All posts tagged: summer

Whatcha doin’?

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We have been experimenting and spraying beads gold and watching lots of ‘Wild Kratts’ this week as my smallest has been sick. I have been keeping up with the A Beautiful Mess 30 day self portrait challenge on Instagram, it has been a tricky one, I mean not much changes from day to day! It does force creativity though, so I have enjoyed that so far. I am at day 23, nearly done. This experiment came from the new ‘Martha Stewart’s Favorite Crafts for Kids’ book. I was lucky enough to get a copy at the New York Alt summit and I have to say it is chock full of great crafts and experiments. Lots of ‘what a great idea, why didn’t I think of that’ ideas. For this one, you just fill a jar with clear water. In a separate bowl mix one tablespoon of vegetable oil with drops of food coloring (we didn’t have red, which I bet looks cool). Mix up the oil and colour and pour onto the water. It just …

Want. Smell. Love.

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I want this bag so badly, love love love it!  It is in the new Anthropologie catalogue, but I can’t find it online.  What a bunch of teasers!  It is out of my league anyway, so I will just gaze upon the picture of it. I am loving this summer fragrance. I waft it about generously! It is very light so can be wafted without anyone fainting.  I am not honestly sure what Salt Air should smell like, but this smells light and summery and just like salt air…. I bought these fab items at a sale last week. I use the yellow jug to water my hanging baskets and I just like to look at the colours and pattern on the mat. These are my very favourite bracelets to wear this summer. They are five wood elastic bracelets I got at Buddha and Beads in Cape Cod for $1 each and they are the best. This pile of summer is going to be a lovely bracelet this week. Snacks.  I don’t get my paws …

July ten on the 10th

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As usual (it seems!), it is raining on the morning of ten on the 10th. At least it is cooler that way, so no complaints here. Following some thunderous storms in the early hours, it was still raining when we planned to set off to see Despicable Me 2 at the cinema.  So, we grabbed the umberellas, stopped on the way for illegal snacks (how much are cinema sweets?  Too much, I tell you!) and off we went. I got a funny poster picture of a minion from the movie theatre which also fitted today’s photo a day challenge theme which was ‘Smooth’.  He he. Space man toy. My button tin, just some of my vintage buttons which I love to use in jewelry but I am often unwilling to part with them! Button bracelets, made with the aforementioned buttons.  I wear these two, but I am planning to make some to sell, if I can stop myself from claiming them as mine! During the summer, we usually end up at the YMCA pool every …

Sun prints revisited

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We are getting into the sun prints this summer. Might as well put the scorching sun to good use! The prints we made last week have been made into new pictures with the help of me, some markers and my eight year old son! As we finished drawing on the original prints, Bodhi told me he had already put some more items out to ‘print’! What projects have you got up your sleeve for the summer holidays?

Sun prints

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I read about sun prints in a post by Jeanette at Artchoo I think, I honestly can’t remember where I saw the idea, but I am sure it is not my own!  Anyway, go see Artchoo, it is chock full of kids art projects and ideas! We used construction paper and random objects and put them in full sun for the afternoon. After a few hours (about 5), the magic was revealed!  I think there is more we can do with these ‘prints’.  Watch this space (mainly because I haven’t done anything with them yet!). I made a heart with buttons which moved slightly during the process and gave a double exposure effect.  I love the scissors, the blue paper was very successful.   Construction paper fades out so quickly I am sure this would work well in less sun and less time. I see more sun print experiments in our summer break.  What are you up to?  Making lots of art and having a great time I hope!  

Phone photo apps

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Have you updated your ‘over’ app lately? I just updated mine and I have lots of cool new and free artwork to add to my pictures. While we are on the subject of apps, do you know of any app which allows you to draw on your own photos? I know Laminar Express lets you do this but the ‘pen’ line is super thick and I would like a thinner option. What cool photo apps do you use? Any new ones I need to know about?

Iced coffee

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Today and yesterday have been hot ones here in St Louis, up into the 90’s – phew! So I decided to make some iced coffee and add in some flavour. I bought some cinnamon nibs from Penzey’s Spices in Maplewood and I mixed them into the ground coffee before brewing.  I didn’t grind up the nibs, just left them whole. To make the orange coffee, I added fresh zest to the ground coffee.  I brewed both coffees and left them to cool. To ensure coffee all the way to the bottom of the glass rather than watery ice cubes, I make coffee ice cubes. Add milk and sugar if you like.  I do.  If you like black coffee, I would pour over a splash of fresh coffee to get the ice cubes melted a little bit, so you at least have something to drink! Do you like iced coffee?  Iced tea?  Do you add any extras?

Strawberry and cheesecake all in home made ice cream

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Lovely lovely lovely lovely home made ice cream lurks in my freezer! Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (from Kraft Foods) 80z cream cheese – softened 14oz can condensed milk 1/3 cup heavy cream 2 tsp lemon zest 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries 3 graham crackers (I used Trader Joes) broken up – I put them in a zip loc bag and bashed them quickly with a rolling pin Mix the cream cheese, condensed milk, cream and zest until smooth.  Freeze until almost solid (about 4 hours). Beat the cream cheese mix again until smooth.  Blend the strawberries to a sauce and add to the cream cheese with the graham crackers. Freeze until firm.  Take out of the freezer 15 mins before serving. Now, I want to try this with other berries like blueberries and even different cookies.  I will report back on my experiments!   Here are some more photos I took at the Lantern Exhibit at the Botanical Gardens.  I took these on my iPhone using Hipstamatic, Instagram and Shake it Photo.