Cereal French Toast (Cap'n Crunch vs. Coco Crisp)

I love to watch Diners, Drive-ins' and Dives with Guy Fieri.  About a week ago, the Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore was featured for their Cap'n Crunch French Toast.  Mmmm...those french toast did look yummy.  My sister, who happened to be visiting from Plano, read my mind, "Do you have Cap'n Crunch?"  She winged it; that's just how she rolls. But if you want the recipe, here it is.  Saturday morning we awoke to the smells of french toast with a crunch.  They were delicious.      

She topped the french toast with whipped cream, cinnamon and bananas. The whipped cream melted on the warm french toast before I could get a "pretty" picture...but don't let the wimpy whipped cream fool you, these were GOOD. 

Monday morning, I made Coco Crisp French Toast.  Same recipe; different cereal.  

Talk about a chocolate delight.  This time, I actually stuck the first two french toast in the freezer for a bit just to cool them down before topping with whipped cream.            Ha! Joke was on me...this is all I could get out of the pressured can. So much for a "pretty" picture. Again, don't let this fool you because these too were awesome!

Honestly, I would not be able to pick from the two.  They were both scrumptious.  

But ask my kids and they would say they loved the Coco Crisp French Toast best.  

I think it was the chocolate syrup that won them over.  

Charming Rose Pin/Clip

I bought cream colored fake roses awhile back with the intent of using them to spruce up a pair of cream sandals. But that was not meant to be because now the once cream colored fake roses look like this

Don't they almost look like the real thing?

This is how I made them.  

Here is what they looked like before the splash of color.

 Take the flowers apart until you end up with just this

Lightly spray paint petals.  I used two different colors of pink and I like the result of the two.  Since I wanted just a light coat of paint on the petals, I put half of the petals in a small box, sprayed lightly, shook up petals in the box and repeated about 3 times. See the cream, light pink and darker pink colors? Let the petals completely dry before working with them.  

Once the petals were dry, I separated the petals by size and shape. 

It just makes things easier when arranging the new rose.  

I also used a pencil to help hold the rose together.

Once I had arranged the rose in a form that I liked, I carefully lifted it off the pencil point and sewed the petals together.  Then I sewed on some crystal beads

 and hot glued the backs with clips and pins. 

That was it.  

I was able to make 3 fuller roses out of the 5 original skimpy roses. 

Here's the one I made for Sam's hair.  

Here is a smaller rose that I made using the left over petals and white pearls. 

I really like how the duo pink tones play on the original cream color of the roses.  

The combination just makes the roses look realistic. 

Through Joshua's Eyes

I recently downloaded pictures from my camera and I found these random pictures.  Seems like Joshua has taken an interest in photography as this is not the first time he plays with the camera.  I think I have a budding photographer on my hands.  

Self portraits  

Love this picture of popcorn in a bowl.  

How he did it, I don't know but it's pretty cool.

Feeder goldfish that were bought to get the "cycle" going in our new  aquarium

Picture of  his at-the-moment-favorite action figure; Tron

I never know what I'm gonna get when I down load my pictures but one thing is for sure, I love seeing Joshua's world through HIS eyes.

Stumbled Upon Finds

Don't you like it when you stumble upon things...?  Like 1/2 off all clothes at your favorite thrift store... Can you say Ca-ching?! I scored big on name brand jeans, shirts, skirts and dresses for my kids, because it is NEVER too early to start shopping for back-to-school clothes...right?  No, I'm not ready for school to start yet.  I am having way too much fun with my kids this summer. And we still have tons to accomplish this summer like riding the Texas Giant with my kids...help. 

So like any frugal fanatic would do, I turned into the crowded parking lot and battled the masses all the while hearing angel music in my head.  Here is what I found:

~For Joshua who will start kindergarten~

~For Sammie who will be going to the third grade~

Everything is washed, folded and put away.  Are you getting ready?

Just 45 days to go...

The Lemony Zebra Shirt

My husband came up with the name, the Lemony Zebra Shirt, because he said it looked like a cross between a lemon and a zebra. 
I think he got it right...don't ya think?

Notice the bag...it's the Chic Denim Bag...click here for the tutorial 

I've had this idea in my head for awhile now and I am really pleased at how it turned out.  It took a lot of work, but the end result was worth it for me.  I tend to turn to ruffles when I remake a shirt, so this was new territory for me in a way.  It is simple yet it stands out on its own.

So this is what I did. 

I bought two shirts; one that fits and one larger, same color. 

The larger one I took the sleeves off and separated the front from the back.  

Because this shirt material is very sheer and somewhat see through, I decided to use both the front and back of the larger shirt to give the shirt some sort of stability (if that makes sense).  Layer the front and back of the larger shirt to the front of the shirt that fits..

and pin, pin, pin. 

Now sew straight or not so straight lines across the front making sure to back stitch at the beginning and at the end of your stitch.

When done, cut down the middle between stitches.  This is the same concept as this tutorial.  Now you have 2 layers of fabric that are sewn to your shirt. 

These layers will be cut again.  This time, cut both layers that are ON TOP of your stitch line about 1/4 inch from the stitch. Then cut each layer individually that are ON THE BOTTOM of your stitch line.  See the bottom picture for an idea of how it should look.  

I know this is a lot of work, but it really is pretty.   And don't worry about cutting straight lines.  Remember knit fabric doesn't fray but rather soften up with each wash so the cuts you make will just give the shirt character...

Close up of the cuts

I really like how the stitches curved up towards the sleeve

Because I took pictures at different times while making this shirt, the color of the shirt varies.  The first picture is the true color of the shirt.