My 3 Monsters

Delicious Salads for Your Summer Cookouts

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Tue, 29 May 2012 04:47:00 +0000

Happy Memorial Day, friends!!I hope you all had as good a holiday as we had. We are so grateful to those who give so much so that we can enjoy the freedom that we too often take for granted.

We spent the day at a pool party/pot-luck/barbeque with all of our best friends. The weather was unseasonably temperate today so it was PERFECT to sit in the shade and chat while watching the kids swim. I whipped up a couple salads as our family's contribution to the meal -- one an old family favorite and one a new addition to our summer routine. I thought I'd share them with you here, even though it's too late to use them today. This was just the first of many summer barbeque celebrations to come.

This one is a recipe that I used to make all the time when my kids were younger. Somehow it fell out of our regular rotation, but I'm bringin' it back. If I had to eat one salad for the rest of my life, I think this one would be it. It's super easy to make and de-licious.

Seven Layer Salad

Fill the bottom of a 9x13 pan with chopped lettuce. I like a combination of iceberg and romaine. Then layer on top:

1/2 C. chopped celery
1/2 C. red peppers
1/2 C. red onion {can use green onions for a milder flavor}
1/2 C. frozen peas, thawed
1 pint of mayonnaise -- spread it like you're frosting a cake and then sprinkle with a little sugar. You may be able to get away with less. Use what looks good to you. This sounds like it may be yucky, but trust me!! It makes the perfect yummy dressing for the salad.
shredded cheddar cheese {eyeball it}
sliced hard boiled eggs {about 6} and crumbled bacon {we like turkey bacon}

Once you've assembled the salad, cover it and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The longer it sits, the more the dressing absorbs all the flavors and the better it tastes. Obviously you can alter the recipe, leaving out ingredients you don't like and/or substituting with things you do. It's just a different, yummy take on a traditional green salad.

Source: familyfoodiefun.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

The other salad I made today was a Hawaiian Macaroni salad from Foodie Family that I found on Pinterest a little while ago. It was absolutely delicious, though a little peppery for my taste. Follow the directions exactly, even though they're a little different than a regular pasta salad. You won't regret it. They say it tastes just like the macaroni salad you'd find at a Hawaiian restaurant. I don't know if that's true, but I really liked it.

I'm looking forward to a fun-filled summer of my favorite cookout foods. If you have a favorite salad recipe, I'd love to hear about it!

Awesome New Skincare Product Review & Giveaway{#EclosBeauty}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Sat, 26 May 2012 21:12:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of éclos Skin Care for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Those of you who know me personally commented last week about how much my daughter looks like me. Like, exactly like me. A spitting image. We get that ALL THE TIME. The rest of you have maybe never seen me because I don't, as a habit, post pictures of myself. It's hard having a pretty young thing running around with your face, except at an ideal weight and with flawless skin. {Seriously, what fourteen year old has skin like that?!} It can make you a teensy bit self-conscious. That's why I was super excited when I was asked to try éclos Skin Care products and review them on my blog! I'm willing to try anything at this point.

The downside? I have to post pictures of myself -- before and after. {Major cringe} I'm telling you, it is physically painful to me to look at pictures of myself. But I was willing to bite the bullet and do it. I got the package in the mail and it was like Christmas morning. I love beauty products. It's a little bit of a sickness.

The kit contains Facial Cleanser Skin Prep, Cellular Activator Face Serum, Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream, Restorative Eye Cream, Instant Radiance Facial Scrub, Skin Renewal Clay Mask, and an éclos Terry Cloth Head Band.

Here's the science-y stuff:
éclos Skin Care features Apple Stem Cells extracted from a rare Swiss apple which have shown tremendous ability to stimulate skin stem cells, encouraging aging skin to behave like younger skin. Plant extracts, vitamins and anti-oxidants combine with the Apple Stem Cell technology to help minimize the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and tired skin.

They had me at "encouraging aging skin to behave like younger skin". Yes, please! I've seen the commercials on tv for similar, very expensive products. This is the first I have heard of at my price point and in the stores I shop at. The suggested retail price for the whole kit is just $19.99. Sweet!

I really liked the products, too. They smelled really nice and clean and left my skin feeling super clean and soft. You know how with some products you wash your face and then still get junk on your towel when you dry off? This doesn't do that. My face was actually clean. The clay mask was probably my favorite. I used it a couple times a week and it made my face feel deep-down clean.

So, here they are -- my photos:

Nothing like pointing out all your flaws, right? In these photos I have foundation and powder on, but nothing else. I just couldn't take one completely bare-faced.

After just a couple of weeks my skin is so much brighter and fresher looking -- almost glow-y. Seriously. In the after picture I am only wearing a little sheer tinted sunscreen, eyeliner and mascara. I have ALWAYS worn full-face makeup, every day, no matter what I'm doing. Always. Even working out. All summer long. Even at camp. {Which is maybe where the acne came from...} My skin looks so good now I can wear an almost bare face and feel almost pretty. Confident, at least. That's awesome to me. The texture of my skin is better, too. It's nice and smooth, which I haven't felt in a while. I can't wait to go to camp next week and leave my makeup bag at home!

I struggle with insomnia, which usually leaves my eyes droopy and tired-looking. I feel like I look a lot fresher and brighter after using the Restorative Eye Cream for a couple weeks, even though I haven't really been sleeping better. That sells me on the product right there.

Here's the really fun part: They gave me a second kit to share with one of you!! In order to win and try it for yourself FOR FREE, just leave a comment on this post telling us which product you are most excited to try. Easy Cheesy! This is going to be a quick giveaway since I'm leaving for camp next week. I'll pick a winner Wednesday, May 30th and let y'all know who won right here on the blog before I leave.

Good luck!!

{This giveaway is only open to my readers in the United States. Entries must be in before 9:00 a.m. Arizona time on May 30th, 2012. Winner will be chosen using random.org}

Awwwwww, Yeah!

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Me and my boys, driving to Sonic for 50 cent corndogs and half price slushes, listening to Karmin, drinkin' in the summer goodness. Does life get better than this?!

Big, Big Treat {Flavored Rice Krispie Treats}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:35:00 +0000

It's the last week of school here {yay!}and with three kids' award ceremonies, class parties, and "graduation" events we've been pretty busy. I meant to post this recipe yesterday for Big, Big Treat Tuesday, but just didn't get to it. Did you know that you can flavor rice krispie treats?! I'm always the last to know. I found this link to Shugary Sweets on Pinterest last week and new I had to give it a shot.

I know what you're thinking -- Rice krispie treats are already delicious. Why would you need to add "flavor"? It's just for funsies. We all need a change of pace once in a while, no? So, I stood in the store for what seemed like forever trying to decide which flavor of pudding to get. My first choice, coconut, only came in the cooked variety and I didn't know if that would work. My second choice was banana, but Brent hates banana. Then I looked at pistachio. Not every member of our family likes nuts. I ended up getting butterscotch and pistachio, resigned to the fact that we were just going to have to make {and eat} two batches. My poor family. What will they do?

I cannot put into words how much my family loved these treats. My friend, Jamie, is the undisputed rice krispie treat making champion in our little group of family friends. My kids said these were the only ones they have ever liked better than hers. And Brent ate them. He never eats anything with marshmallow in it, as a rule. I had to cut these two for the picture last night and set them aside to photograph in the daylight -- that's how fast they were going.

Next time I make these I'm gonna' really do it right by adding butterscotch chips and peanuts to the butterscotch ones {my family will kinda' sorta' eat peanuts}. I also think adding real pistachio pieces to the pistachio ones would be awesome. And maybe a drizzle of chocolate like in the example I saw.

They are just as easy to make as regular rice krispie treats. You just add a 3.5 ounce box of pudding powder to the melted marshmallows and butter before stirring in the cereal. My mind is going crazy thinking of awesome flavor combos -- white chocolate pudding with almond pieces, banana pudding with crumbled vanilla wafers replacing part of the cereal in the recipe, chocolate pudding with white chocolate chips or mint m&m's. I'm also wondering if those new frosting flavor pouches would work -- have you seen those? Bubblegum flavored treats would be yummy. And orange cream. Mmmmmm. I'm glad my family like them so much. It's gonna' be a long, hot summer and these will be so easy to make for Family Night without heating up the whole house.

I hope you're having a great week, friends!

Rosette & Faux Feather Headband

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Just one last cute little surprise for Sis for the dance tonight. We played around with her hair yesterday and just didn't love anything we came up with. Her hair is cutest styled the way she normally does it. So I was thinking that since we couldn't do anything fancy with her hair, maybe we could put something cute in it. I LOVE a cute pixie cut with a funky headband. That's probably my most favorite thing. I wish I could pull it off. I can't, but Sis can!

I wanted to make something totally unique for her -- we have a ton of rosette headbands here. I remembered seeing these really cool string feathers over at Blue Sky Confections a few weeks ago. I looked and found that tutorial and this other one at Twigg Studios that is only very slightly different. I had everything but the liquid starch in my craft stash so I whipped one up and brushed it with Mod Podge to stiffen it up. That came out a little bit clumpy-looking. I want to make another one using starch to see if it will turn out better, but this one will do for now.

I glued the pretty string feather to a plain little headband and then whipped up a couple of rosettes out of the fabric from her shoes. {I really do love a good fabric rosette.} A sprig of pearly white berries was the perfect finishing touch.

I'll put some pictures up tonight when she's all dolled up for the dance so you can see what it looks like in her hair. {It's adorable . . . .}

Have a great weekend!

Mod Podge Shoe Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:07:00 +0000

Today's project was the result of an odd sequence of events, but it couldn't be any more perfect if I had set out to do it on purpose. I love it when that happens!

Our daughter, Sis, has her 8th grade promotion dance coming up on Friday night. Contrary to what you might think, it's a very big deal. We've been thinking about what she would wear for months now. {I'm using the term "we" very loosely here.} After going through two or three very nice options, we have finally settled on a dark grayish blue dress with a pretty mustard yellow sash from Downeast Basic. It is by far the least formal of all the dresses we have tried to work with, but also by far the most practical. She can wear it all summer to church and stuff.

I'm happy with my daughter's choice, but it was still a pretty casual dress and other girls are going to be dressed like it's the prom. Now, let me say right now that we do not feel pressure to "fit in" with all the fads and fashions of the day. Far from it. I LOVE that my daughter chose a very modest, very pretty, very age appropriate dress. And, if I can vent for a moment, I think it's ridiculous for people to treat 8th grade promotion like a formal event. It's a special occasion and can be celebrated as such, without going over the top. My concern was that Sis wouldn't feel "special" enough on this special occasion. She puts a pretty dress on for church every Sunday. She wants this night to be something out of the ordinary, and she should.

Because we spent a little bit of money on the dress, she was just going to borrow a pair of my shoes to go with it. That would have been fine, really. They aren't really special and they kind of pinch your toes, but they look alright with the dress. So, in the back of my mind I've been trying to think of a way to make her outfit a little bit more special.

I've also been thinking about giving my kids' bathroom a makeover and trying to do it on a next-to-zero budget. {I told you this was an odd sequence of events -- I promise I'm getting to the point . . .} Yesterday, while I was at JoAnn's getting some stuff for Girls Camp I found the fabric of my dreams for their shower curtain. And it was ON SALE!!!! I had just been paid for something I had written so I decided to splurge and spend the $20 to buy it. It's a beautiful mustard-y yellow background with sprigs of white berries. Perfection. I am so excited about it.

THEN, last night Brent went to hang out with his friends -- guy's night -- and I was doing some research for a project that I have coming up. I came across this picture on Pinterest:

Source: thediaryofdaveswife.com via Angie on Pinterest

And the clouds parted, the heavens opened and a choir of angels sang. I had a plain old pair of shoes in my closet that I could fix up to go with Sis's dress and I could use a little bit of the shower curtain fabric to make them really beautiful and special. It was PERFECT!! I set right to work so I could surprise her when she woke up this morning.

She and I both LOVE the way they came out! I followed the tutorial from The Diary of Dave's Wife {watch the clip of her on the Valley Dish show -- it's helpful} and it was really pretty easy. The shoes I picked were probably not ideal -- they have a little ridge across the toe part that looks like a weird crease or bubble in the picture, but doesn't look bad in real life, and the straps and cutouts at the ankle were a little weird to work with -- but I ADORE them.

So much cuter than the boring brown leather I started with. I swear one of these days I'm going to start remembering to take before pictures of my makeover projects. I only had gloss-finish Mod Podge on hand so they have a sheen to them, which makes the cotton fabric look like a fancy silk or something.

And look how perfect they are with that dress! It's like that fabric was made to go with it. I also dug out a cute bracelet from my jewelry box that she might want to borrow and {shhhh! don't tell} I'm going to make her a fabric flower corsage to wear. We're figuring out what {if anything} we can do with her hair to make it different and fancy. She got a pixie cut a few weeks ago, which is too cute for words on her, but doesn't provide a ton of styling options. I think I have an idea I want to play with though.

I had a design professor at BYU who taught us that if we had a dilemma and just couldn't find a solution in the moment we should walk away from it and do something else. She said your subconscious will continue to puzzle it out and then, all at once, the solution will come to you, seemingly out of nowhere. She taught us that a creative mind can't be forced. It's so true! What do you think?

Fighter Jet Mural Project

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:54:00 +0000

This week a friend of mine recruited me to come paint a mural in her son's bedroom as a birthday surprise. I was thrilled to be able to help out. Her son is turning 5 and he was so cute. When Brent and I showed up yesterday morning he was just leaving to go spend the day at his grandma's house. He knew we were going to do something in his room, but he had no idea what. It was like pulling teeth for his mom to get him out of the house. That kind of excitement is contagious!

I love the way it turned out. The black and white jet silhouettes on that turquoise wall look awesome. He was super stoked about it, too. {But he would have liked it a little better with an F-16 Eagle on it, he told me. That kid knows his stuff!} It was hard to get a really good picture of it since it was so big -- wall to wall, floor to ceiling -- but you get the idea. His little sister requested a Rapunzel mural in her room when it's her birthday. I'm in!

I'm going to be spending the rest of today and probably most of tomorrow sewing Austrian flag pillowcases and making 9 pairs{?}of lederhosen for Girls Camp. Good times!

Mother's Day {A Day Late As Usual}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:05:00 +0000

A gift from my eldest son, passed down the pew to me in the middle of sacrament meeting yesterday. Yep. I'm the luckiest mom ever. Did any of you get a magical liger ride for mother's day? I didn't think so.

In Which I Celebrate {and Make a Craft}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Sat, 12 May 2012 02:15:00 +0000

Thank you all for your kind comments on my earlier post about my Chernobyl-sized meltdown yesterday. Your kind words have helped immensely. AAAAAAAAND . . . {drumroll} . . . Brent got a job! It's just a contract position so it will only last until about the end of September, but, y'all, we're going to be getting a paycheck. Every week from now through September. And now I feel even more horrible about yesterday. If I had just hung in there for one more day . . . But I'm not going to beat myself up. It happened and now I'm moving on.

And making a craft. Because that's just what I do. I saw this wreath that The Nester made almost a year ago and instantly fell in love.

Source: thenester.com via Amy on Pinterest

Who else in the entire world can make a wreath out of plastic spoons and have it be classy enough to hang up in an actual house?! When I started brainstorming about the kitschy gallery wall I wanted to make in my kids' bathroom, of course this came to mind. I dug up a pack of spoons and spent about 15 minutes whipping one up tonight. It's bigger than I thought it would be, but beautiful in real life nonetheless.

I hung it up in my bedroom just to snap a few pictures of it. This gray and white paint is what I have leftover and will be using to paint the bathroom upstairs. I'm toying around with a few things to frame with it for the bathroom gallery wall. Three for my three . . . monsters. Or this print I designed in Gimp last night:

I'm not sure. I'll just have to play around with the layout of everything for a while. Here's a closeup of the spoons:

Just put a dab of hot glue on the back of the bowl of each spoon and another dab on the front of the end of the handle of the spoon you're gluing it to. Keep going, one spoon at a time until you have a wreathy shape. I used a whole pack of 48 spoons which was just right for this wreath.

I've also been working on a few fun little prints for the wall.

If you would like to download the Love is All You Need and No Whining printables, just head over to the My 3 Monsters Facebook page and click on the Exclusive Downloads button. Have a great weekend everyone!

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:20:00 +0000

******** Breaking News ********

This just in {and just in time for Mother's Day}: I'm a terrible mom and just a bad human being.

Awesome.

Do you ever have "one of those days"? Like when your husband has been looking for work for nearly 6 months, but you think things are fine. You're going through life day-in and day-out counting your blessings, which are many, and thinking that you're coping with stress remarkably well {if you do say so yourself}.

And then you try to escape to your bedroom one afternoon to watch a cheesy Lifetime movie, but mostly for a few moments of blessed alone-ness. But then, one by one, each member of your family follows you in there, including the dog, so that you are now 1) no longer ALONE, and 2)crowded into a much smaller space with all the people who you were momentarily avoiding even though you love them dearly.

And then one of them starts snoring, and one of them wants to know why she's not receiving texts on her cell phone, and one is complaining that he has been prematurely and unceremoniously removed from the computer by another one who swears that "FIF-TEEN MINUTES" have actually expired. And then the last one decides to chew on your favorite sweater.

And in that one moment, the weight of the stress of the entire past six months comes crashing down on you as if it had been balancing precariously above your head the whole time just waiting for this moment. So you jump up and say some things you're not very proud of and storm out the front door and take off in the car without any explanation whatsoever, leaving your hurt and confused loved-ones wondering when {or if} you will be coming back. And also what's for dinner because you didn't bother to cook them anything on your way out the door.

And then, as you're driving around aimlessly and crying, you wish you hadn't done what you just did, not because you're really noble and good, but because you know you're going to have to go home and pick up the pieces of the mess you just made and you're exhausted. Your tantrum hasn't made you feel any better at all and you wish you could just take the last 30 minutes back.

Nope? Just me? Good. I wouldn't wish one of those days on anyone. Ever. Thank goodness for husbands who have many of the pieces already picked up when you get back home. And for kids who are quick to forgive and remind you why motherhood isn't completely thankless work. Thank goodness for good mothers everywhere {especially my mom and my mother-in-law} who are strong enough to bear the weight of significant burdens, who set a good example for t~~he rest of us~~ me. Thank goodness that today is a new day and yesterday is in the past. Mostly.

I just need to give myself a break. It's OK to struggle a little, right? I read so many blogs written by beautiful women, with perfectly beautiful homes, who never seem to struggle with anything ever. Or the ones written by beautiful women who are dealing with major illnesses or deaths of loved ones or unimaginable trials with grace and poise. And who have beautiful homes and create beautiful crafts and things with their happy kids in spite of their troubles. I don't fault them for that. More power to them.

I am not one of them. My house is in almost-constant need of cleaning. My kids don't always get along. Or make good choices. I've had both my boys go to in-school suspension in the past month. That wasn't in my perfect-mother plan. I would sometimes rather watch a lame Lifetime movie in a dark room by myself than cook a beautiful meal or spend quality time with my husband. That's me right now. I need to stop beating myself up for not being someone else when I'm honestly doing the best I can. It's hard to thrive or excel in your own skin when you're drowning in comparisons, y'all. It's OK to be in survival mode right? There's nothing wrong with me that I can't do more, right? Please say yes.

Have a great weekend, friends.

Going Green {& Gray & Eclectic}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:30:00 +0000

I'm dreaming of re-doing my kids' bathroom. The success of my budget powder room makeover has me thinking that maybe I can perform miracles in the rest of my house, too. Oh, how I wish . . .

Here's my grand, if -I-could-have-my-druthers scheme:

Now, I know that our current situation does not allow for the re-tiling of the tub surround in that beautiful white subway tile, but I do have some gray and white paint in my garage leftover from our master bedroom redo a while ago that I could use on the walls. {Free. Yay!} I have plenty of old frames and knick-knacks laying around. Plus, I'm pretty crafty. I think I could get some cuteness together for a pretty good start on a gallery wall with what I have in my craft closet.

I found some cool floral-y, bird-y fabric at Savers a looong time ago that I had planned to use to reupholster a chair in the living room. It was too lemony of a yellow to go with my buttery yellow walls, but it would look great as a shower curtain. {Or, if I suddenly feel rich -- hee, hee -- that green Waverly number on the board up there is less than $30. And would match the green and white towels that we already own. Hmmmm.} The sconces are only $18 each at Lowes, so if I was going to be spendy, I could probably swing those. Or I could live with the current light fixture for a while longer. It's fine.

I may have enough moulding in the garage from another project to frame out the builder's grade mirror in there until such time as I can afford that awesome hanging bird mirror. That's the great thing about eclectic decorating -- you can "build it" over time. I don't have to wait to get started! This can be one of those projects that evolves over time and becomes so much more fantastic in the process. That's exciting to me.

Obviously at some point I'm going to want to do that tile project in the shower. And I think I want to bump one of the walls out into the boys' room to make their almost-completely-unused closet smaller and this used-by-three-nearly-teenage-kids bathroom a bit bigger. And I have my eye on that cool ceramic tile that looks like wood for the floor. {Have you seen that?!} While we're being completely frank, the ugly vanity top and faucet need to get the boot someday, too. But what I have actually still functions so those things don't HAVE to be done TODAY. {Tomorrow would be fine, hun, if you want to pencil it into your planner. Ü} My point is, I don't have to have the budget for everything just to get started. I love that!

Maybe that philosophy doesn't work for you. Maybe you're an all-or-nothin' kind of gal. Or eclectic just isn't your style. Or you're in a completely different phase of life than I am. That's OK. As for me, these past few months of unemployment have taught me to look for the small rewards in life. It's an exciting challenge for me to try to make the most of every single thing I have -- using up old cans of paint and picture frames. Creating something {hopefully kinda'}beautiful out of things that many people {including my former self} would be wont to throw away. The day of acquiring has passed {for a time}. Now is the day of becoming a wiser steward of the things with which I've been blessed. Making the best of things. Looking on the bright side.

Phew! Sorry to subject you to my philosophical awakening. That was just my extremely verbose way of saying, "Yay! I'm gonna' repaint my kids' bathroom." Also, I wanted to say, "Yay! My potato plants are growing." I worried for a while that I had done something terribly wrong, but then one day they peeked their little green heads out of the soil and decided to grow like crazy.

That is not really what I expected a potato plant to look like. Interesting. Hopefully they'll bloom soon-ish. I'll show you if they do.

Have a great day, friends!

{Win a Spa Getaway for 4 from Bloom.com}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:49:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bloom.com for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

So, I have a couple of issues I want to talk about today.

Issue #1: I'm getting older!

This is no surprize, really. And I don't really have an issue with the number or anything -- 39 in October, woot, woot! What is bothering me is that my face is different. I look in the mirror sometimes and think, "Who is that mess?" My skin is a different texture. My {mostly-gray-really-but-still-brown-thanks-to-L'Oreal} hair is a different texture. The makeup colors and finishes I have always used look . . . weird, for lack of a better descriptive word. Lots of people told me this would happen. I just didn't believe it, I guess. I feel like I went to bed one night all youthful and dewy skinned and woke up the next day all dry and dull-looking.

How do you know what to do when this happens? Obviously I need new products, but which ones?! I don't want to waste a ton of money buying things all willy-nilly, hoping to find something great. I don't have the time or the budget for that. I was pretty dang excited to find Bloom.com. Bloom.com is a social beauty network that will "revolutionize" the way we all find and buy the right products.

I logged on and used the Best4You Beauty Finder tool. It asks for different information depending on the product you're looking for -- birthday, skin type, etc. -- and then recommends products. It gives you the Best Overall, Best New, Best on a Budget, Best Natural and various other best picks. Bloom.com has 10,00 items from over 150 top brands, so there is bound to be something you'll like. You can also read unbiased feedback on the products from other Bloom.com users. That is exactly what I need!

Even cooler is the fact that your purchases will come with free gifts AND 10% back in Bloom Dollars. {First time purchasers will get 30% back on their first order!!} With that issue on its way to being solved, let's look at

Issue #2: I need a vacation!
I know, I know. I just got to go on a girl's cruise with a bunch of friends in January. It's more than anyone could ask for, but if I'm being totally honest, I wanna' get away again. Bloom.com to the rescue again:

Win a spa vacation for 4 girlfriends!

Bloom.com is giving you the opportunity to win a FOUR Girlfriend Luxury Spa Weekend in Vegas all expenses paid at the luxury 5 star Aria hotel! {I want that!} You can enter to win just by joining Bloom.com. It's free {and easy} to join {and awesome --see above}. You can get extra entries to the sweepstakes for every friend who joins from your invitation. Go check it out. Good Luck!!

Big, Big Treat Tuesday {Old- Fashioned Butterscotch Ice Cream}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:14:00 +0000

It's that time of the week again . . . Big, Big Treat Tuesday! {I can feel the excitement in the air, can't you?}

I have a confession to make. This isn't the treat we actually had last night for family night. I was lazy and we just went and got slushes. It was one of those days. And that picture of the two adorable kids licking the ice cream beater thingy? That's from, like, seven years ago at my sister's house. Whatever! Weren't Riley and his cousin Tess the cutest little stinkers?! When I think of homemade ice cream I ALWAYS think of licking the beater thingy as a kid, with my Monson cousins, at grandma and grandpa Healey's house. It's kind of an iconic memory for me.

We did make this delightful treat several weeks ago, however, and I can tell you that it has been the favorite thing to come out of our ice cream maker since we got it. The recipe was printed on the ancient, yellowing instruction sheet we found inside the maker when we picked it up at the thrift store. I've looked all over for a date that would tell me how "vintage" this recipe is. I'm guessing the machine is from the early 60's. {The cost of a replacement motor on the info sheet we have is $8. That can't be very current.}Anyway, we're just going to call it:

"Old Fashioned Butterscotch Ice Cream"

2 C. milk

1 C. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. salt

4 C. cream

4 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Scald milk by heating just to the boiling point. {Here's a helpful video if you don't know what that means.}
Cook sugar and butter together in a small saucepan. Boil it for one minute, stirring constantly, and then add to hot milk along with the salt. Stir until both are thoroughly dissolved.
Add the cream and allow to cool.
Stir in vanilla extract then freeze in your ice cream maker, following manufacturer directions.
Remove from ice cream maker and store in your kitchen freezer for several hours to finish hardening.
Enjoy!

This ice cream has more of a toffee flavor to me than butterscotch, but it is to-die-for delicious. We ate ours plain, but how good would it be with some caramel sauce and chunks of English Toffee on top? Oh man!

I love using the older recipes that came with our vintage ice cream maker. I sometimes think that {especially where food is concerned} our grandparents knew how to do things better. And here's one more completely gratuitous photo of those sweet, ice cream-y little babies I love so much:

Have a great day, folks!

Vintage Scale Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:59:00 +0000

I was at Goodwill last week on a dollar day when I came across this little beauty.

It was covered in a layer of rust and grime and had clearly been mistreated in its past. That white paint job was positively shameful. Not to mention the naked babies that creeped me out just a smidge. I walked on past. It wasn't the right color tag so I would have to pay full price -- $5 -- and, ewwww, those babies.

But it kept calling to me. How many time have I seen vintage scales in beautifully styled home decor photos and coveted them? How often have I vowed to one day own one? The answer, for me, is OFTEN.

Source: vintagerosebrocante.tumblr.com via Eva on Pinterest

Source: fun.kyti.me via Sibylle on Pinterest

Source: graceandivy.wordpress.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: megduerksen.typepad.com via Robbie on Pinterest

They're awesome, right? So I decided to give rusty naked baby scale a second look. There were little metal tabs on the back of the face that made me believe I could maybe get the face off. That was good. The naked baby face didn't appear to be glued on. Also good. I reluctantly purchased rusty naked baby scale and brought it home, hoping that Brent wouldn't think I was absolutely crazy. He didn't. {At least he didn't say so out loud which was good enough for me.

I sat down and began taking that old scale apart. I was right -- a little screwdriver helped to unbend the tabs and the face came right off.

I cleaned up the old glass with a little Goo Gone and set it aside. The needle came off the front by releasing a small screw. Then there were just two more itty bitty screws to undo and those creepy babies came right off, too. Hooray!

I scanned the old naked baby face into my computer and used Gimp to design a new one and printed it out onto card stock.

A fresh coat of Valspar Golden Maize spray paint freshened the whole thing up. I reassembled it all and voila! New, beautiful vintage scale for me!!

I love it so much!! Now I just have to find a spot for it. I was thinking I'd put it up on the shelf in my kitchen, but you can't really see how cute it is up there. For now it's on the dresser in my dining room, but I don't really love it there either.

Never fear, it will find a home in my kitchen soon enough. The moral of this story is, don't let some rusty naked babies scare you away from something you know in your heart you will love. Or something like that.

I'll be back tomorrow with a delicious treat idea from our Family Night. Have a great day!

{I'm Dead Meat!}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:47:00 +0000

My husband is going to kill me for posting this picture, but I just couldn't resist.

We did a little babysitting for some friends of ours on Saturday. We sent their bigger little kids out to the pool with our big big kids and Seth stayed in {his own choice} with Brent to watch a movie. It wasn't long before the movie watching turned into a little snooze. It's been a long time since I've seen this in my home. I kind of miss it. Just a little.

I have been laughing to myself all weekend about my Housekeeping list being featured on Pinterest, You are Drunk. If those people only knew how NOT crazy I am about cleaning. I get it. If you just see that list, without reading the blog post, without knowing anything about the person who wrote it, it seems insane. This comment was my favorite:

"Something tells me that weekend family time is actually a horrific cycle of mom ripping her hair out because little junior dropped a piece of popcorn in between the couch seats and forgot to pick it up, or little Susie left her box of crayons out, or dad came home and took his socks off and left them on the floor for a couple of hours. Mommie Dearest anyone? NO WIRE HANGERS!!! D:"

{Hee hee.} If those people only knew that you could find an entire meal's worth of Lucky Charms {my kids like to eat them dry -- whatever} and an entire box of crayons underneath my couch cushions most days! When I see comments like that on Pinterest I just want to scream, "READ THE POST PEOPLE!", but then I would really come off insane. But tell me, really, am I the only one who gets black dog hair on their white base boards and sweeps over them with the vacuum attachment once a month or so? Maybe I'm crazier than I thought. I do loathe wire hangers. And my half of the master bedroom closet is organized by color and then by length within each color. All on wood hangers. So maybe they're not far off the mark.. . .

{Brent's side is all wonky and none of his hangers are wood -- or even match -- and it doesn't bother me one bit, for the record. Live and let live, I say.}

I didn't get the scripture post-its done today. Sorry. You'll get a double dose of those next week. I'll be back this week with a fun vintage scale that I found at Goodwill and made over and some other cool projects.

Hope your weekend was great!

Success!

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Sat, 05 May 2012 21:23:00 +0000

Last night was our family fundraiser and we had so much fun!! Thanks to all our friends and family who came to the movie and donated to the cause. We love you all.

After weeks of having nightmares about only selling 4 tickets and/or losing money on this venture, it nearly brought me to tears to see a theatre packed with so many of our favorite people last night. We sold all but about 5 tickets so it was a pretty crowded house.

The movie was super entertaining, too. All in all, it was a huge success. Thanks again, everyone!

I owe all the success of the evening to my husband. He worked so hard promoting the event and getting people excited. He excels at everything I struggle with most. Yesterday was our 16th anniversary. I feel so lucky to have found him all those years ago. I love 'ya, baby. Here's to {at least} 66 more!

The Annual "Gettin' Ready for Girl's Camp" Meltdown

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:49:00 +0000

I flatter myself to think that you wonder where I am when I don't post here for a few days. Usually I'm working on something completely mundane like laundry or grocery shopping. {Yes, those activities can take me days, plural.} This time I've been putting some things together our church Girl's Camp that I've been working with for the past 7 years.

I do it every year -- or should I say I OVERDO it every year -- getting ready for Girl's Camp. I put it off and put it off, not because I don't want to do it but because I usually have so many things going on before camp, and then panic a little when I realize it's the eleventh hour. My friend, Tammy, has waaaaayyyyy more to do for Girl's Camp than I do this year. She's one of the stake camp directors AND she's moving to Chile almost as soon as we get back. She's crazy hardworking like that.

We were chatting the other night about everything she's trying to get done and it is insane. As we talked, my own panic started to build. I needed to get to work! I've now spent two nearly sleepless nights, but I have most things well in hand at this point. I think.

After Tammy left the other night I grabbed my planner and started scribbling down all my ideas. I'm a visual thinker, but I do so love my lists. Here's a glimpse into my inner madness:

The camp theme this year is "DestiNATION Camp Lo Mia". Each individual group was assigned a country to represent. We are Austria, obviously. So I got on Pinterest and Google and started looking up any word that I {in my utter ignorance}could think of that was associated with Austria -- Alps, edelweiss, yodeling, lederhosen, etc. -- and started coming up with ideas.

We always make matching pajama pants for all the girls and they need some kind of small costume or prop for the dance night and decorations for our cabin. I like to put a little treat or something on the girls' beds every evening that ties in with our theme, as well as plan a devotional for one of the nights we are there. These are the things I look forward to doing all year long!

About 6 weeks ago the other camp leader for our group came up with the idea of having the girls make mini journals that look like passports. I ran with that idea and came up with these covers:

I also worked on this sheet of "stamps" for their passports that we could give them for the individual requirements they pass off and activities they do at camp.

I'm going to print those out on full-sheet mailing labels and cut them out. Fun, huh?

Here are a couple of the hand-outs I made for the girls for devotionals and treats at camp:

I've made little felt flower hair clips that resemble edelweiss blossoms to clip onto these cards as a treat to leave on their beds.

This one will be attached to a bag of Hershey's Hugs and Kisses along with a letter from their family.

This cute little card will come with a pack of Yodels snack cakes. {They're just like Ho-Ho's, but they only sell them on the east cost. I only know about them from watching the King of Queens. If any of my blog friends back east want to ship me out a couple of boxes of Yodels so I don't have to pay Amazon's crazy mark-ups, I'd pay you and reward your efforts handsomely...}

I've also planned a cute little S'mores devotional that will be accompanied by some homemade s'mores-on-a-stick.

We'll also be making pillowcases that look like the Austrian flag and some sweet lederhosen out of ribbon and felt.

Phew!

Hopefully now I can sleep at night, with all those question marks taken care of. I'm so excited now for Girl's Camp to just get here already!! {Sorry I can't help you with any of your camp prep work, Tammy! I'm here if you need me.}

Home Improvements

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:46:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Leviton for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

You, my blog friends, all know that I have a gajillion things I want to do in my house. I talk about it all the time. We bought this cute little house as a fixer upper, planning to be here for a while so we really want to "make it ours". We started putting our mark on every room almost as soon as we got the keys to the house on closing day, but there is still so much more we want to do. Here's a peek into my plan:

Living Room

Kitchen

Breakfast Nook / Office

Boy's Bedroom

Girl's Room

Guest Bedroom

Clearly this is the long-term plan and we'll be taking baby steps to get there, doing projects here and there along the way. Sometimes the little details can make a really big difference in a room. I got a little excited when I heard about Leviton's new Renu collection of switches, wall plates, and dimmers.

The faces can be snapped on and off, making it easy to change the color of your switches whenever you change your decor. They come in 20 popular paint colors so you can surely find one to match your room.

Have you ever had an outlet in a weird spot that you wanted to disguise and tried to paint it the same color as the wall? Using your laytex wall paint? And it looked kind-of bad so you went get a new one and then accidentally screwed the plate on too tight and cracked it? I'm guilty.

Renu seems like an awesome solution for this problem. In this case, I could go with a nice black switch or I could try a fun color that would go with the art on my chalk wall. Or change it as my mood strikes. Either option is better than my stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb-all-white-and-cracked-like-that switch plate.

Leviton is hosting a twitter event on May 2nd at 9pm EST. By participating, you'll get the chance to win 2 sets of Broadway tickets as a grand prize! Join in on the fun and see if you'll win!

Just follow @Leviton and #Renu for the twitter events and you can also possibly win some Home Depot gift cards! Head on over and Like Leviton on Facebook to learn more about all their products and stay in the loop. I'd love to hear about your home improvement projects in the comments. Have a great day!

Another Big, Big Treat {Almost-Instant Zeppole}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:33:00 +0000

Last night's big, big treat for Family Night was my husband's idea. Kind of. He was craving the Zeppole from our favorite pizza place yesterday. Have you ever had Zeppole {pronounced Zep-po-lee}? It's not fancy -- just deep fried dough drenched in powdered sugar and dipped in raspberry or chocolate sauce -- but it is delicious. I think most cultures have their version of deep fried dough. Zeppole, Beignets, Sopapillas, Donuts . . . There are probably distinctions between them all, but we're not fancy folk around here. Sweet fried dough is sweet fried dough to us, and we love it all.

Just to prove to you how NOT FOODIE we are, I'm going to share my dirty little secret with you. Lean in close so I don't have to shout it out. {Canned biscuits.} All those things can be made super easily with canned biscuits. Just the cheap two-for-a-dollar cans of biscuits in your grocer's refrigerator. I've seen them called all kinds of things -- Biscuit Beignets, Ghetto Donuts -- but for today we're going to call these Almost Instant Zeppole.

You'll need:

refrigerated biscuits {just the little ones, not Grands -- as many as you want. I usually do 2 cans for my family}

oil

powdered sugar

raspberry jam or chocolate sauce for dipping

1. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. I usually pour just enough in the pan to make it about an inch deep. You'll know it's hot enough when you flick a few drops of water in there and it pops like crazy.

2. While oil is heating, cut the biscuits in half. I said not to use Grands biscuits, but you can if you want. Just cut them into quarters if you do. You want the pieces of dough to be small enough that they easily cook all the way through.

3.Prepare your powdered sugar by pouring a few cups into a plastic bowl with a lid. I keep old Cool Whip bowls for things like this, but any kind of lidded container works. Ordinarily I would tell you to put it in a zip-loc bag, but the dough is so hot when it comes out of the oil it will melt holes in your bag. Don't ask me how I know that.

4. Heat up your dipping sauce. I put a couple of scoops of seedless raspberry jam into a bowl and microwave it until it melts to a syrup consistency. You want to have everything ready before you fry the dough so that you can eat everything while it's nice and hot.

5. When the oil is hot, place 5 or 6 pieces of biscuit into the pan. Once those are golden brown on one side {about a minute or two} flip them over and add 5 more pieces of dough. When those are golden brown, remove the first pieces {that are now cooked on both sides}with a slotted spoon and place them in the bowl with the powdered sugar. Flip over the pieces that are still in the oil and add 5 or 6 more.

6. Put the lid on the bowl of powdered sugar and shake to coat the hot dough in there. Remove those to a serving plate and repeat the process. You'll have to stay on your toes to keep flipping the dough in the oil and coating the cooked ones in powdered sugar. They fry up really fast this way and they're all still hot when you eat 'em. Don't they look delicious:

7. Dip your warm, sugary, fried dough into the warm raspberry or chocolate sauce and ENJOY!!

This is one of my family's favorite treats for breakfast or dessert. You can't have it every day, obviously, but that just makes it a bigger treat when you do have it. I'd love to hear about your recent homemade treats. Have a Happy May Day!

Monday Freebie

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Oooh! I told you this week was going to be good, didn't I?! Have I got a deal for you!!

Have you heard of One King's Lane? I'm sure many of you already have. IF NOT, you're gonna' love it!! In their own words, "Simply put, One Kings Lane is an elegant, curated online sales site. We bring our members a spectacular, hand-picked selection of top-brand and designer items at up to 70% off suggested retail prices." If you haven't already registered with the site, all you have to do is head on over there and create an account. Just for doing that, they'll give you a $15 credit to spend on anything you want on the site!! Did you hear that?! $15 to spend however you want, just for signing up.

You could get a set of 6 of these pretty napkin rings {available in multiple colors} FOR FREE.

Or maybe you'd prefer some TOTALLY FREE rocket shaped popsicle molds?

This powder-coated stainless steel serving tray is cute, too. Did I mention it would be FREE?

If you're feeling like a big spender today, this 5 Liter glass beverage dispenser would only set you back $5.

All you have to do is pay shipping on your purchase. The Summer Entertaining sale at One King's Lane ends Thursday morning so you have to act fast to get these items. Don't worry if you miss it, though. They have new sales starting all the time.

I took advantage of this deal about a year ago when another blogger wrote about some super cute baking dishes that would be free at the time. I was thrilled because I'm a cheapskate at heart and I love to get things for free. When I saw these fun things today I just knew I had to share with all of you! And now I'm in the mood for a barbeque. {Imagine all those cute things, some white dishes, paper lanterns in the trees out back, soda in vintage bottles chilling in a galvanized tub, ribs hot off the grill, and a bunch of good friends. . . oh man. It's summer!!}

**I am not being compensated by One King's Lane for writing this post. They do offer me a site credit for every purchase made from my referral, which means we both win! I've just been really pleased with my experience with this site in the past an wanted to share it with you.**

This Week's Scripture Post-Its & Book of Mormon Reading Schedule for May{Free Printables}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:51:00 +0000

Do you guys think of Sunday as the end of the week or the beginning? I'm never quite sure. It's a day that just lives in limbo to me. For me, today, it's the beginning of a brand-new, awesome week. I just know it! Our 16th anniversary is coming AND we're having our big fundraiser Friday evening. We're about 90% sold out in the theatre, which is unbelievable to me. Between ticket sales and the donations we have received, we will be sending to Riley to camp this summer and making a sizable donation to the American Diabetes Association. Plus we get to see a fun movie in a private theatre full of all of our friends. Win, win, win!

Here is this week's collection of Book of Mormon Post-It quotes. There are some good ones in this batch!
Scripture Post-Its 10 Scripture Post-Its 11

Here are the previous week's pages as well as printing instructions for the post-it notes. And, because this is your lucky day, here is the new Book of Mormon reading schedule for May:

Enjoy! Have a great week, everyone!

Mother's Day Quote {Free Digital Printable}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:13:00 +0000

Hi there everyone!! I'm so very glad that it's the weekend again. Brent and the boys Redboxed some movies tonight so I had some uninterrupted computer time. I'm not gonna' lie -- it was just what the doctor ordered tonight! I've had an idea floating around in my head for a little while now and just haven't had time to sit down and work it out. Plus, I've been stressing over learning how to use some different social media sites this week. Why am I so dumb about that kind of stuff?

Anyway...As you all know, I've been a little obsessed with the chalk art of Dana Tanamachi lately. I love it. Like, really, I would marry it if I wasn't already married to the man of my dreams {16 years next Friday, folks!}. So I wanted to do up a little quote for mother's day as an homage to Dana. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

This one here is scaled to be printed as a 5x7, if you are so inclined to do so. I've also made the image in an 8x10, a 16x20, and a 20x30 poster size. Those files are available on the new My 3 Monsters Facebook page. You'll have to Like the page to "unlock the exclusive content" -- how dorky do I sound?! I'm just hopelessly uncool, BUT...these free digital printables are pretty hip, if I do say so myself. Let me know if you can't get in there to get them. Head on over to My 3 Monsters on Facebook to see if I did my homework right!

Have a great weekend.

Why We LOVE Camp AZDA

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:42:00 +0000

This is our son Riley.

He's a pretty great kid -- at least we think so. He likes running, music, video games and making movies with his siblings. As many of you know, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was in kindergarten. Wasn't he sweet back then?

Actually, he's still pretty sweet -- just a little bit bigger now.

Last summer he had the opportunity to go to Camp AZDA, a local diabetes camp, for a week. It was a life-changing experience for our whole family. We had heard about diabetes summer camps. Our doctor and several friends who grew up with diabetes recommended we send him, but I always brushed it off thinking, "That's just not for us," or "My kid will be fine without that." And I was partly right. He would have been fine without it, but who wants their kid to just be "fine" instead of really thriving?

The only reason I even considered it last year was because the family of another diabetic girl at Riley's school offered him a "scholarship" to the camp. They, through their fundraising efforts for The American Diabetes Association, had earned a free trip to camp, but their daughter was a little too scared to go. They really wanted Riley to have the chance to take her place. How do you say no to kindness like that? So he went.

Honestly, I think he was a little nervous himself. I know I was nervous to see him go. He came home a week later a changed kid. It was such a good experience for him to meet other kids who are in the same boat -- his people, as he called them. For the first time in a long time he wasn't the only one who had to stop what he was doing every little while to check his blood sugar or figure out his carbs before he could start eating. I think it was liberating for him in a weird way. It was also good for him to see just how good he really has it. Many of his new friends had been hospitalized several times or had seizures on a regular basis. Riley hasn't had to experience any of that, thank goodness.

I also think it was great for him to meet his camp counselors, who had juvenile diabetes themselves. They were a bunch of really cool guys in their early twenties who did everything cool -- travel the world, skateboard, etc. {whatever else a ten year old boy would think was awesome in life}-- even with diabetes. I think it gave Riley hope that life was going to be great for him, even though his condition wasn't going away.

It was also just plain old fun! They had cool activities everyday like horseback riding, swimming, rock climbing, sports, crafts, and the smashing of said crafts on rocks {even though he didn't take pictures of any of those things}. AND there was a big dance party every night. Riley is just getting to the point where he craves a little independence, but he has this "thing" that keeps him tied to his parents. I completely understand that it is frustrating at times. Having a fabulous med staff at camp to take care of his insulin pump infusion set changes and stuff allowed him to have a little freedom for a while.

It was rejuvenating for Brent and I as well. I'm not gonna' lie, taking care of a diabetic kid is a whole lotta' work. It's just a part of life for us now, and we really can't complain, but I didn't realize how nice it would be to not have to do it for a couple of days. He learned all kinds of new skills while he was there that continued to make life easier long after he came home. The best part -- his blood sugar numbers were better at camp than they had been in years and continued to be for some time. There is nothing like sending your kid to live with an endocrinologist for a week to fine-tune all your insulin pump settings. It was awesome.

Long story short, we HIGHLY recommend diabetes camp to any family raising a kid with diabetes. Camp AZDA is absolutely fantastic, but I'm sure there are great camps across the country. {If you're interested, look on the ADA web page to find a camp near you.}

In march this year we "celebrated" the 6th anniversary of Riley's diagnosis. We decided as a family that we would like to start a tradition of holding a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association every year to commemorate his life-changing diagnosis. This year we have rented out a local movie theatre to have a private screening of The Avengers on opening night! We're really excited about gathering all our friends

{old and new} to support such a great cause. Here's the info:

If you're local and interested in joining us, we'd love to have you!! It's probably a good idea to call and pre-order your tickets. We have already filled well over half of the seats. {Hooray!} Thanks for listening to my little plug for the ADA today.

How to Paint a Houndstooth Pattern {No Stencil Required!}

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:51:00 +0000

I have long been a fan of the houndstooth pattern. I like it on clothing and in home dècor. It's super trendy right now, but it is a pretty classic design -- it's been around forever. I'm still secretly coveting a black and white houndstooth coat I saw several years ago. *sigh*

Anyway, maybe I'm the only dummy who hadn't realized until recently how simple the pattern really is, if you break it down into a grid. Am I the only one? Seriously. Take a look at this:

It's just a series of solid and striped squares. It's a little difficult to see in that graphic there, but that is all it takes to create a houndstooth design. Look here at my painted powder room rug:

Can you see it now? You don't even need a fancy-schmancy stencil or nothin'. Just some good old painters tape and gumption. {A stencil would really be a whole lot faster, but I'm just a big cheapo and I already had painter's tape on hand.} Start by laying out your grid and taping off the black squares.

Paint those squares and remove the tape. Once paint is completely dry, tape off the squares directly to the left of the black ones. Then, use some more tape and tape off the two diagonal stripes within the squares.

Paint the stripes and allow to dry.While we wait for those to dry, allow me to apologize for the bad cell phone photos. I decided to work on this project at 11:30 one night, only to discover that my "good" camera was dead. So, what would have been bad pictures to begin with are now almost comical. {And edited to within an inch of their lives.} *whistles awkwardly* There. They should be dry now.

Remove that tape and then repeat that step for the squares directly above the solid black ones. I had given up on the picture-taking at this point, but this step looks a whole lot like the last one. Be sure to pay very close attention to the pattern here. You paint the opposite stripes in these squares than you did in the previous step. Does that make sense? In the last step you painted the first and third stripe within the square. This time you'll be painting the second and fourth stripes. Got it? Sweet. Peel that tape off, let the paint dry again, et voila! Beautiful houndstooth pattern, super easy.

Obviously this works on a sisal mat, but it would also look great painted onto a piece of furniture or an accent wall in a room. I'm considering painting my small hallway at the top of the stairs in a tone-on-tone houndstooth pattern, using flat and gloss versions of the same color. I think it would catch the light just enough to catch your eye without being overwhelming. Yep, I just talked myself into it. Watch for that project soon! I'm still trying to get that post about Camp AZDA and our fundraiser ready -- hopefully tomorrow. See y'all soon.

Two Ingredient Root Beer Float Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (amyg @ My 3 Monsters) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:05:00 +0000

You know how last week I told you about our Family Night tradition? Remember -- Short and Sweet, with a Big, Big Treat? Well, this week was a fun one. We had the missionaries from our church and Sis's best friend over for dinner and Family Night. I was feeling a little lazy {I've had a headache all day -- boo!} so I didn't want to cook a dessert, but we needed something super-yummy for this special evening. That's the deal right? Big, Big Treat. I may have been lazy, but tonight's treat did not disappoint. Homemade Root Beer Float Ice Cream. You heard me.

All you have to say is "homemade ice cream" and people are instantly impressed, but really, it couldn't be easier. Just two ingredients and about two minutes of work is all is took to delight my family and friends. Dump a 2-Liter bottle of root beer {whatever brand you prefer}into the canister of your ice cream maker. Then dump in a can of sweetened condensed milk. You don't even have to stir those two ingredients together. Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to your machine's directions. Boom.

Ours spun in the machine for about 30 minutes, but it didn't stop like the machine is supposed to so we checked it at that point and it was just about perfect. I think because the mixture ends up to be more of a sherbet consistency it wasn't thick enough to stop the spinning. {But don't quote me on that.} We took it out of the ice cream maker and left it in our freezer for several hours before serving to set up a little more.

It was really yummy -- perfectly light and sweet -- and so inexpensive! Think of all the flavors you could try! Orange soda = Creamsicle. Grape soda = Purple Cow. Vanilla Coke = Coke Float. Mmmmmmmm. This will probably make several repeat appearances at Family Night before the weather cools off again. In November. Come back tomorrow for some info about our fun fundraiser. Have a great day, friends.