4th of July Candy Bark

I think I've mentioned - many times - that 4th of July is one of my absolute favorite holidays.  It speaks to my sense of pride in our nation and it also has always been a time that our family and friends get together to celebrate.  This year isn't going to be as big of a celebration for us as what we usually have, but that really won't slow us down.

My Pinterest feed has been filled with so many fun treats to choose from, but since we are still working on the kitchen remodel I don't have a stove/oven/sink in the kitchen and was afraid my hands were tied.  Then I started noticing all the candy bark, trail mix and popcorn and it was a light bulb moment.  I kind of pulled from all of them to come up with mine.

Easiest thing ever to make and the only appliance needed was a microwave!

I will warn you it's one of the sweetest things I have ever eaten.

And doesn't it look all festive in the Longaberger Basket??

Here's the general directions to what I did and feel free to adjust to what you want.

4th of July Candy Bark

6 Oreo Cookies

a handful of pretzels

Wilton vanilla candy melts

red and blue mini m&m's (I bought a bag and meticulously pulled out the colors I needed!)

red and blue sprinkles

optional - mini marshmallows, chex cereal, Cheerios

Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.  Crush the oreos and pretzels and spread loosely over the paper (I just crushed them in my hand).  

Place about half a bag of candy melts in a microwave safe bowl and melt about 1 minute at 70% power.  Stir, then repeat until it is all melted, but do not overmelt - it gets yucky.  Drop in generous blobs over the top of the oreos and pretzels, then lightly use the back of your spoon to smooth it out.  While the candy melts are still wet, sprinkle the top with m&m's and sprinkles.

I placed the cookie sheet in my refrigerator to help it set, probably about 15 minutes.

A tip:  the blobs need to be pretty generous.  The first half of my candy melts I tried to just use the spoon and ended up with a dirty looking batch as the candy picked up the cookie crumbs.  Tastes the same, but not nearly as pretty.

Shared on:  A Diamond In The Stuff, Take a Look Tuesday, One Project At A Time, Terrific Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It, The Scoop, Brag About It, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday

Stop and Smell the Flowers

2013 has been a very busy and fabulous year for us.  So far, well at least after the spring semester ended, it hasn't been a stressful year, just busy.  Every small and big thing happening seems to come with a long list of detail to take care of.

I was reminded on our morning walk that sometimes in the middle of the busy times of life it's a good thing to just Stop and Smell the Flowers.

Beau and I take a walk every day and now that the Texas heat has arrived I've moved our walks to the morning so that his little piggy pads don't burn on the hot sidewalk.  One neighbor has a beautiful patch of flowers right next to the sidewalk and Beau always tends to stop and sniff the flowers.  In this picture though he finished flower sniffing and just sat down, almost as if to take in their glory.  By the time I got my phone out and camera app on he was ready to continue the walk, but this photo is close enough.

After we had walked a bit the revelation hit me that we can learn a lot from our dogs (really we learn a lot from them daily!) about life.  Stop, relax and enjoy this wonderful morning.  It truly is a gift.

Deep Thoughts:  "You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."  Walter Hagen

Frugality - Pampers Wipes

I think one of the reasons I don't get a lot of things finished in a timely manner is that I so very much enjoy doing a multitude of hobbies.  Now I'm dipping my toe into the couponing world and adding another enjoyable hobby to the mix - but this one saves money instead of costing money!

My recent victory - these packages of Pampers wipes are regularly priced at $2.99, but after the store sale, store loyalty card discount and coupons I got them for .24 cents each!!!  With grandbaby number two on the way I figure I might as well stock up now and help the kids save some money.  If it happens that she's not able to use this brand, and we all know that happens sometimes, I'm sure we'll be able to find somebody else with a new baby that would be happy to take them.

Once I actually know and understand more what I'm doing I'll do a full post on my method.  But I was so excited about this score that I just couldn't wait to share!

Deep Thoughts:  "he who will not economize will have to agonize" - Confucius

Happy Birthday Loni!

My beautiful daughter-in-law recently celebrated her birthday and of course we all love to celebrate.  We had dinner out with all the kids and both of my 1.5 granddaughters - a great time together as always!

Loni has always been one of my biggest Crafting Cheerleaders, so it's especially fun to make a card for her each year.  I also love the new 'My Spin on the Pin' challenge in our scrapbooking group - sure makes it easier to be creative!

This is the pin I used - http://pinterest.com/pin/82331499410733993/ - and here is my card:

Virtually identical to be sure.  The Happy Birthday stamp I used is from Morning Star Stamps, the circle punches and white cardstock are Stampin' Up.

The paper is a pretty cool deal.  I'm finding that more and more I'm using digital paper and just printing out what I need.  It's far cheaper and a lot less to store.  All of the pattern paper on this card is in the Go Floral Paper Pack by Studio Basic.  

What I did was open a page in Photoshop Elements, then put two inch squares of each of the pattern paper I wanted to use on the page.  Print, then cut to fit the openings I had punched in the card.  I used dimensionals to pop up that entire layer.

I'm pleased with how this turned out and of course it could be used for any occasion just by using a different sentiment stamp.

Deep Thoughts:  "Smile as much as you can, because today is your special day. Happy, happy Birthday to you!

My Worktable on Wednesday

Since I haven't finished anything for a while I thought I'd at least share a picture of some of the things I have in progress.

This is the overview of the table I use most for my crafting.  Bottom left you'll see a stamp/ink, diamond glaze and dimensional tape - I just finished doing a card and I'll share it shortly.  To the left is my Zutter and that reminds me of another project I need to share (the mind.... it really is the first to go....).

The little cozy is covering my serger, which sadly has not seen any action in quite some time.  It does still hold a place of honor on the table though.

And of course the knitting, always the knitting.  How do I love knitting... let me count the ways...

This blob of beauty is the wedding shawl, very much the priority project right now.  I am ready to start the Scalloped Lace Edging now, which is only 15 rows.  Of course when doing a shawl, those last 15 rows are the longest rows, but it's ok because I am loving knitting this for my daughter.  My personal goal is to have it finished and blocked before the 19th so that I can bring it along when we pick up the wedding dress from alterations.  I'd like to know beforehand if the shawl will actually look good with the dress rather than showing up at the wedding and thinking it's a good idea and then discover it's not.

Never content to only have one knitting project in progress, especially one that is very special and has a time limit like a wedding shawl, this is what I cast on June 1st.  I, of course, am weak and was lured into Camp Loopy with The Loopy Ewe again this year.  

I'm knitting the Magpie Cowl with Alisha Goes Around Richness (of Martens) Fingering yarn in the Evening Lilac colorway.  Oh my word, this yarn is a thrill to knit with!!!  75% Superwash Merino Wool, 15% Cashmere, 10% Silk.  The pattern is easily memorized and this is great tv knitting, nice since the lace wedding shawl isn't so much.

Movies on Monday - Epic

One of the most fun movies I've seen recently was with my daughter-in-law and granddaughter.  I had been asking Brooklyn for some time if she wanted to go to a movie and she kept telling me no.  Finally when they were all over one weekend to help Keith with the kitchen remodel we decided to just go, especially since the house was in such a disarray.

We really are lucky to have quite a number of theaters in the DFW area that serve food during the show.  It's also nice that you can pick your seat and reserve it online, so no worries about having to get there early.

This picture is Brooklyn and Loni before the show started.  When we got in our seats Brooklyn started seeing that this would be fun.  Shortly after they started playing the previews of upcoming movies and she kept laughing at them, especially the new Minion movie.  I leaned over and told her that grandma LOVES to go to movies and can never find anybody to go with, so any time she wants to go she should pick up the phone and give me a call.

Such a beautiful selfie of Brooklyn and me before the movie.  This is an untouched, unedited photo - seriously, could I have done anything this splendid in Photoshop???  ;)

The movie started after our photos and shortly after the waiter delivered a brownie sundae for the three of us to share.  I think it was at that point that Brooklyn decided movies are awesome.

And the movie?  It was pretty cute, but I will never understand why a movie made for littles has to have such intense "bad guys" to make a point.  There was a little girl behind us that started crying at the climax of the movie and told her mama "I wanna go home", so they did.  Why try to terrify 5 and 6 year olds???

But as we walked out of the movie Brooklyn was all smiles and saying she wanted to go again.  I would say that Epic got 3 thumbs up from our group!