How To Make Bottle Cap Necklaces

My 5 year old daughter, Taylor, is making bottlecap necklaces as gifts for her friends this holiday. They are so much fun to do and very easy. Here is what you need:

Bottlecap (I buy pre-flatted ones)

Diamond Glaze

Ball Chain Necklace

4 mm open jump rings

round nose micro pliers

bottle cap images, or a 1 inch circle punch to create your own image

Step One

Find the image you would like to put in the bottle cap. I bought some fun scrapbook paper, and some sparkly letters. You can also buy bottlecap images on ebay and etsy. Also if there is plastic inside the bottlecap, remove it.

Step Two

Squirt your diamond glaze inside the bottle cap, and place the image on the glaze. Cover the image with diamond glaze. Let this dry overnight

Step Three

Put a hole in the top of the bottle cap. You can use a drill, but I think a hammer and nail works great.

Step Four

Using your round nose pliers open up the jump ring, place it inside the hold, and close with the pliers.

Step Five

Feed the charm through your necklace, and you are done!

You can find a lot of supplies at your local craft store or on etsy. Good luck!

Healthy Choice Pumpkin Squash Ravioli

So I have found my favorite frozen dinner meal. It is Healthy Choice's Pumpkin Squash Ravioli. It is only $1.88 at walmart, and it is soooo tasty. I swear I have been having one of these almost everyday and I am still not sick of it. I told my sister-in-law about this frozen dinner. She tried it, and hated it!! So, is it just me? Let me know what you think.

NEW PROJECT

So, my parents have given me their old cabinet. Super good quality, very nice, but just not my style. So, it is time to give it a makeover. I am now posting a before picture. You will all get to see the after picture in about 4 or 5 days. Here's a hint. I will be using black paint and some wall paper scraps.

Halloween Party

My mom threw a great halloween party for the family. She wen't all out!!! You can check out the party photos on her blog,"journeyings"

Fun Looking Toy

Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters are suppose the be one of the HOT and top rated toys this season. They actually look pretty fun. I think you can buy them hamster for about $10, but the accessories are a lot more.

Awesome Excersize DVD

So, I am a runner. I love running, and I never miss a day (well except for Sundays). Running helps me maintain the weight I am, but I am not losing anything. So I have decided that I really need to start toning and building muscle. I just barely ordered the Jillian Michaels (biggest loser) "No More Trouble Zones" DVD. Tonight was my first night doing the workout, and it was awesome!!! I already know that I am going to be sore tomorrow. If your interested in giving it a try, you will need a set of hand weights (I used a set of 5 pounders). It is about a 60 minute workout and she goes through all the body areas.
I ordered mine for about $11 (with free shipping because of Amazon Prime) of Amazon

I am excited to drop some poundage.

pumpkin soup

I made this soup, and it was sooooo good. Definitely a keeper:

Ingredients:

3 cups of cubed fresh pumpkin

6 cups of chicken stock (I used chicken broth)

1t fresh thyme (I used about a 1/4 or a 1/2 teapoon of dried thyme)

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

1 cup of heavy cream

Place all of the ingredients (except heavy cream) in a big pot and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Transfer soup to vita mix and blend. Transfer back to pot (I did crock pot because I had to leave for a bit) and then cook for another 30 minutes (I did crockpot on low for about 1.5 hours). The last step is to add the cream.

If you can find a substitue for the cream, great. Maybe milk would work? I used the cream, and it was very very good soup!!! I made some fermented bread to serve with it. Yummy.

Damask Baby Shoes

Taylor Joelle Designs will be doing a damask baby shoe soon. What do you think?

Baby Bump

My friend Heidi has entered a baby bump contest. It is the cutest picture! You can vote for her here. She is number 105.

Thanks!

Jenny

Metallic Baby Shoes

Coming Soon to Taylor Joelle Designs.

Shabby Apple

My friend just introduced me to a website with the cutest clothing for little girls and moms. Love it!!! It is called Shabby Apple.

Their clothing looks modest and it's all super cute!

Pillowcase Dress

I love this dress! It is called a pillowcase dress, and they seem fairly easy to sew. So go out and grab some cute Amy Butler fabric and give it a try. Here is a great turtorial on how to make one.

Home Preschool

I have been having SO much fun doing "preschool" with Cooper. Usually the other kids join in too. I only do it for about a half an hour a day, but he seems to love it! Right now we are working on shapes and colors.
I print off worksheets from the computer, and I also ordered a couple of workbooks from amazon that are on their way. A couple weeks ago we did a math lesson using mms.

Today we had a picnic in the yard, and I read some stories and played a game involving shapes. It was fun!

Free Nail Painting

This morning the kids were looking for something fun to do. Taylor came up with the idea of offering free nail painting to the neighbor kids. Cooper wanted to join in the fun, so he offered free Popsicles

Early Christmas Shopping

So, I did a little early Christmas shopping yesterday. Justice is currently having a sale of 40% off everything in the store. Taylor has been asking me for a camera. I found her a digital camera for $3.59 (regular $24.90).
I also got her a hair color stick so that she can do red and blue highlights (that are washable of course. The hair color stick was $5.70.

Good deals!

Baby Gift Idea

I love etsy! Here is a very cute set that would make a great baby gift! JolieBerry makes the cutest baby shoes, plus she often does onies to match. This set is only $27.95. Pretty good price for something handmade.

Wallpaper Bookshelf

Another fun thing you can do with some wallpaper is to add it inside your bookshelf. This could be a really inexpensive project. You can pick up an old bookshelf at a yard sale, thrift store, or ikea scratch and dent. Then buy or order online some wallpaper scraps.
There's some instructions at "Scanton Design Inspiriation".

Wallpaper is Back

Ok, so as soon as I get the energy (and some extra money) to redecorate, I would love to do my bedroom. And guess what? I am definitely going to include some wallpaper. I am not a fan of wallpapering the entire room, but I would love to wallpaper the wall behind my bed. I will be posting some before and after pics, when I get around to this project.

Here is a fun nursery pic using wallpaper.

After School Snack - Choco Banana Muffins

Today for an after school snack I am making banana chocolate chip muffins. My kids love muffins!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Tile Necklace

So I have seen more and more people wearing these fun tile necklaces. The first time I saw one was when I was waiting in line for the twilight movie. Someone had a tile with the book cover pic. I would love to make one for my daughter with a flower, barbie, or even picture of her new puppy on it.

Anyway, I think they look fun. You can buy them all over the place on Etsy. IM Creations is a store that has a bunch of them.

OR if you are feeling ambitious you could make some yourself. Here is a blog with great instructions!

Taylor Joelle Designs Baby Blanket Winner

And the winner is...

mcveggie

Please email Jenny at moyerenterprises@gmail.com and let me know which blanket you choose, along with your mailing address.

If you would like another chance to win one of our blankets, here are a couple of sites that are currently hosting a Taylor Joelle Giveaway:

Mud Pies and Maryjanes
The Otherhood

Also, we are having our polka dot blanket as our weekly hot buy this week for only $14.





Thanks to everyone who entered!

Drop Dead Diva

Ok, I am coming out of the closet. I am a lifetime network fan. My new favorite show on lifetime is Drop Dead Diva. The season is almost over, so set your DVRs to record the reruns. It is really entertaining!

"Drop Dead Diva" is Lifetime's spirited new comedic drama series that puts a wildly unique and entertaining spin on the complex issues of a woman's identity in today's world.

The show tells the story of a beautiful-but-vapid model wannabe, Deb, who has a fatal car accident and suddenly finds herself in front of Heaven's gatekeeper, Fred, who declares her a self-centered "zero." Outraged, Deb attempts to persuade Fred to return her to her shallow existence but is accidentally relegated to the body of the recently deceased Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott), a brilliant, thoughtful and plus-size attorney.

Handmade Baby Shoes

I found a very cute crafty blog today. It is called paper-and-string. She has a fantastic free pattern on her blog for these adorable baby shoes. They would make such a cute baby gift.

Mushroom Bisque Recipe

This soup is amazing!!!! It is definately restaurant quality. We have made it several times. My huband found it off the food network site.

Here it is:


Ingredients
1 quart chicken broth
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons half-and-half
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
White pepper
Hot sauce
Directions
In a 2-quart pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add mushrooms and onions and bring back to a simmer. Reduce heat to a slow simmer and cover for at least 1 hour.
Roux:
In a separate large pot, melt the butter, then add the flour. Whisk until evenly incorporated. Continue to whisk while slowly adding half-and-half to the roux. Add bay leaf and stir constantly until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Remove the bay leaf and discard.
Add the mushroom broth to the roux and stir until evenly incorporated. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce, to taste. Serve immediately.

BABY BLANKET GIVEAWAY

We are announcing our very first contest/giveaway. In this contest you have a chance to win your choice of Taylor Joelle Blankets. These blankets are top quality and sooo soft!

TO ENTER:
* up to 4 ways to submit an entry: (you can post a separate comment for each entry)
1. Become a follower of Rockin Baby, and post a comment about your favorite item from Taylor Joelle Designs.
2. Blog about this contest.
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter.
4. Subscribe to Taylor Joelle's weekly hot buy.

* Contest will be open until Wednesday August 26th
* The winner will be randomly selected (from random.org) and announced on this website Thursday, August 27th. Please check back to see if you won, or leave your email address with comment. The winner will need to contact moyerenterprises@gmail.com to provide name and shipping address.

Hats

We now have hats on www.taylorjoelle.com. These are perfect for fall and back to preschool/kindergarten. We will be getting some boy ones in our store in about a month.

So cute!

MY sister-in-law took these cute pictures. You can visit her photography blog at:

Quiet Time

While her little brothers napped, my daughter, Taylor, found a great activity to do. We had some unfinished frames that we found at the craft store. Taylor painted them with some acrylic paints.

After she paints, I think we will glue some fun jewels or ribbons onto them.

Greek Orzo Salad

This is such a yummy salad. I love having it on hand in the fridge to snack on.

Greek Orzo Salad

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
2 (6 ounce) cans marinated artichoke hearts (sometimes I leave these ot)
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 (2 ounce) can black olives,
1/2 small jar of green olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper


DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until soft; drain. Drain artichoke hearts, reserving liquid.
In large bowl combine pasta, artichoke hearts, tomato, cucumber, onion, feta, olives, parsley, lemon juice, oregano and lemon pepper. Toss and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator.

Just before serving, poor reserved artichoke marinade over salad.

Great Present Idea for children 8 and up

My neice, Julia has a flip camera, and has gotten a lot of use out of it. She is great at creating and directing vidoes (she even knows how to edit). Julia is 12 years old (I think). Here is a link with one of my favorite of her productions:




The flip camera costs about what you would spend on a nitendo DS, but I like this better than a DS for a present because it encourages creativity.

You can get a used one on Amazon for as low as $65 (as of this morning).

Amazon Prime

So, I signed up for the Amazon Prime free trial several months ago, and it was great. My sister-in-law uses it and LOVES it. She even buys diapers and groceries from it. Here is what she says about Amazon Prime:

"I think it is worth it for me because I have twins. Also because I don't like going in a store with 5 kids. It makes you feel like everyone is staring at you (I think they really are!). I also like that I know exactly when it will show up at the door. Because it is so predictable, you can even have something shipped to another house you know you will be at. It takes 2 business days.

I think it was $75 for a year. You only get free shipping on things that are shipped by amazon, but that is a lot of stuff. My most recent purchases included:

• Signing times video for the twins
• American Girl DVD for a 7 year old girl birthday party
• horse stamp set for a 10 year old girl birthday party
• pack and play that I ordered on Thursday and paid $4 to have 1 day shipping and received it the next day at Grandma's house in time for a sleepover
• baby organic banana puffs and organic jar baby food
• clif organic fruit twist for the kids. One of my new favorites that I need to blog about"

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

I am not much of a meat eater, but my husband loves this meal!! It is soo easy!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 pound cubed beef stew meat
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup water
4 ounces cream cheese
1 pkg of Egg Noodles

In a slow cooker, combine all the ingredients except for the cream cheese. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for about 5 hours. Just before serving, stir in the cream cheese. Serve over egg noodles or rice.

Crazy 8 Clothing

I love this store!! Gap has their cheaper brand - Old Navy, and Crazy 8 is Gymboree's cheaper brand.
So cute! I want the lime green tutu for Taylor, but they are sold out.

Here is a great promo code for $10 off 30

PSF9ZD7TTX41024

Baby Towel Bibs

A friend of mine gave me a couple bibs for my sons made of old towels. I love them!! They are huge bibs, so the cover his whole body and keep his clothes totally clean. Etsy has a bunch of them. Here is a link to one:

Also, if you feel like being crafty and making one yourself out of a hand towel, here is a link for instructions:

The Human Knot

Julia, my niece organized a game with the kids of human knot. She had each of the kids stand in a circle and reach out and hold and grab a hand of someone across the circle. Then they had to see how fast they could untangle

Water Games

Never underestimate how fun an opstical course or relay games can be. Here are a few easy games we did:

We gave each of the kids a plastic squirting fish and had each child stay a few feet away from a cup. They had to fill their fish up with water (we had a couple big bowls of water) and squirt it into the cup. The person who's cup was overflowing first wins.

Limbo

Bored and looking for something to do with the kiddies?

Try a game of limbo. We did this with the cousins and grandparents and the kids had a blast! We had some prizes for the winner.

Family Restaurant

As part of our staycation we had a little pretend restaurant. The kids had a lot of fun with it. My mom made some menus and the kids decorated the tables with center pieces. The older kids were our servers. That had a lot of fun doing it. If we liked their service we tipped them using tickets (later we had a movie night where they could buy candy using their tickets).

MUST HAVE Pajamas

I think every baby needs a few pairs of Carter's Pajamas. I have been looking for them at costco lately, and they have finally arrived! They are around 7 or 8 dollars each. So worth it.

Doesn't Mason look cozy?

Great Birthday Party Idea

My nephew had a WIPE OUT birthday party recently, and I was so impressed. What a fun idea! Here is his mom's description of the course:

"For the wipeout course, you start on the zip line, and go over the stream and land in a kiddie pool full of jello. You then run to the blow-up waterslide while dodging flying water balloons. After sliding down, you proceed to the doughnut station and try to eat a powdered sugar doughnut off the string while powdered sugar falls from the sky onto your head. The last step is just to walk across a pool noodle over the river to the finish line. Nothing to it."

So fun!!

Plus they have a really yummy burrito bar.

The First Years - Soothie Bottle

I wish I had of thought of this product. How genius!! My sister's little guy will only take these bottles - nothing else. You can find them at Walmart.

The greatest thing about these bottles is that the nipple part is just like the pacifiers that your baby gets at the hospital. How cool!!!

Bouncer Chair Review

I bought the Fisher Price Zen bouncer chair for my 3rd baby, and it is awesome!!! It works just about the same as any bouncer chair out there. But it is sooo cute and modern. Plus, fisher price has a whole collection of product to match.

Right now, it is only $79 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Zen-Collection-Infant-Seat/dp/B0011MOVS8/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1250199934&sr=8-19

THE BEST BABY DVD EVER!!!!

Ok, so these dvds are pretty ghetto, but they are magic!!! I have used them with all 3 of by babies, and they have totally surpassed baby Einstein (in the way of entertainment). It is all about watching kids and animals put to music.

Once your baby is about 6 months, give it a try. This dvd will definitely that THE dvd that allows you to shower, or even make a quick meal without a baby whining to be held.

http://www.babysongs.com/

Hair Bow Activity

Yesterday morning my daughter was bored and really wanted to do a craft. We decided to make hair bows. This is a super easy activity to do with your child. Taylor is 5 and she did just fine (I handled the glue gun).

What you will need:

1. Fake Flowers (I bought fake gerber daisies at the dollar store)
2. Glue Gun
3. Metal Single Prong Clips (you can find these at beauty supply stores such as Sallys)
4. Buttons or other decorations for the center.
5. Ribbon to cover clip

Steps

1. Take apart the flowers
2. Restack the flowers (it looks great if you use a few different colors)
3. Glue each flower piece together in the center
4. Glue the button or other decoration in the middle.
5. Cut a ribbon long enough to cover the clip, and glue the ribbon over the clip
6. Glue the flower to the clip

All done!!!