A Silly Putty Story

God forbid this happens to you. I wish it on nobody very few.

So there I was, making my way through Target on a serious shopping trip picking up last minute necessities for our trip to Disney World (we leave tomorrow), with both toddlers in tow, alone.

Venturing anywhere in public with a 4 year old and a 2 year old and nobody to co-parent is a desperate move that I do not advise.

As I raced through the store throwing stuff in the cart, I knew my time was limited. There is always a race to the finish in Target when you've brought your kids along, because for some reason, Target is more of a "fun zone" for them than Toys R Us itself.

Well played, Target, well played.

"I want a prize!!!"

It was LOUD, and it was on REPEAT.

"You can have one if you're good the whole time in the store."

My standard response.

I raced through the store at lightning-behind-a-cart-with-70-extra-pounds-in-it-speed grabbing what I need and barely double-checking the details I would normally spend several minutes pondering (unimportant things, such as the price, and the brand...you know). As I'm about to hit the checkout counter exuberantly toy AND tantrum-free, the 4 year old suddenly realizes the situation.

No toys had entered the cart, despite the fact that he'd been sitting quietly with my iPhone the entire shopping trip.

This level of injustice could not. be. allowed.

A lawyer's kid.
Go figure.

It got very LOUD, very quickly. Little sister immediately joined the fray.

That's when it happened. Despite all my better instincts, panic took over. I had a fight or flight reflex, and flight won.

I grabbed two silly putties (aka the cheapest things I could find in the area of the store we were walking through), threw them in the cart, and continued on my way to the register.

The crying stopped.

"Magic!" I thought.

The silly putty was cheap, it stopped the crying, and I wasn't the mean mommy who promised a prize and never delivered.

We departed the store with me feeling victorious, and the kids feeling content.

WIN.

That was yesterday.

This is what happened this morning:

LOSE.
As in, YOU LOSE, you desperate, smug loser.

That may not look too awful, but it also happened to my couch cushion.

As in my new couch cushion. My new, premium-brand-custom-designed-not-even-paid-off-yet couch cushion.

If you've ever been around silly putty, then you already know what I was feeling at this point.

To say I was angry would be an understatement.
It's not really possible to put how I was feeling into words.
I'll use a picture instead.


Hal's face.
Hal is absolutely the best Bryan Cranston character ever.
Yes, I said that.

Silly putty STAINS fabric permanently. If left on for more than a few seconds, it sinks in, dries, and is impossible to remove.

They might as well have drawn on my couch with a sharpie.

We caught the stains about an hour into the putty's drying process. It wasn't too late, but the outlook was initially grim.

After some panicked research online which advised the application of WD-40, I was feeling hopeless. While WD-40 may actually work, there was NO WAY I was putting that on my couch cushion. The thought of putting any kind of oily substance on my beautiful (but more importantly, not paid off yet) upholstery fabric terrified me. To put it lightly.

As I speed-read scrolled through the comments on some website I found, I saw the words "DAWN."

I glanced at my sink. I had Dawn!

I didn't even bother to read the rest of the comments. I grabbed the Dawn, squeezed big globs of it onto my couch cushion, let it sit for a few minutes, and then started scraping with a butter knife. I didn't know if it would work, but I had to do something, and I had to do it quickly.

Here is the result:

Not perfect, but so much better.
If you could see the nonexistent "before pic" of this, you'd be REALLY impressed.

There was a BIG orange stain there. The Dawn worked a much-needed miracle!

HOWEVER.

I paid many extra $$$'s to have industrial-grade stain repellant applied to my baby the entire couch, including that cushion.

You pay these extra costs when you have toddlers and/or dogs and/or sloppy habits with red wine.

The same was not so for the cheap innocent blue pillow above.

I tried the same Dawn-approach with the pillow, but the lack of stain-repellant combined with the much cheaper fabric made the situation critical.

So...

I Soaped, Scraped, Repeated.

As many times as it took.

 

 

 

After a certain point, the Dawn reached the end of its capabilities. The putty was mostly gone, but the orange color from the putty remained.

That's when I brought out the big guns.

If you like clean things, you need this in your life.
Trust.

Branch Basics works on everything. It works better than any cleaning product I have ever used, EVER.

It is MAGIC IN A very expensive BOTTLE.

The best part, though, is that it's non-toxic. You can use it for dishes, laundry, carpet, upholstery, and even bathing soap!

I am not being paid to endorse this product.
It just works that well.
For reals.

The Branch Basics was my last resort. If it didn't work, I knew nothing would.

I followed the Dawn process above with the same routine, substituting the Branch Basics for the soap.

Branch Basics, Scrape, Repeat.

Here's the result.

It's not perfect by any means. The fabric on this little guy is never going to look like new in that spot (mostly because of the scraping). But, the putty has been removed, and the orange stain is gone.

I can't guarantee this will work for all silly putty-related tragedies, but it worked for me in this particular situation. If you find yourself in the same quandary, all I can say is...Godspeed.

And also, stay away from the silly putty aisle from now on (until the kids are older, at least).

Tempting as it is, it's just not a good idea.

Pin it!
You'll be happy you did if you ever need it.

New Friend Prize Bags

So, you may remember two weeks ago, when Brady and Brynne had their first day of school at a new daycare. We've bounced around to a lot of daycares over the past four years, and after being on the wait list for two years, we finally got accepted to our #1 choice in the area. Unfortunately, while it has been going well for us as parents and for Brynne in her new class, my sweet, shy little Brady has been having some trouble making new friends. Apparently all of the kids in his new class have been together since they were infants, and they all know each other like siblings. Poor Brady has been the "new kid," and it has been tough for him.

Who knew 3 and 4 year-olds could be so cliquey?

After meeting with his teacher and doing everything we could think of to try to help him integrate into the class and make friends without much success, we decided to step out of the box and try something different. We wanted Brady to bring something to school to share with his new peers, so he could meet and interact with each child individually while introducing himself at the same time. We thought about sending in a favorite book he could "read" to the class, but he did not get excited about that idea. For this to work, we knew we had to do something that would really excite him as well as his class.

It must be the toddler's idea.
Always, the toddler's idea.

Next, we thought about sending treats, like a cupcake or a muffin (both Brady-approved faves). But this new school has a tough "outside foods" policy that we didn't want to challenge, so that idea was scrapped as well.

Then, my ever-so-brilliant paralegal had an idea.

"What about sending a "party favor bag" for each child? Wouldn't Brady enjoy picking out the prizes and handing them out?" she said.

I thought about it for a moment.

It was PERFECT. Brady LOVES prizes. He loves to buy prizes, he loves to get prizes, he loves to give prizes. He is always anxious and excited to discover new things and see how they work. He responds so well to the thought of finding a new prize, that he was potty-trained in what seemed like a single moment using simply a bag of tiny prizes purchased at the dollar store as the incentive.

No one loves tiny plastic toys more than this kid.
We keep local junk stores in business.

So yesterday evening after dinner, off to the Party City party favor aisle we ventured.

Brady ran around Party City like it was the single most exciting place he had ever been. He only picked one tiny prize for himself, but for his "new friends" he selected Mickey Mouse stampers, Bubble Guppies stickers, a rainbow slinky, and PAW Patrol tattoos. As soon as we got home from the store, he and his sister had a ton of fun filling up 20 small orange bags, one for each new friend in his class.

Nobody makes friends like The Mouse.
Nobody.

The bag-filling begins!

The focus was intense.
Such rarity can only indicate success.

Sister climbed up to help.
My little crazy-haired lady.
Mommy is sorry for passing down the frizz!

Careful examination of a PAW Patrol tattoo, while Big Bro explains they are "just for friends, not for us."
At this point she is evaluating whether or not SHE wants to keep it.
AKA, whether it's worth a tantrum over.
Mercifully, she decided in the negative.
(Our ears were particularly grateful.)

We also included in each bag a little paper "card" introducing Brady, so all the new friends would remember him.

High-fives for a job well done!
I see you back there, Brad.
The Always Lurking Dog.

To our amazement and elation, this little experiment WORKED! Brady was so proud when all the prize bags were filled, that instead of crying himself to sleep last night because he didn't want to go to school anymore (a frequency of late), he actually went to bed not only happy, but excited for school today!

Fellow toddler parents understand the enormity of this improvement.

Although he did have a moment of panic when we walked into his class this morning (the noise level always makes him anxious), the rest of the morning went extremely well for him. From the moment he woke up, Brady could not wait to hand out his prize bags to his "friends." He babbled happily the whole way there in the car about which friends would like which prizes. He was so excited to hand them out, that he started tearing them out of the bag as soon as he got to the breakfast table in his classroom!

Although I can't really know for sure at this point, I am optimistic that he will have a great day. There were no tears after he gave me a second kiss when I walked out the door this morning, which is an excellent sign and totally makes the money spent on this little experiment worth every cent already.

All the mommies and the daddies out there who have experienced the "sad daycare drop-off" say "hey!"

This is definitely something worth trying out if you find yourself in a similar parenting situation. Nothing breaks the ice anywhere like gift-giving!

Don't forget to PIN it!

How To Be the Hit of the Party: Ina Garten's Black Olive Tapenade *Recipe*

Since it's been about two years since I've done a recipe, I thought it was about time to do another one (gee Brooke, ya think?). It's not that I haven't been cooking in the past two years, we cook something new almost every weekend. Sadly, the things we make are usually inhaled consumed right away instead of photographed and detailed on here for you. So many delicious dishes lost to laziness and hunger posterity, but don't worry, NOT this one!

Anyway, without further ado, here is a recipe that WILL make you the most popular party guest at the next get-together you attend. I am so certain of this that I am willing to throw down and PROMISE this to you. If your goal is to show up at a party with the most fabulous dish that is the hit of the party, then this is the recipe for you. I have made it many times, and every time, it is the standout. People will literally line up to find out what's in it and ask if you can send them the recipe! Ok, maybe not literally, but you get the point. Even those insane anti-olive people will love it! And BONUS, not only is it mouth-wateringly delicious, it is probably the easiest thing you could possibly make.

I hereby present: Ina Garten's Black Olive Tapenade!

 

 

Salty, savory, complex perfection!

The French Sideboard

Oh, French Provincial furniture. I can never seem to get enough of it. My love affair with the Hollywood Regency decorating period started last summer during my Master Bedroom Makeover, and continues to this day. I can still occasionally be found surfing Craigslist for a cheap French Provincial piece to rescue. The serpentine fronts, the curvy lines, the attention to every detail on the piece...there is just no furniture style to match it.

Thus, this project. We have always have always had this "spot" in our kitchen nook/breakfast area that just. needed. something. I could never quite figure out what. The "spot" was basically just a big, blank wall between the kitchen and living room. Placing furniture against it would surely block the walkway into the living room, I thought. So, in my naiveté when we moved in 5 years ago, I slapped a large piece of canned wine bottle art on the wall and called the "spot" finished.

Then came the reading of the DIY blogs, Pinterest, and many, MANY DIY projects. Slowly, I realized how terribly I had finished the "spot." The "spot" had a clear purpose, and its purpose was to host a slim but long sideboard, with open shelves above it.

This is what I knew after reading all the Pinterest decorating things.

To Craigslist, I went. For months I scoured, searched, bargained. I couldn't find a French Provincial sideboard anywhere on the East Coast for less than $200. I started to think my vision might never materialize. The "spot" would always be useless.

Then, as usually happens if you search long enough (a fact which I tend to forget in the frenzy of wanting to finish a project RIGHT NOW), someone posted this beautiful, but desperately in need of a makeover, old girl:

I always name my French pieces (see Antoinette, Herbert, Amelie, and Charles), so we shall call this lady "Juliette."