{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Last weekend we (mine and Mary’s families) got together for a long overdue dinner at my house. We had been working on the bathroom for months and the house was in no condition for guests, especially little newborn-ish guests. We have always tried to make new recipes from our collection of cookbooks. This time was no exception.

My husband took care of the BBQ ribs while I scoured my cookbooks for a summery salad that had a lot of vegetables for our veggie loving kids. (I know you’re thinking how did they get so lucky to have veggie loving kids? We have no idea, but are so thankful for it!) I hit the jackpot in Giada De Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian book when I found the Anytime Vegetable Salad recipe: edemame soy beans, green beans and tomatoes in a light vinegar EVOO dressing. Luckily for you the recipe is online as well so you can make it too!

It was such a hit that. the kids dug in before I finished putting it together. My daughter gobbling up some edemame’s while Mary’s son munched on the green beans. I was concerned they may not like it with the dressing but in the end it wasn’t an issue for either kids. (Whew!) I’m planning on making this again on Memorial Day for a family BBQ. My nephew who doesn’t eat anything green seems to love edemame’s so I think it’s the perfect salad for the family.

Some tips:

• If you have an Asian store nearby, pick up the edemame’s, thyme and basil leaves there. It will cost almost half as much!
• The recipe’s time says 15 minutes but factor in some time for peeling the edemame’s or recruit someone to help.

with our latest handmade creations!

Your little one will be stylin’ and having fun this summer with our newest handmade items! From the cutest baby espadrilles you will ever find to cushy cubes that will entertain baby for hours, we’ve created unique, handmade gifts that you can share with the little ones in your life for just about any occasion. Shop now!

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Back in February my daughter discovered the world of coloring. She loves to scribble and if we’re not keeping a close eye on her she’ll move from the paper to the table and then the chair. She’s even gotten a few marks on her clothing and face! Luckily she hasn’t gotten to the walls yet. (Knock on wood!)

That said, this weeks favorites is for my Little Peanut who loves coloring.

First row: Rainbow ring crayon, Crayon monogram, Art caddy tote pattern

Second row: Art smock, Crayon roll, Kitty egg crayons

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Ooops! A day late but here none-the-less….

The weather has been kind to us this past week and my mind has been on summer. Of course what is summer with out some parties?! These would make great party accessories.

First row: Samba Baby sea glass flip flops, Fiesta stripe cotton scarf, Felt Fuzzies flip flop hair clips

Second row: Summer mix hair flowers , Tissue pom poms, Glass jar moss terrarium

You may remember a few weeks ago our Etsy favorite Wednesday: Baby sewing patterns featured the Liberty Lion pattern. I couldn’t resist the adorable patterns and the buy one get one sale from Bit of Whimsy Dolls and bought the Peter Puppy and Millie Monkey patterns.

With the Little Peanut at grandma’s house and no contract work to do I declared today “me” day and finally got to create my own little Peter Puppy. He was so much fun to make and took no time at all. It was nice to get back behind the sewing machine again.

I adore him and I think my daughter will too! She’s in a puppy phase and lets out a little squeal when she sees a dog on TV, in the park, in a car, photos of dogs…. pretty much anything! We live near a dog park and she always has a lot of fun when I take her for a walk there.

His face sides and tail are fluffy fabric that I think she’ll have fun with. I also added interfacing to the face so that it wouldn’t pucker where I used the zig-zag stitching. I stuffed him so he would be a little floppy and easy to hold on to. I’m pretty happy with the embroidery as well since I’m not very good at it!

One day when my husband was cleaning out his closet, he accumulated a pile of button-down shirts that he no longer wears. They were either really old, out of style, or didn’t fit anymore. It got me thinking of what I could do with all that fabric! I came up with the idea to make a blanket for my son – it would definitely be one of a kind and be extra special…made from daddy’s button-down shirts. Here’s what you need to get started:

Materials:  1) A bunch of daddy’s button-down shirts, low loft batting (you don’t want anything too thick), fabric for the back side (about 1-2 yards depending on the size of your blanket)

Instructions:

1) For each shirt, lay it flat and start cutting out 8″ X 8″ squares (NOTE: you can make the squares any size you want, but the smaller you make them, the longer it will take to sew them back together!). I used all parts of the shirts: the pockets, the cuffs and even the front of the shirt with the buttons fastened. It makes each square unique with the different textures and design.

2) Once you have all the squares cut out (the number of squares depends on how large you want your blanket), start playing around with the color/pattern scheme. My husband had lots of white and blue shirts so that was my foundation and used striped and plaid squares as accents throughout the blanket.

3) Once you have all the squares laid out how you want it (I suggest laying them out on the floor), divide them by row and start sewing the pieces 1/4 inch together. Once you finish all the rows, then it’s time to sew each row together.

4) Next, iron out the seams of each square. You might think this would be tedious (and it is!), but it will be worth it. It will look more professional and the lines cleaner. This will be the top side of the blanket.

5) Now it’s time to put the top side together with the batting and the back side fabric. This can get a little tricky but the key is to baste all three pieces together. Basically, this means hand-stitching all three pieces together using thread and large stitches. This will ensure that the pieces will stay in place as you work.

6) With all the pieces firmly in place, it’s time to finish the edges with bias tape. What I did was cut 1 1/2″ fabic strips with the same fabric as the back side but you can use store-bought bias tape as well.

7) Give the blanket a wash and you’re done!

Bonus idea: Use fabric glue and foam letters to add your child’s name to the top side for that extra personalization!

I have a ton of shirt squares left over so I plan on making my daughter something unique as well that she will cherish for a long time.

Joining the tradition of some of my favorite bloggers!

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

We’ve been hard at work writing patterns, making prototypes and trying to get our kids to sit still for photos.

Here’s what we have in store for embe this summer:

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