Etsy Shop of the Month: The Wishing Elephant

Baby Deer Costume

As much as I love making my own costumes, I also love seeing what kind of handmade costumes others come up with. There's just something so special about them! For October's Etsy Shop of the Month, I just had to go with a costume designer - The Wishing Elephant.

This shop offers all kinds of adorable kids and baby costumes, from fruit to lederhosen to a ouija board. They're perfect for Halloween, of course, but many of these costumes are so cute and comfy they could be worn anytime. They'd also be great for seasonal photos (Cupid for Valentine's Day, anyone?) or just to add to a dress up bin.

World's Strongest Baby Costume

Nerd Baby Costume  •  Hostess Cupcake Baby Costume  •  Lederhosen Costume

Fruit Salad Triplet Baby Costume

Because most of The Wishing Elephant's costumes are made using onesies as a base, they'd be easy to get on your child (no crazy costume parts here!) and seem simply more comfortable and practical. The shop's sushi onesie costume has even appeared on Martha Stewart's show!

Violin Baby Costume  •  Chef Baby Costume  •  Ouija Board Baby Costume

Dress Up Wings

Black Swan Baby Costume  •  White Swan Baby Costume

Pineapple Baby Costume

Cactus Baby Costume  •  Cupid Wings

Murderino Costume  •  Record Player Costume  •  Nintendo Game Boy Costume

Sushi Baby Costume

Have you ever seen The Wishing Elephant shop before? Ever made your own baby costume? Which of these costumes would you love to own?

Etsy Shop of the Month: Jumbo Jibbles

Carrot Body Pillow

Have you ever felt like hugging a carrot? Snuggling a lemon? Curling up with a good book and a pickle? Okay, maybe not, but surely you’ve wanted a cool, contemporary - perhaps offbeat - interior design. You can fulfill all of these wishes with Jumbo Jibbles, our August Etsy Shop of the Month. Jumbo Jibbles is a place where inanimate objects spring to oversized life to adorn your couch or bed or to simply rest in your arms. Eggplants are six feet long; blueberries are the size of beach balls, and everything - and I mean everything - is as soft to the touch as a dollop of whipped cream.

Strawberry Pillow

I’m especially enamored with the strawberry pillow, which is how I first wandered into the world of Jumbo Jibbles. Its perky red body so delightfully oversized, and its proud green top waiting to be placed just so on your comfiest armchair. I love that this piece, like many others, is both useful and decorative. It’s just good, cute fun!

Lemon Pillow

Asparagus Spear Plush/Pillow

Pickle Body Pillow

Velvet Tangerine Pillow

Kiwi Pillow

Velvet Blueberry Pillow

Pineapple Headband

Tomato Pillow

Green Apple Beanie Hat

Peach Beanie Hat

Six-Foot Eggplant Pretzel Body Pillow

I’m always a sucker for oversized or miniature things. It’s my nature. These pillows are straight out of your wildest childhood daydreams, where you might grow an apple stem right from your head or use an asparagus spear as a defensive sword. Children and fun-loving adults alike will find something to fuss over in this shop. The bright colors and soft textures (so much velvet!) are pleasing to many of the senses and the sweet attitude behind the designs is pleasing to the soul.

Designer and owner Amy Brown says in her etsy shop bio, “A stuffed carrot is the opposite of a stuffed bear. That strangeness makes me happy.” If that idea makes sense to you like it does to me, then you’ll find many reasons to smile at Jumbo Jibbles.

Follow Amy and the shop on Etsy or at @jumbojibbles

All photos via Jumbo Jibbles

Have you ever seen Jumbo Jibbles before? Would you love a stuffed fruit or veggie? What great Etsy shop have you found lately?

Blueberry Vanilla "Frozen Yogurt" Recipe

Normally, I would never recommend that you make any recipe that has quotation marks in the title. That kind of mystery is not something I want in my food. Bear with me, though; I'm not calling this "frozen yogurt" because I'm playing an elaborate prank, wherein I entice you to consume something that appears to be frozen yogurt, but is actually, like, frozen sunscreen with food coloring in it. I'm calling it "frozen yogurt" because the end result is a nearly frozen texture that closely resembles soft serve frozen yogurt, and could very easily become even more frozen yogurt-like with a couple extra steps. So, the quotation marks are really just a shortcut to a catchier title. Although, maybe I should look into becoming a professional prank artist because that sunscreen thing is kind of genius.

Artfully arranged insect eggs. JK, it's blueberries! But if you didn't know that, it'd look creepy, right?

The only thing that really matters is that this dessert tastes gooooood. It's cold, it's fruity, it's creamy - it's the perfect warm weather snack, and from what I know, warm weather is coming on fast and snacks are always in demand. No reason not to get this under your belt early.

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Frozen Blueberries

2 Cups Yogurt {I used vanilla, feel free to use plain/regular/Greek/whatever}

Splash of Vanilla Extract

Sugar {to taste, optional if you like it a little sweeter}

HOW TO MAKE IT

Okay, prepare for the most grueling kitchen session of your life! Just kidding - there is only one real step here: put the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend or process.

From geek to chic.

When you're done, you'll have a thick, mostly frozen dessert much like this:

You can eat this in a few different ways:

a) Just go to town with a spoon right away. Completely reasonable - no judgement.

b) Pop it into the freezer for a couple of hours to get a firmer and icier result.

c) Put the mixture into an ice cream maker to get a more traditional frozen yogurt texture.

The texture ended up kind of like that of a very thick milkshake, but when frozen turned more solid. I've also made this with frozen raspberries and got a much thicker result so play around. Frozen pineapple would be amazing! Use coconut yogurt! Sorry, I don't mean to tell you what to do, but I'm going to do that now. You probably don't want to miss out, though.

Do you have an ice cream maker? Were you suspicious of the quotation marks in this recipe's title? What's you favorite summer dessert, homemade or not?

STYLE: Fruit Accessories

One  //  Two //  Three  //  Four  //  Five  //  Six  //  Seven  //  Eight  //  Nine  //  Ten  //  Eleven  //  Twelve

Are you into fruity accessories? Is carrying a full on wicker lemon a bit much for you? Don't you want a floppy banana for your phone now?

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ETC: Week in Instagram Photos

Hey, guys! I just got back from a relaxing New Hampshire vacation and I don't quite have the brain power to compose a lot of words, so here is a thrilling recap of my weeklong adventures in case you, for some reason, enjoying ogling other people's photos of old maps and fried appetizers (I totally do!).

Our semi-private lake cove and my daily view. Dreamy! 

1. Some "leggy" trees near our beach area //  2. A vintage map of Lake Winnipesaukee in our cottage

3. A local waterfall //  4. Dirty-haired woman-child near waterfall (aka gross selfie near water)

1 & 2. Awesome produce at a local farm stand. Those berries! 

3. You kind of can't go to NH without antiquing // 4. The spread for a CUPCAKE TASTING PARTY (very tiny forks not pictured)

1. Tilt'n Diner...a vacation staple //  2. A round of fried pickles for the table

3. Vintage poster browsing // 4. Perfume spraying machine in the bathroom! (what exactly would a 'Tommy Girl' mood feel like?)

Not pictured: the absolutely ridiculous amount of time I spent smelling everything in the Yankee Candle outlet like some kind of convict who had just been released from nasal prison. I could not get enough scent in these nostrils! I left with a bundle of scents that are all food or drink related, totally by accident. Standouts: Hot Cider, Salted Caramel, Maple Pancakes. My nose is ready, man.

I also got some baby candles

Oh, yeah! You can follow me on instagram if you want, since I guess that's a thing I do now?

Follow @neonrattail

Have you been on vacation lately or have one coming up? What do you like to do for fun on vacation? Are you still thinking about Tommy Girl perfume?

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STYLE: Fun Beach Bags

Typically, all of my beach stuff (towel, sunscreen, book, snacks - always snacks) gets stuffed into whatever bag is closest to the door when I realize that I have way more stuff coming to the beach with me than I can carry in my hands. I do have one dedicated beach bag - complete with a bikini-clad kitten in a hammock and the caption "Cat-Nappin'!" - but it is sadly starting to show its age, and I'm keeping an eye out for a cute new beach buddy. Here are some of the cutest beach bags and totes I've seen lately:

One  //  Two  //  Three  //  Four  //  Five  //  Six  //  Seven  //  Eight  //  Nine

Can you even handle that banana print bag? What are you storing all your beach crap in these days?

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Banana Bread Recipe

I'm a little bit allergic to bananas, but I love them so much I still eat them all the time. I say "a little bit" because it hurts every time I eat them, but I've been doing it my whole life and I'm still here, so I can't be that allergic, right? Not many people agree with me on that point, but I just can't resist the allure of this bright yellow dynamo. Thankfully, cooked bananas don't bother me at all, so I can indulge in banana bread pain-free. What a life!

I mean, I love trying new recipes and concocting food combos I've never tasted before, but sometimes you just need something classic. I think everyone should have a go-to banana bread recipe in their back pocket (along with chocolate chip cookies, duh) that you can throw together when the craving strikes. Here's a classic one that lives in my brain (and probably all over the internet) that you can use too:

WHAT YOU NEED

3 Very Ripe Bananas  //  2 Eggs  //  1 Stick of Butter  //  1 C Sugar  //  2 C Flour  //  1 TBS Milk

1 tsp Salt  //  1 tsp Baking Soda  //  1 tsp Baking Powder  //  1 tsp Cinnamon

HOW TO MAKE IT

Add the butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Cream together until mixed and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and then add the milk and cinnamon.

In yet another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Add the banana/milk/cinnamon mixture to the sugar/butter/eggs mixture and stir to combine.

Add the mixed dry ingredients to the bowl and stir again to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes at 325 degrees (F). You'll know the banana bread is done when a knife that's inserted into the center comes out clean.

My bakeware is well loved (and therefore looks kind of gross).

Here's what you'll get for all your hard work:

Pretty good reward right?

You can get all crazy with this and add chocolate chips or serve it with a cream cheese icing, but there is something to be said about a simple, classic dessert...and that 'something' is "OH MY GOD, IT'S SO GOOD," which is how banana bread should make you feel.

What's your favorite dessert recipe? Are you allergic to anything that you love? 

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