Easy Recycled Teepee

I don't sew. I wish I did, but I have never had the patience for things that don't come easily to me. I realize this is not a pretty aspect of my personality, but all the same. I wanted a teepee for our backyard so bad. I envisioned my daughter, much as she is above, cuddling up with a book and her baby dolls. So one Saturday afternoon, hubby and I looked around the yard and fashioned this makeshift teepee. We used garden stakes that had previously held up a green bean crop so big we will probably avoid green beans for the next couple of years. For the fabric we used a drop cloth that had been used when spray painting little love's kid sized table and chair set (hence the gray designs). We tied the garden stakes together with twine and put a single rivet on the drop cloth which we then tied closed with more twine. Quick and easy, our little love now requests naps and stories in her teepee.

Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

A good friend of mine created these delicious cupcakes for my little love's family brunch last weekend. It was almost a hundred degrees outside so the frosting melted quickly, but was so good no one minded. I knew I wanted a strawberry cream cheese frosting that utilized delicious fresh local strawberries. She suggested we pair it with a lemon cupcake. The result was delicious!

Lemon Cupcake

 http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/lemon-cupcakes/

We chose this recipe because it used cake flour and buttermilk. We used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice instead of lemon extract.

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
lemon zest from two lemons
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

~½ lb. strawberries, pureed in food processor and put through a colander to remove seeds

1stick of butter, firm and a little cold
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt 

4 cups powdered sugar 

  

DIY play kitchen

Pinterest inspired DIY play kitchen

After browsing the thousands of DIY play kitchens on pinterest, I commissioned my hubby to create one for our two year old. I found a microwave cart ($10) and a single Ikea cabinet ($5) at a local thrift store. Hubby took apart the Ikea box and used the pieces to create an oven and cabinet shelf for the microwave cart. He painted a piece of scrapwood with chalkboard paint and screwed it into the back. He drilled a hole for the sink and used gray sandpaper for the oven burners. Our little love is crazy about her kitchen and cooks up delicious pasta for mama! Total cost: about $30.