Quiet Book

Somehow I knew this would happen. I started this blog last year determined to finally have a place to write about happening things, crafting and my addiction to reading and Pinterest. Of course that worked for a few weeks. But like everything else, it has been forgotten... until now.

I have been obsessing over the super cute quiet books that I've found all over Pinterest. And with a last minute vacation on the books, I decided that it was finally time. I planned out 8 pages, which I thought was doable in the three week deadline I had given myself (I work much better with a deadline). I hadn't pulled out my sewing machine in several years (4 to be more precise). Apparently more of my grandmother's lessons stuck with me than I thought. I completed the 8 pages in a week and added 2 more. Start to finish it took me 12 days.

So here it is....

Gwendolyn's Quiet Book

Front & Back Covers

I decided to go with felt pages, using a stiff interfacing that could be ironed to help the little hands using it. The big G is an iron on (I also used a lot of heat n bond). The title was a font I had in my Silhouette Studio that I traced and then hand stitched. The back cover was just a little free hand. I didn't have binder rings, and currently the ribbon of my nightmares (see last page of book) is holding this book together.

Color & Shape Matching 
The paint palette came from a template I found here. I got the idea for the shapes on Pinterest as well but sketched out exactly how I wanted it and picked the shapes I wanted. Both pages have the rough part of velcro to hold the pieces in the book. On the paint page the velcro is around the paintbrush. The shapes velcro are on the shapes sewn to the page. Each page has double layer felt pieces that can be picked up and matched over and over. 



Laundry & Dress Up 
The laundry inspiration came from here, except I didn't want to deal with clothespins so mine is just ribbon sewn down. The girl page is a combination of three different templates that I changed up to make my own.



Lion Page & Weaving

The super cute lion is everywhere but I used this template. I made my own weaving from ribbon.

Zippers & Counting Beads

I had to add zippers they are such a great fine motor skill. The bead page was unnecessarily the hardest page I did. I will use flat ribbon if I make this page again. And repeat. This cute string ribbon was a PAIN.

Enjoy! It wasn't as hard as I was expecting and I think she will really like playing with this book. Cute, fun and educational. Can't beat that.

Dipping Oil & Salsa

So much has been happening around here lately that I've not really had the time to work on anything for the blog. However I do have a huge project in the works that I hope to share soon. I though I would take the opportunity today to share two of my favorite appetizers.

Dipping Oil (Like the stuff you get from Carraba's)

We love Carraba's. It was the first place we ate at as a married couple. Most of what I eat there is the bread with the oil and then save most of my food for leftovers the next day. We have tons of different spices for dipping bread but none compares. This is such an easy recipe that I found online. I don't know how many times I've lost the piece of paper that I've written the recipe down on. At least now I will always know where it is. 

Dipping Oil

(This is excellent with warm, homemade bread)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon minced basil

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

1/8 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except oil & lemon

Chop together (I use my small food chopper)

Stir in oil & lemon

Serve 1 1/2 teaspoons of herb spice with 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Salsa

Now that summer is here and the farmers market is in full swing, this is the best time of year to make fresh salsa. I've already made 2 batches of this stuff. I don't think either one lasted longer than 24 hours in our house.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

Cilantro

Onion

Garlic (usually 1 clove is enough, unless your batch is huge. You have been warned.)

Salt

Lime juice

Jalapeño peppers

Mix together in chopper and let chill before devouring.

This recipe is one of the few that I have that doesn't have measurements. You can use as little or as much as you like. If I'm doing a bigger batch I will chop my tomatoes separate from everything else then just mix together in the bowl.

Crystal

Vegetables and Swimming Pools

What a full weekend we've had around our house. Gwendolyn got her first swimming lesson today.

Absolutely adorable in her swimsuit. 

**Let me just make a little note. This post is mostly about her first time in the pool and her swimming lesson. Who better to teach her how to swim than me. I spent most of my childhood at the city pool, which I was a lifeguard at for 4 years. I just hope she loves the water as much as I do.

You can find videos about teaching kids and babies to swim here.

Now back to G's swim lesson...

First dip in the warm water.

This doesn't seem so bad.

She finds this very interesting.

And fun. Yay!

So much to stare at.

Just a little water over her head and face.

We had so much fun playing in the water and watching her turtle swim around the pool.

"Pruney" Feet

I don't know what we're going to do when we get to the next step of our swimming lessons. I need to find a quiet pool that I can fit in to as well. This tiny pool only fits my arms. Oh well...we still have a ways to go to get to that point. 

Garage sales and farmer's market

We also went to our first garage sale and farmer's market of the year. Yes I know. Our weekends have been very busy and full. All of my spoils for only $20. I see some fresh homemade salsa in our future. 

I had to throw in this little tid bit. Anytime we unbuckle the car seat, she is ready to "help" us get her out. Nearly every time she arches her back. Little turkey.

Crystal 

Celebrations & Crocodile Tears

Hooray for Father's Day!

Yesterday was John's First Father's Day. Our little girl loves her daddy so much. It is a daily occurrence around our house to hear silly daddy noises followed by baby giggles and squeals. He is such an amazing father and I wanted to take one more opportunity to share it with everyone.

If she is ever smiling away from the camera it is usually because her daddy is making her laugh, which most always leads to a blurry picture. It takes lots of shots to get one that is mostly clear :)

John's Father's Day present was a hand stamped keychain that I bought on Etsy from Divine Stampings. The little wing matches my Mother's Day necklace.

Four Month Check Up

I'm happy to report Gwendolyn had a perfect check up today. She is 24.25 inches long (50th percentile), 12 pounds (25th percentile), and her head is 15.5 in (10th percentile). Her tiny head finally made it onto the growth chart. She definitely is our itty bitty. 

Along with this check up comes more shots. This is where the crocodile tears come from. Thankfully the nurse was great and it was over in about 5 seconds. So glad John was with me for it this time. She didn't seem to cry as loud as before, but she definitely did cry longer.

It won't be too much longer before we start with the solids. Somehow I feel a little bittersweet about that. But first I'd like her to put on a little more weight before we get into changing up her diet.

Crystal

Rolo Cake Mix Cookies

Also titled...

The Great Cake Mix Cookie Disaster

We love these cookies at my house, and since we were having guest over, I thought I would make a batch. I ran into a problem when I was following my original recipe, which I had shared with several friends. 

Now it has been a while since I made these cookies. I followed the recipe but when I got to the point where I add the Rolo and roll them into nice little balls, it was more or less like sticking my hands into glue. I think it may have been because I used the Super Moist cake mix. I really can't remember what kind I had used in the past, so I'm completely guessing here. 

Hence this blog post. I have added a step if you have run into this problem like I have. So please enjoy one of the most wonderful cookie recipes I've ever made. 

Note: This recipe is from John's grandma, but I've made some alterations, not to the ingredients but the preparations.

Cake Mix Cookies (Oh Yums!!)

Here's what you need: One box of cake mix (any kind but yellow is what is pictured), 

1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs & Rolos (if you choose).

*Sorry for the pictures. They were taken with my phone after I had discovered the problem and solved it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together cake mix, 1/2 cup of oil, and 2 eggs. 

**Here is where I started to wonder if there was a problem. If your mixture is too sticky to roll into a ball without getting covered in batter, refrigerate for a couple of hours. There are a lot of recipes that I end up skipping this step on, but added it here because I would have lost half of the batter on my hands. 

Unwrap the Rolos and smash them with a sturdy plastic cup (or really anything flat). I used to do this in my hands until they nearly left bruises on my palms. I've found that by flattening the Rolos they melt better and the cookies don't look like they have little chocolate tumors.

Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball. I use a cookie scoop anytime I make cookies that way they are all the same size. If you're adding Rolos, this is where I just smooth it in there and wrap the cookie dough around it. Then place on a cookie sheet.

Here is another very important note. I don't grease my cookie sheets. I line them with parchment paper. The first time I made these cookies I did not use the parchment paper and the better part of the Rolo stuck to the cookie sheet leaving nice gaping holes in the bottom of my cookies. The pieces of caramel that did not stick were hard as a rock.

Bake for 11 minutes at 350. Eating one of these while it's still warm is oh so good. 

Since my time in the kitchen is limited and most of the time its just the two of us, I've been doing cookies in small batches. I refrigerate the rest of the dough for a couple of days later. That way we're not eating them all at once, and they're always enjoyed warm.

Rolo Cake Mix Cookies 

Ingredients:

Cake Mix (any kind)

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

2 eggs

Rolos (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together cake mix, oil and egg. Chill a couple of hours if dough is sticky.

Unwrap and smash Rolos 

Roll cookies into ball (add Rolos if you want to experience pure delight)

Drop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for 11 minutes

Enjoy!

Finally!

Years in the Making...
This blog has been in the making for several years now. I keep putting it off but not anymore. I've needed a place to put recipes, crafts and educational ideas. And now I need a place for baby pictures since John thinks I clog Facebook with pics of G.


A Little About Me...
I am a wife to a wonderful man. John and I have been married for 6 years this last May. He is the one who is lucky enough to the guinea pig for all of my cooking and baking.

As of February I am now a mommy. Our beautiful little Gwendolyn has been such a blessing to our lives. She is a large part of the reason why I'm finally getting around to starting this blog. I need a place to share my many pictures and stories of little miss G.

 She is so absolutely perfect. I fall more in love with her each second.

Lastly for now, I am a teacher. I spend everyday of the school year educating 4 & 5 year olds. I love what I do.

What you'll find here...

My goal is to use this blog as a place for my recipes, creations for school, crafts, and of course my many pictures of the most beautiful baby girl ever. I might be just a little biased.

Thanks for visiting.