Inspired by: July

Crikey, where did July go? I’m well into the summer holidays now, and I think we’ve developed a routine at DG Manor, though don’t go quoting me on that. The holidays have been a great excuse for doing more stuff I’ve found across the interweb and been inspired by.

PD and I are currently working on her letters and numbers, so this where I live project at Teach Mama has been perfect for the letter I, in addition to teaching my little big girl where she lives in relation to, well, her relations.

H was for house, and I was thrilled to be able to whip up on of these collage bird houses I spotted on Mom’s Crafty Space: she says everyone has seen them before, but I’ve never come across them. We never got round to collaging ours as the girls were far too keen to decorate the inside for the birds with glitter and shredded tissue paper. I’m just waiting for a compliant bird to decide to call it home!

And who wouldn’t want to eat a cookie on a stick? Seriously simple and wonderfully delicious. Thanks to Everyday is a Celebration for inspiring us to eat more cookies!

Speaking of lolly sticks, the Girls absolutely loved making some dragonflies using our leftover sticks, as inspired by I Heart Crafty Things and her very lonely fireflies. We didn’t have any exciting plasters but made up for it with glue and glitter. I totally recommend them if you are stuck for something to do.

Not that I was stuck for something to do, I did one day get stuck planning the week’s menu and trying to think of something new to introduce the Girls too. Fortunately Five Fs posted her Pork and Sage Meatloaf recipe and I knew it would be a hit. In typical fashion I went shopping without the recipe and so ended up using Pork and Apple Sausage Meat instead of the mince, and breadcrumbs rather than stuffing, but it was still wonderfully moist and tasty. DH has requested it again, and this time I have the Paxo at the ready. Thanks Kate.

More than Toast reminded me of the sheer pleasure you get from eating a bowl of Boston Baked Beans, so I dug out a recipe I use, which uses lardons rather than pork belly, and scored major brownie points with DH when I served it with home made cornbread and some Southern Fried chicken. The Girls, much like little Elfie, preferred the flavour of Mr Heinz’s beans, which left all the more for us: the following day I added some chopped roast chicken and fresh baby tomatoes to the mix and served it with broccoli and new potatoes. It was even more delicious than before. Try making your own beans: you won’t regret it!

And then there was a sort of craft fail. I saw some amazing sparkle mud soap at the Imagination Tree and knew imeediately that Dimples, if not PD, would adore it. I was right: she was in mess-heaven. It was a total win until it came to the clean up operation: I kept finding glitter in unexpected crevices for days, not  to mention how surprisingly hard it is to clean soap bubbles from a patio and assorted plastic cups and spoons. Absolutely worth it for the sheer pleasure in Dimple’s eyes and she splashed and stirred but I don’t know that I’d try it again.

So there we go. July’s Inspired By. If you’ve been inspired the join in my monthly Linky: I’d love to see what you’ve been getting up to!