The Fashionable Lionheart

  The town I live in here in mid-Missouri has a population of just a little over 200. The next town over is about 3000, as you can imagine we don't have a lot of options when it comes to shopping. Pretty much the only place to buy baby and kids clothes is Carters or Children's Place, now don't get me wrong, I love those as much as any other mom, but they just don't have the variety, and if you don't want your kid to look like everybody else's what do you? There are pretty much two options, shop online, and holy smokes are there some super cute handmade kids clothes out there! Or, option number two: D.I.Y. The latter is the route I usually take, baby clothes are pretty small and don't take much fabric and the possibilities are literally endless! In the future I hope to post a few patterns, but for now here's a few I've done.

1.                                                                               2.

                                           3.

The first one was super easy, just use fusible webbing to iron on any design to a onsie, draw in the rest with a sharpie and you're golden! The other two I made up myself.

Thanks for letting me share!

~Merry

Happy Halloween?

  Summer is winding down and what that means for me is holiday robots are under way! I hate to think about Halloween and Christmas this early but the truth is I have to get started WAY early in order to stock up. Here's what I'm working on now, some repeats from last year and hopefully some brand new ones for this year.

Wee Dracu-bot

 Franken-Bot

Teeny weeny Halloweeny

 What new things would you like to see?

~Merry

Etsy Treasures

I don't know about anyone else, but I LOVE browsing Etsy! Its one of my favorites! I don't buy very often, mostly just drool and wish I was talented enough to make every single thing on there! Here's a few things I've been looking at lately.

These hanging baskets from CharestStudios are the best!

Someday these planters from Wapa will be on my window sill.

Genius book shelves from Cush Design Studio.

This little bowl from Marinski Handmade is just too cute to pass up!

Just a little something fun for me. Geometric necklace from Bluedrib.

And last but not least some awesome leggings for the baby by Lola and Stella.

Hope you enjoy!

 ~Merry

Homemade Vanilla Frozen Custard

Hello! Happy Saturday!
 Today I want to share my favorite homemade ice cream recipe, I don't have an ice cream maker but that doesn't stop me! Nothing beats homemade ice cream in august! This is for classic vanilla custard, but the great thing is you can add any other flavorings you want! I put fresh cherries in mine but you can definitely use peaches or strawberries, chocolate chips, anything!

Ingredients:

1 whole vanilla bean
1 1/4 Cups of milk
4 egg yolks
6 Tablespoons of sugar
1 Teaspoon of cornstarch
1 1/4 cups of heavy cream

 Using a small sharp knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan, add the vanilla bean and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let sit for 15-20 minutes to let the flavor infuse.
    Lift out the vanilla bean, holding it over the pan scrape out the black seeds with the dull side of a knife so that they fall back into the milk. You"ll need to whisk the beans into the milk a little as they tend to clump up some. Set the vanilla bean aside and return the milk back to a boil.
  Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch until the mixture is thick and foamy. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, you don't want the custard to stick or burn to the bottom.
  When the custard is thick and smooth pour it into a bowl, let it cool then chill in the refrigerator or freezer.
Whip the heavy cream until it is thick but still falls from the spoon, you want it fluffy but not quite like whipped cream that you would buy. Fold it into the chilled custard and pour into a freezer proof container. Freeze for about three hours, beat it with a fork add chopped fruit or chocolate and then freeze again. Stir it with the fork every two to three hours after until it is firm enough to scoop. Now go call up some friends, start up the grill and enjoy your homemade custard!

*Note: If you are using an ice cream maker, skip whipping the cream and just pour it and the custard into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers directions.

DIY Painted flower pots

Apparently tiny window gardens are all the rage right now, especially little cacti. Maybe because the are so easy to grow. So, in order to not blend in with the crowd too much you have to personalize yours! Today, I will show you how I hand painted some terra cotta pots for my plants. I like to use the clay pots because they are super cheap and easily customizable. Here we go!
Step one: gather your materials.
1. assortment of clay pots
2. small paint brush ( not too small, about 1/2 - 1 inch)
3. masking tape
4. round price stickers
5. All purpose paint ( I like to use Martha Stewart's multi-surface craft paint )
6. chalkboard paint

Step two: Tape off the design you like. For mine I did triangles with the masking tape, polka dots with the price stickers and I also made one with chalkboard paint so I could write on it. If you are painting just the rim be sure to tape under the lip of the pot so it has nice clean lines.

  Once you have your design taped off, paint the area not taped. Let it dry for about an hour and then apply a second coat. Let it dry completely before removing the tape. I would recommend several hours.

Step three: Remove the tape, add your plant and enjoy!

~Merry

Amature gardening

 For the past few years I have attempted to do a small ( I mean tiny ) amount of urban gardening. You know, herbs, cherry tomatoes, house plants. Most of them have all died. I thought growing cactus would be easy, lots of sun, a little water, low maintenance, easy peasy! Not so much, I somehow killed those too. (Turns out you can't leave them out in the winter.) So this year I have a bigger yard and a little more determination, I have some big tomatoes, sweet pepper, herbs, house plants and outdoor flowers, so far I have only killed one plant! Yay! Thanks to my parents, I have some wonderful farm fresh fertilizer that does wonders!

~Merry

Welcome! Again.

Hello!
  Welcome to my blog! A few years ago I made a fatal attempt at blogging, thats why you will see some posts before this, just ignore those. Anyway, the blogging bug has bit me again, so we will try round two! This time around I hope to share in my adventures of being a new mama, cooking, sort of gardening, photography, DIYs and life here in mid Missouri. I hope you enjoy!