Tattoo A Banana

I went a wee bit crazy....

and turned our apartment into a fruit tattoo parlor.

(I simply just followed the temporary tattoo directions and pretended that the banana was my child's arm.)  

Who knew that temporary tattoos would stick to bananas?

Hey!  What's this on my banana?

Happy Wednesday!

(Interested in another way to decorate your beloved yellow fruit?  Click here)

Fancy shmancy massage

For all those hard-working, long suffering, bone weary people out there.... I recognize you... and I salute you.  You are doing a wonderful job.   

And with this week's epic potty training battle, I join you.

To celebrate the end of the hard week, I decided to treat myself to a massage.  What fancy spa did I go to?  What masseuse did I hire?  Ehhh... well... see for yourself.

"Just relax mom.  I'm working out a knot right here."

"Ok lady, time's up.  Now you massage me."

Hope you have a great weekend!  I'll see you next week.

6 things to do with gummy bears

I thought you might need a giggle, so here's a list of six things you can do with gummy bears (besides eat them).

6 Ways to Play with Gummy Bears

Make Perler bead bowls (and words)

Today's post is a bit late because my computer died last night.

RIP, dear friend.

I knew that it was going to happen sooner or later (but I just wish it was later.)  Boo.  I also wish that I had backed up my stuff (double boo.)  Hubby's performing some intensive surgery on it, so hopefully we can get my documents and photos back.

OK, enough heavy shop talk... onto today's craft.

When I saw Poppy Haus melting Perler beads to make bowls, I knew that I had to try it too.  Melting plastic beads in the oven?  Too. Much. Crafty. Awesomeness.  Sign me up!

Definitely check out her results, because they were much classier (she used two colors.)  I, on the other hand, went whole-hog color crazy.  Here are my results:

Bam!  It's like a whole bunch of sprinkles and confetti exploded to make this bowl.  We're currently using it to store fruit.     

Boogie down

Sometimes when he's eating, Baby Chuck busts out a move or two.

It's really cute.

But you can't blink or else you'll miss it!

PB147413.AVI from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

PB187610.AVI from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

Happy Anniversary!

It was our wedding anniversary a couple of days ago.  We've been married for 7 years.  Wowzers.  We celebrated the big day by going out for dinner... without Baby Chuck! (Thanks Tita Tina for being brave enough to watch our little monster!) 

I love my son, but it was really really REALLY nice to eat dinner without him.

Throughout the night we tried our very best to (a) not talk about Baby Chuck and (b) eat slowly.  Since becoming parents our conversations revolve around our son.  Dinner topics include dissecting his moods, sleep habits, bowel movements (tmi?), and skin.  I'm quite embarrassed by the number of times I start statements with"Baby Chuck did this today...."

Our manners have also seriously slid down the tubes.  We shovel a whole ton of food into our mouths as fast as we can.  Forget about savoring the meals.  Napkins?  Hah!  No time to wipe our mouths. Knives?  Nope.  That's a luxury.  We just use forks (or one hand.).   The other hand is always spooning, mushing, wiping or entertaining baby.  Dinner time is battle time.  Those who follow dinner etiquette starve.  Only the impolite survive.

So it should come as no surprise to you that we really appreciated that alone time.  Maybe we can try this whole date night thing again?  (Anybody interested in babysitting?)



Today I spent some time looking through some old wedding stuff.  I found these messages written by our guests 7 years ago.  (Instead of a guestbook we asked guests to write on paper "leaves" which were then hung on twigs.)  I laughed a whole lot when I saw these.  Some of our guests got really creative...  

Neighborhood faces

Walking outside with Baby Chuck is one of the highlights of my day.  Every time we walk outside we see something different.  I usually don't bring my camera out, but yesterday was an exception.  Here are a couple of photos that I snapped and then edited.  Hope you enjoy them! 

Five funny food pictures

(1)  Jelly Bean Art
Kristen Cumings recreated famous paintings like The Mona Lisa, Starry Night, and Girl with a Pearl Earring using only jelly beans.  Each tasty work of art took about 50-60 hours of work.  Even though onlookers may feel tempted to take a lick (or a bite), they really shouldn't.  Cumings used spray adhesive to stick jelly beans onto a canvas and coated the entire canvas with acrylic.  [seen on Foodiggity]



(2) "Made in America" skillets  
I love Michigan.  I also love eating.  A Michigan shaped cast iron skillet seems like a nice way to celebrate both loves.  [seen on Foodiggity]



(3) Lickable lift
Remember that scene in Charlie and the Chocolate factory where everyone gets to lick wallpaper?  Well, it's no longer a dream.  The world's first Lickable lift was installed in London about a month ago.  Its walls are covered with a little over a thousand Jaffa cookies.  Worried about germs?  Don't be.  Once a person has licked a cookie, a bell boy removes it from the wall.  [seen on Foodiggity]

 


(4) Candy Bike
I'm sure any 5-year-old... or 31-year-old girl would love this sweet ride, created by Brooklyn-based artist Britta Hope. [seen on Foodiggity]


(5) Sausage recorder
Adam Niklewicz created this Polish sausage recorder that even plays sweet music!  Can you imagine hubby playing this instrument in church?  [seen on Foodiggity]

Easter Pt 3: Rice Krispy Peep treat

I know Easter is over, but I couldn't resist buying peeps.  They were on sale.  Plus, they're just so darn cute.  But what to do two dozen peeps?  How about making a very large rice krispy peep treat?*

* If you'd like to make a rice krispy peep treat for yourself, you'll need these ingredients:

- 1.5 T butter

- approx 24 peeps

- 4 C rice krispies

- 1 toothbrush 

Directions:

- Melt butter in non-stick pot

- Throw peeps into pot and watch them melt
- Laugh maniacally

- Add rice krispies to pot and stir

- Shape the sticky mess into a very large peep

- Let your frankenpeep cool

- Enjoy treat

- Brush your teeth. (These snacks are sugary!)

Easter Pt. 1

Funny license plates

Hubby and I still enjoy hunting for funny signs and license plates.  Here are some that we recently spotted:

To see other funny signs that we've spotted, click here, here, here, or here.

Shoes Series 3: We've harnessed the power of ice!

If you're a follower of this blog, then you're already aware of our previous attempts to use ice to stretch shoes.  (Confused? Catch up by reading about our adventures here and then here.)
 

Figure 1:  Sandwich bags in shoes

After our initial setbacks, we put on our thinking caps.  And we thought.  And we thought some more.  What were we missing?  Why didn't it work? 

And then we took one final stab at the problem.  Instead of using shopping bags to hold the water, we used sandwich bags.  Although they held less water, they would (hopefully) allow the ice to expand in the right places. 





And you know what?  It worked!  Boy, was I surprised.  Honestly, I'm not sure why the shoes stretched this time and not the last two times.  Below, I've sketched out my best understanding of what happened on the molecular level: 

Figure 2: Arrows and dashed lines make this diagram authentically scientific.

I'm happy seeing hubby wearing some fine fitting shoes.... and knowing that we've harnessed the power of ice for good and not evil.

Will you try out this shoe stretching method?  Let me know of your results!

Oh the hair! Oh the spandex!

Now that the weather is improving, I'd like to start running again.  After watching this video introducing the '88 National Aerobic Championship, I found myself strangely inspired to workout...and wear a shiny red leotard. 

Does the nice weather motivate you to work out too?

Note:  This video contains large hair, overly enthusiastic athletes, and shiny shiny spandex.  I was mesmerized!




First seen here

DIY- Chocolate face mask

I've always had oily acne prone skin.  You know that girl in high school with the thick bangs?  That was me, hiding the pimple constellation on my forehead.  Anyhoo, because I've been breaking out more than usual I found a recipe for a diy chocolate face mask here.  We already owned all 4 ingredients, so I gave it a try.   

Ingredients:
 - 1/3 C cocoa powder
 - 3 T plain yogurt
 - 1 T honey
 - Squeeze of lemon

I mixed all the ingredients together, then applied a thin layer to my face.  The mask was incredibly thick and cool on my skin.  It also smelled so deliciously chocolatey that I couldn't help but try a taste...

 but I really shouldn't have done that because it tasted bad.  Really really bad. 

There was a ton left, so I probably could have refrigerated it and used it later.  But I accidentally left it out and so we had to toss it out.  :(

Have you ever tried making your own face mask?

Shoe Series 2: Is it time to admit de-feet?

If you read my previous post, you'll know that hubby and I attempted a novel shoe stretching method.  We poured water into a pair of shoes, placed them in the freezer, and hoped that the shoes would stretch as the water froze. 

After storing the shoes overnight in the freezer, we moved onto steps 4, 5, and 6.  Here's what we did:

Step 4:
* Tried pulling out bags
* Realized that the bags really were stuck inside
* Let shoes defrost in sink
* Twiddled our thumbs and waited

Step 5:
* Pulled out our miniature ice feet
* Made our miniature ice feet dance
* Tried on shoes

Step 6: 
*  Realized that the shoes were still too tight
*  Debated whether to repeat the whole process again
*  Decided to try again
*  Repeated the process again
*  Placed the shoes in the freezer for three days

After we took out the shoes hubby let them dry out because a bit of  water leaked out of the bags.  Eek.  Once the shoes were dry, he tried them on and....

they were STILL too tight.

Should we admit defeat?  (Or in this case de-feet?  Har har har.)  Well, not quite yet... we still have a few more tricks up our sleeves... 

Shoe Series 1: Are those shoes in your freezer?

Answer:  Yes.  I'll explain

About a year ago hubby purchased a pair of shoes at the thrift store.  They were a tad too small, but we got them anyway because they were a good price.  So far he's worn them just a couple of times but they always end up pinching his feet.  He's tried using shoe stretchers, but they've still remained just a tad too small.  

We were going to donate them until a new idea came to me.  A couple of nights ago, I went on a YouTube-watching frenzy and came upon this video showing a clever gal using ice to stretch shoes.  A light bulb appeared over my head.  It was a crazy idea, but it just might work.

Before you place me into your mental box marked "crazy people to avoid," hear me out.  Water expands as it freezes, right? Living in Michigan, we've seen those huge potholes in the road.  Aren't they partially caused by water freezing inside the cracks in the road?  Let's harness the power of ice for good instead of evil! 

Let's recap:

Step 1: 
*  Find a cute pair of shoes at the thrift store
*  Cringe because they're a tad too small
*  Walk around the store with too-small shoes on
*  Mentally debate whether you should purchase the shoes or not
*  Walk around the store again
*  Convince yourself that they aren't that tight
*  Convince yourself that you can lose weight in your feet
*  Purchase shoes anyway because they're less than 10 bucks

Step 2: 
*  Look for food storage bags that don't have holes in them
*  Realize that you don't own large enough food storage bags
*  Debate whether you should purchase large food storage bags
*  Feel cheap
*  Decide to use grocery store bags instead
*  Look through your hoard of ancient grocery bags
*  Finally find two that don't have holes in them
*  Mentally curse when you realize that you just ripped one bag
*  Find another bag that doesn't have a hole in it
*  Place bags in shoes
*  Pour water into shoes
*  Cringe because you just poured water into your shoes
*  Gather courage and remind yourself that the shoes were less than 10 bucks

Step 3:
*  Place shoes in freezer
*  Make sure that water will not seep out
*  Double check that the water will not seep out
*  Convince your wife repeatedly that the water will not seep out
*  Cringe because you just placed shoes next to your frozen baby food
*  Triple check that the water will not seep out
*  Close the door and wait for the water to freeze 


Have you done this before?  Have you heard of anyone doing this before?  Did it turn our well?

I'll let you know how it all turns out.  We're currently on Step 4:  defrosting the shoes in our sink...

Click here to find out what happens next!

A spread for the Lozzie in you

Lately I've been making hubby Vegemite* sandwiches to bring to work.  I take two slices of bread, spread margarine on each slice and then spread Vegemite on top of the margarine.  To finish, I place both slices of bread together and boom, instant lunch.

Hello sandwich ingredients!

After a couple of days of sandwich making, it suddenly dawned on me.  Instead of spreading the margarine on the bread and then spreading the Vegemite, what if I could spread them both at the same time?!?  And so, dear reader, I came up with this idea:  premixed Vegemite and margarine spread... for the lazy Ozzie (Lozzie) in you.

Ooh.  Someone should mass produce this stuff.... and then send me a jar.

*Never heard of Vegemite?  Australians love the stuff.  It's a super salty spread that all Ozzie kids grow up eating. 

Itty bitty robot musicians

They're uber cute. Watch them play the James Bond theme.

Sofa Series 3: Fabric arrival

After many days of internet searching,  I finally found a lovely green indoor/outdoor fabric that was cute, affordable, and easy to clean.  This past weekend, my 12 yards of upholstery fabric arrived in the mail.         

I can't help it.  I love doodling on boxes...

After oohing and ahhing for a bit, hubby and I brought it to our local vintage furniture shop.  I'm super excited to see what they do...  (Click here for the big reveal!)

New to our sofa adventure?  You can read about where we found our sofa and our decision to get it professionally reupholstered.

Tummy Times- 9

To see previous comics, click here