In a Nutshell: College Football-Go Cougars!

As you might expect of a houseful of boys, we like ourselves some football.

The boys are pretty content to play a rousing game of two hand touch/tackle madness. They can't make up their mind if they should just tag it out or if they should clothesline each other. So they basically do both.

Sometimes they play with the neighborhood boys.

Sometimes when everyone is busy, they are happy playing with just the two of them.

When there are just two players the rules are little different, and to be honest I couldn't explain them to you even if you offered to pay me.

Some things look familiar. Hut, hut, hike.

They can give a good smack down when necessary.

Tuck that ball in.

Run Forest, run!

You know what we love more than backyard football...

College football.

BYU football to be specific.

Hubby and I both graduated from the Y. We love watching the Cougars play.

We are raising a new generation of Cougar Fans.

This was their very first live BYU football game. I was sad to miss it, but I know they had fun.

I wonder if they learned some more rules to apply to their backyard football game.

Three Bean Corn Salsa

The end of summer means lots and lots of harvest.

We had planned to harvest lovelies from our own garden. We had so many glorious dreams for all of our crops.

The most glorious of dreams can be so easily squashed (haha pun totally not intended).

Harvesting our own veggies may not have really occurred this year. Our garden, well how shall I say it...it BOMBED.

No, not the bomb.

BOMBED.

Big. Time.

Blame it on learning to garden in a new climate. Blame it on Bean. Blame anything and everything is what I decided to do. That way I could feel better about all that wasted planting and all our sad non existent vegetables.

There is some good news in this woe-is-me boohoo fest.

We have many neighbors who have shared their over abundance.

We also have discovered Bountiful Baskets. Thanks to them we have been able to can/freeze/eat tons of wonderful produce.

Our family has enjoyed using and storing all of this produce.

We have made a lot of really refreshing things all thanks to massive amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. .

One of the things we made recently is this Three Bean Corn Salsa.

Yum. I first tried this a little over a year ago when my SIL made it for a family function. I had been warned by many that I would probably want to inhale this salsa in large and unladylike quantities.

I just "pshhawed" them.

I mean really when am I ever unladylike...cough, cough.

Well they were all telling the truth. Inhale it I did. Oh it was just so yummy.

So when the stars aligned with fresh produce on my counter and a party that I had to make something for, I texted my SIL and asked how to make this salsa.

The list of ingredients was super easy. I ran to the store for the things I didn't have.

Chopped a very little.
Threw together a lot.
Opened a bag of tortilla chips and tasted some here and there...okay lots here and there.
Served up the rest at our neighborhood block party.

I know Summer is almost over and the season for light and refreshing food is coming to an end, but this salsa can be an all year round recipe.

Seriously, all the ingredients are easily found at most supermarkets. Plus if you store some of your produce from the Summer than you will have a little bit of the garden fresh stuff to still throw in.

If you like chips and salsa, give this tomato-free salsa a try. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Three Bean Corn Salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can yellow corn, drained (or 1 1/2 cups thawed freezer corn)
1 can white corn, drained (or 1 1/2 cups  thawed freezer corn)
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1-2 avocados, diced
1 cup zesty Italian dressing
1/3-1/2 cup chopped cilantro (more or less to you liking)
*lime juice for soaking the avocados in

Drain and rinse all the beans and the corn. Dump them all in a large bowl. Dice avocado and set them aside in lime juice to prevent browning. Dice pepper and chop cilantro.

Add avocado and green pepper to the beans and corn. Drizzle with the Italian dressing and mix gently.

Gently mix in the cilantro.

Serve right away or refrigerate.

It will keep in an airtight container for several days.

Enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Pinteresting Wednesday: Homemade Fabric Softener

I pretty much dislike, okay I strongly dislike doing laundry.

The only thing that keeps me doing it even in my intense dislike of the chore...

...well I dislike smelliness even more.

I think the reason that I am not a fan of laundry is because it truly is never EVER done. I can complete four loads of laundry and by the time I am done folding that load there is a whole other load.

Boo.

A new washer and dryer has helped. Delightful smelling detergent has also helped. Another thing I have started having a fondness for is fresh and lovely smelling fabric softener.

Unfortunately, the best stuff...you know the stuff that smells to.die.for...isn't always in our budget.

We ran out of softener quite awhile ago and I was just going without.

Then the other day I came across THIS post at One Good Thing. Remembering that I was fabric softener deficient, I pinned it right away on my Tips, Tricks, and Good to Know board.

I had everything on hand to make it AND it was laundry day, so I figured I would give it a go and see if Homemade Fabric Softener was worth the hype.

Her original recipe makes 1 gallon of fabric softener.

She mixes 6 cups of water, 3 cups of white vinegar, and 2 cups hair conditioner (it can be the cheap stuff). Since I was just testing it out, I actually halved my mixture and just did 3 cups water, 1 1/2 cups vinegar, and 1 cup conditioner.

I mixed the conditioner and vinegar together first.

Then I mixed in the water.

When everything was all combined, I poured it into a half gallon empty, and clean, milk container. I figured the chocolate milk residue wouldn't so much help my softener.

I poured some of it in a pretty little container. Yeah I am pretty sure I didn't need to, but sometimes I like surrounding myself with unnecessary but pretty things. I stored the rest.

To use, I just added about 1/4 cup of the softener in my fabric softener container of my HE washer and ran it like normal. In the first load, which was larger, I didn't notice the "ocean" smell as much. In smaller loads I did notice the smell. I actually washed a blanket and it was lovely and oceany fresh.

I am not sure it can really compete with the really good store-bought stuff, but it is cheap, still works, and I will be making my own fabric softener again for sure.

Happy Pinning!

Twill Parachute Clip Boy's Belt: Tutorial

When it came time to get my boys' ready for school, that meant putting together their first day of school outfits.

In years past, since I only had one to buy clothes for, I would get something new specifically for the first day (okay maybe I got something new for the first SEVERAL days). This year I had two kiddos to buy for. So buying a bunch of new stuff really wasn't a financial possibility.

So I tried really hard to get creative mixing and matching items that were new and items that I already had in the closet.

I mentally put together Oldest's first day outfit in my head. I was pretty happy with the outfit idea except I really wanted a gray twill belt. I looked a little here and there, but I could never find it. Since I was still trying to be budget conscious, I also wasn't willing to scour for it.

If I found it and it was cheap than I would buy it.

I didn't find it cheap or expensive.

When I was telling some friends my woes, one of them laughed and said, "Uh I am sure you can just whip one up!"

We all had a good chuckle at my obsession with just "whipping" stuff up.

Then in my head I was like, "DUH! Why don't I just whip one up?"

And the Twill Parachute Clip Belt was born.

This belt is ridiculously easy to make and just as ridiculously cheap.

Here is what you need:

twill belting (enough to go around your little guy's waist with extra...I just bought a yard)
1 Parachute Clip
lighter/match
coordinating thread

I bought my belting and the clip at The Mart. I think altogether I spent $2.50 for it all. You can get belting and the clip at a major sewing store too.

After measuring the waist you are belting add on a good 5-8"...when in doubt get extra.

Loop one end through the loop of the first buckle piece (the female piece). Pull through with a couple of inches of excess.

Then take the other end of the twill belting and put it through the other piece of the buckle (you can see I had a bunch of excess).

Trim off excess on this end, leaving just a couple of inches.

Now take your handy dandy lighter/match/campfire...kidding about using a campfire...don't do it!

Anywhooo...

 
With your lighter, melt the ends of the belting. This will keep it from fraying.                                
                                      

Now you will want to attach the twill together on one side. 

I choose the side with the female buckle piece.

I sewed the belting in place with three rows of messy zig zag stitching.

Now the belt has one end secure and one end that can be tightened or loosened.

Belt done. Money saved. 

Outfit complete.

Oh happy day.

Pencil Skirt From T-shirt: Tutorial

About 2 weeks ago I shared with you my T-shirt Pencil Skirt creation. At the time, I had not yet done a tutorial. Sometimes that happens to me...

"What happens to you?" you might be asking.

Well let's just say that sometimes I bust out a project too fast and too impatiently to take pictures, document, or write down how I even did it.

You guys are in luck though.

Again, I know you are curiously asking, "Why am I in luck?".

Well you see you are in luck because the first one I made...the one pictured above...yup that one was...um...a little snug.

"How snug?"

Snug enough that it would have been improper and very unladylike to wear said skirt to church (Although Hubby did say he would be OK with me wearing it on a date. I just bet ya would buddy.)

"It doesn't look that snug in the picture?"

My, my you have a lot of questions today.

First thank you for saying it doesn't look too snug.

Second, well I didn't take any picture of my fanny now did I.

My ghetto-tastic booty would be the culprit of the too snug skirt. Who knew I was channeling my JLo.

So basically this was a longer and slightly more embarrassing way of saying that you get a tutorial on how to make my T-shirt Pencil Skirt because I had to make myself another one. One less emphasizing of my backside. Silver lining is that now I have a tutorial to share with you.

Whew...enough talk of well my you-know-what.

On to the tutorial for my new better fitting T-shirt Pencil Skirt.

You will need:

1 Men's T-shirt, without a pocket...I recommend the biggest size you can find. That way you have the most fabric.
Freezer paper
Thread

Now let's get started.

1. Make a pattern for your skirt. You can either outline an existing skirt, or you can do what I did and I outlined my self...yes I did. I laid down on the freezer paper and traced from where I wanted it to hit on the waist to below my knees. I added 1/2" on each side (the 2nd time that is...hehehe) to allow for the seam.

I made sure to have the skirt taper for the pencil skirt effect. Make sure not to have it taper so much though that you won't have the give to actually walk in the skirt once it is made.

I adjusted the tracing on the freezer paper to make it symmetrical.

Lay the pattern over the t-shirt.

2. Iron the pattern (freezer paper) onto the shirt to stabilize it.

3. Cut out. Start by cutting the top layer and then going back and cut the back layer (front and back of the shirt).

4. Save the side seams scraps of the shirt.

5. You will have two pieces. These will be the top bands of your skirt.

6. Layer them, folded edge at the top. Lay them at the top of your skirt pieces. Cut the two strips a little bigger than the width of the top of the skirt.

7. Now to make the waist bands the same height (top to bottom), layer them on top of each other with the folded sides flush with each other.  Cut off the excess of the raw edges to make them equal. Mine ended up being between 3-4 inches. Your band width could vary depending how much excess you have from the shirt.

You should end up with two band pieces.

8. Pin each band strip to one piece of the skirt. Pin right sides facing with the raw edges on top. 

9. Sew them together with a serger if you are one lucky dog and have one...I will try not to hate you. Otherwise, just sew with a zig zag stitch on your regular machine.

10. Fold up the band and press with an iron.

11. With the band attached to the skirt pieces, lay each new skirt piece on top of each other, right sides facing. Pin. By now the freezer paper should not be on the fabric.

You will probably need some patience here. If your shirt is like mine, it will roll a little.

Just take a deep breath and think about how cute you are going to look.

12. Sew from top to bottom with a serger...eh hem...still not jealous...or zig zag it. I made sure to back stitch at both ends.

13. Now simply turn your skirt out. Since you used the bottom of the shirt for the bottom of your skirt you don't need to sew a hem.

Isn't it glorious when part of the job is already done for you.

Press you skirt.

Now shimmy yourself into it and make your husband, boyfriend, or potential boyfriend/husband take you to dinner.

You deserve it.