Margarita Pie

I had you at Margarita right? If you know me at all you know how I feel about Margaritas. I tried to go a week without one and it wasn't pretty. Yea... I know I went 9 months (twice) so that doesn't count. Anyway, who doesn't love a good Margarita? Frozen no salt, please. 
I was eating breakfast the other day (not margarita related), Greek yogurt to be exact, and on the lid was a recipe for Margarita Pie. I couldn't say no. Not only do I love Margaritas... I also love anything made with Greek Yogurt. So, I whipped up a pie. The recipe is from Oikos (the Greek Yogurt lid), I just added some Triple Sec :) 

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust

8 oz low fat cream cheese

1 cup  Vanilla Greek Yogurt

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Margarita Mix

3 Tbs. Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

1 Tbs. Triple Sec Liqueur 

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, lime juice, margarita mix and Triple Sec and stir. Then, fold in the yogurt. Pour into a pie crust and freeze a few hours or until firm. I added sliced limes on top for funsies.

On the topic of cold food... anyone have any good recipes for "cold" dinners. I can't think of anything to make lately because it is so hot here that a hot dinner sounds... hot. All I can think of is Greek Salad which we had tonight by the way. I can't live of Greek Salad every night... ideas anyone?

Binky Bag

Is it baby/wedding shower season for your too? Our calendar is packed over here with showers and weddings (and I like it). 

A common phrase at my house is... "where is the binky?". So, I actually though about making something like this months ago for Clyde and his Binky Love (more of an obsession that I will regret later). We were invited to a diaper shower a few weeks ago and I always like to add something handmade. So I made a Binky Bag. 

It is so easy I can barely even call this a tutorial- but I will :)All you need is:- a small piece of fabric (mine was 14" x 10")- small piece of boning-a ribbon

Basically all you do is create a pocket that is sewn on 3 sides and a 1" hem on the 4th side so you can insert your boning inside and your bag will always be open. There are a ton of ways to modify it, here are the bare bones of the Binky Bag.

1. My piece of fabric was 14"x10" and I folded it in half, right sides together, and stitched around 3 sides; leaving an entire side open2. On the open side, serge around the top (or sew a hem)3. With the bag still turned inside out, fold 1" down4. Sew around the fold leaving an opening5. (the opening)6. This is the boning that you will insert into that opening7. Flip the bag right side out and pin a ribbon to the top of the bag8. Make sure to leave a gap (about 1") on the back of the bag so the ribbon doesn't touch9. Sew the ribbon to the bag

Lastly, insert the boning into the opening and stitch it closed.

Make sure to leave the gap in the ribbon so you can tie it to the side of the crib or changing table.

No more "where is the binky?" Happy Mommie, Happy Baby.

A Yo Gabba Gabba Invitation

It's a Party, It's a Party for FINN!

It's almost here... my little baby is turning two. I know its super cliche and everyone warned me but I literally can not believe how fast he is growing up. I can remember every detail of his birth and feel like it was just a few months ago. At the same time it is hard to remember my life before he was here. If you are a parent you know I can't begin to explain what he has taught me. I have learned to savor every moment with my 5 month old even more now. Uh enough with the "Mom" moment... :(  

On to the Par-tay!!

Please excuse the next few posts if Yo Gabba Gabba creeps you out. Finn is obsessed so naturally it is the theme for his birthday party. We are having a "friend" party the evening of his birthday and then doing family stuff separately. I finished his invitation and sent them out a few days ago. 

It is actually kind of hard to find Gabba stuff. I found some clip art and made this invitation and then I ordered some napkins, plates, streamers and balloons online. I am not going super crazy because he is only two (and wont even remember this anyway - isn't that a bummer)

Finn loves Brobee the most so I am also making him a Brobee t-shirt. (You can see his Brobee pillow here). There are also some really cute ideas on Pinterest so I started a Yo Gabba Gabba board. I am going to do the DJ Lance Rock Radio favors. I found the wording for the invitation on Gabba Friends. Its pretty simple but if you would like to personalize it I am putting the file under  the "Freebies" menu or you can click HERE
You just need to fill in the name and info...

He is excited.

Chicken Pitas and Tzatziki

Once again, I have another recipe for you from Real Simple. I am pretty much obsessed with their recipes. I like the magazine but I love their recipes. We make something "Real Simple" at least once a week. And this is definitely simple. Here is the link to the recipe online:
Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki
 I usually amend to our liking but I pretty much follow this one exactly. I do add lemon juice to the Tzatziki Sauce. And my pitas have pockets but that is about it. You will love these! 

Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki:Ingredients:2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 cucumber, seeded and grated (about 1 1⁄4 cups)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 4 flat breads or pocket-less pitas, warmed
• 1 small romaine heart, leaves torn if large
• 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• (I add lemon juice)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the cayenne, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook until cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes per side. Cut into bite-size pieces.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, cucumber, mint, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper (and lemon).
3. Top the flat breads with the romaine, chicken, tomatoes, and tzatziki.

It makes a ton of Tzatziki and I always have leftover sauce so we use it as veggie dip for the next few days. So good! Last night I served our pitas with Couscous and Sauteed Garlic Zucchini. Lovely summer meal :)  

Stake Your Claim Beach Towel

In case you missed my guest post over at The Country Chic Cottage - here it is... The Stake Your Claim Beach Towel. Angie has a great Beach Bash going on right now with a whole month full of beach crafts!

This "Stake Your Claim Beach Towel" just might be a genius idea. I know it is a very simple idea but how many times have you been to the beach and had to struggle to keep your beach towel down because of the wind then it gets all sandy? Here is your solution!

The Stake Your Claim beach towel is one of the most simple/useful crafts I have done all summer. I have already used it a handful of times, even in my backyard. All you need are a few supplies. I found my tent stakes ($1.50) and my beach towel ($6) at Academy.

Do you have a button hole foot on your machine? I don't know what I would do without mine. You have to use a button in the button hole foot because that tells your machine how long to make the button hole. I chose a button slightly larger than my stakes. Just put your button in the slot and pull down.

Mark a dot on all of the four corners of your beach towel. Line the dot up with the center of the button hole foot, choose the button hole stitch and just start sewing; it does all of the work for you!

Now you have your stitched button hole. Take a seam ripper and carefully open the hole.

You now have your button holes so you can Stake Your Claim. In your backyard or at the Beach.

There you have the super simple/genius Stake Your Claim Beach Towel :) I think it would work perfect as a fun summer Birthday Gift too.

Some people have asked if grommets would work. Of course they would. To be honest, I planned with grommets and went to Hobby Lobby then they were sold out :( But a good crafter always has a back up plan. So, if you don't have a button hole foot or don't sew, just put your grommets in the corners and make sure they are slightly larger than your stakes.

Baby Onesie Cutoffs

When Clyde was born and I realized I had another boy in the house I thought to myself, perfect! I have a closet full of boy clothes. Well... Finn was born on August 6th and Clyde was born on February 6th. Their dates are exactly six months apart to the day. 
So, we got home from the hospital with Clyde, I opened the closet and BAM a closet full of sleeveless and short sleeved shirts on the only day that Houston ever had a "hard freeze".  Why didn't I realize that all of these clothes were for the opposite season? Now once again all of Finn's old 9 month onesies are for winter and I am about to die of a heat stroke. My poor little poopsie is hot natured just like his Mommy. Solution... Baby Cutoffs!

I did this to some pants a few weeks ago too. I am now on a Baby Cutoff Spree at my house and nothing is safe. Watch out old baby jeans... its over 100 degrees and mama's hot. 
These make me hot just looking at them... (I really can't describe my hatred for the heat enough)

I really wanted Clyde to be able to wear this shirt because it has a special meaning. When I first found out I was pregnant with Finn this was the first thing I bought, so really the first "baby thing" I ever bought in my life :)

Use a short-sleeved onesie as your pattern and mark 1/2" past the edge of the sleeve. (Yes I use a sharpie, I don't like tailor's chalk)

Serge around the edge and then pin and sew two parallel lines for the seam. 

Ahhh.... relief! 

How cute is this little model of mine? What a Happy Boy! So, what sort of summer refashioning have you done lately? And are you now going to run through your house with scissors looking for clothes to cutoff?

Color Wheel Clock

Have you noticed the "embroidery hoop craze" that is going around? Just search "embroidery hoop" on Pinterest and see what I mean... everything from chalkboards, cork boards, picture frames, and wall art. I thought I'd jump on the Embroidery Hoop bandwagon and I need a clock in the living room, perfect! Fun fact: I went through a small phase in 8th grade when I wanted to collect clocks then I realized they are really noisy at night and got rid of them all. 
Meet The Color Wheel Clock.

You can get really creative with this, I actually went to the store for an embroidery hoop and a Clock Kit then came home and decided on the Color Wheel and fabric idea. You can use anything for the "hours" of the clock. I thought about buttons, rocks and abstract numbers. But being an art dork I really loved the Color Wheel. 
What You Need:-Clock Kit (I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $5.99)- One fat quarter for the background of the clock-Embroidery Hoop (mine is 10")-fabric scraps in 12 different colors- fusible interfacing

Directions: Cut your fabric Scraps out and iron the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric

Trace a 1" circle on the back of the interfacing and cut it out 

I painted the outside of my embroidery hoop gold to match the clock hands and the screw on the hoop

Fit your background fabric on the embroidery hoop. Measure 5" from side to side and top to bottom to find the exact center and mark it.

Also mark the spots for each hour

Remove the fabric from the hoop and start placing the color wheel circles in place. Do this on your ironing board so you don't have to move it once everything is in place. Don't forget to remove the paper on the back of the interfacing. Iron them down.

Read the instructions on that came with your clock... (it was boring enough the first time so I don't remember the exact steps; but I did take a pic) It looks daunting but it was really simple.

Cut a little "X" in the middle where you marked your center spot

Push the clock back through and assemble the clock.

Trim the excess fabric around the hoop

I think I am addicted to embroidery hoops now, I have already bought three more, good thing they are only about $2 each! What have you made with embroidery hoops that I need to know about? Or even better if you have a picture upload them to the Taylor Made flickr group and show me what ur workin with.