Oh don't you just love these? My family is friends with a very nice farmer who grows many varieties of gladioulus in his garden and shares big bouqets of them with us every year.
I don't think there is anything more simple than fresh flowers to bring a touch of bright cheery freshness to your home.
Oh, yes, this is fresh cheeryness!
I brought home a gorgeous flat of blackberries from a local farmers market. I enjoyed eating quite a few berries combined with some of my dad's peaches over cereal. But I couldn't resist baking with them. I turned to my Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook for the recipe, which is also available in a video form featuring the Farm Chick's themselves, Teri and Serena, right over here. The recipe is a winner, simple to prepare and tasty to share!
Fresh berries (or frozen if not in season)...
...in the pan...
...mix flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon...
...cut in butter and add walnuts, sprinkle over berries and bake...
...35-40 minutes until brown and bubbly...
...serve warm with vanilla ice cream (which I do not have a picture of since it was gone before I remembered to take a picture!) This crisp is really wonderful and the smell of it baking in your kitchen just feels like summer. The crisp part is so yummy I'd like to make it in batches and sprinkle it over ice cream all year long!
You're a grand old flag, tho' you're torn to rag, and forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of, the land I love, the home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true, under Red, White and Blue, where there's never a boast or brag;
"But should auld aquaintance be forgot", keep your eye on the grand old flag.
Happy Fourth of July everyone!!!!!!!!
(For the complete lyrics to this swell song check out this from the Library of Congress!)
I decked out the shelf in my dining room with a little help from my favorite magpie. Laurie crafted some really great things for the fourth of July and listed them in her etsy shop (I think they have mostly been bought up by now, but be sure to check her shop regularly, she lists items for most holidays and her vintage creations are a super way to decorate for special occasions).
Oh, Miss Liberty! She was just too cute to resist! Just look at how she waves the grand old flag!
A little flag garland was just what the shelf needed!
The vintage newspaper "FIREWORKS" flag just makes me happy, and because Laurie is so incredibly cool she sent me a few extra goodies to complete my display. Don't you love the little card with "HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY" inside the bottle cap?
Look at the fabulous cone she made, and the vintage German curly paper was just perfect to bring the whole display together! Thanks Laurie, my holiday displays have never looked so good! I love decorating a shelf, table, wall or cupboard for a holiday, it just makes every month seem special to have an ever-changing display of celebration in my home.
My sister in law turned 40 this past weekend and I made her a fabulous birthday crown for her celebration. If you'd like to fashion one for a special event all you need is paper, scissors, glitter, glue, ink, stamps and embellishments. I found this nifty crown pre-made and glittered in gold at Michael's Crafts for a whopping $1.00! If you can't find a pre-made crown it will be fairly easy to make your own out of heavy card stock or chipboard.
I cut a circle out of scrapbook paper with deckled scissors and stamped the number 40 around the Happy Birthday embellishment, which is actually a cupcake topper. I just broke the pic off and hot glued it directly to the paper. I added some pink glitter and a crepe paper fan. I was really happy with the results and I think my sister in law felt special to be a birthday queen. Consider crafting a crown for upcoming birthdays, graduations, bridal or baby showers or just for wearing around the house while you do things like scrub toilets and pay bills. Everything feels quite grand while you are sporting a crown! Even scrubbing toilets!
The day before I headed off to the Farm Chicks show I was making wedding sheet cakes for friends. They wanted a pineapple cake and since I didn't have a recipe or a lot of time to make scratch cakes and I had to make a large volume of cake I decided on using white cake mixes as the base for my cakes. Here is the recipe I came up with:
1 Package Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
1 Package Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. lemon extract
One 8-Ounce can of crushed pineapple, including juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch pans.
Combine ingredients, except for pineapple, in the bowl of mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Mix on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Continue mixing on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes.
Add pineapple, mix on low speed until combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix on medium high speed 2 minutes.
Divide batter between pans and bake for 26-28 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack 10-15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool on wire rack until completely cooled.
If you would like to make this cake for a large crowd, use an 11X15" pan (Wilton pans are great and available at Wal-Mart or Michael's Craft stores), double the recipe using a 20 ounce jar of pineapple in place of two smaller cans, and bake in a 325 degrees oven for about 55 minutes. I whipped up four of these large cakes for the wedding and they turned out really nice.
And for frosting: You may use any number of frostings on this cake. For the wedding I made simple butter cream frosting.This whipped cream cheese frosting works nicely also and complements the sweetness of the cake, as would a simple freshed whipped cream topping.
This cake is super easy to make. The pineapple adds a sweetness and keeps the cake extra moist. This is a nice cake to make for a party, special occasion or just because it's summer and you want a taste of the tropics to put you in a festive island mood! Bon appetit!
A while back I made this divine Guinness Cake. I loved the cream cheese frosting and wanted to make sure to include this in my list of recipes. I've adapted the recipe here slightly by adding vanilla extract (which makes everything taste better in baking!) Whipping the cream into the frosting makes it lighter and fluffier than a regular cream cheese frosting. This recipe will yield enough frosting to cover the top of one round 8 inch cake, if you would like to frost the center and sides of the cake you should double the recipe.
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese (slightly softened)
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth.
Add sifted confectioner's sugar and vanilla.
Beat them together.
Add heavy cream.
Beat on high speed until it becomes a fluffy, spreadable consistency.
This is not a stiff frosting and if you are using it to frost the center and sides of a cake you should allow it to chill slightly before frosting so it will hold. Keep cake refrigerated and allow to warm slightly at room temperature before serving.
I Thought I'd bring a little Fourth of July fun to my little ranchalow porch. A few flag banners were just what it needed. I purchased the flags from Target, a pack of 2 for $19.99. Being patriotic doesn't come cheap! I really could use another pack but the thrifty girl in me wants to wait until they go on sale or clearance and just add them to next years display.
I made this star burst by cutting out a star from heavy cardboard, painting the edges red, glittering and hanging from a vintage ribbon. I added blue and white scrapbook paper ribbons and some red card stock ribbons which I folded to give a little bit of flair. I am happy with the results, it was simple to make and I didn't have to purchase any supplies.
Hooray for Independence Day! Hip, Hip, Hooray!
I just received a fresh shipment of water bottles and plates at Maxwell General. The water bottles hold 20 ounces, made from food grade stainless steel with lead-free inks. Hand wash only. Jane Jenni plates are just too cute and dishwasher safe. The price on the water bottles is $18, plus actual shipping and the price on the plates is $8, plus actual shipping. I can send you an invoice via PayPal or make other payment arrangements if you like. Here are the styles I have available:
Mother Hen
My Deer
Bees Knees
Early Bird
Little Lamb
Lucky Duck
Cutie Pie
Doll Face
Baby Girl Bear
Baby Boy Bear
And the water bottles in three new styles...
I Love Water
Cool it-Every day is precious (ok, seriously how cute is this?)
Birds of North America
Feel free to email or leave a comment with any questions or requests, I think you'll like these products as much as I do! I have several of each style available in stock and can order more upon request-Thanks! Kim
I took a few moments tonight to sneak outside and get a few shots of my back yard, let's take a peek...
Actually I think it's more of a park than a yard. Look at all of that grass dear husband has to mow every week! What were we thinking?
My butterfly bush has exploded with blossoms. This is one of my favorite shrubs and I just planted two more at the back of our yard.
It sits just outside my studio window which is nice because I can watch the butterflies from inside my crafty little space.
Here's my little fountain. I love listening to the sound of the water while I'm in the yard, and opening up the windows in the cool of morning or evening and allowing the sound to trickle inside is heavenly. I always wanted a water fountain that was simple and not too ornate. This one is perfect.
I just stuck this morning glory in the ground two weeks ago and it loves this trellis, it will look so pretty when it is completely covered.
Cosmos. Such a simple flower and yet I love their feminine pink and unfussy way.
The tomatoes are coming along nicely. I can't wait for some fresh salsa!
Onion patch. Our attempt at onions this year was a bit haphazard and it shows. We just stuck them in the ground. The result is onions, small onions. Next year we'll try planting them in rows and maybe I can pin down one of the farmers we know and ask them the trick to growing big onions. You should see the HUGE onions all around us in the fields. Apparently those farmers know something we don't.
Hollyhocks are my absolute favorite in my garden. Many of mine have already bloomed, but there are a few stragglers promising some more color.
Watermelon patch is coming along nicely, lots of baby watermelons. Is it weird to think fuzzy baby watermelons are cute? 'Cause I can't help myself from thinking they are cute and I just want to pick one and carry it around. This may be what my kids are thinking when they pick unripe tomatoes. Maybe they just think they are cute and they want to hold one.
The gladiolus have started to bloom. I think these are very old fashioned flowers. What do you think?
This is the first time I tried an armenian cucumber plant. They are doing great. I picked two a few days ago but I think they were just under ripe, so I'm going to let this fellow go a few more days.
More veggies. Carrots, lettuce and jalapeno's. This is a very simple planter box my husband made with some left over plywood. We wanted to see if we could grow some veggies that required part sun on the side of our house. They've done great and we will be putting in several more of these boxes and adding gravel around them. Our regular garden just gets too much sun for everything we want to plant so this will be a great addition to our gardening pursuits. Plus it's in kind of a hidden spot between our house and the fence and it feels like you're going to a secret garden. I'll be sure to deck it out with cute garden accessories and show you when we get it all finished.
And then there's this. Doesn't look too exciting now, but it soon will be!! This is the pad for Audrey and Strauss's new playhouse. Last night my husband and I made a trip to Home Depot for lumber, windows, a door, hardware and a front porch light. He will start building it this weekend and it should take about 3 or 4 weekends to complete. It will be a real house, complete with sheetrock, electricity and a chandelier to boot! Can't wait to share it with you!
