Fun Activity Ideas For The Kiddos

Quaking Aspen Curtain Rod

Two Layered, Ruffled Quilt

Just A Simple Detail To Get Hair Clips To Stay In

Valentines Fun and Gifts

How I Made My Valentines Wreath

An Old Vanity Turned Into Two Night Stands

Our Favorite Posts From 2011

We here at The Polka-Dot Umbrella thought it would be fun to share a few of our favorite posts from 2011.  It has been a great year, we have accomplished a lot of goals and grown closer together as a group.  Thanks for being a part of it!!

Erica's favorites:

From Left to Right: Gun Case Into a Book Nook;  Kitchen Organizer;  Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs;  Mismatched Fine China

Jennifer's Favorites:

From Left to Right: Splendid Pieced Placemat;  Button Earrings;  Valentine's Hair;  Wood Wall Art

Shauntel's Favorites:

From Left to Right: Mocktail: Shark Attack;  Noel;  Framing in a Mirror;  Shrunken Head Cider

Meg's Favorites:

From Left to Right: All About Me Swingpack-Purse;  Nylon Flower Tutorial;  Household Hint: Laundry Room;  Kitchen Island Redo

Lumberjack Breakfast Cake

Organizing (Part 1) Building Garage Shelves

Guest Post- Ladies Christmas Ornament Exchange

Family Tradition- Thanksgiving Christmas Craft

Simple Changes To A Bathroom-Framing in a Mirror

One Year House Anniversary- Projects Looking Back

Banister and Handrail Refinish

One of the things that I knew I wanted to update in my newly purchased home was the entry handrail and banister. They were outdated and didn't fit with my decorations, like my wood wall art.  I was a bit overwhelmed with this project and didn't even know where to start. After doing many searches online and sitting on the idea for quite some time I decided to dig in.

Before

I was absolutely shocked how easy this project was and couldn't believe it took me so long to start. I did the normal; sand, paint, and topped it with a polyurethane. The biggest help in my ventures was the very aggressive sand paper I used for the places I stained.

This project just took a few days and only a hour a day. I was a bit of a perfectionist because I didn't want paint on my carpet and it is right in my entry, I can't hide anything.

Great project that was easy and the end results where great.

Photography Links

For the past six weeks I have had the chance to take a photography class that I have absolutely loved! I have owned an SLR and have learned here and there but have never "studied" it. It's something that I have really wanted to learn more about for a really long time. I have found myself the last few weeks thinking about it, a lot; rule of thirds, still life, candid vs. portrait, white balance, poses, ways to get natural light in the house, food pictures, the list goes on and on.

I was pretty excited about last weeks assignment, portraits. I thought I would share.
(Remember, I'm just learning and I don't have a very fancy camera.)

I have found myself reading online and in books in most of my spare time. There are such great articles and posts out there that are available to anyone that wants to learn! Everyone could use a few tips on how to get better pictures because we are all taking them, right? With Halloween parties, darling kids in costumes, and beautiful fall leaves and sweaters we all could be taking some precious and priceless pictures and maybe even do a little better with some tips.

Here a few of my favorite photography sites that have some great tips and tricks about taking pictures.

Click It Up A Notch

Digital Photography School

Picture Correct

Kodak. com

Better Photo .com

Lacy Davis Photography- Great article on what to wear for pictures.

A really good tip with taking pictures is to do a search on poses before you take pictures and find a few you want to use before you go out to take some pictures. For instance if you want to take some pictures of your kids in their costume type 'kids in costumes' in a search engine and see what you like and don't like. After finding what I like I even put them in a word file and print them out so I have them on hand when I am taking pictures.

Do you have a site you like and have found helpful? Please share!

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

Yesterday my husband wasn’t feeling well and he asked for soup. Let’s back up a bit. All growing up I hated soup but realized in the past couple of years that I just didn’t like the soups my Mom liked and made. I don’t have many recipes for soups but have tried them here and there and have loved some.

So… my husbands sick and he asked if I would make him soup. Of course I wanted to help any way I could. I called a wonderful friend who is an amazing cook and asked for help, she gave me hands down the best soup recipe that I have ever tasted. Remember I am picky.

Why is this tomato soup so great? I have a few tomatoes from the garden (not enough to can) and it was perfect to throw them in, peal and all. It had a very rich flavor and it was a great comfort food.

With fall just approaching I thought you might want the recipe too.

The recipe is from allrecipes but I made a few modifications that contributed to my newly founded favorite soup.

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

Ingredients 

         4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

         1 sliced onion

         2 large scoops of minced garlic

         2 cups chicken broth

         4 tablespoons butter

         2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

         1 teaspoon salt

         2 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste

Directions

1.             Saute onions, garlic and butter over medium heat until the onions caramelize and are soft.

2.              In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, chicken broth, and sauted onions and garlic. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Remove from heat and put in put in a blender until smooth.

3.              In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.

I paired it with some fantastic quick and easy Divine Bread Sticks from Mel's Kitchen.

The whole family enjoyed!

Fall- Swingpack Purse

Back in April I posted a pattern for a Swingpack Purse. Hands down, this has been the best purse I have owned. It is the perfect size for me. I knew I wanted the same style when it came time to make one for the Fall season. The purse was super easy the second time and it ended in great results.

I left the middle strip on the strap with raw edges as well as the outer piece of the flap on the front. I think this gives the purse a lot of character.

There are lots of fun options with this purse. For a gal that has always disliked purses and the back pocket was my preference, this purse has changed my mind.

Happy Fall!

Halloween Decorations

October is already here, it is bitter sweet for me. I have absolutely loved my summer and hate to see it come to an end but on the same note, oh how I love fall! 

This week at The Polka-dot Umbrella all us gals will be posting around a Halloween theme as there are so many things that come with this fun holiday. 

We have all seen some great things already out there on craft sites and blogs. I have done a bit of "taking ideas" from such creative people. 

First, my favorite site, countryliving.com had a fabulous bat door idea. 

I was a bit apprehensive about duck tape that the site suggested. The last thing I wanted to do is have to paint my door at the first of November because the paint was ripped off while taking off the bats. I did a bit of research and found there is a duck tape for stucko. It looks like this.

It is a pretty light tape and it isn't quite as sticky as others. I also have a metal door so all the bats directly on the door I hot glued magnets on the back. I did a tester on the inside of the door for a week and these ways seemed to work just fine. 

I made a broom out of a branch and twigs. I thought this added just the right touch. Now I just need some pumpkins sitting on the steps.

I used Make-it and Love-it's tutorial to make this darling pumpkin for my kitchen table.

I usually shy away from popular things that are out there but I had to make an exception. The candle stick jars and tiered serving trays are super creative and can be quite cute. I decided to start a search for candle sticks at the thrift store. They were hard to come by. There must be someone getting to them before me. I finally came across some last week, what perfect timing with all the fun Halloween decorating. I haven't painted them yet (in the air on what color) but they will look great when they are finished.   

Add some halloween candy to the jars and paint the candle sticks and the table will look just right.

The spider bowl is my kids favorite halloween decoration.

Have you been pinning lately? What have been your favorite fall decorations? Have you had a good experience with any fall tutorials?

Happy Fall to everyone!

Sports Fan Shirts

College football season has just started and there are colors flying every where here in Utah. I know we aren't the only ones. My family is from Tennessee and I am pretty sure there is an unwritten law that you must wear orange on a high school or college ball day. Are any of you and your families big football fans? 

I ran out one afternoon to get the family some University of Utah shirts and was shocked at the price for the quality. I immediately thought to myself: I could make something cuter. I have this thing in me that always wants to do something on my own. I have an "I can do that mentality" as I am sure many of you do too. So, the same day I went and picked up everyone solid colored shirts.

After finishing these shirts I knew that I wanted to remind all of you fabulous readers that designing your own t-shirt  graphics is a really fun and a creative way to get a great results while being cost efficient. 

I used two different techniques on these shirts. I started them by using a freezer paper stencil and with paint put the word Utah on them. I then appliquéd the U and went along all of the letters three times with my sewing machine using a wide stitch to give it a stitched look. I also added an extra swirl line across my little girl's shirt. Fun, simple, easy and they turned out just the way I wanted them to!

I sat my kids down for some pictures and it didn't take seconds until it turned into a football game.