© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Archives for July 2012
Pinworthy Projects Party – My Pinworthy Picks
A big thank you to everyone who came and linked up to the Pinworthy Projects Party last week. You guys made some really incredible stuff!
Let’s take a look at some of the favorites:
A good friend of mine {Liz} will be giving birth pretty soon. I love the idea of a year of onesies like Nap Time Creations shared.
We do this for Barbies in our house but over at Our Pinteresting Family, lots of other things go in her easy toy storage solution.
Take a look at this beautiful flower art shared by The Well Crafted Home. Isn’t it amazing?
Nifty Thrifty Things shared a make it yourself cake stand that is really super cute!
Want something to put on that cake stand? How about these lemon blueberry bars from The DIY Dreamer?
I always drool over crates when we are out and about. Now, thanks to Craftiments, I can make my own wood shim crate.
We’re hard at work getting our bar ready. Bliss Ranch shared her incredible portable bar and I was instantly in love.
And the most visited link this week was the tutorial on how to prevent your photos from being pinned {kinda ironic since this is the Pinworthy Party!} from Practically Functional
Thanks so much for linking up!
I hope to see you right back here tomorrow at 10am for another fun party. I can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on.
In the meantime, if you were featured, I hope you will grab a button
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Chocolate Nutella Banana Pizza
Ok, I’m about to share something with you that is quite possibly the best dessert pizza EVER!
Now, it isn’t overly complicated or anything. In fact, I am sure someone, somewhere is sitting there thinking “pshaw, that isn’t anything new” but it was definitely new to me 🙂
Let’s talk about what you need:
1 pizza crust (I used a little pre-made single crust)
Creamy Peanut Butter
Nutella
1 Banana, sliced
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Now, get your crust ready. I follow the directions on the crust’s package and brush a little olive oil onto it but that is strictly personal preference. I made it both ways and couldn’t really tell a difference.
Spread a layer of peanut onto your crust
Spread your nutella on top and then top with sliced bananas. Put it on a baking sheet. {Note: I did spray a little bit of olive oil on top of my bananas to keep them “pretty” as H said}
Bake it for about 12 minutes or so…this isn’t an exact science so check it around 10 minutes. You can tell when it is done because the nutella will be all melty and the crust will be a little browned.
You can tell here {on my first attempt} that I left it in too long…a little too browned but still so delicious.
Enjoy your new favorite dessert!
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
WTCW #60
Wednesday…it always seems to sneak up on me. At least I have something to look forward each “hump day”…WTCW!
[Picky Palate], [Cookin Canuck], [Family Fresh Cooking] |
Sunday: I love trying different kinds of burgers and experimenting with seasonings. This week, I found adobo feta turkey blt sliders which sounds awesome.
Monday: We’re going meatless again with grilled zucchini and eggplant parmesan.
Tuesday: Pasta night gets moved to Tuesday this week and we throw in some yummy peas and prosciutto.
[Foodie with Family], [Georgia Pellegrini], [The Shiksa in the Kitchen], [What’s Gaby Cooking] |
Wednesday: Another new take on a classic summer food are these crispy chorizo dogs which look so yummy.
Thursday: A mid-week grocery stop will be in order but spicy middle eastern shrimp definitely sound worth it.
Friday: It is back out to the grill to start the weekend with pineapple lime grilled chicken.
Saturday: Tex mex hasn’t disappeared from these menus forever. In fact, this week, I’ve got sweet pulled pork tacos on the menu.
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
2nd vacation – Only if we can SAVE
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of SAVE for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
We have two kid birthday parties {in the same weekend} in August! We’re in the middle of a basement finishing project that keeps going and going. School starts at the end of August for the first time in our child’s life. Work is even busier than ever.
All things considered, I think we need a second vacation! Now, of course, with everything else going on, our budget doesn’t really support a beach vacation where peak rates are still going strong until mid-September. I was looking around for other non-beach options and stumbled upon some information on San Antonio.
With SAVE – San Antonio Vacation Experience, we would have the ability to save big money on things like hotels and major attractions. Their Limited Time Offers would enable us to get some big bang for our bucks at places like SeaWorld, Six Flags and Splashtown. We can save $10 off tickets at SeaWorld. Six Flags is offering buy an adult and get a ticket free! Over at Splashtown, they are offering discounts up to $42! The kids love animals so the San Antonio Zoo, with $2 off admission, would be a great attraction to visit too. Of course, we can’t miss the chance to take a trolley ride either. $2 off each ride is a great value to help us get around the city and enjoy a unique type of transportation too.
When you consider options like those applied to a family of four, visiting San Antonio and using SAVE – San Antonio Vacation Experience is definitely looking like a great option.
There are several hotel options within the SAVE program that also allow us to enjoy the famous Riverwalk. The Westin looks really inviting but so does the San Antonio Marriott. Using a Marriott property would also help us for future trips since we earn points.
The SAVE – San Antonio Vacation Experience also offers an app so I can access deals and information remotely. Oh, and of course, I can follow @SAVEinSA on twitter to keep up too.
Hmmm…a second vacation is sounding better and better. Now, I just have to convince Mathlete to put down the nail gun and get on the plane.
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Teaching the Art of Giving: #BagItForward
School is approaching so quickly and, this year, we actually have to take note of the start date because H is starting Kindergarten.
In my attempt to start the year prepared, we went back to school shopping recently. As part of our shopping, I participated in an amazing campaign sponsored by Elmer’s called Bag It Forward.
The idea is simple but very powerful. Buy 2, give 1.
Basically, you buy two of each school supply and give one to someone less fortunate. I really wanted to participate and have H take part so that she would learn about helping others in need. We started our shopping at our local {brand new!} Wal-Mart.
Their school supplies are set up right when you walk in the door which is super convenient.
They also have an Elmer’s school supply list section where you can find the list of supplies for most of the area school.
On the top is a QR code {love those} to download the Elmer’s 1st Day App to your phone.
If you don’t have a smart phone, you can also access the “1st Day” App download on the web. The app lets capture and share pictures from the first day of school which is an annual milestone for students, teachers and parents alike!
Since this is our first year of school, it is a HUGE milestone for us so I know there will be tons of pictures!
We did a quick download of the app and then hit the aisles to shop with our list in hand. I had to giggle at the amount of glue sticks noted on our list…18!
I guess Kindergartners use a lot of glue 🙂 H was most excited about the glitter glue so we added that to our cart too.
Once we had all of our supplies in the cart, we headed for the check-out line.
We carried all our supplies home and separated them so we could donate the second set to the local school supply drive.
We picked a donation drive sponsored by our local county because we knew the supplies would help a local in-county family at a nearby school. We packaged up our school supplies in the book bag we bought and headed to the donation site.
Luckily, Junior’s little boy attends the school so we can easily access the donation box!
Our supplies are now ready to go to a needy child so he or she can be prepared for the upcoming school year.
I’m excited that we checked shopping for school supplies off of our to-do list early and, even more so, that we got to help someone in need in the process.
I hope you will consider, if resources allow, joining the Bag It Forward movement. You can read more at BagItForward.org or by visiting Elmer’s on Facebook or Elmer’s on Twitter.
We all have the ability to help others in need with just a little effort. School supplies can be found for as little as $.50 but make a HUGE impact in a child’s life. When you are out school shopping for your kids, please consider bagging it forward by buying two and giving one.
Please visit my Google+ album to see more of our donation story. You can also visit Bag It Forward on Pinterest to see more donation stories!
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
My Middle Name is Label
Well, technically, it is Marie but it probably should be label!
I’ve been on a MAJOR organization kick in the house recently. Maybe it was the new label tape for my label maker coming the mail…
My latest victim…our snack pantry. We started using this section of the pantry primarily for snacks because it was easy for the kids to access on their own. Of course, sometimes that doesn’t go as planned and little hands end up spilling all of the cheerios on the floor.
Even though neither of our littles read yet, I always felt the need to label all the containers in there. Thanks Martha for pushing me over the edge with your too cute label products
I ordered a bunch from Staples (they are an exclusive product to Staples) and waited anxiously for them to arrive. Then, I got down to my OCD business.
It was a simple project. Put the labels on the front of the containers. Then, use my best friend label maker to create the little labels for the big labels.
Got that?
I had one that wouldn’t work with that plan. So, I grabbed a little chalkboard label I had bought from Pick Your Plum and wrote it on there.
Check it out all done
Awesome right? Now my eye doesn’t twitch every time I look in there.
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Single Parent Weekend – A Glimpse
Phew…I need another weekend to recover from this one.
Here’s a little glimpse at what we’ve been up to the past few days…
paint sampling…
furniture and art shopping…
organizing…
oh…some online shopping too…
Seriously, how awesome is that sofa?! I sent it over to Mathlete almost immediately…well, after I wiped the drool away. Zinc door has partnered with Jonathan Adler for the month of July and the products {like this sofa} are gorgeous. |
pizza night with H’s bestie…
race track time for the Mathlete of the house…
picking the first tomato from our patio tomato plant…
and making it inside just in time before the storm…
Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
A Picture Is Worth…
Sure…the answer should be content.
In reality, the answer is pictures! Pictures are what capture a reader’s attention and makes them actually read your content.
Now, you all know that I am, at best, an amateur photographer. Mathlete tends to do the photography on a lot of our projects because he has some training compared to my complete lack of training.
You’ll also notice you see a lot of random backdrops to the pictures here…hello patio door.
So, I set out to make my own photo backdrop so you’d see less of my patio door and other random household items.
I picked up some balsam wood panels from Michaels {cue Tori Spelling saying “the arts and crafts store”}
Fitting I am using my couch as a backdrop in a post about backdrops, no? |
I had Lowe’s paint match one of their samples to Benjamin Moore Moonshine {I love BM paints but I happened to be in Lowes and the paint match saved me a trip.}
Two coats onto my panels and they were ready
Mathlete had some extra wood from our basement reno so he cut two pieces for me to secure my panels together with.
I borrowed some wood glue from Rock Boy and glued the pieces of wood to the back of the panels. {No wood glue for a wood project = major DIY fail!}
I put pressure on them using some high-tech tools…pots and pans
All dry the next morning and ready for the spotlight
I love the moonshine’s slight grayish color. And I purposely positioned them so the cracks show
Now I have backdrop for when I finally learn to use the camera the right way 🙂
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Pinworthy Projects Party #19
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Now, on to the party…
Did you create something Pinworthy these week?
© 2012 Just Us Four. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.