Bead & Braided Friendship Bracelets

Supplies:
Cording in various colors (I used this; one in hemp and one in nylon)
3/8″ wooden beads
Craft paint
Paintbrushes
Masking tape
Scissors
Small burlap bag (from Michael’s new line called Raw Bar to debut August 8th)
Directions:
1. Paint your wooden beads and allow them to dry completely. The little hands may have some trouble with the small size, but it’s still doable, or you can use larger beads for the younger children. Cut out 3 (of 4) 15″ strands of cording and add 3 beads to the center of the bracelet. Using a toothpick helps poke the cording through the hole. The 15″ cording is the size I used for a child’s wrist, but you may need to adjust the size if making for an adult.

2. Knot the cording on both sides of the beads. Using a piece of tape, tape one end of the bracelet onto table (or heavy surface), braid the opposite end. When about 1 1/2″ from the end, knot the cording together to secure braid in place. Repeat for the opposite end. Keep going with the rest of your beads and cording and make a ton more bracelets!

If making for a friend, use this sweet little burlap bags, paint a design in front, allow to dry completely, and slip one (or two) of the bracelets inside.

Traditionally, friendship bracelets use a type macrame, but I went simple since its for my little girls. They’ve been crazy about those Rainbow Loom bracelets (I find those little rubber bands all over the house!), so I knew they would have fun doing a little painting and braiding for these bracelets. They put together a couple in the burlap bag to give to one of their neighbor friends. Making friendship bracelets totally seems like a camp thing to do, so we made our own little version at home!

This is post part of the Michael’s Makers Challenge.

This is what this area looked like last year, and here it is early this year as we were preparing it for the cor-ten steel beds, and what you see above is how it will stay from now on (hopefully) and in time, with a lot more green. We used cattle fencing (again) and arched them from one bed to another, and 3′ metal stakes to keep them in place. We got the fencing from a local farm supply store and they were so long that we had to rent a u-haul to transport it from there to our home. We put two 16′  long fence pieces in one bed, arched into the one parallel to it. It takes two people to get the fencing put in.

There will be 3 dwarf citrus trees in each bed, and we will train then to follow the arches. I can’t wait until we have this gorgeous walkway of green and citrus fruit; it will be so pretty! Also, the trunks of the trees are painted to prevent it from getting sunburned. We learned this last year and did the same (see here); this year we experimented with an organic approach. This might be my favorite part of the backyard so far!

Shrimp Tacos with Guacamole. My mom made the shrimp and I turned them into tacos. My mom always makes the best food, so when we go over for dinner, we love bringing home leftovers to make more dinners at home.

Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice Paper Shell. I made this for our anniversary dinner. I have the recipe to share with you next week!

Hainanese Chicken Rice. Ben and I have been craving this since we had it in Singapore. Ben even ate it twice while we were there. I used this recipe as a guide, but changed things slightly to make it healthier. I used chicken breasts, didn’t use chicken fats, and lessened the amount of oil. I also used brown rice instead of white, and it still held some of the good flavor. I think what help makes it is the pandan leaf in the broth, and the side of chili sauce. Oh that chili sauce is so spicy and delicious! I will definitely making this a lot. The whole family loved it!

What have you been cooking lately? Do you like trying new recipes or do you pretty much stick with tried and true favorites when in the kitchen?

Thought it be fun to share some confessions…

I bring out the play dough when I need a babysitter for the girls so I can get things done. See here.

The birkenstock thing is way overdone, but I still love it. I loved it in elementary school, early college, and still now. I’ve never been onboard with adult salt-water sandals (for me), but the birkenstock, I love. Plus, it feels really good for my one bad foot.

I’m a potty mouth. Bad words easily spew from my mouth in times of frustration.

When my BFF and I visited Amsterdam when we were in college, I wanted to try a “brownie.” She didn’t let me.

I’ve worn crocs (in the garden, proof here) and my little ones have worn them too (I think they’re cuter on wee feet). They’re easy and convenient for play and getting dirty.

I totally hit on Ben first.

I never got into the chevron thing. Does that make me a bad blogger?

When Ben asks me the price of something, I always round down.

I get road rage and have thrown up the bird a few times. I’m so bad!!! Totally not proud of it and it’s something I keep trying to work on. It’s so dumb!

The first time I had way too much to drink was at a dinner I made at my parents house. I cooked dinner for the family, and I paired with a drink called “lust in the dust,” which was vodka with tabasco sauce. What was I thinking?! To this day, I still can’t have tabasco sauce. Ben was there to take care of the aftermath.

We all put our best foot forward on the internets, so here’s some silly things about me, and some not so proud moments/choices that I have learned from or still trying to learn. One of my biggest struggles is being more gracious with my words when I’m frustrated. I’m a work in progress, but aren’t we all?!

In these photos you see some of the touristy things we did in Singapore…

Gardens by the Bay: Such an expansive garden and there was no way we would be able to cover it all, but we walked around until the heat and our legs told us we had enough. Ben really enjoyed the fruit tree section of it and was reading up all he could, and he would look up additional info on his phone to find out more! There were so many plants I wanted to bring home, and The Supertree Grove is so cool. I wanted to walk across the suspension bridge, but after Cloud Forest, Ben was not up to being so far up from the ground.

Cloud Forest Dome: This was this amazing (air conditioned) indoor conservatory with lots of beautiful greenery and a man-made waterfall. You go all the way to the top and walk down, but Ben was freaking out because you can see through the walkway that leads you down (and you’re pretty high up), so he was walking as fast as he can. You can totally see his nervous face in the picture; he was freaking out so much that I started freaking out.

Singapore Flyer: This is Singapore’s version of the London Eye. We went to go see it (and think about riding it), but once we got close, that was good enough for Ben. The thought of being trapped in that thing for 30 minutes was making him uncomfortable. HA! We made a deal though, we would skip out on the flyer, but we would go to the Skypark at Marina Bay Sands (the towers that look like it has a ship on the top) to see the view. He agreed, so I was happy with that deal.

We also took a tour on the river (thank you to one of you for the suggestion!), and I’m so glad we did that because we learned a lot about the history of this beautiful country. I enjoyed hearing about the how this was once a bustling seaport, how the British came to conquer, and the influence they had in developing this country. I loved imagining what it might have been like here long ago.

I still have so much to share about this wonderful sunny island; Singapore is so rich in beauty, diversity, and deliciousness, that’s it’s just not possible to contain in one post.

Langonstino Sopes
makes about 20 sopes

Ingredients:
2 cups Maseca flour
1 1/3 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lb. langostino
Queso Fresco
1/4 cup canola oil
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
Cilantro, chopped
Avocado, chopped
Limes, sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (You can follow masa package directions; the following ones are for about 20 sopes.)  Mix 2 cups of Maseca corn flour with 1 1/3 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt until combined well and the mixture forms a balls of dough. If the dough feels dry, add a little water (a teaspoon or so) at a time; if too wet, add a little masa. Dust countertop with masa to avoid any newly formed sopes from sticking. Using a 1/4 cup of masa dough, form into a ball then press flat about and form into a disc shape and pinch edges to make a border. The sopes come out to about 4″ in diameter and 1/2″ thick. Place onto a non-stick baking sheet, and put one tablespoon of queso fresco on the top of each sopes.  Place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until sopes and cheese is lightly golden.

In a small pot, heat the oil on low, add in the garlic and a a tablespoon of red pepper and simmer for about 5-7 minutes, and set aside. Using a tablespoon of the garlic chili oil, lightly fry the langostino until completely cooked (or warmed all this way through or in this case, since they were pre-cooked). Once the sopes are baked, top with langostino, cilantro, avocado, and a sprinkling of queso. Drizzle a teaspoon of the chili garlic oil on top and serve with limes. If you want more spice, we always do, we sprinkle even more red pepper flakes on top. Serve immediately.

This is one of my absolute favorite dishes that Ben makes. We haven’t tried it with shrimp, but I’m sure that would be just as delicious. True doesn’t eat shellfish since she’s allergic, and we add beans to hers, and she says it’s yummy with beans. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!