Blast Off!

Turned Gideon's Rocketship Down syndrome t-shirt graphic into a fabulous birthday party invitation!
You can visit my Etsy store to purchase:
http://revampsarahtacoma.blogspot.com

World Down Syndrome Day!!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day! Over here at the Taczik residence we think it is really something to celebrate!! Our son Gideon - who is 7  - happens to have that special extra chromosome, and while I didn't think it was a blessing on diagnosis - my eyes and heart have been opened to the gift he truly is.
I created this graphic for World Down syndrome day.
Enjoy!!

You can purchase t-shirts here: Proceeds will be donated to Reece's Rainbow

http://www.zazzle.com/down_syndrome_blast_off-235481225145114813

http://www.zazzle.com/down_syndrome-235438758372285520

If you would like to see more of my work as a professional graphic designer. Please visit here:
https://www.facebook.com/SarahTacomaDesigns/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums

Easy Upcycle. Children's Stacker Toy Makes Fun Coat Rack

So I've been looking for a cute back of the door coat rack to use in Gideon's room to hang his coats.
I perused Ebay and Etsy but just couldn't find anything I liked that was in our budget. And then the other day when I was cleaning out all the toys Gideon doesn't play with any more -  I struck gold.
His old Melissa & Doug Wood Stacker Toy! It is perfect for his room. It has 5 hooks (varying sizes) in fun primary colors. All Mike had to do was screw it onto the back of the door.

Bawk Bawk

It's Valentine's Day and let me count the ways that I love chicken! I'm not much of a beef fan (although Mike is and I did buy filet mignon for a special dinner tonight). We don't like buying chicken that has been given antibiotics and prefer to eat chicken that has been fed all vegetarian food (no yucky animal by-products). Recently we got the opportunity to try Harvestland Chicken for free from Moms Meet.* I purchased a few packages of chicken thighs cuz the boys in this family love dark meat and a few packages of white meat breasts for moi.

We have a Chicken Thigh Blue Apron recipe that we like, so we invited a few friends over to try it with us.

Crispy Chicken Thighs

with Kumquat Relish & Freekeh Salad

Can't blog about the chicken without an extra gratuitous ADORABLE Baby Fraybee photo!! Let me count the ways I adore this little chicken.

Consensus was thumbs up! On both the recipe and the Harvestland Chicken.

We were pretty impressed with the quality and THE PRICE!! It's hard to find affordable all natural, anti-biotic, all vegetarian, raised cage-free chicken that fits in our budget.

For more information on Harvestland and where to purchase it please pop on over here:
http://harvestlandbrand.com/

Because I also bought white meat I made 2 different batches of chicken salad for lunches. My dad would make chicken salad with leftover chicken and I absolutely love it. I've updated the family recipe with 2 xtra ingredients that gives the standard chicken salad a little different flavor.

Classic Chicken Salad:
Boiled Chicken Breasts - shredded
celery
red onions
mayonnaise
salt
grapes - cut in half
I don't measure anything - just do it to taste and preference.

For the updated version I add curry powder and honey. Nom Nom.

For more information on Moms Meet:
http://www.greenmomsmeet.com/


*I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agree to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacture of this product. 

Best Pancakes EVER!

Short but sweet blog post today. Almost every Saturday we make pancakes for the boys. "We" as in Mike who is our at home chef -  to give him the credit he deserves. Over the years we have tasted and tested tons of pancake mixes (Bisquick, store brand, Trader Joes + many more) and combinations (blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, etc.) and have found what we think is the perfect pancake combo!!

First and foremost Fresh & Easy's Organic Whole Wheat Pancake mix is hands down the best mix we've ever tried. Then our other little trade secret is Trader Joe's sugar+cinnamon grinder. While the pancakes are baking we grind a little cinnamon/sugar onto it. I like even more cinnamon so Mike will add xtra cinnamon (sans sugar) to mine. The pancakes are sweet enough with the sugar/cinnamon so often times I don't add any syrup - but if you have a real sweet tooth top them off with REAL maple syrup.

Try it - I think you'll like it!

Merry Kitschmas - Vintage Holiday Wreaths

Had fun making a few more kitschy Christmas wreaths! I bought the wreath bases from the 99 cent store and then hot glued vintage ornaments onto them.

Craft from the Past. Remember Shrinky Dinks?

Quinn is 10 this year and has a little posse of friends that he wanted to give gifts to this Christmas. He also loves to draw and I wanted to somehow incorporate his craftiness into his gift. I was at the thrift store and came across a new Shrinky Dink kit. Remember those from the 70s?! Quinn has this signature eyeball with bat wings that he drew a year or so ago and I thought it would make a great necklace using the shrinky dinks. So we gave it a go and he loved it so much we've made about 15 of them now. Yesterday he passed them out to his peeps at school and everybody loved them.