What I Learned

I learned that a pound of glitter goes a long way, and that a can of spray adhesive does not. 
They are both equally hard to get out of your hair. 
No matter how much you vacuum, you can never really get all the glitter out of the carpet. 
And men really hate it when they get glitter on their butts.

I learned you can use hot glue and cardboard when constructing a float. Also, you should buy double the amount of staples that you really think you need.
A good committee and a good husband are essential. Good kids are important, too. This would never have gotten this built without all of them.

I learned that it's hard to cut straight lines when you're exhausted, and that fumes from spray adhesive will make you loopy.

I learned that less is not more on a parade float. More is more. Go overboard.

I learned that nothing will turn out perfectly. Just roll with it.

I learned that if people smile when they see it, you can consider your float a success. Now we'll see what the judges think!

Thanks for reading!

My House is Full

Of tissue paper pom poms

and glittered stars.

The ground outside is littered with little pieces of floral paper. It looks like confetti, and it will have to be picked up piece by tiny piece.

But the flag is looking like a flag, and I'm fairly confident that our parade float will look like a parade float.

I'll be a happy camper on July 5th!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

RHUBARB STRAWBERRY CRISP

                (you know you want to make some!)

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1837,147170-251204,00.html
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

4 c. rhubarb pieces (about 1 lb.)
2 c. sliced strawberries

1 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. flour, divided
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter, melted & cooled

 In large bowl combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. (it's a good idea steam the rhubarb for a few minutes first. Just until it's almost tender. Otherwise, you'll have soft strawberries and 

al dente rhubarb. Not an ideal combo.) 

Put the fruit in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

In another bowl combine the remaining 1 cup flour with the brown sugar, oats and nutmeg. Add the butter and blend well to create the streusel. Use a pastry cutter if you don't need to melt the butter.

Sprinkle the streusel over the rhubarb mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream. (homemade, even!)

Enjoy!

This and That

My oldest son took a study abroad course earlier this spring, and he brought this tablecloth back for me from Greece.

I love the embroidery.

 And the fringed ends.

This is the other thing I got at the estate sale. There was an entire shed full of these ceiling tiles. I was going to go back last Saturday when things are usually marked half price and see if I could get more.  

(wouldn't these look great as cabinet doors?) 

Then our little granddaughter decided to take an earlier flight, so to speak, and I couldn't go. I had a friend go and check for me, and she said they were all gone. They even had the huge crown molding! Losing out on that deal would normally haunt me, but the sting just isn't there this time. I got a sweet little baby instead. (thank you so much for all your congratulations and well wishes! She's doing well.)

And last up~by tonight, this will look like a giant flag. I hope!

Thanks for reading!

A Happy Family Emergency

My daughter had her baby a month early! Everything is fine. A little girl; she's just tiny, but fiesty. Lots of dark hair under that hat. :) Both mom and baby are doing really well.

I'll be helping them out for awhile. See you next week!

Junky Ribbon Holder

I went to an estate sale awhile ago.

I got this old chicken feeder, thinking it would make a cute planter.

But as I drove home, I had another idea. Ever since I saw the awesome ribbon holder than Anita at Going A Little Coastal made, I've wanted one.

The chicken feeder is about 3 feet long. That would hold a lot of ribbon!

After I cleaned the feeder, I enlarged the top hole with my 

trusty Dremel. (Mine looks just like this, only not quite so spanking clean.)
No pictures of that step~I needed both hands. But it was super easy and only took about 5 minutes. A drill would work, too.

And then I hot glued a nut onto the top of a dowel cut to size.

Then I threaded all my spools of ribbon on it. That took longer than anything else on this project. I even had room for twine and string.

22 spools of ribbon, plus the twin and string, and I have room for more!

I used cup hooks to hang it on the wall by it's legs. It could be hung horizontally without any trouble, but vertical worked for this spot by the wrapping paper.
And that was all it took!

One chicken feeder, a dowel, a nut, some hot glue, a Dremel, and cup hooks!

Have a fabulous weekend!

 

I Have A Junior Junker!

My youngest son! 

 This is really his project.

Remember this table? It's supposed to be a desk for his room. He got tired of waiting for me to do something with it, so he stripped the paint off the top, and stained it. (The poly isn't even dry yet and I'm blogging about it.)

 I'd like him to do something with the bottom, but he said he likes it the way it is. (he's a purist!) I think he should at least clean it~maybe sand the big paint chips off. He agreed to clean it. We're still talking about the sanding.

I was kind of proud of him when he said he wouldn't paint it. (I might have even teared up a little.) Just because I would doesn't mean he should, especially if he likes it the way it is. I'll just have him seal it. And definitely clean it.

Did you notice the cans?

I found the small one at an estate sale, and the larger one came from an antique store. They have the same graphics, but not the same name. 

The big one is going to be a side table on the porch.

I think I need one more. 2 is just a pair, after all. But 3 is a collection!

Thanks for reading! 

How Do My Flowers Grow?

Where ever they want to.

 Through 2 feet of gravel.

I had daylillies all along the front of my house. We dug most of them out and transplanted them to another spot before our porch was built. There really is two feet of gravel on top of the spot where they were growing. I can't believe these are coming up!

 I wish I had a super awesome project to show you. I've just been working on parade float stuff. None of it looks super awesome yet.

 I do have one fun thing to show you tomorrow when it's finished.

Stay tuned!

 

Tuscan Cheese Spread

You're probably wondering what the photo above has to do with Tuscan Cheese Spread.
The answer is...nothing.

It's just the obligatory pretty picture. 

(And also the first snowball blossoms we've gotten from our tiny little snowball bush. The blossoms are about the size of ping pong balls, but I'm still excited about them.)

We now return to the regularly scheduled post.

Tuscan Cheese Spread

2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese. (I used Neufchatel cheese. It spreads better. Plus, 1/3 less fat. Nothing to sneeze at. No, I'm not trying to rhyme.)

2 tsp. chopped garlic (mmm. Garlic.)

1 tsp. salt (you might be able to cut this down a little. The olives are kind of salty.)

1 (14 ounce) can of artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped. (I actually doubled this recipe, but only used one can of artichoke hearts because they are now worth  their weight in gold, apparently. Perhaps we could pay down our national debt with them. The spread was still good.)

1/3 cup chopped black olives (I might have added more. I was distracted by something at this point and remember looking into the bowl and thinking "that's a lot of olives" so I took some out. This is how I cook, people.)

8 green onions, chopped (Even though I doubled the recipe, I did NOT add 16 green onions. More like 10 or 11. Again, it was still good.)

3 ounces of sun dried tomatoes, chopped (I did really double this amount for my doubled batch.)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I don't have much to say about parsley. It's kind of like the vanilla of the herb world. You only notice it if you leave it out.)

1 TBSP chopped fresh chives (I left these out. They don't exist here. Some day, I may be fortunate enough to live in the land of fresh chives.)

Mix the cheese, garlic, and salt. Stir and blend in the artichoke hearts and the olives.

Add the onions, tomatoes, parsley and chives, gently mixing them all together.

Refrigerate overnight so the flavors can marry, or some such nonsense. (really, it is better the second day) Serve with crackers, or use it to make tortilla pinwheels. It's also good used to fill the center of celery stalks. 

Like peanut butter, only fancier. 

(I should also add that I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com, and promptly changed it to suit me. Also, if you wanted to print this recipe out, I apologize for all the aside comments I put in. They don't make for a clean looking recipe. But they were fun to add.)

Thanks for reading!