The boutique

The last few weeks have been crazy.

I ran a deal with Groopdealz and had to work around the clock to get it finished.

I was planning on attending this boutique with my friend Andi, so as soon as Groopdealz was done, I had to work around the clock to get enough inventory to show at the boutique.

So, Nate (my awesome husband) and I stayed up til 2 or 3 in the morning every night trying to get a good selection and trying to make some new products to debut.

The night before, I stayed up til 2 and Nate said that he would just finish packing up and then come to bed.  He stayed up til 5 getting things ready.  (My friend Andi never even went to bed the night before).

The morning of, Andi picked me up at 7:30.

We were supposed to set up the day before, but it was dumping buckets of rain outside.

Andi brought several of her beautiful antiques to display, and our booth turned out beautiful.  Really beautiful.

We rushed to get it set up on time and we made it.

By 9 a.m. we were ready to go.

Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

A few people wandered through, but no one really bought anything.

I took a quick break to run over to my boys' soccer game and while I was gone I sold a "Keep Calm and Sew On" sign.  Two ladies wanted it, and had I made more than one, I would have sold both.  But I only had one.

When I came back, we still waited.

A few more people wandered through our booth, but it was mostly other vendors checking out what else was there.

As it got later, we really got discouraged.

The BYU vs. UofU game was on that night and traffic was going to be horrible.

Most people stay home the night of the rivalry game.

After weeks of sleepless nights and endless work, and a full day of being at the boutique (plus the set up and clean up), I sold 2 signs and Andi sold a handful of bags.

That's it.

I was really sad.  Exhausted and sad.

Some of the vendors didn't sell anything at all.

It was a very long and very slow day for everyone.

The one good thing that came of it is that it forced me to get going on my new fall collection.  I have some great ideas, but if it wasn't for the deadline from the boutique, I wouldn't have finished it yet.  I still have a couple of things left to go, but I'm almost there.

I'll be launching it in the next few days, so keep checking it...

I can't wait to show it off :)

Fallow Field Farm Marketplace

This weekend I'm teaming up with Handi Andi and we're going to be at Fallow Field Farm Marketplace...
We can't wait to show off our new designs and be a part of the marketplace!
If you live in Utah, make sure you come by and check it out.
Make sure to stop by our tent and say HI :)

Pretty Girls

I made this sign as a custom order, but I really love it, so I think I'm going to offer it in my shop...

What do you think?

Rainbow Jello Tutorial

My cousin Brittany gave me the idea a few months back to make rainbow jello for Dalton's 1st birthday party.  So, the night before, I googled it and read a few different ways to do it, and chose The Funky Polkadot Giraffe.  Theirs seemed the easiest and most straightforward.  Plus, it used sweetened condensed milk in the middle of the layers to make each layer stand out.

First, we started with 2 mixtures.

Mixture #1:

1 1/2 cups boiling water

3 packets of Knox gelatine

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mixture #2

1 1/4 cups boiling water

3 packets of Knox gelatine

(obviously I was working on the cupcakes at the same time)

Then you mix one package of jello with 1 cup of boiling water.

Then add 1/4 cup of the gelatine/water mixture.

Pour it evenly among the cups and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add some of the sweetened condensed milk mixture to each cup.

I found that most of them were set up enough to handle the 2nd layer, but every so often, one would leak and I would get a swirly rainbow instead of a layered one.  30 minutes might be a safer amount of time.

Can you see what I mean about this project taking ALL DAY!

Next refrigerate the white layer for only 10 minutes.

It sets up pretty fast.

If it doesn't seem set when you jiggle the cup a little bit, give it an extra 5.

Then continue this way...jello...milk...jello...milk...until you have all of the layers.

I tried to buy all Wal-mart brand jello because it is cheaper, but they don't have as many cool colors as the real "jello" does.

After hours of layering jello, we added a blob of home made whipped cream and some colored sprinkles, and voila:

Rainbow Jello Cups.

Check out this fun idea I found online...making it in beakers.

(found at momofukufor2)

Here's my opinion (for what it's worth) on rainbow jello:

I wasn't brave enough to taste it because the gelatin/water mixture stunk so bad, that it ruined it for me.  My kids however, loved it.  My husband (also a jello fan) thought it was really good, but a bit too gelatin-ish.  I wonder if it would work to add less gelatin but let it refrigerate longer?  I may have to try it because that much gelatin kind of grossed me out.  But, overall, it was still a huge hit at the party!

And FYI, since I made it in cups instead of in a 9 X 13 pan, I needed an extra batch of the sweetened condensed milk mixture to have enough to go around.

A World of Color

Dalton turned 1 on Friday and we decided to celebrate with color!

We went down to the park and set up a BBQ-Garden Party.

The park is right next to our garden, so it made a perfect backdrop :)

We started with little water bottles and added "Hawaiian Punch Singles" to them.

A box of Hawaiian Punch singles is only $1 and each little packet worked for 3-4 water bottles.  It was a super-cute and cheap way to add a little more color.

Plus, it was a huge hit with the kids!

They loved their colored juices.

(Plus a bonus for moms...the flavors are sugar free!)

We barbequed hot dogs 

(which I don't even like, but it had to be affordable, and my kids love them).

I made home made salsa from the garden, a veggie tray (with veggies from the garden), and rainbow jello cups with home made whipped cream and sprinkles.

They turned out so cute, but oh wow, were they a long process to make!

If you ever decide to try them out, start in the morning...

I made monster cupcakes from "What's New Cupcake?"

It's one of my favorite cupcake books because the designs are surprisingly easy and don't involve any fancy equipment.  Just grocery store candy, frosting, cupcakes, and ziplock bags.  A little time-consuming, but easy :)

Me and my cute baby who's 1 now...

He wasn't quite sure what to make of the candle in the cake.

I've seen him tear into a cupcake before, so I thought he would go nuts over the monster cupcake, but he didn't really care.  There was too much going on and too many people watching.  He wasn't interested at all.

This is the messiest it got:

And...his birthday hat!

A while back, I won a "Charlie Bug Hat Pattern" from Blue Cricket Designs.

Of course, it's meant to be made with fabric and ribbon and such, but I had about 5 mintues to spare before I had to leave for the park, so I used the pattern to make one out of cardstock.  I just placed her pattern over the cardstock and cut both of them out at the same time.  Then I hot glued it all together.  Done in under 5 minutes.  It's not as cute as the fabric one, but not bad for a last minute project :)

(Below is attempt #2 with the birthday cupcake...still no success)

Birthday Bloopers:

-Saxon was riding his bike all over the park.  At one point, my Grandpa asked Saxon to stop next to Dalton so he could get a picture.  Saxon did, but lost his balance and fell over on top of Dalton and the birthday cake.  He smashed the cupcake and got covered in blue monster frosting.  We had to laugh.  What else can you do.  Dalton got another cupcake (which is still didn't want) and we tried to make Saxon feel better (he was embarrassed).

-Dalton started getting fussy half-way through the party and kind of clingy.  So, I was holding him and chatting with my cousin, when he started throwing up all over me.  It was all over me, and him, and in my hair, etc.  Luckily we live close so I could run home and clean us both up.  He must have just eaten something that disagreed with him because after that, he was fine.  Poor guy...

(Linked this idea up to Tatertots and Jello)

A little kindness goes a long way...

Yesterday was a hectic day.

 I was trying to get some new products ready for my shop, get ready for a boutique on the 17th, finish up my Groopdealz order, and try to plan Baby Dalton's 1st birthday party.

I woke up ready to load my kids in the car and start running errands.

But...they woke up begging to ride bikes.

Saxon just learned to ride a bike without training wheels and can't get enough of it.

I had a TON to do, but I felt bad because summer won't last forever, so I agreed.

We went down to the park to ride bikes, and then I loaded them up.

We went to Wal-mart first and I was rushing because we were meeting my cousin Brittany for lunch.  She's been out of town and we missed her.

While we were there, I let my kids each get an apples & peanut butter pack to snack on.

As we were rushing, Bridger somehow got it in his head that a box of jello actually contains jello.  He started begging for jello.

Begging turned to crying, then to sobbing, then to refusing to walk because he was so utterly heartbroken.  Then, I'm trying to drag him behind me and keep him out of anyone else's way so we can check out.

The cashier started handing me bags as fast as she could to get us out of there (Bridger was really making a scene at this point).

So, I manage to get everyone out to the car...really running late at this point...and Saxon asks for his apples.  I start digging through the bags.  No apples.  I double check.  No apples.  Seriously?  The cashier must have forgotten to hand me a bag, and in all of the chaos, I didn't notice.

So, now I am really frustrated.

Saxon is begging for apples, Bridger is sobbing, and I am yelling at everyone to "just stop!"

"Stop crying and get back in the cart.  We have to go back inside..."

Then, this teenage boy with black spikey hair, who had been sitting on the cart racks smoking a cigarette, walked up to us.

"Did you forget a bag?"

"Yes..."

"Why don't you give me your receipt and I'll run back in for you.  It would be a lot of work for you to take all of your kids back in."

I was speechless for a moment.

"Yes, seriously?  Thank you so much!"

And then this sweet kid ran back in and was able to get the rest of my groceries for me.

After thanking him, I got in the car and explained to my kids what this nice boy just did for us.

Then Saxon asks, 

"Mom, when I get big, am I going to be as nice as that boy?"

I told him that he most definitely will, and that we will start practicing now.

We will also work on "not judging a book by it's cover."

This boy didn't look like the type of boy who would come to my rescue and save the day.

But, that's exactly what he did.  Day by day, I hope to teach my boys that when the opportunity comes to spread kindness, they don't think twice...they act.

Harvest

I sent my husband down to the garden to check if there was anything ready to be picked.

This is what he came home with:

He told me that he couldn't get it all because the bag was getting too full and he didn't want anything to get squished.  Oh wow!  I couldn't believe how much there was.  This is one of the reasons we love our garden.  All of the hard work all spring of planting and weeding and watering finally pays off...and in a big way.  Not everything works.  Our carrots aren't looking great and our pumpkins are taking over and threatening to strangle some of our other plants.  I fail every year with my cilantro.  Is there a secret to growing cilantro?  If there is, please fill me in... 

But for the most part, everything is looking beautiful!

There is just something fulfilling about the law of the harvest.  You reap what you sow.  When we work hard to plant this garden and take care of it, then we end up with enough vegetables for our family (and neighbors).  Plus, I have to get creative with my cooking.  Last year, I even tried canning :)  This year, we want to try canning salsa.  I'm still looking for a good recipe though...

And this is what happens when you leave your harvest on the table for too long before you wash it and put it away:

Somehow my baby helped himself to the biggest Roma tomato of the bunch and was walking around the house munching on it.  We could see everywhere he had been by the trails of tomato juice on the carpet...

It took him about a half hour, but he actually ate the whole thing!

What's your favorite thing to grow?

Grilled Salmon Tacos Recipe

I saw this AMAZING looking recipe on the etsy blog today 

(many of you may have seen it too)...

It's grilled Salmon tacos with fire roasted corn salsa.

Since I have corn, onions, jalapeno, and cherry tomatoes in my garden, this will be a fun one to try!

Grilled Salmon Tacos with Fire Roasted Corn Salsa
For the salmon:
1 pound wild Alaskan salmon fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Corn salsa
For the salsa:
2 ears corn, shucked and lightly coated in olive oil
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 small jalapeño, diced
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 small red onion, diced
salt to taste
-
Corn tortillas
Optional:
Thinly sliced cabbage
Crumbled feta or cotija cheese

Yummy, healthy, and summery, I can't wait!

For a full set of instructions and and pictures, go HERE.

I've never spent much time browsing etsy blogs, but I might have to start...

Also, I sponsored the CSI project last week and the winner, Jen from Lipstick and Laundry, posted about my sign today!  Thanks Jen!