Lemonade Punch & S'mores Trifle

By popular request from the get together we had for our "Holiday Party in July" here are the recipes for the lemonade punch and the S'more trifle, both of which were gone by the time the party was over (and i made a quadruple batch of punch...)

Cucumber Mint Lemondade Punch  (click to see original website)
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
1 lemon
1 can of frozen lemon concentrate
7-Up
2-3 sprigs of mint (i did lots of mint)

Directions:
1. Mix the lemonade concentrate with the 7-Up, set aside.
2. Blend 1/2 of the cucumber and mint in a blender.
3. Whisk the blended mixture into the lemonade/7-up mixture.
4. Slice up the rest of the cucumber and the lemons, add into the drink. Also rip the leaves off the last sprig of mint and add to the top.
5.  We also discovered you can add some adult "supplements" to this for a fun summery adult drink (white wine, rum or vodka)

S'mores Trifle - Look to see some mouth watering pictures...
Ingre­di­ents

• 1 box brownie mix
• 1 large box or 2 small of instant choco­late pud­ding (approx. 4 cups)
• 2 sleeves of gra­ham crack­ers, bro­ken (not crushed), set aside 2 crackers
• 1 tub of whipped topping
• 1 small jar of Marsh­mal­low Creme
• 1 C mini marshmallows
• 1 Hershey’s Bar

Direc­tions:
1. Start by bak­ing a 9x13 pan of brown­ies accord­ing to the pack­age direc­tions. Once done, allow to cool and cut up into chunks. No need to be exact with any of it! While that bakes & cools, you can mix up the pud­ding and break up your gra­ham crackers.
2. In a tri­fle dish add a layer of brownie pieces (for me, this was a lit­tle less than half the pan). Then, top the brownie pieces with about half of the pud­ding.
3. On top of the choco­late pud­ding, add a layer of bro­ken gra­ham crack­ers. I just broke them up in a bag­gie. I wanted small pieces, but not just crumbs. Make sure the choco­late pud­ding is cov­ered well with the gra­ham cracker.
4. Take half of the whipped top­ping from the tub and mix it in a bowl with half of the marsh­mal­low creme. It will prob­a­bly lumpy and that’s totally ok. Spread that mix­ture over the gra­ham cracker layer.
5. Repeat all the lay­ers again. You’ll end with the whipped top­ping mixture…
6.  YOu can broil the marshmellows for about 10-15 sec to get them brown, but i don't know if i would do that step again, kind of a pain.  Otherwise, sprinkle the marshmellows on the top.  Crush the 2 graham crackers, sprinkle over marshmallows, and then break up the candy bar over that.
7.  Chill for a few hours to blend flavors, and serve!

Thanks again to all those who came over on Saturday!  Luckily the weather held out for a bit!  I think these are some of my fav Pinterest recipes!

Kitchen Touches

 

The kitchen is starting to look a bit more updated, but before i post those pics (i need to take them yet...) here are some of the "updates" or changes I did do.

Pantry

Lot of character here....

I found an idea on pinterest for putting wrapping paper on surfaces and modpodging it rather then contact paper, which is not all that cute.  Off to Michael's I went for the supplies.  Katie was brave enough to actually do the work, since she came over to help me, but painting and pregnancy are kind of frowned upon, so she took up this task.

We took all the boards out, cut the paper to size, put modpodge right over the top of the contact paper, put downt the new paper, put on another layer of MP and VOILA!  it's done.  But, putting on the paper was kind of a pain, to have to keep all the bubbles out, and do it quick before the MP dries.

Next I painted the whole pantry a fresh coat of white, and then put in the new shelves.

So pretty!!

Sneak peek of kitchen colors....

Next up was the area above the sink.  It needed a curtain/decoration, so I made a pellet box.

Dont mind the mess, or the painters tape...

I think it took me longer to pick out the fabric then to make the box.  Warning, bad pics, but I figured i can update with a better pic later.

 

I love the birdies!

I took some foam board, cut to size of the window, plus trim, cut the sides out about 2 inches, and duct taped it all together.  Then attached the fabric, and also taped that to the board.  I bought some 3M picture frame holders and used that to attach to the window and ceiling.

I really got to get a pic during the morning.  Afternoon doesnt work either as the sun comes right in that window, see below:

Good thing I don't make a living doing photography...

Bathroom Decorations

 

 My "rose" bathroom was looking a little BLAH, to say the least.  Since I can't go ripping out tile right away, or getting rid of the sink, or the toliet, I figured I could at least spruce it up beyond painting it. 

 And, I also need to get rid of hte light fixtures...

(this is actually master bath, but same light fixtures)

And I found these *ADORABLE* printouts on Pinterest, that I thought would be perfect.
http://jandaandco.blogspot.com/2011/11/bathroom-printables-download-working.html


I went to Goodwill, and picked up a variety of frames.  I think they costed $8 total, for 6

Aren't they lovely??

 

I had some leftover paint from the old house, and so I used the deep purple that was on our accent wall in the bedroom. I popped out the glass, and got to painting.

After 2 coats, and drying, I cut down the printables to the correct size, put everything back together and VIOLA! Cheap, easy, and quick decorations!

Not the best picture, and def not as nice as the professional blogger above, but they are SUPER cute in person!

Spring Update

Say CHEESE

Since I'm a *little* behind on blogging, here's a quick picture update of the past few months

Crazy hair at Primrose open house

Pictures were not appreciated...




A playdate....

Driving the tractor

Watching some Baby Einsein on the old bathroom floor while I got ready

Watching B.E. on new bathroom floor while i got ready



Makin & eatin oatmeal

1st trip to Lake Superior

Throwing rocks for Selby

Loving camping!

Canal Park


Feeding Apple, our neighbor horse

Can you hear it?? "OH NO"



 

Going on a walk


Afton Strawberry Festval

First barrel ride, LOVED it

Stealing the neighbor boy's tractor



Another playdate, more receptive to pictures

Old McJacob

Reupholstered Chairs

 

 

 

 

 

So, I finally got around to reupholstering my dining room chairs, which were in massive need of an overhaul about a year ago.

I had way more fun picking out fabric than anything, but the fabric ties into the kitchen colors and other kitchen projects quite well.

I didnt really know what i was doing, so the first few chairs took awhile. These chairs had been redone by the previous owners, and they REALLY liked to use the staple gun.

I ripped out at many as I could, and then cut the fabric as much as possible.  My hands were so red and sore.  I literally did one chair a night, since it was such a pain.

Underneath this fabric was a glorious beige cover from the 90's I'm guessing.  Should have taken a pic, but oh well.

I went to Crafty Planet for the new fabric, OMW, LOVE that store, it could be quite dangerous if it was closer to Afton.  I measured the chairs, added 5 inches to each measurement (to be able to wrap around) and started cutting.

I was so nervous to use a staple gun, I tend to avoid power tools at all costs.  But, wasn't that bad, I didnt maim myself, so I was immediately impressed with my skills.  :)

Finished project!!  So much better then the old stuff!

I had first did the high top chairs (2) and then moved onto the 4 dining room table chairs.  Luckily, Jen came over to help one night, and she showed me a much quicker method of removing staples.  Literally, just pull the fabric, and you could rip it right off.  Much better.