Motivate ME Monday!~Spring Basket Wreath

For us the first day of spring was a bust! The weather was cold and rainy :( I was really hoping that the first day of spring would bring warm weather and a sunny day! So what better to do on a crappy day....Craft!

I made a felt Easter wreath last year. Don't worry if you missed that post just, click here! So this year I wanted something totally different. During Easter I always have a few decorated, filled baskets as decor. While shopping for something different to put in my baskets this year I envisioned this Spring Basket hanging on my door!

I bought a cheap basket from the dollar store and the embellishments at Micheal's. I put a little hot glue on the inside around the handle and the seam right before where I cut it. I also hot glued a little piece of cardboard to the back to keep the grass contained. The only downside is that the handle is not straight. But I still love it! It came out super cute! It also only took me about an hour from start to finish( I did have a bit of help from the Hubby, lol). This Spring Basket is just what my front door needed!

Do you have a BIG spring projects planned? What's your favorite spring crafting trend?

Motivate ME Monday!~ Strawberry ShortCake Cookies

 So everyone seems to be really excited for spring. I' am too, but I'am more excited for the SUMMER! I'd be happy if we skipped spring all together! There are so many great things about summer; warm weather, the beach, flip flops and strawberries! Mmmm! Strawberry season is a big deal where I live. We have the Pungo Strawberry festival and during the season you can go to any farm and pick them fresh yourself. Strawberry pick'in is one of my favorite things to do in the summer!

Did you see my behind the scene photo shoot? These pics are from that shoot! 

I've been craving summer and summer foods. I was in the kitchen last weekend trying to figure out what I could make that would help curve my summer craving. Luckily I had frozen strawberries that I picked from the summer before! The first thing that came to my mind was Strawberry Shortcake. 

I have my grandmother's recipe for Strawberry Shortcake and I thought I was going to do that at first, but then I remember this recipe that I had clipped from Epicurious. I love the classic cake, but these cookies seemed so much quicker to make! Baking is not my skill in the kitchen. I am always trying to improve. I can honestly say this is the first time I have even baked cookies and they all came out perfect and golden! I am so proud of myself. I just wish I knew what I did differently. These cookies not only came out looking delicious they are delicious! They only keep for a day or two, but they are so good with tea in the morning! And it's OK to eat cookies in the morning as long as they have fruit in them. ( and the kids don't see you..LOL) I can't wait to make these cookies this summer with my fresh picked strawberries!

Summer is coming, are you ready? Whats your favorite thing about summer?

Ingredients:

2 cups diced Strawberries

1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

1/2 cup Sugar

2 cups Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

6 tbsp unsalted cold Butter

2/3 cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Take your strawberries and coat them with about 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
3. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and with your fingers rub it into the dry mixture until coarse crumbles.
5. Now stir in your cream and strawberry mixture.
6. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and drop cookies about 2 in apart. Decorate if desired and bake for 25 mins.
7. Allow to cool on rack. Serve right away and store in an air tight container. 

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Fun Food Facts A-Z | B is for...Broccoli

 I love to learn! I especially love learning about food. Last week I was exploring around the internet and learned some pretty cool things about artichokes and decided to share in a blog post. (Missed that post don't worry just click here!) Since I love learning and blogging I am going to combine the two each week. Fun Food Facts A-Z will highlight a fruit or vegetable each week. You will learn new fun facts and maybe even a recipe. 
Welcome to Fun Food Facts A-Z!
This week's letter: B..... is for Broccoli

Fun Facts:

• Broccoli as been eaten since the 6th century.
• The average American eats 4 lbs of Broccoli a year.
• Broccoli means "branch" or "arm".
• California produces 90% of the US Broccoli.
• Thomas Jefferson loved Broccoli! He used seeds from Italy to plant in Monticello. 
• Broccoli is high in vitamin A and Fiber.
• Fresh Broccoli will have dark green heads. 
• Try to stay away from stalks that bend or feel rubbery.

My family and I eat broccoli all the time! I always have it in my crisper or on my grocery list. Here is a quick and easy recipe that everyone will love.

Ingredients:

3 medium size Broccoli heads

1 tbsp of chopped Garlic

1 teaspoon of Lemon Pepper

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Dash of Salt

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Rinse the broccoli and cut into florets.
3. Add your broccoli and all the ingredients to a plastic bag and give it a few good shakes.
4. On a lined baking pan spread out the broccoli and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the broccoli is crisp.

DIY Clay Christmas Tree Ornaments

The Christmas season has officially started!

Even though my husband and I bought our Christmas tree a week before Thanksgiving I was not allowed to decorate it until 12 am Thanksgiving night. So instead of decorating the tree, I made decorations for the tree!

Me and my crafty neighbors were at it again. My friend Kara, over at Happy Go Lucky, gave me the inspiration behind making these clay ornaments! All of our ornaments came out great! These didn't take much time at all and they would be great to make with kids.

To make these ornaments all you need is:

1. Clay
2. Christmas cookie cutter ( to make the monogram snow flakes)
3. Foam letters ( to make the monogram snow flakes)
4. A beer glass & shot glass ( to make the owls)
5. Buttons (to make the owls)
6. Skewer or anything with a pointed end ( to make the owls) 
7. Glue gun
8. Mod podge & paint

Once you have all your supplies, roll out your clay. To make the monogram snow flakes cut out your shape and use the foam letters to make an indent of the letter you want. Also poke a small hole at the top of your ornament for the string.Bake at 275* for 15 mins. Oh and make sure that you don't bake the ornament with the foam letter on. The foam letter will shrink. Let cool and then paint with glitter mod podge. Once dry place your foam letter in the indent.

To make the owl ornaments use a beer glass and cut a circle in the clay. Use a shot glass to make the wing indents. Poke holes with the skewer in between the wings. Then place half of the shot glass on the top and cut a half circle. Bake at 275* for 15 mins. Once cool paint your owls. Wait until it drys and then apply the glitter mod podge. The button eyes go on last once everything is dry.

These were so much fun to make. I do think next time I will make them a little thicker. I originally made six but one of my snow flakes was too thin and broke at the top after I baked it. Making these ornaments are going to become a family tradition for me and my little girl once she is old enough to know better then to put the clay in her mouth.

What fun holiday ornaments are you making this year?