Saturday, June 30, 2018

Strawberry Collins

Guys. It's sooooooo hot here I'm hiding in the house in front of the fan - on the upside it gives me more time to craft and make stuff...gotta look for the positives :)

I found this recipe for a modified Tom Collins, I've never had one and I have all the ingredients on hand (no going to the grocery store - I'm not leaving the house if I can help it, you got that - right?) so thought I'd try this version. Since I don't know what a Tom Collins tastes like I can't tell you how this strawberry cocktail compares - but it's delish regardless! I'm thinking for a patriotic holiday cocktail I'll add frozen whole blueberries to the drink - that'd be pretty.

This recipe makes 2 drinks - the only thing I changed from the posted recipe is she adds a touch of pomegranate syrup and I don't have that so I omitted it.

Strawberry Collins

10 strawberries, plus more if you want to freeze some and use in place of ice cubes
4 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 ounces vodka (gin is in the original Tom Collins but substituting vodka is a thing, I prefer vodka)
club soda
ice cubes


  • puree the strawberries until smooth, add the sugar and let it set until the sugar dissolves. 
  • put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a tall glass (note: I don't have old fashioned size glasses, but I'm not a stickler for having to have my drinks in the correct glass!)
  • add 1 1/2 oz. vodka to the glass 
  • divide the puree in half and add to the glass, stir to mix it all together. Note: I didn't puree mine enough so it's a bit chunky - next time I'll blend it more. You could also strain the puree to remove some of the seeds if you like. Second note: I'm not sure why she didn't just add the alcohol and lemon juice to the blender along with the puree - next time I'll blend it all together that way instead of stirring the mixture up in the glass. 
  • add a couple ice cubes or whole frozen berries. Another note: it would taste good to add crushed ice to the blender along with the puree - it'd be more like a frozen daiquiri that way I guess and maybe that's straying too far from calling this a "Collins".
  • top with club soda and enjoy! One more note: for the second drink I experimented by using coconut flavored seltzer water and it was even better than plain club soda. 


Click here for the original source.

Friday, June 29, 2018

Button Flag Art

My friend Lisa loves crafting with her nieces (she calls them "the littles" awww), she put this on Facebook and I asked if I could steal it to share with you guys - how cute is this idea? Here's her notes on how they did it:

Had the littles over and we made the American Flag! You can see each one has there own style! As my niece said “there is no right or wrong way in art”! She is 5. Out of the mouths of babes! Oh I treasure them.

I bought the burlap canvas at Hobby Lobby, bought the buttons on Amazon. Used tacky glue and some patriotic ribbon to hang up or not. I just free hand the outline for a guideline for them and the kids where off running with it. 

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Painted Mason Jar with Paper Pinwheels

I have no luck painting on mason jars - remember the cool flag jars I made for my sis a couple years ago that were such a nightmare for me to paint? Click here to revisit that post - they are really cute and she displays them all the time so that's nice, at least my suffering wasn't for nothin' hahaha! Anyway...I saw on Pinterest someone painted a jar with chalk white paint and I thought I'd give it another try - bought chalk paint that specifically says for painting on glass, I thought maybe the prob in the past was the craft paint I used - but nope, this was just as bad.

I painted one coat and let it thoroughly dry overnight, then when I added a second coat the base coat peeled off in spots. Ugh. I was going to skip this all together and not even show you, but hey, it's what I made so there it is - Pinterest fail. I am using it to display the paper pinwheels from yesterday's post, and with the addition of ribbon and tulle I'm hoping the bad paint job is disguised!

second coat
I even tried adding another coat - hard to see in this picture but it still peeled the under layers off!

One year ago: red, white, and blue berry trifle...SO good!

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Paper Pinwheels

I made these simple pinwheels from cardstock and paper fasteners - the only other supplies you need are a ruler, scissors, hole punch, and a pencil. They don't take long at all to make, you still have time to make decorations for Independence Day decorating next week!


Start with a square of cardstock (or I think lighter weight paper would work good too), any size as long as it's square. I made 3 different sizes - 3" square, 4.5" square, 5.5" square. Draw a faint pencil line from corner to corner (making an "x") and cut up each line stopping maybe 1/2 inch or so from the center. The paper is now cut in 4 triangles (still connected in the center), hole punch one side of each triangle and in the center. Your paper should now look like this:


my red pinwheel has one corner of each triangle rounded off, I drew it out on this sample to show you. If you like how that looks make sure to just round off one corner and the opposite corner gets hole punched for the fastener to go thru.  


After you hole punch the 4 corners and the center you can form the pinwheel two ways:
(1) gently fold each hole punched corner to the center hole and then push a paper fastener thru all at once, or (2) hold the paper fastener and feed each hole punched corner onto the fastener and then push the fastener thru the center hole - whatever's easier for you. Then spread the 2 sides of the fastener apart to hold the pinwheel in place.


Above is the front and back of the 5.5" red pinwheels, the back of the pinwheel is before the fastener is spread open to hold it - see the next photo for what it looks like when the fastener is correctly in place:



To make the double pinwheel like the red one above and small 3" white one below,  I just fed two single pinwheels onto one fastener.


5.5" red double pinwheel, 4.5" single blue pinwheels, 3" double white pinwheel

I can think of many uses for these pinwheels - hook them to paper straws or bamboo sticks and put them in a vase, hang them on ribbon or twine for garland, attach streamers and make parade wands, use in place of bows on presents...look how pretty they look combined with the paper fireworks from last July (click here for that post):


What a pretty bouquet - I'm off to make a vase to put them in!




one year ago: pompom earrings! you know you want them...;)



Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Patriotic Rag Wreath



Oh my gosh, I love-love how this wreath turned out! I've never made a rag wreath before and I just this morning decided I should attempt one for a July 4th front door decoration (I realize there aren't many days left in June!) - when I told the fabric cutting lady at the craft store what I'm making she goes "well you better hurry up" hahaha. No judging, fabric cutting lady!


This is simple to make, a little bit time consuming but not bad, maybe a couple hours. All it requires is cutting strips (and if you have a rotary cutter it goes really fast - I recommend you get one if you don't already have!! - but you can cut them by hand of course) and tying them onto a wire wreath. We have 2 front doors so I need to make another one quickly, but I wanted to show you this asap in case you also want to make a rag wreath at the last minute! I'll make the second one tomorrow morning - or find a place where I can hang one by itself!

There are different ways to make these (look online for examples), I asked someone at the craft store (the fabric cutting lady hadn't made one so she wasn't helpful haha) if they had any tips for making a rag wreath...she said she doesn't cut the strips short and tie each one on (lots of the online examples do that) - you can save time by cutting the strips twice as long and doubling it over, stick the loop thru the wire wreath then bring the ends back thru the loop and pull, like a slip knot. That's a great tip - I did that and it was easy and sped the process up.

I cut strips of fabric 1.5" x roughly 10.5" - they do not need to be perfect at all, and best part - you don't need to sew anything. The edges of the material will fray and that adds to the look, don't make the wreath totally uniform and neat. Also vary which way you put the loops thru the wreath so some tails go up and some go down. There are 4 rings on the wire wreath form - I found I liked how it looked when I fed 1 strip over the first two rings, a second strip over rings 2 and 3, then a third strip over rings 3 and 4, then keep repeating. My 16" wreath has 8 sections, each section took 25 strips pushed very tightly together (I took lots of pictures, hopefully they help).

my 5 coordinating fabrics, and one tired helper





one segment of the wreath holds 25 strips
an unexpected surprise - the back of the wreath looks so cool! I might hang it backwards.
close up of the front (LeDonna had the idea to
add flags to the wreath - it's a good finishing touch. 
close up of the back - love this!
I'm in the process of making paper pinwheels (more on that later), look how good it looks on the wreath!
after you cram in as many strips as possible, go back thru and  fluff it by pulling
on the knots and directing them which way to go - no gaps or holes! 

Monday, June 25, 2018

Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi

Found this recipe at cookinglight.com and followed it to a T - other than I took the tails off before sautéing them, the recipe just says peeled and deveined but their picture has tails on...I don't like dealing with pulling off the tails when they are mixed in with sauce. Very easy recipe with not very many ingredients, what's not to like? Saute shrimp in half olive oil half butter, season, add spinach until it's wilted, then toss with cooked spaghetti squash strands. Yum.



Ingredients:

  • 1 (2.5-lb.) spaghetti squash
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 8 ounces large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
  • 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt


  • Step 1
    Preheat oven to 375°F. Trim off squash ends. Cut remaining squash into 1 1/2-inch rings; scoop out and discard seeds and membranes. Arrange rings on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat rings with cooking spray. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes or until just tender. Cool slightly. Cut through each ring and open slightly to reach strands; carefully scrape out spaghetti-like squash strands.
    Step 2
    Heat butter and oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add pepper and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add shrimp; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Add spinach, tossing until spinach wilts. Add squash strands; sprinkle with salt. Toss gently to combine.

    Click here for the source.

    Sunday, June 24, 2018

    Moving Furniture

    Here's a follow up to yesterday's houseplant post - sure enough one thing led to another and I spent the rest of the day moving furniture. I've mentioned before (click here for another rearranging furniture post) that the rule in the house is that as long as I can move it myself and he doesn't have to help (that part is Dave's rule) then it's ok to move things around (that part of the rule is mine - if I can move it then I'm moving it and not asking permission LOL). There are very few things that I cannot handle on my own - thank God for those slider things you put under the furniture legs (!) - and over the years I've gotten very creative and crafty about how to get things from one room to another, and even up and down the stairs. If you want to move things regardless of having help hahaha, here's a couple tips:


    • I move upholstered furniture from one room to another by turning it onto it's back (or side) and pulling or pushing it - I don't slide it on it's legs in case that scratches the floor. Obviously it's best if your floors are pretty clean, otherwise you are dusting the floor with the furniture haha. This works with chairs and loveseats, our couch is too big to flip on it's back so to move that I put the slider things under the legs.
    • I've figured out to move upholstered chairs upstairs I roll them head over legs and sort of "walk" them up - it works! Downstairs is simple, turn it on its back or side and slide it down (our stairs are carpeted, this might not work as well if you have hardwood stairs...).
    • Un-upholstered pieces get the sliders underneath - if it's really big I can't maneuver it up the stairs, I have moved them down tho using the sliding on carpet method. 
    • And if I really can't move it then I either make peace with that fact and admit defeat, or break down and ask for help. I've also been known to give furniture away on the condition that I don't have to help the recipient get it out of my house :)



    my helper fell asleep, once again, on the job - apparently he liked the chair being tipped onto its back haha! 
    I didn't take a picture of walking the chair up the stairs, it was too hard to roll the chair and get the photo at the same time!

    Saturday, June 23, 2018

    Houseplants

    This is very not exciting but thought I'd share what I'm working on today...houseplants. Sometimes you don't get to make fun things that you'd rather work on, and have to do a little maintenance instead hahaha! Boring, but necessary. About once a year I realize that my indoor plants have either outgrown their pots, need some general TLC, or have shot up so high they look like they are making a break for it and trying to burst thru the ceiling (or maybe more like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors that eats people - what's it's name, Seymour? Sydney? Can't remember, I should probably google but I'm busy potting plants and I'm not taking the time since it totally doesn't matter). 

    I'm trimming some back (and if it's a nice plant I put a couple of the longer pieces in water and root it - just let the stem hang out in water until roots start forming and then plunk it in some dirt, voilà another plant) and if they are shooting off sideways I take twine and a stick (put it in the pot and use as an anchor/support) and tie the side branches up so it's more compact; some just need a bigger pot, and I have a couple that I should throw out but I'm putting them in our screened porch to see if a little summer vacation help them - if they still look bad in a couple months and aren't trying hard enough to earn their way back into the house then out they go. Fair warning ;)


    A side project that always arises when I'm working on plants is re-arranging the furniture to find better places for the plants! I'm having a hard time focusing on the repotting because I just had the idea to set a table up by the front door and put this vase with 2 fresh cuttings on it, but I need more shizzle on the table to make it look better. Gotta go - things to do! 

    Friday, June 22, 2018

    Blog Business Cards

    Not sure why it took me this long to think of making some business cards for the blog - for 3 years now I've been writing the blog name on scraps of paper or texting it to people so they can remember the name. I do not need "business" cards but being able to hand someone a pretty little card with the name and info is so much nicer than scribbling on backs of envelopes LOL.


    This was very easy once I decided on the template - at first I spent way too much time in Word making my own from scratch before going on to Avery.com and finding they have like 1300 already designed! So I made my choice (ok, ok, I made about 5 choices and had to work up each one to see which I liked best - which yes, took like 2 hours...and yes, I did have other things to do today!), input my info, and printed onto the business card paper I have on hand (avery 5376). Look how cute they turned out!

    I only printed one sheet of 10 because if I ordered them online (which would look more professional obviously, but I'm not a professional and have no need for that) then I'd have to order like 500 and I really, really don't need that many!


    One tip I always do when working with templates - print out the finished product on plain white paper first to make sure it's going to fit onto the labels/cards/stickers/whatever. Can't tell you how many I've wasted by printing without checking first!!



    Thursday, June 21, 2018

    Garden Soaker with Timer


    Finally got around to planting my little container gardens (click here for a past post), since we are planning to camp a lot this summer and won't be home to really take care of a garden I only planted 6 tomato plants and sowed some bush bean and pea seeds. Really simple because I don't have the time to invest in my normal square foot gardening with lots of different plants. I'm so late planting this year because I thought I was going to skip it because if I'm not here how's it going to get watered everyday? 


    It's been SO hot here already and no way I can rely on just rain to keep things going...we went to Home Depot the other day to see what they might have for some kind of drip system and found this - it's a hose that you can either bury in the dirt or lay on top of the soil (I didn't bury it, maybe not the greatest look but effective) and water soaks out of the entire hose, what a great idea! We also got a timer that will turn the hose on for however long and often that the garden needs - it's a very slow soak so it's set for 30 minutes once a day for now and so far this week everything looks good. I'm so excited to have home grown tomatoes - not having a garden was going to bum me out! Fingers crossed but so far this is going to help a lot.


    I haven't had time to "decorate" the garden yet with all my fun gnomes, stakes, etc. but at least the plants are in!

    Wednesday, June 20, 2018

    Latch Hook Rug...work in progress

    I told you yesterday that we are camping and I brought some projects with me - one is this latch hook rug kit and I gotta say please stop me if I tell you I'm going to start another latch hook project again any time in the foreseeable future!!! I have owned this kit for years (yes, years!) and because I like to start projects but not finish them I did about 1/16th of the thing years ago and then put it away in the craft closet for a very very long time. When looking in my craft room for projects to bring with me I saw this kit and thought to myself 'hey, perfect project for camping' and spent the whole day working on it. Hours. Easy! Fun! Quick! it says on the box...
    • easy - yep. 
    • fun - hmmm, that's debatable. 
    • quick - absolutely a lie. 

    First of all - the yarn comes in little bundles and the colors are all mixed together. What a pain. So I spent some time dividing the colors into separate baggies to make that part a bit easier. The pattern is color and symbol coded, so every square on the pattern has a symbol (like + or *)  and you look at the chart to see which color corresponds to the symbol. Separating the colors was my first hour of the project - good grief. 

    Have you ever done latch hooking? It is simple once you get the hang of it. You need a latch hook tool, and the kit comes with small lengths of yarn that you tie onto each square of a canvas (using the hook). Wrap the piece of yarn around the tool under the latch, insert the hook and latch into the appropriate square, wrap both ends of the yard into the hook and close the latch, pull the hook back thru the square and yarn loop which makes a larks head knot. Then go to the next square...there should be instructions in the kit, here's a few pics I took to show you:

    wrap a piece of yarn around the hook under the latch part, hold in place with your finger

    push the hook and latch thru the appropriate square (match color to symbol on the pattern)

    put both ends of the yarn in the hook and close latch

    pull the hook back thru the square and the yarn loop on the hook,  then tighten the  yarn knot




    the pattern says to do one row at a time but I like to work in sections instead. The dark lines on the pattern usually indicate rows of 10, I do a block of 10 at a time and mark out the rows I finish with a highlighter so I can tell where I am easier. in the above photo I've done 2 rows across and 10 rows down, my fingers are showing you the block on the pattern that I am working on.  the highlighted areas are completed. 
    my helper, as usual, fell asleep on the job :)


    after working for hours - oh yeah, "quick" is how I'd describe this project. 

    this is how the yarn comes, all mixed together. 

    This is obviously a work in progress but it's what I'm making right now so thought I'd give you a peek - this kind of project is hard to blog because it takes SO long to complete!  I try to "make" something every day and these things just hold me down LOL.

    PS: I have no idea why I even bought this kit. I'm not a big fan of roses, this thing is huge, and as Dave noted yesterday when I had it spread all over "it's not even our colors". I thought to myself "we have colors?" Hahaha! I'm pretty sure I'm going to shorten this to a big pillow size instead (less than half of the canvas) and be done much sooner than later with this project! I'll show you when it's finished (unless it gets shoved back into the closet again - wait, no...I'm finishing it or giving it away).