The Moscato Report

This past weekend my family drove out to Florida to celebrate a belated Father's Day at my house! Our humble, 3 bedroom house took on 6 extra adults and a 3 month old. It was fun times. My driveway was full of cars, my house was full of family, and my kitchen was full of foods I don't allow myself to eat on a normal basis. The weekend ended, as they all do, and the cars drove away taking dem rowdy cajuns back to Louisiana. But LAWD the things that remained in my kitchen! Especially those things of "beverage" nature.

Of particular interest to me was an unopened bottle of Moscato. What was I going to do with it??

(Can we please take a moment to observe this bottle? Mkay thanks.)

I know, I know, you're over there screaming, "DRINK IT!?" Sure, if your mom leaves a full (and very artistic) bottle of Moscato at your place, pour yourself a big glass. OR you can spend hours searching through pinterest for more creative consumtion solutions...like me :).

So it is my pleasure to bring to you on this "Throwback Thursday": The Moscato Report...or things to do with the Moscato your mom left.

Option #1: Mini Mango Moscato

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Option #2: Lemon Herb Moscato Chicken

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Option #3: Moscato Wine Cake

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Today, throwback some Moscato and hey, be creative with it!

-Sarah-with-an-H

Stop, Drop, & Roll!

It was the Saturday before we left for our big family vacation to Branson, MO, and I was doing anything and everything to keep Little B and Little E from driving me crazy entertained. A trip to our local firestation was just the ticket! 

For all you fellow mommies out there, this is a great, fun, and free experience. The fireman allowed Little B to climb into each fire engine, turn on the lights, and listen to the radio. He loves to watch Fireman Sam on Netflix, so he was all about this!

 

 

We even got to climb into the back of the new ladder truck. Little E was full of excitement, can't you tell?

 

 

 

The fireman even gave Little B some goodies to take home with him. How adorable? And did I mention this was free? And they give you free goodies to take home. All you have to do is show up at the firestation, and they give you and your children an awesome tour! And a little lesson on fire safety is always a good idea. 

 

That same afternoon, we visited Little PawPaw for Father's Day. He also enjoyed the free goodies.

 

 

Lesson learned: If you're ever searching for an enriching activity to keep the little ones from driving you crazy entertained, visit your local firestation. I'm sure they give tours to the adults big kids too!

What The Heck Wednesday: Running Late!

What-The-Heck-Wednesday n :The fourth day of the week in which a challenge, previously issued to/among the ladies of Three Kitchen Tables, is debuted and their individual methods to complete the challenge are compared

Something in the silence wakes you. And somehow you know. Your eyes burst open and your body jolts to a seated position in one simultaneous motion and immediately you see it: your alarm clock. The alarm clock that didn't go off. You now have 10 minutes before you have to be out the door. 

Unfortunately this happens to each of us far too often. Today we will explore our go-to hair solutions for just such an occasion. 

This week's challenge: "What-The-Heck do you do when you are running late?" 

SARA'S QUICK FIX:

Hair Type: Curls (ringlets)

Length: Medium to Long

Products: Tresemme Dry Shampoo & Mister Right

Method: 

1. I squirt a bit of the Tresemme dry shampoo into my hand, flip my head over, and massage it into my roots. It gives me a little lift at my roots and helps with wispies.

2. I spritz Diva Curl's Mister Right all over then flip my hair over once or twice.  DO NOT SCRUNCH!  After thoroughly spritzing my hair, I shape any frizzy patches or unruly curls with damp fingers.

3. If it is humid outside, I use a blow-dryer set on the cool setting then spray a Tresemme hair spray 5 all over.  Now, I'm good to go!!

SARAH'S QUICK FIX:

Hair Type: Wavy

Length: Medium to Long

Products: Tresemme Dry Shampoo & Spin Pins

Method:

1. I use the Tresemme dry shampoo on any spots that look a little too oily. Mostly just around my hairline. I spray it directly to my roots and let it sit while I dress or apply my makeup. Once it is set I comb it through in almost a teasing motion to rub it in and get rid of any visible white powder. 

2. Enter the spin pin. These things are amazing! I pull my hair back and twist it into a bun. Holding the bun secure with one hand, I use the other to twist in my first spin pin, followed by the second (according to the packaging instructions, in opposite directions). 

3. I'll then use bobby pins to secure any fly aways, if necessary. Quick spritz of hair spray to hold it all together and I'm out the door!

KAITE'S QUICK FIX:

Hair Type: Thick & Straight
Length: Short to Meduim
Products: Tresemme Extra Hold Hair Spray, Bobby Pins, & Pony Tail Holder
Method: I'm one that even if I'm extremely late and still only have 10 minutes to get out the door, I have to take a shower. If not, I'm miserable for the rest of the day. 

1. I take about 90 second shower, just enough time for a quick shampoo and conditioner, and hot water over my face. Ahh, that's nice! 

2. I quickly jump out, and blow dry my hair for a good 6 minutes. 

3. Next comes the low pony. Then, I pin my lob (long bob) bangs back, and hit the fancy little pony with some really nice, break the bank, Tresemmè Tres Two Spray - Extra Hold. I think it runs around $3.79 these days. 

4. So that leaves me with approximately 2 minutes to throw on some clothes and head out the door. Oh yea, I brush my teeth during that 90 seconds in the shower. No worries there! 

Canvas Tote Upgrade

If you saw last week's What-The-Heck-Wednesday challenge, then you saw some pretty great looking canvas tote bags. You may be shocked to know that those bags came from Walmart in a pack like this:

Yea. Nothing fancy there. With a little inspiration via etsy and Pinterest, we took our tote bags to the next level. My favorite of the "inspiration" bags had leather straps. She ordered her straps from an etsy shop, but they are shipping from China and let's be honest, ain't nobody got time for that! I spent hours in the men's and boys' and women's accessory section at my local Walmart eyeing and touching and bending and thinking and thinking over the belts. There had to be a way. There HAD to be a way to make this work. No way was my sewing machine going to be able to sew through a belt...even the cheap faux leather ones are substantially thick. And then it hit me...buttons! People don't sew through buttons, they use the holes...belts have holes!!! 

Go make your own beach bag. Go make a fancy lunch tote. Go save the planet and make reusable grocery bags. GO UPGRADE A CANVAS TOTE BAG (you won't regret it).

Happy Tote-ing,

-Sarah-with-an-H

We're a Family of Rocks

As a stay-at-home mommy to Little B and Little E, I'm always in search of fun and enriching activities to do with them. We spend the majority of our days playing in the backyard with the water hose, tee-totering on the see-saw (thanks Ana White!), or enjoying our newly installed swing area (more on that later). And today was no exception, but Little B was begging to go the park.

Upon arrival, Little B immediately started gathering a little family of rocks. I've been wanting to do a rock painting project for a while, and with Father's Day quickly approaching, the timing couldn't be more perfect. We will create a Rock Family for Daddy!

My sweet husband, Adrian, literally travels for a living...as a Corporate Pilot. In fact, he is currently in Aspen, CO probably enjoying the summer birch trees and biking the trails, or more likely sitting in his hotel room waiting for the time to pass. The little ones and I had a conversation about how much Daddy misses us when he is gone on trips, and how much we miss him in return. We thought it would be a great idea to create a rock family that could travel with him during his long trips!

Here we are! Little B helped glue on the googly eyes...the most fun part of any project. (Little E was already asleep). And I absolutely adore the rocks he painted by himself, Fishy 1 and Fishy 2.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and gather your little family of rocks for the Daddy in your life. I think they would be a great addition to any office, or cockpit for that matter.

"On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand."

-xo-
Katie

Father's Day Flair

My dad is crazy good at knowing what his gifts are before he opens them. I don't know if there is secret parental communication going on (hrm hrm, MOM!?), but he can always guess what his Christmas/Birthday/Father's Day gifts are! One year we got really creative and bought him rollerblades. The rollerblades came in a box of no particular "rollerblade" shape, just a normal, cube, boxy box. But somehow he knew! This year I am taking my wrapping efforts to the extreme. Why even try to be discrete anymore? This year I bring you...

I'm thinking that he'll be so distracted by the fact that the wrapping looks like a shirt, he'll have no time to guess what's inside! We shall see. 

How to wrap your Father's Day day gift:

Wrap your box as you normally would, leaving the seam of your paper running through the middle of the top size of your gift. Use any paper you like. I found this great patterned roll at Target, but a solid would work fine too. Cut a strip of paper a few inches wide and long enough to run from top to bottom of your box. Fold over a few times to hide your cut edges. 

Position your folded strip over your seam and tape in place, cutting off and reserving any extra length. Because boxes come in all shapes and sizes, I can't give you exact measurements and you are going to have to trust your eye balls on these next steps. I have full confidence in you! :)

Cut out a square of paper a few inches larger than you want your pocket to be. Fold in the edges to get your perfect size, as shown below:

I used the extra length from my folded strip to top off my pocket.

Now for the collar. I cut a strip of paper two times wider than I thought I would need so I could fold it in half...like a collar! Cut the ends of each side to create the points of your collar.

The sleeves took a lot of eyeballing to make sure they were proportional to the body of the shirt. I cut a long piece of paper and created a loop. I was able to make my loop bigger and smaller until I was happy with the size of my sleeve opening. Cut or fold in the top corner of your loop at a diagonal to match up with the body of your shirt. Leave the back piece for taping the sleeve loop to the back of the gift box. 

Buttons! My favorite part of this "shirt gift" is the buttons! You can get little packs of buttons for way less than a fancy bow! Use some craft glue to stick them on your folded strip.

Ta-da! The men in your life will be blown away! And hopefully they'll like what's inside too! ;)

Let us know how yours turn out! 

- Sarah-with-an-H

Throwback Thursday

During our initial brainstorming sessions about blog flow, Sarah-with-an-H threw out the idea of incorporating Throwback Thursday posts.  Since our friendships are still quite young, we agreed that testing and sharing cocktail recipes to 'throw back' would be easier to regularly pen instead of reminiscing over memories.  After all, like most Southern Ladies, sometimes we like our sweet tea with something a little stronger than sugar.

BUT, this is my first post so I'm going to go rogue.  Watch out.

Since our annual ladies' weekend, I've been wondering how to introduce myself during a theme post.  Then I received this:

I started a new job this week.  I love it and think I've found a career I'm passionate about long-term.  However, with a new job comes a new office, new routine, and, of course, new co-workers.  All things which take a while for most to grow accustom to comfortably.  All things which have caused me to realize how much I truly cherish my year with K & S as co-workers and am grateful for our continued friendship despite the fact we have gone our separate ways.  While we have different lifestyles and settings, we bond over our faith, marriage&family values, and life passions (food, crafts, photography, farming, travel ... the list could go on and on).  Even though today's post was intended to inspire specialty drink-ology, I kept defaulting to the originally intended message in 'throw back' posts.  I just couldn't help but be nostalgic this week.

So here's to the best co-workers (and friends) ever:

Summer Whiskey

1 shot Jack Daniel's Honey Whiskey
8 oz Ginger Ale
Maraschino Cherries

Enjoy y'all!
Sara

What The Heck Wednesday: Tote Bags

What-The-Heck-Wednesday n :The fourth day of the week in which a challenge, previously issued to/among the ladies of Three Kitchen Tables, is debuted and their individual methods to complete the challenge are compared

This week's challenge: "What-The-Heck can we do with a plain canvas tote bag?

You've seen them in the aisles of your local craft store usually surrounded by feathers, puff paint, tye dye, and yes, everyone's favorite, the bedazzler. We decided that it would be fun to update these plain bags for our everyday use. Katie needed a new diddy bag for Little E, Sara needed something fashionable to tote her heals in while she walks to and from her downtown office, and I needed a beach bag. This challenge actually started as a group project during a weekend we spent together. Due to a shift in our priorities *cough*doughnuts*cough* we were forced to complete the upgrading of our plain canvas bags separately. Ready for the big reveal?!

Drum roll please.....

Moral of the story? Don't overlook these amazingly inexpensive bags just because they live next to the puff paint, and puff paint was SO 1992. They can easily be transformed into something you'd be proud to use with just a little creativity. You have no creativity? Hrmmmm. No worries! Check back next Tuesday and I'll walk you through it. :) 

- Sarah-with-an-H ;)

The Kitchen Pantry

It's where it all begins. The place where our ingredients and kitchen imaginations are stored. The place where we keep our go-to snacks (mmm...popcorn). Or it's the place we go in search of a sweet treat to satisfy the sweet tooth, perhaps a Swiss Cake Roll hiding behind the jar of peanut butter. It's the place where our meal planning begins in hopes of creating a bountiful kitchen table for our families. It's the Kitchen Pantry.

Herein lies the problem. Yep, you guessed it. No kitchen pantry. For years, I had stuffed all of my dry ingredients and snacks in a small cabinet beside my refrigerator. I couldn't handle it any longer. I had been perusing through several photos of repurposed armoires and quickly found my solution! After a quick search on Craigslist, I found just the armoire I needed. Later that evening, we hopped in the truck, picked up the armoire, and drove through a fierce thunderstorm with my unprotected "diamond in the rough" on the way back home. Not to worry, it survived.

We got straight to work, dismantling the TV armoire and creating a game plan. The next morning we headed off to our local home improvement store to get our necessary supplies to complete the project. See that Sander Deglosser below? Yea, that stuff is amazing. Seriously, who wants to hand sand a huge armoire for painting and priming? Not this girl. Simply wipe it on, and in minutes, it creates a nice sanded finish, ready for painting. Genius, simply genius.

And of course, we used our trusty little Kreg Jig for the shelves. If you don't have one, get one. Enough said.

 

Little B and Little E were big helpers. Just keep the apple juice and goldfish coming.

 

 



And with a blink of an eye (more like 5 days), our little armoire transformation was complete. It's everything I had dreamed of and more. Check out those spice racks. The oh-so-sweet huband made those come to life. Now, where to store the Swiss Cake Rolls and White Donuts so Little B can't find them when I'm not looking...?

 

 

 

-xo-

 

katie

The table that started it all

A stay at home mom, a military wife, and a project manager go to the beach... No, no, no, this isn't a corny joke. It was our first semi-annual girls weekend and the birthplace of Three Kitchen Tables.

I am Sarah-with-an-H. My husband and I moved away from our home state a few months ago to follow his dream of serving our country. We are currently stationed in Florida (no complaints here) while he completes flight school with the US Navy. It's hard to leave the world you grew up in and do something new in a new place. It definitely helps to have best friends who will traverse multiple states to spend the weekend with you! So the girls and I spent some much needed quality time sipping some much needed beverages on the pearly white sands of the Florida coast line, but found that the majority of our time was spent at my kitchen table. If you are anything like me your kitchen table is the heart of your home. Your kitchen table serves as an eating place, a meeting place, a teaching place, a crafting place, and a praying place. Even the tiny and closed off kitchen spaces of past apartments always had a way of drawing a crowd. 

You know it is a special occasion when the only things on the table are the intended decorations. Our table is most often covered with things like this...

Don't ask me what it means. All I know is that it will hopefully keep my husband's aircraft IN the air. 

It is girls weekends like this one that are special, and the kitchen table was cleared (except for my intended decor) and ready for familiar signs of sisterhood. From morning coffee to some late night Krispy Kreme action to hours of crafting, the table was the hub of our whole weekend. 

But what about the weeks and months that lie between the scheduled "girls weekends"? We needed a way to gather and share life and our latest ideas and most recent "I can't believe I thought that would work" moments. Welcome to our solution. Welcome to Three Kitchen Tables.

To Sara and Katie, thanks for the amazing weekend. I'm pretty sure we burned enough calories laughing to cancel out those doughnuts! Here's to blogging. :)