Days of Play--Fall Tree

Have I mentioned I love fall? 

Here's a fun fall craft to do that is worthy of framing and hanging (or giving to an eager grandparent).

You'll need:

Brown paper (a paper bag would work)
Finger paints  (red, orange, yellow, green, deep purple, and brown)
Art Smock
Newspapers

What to do:

1. Put your little on in an art smock.
2. Cover a work space with news papers.
3. Using the brown paint, paint your child's hand and arm.
4. Make a hand/arm print on the brown paper.
5. Now add leaves.  There are two options to do this:
1. Let your child dip his or her fingers into different paint colors and put them on the "tree" as fall leaves.
2. Paint your child's whole hand and put them on the "tree".  Over lap as needed.

When the painting is dry, date, frame and hang.

Photo from A Little Tipsy

Maybe make two so you can have one and so can grandma ... Just a thought!

Frugal Fashion Friday--Black Shirt Re-fab

I did an earlier post where I used directions from Ruffles and Stuff to re-fabricate a toddler shirt. Well I did it again with one of my shirts.

I've had this Gap long-sleeved T so long the seams from the armpits to the wrists have holes in them.  But I just can't throw it away.  Ergo, new look.

To do my re-fab, I combined directions from these two projects--Long-sleeve revamp and Ruffle tank.

I didn't take step-by-step photos since this was my first time and Ruffles and Stuff does a much better job than I could do.

Introducing my fave long-sleeved T. *sniffle*

I really wanted short sleeves but since there were so many holes I decided to cut off the sleeves all the way off.  FYI--I did get a bit emotional.  A good T is like an old friend and you don't cut the arms off your old friends. 

These are the pieces I used for the ruffles.  I didn't measure.  I hate measuring.  That explains why they are crooked.  Oh well.

The final product.  I decided to wing it and make my own sleeves.  They aren't awesome but since the ruffles took fifteen minutes and the sleeves took an hour I decided to leave them on until I get fed up with their lameness and cut them off.  I think I'll do it tomorrow.

My cute little ruffles.  Near as I can tell not having straight pieces seems to matter little.

To think I could have paid $50 for a ruffled shirt when all it really took was about an hour of my time to make one out of something I should have thrown away a while ago!

Here's a dreamy way to wear a ruffle top (with items found at Target)!

Sleeveless Tops by Mossimo
Flats by Mossimo

{FALL} Things I Love--Healthy Pumpkin Chip Muffins

A month or so ago a friend posted a recipe for healthier pumpkin chocolate chip muffins on her facebook page.  The link took me this recipe at The Frugally Rich Life.

I tried it once and fell in love.

Then I decided to tweak it--a bit.

Okay, all I did was substitute natural, unsweetened applesauce for the oil.  Wa La!  Sugar free (well, except for the chocolate chips), oil free, healthy pumpki chocolate chip muffins.

Source: The Frugally Rich Life

Here's the slightly altered muffin recipe.

1 egg
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1/2 c. milk (any percent but skim is best)
1/4 c. natural, unsweetened applesauce (or oil)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (use white if you must)
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t cinnamon
1 c. dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)

Stir together first five, wet ingredients. Add in next five dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed. Put in greased muffin tins. Bake 375 for 18 minutes.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins OR 36 mini-muffins.

FYI--You can fill the tins pretty full since these do not rise much.

What I Think About--Halloween (Your Ideas Needed!)

Confession:  I don't love Halloween.

I don't like the tricking.
I don't like the treating.
I don't like haunted houses.
I don't like "witch's brew," spaghetti brains, or fake cobwebs.
I don't like cookies that look like eye balls, skeletons that light up or trick-or-treat bowls that grab your had.
I don't like the evil that happens on this "holiday."

I really don't like it.  No, I don't.

To be honest, I get pretty creeped out by Halloween.  I know, I know it's all in "fun" but really, what's fun about "tricking" someone until you get candy?  And what's fun about the dentist bill from eating all that candy? 

I'm game for dressing up.  I'm game for a sweet treat now and then.  I'm normally not game for Halloween.

Then we met Molly and Bryant.

They love Halloween.
They love the decorations.
They love "themed" food.
They love dressing up.

And they always have the best costumes.  They've been Yoko Ono and Lennon, characters from The Big Lebowski, and last year they went as Michael Jackson: at age 10 and right before his death (Bryant walked around all night with an umbrella--it was awesome!).

My favorite costumes of theirs:

Smurfette and Edward Scissorhands

Can you believe this?!?!  I mean, they made these costumes (did I mention Bryant can sew?).

What I think about Halloween is that I'm just don't love it.  BUT I do love Molly and Bryant and any excuse to hang with them.

So here's my dilemma, their annual Halloween party is coming up and Matt and I have NO IDEA what we should go as. We don't want to buy "pre-made" Halloween costumes but we have limited budget/craftiness to whip up a Smurfette/Scissorhands get up.  We'd like something clever but not trashy or common.  **Sigh**

We'd love a "couples" idea.

Share your ideas.

(If this sounds like a desperate plea, it pretty much is).

Tuesday's Too Clean Tip--The Fireplace

The days are growing shorter and cooler and I'm anxiously awaiting that moment where I determine that it is "fall" enough to get a nice fire going.  And by getting a fire going, I mean flipping the switch on our gas fireplace and having flames magically appear.

I'm very rustic like that.

Anyhow, I was blathering on and on about "near-fire time" to my dad last week and he asked if my gas fireplace was ready for winter.

What?  I thought fireplace cleaning was just for "real" fireplaces (you know, that kind that needs wood and matches). 

Turns out, this is NOT the case.

Turns out you are actually supposed to clean all fireplaces--gas, electric, and "real," before the season of use.  

I'll admit I had NO idea how to do this.  So I went to this site to learn how to do it.  I'd summarize what I did but since I can only speak to how to clean a gas fireplace, I encourage you to click the link to learn how to prepare your fireplace for fire weather!

Show me the Love: My Outfit and The Truth About Mondays

Wyoming has been experiencing some incredible fall weather. 90 degrees in September in Wyoming us unheard of! Anyhow, I've loved the extra days of wearing graphic Ts, rolled jeans, and Tevas!  And I'm showin' the love with this outfit!

Rats.  You can't see it but my 3 year old Target T says "All you need is love."

This vest was another thrift find which I may or may not have "cheated" my sister out of.

While the WY weather has been dreamy, Mondays on WITHMIM? have not been.

The truth about Mondays is--they are kind of a drag.

I've struggled off and on with what to do on Mondays. They are manic for me and for you (I assume).  "YOUR WORDS" has been a fail of epic proportions so you won't see any more of those posts.  In fact, some Mondays you might not see a post at all.  

If I do get my act together, expect some Miscellaneous Mondays--recipes, outfits, funny/inspiring/thought provoking posts.

What's Cookin'--10/11-10/17

It's 10/10/10!

I'm going to get a bit wild and share what we are eating for every meal this week.

Yes, I plan every meal, every week. I'm neurotic like that.

Monday: breakfast burritos, tuna salad, Harvest Apple Skillet
Tuesday: pumpkin pancakes, chicken noodle soup, cabbage burgers and sweet potato fries
Wednesday: waffles, PBJs, pumpkin soup and salad
Thursday: toast, smoothies, and apples, grilled cheese and tomato soup, garlic rubbed pork loin (didn't get to that last week)
Friday: Scrambled eggs, hot dogs/quesadillas, white lasagna with salad
Saturday: blueberry muffins and Greek yogurt, omelets, taco salads
Sunday: "pink" toast, burritos, garlic chicken and brown rice