Archives for July 2014

Strawberry Sorbet Bars

July 23, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 4 Comments

Summer brings heat and being one month out from baby boy’s arrival I am baking in more ways than one. With temperatures reaching the 100’s last week I got my first set of cankles. I took off my shoes and you could see lines in my feet where they used to be! Not pretty. My Dr. told me with temps like these you’ve got to stay inside and drink A LOT of water. Sounds like a lot of fun for me and the kiddos to enjoy the rest of the summer huh. Long days by the lake may be out for this soon to pop mama, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring the fun to us!

My kiddos are obsessed with frozen treats, but Mom desires something a little more than just colored sugar and water in a tube. I got to try out the new STARBURST™ Brand Sorbet Bars which round out Mars’ ice cream portfolio, with delights including DOVEBAR®, TWIX® and SNICKERS® Ice Cream Bars. STARBURST™ Sorbet Bars give you the taste of a STARBURST™ strawberry fruit chew in a cold and refreshingly tasty bar with, get this, only 70 calories. Seriously! Now that is a number I can celebrate! I am the one who always hoards the strawberry Starbursts so I was thrilled to try the new arctic version of this candy favorite.

I am happy to report they taste and pretty much look just like the candies on a stick. If you like the strawberry Starbursts, you’ll love these. They have a great light texture too. So being the experimenter that I am and while staging the bars for a photo with the berries I got to thinking about berries and my cravings for chocolate and chocolate covered berries. The joys of a pregnant woman’s mind. Then, I got to remembering this recipe for two ingredient freezing chocolate shell and well you can imagine where it went from there.

Mind you I did not even get to finish this one because my three year old stole it out of my hand. No biggie, there were three more in the box in the freezer. I now have the perfect frozen treat to satisfy fruity or chocolate cravings and it’s as simple as opening the freezer door. It’s making life in this oven world that much more bearable. Bring on the scorchers. I have my handheld fan and strawberry sorbet bars!

For more info on Starburst products be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

The Great Craft Stash Giveaway

July 21, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 1 Comment

Oh man do we have a giveaway for you today! Do you like craft supplies? Would you like a bundle of pretty things to stuff your craft room/closet full to the brim?

38 AWESOME bloggers have all joined forces to give you the GREAT craft Stash GIVEAWAY! Each blogger has picked one of their favorite crafting tools to give to ONE lucky winner (AND IT COULD BE YOU!!!!) WE have everything from washi tape, to chalk paint, to baker’s twine, to sharpies! Everything a crafter’s heart could desire!!!!
Here’s what you will get (your mailman is going to hate you!!!) Click on the links to see up close and personal what their favorite craft item is (if you get an error just click the home button!!!)

1st Column:

a glue gun and glue sticks from a girl and a glue gun–crayons from Thirty handmade days –fun markers and pens from delia creates–glitter glue from eighteen 25— fabric paint from One Krieger Chick–Pick three colors of paper straws from Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke–Fun ribbons and trims from Sweet Charli–mystery bundle of fabric from sugar bee crafts–embroidery set from Flamingo Toes—

2nd column:

bakers twine from Over the big moon–sheets of vinyl from A glimpse inside–mini instagram album from Making the world cuter–Martha Stewart fringe scissors from Dolen Diaries–decorative scotch tape from Bombshell Bling–bias tape from Melly Sews—-circle punch from My Sister’s suitcase–glitter pack from R &R workshop–iron on heat transfer from design, dining and diapers–glitter tape from SNAP—

3rd column:

acrylic paint, wood tags, jumbo pins from Lolly Jane–metallic painter markers from A little tipsy–random fun craft supplies from Craft-o-Maniac–rainbow washi from pretty providence–Paper to Petal handmade flower book from kiki & company–manila tags and doiles from Smashed peas and carrots–Craft Paint and foam bushes from Simply Designing— superhero beads from twin dragonfly designs–Rit Dye from The Creative mom—

4th column:

Americana chalk paint and varnish from the Crafting Sparrow–styrofoam from Mad in Crafts–Duck brand prize pack from The Country chic cottage–scrapbook paper and sharpie from Simple Simon and Co– patterned treat bags from Girl Loves Glam–Paper trimmer from Ucreate–Washi Tape from Keeping it Simple–Craft odds and ends from Made to be Momma–Americana Chalk paint and varnish from I should be mopping the floor — cute embroidery scissors from Rae Gun ramblings—

I am giving away a set of these fun Metallic Painters Markers. They can be used to spruce up anything from glass to pottery to clothing! I love how easy they are to use!

You can even combine them with stencils like I did on this Flynn Rider Wanted Poster Shirt to make them even more versatile! So many possibilities!

You can enter to win the whole stash here. There is just a basic entry (Just click enter!) Then loads of other ways to up your odds!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

good luck and happy crafting!!!

Mom of Boys: Comic Relief for Moms of the Male Variety {Round 12}

July 20, 2014 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

A few months ago, I started jotting down things I hear around the house from my boys because, well, they make me laugh. In an attempt to give others a chuckle, it’s now turned in to a Mom of Boys series on the 3rd Sunday of each month. It gives me a good reminder each month why I love my silly boys so much and it’s so fun to look back on months past as they grow up. If you missed our first Mom of Boys posts be sure to go back and check them out!

Let’s explain how this will work and who things were said by…

A = my skinny, karate obsessed, 6 1/2 year old
L = my spunky, snack loving, 3 1/2 year old
J = my geeky chic husband
M = me aka mom of boys

This is in no way meant to be a parenting lesson. Just a little peek into our crazy and at times comical lives.

Mom of boys…things you never thought you’d hear in your home, then you birthed a boy.

A: Mom for my birthday I want to go to the moon.
L: For my birthday I want to go to a waterpark.

L: Let’s take one of those popcorn seeds and plant it outside and it will grow a popcorn tree.

A: Dude, did you see I threw your head in to the ground?
C (A’s best friend): Yes, thank you!

L: We can’t ever punch people. Or kick them in to lava. Or kick them in to acid that would sink them.

A: Mom we should get one of those electricity cars so we never have to get gas.
M: Ya, but you still have to plug it in.
L: Mom, let’s get a candy car so we can just pull candies off it any time we want.
A: We should have a candy world where trees are candy, houses are cupcakes, buildings are cakes and the earth would be a gumball.

L: Yeah but if we lived at Santa’s house and we want a cookie we have to ask.

A: I tooted and now I smell cheese cracker.

(On our way to a wedding reception)
A: Mom, if someone gives her the present can I give it to her?
M: No one gives her the present, we put it on the table.
A: Oh, and then do we give her all the presents at the end like a birthday party?

Our favorite comment from last month comes from Susan, she says:

My 3 year old will steal your drink (any drink) so we are trying to teach him to ask first. While eyeing his dad’s glass of milk, dad grabs it and drinks. P very loudly exclaims, “Daaaad, ask first.” I nearly choked laughing so hard. Well at least he is getting the concept.

Have your kids made you laugh lately? What comical or off the wall things have you said or overheard your kids say? Share in the comments and we will choose our favorites to share in our next Mom of Boys post on September 21st (we’re skipping August since we’ll be adding little boy #3 to our family that week).

Chest Upgrade – A Sauder Review

July 16, 2014 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

With baby boy #3 on the way in just a few more more weeks we’ve been doing some shifting to get the new nursery ready including moving our other two boys in to the same room. Bunk beds from my husbands childhood made this fairly simple, but storage space was an issue. Their room is fairly small and the existing dresser, closet and nightstand were bursting at the seams with clothes, books, and toys. I was thrilled when Sauder contacted me to try out one of their pieces. It could not have come at a better time!

I jumped right in searching Sauder.com for a piece that would fit our needs. I love the wish list feature that allows you to keep track of pieces that you love when you fall in love with a whole slew like I did. I decided to to visit the style lab and take the “find Your Furniture Style” quiz to help me narrow things down and end up with a piece that really fit. My style was “transitional” and it recommended the Shoal Creek Collection. They were totally right. I love the clean lines with the fun hardware that comes with this collection. I ultimately chose the Shoal Creek 4 Drawer Chest in the Oiled Oak Finish. The vertical design was perfect to fit in the boys small room. Here’s a sneak peek…

When the box arrived I was impressed at the packaging. It had extra reinforcement on the corners to ensure the contents would not be damaged which I love. There’s nothing worse than having to send it back before you even get started!

We pulled out all the pieces and got to work. My husband loved the clarity of the instructions. He was an English major and is usually pained with the horrendous explanations inside instruction booklets, but this time he kept commenting on how well things were written and laid out. We never had questions or hesitations on how things should go. They were very clear and even comical (in a good way) as shown in the picture below.

Something that was a great help to us with so many tiny parts to keep track of was to take them all out and separate them into muffin tins. This made them easy to spot and grab without sifting through and possibly losing any.

We actually built this for family night one evening. It was really cute to see my oldest work together with his Dad to create something for his room. He loves learning to use tools and many of the steps were simple enough for him to help with while closely supervised of course. Even preggo mom got in on some of the action assembling a few drawers while Daddy read to the boys at bedtime.

The next morning we moved the chest in to their room and I could not wait to style it up to fit their paleontologist theme. With the simple addition of a plastic dinosaur, dinosaur book, oil lantern, and a piece of authentic dino poop (as found in the desert of Utah by a neighbors dino bone hunting grandpa) it was all set as the perfect addition and storage solution.

Now everyone’s clothes have a place and there’s even room for sizes transitioning from one boy to another!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder. The opinions and text are all mine.