Light Bulb Decorations at Banana Republic

My family and I went up to Salt Lake City this weekend because I was competing at the Utah Masters Swimming State Championships.  I was thrilled to have my family there cheering me on (and I actually ended up qualifying for Nationals in three events...yay!)  After the meet, we went to lunch at Blue Lemon over by Temple Square.  If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend their fresh sandwiches and salads.  We tried several different dishes and all of them were really good.  Fresh ingredients and great flavor.

But onward from food!  After eating we went over to the new City Creek outdoor mall.  The mall is really well designed and would have been quite delightful to stroll through, had it not been for the 4 million other people who had the same idea that Saturday afternoon.  Apparently going on grand opening weekend wasn't the best idea.  Anyhoo...one of the stores that we poked our heads into was Banana Republic.  And, always on the look out for great design ideas, I saw some unique art being used for staging that I thought would be super easy to duplicate at home.  Here's what it looked like:

 Cool light bulbs in interesting shapes on wooden bases.  This would be really easy to duplicate.  Simply cut a square of wood (or have it cut for you at Home Depot), rub on some stain, and then super glue an old burnt out light bulb to your base.  I am definitely going to be trying this project soon.  First I will keep my eyes out for some different types of light bulbs to scavenge. 

Here's a close up:

I will post an update when I finish a few of these.  Until then...happy DIY!

Inspiration & Free Fonts

I like creating little graphics with some of my favorite quotes, using some of my favorite fonts.   I think that this quote is perfect for parents to remember. (I know I need to.) You are always welcome to reuse, print, pin, or re-post any of these little quotes for your non-commercial purposes.  If you would like to download a full size version in high resolution CLICK HERE.

If you like the font that was used on this graphic, you can download the free version by CLICKING HERE.  It is called "Christmas on Crack"...sorry about that.  I didn't name it.  Cool font though.

The Little Wreath That Could

Sometimes you have a vision of how a craft should be in your head...then you go to the Dollar Store and Micheal's and nobody has what you need, or what you need for your back up plan, so you end up standing in the middle of the store with your cranky two year old trying to come up with a plan C in your head because you simply AREN'T leaving without stuff to make an Easter wreath gosh dang it!  Ya' know what I mean?

So my third choice hastily conceived Easter wreath concoction involved a foam wreath form (not the size and shape I originally wanted because apparently there was a run on wreath forms last week), fun fur (not in the color I wanted because Micheal's does not carry green fun fur), and a two pack of birds from the Dollar Store (these, at least were what I wanted.)

I went home that night, got out my hot glue gun and went to work.  It was an easy, but time consuming process.  I glued the end of the fun fur on the foam form to start and then just wrapped around and around and around, stopping every six or eight revolutions to squeeze some glue on the back of the wreath and press the strand of fun fur down into it.  Approximately one hour (and one burned finger...why do I ALWAYS burn myself every time I use a hot glue gun?) later I had my first draft of the Easter wreath.  I will not show a photo here.  Let's just say that when I showed it to my husband he said, "Uh...it's really furry."  Which was followed by, "Is that all there is?"  Clearly this was not the reaction that I was shooting for.

A better woman would have admitted defeat and moved on to another idea.  But not me!  I'm far too stubborn.  (Plus I hate wasting time...and starting over would be admitting that my previous attempt was a waste of time.)  We just happened to be in TJ Maxx the next day and I spotted a little container of cute Easter eggs for $8.  Perfect.  I took them home and glued them to the front of the wreath.  (And, yes, I burned myself again.  I have a big, white blister to prove it.)  But here is the result:

I definitely think it would look better with just green fun fur as the background so that it looked like the eggs were sitting in grass.  (That was the original idea.)  But, all-in-all, I think it's cute.  And if anyone doesn't agree with me they can stick it in their ear.  =)  Just kidding.  OK not kidding.

Cheap Chic

I love TJ Maxx.  I could so easily spend hundreds of dollars there weekly.  But I don't.  In fact, one of my great joys is finding items that are perfect for my home and also on clearance.  Finding something on clearance at TJ Maxx is kind of like winning the lottery.  Or maybe it's just me.

At any rate, today my husband and I were browsing the aisles when we ran across a wood plank with a wrought iron shelf.  It was on clearance for $9.  My husband picked it up to show me because he thought it looked interesting, but then put it back because he didn't see what we'd do with it.  I rescued it because I had just the idea.

We brought the shelf home and hung it by our door from the kitchen to the garage.  I had a simple glass vase that came with the roses from hubby on Valentine's day.  I also had river rocks in my craft closet and dried basil and lavender left over from another decorating project.  Voila!  I love it.  The vase is a tad too small for the shelf, but it will do until I run across something better. 

One of my latest decorating kicks has been to try to instill more greenery into our indoor lives.  We've picked up some houseplants, I've been decorating with more dried herbs, and we've even done a few tasteful silk plant type things.  It makes the house feel more fresh and vibrant. 

At any rate, my $9 find made my day. 

Puddin' Head - But Not Frosting

We had guests over tonight visiting from Salt Lake City and I wanted to throw together some treats for everyone after dinner.  I put a pan of brownies in the oven (made from a mix...because who makes brownies from scratch?  I love making things from scratch...but brownies are luscious just as they are...from the Duncan Hines box.)  So, anyway, my brownies are baking in the oven and I want to put something on top that will make them just a little special.  I'm racking my brain when I remember a recipe I had seen a few weeks ago on Pinterest and been meaning to try.  It was touted as the "only frosting you will ever make again." 

Ingredients:
One small box instant pudding mix in your choice of flavor (I went with Cookies and Cream)
One cup of milk
One small container of Cool Whip (or about 2/3 of a large container)

I didn't have the Cool Whip in the house so I ran to the store and came back.  I still had time to whip up the frosting before the brownies were done.  As promised, it was ridiculously easy.  First whisk your cup of milk into the instant pudding.  Then fold in your Cool Whip and...you're done!  I didn't even defrost the Cool Whip (obviously) and with a little extra stirring it was still a great consistency.  I spooned my Puddin' Head into a gallon size Zip Lock baggie, cut off the tip and piped the Puddin' Head onto the brownies.

Now I will admit that I think labeling this as a "frosting" is a bit of a stretch.   It's more like a flavored whipped cream.  However, given that I am one of those people that thinks frosting is almost universally too thick and too sweet, I can see using this concoction in place of frosting in virtually any application that would traditionally call for frosting.  It will not, however, work on items that you do not intend to consume immediately as it will melt.  So, instead of calling it frosting, I call it Puddin' Head.

Now that I've told you what it isn't, let me tell you what it is...DELICIOUS!  So good that my husband licked the bowl, and my friends said that it made the brownies "so much better."  "Normally," said my girlfriend, "I don't like frosting on brownies because it is just sweet on sweet, but this made the brownies better...so light and fluffy, they just slid right down."  Music to my ears!

Needless to say, I will be trying this again...next time with a different flavor...maybe pistachio!