Link Roundup - Hungry Bears Edition

So I bought a used bike trailer/jogging stroller. Goose and I have strolled over to the farm twice in four days, and both times I actually did a little bit of jogging with it. One of my catch-phrases is that I don't run unless hungry bears are involved, so I guess they must be around here somewhere.

Let's do something that won't aggravate my sore leg muscles, though.

MAKE
Admittedly I will definitely need Hubs and/or my dad to help with this, here are some Free Downloadable Swing Set Plans at BYO Swingset.

My favorite is the bird in flight on this Quick Craft Colorful Window Display, I am completely in love with this Simple Farm Take-Along Toy, and YOU MUST TRY THIS! (hint: it's Giant Bubbles), and I'm still laughing over the Jumping Bean Races. Also, I am stunned at how much these Super Easy Cool Comets kick the crap out of my Sponge Balls. From my very favorite-est online hangout, Frugal Family Fun Blog.

Girl in Air has a super How To Crochet Sesame Street Hats - VERY well done!

These Paper Plate Animal Crafts from No Time For Flashcards are A.DOR.ABLE!

I am completely enthralled by the Lavender Wands as described at Peculiar Momma. (There is another link to click through to see how to make the lovelies, but I have to give PM some props for pointing me to it.)

EAT
Feels Like Home lists 10 Things to Cook in a Muffin Tin, not counting muffins, of course. :>)

This might pry me away from Parmesan cheese with my popcorn (well, for a minute anyway) - Cinnamon Vanilla Popcorn at Leafy Treetop Spot.

This sounds different (and more eat-the-whole-thing-likely) than other similar recipes I've seen: My Granny's Chocolate Cobbler at The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.

Since I seem to be famous for running out of all kinds of important ingredients and not realizing it until I'm committed (i.e. halfway mixed up), I am going to hang on to this Rainy Day Magic Chocolate Cake from Salsa Pie.

Ohhh, these Cooks Illustrated Blueberry Scones at The Review Lady sound amazing.

A nice change (with chocolate chips!) from banana bread is this Banana Monkey Bars recipe from A Soft Place to Land.

I've made something similar before to these Green French Fries at Dinner: A Love Story (hee!) but my recipe included my beloved Parmesan cheese with the bread crumbs, I think.

DO
Dr. Ray Guarendi tells us how we can get our kids to Nag No More over at Faith & Family Live.

Wish I'd have known this a few weeks ago - Momadvice posted on Freezing Blueberries in 3 Easy Steps.

How Does She? demonstrates a Great Magic Trick that even my Goose could do with a little help.

This Preschool Math Lesson with Lego Measurements from No Time for Flashcards is really cool - I like the estimating part of it.

Whoof, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all these posts, but start with Intro to Sun Protection post (my title, not Katie's...) and then hit the very thorough Natural Sunscreen Review at Kitchen Stewardship. She also has some giveaways and stuff going on, so click around a little.

Who knew? You can Remove Permanent Marker with an Eraser, as seen at Premeditated Leftovers.

I can hardly believe this Chandelier Redo with Mod Podge at The Hand Me Down House - it turned out beautifully! (A few of the middle step pictures had me wondering...)

Impress Your Kids has a review/walk through of sorts of the book Have a New Kid by Friday - I haven't clicked around much yet, but I'd like to do so, and soon!

Happy clicking, friends!

Link Roundup - Feet in the Pool Edition

This post was composed at least in part wading-poolside with my feet in said pool, as Goose occasionally keeps me awake by dumping water on my legs. Life isn't too bad on this HOT day!

MAKE
This Felt Mat, Girl Style from A girl and a glue gun is a super idea!

If you need to craft on the cheap, check out this Sock Wreath from Blue Cricket Design.

A new blog I'm digging is Crafty Mama - lots of neat project ideas over there.

Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog has done it again - this time, it's a Travel Play Kitchen Set that's great for small spaces, and a Mini Paper Doll Travel Set.

I got a huge kick out of this PVC Sprinkler Water Toy via Instructables.

Contrary to what Hubs might think about my garden weeding frequency, I seem to poke through the fingers of my gardening gloves in short order. I can now whip up some Handmade Gardening Gloves with the help of Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. Though I might add some ribbing at the cuffs...

Thanks to Angie at Treasures for Tots for the heads-up on this: DIY Bobbin Organizer from The Sassy Crafter. So far, I have tended to be really stingy with thread, so I don't have too many filled (or partially filled) bobbins. And I have a neat little plastic case. But still? This is a great idea.

Mine would *never* in a million years end up looking quite so neat, but I love this Utility Tote from Bag'n-Tell, with the main reason quite possibly being that the pattern uses algebra.

EAT
Regardless of my marital status, I'm tempted to give Joy the Baker's Single Lady Pancake a try.

If you have an apple abundance this year (don't think I will, sigh...), check out these Applesauce Recipes at Tipnut.

I'm super excited to find these Strawberry Cupcakes that don't start with a box mix and don't include a bunch of weird stuff that isn't really food! Thanks, Daily Nibbles!

The wheels are already turning in my mind about how I can use regular tomatoes to make Nancy Harmon Jenkins' Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce, from The Wednesday Chef.

Even though I'm currently crazy full from overindulging on cookies, I still want to jump up and make these Snickerdoodle Blondies from Brown Eyed Baker.

DO
Probably my favorite part of this post on How To Dry Fresh Herbs at Bargaineering is that it identifies which herbs are better to freeze and which are better to dry. I will have an herb garden one of these years, I will!

Chasing Cheerios has a cheap and easily stored Fun Math Activity.

How fun is this Paper City at Made By Joel??

I can't imagine ever wanting to leave this Mud Pie Kitchen at Pepper Paints.

Really, this is a DON'T DO! from The Red Tape Chronicles, See An Online Job Scammer At Work.

PRAY & PONDER
I really enjoyed this post on What Parenting Books Can't Teach at Faith & Family Live.

Happy clicking!

Link Roundup - Wheat Harvest Edition (Sorta)

We started wheat harvest... and it ground to a halt after it rained this morning. Sigh. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. :>)

So let's do some clicking.

MAKE
Oh, this looks like fun (for next year...)! Make Your Own Fourth of July Confetti Popper Rockets at Alphamom.

Also for next year, Little Birdie Secrets Party Poppers Tutorial.

Some very cute things from Make It and Love It - 4th of July Shirts, Cloth Baby Rings, and a Sewing Machine Cover.

What a sweet Simple Summer Outfit at Yards and Yards and what a cute blog name!

Goose isn't into Barbies yet, but once she is, I will plan to make some of these Upcycled Craft Doll Headbands from Zakka Life.

EAT
Tipnut gives us some ideas on Things to Make with Fresh Blueberries. Yum! Also at Tipnut, How To Make Dried Cherries. And finally, Pomegranates Tips.

Honestly, I can feel my rear end getting bigger just reading the recipe for Homemade Peanut Butter Cups at Mom, Undecided. I need to stay far, far away from that ingredient list...

Mmm, Paint Chips and Frying Pans posted a recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Syrup.

I don't know about you, but I am getting more and more hungry as I type, continuing with Peaches 'N Cream Muffins from Amy's Finer Things.

And it just continues... Pillow Cookies at Bakerella.

Phew - something that makes me not want to immediately bake, but I still want to try this Pizza Sauce from Budget Saving Mom.

DO
Kitchen Stewardship is talking Canning Basics.

If you're traveling in my fair state of Nebraska, check out these Kids Car Activities at Visit Nebraska.

Also at Kitchen Stewardship, Katie is having a giveaway, including her new Family Camping Handbook, which I can personally attest is *awesome*.

Happy surfing!

Link Roundup - "Goes Boom" Edition

This sums up my feelings toward fireworks: Musings of a Fireworks Scrooge. (You'll have to click through to get the "goes boom" part.)

To get my mind off being cranky over all the money going up in smoke and causing my 3 year old to say over the monitor every five minutes "what wazzat, Mama?", let's do some clicking around.

MAKE
While I think cupcakes are delightful in their own, I'm not opposed to simple additions to make them even cuter, like these Cupcake Wrappers Made From Doilies at Intimate Weddings.

I love this idea - Embroidery for Kids a guest post from One Hill Road at Skip to My Lou. It would make great gifts, for sure!

These Paper Globes from Hello, My Name is Heather are so, so pretty in their simplicity.

A Storybook Life has a post on How to Make Beautiful Beads From Recycled Newspaper that are lovely!

Little Apartment on the Prairie tells us How to Make Your Own Beach Glass.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of knocking off cool stuff and making it yourself, so today's version of that tactic is this Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion at Living with Punks.

Sew, Mama, Sew has a tutorial on a very lovely Perfectly Portable Cushion. If you want to see all the Summer Sewing projects, click here.

I think I'm going to keep an eye out for big spoons at thrift shops so I can Make Cute Garden Markers at The Magic Onions.

EAT
Family Balance Sheet has a Grilled Summer Squash with Parmesan and Herb recipe that sounds delicious! From there, I also clicked through to Pasta with Fall Squash and Leeks. Yum.

Not sure if I'm brave enough, but I still am bookmarking this Raw Chocolate "Pudding" at Naturally Knocked Up.

Taste is Trump has a simple recipe for Fruit Leather which apparently is amazing with apricots. Now I'm hungry...

DO
I'm seriously eyeing this Simple Behavior Intervention at Chasing Cheerios for Goose, who also has a listening problem much of the time.

Katie at Kitchen Stewardship tells us how she is battling her fruit flies and How To Naturally Get Rid of Ants in Your House.

To head off the cries of "I'm boooored", Shower of Roses posted about Summer Bingo at their house.

Tipnut has some Tips for Removing Carpet Stains.

RANDOM
This is something I pray I never see, but I thought it was important enough to share: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning, at gCaptain.

This is nothing if not random - How to Open a Bottle of Wine with a Shoe, from wimp.com.

Happy clicking! And I hope you were able to celebrate the 4th with more than just loud noises and burned-up money. :>)

Keeping My Cool

Hubs will be the first to tell you that I'm a big weenie when it comes to heat. I honestly think there's a little glitch in my system somewhere that makes me that way, but I guess I won't know for sure until I get a chance to ask the Big Guy that made me, and once I get to that point, I'm not sure I'll care anyway.

But I digress.

This summer, Goose has wanted to spend more time outside than at any other time in her little life. I am just starting to wrap my mind around the fact that means tons of bug spray and baths, let alone the HEAT. (Feel free to leave a comment with your favorite bug repelling methods, by the way - I'm still looking for one that works besides greasy DEET.)

Today, I whipped up some neck coolers and sponge balls. I looked at a few tutorials for neck coolers (including Salihan Crafts, Heather Lessiter, and Aquadiamonds) but they're all more or less the same: make a long, skinny tube of fabric, stitch across the width of it several inches in on one end, add the crystals, stitch several inches in on the other end, fold in your edges and sew. You soak the cooler in water to activate the crystals, tie it around your neck, and do your thing.

[Edited to add: I made four more for my nieces, and I loosely followed the Aquadiamonds pattern which instructs you to sew several inches in (which makes your tie on one end), add 1/4 teaspoon or so of crystals, sew a few inches up to make a pocket or channel for those crystals, add more crystals, stitch across again, etc. I didn't follow the measurements in the instructions; rather I put pins to mark where I wanted the ties to end/cooler to begin on each end, then I pinned to mark the middle, then I pinned to mark the quarter-way points. So, I ended up with four pockets for the crystals.

Since one of the coolers was for my two-year-old niece, I made hers shorter than the others. I didn't change the amount of crystals I used (1/4 teaspoon per pocket or channel) and hers got pretty tight after soaking the same amount of time as the others that were larger. I plan to re-do mine and Goose's to add the pockets, and I will decrease the amount of crystals in hers.

Also, I discovered that after two days of soaking (in a bowl - not in a cooler!), the crystals that started out smaller than the "bead" on the non-business end of my sewing pins became a bit bigger than a marble. So these things really expand - be aware.]

I made one for me and a smaller one for Goose. Here they are before and after soaking:

(Should you happen to click on the above pic to make it larger, you'll notice that the fabric has kitties on it. :>))


Yup, that's my cluttered countertop, in all its glory. I didn't bother to measure the crystals and I wish that I would have... I was trying to get that part of the project done before the 3 year old got interested in what I was doing. Her smaller cooler could probably have used more crystals, I think.

My biggest obstacle in getting these made was finding the polymer crystals. I didn't want to buy them online and have to wait for them to arrive, but I couldn't get them locally via Wal-Mart or the regional garden store chain. This morning, in a burst of creative genius, I stopped at the local flower shop - success! I ended up with about 2/3 of a cup, which is way, way more than I need, and paid $5, which I thought was too much. But it was the best I could do, and it worked!

The other thing I made was Sponge Balls. I stopped at the dollar store after hitting the flower shop and picked up two bags of sponges for $1 each. Turns out they were miscellaneous and random rejects in varying sizes, shapes and types. I just cut them into strips and went with it, though. The results are kinda cute, I thought:

I'm really looking forward to smacking my brother in the back of the head with these--- I mean, tossing them around with Goose and my nieces.

If there's a Frugal Friday this week, I'll be submitting this post, so if you want more frugal tips, check out Life As Mom.

Weekly Link Roundup - AGAIN??? Edition

Seriously, didn't I *just* post one of these? I wanted to make sure that if you're thinking that, you're not alone. But the calendar says it's the weekend, which means it must be roundup time.

So. Links.

MAKE

Samster Mommy is holding Tutu Drive 2010 to benefit the Princess Alexa Foundation. This foundation takes NEW dress up clothes and matches them with kids who are seriously ill so they can have a bit of fun & make-believe. Items can be handmade, but must be from a smoke free home and kept away from any pets you may have. (Seriously, has anybody else noticed the intense attraction between tulle and cat fur??) Anyway, it ends July 20. Thanks to Christy at Zimms Zoo for the heads up!

Cute, and easy for the little crowd, too - an Easy Garden Welcome Banner from Frugal Family Fun Blog. Scroll down to see a pic of it hanging "on location" - I love how it looks!

Flashback to elementary school with me, and check out this Paper Fortune Teller guest post by I*S*L*Y Blog at Skip to My Lou.

One of my favorite parts of this outdoor Play Tent Tutorial from 2 little hooligans is how it even uses the bags that the sheets came in.

So easy, it's almost a "do" rather than "make" - Homemade Chia Pets, a guest post by The MayFly at Skip to My Lou.

This Booster Seat Cushion Tutorial is super cute, though I admit I found myself wanting to add ties to secure it to the chair, and also to secure the child to the cushion! Goose likes to be safe, what can I say? :>) (@ Smashed Peas and Carrots)

EAT (OR DRINK)
Katie at Kitchen Stewardship is talking milk this week, specifically raw milk. You can find out What Kind of Milk Should I Buy? and I was fascinated by The Real Story of Homogenized Milk, Powdered Milk, Skim Milk, and Oxidized Cholesterol - in short, powdered nonfat milk isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Wow, I wasn't expecting that one!

It's another nail in the coffin for processed food at Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Man-Made Flavors Are Bad For Your Health.

Continuing to teach us so much about dehydrating, this week at Kitchen Stewardship, Katie covered Dehydrating Fruits, Dehydrating Vegetables, and an update on Crispy Nuts. (Since I ran short of soaked oats, I tossed some crispy nuts into my baked oatmeal recipe. I can hardly wait for tomorrow morning to try it out!)

So I'm hungry, and looking at pictures of these Pizza Pockets at Amy's Finer Things doesn't help one bit. Now I'm torn... do I make these for lunch tomorrow or do I hit the church rummage sale and get homemade Runzas there? So hard to choose.

At my house, there would be a candle involved so Mama could toast the marshmallows before making S'mores on a Stick as guest posted by Today's Creative Blog at Skip to My Lou.

I've heard of apple and pork going together before, but these Grilled Apple Pork Chops just use juice, and the magic of the grill. Hmmm. I was also intrigued by using ice in the foil packet with potatoes at that link - I always use butter, but I think I might give ice a try and see what we think.

Remember the post on sprouting grains to grind for flour? There's a link in the comments to recipes at To Your Health Sprouted Flour Company that sound interesting.

DO
Faith & Family Live gives us 5 Ways to Soothe everyday aches and pains for little ones. And they're natural!

Grow a PINEAPPLE?? In Nebraska??? Yup. Who knew? :>)

Just looking at the pictures gives me cold fingers, but the smiles are warm while the little ones are Painting with Ice Cubes at Frugal Family Fun Blog. To make it even easier, they used some paint-with-water pages and an Aquadoodle for fun, too.

This was a {smack} why didn't I think of that? moment: The Adventures of Bear left a comment on my Keeping Toddlers Occupied in the Car post about using a piece of shelf liner for Preschool Sewing (click through to see pictures - love the mismatched PJs!).

Plow, Pluck, Pull, Repeat at Faith & Family Live presented a topic I'd never before considered - connecting field trips into Gospel lessons.

Way to go, University of Nebraska! I came across a link to this publication from UNL that, among other things, helps you compare apples to apples regarding meat (whoa, that cliche took a weird turn). Different types of meat will yield different numbers of servings per pound, so this will help make a better comparison when you're trying to determine the best buy.

There are some super suggestions for Natural Weed Control over at Kitchen Stewardship. My favorite was the cornmeal, and I'm wondering if I can grind field corn in my grain mill to use...

Trent at The Simple Dollar gives a good breakdown of Dealing with Found Cash: What's Right and What's Wrong? As usual, the comments are all over the place, and I didn't even get all the way through them...

Can't say that we ever played it when I was young, but I'm intrigued by I'm Thinking of a Word, a car trip game explained at Faith &; Family Live.

If you don't want to shell out for (or can't find) the clothespegs to store ribbon like I do, you might check out Ribbon 411 at Just a Girl.

This would sink me for sure - Uncluttering Strategy: Buy Back Your Stuff at Unclutterer. Whew.

PRAY & PONDER
I'll admit I e-mailed Hubs the article linked in Got Books at Faith & Family Live because "children who grow up in homes with lots of books go further in their educations than children with fewer books." Goose is SET, let me tell you...

The article Six at In the Heart of My Home provided some fun insight into the minds of six-year-olds and makes me very excited to see what the future holds for my sweet Goose.

Clicking through now to get the link brought tears to my eyes again - I don't know why I'm so moved by this beautiful rosary at Prayerful Beads, but it is truly awesome.

Happy clicking!

Daybook for June 25, 2010

Outside my window... It's HOT and sticky already, though there's a fair wind to help. I'm thinking Goose and I might head to a nearby swimming hole this afternoon.

I am thinking... more about last time's thought about getting into better shape. I actually threw my back out helping Goose of the potty on Tuesday, but thankfully it is not nearly as bad as it could have been.

I am thankful for... air conditioning. And thinking I'm quite a weenie without it. (Hubs would heartily agree.)

From the learning rooms... so much playing and pretending. I enjoy listening to it so much that I keep putting off anything formal. But as always, I'm collecting ideas.

From the kitchen... I cooked up hamburger and froze to use later (though some of it went to sloppy joes, and I also cooked up some chicken breasts in the crock pot, as well as putting some in to marinate and freeze using Amy's recipe. Hmm, there has been a few other miscellaneous things, but I think that covers it.

I am wearing... a "midwives rock" t-shirt and denim capri pants. The shirt is in honor of a Certified Nurse-Midwife friend who is working this summer at a birth center in Texas and witnessed a beautiful, beautiful birth early this morning.

I am creating... some tool pouches for Hubs out of old jeans and I'm plotting out some pillowcase dresses. See the pillowcases below!

I am pondering... how some people's crosses can be so different from ours, and how important our perspective is towards our own cross.

I am reading... Beyond Gay, which I borrowed from our Catholic doctor's office library. I have a couple of extended family members who are gay, and it has been interesting reading.

I am hoping... that I don't overdo things and can give my back a chance to heal. The lawn really needs to be mowed, and Hubs is spending long hours in the fields. Not sure what will happen there.

I am hearing... Goose playing with Nappy. I don't know why, but Goose has kind of all of a sudden been getting rougher with the cats. There have been some "natural consequences" and some hurt feelings, I think.

Around the house... vacuuming, changing sheets, a small amount of dusting, washing dishes - the usual.

One of my favorite things... shopping garage sales! (see below)

A few plans for the rest of the week... proofreading work today, the parish in the nearby town's "junktique" (rummage sale - yes, I'm addicted), Bible study, and interestingly, we're getting my car fixed next week where Hubs hit a raccoon a couple months ago. Usually my weeks are pretty open, but next week holds three days of work since there is a holiday coming up, one dentist appointment, one chiropractor appointment, and one meeting for our parish's 125th anniversary celebration, none of which are particularly within walking distance and up to 30 miles away. Could be interesting.

A picture thought(s) I am sharing... My garage sale finds!


I'm sure it was Heather who suggested plotting out your garage sale route to make the best use of your time, but I can't find that post right now. Anyway, here is my marked-up page of the sales I wanted to hit and the items I was looking for at each sale highlighted. I also made lists on paper of which sales were Friday and which were Saturday so we could get any Friday ones out of the way. I left the whole pile on my washing machine on Saturday. (You can click the pic to make it bigger and see how much pink highlighting there is!)







Friday's finds - some small enamel pots that will either be used for decoration or something functional besides cooking OR in Goose's kitchen, a mortar and pestle, a baby Twins hat for an expecting friend that is also a fan, two yellow gingham vintage pillowcases that will become dresses for Goose and the big sister of the aforementioned baby, some bracelets for the dress-up trunk, and a doll house. There were a few other miscellaneous things, but these were the exciting ones.









Saturday's haul was a little bigger since we hit more sales - I got a bed rail (at top), VHS movies including Mary Poppins, Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Cinderella, Dumbo, and Pinocchio, several very CUTE outfits, a pink winter hat with Snow White on it, a large gift bag (that Goose discovered she can nearly fit into) with Snow White on it, a little light up Glo-Worm game, a pair of church shoes, a pair of snow boots, and a pair of "farm boots", a little barn with keys that open the doors to reveal an animal inside each, a shamrock pinwheel, a package of furniture for the dollhouse, and a monitor, since the one we have doesn't work anymore when I'm outside.








Ahh, yes, and one Care Bear pillow for a dime that is already proved to be worth that many times over.

(PS - I have a terrible time getting the pics adjusted so they look OK in a reader, in e-mail AND on the page. So please excuse any wonky formatting in whatever method you use to view me.)

Replacing Fabric Softener

I have finally done it! I quit using fabric softener. And it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be, either.

I made a set of wool dryer balls using wool yarn purchased with a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby. (You can see what the current coupon is here and print it if you don't get one in the newspaper.) I followed the instructions in the above Tipnut link, and it worked like a charm! One skein of yarn was enough to make the four balls shown, plus a tiny ball that my cats have seriously enjoyed batting around. In fact, I had to pick it up because they were tearing it apart. They enjoy the large balls, too (as does the three year old!) but I try to keep them safely out of reach of little paws and little hands.

Per a post that I linked to a couple of months ago, 12 Surprising Ways to Reuse Aluminum Foil at Wise Bread, I tried tossing a (clean!) ball of foil in the dryer along with the dryer balls. While static wasn't eliminated completely - especially depending on what was in that particular load - I thought it was greatly reduced. The clothespin is in the picture to represent my clothesline (you can see what a nerd I am about it in that post - lots of tips and tricks) which I use faithfully when the weather permits. I have reused the foil ball many times, and while it has gotten smaller and more compacted, it is still working just fine. I'll wait until it's falling apart to replace it, recycling the old ball, of course.

My clothesline went down for a bit this summer, though, and I had to use the dryer. I was pleased with the outcome using the wool and foil. As noted in my clothesline post, I also toss my line dried items in the dryer for a few minutes using low heat or air only, and the balls help soften them up, too.

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Link Roundup - Busy Weekend Edition

The "city" wide garage sales in the nearby town where held this past weekend. My MIL and I went and conquered. :>) I have pictures of some of my more fun finds, can't wait to share them with you but wanted to get the link roundup done first.

We also had our first foray into geocaching. It was SO MUCH FUN, though I might be a bit biased because I found four of them to Hubs' two (and another one went to a cousin who joined us). We hope to do more of it soon!

So, let's get clickin'. Remember that you can hold down the control key and click the link to open in a new tab, or you can also right click and choose to open in a new tab (or a new window, if that's your thing).

MAKE
Too bad I hadn't seen this before I bought a cheap one for Goose and Hubs - it's a homemade butterfly net at Skip To My Lou, guest posted by Little Birdie Secrets.

Another guest post at Skip To My Lou, this time Nature Bracelets from Maya Made.

This post on Homemade Bug Banishing Candles from Positively Splendid is really informative regarding citronella candles and why the ones you buy probably don't do much.

I always love things where you can take the concept and apply it to different types of projects, which you could definitely do with this DIY Tissue Number Birthday Sign from Prudent Baby.

Jessica at Shower of Roses has a lovely project on Teaching Children Liturgical Colors of the Church Year.

We haven't been swimming yet, but hopefully we'll be spending some time in the water, and this Hooded Beach Towel and Backpack Tutorial would come in handy! (@ The Train to Crazy - hee!)

Even if you're like me and not a big fan of snakes, I'm betting one look at this Tie Rattle Snake Buddy from V & Co., one more guest post at Skip To My Lou, will convert you in a hurry!

EAT
These Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Big Red Kitchen sounds like the best of both worlds to me.

DO
Katie at Kitchen Stewardship is working diligently on a camping ebook (and I can tell you firsthand that it's GREAT!) - you can get a sneak preview at Simply Organic with 10 Tips for Successful Camping with Young Children.

I haven't paged through mine yet, but I signed up to get this free workbook from The Well Grounded Life on How to Break the Sugar Habit.

Katie at KS also wrote a comparison between an Excalibur dehydrator and a Nesco dehydrator (square vs. round, in short) and in response, I wrote a review of my Cabela's dehydrator here, which is similar to an Excalibur.

I have a gallon jar that I MUST dig out of storage so I can try Sprouting Grains to Make Sprouted Flour by Kimarie of Cardamom’s Pod, guest posting at Kitchen Stewardship.

Trent at The Simple Dollar posted on Five Big Ways You Need to Think About Christmas ... Now! I've started mulling over my handmade Christmas gifts, but that's as far as I've gotten, I admit.

No Time for Flashcards has a great post on a Travel Craft Box - of course, you can make your own adjustments depending on your child's interests, but it's so helpful to have a place to start. For example, we might include stickers, or at least post-it notes.

Happy surfing!

Treasure Hunting - Citywide Garage Sales