Tried and Tuesday: How to Make Folded Tags for Your Handmade Products

Gearing up for my first craft fair of the season, I am excited that this year my products will finally have little taggies on them with the name of my shop!  Last year was such a rush that I never even thought to sew in little tags.  But this year, thanks to a little inspiration and guidance from my friend and partner in crime over at Koalala Kids, all my little Ouchie Owls and Coffee Cozies will be sporting the name “Sweet P’s!”

I feel so professional!

The best part about it, though, is that I did not have to BE a professional (or hire a professional) to make these little tags.

There were completely DIY.

Which means you can make them, too!!!

Tried and Tuesday: Contributing

I’m over at the Knoxville Mom’s Blog today trying out my first ever contributor post!  Head on over there and read about the big drama that potty training wasn’t once we finally got brave enough to try it.  Hopefully it will encourage some of you who are dreading that milestone or struggling through it!

Tried and Tuesday: Strawberry Shortcake Halloween!

Something I have loved the most about being a mommy is getting to be involved in all of the Pickle’s holiday fun.  And while I’m not a fan of the ghosts and ghouls, I have discovered that Halloween is one of my favorite children’s holidays.

When else can I create a totally imperfect outfit and still get rave reviews, adoration by my Sweet P, and loads of candy in payment?

Halloween is a dream!  The past two years I have loved coming up with a costume that matches her personality.  Getting creative.  And seeing a final product come together.  And let’s face it, you could put a paper bag on a toddler and it would be adorable.

So here is our Halloween costume this year.  I call it, “Inspired by Strawberry Shortcake”.  Mostly because it’s not perfect.  It’s not like the store-bought ones.  I’ve never seen Strawberry wear chevrons.  But it was inexpensive.  It was a blast to create.  And it was, for the most part, pretty easy to make once I got going.

Tried and Tuesday: Our DIY Play Kitchen Experience

Have you been on Pinterest?

Have you seen the adorableness out there?

Have you been intoxicated by the pinnings of people with WAY more time on their hands, WAY more space available to them, and WAY more resources at their disposal?

Of course you have.  That’s why we PIN, right?  We don’t actually DO These things…

or do we?

The Pickle turned two in March.  So for her two-year birthday, I wanted her big gift from Mommy and Daddy to be a play kitchen.  With all the plastic food and cardboard cereal boxes.  With an oven that opens and closes and a sink that really turns.

What I did NOT want was a storebought kitchen.

Not after I saw the Pinspirations, anyways!

No, I’m the type of person who sees something and thinks, “I can do that.”

Even if I can’t.

Even if I don’t have the time. Or the money.  Or the tools.  Or the space.

I can do that.

Why buy one when… I can do that!

So, as you can see.  I did it.  And it was quite an adventure.

Tried and Tuesday: Cooking a Pumpkin

It’s that time of year again.  As of October 1st, all bets were off for how many different ways you could use a pumpkin in your kitchen!  Think Forrest Gump here: Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Soup, Roast Pumpkin, Steamed Pumpkin, Pumpkin Stew, Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin… you get the idea.

I’ll be honest, though.  Up until three years ago, the closest I ever got to a pumpkin was either carving it or scooping it out of a can.  But in Thailand, when I was asked to make a squash casserole for Thanksgiving dinner, I had to face my fears of using real pumpkin head-on.  Of course, in Thailand the closest thing they had to a pumpkin was a huge, round, green squash, but it was the same on the inside.

After much internet searching and nail-biting, I embarked on my first squash-roasting attempt with two enormous green monsters and a finicky oven.  If I remember correctly, I ruined at least one of them.  But the other one worked out and the casserole was delicious!  I was never scared to use real pumpkin again.

Tried and Tuesday: Easy Chinesey (at Home!)

Sweet Pickle learning to use her ‘cheater’ chopsticks… note that she’s lost her bite of food already.

Let’s face it… I lived in Taiwan for four years.  There are days where I am just CRAVING Chinese food.  Real Chinese food.  Fried in a huge, black wok and smothered in soy sauce and MSG.  Some nights I just want to go down to the night market crowded with teenagers and order myself some Sweet Potato balls, tien-bu-la, and hot, steamed dumplings.  There are days I want to watch my noodles be shaved into a boiling pot of water and served in a cardboard box in front of a blaring television.

Ok… maybe not the television part.

But I miss real Chinese food so bad I can taste it.

Let’s face another fact… takeout Chinese is expensive.  Delicious?  Yes.  Lasts three or four meals?  Usually.  Expensive?  Absolutely.  It’s harder for my husband and I because we lived in SE Asia and we’re used to getting a huge bowl of rice, a platter of dumplings (at LEAST 10 each) and two or three plates of meat and vegetables for the price of a Big Mac value meal.  So ordering takeout Chinese is almost blasphemous.  And I won’t even go into Thai food.  (shedding tears over here, it’s so darn expensive)

Needless to say, since we’ve moved back to America and accepted the fact that we are not going to get sticky rice and som tum for $1.00 anywhere on this side of the ocean, I’ve tried my best to find decent alternatives. 

Tried and Tuesday: The Big Purge of 2013

Who needs toys when you can drum on the wall with chopsticks.. and on the table. And on your cup. And on Mommy’s paint bottles. And…

When the Pickle was born, my husband and I had a few critical values that we agreed we would work very hard to instill in her from day one.

One, of course, is our faith.  We believe that God has an amazing plan for this little one’s life, and we believe she was given to us by God to care for and guide in His ways so that she can one day live out His plan faithfully.  That’s the big one.

But if learning to love God isn’t hard enough, we also want her to learn to love and serve other people.  To be respectful.  To be genuinely humble and giving.  To realize that the world is not all about her.  Wish us luck.  Loving God is easy.  Not loving yourself is the hard part!

Tried and Tuesday: Potty Training

This. This is what I tried on this fine September Tuesday.

I tried potty training my Sweet Pickle. And can I tell you… She surprised me!

She turned two and a half on Sunday and thanks to an overload of information on potty training I was pretty convinced that if I didn’t do it, like, right now she would be in diapers and in a therapists office at the age of 18. No one wants that.

So I took a deep breath, talked up the “big day” for a week, and Monday after school we put the diapers away forever! (or so we all hope)

It’s only been a day and a half, but thanks to some pretty sound advice, I have remained calm and it has remained fun. The advice?

Tried and Tuesday: Grandma’s Chicken and Noodles

I know this Tried and Tuesday thing has turned into a food blog, but recently food is what I’ve been trying!  I promise I’ll do something else someday.  But for today, I have to give you a little Fall preview with my Grandma’s (and mom’s) homemade chicken and noodles recipe.

The story behind Grandma’s chicken and noodles is this:  One time my Grandma and Grandpa were at a friend’s house and someone suggested having chicken and noodles.  Said-friend made the comment, “Oh, no.  We can’t have chicken and noodles… it’s after 9 o’ clock.”  As the story goes, my Grandma replied, “Well, yes we can!” and hopped to making those egg noodles from scratch.  They dried just in time for supper, and after that day it was always Leane’s job to make the chicken and noodles.

Tried and Tuesday: Here’s the Dough!

Ok.  Here’s the yummy, won’t-ever-make-another, gone in two days French Peasant Bread I’ve been telling you all about… until I took a month off.

Super easy.  Not sure who to credit with this one.  My parent’s neighbor and good friend Chef Alli invited me to her house for a private “cooking class” a couple years back and walked me through this one.  Not sure where she got it, but you can check out her blog and FB page.  Perhaps she’ll share more secrets… and you might even see a pic or two of the Sweet Pickle… and my parents.  http://chefallis.blogspot.com/  https://www.facebook.com/chefalli

So here’s the recipe.  Go.  Make it.  Eat it.  Love it.