I was all set to write today about how much I love making new friends.  I’ve very recently made a new one and I am so excited about her…just one of those people you feel instantly comfortable with.  Like the kind that would spill water on you by accident and laugh hysterically….I LOVE that.  You know…just real people being real.

But now I’m not going to write any more about that than what I just said because something else has been brought to my attention that I think I just need to share about.  This topic will only apply to a small few of you, but chances are decent that you know someone that the following information could help.  If you do, then pass this post along…pass my name along.  I am ALWAYS open to help people when it comes to the following area…


Food Allergies.

For most of you this isn’t a reality that you deal with in your daily life, and I’m just gonna go ahead and throw out a “Praise the Lord” on behalf of you.  It’s a scary thing for those of us who do deal with it, but I do want to say, it is totally manageable.

My friend Emily from college just sent me a message because she’s worried her 3 month old may have food allergies.  You may ask how she’d know that if he’s nursing, but the fact is that everything a nursing mother ingests affects her baby.  So if baby is allergic to dairy and mommy is eating handfulls of M&M’s every day…clearly not gonna help baby too much.  Or if like me with Tid Bit, baby is allergic to peanuts and Mommy was surviving on peanut butter graham crackers every day….obviously not doing much to help baby there either.

So here’s what I want you to know about food allergies first and foremost.
 
They are manageable…and you and your child will still have a VERY full life.

Tid Bit was originally diagnosed with allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish at 4 months old.  We found out because he first had terrible eczema that we couldn’t get to go away, and then he began having blood in his diaper.  Clearly, blood anywhere other that just staying inside your body can cause reason for concern.  So our amazing pediatricians recommended that we see an allergist.  They ran tests for what they called the “big 8″… milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, shellfish, soy, and wheat.  Tid Bit came back allergic to several.  So since I was nursing, the options were to either switch him to formula (and find one that wouldn’t be problematic) or cut all the stuff out of my diet.  So I cut it all out.  Which wasn’t as bad as you think.

If you find yourself in this place, first let me say, don’t be overwhelmed.  You can do this and I’m more than happy to come alongside you and help you get started.  I just got off the phone with Emily and am happy to do the same for you or anyone else you know dealing with this.  It is totally doable!

So let me give a few tips here, and then if you have further questions you can email me at Loganberry7 at hotmail dot com.  Sorry for writing it like that, my Hubs said that if I just put my email address readily clickable on here that I’ll get spam out the wazoo.  Just put in the subject line “food allergy advice” or something like that so I’ll get it out of my junkmail if it ends up there.

First, a few things I’ve done that make all the difference in cooking.  Find some good substitutes and then when you read a recipe you’ll just use your substitute and not worry about it.  So here are a few that I have found that apply to the list of Tid Bit’s allergies above.  Thankfully we haven’t had to deal with allergies to wheat or soy, but there are still things out there that are great for those of you who do deal with those allergies.

Here are my favorite substitutes:

• Butter – Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, and Fleishmans Unsalted Margarine (the earth balance have a more sturdy texture, but the fleishmans taste better. In baking, I recommend using a combination.
• Sour Cream – Tofutti brand Better than Sour Cream
• Cream Cheese – Tofutti brand Better than Cream Cheese
• Milk – Ricemilk (I personally think it tastes better) or soymilk (I avoided things like almond milk because Tid Bit was allergic to nuts. So my personal recommendation if you’re cutting out something like dairy would be to be cautious when introducing another of the potential “big 8.”)
• cream of anything soups – there’s a brand at Whole Foods (although I can’t remember the name…I’ll get back to you on it) that makes something called “Creamy Chicken Soup” that doesn’t have dairy…it’s a bit runnier, but it tastes alright if you’re dying to make a casserole with cream of something soup.
• chocolate chips – Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips don’t contain dairy….glory hallelujah!
• Yogurt – Silk brand makes yogurt, as does a brand called Whole Soy and Company that I really like.  you can also get “yogurt” made with coconut milk that is pretty stinking tasty too.
• Cheese – I’m sorry to say that if you’re a cheese fanatic like me, you will be very sad to realize that there’s just not a good fake thing to even compare to the real thing.  But if you’re absolutely desperate there is a brand called VeganrellaDaiya cheddar shreds that I think taste a good deal better.  Tid Bit likes them both, but he’s never had the real deal, so he doesn’t know what he’s missing.
• Peanut butter – Sunbutter is my personal choice. I think soybutter has a weird aftertaste and while the Sunbutter does taste like ground up sunflower seeds (because it is) I think it’s yummier.  You can still even make that yummy snack mix (most people I know call it “puppy chow” or “white trash” …with the crispix or chex,chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar) with sunbutter and ghiradelli chips and it’s so good!  I’d still personally advise staying away from things like almond butter because often there is cross contamination among nuts in general.
• egg substitute – you CANNOT use things like egg beaters if you have an egg allergic individual on your hands.  It’s still eggs and just has more whites to yolk ratio.  So go ahead and forget about making custard, omelets, etc….no can do.  But for baking I always really liked an egg substitute by Bob’s Red Mill brand.  I substituted up to 5 eggs worth in a cake and it was fine…beyond that you’re probably just going to crap up a recipe.
• a few other things that don’t contain dairy, eggs, peanuts, treenuts, fish or shellfish that you might be surprised to learn…
• Oreos (brand name ones, the generics often contain dairy,) Ritz Crackers (the reduced fat ones), graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, Pita chips, tortilla chips (barring cheese flavors of course,) fruit Sorbets (sherbets still have dairy), popsicles, Pop Tarts, Girl Scout lemon shortbread cookies, pasta, rice,  my recipe for sugar cookies,…I’ll think of more later and let you know.

Also, remember you can have loads of fruits, vegetables, whole grains (rice, oats, quinoa, barley, etc.)  Sometimes people ask me things like “So, if he’s allergic to dairy then can he have goldfish crackers?.”  The answer would be no.  But then hilariously I often get a follow-up like “ok, then can he have strawberries?”  The answer there would be yes. “Ok good, so can he have pineapple?”  Yes again.  “Can he have Cheetos?”  Again…cheese….no.  “How about pretzels?”  Yes.

So here’s a tip also…learn to read labels.  The FDA requires manufacturers to label foods these days thanks to a great group called The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network who lobby on behalf of food allergies at the governmental level.  Check out their website HERE.  They have TONS of tips, recipes, pamphlets you can order.  I’m not kidding…they are amazing.  Anyways…I was telling you that to let you know that on food items in the grocery store, the manufacturers are now required by law to list food allergens included in  the ingredients list in simple language…milk, eggs, dairy, peanuts, etc.  They are usually emboldened at the bottom of the list, or may also be in bold letters in the list itself.  So keep an eye out for that and it’ll help you.  And God bless the vegans out there…anything vegan won’t have dairy in it at all, so you can rest assured on that one for dairy and eggs. (They do often contain nuts though.)  Anyways, I’m including link to some practical tips for living with food allergies also HERE.

So, that’s a lot of information for one post, but information is the key in managing food allergies.  I’m thankful we found out with Tid Bit early on because I learned how to cook for the allergies since I was still cooking for myself.  Made a big difference.  And take heart too early mommies dealing with all of this…when you cut out cheese, peanut butter, and ice cream you’ll be amazed to see how fast all that extra baby fat just melts away!

Like I said…any further questions, need for support with all of this…I’m here for you!  Ask away!

– Logan

PS. I should probably write on here somewhere that in no way is this a medical opinion (I’m just a mom with a kid with some allergies.)  Also any specific products that I’ve endorsed above are purely my own opinion as well and I’m sadly not receiving compensation from any of them! Wouldn’t that just be dandy though?!

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”- (I don’t know who said this, but it wasn’t me.)

I’m always beyond flattered when people pay a compliment about something creative I’ve done.  Honestly, I think I’m often not sure how to receive the compliment, so I try to figure out how to explain how I did it, or remove some of the credit just given…or something…I just don’t really know how to receive it well.  So when several of you generous compliment givers out there have paid compliments on the bench post I did for today, I have felt a little funny..and wanting to explain how I did it to you.

And here’s what I told a friend who sent me an instant message about it all on facebook today: “I think the only reason I’m able to turn out something good in the end is because I’m not afraid to completely crap it up in the process.”

And that’s the truth.  

My friend Laura, who I’ve told you all about before, did a post today that I didn’t see until just a minute ago (after I was already thinking of writing about this.)  It’s where I got that quote above…the one at the top.  And she posted a whole video of some guy talking about this very thing, and how kids are more creative because they’re not afraid to mess up.

That creativity is lost, not learned.  What a concept huh?

Salvador Dali painted with squid ink a few times.  Did you know that?  He literally stepped his foot on a squid and squished it around to make a painting.  I thought it was kinda weird when I saw it in Spain back in college (still do think it’s weird for that matter), but there was something really beautiful about it too.  Maybe it’s just that often originality is beautiful.  (I should note here that Salvador Dali did some wacky stuff…so he may not be the best example…I just thought of the squid thing to illustrate a point.  But really, think of any famous artist…ground breakers.  They did something new…because they redefined the lines of what was beautiful….what had been perceived to be beautiful up to that point.)

Anywho…I just wanted to tell you… thanks for the compliments, but the Secret to the Great Illusionist here… is just… Don’t be so afraid to fail at something that you never give it a shot!  If you’re not prepared to be wrong or to screw something up, then you’ll never come up with anything original!  So my advice to you is….whatever you’ve been thinking would be neat to try but you haven’t because you’re afraid you’ll mess it up, TRY IT!  And if you mess up, just remember…

I want to see pictures of your next big project when you finish…or little one for that matter!  Some of you might need baby steps, but if you’re like me, just grab hold of something big and have fun possibly ruining it!  I think you’ll surprise yourself at what you can accomplish when you take the pressure off and give yourself license just to have fun trying!

Happy creating friends!

– Logan

I’m writing this on Sunday night.  I’m so excited that I just have to post this for you to read first thing on Monday morning!  I have a meeting at 9am, and this couldn’t wait til afternoon!!!

The Hubs had a meeting tonight so I put the kiddos to bed and just finished sewing a pillow a little bit ago.  I’m now happily perched on my bed with jammies on, 27 Dresses on the TV (fab-o movie if you need a great chick flick), a handful of Cabury chocolate eggs (the little ones with the crunchy shells), and my computer chocked full of pictures of my latest project just for you!!

It’s time to reveal the antique headboard I converted into a bench!  Just have to warn you…there are ALOT of pictures.  I documented how we did it to show you in case you happen to score a cool headboard and need to do something with it other than attach it to the end of a mattress!

<—–This is the before on the left.  Had been in someone’s barn for ages and then in our garage for probably 6 months…filthy, but full of potential!

Below is my big helper and me.  We sanded the headboard down a little to reveal some of the layers of paint, and then we cleaned it off really well.

Above on the right, are the 2 pieces of wood (1×8, and 1×10) for the seat that I stained using MinWax walnut stain.  Below is the frame that I made for the seat.  The Hubs cut the first piece that fit along the back between the posts, and then I measured, cut, and screwed the rest of the inner part of the frame together.  Then I pre-drilled holes into the legs and attached them to the outside of the frame.  We put a piece of 1×3 along the front to give a bit more stability and make the legs look flush along the front.

Because of how I had to attach the legs on the outside of the frame, The Hubs cut a couple of little blocks to mount the 1×3 along the outside and make the leg look flush with the side again.

Tid Bit had been wanting to paint this thing for a week, so finally he got his chance.  The headboard had layers of paint, so we had to do our best to replicate that layering.  First we stained the wood, then painted green (Sherwin Williams Tansy Green to be exact), then a coat of cream (don’t know the exact color because it was just $2.50 in the reject section at Lowes, but was perfect), and then finally the taupe-greenish-gray color.  The closest match I could find was Benjamin Moore Sag Harbor Gray, but I didn’t have that.  So… I mixed some Benjamin Moore Nantucket Gray with some yellow, and black, and brown and got a color that was actually an even closer match!  Hooray for a genepool that passed on an ability for precision color mixing!

<—-So here it is up close…it was still wet in this picture, so the color does look a little off.  Trust me, it’s just right!  Remember the giant gouge that was in the top of the headboard too…yeah, I painted over that as well!  All it needed now was to dry and then be sanded down to show all those beautiful layers that Tid Bit so carefully painted!

Ok…so see below!  Sanded down a bit to make the new part look old too!  I think it turned out pretty smashingly!

When I started looking at it all done and pretty, I decided that it needed a little something cushy!  The other day I was thinking of upholstering the back, then I thought of upholstering the seat, then I decided I liked it so much just like this, but I now had a dropcloth that I’d washed and dried to do something amazing with…so I made pillows!  And because I didn’t want to spend more on a monogram than I did on a 4×12 length of dropcloth, I decided to create a stencil and paint our initial onto the pillows!

First I found a “W” in a font that I liked and blew it up to be ginormous on a regular sheet of printed paper. Then I traced it onto a sheet of heavy duty stencil paper and cut it out.  I made sure to leave some points of connection for the inner pieces that would have fallen out otherwise.  I used spray on stencil adhesive to get the stencil to adhere to the fabric to make clean lines.  To apply the W,  I used a round paintbrush and dabbed some bronze paint onto the stencil.

See how there are some breaks in the W?  That was from the connection points that I didn’t cut out.  No worries though, I just used a small detail brush to fill those areas in!  And below you can see the finished stencil!

I didn’t do a tutorial on how to make a pillow.  I figured I’d taken enough pictures today and honestly, there are a million pillow tutorials out there!  If you really want me to do one sometime though, I will, but you will have to comment and say so!

So here it is…the bench AND the pillow!  In fact, I actually made 2 pillows, but need an insert for the other one…so hopefully you can get the jist with only one!

So that’s it!  I’m pretty pleased with it!  Now all I have to do is decide where in my house I’m actually going to put this beauty!  Happy Monday!

– Logan

For more fun craft ideas, check out my new friend Beth’s blog here!

I feel like junk today….some bronchitis sort of junk.  Kept me up late last night coughing like mad.  UGH….tired and gross feeling today.

Anyways…I finally found a picture of the amazing fabric that I’m putting on that chair i told you about before. 

<——-Here is the chair.

And here is the fabric.
                    ———->

UH-Mazing!  And did I mention it has a 3 yd repeat?…so those beauties are massive!

Hang on a second…someone is at my door…

Oh man…you’ll never guess what just came.  Really great neighbor…but she just brought the one thing that will guarantee my stupid jello jog for at least a little while longer.

THIS!!! ——————————->

Dang Girl Scouts!  Messing up my waistline…AGAIN!  Total nemesis!

So i just took a break for a Peanut Butter Patty and while my stomach digests that creamy goodness, I wanted to show you that I did indeed finish the pillow from the other day’s post.

Check it out.

And I’m not apparently a super awesome blogger because I did NOT take pictures to show you how to make a pillow like this yourself.  I started this one ages ago but when I do the next one I’ll document the process.  So for now, I’m sorry.  This is all you get.

I used Wonder Under to iron the butterfly onto the green linen fabric because I wanted to have the butterfly on there alone.  As you can see from the whole piece of the fabric above, you have to actually cut out a specific butterfly to do what I did here.  Otherwise you’d end up with a weevil or part of a grasshopper or some other unwanted bug on your pillow as well.  And I’m not feeling weevils and grasshoppers and unwanted bugs like I am butterflies these days.  Butterflies….me and the dang Pottery Barn.

Anyhow.  Wanted to at least show you that even if I didn’t get the laundry put away the other day, I did get a pillow made.

Oh…and I have to tell you one other super exciting project that I’m working on!

I  bought this headboard and that dresser I showed you yesterday at the same time off of Craigslist ($30 total for both items.)  They both looked pretty much like this when I got them.  I’m sanding this down and then we’re going to turn it into a bench to put I think in the foyer.  So far I’ve gotten it sanded and then I’ve got some work ahead of me to paint several different coats on the legs and lower part of the bench to try to replicate the amazing layering that’s going on naturally on this thing.  I had a sanding helper the other day…he’s a total cutie!  I look like death warmed over here, but who cares, we’re all friends here right?!

The boards above on the right are what I’m using for the seat…I stained them walnut using just basic Minwax stain.  They’re not stain grade wood, but I don’t care.  This was cheaper and I want it to have character anyways.  I think when it’s all done I might just make some pillows out of burlap to put on here anyways. 

So this to the right is how the headboard looks right now cleaned up a bit.  The previous owner had gouged that top part with what I’d guess was a putty knife trying to scrape off the paint, but I don’t care…just gives it a little more character.

Ok I better run. Have a birthday party to go to, and I didn’t want to wake up the baby who missed his nap this morning, but if I don’t I’m afraid we’ll miss the party.  And after Tid Bit spent a good hour making his friend Ruthie a bracelet and ring with my jewelry making supplies, I can’t let him miss out on seeing her anticipated delight when she opens it!

Hope ya’ll are having a good day!

– Logan

My bed isn’t made yet, so I’m not gonna post a picture of my master bedroom right now.  Well, that and the laundry from yesterday is still folded in the basket instead of in all of our drawers.  And… all the flat surfaces seemed to be currently collecting junk…papers yet to be filed, books in the middle of being read, and stuff that I haven’t put back on the walls in our bathroom since I have yet to clean the walls from stripping the wallpaper.  Work in semi-progress I guess….I say “semi” because I can’t seem to convince myself to scrub the wallpaper glue off of the walls because it’s just pure misery to do it.

I think I’m pretty good with color, design, etc in general.  But I tell you what…my master bedroom has been my nemesis since we moved in almost 3 years ago.  It has 2 dormer windows and an angled ceiling on one side, a closet and a door on one wall, and a bathroom door on another.  The furniture is all nice but completely mismatched (I love eclectic, but somehow this has just moved beyond that to mismatched.)  I’m willing to paint anything, but for the life of me I can’t seem to decide what I want to do in there!

I think I want to paint it grayish-bluish.  And maybe antique some furniture white.  Sometimes I think board and batten (since it’s in again and I’ve and  always loved it.)  But then i think grasscloth but I can’t afford that right now.  Sometimes I think whites and blacks and grays.  Sometimes I think lemongrass and aqua and white.  I love antiques old things that tell stories. I have this fab-o little sofa that is chocolate brown with a grayish-bluish little dot on it…but I tell you, I’m stuck!  I’ll take pictures of everything today at naptime and post it all for you to see.  Don’t have time right now though…

I don’t know what I want…there’s too much that I like to narrow it all down.  Indecision is my pet peeve and right now with this room, it is my middle name!

It’s a little frustrating though…this decorator’s block I have.  I can walk into other peoples’ spaces and immediately have vision for them…amazing vision with easy ways to achieve it, but when it comes to my own house I OBSESS and I’m stuck!  The rooms I have done to perfect completion belong to my children.  

I can’t seem to find what I did with a good picture of Tid Bit’s Room, but below is Little Bit’s nursery.  Probably my favorite room in our house.