Diana Rambles

Guest Post & Co-Host Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:55:00 +0000

I have a few great opportunities for you here at Diana Rambles.

First off, I am looking for guest bloggers this summer while I am on vacation and for a weekly feature after that. Vacation dates are 6/6-6/25. Weekly guest features will take place on Tuesdays 7/2-8/27. I am looking for creative posts: DIY, food/recipes, crafts, gardening, or tutorials. It is OK if the post is something you've already posted on your blog that you'd like more exposure to. That is actually easiest for both of us. I would put part of the post & photos on my blog with a link that says 'read the rest here' and it's linked to your post. A brand new post is fine too. You can see past guest posts here. Your blog button and/or photo will be posted as well as links to your social media. Guests during my vacation time will need to have their post to me by May 30th. Weekly guests will need to have their post to me a week before their feature. This is for personal bloggers only and is not a paid opportunity. If your blog promotes a product or shop (such as Etsy) OR you'd like to promote a product or service, then you will have to pay for the guest post. Pricing will be determined on an individual basis. You can apply to be a guest post/blogger here. I will let you know if/when you are going to be featured.

I also am offering the opportunity to be a co-host on my weekly Pin Me Linky Party. The cost to co-host is $5/week. As a co-host, your button or photo will be featured at the top of the party post with a link to your blog & social media. You will also be announced as guest co-host in the party reminder email which goes out to over 500 people. You will get the opportunity to submit your links before the party goes live. This opportunity is also for personal bloggers. You can read all details & requirements and sign up to host here.

I, Diana Hansen, of Diana Rambles reserve the right to pick/approve guest & co-hosts.

Free Craft Class Today

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Recently I signed up for a crochet class via Craftsy. I am so excited to finally learning how to properly crochet. I've done 3 lessons of Crochet Lab so far and I've learned a lot. I need to do a lot of practice before I am ready to move on. I really like being able to rewind and pause the lesson. On the very important techniques the video is still but the instructor keeps talking. I love the Craftsy App. That is how I've taken my classes so far.
Today (5/18) Craftsy is offering a free class up to $39.99 to new members. Membership is free! The great thing is that once you enroll in a class you have as long as you want to take it. So go ahead, sign up for membership and then pick a free class to take. They have a great selection of classes so there is bound to be something for you. Craftsy has a goal of giving away 10,000 classes and if they reach it, Craftsy will donate $5,000 to DonorsChoose to fund arts education in public schools across the US. Existing members are not eligible for the free course offer, but will still receive a special treat. I am anxious to see what that is!!

I am a Craftsy Affiliate and get paid a percentage when someone makes a purchase via my link.
If you'd like to become a paid affiliate too click here.

Pin Me Linky Party #33

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday! I'd like to wish all you mothers out there Happy Mothers Day!! My next Must Follow Party is up and this week it's Facebook. If you'd like more likes on your Facebook Page then check it out here.

I am starting something new this week! I am going to say a little something about each feature!

Click on each featured photo below to link to it's post.

Live with Passion Card from Paper Seedlings - I just love Poppies!!
Carrot Zuchinni Apple muffins from The Sweet Life - I want to eat a bunch of these!
DIY Pandora Bracelet from 4 You With Love - Brilliant idea for personalizing!
Ewok Cupcakes from Running Away? I'll help you pack! - Adorable! Check all the characters out!

Interested in being a future co-host? Get info here!

Must Follow Facebook Party 1

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 16 May 2013 05:00:00 +0000

This week's installment of the Must Follow Party is Facebook Pages. While participants link up their Facebook Page, they are required to like the page from their personal profile.

Must Follow Party Rules
1. Link up the name of your Facebook Page and the link to it. (NOT YOUR BLOG!)

**Please test your link after submission.**

2. Provide a valid email address in the linky.
3. At the end of the party you must return and LIKE all the pages linked from your personal profile. Likes from other pages don't count!! (I'll email a reminder!)
4. Only family friendly pages may be linked.
People who don't follow these rules will be removed and not allowed to participate in the future!

Feel free to grab the party button if you want, but not required!

Upcoming: 5/23 Blog Lovin' & 5/30 Google Plus

Busy, Busy Ramble!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:48:00 +0000

It's another one of those busy times of the year. We have so many end of the year activities and other stuff going on that I've not been online as much!

The big thing we are dealing with right now is getting our house repaired from the sewage flood damage. The flood happened 4 weeks ago and we just got the first of the insurance money. The biggest problem was the water mitigation company being so SLOW! They also are trying to charge us for work they didn't do. Oy! I am definitely going to be leaving some poor feedback for them on Angie's List & Yelp. I told my insurance company that they should NOT recommend them for work. Now that we have some money in hand we are in the process of getting bids on the in house repairs. With the warmer weather and many others in the area that flooded, many contractors are backed up. We are patient and will be leaving on vacation in 3 weeks, so we hope to schedule work to begin right when we get back from Colorado. I am glad we are still going on vacation. It's a camping vacation, therefore low costs. If it was big expensive vacation then we might have canceled or cut back, but nearly all our campground fees are already paid. Those range from $15-$25 per night, so not expensive anyway. While we wait to get bids we are starting some of the work. This is what our downstairs background looked like a few days ago.

Last night my hubby took the wallpaper down, which was the LAST wallpaper in the house. Yea! It's gone!! He uses Downy mixed with a little water to remove the wallpaper adhesive. Works like a gem!

I've also been gardening. Here is what my garden looks like as of today.

I bought small tomato plants, but everything else is from directly sewn seeds. I am staggering the planting of green beans along the back. I will be growing Gherkin & lemon cucumbers up trellises. I will also stagger the planting of the short & sweet carrots. I am happy with how it's going so far. I'll have to leave a watering schedule for my (oldest) son when we are on vacation. He's grown out of going with us so he stays home and takes care of the house & dog. I plan on making 2 rain barrels. One for this garden and the other for the raised bed we are putting in the backyard.

All my photos were blurry! :(

My son's last band concert of middle school was this week. He is a percussionist in both the concert & jazz bands. He's very excited about starting HS marching band soon. They start practicing next week. He's in Fiddler on the Roof this weekend with 2 shows on Saturday. He's getting confirmed on Sunday. Then next Friday is his 8th grade promotion. We are hosting a party for him this Sunday. I am in charge of the 8th grade picnic next week and am hoping for no rain!

We are going on our first camping trip of the year on Memorial Day weekend. We have so much stuff from our cleared out basement in the garage. We are going to need to move the junk over to be able to pull the trailer out. Then it will stay out as we are leaving June 6 for Colorado. It will probably stay out on the driveway until we get the work in the house done and therefore the junk out of the garage.

We have a handful of other upcoming activities that will keep me busy between now & June 6. I am going to slow down my blogging a little more! I'll keep up with my 3 linky parties!!

Best Friends Forever Bentos

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

My daughter has been having her BFF from school over for a few play dates after school. The last one was on a half day so I had to feed them lunch. I created these fun matching bentos for them.

BFF- Turkey & cheese sandwich face with nori hair and candy eyes & mouth, yogurt with heart pick, strawberries, carrots, cherry chips, and initial made out of ham. Co-Jack heart with BFF out of Rainbow Strip candy.

Here are the BFFs posing with their bento lunches!! They loved them!!

Pin Me Linky Party #32

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday! I'd like to wish all you mothers out there Happy Mothers Day!! My next Must Follow Party is up and this week it's Pinterest. If you'd like more Pinterest followers then check it out here.

Today's party is sponsored by Saving with Charlotte.

Click on each featured photo below to link to it's post.

Low Carb Cookies from Post on a Budget - 3D Graduation Table Greeting from Make it Easy Crafts
!@#$%& Etched Shot Glasses from Sophisticated Yellow - Fish Tacos w/Cumin Spiced Yogurt Sauce from This Silly Girls Life

Interested in being a future co-host? Get info here!

Must Follow Pinterest Party 1

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:00:00 +0000

I was pleased with the Twitter Must Follow Party turned out so I've decided to make this a weekly link-up that goes Thursday-Wednesday. (at least for the next month or so) There were 3 people who did not follow all and were removed from the linky.

Must Follow Party Rules
1. By participating in this link up you promise to follow EVERYONE who links up.
2. Link up your name/blog name and the link to your Pinterest (NOT YOUR BLOG!)
3. Provide a valid email address in the linky.
4. When the party ends I will email all participants to remind them to come back and follow everyone!
5. Only family friendly Pinners may participate.
People who don't follow these rules will be removed and not allowed to participate in the future!

Feel free to grab the party button if you want, but not required!

Details for co-hosting a future Must Follow party can be found here.

M&M Brownie Bark

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:00:00 +0000

My toffee cracker bark recipe is well loved and often requested. My son promised some for his friends at play practice and I obliged with a new variation~ M&M Brownie!!

M&M Brownie Toffee Bark

Saltines (1+ sleeves depending on the size of your cookie sheet)
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
12 oz bag of milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
M&Ms
Brownies (I made these ahead of time and crumbled them up after they cooled)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with little lip around the edge) with cooking spray. I use a cookie sheet liner instead. Arrange crackers to cover the bottom of the sheet. Melt butter, add the brown sugar, and then boil for 3 minutes. Pour over the saltines and put in oven for 5 minutes.

Remove and sprinkle choc chips on top. I used milk chocolate this time! Yum! When chocolate chips look glossy (about 2 minutes) spread the melted chips evenly across the top. Sprinkle your favorite toppings on top. Put it in the fridge to harden and then brake it apart into uneven pieces.

This post was featured at~

Low Carb Italian Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:53:00 +0000

I've posted this recipe before but I didn't have a photo and I've altered the recipe a little bit.

Low Carb Italian Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
4 ounce can mushrooms
bag of shredded Italian Blend Cheese

Chop the chicken into bite size pieces. Mix the tomato & Italian seasoning. Mix in mushrooms & chicken. Stir in some of the cheese and top with the rest. The original recipe says to microwave it, but we baked it at 350 for 35+ mins. We like our cheese nice & crispy!

Pin Me Linky Party #31

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Hello all you party people! Happy May! I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to post. This is my 2nd week in a row with only added 1 link to the party! Have fun and PLEASE visit at least 3 others!!

Click on each featured photo below to link to it's post.

DIY Upholstered Wingback Chair Makeover from Lovely Little Life - Crochet Bunny Lovey Pattern from The Stitchin' Mommy
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin from Our Southern Home - Bacon-Asparagus Wraps from Garden Chef's Needle & Pen

Interested in being a future co-host? Get info here!

A Little About Diana 4

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

It's time for the April installment of A Little About Diana. I am worn out this afternoon so this is short & sweet! Enjoy!

Linda asked~ Now, I'd love to know, what is your favorite Winter dessert and also your favorite Summer dessert? In the Winter I love anything pumpkin! Summer treat has got to be ice cream!

Amy asked~ If you could meet one person, past or present, who would it be and why? Let's see.... Past: I can't think of anyone in particular but I wouldn't mind going back in time to see what life was like then. Present: Phil Keoghan, host of Amazing Race. I'd love to ask him lots of questions about the show.

Lorraine asked~ Here's my question for you, When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a CPA. I was going to own 2 Rx7s. One for work and one for play!

Not a lot of questions so let me share some milestone photos.

family of 2

family of 3

family of 4

family of 5

Thanks for reading! What else do you want to know about me?

Waffle Burgers

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:18:00 +0000

We wanted to make burgers tonight but our grill needs a new burner and we could not find our George Forman. I told DH that we should use our Belgian waffle maker instead!

We put the waffle maker on a cookie sheet in case the grease spilled over.

Side view of them cooking.

Checking to see if they are done.

Pulling them off.

You can see how the grease pooled in the waffle iron. I used lean ground beef and recommend you do the same. Keep a close eye on it because it gets very hot! Clean up wasn't too bad! I would totally do this again!!!

I was featured in Redbook Magazine!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

My Fresh Cranberry Salsa recipe has been featured in Redbook Magazine online.

Pin Me Linky Party #30

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Last week was a big link & run week. If you participate in this party you are expected to visit & pin at least 3 others. It's a courtesy! If you want people to visit your blog, please visit theirs!!

I have a new linky party series that I started yesterday call Must Follow. I am starting with Twitter. Everyone who links up is expected to follow ALL linkers. I will send an email when the party closes reminding everyone to come back to follow all. This is a great way to get more Twitter followers! If you are interested you can read more about it by clicking the party button below.

Click on each featured photo below to link to it's post.

Roasted Chickpeas for Snacks & Salads from A Life Unprocessed - Recycled Kids Art Mixed Media Project from Bowdabra
Grungy Grad Jewelry from Jewelry Making Journal - Zucchini & Onion Pie from The Pin Junkie

Must Follow Twitter Party 1

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:02:00 +0000

Do you want more followers? I do! I've decided to start a new Must Follow series here at Diana Rambles. Everyone who participates *MUST* follow everyone else! If you don't want to follow everyone, then this isn't the party for you.

I haven't decided how frequently I will do this party, but it will probably run Thurs-Wed. When the party closes I will email all the participants letting them know that it's time to come back and follow everyone on this list. Future parties will include other social media outlets.

I am starting with Twitter because I recently signed up with Sponsored Tweets. I get paid to tweet advertisements. The rate I am paid is based on how many followers I have. I'd love to earn more per tweet so I need more followers. It's easy to sign up and only takes about 30 seconds to tweet an offer.

Must Follow Party Rules
1. Link up your name/blog name and the link to your Twitter (NOT YOUR BLOG!)
2. Provide a valid email address in the linky.
3. At the end of the party you must return and follow EVERYONE.
4. Only family friendly Tweeters may participate.
People who don't follow these rules will be removed and not allowed to participate in the future!

Feel free to grab the party button if you want, but not required!

Please let me know if you'd like to co-host a Must Follow party in the future.

DIY Beach Souvenir

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Last month we vacationed in Florida. The beach was magical and my daughter enjoyed collecting shells. Near the end of the trip we hit a souvenir shop and picked up a few things. My daughter wanted to get a shells & sand in a bottle similar to those pictured below. I wasn't willing to pay $7 for a tacky memento that wasn't a real representation of the trip. I told her that we would make our own with the shells & shell we collected.

I've checked a few thrift stores since returning but haven't been able to find the right jar/container to make one. I finally found one at the first garage sale of the season. I love that it was only a quarter.

After cleaning it up we added some sand and the shells.

We are happy with how it turned out, although my daughter decided to add more sand.

Worried little hands might spill the contents? Use a bottle/jar with a lid that can be tightened. My daughter loves this simple but meaningful momento of our trip.
This post was featured at~

My Shitty Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:49:00 +0000

I've had a few bloggers ask to see a home tour of my home. I'm going to show you part of it, but I am warning you that this isn't pretty!

Let's back up a few days. Early Thursday afternoon I was working on a blog proof and had just finished preparing/posting my last 2 posts. I visited my first Friday linky party and my oldest had just gotten out of bed when I asked him if he could pick his brother up from school since I was going to run a few errands after getting my daughter. She and I were leaving for our girls weekend in less than 24 hours and I had lots to do. A flash flood warning had just been issued a few minutes before this. We had had lots and lots of rain so this wasn't a surprise. I could hear the sump pump running about every 30 seconds so I wasn't worried about water in the basement. We live in a bi-level. The downstairs is partly underground, but not as much as a true basement. Anyway, my son (whose bedroom is downstairs) yells up, "Oh Diana, guess what?" With him saying Diana and the tone of voice...I knew! We had water in the basement. The bathroom to be specific. The toilet was empty and it was clear so we thought there was a fresh water back up. I quickly called DH to get home ASAP and we grabbed our huge shop vac and I gave him a crash course in using it. The water seemed to be fairly contained so I gave him instructions and headed out the door to pick up his siblings. I called the person who I was supposed to meet from CraigsList to cancel (they must think I am flake!) and decided to forgo the library. I'd deal with the 40 cents in fines. When I got home 30 mins later, DH had just gotten home and they were yelling that it was sewage and it was now flowing out very quickly. My son took this picture.

He took this after he had gotten nearly all the water up with the shop vac up. He was checking the shower to see where the water had been coming from. Not long after he took this photo it started pouring out everywhere. GROSS! We were moving things and sucking up the grossness as quickly as possible. When I had been driving home with the kids I could see nearly every house with a lower level around here with their garage open and stuff being carried out.

Our neighbors 3 doors down didn't fair as well. They were not home and their sump pump wasn't working. So they had sewage and fresh water and got 3 inches throughout their lower level before someone came home. They immediately called a disaster recovery company and the city. I did likewise (the city was aware of the issue and said they were sending someone out) and I called our insurance company. Luckily we had added a flood rider when we changed companies a few years back. Yea! We had coverage. Our insurance company also called a disaster recovery company who called us right away and said they'd be there on Friday. I was happy to hear this since many people in town had similar issues. In the meantime we did as much as we could by sucking all the wetness out and getting as many fans going to dry things out. The flood warning kept getting extended so we kept a watch of the shower. I sadly cancelled our trip to St. Louis, although I was in good spirits otherwise because shit happens. Literally!

Friday was my birthday and I was having a pity party. No one wished me happy birthday before they went to work/school. The temps had fallen overnight and it was so cold in the house. Our furnace got some water around it so I wasn't sure if it was safe to use. It kept raining and it was grey & cold and I was trapped in my house waiting for the recovery team. The crew finally came in the afternoon and had to cut out drywall. They sprayed an antimicrobial and let this machine that sucks out bacteria and particulates. They said we did a great job of drying things out. DH & I weren't seeing eye to eye on things so I took the kids to the library & DQ. We also had fun tooling around the Dollar Tree. A nice evening away.

Reading library books while enjoying Blizzards.

Saturday's forecast was for sunshine and NO rain, so I knew it would be a much better day.

Saturday was filled with clearing out most of the basement and throwing things out. What a PITA! A lot of that stuff was garage sale finds or curbside cast-offs, so no big deal!

Our trash pile.

We did take a break and went to visit a local goat farm. These baby goats are less than a week old.

Baby goats make everything better!

When we went through everything and finished pulling up the carpet we realized that the sewage seeped around the perimeter of nearly the entire basement. ICK! We've emptied rooms and most closets and have junk all over.

main area downstairs

garage

Here is the shower (actually smells good) and walls.

The recovery company comes back tomorrow to check how things are going. We are going to lose at lease one door that got warped and I suspect more drywall. The closets that had carpet remnants installed will just be concrete now and the front bedrooms & closet will be tiled. We got enough tile to do the entire downstairs a few years ago but hadn't tackled the bedrooms yet. I am thankful that we were home and able to keep the sewage from getting everywhere!

Friday I followed up with the city and they said someone had come out to check the area. None of the neighbors saw anyone. I was persistent and they sent someone out. This guy checked all the sewer drains/covers in the area and discovered a big clog a few blocks up the line. He went back and got the big vacuum truck like this~

and took care of the clog. He came over afterwards and told us that we all would have backed up again with the next big rain if he didn't clear the clog. Glad that I had bugged them enough that this guy came out. We've dealt with enough crap!

This is just a little hiccup in life...really just a temporary inconvenience! It's making us go through everything and get rid of stuff we don't need. As you can tell by the piles we will be very busy over the next few weeks and we didn't even take everything out of the rooms/closets! Not looking forward to it!

How was your weekend???

Pin Me Linky Party #29

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to. Yesterday during a flash flood warning sewage backed up in our house. GROSS!! But instead of crying let's party!! It's my birthday so I decided to just feature favorites today! Let's party it up friends!!! Link up your gifts...I mean creative posts.

Click on each featured photo below to link to it's post.

Chinese Chicken Salad from Domestic Bliss Squared - Fabric Dog Collar from Creative Passage
Sombrero Hat Cookies from hoopla palooza - DIY Worm Bin from day2day SuperMom
Elmer the Elephant Lunch from Eats Amazing - Salt Watercolor Rainbow Mess For Less

Build Your Own Bento Party

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

My daughter's birthday was back in December and I just keep putting off posting about it. Since my birthday is tomorrow I figured I better get it posted! Here is her invitation.


Click image to get free download of a blank version of this party invitation.

The theme for her birthday was a hands-on party fun. We had 4 stations: craft, bento, cupcake & photo.

Crafts

Bentos

Build Your Own Bento Station

cookie cutters for sandwich shapes & bowl to collect food scraps

stickers to decorate the bento boxes with

We love our bentos!!

Cupcakes

decorate your own cupcake

I love my party!

Photo Booth

I got my own mug shot!

Fun was had by all...kids and adults! Build your own Bento was such a hit that we did it for last week's Girl Scout meeting. I had bread, cookie cutters and a choice of fixings for their sandwiches. I had fun peacock & Hello Kitty food picks. They put cut strawberries into little plastic cups and carrot sticks. I got little plastic containers at the dollar store along with metallic stickers that can be washed. They had fun decorating their boxes and making fun shaped sandwiches!

Happy Scouts make Great Bentos!

Bento Basics - Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Since I am doing a bento guest post over at Following in my Shoes today, I thought I'd post my second installment of my Bento Basics: Tips for Making Lunch Fun. I will address the questions asked in Part 1 throughout this post.

Jocie asked~ What exactly is the meaning of bento? Is it a brand of sold, fun lunches??? Bento or Obento originates from Japan and it's a small boxed take out lunch or one from home. You can find these little boxed lunches for sale all over Japan. Kyara-ben (a shortened form of character bento) are the cute characters, often make out of rice, that are popular. People outside Japan have really expanded on that idea of making lunch fun and ideas/creativity have run wild. Here are 2 of my rice character bentos.

Hello Kitty Rice Character

Onigiri Face made with rice & egg sheet

Tip: Bentos are great for special diets. Does your child have a peanut allergy? Do you stick to a gluten-free or dye-free diet? Make these restrictions fun with a bento. Click on the images below to see the details of the peanut & gluten free lunches from my blog buddies.

Nina made this peanut-free bento for the first day of school.


Deb created this gluten-free bento for her her son.

Tip: Bentos are not just for kids! People will say they don't have a child or one young enough to enjoy a bento. It's lunch packed with love and it can be for any age!

Tortellini, salad & carrots, strawberries with dressing & treat for my hubby.

Mama's bento: Yummy bagel sandwich, fruit salad, & Bircher Müsli.

Tip: Many bentos are portable! In Part One, KC asked~ How do you keep them from tipping and getting messed up in the carrying them to school? I have a few lunch bags with a wide bottom that help keep things in place. Sometimes I will stuff some lettuce or wadded up seran wrap in before the lid to hold it in place, but for the most part it stays unless it gets tipped over in the classroom lunch basket. My daughter is pretty careful about it. I keep the lunch from getting soggy by using silicone cupcake liners or other simple plastic containers to keep something like a cut fruit away from bread. I got many of these at the dollar store.

2 of my wider based lunch bags with handles on top

Inside of the black & grey lunch bag

Pi Day bento uses silicone cupcake liners to keep food separate.

I avoided sogginess with silicone liners & the pickle in a baggie.

I would like to thank Nina & Deb for contributing to this post.

Please leave questions in the comments and I will address them in part 3.

My Palette Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:30:00 +0000

Spring is my favorite time of year. I am planning my garden and can't wait until things start growing. Here is the palette garden I created last year.

I was at a friend's house and I was admiring her lettuce pallet. She stapled landscape fabric over the back (bottom) of the pallet and then filled it in with dirt. I suggested that the fabric be stapled across the bottom of each row of the pallet. She said go for it and sent me home with a pallet. I already had the landscape fabric, so I got it set up right away. I decided to stand it up against our shed in the backyard. This is what it looked like before we added dirt.

Here is what it looked like today after I planted some spinach and spring mix. I marked the type of seeds I planted with the date on the pallet. I will plant more in a week or 2 so that my harvest is spread out.

Here is the lettuce starting to grow.

Unfortunately it was a very HOT summer and the lettuce didn't thrive. I planted the year's seeds last week. I am doing some green lettuce & strawberries. We've had a lot of rain since I planted so I haven't had to water at all. The heavy rain might have moved or washed away the seeds. Time will tell...

This post was featured at~

Pin Me Linky Party #28

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Great party last week! People did a much better job of visiting other links. I wish that all Blogspot users would turn off word verification!! I didn't send an email reminder today or last week because it put me over my email quota and quite frankly I get tired of the reminders from others. One reminder is fine, but multiple reminders is a big turn off! I am debating about signing up for some kind of email service just for the party reminder and then just sending out one.

Click on each featured photo below to link to it's post.

Susanna Shap Inspired Woven and Flower Dress from Shaffer Sisters
Bead & Knot Bracelet from sometimes homemade - Skinny Oreo Milkshake from Will Cook for Smiles
3-D Letters from Wesens-Art - Mermaid Party & Oyster Cookies Tutorial Rae Gun Ramblings

Ham Sham Spud Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

When I had a lot of ham leftover from Easter I was searching for a low carb recipe that I could use it in. I came across this Creamy Ham & "Potato" recipe from (my favorite) Linda's Low Carb site. I adjusted the recipe a little bit.

Ham & Sham Spud Casserole

2 pounds frozen or fresh cauliflower
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream
~2 cups of diced ham
2-4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
a couple shakes of pepper

Cook the cauliflower and drain well. Chop it up a little bit. Grease a 9x12 casserole dish. Mix 1/2 the cheese, softened cream cheese, and the heavy cream in the dish. Mix in the ham and then the cauliflower. Cover with the remaining cheese and bake at 350º for 35-45 minutes. We *LOVE* cheese so we used 4 cups, but you can easily cut it back to 2 cups. The recipes is very similar to the Mockafoni & Cheese recipe I posted but it tastes so different! YUMMY!

Adding Social Media Icons

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:26:00 +0000

How to Install on Your Blogger (Blogspot) Blog

1. Upload icons to image storage site (such as photobucket).
2. Create an HTML/Java Gadget (widget) on your sidebar and use the following code for each icon~

3. Replace the red bolded part with the URL (web address) to your social media site, such as

https://twitter.com/freestylemama

4. Replace the green bolded part with the direct URL link of the icon, such as

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/blue-snowflake-twitter.png

5. Add in front of the code if you want it centered.
Add if you want a line break.
6. Save
7. You can add all the icons you want to the same gadget/widget!

Updated: I was asked how to link directly to your email address. Here is how:

Looking for some fun free social media icons? Check out my freebies here. Including this new set~