Wholesome Homemade Baby Food Recipes | Make Fresh Baby Food, Healthy Homemade Baby Food, it's easy with new baby food recipes, solid food tips, baby nutrition & more!

Wholesome Homemade Baby Food Recipes | Make Fresh Baby Food, Healthy Homemade Baby Food, it's easy with new baby food recipes, solid food tips, baby nutrition & more!
I know it's been a way too long since my last post, but I have a lot of good stuff in the works from making Madeline baby food from our garden to the cutest hair bows! (And sooo many more cool ideas in between that I haven't yet finished!)
So, I'm making homemade squash that just came out of our garden for our little one as we speak! I will have a nice detailed post w/pics and videos to show ya'll exactly how I'm going about it! I know it is so helpful to get advice & tutorials for ANYTHING from other mothers so I really am excited to share!

xoxo-
Katie

Squash from our Garden

The left is the the tiny amount of meat you get from this size squash and the right are all the seeds!

Zucchini and Summer Squash Baby Food Recipes and Zucchini and Summer Squash for Baby Food, Learn about Introducing Zucchini and Summer Squash to Baby

Stay Updated for the rest of my Organic Homemade Squash Baby Food Journey!!!

Thanks to WholesomeHomemadebabyFood.com for recipes and a genuine guide for this cooking dummy, too!

Awesome tutorial Videos on the Way! So excited to share, truly! #organicIStheWAYtoGO

Be Patriotic & Creative & Recycle your Baby Formula Cans

This looks easy enough, right? YES, IT TRULY IS! So, you must find out how I made it, right? Keep your eyes glued to see just how you can make the easiest little creative project to show your patriotism this Fourth of July holiday...or anytime, really!

Creatively Recycle your Baby Formula Can(s) -  D I Y Style

We Mommas really go through probably THOUSANDS of formula cans for our babies! (Even those mommies who breast feed sometimes have to supplement with cans, too! If not then I'm sure they have a mom friend who has a few cans laying about.) 

These overwhelming amounts of empty cans that I have been going through really just irked me to just throw away. I thought to myself - THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING WE CAN DO WITH THESE CUTE LITTLE SILVER CANS (other than using them to store loose coins, ect.)- So, I began saving them rather than disposing of them until I could find the perfect uses for them. Yesterday, I was driving myself crazy because I hadn't even began on a 4th of July project. I stood up to make a bottle for my sweet Madeline and I was scooping the last two scoops out of her formula. WAH LAH, that was it! I held it in my hand and thought I would create something with this can in order to use today for the holiday. 

Also, I was visiting with my mom at her house at this time so my crafty materials, tools, ect. were not there to use. With that, I eyed her kitchen, her craft spot and found a few things. ( A few PERFECT things might I add..) = {)

To make this project this is I needed:

• An Empty & Clean Can of baby formula (the round cylinder is ideal- I believe some formula comes in plastic now, ect.)
•  1 WHITE & BLUE  piece of construction paper OR card stock 
• Colored Tissue Paper- I used RED & BLUE for this occasion, obviously =)
• Any kind of paint brush- I used a big Sponge brush
• A ruler (if you are not great with drawing/cutting straight lines)
• Scissors
• Mod Podge (I'm sure glue would work, but I'm a Mod Podge gal for all things)
• Raffia (not necessary, but I added it for a touch of country for the bottom)
• A pretty flower or two with some dirt! :) I took two small ones out of a potted arrangement my mom had- you don't even miss it with them being gone!

With These few 'around the house' items will create THIS: (without pretty flower)

Steps to make this EASY & a tad primitive can/pot

1. Find your (or someone's) empty baby formula can. Tear the label off to where you have the complete silver showing.
2. Take your white construction or card stock paper and wrap your can with the paper. It will not fit perfectly around it, so mark the spot on the paper  where you need to cut (in line with the bottom of the can edge).
3. Take your ruler and lay it completely straight right on that mark and draw yourself a line straight across. Get your scissors and just cut that line! Easy, right? It gets even more Easy!
4. Fit your paper around the entire cylinder to make sure it fits properly and will go all the way around it. 
5.  Pour just enough Mod Podge or glue into a plate ( I used a paper plates for easy clean up) Have a surface that you don't care to get glue on to lay your paper down flat on. Take your brush and brush on your MP or glue evenly from tip top to each tip on bottom.
6. QUICKLY pick up your paper and gently press it on from left to right until you have covered your entire cylinder with it. Then, rub it through and press firmly so that it STICKS! =)
7. NOW, take your ruler and lay it flat on your red tissue paper. Basically trace around the ruler with pencil. Then cut that out. You will be left with a long & wide strip. (Do this again so that you will have 2 strips. 
8. Take each of your 2 red strips and simply cut each of them in half (long ways) so that you will have 4 skinnier long strips. Start from the top and mod podge or glue strip. Then,go down a thumb print down and apply the next strip. Do this until you have your red & white stripes. ( I only needed 3 of the strips.) 
9. Next, lets make your star! You can find a star stencil, but i just free handed mine. I drew a star that fit perfect on the can onto blue construction paper.Cut it out. Then, I traced that star onto 2 pieces of blue tissue paper. I cut them out. 
10. Okay, Almost finished! Now mod podge/glue both of your tissue star cutouts onto the construction paper star. ( I used 2 tissue blue so that I would get that blue color-) Now, apply your MP/glue to your star & apply where you would like on top of your stripes. Press it firmly on all corners & center. I then sealed the entire can with mod podge, which really gave it the near primitive look I was after, ( along with securing it all down-)
11. If you would like to add a primitive touch to it you can add raffia to the bottom like I did. I actually found a bunch of it in my mom's yard sale box. (I think it was a hula skirt, lol) I literally pulled 9 long pieces off of it, I braided 3 pieces at a time- ending with 3 braids of raffia. I braided those 3 braids into one braid to get the look I wanted. I mod podged it right on the bottom and it looked AWESOME! 

ALMOST FINISHED...

Now, how will we use this ever so CREATIVE primitive little project:

Wouldn't this be perfect for your picnic table on the 4th to hold  all of  your spoons, fork, napkins, ect?
But, I decided to make a perfect pot for pretty flowers! Yay-

So, there are no more steps to follow here except to find your fave flower(S) & some dirt and  you have a patriotic flower pot! Easy Peasy, Super fast, Super inexpensive & you are recycling! You can't beat that, right? =) I literally took one root of pretty white petunias out of a huge pot my mom had on her patio! LOL! Thanks, Mom! =)

You don't have to pot a flower, but there are limitless ideas....

I thought I'd share a few:

• A perfect Sparkler (put out pot) When you are finished with your sparkler don't litter- just toss in the pot!  (Or a Sparkler Holder, maybe...)
• Like the caption mentioned- You could put your picnic ware in these- napkins, flatware, mints, ect. for your 4th Picnic!
• You could bring this potted flower to your host/hostess who's throwing the Independence Day Party or holding a fireworks display viewing at their home! (I WILL BE DOING THIS- check!)
• Since this is sooo easy- you could have a Kiddo's 4th of July get together & have this as a craft- allowing them to be creative in decorating  their stars & stripes.  After they are done you could fill it up with candy, treats or ice cream! (or their used sparklers-)
• A potted flower is always just a good gift for a grandparent, parent, friend, ect. for the holiday that we celebrate our Country's Freedom! This would be an exceptional & much appreciated gift to bring to a VA hospital to show your respects even! 

Ideas are limitless!!!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone! Be Safe & Enjoy the Beautiful Fireworks this weekend!

Stay Tuned for more Real Cool DIY ideas for recycling formula cans & much more creative projects!

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(AND LIKE, PLEASE!)

From drab to FAB- The Big Reveal

The end result of my ugly duck nightstand refurbishing & mod podge project from last post.

Thank you for coming back! This project took a few days longer to finish than I had planned because being a mommy to a 4 month old & working with paint & polyurethane doesn't pair too well together! =) However, with the help of my mom I finally tackled this project -and in my opinion- finished to pure perfection! 

Oh, how thrilled I am of my DRAB to FAB stand night stand & just elated to share the 'fabness' with y'all! 

The DRAB night stand BEFORE (Keep in mind that I edited this pic so it looked MUCH worse, lol)

The FAB night stand AFTER 
Awesome, Right? Can you believe that this is the same piece of furniture from 1982 that has sat by my husband's head since he was a little boy? It's amazing what a little motivation, passion & elbow grease can CREATE!

So, I ended my last post giving you the first steps in my tutorial for this drab to fab project & will finish them for you below so that you can re-create a new look for your own furniture!

Painting-

After the 2 coats of primer dried ever so fast- I was ready to paint! I went to our nearest home goods shop & picked out different color palettes and put each one on top of the night stand in order to decide the perfect shade that I had in my head. The shade that best fit our room decor was called 'barely beige'. With that, I bought a gallon of that one shade of paint so that I could later refurbish the chest of drawers to match. (A quart of paint would be just enough to paint this night stand alone with 2 coats.) I chose to buy the brand 'Valspar-paint+primer' because this paint has always been a favorite of mine because of it's very high quality. 

I used my new larger 'Purdy' paint brush to PATIENTLY & NEATLY paint the top & sides. I used a smaller brush to paint the front & drawers because it is easier and will detail much better.  With every brush stroke you paint you must be consistent- meaning putting only a small amount of paint on your brush & simply go up and down covering your surface area. You don't want to goop the paint on, having it drip or be sloppy or you will not get a smooth surface! =( (This happens when you don't take your time-) 

Making the Design For the Surface-

You can create just about any kind if design you would like out of fabric, paper, ect. Just as long as you can apply mod modge to adhere your design & seal it on your surface- the ideas are limitless! 

For my design I chose to use scrapbook paper-about 15 different pages..which leads us to my next step: 

How to Make my 'Quilted Scrapbook Diamond' design:

Add caption

Here in my small town we don't have a "Craft" Store (We have an awesome local fabric shop that I'm hoping to feature in an upcoming blog, but we have no Micheals, Hobby Lobby, ect.) So I headed to our Super Wal-Mart to find a pack of scrapbook paper that I could use for my idea that would tie into my bedroom's color scheme! My bedspread is a shade of turquoise so within the 100 sheets of paper - lucky for me a few sheets had just the perfect amount of turquoise! YAY! To top it off I found it for $5.00 and it was perfect- 

As you can see I picked my favorite sheets out of the pack and I cut them into 4" x 4" squares. I then took one whole piece of paper to use as the foundation to place my squares on.

Ready for the Miraculous, Multi-Tasking MOD PODGE...

 I chose to make a 'quilted' look by simply placing my squares on top of the whole piece of scrapbook paper by overlapping them all around the edges. I overlapped them allowing a peek of each pattern to show. The peek varied in size. (meaning I chose to show more of some patterns than others)

I poured my mod podge out in a bowl and took my sponge paint 'brush' and covered the bottom of each square and quickly laid them on the paper. Then I took 2" wallpaper plastic wall paper roller to roll any bubbles- keeping it nice & smooth! I did this to each and every square I layered onto one another. 

Next I was ready to make this square 'quilted' design a permanent one onto the top of the very well prepared night stand! (LOL- it should be after all that!)

This step is an important one because it definitely matters how u apply your mod podge to adhere your design. (This was a learning process for me too!)

You have to make sure that you EVENLY apply your MPodge and to be sure that you apply enough. I applied mine to the back of my design not exactly evenly nor enough and pressed it firmly in the center of the top of the surface. I took my little roller and rolled, rolled and rolled. But, I had to take a small acrylic paint brush and apply more MPodge under and between a few places. I did end up with a few tiny flaws, but little flaws just make it more unique, right? 

However, next time I will lay my design on my surface exactly where I want it & very lightly trace around it with pencil. Then I would brush the mod podge directly onto my surface within my tracing & then lay my design on it. Instead of rolling and rolling- (ESP with a 2" plastic roller because it caused creasing here and there) I would take the heaviest book I had and place it on top of my design. I do believe that would do a beautiful job of evenly adhering your design- bubble & crease free! 

Again, either way- take your time! =)

Now you will want to seal your design by brushing mod podge over your entire design & the entire top of the (in this case) night stand. Very Neatly! :@

Patience is key for the best turn out!

Final step to finishing with Polyurethane Perfection

Your thinking... "Another painting step, Seriously?" 

Absolutely! Honestly, I thought the same, but after all of your hard work & looking at your work of ART you simply must apply a sealant to protect all of this awesomeness in its entirety for as long as possible! You will have to use a water based (clear) polyurethane. There definitely wasn't a huge selection to choose from and it's a bit costly- but it's a must! I bought 1 quart and will be able to use it on a quite few future restoring projects as well.

Apply at least 3 coats for optimum protection- I applied 4- couldn't hurt! LOL 

Also, before I put this new FAB night stand by our bed- I will be having glass cut to place on top to ensure that all stays as it is! Considering this is a practical piece to be used, but last- I'm all about top glass! :) 

But, don't forget to put FAB drawer KNOBS too!

These drawers if you noticed before had 'old school HANDLES' so I looked for handles that would fit- no luck there because they don't make that size of handles anymore! LOL

So I was left with no choice but to replace the handles with 2 knobs on each drawer since there were 2 holes in each drawer where the old handles use to live. 

I couldn't imagine 2 knobs working, but I found 2 square, sleek, black & super cool knobs. They were PERFECT- I simply turned them around to look like diamonds to match my diamond design on top! How fitting is that? =)

That's it, my friends! I hope you enjoyed the detailed tutorial of my drab 2 FAB night stand project! I enjoyed this so much & sharing it with you even more so! I really hope this inspires you to either do this project. a similar project, 

Or just get your creative juices flowing! 

                  Here is one last look of this project to get you inspired: 

BEFORE: What a DRAB!

Sanded, Primed & Painted

Created Design, Mod Podge,
knobbed drawers, & sealed w/ poly

AFTER: Super FAB!

Check back soon for my next creative endeavor or something neat! Please comment, share, and please, oh, please share your before and after pics of your own beautiful creations! 

Email them to:

kreativekatiekonnect@gmail.com

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Re-inventing the Ugly Duck Nightstand

The summer has begun and so has my blog. Woo Hoo! I'm so very excited to join the LARGE world of creative blogging. I am not only a newbie with my own blogs, but as a reader, too. I am consumed with the overloaded blogs that I have subscribed to on blog lovin'. All if the blogs offer such awesome DIY projects and just plain talent. With that, I now set forth to begin on my own journey. Wish me luck!

    The new-EST night stand

I was so terribly unhappy with our bedroom furniture or lack there of. 

Being a full time mom of a beautiful baby girl and living in a town that coal has taken most jobs away (East Kentucky) can leave you overwhelmed & broke. 

Therefore, getting new furniture was completely out of the question. So, I began letting my creative juices flow and brewed up a deliciously cute idea...to re-invent my husband's childhood nightstand that sits by our bed. 

Oh yes! An old piece of furniture is about to COME TO LIFE! 

The picture of the DRAB nightstand above looks irreparable, but you just wait- with a little sandpaper, white primer, paint, scrapbook paper and mod podge- this little nightstand's dream is about to come true! Yay- the overall plan: sand it down, prime, paint, and simply mod podge my fave scrapbook paper into fitting geometrical cut outs on the top. Pottery Barn eats their hearts out with ideas like this- LOL!

It's fast, CHEAP and so so so C-U-T-E!

I am giving you my complete how to from beginning to end- (along with my witty personality to go with! =)

Bear with me as I learn blogging as I continue to blog along, pretty please? 😜

First,

I sanded this ugly duckling with a piece of heavy grit & one piece of fine grit sand paper. I used the heavy grit on the more difficult parts like the top. I sanded the entire top off and found that the top wasn't even real wood! (Lol) However, the rest was of it was wood and the top actually sanded down still yet to even out and be a perfect canvas. I took the fine grit and briefly just went over the rest in order to only make it rough so that primer & paint would stick. 

Here I am getting it DONE! 👌

(Notice the smile on my face! LOL) 

Next, 

I splurged a tad on good quality white primer. ( Bulls Eye 1-2-3 )This is a good idea to use newer (not the 20+ years old primer I had stowed away in the pantry) primer because you want to be able to cover your surface in its entirety. I also splurged on NEW & Better brushes to paint with. Of course you can use older ones, but my old brushes were stiff and paint filled. (My husband didn't take care of then in last project, but that's another post! LOL) I wanted newer and nicer brushes so that each stroke would be nice and smooth. You definitely want to make your foundation smooth, neat & clean before you paint your surface.  

I mixed my primer well and began to paint the entire piece with the primer- it took only 5 minutes to do this! Awesome!

What's more awesome is that the primer basically dried right after I put it on- literally, after each stroke was brushed on- DRIED! (Like magic!)

This obviously Thrilled me! 

Now, 

I was ready to PAINT with the matte finish paint that took forever to pick out! What color would I use to make this ugly duck nightstand to turn it into a beautiful creation? (That fit perfectly in our bedroom?) 

Well, 

That is a surprise to be continued in my next blog! Yay- what better reason do you need in order to check this blog out on Sunday? (This coming week will be my next scheduled blog post!) That's Right! The suspense of seeing the color & end creation of my re-invented nightstand- woo hoo! 

Until Sunday. I Bid You A Due!

(In other words, to be cont. & later gater)

Again, Please bare with me as you follow along with me into this blogger's journey. Please, oh please, DO comment any and every idea or thought you have! Thanks in advance- 

Thanks so much for visiting & please check back-