and blue ribbon to tie between the pennants and hung it from the mantel. Nothing like a last minute project but I love how it turned out!

Healthy Red, White and Blueberry Popsicles

We love summer, especially for the popsicles. There's nothing quite like eating a cold popsicle when it's hot outside. My kids love to make kool-aid popsicles or use any kind of juice that we might have. Don't get me wrong, those popsicles are delicious but they also have lots of sugar in them too.


 I decided to try to make a healthier version of popsicle that we could all enjoy. These yummy cold treats are great because they are made with real fruit, yogurt and are sweetened with honey instead of sugar, so you can feel good about having one. Most importantly, the kids give them 2 thumbs up!!

Red, White and Blueberry Popsicles
makes six 4 oz. popsicles

1 3/4 cup blueberries

1 cup strawberries, stems removed

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup (or more) honey

Rinse the blueberries and strawberries, then thoroughly puree each fruit separately. Stir 2 tablespoons of honey into the blueberries and 1 tablespoon into the strawberries. Spoon 1 cup yogurt into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon honey.

To make popsicles, spoon blueberry mixture into the bottom of your molds. Then add a layer of yogurt. Add a layer of strawberries. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

Adapted from Babble.com

This post is linked to these parties:

Made in a Day

I Heart Naptime

Create Craft Love

Michelle's Tasty Creations

Craft O Maniac

Brassy Apple

The Girl Creative

Just Us Four

Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, especially in the summer time. This is a muffin recipe but I wanted to try it as a cake. They turned out great! The cake is so moist and light and has the yummy citrus taste of lemon. 

These little cakes would make a great impression at your next summer get together. Enjoy!

Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cakes

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 buttermilk
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
2 tsp poppy seeds

Glaze
1 tsp melted butter
confectioners' sugar
4 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cake pans with non-stick spray.  Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl, set aside.
Whisk sour cream, buttermilk and lemon juice in small bowl, set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and lemon zest in a large bowl to blend. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after adding each egg. Beat in dry mixture and buttermilk mixture alternating each mixture. Mix just until blended. Stir in poppy seeds. Spoon batter into cake pans. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes then remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
Mix together the melted butter, lemon juice and enough confectioners sugar to make a glaze then pour over warm cakes.

Adapted from Delish-blog

Daddy Printable

Every time hubby comes home and walks in the door, this little guy gets super excited to see his daddy. He claps his hands and begins squealing until he's been picked up. 

Isn't he just the yummiest baby? 

Because it's Father's Day this Sunday, I thought it would be fun to make a printable of this saying from a children's song the kids in our church sing each Father's Day. Plus, it totally fits how my little guy feels when he sees his daddy!!

Click on picture to download

Boredom Box

I'm back!!! After a much needed vacation with the family I'm back to blogging. We set everything aside and spent a fabulous week in beautiful Hawaii. This was the view from our rental home, isn't it heaven? 

It's been hard getting back into the day to day routine after returning, mainly because of a very clingy baby who we left at home with family. He won't let me put him down. I missed him like crazy while we were gone so I don't mind the extra snuggling but nothing is getting done around the house which means not much blogging this week either.

I did manage to finish this summer boredom box though. I brainstormed to come up with a bunch of activities that the kids would enjoy doing. When I think of more, we'll just add them to the box. A lot of the activities can be used over and over again.

I had a tin box lying around so I decorated it with washi tape and ribbon. Added some vinyl lettering and placed all the fun activity ideas inside. Hopefully the Boredom Box will help cut back on hearing "Mom, I'm bored", probably not but I can hope right?

What kind of boredom busters are you using this summer?

I made the cardstock circles on my Silhouette. If you have a Silhouette you can download the activity ideas here:

Boredom Busters page 1

Boredom Busters page 2

Boredom Busters page 3

Boredom Busters page 4

No Silhouette? You can download an activities list here:

Monster Cookies

This is probably one of our most favorite cookies. They're easy to whip up when you need cookies in a hurry and one of the best things about this recipe, is that the cookie dough is SOOO GOOOOD to just eat. 

It has so many of my yummy goodies in them like peanut butter, quick oats, mini M&M's and chocolate chunks.  Can you see why they're so popular at our house? 

You could also add any kind of nut, or change up the chocolate chunks with butterscotch, white chocolate, or peanut butter chips. Double the recipe to make a lot of cookies for a bake food sale. 

Yummy!!

Monster Cookies

Ingredients:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 Tablespoon corn syrup
2 large eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (semi-sweet chocolate chips work too)
1 cup mini M&M's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Set aside.

In your kitchen aid mixer or large bowl, using medium speed, beat together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in vanilla, corn syrup and eggs until well combined. Beat in flour-oat mixture until combined. Fold in chocolate chunks and mini M&M's.

You can chill your dough for about 1/2 hour if desired but not necessary. Using a cookie scooper, place balls of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets. The bigger the scoop the bigger the cookies will be. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen

*You can easily double this recipe to make 5-6 dozen cookies