Decorating on a Budget

Simple painting the old discolored brick a modern color, changed the whole look of the fireplace. Now I just plan on installing a solid wood mantel with simple corbels underneath.

Learn how to make your own Modern Lantern Ball

You can use these to decorate when entertaining,such as for baby showers and birthdays, and to bring some hand-made art to your kid's room! I have even heard of them being used for decorating your Christmas tree; in smaller form of course! Here's how to make one:

You will need to make 20 circles all the same size. The thicker the paper the more solid the ball will be. If you want a small ball you will need smaller circles, for a bigger ball, bigger circles, and so forth. For mine I used a 7 inch bowl for a stencil. Fold the circles in on three sides to form a triangle as shown above. You want to fold towards the print you want showing.



Using a glue gun, glue two circles together at the half oval fold, leaving the middle triangle and two other half-oval folds free of glue. you should have five circles coming together at one point. Continue gluing two folds together until you form the complete ball.

Free Giveaway

Check out the Free Giveaway of a polka dot canary original item on the blog http://rannilatripletsreviews.blogspot.com/

polka dot canary dresses ship to boutique in Texas

Texas is known for some good shopping, so I hope the shoppers in Texas will love polka dot canary dresses for their sweet little girls. They come in sizes 24m to 5T and have recently been sent to a boutique in the lone star state.

My kids love to help make this play-dough. This play-dough doesn't necessarily taste good, but it won't hurt them if they try and eat it, either. I love this recipe because it tends to be a little softer than regular store play-dough. I love to put cookie cutters in the play-dough toys, and the softer dough makes it easier for little hands to punch the shapes out. They love to pretend to be little bakers.

Note: Look for a tasty play-dough recipe, in a future blog, that I got from my wonderful mother-in-law. Kids can actually eat this one as a snack as they play!


Quick Play-Dough

1 c. flour
1 c. water
1/2 c. salt
1 TBSP cream of tartar (makes the dough stick together really well)
1 TBSP cooking oil
food coloring

Mix dry ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Add oil, water, and food coloring. Cook over MEDIUM heat, stirring constantly, until it pulls away from the sides. Let cool. Store in a Ziploc baggie in a cool place.

Strawberries & Summer

Strawberries and summer seem to always go together. I love to make freezer jam out of fresh strawberries at this time of year, when strawberries are so affordable. There is a particular store that carries canning supplies this time of year, but always seems to place the supplies in a different, random, hard to locate place each year. I am grateful they carry them, however. So, I walk into the store, I won't name which one, and ask someone to point me in the direction of the "fruit pectin & canning supplies" and about half of the time they look at me like I'm speaking a completely different language. They might say something like, "What is that!?"
Apparently canning is not as popular among the upcoming generations, and I fear that our children will have an even tougher time finding the elusive pectin, if they plan to can when they are grown!

Blueberry Orange Julius?

Blueberry Orange Julius?

Sounds like it wouldn't work, but it is so delicious! We love to have Orange Julius's for dinner with our meal, and one day I decided to add some blueberries, and surprisingly it worked well! Here's how to make it:

Ingredients:
6 oz undiluted frozen orange juice
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
4 ice cubes
3/4 cup frozen blueberries

Place all in a blender or smoothie maker and blend until ice is crushed. Enjoy!