Father's Day Craft - DIY Camera for Daddy

My husband Tim is an avid photographer.  He always has a camera with him so that he can get a picture whenever he feels the need.  Most of the artwork on our walls are photographs that he has taken through the years.  They are amazing!  With all that being said, it is really hard to buy him something for his hobby since his camera stuff is very specific and I have no idea what most of it is. I decided that Alex and I would make him a camera as a frame for a picture of Alex and Amelia.

Here is what you will need:
A box - I used a PopTart box
A jar lid - I used on from single serve microwavable rice
black paint
a small cube or cylinder
a picture





You will need to start out by painting the box, lids, and cylinder black.  You will need time for it to dry before you can move on to the next step.

Here is what it looks like with everything painted.

You will need to trace the shape of the lid onto the picture so that you can cut it out to fit inside the lid.

You will then glue the lid on the front of the camera and the lid and cylinder onto the top of the camera.

This is what it looks like in the end.  I think that it turned out awesome.  I know that Tim will love it and I am sure that he will display it with some of his vintage cameras.  This is a simple project but it does takes a little time since the paint and glue both have to dry.

Taco Soup - SO YUMMY and EASY!!!!

When I went into the kitchen this morning I started staring into the pantry.  I wanted something that I have not made in a while or something new.  It feels like we are in a dinner rut lately and I wanted to break the cycle.  I figure I would throw something in the slow cooker so that I would not have to cook later.  It can be hard to cook a meal that has many steps when you have an active 11 month old on your hands.  After staring for a few minutes, I finally came up with Taco Soup.

Here are the ingredients that I used:
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel, the one that says chili fixin
1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 onion, diced
1 package taco seasoning
1 can red kidney beans
1 can black beans



This is a dump and go kinda recipe.

You will want to dump in the Rotel, beans, tomatoes, and the ground beef into the slow cooker.

Chop the onion and add it to the slow cooker.

Add the package of taco seasoning.

Stir all the ingredients together.

The complete taco soup.  SO YUMMY!  And it smelled fantastic cooking all day!

As you can see it was a big hit!

Father's Day Craft - Day 2 - Framed Picture of Daddy

I thought that it would be cute if I had Alex draw a picture of his daddy and framed it.  I always have an empty frame laying around the house that I have picked up somewhere.  This is a quick project but it turned out so cute.  I know that Tim is going to love it.  I am sure that Tim will either put in on his desk at work or home.  This is a project that Alex is very proud of and cannot wait to give it to his daddy.  We are working hard on keeping these projects a secret and so far Alex is doing a great job!
Here is what you will need:

A piece of paper - We used a piece of card stock.
Picture frame (I picked one up at the local thrift store recently that will be perfect.)
crayons, colored pencils, or markers

I started by measuring the paper and tracing the back of the frame.  I then cut it out so that it will fit perfectly in the frame.

Next, Alex drew a picture of his daddy on the paper and signed his name on the back.

This is the final product.  I think it is awesome.  Any dad would love getting this as a gift for Father's Day!

Father's Day Craft - Day 1 - 10 Reason I Love Dad hanger

As Father's Day quickly approaches, I thought that it would be fun to do a new Father's Day craft every day with the kids.  Alex loves to make things for his daddy and doing this everyday this week will be very exciting for him.

Today's craft was something that his daddy can hang on his desk at work.  I have seen the Popsicle stick crafts that fold, but we decided to make it with glue and add ribbon so that daddy can hang it up at work.

Here is what you will need:
11 Popsicle sticks
glue - We used wood glue.
a small piece of ribbon
sharpie

First, I wrote 10 things that Alex loves about his daddy on each stick.  On one stick you will want to write "10 Things I Love About Dad". (Sorry this one is upside down! )

Next, I lined all of the sticks up in order.  I love the one that says he builds snowmen with me.  I think that we get about an inch or 2 of snow total in a year here. HAHA!

Then I glued all of the sticks together using the wood glue and after it had a few minutes to begin to dry I glue the ribbon to the back.

    

This is the final product.  I think that Tim will really enjoy this simple but meaningful gift.  It is so cute to hear the reasons your little ones love you.  

Wonderful Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

Alex has been asking me for a few days to make some chocolate chip cookies.  I finally remembered to get some butter last night so after Amelia went down for her nap today we went to the kitchen and started making cookies.

Here are the ingredients that you will need:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar (I used dark)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour ( I always use unbleached ap flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. hot water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips ( I used milk chocolate)
1 tsp instant coffee

Now for the recipe. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cream together the butter, white, and brown sugar.  Please make sure that you take your butter out of the fridge so that it is really softened.  It will not cream together with cold butter that is still hard.

2. Beat in two eggs.  Add the vanilla and stir it in.

3. In a separate bowl, mix baking soda and hot water together so that the soda dissolves.  Add to the mixture with the salt and stir together.

 4. Normally, I would say add the flour in slowly to incorporate it but I had an eager four year old helping me and he put all the flour in at once.  Stir in the flour. Stir in the chocolate chips and the coffee.  I always add coffee into something when I am baking with chocolate.  You will not taste it but it will really enhance the chocolate taste.

5.  Using a large spoon (I used a tablespoon measuring spoon) drop the cookie dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 12 minutes or until golden around the edges.

I have to say these cookies are awesome!  They were crunchy around the edges and chewy in the middle.  Best of all they are four year old approved!  Let them cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!  This recipe makes a lot.  I made 54 cookies with this batch so you have plenty to share with someone else.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops - Super Duper Tender

Pork chops were on sale a few weeks ago and I decided to pick up a pack.  On the day that I decided to cook them I had a hard time deciding how to cook them.  I found a few recipes on Pinterest but I ended up making up my own because I did not have all the ingredients for some of them.  Here is what I did.


Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 pork chops
olive oil
1 can of cream of chicken soup

Recipe:
1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl big enough to coat the pork chops with the mixture.  (next time I cook this I will omit the salt)

2. Coat the pork chops in the flour mixture.

3. Brown the pork chops in a skillet on all sides and place browned pork chops into slow cooker.

4. Cover the pork chops with 1 can of cream of chicken soup.  (You could also use cream of mushroom.)

5. Cook the pork chops on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 4 hours.

The pork chops came out super duper tender.  They just fell right off of the bone.  They were a hit with both kids and adults.  We will so be making these again soon.

Creating a Fabric Baby Gate for a Large Opening

With a very mobile baby, it was time to start making our stairs safe.  Even though Amelia is not walking yet, she can crawl up the stairs very quickly.  We bought a wide baby gate for the bottom of our stairs since it is so wide but it was not wide enough.  We had to come up with something creative and fast.

I always have fabric in the house and after perusing Pinterest I decided to make a fabric baby gate for the bottom of our stairs.  Fabric gates only work at the bottom of the stairs.  They are not strong enough for the top of the stairs just in case they push through.

Here is how I created the gate.  It is very simple and very adaptable for the width of the opening at the bottom of your stairs.

1. I gathered my materials.  I used 2 yards of a whale flannel, 6 inches of blue cotton, zigzig ribbon, and matching thread.

2. I attached the blue fabric and the whale fabric to make an extra 6 inches.  I put the right sides together and then sewed a seam attaching the two fabrics.

3. I hemmed all four sides of the fabric.  You could just leave them as is if you want to make this even quicker to get it up.  As you can see I did not even trim the selvage end.  I did not do a lot to the fabric so that I can reuse it one day.

4. I then attached the ribbon to all four corners after hemming.  I sewed each ribbon to the fabric so that it will be secure and not come out if pulled.  I made loops so that I can attach it and detach it from the wall for easy movement of the big people in the house.  

5. I attached it to the wall using 30 lb picture frame holders.  This makes it easy with the loops to get easy access to the upstairs for the big people and strong enough that the little one can not pull it out of the wall.  Make sure to make adjustments and pull it tight so that your little one can not crawl under or around it.  We have had ours up for a few days and it has been a lifesaver.  We have not had to make a beeline to the stairs to get Amelia down from the stairs.  Also you can see that I made it very tall.  Amelia was 30 inches at 9 months and she is even taller now as she approaches 11 months.  When she stands, I did not want her to be able to reach the loops and take them down.  

I hope this helps for those that also have a weird size opening at the bottom of your stairs.  Just remember this is for the bottom of the stairs only!