Watermelon...salsa?

Watermelon Salsa
Ingredients:

4 cups seeded chopped watermelon
1 green bell pepper, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
1/2 red onion, minced
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbl lime juice
½ tsp mince garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Junky Wind Chimes

I have always loved wind chimes. Now that we have our own home and have a place to hang them...I've been wanting to buy some! But how much more fun would it be to make your own wind chimes? I think I need to check out the local thrift stores now...

Junky Wind chimes

The first step in making a DIY wind chime is to collect the materials. You will need something to serve as the top of the chime, several items to hang as chimes, and something to connect it all together.

Just about any item can be used for the top of your wind chime. It is easier work with items that can be tied to (wire lamp shade, wooden clothes hanger). Next, collect the items to be used as chimes. Metal or wood items make a great sound when used in a wind chime. Vintage silverware can be flattened using a heavy weight hammer. Silverware can also be drilled through to so you have a hole to thread wire through.

To drill through silverware, lay the piece on a block of wood. If possible, clamp the silverware and wood block together. This will prevent the silverware from spinning while you drill. Use a 1/8" drill bit made for metal and apply pressure while you drill. Be patient, as it takes minute to drill all the way through and remember the silverware piece will heat up as you drill. Once the hole is drilled, clean-up the sharp edges using a small metal file. If the sharp edges are left, they may cut through the fishing line.

Lastly, select the material to string it all together (wire, fishing line, ribbon, cording, etc).

Lay out all the pieces before you begin. Make the chime visually appealing by staggering the lengths of each chime. Eye screws work well for connecting wood pieces. Simply tie or connect all the pieces together. It is helpful to hang the chime from a door frame or something high while you are putting it all together.

Light Inspiration

I am in love with this idea from Simply Modern Mom. This would be perfect for out house!

P.S.

Blue Cricket Design is hosting a love letter week...and I absolutely love today's love letter! You could keep this one up all year long if you wanted.

Simply Valentine

Here are three more fun decorating ideas for Valentine's day. They all look pretty simple and inexpensive! Children could even help out with these!

Origami Hearts



Paper Heart Garland


Valentine Wreath

I found all of these great ideas from the fun blog Gordon Gossip

Love at First Sight

I am in love with this.


And this.

And this one too.


I think these wreaths are so romantic and lovely and just perfect for Valentine's Day. But I know I wouldn't want to take it down afterward. Find the instructions here.

Baby Blankets

I'm having a baby. And I'm itching to make something cute and soft for my baby. Just found this great idea through Little Birdie Secrets (the pictures is from them too)! A self binding blanket! Love it! I'm going to have to try it out! Find the tutorial here.

More Pillows

I am in love with both of these beautiful pillows. Unfortunately after all these free tutorials, I don't really want to pay money to get the pattern...maybe someday in the future. Or I could figure it out on my own if I was really ambitious. For now I'll just admire them. :)

Countdown to Kisses

I didn't love this at first...until I glanced through the tutorial and realized that those are Hershey Kisses with numbers glued on the bottom! How cute is that? I would love to have one of these now! If only I had some woodworking skills...

Love is in the Air

I'm getting so excited for Valentine's Day! I really need to get jumping on all these cute ideas I've been finding if I want to do any of them! Here's one more to add to the mix...love it! Although pretty sure I won't be making my own frame like she did in the tutorial. Wow.

And remember all those free printables? Well you can find out how to make your own customized prints here!

Beautiful Bedding

I am in love with this. I desperately want to make it for our bedroom now, which is in serious need of a make-over...or a make-up since it has never really been "made" into anything since we moved in. :)

Pillows

I have been wanting to get some nice throw pillows to go on our old ugly couch...since we won't be buying a new couch anytime soon, at least we could have cute pillows, right? I LOVE both of these ideas!! But I think I would want them to stay all year round...not just for February!

I also like the idea of this little piece of art, although I would probably change the words since I'm certainly not in love with the Beatles at all and that's what I would think of all the time seeing that... any other suggestions?

Valentine Art

I've been seeing so many fabulous Valentine printables all over lately...what a simple and inexpensive way to make your home feel a little more love for the holiday!
Find them here, here, here, here, here and here.

Citrus anyone?

I have been completely craving everything citrus lately! From orange julius, to even the cheap-o tasting Sunny-D, to eating a grapefruit or orange everyday....and I still can't get enough!

So I've been wanting to try lemon tarts for quite awhile...here's a recipe that looks yummy! And can I just say the lemon bars look divine? Not to mention the cupcakes and cookies...mmm. Just go check out this post for yourself.

1. Mini Lemon Tarts

Yields 6 Mini Tarts

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
6 mini pie tarts (frozen aisle)

Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually pour in milk until smooth, stirring regularly. Cook until thick and reduce heat. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat, add in egg yolks slowly. Return to heat until boiling and cook 2 minutes longer (until thick). Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon peel. Stir in lemon juice. Cover and cool completely. Fold in sour cream and add dollops into each pie tart. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream and additional lemon slices and zest.

3. Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes

Recipe via Two Peas & Their Pod, originally on Baking Bites

Ingredients

3/4 cup superfine sugar, divided
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lemon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar.
3. In a large bowl, beat room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks.With a rubber spatula add in the vanilla and lemon zest, do this very gently!
4. Fold in flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions.
5. Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins. Fill them pretty full.
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. The tops will spring back when lightly touched.
7. Cool on a wire rack.

I think this recipe would be divine with a light glaze or a whipped topping. For a simple idea, top with fresh fruit!

5. Luscious Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 lemons, juiced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

Flower Clips and Candy Canes

I am really in love with this flower clip and want to make one for my hair!! These would be fun to make for Valentine's Day...or any day really! :)


Also if you have a collection like this, you might want to try this recipe for peppermint popcorn!

Fun Christmas Ideas

A girl I went to school with at BYU has this fun blog with lots of craft ideas and recipes etc...this year she posted two ideas I love and wanted to do with my little guy but it was a little late in the game...so I want to remember these for next year!

First I love this simple idea for a fun snow globe you can make with your kids! I posted another idea from Martha Stewart but this one just seems more doable to me. :) Find instructions here.

I have been wanting to make something like this all December! I was so excited to see this posted on Vanilla Joy--just wish it had been earlier in the month! I especially love that a scripture is included with each candy. Oh well, I'll just have to remember this idea for next Christmas!

Noel

I love this simple sign, you can find the tutorial here.


The first year I sang in BYU Womens Chorus we had an AMAZING Christmas concert. We sang beautiful arrangements of well known Christmas songs and I loved every second of it. The only sad thing to me is that the songs we sang were not all recorded on the archival cds they give you at the end of the year. That year I fell in love with the song "The First Noel" when we sang an additional verse I had never heard before. I loved it so much I wrote the words in my personal hymn book...which unfortunately I lost. I found these words online but I really think the words we sang the third line was different.

Now let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our Heavenly Lord,
The which hath made Heaven and Earth of nought,
And by his blood Mankind hath bought

This version by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is equally as beautiful and moving and includes the verse I love. I love to sing this beautiful arrangement someday. Here is my gift to you: I hope you find some time to listen to this beautiful music!

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Um...don't these look amazing, festive, and so delicious? I want to try these, but with so many recipes I want to try...they might have to wait until next year. :) Find the recipe here from the Recipe Girl.

Christmas Galore

I came across this post from Simply Modern Mom today and LOVE all of her Christmas decor ideas! It definitely is an inspiration to me--I wish I had a staircase in my house like she does!

I have found some other great ideas I would love to try sometime in my Christmas decorating, I guess this post is a showcase of those!

First these simple candycanes look so easy and inexpensive to make! You could make a garland of them or hang them from a garland...all sorts of things! Find instructions in this post.


I love this jingle bell wreath! It is tiny--like ornament size, or gift tag size...or maybe you could group more than one together and hang then from your door so when it opens and closes it makes that lovely jingle bell sound...again lots of possibilities! Find the instructions here.

I love this paper star wreath! But I think even more I would love to make the cute little stars and hang them from the garland over our doorway so it would look something like this:

I love these little stars! One year my roommates and I made tons and tons of snowflakes and taped them all over our ceiling. We loved it! So I might even hang a few from the ceiling to make our big empty room look more festive. Find the instructions for these here.
I think these snowflakes just look like a fun kids craft! Find the instructions for these here.


Finally...to get you even more in the Christmas spirit is this recipe for these Thick and Chewy Gingerbread cookies that looks really good to me! I can't wait to try it and have that wonderful gingerbread smell in our house...
*update, I tried this recipe and thought it was gross. So I changed the picture and suggest you try this recipe instead! It might be the ones I made last year that were amazing--I can't remember which recipe I used!

What are some of your favorite holiday decor ideas?

Snow Globes

I love snow globes! This looks like so much fun--make your own!! Find instructions from Martha Stewart here.