My Right Brain

THE SEARCH: ETSY Fab Finds

As you already know, I love all things ETSY, I sell, shop, and gush over it endlessly.  My love however, does not make me immune from the overwhelming feelings that I often have browsing the enormous site...How do people find the good stuff?  How will people ever find my stuff?  There is so much merchandise, it's really easy to feel lost.

In an effort to help myself (and you) I am going to more regularly post ETSY Fab Finds.  Think of it as an ongoing wish list of items that catch my eye, and if we have similar taste, I might be saving you lots of time....READY - SET - GO!

Back in Action

Hi, remember me? 

Yeah, I am the one who said she was going to be gone for a few days and then fell off the planet (GULP - sorry).  I have this little problem, where I try to do too much ALL OF THE TIME and it just piles up, higher and higher, and eventually comes crashing down (well, it's not that dramatic, but you know).  This tends to happen to me every so often, and usually I don't realize it till it's too late (hence the falling off of the planet).  Being a busy bee is actually both a good and bad quality (until it all comes crashing down - there's nothing good about that) but I am working to find more of a balance (kinda :). 

Either way, I am happy to announce that we are back to our regularly scheduled program - which means that today is teeny-weeny Wednesday (my favorite day of the week to honor my favorite HML). 

SO much has happened over these last few weeks (geez babies change fast).  So many first's!  We rolled over (um, AMAZING), found our thumb, got a new pair of shoes (which might be the cutest thing ever), and have officially become OBSESSED with our feet (HONK if you love toes).  HML is such a happy baby and no matter what the situation that smile and those eyes melt my heart - like for real :). 

The Truth

I am SO busy right now with a little side project (more here) that I am going to take a few days off to catch my breath.  Work and baby is hard to balance, and when you add in a blog hobby, well, I just need to take a nap (for a few days).  Don't worry I will be back soon (like in a week-ish) and be better than ever.  Thank you for the love and patience - and see ya soon!

BTW - this is actually not a bad sign, it's just a not a good sign below :) xo
Via Ffffound

GUEST BLOGGER: Rachel Teichman - Creative Fun at Home with the New Big Sib

Whenever anyone asks what they can do when they spend all day with their child, I declare: art projects! And when they wonder how I have time to bake so much, I tell them it’s something fun to do with my daughter! When there is a new baby in the house, it is especially important to know how to spend time with, and entertain your older child at home. Because you will be spending more time than usual in the house. Until you are ready to brave the playground. With two kids. Alone. 

Here are some favorite ways that my daughter Tiny and I spend time creatively at home, while my Little Guy naps and crawls the day away. Aprons are optional, but encouraged!

CRAFTING
Tiny will paint on anything and stick stickers on anything. However, here are five real projects we enjoy doing together!  Anything other than drawing, painting, gluing or ripping paper, should be done by an adult or with supervision. Always remember to “sign” and date the works as well.

Collage Containers: Any container with a lid has the potential to become part of an art project. Decorate it now, and decide what to do with it later! A cylindrical container such as one for sour cream or bread crumbs, can be painted or covered with stickers. Cut a slit in the top and it’s a piggy bank! We recently covered a small Twinings tea bag box with white paper and stickers, and it became a gift box for cupcake baking cups for Mother’s Day!

Cupcake Flowers: Paper baking cups used for muffins and cupcakes make great crafting supplies themselves. Flatten a couple out and glue them on to a piece of construction paper. Glue a smaller circle of paper in the center of each baking cup circle, and draw on stems and leaves. Now you have a nice picture for a birthday, Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day.

Egg Carton Caterpillars: This is a favorite idea we learned from Tiny’s friend whose grandma is a retired preschool teacher. Cut an egg carton in half down the middle. Then you can decorate the whole body with whatever materials you like: stickers, paint, markers or crayons. Draw two eyes on the head, and poke in two straws or pipe cleaners as antennae.

Plastic Top Animals: We get good ideas from the back of “Wild Animal Baby” and “Your Big Backyard” magazines. Collage animals on plastic lids are one of their projects that we have made many times. Use the lid from a restaurant kids’ cup or any empty food such as a large yogurt or sour cream. Rip or cut different pieces of magazine pages to be the arms, legs and other body parts for whatever animal you choose, and tape them in place. You can tape them, or you can let your child do it and the result will have a nice Picasso feel to it. We have made a turtle, duck and a rabbit complete with a real cotton ball tail.

Melissa and Doug: I have to give a shout-out here to Melissa and Doug products for all of the fun we have had with their stickers and kits. The big sticker pads were great for when we first brought home the baby. I could hold or feed the baby and play with stickers with Tiny on the couch next to me. We also enjoy the princess stamps, kits for decorating a jewelry box and mirror, and the butterfly bead set. These have all been much appreciated gifts!


BAKING
What paint and stickers are to crafting, frosting and sprinkles are to baking! Here are five recipes that are great with or without sprinkles! Kids can help with all mixing and decorating.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:  I grew up making the Banana Chocolate Chip Bread recipe from the Elsa Landing restaurant in Grafton, IL. Recently I was introduced to a similar recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip muffins, a friend’s family favorite. Tiny had fun mixing up a batch of this new recipe.

Blondies: Since “Tangled” was Tiny’s favorite movie before she even saw it, we’ve gotten into making Blondies. It’s a fun play on words for me, and a sweet treat for everyone else! Basically it is chocolate chip cookie dough baked into bars. We love this chewy recipe from Twin Chefs.

Kissy Cookies: These are great for when you want a quick and easy recipe for kids, especially when baking with a novice. They only contain three ingredients, plus the Hershey’s Kisses. They are an easy batch to mix up, and top off with kisses. It is also an easy recipe to memorize and whip up wherever you may be.

Purple Sprinkle Pancakes: Though not actually a baked good, this is an original Tiny recipe! She had been wanting to make purple pancakes, so I bought one Bisquick packet for this purpose. After you mix in the water, you can add a few drops of food coloring at a time until you get the desired color. Once you drop the batter on to the pan, sprinkle the sprinkles (we used rainbow jimmies) on top, and then flip the pancake over when ready. The sprinkles melt and do look pretty! 

Snickerdoodles: This is a recipe we came across when looking through our Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies cookbook . It was one of the recipes we had all of the ingredients for, and it has become a favorite. We have made them for a Fairyland overnight trip, and also to share at a preschool Friday night dinner. They’re really good even though they contain no chocolate!

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Rachel Teichman is the mother of an eight-month-old boy, and a three-year-old girl. She cooks and crafts with her daughter while her son naps, and blogs about it at www.totsandplans.com.

Flower Power

I would have never think to arrange flowers this way but I absolutely I LOVE IT (so smart and pretty in a rainbow connection type of way).  If you would like to re-create this bouquet here is a mini tutorial. Considerate it my gift to you, on my special day (happy birthday to me :).

Via One Charming Party