DIY: Good as Gold ~Adorable Mint Golden Birthday Party~

I learned about golden birthdays recently. In case you don’t know, it’s when you

turn the age of the day your birthday is, so if your birthday is July 22nd your golden birthday is when you turn 22.

My daughter’s golden birthday was fast approaching so I started planning. I decided on a gold & mint theme and this is what I pulled together.  I was on a tight budget for this party so I used what I already had on hand and just spent a few dollars to make up for what I was missing. 

~Backdrop~

 Supplies needed:

 Kraft paper

 Glitter

 Elmers glue

 Sheet protector

Optional:

glitter spray paint

I found a font in Word that I liked and printed my words as large as I could on a regular 8x11 sheet. I then put that paper in a sheet protector and traced the letters with a marker directly on the sheet protector.

I removed the paper, taped the sheet protector on a clear plastic lid and stood it in front of the wall.

Next, I pinned my kraft paper up on the wall. Using the flashlight on my phone, I put the light up to the lid and projected my letters onto the wall (where my kraft paper was pinned) and adjusted it to the size I wanted. I traced the letters onto my kraft paper, took my paper down and set it on my table (or floor)and put heavy objects on the end to keep the paper from curling up. Then I traced and filled the letters in glue and sprinkled with glitter and let dry over night.

Optional: 

spray all over with glitter spray paint and let dry (it dries pretty quick… 30 min to an hour)

I made a cute tissue paper garland to add to my backdrop using

this method and also pinned individual pompoms along the sides to create a border and hung

gold balloons from the ceiling.  

I decorated a dollar store candle and jazzed up some mason jars I had on hand with Gold spray

paint and glitter.

I filled my apothecary

jars with gold wrapped chocolates & candies. (werthers candies, mini

snickers, twix, reeses pieces cups, almond kisses, rolos, and hershey nuggets) and made some macarons with

the help of this video and some cupcakes with golden Oreos on the bottom.

Birthday girl was thrilled with her party!

-Jennifer

DIY Monster Themed Birthday Party

My baby was turning one, so I had the difficult decision of what to do for his party.  I knew I didn't want to do the same theme that I did with my first, so off to Pinterest I went.  No themes stood out to me but I finally decided on a Monster Party.  

We decided to go home to Kansas and do a party with family and have another one at our house a week later with friends and our local family.  For the parties I made the invites, thank you cards, birthday banner, monster magnets and coloring books for the monster goodie bags and monster party hats..  My MIL went all out and got monster hats and napkins.  My SIL even made a kick ass monster cake and smash cake.  I reused the hirchair banner that I made for my first (another pinterest find).

All of theses items were super easy to make.  I found all my monsters for free at mycutegraphics.com.  I found a card design that I liked and made it myself using InDesign.  For the party bags and hats all you need is a sharpie and some googly eyes.  The magnets were also super easy.  I saved bottle caps of all sizes and painted them, then added googly eyes and feathers for hair.  I added cardboard to the back of the cap to make if a flush surface and then added the magnet.  To make the highchair banner all you need is some ribbon and a hot glue gun.  I cut the ribbon to fit my highchair and then hot glued ribbon of varing lenth and width to the back to the ribbon I measured for the highchair.  I attached the highchair banner with some scotch tape.

Theme parties can add and Pinterest can be overwhelming.  It will save you money to make most of the items yourself and remember it doesn't have to be perfect or a lot.  A little decoration goes a long way.

Unlike

-Jill

Easter For The Smaller Rabbits: Our Favorite Easter Pins!

Happy Easter!

This past week has been full of candy-filled Easter baskets, bunny-shaped crafts complete with cotton-balls (that one only acquires from a younger child in school) and the famous egg-hunts that render our kids either super happy, (Mommy, look at all the eggs I found!) or really pissed off. (I didn't get enough eggs!)

Thanks to the magical craft wizard called Pinterest, we can finally get in touch with our creative side and redefine our holidays.

AKA, acquire a ton of pins when nothing on Facebook seems appealing and hope that one day you might just be bored enough to complete some of the crap you pinned three years ago. 

But if you're already running late with no time to spare in time for the weekend, never fear! Us girls at The Mother Luck have you covered. We've picked out our favorite Easter pins for both the younger crowd (and one for the other). 

These adorable "chickie bird" fruit cups.   The idea is so simple yet so cute! All it takes are some sharpies and BAM! Adorable chicks. 

This toddler-approved name egg hunt. This is a great idea for kids that are learning how to spell, too! If your child already knows their name, use different letters to spell out Easter related words! 

An Easter bunny trail! I didn't find the exact source for this pin, but it seems fairly easy to do either with flour or chalk paint. 

This lollipop garden rules.  The idea is to plant jellybeans in the yard and they're supposed to grow out to be candy that the kids can go pluck in the morning! 

More ideas for Easter crafts for toddlers!  The ideas are endless and sure to keep your young ones busy and happy! 

Easter goodies for the toddlers! This one is simple but really helpful and should keep all tots happy!

And one for the moms who wish to celebrate later….

An Easter Basket Cocktail! Oh goodness…. the Peep' just sold me on this little delight. If you miss out on an adult egg-hunt (ha) we suggest sipping on one of these and playing it out in your mind!

Happy (egg) hunting!

-TML

Breathable Baby Blanket { Free Crochet Pattern }

This is a breathable baby blanket. I wrote the pattern from a blanket that I was given and haven’t found the pattern online anywhere. It is quite large and can be made smaller by chaining less in intervals of 5 or larger by chaining more in intervals of 5. CH 2 counts as first DC in each round

Finished Dimensions:
Approx. 3 sq ft

Supplies: 3 skein 
Size 4 mm (G) hook

Abbreviations: 

CH-chain
DC-double crochet
SL ST-slip stitch

Instructions: Round 1: CH 156
Round 2: DC in 3rd CH from hook, DC 152, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 3-4: DC 152, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 5-74: DC 4, CH 2, skip 2 stitched (repeat 24 times), DC 8, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 75-77: 152 DC, CH 2, turn (153)
Round 78: DC 152, CH 1, turn (153)
Round 79: SL ST 152 (153)

Enjoy!

-Jill

Awesome Kids Room DIY Clock {Teaching Time}

I noticed that my cousins didn’t know how to read a clock until they were in middle school and I didn’t want that happening to my boys, so I decided to make them clocks to match their bedrooms.

Supplies

clock movement kit

round wooden clock

black sharpie

paint chips

pencil

spray paint

printed number 1-12

scissors

mod podge

foam paint brush

Clock

First you need to spray paint your round wooden clock.  Next you will need to trace your printed numbers onto your paint chips.  Next using your black sharpie write the number onto the paint chip.  You are now ready to cut out your numbers.  I chose to make pows for the 12, 3, 6 and 9.  To do this I just randomly drew them with my pencil and then traced the number onto the pow.  Then I colored number in and outlined the pow.  You can do any shape you want or just make these numbers like the rest.  Next I placed all my numbers and pows on the clock and tried to evenly space them.  Now you are ready to mod podge.  Once the mod podge is complete install the clock movement kit, add a battery and hang.  I had to hot glue my kit onto the back of the round wooden clock since it wasn’t tight enough.

How to Mod Podge

I use a matte finish mod podge and start by applying to mod podge to the back of the numbers and applying them to the wooden clock.  Once all numbers have dried I put a layer of mod podge on the face of the clock

-Jill

Removing Diaper Cream from Cloth Diapers

Rule #1 of cloth diapering is Do Not Use Diaper Cream. I didn't start putting cloth on my first daughter until she was about 20 months old, so I didn't know all the in's and out's of the correct process. When she started getting her two year molars she got a horrible, painful diaper rash. I of course, panicked and liberally applied Bourdeauxs Butt Paste. I assumed since I was using a rayon liner that it wouldn't be an issue. WRONG! The butt paste went through the liner and absorbed into the fleece and made them repel moisture. I tried stripping them with baking soda and vinegar, used Dawn dishwashing liquid in my washer, and rinsed them a countless amount of times. Nothing worked until I put in a little elbow grease.

The first step is to determine if the diapers are actually repelling moisture. Simply dripping water on them and watching it bead up doesn't necessarily mean they aren't absorbent anymore. With most pocket diapers (I use Alvas), you need to apply a little pressure as if the diaper is flush against babes bottom. If water still doesn't absorb easily you need to do some work on them!

You will need some blue Dawn dishwashing liquid, and a stiff brush. I used a nail brush which worked well, but you can use just about anything with stiff bristles.


Wet the diapers and squirt on a little Dawn. Then scrub the shit out of it! Don't be afraid to get nasty! (pun intended)  You'll need to scrub in all different directions, and don't be afraid of damaging the fleece on the diaper, you won't. After you've scrubbed, rinse the diaper as well as you can and wash like normal, adding a couple extra rinses to your cycle. Depending on the amount of grease from the diaper cream you may need to repeat this until the diaper is absorbent 
again. 

Remember to ALWAYS use a cloth diaper friendly rash cream, or coconut oil, with your cloth diapers! 

-Shalana

Gluten/Dairy Free Mushroom Smothered Chicken

As you know if you've read any previous recipes, I am suffering from a nursling with a dairy sensitivity. Therefore, I have been craving nothing but creamy, cheesy, buttery foods that would be sure to lead to an evening of projectile vomiting and a very upset 8 week old. Lets not go there...

Tonight upon opening my refrigerator, I found some gorgeous mushrooms. My first thought of a rich, creamy, smothered chicken breast was immediately stifled. But I couldn't help myself.  Why can't I have a delicious meal without the dairy induced screaming? A little tweaking to my standard recipe and this little gem was born. This is a very flexible recipe, which can be adapted for many dietary needs! This one however, is gluten and of course, dairy free. Enjoy! 


Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt, pepper, garlic powder
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil (divided)
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
• 5 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 14oz can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions

• Heat 4 tablespoons coconut oil in a large pan over medium high heat.

• Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

• Place the chicken breasts in the pan and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Yes, yes I know. Raw chicken will kill you! I promise you that the bacteria is killed far before that chicken is dry as a bone. You should be able to cut into the breast and the juices (that's right, juices!) will run clear. 

• Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan, cover with foil and set aside. 

• Add the remaining coconut oil, shallots, garlic and mushrooms and cook until shallots are translucent and mushrooms are browned slightly. 

• Sprinkle the coconut flour over the mushrooms and stir to coat evenly. 

• Add the chicken broth slowly and let the sauce thicken, stirring constantly.  Add coconut milk and stir. 

• Return the chicken breasts back to the pan and spoon sauce over breasts. Serve over noodles, or gluten free noodles or rice for a gluten free option! 

-Shalana

Don't Be Intimidated: Crocheting

When I was 8 months pregnant with my first son I wanted to crochet him blanket so he could sleep with it without me worrying about him suffocating.  My problem was I had never crocheted before.  I thought myself to knit scarfs when I was in college, but I hadn’t kept up with it.  My friend talked me out of learning due to the fact that I was trying to become a licensed landscape architect and about to take my last exam, which I passed and probably wouldn’t have if I learned to crochet.  Christmas came around and my son was 4 months old.  I bought him a cute crocheted hat off of ETSY like I did for his birth announcements.  The hat cost about $25 and I decided then that I was going to learn to crochet because it had to be cheaper than buying them.  In January I taught myself to crochet hats and soon my friends were asking me to make hats, blankets and shoes for them.  I eventually opened up my own ETSY shop, Hats and Knit Knacks.  

Crocheting is really easy with practice and I taught myself how to crochet from youtube videos.  I first found a video that I liked and then went and bought the supplies.  What I have found is that most yarns and patterns use a G Hook (4.0 mm).  So that is what I started with.  I went to Michaels and bought 1 skein of yarn and a G Hook.  This way you aren’t spending a ton of money on an entire kit if you don’t like it.  I eventually went back and bought a set of hooks and have added larger hooks when patterns required them. Here are some of the videos I used.  

Basic Double Crochet Hat with Ears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNeSZkUpWkM&feature=related

Granny Stitch Hat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SBPeCw8YI&feature=relmfu

Puff Stitch Hat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8lLMHpt1Sw

A great site to find patterns is ravelry.com  Some patterns are free and some aren’t.  You can usually find what you are looking for free, but you will need to know the crochet language.  A list of terminology can be found at Lions Brand http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?dictionaryOfAbbreviations=1

I hope you find this information helpful.  Just remember it may not come easy.  My first hat probably took me 8 hours to make.  I was yelling at my husband to turn the tv down and to be quiet.  My stitches also did not look like hers in the video.  It takes practice to crochet evenly and tight.  My first  hat was more of a bowl and couldn’t fit anyones head.  I can now make a hat in an hour or two depending on the detail and size.

Happy Crocheting!

xoxo

-J

Dracula's Downfall Pizza

Who doesn't like pizza, right? Cheesy, greasy deliciousness in a pan is hard to resist. Of course, there are slightly healthier alternatives out there in some restaurants with thin crust.  But what about those who have a gluten allergy? I'm not one of them personally (thank you Jesus) but the trend is sweeping America as folks are becoming more and more aware of the reason they haven't had a solid BM in years. No, I'm more along the lines of the mom who, if I can sneak veggies and protein into a meal and make it healthier, I feel the sudden urge to don a SuperMom cape and start fighting 'The Man'.

I stumbled across a pizza crust online a few months ago that called for cauliflower, cheese and eggs. I made it for my family, and it was a success! Fast forward to the present, and I now have a little nursling who has a dairy sensitivity (projectile vomit anyone?). I was visiting with my cousin who has a gluten intolerance and she was making a cauliflower pizza crust. I started dreaming longingly of pizza and was just starting to attempt to curb my drooling desires when I noticed that she wasn't adding cheese to the crust! I asked for the recipe and skipped home to try it out. The product was a deliciously healthy pizza that would put the toughest vampire into a coma, therefore I have fondly nicknamed this dish 'Draculas Downfall'. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that my toddler has watched Hotel Transylvania 8 times today. 



First, I am including some quick directions on how to roast garlic. I am baffled by the amount of folks I talk to who have never had it. The mild, buttery, nutty flavor is so amazing that I use roasted garlic in SO many dishes, and even eat cloves straight from the bulb.

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Ingredients:



Whole garlic bulbs
Olive oil

Aluminum foil



Directions:

1.Cut about 1/4" off the top of each bulb of garlic, exposing the tops of the cloves and remove the papery outer layers.

2. Drizzle a little olive oil on each bulb, using your finger to make sure each clove is coated.

3. Wrap garlic in foil, pop in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. 

When the garlic has cooled to the touch, simply take a small knife and cut the skin around each clove. Squeeze the cloves out from the bottom and enjoy! 
 

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Roasted Garlic Herb Sauce 

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 bulb mashed roasted garlic (you can use as much as you like)

3 Tbsp Coconut flour (or flour of your choice, this is just what I had on hand)

3/4 cup water with a squirt of lemon juice

2 Tsp Italian Seasoning 
Salt and Pepper


Directions:



1. Heat oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add mashed garlic and flour, stirring to make a paste. 


2. When it starts to thicken slowly add liquid, whisking constantly until you reach the desired consistency (you may not use all the liquid) 


3. Remove from heat and stir in seasonings.

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For the crust 

Ingredients



2 cups cauliflower (one small one or half a large one)
1/4 onion

3 cloves garlic

1 1/4 cup Almond meal

2 eggs

Italian seasoning

Salt and Pepper



Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Combine cauliflower, onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Don't overmix, you don't want to have a paste. Stir in almond meal, eggs and seasonings.

3. Form into pizza crust and bake alone for 20 minutes. I used my baking stone. 



After the crust is out of the oven, spread the sauce evenly and top! I topped mine with chicken, bacon (makes everything better) sliced roasted garlic, spinach and dairy free cheese.

 

If you're not a garlic freak like I am, you can top your crust with any kind of sauce/topping combination you desire. Tomato, basil pesto... the possibilities are endless! 



Enjoy :) 

xoxo
-S

DIY: Decorative Comic Book Letter

I love Pinterest and wanted to make some cute comic book letters for my boys.  When clicking on all the links it was very hard to find directions that I liked all in one place.  I had to sift through all the letters to find directions, while finding easy ones were even harder.  Here is my own version of how to create a 3-D letter and how to mod podge the comic onto the letter.

Supplies

metal ruler

cutting board

masking tape

x acto knife

scissors

stiff cardboard box (diaper box)

flexible cardboard box (cereal box)

pencil/pen

mod podge

foam paint brush

comic book

2 printed letters

3-D Letter

First you need to choose a font for your letter.  A font that has a flat bottom works the best for curved letters.  I use Aerial Black.  If you don’t have Aerial Black, use Aerial and make it bold.  I make the font 700-800 point.  This fills up an entire 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.  You can make the letters uppercase or lower case.  You may also need to print landscape versus portrait for some letters like m.  Print two copies of the letter of your choice.  Tape the paper to the stiff cardboard and cut out.  If your letter doesn’t have a flat edge on the bottom like s, make sure to cut a small straight edge on the bottom so the letter can stand up.  If your two letters do not match exactly don’t worry you will never be able to tell once it is assembled.  Next you will need to cut strips of cardboard of equal width from the stiff and flexible cardboard.  I use my rule width as the width for the strips so no measuring is required.

You are now ready to assemble your letter.  Cut the strips to the lengths needed.  I use the stiff cardboard for the base and the flexible cardboard for the curved edges.  Tape the letter together.  It should now be able to stand.

Selecting your Comic

When I select my comics I try to find ones that have lots of images of my character.  Make sure the images don’t all fall on the backs of another as you can only use one side.  It is also very difficult to find two comics that have the same illustrations, so one comic book per letter is best.  Now that you have your comic you need to take out the staples and select the pages/images you would like to use and cut them out with your scissors.  I use my 3-D letter to trace onto the back of the images I am using for my cutting guide.  When doing the sides you will want to make sure you cut those strips a little larger so you can wrap the edges of the letter for a seamless look.  

How to Mod Podge

I use a matte finish mod podge and start with the sides, then do the front and last the back.  You do not need to make the back perfect since no one will be seeing it, just make sure all the cardboard is covered.  To mod podge the letter you brush on a coat onto the back of the comic and stick it to the cardboard.  Once all sides are done and have dried add two to three coats of mod podge.  Make sure you brush in the same direction so your strokes all look the same and allow the letter to dry before adding the next coat.  You can mod podge anything.  I also did the light switches in the boys rooms.

Enjoy!

xoxo
-J

No Bake Cookies: Organic, Gluten Free, Dairy Free & No Added Sugar

I have a major sweet tooth, and cookies have always been a serious weakness of mine. Unfortunately my little nursling is dairy intolerant, so I have been making some radical (in my opinion) changes to my diet. No butter or cheese is close to the seventh circle of hell to me. I needed desperately to find something to fill the void, especially since I always seem to crave that which I cannot have. Such is life.

I experimented the other day on some no bake cookies. You know the ones. They're chock full of sugar and butter and bring back delicious memories. I wanted a healthier version of the classic. It took 3 tries but the final result is ahhhhhmazing! These are much better after being refrigerated until chilled, although it's very hard to resist a few spoonfuls straight out of the pot! These delicious cookies are organic, gluten free, dairy free and with no added sugar. It's just an added perk that on hot summer days they also require no oven! 

Ingredients

1/2 cup local honey
1/4 cup organic coconut oil
1/4 cup organic unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup natural organic nut butter (peanut or almond)
2 cups gluten free oats
1/2 cup organic shredded coconut
1 Tbsp vanilla extract 




1. In a medium saucepan heat honey, coconut oil, almond milk and cocoa powder over medium heat, whisking until combined. Bring mixture to a boil.

2. Remove pan from heat and stir in nut butter, oats, shredded coconut and vanilla extract until combined.

3. Drop cookies onto wax paper and refrigerate for at least half an hour until chilled. These cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. 

Enjoy!


xoxo
-S

The 40 Day Organization Challenge

Day 2 is a cabinet and drawer cleaning, but hubby decided to clean our pantry first so we will go skip to that for now. Luck has it, the pantry cleaning is supposed to be completed on day 4, so we will just switch it up a little. Let me just say that our pantry was a hot mess but now its beautifully organized!

We went to the dollar store and picked up some bins and cheap containers to start with. Luckily, we’re close to school starting again so there are lots of organization goodies!

We found the easiest way to clean and organize was to go shelf by shelf.

First, sort everything into keep and toss (expired food) piles then set to the side. Within the ‘keep’ pile, organize items based on the type of containers (cans with cans, boxes with boxes, etc.)

Next, decide where you want everything to go and return it all to the pantry (in its categories).

Easy as pie! You should now have a beautifully organized pantry.  

Days 3 and 4 will be cabinets and drawers. I know in my kitchen it's too much to accomplish in 1 day so it shall be 2!


Until tomorrow   

xoxo
-J