~How To Make Festive Drink Umbrellas~

I came across these origami drink umbrellas on Martha Stewart’s website.  These umbrellas are the perfect addition for your next BBQ and would be easy and fun for kids and adults to create.  All you need are a few simple materials:

* Origami paper (or any type of paper will work)

* Glue stick or double sided tape

* Scissors

* Wooden skewer

Here are the directions from MarthaStewart.com:

A soup can makes a handy template for origami-paper umbrella tops. Cut paper with pinking shears or scallop scissors for a decorative edge. From each circle, remove a pie-slice shape measuring about 1/8 of the circumference. Fashion into a cone, slightly overlapping straight ends; use a glue stick or double-sided tape to secure. Dab white craft glue inside nose of cone, and pierce tip with a wooden skewer (snip skewer for a custom fit); allow to dry.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Festive Drink Umbrellas: Umbrella How-To - Martha Stewart Crafts

~Recipe Monday–Too Much Chocolate Cake~

This cake is so easy to make and so delicious to eat!  I’ve made this cake twice and it’s been great every time.  What I like about this recipe is you can do do many different variations.  I’d like to try using white cake with white chocolate pudding and white chocolate chips. 

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Recipe courtesy of www.allrecipes.com

~25% Off Coupon At Michael’s Arts & Crafts Store~

Michael’s is offering a great coupon deal starting Sunday – July 17th until Saturday – July 23rd. 

25% off your entire purchase including sale items.  These coupons don’t come out very often so take advantage if you can.  Here is a link to the printable coupon if you are interested:

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE 25% OFF COUPON

Have fun shopping!

~Be A Happy Camper~

Have a camping trip planned?  Here are some items you can bring on your next camping trip courtesy of the following Etsy sellers.

You definitely need some bug repellent when vacationing in the great outdoors.  If you aren’t a fan of using chemicals check out this Organic and Natural Herbal Bug Spray and Bite Soother from Sea Willow Herb’s shop.  Not in need of bug repellent?  Check out Sea Willow’s shop for other natural organic items such as body oil, lip balm, body polish, salt scrub and more!

Need a walking stick?  Check out this unique hand made Vines Walking Stick from Wyvern Studio.  Like this walking stick but interested in another design?  check out Wyvern Studio for more along with some other hand made items.

Need an easy and quick way to start a fire?  Check out these Campfire Starters from Firefly Candle Company.  The best thing about these little starters is that they are made with recycled materials.

In order to be a “Happy Camper” you need to dress the part!  Check out this Happy Camper Squirrel T-Shirt from Caustic Threads shop.  This shirt is made to order which means you can request any one of the many custom colors from Caustic Threads shop. 

Happy Camping!

Cocktail Umbrella Lantern How-To

This “How-Tuesday” was published on Etsy a couple weeks ago and I thought it was worth re-posting on my blog.  This is such an easy project and perfect for summer BBQ decorations.  With some adult supervision this would be a great project for kids too. 

Supplies You’ll Need:

• A paper lantern
• Cocktail umbrellas
• A light bulb and light cord
• A base for your lantern
• Scissors
• A glue gun

Step One: Prep!

The first thing you want to do is cut the stems off your cocktail umbrellas. You will need about 30-40 umbrellas depending on the size of your umbrellas and lantern. Make sure you pick enough of each color! Open up your lantern and put it in the base so it won’t roll away.

Step Two: Glue!

Take each of your umbrellas and glue them onto the lantern. Be sure to glue them onto the paper of the lantern, not onto the wire structure. Hold each umbrella snugly against the lantern until the glue dries, then grab another.

Fell free to alternate your colors, make a pattern, or cover one whole lantern in a single color. Keep gluing until your lantern is fully covered.

Step Three: Hang!

With your scissors, carefully cut around the hole at the top of the lantern so you have room to thread  your light bulb and cord inside the lantern.

Thread the light bulb and cord through, hang it up, and let the summer nights continue!

There is a video for this project however I’m unable to post it to my blog for some reason, here is the link:  http://vimeo.com/26024795

~Recipe Monday: Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

This is the perfect recipe to make if you have strawberries that are very ripe and almost mushy.  Turn them into frozen yogurt!  The downside to this recipe is you need an ice cream machine.  It’s definitely worth a try if you have one.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups fat-free plain yogurt
• 2 cups pureed fresh strawberries
• 1 (14 ounce) can fat free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in refrigerator freezer 2-4 hours before serving. Remove from the freezer 30-45 minutes before serving.

Recipe Courtesy of www.allrecipes.com

Silver Laurel Paper Garland Cake Decoration How-To

Looking for a unique way to decorate a cake?  Check out this paper garland how-to from Martha Stewart.  The photo is off a wedding cake but you can do this for any cake you make.

1. Fold a strip of metallic paper in half, then use craft scissors to cut out 3/4-inch-long half ovals from the crease to create the leaves.

2. Glue them, fold side up, to 4-inch-long pieces of metallic ribbon, leaving a 1 1/2-inch-long "stem."

3. Wrap a short length of ribbon around the end of the bottom leaf, and secure with a dot of glue.

4. Pin to cake.

Read more at Marthastewartweddings.com: Silver Laurel Garland Cake Decoration How-To

How to Make Paper Pinwheels

Colorful pinwheels, made out of coordinating sheets of origami or lightweight paper, stand tall against a blue summer sky, poised to whirl at the slightest suggestion of wind.

Cut a thin dowel or skewer to desired length (clip pointed end from skewer); paint and let dry. Choose two coordinating sheets of origami or lightweight paper. Cut a square from each the size you'd like your pinwheel to be (ours range from 3 to 6 inches). Use spray mount to glue squares together. Fold in half, diagonally, and in half again, then unfold. Cut along each crease two-thirds of way to square's center, dividing each corner into two points. Bring every other point to center so points overlap. Hold in place, poke a pushpin through center, and, keeping points in place, remove pushpin. Insert a map pin into hole formed (the pushpin hole is slightly larger than circumference of the map pin, enabling the pinwheel to spin). Thread a small bead onto pin behind the wheel, and poke pin into dowel 1/2 inch from top. To prevent wood from splitting, soak the dowel tip in water before inserting map pin.

Courtesy of Martha Stewart

~Recipe Monday: Maple-Drizzled Apple Muffins~

I made these awesome muffins this weekend.  They were delicious!  If you are a fan of apple cake then you should try these maple glazed muffins. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups chopped, peeled apples
• 12 pecan halves
• GLAZE:
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. In a small bowl, mix milk, butter, syrup and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Top each with a pecan half. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely. For glaze, mix sugar and syrup; drizzle over muffins.

ENJOY!

Recipe courtesy of www.allrecipes.com