Glow in the Dark Firefly Dress

by Natasha on July 5, 2011 in tutorials

Lately we’ve been letting Sam stay up past her bedtime so we can chase fireflies in the yard. She loves it & we get all emotional & mushy about how special these summertime memories are with our little girls. I thought a little glow-in-the-dark firefly dress would be fun & a nice way to remember the moment…

Oh, & in case you’re wondering about the length…Sam’s new *thing* is to only wear dresses that are “down”. After many arguments about how her dress was already “down” I realized she meant she wanted it to be lonnnng. Aha. 3 yr old speak. And an “up” dress means short. Well of course it does honey. Duh.

The dress is made of recycled knits & the fireflies are drawn on with some 99 cent glow puffy paint, it also has a drawstring hem (just for fun) made from running a red grosgrain ribbon through the hem casing & cinching it with a cord stop.

Any other ideas for summertime traditions? What were your favorites as a kid?

I’m all about imprinting her little brain with joyous occasions.

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Grilled Chicken with Prosciutto Peas & Lemon Spaghetti

by Natasha on June 30, 2011 in Uncategorized

(She actually loved the dinner but freaked at me trying to take her picture. What is it with 3 yr olds being so stinkin’ bossy??)

Both of these recipes are from Giada’s Everyday Italian, which, to be quite honest, is the only one of my cookbooks that I actually use. Yes, she may smile with way too much teeth & damn her, she’s naturally skinny with big boobs & then there’s that whole rumor of her cheating on her husband with John Mayer (that boy is like good girls kryptonite) but I just can’t hate her. Her food is that good.

Lemon Spaghetti

1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

Peas & Prosciutto

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (1-pound) bag frozen peas, thawed
4 ounces (1/8-inch-thick slices) prosciutto, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions: Heat oil in a large skillet over med-low heat. Add shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper, and saute until tender, about 1 minute. Add the peas and saute until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in prosciutto and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the parsley and remove from the heat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper, and serve.

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Update: Recipes are back ladies & gentlemen

by Natasha on June 29, 2011 in Uncategorized

Please, please, maintain order. No fighting, keep calm. I know you’re all over the moon with excitement that the RECIPES tab is now updated but please try & contain yourselves.

Seriously though. In case you forgot I do post some decent recipes here & there. Take a little sneak-a-peak-a-roo if you get a sec, k?

http://www.littlepinkmonsters.com/recipes_index/

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DIY Portrait Sketch

by Natasha on June 28, 2011 in tutorials

With some neat {and free} picture effects from Picnik & a little bit of tracing you can take this…

and make it this!

I’m so loving this. It was the perfect addition for my gallery wall & I love that it looks custom made. I’m certainly not going to tell anybody I cheated to make it!

So, here’s the rundown. First, upload your picture to Picnik. Then crop it close, you don’t want a whole lot of background in your image. Next look under the “create” tab for “effects”. Under “effects” scroll down a bit & you’ll find “pencil sketch”.

Move the “radius” slider all the way to the right & fiddle with the “strength” until you get a some nice definite lines to trace, for me that was 69%.

Print your image out, layer a blank piece of paper on top of it & tape both to a window. Using a sharp pencil lightly trace around your image, you can also capture where the shading of the photo is by lightly covering that area with your pencil & then smudging it with your finger. For me it helped to periodically take the paper down so I could see how it was turning out & then tape it back up & adjust as needed. That’s it! So are any of you going to try this?? What would you do a “sketch” of?

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sunday love

by Natasha on June 26, 2011 in Uncategorized

What I’m loving this week…

{On My Body} Cut off shorts, a light gauzy shirt & boat shoes. Does it get any more summer than that?

Shoes: Steven Madden Yachtt, Shirt: Splendid Tab Sleeve Top, Shorts: Cut-off Myself Jag jeans, Glasses: Pink Opaline Ray-Bans

{On My Plate} Fresh Veggie Cream Cheese on an Everything Bagel

{On My Laptop} Copy Cat Chic

Genius Idea, how did I not know about this blog?? Everyday she shows you a fabulous piece of furniture you probably can’t afford & then shows you the “knock-off”. Great, right? It’s shocking how furniture makers get away with replicating each other’s work…but to save a few bucks I think I can turn the other cheek.

What are you loving this week?

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Little Pink Monster Softie

by Natasha on June 22, 2011 in tutorials

Her name is “Peppa” & don’t be fooled by her small size, cozy plushness & single snaggletooth. She’s a beast. She’ll chew you up & spit you out just in time for nighttime cuddles. Appropriately, she’s also Soph’s new BFF.

She also has a brother named “Pipo”. He’s a lot more easy going, he has to be with Peppa hogging the spotlight all the time. I made Pipo as my contribution to the “Help Joplin Tornado Survivors Homemade Auction” a few weeks ago. As we speak he’s on his way to his new home, with who I’m sure is a monster lovin’ little boy named Andy.Both “Little Monsters” are made of soft fleece & are purposely made with a 2-D design in mind. I wanted them to be easy for a baby to cuddle with & at 10″ they’re small but not too small & they also have just the right amount of stuffing to be plush but not too big to throw a little arm over at night.I didn’t write out a super detailed tutorial because making softies is kind of basic, the pics below give a general how-to.I’m contemplating opening up a “Little Monster” Etsy shop but I can’t decide if I think they would sell or not. Nothing crushes your crafting ego more than setting up a shop & not selling a thing. Maybe some day…

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Sunday Love

by Natasha on June 19, 2011 in Uncategorized

{graduation party winners at bottom of post}

What I’m loving this week…

On my plate (and Sophie’s)…

Kale Chips (I added garlic powder to mine)

On my toes…

OPI Nail Polish Peace Baby!

Love love love this not too bright, not too sheer, jelly-like white. So clean & chic for summer, especially when you get tired of all those bright pedis. Here’s a great post about summer white polishes.

On my laptop…

Crafterhours Skirt Week Wrap-Up

Thanks ladies for letting me be a judge! If you need some sewing inspiration this week just peruse the Skirt Week galleries here, it will either inspire you or make you feel really really bad about your skillz. You can also vote on the incredible finalists all week long.

and in my heart…

Daddy, daddy, daddy. I always knew you’d be a great father but seeing you with our girls just melts my heart day after day. Thank you for being such a great father, husband & man. Love you boo, Happy Father’s Day.

{Winners for the Graduation Party}

Princess Brit (need your email!) – Crafterhours Ad Space

Jess (need your email!)- Booties from Bibity Bobity Boo

MaMainStitches (need your email!)- Happy Together Pattern

emstone28@gmail.com- Happy Together Pattern

Taylor @ Delish World – Blog Fairy Header

Vicki @ Coffees & Milkies – Malibu Romper Pattern

Abbe – Handy Harness

Congrats Ladies! The bloggers you won items from will be emailing you!

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Advice from a Princess…

by Natasha on June 16, 2011 in Uncategorized

I was going to give you a tutorial for my pink monster softie today but I’ve been drowning in admin crapola for the new site. Lucky me my bff sent me these videos which I am now sharing with you to tide you over. I hate saying I LOL’d but seriously, P was starting to stare at me because I kept laughing so hard. He didn’t get it.

My favorite is advice from Snow White, “Don’t eat fruit. That s*@! is bad for you.”

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Welcome to the Monster!

by Natasha on June 15, 2011 in Uncategorized

Hi guys! Did you find me ok? Well obviously if you’re reading this I guess you did. I tried to install some plug-ins on this site to help your Samster Mommy subscriptions transfer over to Little Pink Monster but if you wouldn’t mind double checking that it updated that would be amazing. I think one of people’s biggest fears about leaving blogger is that no one will know how to find you! I don’t want to be lost in cyberspace forever! NooOOOOoooo!

Nowadays there seem to be little ways around it, I just have a feeling it will take some trial & error to get everyone my new address. If only I could just fill out a little blue card at the post office.

But on to bigger better things! Like what do you think?? Your first question might be where did the name come from. Well my dear, if you stick around here long enough you’ll learn that I have two quite adorable little girls. They’re sweet, spice & everything nice. And they’re also little pirate, pillaging beasts sometimes too. I remember once Sophie was in all pink ruffles, looked like an innocent little cupcake. Until she got into the dog’s water bowl. MONSTER! I figured with “Little Pink Monster” my site could still be affectionately named after my girls but also broad enough to be a label for any future ventures. And everyone’s a sucker for a cute monster. Like the one above, that’s “Peppa”. My first tutorial will be to give you & her a proper introduction.

There will be lots of great features on the new site too, some finished, many still “in progress”. All of my tutorials will be in one index in the “tutorial” link in my header. Same with “recipes”. It’ll be pretty darn awesome when it’s done but it requires mega time & lots of mindless work to make all those little thumbnail post links, I’ll get there though! (Shaking fist in air!) Also I’ll be creating a space for advertisers in my right sidebar. Those details to come. I mean, if you want to give me your money who am I to say no?

A few other pages are still under construction as well, AND the Unbiased New Mom’s Guide. Haven’t forgotten about her yet either. Just gotta keep juggling all those balls in air ladies, keep on juggling!

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Samster Mommy Graduation Party!!!

by Natasha on June 13, 2011 in Uncategorized

I’m having a party & you’re invited but first I have to tell you something…

There comes a time in every blogger’s life where she must ask herself a question…

“If I close my laptop now how many hours of sleep can I still get?”
True, but I was actually thinking of “Is it time to go to my own .com?”

I’ve been asking myself this for awhile but have always come up with enough reasons to stay within the safe, secure bubble of blogger. But then came an opportunity, to be in an e-book. How exciting right? The only problem is if my projects are going to be permanently written in a book & marketed by some people with some great exposure am I calling myself what I’m happy with sticking with? My answer? “Nooo, not really.” So time to take the plunge. And with a lot of sadness, time to say goodbye to ‘Samster Mommy’ as well.

It’s bittersweet, I started Samster Mommy at such a special time in my life. Sam was a little baby, I had just quit my job & was entering this exciting/terrifying new phase in my life. I started my blog as a way to try & connect with this new world of moms that I knew nothing about but desperately wanted to be a part of. I always loved to craft so a crafting mommy community seemed like the perfect niche! Little did I know my baby blog would soon grow into something I really love. And maybe even a new future for me one day.

BUT some businessman in Florida is squatting on the url samstermommy.com (we will just refer to him as ‘le douche’) & not to mention it’s not just Samster anymore. I can just see Sophie as a rebellious teenager whose unrequited angst is because her mommy only named her blog after one of her kids. These are the things I think about late at night people. ‘Samster & Sophie Mommy” is just too stinking long, not to mention you have to think about things like “What do I want to do with this blog?” If your dream is to one day start a little girl’s clothing line than you’d darn well better pick a name that fits on a label. Know what I mean?

So. P & I spent a few days stewing about names. He had the great idea to look up 70’s album names for inspiration. Talk about funny random names! Some of my favorites were…
“Hot Buttered Soul” (wouldn’t that be a great food blog?!)
“Hot Rats”
“Smitten Kitten”
“Kitten Bar”

We have a weird sense of humor, I know. But it worked! It made a lightbulb go off in my head with the perfect new name. At least in my opinion

But I want a dramatic big reveal so I’m not going to tell you.

You’ll have to come back on Wednesday & when you go to www.samstermommy.blogspot.com you’ll be redirected to a new site. Is the anticipation killing you?! Oh. Well can you fake it??

So enough of my blabbering. On to the party! I wanted to do something fun to mark the occasion but didn’t want to say goodbye to Samster Mommy because she’s not leaving. She’s just growing. So let’s have a graduation party!! And the best part of a party?? Party favors!

Some of my blogging bff’s were sweet enough to donate some goodies…

Sascha from Piccoli Piselli is giving away a Handy Harness!

I just luvvvvvv this! I can guarantee you Soph is going to need one of these, that kid is nuts.
You can use this little gimmick as a more reliable safety belt in a shopping cart, or when there isn’t a high chair around you can strap the kid to a grown-up chair (GENIUS) & my favorite part, you can use it as a leash for the little one who’s always trying to make a run for it. (I fully support kid leashes, I’m sorry but if you have a kid that likes to dart in traffic it should be a no-brainer)

The utterly awesome Susan & Adrianna from Crafterhours are being really generous & giving away a free advertising space on their site! This is HUGE people. If you have an Etsy shop or blog you want to promote this would be AWESOME.

Do you remember when I did a giveaway with the adorable Katie of Bibity Bobity Boo? Well I’m so happy she’s back with her obscenely cute booties & lovely headbands! You can take your pick of a spring flower headband or pair of booties. I mean, seriously, “cute” just isn’t enough.

I just love Jessica from Happy Together, her dress up skirt post is still one of the most popular pages on my site. And I’m not surprised, her blog is adorable, I’m addicted to her maternity re-fashions lately…that girl can sew. And even though she’s quite the expert her sewing patterns are really easy to understand & perfect for any level of sewing. For this giveaway TWO winners will get to take their pick of any e-pattern from her shop!

When I knew I wanted to go to my own site there’s only one web designer I wanted to use. Emily from “The Blog Fairy” is absolutely incredible at what she does. She created the original Samster Mommy blog design & I just adore her. Not only is she an expert at what she does but she’s patient, creative, & just ‘gets it’. I can’t recommend her services enough! And one of you will get to experience it first hand, Emily is giving away a Custom Header for your blog! ($65 value!)Our final ‘party favor’ is another fabulous sewing pattern! One of the first blogs I started reading was Lil Blue Boo. I’ve used Ashley’s Sienna Pattern more times than I can count, I also own her Hoodie Pattern & Women’s Pieced Tunic Pattern. They’re just SO STINKING EASY to follow. I hate patterns but somehow Ashley writes & designs hers in a way that’s just plain easy. Easy to follow, easy to assemble, easy to sew. Not to mention the great knit-wear you create is positively fabulous. One winner will receive Ashley’s newest pattern, The Malibu Romper Pattern

So that’s it! To enter for any of the above prizes please leave a comment with which prize you’d like. Please mention only 1 prize per comment. The contest will last all week with winners being drawn at 8pm (EST) this Friday, June 17th. It’s all so great & yet I still feel kind of sad. Silly, I know. I just can’t believe this is the last time I’m blogging as “Samster Mommy”

I guess that’s why they call them ‘growing pains’

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