Amber – Page 21 – Savor Each Second

Posted on June 20, 2013June 20, 2013 by Amber — 13 Comments

Crate Seats and Benches

I get more compliments on my crate seating and benches in my classroom. I made these last year and would be lying if I said they were easy! They did take a lot of work but once they were finished, they turned out great! The first problem I came across was finding good sturdy milk crates. The ones from Walmart are not built as sturdy as the ones an actual dairy uses. I ended up calling around to a few places and Anderson Erickson Dairy were kind enough to donate the milk crates for my classroom! It turns out, they are the dairy that my school gets their milk from!

Also a HUGE THANK YOU to Home Depot for helping me cut the wood to the sizes I needed!

Materials:

sturdy milk crates

wood

zip ties

drill

adhesive spray

memory foam

stapler

fabric

fabric drawers

Instructions:

Alex had to help me a lot with the measurements for this. Honestly, it will vary depending on the exact measurements of the milk crates. The guys at home depot cut the squares for the individual seats for me. This helped out a lot! When I got them home, Alex helped me figure out how to attach the cushion to the crate. We sat the crates on top of the wood and penciled dots where I needed to drill. I used these holes to attach the wood to the crates with zip ties. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE ZIP TIES IN READY TO GO, BEFORE YOU PUT THE MEMORY FOAM ON TOP. This will allow you to cover it with fabric and then attach the cushion to the crates. (Make sure to staple far enough in that you will not have kiddos cutting their fingers on staples!) Cut the memory foam to an inch longer on each side to give it a little cushion on the side. Spray the adhesive to help the foam stick while you staple the fabric on. AGAIN make sure to pull fabric away from the edge to make sure staples are not sticking out. Safety Safety Safety! After attaching the fabric, line up the zip ties and pull tight to attach the cushion to the crate.

Next add a drawer for extra storage! I store my math manipulatives in the benches and familiar reads at the teacher table for the kids to read while I am getting the rest of the class started on work. I ended up finding them during a good sale at Target for like $5.99 a piece! Otherwise, they can tend to be pricey!

For the bench, just line up the desired amount of crates on their sides and zip tie them sideways first. Once they are attached, place them on top of the wood to make the holes for the zip ties to hold the wood down. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE ZIP TIES IN READY TO GO, BEFORE YOU PUT THE MEMORY FOAM ON TOP. This will allow you to cover it with fabric and then attach the cushion to the crates. (Make sure to staple far enough in that you will not have kiddos cutting their fingers on staples!) Cut the memory foam to an inch longer on each side to give it a little cushion on the side. Spray the adhesive to help the foam stick while you staple the fabric on. AGAIN make sure to pull fabric away from the edge to make sure staples are not sticking out. Safety Safety Safety! After attaching the fabric, line up the zip ties and pull tight to attach the cushions.

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Amber — Leave a comment

Sweet Potato Fries

I love fries…all kinds of fries…curly, shoestring, waffle, and especially crinkle fries! If I could eat more fries without gaining a million pounds, I probably would! My eating habits are a lot better than they used to be. I can remember coming home from the bar with girlfriends in college and we would fire up the “Fry-Daddy” and make chicken strips and fries as our 2:00 am late night snack. Looking back at pictures from college, I am so bummed that I did not take better care of myself. I gained 50 pounds in college and had such low energy. I have learned better eating habits and how much happier I am when I am working out and feeling great! (Don’t get me wrong, I still try to enjoy all the things I love…but only in moderation.) We have a beautiful trail by our house that goes throughout Olathe. I love to go for runs and walk the girls on it. Alex and I got bikes last week and have been going for rides and enjoying the fresh air! Recently, I have been getting into yard work more. Pulling weeds can be quite the workout if you are doing it right and its like hitting two birds with one stone! Alex would love it if I would get out and mow but those things make me nervous! I am better with a vacuum cleaner!

I am trying so hard to get a green thumb! These are my sweet potato vines my Grandma Bloesser sent home with me and they are really taking off!

Anyways back to sweet potatoes…I keep trying new things with sweet potatoes. I used to be a pretty picky eater and lets face it people…they are ORANGE and were not something my brain could wrap around until Alex talked me into trying some sweet potato fries at Johnny’s down the street when we first started dating. I found a new love! So why can’t I make my own, more healthy ones at home? Well that was what was for dinner Sunday night…and I am thinking about doing it again tonight! Alex was impressed so he won’t mind!

Ingredients:

sweet potatoes

olive oil

salt & pepper

Instructions:

: Preheat the oven to 400°. Start off with a few sweet potatoes and cut into strips. I actually only ended up using one potato because they were huge. I just needed enough for two!

Drizzle with olive oil, and salt & pepper on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve as a side with a juicy burger and enjoy!

These turned out absolutely amazing! I am almost positive I am making these again tonight because I have been craving them ever since. Sweet potatoes are really pretty good for you as far as potatoes go! If you haven’t tried one before, I urge you to check them out! They are delicious especially dipped in ketchup…then again what isn’t good in ketchup?!

Posted on June 17, 2013June 17, 2013 by Amber — Leave a comment

DIY Monogram Wedding Gift

My friend Krista got married his weekend! Here is the happy couple on their special day! The wedding was absolutely beautiful! It was outside and they could not have asked for better weather!

I wanted to find a Pinterest idea that I could whip up for her for her special day! I wanted to monogram something for them with their last name on it to give it a little kick! I ended up finding te perfect glass baking dish with a lid at Walmart. The lid had a perfect canvas for a Monogram on it! I played around in Cricut Craft Room trying to find the best way to do the layout. I found some tutorials on YouTube that showed how to do a “split” letter but Cricut Craft Room has changed since the last update so I decided to do it my way! Instead of doing a split monogram, I did a giant M and put lines at the bottom with their last name in between. I was happy with the end result but that vinyl can be tricky when you have intricate cuts. I used Glad Press & Seal instead of transfer paper. I would like to get some transfer paper to see the difference but the Press & Seal worked ok. The biggest thing to remember while using vinyl is to make sure to carefully lay down the vinyl while making sure not to have bubbles in it. Originally, I planned on trying glass etch to put their last name into the glass pan, but since I am just starting to play with vinyl on my Cricut, I wanted to wait until I am more comfortable using it. I will have to try that on one of my glass dishes this summer to see how it turns out!

Materials:

Vinyl

Glass baking dish with lid

Glad Press & Seal

Instructions:

This is glass baking dish that I found at Walmart. The brand is Anchor.

Cut the vinyl to desired design and size for the dish you are using. I used a ruler and figured out where my center was and marked it with a Sharpie. Make sure to really press the vinyl cutout face down with a tool before peeling away the backing.

After transferring the vinyl to the lid, make sure to push all air bubbles out. I had to pick up the vinyl a bit because I had air in it. I used my spatula tool to do this carefully. — After transferring the vinyl to the lid, make sure to push all air bubbles out. I had to pick up the vinyl a bit because I had air in it. I used my spatula tool to do this carefully!

Posted on June 13, 2013June 13, 2013 by Amber — Leave a comment

Parmesan Crusted Swai

I was busy pinning the other day…which is a total shock I am sure! Alex and I really enjoyed my Grilled Swai from last week. I was just happy to show him that HE was not the only one that could rock that Traeger! (Although I will say I was surprised that I did so well!) When I sat the fish out to thaw, I had originally planned on grilling it again…but I felt the need to kick it up a notch so I kept putting it off while I would decide what to do with it. Well, last night I decided to go for it. I found a few recipes on Pinterest that were baked with a breading and decided on Parmesan Crusted Swai! I just looked at a few and decided to modify them so here is what I came up with. But before I get to the recipe, I have to at least mention the side I made tonight. Green beans are good but I am like crazy about green beans since Alex showed me how to sauté them! (I am even getting good at flipping them without stirring!) I have always just turned on the stove and threw the can in…juice and all with a little salt & pepper and warm them up. This was also delicious…but I could eat a can of cold green beans…they are just good!