Tag: summer

Cupcake Liner Drink Cover

As our Summer days come to a close (say it a’int so!), we have one more warm-weather hack to keep your spirits high and your lemonade bug-free. We’ve seen this little trick on Pinterest, but our cupcake liners never seemed to fit any of the cups we wanted to bring outside. Then we remembered these adorable milk jar glasses from Target – they’re the perfect size! Grab your sweet drinks and join us outside, friends…

Supplies: cupcake liners, scissors, and a straw.

Directions:
1. Use scissors or a sharp knife to carve an X in the center of a cupcake liner.
2. Stick a straw through the X. If it doesn’t quite fit, make the X a little bigger with your scissors or knife.
3. Pop the straw into your drink and push the cupcake liner down to cover the opening.

Tada! That’s it! Now you can sip away without any bugs trying to share. This works great for wine-drinking fruit flies inside as well!

Tags cupcake liner, drinks, hack, life hack, life hacks, paper straws, summer

Family Kids Products Things I Love

Road Trip Essentials for Kids

Post author By vickybarone
Post date August 5, 2015
1 Comment on Road Trip Essentials for Kids

We take a lot of road trips during the Summers and too much time in the car can be tough with two energetic little boys. To make all of our experiences more enjoyable, we’ve worked on a formula for our must-haves. If you’re looking for some ideas to spice up your trips, or you’re about to take your first long road trip with your little ones, take a look at our list and see if it inspires you!

Here are my Top 10 Road Trip Essentials for traveling with kids:

1. First Aid Kit
Having a first aid kit in the car no matter how long your drive is, is always incredibly important.

2. Water
Yes, this essential causes more frequent bathroom breaks, but hydration is all too necessary.

3. Snacks
I like to pack nuts, applesauce in pouches, and other healthy on-the-go snacks that don’t make too much of a mess.

4. Snack Cups
For all those unruly snacks, these snack cups have been a lifesaver.

5. Refrigerator Bag
This amazing bag fits right between the boys in the back seat. They can easily reach into it (without me having to stop the car to help them) and get fresh fruit and other chilled snacks.

6. Car Seat Trays
Trays like this one are perfect for holding snacks, coloring books, and anything else that might keep little ones busy during the ride.

7. Sunscreen
Whether we’re driving to the beach or to the grocery store, I always like to have sunscreen in the car for the boys. You never know when you might pass an epic park that you just have to play in along the way!

8. Toys
Of course we can’t leave home without handfuls of cars. Other activities like travel coloring books and magnet boxes are perfect for the car and keep them busy for at least five minutes. 😉

9. Books
Packing our favorite books is our go-to, but some of these road trip-inspired books look fun too!

10. Dual Screen TV
This last essential is not every parent’s favorite, but for us it’s a real game changer. When we’re stuck in traffic on the way home from visiting my parents and our trips turns into a 9 hour ordeal, popping in a movie for the boys is life changing. This Dual Screen TV from Panasonic attaches to the back of the headrests so the boys can both watch the same movie without having the fight over the angle of the singular portable DVD player. They’re also hands free, which means movie time sometimes turns into nap time.

I’d love to hear, what are your favorite road trip essentials?

Tags Kids, road trip, summer, things i love, travel

DIY Recipes

Watermelon Ice Cubes

Post author By vickybarone
Post date July 14, 2015

Today we’re sharing a ONE-ingredient treat to spice up your cocktails, mocktails, or even just a glass of water. These sweet and simple watermelon ice cubes could not be easier to make and you’ll love adding them to whatever you’re drinking!

While a fresh, juicy watermelon is the perfect Summer treat, storing one can get a little overwhelming. How can one fruit suddenly fill up five tupperware containers in your fridge?! We love coming up with unique ways for you and your family to enjoy a watermelon like these Popsicles, these fun recipes, and of course these fruity ice cubes!

Supplies: a watermelon, a knife, a cookie sheet, and wax paper.

Directions:
1. Remove the rinds and cut the watermelon into cubes (ours were about 1×1″).
2. Places cubes on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
3. Place cookie sheet in freezer for at least 3 hours or until frozen (overnight is your best bet!).
4. Place watermelon ice cubes in a glass and add your favorite drink! Here we used Sprite, but these taste great with water, sparkling water, or your favorite cocktail.
5. Store leftover ice cubes in an airtight container in the freezer.

What drink will you add your watermelon ice cubes to? Have any fun cocktail ideas you think these would go well with? We’d love to hear!

Tags ice cubes, one ingredient, paper straw, recipe, sprite, summer, water, watermelon

DIY Parties and Events

DIY Popsicle Garland

Summer is in full swing and so is the HEAT! Since our go-to method for keeping cool is chowing down on some frosty Popsicles, we decided to make a little party decor to celebrate our favorite treat.

These paper Popsicles look good enough to eat! We were inspired to make this garland when we saw one made out of pool noodles (!!) here. We loved it so much, we went digging into our scrapbook paper collection for just the right Popsicle-inspired colors.

Supplies: scrapbook paper, tongue depressors, a paper cutter and/or scissors, glue stick, hot glue, twine, and clothespins.

Directions:
1. Each Popsicle will be two-toned to mimic the shaded inset of a Popsicle made from a traditional mold. Pick two shades of each color Popsicle you’d like to make.
2. Using a paper cutter, cut the lighter shade of each color into rectangles (ours were about 3×5.5″). Round off the top of each rectangle using scissors.
3. Next, cut the darker shade of each color into thinner rectangles (ours were about 0.5×5″). Round off the top of each of these rectangles. You should have twice the amount of thin rectangles as you do larger rectangles.
4. Glue two thin rectangles to a larger rectangle in a coordinating color using a glue stick.
5. Flip each paper Popsicle over and glue a tongue depressor to the back using a glue gun.
6. When all the glue is dry, clip each Popsicle to a piece of twin using mini clothespins.

Hang your bright Summer garland and enjoy!

Tags bunting, DIY, garland, paper, paper garland, popsicles, summer

DIY Kids Recipes

Striped Fruit Juice Popsicles

Post author By vickybarone
Post date June 26, 2015

This hot weather does not seem to want to give up! To help cool down, a Popsicle mold and a refrigerator raid might do the trick…

We made these fruity treats using our favorite Popsicle mold and all the fruit juices we had in the fridge! Start with a clean and dry Popsicle mold. Add a layer of juice and pop it into the freezer for about an hour (or more if you want super clean lines!). Remove the tray from the freezer and add another layer of a different juice and return to the freezer. On the third layer, we let the juice freeze for about 20 minutes and then stuck the Popsicle sticks into the center and let the layer of juice freeze around the stick for the next 40 minutes. Keep creating juice layers throughout the day until the Popsicle molds are all full!

Our Popsicles are made up of V8 Splash, cranberry juice, and orange juice. These would make great boozy pops as well! Just add a little vodka and you’ve got alternating layers of Vodka Cranberry and Screwdrivers. Not a bad combo for a hot Summer day 😉

Popsicles don’t need to have complicated recipes. Just mix your favorite flavors (or layer them!) and you’ve got a frozen treat to help beat the heat.

Find more of our Popsicle recipes here 🙂

Tags boozy, DIY, fruit, fruit juice, juice, layering, popsicles, summer

Kids Recipes

Fruit Popsicles

We are on a serious Popsicle kick this Summer and we’re not about to stop. Today we’re sharing our most refreshing recipe yet. Grab some coconut water and your favorite fruit and you’ll be cooling down in no time.

Supplies: coconut water (these come in lots of different flavors!), fresh fruit, Popsicle sticks, and a Popsicle mold.

Directions:
1. Slice fruit and add to Popsicle mold.
2. Add Popsicle sticks.
3. Pour coconut water over fruit until it fills the mold.
4. Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

Fruit Popsicles are a great healthy alternative to sugary Summer snacks. Kids will love to assemble them and add their favorite fruit! We hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

Tags fruit, Popsicle, popsicles, summer

Recipes Things I Love

Simple Summer Cocktails

Whether you’re hosting a party or just relaxing after a long day at work, there is nothing better than cooling down with a refreshing cocktail. If mixology is not your strong suit, however, a lot of mixed drink recipes may leave you shaken, not stirred. Today we’re here to alleviate your fears with 18 deliciously simple cocktails that use only 3 or 4 ingredients.

If you’re looking for some non-alcoholic drinks, check out this post!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Stay cool!

Tags classic, cocktails, drinks, easy, recipes, simple, summer, things i love

Kids Recipes

Watermelon Popsicles

Post author By vickybarone
Post date May 28, 2015

Today we have the ultimate Summer treat: ONE ingredient Watermelon Popsicles! These icy desserts are healthy and make a watermelon go a long way.

Supplies: a fresh watermelon, a popsicle mold, popsicle sticks, and a blender.

Directions:
1. Chop the watermelon into cubes and add to a blender.
2. Blend the watermelon until smooth.
3. Pour the blended watermelon into a Popsicle mold and add Popsicle sticks.
4. Freeze 4 hours or overnight!

That’s it! A sweet and simple fruity treat to keep you extra cool on a hot Summer day.

Tags DIY, popsicles, recipe, summer, watermelon