Link Roundup, Meatloaf on the Grill Edition

I tried a new meatloaf recipe last night but did NOT want to run the oven for two hours. So, I put it on the grill. I made a small pan out of heavy duty foil, and put the shaped loaf in it, then slid a cookie sheet under the foil to take it out to the grill. Once I had it positioned, I made sure the edges of my foil pan were all standing up and added the water. I grilled it on medium-low for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes. I also made grilled potatoes on the other side (and then used leftover potatoes in breakfast burritos this morning and leftover meatloaf in sandwiches at lunch).

So. Links! This is sort of two weeks worth, so hang on to your hats -

MAKE
Valerie posted about a fun modern art project her daughter did - very cute!

Here is a fun easy handmade bubble blower at Chasing Cheerios made out of straws. Possibly the best part is the comment that a few pin pricks mean you can blow out to make bubbles but not suck in any yucky stuff (bleah!).

Along those lines, Monkey Lobster has directions on making giant bubbles with a homemade wand.

Calamity Kim (great blog name!) has a post on How to Make Chiffon Flowers. I love the imperfections of them!

Martha Stewart has some downloadable doily patterns that are shown printed on labels and stuck on tins. My recommendation? Pair that with the repurposed tins that you cover with scrapbook paper yourself. Oh, and I wouldn't spend money on full-page labels, either . . . I'd print on regular paper and cut it out, then use Mod Podge or other glue to stick it to the tin. Or a at a minimum, I'd try to make stickers out of the leftover part of the label!

I was highly amused by these fish in a bag soaps at Peak Candle Supplies.

I'm intrigued by the method these custom wooden nickels are made. (at Just Something I Made)

Here's another water bottle tote, at The Long Thread this time. I like the elastic at the top to keep the bottle in. Now I just need a decent water bottle . . .

My sister-in-law Rach sent me a link for this Recycled Wine Bottle Torch. When I look at our life, I'm a bit taken aback by how little time Goose and I seem to spend outside some days. I really dislike mosquitoes (and their bites, and things like West Nile Virus), and I also really dislike coating myself and my kid in bug spray chemicals, and I further dislike having to try to scrub off said chemicals once we come inside. We talked to some friends recently about their bug control methods, which include a mosquito magnet placed at the edge of their farmyard and twice weekly spraying, but then I wonder 1) about the effectiveness of spray when it's OUTSIDE and then 2) if it hangs around, then your kid is picking that up while playing in the grass. No winners here. Anyway, the torch is way cool. :>)

DO
Valerie also has some great Laundry Day Fun ideas at Frugal Family Fun Blog. I don't have too hard of a time getting laundry done, though Goose sometimes "helps" me by putting things in or taking them out . . . one. at. a. time. But, in a number of years hopefully I'll have her doing laundry on her own, so I'm trying to think of the payoff down the road.

Here is an amazing post on a Dr. Seuss baby shower at Kara's Party Ideas that is crazy cute and well-thought out! I'm thinking it was likely pretty pricey, though. I think, though, that there are ideas that can be borrowed from it to pull off something of similar "ooh" factor for less cash . . .

Whisker Graphics has a very cute printable for a 5 Good Things Booklet. It was created as a way of looking at the positive in each day, and the booklet holds a week's worth of good things. (And I love the design!)

EAT
Tipnut has posts linking recipes for pizza sauce and pizza dough. I have collected a bazillion recipes for both and have yet to find one that doesn't make me go "meh". It's really a personal thing, I think.

LEARN
I beg your pardon for interjecting a quite serious note. I came across a link to Regina Doman's 20 Things You Can Do For Those Who Are Grieving. Regina wrote it after her son Joshua was killed in a tragic accident. It is recirculating after Mary Ellen Barrett's son drowned last week. It has reminded me to pray for all who have lost a child at any stage of life, from the womb on up. I can't imagine the hole it leaves in a parent's heart.

I think a lot about how God uses suffering to draw us closer to Him. Karen Edmiston has a knack for saying things better than I can, and quoting the good ones. In Keeping Company with Karen, an interview at just another day of Catholic pondering, she notes:

C.S. Lewis once said that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

(Now go read the rest for the context!)

Trent at the Simple Dollar wrote a great post on dorm clutter: what you actually need for college that I should have had 15 years ago (yikes!). Actually, this could apply toward pretty much most of life - I know I have way WAY more stuff than I really need.

Scroll down about half way in Melissa Wiley's Scribbles and Bits post for some really great links on watercolors. Very interesting . . . and a long way, I'm sure, from the watercolors of my childhood.

Melissa Wiley also provided a link to this post on making Ivory soap souffle in the microwave. We'll have to wait a few years for Goose to appreciate it, but it sure looks fun!

It's been a while since I've linked to Jen at Conversion Diary, but her post on Stopping to Smell the Roses: a Practical Guide really struck me this week. What it said to me was that if I want to fit in more, I need to do less, though that isn't really what she says. Oh, heck, just go read it for yourself. :>)

My knitting skills are still in the very preliminary learning stages. So when I saw a tip on using a crochet hook to pick up dropped stitches, I was intrigued. Interestingly, it came in a post at Girl on the Rocks in a tutorial on making a keychain crochet hook. Man, I love the internet. How random is that?

We won't be going this year, but I have Hubs locked in to taking Goose and me to the 2010 Nebraska State Fair since it's moving closer to where we live. Trent at the Simple Dollar wrote a post last year on A Frugal Guide to the State Fair with lots of great tips on how to get the most out of it.

Speaking of Trent at the Simple Dollar, he also has a post on I'll Do It Tomorrow (basically lack of motivation). I need to revisit this on a regular basis . . .

Copyblogger wrote about 5 Common Grammar Mistakes that I read with interest. I'm a bit of a grammar lover, but I know I make big mistakes sometimes - especially when I'm in a hurry! (So if you ever catch a mistake on my posts . . . feel free to gently let me know! :>)) I have to admit the one I notice the most is when people use an apostrophe when the word is actually plural. (i.e. The cat's are in the barn. Should be "cats".) (My apologies for friends who I've mentioned this to . . . it's a compulsion, really.)

And finally, this one is for Lori who recently got curious about cooking habits: Trent at the Simple Dollar wrote about the lessons he learned after embarking on an adventure of making (and making suggestions to remake) a number of recipes from NPR's How Low Can You Go series. (visit the post for a whole bunch of links and some interesting sounding recipes - plus Trent's comments) Trent is considering a food blog and I hope he does it!

Whew - next week should be better since I won't have two weeks of posts.