Uncategorized Archives - Page 13 of 14

Vintage Book Bunting

July 10, 2013 By Taylor 14 Comments

We are still unpacking boxes over here but that doesn’t mean I can’t decorate. We spend a lot of time in this room. When we were looking for a house, a playroom was something I really wanted. It wasn’t a deal breaker but I thought it would be nice. Now that I have had one for a month… I am all about the playroom. It is one of the bedrooms which is also nice because it isn’t in the main living area. The boys love it and I hang out in here a lot too. This room will change in the coming years but for now, its perfect for us. It needs some love… paint the trim, curtains, stuff on the walls. I have a fun closet organization post coming soon too.

My Moms’s Mom gave me a big box of old family books a few years ago and I have been saving them for something special. We read the ones from my childhood. But there were a few from when my mom was little, so pretty and vintage but falling apart.

I wanted to display them but preserve them too so I made a bunting to go around two walls of the playroom.

I started by carefully removing the pages from the binding. Some of the pages were especially loved and I tried to include those too.

Then I cut them all into a flag shape using my paper cutter.

Then my favorite part, I sewed them together.

I love how it turned out!

Happy boy and a happy room. How many of you have playrooms, do you find yourself spending a lot of time there? And do you have any special books that are just begging to become bunting?

put a bow on it – pillow slipcovers

June 19, 2013 By Taylor 33 Comments

Last month, Midori Ribbon contacted me about making a craft out of their ribbon. Because I am a boy mom, I don’t have a lot of practice with ribbon- but I accepted and I’m so glad because these aren’t just any ribbons -These are nice ribbons. They let me pick which ones I wanted the receive in the mail. Isn’t real mail always fun?

My favorite is this Dupioni Silk in Dandelion.

I knew I wanted to make a few throw pillow slipcovers. These slipcovers couldn’t be easier. I started with some fabric that was cut to the same size as my pillow form for the front and a few inches longer for the back.

Then take the back piece and cut it in half right down the middle. Fold and press the sides down twice and then sew those up to create two hems. I did this for both of my pillows.

For the fronts I just used ribbon two create the designs. First up, I made some smashed flowers. There isn’t an exact science to sewing “smashed flowers” but I started with the “leaves” – I made long loops and pinned them down. Then I started just smashing the silk ribbon in the center and worked outwards folding the ribbon over as I went. I also used a lot of pins. Then I just sewed in the same messy swirled pattern making sure to catch the “leaf loop” too.

Front number one.

Piece the pillow together by placing the right sides together and lining up the edges of the back. This will mean the two sides on the back will overlap and that’s what you want.

Sew that all the way around, then clip your corners and flip.

Stuff your pillow form in there and you are done. I might never make a “real” throw pillow again :)

For the second pillow I used my other favorite ribbon the Black and Cream Ascot. I made a free hand bow and left long tails while it was still attached to the spool.

Once I got it where I liked it, I cut the bow from the spool, placed it on the front of my pillow and pinned it down.

Then I sewed around the perimeter of the bow and made sure to sew around the inside “knot” too.

I marked the white thread on the black stripes with permanent marker so it looks more uniform.

I sewed the pillow the same way as before. Meet my new favorite:

I love how they both turned out!

So do you have a lot of ribbon expertise? Also do you love pillow slipcovers as much as I do? Anything that means no hand sewing is for me :)

The Story of my Juice Cleanse

April 5, 2013 By Taylor 12 Comments

I have had a ton of requests for this post. But I didn’t want to write it. I posted at the end of February that I was going to do a 10 day juice fast… (You can read all the details about why and how HERE) I got super pumped up and I was very prepared. Let me just spoil the ending of this for you – I didn’t make it 10 days. I couldn’t even make it 5! I explained in my first post that the reason I wanted to do this juice cleanse was because I felt like my family wasn’t eating enough vegetables, plain and simple. I don’t even like many vegetables. So, I thought this would give me a boost and a little cleanse so I could start bringing more juice into our regular diet. I make juice weekly but only about a gallon- which the kids and I drink in about 2 days. We love our juice but I am no expert! I honesty thought it would be easier. Isn’t that always how it works? When you are all full and happy you think, “Oh I can totally do that!”.

Here are some things I learned, what I did that worked and what I did that didn’t work…Cost:A big complaint I hear about juicing is the cost. I get it… produce is expensive but if you think about what you are getting it really isn’t the bad part for me. We buy stuff to make good healthy dinners 3-4 nights a week. I don’t buy frozen or canned vegetables on these nights. The other nights we make something easy and cheap like hot dogs, pizza or spaghetti. And we eat out about twice a week. So the week that I bought the produce it was a lot cheaper than my regular grocery bill. I bought ALL THIS for $38. This made enough juice for about 3-4 days, but that was just for me.

Prep:I think this is two fold. One part is physically prepping, cleaning and cutting the fruit. I scored a 100 on that. The other part is getting your body ready for this cleanse. I scored a 0 on that one. I went out with some girls the night before and ate a ton of carbs and wine :/ Don’t do that! I have heard from some that they make juice as they go. My mom and sister actually do that. Juice is “good” for 72 hours so I like to make enough for those 3 days then make more when I’m out. I think if you have the juicer out and dirty then use it. But then there is some that believe that the juice starts to breakdown and looses some of the essential vitamins. I think hey, I’m drinking broccoli- I’m calling this a win.Next step- washing, cutting and peeling as needed. To go from this…

to this… took a little over an hour. Juicing is kind of a labor of love.

Juicing:Now to the best part. My kids love the juicing. A lot of people asked me about recipes. I don’t really follow any. I just throw stuff in that I think would be a good combo. Again I am not an expert but here are some tips I have learned…-If you are juicing the peel (apples, carrots, peaches etc) then wash it very well. You don’t want to juice pesticides-If it has leaves like carrots, beets or celery then juice with the leaves on-You can juice citrus with the peel on but it’s very bitter, I peel but leave the white part on for juicing-Leafy greens are so good for you (parsley, kale, spinach, lettuce) but they don’t produce much juice- I still always include at least 2 in each juice– I try to have more vegetables than fruit so that I don’t get all sugared up-Sweet potatoes are really chalky, so I let the starch settle to the bottom. It sits in the fridge for a day then I don’t stir it up as much so it stays down there-Pineapple and Mango make anything super creamy, almost like a smoothie :) -You can juice any fruit and veg except white potatoes, avocado, bananas and mushrooms (I read that on my juicer and choose to believe it)Storing:I labeled as I went, it’s not necessary but I thought it might help in case I came across something I loved or hated (ex: I learned I don’t like cabbage in juice and love pineapple, ginger and lemon). I used Mason Jars and wrapped post its around with a rubber band.

I used the Mason Jars because I read it is better if the juice is air tight. I don’t know if that is true but it was convenient to have it all separated and just grab one when I needed it.

The Hard Part:When I did my research on this juice fast, I heard the first 5 days are brutal. I knew that going in. But preparing for hard vs. being really hard are two different things. The first day I was actually OK. I thought this is great, I can do this. Day 2 I woke up and had juice around 9:00. About an hour later I got pretty hungry. I had 4 juices the first day. I think that might have been my first problem. I read somewhere you should have 65-95oz of juice daily. I don’t think I was having enough. But here was another problem we had… in the famous words of my sister on day 2 “This cleanse makes you hate juice”. Seriously no one likes juice more than me and I just got so burnt out on it. After 4 huge glasses they last thing I said was mmmm, toss me a cold juice, again. So back to day 2.. I was hungry and it was only 10 so around 11:30 I had another one but again, an hour later I was really hungry. This continued all day and I was grouchy and starving that night. Day 3… repeat of day two but more grouchy. Day 4 I woke up and was almost in tears, I drank another juice which of course held me over for an hour. Then it was lunch time and I cracked…. I posted this to instagram:I only had about 3 tablespoons of kale salad (all raw) and 4 cashews but I felt like a new person.

I also felt like I had failed. My mom lasted almost 6 days and my sister and I lasted 3. It was much harder than I thought. My friend Melissa posted on this picture that when she did her juice fast she had to have the “nut juice” (worst name ever). But it’s basically a cashew or almond milk with stevia and cinnamon. Next time I would definitely do this in the evenings so I don’t wake up so hungry. Also, looking back and reading more I think 10 days was a little ambitious. I should have started with 3 which is ironically how long I made it. My Juicing Future:I really am glad I juiced for a few days. I even want to go it again! This time for 3 days and with some nut milk included :) I also want to try a prepackaged cleanse one day. I love making my own juice but I would like to compare and see how much you really get. We have started having juice more regularly which is what I wanted. My kids ask for “homemade juice” all the time. I think of it as a permanent part of out diet now.

Do you have any tips to add? Any thoughts or comments? Or questions… not like I’m the expert on juice but maybe I came across something… ask away

A Juice Fast

February 24, 2013 By Taylor 5 Comments

Tomorrow marks the beginning of something super exciting and kind of crazy. Tomorrow I am going to start my Juice Fast. I am shooting for 10 days but if it goes well I would love to do 14 (my crazy husband thinks he can do 30). So what is a juice fast? It’s nothing but fruits and vegetables in the juicer for 10 days straight! No food at all, just homemade fresh juice 4 times a day. I got my juicer last mother’s day and every week I make a big batch of juice for the fam to drink with meals or for a snack. I wanted us to make up for some of the fruits and veggies that I know we don’t get enough of.

Just a few weeks ago I became interested in a juice cleanse/detox and started researching. Then I watched something life changing… literally the most inspiring movie I have ever seen; Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. A movie about a man with an autoimmune disease who goes on a 60 day Juice Fast. He travels around the US teaching people about juicing and nutrition. To be honest it had been in my Netflix Queue for a while and I thought I could get a recipe or two from it. Also, Joe had the same juicer I have and the cover looked cute :) I had no idea I would love it so much. I think anyone and everyone should watch this documentary! So, I talked my husband, mom and sister into watching it- and guess what they are doing the Juice Fast too! My mom and sister even started 2 days ago. I learned so much about micro-nutrients vs. macro-nutrients and what they do for of our bodies. I might or might not be in love with Joe Cross by the way.

I made this juice last week with what I had left (to make room in the fridge) and we loved it! It could use a few more veggies but this could be a good “gateway juice” for your kids or husbands who are tentative juice drinkers.

So here we go, I’m super excited. If you have any advice, wisdom, or just some words of encouragement for me (and my fellow juice fasters) then please share! I will keep everyone updated here and I will post my concoctions daily on instagram too (@taylormadeblog) Wish me luck!