Theresa's Mixed Nuts: July 2014

Monday, July 28, 2014

Meeting "Elsa"

Like most girls in the world, my daughter is Frozen obsessed. And like most girls, she has really taken a shining to Elsa. 


Our downtown sponsored a sing-a-long outdoor video screening with the opportunity to meet Elsa this past weekend. Everyone brings their own lawn chairs, and at dusk the video will play on a big inflatable screen.


Even though we are going to Disney this fall, the moronic idea of taking my daughter to this event popped into my head and off we went. But first we scoured town looking for an Elsa dress for her to wear. Of course, there were none to be found, because when we showed up, there were about 500 girls ahead of us in line. I'm sure they were the ones who swooped in and bought all the Elsa dresses before us.

Allison was just excited that she was going to meet her idol, Elsa, and couldn't wait to get there, dress or no dress. After a very long 2 hours in line, complete with wild kids, other frazzled parents, and vendors trying to entice our kids with overpriced cupcakes (Honestly, this was probably as close to Hell as I have ever been) it was finally our turn. 


And after our hellish 2 hour wait, know what my kid said? "Pft! That doesn't even look like Elsa!"

Bang, Bang, Bang goes the sound of my forehead against the wall.


Have you ever been disappointed after meeting someone you look up to?


KitchenMade Stainless Steel Measuring Cups & Blueberry Buckle Recipe #measuringcups

When we first started buying things for our home, we were stuck in the mindset of price winning out over quality. We bought from the lowest price options, but are finding that over the years we are spending more replacing cheaply made items that have broken or quickly worn out.

As one who loves to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I have come to realize that high quality kitchen utensils are a must for any cook/baker. My first few sets of measuring cups were made from plastic. I found that the handles would snap off, sometimes cracks would go through the cups, or the painted on numbers would gradually fade over time, making it difficult to see what the size of the cups were. I finally ended up buying a set of metal measuring cups, and saw this is what I should have bought from the beginning. And since I bake so much, having more than one set is a must for me, and KitchenMade Stainless Steel Measuring Cups are a staple in my every day food prep.

stainless steel measuring cups

KitchenMade stainless steel measuring cups come in 6 cup sizes- 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, and 1 full cup. They are designed to nest easily together, so they don't take up very much room in storage. The groove through the handle makes gripping easy and comfortable. Each cup has a pouring lip, so they can be used to measure both liquids and solids (both in cups and ml). But what I loved best about the measuring cups is the engraved numbers and letters on the handles!

stainless steel measuring cups

Since they are engraved, I can be confident that I will never have to guess which measuring cup size I am using, unlike my old measuring cups that had the paint wear off.

The KitchenMade measuring cups are made from stainless steel, so they are durable, and crafted into one piece, so you can be sure the handles will never snap off. They are dishwasher safe, which makes cleaning a breeze. They will not bend or rust, and are FDA approved.

Since blueberries are in season, I just used these measuring cups this weekend to make my family a delicious blueberry buckle.

blueberry cake

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Directions:

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture, alternating with the milk, beating well after each addition. Fold in blueberries. Pour into a greased 9 inch baking pan.

Make the topping- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Use a fork or pasty cutter to cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the blueberry mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool for 20 minutes. Serve.

Blueberry cake

KitchenMade Stainless Steel Measuring Cups are a great addition to any kitchen! They are currently available for purchase on Amazon, with a MSRP of $35.00. (On sale right now for $17.67!)

If you would like to learn more about KitchenMade, you can visit them on their website.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Sun, Sand & Mudslides

Hurray! The weather finally warmed up enough for our first beach trip this summer. It's been really chilly here this summer, which is very odd. We actually pulled out jackets last week. That's unheard of around here in July! Saturday was warm and sunny, so we packed up our gear, grabbed some friends, and headed to Warren Dunes.

Some of you may remember me talking about taking a trip there last year. My best friend has never been to that beach, so we thought it would be a fun experience for her and her girls.

We did a little bury the kids in the sand...


Took some water selfies...



Rolled down the sand dunes...


But the best part was mud hunting.


The girls wasted no time digging into the natural clay mud and smearing it all over their bodies. Us big girls got in on the action too...



But... this year we went a little further than we did last year and stumbled upon a mudslide! How fun is this!?!?



 A very fun day at the beach. Yay for sun, sand & mudslides!


How often do you go to the beach in the summer?




Scotch Duct Tape The Tape On Back-to-School Contest Has Begun!

Getting crafty is something that I do occasionally, and I like to encourage my girls to join in on projects with me from time to time. I love to see their creativity bloom with each project, and am often awed by the things they come up with all on their own. Summertime is the time we get most of our crafting projects done, so when I was asked if Mariah would like to designs some crafts with Scotch Duct Tape that would help her go back to school in style this fall, I couldn't resist! She was sent 4 rolls of Scotch Duct Tape, and challenged to create a duct tape craft for school.

Duct Tape

She ended having so much fun with the Scotch Duct Tape, she did 3 projects. To get her feet wet, she started with a simple bookmark craft. All that was needed was a strip of duct tape, a few paper clips, and a pair of scissors. 

duct tape craft

Simply pull off your desired length of Scotch Duct Tape, cut a small slit in the center, insert your paper clip, fold the tape in half, cut your snake tongue shapes in the top (I know there is a technical term for that, I just don't know what it is). Voila. Easy, customized bookmarks!

duct tape craft

duct tape craft

She liked those bookmarks so much, she ended up making a few full sized ones for her sister.


She wanted to dress up this boring black phone case too, and made it look fabulous with the snake print duct tape!


 All of these crafts were so fun for her, and now she is looking forward to browsing all of the Scotch Duct Tape patterns the next time we go to the store. 

Do you have a teen who likes to craft? Crafting with duct tape is fun, and with the wide array of patterns, the projects one can make are endless! Scotch Duct Tape wants to challenge crafty teens to design some fun, back-to-school crafts using duct tape, and is currently running a cool promotion called the "Tape On Back-to-School Contest".

Right now, through August 18, teens can submit a photo of their original craft to the Scotch Facebook Page showing how they are going back to school in style, for a chance to win $1,000!



Teen vlogger, Sarai Jones, will be judging the contest, and has created a fun video with locker decorations for inspiration. The contest will include prizes for the top four winners, with prizing of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and $250 for third and fourth place.

Have your teen enter today for a chance to win!



Have you ever crafted using duct tape?


*Disclosure- I received the above mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was provided. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.
  

Friday, July 11, 2014

Homemade Birthday Tees

I was browsing through Mariah's Wanelo list before her birthday this year, and she had a ton of tee shirts listed as gifts she wanted. Some of them were running $25 or more. I'm cheap. I don't want to pay that much for a tee shirt. Jason suggested I try making her similar shirts using my Silhouette Cameo. Honestly, I've never used it for more than cutting out vinyl stencils and a few paper crafts, but I felt confident it couldn't be that hard. I was right, and now a new hobby is born. I picked up a few blank tee shirts for $4 at Meijer, then went to town crafting!

I'm a little late to the party showing these since her birthday was last month, but better late than never, right?


 I was able to make these 3 shirts for what the cost of what 1 would have been!

Since I didn't pack my Silhouette back up to store away in my craft room yet, I decided to make her a belated birthday coffee mug the other day. Trying to find a plain blue coffee mug was a pain, but I found this one for $6 at J.C. Penny, and made her a The Fault In Our Stars mug.

The Fault in Our Stars Cup

I have used vinyl on plastic tumblers before and have had no problems with it coming off in the dishwasher. However, the first set of stencils I did on this mug started to peel off when ran through a cycle. I would recommend hand washing any glass/ceramic dish you apply vinyl to, otherwise you'll be reapplying another set of your stencils to your project. 

Do you like to make your own custom tee shirts? What has been your favorite handmade gift you have ever given or received?



Monday, July 7, 2014

July 4th Fun

Did everyone have a nice Independence Day? My husband hasn't had a 3 day weekend in what seems like forever, so it was really nice having him home for the extra time. We ended up skipping all the  parties this year, and opted for a low-key holiday. We spent most of the day working on projects around the house, followed by fireworks at our downtown river walk. Celebrating with 4 of my favorite people, it was a perfect evening.



 red green fireworks

Saturday was spent at our state park having a picnic followed by trail hiking. Of course, it wouldn't be a real Independence Day party without a  little watermelon eating contest. I think the little one won.



All in all, a very fun and relaxing weekend!

How did you spend 4th of July?


Friday, July 4, 2014

Independence Day Cheesecake Popsicles

To all who celebrate, I want to wish you a very Happy 4th of July! To those who don't, I still want to share my popsicles with you :)

Fruit Cheesecake Popsicles

Recipe adapted from This Little Piglet


Ingredients

1/2 pound fresh strawberries
1/2 pound fresh blueberries
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Wash berries thoroughly, pat dry, then puree (one fruit at a time) in a food processor or blender until smooth. Place both purees in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In blender or food processor, puree the cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth.

In paper cups, layer first the blueberry puree, then the cheesecake mixture, and top with the strawberry puree. Insert a popsicle stick into the center of each cup. Place in freezer for 3 hours, or until fully frozen.

Peel off the paper cups when ready to serve.


What are you serving at your 4th of July cookout today?