3- Ingredient Sangria

Super easy cheater way to make sangria - perfect for the hot days we are having!

1 bottle light red wine (like Malbec or Rioja - I don't know what Rioja is but we really like Malbec so that's what I used)
3 cups apple juice
2 thinly sliced peaches
I like to add a big handful of blueberries too, but I made that part up and it's not in the actual "recipe" from Real Simple magazine a few years ago.

Mix all together and serve over ice.

K-Cup Craft: Twine Light Shades

Yep, it's another k-cup craft :). I'm pretty sure Ronda was hoping I'd run out of ideas and stop making k-cup crap for her display table... after making ghosts, snowmen, bunnies, and birds she might be over it haha but I'm not! So here goes:

                         

These are super simple - all I did was hot glue some twine around the cups and run a little piece of wire thru the top to form a loop. Then tie onto a long piece of thin ribbon to form a garland. That was a little plain so I cut out a few paper starfish (found a free template online and used Stampin' Up patterned paper), made 2 little notches in the middle of each one and threaded them onto the ribbon in between each k-cup light shade. Nice and beachy for the display table I'm working on!

Note: it would be cute to poke a hole in the top of the k-cups and insert mini twinkle lights in them - like what I did with the ghosts and snowmen but I thought I'd change it up this time and just make a garland instead with the paper starfish.

click to see other k-cup posts:
snowmen
ghosts
bunnies
birds

Fresh Peas

An update on how my little deck garden is doing a month into it - everything looks great and we have been picking beans and peas much to Lucy and Sarge's delight!

Every morning Sarge comes out to check the garden and look for 'maters' - they won't be ready for awhile yet but him standing up on his back legs and looking into the planter box is soooooo cute :)

One thing I've noticed - and I'm assuming it's from the "dairy doo" - I have TONS of weeds happening this year in addition to some mighty nice looking plants. Oh well, it's a trade off I'm willing to make (so far).

Chocolate Mint Cookies

This is from Redbook magazine 12/2000 - it's one of those recipes that is a basic dough then they change it up different ways. For some reason I've never tried any of the other versions but have made these chocolate mint ones a lot...since we love this one I should probably try the others too! Macadamia white chocolate chip, toffee pecan drops, and drizzled ginger-spice chews are the other versions - D can't eat 2 of those so I'm gonna make the ginger spice ones and let you know how it goes. Anyway - for now here is the chocolate mint recipe:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
9 oz. coarsely chopped creme de menthe thins (I use Andes mint chips)

Preheat oven to 375'. Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda and set aside. Beat butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, 1 minute. Add sugars and beat until smooth, 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, then beat to combine. Add flour mixture, and mix until moistened. Stir in chocolate mint pieces. Spoon onto an engrossed baking sheet in rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 in. apart, and bake 10 to 12 minutes.

I made some using my 2 Tablespoon scoop, and smaller ones with a
1 Tablespoon scoop. The larger ones only took 13 minutes to bake.

I baked half of the dough and froze the other half in 1 Tablespoon balls for later

gave some to my friend Teri who was worried she'd eat them all
before she got home to share with her family - she said that I should
make it so she couldn't get at them... so I duct taped the
opening to help her with self control LOL! 

July 4, 2017

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

cheers to
~Stars and Stripes~
~Freedom~
~Sparklers~
~Parades~
~Liberty~
and food, fireworks, family, and friends

ENJOY YOUR DAY!

A note from the dog:

Guys! I usually like loud noises and want to go check out what's happening but seriously...fireworks are scary so please read these tips my mom found. She also turns on the tv which I appreciate...I know she's just trying to distract me from the loud noises outside but since I LOVE to watch tv and bark at anything that moves on the screen it makes the fireworks a little bit easier to take. They are fun for people, but not for me and my friends. Just sayin'. Now go have fun and save me some hot dog.

Love, The Sarge

What to Wear: Outfits in June

A few outfits I like that got worn in June - still on my quest to not wear yoga pants every day ;) Maybe they'll give you some ideas...or maybe you'll rename my post "what not to wear" haha!!

shopping and casual dinner out: simple tank and capris look so much cuter with the
bright teva's and matching tassel earrings. A little tip/hint - these capris are pull-on jeans with a
stretchy waistband instead of a button so they are smooth under a shirt. I've never worn this
 kind before 'cuz I thought they were a little "old lady" and would look it, but they don't! They look
like regular jeans but are (a) so much more comfortable! and (b) no button means a
smoother front - don't you hate when the button makes your shirt stick out?

Open House: black distressed skinnies, black flat sandals, flowy camisole, chunky
necklace and big watch.. and a fringed belt bag! I do love a belt bag ;)

Running Errands: this is just a simple uninspiring t-shirt dress that normally I wear with white tennies or flip flops. Brooke (my 13 year old niece) gave me her hand-me-down red Converse high tops that I've been wearing with everything now (!) and I got SO many compliments on this outfit this time. Goes to show - one simple accessory makes the outfit so much more interesting!

Dance Recital: got my "boho" look on - handkerchief dress with ankle strap sandals
 and the coolest earrings ever! Ok, ok, everyone makes fun of them  - but I love these earrings!

cool, right?

working at Ronda's: just jazzed up a jean skirt by adding my
fun bright teva's and a buff (hair wrap - perfect for bad hair days!).
And my usual favorite hoops that I got at Francesca's - I wear them constantly!

dinner at Al and Cathy's - don't usually love the "cold shoulder" style on me but this one works.
the skirt is just a stretchy flowy comfy one - it was SO hot outside!

simple pulled back braid seemed to go with the outfit and kept some hair off my face.  One of the little cheerleaders from back in my coaching days made me these earrings - they are black and red so went perfect with my outfit.

Cheesy (Overly) Stuffed Omelet

I'm not sure why I made us omelets using all kinds of stuff from the fridge, but I did and it turned out to be the very best omelet ever! Dave said "well I guess we don't have to go to IHOP anymore..."

Just make a regular old omelet however you do it...I'm not sure what the "right" way is but here's what I do: break some eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them with a splash of milk. Spray a large frying pan with non-stick spray, heat to medium-low and pour in the eggs. Let them sit undisturbed until they sort of start to set, then I lift the pan and let the still runny part run to the edges, lift the firmer edge of the omelet up so the uncooked eggs run underneath. Keep doing that until it's almost set up.

 So that's just my traditional plain egg base - now comes the yummy part...you can add whatever fillings you like, usually I just do cheese and maybe some spinach. This time however I was cleaning out the fridge and got more creative. I dropped on some dabs of cream cheese, then left-over mashed potatoes (heat them up before putting on the omelet), sprinkled on bacon bits, a layer of spinach, some halved cherry tomatoes, and a little shredded cheddar cheese. Turn the heat off and cover, let steam for a couple minutes till the spinach gets soft. Top with a little more cheddar, a couple avocado slices, and a dollop of sour cream. SO good!!!

Beaded Flag Pin

Cleaned and reorganized my craft room and found this pin that I made a while ago - perfect timing since the Fourth of July is almost here and if you don't want to make and wear my pompom earrings (click here for that post) then maybe a beaded flag pin will be just what you need ;).

Super easy, just like I like...

10 big safety pins
red, white, and blue beads (amount will depend on the size of your beads. not sure what size mine are but 9 of them fit on one safety pin so I used a total of 28 clear, 37 red, 16 blue).

On 5 of the pins put a red, clear, red, clear, red, clear, red, clear, red bead; then pin them on the solid non-opening side of one pin (9 pins dangle off of 1 main pin). The other 4 pins put 4 blue; then a red, clear, red, clear, red and pin them on the main pin to make a flag pattern. I opened up the circle at the end of the main pin enough to thread the 9 hanging pins thru their circles (make sense? see picture for example) then tighten the main circle up again. Easy, and it's cute!

Flag Luminary

Another easy quick craft for the Fourth - aren't they cute? All you need is a big jar, a small flag, mod podge, rope for around the top, and glitter (glitter is optional I suppose, but it's glitter - why wouldn't you add it if you have it?!).

As you know, I'm an instant gratification kinda crafter and will find things in my house that will "do" when I see or think of a project that I want to make - I saw the idea for these luminaries online but changed it a bit to use the things I already have and put it together a little differently. So I'm using a large clean pickle jar (I have them left over from making the very very best yummiest pickles - click here for that post) with the label removed, a 6x4" cheap little flag that is wrapped around a dowel, matte finish mod podge, and white glitter.

Slide the flag off the dowel and cut off the part that was folded - you want the flag to lay flat. I liked the edges all jaggedy so I cut a thin bit off the other end and unraveled it a little to match. Brush a thin layer of mod podge onto the jar where the flag will go, apply the flag, then brush another thin layer of mod podge over the entire flag. Make sure there is mod podge under the entire flag since it's acting as glue to keep the flag in place. Smooth out all of the bubbles (I use my fingers, then wash my hands before the glue dries), and let it dry 15-20 minutes. Apply a second coat of mod podge and sprinkle with glitter. Let dry. The mod podge dries clear but you can still see it on the glass so I took a wet paper towel and something with a sharpish edge (uh, that'd be my fingernail) and cleaned up around the flag so the mod podge was a little neater looking.

To finish wrap rope around the top using a little dab of hot glue to hold it in place. Once everything is dry I put some sand in cuz I like how it looks, and a votive candle (use a tealight if you made this with a smaller jar).

Note: initially I was going to make this with a Mason jar but realize the flag isn't going to stick as good or be smooth because of the raised imprint on the Mason jars.

I re-use paper or styrofoam plates when I have small painting (or in this case mod podging) projects

the white piece in the middle is what was holding the flag to the dowel that I cut off.

mod podge goes under and on top of the flag

after applying a second coat of mod podge sprinkle with glitter

the glitter looks really pretty with the candle lit - it's all sparkly and having this outside at night is going to be so nice!

Having trouble linking the source for this idea - I found it at A Little Craft In Your Day.

Red, White, and Blue Windsock

Browsing the internet (aka: wasting time instead of doing something productive) and saw this idea for an easy quick craft - since I have the supplies on hand I just now went and made one (aka: got off my behind and did something)...took me maybe 15 minutes tops and it's really cute. Great kid craft!

Cut 1" strips of plastic tablecloths - I cut 10 each of red, white, and blue ones that I had on hand (from the dollar store that are 54x108") for a total of 30 strips. Make a wire ring using whatever wire you have on hand that you can bend into a circle, twisting it closed with some pliers (turn the ends under so they aren't sticking out and sharp). I have 16 gauge wire which is pretty heavy but still easily bend and shapeable.

For each strip: fold in half, put the center loop under the ring, bring the ends up over the ring and thru the loop, pull tight. Repeat until the ring is as full as you want it. Tie on some fishing line (or thread, or light wire...) to hang.

this is all you need (or use scissors to cut the strips), plus pliers to bend the wire.

29 strips to go...

tie on something to hang it - I used fishing line.

Found the idea here.