I Won! I Won!

So a while back Happy Go Lucky hosted a giveaway for invitations designed by The Trendy Butterfly, and I won! I finally got all the info. for my sis's baby shower, and they were made in less than a day! She makes them, then sends you to and you can print them off at home! I love them!
Obviously I deleted some identifying information, but aren't they adorable!? Thanks so much to you both! Hooray!

Patriotic Wreath

I am a little late with making a wreath seeing as July 4th is only five days away, but hey, better late than never right!? I still had this wreath up, and decided it was time for a change! I used a $4 grapevine wreath and a $0.94 flower bundle from Walmart
pulled the flowers off of the "stems" and arranged them how I liked,
used some red and blue scrapbook paper I had and traced circles using the lid of my Modge Podge for the small ones, and the cardboard around a spool of ribbon for the outer circles. I added some gold letters to spell "welcome,"
and here it is hanging on my door...
It was super easy and inexpensive, and would have been super quick if I had a Silhouette to cut out some circles; but even still it only took about 30 minutes! So this will last about a week or so before I change it to summer theme, but I'm enjoying it for now!




ThFSat Sun
MC.G.T
Wed

Simple Squash Recipe

I have a brown thumb and therefore didn't attempt to grow a garden this year, however my boss did and I'm reaping the benefits without the effort (bwahahaha)! Some of my favorite summer vegetables are summer squash and zucchini. Recently I've been eating what my mom calls "poor man's squash casserole." Not really sure what makes it any different from regular squash casserole, if there is a difference, but that's what I've grown up calling it. Recently, I've also discovered Ziploc Steamer bags, which make this a million times easier.

Picture from My Recipes...I eat it too quick to take pictures, and a post with no pictures is no fun!

To Make This I Use:

• squash and/or zucchini (I usually use 2 of each)
  



• butter (1 tbsp.)
  



• garlic salt (to taste)
  



• onion (1/4 medium sized)
  



• ritz crackers (8-10, crumbled)
  



• shredded cheddar cheese (a handful or so)
  



• steamer bag (optional)

1. Slice the squash, zucchini, and onion and place in steamer bag (or however you choose to cook it) with butter and garlic salt. Place steamer bag in microwave for 3 1/2 minutes.



2. Drain off the butter and place in a bowl.



3. Mix in cheese and top with crushed Ritz crackers.



4. Enjoy!

Sorry the measurements aren't exact! It always annoys me when recipes aren't exact, but now I totally understand why some people write it that way. I'm just so familiar with the recipe I don't measure anything. Really though, it'll taste good regardless of the proportions so don't worry!

It's such an easy and quick recipe, and even people who don't usually like squash have eaten and enjoyed it! The best part is it's very inexpensive, especially if you (or someone who loves you enough to give you their food) are growing the produce.

Roses, and Turtles, and Feathers, Oh My!

I found an awesome cake on Pinterest and decided it's what I wanted to attempt for my sisters baby shower next month. We're having a father's day celebration tomorrow with the hubsters family so I decided to do a trial run. We won't talk about the fact that it's a cake covered in roses for a man! I followed this tutorial from I Am Baker, and it was actually pretty simple. While my roses don't look nearly as neat as hers, or as pretty, I'm pleased with how it turned out because me and cakes are usually disasters!
I used just regular box cake, and then the following recipe for buttercream icing(taken directly from her site)
"Be warmed... this is the sweet stuff. Like, ridiculously sweet. I just happen to be a fan of that.

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

THE BEST BUTTERCREAM

2 cups shortening

8 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon clear imitation vanilla extract

6 fluid ounces heavy cream

In a large bowl, cream shortening with mixer until fluffy. Add confectioners sugar (2 cups at a time) until well blended. If the frosting gets to thick at any time you can add some of your heavy cream.

Add salt, vanilla, and heavy cream and blend until combined, then blend on high until frosting is light and fluffy. If you need to add additional cream you can. (up to 2 tablespoons)"

Oh, and if you're wondering halfway through mixing in the confectioners sugar if you're doing it right because it's looking more like bleu cheese crumbles than icing...you are...probably! :)

Once the cakes were baked and cooled, and the icing was mixed, I placed a 1M tip in a pastry bag filled with the icing then swirled away. Maybe I should call it a swirly cake instead of a roses cake...would probably go over a little better with the dad-in-law. Please ignore the fact that it's on a plate instead of a cake stand and that there's icing smeared on the edges :)

P.S. Check out the cute turtle in the background...it's a measuring cup from Pier 1 and he has 3 other smaller different colored shells underneath. He is awesome!
P.P.S. We decided to go with the "pop" theme basket for the Father's Day gift, and got him some "pop"corn, "pop"tarts, "pop"rocks, soda "pop", and "pop"its (those things you throw on the ground and they explode). My dad doesn't like soda, so in it's place for him we got a huge sugar "daddy".
P.S.P.S. I got feathers in my hair. Also, I'm not wearing makeup in this picture...don't be scared!


Linking up to ThFriSat Sun
MonC.G.Tues
Wed