Fathers Day Crafts: May 2011

DIY Vintage Ottoman Tray

You've got to head over to Live. Laugh. Photograph. to learn how to build this easy vintage ottoman tray. It's made out of 1x2's and a 1x4! Quick and easy does it!

See the DIY vintage ottoman tray.

I'm Guest Posting At Brassy Apple!

Today, I am guest posting at BRASSY APPLE. It is an awesome blog for creative ideas! Megan has been hosting a month of fun ideas to Save Our Summer (S.O.S.) I will be doing quite a few ideas with my kids that I saw on her blog this month!

Head over to Brassy Apple to see one idea I have done with my kids to keep them busy, helps them develop coordination, strength and balance, and is something they have fun doing all summer long!

Sponsor Love and Summer Advertising Special

At the end of every month, I give a shout out to my sponsors who keep me going! Thanks to all these wonderful businesses! There is something for every one with my sponsors. Visit their websites today to see what you can find.

Some of these sponsors will be leaving me this month. I am offering a summer special for advertising.

The last four months, Someday Crafts has averaged over 180,000 page views a month. Sponsors ads are rotated daily.

Here is my special:

Your button on my sidebar for 3 MONTHS,

Sponsor of a Whatever Goes Wednesday Party

Your button included in the end of month "Thanks to my Sponsors" post.

All this for only

$30.

I am also accepting space for giveaways and business highlights posts.

Check out my prices HERE.

Paint Stick Flag

Happy Memorial Day!!!!

What do you think that flag is made of? Try... paint sticks! Paint a few paint sticks and glue a star on and you have an adorable flag for the patriotic holidays! This great idea was created by Dreaming In Color.

See how to make a paint stick flag!

Scarf Into Vest! Easy!!!

You've gotta love one step DIY projects that cost a dollar or two. And Studs and Pearls has a easy, cute one-stepper for you. She turned a pretty scarf into a vest with just two simple cuts! The good news it can still be used as a scarf after you make the cuts.

See the scarf vest.

(Found via Dollar Store Crafts.)

Ladder Photo Display

Use (or build) a simple ladder to make a picture gallery display like A Diamond In The Stuff! It is such a fun way to display pictures, paper or fabric.

See the ladder photo gallery.

Vintage Window Flower Display

Two Friends. Two Cities has a fabulous idea for old windows or a frame. Dry your flowers and arrange nicely inside. It makes a gorgeous wall display!

See the dried flower antique window display.

Puffy Flower Clip

I love how Spare Time Sanity made this puffy flower clip. It could be used for so many different things like hair, bags, clothing and shoes!

See the puffy flower clip.

DIY Book Ledges

Don't you love the way that And Then There Was Home displays her childrens' books on these DIY ledges? The kids can see all the titles and pictures and can choose what they want instead of scattering the books all over the floor! Great idea that doesn't cost that much money to implement! What a dreamy reading area!

See the DIY book ledges!

Guest Post-Banana Truffle Sundae Bites

Hello readers! Today I want to introduce you to a new blog I have recently stumbled upon. It's called Shugary Sweets and it's written by Aimee. She has a lot of great looking sweet treats on her blog and today she is here to share a new one with us. Her recipe sounds awesome and they are so adorable. Here she is....

Hey everyone, I am so honored to be guest-blogging here at Lavender Clouds! I've never been a guest on someone else's blog before, so I am truly honored and humbled that Lil invited me to share with all of you! Just a little about myself, I have been blogging my family life since 2007. I have brothers, and other family all over the world, and it's been a way for us to keep in touch (they do the same with their famiy). However, over the years, it became boring, both to write and read about my life! I mean really, how many times can you say, "well we went to another soccer game this weekend," or "kids are doing great." So in January of this year, I decided to take the plunge and start sharing recipes with my family. Through the months, I've expanded and learned that there is a whole world of food blogging! In April, I learned about linky parties- how cool are those?! Anyways, I am a stay at home mom to 4 awesome kids- my oldest, son, is finishing 8^th grade this year (just like Lil's) and will be headed off to high school in the fall. Please pray for me! Then we also have 3 daughters, aged 12,9, and 7. Again, continue the prayers! They keep us very busy as they are all active in sports and church! However, I have found it's very important to strive to have family dinners together...some days it happens at 4:30pm, some days we don't eat together until 7pm. But our goal is to try every night! And what's dinner without a little dessert? Speaking of which, why don't we get to that right now!

Here's how it started. I wanted to make a banana split dip. I realized I didn't have any strawberries. I really enjoyed making the chocolate chip cookie dough bites, so I thought I could do some sort of banana truffle. See in my family, we eat a lot of bananas. At least we normally do. I buy 3 bunches of bananas a week (about 20 bananas). There are 6 of us, so that's not so much. Except when everyone decides they don't want bananas, they want grapes. Or apples, or oranges. And the bananas sit there are lonely and neglected. I feel bad for them. So I either have to stick them in a ziploc in the freezer, make more of these, or do something new.

I chose new, and boy am I thrilled. These have an amazing center that is soft and rich (come on, it's banana and chocolate and cream). And they look cute too! Now I have to find a way to use those sad, neglected grapes that sit at the bottom of the bowl, squished and unloved. Any ideas?

Banana Truffle Sundae Bites Recipe:

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 small banana

11 oz white chocolate morsels

12 oz vanilla bark, melted

4 oz chocolate candy coating, melted

sprinkles and red hots for decoration

In small saucepan heat cream until it starts to bubble, not boil. Set aside. In food processor, add banana with white chocolate morsels. Process until combined. Slowly pour in hot cream while processing. Continue to mix until smooth. Pour into a freezer safe bowl and freeze for 2 hours (or overnight).

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, scoop out ONE tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball. Place on baking sheet and continue until all balls are formed. Freeze for one hour. Makes about 36 truffles.

When ready to assemble, using a toothpick dip each truffle into the melted vanilla bark. Set truffle back on parchment and repeat until all truffles have been dipped. Don’t worry about the toothpick hole, it will be covered by chocolate. They should set within minutes because the truffle was cold. Melt chocolate candy coating and pour into a ziploc bag. Snip small hole in corner of bag and drizzle a little blob of chocolate on top of each truffle. Add sprinkles and red hot. The weight of the sprinkles should make the chocolate drizzle down the sides a bit. Otherwise use a little more chocolate with the next truffle. Allow to set in refrigerator and enjoy cold!

Summer Survival Guide (Painted Rock Garden)

Positively Splendid has hosted a month of Summer Survival ideas where other blogger contribute. Some truly great ideas and inspiration are all in one post today since it is the last day! I love recaps of great series.

Head over to Positively Splendid to check out ideas that will enhance your summer.

One of the ideas I will definitely be doing this summer with my kids is making a painted rock garden contributed by Living With Punks! My kids will eat this idea up. I'm not so sure the rocks will look as cute as these, but they will be colorful!

Major Problems With Google Blogger and GFC

Hello Folks! Just a quick update to let you know my blog is slowly but surely becoming more screwed up by the day. I swear I didn't even change anything today! My GFC followers have disappeared. My dashboard still shows I have 102 followers, but I can't actually see any of their pictures. So...I don't even know if these post will still show up in your Dashboard Reader for you.

Separately, I have not been able to comment on anyone else's blog posts either. I write my comment, type in the security word, and it redirects me to my login page. I login, same as always and it takes me back to the comment page and asks me to type in a different security code only to redirect me back to my login page, over and over. So please know, I'm here, I'm reading your posts, I'm just stuck :(

I hope I can get it fixed soon, because I'm supposed to have a guest blogger tomorrow and I want you all to be able to read her post. If you are a GFC follower and receive this in your Reader, please let me know that it is working by leaving a comment below.

Bowtie Onesie!

I've seen a lot of onesies that have ties sewn or ironed on, but rarely have I seen a onesie with a bowtie! These bowtie onesies from Shwin and Shwin are super stylish for infants to toddlers! They can't pull them off! I'm making some of these for my little guy! I'll probably give some away for shower gifts too!

See the bowtie onesie tutorial!

(Found via Craft Gossip.)

BEAUTIFUL Flower Pillow

When I saw this flower pillow, I gasped at the beauty of it. Squeezing It All In made it from on old sweater. I want some pillows like this!!!

See how to make a flower pillow.

Williams and Sonoma Brooksters Fail

I recently purchased a box of Brooksters from a retail Williams and Sonoma store. They are not available online. I decided to purchase these because I figured they would be easier than making them from scratch, which I have done before. It was $16 for a box that contains packages for two separate batches of 9 Brooksters, giving you a total of 18 Brooksters.

The directions state all you have to add is butter and eggs. I opened my box and followed the first part of the directions to make the cookie dough. I wrapped it and put it in the fridge. Next, I went to make the brownie part of the recipe. It was at that moment I had to re-read the ingredient list and directions over and over to make sure I was reading it correctly before I called Williams and Sonoma to complain of missing ingredients. That's when I snapped this photo.That's right, my box of Brooksters did not come with all the ingredients. It was missing two packets of chocolate chips that are melted and used in the brownie mix.

I called Williams and Sonoma Retail Customer Service at 866-224-4598. She was unable to help me but connected me to my store's manager even though it was only 9 am, an hour before my store opened. While the woman at the main customer service was very nice, I have to say that Amy, the store manager, was not. She seemed very inconvenienced to have to help me. Her first suggestion was that I bring it back and exchange it. I declined because I was literally in my apron making the darn things! I also noted that her store is a good 35 minutes from my house. I asked her if she could open a box and check the ingredients. She said no, and asked me to further explain the problem. When I did she said it was a misprint on the box. I again explained that it was not a misprint in the instructions, it had to do with the ingredients provided. She agreed to open a box and informed me that, yes, I was missing two packets of chocolate chips. I told her I had some mini chocolate chips. Could she measure the chips for me so I could use what I had? Clearly she was annoyed and put me hold to come back with a weight measurement of three ounces. I asked if she could instead measure them in a cup because I didn't have a scale. Even more annoyed she came back and said it was 1/3 of a cup. I told her thank you and she said you're welcome and hung up. I am extremely disappointed with her poor customer service.

I used my chocolate chips and finished the recipe. I baked as directed. Unfortunately, there is difficulty with getting the brownie completely cooked without compromising the cookie. My brownies were undercooked slightly and upon removing them, they just completely separated from the cookie. Also my batch only made 7 Brooksters despite adding exactly 2 tbls. of brownie batter to each muffin cup as directed, which is why I'm confused that mine turned out a lot thicker than the ones shown on the box. The flavors of these Brooksters were lacking. I will NEVER make or purchase these again and next time I'm at my mall, I will return the box and insist on a full refund.

Brookies or Brooksters do seem like they could be really delicious, and they can be, but I would suggest making them from scratch. I've used this Matt Lewis recipe with decent results. The flavor of these Brookies featured on the Martha Stewart show are absolutely perfect, but they are a lot of work and results of the finished product vary. There is even a video. Good luck!

Way to go Old Navy!

I'm so thrilled to hear that next Monday Old Navy is launching a line of rainbow-themed Pride shirts. Four designs will be available in sizes for men, women & babies!

And it gets even better! Old Navy will donate 10% of the proceeds to the It Gets Better Project, an amazing effort to encourage the world to speak up against hate & intolerance! Awesome!

No other retailer has stepped up until now & I truly hope others take notice! Make a stand in favor of love and show off your rainbow!

XOXO