An Old Friend Gets A Makeover

  

  Years ago, when my grandpa was moving into an assisted living home, he had an auction to sell off his & my granny's estate. We, as a family spent the day at the auction, helping out. My parent's told my brother & I to let them know if there was anything of our grandparent's that we really wanted. As a teenager, I didn't always speak up & let my thoughts be known. (In fact, I'm still learning to speak my mind.) Anyway, that whole day I had my eye on this mustard coloured stool. I loved the retro look. It reminded me of playing pool in my grandparent's basement because that's where it's home was. But... I didn't tell my parents. 

  Most of the day went by & finally this stool came up for bid. Because I hadn't said anything to my parents about my desire to have it, someone else bought it. I was kinda bummed & finally mentioned it to my parents that I really wished I could have had that stool. 

  My parents were so nice about it & didn't give me a hard time. They went to the people who had just bought it & explained that that stool was the one thing that this man's grand daughter really wanted. The people were very understanding & accepted what they had paid for it in return. 

  I got grandpa's stool after all! And learned a lesson in speaking up...

  After years of use & after our two kids came along, the stool had seen better days. But alas, the stool holds a lot of  sentimental value for me. I was not willing to let it go. (Which is saying a lot for me. I rarely have a hard time getting rid of things.)

 Finally, last month my mom (who happens to be an interior decorator - I know: Score! Love you mom!) & I took the stool & went in search of an upholstery shop. We found a great place that specializes in boat upholstery & therefore had a ton of vinyl to choose from. 

  I chose a dark grey with a bit of veining to make it look more like leather. I took the legs off before hand & spray painted them a glossy black.

  

My old friend looks new again & we are enjoying the new look so much!! I wish I could say I upholstered it myself, but since I've never upholstered in my life, I wasn't willing to practice on such a special piece. 

I left it to the professionals. 

I love it!!

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DIY Map Gift Bag

  It's not always easy wrapping a grad gift or a dad gift. Masculine wrappings often leave much to be desired. Usually it comes down to a gift bag festooned with fishing tackle or striped wrapping paper. The options are normally pretty limited. 

  Until now. 

  Have I got a solution for you! Enter your new best friend... old maps.

  You can simply wrap a box with a map which would be perfectly acceptable, or you can kick it up a notch by creating your very own customized gift bag.

  All you need is:

• a blank bag
• a map
• a strip of cardstock in a complimentary colour
• 2 brads to fasten the pinwheel centres 
• glue

I used this template for the pinwheels.

Cut on the lines. Punch holes on the dots. Fold the dots to the middle & fasten with a brad.

Source

  How great are these pinwheels? They add a little fun touch to what could be a stuffy-looking gift.

They may not, however, be for everyone. Totally cool. Just leave them off & do the strips of map paper on the sides of the bag. 

Awesomeness.

My work here is done. ;)

~~~~~

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{Very Easy!} Mix-It-Up Ice Cream Cake

  

Having to turn on the oven during a hot, summer day is a thing of torture, don't you think? Having a few no-bake desserts in one's collection is certainly a necessity.

  I came across this recipe from Kraft last week, & thought how easy it would be to mix it up & make almost any combination of cookie, ice cream, & candy.

  While my daughter & I were sampling this cake this weekend, we were thinking about some different combinations a person could use. Here's what I used to make it & some of our other imaginations:

• Oreo cookies, chocolate mint swirl ice cream, & grated chocolate
• Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, & chocolate chips
• Peanut butter cookies, peanut butter cup ice cream, & chopped peanut butter cups or chopped peanuts
• Vanilla Oreo cookies, Strawberry ice cream, & sliced strawberries
• Oatmeal cookies, maple walnut ice cream, & chopped walnuts

It would be easy to customize this recipe to any taste!

Mix-It-Up Ice Cream Cake  {Print recipe}
makes 16 servings

1 bag cookies - Oreos, chocolate chip, vanilla Oreos, Fudge-Os, peanut butter, etc.
1 tub ice cream, softened - Pick your favourite
(*Note* Since you need to soften your ice cream, choose a flavour that looks good melted. For instance, rainbow ice cream turns grey-ish when melted, so it likely wouldn't work for this recipe.)
3 cups thawed frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip
Cookies, candy, or grated chocolate for the top

Line 13x9 inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.

Crush 20 cookies; sprinkle crumbs onto bottom of prepared pan.

Spread ice cream evenly over crumbs in pan; top with whipped topping & sprinkle with candy or grated chocolate.

Freeze 3 hours or until set. When ready to serve, let cake stand at room temperature for a few minutes to soften. Lift dessert from pan with foil handles; cut into 16 squares. Top each piece with a cookie (or half of one).

~~~~~

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Felt Tree Cards

    This weekend, my husband & son went on a family canoeing adventure. While they were away, my daughter & I holed up in my craft room & created to our heart's content. I completed 5 card designs, 3 craft projects, 4 gift wrap ideas, & 1 scrapbook layout! I'm so excited to have so much to share with you in the next few weeks before our summer vacation. 

  This is one of the card designs created this weekend...

  I'm not sure exactly when my love for cute little trees started. Several years ago when the trend first started, I guess. That these trees are made of felt makes them even cuter to me!

Products used:

(Click on thumbnails to see sources)

InLinkz.com

Enjoy your day!

Guest Posting Over At...

Hello readers! 

I'm excited to be guest posting over at One Artsy Mama today as part of her Fun In The Sun Series today!

Come on over & check out the yummy recipe I'm sharing there...

See you there!

The Dish Soap Challenge. Week Six: Walls

This Dish Soap Challenge is rocking my cleaning world! I have yet to be disappointed by this stuff! 

Okay, I guess I just blew the outcome of today's challenge...

Oh well, you were bound to find out soon anyway. :)

So, I was working on washing the walls around our house last week. With all the little fingers that touch these walls, I have to clean them several times a year. 

At this time of year, the walls are usually particularly bad because the kids are outside gettin' dirty!

It's kind of hard to tell, but can you see the dirty fingerprints on the photo above?

I used the same rule as I did with the windows from last week's challenge: Fill the bucket with lukewarm water, THEN add a couple drops of dish soap & mix with your hand. 

Wipe off with a clean rag & watch the dish soap do the work. It took off the minor scuffs too. There are some bigger scuffs that it didn't remove, but I'm okay with that. The other cleaners I've used in the past don't remove them either. I've always had to use a Magic Eraser for those.

To check out the other stuff I've tried dish soap out on, click on these links:

• Week One: The Bathtub
• Week Two: The Toilet
• Week Three: Patio Furniture
• Week Four: Sinks
• Week Five: Windows

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your day!

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Greek Potato Salad

  Hello friends! How was your weekend? Ours was wonderful! We were able to spend lots of time outdoors with family & friends. My mom-in-law is staying with us for a week, so it is nice to have her here to join us. 

  Is barbecue & picnic season in full swing in your house? It's going full-speed-ahead in ours! I love cooking outside at the grill, with a cold iced tea to sip on while I keep an eye on the cooking (or in some cases, burning) food.

  This is one of our favourite side dishes in the warm summer months. Potato salad is pretty all-American right? But this potato salad takes a bit of a different turn with the addition of some Greek ingredients. I'm sure you'll like it as much as we do. 

  I cannot take credit for this recipe. I first tasted it at a barbecue / potluck a few summers ago. A friend of ours brought this salad & it was a huge hit! I begged for the recipe & was so happy to make it myself when our friend graciously shared it with us.

Greek Potato Salad {Print recipe}
serves 6


salad:
3 cups cooked, peeled, cubed potatoes
8 cherry tomatoes
1/2 a green pepper, diced
1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
1/2 cup black olives (whatever kind you like. I use Kalamata olives.)

dressing:
1 cup mayonaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
a few shakes of black pepper
a pinch of crushed chili flakes

Mix together salad ingredients in a medium bowl.

Mix together dressing ingredients. Add to salad, mixing well. Garnish with olives, tomatoes, & a bit of crumbled feta cheese.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

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Keep enjoying barbecue & picnic season!

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One Month Until Disney! Disneyland Layout {Echo Park}

Have you gone of a trip yet this summer? We leave on our big Disneyland trip one month away from today!!  We are beyond excited!

To celebrate & to kick off our vacation scrapbook, I did a pre-made page that I'll add a 5x7 photo to as well as some journalling when we get home & have some of our photos printed.

I have never done this kind of pre-made page before, so this was kind of wild. I usually work off of the photos I plan to use as to the colours of the page & products I use, but because I had no photos to work off of, I had free reign to do whatever I wanted! I figured that I could always print a photo in black & white if the colours of the photo I want to use doesn't work with the layout.

I had Mickey & Minnie in mind when I started this layout. 

The red & white polka dot paper & letters are just like Minnie's dress, right? 

The jewels I used in the centre of the canvas flowers are actually little Mickey's! 

Supplies Used:

• Cardstock - Bazzill Basics
• Patterned Paper - Echo Park (dots) & Sandy Lion (Mickey Mouse)
• Canvas Flowers - Making Memories
• Mickey Jewels - EK Success
• Ribbon - unknown
• Chipboard Letters - American Crafts
• Scallop Punch - Stampin' Up!

The countdown is on!

Enjoy your day!

The Dish Soap Challenge. Week Five: Windows

  I've been working on finishing off my spring cleaning list in full force for the last few days. It's still technically spring, right? Well, for one more day anyway. I've been able to cross off several big tasks off of my lists. And yes, I actually did the work, I didn't just cross it off. ;)

  Continuing in the theme with my Dish Soap Challenge, I decided to use dish soap to clean my windows. I did a bit of "googling" about it before hand to see if this is at all common. From what I read, some professional window washers use it all the time! Did you know that? I. Did. Not. But I'm happy to know now!

  There are a few tricks to keep in mind when using dish soap to wash windows:

• First of all, you should know that if you clean your windows with the sun shining on them, you will almost always end up with streaks. It was sunny on the day I cleaned my windows so I did the back of the house first (it was still shady there), then in the afternoon when the front of the house was in the shade, I did those windows. Or you can just wait for an overcast day to do it.
• Fill your bucket with lukewarm water FIRST, then add just a couple drops of dish soap. Then mix it with your hand. This is one case when the bubbles & suds can work against you.
• Use a squeegee & a dry, lint free rag.
• Use the squeegee to wash & squeegee the window. Then wipe any stray drops of water with the rag.

Your windows will look amazing!

It's hard to see all the spots on the window in the before shots, but trust me, after going through another Saskatchewan winter, these windows are dirty!

  SUCH great results!

To check out the other stuff I've tried dish soap out on, check out these links:

• Week One: The Bathtub
• Week Two: The Toilet
• Week Three: Patio Furniture
• Week Four: Sinks

If you enjoy my blog, please consider following along / subscribing. Thanks for reading! 

Enjoy your day!

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Strawberry Daiquiri Pie

  Are frozen, fruity, slushy drinks a favourite part of your summer? We sure like them! So much so that we frequent convenience stores much more in the summer than any other part of the year. You too? Oh good, I'm glad we're not alone.  ;) I like fruity, but my family is more into the soda flavoured slushees. What's your favourite?

Speaking of slushy drinks, this is a way to take the yummy flavours of a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri & make it into a delicious, cool dessert. 

Strawberry Daiquiri Pie

Makes 8 servings

Crust:

1 1/4 cups Oreo baking crumbs

2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:

1 can sweetened condensed milk (the low-fat version works too)

1/2 cup frozen strawberry daiquiri concentrate, thawed (1/2 a can) *See note below

1 cup frozen strawberries in light syrup, thawed

2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (the light version works too)

Fresh strawberries for garnish

Spray an 8 or 9 inch springform pan with non-stick spray.

Crust: Combine crumbs, sugar, & melted butter in a small bowl. Press crumbs evenly over bottom of the springform pan. Place in the freezer while you mix up the filling.

Filling: Beat sweetened condensed milk & daiquiri mix on low speed of an electric mixer. Add strawberries & beat again until well blended. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap & freeze overnight. 

To serve, run a knife around the edge of pan & remove sides. Garnish individual pieces with fresh strawberries.

*Note: If you're not sure what frozen strawberry daiquiri concentrate is, this is the kind I use. It can be found in the freezer section of most grocery stores near the frozen juice.

Mmm, are you craving a slushee now??? ;)

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