So does anyone else want to make a new outfit?I bought these shoes at Wally World for $5.00!  I had the t-shirt and decided to buy the Kelly Green liquid dye.Remove the laces from the shoes before you start. I did mine all together in this big pot on my stove.  You can use your washing machine if you have a top loader, mine is a front loader so I had to do it on the stove.  Just follow the directions on the package. (I only needed half of the bottle so now I need to figure out something else to dye).  I did not let mine soak for as long as it said, just keep checking for how dark you want the color to be.

When you have achieved the color that you want  then wash them in your washing machine.  I ran mine through twice just to be on the safe side and then I did not have to wash out the washer either!Here is what they looked like.  I really liked the color!  And I love that the white trim and the soles do not take the dye.  How cute is that!I sewed a piece of elastic on the inside of the shoes, just to help hold them on.  I am not sure this step is necessary and if you are going to use your laces, you obviously don’t need the elastic.  I just hand sewed the elastic to the inside seam on each side so it does not show on the outside.So what do you think?I love that I got a new outfit for under $10!Now I think that perhaps I need a pink set…and maybe a yellow one…or perhaps red for the 4th of July!!!   What do you think?!

It is perfect for those hot summer days.  Light and refreshing!  And they are pretty with the yellow edible glitter!

Frosted Lemonade Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1-12 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and divided

Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoon butter softened

Frozen lemonade concentrate ,thawed

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.  Add 1/2 of dry mixture to creamed mixture and alternate with 1/3 cup lemonade concentrate.  Repeat and mix well after each addition.

 Scoop dough in small ice cream scoop and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  These spread out a bit so give them room to bake.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 8-10 minutes.  Remove to a rack to cool.  Once cooled mix powdered sugar and butter and add frozen lemonade concentrate 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency of frosting.  Spread cookies with the frosting and sprinkle with your favorite sprinkles!  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Oh so pretty!

And they are so light and refreshing, that you can’t eat just one!  I dare you!

We made these yesterday for our Mother’s Day get together!  So fun and festive.

The ingredients that you need to make Italian Sodas are: Ice, flavorings, Soda Water and Canned whipped cream and some fun straws.  So easy.  I go to Sonic Drive-in and get the bags of the good pebble ice, you can get the flavorings at your local grocery store, like the Torani, (they are usually found in the coffee section), or if you live in Utah, Gygi’s has a wonderful selection of these flavorings, World Market also carries some of the flavors.  I buy the 2 liter bottles of soda water and canned whipped cream.

It is fun to put the directions on how to make the Italian Sodas on a chalkboard and put where everyone can see.  The kids even love to make their own!  ( I made a couple of these chalkboards from some old picture frames and I have used them several times)  I put the ice in a big bowl or a fun metal bucket that I use just for drinks!
To make your Italian Soda, fill your glass with ice, add flavoring to ice about 1/4 of the way up in the ice,  add the soda water and stir with straw.  Top with a dollop of the whipped cream and Tah-Dah you have a great tasting, great looking, festive drink!

This Soda bar is a fun idea for all of the fun summer BBQ’s, picnics, family reunions, and parties that are coming up!   So gather up your supplies and make a fun Italian Soda Bar!

Is this not the cutest kid you ever did see?!! :)So does anyone else want to make a minky quilt?  I bought this as a kit, but you could easily buy the fabric and make your own.

You will need:

11-5″ x 60″ strips of Minky, this kit had 7 different patterns of fabric.

 Backing- 1 1/2 yards minky

Thin Batting: 48″ x 60″

Binding: 1/3 yard minky

One can of spray adhesive- recommend 505 spray

The finished size is 48″ x 60″

Lay the batting on the floor.  Place the backing fabric centered exactly on top of the batting, RIGHT SIDE UP, making sure it is square.  Fold the backing fabric down about half way.  Spray the 505 adhesive along the batting in about an 8-10″ row.  Lay the backing fabric down, smoothing as you go.  Repeat in sections until backing is all adhered.  Turn over so batting is on top.  Trim backing to match batting.

Arrange your strip in the color order you like.  Your strips will be going vertical.  Mark center of batting going top to bottom.  Start with your center strip and spray into place.  With right side up.  Reposition if necessary.  Place your next strip on top of the first with right sides together and keep edges even.  Pin in place every few inches.  A walking foot is recommended for sewing on minky fabric.  (If you don’t have a walking foot, lengthen your stitch length to about 4).  Stitch together along one side, using a seam allowance of approximately 3/8″.

Spray a row of adhesive on the batting and flip and hand press the newly sewn row.  Repeat with opposite side of center piece.

Pin your next strip on the opposite sides.  This way you can sew two sides, then spray and flip and pin 2 more.  Continue attaching rows until you reach the edges.

(I showed the corner folded over in this picture, so you could see how I layered everything)

When complete, square up the edges and attach binding as follows:

Cut 4 strips 2 1/2″ wide and sew together end to end.  Sew it to the BACK of the quilt mitering the corners as you go.  (Go here for a binding tutorial on how to miter the corners)  Turn it over to the top and fold under excess fabric.  Place the folded edges over stitching line and stitch in place.  Make sure you catch the fabric, not just the “fluff”.

(I really had a hard time with this binding, even with a walking foot.  I think that if I were to make another one, I would just use a cotton fabric for the binding!)
I then sent the quilt to have the embroidery work done!  I love how it turned out!And I think that he did too!

Spray paint will kill the plants if you paint inside the pot, and I am not sure what acrylic paint would do, but I did not want to take a chance!

I then just cut the three different vinyl words and applied them to the pots.  Next I tied a raffia bow around the rim.  I hot glued the back of the raffia and behind the bow so that the bow will not fall down every time the wind blows!  Plant your flowers and that is all there is to it!  I have this fun flower cart that I put them in, but they would look cute on your steps on your porch or down the middle of a table for some cute centerpieces, or grouped with a big planter pot!  If you have not gotten your Mother’s Day gift, this would be a fun idea!

I love this instant touch of color on my patio!

I got almost all of my pots planted yesterday and today, I have planted 18 different pots and I will probably do one or two more!  I love pots of flowers because they add a beautiful spot of color in your yard, but the best thing about planting pots is that you do not have to weed them!

I got this recipe from a friend and fell in love with it.  It is like melted caramel and once you try it, you may never want to go back to maple syrup! I make this every once in awhile when I really want to splurge for breakfast, and then again for dessert, because the leftovers make a great caramel sauce for ice cream!

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon corn syrup

Combine butter, sugar and buttermilk in large saucepan (this boils up a lot!) and bring to a boil.  Boil 1 minute and add vanilla, soda and corn syrup. Reduce heat to medium low (should still be simmering) and stir constantly until the color turns golden brown.  Remove  from heat and serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature, pour into jars and refrigerate until ready to use.  Heat for 20-30 seconds in microwave to warm it up again.This can make a very yummy, fun gift just by tying a ribbon around the jar, adding a tag with the name on it and punching a circle of scrapbook paper for the top of the lid!            So easy!

So are you ready to go and spoil yourself?  I think that we should celebrate WOMEN all week this week, so let’s start with this yummy Buttermilk syrup!  After you make this little treat feel free to just use a spoon and eat it out of the bottle.  I did!

I really like the look that this slip gives and it is really an easy project.  So does anyone want to make a skirt extender slip?

Start with a half slip.

 I gathered some sheer lace and sewed it on top of a flat eyelet lace. I got both of these laces at the Cotton Shop in Provo and they were very inexpensive.  You will need to measure the bottom of your slip to know how much lace to purchase.Then I serged the two laces, right sides together, to the bottom of the slip, cutting off the lace that was already on the bottom of the slip.  If you do not have a serger, just use a straight stitch and then do a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine.

I wanted two rows of ruffles, so next I cut 2 1/4″ off from the bottom of the slipThen I sandwiched the next row of lace between the slip and the 2 1/4″ piece.  Serge all three layers together and Ta Da you are done!
This is a fun spring and summer accessory that you can add to your wardrobe for very little cost or time!

This was the table setting at the dinner and welcome the first night.  How festive is that?

I got to meet some of my blogging friends in person and that was really fun!

L to R: My cute DIL, Alison from Oopsey Daisy, me, and Kelli from Lolly Jane Boutique.
Landee, from Landee See, Landee DoHere are some of the beautiful flowers that were just around on the grounds,  I would love to have their gardeners come to my house and do their magic!  Wouldn’t that be the best?The tulips were absolutely gorgeous, and the Tulip Festival was going on during the conference!I went to lots of classes, panels, and discussions.  I learned a lot and it was good for me to get different perspectives and opinions about blogging.

 I went to a  fun floral arranging class that was hands on and I LOVED it!  These flowers were part of the display at the front of the room. Aren’t they beautiful?And this was the arrangement that I made and took home!  I loved that all of these flowers are available at most of our grocery stores!  How fun is that, now when I go get groceries, I can just pick up a few bunches of flowers and make them into a fun arrangement!

I also took a fun class using the same texture cream that I used on the photo blocks to make a fun textured picture frame!  I did not take the time to make mine in class, so it will have to be a project for a future post! :)

All in all, it was a good experience and I hope that they do it in Utah again next year!  I have a lot to learn but I also learned to just enjoy the journey!

 The message should come from one of the conference talks of your own choosing.  So I decided that since it was the month of May that  I would put “May” we let ourselves be Blessed with the talks from Conference. (Get it?!)

I just stuck this card in a cute little potted plant that you can find anywhere right now.  But if you want to do something else with flowers, you could do sugar cookie flowers, Oreo Cookie Flowers, fresh cut flowers or paper flowers!

Here is the printable, just right click and go to copy.  Open your favorite program like Word or Presentations and right click again and go to paste.  Print and cut out.

Happy Visiting this month!