Monthly Guide to Fruits and Veggies {FREE PRINTABLE}

So, you know what I've been getting into lately? Fruits and veggies, that's  what.

I love cooking with fresh produce. Love it.

But I had a problem. You see, I never quite knew for sure if I was getting a good deal on my produce.

So I did some research. I read a lot of websites. I compared a lot of charts.

And I'm happy to present to you my first ever Monthly Guide to Seasonal Produce Trends.

My research tells me that this is enough to give you a general idea of what could be in season in your area--well as long are your area falls within or around the continental USA. It varies regionally, of course, but it should help you out, if you're like me and feel completely clueless.

 I think it still needs a little work though. A few sites reported Bananas as a year around fruit because they're always imported from tropical areas. I'm going to watch these "year round" claims, and see what really holds true.

I printed mine out on some card stock and keep it on my fridge. That way I know what to expect from the grocery store that month, and can even scheme up some possible recipes!

 Let me know if you see anything that needs to be corrected.

Dresser Makeover

Yesterday I finally got around to painting an old dresser I....found on the side of the road 9 months ago. I'm not sure which aspect I should be more ashamed of: The fact that I'm posting back to back trash projects, or the fact that this dresser sat in my house in this condition for 9 months.

I've decided not to worry about either. Can't win them all, right? 

I wanted to retain the true "cast-off trash" aura of the piece, so I decided to redo it only using items I had leftover from other projects. I like to do projects this way every few months to use up leftover crafty stuff.

 I succeeded, so this makes this total project cost: ZERO dollars. 

I'm pretty excited about that.

Here's the big reveal:

 What do you think?

There were a few problems we had to overcome. The right side of the dresser looks liked like this:

While the left side of the dresser looked like this:

At first, this seemed like a deal breaker. But once I looked a little closer, I realized I could just take the ride side molding off.

Easy peasy.

Then I introduced our dirty little dresser to Mr. Clean.

I filled in the gouges and nail holes with a little bit of Elmer's Wood Filler.

Someday I'll invest in a putty knife.

Once the filler dried (it took about 15 minutes), I ran the mouse sander all over it to prep for painting.

 It took about three coats of white paint to cover it all. I ran out of paint towards the end...but I had enough ivory spray paint left over from another project to finish it. "Good enough" is becoming an increasingly popular motto around here.

A few months ago I bought some pink vinyl shelf liner from Micheal's. It was on super sale, and I wanted to use it to cut stencils with the Cricut. I decided to use it in this dresser instead.

I roughed up the edges a bit for some distressed effect...something that baffles my husband, Cory, every time I do it. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with how the distressing looks now, but it definitely helps the cute details on this dresser stand out. Right?

Here's a look at the side molding trouble spot:

I use this dresser to organize my crafty stuff. Pretty paper, unused picture frames, at least nine different types of adhesive, etc. I love the versatility of dressers! It's right next to the desk/closet where I keep my desk and sewing machine for easy access during projects.

That's how I filled my spare time on a busy Saturday! It feels so good to get that long awaited project DONE. You should tackle that project you've been putting off. I know you have one.

Lindy

Take a Seat

Things have been crazy around here lately, but I finally have made some crafty progress around here. Let me show you the best college graduation present I could ever ask for.

A few months ago I found this sweet chair (Click here to read the full story):

Last week my my parents were in town to visit, and I enlisted their help in a little re-upholstery project. They are the ones who bestowed this DIY, crafty attitude on us, so the least they can do is help us out every once in a while, right Mom and Dad? :)

 I sanded and stained my little heart out on Wednesday night, so we'd be ready to put on the new fabric Thursday.

Look at them go! The skills our parents possess never fail to amaze me. We grew up refinishing furniture together, so it was a nice little jaunt down memory lane to have us all working together again.

It basically turned into the lord of all crafting sessions, when Tanya and Jesse stopped by and couldn't resist the fun.

How many Hansen's does it take to reupholster a chair?

As  many as we can get.

We worked hard, and whipped it up in no time! Check it out:

I stained the wood with Miniwax Dark Mahagony, left over from a previous project. I finished it with Miniwax Finishing Wax.

I wanted the hand-rubbed, vintage effect of the Finishing wax for this chair, rather than the ultra glossy finish of varnish.

We used a painter's drop cloth for the chair seat cover. We purchased a 9 ft. cloth at Lowes, and it only cost about $12.00!

For more drop cloth ideas, you really need to check out Miss Mustard Seed. She is basically the queen of all things drop cloth, and has an awesome drop cloth slipcover tutorial.

Sometimes I thought I was going to lose my mind (I forgot how much work it is to refinish wood! I thought the sanding would never end!), but once the reinforcements arrived, things moved right along.

Seeing as how this project was pretty much completely inspired by the amazing Miss Mustard Seed herself, I'm linking up to her Furniture Feature Friday Party! You guys need to check it out!

Lindy

Hippity hoppity, Easter's on it's way....

Finally, progress has been made on the Easter front. I've officially decided, DYI, not so easy, not when most your ideas are coming form "eggs-cellent" fellow bloggists and Martha Stewart.

Martha, honey, you come up with the most difficult crafts, bless your heart (which excuses the fact I am blog-ttacking you for the moment). Gorgeous, but no easy task. Like your glitter eggs. "Blow out 10 eggs, rinse, wait for dry time, primer the eggs for better adhesion, drench in craft glue and then carefully dip in fine glitter. Now place on your drying rack ( homemade by you of course, by taking a slab of Styrofoam, pinning in in grid-like fashion and being sure the pins are at the same depth so your eggs sit ever so carefully atop to dry). Repeat process to other side of egg" (or as you may be referring to it by now, 'the dark side of the egg'). So, fine crafting glitter is SUPER expensive. And it comes in tiny bottles. TINY bottles.

So, I opted for plastic eggs, big chunky glitter (read--> on sale at Hobby Lobby, 50% off) and ALLLOTTT of craft glue.

Personally, I like the chunky glitter: Siiiiiiiiigh, I love pretty hydrangea flowers (was impressed with the quality of fabric flowers at Michael's, especially with the 40% off price):Yes, I cheated and got out old glass Christmas ornaments and did the button thing again. Don't judge, you try being creative after your bedtime. I needed quick and easy and something I could leave up for summer:

LOVED the sheet paper covered eggs over at Miss Mustard Seed Creations

Didn't have any antique, old, new or used sheet music, so I used scrapbook paper and mod-podged it up. Helpful hint, the skinnier your strips of paper, the prettier your egg:

And now for the coup d'état. It nearly over-ran, over-threw and held hostage every rational thought in my mind at one point. But I had to have it. First, it was simply the "wreath windows" idea. Then I started scheming, plotting and nearly stood by as my thoughts staged the ultimate betrayal, running wildly throughout dreamland. Visions of handmade banners, wall worthy wreaths and hanging handmade eggs rampantly berated my "keep it simple" train of thought. Finally, "hippity hoppity" made the cut, as did the wall worthy wreaths and a few handmade carnation flowers. Simple in theory, we won't talk about the Cricut machine doing some weird voo-doo on my letter sizing (most likely my misunderstanding) or the mod-podge trying to swallow my paper into the wrinkled, slumdogging it underworld.

And I wanted a little "natural" corner. FYI, while not the easiest to use, all the eggs used in these DIY projects, are indeed plastic, cheapo, break in half to fill with candy eggs. And coffee filters, my new best friend. Is there anything you CAN'T use them for? :)

What have YOU been doing for Easter? Hope it's a great Easter celebration for all!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Pile o' Cake

It seems I have a problem with obsession. February was a month of making hairbows. I think I made more than two dozen different hairbows. No child needs that many, but I just couldn't help myself. March happened to be a month full of cake making. First, I made a sculpted goetrax train cake for my three year old's birthday. It was an easy cake to do, and he talked about it for weeks. Then I made a bug cake and a Toy Story cake all in the same week. I would not recommend trying to do two intricate cakes at the same time, but it made two little boys happy so it was worth it in the end!

Jackie

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Green and white Patty's Day Parade

Challenge: Decorate for St. Patty's Day and spend NO money. Only use items you currently have around the home.

Best shot:

So, I kept the white decor balls from the red and white balls I bought for V-day decorations, pulled out some magnolia stems from the attic, left the "theme tree" (courtesy of darling cousin L), grabbed a potted fake plant from the bedroom and used old glass square ornaments to get my Patty Day Parade started. A glue gun, lace, moss and some green and white buttons sure can go a long way:

Shhhhh.....don't tell my husband, I cheated just a little here and bought the stamp.....all of $2 spent since Hobby Lobby's stamps were half off.

Now for the 'let's get really creative and see what happens' portion of the parade:

BANNER TIME! But the banner looked lonely, so we made some shamrocks:

The banner says "LUCK" and is attached via blinged out clothespins on white grosgrain ribbon:

Case in point: blinged out clothespins (a little glitter ribbon and more BUTTONS)

To make the shamrocks, cut strips of paper 1.25 inches wide. I didn't have enough of the same color or pattern of paper, so I mixed and matched papers on hand. Each strip is 12 inches long.

Double up each strip of paper if it's white on one side and green on the other or paper, instead of cardstock (for strength). Now, you'll put your long strips in the center and cut two long strips in half for the smaller heart inside each leaf of the shamrock. Layer like so (splayed out to show layering, but want them all in a straight line):

Now, fold over each strip, layering each on top of the previous strip. Pinch at the end, then staple all layers together:

For each shamrock, I made 3 hearts, then glued all 3 together. I added a little stem to each shamrock by folding a strip in half and gluing it to itself, folding in half again and gluing it once more to itself, then placing it between two of my hearts with more glue. Since I used old-school Elmer's glue, I used a clothespin to keep it together until the glue was dry.



Happy shamrock, happy crafting, happy Patty's Day Parade!


I'm linking up to Finding Fabulous' Frugalicious Friday!!

Don't forget to check out the "Party Central" tab to see what parties we love linking up to every week!

Cream Puffs for Dummies

Yesterday I plunged into the world of French pastries with this surprisingly easy cream puff recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 eggs

Filling Ideas:
Instant pudding
Whipped Topping
Yogurt
Anything creamy, sweet, and delicious

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In  a medium sauce pan heat water and butter until butter is melted. 
• Mix flour, salt and sugar into water/butter mixture. Should form a doughy ball.
• Let cool (it shouldn't be steaming at this point) and mix in eggs.
• Mixture should form a sticky, paste-like consistency. 
• If you have parchment paper, line your cookie sheet with it. If not, leave the cookie sheet ungreased.
• Drop spoonfuls onto sheet, bake for 20-25 minutes. 

After baking, your dollops should be cute little puffs. Do NOT, under any circumstances, poke warm puffs with a toothpick. If you see someone suggest this on a web forum for cream puff making, do not heed their counsel. I can only assume they want your puffs to deflate and be ruined, so they can keep the title "Best Cream Puff Maker" to themselves. They are NOT your friend.

The puffs should look like this out of the oven:

To fill, you can cut a small slice in one side, and squeeze in your chosen filling. I put vanilla pudding in a gallon sized bag, cut of a corner, and squeezed a little bit of love into each and every one of them. Piping bags filled with pudding, or canned cool whip would also work.

This recipe yields about 24 yummy little puffs.

Good luck, and let us know if you try it!