Birthday Pajamas

 

 Happy birthday pjs for my lovely niece, Eva!

I used Oliver + S's pajama pattern for the bottoms.  I shortened the pants for a Summer length.  The t-shirt is from Target and I embellished it with fabric from Riley Blake's Rainy Days and Mondays line.

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me

 We went with some friends to pick peaches and blackberries at a local orchard. 

 Henry, the gentleman, picked one for Hazel.  It is her birthday this week, you know.

I think this is my favorite picture of the morning.  Look at that cute baby bump!  

 Henry helped himself.  Sol helped himself.  The boys may have taken liberties with the free samples.

 Lucy, my nature girl, found a little frog in the grass.  Amazingly, on our way back out of the orchard, she found the frog again, in the same spot.

 This little frog was a hopeful beacon of what our tadpoles might become.  Sadly, upon returning home from the day's activities, we found all of the tadpoles had passed on to Holier Spheres.

 Hazel was serious about picking her "dad's favorite, blackberries".

 Once Sol looked like this, it was time to call it a morning.

We ended up with over 11 pounds of peaches, two heaping pints of blackberries, zucchini and yellow squash.  Now, I have to figure out how to make freezer jam...

  I hope to make a return trip to this great orchard for late summer fruit.  It was so much fun!

Embroidery Attempt

I used Oliver + S's Ice Cream Dress pattern to make this shirt, but wanted to add a little something to make it extra special.  My grandmother taught me how to embroidered as a girl, and I was able to recollect enough of  those lessons to do a little daisy.  With all of this on the horizon, I'm feeling more embroidery projects to come!

Black Bean Dip Recipe

All my best recipes are made by accident! I started out making a pot of black beans for our taco bar at Isaac's graduation open house. Then Lizzie came to help on Saturday night and she asked if I was going to make black bean dip! So I decided to use that pot of beans in the dip. That is how I came to make this version of black bean dip and it was extra good!

3/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

2 cans black beans

3/4 cup Pace salsa

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

juice of one lime

salt to taste, about 1 tsp.

Saute the garlic and onion. Combine all ingredients in food processor just enough to mix, 15-20 seconds. Serve with chips. In the past I have made this recipe as Becca taught it to me which is the same except without the sauteed onion and garlic.

Mango Jicama Slaw

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Hands down, this is the easiest and tastiest thing I've made all summer.  It is really hot here (have I mentioned it's hot?) and I've been packing this salad in our cooler and munching on it poolside whilst my little ones cool off in the tepid mid-June waters.  I think this salad has internal chilling properties which makes it the perfect thing to eat to combat sweating glistening (this is the South-- women glisten) in the sun.  I love how much flavor and texture you get with just four, seasonal ingredients. Four ingredients!  It just doesn't get easier than that!  

Yum, yum!  

Mango Jicama Slaw
1/2 jicama (peeled and julienned)
1 ripe mango (diced)
4-5 teaspoons cilantro (minced)
juice of 1 to 2 limes

Mix the jicama, mango, and cilantro together in a bowl. Add lime juice (to taste).  Toss and serve.

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Tutorial: Chocolate Graduation Hats

Here are the edible hats I made for the graduation open house. It is fun to play with food!

Use an equal number of mini peanut butter cups and chocolate squares. I used Reece's and Ghirardelli. You will also need some peanut butter or frosting to use as "glue", Twizzler's in your school color and some mini M and M's, which I found at Rite Aid after looking everywhere!

Unwrap the candies and put the smooth side of the chocolate down and the peanut butter cup up side down on top of that. Fix it in place with some peanut butter or frosting. I used peanut butter which was recommended on another site but I think I would use frosting next time!

For the tassel I cut a Twizzler into four equal lengths and then split each of those into four thin lengths. I "fringed" the end of each of those with 3 or 4 snips.

I flattened the other end of the tassel by pressing hard and even dipping in water. Let it sit for a few minutes to get "tacky".

Carefully adhere the tassel to the top of the hat. Cover the end with a mini M and M using your "glue".
Let's celebrate!

I am pretty sure I didn't make enough!

Candy Leis

A candy lei is the perfect little something to say congratulations to a grad or a soloist! It could be an alternative to flowers. With our youngest son and all his friends graduating tomorrow, I wanted to bring something to the ceremony that I could give to them in their moment of glory.To make a candy lei, get a big bag of candy. You can use any wrapped candy like mini candy bars and taffy. I used an assortment of hard candy. Pull out a length of plastic wrap or cellophane about 40 inches long. Use a longer length for bigger pieces of candy like the candy bars because their bulk will take up more of the length of plastic wrap. For these small hard candies I split the length of plastic in half so now I have enough to make two leis. Hint: by getting the counter slightly damp, the wrap stays in place!
Next I placed the candy along the plastic with about 1.5 inches in between each piece. For bigger candy leave a bigger space. Then fold the wrap over the candy to seal it inside the rope of plastic wrap. Be sure to leave about 3 inches of wrap at each end.
Cut 10 inch lengths of curling ribbon and tie a piece in between each candy.
Tie the ends of the wrap together and then tie a piece of ribbon over that knot. Trim the ends of the wrap if necessary.

Curl the ribbon ! Now you can surprise someone on their special day with a candy lei!

S'More, Please!

 It is too hot to actually go camping.  I think we missed the window for Spring (which is prime camping weather in AR)... but it was a very brief window that didn't fall on a weekend this year.  Still, we need our S'mores fix around here.  My broiler has never been put to better use.  And we have been using it daily for these delightful, gooey, lightly crisp treats (open faced is the general Griffin preference).  It's remarkable how many Hershey's bars you can eat when you go three pieces at a time...

Looks Like a Graduate

The very last of the the Jasinski children is graduating high school this month.  I wanted to make sure he got all the blog recognition that the youngest of seven is due.

So, congratulations to my musically gifted, creative, wonderful, brother with the best eyebrows. 

Love you Isaac!

12 Squared: June Square

June is my month to pick the pattern for 12squared!  I'm really excited... it kind of feels like Christmas!  I've picked Bottled Rainbows for my quilt and I've already got two squares back!  I think this quilting bee thing may be the best idea ever.

No Pattern-No Hem Sun Dress

This was an easy dress to piece together and perfect for this crazy, hot weather we've been having.  I love the look of a scalloped edge!  I used a scalloped rotary cutter blade-- made the pockets and hem easy-peasy.

The gingham was from Walmart and I'm not confident it will hold up well.  I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't melt in the dryer. :)