radmegan guestpost: GAC Pops: The perfect “light meal” for some, a sweet snack for others**

When the weather is hot and sticky, my husband likes to remind me that he COMPLETELY loses his appetite. “It’s too HOOOOOOT to eat.” While that’s well and good for HIM, late summer heat does the opposite to me. Every August I find myself eating LOADS. And not just loads, but junky loads. I invite my nieces over as an excuse to stock up on “kid food” i.e. candy, baked goods and quick-to-make salty fat bombs (anything vaguely fast-food related). I’d rather waste away like my husband does during bathing suit season, but thems the brakes.

Enter Costco: The land of bulk produce and swimming pool-sized cartons of mayo. Not the ideal shopping location for a childless pair (especially when one-half of this couple is seemingly on a fast) Here’s where you are wrong!

On a recent trip to Costco I went a little nuts buying things I felt were essential (mostly fresh fruit & veg. I do have good intentions…

 I came home and realized I had enough carrots to make an orange log cabin, so much toilet paper I could decorate every house in my neighborhood TWICE and enough apples to make something… that uses a lot of apples. So after I built an addition to our house out of TP rolls, I got out my juicer and looked at my mountain of fruit. I chopped up two pink lady apples, about 2 lbs of carrots and a thick wedge of ginger. It all went into the juicer.

Straight out of the juicer, this is a zinger of a beverage- and one that I’m sure many of you are already familiar with. I made two large glasses and called it breakfast for me and Mr. Rad (the non-eater.) I poured the remaining juice into Popsicle molds to see what would happen.

 What happened was a frozen delight of multiple colors and flavors. Instead of the juices staying blended together, they froze in bands of scrumptiously sweet and spicy apple and transitioned into a creamy, mild bed of carrot puree. In the last month, I’ve easily made 40 popsicles with this exact combo. We CANNOT get enough of them.

My husband eats them as a ”light dinner” And I eat them whenever the heck I want! It’s a sweet treat that has loads of vitamins in it, and has actually helped (somewhat) curb my cravings for the garbage I HAD been eating!  I know apples, carrots and ginger are a common combo for juices, but as a frozen treat, theses have become our go-to dessert (and breakfast, and lunch, mid-morning snack, afternoon snack, post work-out snack etc.). And they are a great way to use up colossal amounts of carrots and apples without batting an eyelash!

Hope you enjoy these! Thanks to JEK for asking me to share this guest post with you all!

**This post brought to you by the ever fabulous Megan of rad megan: in words and pictures. Megan was rad enough to help me out here in dillyland while the mister and I trip the road fantastic for a few weeks. Check out the awesomenss she has whipped up for you!

guest blog: the pink couch

 Hello - hello! It's Tara from The Pink Couch! Since our friend Jessica is a bit busy down in LA, I thought this would be the perfect time to hi-jack her blog and post something pretty for the weekend! My daughter Alaina and I just wrapped up a very long science project for her 2nd grade class this week. We were testing the strength of paper against the weight of fruit. Subsequently, I now have ALOT of left over fruit in the kitchen. So while I played around with different fruit-dessert ideas I remembered an old favorite - Infused water or as we call it Spa water. (From my days of working in a Spa. :))

The best part of making Infused waters is creating a combination of fruits that will suit your taste. My absolute favorite is Cucumber - Strawberry. Sweet but with the freshness of the cucumber. I think it's the perfect summer water to have on hand - and it's pretty too! 

Here's my super simple recipe! 

You will need: 1 pitcher of cold water, half of a peeled cucumber - sliced and 6 sliced strawberries

Push the fruit down into the water and let set for just a few minutes. Of course the longer you let the fruit and water blend together the stronger the flavors will be. If  you're planning on making this for guests, make it right before you'd like to serve it. I've found that the strawberries tend to use their vibrancy when I leave them in the water for too long (3+ hours) and they don't look as pretty as when I first slice them! I like fruit to look fresh! 

 

Since infused water has been around forever I'm sure you all might have some combinations that I haven't yet thought about! So, if you feel like sharing with us, what is your best and most favorite Spa water?  

Happy weekend everyone and thanks for having me!  ~ Tara

guest blogging: the pink couch

 I'm a guest-postin' over at The Pink Couch! Hop on over for some papery quilty goodness!

DIY: yo-yo bot

I've been bitten by the yo-yo bug. It's been pretty hard not to. Without a nifty maker, they are a bit of dealio to make but once you begin using one of those plastic doo-hickies to assist, you'll be making yo-yos in no time and you'll probably make more than you need (way more). So, to combat my yo-yo addiction I've whipped up this super colorful and quirky robot tutorial for you. Kiddos can even make these and if they are too young you can totally include them in the process. All it takes is time, some happy fabric scraps, a yo-yo maker (to speed things up) and few other odds and ends.

Materials

*fabric scraps at least 5" square (47 total)

*needle & thread

*large sized yo-yo maker (optional)

*yarn

*scissors

*large eyed needle

*piece of plain/solid fabric about 10" square

*felt scrap

*sewing machine (optional)

Making the yo-yos is the most time consuming part of this project. I popped in a DVD and got to stitching. You do not need the maker at all but it really speeds things along. You can make your yo-yos all the same color or the same fabric even. I modeled my project after a (slightly evil looking) vintage yo-yo clown I have which is now in storage. Click here for a nifty yo-yo how to sans maker (Heather Bailey is awesome) and here for one using the maker. You will need 47 yo-yos for the doll.

Grab a sheet of scrap paper about 5" X 10" and draw a vague roboty head and body. You can even have your kiddo draw a robot to use an inspiration. You're looking for a head and body shape with no detail. Your kiddo will add that later.

Take your large piece of plain (or small printed) fabric and fold it in half, right-sides facing in. Cut out pattern pieces and pin to fabric. Stitch around pattern pieces with the sewing machine, leaving a chute shaped opening for turning right-side out.

Cut out stitched pieces, carefully snipping off the corners without cutting the thread. Turn right-side out using the chute opening you created and clean up corners with a chopstick, crochet hook or an un-sharpened pencil.

Loosely stuff your two pieces using your fiber-fill of choice. Your kiddos can do this part.

To close the openings, fold the chute channel into the form and either whip stitch closed by hand or try the invisible stitch. My mister taught me the invisible stitch and I'm not sure I can explain it but here goes. Poke needle with thread knotted at the end into the channel at one end of the opening and pull all the way through so the knot is on the inside of the form. Working in one direction, "walk" your needle with thread on each side of the closure, keeping each "step" ahead of the other. Think of it as footsteps on the beach. Each footstep will be a tiny stitch on its own side heading in one direction which is the other side of the open seam.

Finish with a knot or two by pulling needle through the loop of a basic stitch. To trim, poke needle back into the form and pull it up somewhere in the middle of the shape, stuffing and all. Pull the thread tight and snip with scissors. Your tail end of thread should disappear into the form. It's magic!

Gather your felt scrap and fold a rectangle about 2 1/2" long in half. cut out a fat "U" shape to create robot hands. Set aside.

Now it is time to assemble the arms and legs. You and your kiddo can make a game of this playing with pattern and sequencing. Or you can go all random and just thread the yo-yos directly onto your yarn. Each leg will need 15 yo-yos and each arm will need 8. The yo-yo collar is made using the jumbo-sized maker.

Arrange all robot parts to get a better picture of your final doll. This is where you can play with color and order or your kiddo can. Thread your needle with a 10" or so length of yarn. This part can drive you a bit batty as the yarn can be tricky to thread through the eye of the needle. You can switch to embroidery thread for this part. I used yarn because it is pretty sturdy and I am a sucker for frustrating crafting.

Thread your first yo-yo onto your knotted yarn yo-yo opening facing the knot. I forgot to do this for the first leg, it isn't necessary but makes for a prettier doll. Thread the remaining 14 yo-yos for the leg you are working on with the opening facing up towards the needle.

When you finish with the last yo-yo, pop your needle through the bottom of the robot body about an inch in from one side, pulling the needle all the way through and knotting it it's buddy string. Give it another knot then go back down through the top three or so yo-yos, adding another knot under the last one. If you have more yarn, go ahead and thread through another two or three and knot a final knot. This will keep the legs a little more secure and space the yo-yos a bit so they don't all slump toward the bottom. Repeat for the second leg.

To stitch the head on, thread a new length of yarn (about six inches) onto your needle and poke it through the collar yo-yo with the opening facing down. Poke the needle into the top of the body of the robot and back up through the yo-yo. Next, gather the robot head and poke your needle into the bottom keeping left or rightish. Go long with the needle before coming back out and through the yo-yo to the body. Use the pic as a reference. Repeat until you are satisfies with the floppiness of the head. As always, give it a good knot or two before cutting the thread.

For the arms, begin the same way as the feet but before threading the second yo-yo on, whip stitch the felt "hands" in place and pull needle back through. Continue adding yo-yos until you have all 8 on the yarn. Poke needle all the way through the body of the robot to secure arm in place then begin threading the last set of yo-yos keeping the yo-yo openings facing the robot body. End with a whip stitch for the second hand and a knot or two to secure.

Give yer yo-yo bot a squeeze and smile at how cute it is. If you like, you can embroider a face on your robot. I like leaving the face and body blank so that you can give the robot to a favorite kiddo along with some fabric markers and/or paint and they can create their own robot features.

I see a great many more yo-yo bots in my future. How about you?

DIY: textured baby cloths

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to meet a most gracious and inspiring woman whose life's work was in the field of infant development. Magda Gerber was her name and she was one of the creators for the RIE theory of infant care and development. She and Dr. Tom Forrest, M.D.  carried a profound belief that an infant knows innately when she or he is ready for each stage in their development. Rooted in respect for the child and Dr. Emmi Pikler's groundbreaking program developed after WWII, the Resource for Infant Educarers philosophy appears to contradict everything modern parents do to create the best environment for their children.  Appearances, however can be deceiving.  I am not so fortunate to be a parent but I have made it my life's work studying infants, children and people in general and have seen what RIE can do. Words cannot describe the profound autonomy and sense of self a RIE child develops. I can go on and on and on about this but I won't...not today at least.

Today I bring to you an easy-peasy tutorial to create your own textured baby cloths. In a RIE household you may see very little traditional playthings, especially for infants. This does not mean that infants are not allowed toys or manipulatives, it just means there are a great less bells and whistles about. Silk scarves, empty cups and balls often make an appearance. In a RIE household, infants and toddlers are free to explore the world around them when and if they are ready. Keeping a few engaging "toys" as it were within reach without forcing them on your young one is key. Stick with me here and I'll share an easy DIY to create your own texture (sensory) cloths for babies. All you need is a small stack of fabric in various weights and textures and access to a sewing machine. Come along for the ride, won't ya?

Materials:

*Six pieces of fabric at least 12" X 12" in various textures

*Scissors

*Pins

*Sewing Machine

*One sheet of 12" X12" scrapbook paper or ruler and blank paper

*Iron

Gather your scraps up and iron out any wrinkles or creases you might have. I used a heavy canvas, flannel, quilter's cotton, a micro fiber cloth, corduroy and seersucker. You can also use wool felt, terry cloth, velvet, etc. Anything with a nice feel and/or knap to it.

Using a square sheet of scrapbook paper as your pattern, cut six pieces (one in each fabric) 12" X 12" square. You can go as small as 8" if you like but keep them large enough to be engaging.

Pair up your fabrics and prints and pin them together, right sides facing in.

 Bring to your sewing machine and stitch all the way around your pinned squares leaving a two inch or so open tunnel of sorts. This serves two purposes. 1) The opening will allow you to turn all that happiness right-side out and 2) the extended "tunnely" bits will tuck nicely back into the form so you can get a clean seam when you close it off. 

 Trim excess fabric, snip corners off without cutting into the threads and turn right-side out.

You may need to use the eraser end of a pencil or perhaps a chopstick to get your corners happy. 

 Pop the tunnel channel into the opening and use a hot iron to press seams flat.

Return to your machine and stitch all the way around completely as close to the edge as you can. You can do either a zig-zag or straight stitch, both work here.

Trim threads and admire your handiwork! next time baby is chilling on the floor toss a couple of these dandy textured goodies just out of reach and watch as your wee one engages with their discovery. Knot a corner of one and baby can use it as a teether. Play peek-a-boo, toss in the air, scrunch it up and have fun! There are oodles of ways you and yours can explore a textured baby cloth**

**Stick with flannel and/or terry cloth and you got yourself a happy set of burp cloths as well!