Summer / Stay at Home Meg

We Missed National Ice Cream Day-But Here's a Craft!

July 25, 2019

Yup, we did it. We somehow managed to miss national ice cream day on Sunday. Something Jax and I both thoroughly enjoy. But in reality, who needs a national day for something when its normal for us to eat it every day. 😜Jk jk we only eat it every other day!

Soooo in honor of a great national day we thought we'd share another fun craft of something we love to eat. My last craft post was of watermelon so come on, at least we eat somewhat healthy... sometimes? Ice cream and watermelon is definitely enough sustenance to live off of right? Don't judge.

Anywho, this is a super simple, super easy craft once again---Obvs (short for obviously) my favorite kind. Who needs crafts that take FOREVER when you have a toddler? I know I don't! But, we actually somehow survived making three of these things for myself, his Aunt and Busia all in one sitting. They each chose different colors for their ice cream scoops which made them even more unique and adorable crafts for each of us to keep!

Once again, I'm all about that super cute but super easy sh*t, so take a glance at the short list of supplies below. You probably have them all at your house right now! As you can see, from Jax's ridiculous cheesy grin, he's super proud of his artwork.

Supplies

Canvas or paper

Paint

Toddlers foot

Paint brush

Directions

1. Paint kids foot, press on paper or canvas with enough room on top for the scoops (more space for those of us who like more ice cream than others).

2. Paint ice cream scoops.

3. Choose toppings or a cute saying to draw on if you wish!

4. Place on mantle for everyone to enjoy.

July 8, 2019

Summertime is a perfect time to find a dessert that everyone in the family enjoys.

🍓🍌🍓🍌🍓🍌

This recipe is Jax's Busia's (Grandma in Polish) fruit pizza recipe that my husband can never get enough of...and now Jax of course loves it as well. My husband has a summertime birthday and always asks for a fruit pizza instead of cake. It really is a perfect summertime recipe--It's light, cold, refreshing and uses all the summertime fruits! We just made it for the 4th of July and we'll be making it again in a couple of weeks for his birthday.

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients

1-2 16.05oz tubes of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough (or your favorite sugar cookie recipe)

13.5oz tub of Strawberry Glaze (won't use whole thing, so if you can find a smaller one use it)

8 oz block of Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Cool Whip

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Almond Extract (or Vanilla Extract)

2-3 Bananas

1 tub of Strawberries

1 tub of Blueberries

Pizza pan (large or small--depends on if you want a thicker or thinner dough for your pizza)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to temperature that sugar cookie dough calls for.

2. Pick your favorite sugar cookie recipe, or cheat and use the refrigerator tubes of cookie dough. One tube of dough usually covers the pizza pan. I personally just get the Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough in the tube.

3. Pam or butter the pan if you plan on taking it off of the pizza pan to serve on another plate. Spread cookie dough evenly over a 10-12" pizza pan. For a thicker dough use a smaller pan. You can even use a pie pan for a "deep dish" pizza. For a thinner dough use the larger pizza pan.

4. Bake the cookie on the pan according to the recipe. Set aside and let cool.

5. In a mixing bowl or with a kitchen aid mixer, whip together 8 oz of cream cheese, about 1/2 cup of cool whip and about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. Add about a tsp of almond extract if you like a more cherry flavor, or vanilla if you prefer that flavoring. Adjust according to your own taste preference. Whip together until smooth. Spread evenly over thoroughly cooled pizza cookie.

6. Pour boiling water over bananas to keep them from browning. It will make the outside of the banana look gross and dark but trust me this works! Peel bananas and slice 2-3 bananas thin. Layer the slices over the cookie until it is completely covered.

7. Cover the layer of bananas with strawberry glaze (you can also use blueberry glaze).

8. Use sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sliced kiwi, etc. to cover the top of the glaze. My husband likes just the blueberries and strawberries so that's all I usually use! You can randomly scatter the fruits around or make patterns like a flag for the 4th of July, a college logo for a graduation party, an initial, a birthday number, etc.

9. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cut into pizza slices and enjoy!

June 21, 2019

TODAY IS THE OFFICIALLY THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!

Last night we had a nice Summer thunderstorm roll through with crazy loud thunder that woke our little man up in the middle of the night. Of course he came into our bed and fell right back asleep cuddled between Mom and Dad. Summer storms in the midwest are so pretty and loud. But that's just one of the fun "perks" of summer in the midwest.

Another part of Summer that I am obsessed with is watermelon. 🍉🍉🍉I love the smell, the taste and the colors of watermelon. It is such a "traditional" fruit to me that I've eaten every Summer while I was growing up-at BBQs, 4th of July parties, pool parties, etc. I can never have too much watermelon. Is there even such a thing as having too much watermelon? I used to (JK i'm lying, I still do this) eat so much that I stuff myself full of only watermelon and then don't have room for any other awesome BBQ food. Jax definitely inherited my love of watermelon. That was one of the first fruits he tried when we started giving him solids and his obsession has never stopped.

That's why we prepared a VERY simple watermelon craft that requires minimal painting. Its so cute and bright and perfect for your summertime mantle.

There are 5 items needed to make this:

Kid's foot 😂

Green and pink paint

Paint brush

Paper or canvas

Sharpie (if you want to add a cute Summer saying)

Now go buy yourself some yummy watermelon!

In case you're wondering where we got his cute little outfit go check out Target for the tank top and sandals. The shorts were gifted to us so I'm not sure where they are from!

Target Toddler Cat and Jack Tank Top $5.99

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Toddler Victor Hiking Sandals $14.99