Raised Beds..by Mickey

Today’s Sunday funday project was spur of the moment, but turned out cool nonetheless. Kyle has an abundance of herbs that he likes to cook with. Last year we grew them in pots, but this year we decided to try raised beds! We had a couple 8’ by 10’’ by 2” boards leftover from previous projects, so we decided to make ours 4’ by 1’, with different sized dividers in between. We planted cilantro, parsley, basil and spinach. Fingers crossed that come summer we will have some delicious goodness!! 

Cucumber Cooler...by Mickey

The past year I have worked at an upscale restaurant in North Carolina called the Bistro. They specialize in martinis and fancy cocktails. I’m not really a fancy cocktail kind of girl, but I did learn a few new recipes for some refreshing and not terrible for you drinks! One of my favorites, especially as the weather gets warmer is the cucumber cooler. At the Bistro it’s served as a martini, but that isn’t practical for at home. I modified the original recipe to be more of a drink. You will need: 

A few slices of Cucumber 
Gin of your choice
1 tablespoon simple syrup (which you can make your own)
Diet tonic, or regular water if you’re a champ 

Muddle the cucumbers into a class. Then fill the glass with ice. Add gin (however much you prefer, but I do about two shots). Top with tonic or regular water. Stir, garnish with a cucumber! 

Beersbee...by Mickey

In the summer time we love to play beach or yard games... especially when there is beer involved. One our favorites is called Beersbee. You can buy the kit on Amazon already made and pretty colors, but it was 50 bucks! Instead we opted to make our own out of PVC pipes. You can do the cheater way, and just get two PVC pipes around 6 feet long, and balance your beer bottle on it, OR we found this easy step by step tutorial at 
https://www.google.com/amp/www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Polish-Horseshoes-or-Beersbee/%3famp_page=true

It was so easy to do, and we make the entire set (not including the beer) for $6.00! 

Here is how to play: 

Four people split Into two teams. Each team stands by their pole which is placed across from the other pole about 20 feet apart. Each team member has a beer in one hand. An empty beer bottle will be placed on top of their pole. Each team will alternate throwing the frisbee. The object of the game is to knock the other teams bottle off, without them catching it. 

Scoring: if you hit the pole - 1 point

If you hit the pole and the bottle falls off onto the ground- 2 points

If you hit the bottle directly and it falls onto the ground- 3 points. 

The other team tries to catch the bottle before it falls. If they catch it, minus one point from the scoring above. 

You also cannot let the frisbee hit the ground. If you do, you owe a drink! 

Enjoy! 

Spring Flowers...by Mickey

While I know it's just stopped snowing in most parts of the US, it is officially spring here in North Carolina... which means it’s time for flowers! Because I live so close to the beach, the soil around my house isn’t the best for plants because it’s so sandy. To conquer this and still have a super cute house, I’ve resorted to potting my plants. Here are some cute ideas that my neighbors and I did for growing flowers in pots on the porch! We got all of our pots for super cheap at Big Lots, Wal Mart and Lowe’s, and all of the plants came from Wal Mart and Lowe’s! We just used Miracle Grow in the pots and viola! Pretty! 

DIY Sensory Boxes...by Mickey

Hey fellow readers! My name is Mickey and I am taking over the Make My Day Camp Blog for the next few days! As many of you already know, I am Jill’s oldest niece. I am a school psychologist and currently taking classes through Clemson to get a degree in Behavior Analysis. Behavior analysis specializes on various disabilities, but particularly Autism. Being that April is Autism Awareness Month, my first post is going to be on how to make DIY sensory boxes and toys. These don’t necessarily have to just be for kids with Autism, but they are also super great for toddlers and younger children! 

The Sensory Boxes can be made from tupperware (of whatever size, just make sure you have a lid). You can fill these with various items such as uncooked noodles, beans, sand, and water beads. You can then hide various items such as toy cars, figurines, small toys, etc! The kids love to feel around in the boxes and try to find the items inside! 
Super easy way to calm down kiddos and keep them occupied!

Aqua Painter

Since I already had a big mess on my craft table from making adorable hedgehog cards (click here for that post) and had my stamps, ink pads, and papers all out, I decided to finally remove my aqua painter from it's packaging and see if I could figure it out. I've had it for like 2 years but haven't taken the time to play with it - and it was fun! And quite easy once I got the hang of it - you fill the barrel with water, squeeze a little and water comes out into the brush. Lightly touch the tip in stamping ink, blend it a bit on the underside of the ink pad cover, and then paint on your paper. I learned that if there is too much water it (a) makes a mess, the ink bleeds and runs all over, and (b) regular paper get's all wavy if it gets too wet. So I started wiping the brush off on some dry paper towel to remove the water and just used a lightly damp brush to "paint" the color on and that went much better.

Here's another card I made using Ronda's card class kit, and how my first attempt at aqua painting went:

These are the pieces that she used to make her card (you can see her example on the paper above the pieces). I changed it a bit by only stamping one hedgehog and then stamping some mushrooms that came in the stamp set on the other side instead of the second hedgehog. Also stamped the sentiment to the side instead of in the middle. 

Using the aqua painter I filled in the little flower - this was the first time using the aqua painter and when I learned that too much water isn't good, the flower got a little smeary! But the card still looks good so I didn't start over...

Then because I was getting the hang of it I colored in the hedgehog a little, and added watercolor "grass" along the bottom edge. Then I trimmed some of the cardstock from the bottom so it didn't look like my hedgehog was floating in the air so much!

To finish the card I stuck the white stamped piece to a little bit larger of a piece of blue so there's just a border showing. Tied a piece of twine around the bottom and then attached the whole thing to the embossed brown piece using dimensionals (foam adhesive squares), and then glued that onto the card base. I'm really happy with this cute card!

Hedgehog Hedge'hugs'

I ordered a card class kit from Ronda (which I felt really guilty about because when I'm in Michigan helping her I know how much work there is putting these class kits together!); I really wanted it because it's these adorable hedgehog stamps and even tho I have no one to send a hedgehog card to, I couldn't resist. Too stinkin' cute. And one of the stamp sentiments is "sending hedgehugs", awwwww.

The class includes all the cardstock pieces and shapes for 5 cards and I'm responsible for stamping, coloring, cutting as necessary, and assembling the cards. She even sends detailed directions for putting them all together. Cool. As much as I love her cards and instructions tho I decided to go out on a limb and put them together in different ways - I used her pieces and ideas but just assembled them on my own. There is absolutely nothing wrong with replicating the cards exactly like she did - in fact that's sort of the point to getting the class kit!- but I'm a "color outside the lines, and not with the usual colors" kind of girl so I decided to change them up a bit. This isn't nearly as rebellious as I'm making it sound - since I just really wanted the stamp set I'm willing to risk if my cards don't turn out LOL!! I can always cut more cardstock and follow her examples :)

Here's one of the cards:

above are some of the pieces and a couple of Ronda's examples. 

I wanted to stamp the 'sending' and 'hedgehugs' in a row next to each other, so using tape I first masked off all the words on the stamp except for 'sending' - ink the stamp and then remove the tape before stamping onto the card. Then I did the same for the word 'hedgehug' but I struggled with lining the two words up so ultimately went with 'sending hedgehugs' like the stamp shows but masked off the other words that are below it on the stamp. 

Following Ronda's instructions for a different card, I stamped the hedgehog on white paper and colored him in a little using an aqua painter (more on that tomorrow). Freehand cut him out and glued the paper heart on top. For the circle underneath I used the aqua painter to make little lines to sort of add texture and dimension to a plain brown circle. 

I learned this trick from Ronda - you can pull out a thread from burlap ribbon to just have one strand to work with. This is nice for making small bows, etc. that you couldn't do with a whole width of ribbon.

I tied one string into a bow and tied it around the white tag that has the sentiment stamped on it. Then using stamping dimensionals (little foam adhesive squares) stick the hedgehog to the circle, then the circle to the card.

It's simple but I like it. I tend to lean towards simple when it comes to cards (that might be about the only thing I stop myself from continuing to add more LOL!!!).

Oh, and all the supplies I used are from Stampin' Up.

Polenta with Meatballs and Sautéed Veggies...by LeDonna

Frozen meatballs 

Tube of Polenta

Fresh mushrooms (sliced)

Fresh asparagus (cut stalks into 3rds)

Fresh spinach

Olive oil 

Mrs. Dash regular and garlic/onion

Garlic salt

Mozzarella cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce 

As far as brands, get what you prefer!

As far as quantity, I figure as I go for how many I am feeding.

In skillet combine spaghetti sauce and frozen meatballs on low, to heat sauce and warm meatballs.  Stir occasionally, and cover.

Sauté mushrooms and asparagus in olive oil and season with the Mrs. Dash and garlic salt.

Cut polenta into slices and sauté in olive oil and season with Mrs. Dash.

Once polenta is heated through, add spinach to the mushroom/asparagus to cook lightly.

Dish up polenta and put meatball sauce mixture at side and some sauce on the polenta.  Then add sautéed veggies on side.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella if you like!  As you see in pic....I forgot the cheese!!😳

This was my first time ever buying polenta.  I was inspired by Jill to try it.  We loved it and really liked this combo! 

Bon appetite!

Boozy Cherries

I've been enjoying moonshine cherries lately - I just put a couple in some cranberry juice for an easy "not-a-cocktail cocktail" and it makes me feel like I'm having a drink but really the alcohol content is pretty low (uh, unless you have a big ol' glass full of them! Geesh, don't pig out on drunken cherries and then drive the car or anything like that!!). Anyway, I ran out but my local grocery store doesn't carry them so I googled a recipe while in the store to see how hard they'd be to make - there are tons of recipes online but they were way more work than I wanted to do...since I've always called them "moonshine cherries" I thought I'd just buy some moonshine to soak some cherries in. Figures the store didn't have moonshine either. Hmmm...I was not giving up on making drunken cherries!

So next I googled "moonshine" - not so I could somehow build a still and make my own LOL but to figure out if there's an easy substitute...I read that moonshine is either defined as clear, unaged whiskey, or any kind of alcohol (usually whisky or rum) that is made in secret to avoid high taxes or outright bans on alcoholic drinks. I have a bottle of rum in the cupboard that is rarely used (not made in secret but whatever, by this point people were wondering why I was standing in the booze aisle on my phone for so long) so I decided to make my boozy cherries with that.

That was a long intro for a super short, super simple 'recipe': I literally poured rum over drained maraschino cherries in a glass jar and put them in the fridge to marinate for a day or two. I'm sure the longer they set the stronger they'll get. We'll see how long it takes me to get to the bottom of the jar and if they get wickedly stronger!

Oh, and I saved the drained cherry juice so when the cherries are gone I can mix the cherry rum with the leftover cherry juice for a different (and pretty pink...and stronger) cocktail.

Silverware Holder

Repurpose a cardboard 4 or 6 bottle beverage carrier to make a fun, different, and easy silverware holder for a party, buffet, picnic, etc. I stick a piece of clear packing tape on the bottom if there are holes so the utensils don't fall thru - but otherwise it's good to go. Instant flatware holder. And depending on which carrier you use it also provides a little table decoration :). 

two years ago: it's a giant donut cake.