A Little Color...

Art: Bullseye Geometric Print by  Twoems

Eat: Flavored Popcorn via Such Pretty Things

Make It: Branch Weaving Tutorial by Natural Suburbia

Decor: Painted Stairway via Curbly

Inspiration: Quote via Pinterest

Given my desire to make more things rainbow-y and color-wheel-y this year, I thought I would start a little ongoing Friday feature of 5 colorful images that caught my attention this week...also, what better way to kick off the weekend than with a little color...enjoy.

Sweet Paul Kids Issue

Have you seen the spring issue of Sweet Paul that came out this week?  You should.  Wow.  Again, wow.  I love this issue and am even tempted to purchase a printed copy because it is just so dang good.   Ever so happily, it is available as a FREE (yes, I said FREE) download too so you can go grab a copy right now and call it a gift to you from Sweet Paul--get your own copy right here, in the right-hand sidebar, right there near the top of the page.   It is over a 100 pages of cooking and crafting and design goodness all for kids.  I could eat the styling and photography alone they are such a feast for the eyes.

For me, this issue was like every good thing for kids rolled up into one sweet downloadable PDF--everything from applesauce cake to playing with your food to blanket forts to box crafts to fish sticks, frozen treats, cowboys and indians...need I continue?  How much more convincing do you require, people?  You might think I am being a bit superlative here, but go see for yourself and come back and tell me I am exaggerating.  Geez.

All photography and images in this post are copyright Sweet Paul.

Eat This: Best Brownie Made Even Better

First off, trust me--these are the best brownie you will ever bake.  I picked up the recipe from Bliss recently and made an excuse to bake some and was almost down on my knees with gratitude that I had finally found the one brownie recipe I could go to for the rest of my days.  My search was done.  And what is so great about these is that they mix up and are in the oven in about 20 minutes flat--and all in one bowl, thank you very much.  I followed the recipe pretty much as outlined with the exception that I mixed half of the chocolate chips (1 cup) in right away before baking, and then added the second half (1 cup) of the chips about 15 minutes into baking.

But it gets better--these brownies are both fudgey and cakey and have that lovely crackly crust on the top that makes your teeth squeal with pleasure when they sink into one.  

Oh, and then I decided to just put these completely over the top by adding some cream cheese frosting heavily sprinkled with shredded coconut and topped each square with one bright lush raspberry (used Ina's frosting recipe--but you need only make about 1/4 of the recipe for this purpose).  I was thinking about Hostess Sno Balls when I added that coconut--but don't let that scare you.  And do you want to know what is even better yet about these brownies?

This.

Read This: Beware of the Frog

I love William Bee's books.  The first book of his we owned was Whatever, and it was read often and with much curiosity by Beeper as the turn of events that play out in the book are decidedly a-typical for a children's book.  I will just say it is a good morality story for children with more attitude than is prudent for their age.   And this book, Beware of the Frog, also has its own unexpected story-line--and better yet, is illustrated in William Bee's own unique style--at once lush with retro design detail and saturated with colors that pop from the white backgrounds.  I admit, the illustration style is what initially attracted me to his books in the first place.  And in fact, I picked this book up for Beeper at The Tate Modern gift shop when Mr Beeper and I were in London this past spring (everyplace I travel, I always buy Beeper a book or two inspired by the locale) which has no shoddy assortment of modern and finely illustrated children's books (and it is one my favorite places in the world to shop--lucky for those of us who live all the way across the pond from London, they have a wonderful on-line shop).

This story unfolds a bit like a fairy tale with a little old lady, Mrs Collywobbles,  living alone near a dark scary wood--alone, that is, except for her pet frog.  Yep, it's a story about a sweet little old lady and her beloved amphibious pet--and the quirky twists keep on coming, people.  

What proceeds to play out is that various creatures with their own evil intent emerge one-by-one from the woods--Greedy Goblin, Smelly Troll, and Giant Hungry Ogre...

...only to meet their match and their fate in Mrs Collywobbles pet frog.  Yes, that Beware of the Frog sign on the front gate is not an idle warning--a evil-creature eating frog is not to be trifled with.  Although, clearly, these guys had it coming.

There is a nice repetitive rhythm to the storyline, making what will happen next delightfully predictable for children--except for the completely unexpected ending.  All I will say is, who knew what that frog had up his sleeve or that Mrs Collywobbles had it in her.  Curious?  Buy a copy of the book or reserve a copy from your local library--do what you have to because this book is fun and wonderful to look at, even for big people.

Also, if you want to learn a little more about William Bee and his likes, check out his brief but entertaining web page--here. 

Celebrating the Boy: Make a Magnetic Play Set

Oh, hey.  Hi.  Did you know that I am officially Celebrating the Boy over here today?  I am--it is all part of Made by Rae's and Made's annual tribute to crafting for boys--a full month of it, actually.  I know, it is cool.  The line-up of guest bloggers and projects Rae and Dana have going on over at their places is pretty amazing--I already have 3 projects I want to make from Rae's guests alone.  But wait--where are my manners?!?  Welcome to those of you who have taken the time to stop over here from Rae's place.   I am so happy to have you here.

So, let's get to the good stuff, shall we?  In honor of Celebrate the Boy month I have a little tutorial for you on how to make your very own magnetic play set.  This one is pretty simple to make--no special crafting skills like quilting, quilling or anything else starting with a "qu" required--really all you need to know how to do is search the internet for images, put those into a document, print them, cut them apart and stick them to some adhesive magnet sheets.  Yeah, I meant simple when I said it.

What I also love about this project is how endlessly customizable it is to whatever your boy's interests may be--dinosaurs, cars, monsters, robots, animals--or super heroes as the case may be at our house (specifically, DC Comic super heroes--because Beeper actually segregates his super heroes by comic book strain--DC or Marvel--and the twain shall never meet).

I got to thinking about putting together a project like this because I am always trying to come up with new things to keep Beeper distracted when the situation requires it--like when we are at a restaurant and Mr Beeper and I just want to drink some wine and have at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted adult conversation (did I hear someone say, That is what date night is for?  Yes, good point--but that would require having a babysitter that is nearer than 60 minutes away for us to pick up which is where our closest babysitter is located at the moment), or when in the car for longer trips (like when we need to pick up our babysitter)--you know the situations I am talking about.

Well, I am mildly obsessed with having a bag that is stocked with interesting distractions for him that I feel good about (i.e. no video games)--so this project was meant to contribute to that stash of stuff I keep in a small backpack in our coat closet.  And if you are interested, you can download the tutorial right here so you can make your own:

DOWNLOAD MAGNETIC PLAY SET TUTORIAL

 I also thought this might be a good time for us to swap some info about what sorts of things you find particularly handy to distract your kids when the place or situation requires it.  Here are some of my favorites we have in our bag of distractions at the moment:

(from top Pop Zolo [mini creative building set], Monster Doodles [erasable creative drawing cards--pure genius], Knights Toob, a selection of Little Dover books [most of these are $1.50 per book and they are fantastic for distraction because they can literally fit in your pocket and the options are mind-boggling], Wild Toob, blank sketch book and a set of soy crayons)

Oh, and if you are in the market for a new bag in which to stash your own kiddie distractions, why not make the scavenger bag from Sew Grown or the messenger bag from Punkin Patterns--both are  Boy month projects over at Rae's place.  

Thanks again to those of you who took the time to stop by--it was nice having you and I hope to see you around here again. Oh, and if you have any favorite kiddie distractions, please do leave a comment and share--would love to hear about your favorite tricks.

Sharing: Projects You Should Check Out

Are you as perpetually amazed as I am at the quantity and quality of projects available to you FOR FREE out and about on the web and in blogland these days?  The amount overwhelms me--just because I want to make them--ALL of them.

But here are a few of my recent favorites (from top left, clockwise): tile coasters from The Cottage Home; make your own presidents at The Storque (from Heidi's wonderful book--check it out); penguin and lion ice box cookies from Diamonds for Dessert; Vintage Children's Book Banner from Rummey Bears; Table Sized Oilcloth Place Mat from Wren Handmade; Tin Can Organizer from Laissez-Faire; Minimalist Tote Bag from Design Sponge; Swatch Portraits from The Purl Bee

Those little-people-style presidents kill me.  And I am so in love withe simplicity of the framed Liberty of London fabrics.  And anything that uses recycled tin cans always gets me--must be my inner-billy-goat.  But go see them all for yourself.  Because you should--they are good.

Curse You, Tiny Foods!

Beeper made this drawing the other day at school.  Let me explain the finer points of drawing to you: the brown man running on the left is yelling, "Curse you, tiny foods!"(except spelled like only a 6-year old would spell it: crs you tine food)--while the a gang of food items flee with their arms in the air (from the left they are: a burger, a banana, a grape ice cream cone, a green bean and a carrot).  Of course, why wouldn't a series of little foods run away in what appears to be terror?  I guess that would be my instinct if someone was about to eat me.

Well, Mr Beeper thought this drawing was hilarious and could not stop walking around shaking his fist in the air all week and saying, "Curse you, tiny foods!"  So, naturally, Beeper and I had to make him a t-shirt with the drawing on it for his birthday--it was a collaborative effort--see above.  Yes, I photo-shopped the words in so they were actually legible.  Yes, the transfer we used turned out sort of rubbery and puckery around the edges.  But still, Mr Beeper loved it. Loads.  And it does suit him.