Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Silk Dyed Easter Eggs

Silk Dyed Easter Eggs


This was the first time I attempted to make silk  dyed Easter eggs and it sure was fun! A little tricky but they came out pretty cool. 

I went to the local thrift shop and bought material that was %100 silk. I had to dig through hundreds of shirts but I did find some pretty cool patterns and the best part they were all under $2 bucks!


Tie egg with a twist tie or rubber band
The material has to be %100 silk or it won't work.  Wrap the egg tightly with the printed side of the silk on the egg. Make sure it is nice and tight because any part of the egg not touching the silk will not have color. ( I have seen some wrap the egg with thread to make sure every part of the egg as color).
Cover with pillow case and tie



Cover in plain fabric and tie up tight. I cut up an old pillowcase. Try not get air trapped in there because they will float up when  you boil them.




Boil 25-30
Add 1/4 cup vinegar to water and bring to a boil. Let the eggs boil for 25-30 minutes. Take out and let cool for 20 more minutes. The anticipation of seeing how they came out is so much fun. 







Display and Enjoy!

Let them dry on a cooling rack for about an hour. Display them in a fun creative way! 

Happy Easter!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Easy Bruschetta

Easy Bruschetta
We had a guest over for dinner last night and so I wanted to make a yummy appetizer. After digging in my pantry, I pulled out a packet of Simply Organic Sweet Basil Pesto Mix, followed the recipe on the back and 20 minutes later, out came delicious bruschetta!




5 simple ingredients


5 Simple ingredients:
     Sweet Basil Pesto Mix
     French Bread
     Tomatoes
     Cheese
     Butter






Lightly Butter and Broil
Slice and lightly butter bread.
Broil  for 3-4 minutes.


While bread is broiling prepare Pesto Mix according to package.






Thinly slice cheese and tomatoes and drizzle on pesto mix


Sprinkle thinly sliced tomatoes and cheese onto crispy bread and drizzle with pesto mix.  

Broil again for another 3-4 minutes.



Broil 3-4 more minutes, Serve warm and enjoy!



Serve warm and enjoy!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Kid's Banner

I decided to add a little color to my sons room without painting, so I came up with this fun banner idea. I got a chance to use up some scrap paper and some old cardstock paper that I have had for a couple of years. It took  less than 2 hrs and added a fun punch of color to his room. The sky is the limit when it comes to adding a banner to your child's room. Pick out some fun paper and get hanging! Here is how I did mine.

 Materials:
Cardstock & Construction Paper
Triangle Outline PDF file
Scissors
Pencil
Hole Puncher
Ribbon








Cut out triangles







Punch two holes and add ribbon














 

Hang and enjoy!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine Sugar Cookies

Valentine Sugar Cookies
What is Valentine's Day without some delicious homemade Sugar Cookies?! My boyfriend and I had a double date for Valentine's Day on Sunday and not only did we have an awesome Mediterranean take out dinner, we all made sugar cookies together. Oh yes, we got the men involved too.  

  
Everybody is always wanting to now how I make my icing so I thought I would share.

 First, start by baking sugar cookies. I always use Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix in the bag. I follow the recipe but  add about 1/2 cup of flour and a splash of almond extract to the dough. The flour helps the dough to be not so sticky making for easier cut outs. The thinner you make the cookies, the less time they will need to bake. Sugar cookies can be tricky and easy to burn because only the bottom starts to turn dark. For thin cookies on a dark cookie sheet bake for about 7 mins. For thicker cookies on a dark cookie sheet bake for about 8 1/2 mins. Look at the bottom edges, once they start to turn golden brown take them out and transfer to a cooling rack.
Sugar cookies out of the oven and cooling on a rack













 

Sugar Cookie Icing Ingredients

Ingredients for Sugar Cookie icing; 

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
Splash of almond extract
2 tbsp light Kayro Syrup ( makes the shine)
food color



Pipe on the outline of your cookies

Outlining your cookies with a thicker icing will keep the middle icing from running off.  o outline your cookies make your icing thicker by adding more powdered sugar. Pipe it on with a decorating bag.  Let the outline dry for about an hour.





Color in your cookie with the back of a spoon

To fill in your cookies use the back of a spoon and color in the outline of your cookies. A little icing goes a long way. The more shine you want the more Kayro Syrup you add. You don't want your icing too thin so it should be thick enough not to run off your spoon. Let dry for about an hour.




Use a medicine dropper for circles

To add dots or decorations, make a small batch of icing that is thin. Use a medicine dropper to drop on dots.  The filling icing does not have to be all the way dry but if you ice too soon the white icing will mix with the food coloring and become a different color. 


















Drag a toothpick through the circle to make a cute heart design.













Everybody helping!! So much fun!






Happy Valentin's Day












Saturday, February 4, 2012

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Oh yes it's that time of year! YEAH! Groceries stores are full of delicious, plump strawberries. So naturally, I had to make a small batch for my family to enjoy! Chocolate covered strawberries are so simple and make such a great dessert!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Pick up some delicious, plump strawberries at local market
Pair them with semi-sweet chocolate



 Melt & stir chocolate in 15 sec intervals in microwave
Dip in chocolate. Sprinkle to decorate. Set on wax paper to dry





Enjoy! Yummmm


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Decorating with Turquoise

Recently we restored an old piece of furniture and painted it a fun turquoise color, Lagoon from Martha Stewart paint collection. Now, every time I walk by this piece of furniture it makes me so HAPPY! I wondered why this was so I decided to do a little more research on the decorating with the color turquoise.

From accent pieces to main pieces, the color turquoise can give any room in the house a punch of color.  Turquoise is known to be calming, refreshing, sophisticated and is equally popular among men and women. This makes perfect since! My very "macho" boyfriend agreed on this color, after I suggested it, and now we both love this color in our living room.  The color pops and makes the room inviting and fun! I decided to compile some of my favorite inspiration pieces using this fun color in every room in the house.

Laundry Room

Kitchen


Bathroom
Image via House Beautiful






















 

Living Room

Image via House Beautiful