6 Summer Funtivities

So guess what? The official season of happiness is here this week. Is it too apparent how very much I love summer? It's almost painful how much I love it. It's like if I'm not outside soaking up every available ray of joyous sunshine somehow I'm turning my back on it and bidding winter to come back three months early.. So what do you do in the summertime? Here are some ideas I have:

1. Visit a splash pad. If you live in Utah, do a splash pad marathon and visit them all.

2. Eat yummy food. I know everyone is worrying about looking swimsuit ready but honestly there is just not enough summers in a lifetime to spend precious playtime energy worrying about body image issues. So I, Maren Elizabeth Costa do hereby grant you on this day in two thousand and thirteen, freedom from counting calories, weigh ins, all scales actually, and request your total enjoyment drinking life in to it's fullest and with that enjoying some terrific food. Here are some recipes to try. So call up those friends that you've been meaning to get together with, and enjoy some good food.

Sweet Lime Enchiladas

Paradise Punch Pie

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Thai Chicken Sundaes



3. Fix up your favorite beverage, take a blanket, a good book and stretch out on the lawn. Or your balcony if you're in an apartment. Ahhhh heaven.

4. Make a masterpiece in sidewalk chalk. I have to confess I have not done a lot of coloring in my adult life.

Image source

 But having a professional colorer by my side all day who demands to get her work down on concrete makes
it easy to get out. I've found there's something relaxing about mindless doodling in the warm sunshine.



5. Take a picnic up the canyon. Sometimes the heat can get a little much around July time so lose some degrees by increasing elevation.
Pack up any of the aforementioned foods, your frisbee, and enjoy the fabulous outdoors.





6. Do whatever the heck you want. I mean, it's summer! Anything is possible.

~Maren

Riding in cars with babies

Is there anything more exciting than a new project? The adrenaline surge that comes from knowing you are going to take something lame and make it awesome? When I saw this sad weather worn car in the yard area at DI I knew it was meant to come home with me and be my new best friend for the next couple days. It was a yucky pink and I felt it should be candy apple red not only because red cars are so cool, but just in case any boy babies came our way and would want to ride it.

Sanding got pink dust alllll over

Inspecting the work

Had to make sure everything was taped just right especially those darling little headlights. So cute!

Finished! Ready to take the buddies for a spin. Don't worry when she felt the car was rocking to hard for their safety she put them both inside.

Have fun!

Maren

Chocolate Mousse Cups

I guess it's treat week on the porch hooray! So after you've made Laura's mintalicious cookies give these a try!

So these I will admit were a little time consuming. But mega-fun to make too. I got the mold at Jo-ann for $2 and just regular old baking squares for the chocolate.

Melt the chocolate and pour into your mold, filling it about half-way full.

Turn it over and tap it gently so the chocolate pours evenly throughout the mold

Put it in the fridge for about 20 mins. (or just take it out  after you remember from when you started that batch of laundry or favorite show)


The mold says to put it  in the freezer for a few minutes after refrigerating but don't do this! It makes them brittle and impossible not to break. They are perfect after just refrigerating, still a little flexible and don't break as easily. However if they do break, its easy to just seal it up with some extra melted chocolate. No thanks for the tip Wilton!

As your last set of cups are cooling, whip up the chocolate mousse. I just used the recipe from our best bites because its so easy.

My favorite part is getting the pastry bag and filling them. Spoon the mousse in your pastry bag and fill those bad boys up!

I topped mine with strawberries but you could do chocolate curls, mint leaves, raspberries, or anything your mind comes up with.

Eat up!
Maren

Linking to:
The Best Blog Recipes Southern Lovely Kitchen Meets Girl Someday Crafts

Reupholstering Your Dining Chairs

Finished Product

Furniture shopping can be overwhelming. One must consider many questions while battling a relentless barrage of helpful, smiling salesfolk. Will the new piece match my existing decor? Is it made of used packaging peanuts and will fall apart next year? Should I get this or 29 new shirts instead? Difficult. When we decided that our current dining set was in need of upgrading, we went to the store where my husband shopped while I raced around 12,000 square feet of toddler hiding heaven. Once he found the one pictured above (scratch and dent, good deal) he asked my approval. I nodded, seeing how it had four good legs and chairs and then raced off after the screams of delight that only a good chase can produce. 

When we got them home I found, much to my dismay that these chairs had FABRIC seats. Nooooooo! Why must the furniture fates conspire against me once again? Our last set had fabric seats and were a magnet for every grape drink and over-ripe strawberry in the county. My new set giving me equal if not more distress? This could not be. 

That's why in times of freak-outage, God in his great wisdom gave us friends. Wonderful Jenn said, "You know what? I bet it would be easy to recover those." With her encouragement and support I decided, yes I would take on this challenge because 20 years of dealing with dining anxiety when there are "real" problems in the world, just isn't worth it. 

I checked out a couple videos on YouTube (the one I linked is a good one. I'm not just linking to YouTube) and if you've never recovered anything before you definitely should watch some too. Here are the basic steps they taught me: 

1. Turn your chair upside down and unscrew the screws holding the chair pad to the chair. This part was easy, willing me to believe that the rest would be too. Ha ha ha so naive. 

2. Cut out your fabric so you've got at least four inches or so on the straight sides and six or so on the curvy ones. (If you have curvy chairs like I do) The chairs on the Tube tutorials were all straight sides so that is my excuse for why mine look a little crappy.

3. Staple one side in the middle of your chair pad and use all your hand strength to pull it taut on the opposite side and staple that side in the middle. Proceed to put one staple in each side.

4. Begin stapling the edges leaving a few inches around the corners. Make sure that you pull the fabric as tight as you can so you'll have a nice smooth surface on the other front side.

5. Once you're done with the sides you've got your malicious corners to deal with. I found this was kind of like wrapping a present. You want to get as many wrinkles out by smoothing the sides and getting them to fold on the bottom side of the pad. Use approximately 93 staples on each corner until every fold is nailed down. 

6. Trim the excess from the pad and flip it over to reveal you're beautiful handiwork. Screw it back into your chair and you're done. It just took a bruised staple hand, a few curses and some time but you did it! Now I can rest assured that all little wobbly hands are welcome at my table.  

I think the biggest thing I learned out of this project is that you can do anything. Really. What looks so hard and impossible can be achieved once you take the time to learn, break it down to easy steps and shove all your negative voices out the door. 

Have fun!

Maren

Linking to:

Redfly Creations   One Artsy Mama   Tidy Mom  This Gal Cooks Mad in Crafts  Craft-O-Maniac

5 Cleaning tips you won't find on Pinterest!

Hey Potluck Pals!
So I know if you are anything like me, you can use all the help you can get when it comes to keeping your castle spick and span. These are some tips I have found that have really helped ease me load!

1. Dirty Windows: Hate the ugly smudges that are left on your windows after you've had littlies over? Give this crazy spray a try! I was worried initially since it looks blue in the bottle, but have no fear once you've sprayed and wiped it off the window it leaves NO BLUE RESIDUE. So don't be afraid, give it a try! The MAGIC!!!

smudges come off like

2. Laundry: I don't know about you but I HATE the pain in my back and arms after doing a full load of laundry. It's like after a full day I barely have energy to pick the kids up from soccer! If you feel the same way, you are going to sing my praises forever more once you hear what I'm about to tell you. Stick your clothes in this round box and they come out clean, EVERY TIME! Sayonara washboard mama's got a new pair of high tops!

3. Sweat Stains on Shirts: I hate when a new shirt is ruined because of those nasty yellow armpit marks. It's like, what's the point of a cute shirt if you lift your arms and its not cute anymore? So do what I do. It's very simple. Find a sharp pair of sewing shears. Make sure you are in a well-lit area and lift the shirt to the light, making sure you see the stain. Next using the stain as a guide, cut out the shirt around the circumference of the yellowed area, making sure not to clip the unmarked fabric and you're done! The stain is gone and the problem fixed.

4. Yucky Sheets After Guests Have Stayed Over: I love to have house guests. It's such a treat to entertain. Sometimes however, house guests though initially welcomed, leave unwelcome surprises once they're gone. How to treat that? Yuck right? Follow these three simple steps and you'll never have to deal with it again. 1.Take a polaroid of the sheet (make sure you include the offending mark in the frame). 2. With gloves and a hazmat suit if you got one, pick up the sheet and promptly throw it in the OUTSIDE  garbage can. 3. Find a card with a cheerful looking bird flying away with a suitcase in his beak that says "Thanks for stayin'! " Make sure to include the polaroid and the receipt for the new 900 count sheet set you bought for your guest bed. After getting your bill, there's no way they're coming back!

5. Bathrooms: This one is my favorite tip and one that I use on a regular basis. Sometimes my hubbers gets tired of wallowing through dirty clothes and soap slime to get to the shower in the morning and complains that it's dirty. WHAT? Once he starts threatening my AmEx access, I find the best way to get

things clean in a jiffer is to call any one of the people at Daisy Maids and they can come over and get it all done waaay before that sweet man comes home. Easy and painless!

So there you go my friends! My favorite tips that I tell everyone about when they first get married. Have so much fun cleaning that beautiful home of yours.
Love times a million,
Maren

P.S. I can't believe it's already April that went by so fast.

Best Ever Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies!

Do I promise too much in giving this cookie an eight word name? I think not. From the first bite I knew they were worth every syllable. If you are into chocolate and peanut buttery delight, you've got to give this recipe a try.

To Make:

In a medium bowl whisk  2 1/2 C. flour, 1/3 C. cocoa powder, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 t. salt.

In a large bowl beat 1 C. butter, 3/4 C. sugar, 3/4 C. brown sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla until smooth. Add two eggs beating well after each addition.

 Coarsely chop 20 Reese's peanut butter cups. Gradually add in flour mixture and stir until mixed. Fold in 1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips and the chopped peanut butter cups. Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and cook for 8-10 mins at 375.

Dive into decadence!
~Maren

Simple Wall Art

Last summer I was strolling around Gardner Village with my two sisters and happened upon this adorable birdy pillowcase. Without the pillow inside it was only $10 (which to me is a great deal in the village, not so much at other places) and I loved the design and colors. However, as you may already know for me, making the pillow to go inside would be difficult. I am no seamstress. Once Nancy introduced me to liquid stitch it was like being free from the prison of the sewing machine. I blame you 8th grade pillowcase and drawstring pants.

So I ended up buying this lovely thing without really knowing what the heck I was going to do with it. Like I said, making an actual pillow to go inside it was a no-go; not just because of the sewing difficulties but because of it's light colored wool, I knew it would be a magnet for tiny dirty hands; and that would be just too much stress over something so useless and non-stressful. I decided it should be framed.

Finding a frame was easy after I got one of those $10 cards from Kohl's. You know the ones that come in the mail? Silly Kohl's people, don't you know I always take those and find the stuff that's only ten bucks? And yet you send me more. It's like magic money. Anyway, after finding this frame I just cut off the back where the zipper was and stuffed it inside.

It did take a little trimming on the edges but with some slimming down it finally fit. I popped it up on the wall where it sits happy as a bluebird, chirping and tweeting all day. I loved how it cost me about $12 to make. Maybe you have something at home that you love but don't know exactly what to do with. Try taking it out and doing something  unconventional with it. Who knows, you may love it even more that way?

Take care,
Maren

Heaven isn't too far away...

Happy Everlasting Winter everyone! You know despite the suffocating inversion, bone chilling walks to the car, sunshine that comes in the window, tempting you to come outside and then you do and it laughs in your face because it's only 37 degrees, winter isn't all that bad! Well not when you have an evening filled with fondue and friends.
Daphne the Kitchen Kween let me borrow her Melting Pot cookbook for V-day and I found this tantalizing recipe in here. Valentine's came and went but I had to try it. So last night we whipped this sucker up and it was fabulous.

In a small saucepan, combine 3/4 C. corn syrup, 1 1/2 C. brown sugar with a 1/3 C. water. Bring it to a boil and then reduce to medium and cook for 20-25 min. stirring every now and then. This means while you are cutting up fruit and cake pieces, give it a stir when you finish the strawberries or whatever. You know what I mean.

Remove the pan from the heat and add in 1/4 C. of butter. That's 1/2 of a stick. Do not read it wrong and put in 1/2 C. of butter and have to nervously scoop out the rest when you realize it's not combining right when you read the recipe again. Who does that? Thoroughly stir in your butter and then add 1 tsp. of vanilla and 1/3 c heavy cream.

Chop up 4 oz. of white chocolate into small pieces and add to your mixture. This is what it looks like towards the end. Creamy dreamy.

Put the mixture into a warm fondue pot, call your gang over and enjoy the cold winter together.
Happy dipping!
~Maren

Feel the Love

Last week my husband had a business trip. Caroline and I are never going to turn down an opportunity for fun, so we went and spent a few days with my wonderful sister Lucy and her little girl Penelope. We had such a great time. Once the babies were down at night Lucy and I sat around her kitchen table to paint, give suggestions to each other, tell and retell funny stories and laugh. As we went we even came up with new words such as "crispening." Crispening is when your edges are smudgy and you go back and fix them. Needless to say I crispened greatly with this project.

Before this trip I had initially embarked upon JoAnn to get some wooden frames and spell out "Love" in some pretty computery writing and paint the frames. Alas, there were no cute frames at my local Jo so I found these cute letters and changed course. (Also, I was charged waaaaay to much for them and my money saving coupon only saved me like eight cents. Ugh. I get ripped off at that store way to often, but that's a complaint session for another time). Anyway, I didn't quite have my plan formed for these guys but I knew I wanted something Valentinesy.

Back to Lucy's kitchen, I began sanding off the rough edges and painting them white. In my creative zeal I tried to do checkers and polk-a-dots that ended up looking like 5th grade camp all over again. I confess I did kind of like the symbolism in  the rigidity of the checkers since the other patterns were more whimsical and fun. The squares reminded me of the more blah parts of love. Paying bills together, budgeting when there's not enough money, deciding not to pick a fight when you so want to, you know that side of a relationship that isn't portrayed in any Nicholas Sparks film. At least not the ones I've seen. But either way, it was awful and had to go. And pictured above is what became of the the polk-a-dots that used to be on the "V".

While I was disparaging my work, Lucy shared with me a thought. This thought, I decided, must be stamped on the front door of my brain; so whenever a thought walked in or out I would remember it . This is what she said:

Such wise words! Really, if I am taking so much time, energy and meticulous finger strain to make this, why wouldn't I want it to have my signature? Now don't get me wrong, I don't want it to look like my toddler did it, but not like factory worker #450 did it either. 

So after resanding the uglies and painting afresh I wasn't so annoyed when the stripes weren't pristine.  

After the paint dried (kind of, I was getting tired of the mess) I arranged the letters how I wanted and glued them to my wooden stand. This was an extra piece of moulding given by Lucy's husband  but you could find something equally suitable at the store.

And wa-la! All done. I liked it with the flower topiary idea that I stole from Laura. Yes, my little sign isn't perfect but neither is Love; right ladies? Ha ha! Enjoy creating and don't let your drive for perfection stop you from having a blast.
Love,
Maren