Yummy Summer Treats and Creating Rugs Out of T-Shirts

During the summer I usually keep my freezer stocked with Mr. Freezes. Nothing like preaching against the evils of sugar yet serving up daily doses of it to my little (and big) buddies. Finding popsicle molds had been on my mind lately. I wanted to find small ones to help combat the drip and mess factor. The other night I found the perfect size at Walmart. Now to fill them with a little nutritional content...I'm all for tricking my kids into eating something that is good for them and what better way than in a popsicle! Yesterday I tripled my morning smoothie recipe and made Tropical Pops. The kids (most of them) loved it! This morning I used strawberries and bananas (I think these will be more widely accepted by the general population at my house).  Hidden in my smoothies are ground flax seed, super duper "green powder"(bunch of healthy herbs), milk, homemade yogurt, fruit and sweetened with a little REAL maple syrup. YUMMY!

The Boy, making his t-shirt "intersections"

Last month I found directions to weave a rug out of t-shirts. Family and friends have been collecting discarded shirts for me. I also got a pile for free at a garage sale. I started cutting up the t-shirts last week and today The Boy began weaving. The weaving loom is a hula hoop which I picked up at Walmart for $5.  The t-shirt is cut horizontally from arm pit to arm pit - this top portion is thrown....until I decided that this was being much too wasteful. In the past I have cut up old, stained t-shirts to use as Kleenex's so I decided to cut up the rest of the scraps for "wipes". Nose Wipes. Butt Wipes. Whatever Wipes. May as well get one more use out of this material. If I choose to wash and reuse, great. If not, oh well. At one point or another they were bond to be thrown.

While The Boy was weaving he exclaimed, "Mom, I think you've found a great project for us! I think this is going to be the best...and the most successful project since the chickens!" Followed by ten minutes of chatter on how he is going to make a rug each day and make millions. Then came a bit of quiet. Shortly thereafter he decided he was tired of weaving. <sigh>

Laundry basket of weaving "strips", basket of wipes, rug in progress sitting on top of a bag of shirts