Letter of the day 'R'

 So first to tell you about the banner above. On June 29th, the Alist is doing a group #Flashalist Sale!! I am so excited to be including Kiser Krafts in this event! Kiser Krafts will be doing 30% off everything!! I do hope you all come and enjoy this amazing Sale!

Now the Letter 'R'...a few days ago my daughter, Little Miss, woke with letters on the mind. She looked at me and smiled, "R is for raisins, Momma." Yes, yes they are. My tired brain started to turn as I sipped my coffee. Letter 'R'...well I wonder what recipe is on the 'R' page in my favorite cook book. 

So 'R' is for Raisin-Bran Muffins. And that my friends is where the 'R' journey begins. Little Miss got excited! I told her we (WE) were going to make muffins. I gathered all the ingredients and supplies. And we started to measure and pour things together. Then I handed her the spoon for her to stir it together.

She was so happy to help. She wasn't strong enough but she gladly handed the spoon back to me. Then we lined the muffin pan. She counted each one and patted them in.

Then came the fun part; filling them up! She giggled through the whole process. Each time the batter dropped she'd say "splat". She clapped and cheered when each one was filled.

Then came the cooking and waiting...she went and played and the muffins baked.

Nice and golden brown Raisin-Bran Muffins. The house smelled amazing! It was a great day to have the Letter 'R' on the brain.

After Little Miss ate her raisin-bran muffin, she was done with the letter R. All she wanted was something yummy to eat. It was a fun experience. I can't wait until she has a fun letter like "P" for peas, potatoes, and pineapples or "I" for ice cream sundaes!!! ☺

 

When coffee...meets Lion

First...coffee...Coffee and I have a tight, serious relationship. I craft, I drink coffee, and see socks speak. Oh yes, coffee helps me create!

 

Second...lions...come out of nowhere. And try to drink MY COFFEE!!

This is what happens...coffee curls a lion's mane, causes them to not sleep, and they have to touch their nose at random.

It is all very unique and strange. I have heard, "Drinking coffee will put hair on your chest." Well I have been drinking coffee for my whole life, I think, and still have NO hair on my chest. But it does effect the lion's mane.

I don't know about you, but I am worried I may have to hide my coffee!!! I'm not sure the lions in my house can handle it being in the house!!!

At least I know this little lady, Kona, loves her coffee. She even went to "tea" with Little Miss today and drank her cup of coffee during tea time. Kona has some special features: curled mane and jointed/movable arms. Coffee really helped me while I designed this pretty lady. Happy cup of joe!! ☺

Epic Buys!

Hi! I want to share with you a few purchases I bought over the last couple months. I was very impressed with the items as well as their timely arrival and presentations. 

 First, I would like to share with you the one who encouraged me to follow my crafting shop dreams, Cody Nations of Lu & Ed (Alist member). She seriously took my little sock animal dreams and helped make them a reality. She truly is an inspiration! Her shop is a child’s dream! Storage Mon-sters and plushies are above reproach! They are all handmade, up-cycled/re-cycled, unique one of a kind creations. Cody’s vision for EPIC Mon-sters is so impressive!! Each new monster I want!! They just keep getting cuter! I bought two monsters from her and they were sent out to me only a day after my purchase! I was so excited to have them arrive. Crieglan arrived in her recycled box (which this mom was excited about as it had coupons on it I could use). And it was a joy to watch as my daughter pulled her from her box. She carried her around for the rest of the day! Toys are fed to the monster each night! And the other is a small monster that holds my WIP (work in progress) out of reach of little hands. And he is mine – love, love, love him! He does a great job of protecting my work and my knitting needles. 

Second, Amazing shop: Little Green Guy run by Brittany Rae Martin. So very impressed!! I ordered a new traveling buddy. I got to put two cents in as to what “little green guy” I wanted to travel with me. I wanted a Little Green Gal. And I received the most perfect adorable Little Green Gal ever! Her name is Dorothy Green and she has ruby sparkly slippers!!! EEEK!!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! I am so excited to take her with me wherever I go!! I live in Kansas…hence the ruby slippers and the name…so cheeky – it makes it that much more fun! Her customer service was wonderful and delivery was fast, considering she had to give my new buddy a tan and get her through the Little Green Guy Army. Thankfully, Dorothy Green came with an updated passport and map to get through all that “red-tape”.  She is really fitting in with our family, drinking coffee, playing with our bunny, and having fun with our Daughter.  If you need a new friend, Little Green Guy has the friend for you!

I am so happy with my purchases, I must share the "good" with all of you!!! I do hope you give them a visit and see all the many wonderful handmade items in their shops. 

"Daddy", one of my favorite words

Father’s Day is a holiday once a year where we focus our praise and thanks upon the “main man” in our lives, Dad. We should praise and honor him year round but once a year is good to make sure he knows how important he really is. Fathers are important to every family unit. God made man first then made women from man’s rib. Dads provide for the family by working super hard, protect the family, and teach the family. It is not always a DNA connection but one of choice and love.  

one of my favorite pictures of me and my Daddy

 My Dad, trust me, I share his DNA! I look like him, act like him, and totally take after some of his goofy character traits. Daddy is always the one this “Daddy’s girl” runs too when the world seems off balance or scary. I appreciate his opinions, insight, and biblical directions.  He works really hard, plays hard when he gets the chance, and knows when to sit back and enjoy the moments of this great life. While life tosses storms at him, he stand firm and wades through holding onto the fact the God has him in His mighty hands. Daddy is human and does make mistakes but I choose to forgive him and move forward, after all, if God can forgive him, so can I. Daddy has many talents: drawing, business intellect, clowning, computer-know-how, advertising, money management, and rides a unicycle. The best thing about Dad, is he takes time to listen. Truly listen. He looks directly at you, opens his ears, and hears your words, then thinks before responding. In today’s world, that is a rare trait. We are all in such a hurry we fail to really listen. I love you Daddy! Thank you for being the support I always needed growing up. 

Rabbit, Little Miss, and Little Mister

 

My husband, Rabbit, is now a Dad. Not to me but to our two children. I am so thankful that he is stepping into the “Daddy-shoes” our children need. It hasn’t been easy for him, I know. He struggled with the awesome responsibility with Little Miss but when Little Mister came, Rabbit was more confident that he could do this “Daddy” thing. As a wife, I see the struggle, as a Mother, I so thankful to come through the struggle and be the Daddy our children need. Little Miss is most certainly a “Daddy’s girl” and Little Mister is all about “Da-da-da-da”. You can see the love our children have for their Father and to me that is a wonderful blessing. Rabbit, I love you, and you are a wonderful Daddy! Keep up the good work!!

So every “DAD” deserves a card at least on Father’s Day if not a gift or two. So I’d like to share a card tutorial. And a list of great shop that have amazing gifts for Dad!!

Here are some of my favorite gift items for Dads from some of my favorite shops!

- Mystic Eye Creations, Inc. has many amazing handmade items with a man in mind. Their Razors are one of my favorites!!
- The Gnarly Whale has homemade body sprays and shampoos. They have an amazing Manly Body spray which every Dad could use.
- Krmbal Clothing has organic t-shirts that are comfortable and designed to be fun. Any Dad would LOVE to relax in one of these great tees.
- Christian Made Crafts has a wonderful selection of handmade items with Dad's in mind. My favorite is this cute "Daddy" key chain.
- MommaRae's Custom Designs makes hand stamped items. This fisherman key chain is one of my favorites for the "best fisherman", Dad! 
It is not a huge list but it is a few little things I think Dad would love as a Father's Day gift! 

Here is the card I made, I do apologize for the poor quality. I took it in a spare moment with my cell phone.

front of card

 

This card is inspired by this tutorial found at All things Paper: here
It was really easy to make and the tutorial is really easy to follow!


 Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there!!!


 

inside the card

 

 

AList!!!

Kiser Krafts has been accepted on to the AList!!! Whoop Whoop!!!

The Alist is a wonderful group of shops that are customer focused and provide quality services/products. AND it is a list for YOU to go and buy from!!! Convenient, isn't it?!? A list with EPIC shops ready for you to look through! 

On the blog she shares things about her life as well as features all those on the AList. The group and all the benefits are so impressive!!!

This past Tuesday, I was totally at the #tsualist twitter chat for the first time! It was great fun to learn more about the ladies and shops included in the AList. Kristina, the genius behind the list, works really hard for those who are included on the list. She and I have a small thing in common: babies. Yep, she has a small tyke just like me!!! She impresses me so much! I wish I were better at time management! She gets so much stuff done while keeping track of her tykes! 

Through the chat a few new ideas were brought up for changes to the site and the list. I tell you - exciting things are happening for the AList!! So I wanted to share my excitement about this new adventure for Kiser Krafts with you!!!

Now head over to the Alist...and browse the awesomeness on the AList . I can guarantee you will find things you'll need!!!  (*note* click on the categories on sidebar to take you to the desired shops)

Sun Baked Cookies

So this was done last summer (July 2012) but I feel it needs to be shared.

I made myself a solar-oven out of a pizza box. Yep...re-use...and save energy. It started out as an excited journey to make cookies by the heat of the sun. After all...I feel like I live on the sun at times and we had record highs this past summer. Everyone was making the joke, "You could fry an egg on the sidewalk." And I thought, "I bet I could cook cookies!" And that my friends is where it began.

Pizza box, foil, plastic, wax paper, and cookie dough. I did a bit of research through blogs and websites to get ideas on how to go about making this solar oven. I do not remember if I have a particular site I used but I know this was my end result.

Now lets go back to the beginning. I took a left over pizza box. Cut an opening in the top, taped plastic gallon size baggie to cover the opening, lined it with foil, a black piece of construction paper, and a piece of wax paper on top. I mixed up my favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. YUM! Then placed the serving amounts down on wax paper on top of the foil base.

They look so yummy! I added the black piece of paper to help with collecting heat. Dark colors, black, draw and keep heat, so thought it might help with the "heating" of the oven. I closed the lid, bracing it with a random plastic straw we had in the house.

And set it out on our little porch in the direct sun. This is 10:00 am. Full sun and already at record temperatures. So now...the waiting game...stay and watch them bake?? Nope...had a new baby to take care of. So time slips by...and the sun moves...so I move the solar-oven as the cookies are still not baked.

So up on the rail they go. Rabbit, darling husband, made a joke about them falling over the edge and then he claimed birds flew off with the cookies. He was not funny. I was caring for things indoors, children, cooking lunch, cooking the rest of the cookie batter; I did not have time to worry about the solar oven falling!!! But again time slipped by and so moved the sun.

Had to move the solar-oven to the hood of our car. Now we have the neighbors attention too. It gave them something to look forward too, too. Hahaha I saw two of my neighbors go and check them to see how they were doing. It was fun to see. I know they were looking forward to trying out Sun Baked cookies too. So now we are past afternoon nap time and heading into getting geared up for evening supper. Surely, they must be cooked by now??!! So I go down to see.

Well, well, well 6:00pm...crispy outsides, brown bottoms, and they smell amazing! I think they are DONE!

Slide them out of the solar oven and onto the table...must let them cool down just a bit.

Needed to let them cool down a bit longer...but I was not waiting any longer! 10am to 6pm...the longest wait for a batch of cookies I had ever had. I tell you I remember biting into that cookie. It was oooo soooo gooood!!

So I think, if the temperatures go to record highs again this summer...I may just make Sun Baked Cookies again! See if I can do it better this time, with a shorter bake time.

Twinkling Triangles

Guess what Kiser Krafts has been up too?!?

BUNTINGS!!!!

It has been a while since I have been able to sit and play with my hook and yarns due to Little Monster. He likes my yarn, makes it a little hard to work. Thankfully, as he has gotten older, he can be distracted by other things. He may be a crocheter or knitter in the future. 

A dear friend of mine, Cody ( Lu & Ed ), shared with me a photo a cute granny triangle bunting and I thought, "I can do that!" After gathering supplies, I went forth and figured out a way to make one. It helped to have knowledge of the granny stitch in crochet. It is fun to try, frog, and then try again.

So I choose to do bright child-like colors so that I could use it as a party decoration for Little Monster first birthday party. It worked really well. It is still hanging up adding color to our living area. It will at some point make its way to Little Monster's room to hang on his wall.

I am excited to include these in the shop! They are so fun to make!
 Currently, the shop has two available: Mollie Mae Bunting and Bright Bunting. I plan in the future to have a custom bunting listing. That way you can choose the colors to fit your needs.

 One day in future, Twinkling Triangles will be hanging on walls around the world!!  Hey, I can dream, right ;)