Cute Water Bottles and Water Balloons Ice

This was so cute and fun to make for our BBQ party. I bought 2 cases of water bottles and had all my boys take off the labels. Then we bought this cute Butterfly Duct Tape, yes that is Duct Tape, and re-labeled the bottles. Everyone Loved this little detail! 

FYI- 1 roll of Duct Tape covered about 40 water bottles. Not the whole 2 cases, 24 pack.

 For the Water Balloon Ice, we filled up small balloons up with water and froze them in my freezer. I didn't get the actual water balloons cause of their delicate nature to pop easily. Beware, they take up a lot of space in the freezer so make sure you have room. 

FYI- You need to freeze these the day before you use them. I froze these in the morning of our party and they were not all the way frozen.

After the party, the balloons were somewhat melted and the kiddos enjoyed a water balloon fight. This is perfect for hot summer parties! Just make sure you pick up the balloon scraps after the fight. ☺

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Flubber

This was so fun to make! Homemade Flubber or it has also been called Gak. 

 All you need is Water, Elmers White Glue, Food Coloring, and Borax.

 Flubber

Mix in 2 separate bowls:

3/4 cup Warm Water

1 cup White Glue

2 drops of Food Coloring

1 1/2 tsp. Borax

1/2 cup Warm Water

Pour the mixtures together. Work it together with your hands or spoon. Once combined, drain off any extra water. It is the chemical reaction that actually makes the flubber. When it is a glob, work it for 2-3 minutes. Initially it feels wet but eventually dries up to the rubbery final product.

                       
                                     

Repurpose: Recieving Blankets into a Quilt

For any of you that have children, you know how many receiving blankets you manage to collect.  They are so soft and snuggly.  And they are perfect for all that newborn goodness that we all just want to absorb and never forget.

  After having my five boys, I was so excited to be pregnant with a girl!  But I knew that I needed girl stuff, and I couldn't just throw away all those receiving blankets.  They were faded and worn, but still in good condition.  So I decided to make a quilt out of them.   

Now I have to add this disclaimer, I am not a quilter, nor do I claim to be.  Would I love to be one? Yes!  But for right now, this is as good as it gets.  I wanted simple and I'm sure there are better ways to do this, but this is what I did and it worked!  I actually made this quilt about 5 or 6 years ago and it has been a family favorite ever since.  It has been used and abused and still has held up great!

This is how I made it in a nutshell.  I cut the blankets into 4 inch strips.  I took the different strips and sewed them together.  This made large blocks.  I then took those large blocks and cut them into 4 inch strips again.  And sew the strips together again to make large blocks. This is how I made the squares. There is no rhyme or reason to the pattern.  But that is what I wanted.  I pieced all my large blocks  together to make the quilt.

I wanted to continue with all that softness, so I chose to use flannel for the back.  The top of my quilt was a little too small for a twin size, so I took a large flannel sheet and cut it down.  I used the part I cut down for a border on the top.  And the rest of the flannel sheet for the back.

I hand quilted the whole thing in a diagonal fashion.  I love the colors, except for maybe the Winnie the Pooh fabric, but it's part of the blankets, so I needed to add it. :)  This quilt has a whole lot of character and memories!

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Cornmeal-Goat Milk Pancakes

Cornmeal- Goat Milk Pancakes

3/4 cup All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup Fine Cornmeal

2 TBS Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 1/4 Cup Goat Milk

2 Eggs

Mix all the dry ingredients. Then gently but thoroughly mix the eggs and goat milk.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter on a hot oiled griddle. Flip once the batter gets bubbles in the center. Cook 1 more min. 

Enjoy with our Homemade Maple Syrup. 

These are actually surprisingly moist and filling. If you don't have any goat milk, regular milk works just as well.

Here is my oldest son milking our goat Ginger. We always squirt the first few squirts on the stanchion   so that any possible dirt in the utters can flush out and not get into the yummy milk. Our dog Jazz LOVES the milk too, as you can see.

Recipe Binder

Bridget, one of our sisters, has an amazing collection of recipes that she has gathered over the years from cooking magazines.  Every time she would see a recipe that she wanted to try or one that looked amazing, she would rip it out from the magazine and put it in her recipe binder.

Well, I started gathering quite the collection of recipe magazines.  It was becoming a problem because I forgot what recipes I wanted to try in the magazines.  So they would just sit on a shelf gathering dust.  Every time I would see those magazines, I would think of Bridget and her neatly organized binder.  

I knew exactly what I needed to do...

I started out by getting a one inch binder.  I printed off the words "Recipes" and added it to come cute scrapbook paper.  

I used scrapbook paper to make my "dividers".  I picked different colors and patterns that coordinated somewhat.  

I used my Silhouette to make the tabs.  I picked the tabs through their online library.  Then I typed in the tabs what I wanted them to say.  I printed on my printer the tabs, make sure to print the registration marks.  Then I sent it through my Silhouette machine and cut them out.  And then tape them onto your sheet protector.

These are the tabs I used, but you can choose whatever and how many you want.

Appetizers

Breads

Breakfast

Side Dishes

Desserts

Main Dishes

Salads

Soup and Chili

Pizza and Pasta

Drinks

I'm loving my Recipe Binder.  I feel so organized.  It's so nice to go through all those fun magazines and take out the recipes I want.  Then I let my kids make collages with the rest of the magazine.  It's a win-win situation!

My kids also like going through the binder and picking out recipes they want to try.

And when I find a recipe online, I print it out with a picture and add it to the binder.  It's our go-to book in the kitchen!

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