What we're loving (right now)

Occasionally, Hilary and I like to take a break from our regular posting and just show you some of the things we're into right at the mom

So for the next two weeks we're each going to pick three things...projects, crafts, products...and show you what we're loving. And I'm going to start! Here are my three things that I'm loving right now:

Jessica:

1. O'Keef's Working Hands Balm

This stuff is my magical skin secret. For those of us not used to the extremely dry Idaho air, it's been a miracle! I don't think I've ever had such dry skin in my life! My heels have cracked so badly it hurts, despite using a pumice stone on them every day. But I can slather on some of this balm and it makes my hands and feet feel super soft!

2. Extender slips:
I have a problem. Dresses are made too short! Seriously, what is with that now a days? I can't bend over while chasing my Dude (who requires quite a bit of chasing!) without exposing my unmentionables. This post by iCandy Handmade's gorgeous Autie and Jen has me totally inspired to sew my own:

Source: icandyhandmade.blogspot.com via Domestic on Pinterest

3. Cucumber sandwiches:
 I had these sandwiches at the Mother's Day tea that myself, Hilary, Hilary's mom Rhonda, and our girls attended at our church last weekend. I. AM. OBSESSED.

Source: lessthanperfectparents.com via Less Than Perfect Parents on Pinterest

I've had them before, but for some reason this time really struck a chord! The recipe above is for the classic cucumber sandwich steeped in traditional British culture from Less Then Perfect Parents. Click on the picture for the link to their recipe! I will be posting my own "pimped out" version of a cucumber sandwich very soon...I  think I've had it for lunch every day this week!

Summer activities for kids: outdoor adventure kits (getting girls interested in science)

Bugs aren't just for boys!

Since the weather here in Idaho has been amazing, we've all been playing outside almost every day. I thought it would be fun to incorporate some science into our outdoor summer activities, so I made up some "adventure kids" for our Girlies.

As a moms of two young girls, Hilary and I feel it is super important that we encourage a love of science in our girls. Society hammers Barbie and Princesses into their heads, but it is so important to show them that there is a whole world of interesting things out there to explore. You can just be a princess while you do it!

So I hit up the Dollar Tree to see what I could put together for some summer fun, and this is what I got! Each kit only cost about $5.

Both kits contained 1 big and 1 little bug catching net, 1 pinwheel flower, 1 collecter jar with magnifying glass in the lid, 1 pair of tweezers, 1 pair of binoculars, 1 "field journal" for drawing a writing about their observations, and 1 pen. All in the pinkest colors possible to please even the Princess-iest of scientists!

And with that, our Intrepid Princess Explorers took to the wild brush:

Who is the Girly in the shark shirt? That would be my Jr. Shark Scientist/Ballerina/Pop Star/Fashion Designer.

Using their Jr. Scientist skills they collected exotic specimens.

They chased after all manner of creatures small and fluttery:

They learned about wind power with their sparkling pinwheels:

Many fascinating creatures were observed through the binoculars:

And many observations were written down in the field journals for future study:

This is apparently her little brother (one of the exotic creatures), and a tree with leaves.

I would call this a smashing success! The girl's kits got put away when we came inside, to be taken out another day for another excursion.

Chocolate Overload Cupcakes...P.S. They're gluten free AND they're healthy!

These beauties were my contribution to our little family Mother's Day celebration up here in Idaho. I decided to bring something special for Hilary and her mom (who is like a second mother to me) to show how much I appreciate them. I knew I wanted something crazy chocolatey, something baked, it had to be gluten free, and because I like a challenge, something guilt free. This recipe was born!

You know you want them.

 I am so, so happy with how these came out! They were moist, fluffy, cakey and rich. Perfect chocolate cupcakes!

I used my gluten free pumpkin muffin recipe as a starting point and went from there. This recipe is a lot lighter, fluffier and sweeter, but uses oatmeal as the base in the same way. And because there is no oil or butter these cupcakes are high protein, low fat (or no fat if you use fat free Greek yogurt!), and high fiber. They are truly the perfect indulgence!

Ingredients:

2 cups oatmeal, ground down in a food processor or a blender until fine
4 egg whites
3/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used non fat)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/8-1/4 tsp salt (a pinch)
1 cup of hot water
1 cup of chocolate chips

For garnishing:
1 tub of cake frosting
1 container of raspberries
chocolate syrup

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Place your 2 cups of oats in your blender or food processor and grind them down until very fine.

3. Add in all of the other ingredients except for your 1 cup of chocolate chips.

4. and blend until totally combined. The mixture will be smooth and very thin, it will almost look too thing to be 'real' muffin batter.

5. Scoop your batter into the muffin tin and sprinkle the chocolate chips of top. This will keep your chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom because of the thin batter.

6. Place your muffin tin in the oven for 12-15 minutes (14 minutes was perfect for me). They will puff up and rise beautifully. Remove them from the oven and let them cool:

Then remove them from your muffin tin and let them "set" for a few minutes until they're fully cooled off.

7. Frost with your tub of frosting. I learned this tip from a friend of mine who makes cakes. If you want pretty cupcake icing but don't have all the fancy piping bags and tips, in a pinch you can use a regular ziplock bag with one corner cut off. Simply scoop your store bought frosting into the bag and use it to "pipe" your frosting into big fluffy circles on the top of your cupcakes. Voila!

8. Garnish with raspberries and chocolate syrup, and serve!

They will be gone before you know it!

~Jessica

Dress to skirt refashion: Version 2.0

This is my latest refashion, and it was super easy! I was inspired by Hilary's post last week to make my own.

(Please ignore the goofy look on my face, I'm trying not to laugh at my four year old daughter, who is telling me to "pose like a fashion girl.")

I've been sitting on this dress for a while, not quite sure what to do with it. I found it at a thrift store (surprised?) about two months ago. I liked the color, the cut was ok, and I could see it had potential. I paid around $4 for it, so no great loss, and I'm always in the market for a good refashion. I was kind of excited!


And then...I tried it on.

Oh man.

This dress was HIDEOUS on me. Originally I had thought that I would hem it up and make it a cute dress I could actually wear. Um, no. Clearly that was not an option! Ugh! I'm actually embarrassed to even show this 'before' picture, and you can't see my face!

Anyways, I did love the fabric! It had these adorable little delicate southwestern pattern of geometric shapes, suns and arrows all over it, so cute! I couldn't just toss it and call it a wash, but what to do?

I basically ended up doing exactly what Hilary did in her dress to skirt refashion, and chopped off the bottom 16 inches of the dress, and sewed it to the underside of some 2 inch black elastic. I even used the original hem! I am so in love with 2 inch elastic, I can't even tell you. It's the magic cure for many a refashion. And it sucks things in where things may need to be sucked in.

I really like how this turned out! I think it's cute, fun, and bright. Perfect for summer! The fabric is really swingy and drapes beautifully, so it's flattering as well. A win!

~Jessica

strawberry freezer jam: our secret recipe

I (Jessica) had never had home made jam until I met my husband. He was raised on home made jam (his mom grew up on a farm!) and when we moved in together his mom kept sending us home with delicious freezer jams. Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, oh my.

I was hooked!

Since both Hilary and I are *ahem* fairly adept in the kitchen, we decided about four years ago to teach ourselves to make it.  And we were both shocked and amazed at how easy and cheap it is to make homemade jam!

It's like it's the best kept DIY secret ever! And then as if that weren't incentive enough to make some, people are super impressed when you tell them you make your own jam.

"Oh," they say "I've always wanted to try that but it seems so hard!"

Ha! Let me tell you, it's not. Freezer jam is one of the most rewarding DIY's you can do! Easy, quick, cheap and fantastic. And it makes a great last minute gift, too.

So you can imagine, we've gotten really good at making our own jam over those four years. Good thing, too, because I don't even think we could stomach store bought jam at this point. Every time my family runs out of my home made jam we moan and groan and go without, or we buy some and it goes bad sitting in our fridge because no one wants to eat the stuff.

So here, without further ado, is our super-secret freezer jam recipe!

Ingredients:
4 lbs of strawberries (4 cups of crushed fruit)
4 cups of sugar
2 boxes of pectin
1 1/2 cup water

Low(er)-sugar recipe:
4 lbs of strawberries
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 box of low-sugar pectin
1 cup of water

(Directions for the low-sugar recipe are the same!)

Instructions:

Important! For this recipe I used two boxes of pectin like this (which is about 1/2 cup if you're measuring):

I'm not sure what that weird glob of stuff is on the box? Solidified pectin? Glue? It's a mystery.

But I absolutely DID NOT follow the recipe on the inside. I never have, I find the recipe calls for too much sugar and is way too puckery-sweet, and my hubby and I don't like super sweet jam. So this recipe will be pretty different from the carton instructions.This also means that the jam is a little thinner then store bought jam, which is fine!

1. Start with your fresh strawberries, the riper the better.

(Psssssst....you can also use frozen berries if fresh berries are not in season! I've done it, it works the same and can be much cheaper sometimes, especially with raspberries!)

YUM!

cut the tops off of your strawberries and cut them in half:

This picture is making me want strawberries again!

2. This part is super important! Soak your strawberries in a solution of about 1 Tbsp of vinegar to 6-8 cups of water for at least ten minutes. This will clean your strawberries and disinfect them. Let me tell you, those crops are fertilized with God-knows-what...you want your berries CLEAN before you make jam! Especially since this version of freezer jam is raw. Raw, people. That means any cow poop or chemicals used to fertilize the fields is going directly into your jam, unless you clean off the berries. CLEAN THEM!

Ok, ok, ok. Off of my high horse now. No, they won't taste like vinegar, I promise.

Taking their bath...

After they're done soaking, rinse them in cold water for a few minutes and you're ready to start crushing them!

3. Crush your berries!

I have used my food processor in the past for this, but I know that not everyone has a fancy food processor. Also, I find that the food processor tends to make this jam too runny, and we all like a good, chunky jam in this house!  So I go a little low tech for this part and use a good ole' fashioned potato masher:

Mash baby mash!

Just start mashing! It takes about 5-10 minutes of mashing to get the berries to the right consistency, but I consider this my arm workout for the day so it's all good.

If you like a chunky jam, like us, you can stop when it looks about like this:

Perfectly chunky.

4. Add the 4 cups of sugar:

God that is sooooooooo much sugar! Blech!

You want to mix this in really, really well. You shouldn't be able to tell that there is sugar mixed in when you're done, except for a slightly grainy texture.

5. Prepare the pectin according to the instructions on the package. Mine said "combine 1 package of pectin with 2/3 cup water. Bring to boil. Boil for 1 minute then remove from heat and mix with fruit."

So I boiled it as per the instructions. I would recommend using a bigger pot for this then I did, because mine boiled over!

6. Mix the liquid pectin with your fruit. I poured mine on the top like this:

Careful! It's hot!

Then I used a big spoon to mix it in thoroughly with the fruit, until all the sugar from the fruit/sugar mix was dissolved:

It will begin to look glorious!

Let it sit and cool a bit, about ten minutes.

7. Put jam into jars, leaving about 1/3-1/4 inch at the top for freezer expansion:

Is it done yet?

Once the jam is in jars you should let it cool uncovered until it's room temperature. Once the jam has reached room temp, you can put the lids on and pop them into the freezer, and you're done!

You do probably want to leave your jam in the fridge or freezer for about 24 hours to let it finish setting completely, but I won't judge you if you eat it immediately. It will be a little runny, but yummy I promise. I know from experience. Hilary was telling me how she ate spoonfuls of jam while she was making it!

I was impressed, like I always am, with the sheer volume of jam I get from this recipe!

The spoon is there because I ate some. Don't judge me.

I got all of this jam from about an hour's work! That's enough jam to last about three months for my family of four. Not too shabby! And it's cheaper, healthier and better then any store bought jam we've ever found. I'm on my fourth piece of toast as we speak!

If you try this recipe, let us know how it goes for you! We just love hearing from our readers when they try our recipes and projects.

~Jessica

P.S...Linking up with these lovely blog hop parties here, and at Huckleberry Love!

5 thrift store shopping tips

I've posted several of my thrift store shopping trips here, and here, and here, as well as some thrifted outfits here and here. In real life I get asked lots of questions about how I find the good finds. I hear "I just couldn't find anything!" or "I didn't even know where to start," all the time!

I'll be following this post up with tips on what kinds of things I always look for, how to recognize quality, and what not to buy, but for starters here are my top 5 thrifting tips!

1. Go. Often.

If you really want to find the amazing finds, there is no other way to thrift. You have to go All. The. Time. A casual thrifter might find something cute if they're lucky, but if you know your stores and you go often, that's how you find the real, honest-to-God amazing deals.

Brand new leather Fossil wallet for only $6! Tags still on this baby.

If you go often, you also have the benefit of learning when the new merchandise gets put out on the floor, and what color tags will be on sale at what times. Which brings me to tip #2:

2. Know what the sale/color tag days are.

This is seriously valuable information! Some stores, like Savers, will have days where all tags of a certain color are only $.99. You can do a lot of experimenting for only $.99! Most stores will have color tags that are 50% off all week long, and sometimes stores like Goodwill, Savers, and Salvation Army will have days where everything in the whole store is 50% off! Knowing which days these are and getting there early will get you far.

These Coach shoes were expensive for thrift at $30, but I got them on 50% off day for only $15!

3. Know your fabrics and brands, especially fabrics!

This has been the the most instrumental thing for me in learning to thrift! About five years ago I read an amazing book called Secondhand Chic by Christa Wiel, and it changed the way I thrift store shop! I actually spent some time learning about higher end brands, and especially learning about quality fabrics. Sometimes you might not recognize the label or brand of an item of clothing, due to it being foreign or vintage, but if you recognize 100% silk, linen, cashmere...you recognize quality even if your smartphone doesn't get cell service and you can't check an item's value on ebay!

I didn't recognize the brand of this dress, but I recognized quality fabric. Turns out it was Anthropologie!

4. Keep a (tentative) list of what you're looking for.

My list has practically everything from every department! Right now it includes a dining room table, a pair of neon yellow shorts, blue and white striped T-shirt, reading work books for my daughter, a red trench coat, shoes for my growing son (in every size), shirts for my husband, jewelry I can tear apart for the beads, and summer dresses. Whew!

I keep my list on my phone or in my head, and lately I've started a Pinterest board with my thrift shopping list. I find it's easier for me to remember those images then to simply write things down.

A (small) part of my collection of jewelry for wearing and/or repurposing

In the past I've had things like cowboy boots (real leather only!), jeans, classic leather shoes...you get the idea!

Your list doesn't have to be season specific, either. Some of the best deals come from finding off season clothing, so keep your eyes open for winter clothes during the summer months, and don't forget to look at the tank tops in the winter.

5. Look for things other then clothing!

You might never know it, but some of my favorite things to look for at thrift stores are actually not clothing! I love looking for toys for my kids, art work, books for myself and the kids, dishes, etc.

Vintage Polly Pocket set for $.99. My daughter and I collect them together!

Toys are my special weakness, especially since they're so cheap! It's hard to say no to my kids when I'm spending less then $1, but dang it I do try.

Some other non-clothing items I always look at are dishes, mugs, plastic plates (there are four kids in my house almost every day!), books for myself and the kids, vintage bed linens, craft supplies, and the list goes on and on. If I have time, I try to at least glance through every department. Some of my best finds have been found outside of the clothing department! I once found a gorgeous 1930's end table whose table top had an inset vintage radio, for only $25. It was the perfect Christmas present for my dad, who collects old radios! I would never have found it if I simply limited myself to shopping for dresses and jeans.


Well that's it for starters, but I would love to hear some tips from some other seasoned professional thrifters. Do you have a thrifting tip that you consider invaluable? I'd love to hear it! Even though I've been thrifting literally my whole life, I'm still always looking to learn from other people who do it better then me!

~ Jessica

P.S. Linking up with these amazing parties here, and at Huckleberry Love!

Super cute Mother's Day gift idea that is FREE!

We love sharing our ideas, tutorials and recipes with everyone out there.  It is fun to share our ideas!  But with all of the great blogs out there, sometimes we find something that makes us go "wow!" that is something we couldn't dream up!

Last week, I (Hilary) was surfing the web and I came across this amazing website:
The Dating Divas.

At first, I thought, "a how-to website for single people?"  No way!  It is a site full of super cute date ideas for couples (check out their idea for a total blackout dinner party for you and your friends, a New York date night, or 15 Date Ideas in 15 minutes or less).

The thing that caught my eye (besides tons of cute ideas)?  

The tagline: Strengthening Marriages, One Date at a Time.

With two kids now, I realize how crucial couple time is (and how tough it can be to squeeze into our busy lives!).  

So most of their ideas are for couples, but in honor of Mother's Day, the Dating Divas created this amazing Mommy & Me Freebie.

It is a free, printable set of adorable mommy and daughter dates.  I signed up and had the printable cards sent to me.  They will not disappoint you!  The cards make a fantastic Mother's Day gift and I cannot wait to make some for my daughter!

Check out their amazing cards and let them know that Domestic Bliss Squared sent you! :)  (They pay us to feature them or anything...the site is truly so amazing, we had to pass it along to our readers!).

Happy (almost) Mother's Day!