top five {july}

Just in case you missed one, here are my top five posts from July:

1) my pinterest inspired family room
evidence that a picture is worth a thousand words!

2) pool party favors
simple party favors for all the young fishy guests at your next pool party!

3) how to make ice cream and cake parfaits
my favorite way to serve cake and ice cream at a kids' party!

4) creative clay
making homemade play-doh/clay for kids using only 2 pantry items!
5) cinnamon rolls
the best cinnamon rolls recipe passed on down from Handyman's mom!

A special thank you to my readers! Thank you for stopping and reading my blog. I appreciate all your comments and for joining me on this journey as we take baby steps towards updating, renovating, and decorating our little yellow cape.

lights

While at Lowes recently, I spotted some fun string lights. Visions of parties and gatherings bounced around my mind as I thought of cute ways to string them up around my own outdoor space.

When I asked Handyman what he thought, (as if I didn't already know the answer) I first got the silent, but really look which quickly transformed into the eternal and ever present what is your obsession with lights question, which without response, relinquishes into the quick and detached whatever look.

We know each other so well. . .


I just love that I can pick up party supplies at the home improvement store. The boring hardware store has certainly evolved since I was a kid. and with so many different choices, it would be easy to find something for any style or occasion.

Take a look.

Alas, i did come home empty hand -this time. Do you have any fun lights adorning your space?

summer sample

our sample of our summer so far in pictures. . .

How's your summer going so far?

pick your own

Summer is all about vacations, lazy days, lounging by the pool, sleeping in, bike riding, baseball games, and eating fresh fruit.

All of these activities make an appearance on our annual summer list. Since{for a time period} we used to move every summer, it was handy to know where to pick fresh fruit no matter where we lived. (It's also great if you will be visiting family or friends in a different area and get a hankering for nature's local goodies!)

installing a ceiling fan light kit

Like many of the rooms in our house, our sun room did not have any overhead lighting. It does have a ceiling fan.

Our sun room gets lots of use in the summer and I didn't want to be so dependent on our floor and table lamps all season long. In a rare moment of productivity one day, I picked up a ceiling fan light kit from Lowes.

I also picked up ceiling medallion to make it extra fancy.

Over the weekend, Handyman got to work wiring the light kit into the fan. Pretty simple stuff.

He started by removing the cap and wired the new light to the existing wiring.  He just followed the included set of instructions.

(Don't be jealous of my fancy brassy fixture, I have plans for that.)

Ta da, lights works, fan works.

Now, onto the ceiling medallion.

I was always curious to know why the fan was mounted to this square wooden board. Now I know why . . .

There was a small detail I didn't account for when deciding which size medallion to purchase. Turns out, the mounting board really was a big as the ceiling hole. I expected the hole in the drywall only to be a slightly bigger - just big enough to accommodate the fan- not overly big and boxy.

My puny little medallion was suddenly severely underscale, and not nearly large enough to cover the hole. Hmm. . .

You can see it here.

We've since looked into purchasing a completely different ceiling fan for this room, since this project turned out to be a DIY dud. And neither one of is happy with the result -Handyman doesn't care for the light fixture I selected, and I don't like the fan, and neither one of us likes the under scaled medallion.

Oh well. A new fan will be in our future.

cinnamon rolls

I got pretty lucky in the mother-in-law department. Not only did I get a great mother-in-law, but she also makes the yummiest cinnamon rolls. Here's the recipe she's been making her family for years.

  

creative clay

My kids love arts and crafts and they have this annoying imaginative ability to make crafts out of anything! (Imagine little hands riffling through the recyling bin. Repurpsing recycled items to into crafts has it's place, but my kids seem to take it to whole new level.)

Therefore, I'm happy to provide craft materials for them. When we came across this Creative Clay recipe using only two ingredients, it looked too fun and easy to pass up.

This recipe makes a soft clay that can be cut with cookie cutters or shaped, and then air dried until hard.

MATERIALS

• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups cold water
• Saucepan and spoon

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the cornstarch, baking soda, and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly for five minutes until very thick, resembling mashed potatoes.
2. Rest on a plate until cool enough to handle.
3. Roll, cut, or shape as desired.
4. Let dry for 2 days.
5. Paint or finish as desired.

It is really easy to work with and dries firm. I know -we now have a whole collection of Littlest Pet Shops knock offs.

Anyone else ever make this before?

Sunday: |I Heart Naptime|Nifty Thrifty Things|It's Overflowing| MopItUp| Twigg Studios| Monday: |Made By You| C.R.A.F.T.| DIY Showoff|Between Naps on the Porch| Home Stories A to Z| diy home sweet home| Dedicated House| Tuesday: Coastal Charm|Tip Junkie|My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia|A Bowl Full of Lemons|Get Your Craft On|ClaimingOurSpace Wednesday: Uncommon|Savvy Southern Style |Organize and Decorate| NYMelroseFamily|Southern Lovely| Home Happy Home|Gingersnap Crafts Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage|Made in a Day|House of Hepworths|the 36th Avenue| Crafty Scrappy, Happy|52 Mantels Friday: Making Lemonade|Blissful and Domestic|One Artsy Mama|Serenity Now| Tatertots and Jello|The Shabby Nest|Thirty Handmade Days|Addicted 2 Decorating|Funky Junk Interiors|Financial Friday|At the Picket Fence|Classy Clutter|

my pinterest inspired family room

My Pinterest inspired family room renovation is finally done! And to think it all started with a few photos. But first, it helps to understand a little bit about my husband and I. Here's an example of a typical improvement conversation:

Me: "Handyman, we should do this (whatever project x is)."
Handyman: "I can't visualize it. Show me a picture."

~Surfing the Internet-moments or days later~

Me: "Here, I found a picture."
Handyman: "I can do that."

I knew I needed a photograph of a bead board ceiling to to sell him on the idea. These photos from BHG did the trick. Thank goodness for Pinterest, where I have a place to save and organize my ideas.

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Handyman finished the last of the touch up paint just other day.

And just in case you can't remember what it looked like before, here's a reminder:

I think it turned out pretty good. The addition of the bead board works well with the cottagey-style of our little yellow cape.

We choose use individual tongue and groove wood boards, because installing the beadboard panels would have left us with a giant seam running across the length of the ceiling.

(In full disclosure, I'm sure Handyman wouldn't have been keen on the whole bead board ceiling suggestion, except that we had to do something with it after we took the acoustic tiles down, leaving these large open-faced sandwich cookie like glue spots. You can see them best in the BEGINNING OF BEADBOARD CEILING photograph above.)

Now to just furnish it, decorate it, and style it. No biggie, right?

You can see all the projects we did here.

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Overflowing, MopItUp , Twigg Studios Monday: Made by You, C.R.A.F.T. DIY Showoff, Between Naps on the Porch, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, diy home sweet home, DedicatedHouse Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Nest for Less, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, ClaimingOurSpace Wednesday: Uncommon, Savvy Southern Style, Organize and Decorate, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home, Gingersnap Crafts Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: Making Lemonade, Blissful and Domestic, One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, At the Picket Fence, Classy Clutter

Linked up to YHL, CentsationalGirl, BowerPower, TenJune

pool party favors

When my little girl asked me to plan her summer birthday party, I knew I had to come up with something good! She has a crazy big imagination, and I knew I needed to match it!

The problem? She wanted a fishy-themed pool party. Since, we just did a fishy theme for my baby,  posted about here, I knew she would wanted something different.

That's were Pinterest came to the rescue.

I remembered the worms from Clara's 2nd birthday party, and thought I could do a play on some of YHL's inspiration.

After a trip to the nearby dollar store, the party store, and the grocery store, I knew I had enough supplies to pull it off.

Take a look!

These lure-coated fishing rods were easy to create with pretzels rods, melted chocolate, and some colorful sprinkles. Attach a computer printed tag with some twine, and your in business.

 The fish breath bubbles were leftover from my other fishy party. I just attached a different tag. I used the same handwritten style font on each favor tag.

These cute little pals were a find at the party store for only .79 each. Filled with some gummy worms and Swedish fish, they were much better smelling than real bait!

And of course, what's a fish party with out the catch of the day? I spied these at the Dollar Store. Who would have thought a cheap piece of plastic would be so fun? These colorful fish had a drawstring worm attached at the mouth that when pulled moved the fish's tail. My kids had lots of fun testing it out in the pool prior to the party.

These flower-shaped orange noodles provide the perfect pool party floaty for all the fishy guests. (Because, some little fish don't swim so well yet.)

After the worm sandwich lunch, these worm topped ice cream and cake parfaits were served. Perfect for little fish taking a swim break. You can check out how I made them here.

My little fish said this was the best birthday party ever -even better than last year. Whew! I'm not sure I'm looking forward to planning her next party with that kind of expectation though.

And as a result of this party, I had a new table making project on my hands. {Lesson learned, don't leave unprotected furniture outside on the patio in the rain. But, that's later. . .}

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Overflowing, MopItUp , Twigg Studios Monday: Made by You, C.R.A.F.T. DIY Showoff, Between Naps on the Porch, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, diy home sweet home Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Nest for Less, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, ClaimingOurSpace Wednesday: Uncommon, Savvy Southern Style, Organize and Decorate, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home, Gingersnap Crafts Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: Making Lemonade, Blissful and Domestic, One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, At the Picket Fence, Classy Clutter

Linked up to YHL, CentsationalGirl, BowerPower, TenJune

ice cream & cake parfait

The easiest way to serve cake and ice cream at a children's party -parfait style!

I made these ice cream and cake parfaits recently for my daughter's summer birthday party.  I was running the party solo, so I knew I need to have everything done in advance.

These were the perfect solution to serving cake and ice cream to a young crowd. Everything can be done ahead of time, just pull them out of the freezer and enjoy the party along with your guests.

MATERIALS

• Clear glasses
• Ice cream
• Cake
• Crushed Oreos
• Gummy worms

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare a cake of your choosing. Bake in a half sheet pan.
2. After baking remove the cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
3. Freeze the cake, until firm enough to cut. I baked mine in the morning and it was chilled enough by evening to cut out.
4. Using a round cookie cutter the same diameter as your glass, carefully cut out cake. (See photo below.)
5. Place a scoop of soften ice cream into cup. Top with a layer of fudge, cake, and whipped cream.
6. Garnish according to your event. I sprinkled crumbed Oreos and placed a gummy worm on top to accompany our fishy theme.

Don't forget use a cutter the same diameter as your serving glasses.

Anyone else have an all-in-one dessert favorite?

Sunday: |I Heart Naptime|Nifty Thrifty Things|It's Overflowing| MopItUp| Twigg Studios| Monday: |Made By You| C.R.A.F.T.| DIY Showoff|Between Naps on the Porch| Debbie Doo's| Home Stories A to Z| diy home sweet home Tuesday: Coastal Charm| Nest for Less|Tip Junkie|My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia|A Bowl Full of Lemons|Get Your Craft On|ClaimingOurSpace Wednesday: Uncommon|Savvy Southern Style |Organize and Decorate| NYMelroseFamily|Newlyweds Recipe Linky|Southern Lovely| Home Happy Home|Gingersnap Crafts  Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage|Made in a Day|House of Hepworths|the 36th Avenue| Crafty Scrappy, Happy|52 Mantels Friday: Making Lemonade|Blissful and Domestic|One Artsy Mama|Serenity Now| Tatertots and Jello|The Shabby Nest|Thirty Handmade Days|Addicted 2 Decorating|Funky Junk Interiors|Financial Friday|At the Picket Fence|Classy Clutter|

visit boston

One of my favorite things about moving to New England has been getting to know the charming city of Boston. And since Wednesday was the 4th, it reminded me of all the fun things to do in the city.

NEWBURY STREET
Just a few blocks from the Marriott hotel, a Newbury St is a thriving vibrant downtown shopping and dining district.

COPLEY PLACE MALL AND SHOPS AT THE PRUDENTIAL
If you don't want to go outside to shop or dine, you'll love the 200 shops and restaurants connected via the Copley Place Mall and Shops at the Prudential Center.

BOSTON DUCK TOURS
Climb aboard a Boston duck Tour, a WWiii style amphibious landing vehicle shows you Boston by land and river. The comedic drivers really make this relaxing tour worth the ticket price.

COPLEY SQUARE
Copley Square s surrounded by magnificent buildings including the Trinity Church, Boston Public Library and John Hancock buildings.

FENWAY PARK
Celebrating its 100 Anniversary in 2012, this historic ballpark should not be missed. Take a tour to see where the Babe pitched, the Kid hit, Yaz dazzled and the Red Sox Nation roars.

FREEDOM TRAIL
Walk the 2.5 mile Freedom Trail and follow the American Revolution through 16 nationally significant historic sites.


SYMPHONY HALL
Go behind the scenes and see America's premier concert hall and where distinguished musicians come from all over the world to play.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
The MFA is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the world, with a collection of over 450,000 works of art.

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN
Established in 1837 as the first public botanical garden, this beautiful park still features rich and unusual plants and a lagoon where the famous Swan Boats have been operating for more than 130 years. Plus, on any given day you can stop at any number of vendors for hot roasted nuts and hear live music.

happy fourth!

With today being the Fourth of July, I can't think of a better place to celebrate than Boston!

With the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart at the Hatch Shell, a performance by Jennifer Hudson, and the finale fireworks display over the Charles River, it really is a spectacular event. Well worth hanging out with half a million other people and taking an overcrowed train home.

We went a few years back when Neil Diamond performed. Here's some photos. . .

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The Hatch Shell is all decked out for the event.

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Get ready to cover your ears when the fighter jets do a fly by. It was seriously the LOUDEST noise I have ever heard!

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And of course, Neil Diamond HAD to sing Sweet Caroline, a bottom of the 8th inning Fenway tradition.

What's your favorite 4th of July location?

inspiration {fouth of july}

We'll be spending the day at our town parade, swimming, hanging out with friends, and then later on roasting s'mores and popping corn, like here, while trying to avoid the pesky mosquitos.

Just in case you need some {really} last minute Independent Day inspiration, here ya go . . .

Print out and frame this patrotic subway art from eighteen25

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These star medallions from Martha Stewart would set the mood for any Fourth of July party backdrop. The instructions call for fabric, but I would try making them out of festive heavy weight scrapbook paper.

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These cute watermelon stars from Hip Hip Hooray! call attention to any fruit platter. Chill thinly sliced the melon and before cutting it with a sharp-edged cookie cutter. Garnish with a handful of freshly washed blueberries and your set!

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If you're really talented and have super {fast} sewing skills, you could whip out a festive romper for your favorite little toddler, like my mother-in-law did a few years back. (Yes, she cooks, posted here, and sews!)  I love the rick rack trim she added to the star small-print fabric and the peek-a-boo diaper cover. Simplicity has lots of easy to sew patterns, like this.

Or you could leave all the planning and work to someone else, and just go get your nails do like this. So much fun and worth showing off at any Independendence Day party!

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What's your Fourth of July style?

top five {june}

Just in case you missed one, here are my top five posts from June:

1) popping corn
where I shared how to easy it is to popcorn over an  open fire.

2) gardening mistakes
where I shared common gardening mistakes.

3) how to lay a hardwood floor
where I shared how any homeowner can easily avoid the cost of installation and lay their own hardwood floor.

4) fishy themed birthday party
where I shared some easy, last-minute decorations for a child's fishy themed party.

5) recipes for a shrimp boil and banana split cake
where I shared a recipe for a simple shrimp and calm boil dinner, topped off with an easy make-ahead dessert based a twist of the on the banana split classic.

Wanna get caught up with even more?

top five {may}

A special thank you to my readers! Thank you for stopping and reading my blog. I appreciate all your comments and for joining me on this journey as we take baby steps towards updating, renovating, and decorating our little yellow cape.