Valentine's Day Embroidered Shirts

I love Valentine's Day, and it's only about a month away!  There are so many cute Valentine embroidery designs out there, but I finally decided on these two.  I like that Harlow can wear them anytime since they don't actually say Valentine.

Click here to get: Hearts Gumball Machine design

Click here to get: Olive You design

I got the shirts from Children's Place and used a seam ripper to take the pocket off the white shirt.

My gumball machine is a little crooked on the pink shirt, but I'm still learning :).  Maybe it won't be apparent when she actually wears it.  I used a stock font on my machine to embroider her name.

I'm guessing I'm too old to wear a shirt like this? ;)

How to Make Powder Laundry Detergent (EASY!)

Ready to make the easiest powder detergent ever?  It doesn't get easier than this!  It's also much more affordable that buying detergent.  Win-win!

Combine equal parts of oxy powder, baking soda, and washing soda.  You can save even more money if you use an oxy powder cheaper than Tide Oxi.  I had a coupon that saved me a lot of money, so that's why I bought Tide.  I also like the smell, but you won't really smell it once you wash.  You can buy all these products at the grocery store in the cleaning/laundry aisle.

I usually add a cup of each powder into a cleaned out coffee container.  Then I put the lid on and shake, shake, shake!

I use this detergent mainly for Harlow's clothes and cloth diapers.  The liquid detergent I make has Borax in it, and I've read that Borax can irritate a baby's skin.  Harlow has very sensitive skin, so I started making this for her.  Other detergents have bothered her, but this never has.

For a normal load, I use one tablespoon of powder.  A little less for a lighter load, and up to two tablespoons for a heavy load like cloth diapers.

You could use this for all laundry, but I save it for Harlow's laundry and occasionally for mine, because it does cost just a pinch more than the liquid detergent I make.

If you make your own detergent, I'd love to hear how you do it!

*I started making this when I was still pregnant with Harlow to wash her newborn clothes.  I looked up several sites' suggestions on baby detergent, and decided to use this combination.  If there is another blog with this exact recipe, my blog post wasn't mean to plagiarize.  I always love to give credit where credit it due.  I will try to track down all the sources where I found suggestions and post them here.

Avocado Chicken Salad

• Boil 2 pounds of chicken.
• I used boneless, skinless chicken.
• I like to sometimes use chicken on the bone, because it adds another layer of flavor and makes great chicken broth.
• What's important is that you have chicken meat equal to 2 pounds (pre-cooking) once the bones, fat, etc. are removed.
• Season while the chicken is cooking.
• I mix it up but usually use Cavender's, dill weed, rosemary, Italian seasoning, coriander, caraway, garlic powder, salt.
• Let the chicken cool, and trim off any fat, skin, or bones.
• Shred the chicken by hand or in a food processor.
• In a separate bowl, mash 2 medium avocados.
• Add salt and a splash of lemon and/or lime juice.
• Stir the chicken and avocado together.
• Add mayonnaise 1 tablespoon at a time until the chicken salad is as creamy as you like.
• Optional: For an extra kick, add crushed red pepper flakes and a spoonful or two of jalapeño cranberry relish.
• Store in the fridge and eat within 24 hours.  It's best when it has had a couple hours to sit so the chicken soaks up the flavor.  You'll want to eat it within 24 hours or so, because the avocado will start to brown.

Looking for something to serve for brunch or a baby/wedding shower?  This is perfect, because it has a mild flavor.  You can leave out the red pepper or anything spicy to accommodate your guests.  Throw it on mini croissants, and it instantly becomes fancy! :)

Or just make it to serve your family for a couple lunches and dinners! Yay leftovers (easy meal prep!)!!!

Delicious, Simple Sugar Cookies

What is it about Christmas that makes you want to make sugar cookies?  Is it the icing or fun cookie cutters?  When did the sugar cookie become THE cookie for Christmas?

I may never have the answer to that life question, but I'm fine with it!  Maybe because sugar cookies are fun to decorate and beg for children to get involved.  Or maybe Santa sent out a memo declaring it as his favorite cookie.  Who knows?  Who cares?  Let's get on with the cookies...

I found the perfect sugar cookie recipe from Life, Love & Sugar.  Make this cookie exactly as the woman tells you.  You won't regret it.  It's slightly soft, slightly sweet, and holds it shape.

I used a moose cookie cutter (because all other Christmas cutters were hiding) and got 16 moose cookies and one round cookie. [You'll notice in a later picture there is one less moose cookie.  It needed to be consumed for quality control.]

My childhood nickname was Marla Moose, so I collected moose items from childhood through teenage years.  This moose cookie cutter was a gift and has been around for awhile.  I use it as a tree ornament, so I just had to grab it off the tree and wash it off to start making my cookies.

I used store bought chocolate icing and homemade strawberry icing.  Then added some sprinkles!

I only put a dab of chocolate icing on most of the cookies, because the cookie itself is really the star of the show.  It has such a great shape and great taste, and I didn't want the chocolate icing to overpower the cookie.

After I took a bite of the strawberry iced cookie, I decided that was the real winner.  The super sweet strawberry icing with the sugar cookie is a perfect combination.  I may have to dip the moose antlers in strawberry icing.  And their legs.  And their tails.  And my finger.

 

I'm putting some aside for my neighbor and for my family that's coming for Christmas, but Santa will have to find cookies at another house.  Sorry, Santa!

Christmas Gift Name Tag Ideas

If you have some last minutes gift wrapping to do and need ideas for unique name tags, here are two ideas to try out!

Let's start with the easiest first...

PHOTOS!

Everyone loves getting photos.  Pick one or two (or more!) photos of the gift recipient, and stick it on the gift.  No need to even write his/her name!

I ordered these square prints from Parabo (***$5 credit at the end of the blog post!), but since you don't have a lot of time to order photos, I suggest printing them out on cardstock at home or ordering one hour photos from Walgreens, Target, etc.  You could even order cardstock prints from Staples or another office supply store.  These are just fun little pictures to stick on the fridge or a bulletin board.

Second idea:

ORNAMENTS!

I made these ornaments on my embroidery machine, but you could make ornaments out of ANYTHING!  Decorate glass ornaments, have your kids watercolor on paper and then cut snowflake shapes, make cookies for each person and stick it in a plastic bag with their name on in it...the possibilities are endless!

How I did it: I embroidered on felt and used a tear-away backing.  I left the backing on and cut around the designs.  The backing helped maintain some stiffness and shape.  I glued ribbon on the back to make a hoop to hang the designs as ornaments.

I think there's something fun about personalizing gift wrapping for each person.  It doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.  Get creative!

***For $5 off your Parabo order, use code RIOYDB