A while ago we showed you how to make a fun cowboy mustache and money bag. Well, with Halloween around the corner we thought it would be fun to add to our "dress up" posts with this cute little chef's hat.


We followed the tutorial found here on the Michael Miller Fabrics blog to make two fun hats. You could make it a traditional white hat, or go with fun and funky fabrics like we did. We're going to pair these hats with some cute aprons (Michael Miller has a fun pattern for this, too) for one fun dress-up outfit. Or, let your kids help you make cookies after school--they'll feel like a real chef! The pattern was really easy to follow and the hat can be made in no time at all.

This hat and a child-sized apron would also make a great gift. Add some felt food like this brown bag lunch from Skip To My Lou, or playdough and a few play kitchen utensils for tons of non-messy fun. Bon appetit!

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We had a good response to our "Monster Repellent" post. We can tell that you all have monsters on the mind too. We thought we would follow up with a post about what our friend Marie has been up to over at Make and Takes. Marie is one amazing woman. She is a wife, mother, blogger and now book writer. This gal has been keeping busy and she just finished up an ebook called Monster Mania.

We just love this ebook. It is full of wonderful monster crafts that are sure to appeal to any young guy or gal. The book has very clear step by step pictures on how to create fun monster themed crafts in your home. The projects can be done one at a time or you can have your very own monster party and tackle a few of them at once. The best part is that Marie chose crafts that your little ones can do themselves and that do not require expensive or hard to get supplies. Our favorite is the "Monster Me" craft and the "Monster Feet". Who wouldn't love an extra set of fuzzy red monster feet lying around?

Now that the weather is changing, this ebook may make a good addition to your indoor craft stash.

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We've been nominated for the 2009 Divine Caroline Love This Site Award. Wow! We are flattered. Thank you to the thoughtful soul that nominated us.

Divine Caroline is a great site full of really great articles, blog links, and information. If you have some time, we recommend you check it out. While you are there, you can vote for Little Birdie Secrets. Just click HERE.

Thank you!

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We hope everyone is back into the swing of things now that the kids are in school. I feel pretty settled into my daily routine. My little guy just started kindergarten so it has been a pretty exciting time for us. Last week after his first day of school, I thought it would be fun for him to come home to a yummy homemade treat. I found this yummy recipe on Pillsbury's website and knew it would be a fun treat for my boys. Hope you enjoy it too!



Reese's® Puffs® Sticky Balls

1/4 cup margarine
1 bag (10 oz) regular marshmallows
1 box (14.25 oz) Reese's® Puffs® cereal
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. shortening

In saucepan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Stir in cereal. Spread cereal mixture on waxed paper. Cool 5 minutes.

Lightly spray hands with cooking spray and shape mixture into balls.

In a small microwaveable dish, microwave chocolate chips and shortening on high 1- 2 minutes, stirring until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over cereal balls. Let stand 30 minutes until chocolate is set.

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Well, we promised more fantastic giveaways and we like to keep our promises. We are grateful that Klutz is offering five of our readers a copy of this new book, Paper Fashions Fantasy. This book is sure to be a big hit for any girl. We are just in love with all the glitter and the tiny hangers--too cute!

Don't forget the holidays are coming up soon and would make a great addition to your present stash--that is if you can wait to give it away. We love how this book encourages young girls to get creative.

Here is a little information about the book:

"In the Klutz paper fashions tradition, this book comes with everything girls need to design an entire one-of-a-kind wardrobe, including irresistibly tiny hangers to finish the fashions in style. Unique to this book, though, are fashions that are the stuff of fantasy: goddess gowns, pretty princess dresses, fairy finery, and more. Specially designed papers and stencils make it simple to create everything from flowing cloaks and twinkling tiaras to mermaid tails and fairy wings. And we've even added glitter to the glue — a simple way to sparkle up any fashion. For ages 8 and up"

We know that some of you out there don't have girls. Not to worry! Klutz has some great new books that will be sure to appeal to the young man in your life. Here are two books that we think would also make great gifts. We especially like the Invasion of the Bristlebots. How cool is that? You can turn parts of a toothbrush into moving robots!

The Tricky Video book is the perfect gift for any aspiring movie director. Click on the pictures to get more information on these books.




To enter this giveaway, please leave us a comment on this post. We will pick the winners one week from today. Good Luck!

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Got creepy crawlies under the bed? Boogie men living in your closet? Furious fangs lurking in the hall?

Never fear! The Little Birdies have the solution for you. Scaring away monsters has never been easier. Just a little water and Super Monster Repellant (aka your favorite essential oil) and you have the ingredients for your super Monster Repellant. This potion is so easy to make, your little ones can help too.




Supplies:

Water Spray Bottle (we found ours in the laundry section of the Fred Meyer)
Stickers, paper, pictures of monsters--whatever you want to use to decorate your Monster Repellent Bottle
Water
Super Monster Repellant (this is also known as your favorite essential oil. You can pick this up at your local drug store or health food store)

Once you've gathered all your supplies, you are now ready to make your repellent.

Step One:
Decorate your bottle. The more official it looks, the more fear instilled in the scary monster.

Step Two:
Fill your bottle with water.

Step Three:
Add one or two drops of Super Monster Repellent (essential oil)

Now you are ready to battle anything that comes your way. Monsters hate this spray. One spritz will have them running to the hills so you can have a good night sleep.

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We are guest posting over at Make and Takes today. Here's a sneak peak:



Come check it out!

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Had enough canning info from us this week? Sorry, we've got another one. Pickles!

We found some pickling cucumbers at a local fresh fruits and vegetable stand and couldn't pass them up. Following a recipe found here, we bottled them with mustard seed, dill, garlic, and a vinegar solution.

While we sterilized our jars in the dishwasher, we washed and cut up the cucumbers. We then boiled up a vinegar, pickling salt and water solution. We added a little bit of pickling spices to our solution until we were happy with the flavor.



Next, we added mustard seed, dill, and garlic to our jars and then packed in our cucumbers. Then we poured in our vinegar, salt, and water to the bottles. Aren't they beautiful?



After all of our jars were full of pickled goodness, we processed in a water bath canner per the recipe's instructions.



These are so great to have on your shelf for winter or summer. Think about how good they'll taste on next summer's burgers!

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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

You all are wonderful. Thank you to everyone that left a comment. Here are the winners of the giveaway:

These lucky winners will receive a message from us soon. Check your inbox.
Don't worry if you did not win this time. The Little Birdies are working on some more fun giveaways. Stay tuned!

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You might recognize this apron from yesterday's canning post. And perhaps you recognize the red and brown fabric from this bag. When Stacy and I got together with our friend Kayleen to make aprons, I knew we could count on Stacy's fabric stash to provide just the right options for the perfect aprons. She really has great taste, and she's so incredibly generous! I love this apron, and I've pretty much been living in it all month with my crazy canning.


So you may be wondering, where did you find the pattern for those adorable aprons? Funny thing, that. We planned on doing a tutorial, but it was so darn easy we couldn't bring ourselves to take step-by-step pictures! Don't believe me? If you have a similar BBQ-style apron at your house, you can make this apron. That's right--we used another apron as our pattern. It took all of a half an hour to put these together. In fact, Kayleen made 2 and 1/2 of them while I left my kids with her and went to visit another friend. When I came back, they were all three almost finished!

That apron we copied is the one you see below. Or the six you see below. My amazing mother-in-law made aprons for every single person who came to Christmas Eve dinner last year. Down to the last-minute guests and the kiddies. I couldn't believe how much work she went to outfit us all to help in the kitchen. Her little secret? She used an old apron as a pattern and traced it. Now that I've made one, I guess I can see how she did it. Sort of. That's still a lot of aprons. She really is incredible!




So, here are some loose instructions on how to make this apron, but really, once you get your fabric out and start, you'll see it's a piece of cake.

1. Lay out a simple apron on top of your fabric. We used heavier decorator-weight fabric for ours.

2. Trace the apron, adding a 1" border, and cut it out.

3. Cut a piece of ribbon, or a wide band of fabric, to make the neck strap. If using fabric, cut it about 4" to 5" wide. Fold it in half lengthwise and sew all the way down, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn right-side out and press flat with the seam down the middle. We didn't even hem the edges, but you could for a cleaner look.

4. Cut two long pieces of ribbon or fabric to make the ties (use same method as 3. if you're making fabric ties). We used ribbon because it was just so much easier!

5. Optional: Cut a wide band the width of the chest in a coordinating fabric (ours was about 4"). Or use ribbon. Hem the fabric 1/4" on each long end, and sew on the front of the apron across the chest. Trim any excess fabric.

6. Optional: Cut a wide band of coordinating fabric the width of the bottom to make a ruffle. See this tutorial to create your ruffle.

7. Fold over the edges of the apron 1/4" and iron. Fold over another 1/4" and iron. Stitch the hem down around entire apron. (We were lazy and just folded it over 1/2" and sewed it.)

8. Take your neck strap and position it at the outside edges of the top of the apron. Sew in place.

9. Position your waist ties at the appropriate spot and sew in place.

10. Hem the bottom edge of your ruffle strip with a 1/4″ seam. Using a basting stitch, or the longest machine stitch you have, sew two parallel lines across the top of the strip. To create gathers, tie the threads at one end, then pull the bobbin threads (on the back side) on the other end gently, evenly distributing the gathers until you like the way they look. Sew across gathers with a zig-zag stitch to keep them in place. Pin in place on the bottom of the apron (right sides together and upside down). Sew onto the apron using a regular straight stitch to hold in place. This is what it will look like on the back. Need a video? Check this one out from SewSing.com--it's excellent.



That is it! Sorry about the lack of pictures. If we make another one we'll update the post. But really, it's a very simple project that even novice sewers can tackle. If in doubt, take a closer look at the apron you're copying!

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I have been a canning maniac this month. Not that I've had time for any of it. I've stayed up until the wee hours of the night washing, skinning, slicing, boiling. . . Sometimes I forget how much work canning really is when I'm ordering huge boxes of summer fruit. Usually the deal through our group buy is just too good to pass up. Like 25 lbs. of peaches for $7.50. Seriously, how could I not can this year? It's been a marathon push, but with only 24 lbs. of pears to go, I think I can can a little more!

Out of this crazy canning spree the Three Birdies have collectively canned cherry pie filling, apricots, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, plum sauce, peaches, peach pie filling, salsa, pizza sauce, and more. And Jessica even used her dehydrator to make some yummy fruit leather! As tired as I get of spending countless hours on my feet in a steamy kitchen, you can't beat the taste of home-canned fruits in the dead of winter. That's really why I do it. It really makes me and my family happy.





This simple fresh veggie salsa was really good, but it would've been a lot easier if I had a food processor (what a great Christmas gift that would make--hint, hint, Christian). Chopping all those vegetables by hand took for-ever!


These are my half-pints of pizza sauce. I found the recipe at recipezaar.com. This was really easy and the half pints are just the right size for two homemade pizzas! I'm also loving the new silver lids and rings from Ball. Look how cute the design is on the top of the lids!


And these new jar shapes (also from Ball brand) are so cute for jam. Just add a ribbon and a tag and they're ready for gifting!


I'll be canning these sweeties tonight. I mostly just do quarts, but last year I also tried Ball's recipe for pear butter. It's yummy on toast or English muffins.



Last year we told you about Stacy's awesome peach pie filling, but she couldn't find the recipe! It disappeared for a while, but we finally found a copy of it online and can finally share it with you. I made up a batch and prettied-up the jar for a thank-you gift. Super easy and sweet. Just layer patterned paper on coordinating card stock and wrap it around the jar. I used Tacky Tape or Glue Dots to secure it. Then tie a pretty bow and attach a coordinating tag. I also traced the inside of the ring on patterned paper and cut it out and adhered it to the top.




So, without further ado, here is a link our beloved peach pie filling recipe. It comes to you from PickYourOwn.org, a wonderful pick-your-own produce guide and canning resource. They are wonderful--so much good info on their site. I made pie-in-a-jar with this filling this week, and man was it delish! So good that my husband and I each had a half-pint of pie for breakfast. (I know, we're terrible, but it was THAT good.)

Canning is a wonderful skill to have--it helps us to be self-sufficient and frugal. We're lucky enough to have friends, family, and a church organization that have taught us these skills, but if you don't have these resources, there are tons of books and Web sites that offer step-by-step instructions for all types of canning recipes. We especially recommend the Ball Blue Book of Preserving. It's a good canning "bible." If you haven't tried canning but would like to, we suggest starting small--watch for bulk orders from your local farmers and try at just one type of fruit this year. Have any canning accomplishments you'd like to share? We're always looking for new ideas, so share it with us in the comments!

It's been a lot of work, but I love breathing a sigh of accomplishment as I stack my jars in the pantry, ready and waiting for a crisp winter day. I think I'm going to make myself a little present after the pears are done to congratulate myself on all that hard work. Can you guess what it will be?

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In case you haven't noticed, the three birdies love fresh seafood. What do you expect? We live in the Pacific Northwest! This week the fall salmon run is in full swing, so my husband went out to catch us some dinner. He fished the river for some pink salmon, which only come every other year. He got one, and it became my job to figure out how we wanted to cook it up.




We had two large fillets, so I decided to put a different spin on each one. For the first fillet I used Tom Douglas' Salmon Rub. You might have heard us mention this famous chef in our crab cakes post. This rub is amazing and after coating the fillet with it, we grilled it up on a cedar plank until flaky. Perfection!



For the second fillet, I used a recipe that we got from a wonderful friend of ours, Debbie Kimball. The recipe is so simple and the salmon tasted amazing with this finger-lickin' sauce.

Grilled Salmon with Secret Sauce
1/2 cup butter
3 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. fresh minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 cup ketchup

Melt butter over low heat. Add remaining ingredients and heat through. Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place salmon fillets skin-side down. Brush generously with sauce. Close grill. Grill hot with smoke chips for 12-18 minutes or until fish begins to flake.

Note: This makes enough for about 1 1/2 pounds of salmon. If you like it a little sweeter you can add a little brown sugar.

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We were so pleased with our Modge Podge giveway response we decided to throw another one. A few of you lucky readers can win a package of Extreme Glitter and Texture Paint. Yep, you read it right. There will be more than one winner! If you need ideas on what to do with these, take a look at our past fairy wand and cupcake invitations posts.

Just go on over to the Plaid website and register for their newsletter here. Then come back here and let us know. Already a newsletter subscriber? Well, just leave us a note saying so. This will enter you into our giveaway. These items will come in handy as we all get ready for holiday crafting.

We will pick the lucky winners on Wednesday, September 2nd. Good Luck!

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You know those silver scratch-off tickets that you rub with the side of a penny to reveal your prize? I've always loved those things. I knew my kids would, too. I wanted to come up with a fun way to reward them for things, and I knew this would be just the ticket. I made some tickets to give out to them whenever they go the extra mile at home or as payment for doing chores. I followed this tutorial on how to make a scratch ticket.

You could put anything under the silver stuff. A prize, a dollar amount, or a fun activity, like going to a movie or staying up 1/2 hour later. We think the rewards will go a lot farther with a fun presentation like this. Check out the tutorial from Art Mind!

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I spent a large part of my early youth in Germany. I loved every minute of it. One wonderful tradition the Germans have is to present their children entering their first year of school with a Schultüte. I used to ooh and aahh over the beautiful cones in the stores in downtown Weisbaden. These cones come in so many different colors and styles and are filled with fun treats for the child.

This year all three of us birdies have a little one, er...I mean big one, entering Kindergarten, so I think it is appropriate that we made our own version of a Schultüte.

Schultüte Tutorial

Supplies:
One poster board
Wrapping Paper, card stock or poster of your choice
Mod Podge or glue
Hot glue gun
Two sheets of tissue paper
Scissors


1. First, cut your poster board into a pizza shape (aka a triangle).


2. Next, Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to one side of your poster board and lay your wrapping paper down. Use a brayer to get out any air bubbles. Trim the wrapping paper so the wrapping paper is one inch bigger than your poster board on all sides. Turn the poster board over and Mod Podge down this one inch edge.




3. Using a hot glue gun, on your "inside" side of your cone, hot glue the tissue paper to the top.


4. Roll your cone up and apply hot glue to the seams and seal the cone shut.


5. Fill with goodies and tie the top off with a bow.

Now, the kids should not be the only ones getting these wonderful cones full of treats. Don't forget the teachers. If you are looking for a smaller teacher version, check out what our friend Tammy made over at the Lasting Memories blog.


Hurray for back to school! We wish all of you nothing but wonderful memories as you pack in as much fun as you can these last few days of summer. Best of luck to your families, too, as you gear up for the upcoming school year.

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