The Violet Hours

Fabric Produce bags

Ahavati — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 03:52:51 +0000

I made this today. It took about 15 minutes or so. (If I hadn’t been distracted by babies then it would have lol) It is made with only a fat quarter, which costs about $1.99 at my Hobby Lobby or JoAnns when not on sale! The longer handle slips into the smaller one to close it. It’s pretty cute! You can find the tutorial here: http://daisyjanie.typepad.com/daisyjanie/2010/12/how-to-fabric-produce-bag-free-pdf-pattern.html

6 months already!

Ahavati — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:19:26 +0000

Chaiya Violet is 6 months today. Time is seriously flying. Day by day she”s turning into a little person and leaving my little baby behind. She’ll still be my “baby” but its not the same. This little girl is definitely more advanced than the others. At 5.5 months old she could almost sit by herself unassisted. She’s pretty much there. I think she’s going to be an early walker. She just wants to get up and run with her brothers and sister. Happy 6 months my sweet little Violet.

Obligatory cute picture of the week

Ahavati — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:30:32 +0000

With bedhead and all! I love her.

Homemade applesauce!

Ahavati — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:33:46 +0000

Or “sauce” as Avalea calls it. Every time she goes to Nana’s house she gets “sauce”. She loves it. So I had a bunch of apples and figured I’d make some up. It’s really simple and tastes so much better than store bought. I got rave reviews from Ava and even Violet who had a couple little bites . And it doesn’t take anything. Apples, honey and cinnamon. You don’t even really NEED the honey and cinnamon, but depending on your tastes, you add them in. Simple as can be. I like knowing exactly what is in the food I give my family!

The recipe is:

4 apples, chopped
3 tbsp. honey
Cinnamon to taste
1/2 inch water

I did a super big batch. I probably used 25 apples lol. You also want to use the sweetest apples. The sweeter the apple, the less honey or sugar you need to use. Red Delicious, Gala and Fiji are all really sweet. I used a combo of the three. Sal says Gala’s taste more like “applesauce”.

So you start out peeling your apples.

After you get them all peeled, it makes it easier to core them and get out all the seeds and hard core bits.(The hubby was a great help here )

Next, chop up the apples really good. You can skip this step but I found they cook faster if you chop them smaller.Add them to a pot with about 1/2 inch water in the bottom. As they cook, the apples will release the water in them. When they are done cooking, make sure you drain of the juice! You can drink it as is or filter it through a coffee filter to make it clear and you have apple juice!

Drain the apples and place in a large bowl. Take your mixer and start at low, gradually moving up to high to get the consistency you desire. You can also use a food processor for this step, but I don’t have one of those so I made due lol.

Last, add in the honey and cinnamon to taste. Depending on the apples, you may not need to use any honey as they may be sweet enough. I only used about 3 tbl for the amount of apples I used and it was sweet enough! That’s it! Simple and sweet and voila! Applesauce! You can then go on to jar it and save. It also freezes really well. I think we’ll go to the farmers market soon and get a lot of apples and make up huge batches to can and put away.

Enjoy!!

The best stuff on earth!

Ahavati — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:00:36 +0000

Homemade banana bread! Warmed up and smothered with butter! Yum!

Today’s project!

Ahavati — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:35:34 +0000

Today I tackled a new project! I made the boys crayon rolls. They are a really cute and fun way to take crayons on the go. Stick them in your purse or diaper bag and you have them ready for those times when you need to distract kids. They’re great for traveling too. My younger son loves dinosaurs so he was extra excited to find this fabric. All of our crayons are in pieces so later we’ll go get some fresh crayons to fill it in. I also found tutorials for pencil rolls and may make one of those as well.

Here are pics of the first one I did. I have another 2 to make, one for each kiddo. I think I’ll be making them a matching sketchbook cover to go with these. Later we’ll be making library bags for each

15 minute pajama pants!

Ahavati — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:53:20 +0000

I found this quick tutorial for making 15 minute pajama pants. It took me a little longer because I had to chase kids while doing it but none-the-less it was super quick! Think I might go raid the fabric store for some more fabric and make up some for Avalea and Ephram too! Maybe even a cute tiny pair for Chaiya!

Baby shower goodies

Ahavati — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:53:19 +0000

My best friend Vanessa is expecting her second little boy in July! She decided she wanted to cloth diaper this one so I made her a fun little basket full of cloth! Of course I have plenty of stuff that my little chunker just grew out of so between that and some other new stuff I got her, she has quite an addition to her stash! I can’t wait to give it to her. I also can’t wait to see the newest little boy!!

I made the little monkey card as well for her with a little help from my mom who makes beautiful hand quilled and stamped cards. You can see her work HERE.

I have some other fun stuff I’m working on that I’ll be posting soon!

*Copyright Cassandra Baldovinos

Here is a close up of the card! We added 2 little monkeys since she’s expecting a second boy

*Copyright Cassandra Baldovinos

Avalea’s first finger painting!

Ahavati — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:49:24 +0000

Today, thanks to Color Wonder by Crayola, was Ava’s first attempt at finger painting. I know my child and real paints + Ava would equal a new paint job on my walls, carpet, furniture, Chaiya and the dogs. These color wonder products are awesome. I think we’ll get her the coloring pages too! She really enjoyed making her masterpiece! She made 2, one for Daddy’s work and one to be proudly displayed on our refrigerator. Once she goes down for her nap, the boys will get to use real paint…in the kitchen…with protection. They may be older but don’t underestimate their destructive power!

Franklin Goose

Ahavati — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:31:17 +0000

Recently I came across a promotion. Franklin Goose was a new, online, up and coming store that featured natural and organic kid stuff. They had a promo running where they gave $5 store credit for every legit review you left on their products. So, I sat down and did quite a few reviews. I had used a lot of stuff that they had listed so I racked up quite a bit of store credit.

Using that credit, I ordered a bunch of play food and kitchen items for Avalea’s birthday. We are getting her a play kitchen and these would go great with it. I also was able to order a couple booster seats (one for our house and one for Nana and Papa’s). Shipping has been slow but these are free to me. I just invested a little bit of time. And they got such a huge amount of reviews and orders that they are behind. I am thankful though for the opportunity to get some things we otherwise probably wouldn’t have for nothing but a little of my time.

I’ve now become an affiliate with their store. Whenever you click the link to them from my blog, I get 5% of the total amount in store credits. It helps us get a few things for the kiddos! So check it out. They sell everything from cloth diapers, baby care, car seats, clothing and toys. Their customer service is great too!

Visit Franklin Goose!