Father's Day Footprints Gift



Thankfully holidays come around to force me to have ideas I can blog about.
This is my dad's Father's Day present made with all of his grand kids. 

Too bad this is about, oh, a month late.  But I’m 3 months early for grandparent's day!

I was going to do this as a tutorial, but what else do you say besides

1. paint feet

2. stamp feet

…?

So I’m going to show you through pictures how it came together and how much fun we had.  Check at the bottom for ideas on how to do this successfully yourself.

so much fun (for everyone over two, at least)!

Ideas:

1. Gob on the paint.  Tons and tons.  Or else it prints lightly.
2. Use sponge brushes, not paint brushes.  Have a separate brush for each color paint.
3. You will need one adult per child under 2, and an additional adult to stamp the footprints.
4. If the little one’s footprint smears beyond recognition, add “toes” using your pinkie.
5. An old paintbrush A brand new toy can help a little one stay occupied while you paint a foot. 
6. Have the hose or a bucket filled with soapy water and some towels nearby unless you don't mind painted footprints trailing from your work station to your bathroom.
7. Enlist your awesome brother-in-law to take photos to capture the whole thing for your blog.
8. I smudged a thumbprint on the canvas.  I said it added to the charm.  If something like this happens to you and it bothers you, try sponging the same color on as a border.  Or, just say "it adds to the charm."
9. We wrote "Papas are there at every step," since we couldn't find a quote we loved.  The runner up was the last line from the poem "Footprints in the Sand."

And, of course, a pic of the lovely and her daddy on their very first Father's Day!

I'm linking up!

Photo Album Gift: From Average to Awesome

I wanted to give my friend a photo album for her birthday.  I couldn’t find one I liked at a price I liked.  Then I had an idea…

Time for a photo album makeover!

Start with these items:

Note: my album came from Jo Ann's but maybe you could find one cheaper at the dollar store???

       

Not pictured: Fabri-Tac Glue, which I fell in love with in THIS tutorial. Or hot glue, or whatever glue you prefer.

Step 1:

Use the fabric to cover the album the same way you used to cover textbooks with brown paper bags.

I glued the fabric to the spine and the inside of the front and back cover.

Step 2:

Cut the paper to fit the inside cover of your album, and glue in place to cover the fabric seams.

Step 3:

Glue on your embellishment.

My album came in a clear cover, so I slipped the cover back on.

Slip a gushy note in one of the front photo slots, and BAM, cute personalized album that went from average to awesome!

Thanks for checking out the "Average to Awesome" photo album makeover!

Today I linked up to Be Colorful, Between Naps on the Porch, and Its so Very Cheri.

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Mexi-Mountain: a Summer-Time Recipe

Before I post, I just have to say woot to my first follower and first comment!  YAY!

We ate this colorful meal for dinner last night.  The idea came from one of my old college roommates, and morphed into this scrumptious summer-time dinner. 

BONUS: It is healthy, and dairy-free.

***We eat this dinner year round, but it is awesome when we get the main items from people’s gardens for FREE over the summer!

So the recipe is as follows:

MEXI-MOUNTAIN

Serves 4

3 bell peppers (one green and two other colors, this time was red and orange), chopped

1 medium/large tomato, chopped

1/2 of a red onion, chopped

2-3 TBSP olive oil (more or less for taste)

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

1 can black beans, drained

Optional: 4 cooked chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces.

Lime

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. 

Combine first 5 ingredients in a 9x12 baking dish, toss to coat with the seasoning.

Cover with foil and cook for 40 minutes.

Next, mash the avocado and beans together. 

Divide mixture into quarters and spoon each quarter onto your dinner plates (one quarter per plate), patting down with fork/spoon to make a “bed”.

Scoop cooked vegetable mixture on top of the “bed” of beans and avocado.

If you are using chicken, layer on top now.  Drizzle some of the juices from the cook dish on top of the chicken.  Squeeze lime juice on to taste.

Lick plate clean…

the hubs is a member of the clean-plate club

Editorial comment: We are carb-lovers in this house so we ate food that I did not picture AFTER we were done with this dinner.  Next time, we will try this dinner with CORN BREAD.  We used to eat the early versions of this recipe in crunchy taco shells.

Pretty easy, especially if you use rotisserie chicken. 

And as promised, pics of the lovely.

Hubs and little lady watching Veggie Tales while I eat dinner from the couch, not the table with a pretty place setting as I would have had you believe from the pics above.  Yep, we always eat in shifts, always sitting on the couch.

I'm partying over at Fireflies and Jellybeans.