What!? Easter…

April 11, 2015 | mollyeleen

Hello strangers. Remember me? It seems I have forgotten all about blogging. Over the last few ~~days~~, ~~no weeks~~, months life has been crazy busy. And all because I like to make sure everything is perfect. I say “yes” I can help – way to much. I am a volunteer. I guess it’s my “new normal.” But I need to slow down and not make my family so crazy. This morning I made a big note to myself. “Find just Molly time!” Those four little words say a lot don’t they.

I have been thinking about this little note all day. And it occurred to me, that when I took a few hours to sit at the computer and blog it is really Molly time. It might not be what I “should” be doing. And some might think it’s a waist of time. I might not be all that good at it. And you might think my life is boring. To me, it’s a moment of quite. A moment of not doing for everyone else. Imagine that! Amazing. I have said it before and I will again… I am going to do this more often. Blogging is almost therapeutic. It’s been 4 plus months (almost 5) since my last post. MY GAD! That really sucks! And I have a lot to share –

Shall we get on to the goods… I think so. How about Easter? Hubby and I hosted a lovely Easter brunch this year. Of course this meant making sure everything was perfect (because that’s what I do). And of course, that doesn’t mean just the meal and the table setting. In my world that meant painting our bedroom the weekend before Easter and making an odd coat closet in the living room into a bar (I will share both next time). You know what ever sane person does before family comes over – on top of all “normal” life things.

As you know, Pinterest is an addiction. And when it comes to holiday’s – forget about it, you can find anything. I found a how to by Urban Comfort on making these beautiful little flower baskets for the table… out of coffee filters! WHAT? YES! Making them was super easy to. The overall effect was a little Martha, but I secretly like that.

For brunch we served crepes of all kinds! Well okay- two kinds. A sweet crepe bar with cream cheese mousse, a Nutella mousse and fresh fruit and a savory crepe torte. The second best thing about this meal (the first being it was delicious!) was that ninety percent of it could be made the day before. We got together with the family and my sister in law made crepes for hours (seriously at least 3) and I made the mousse’s, cut the fruit, prepped the sauces and other items for the torte. It was fun to stand around chatting and cooking. The kiddos dyed the easter eggs for the easter bunny to take and hide the next morning. Hubby and my mama chatted with us and there might have been a cocktail or two involved.

easterfun — (Can we just say how stinking cute Sneaky B is in this outfit? I mean really…)

The day was wonderful. The food delicious. The company fantastic. The stories hysterical. The best part – was all of it. Really, I just love to entertain. I love the process… even though I might just make my family bonkers for a few days. Hopefully next time I won’t be painting a room the weekend before, I am pretty sure we are good now on that end, well there is the play room…

A suitcase and a Deli Doll?

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014 | mollyeleen

A deli doll- yes you read that correctly. “Deli Doll”…what on earth? Let me start at the beginning

Today the girls and I spent the afternoon at my moms home. Today was no unpacking, no lifting boxes and no moving furniture day. If you recall she moved in August and we moved in September; it seems all our spare times goes to unpaking, lifting and rearranging furniture. But today we sat on the sofa and looked at vintage magazines that my mom found in this suitcase. Relaxing and hysterical.

Shall we start with a little holiday decor, for the exterior of your home? Christmas is right around the corner. “For nighttime hospitality, and to create a dramatic effect, here’s the ultimate in professionally ability. Frame your door way with a pink flocked tree that fits flatly against your house.” Okay can we just agree on how fabulous this is! And if anyone actually did this… kuddos! I would love to do this to our home. However, I am pretty sure Hubby would think I had gone over the deep end of crazy town. And where do you find a pink flocked tree that big. Obviously I would have to make it and I definitely do NOT have time for that. If anyone does this, you are my hero and I want pictures!

How about some crafting? We all love a little of styrofoam crafts don’t we? This stelar little book has some nifty ideas; not sure which is my favorite. A few of these like the Santa’s and the chimney scene could have potential. Like on the so tacky it’s cool scale. Not even sure what the top left is supposed to be. We guessed an ornament of some sort, but not really sure.

Now my favorite. The recipe books. Really it’s amazing. Truly amazing what people used to eat. Maybe some still do, but in my world WOW! Shall we start with a round of “Ring Around the Tuna” from the “Cooking with Jello” book circa 1960. “Ring Around the Tuna” would be a delightful salad for any dinner party. Salad? How is this salad? It contains lime jello, canned tuna (drained of course), pineapple, green stuffed olives and celery. Maybe the garnish of curly endive and radish roses make it salad? YUM! (okay really I can not even imagine what this tastes like). Next comes the Viking Ship Sauce Dish carved out of a cucumber… very creative. Honestly I might just be crazy enough to do this one day. I will share if I do. And can we just take a moment to look beyond the Viking ship cucumber and notice the tinsel garland on the table. Okay that looks pretty. Why didn’t I ever think of that?

Then we have the desert spread. Lot’s of delicious looking cookies, popcorn balls and a lovely cake. We started reading what kind of cake this was, looks like some kind of lemon, raspberry cake…But wait! It’s not an actual cake on the dessert table- oh no. It’s a sandwich “cake!” My mom and I where in complete hysterics at this point. Sandwich cake? Yes of course. It’s a ham and egg sandwich made to look like cake. Plus it has cream cheese “frosting.” If I was at this party and chose to have what looked like a lemon raspberry cake and took a bite to discover it was a ham and egg sandwich– I would probably get sick. If you make this Poinsettia sandwich cake, please don’t put it on the dessert table. Right?

And now the best thing ever. Yes I am being facetious. Very in fact. No party can be complete without the Deli Doll. Yes The Deli Doll!!! Yes this “conversation-sparker with her skirt of tempting cold cut meats” is…. I don’t even know what to say. The article says “The deli-doll is attractive featured by herself or on a tray surrounded by more cold cuts or breads” I… yes. I still don’t have the words.

The reality is, the ladies of the past where very creative and innovative to say the least. I thank them for bringing an afternoon of laughter of my mom and I, we enjoyed every minute of it, maybe not the way the ladies of the past intended but still. There where so many other tempting bits that I didn’t share here, like the Spanish Polenta that didn’t have one spec of polenta in it or the brain patties (yes), plus there was an assortment of egg cart flowers to make and tulle christmas trees! I am thinking a “Tasteful bites and crafting of the 50’s and 60’s Party” is in the near future, we just can’t let these delicious recipes and crafts go to waste. I am not being facetious this time either 🙂

One already

August 18, 2014August 18, 2014 | mollyeleen

Can you believe it? Sneaky B is already one year old. Doesn’t it seem like yesterday that I told you all I was preggers? Seems like it to me. This year has flown by!

We had a little party for Sneaky B over the weekend. Just a few friends and family in the park. It was a lovely day and I have probably to many pictures to share. As you know I never do anything simple, it’s a party, why do simple right?

Thanks to my obsession with pinterest, I found way to many ideas for this little party. Like red wax cheese “carved” to look like ladybugs, porcupine watermelon (can’t believe I made this for many reasons) and awesome felt critter mask patterns from illistyle — So stinking cute! Any easy to make. (You can try them too, by following the link)

Simple cupcakes with vintage mushrooms. While baking the cupcakes I had a minor freak out moment… What was Sneaky B going to have for her cupcake?

With the Fpies and not many safe foods that could become any form of a cake, I had no idea! I was a sad about this. In fact it was the first time I have been sad about her Fpies dignosis. I have not had a moment to metally process the fact that she has Fpies. This was the first…

But then my dear friend Kayce came to mind. She and her husband own a company “Miss Roben’s Allergy Friendly Mixes” (they are working on creating a website, I will share once it’s up and running) that makes food mixes that do not include the top ten allergens. YES, maybe one of these would work! Since I have not yet tried any oils, I thought maybe I could use the Chocolate Fudge Frosting (which contains corn free powdered sugar!) mixed with coconut cream. Sneaky B hasn’t tried chocolate yet, but I thought let’s just bite the bullet and see what happens. I made a little “cupcake” of frosting and she loved it! I mean what’s not to love- this frosting is delicious. And happy day no reaction 🙂

For a moment while working on the party I thought why am I doing this? Maybe we should have waited till after we move (in 17 days!). She’s only one, she will not remember this party. But the reality is, we needed a day off. We needed to spend time with family and friends. We needed to not think about packing and unpacking and packing and unpacking. It was delightful.

And now we are back to packing. In the next 17 days, we have a lot going on. Kiddo starts kindergarten. Hubby starts school too. We are moving. I am very excited to move; not so excited to pack, but excited to move!

Sprinklings: the “candy queen”

October 30, 2013October 30, 2013 | mollyeleen

A few days ago I gave you a sneak peek of the costume I made for Kiddo. Remember this pic:

Ten yards of tulle (I used the 102″ wide tulle) in many colors, ribbon, crown ornaments, crocheted stretch band thing, and plastic candy garlands from a few christmas’ ago. And after a few hours it turned into this

The Candy Queen! We found inspiration all over pinterest for this costume, although they where all candy princesses. Kiddo wanted to be a Queen. I’m not sure how the costume would be different to be a princess, but to her it’s a Queen.

All in all this was the easiest costume I have made for Kiddo so far. It’s one of those big bang for your buck kind of things. Yes it took a few hours, but really it was simple… oh and for all of you who don’t know how to sew (we need to fix that) this is a no sew costume.

Taking measurements: I had Kiddo put on the band thing (which becomes the top of the dress) I folded over two inches at the top to create a little extra support for the straps, then measured from her belly button to the floor. Kiddo measured 24″, so this is my final length for the tulle strips.

First thing to do is to cut all your tulle into 4″ strips. Very Important! – DO NOT UNFOLD THE TULLE! Keep it folded how is was on the bolt when you bought it, then fold it in half again along the length, and in half again. After folding you will have a piece of tulle that is the length of bought (1 or 2 yards) by roughly 6 to 10 inches. (In other words, when you are folding, you are folding the width to become 6 to 10 inches). This way when you cut your strips they will 1. be so much easier to cut and 2. will end up being 4″ by 102″ (or the width of the tulle you purchased). As for the length, I used 48″. (Why? because then folded in half the will be 24″ and that is the length of the skirt I needed for Kiddo.) Carefully stack each color of tulle, now unfolded, and cut through all of it to create the length (bottom left photo above).

Next, and for the next few hours, fold one tulle strip in half (lengthwise) put fold through one hole in the bottom row of the band and pull through a few inches, this creates a loop. pull the ends of the tulle through that loop and pull tight. Repeat, to create the first row. On my first three rows, skipped every other hole in the band. The last row, I added tulle in each hole in the band. Tips for this portion: 1. put the band around something solid (I used a game box) to keep it slightly stretched and 2. make sure you stay in the same row of holes on the band.

After awhile you will have a super full tulle skirt attached to the band top. Then we added ribbon as straps and tied a bow at the shoulder. (Add the ribbon the same way as the tulle but at the top, on front and back). I also added a ribbon around the band to “stitch” the folded portion down. Simply weave the ribbon through the holes and tie a bow in the front.

Next we took candy garland apart and used the pieces as beads and made three new necklaces…easy peasy.

Lastly we made a fascinator, of course. By gathering some scraps of tulle, beading some left over “beads” from the garland and attaching the crown ornament all to a head band, we had the perfect candy queen fascinator.

Right before the halloween parade at school today we had a crown change. The fascinator “is not big enough.” Luckily I had an extra crown ornament and headband to make a big crown. All in all this is one of my favorite costumes for Kiddo- it is so her. Happy Halloween friends!

Sprinklings of my reality is a 31 day challenge…one day left!

Sprinklings: eek seven days away

October 24, 2013 | mollyeleen

Oh my! How can Halloween be in a week? Needless to say I have been knee deep in tulle, glitter and baby spit up all day working on Kiddo’s costume. I’m not going to share what she is going to be, but I will give you a hint:

Any guesses? And now that Sneaky B is snoozing again, off to cut some more tulle…

(wow this is a short post, pretty much a cheat for the 31 day challenge, but I posted!)

Sprinklings: pumpkin love

October 11, 2013October 11, 2013 | mollyeleen

I do not really know why, but I love going to the pumpkin patch. Every year I look forward to the day; the crisp air, the colors of the pumpkins against the green leaves and mud. It all makes me happy.

Today we met some friends at one of the local patches. The air wasn’t crisp at all- it was pretty stinkin’ warm. It was a beautiful day. How funny is it that Kiddo is posing in the friends pic… classic kiddo. She wants to be on stage or tv. She actually cries about it once a week: “why am I not on stage yet? it’s just not fair!” It does throw us for a loop, not sure what we are going to do about it. Hopefully she will fall in love with Shakespeare and not pole dancing. (I only say this because Kiddo loves to dance on tables with the spot lights (flashlights) shinning on her. Oye!

Of course there is a barn here with adorable baby animals. I love the baby goats, they where so cute. Kiddo, of course, wanted to pet the chickens…my worst petting animal nightmare. I let her though, I stayed outside of the chicken stall…can’t handle it. Lots of hand sanitizer later…it was all good.

I know we will be visiting at least once more before Halloween. It was a great way to spend a few hours with my girls and friends.

Sprinklings of my reality is a 31 day series challenge. Read them all…

Sprinklings: Short and super sweet

October 9, 2013October 9, 2013 | mollyeleen

So I don’t have a sweet tooth, unless candy corn is involved. Not sure why but I love those little triangles. Could be the colors, white, orange & yellow- When I was younger I would eat off the white then the orange and pop in the yellow- don’t have time for that anymore. Could be the slight honey sweetness, I don’t know, they are perfect to me.

And then my friend Alison introduced me to something a little more perfect.

Okay- I’m taking you on a detour because this is my world. Bedtime for kiddo was two hours ago. She has never been a good sleeper and we struggle getting her to sleep; I think the book “go the *uck to sleep” was written for us- seriously if you have kids you should, no need, to read this book. So I am multi-tasking writing my post and nursing sneaky b and kiddo comes out of her room, walks up to me, rubs her wet finger across my cheek and says

“mommy do you feel that?

“Yes why is your finger wet?” (I’m thinking she was playing in the fish-tank)

“The wet is from the tears coming from my eyes. I’m upset”

Taking a deep breath…”why?”

“Because a few weeks ago you through away a band aid that I wanted to keep”

“Go. To. Bed. Now.”

Where does she come up with this stuff? She is my little hippy that is for sure. She wants to keep everything and make something new, but a used band-aid? NO, I draw the line there.

Okay- back to where we were…

My friend Alison introduced me to mixing candy corn and dry roasted peanuts!! Salty and sweet all in one handful. OMG! Candy corn even more perfect! LOVE IT!

Happily, for my already wideness, I only buy candy corn in October, kind of like Starbucks pumpkin latte. You wait for it, probably have a bit too much of it, then wait another eleven months for it.

This fantasticalness might not be new to you, but it sure was to me. Do you have a salty sweet treat you enjoy? I would love to hear about it

Sprinklings of my reality: day 9

Sprinklings: spider webs

October 4, 2013 | mollyeleen

So I was up until 1:30 this morning with poor Sneaky B. She had major gas and finally after a five-minute bout of farting, she passed out. Poor thing, she is so gassy, maybe because she snorts like a pig when she is hungry (I will find a way to share her piggy self with you, I know she will “appreciate” that when she’s older) and swallows air, who knows I’m just guessing at the parenting thing. Any-who-

When I’m tired I feel like hanging out at home and since it’s October and we wandered around the dollar store yesterday for Halloween decorations, we might as well get into the spirit and decorate at bit.

“Mommy we haven’t done art together in ages”- guilt ridden mama had to make time today to do some art with Kiddo. Oye I feel horrible. So with decorating on hold, it’s time to be creative with Kiddo. Remembering a project from decades ago, we gathered our supplies and got messy.

Pasta, Glitter Spider Webs

What you will need, very simply, pasta, glitter & glue.

Supplies: plastic plates or cardboard & plastic wrap, a large bowl and a bit of patience

First, Mama cooks some pasta, al-dente please. Added bonus- if your kid likes spaghetti cook extra from lunch, my kiddo always chokes on spaghetti so no added bonus for us today.

While the spaghetti is cooking, I drew a picture of a spider web on paper, to help kiddo out a bit, and covered it with plastic and Kiddo got “Fashy” to be creative.

When you have al-dente spaghetti let it cool then your ready to get messy!

Added the cooked spaghetti to the bowl, cover it with glue and glitter and mix it up with your hands. Then create spider webs on the plastic cardboard or plate. Add some extra glue and glitter why not, and then let them dry (this takes FOREVER! like 24 hours FOREVER). Once they are dry carefully pull them off the plastic and hang them up.

Pretty cute for a quick project, but more important got to spend time with Kiddo doing art.

This is part of the series Sprinklings of my reality, read them all now

Today brings an entire new….

May 12, 2013 | mollyeleen

meaning & a tutorial of sorts.

Happy Mama’s day to all the mama’s out there. It’s extra special for me. The shock of the wonderful surprise of having a baby in a few months has finally worn off. Don’t get me wrong, I am still very overwhelmed at times, but so giddy it’s ridiculous I can honestly say when I was preggo with Kiddo, I loved feeling her kick, but now with Sneaky-B it’s an entire new level of love. That is to say, I never thought I would feel a baby kicking in my belly again. As the mama’s know it’s an awesome feeling and I am more than ever cherishing every little movement Sneaky-B has.

Today I got to spend the morning at the Antique Flea Market in Sacramento with my good friends and my mama. It’s was so much fun! Why hadn’t I gone to this before? I don’t know, it might have to become my monthly mama outing. Here’s what I scored:

I have been looking for a coo-coo clock for quite some time, don’t really know why, but I have always wanted one. Am very excited about it. The coo-coo clock and the mailbox will both be getting a facelift, you know I will share the outcome with you. For today, I have a simple paper rosette award to show you.

I made this little canvas for my mama for today. I think it turned out cute and she loved it. Happy Day. Here are the steps to make the paper rosette for the award.

Start by cutting out a few strips of paper. The width should be half of the size you want your completed rosette to be. For example, I wanted my finished rosette to be 3 inches across, so each strip is 1 1/2″ wide. The length is really up to you, the longer it is the fuller the rosette will look. Here I used 8″ paper, so over all I had 24″. Accordion fold each strip folding back and forth about a 1/4″ wide folds. Glue the accordion stips together to form one piece. Let that dry for a few minutes then glue into a cylinder (see left photo below).

Now that you have let your accordion cylinder dry for a few minutes, take a scrap of paper, smaller than your final size rosette will be, add some glue to this. Pinch in the top of the cylinder and gently push down… waa-la…you have an paper rosette. Carefully lift this up and set in on top of the paper scrap with glue. Set something a bit heavy on top of rosette to keep it in place while it dries, I use the glue bottle.

When it’s dry, add some cute cut outs, buttons, reinstones, whatever you want…ta da… a super cute paper rosette award.

Thanks for reading this random mama’s day post… it’s a bit all over the place, kind of like me lately.

molly b

creating, stitching, designing, thrifting

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