Oh Crepe!

I have been missing my crepe maker all summer.  We love crepes so much that it is often the meal we make when we have friends over-especially if they have kids.  There are so many different kinds of crepe fillings that everyone can find something the like.

The secret to our crepe success is this handy little tool.  It is one of my all-time favorite wedding gifts!  This is a photo of mine, it's "Maxim" brand and plugs right into the wall.  I searched for it online, and it looks like crepe makers are relatively inexpensive, depending on the kind you are looking for.  This little tool makes dinnertime or lunchtime or breakfast time a lot of fun!

The batter is easy: milk, butter, flour, water, eggs-there are a ton of yummy recipes online.  Just a quick dip in the batter and they come out nice and thin.  A little light comes on to tell me they are done-it couldn't get much easier!

Preparing the fillings does take a bit of prep time.  Much of the fruit can be cut ahead.  With my husband and I both preparing fillings and making crepes we can go start to finish with enough for 2 families in about an hour.

Some of our favorite fillings are: 
strawberries (or any berries!)

yogurt

nutella

bananas

peaches

an omlette-like filling

a chicken salad-type filling.

Don't be surprised if you end up eating quite a few crepes.  We always encourage our dinner friends to.  They aren't like tortillas because they really aren't very filling.  They are only about 8" around.  So you can indulge and taste all the varieties!

If you want to go for a dessert crepes, add some whipped cream, powdered sugar, and chocolate syrup.

You can sneak a lot of vegetables into the chicken and egg fillings.  If you have a garden, this is a great way to use a bunch of your fruits and veggies.  Our kids always eat every kind of filling.  Even if they just go for fruit and yogurt, that's not so unhealthy!

Consider treating yourself and your friends to a crepe party!  It's a yummy {little project}.

Friday Favorites and Freebies

Happy Friday!  I hope you find something to fit your fancy!

I'm loving these fabric necklaces. There is a free pattern here and they are a great way to use up beautiful scraps of fabric!

An easy way to cuten up your ponytails or make necklaces with things you have at home.

A neat way to turn a mason jar into a soap dispenser here.

It's always fun to be able to save some $ and this site was a fun find this week.  Some fun on discounts for toys too :)

I am always looking for better ways to be organized. This is a BEAUTIFUL way to keep those business cards together-with instructions to make your own!

Winners!

Thank you to all of you who said a nice hello during the giveaway. Your kind words made my day! Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get the winners posted. We moved back home after finishing our summer internship and packing and unpacking is always so much work! I've also been doing a ton of handmade work for my first market of the summer! I'm so excited to be home and able to be able to make some of my favorite things. 

I've been working on making a bunch of hair pretties to go with my favorite Ouchless Headbands:



and these warmies, which I call Lava Legs because they keep little legs warm and comfortable.
And a couple of my Mama Natural Nursing Covers too:
It's been a busy "little project!"

For more fun choosing the winner I had Jay and Kay pick names out of a hat. So you can thank them if you won :)

Prize #1 of the finger puppets goes to:
Lisa, "I love this series of projects. You've given me lots of ideas."

Prize #2 of the storage and wooden people goes to:
Jennifer, "I love your little village! I think my 4 year old and 2 year old would love to make one of these Thanks for the idea."

I'll get these off in the mail to you in my new earth-friendly shipping.  I'll try to get a tutorial up soon for anyone else who would like to ship that way too!

Friday Favorites and Freebies

Happy Friday to you!  Here are some favorites and freebies for this Friday.

If you are up for a good laugh, watch what happens with a slip'n slide and a ramp here!

Do your kids (or you!) love a good cardboard box makeover? Check out this tool.

I've been wondering how to make these awesome cards for a long time.  If you want to do a neat card or invitation, check this out-it's like magic!

Sew a yoga bag with this FREE pattern from Amy Butler

Tiny is always so cute-check out these tinies! (definitely a "little" kind of project ;)

I hope you find something to fit your fancy :)

Village Friends and a GIVEAWAY

This weekend we say goodbye to our friends we have made this summer during our internship and head back to real life. Before that happens we had to put our friends in the village.  Here is Abby's house:
And here is Stone's house, where Jay had Spanish lessons and I gave piano lessons each week.

Those are the only 2 we have done so far.  I sewed velcro onto the front of each house and used a sharpie marker to write some numbers and the friend's name.  That way they are all interchangeable and we can practice making 2 digit numbers.

Our village has been Jay and Kay's favorite {little project} this summer.  Today, before we packed it up we got everything out and made the full village. 

 Here is a little tour:

The library, post office, store, and park/farm area:

We added a small airport this morning on the back left, and you can see Abby's and Stone's houses, the construction site, and the roads and stop lights.

Here is an arial view:

We just used the cofee table that was in our apartment.  It was the perfect height for the kids. If you are building a village too, consider a short table.  A train table would also work well.

We will miss seeing and playing with our friends here, but at least they still "play" in our village.
When we get back we will make a few more people to resemble our friends.  This past post has links for a list of how to make your own roads and village places.

And now for a little GIVEAWAY fun!  We have had a great time with these animal finger puppets and I picked up an extra set to share with YOU!
So one lucky winner will receive this little set of animal finger puppets:
And another winner will receive this collapsible box.  I love storage like this.  We have stored our village in one of these this summer and I have an extra to share. 
This fun little box will come with some fun little wooden people too!
1- To enter the giveaway, leave a comment.

2- If you are a follower of This Little Project (you can add yourself on the sidebar) you can leave another comment and be entered again.

3- If you subscribe to this blog please leave another comment to be entered again.

4- And if you blog about the village let me know with a comment for another chance to win.

So there are 4 chances for each of you :)  Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you win! The giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 25th!  

Little "Green" Projects

I had an experience which warmed my heart.  In a world where people seem to be more worried about what they wear than anything else, I witnessed real beauty at my local recycle center!  As you may know, we are in a new town for the summer.  My laundry room and garage have been piling up with things that need to be recycled.

Good news: I found where to take them all and we've been there a few times now. The sight of people showing up and sorting their own "recycle garbage" into different bins made my heart swell! We hear so much bad news and so much about unhappy things in this world. Seeing so many people choose to make the world a better, cleaner place made my day. It seriously made me so happy!

I find that my own experience of learning about ways to lessen our family's impact on the Earth and prevent waste goes like this:
1- I learn about a specific issue/problem.
2-  I want to do something better.
3- I come across an idea of something I CAN DO.
4- I have to think on it until I figure out how I can make that idea fit into my life.
5- I make the change.

My sister is always a step ahead of me on this. When I visited her in DC this past spring she told me that they no longer use any paper towels or paper napkins. She has converted entirely to cloth napkins and cloth towels for their family. I thought, "seriously? wow! I don't know if I could do that." I had to think on it. I think of all the paper products we've just tossed and never thought about....sad, I never even thought about it! But, now I am figuring out how to fit that in my life.

These little cloths are one of our little green projects that brings good change for us.  I only bought 40 of them :)

It seems like a little thing really, to reuse something.  It is amazing how good it can make you feel.

If you want to make/use some too, here is a great list of how to stop using paper towels, napkins, and even baby wipes I think it is an inspiring thought.  If you are like me, you can think on it and you will be able to see a way to make small changes in your life and help your family learn too.  A little bit really does matter!

Here are some tips to prolong the life of your washing cloths from Stacy@momcentral.com:
"Synthetic sponges and kitchen cloths can start to smell and carry bacteria, but you don't have to toss them out after a few uses. One option to reduce bacteria is to sanitize sponges and dishrags by soaking them in a bleach solution (¾ cup of bleach* to a gallon of water) for 5 minutes in the sink. Don't forget to rinse and dry when done. A wet sponge can also be microwaved to get rid of bacteria. (* Always remember to read and follow precautions and usage directions before using cleaning products)"

To learn how to make your own green kitchen cleaning supplies at Plum Pudding.  I love her cleaning container too!

One of our other little "green" projects has been turning old tank tops
and T-shirts into grocery shopping bags.  Want to know how many bags Americans THROW AWAY each year?  It will make you sad!  100 billion! :(  Did you know that if you sew the bottom of a T-shirt closed, cut off the arms and cut the neck a little wider it makes an awesome grocery bag?

Another little green project: donate your old stuff to a thrift store.  It makes me so sad to drive around on garbage day and see all the things people are just not using anymore that are filling the landfills.  I see high chairs, desks, chairs, etc.  They look totally decent and maybe the owners didn't know that most thrift stores offer free pick-up of items.  A phone call.  So easy!

Little things really mean a lot.  See if you can add a little Green project into your life.  It will make you happy :)