LINKS TO LOVE

I have decided to start a post series called 'links to love' where I will post links to interesting/fun/creative stuff I have stumbled upon on the internet. So here it goes....

1.) FALL ACTIVITIES IN MADISON - Free activities, festivals, farms/orchards, & Halloween events all around Madison

2.) THE MOM STAYS IN THE PICTURE - An article I read a while back, but has stuck with me. You may not be perfect, but you are always perfect in their eyes.

3.) LESSONS FROM THE TARGET AISLE - A post from one of my favorite blogs that not only gives great advice about raising little boys, but also reminds you not to get your undies in a bundle the next time a mom tries to give you advice. 

4.) THE THRIFT SHOPPER.COM - Put in your zip code and it will show you all of the thrift shops in your area. What?! Looks like it's time to get thrifty! 

SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN SALAD WITH CILANTRO DRESSING & AVOCADO

I got this recipe from The Garden Grazer, added an extra can of black beans, some grilled chicken and avocado to make it more of a meal and thought it was pretty darn tasty.

If you are not a huge cilantro fan, just top with different dressing. Maybe homemade healthy ranch? See below.

Salad Ingredients
Large head of romaine
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large orange bell pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed)
5 green onions
Strips of grilled chicken
Slices of avocado

Desired dressing

Directions
Finely chop romaine, bell pepper, tomatoes, and green onions.
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
Top with dressing, grilled chicken and slices of avocado.

Cilantro Dressing Ingredients
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)
1-2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions
Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Easy homemade healthy ranch dressing from Wellness Mama:

MIXED TAPE MONDAY: EASY LISTENING Vol. 2

I haven't made a 'Mixed Tape Monday' post in forever, so here is another mix of my favorites. I am pretty much obsessed with the band Walk off the Earth. They write their own songs, but also do some pretty awesome covers. I have always loved Brett Dennen and I am diggin' Delta Rae's 'If I Loved You."

Thanks to Pandora, late night YouTube sessions with Logan and my constant 'Now Hear This" emails back and forth with my musical soul sister, Raija, I seem to land on a variety of different tunes.  

This gem isn't available on Grooveshark yet, so here is the video:

Yup, We are going to this. Puuurty stoked about it.

Delta Rae's "If I Loved You"

Hall and oates singing "I Can't Go For That"

Walk off the Earth doing a cover of one of my favorites

STAMP IT - CLOTHING, HOME GOODS, TOTES, AND GIFT WRAP!

After stamping the tea towels I figured I could do this on so many things. Here are some ideas in case you decide to give it a go. I plan on trying it on a T-shirt soon! Who wants to come over for a stamping party? No, really. Who?! :)

 

POM POM FRINGE INSPIRATION

As a little follow up from yesterday's tutorial, I thought I would show some other examples of how you can use pom pom fringe. It is kind of my favorite. I would add it to pretty much anything. :) I will have lots of stamping inspiration and ideas up tomorrow. Happy Thursday!

DIY HAND STAMPED TEA TOWELS

Sometimes a girl just gets the urge to craft. At least I do. Sometimes I need to do more than just push pixels (graphics lingo) around a screen and actually get my hands dirty. I need to build, paint, or sew something!!! You know... like actually MAKE something I pinned instead of just pinning it. I had seen some DIY stamping tutorials on Pinterest & I wanted to give it a go.

I kind of combined a few different tutorials, experimented a bit, and made a few changes to come up with this.  

I made two different tea towels. 

The yellow one I bought fabric and sewed my own tea towel.

(100% cotton fabric - used for making cloth diapers, so super duper adsorbent)

And the pink one I bought from Walmart, which are sold in two-packs for $1.89!

If you like to sew, great. If you don't, buy plain white tea towels and use those. Either one will work - it's the same process. (***Note: Make sure the towel/fabric you buy does not have a lot of texture. The ink will not distribute evenly on the fabric. For example: a waffle weave towel wouldn't work well.)

Here is what you will need: 

  

Step #1: Decide on your design and make your stamps 

- I used wooden blocks that I had laying around, but you can use anything just as long as it is the right size for your stamp and a sticker will stick to it.

- Cut your foam in the design that you want. Obviously geometric designs work best and are easiest to cut, but really the possibilities are endless as long the design isn't too detailed.

- Peel of the back of the sticker and stick your design to the block.

Step #2: Wash, dry, and iron your towels

Step #3: Get ready to paint

- Put something under your towels so the paint doesn't leak through onto the table or other parts of your towel. I used an old magazine.

- Mix your paint colors. Use 1:1 ratio of acrylic paint and fabric medium. (a mixture of half paint and half fabric medium)

Step #4: Stamp your towels.

- Paint directly on your stamp. 

- Place your stamp where you want it on your towel and press down firmly. 

***Reapply paint to your stamp with your paintbrush before each stamp.

Step #5: Let your towel dry for at least 24 hours

Step #6: Iron your tea towels to set the paint

Step #6: Add some detail by sewing on edging.

There are tons to pick from. I picked the small tassel edging b/c I wasn't sure how the large ones would wash up.

And she strikes again...

COCONUT ZUCCHINI COOKIES

Is summer really over? Is the long weekend really over? Do we all have to head back to the daily grind today? Are our days of sundresses and flip flops numbered? What about days at the lake? Are they gone, too? YES. YES, it is all true.

Buuuuuttttt...... most of us live in Wisconsin (my stats page tells me this) and FALL is right around the corner. That means chunky sweaters, jeans, scarves, pumpkin spice lattes, football games (not that the Buells give a hoot about football) crisp air, the changing leaves, bonfires, pumpkin patch going, and apple baking. Ohhh just writing this is already making today better. Hello Fall! I am ready for you!

But before we head on over to the neighborhood bonfire with our spiced apple cider and chunky scarves, let's use up the zucchinis that are taking over our gardens. whatdoyasay? 

Last year we planted TWO zucchini plants in our garden and we had zucchini coming out of our ears. I baked and cooked zucchini everything. We didn't plant any this year, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't get any...   

Our neighbors sent their little girl over to our house the other day with a GIANT zucchini from their garden - like a big as my arm kind of giant. I do not like to waste food, especially homegrown, organic goodness, so I was on the search for some yummy (and of course healthy) zucchini recipes to try. Here is zucchini recipe #1! It is a keeper.

Ingredients:
1 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes (I used unsweetened)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut oil and sugars, mix until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract. Next, add the shredded zucchini. Mix until combined.

4. Slowly add flour mixture until just combined. Stir in oats, coconut, and chocolate chips.

5. Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or cookies are slightly golden around the edges and set. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

(Recipe from two peas and their pod)

Did you all have a fabulous Labor Day weekend? What did you do?
In case you do not follow along on Instagram, I will do a quick recap of our weekend. We got Ellis' play kitchen all ready to be sanded, primed and painted, I baked up a storm, we went to the Taste of Madison with some friends and had key lime pie, buffalo chicken dumplings, meatball sandwiches, and drinks. Lots of drinks. :/ We also saw the boat show downtown, and went pontooning with our neighborhood friends. I pretty much loved every second until we had a baby meltdown after she missed both of her naps yesterday while we were pontooning. Yikes! That child needed "night night" stat!