Red White & Blue Salad

We've been trying to cut down on the carb intake these past few months (mainly pasta, rice & bread), and by cut down I mean we pretty much don't eat them.  We'll cheat on the weekends, or if someone has us for dinner, but at home? None. I love carbs, of course - it's just that it became a slippery slope.  What was once a healthy portion of pasta on our plate soon became the two of us splitting a family size bag of egg noodles..smothered in amazing sauce and topped with a loaf of bread. oops.   I'm exaggerating (barely) but it IS time for a little reality check.

So when we go to a BBQ I try to bring something non-carby.  I'm totally going to mow down on the carbs tomorrow fyi, don't you worry, I'm just figuring there would be plenty of pastas, breads, etc. Mmm.. I can't wait! So here's what I'm planning for tomorrow, I think it will be delicious. Perfect blend of sweet to savory:

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I thought of it last night, trying to figure out a fun & fresh salad to bring.  This morning I browsed Pinterest for ideas to see if others had done it, and sure enough, roughly one million people had also thought Red Strawberries, White Feta, and Blueberries would be adorable and delicious for fourth of July. Glad I'm on the right track....

But as Pinterest tends to go, almost NONE of the links actually went anywhere they should (biggest pet peeve about Pinterest) but I figured, this is the simplest thing in the world, we don't need a recipe, right? Photos say it all.

Here's my plan, toss these things in a bowl (layering might be cute, in a clear bowl...):

• Mixed Greens, maybe some fresh basil
• Sliced Strawberries (abundant out here right now!)
• Blueberries
• Feta or Crumbled goat, whatever's fresh at the store.
• Candied pecans or walnuts (might keep this on the side to sprinkle, never know who's allergic)
• Balsamic Vinaigrette (might home make, might buy.... )

That's it. One thing I've learned is to BRING the dressing on the SIDE because salads love to get soggy while they wait to be eaten.  Before serve time just toss a little in the salad and coat everything (I mean a LITTLE).  Then leave the dressing out for people to add if they wish.

Here's another idea (with absolutely no link...) and if I had a star cookie cutter on hand, I'd probably do it, it's so easy and cheesy I love it:

So that's probably what I'm going to make. But who knows, sometimes I get to the store and things change directions completely. I'll probably end up coming home and making twice baked potatoes, topped with garlic bread.. and artichoke dip..... haha.  Or tortellini, I've been craving the tortellinis.. 

Happy Fourth of July everyone, have a fantastic holiday & be safe! Fireworks be crazy.

-Jesse

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DIY July 4th Ideas for the Host

SURPRISE! It's July.. didn't see that coming, huh? Me neith.  Snuck right up.  Time to get ready for the Independence day activities! Will you be hosting the celebration this year? We aren't hosting, but it did get me thinking how I would decorate if we WERE to host.. I love a good brainstorm!

I was browsing Pinterest this morning looking for ideas that fit this bill:  fun, unique, but most important: Easy DIY.  I love being able to take a few supplies that I always have on hand, and whip up some snazzy party decorations that didn't cost an arm & a leg. I picked a few favorites to share with you today, I really like them for their simplicity. To each their own of course, I really lean towards decorations that go along with a theme but aren't screaming it at the top of their lungs. For example, a collection of blue bottles with some red or white flowers:

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That's like a ten second centerpiece.  Cobalt blue bottles are pretty easy to find nowadays, but in-case your town has run completely out of cobalt, just take any bottles and spray paint them:

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I've shared a similar project like that before.  Bottles are such an abundant resource around most any home, and paired with some simple flowers from the yard... easy.  On the topic of tables, a quick way to jazz up a simple white tablecloth to match is to use plain old solid colored crepe paper.

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I love that! Simple, woven crepe paper is such a different use than the classic swirly streamer, right? Cute & Easy.

This next centerpiece is a great way to use the shell of a watermelon.  I'm hoping they used the watermelon insides for eating (I'd melon ball the whole thing & put that in drinks... mm...)

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They're like flowering Cactus! That's so cute.. and paired with a simple star pattern fabric you buy by the yard... delightful.  the simple addition of solid colored paper lanterns... a flag or two, that table came together quick & easy. I could see this with the baby watermelons, lined down the center of the table....

Not into fruit rinds all over your beautiful table? OK - how about we take one of the more affordable flowers and give it an expensive look? Hello Carnation Ball......

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That, as you may have guessed, is a ball of floral foam covered in short cut carnations. Looks amazing! And with all the different shaped floral foam available... I spy a trend that's about to spiral out in all sorts of crazy directions.  Possibly literally, we'll see...

You may have noticed.. I'm a big time fan of bunting, but don't always have the time to sit down and MAKE the bunting.. (Remember this tutorial?) this is a very cute, Americana style bunting solution that you can keep for years to come.

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Oh, and it's washable.  These Handkerchiefs are pretty cheap too: Here's some from Amazon, and here are some bulk ones from Oriental Trading Co.  Solid colors would look nice too.

And just for fun, here's an idea board that totally sets the mood for what I was searching for! Simple, cute, modern....

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YUM.  Those colors are all so nice together...  and notice it's following the theme but  not so specifically, meaning - you could easily have a patio theme like this year round versus packing it all up in August.  And who wouldn't want that?

To see more of the ideas I found, check out my board on Pinterest, or follow all my boards to see what else I'm oogling on Pinterest.  It's just so easy to get caught up on there, am I right?

What will you all be doing for the fourth of July? Are you hosting or will you be hosted?  Hope the weather is great in your 'hood! Have a great day...

Oh, pop back over to this post to see the decorations I posted a while back for that crazy Tamale Party we had.  I swear I am still cleaning the Masa out of my mixer...

-Jesse

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Party Time: Easy Appetizers

Happy Friday! It's March 1, Rabbit Rabbit! (Remember that from this post?)  On Monday I asked all of you facebook fans what your best tried & true recipes for easy party appetizers were, I think the fancy term for that maneuver is crowd sourcing or something. And wow - did you guys deliver! These recipes sound so good (and easy!) that I had to eat a big breakfast before sitting down to write this post. No joke!

Let me start with a huge thank you!  It's been fun to learn a few new ideas, and all of them have been pinned of course.  Now the trouble will be deciding which one to bring! Here's a link to the original facebook discussion if you missed it: Clicky Clicky.  Keep reading for pictures and links to the full recipes. 

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DIY Party Decorations and Tamale Party

Last weekend we threw a Tamale making party. It was really fun, definitely a lot of work but everyone pitched in & we were eating amazing Tamales in no time.  I, of course, wanted to decorate for this party. It's probably the real reason I wanted to have a party in the first place, who knows!  Decor ups aren't essential for a good time, but in my opinion I think they set the vibe.  You walk into a party that's all dolled up, & your subconscious says oh yea, this is gonna be fun.  I had absolutely no interest in paying for decorations though, so I made really easy paper bunting from things I had around the house. And now I'll show you how to!

Paper. String. Tape. Maybe some staples.  So easy! 

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Party Time: Cake Stands & High Rise Snacking

This weekend we are having a little birthday party for Ralph's 30th, and when we started planning the food I immediately thought of these cupcake stands.  Not that we are serving thousands of cupcakes or anything, but taking food serving to the next level {pun!} is always helpful when you're running low on countertop real estate.  The bittersweet moment here, is that I already gave away about 5 of these that I had made before, but never used - so during the move I decided to ditch 'em.  And now I need them! That's always the way.  Luckily, they are so easy & affordable to make, that you could make them & gift them every single time you have a party and never really feel the effects in your wallet.  Look how simple these are, and if you're like me, you'll wonder "why didn't I think of this before?"

That's pretty much it.  Easy. The only trick is to make sure to use a strong epoxy or silicone that will bond glass to glass {I use E-6000} That's it. Really. Plus it's almost New Year's, serve up your snackers in style, right? It's so easy.

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A Fresh Start

Good Morning! It's the final week before Christmas, can you believe that? I haven't done a thing, and that's fine.  We have our tree, which was surprising enough, but it has yet to be decorated.  It has lights, but the ornaments haven't made their way to the tree, yet.  And you know what? I like it.  Eh, we have a few days, right? Last week was so crazy, quite a few things didn't get done, and I didn't have time to write - sorry! 

Do you ever have those days or weeks where you just try to do everything and then some? Man, that was last week for me.  I felt like I had a million things I wanted to do, and I was running around trying to do them all - which leads to not much getting done, or at least not very well.  So this week I'm starting fresh, and taking the advice of one of the greatest fortune cookies ever: Live in the moment.  That couldn't have come at a more perfect time, what with the holidays, and our move.. I'm getting ahead of myself, & setting unrealistic expectations.  So this week will start with a deep breath, a fresh start, and a big cup of coffee. 

Ok - no more whining.  Even though we haven't decked our halls, doesn't mean I haven't thought about what we would be doing to bring in the holiday spirit.  In the past year or so, I've gradually fallen deeply in love with the whole midcentury style, so I pulled up a few ideas for a midcentury holiday, and found some really cool ideas..

Not sure if I could make the switch from a live tree to an aluminum one, but this one looks so interesting, it's worth a try some year.  Put a colorful spotlight on there...  Here's a fireplace that we have actually been scouring eBay to find, I would love one of these in our place:

I love paper, and I love projects, these mid-century style ornaments are easy, and so cute:

Of course, they are from Design*Sponge...head there for a full tutorial. 

So anyway, how are you all doing, ready for the holidays?  What are your mantras that get you through the busy times?  Enjoy the season, live in the moment, and Happy Holidays everyone!

      -Jesse

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Gnocchi with Butternut Squash, Sage and Pine Nuts

There are so many recipes for side dishes for Thanksgiving that go beyond the traditional, I can't even tell you where to start. I will throw in my two cents however, on what I think you should definitely consider making to grace your Thanksgiving table this year.  This is the second time we've made this, it's a delicious gnocchi dish with roasted butternut squash, sauteed fresh sage, and pine nuts.  It is delicious!

We found this recipe last year, when we were going to a Thanksgiving Potluck, "Friends-giving" as it was called, and I believe it was the week before the big day.  We wanted something different.  So, using my favorite way to find recipes, we just knew a few ingredients we wanted to use and just plugged them into good ol' Googy.  In this case "Gnocchi with Butternut Squash" pulled up a ton of results, and we chose {and loved!} this one.  It's pretty easy, pretty affordable, and always a big hit.  So when you're browsing the thousands of recipes out there for something new this year, consider my advice and try this! Hop over to Savory Spicy Sweet where Liz will give you the step by step. Thanks Liz!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, have a wonderful day hopefully filled with great food, family & friends!

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Spotlight: Kaleido Trays

Oh my! Pin this to my must-have board, I love these!  These Kaleido Trays from A+R are incredible, and so versatile.  We love entertaining in our home, so having a wide selection of trays comes in extremely handy. All the time. Clean & ready trays take a load off as the host, because as people arrive with this or that, you can quickly and easily lay things out, spending less time preparing and more time enjoying.  Not only are these the cutest colors in the world (80's rainbow!), but the combinations of trays you can create using these geometric shapes are seemingly endless.  They all fit snugly together, so you can have large open trays, trays with sections, trays with dipper bowls, and they all stack nicely to be put away.  Though with these colors, I guarantee I'd have them on display!  They give me all kinds of ideas for geometric wall art too, seeing these interchange so easily into different patterns is really inspiring! I was always a sucker for those geometric wooden blocks we played with as kids (I still have some, and use them!) so it's no wonder I'm drawn to them. You can purchase these trays from the A+R Store.  What's your take, do geometric shapes have a place in your home?  Enjoy the day, it's raining here - fun!

Let's keep in touch: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter & Email. 

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Party Time & Pinterest Picks: Paper Chains

Whoah, it's Friday the 13th! Let's have a party.  Today's party time is also a Pinterest pick, that's a lot of P's! I've posted before about DIY paper decorations, and after I came so close to making them for fourth of July, I am officially adding paper chains to that list.

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Paper chains, I'm sure you remember those!  The picture above is not just paper chains but ombre paper chains. What a winning combo. I've always had a thing for these simple decorations, they are easy to make and look awesome.  I admit, there was a time I wouldn't dare decorate a party with these chains. It was the teenage years, and could you blame me? In elementary school they had us make tons of those for every holiday, or so it seemed.  Maybe the teacher just needed to keep us busy, who knows! So after 6 or so years of these things everywhere I looked there was no way they'd make an appearance at my party. No.Way.

Luckily I'm not a teenager anymore and I can get back to adoring and appreciating these awesome chains. Plus, thanks to the magical internet, we can share all these creative ideas & uses for paper chains with each other.  Just like I'm doing today.  Do you like green?

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Because I do! The monochromatic chains above add a lot to what seems to be a St. Patty's Day Party. Bring on the clovers! Speaking of holidays, get ready for the cute:

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Ah, jeez! With just a slight tweek to the technique, you can spread the love all over your party with these heart garlands. There's one more holiday garland I found, that's so sweet & cute I was almost sick:

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Yea, those are carrots. Carrots! I couldn't have come up with that. I don't necessarily throw big Easter parties, but now that I've said that out loud, I'm sure the day will come when I am nominated to host some sort of Spring fling.  Now I'm prepared.

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See, so just keeping around a pair of scissors, a stapler + a million staples, and some fun paper will always leave you prepared for the last minute decorations. They don't take long either, just pop a movie in and by the time it's over you'll be swimming in these. My only warning is to put your cats to bed early, they can't resist tearing these apart.

Alright ladies & gents, there's just a few more reasons why every party, no matter how big or small, should be all decor'd up. It's not hard, practically free, and will make you fabulous. It's fun, everyone will remember them from childhood,  and you can customize them to get the exact look you want.  For more party ideas, see my Party Time posts and my Party Time board on the ol' Pinterest.  While you're at it, browse around my Pinterest Picks posts too, they're kinda fun. Have a good Friday the 13th and a good weekend, it's Party Time!

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Party Time: Jello

This weekend I am going to a "1960's beach party" themed party (whatever will I wear!?), and while dreaming up what retro food to bring, jello immediately came to mind.  So for today's Party Time, I'm going to focus on the delightful & mysterious creations of Jello.  More importantly, the Jello Shot. Here's what I'm about to tackle today:

So cool! Plus, instead of trying to squeeze the jello out of some soggy paper cup, we can just take a slice, on a plate, and actually get some of this in our mouth.  Why has this not always been the case?? I've always liked jello shots at parties, but let's face it - it's not a clean experience.  All these, can of course, be made without alcohol.  Jello for all!

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Spotlight: Built In Cooler

I have been meaning to share this for a while now, and with Memorial Day weekend coming up, full of parties and beautiful weather, this is the perfect time to share.  Remember the succulent tables? Well take a look at these:

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Party Time: DIY Surprise Lantern

Another Party Time post here, if you missed the first one, you can find it here.  I came across such a great tutorial for a surprise lantern, I knew I had to share it ASAP.   I was actually browsing different uses for paper rice lanterns, when this beauty caught my eye:

At first I thought, "oh that's neat, some tissue paper fringe" but that quickly became "hey wait a minute!"

 

 YEP! That's confetti! How fun! When I was growing up, there was this graduation party we were throwing, and I was racking my brain for a way to have confetti "bombs" around.  Of course I had yet to discover paper lanterns, maybe things would have been different! This is such a great idea, and it comes from the wonderful party planner over at Oh Happy Day.

 This is something that you could easily tackle, and add a lot of fun & a huge mess to a party. What's a party without a huge mess, right?  They are reusable too! Head over to the tutorial to see the clever "plug" design.  The only thing I can think to add to the tutorial, is to make sure you hang it from a fairly sturdy hook, so only the plug pulls and not the entire ball.  The house I live in is pretty old, and I swear the walls are made out of brittle chalk. It's a real challenge to keep a hook in the ceiling!

When I first saw them I assumed they were being used as a light, which would be a really cool variation on these. Minus the confetti of course, that's probably a crazy fire hazard! But a rice lamp with a great fringe on the outside and a light on the inside would look fantastic. Even a white ball, with white fringe, and a colored light bulb would give almost a fur look.  The rice paper ball certainly has a lot of uses!

Alright party people, let's get to work on these - it's Party Time!

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Party Time: DIY Decor

Spring has sprung, officially.  This week has been cold and rainy here, and I can't help but think forward to all the summer parties and bbq's ahead!  I love a good party, we all do - but more so, I love to decorate for a good party!  Though after the food and beverages have been bought, there isn't always a lot of room left in the budget for the decorations, am I right?  Don't let that stop you though - you can still make your party sparkle with a few affordable supplies, a few internet searches, and a few good movies to pass the time.  While I won't bombard you with all the great ideas I've come across in one long post, I plan to post pretty regularly in a section I call: Party Time! Today's Party Time will be using one of my favorite (and cheap!) materials, paper!

Let's start with the increasingly popular tissue paper pom pom:

 

These are great!  They don't take you that long, they aren't that difficult, and they make a really great impression at a party.  Plus, tissue paper is so affordable and comes in so many colors!  You could hang just a few here and there, or go all out and have a swarm of them.  If you have multiple areas, try hanging odd numbers of them over each table or area.  I think odd numbers are fantastic.  Here is the tutorial on Martha Stewart's site.

Up next we have Paper Bunting:

I had seen these before and never knew it was called bunting.  "...They have a different word for everything." -Steve Martin!  Soon as I found that out, it opened up a whole new world of techniques to me.  The first few (rough) ones I had done, I used paper and a stapler - but tape, jeez! Why did I not think of that? Faster, easier, more attractive.  You could easily whip up a great set of bunting for your next bash, also at an extremely low cost.  Again, paper & string come in so many great colors that this theme is up to you.  I'm really into the Ombre thing lately (oh, you noticed?) so my next party will definitely have a fade! I found two great tutorials for bunting:

Delightfully Tacky 

and

Cap Classique

Last but not least for today, an old-y but a good-y, is the classic paper lantern.  Remember these from elementary school? I have used these time & time again for party decorations. Take a look:

 

These are such a good standby, and surprisingly few people know how to make them - so you're sure to impress.  Luckily, I found some wonderful tutorials on the interweb for ya.  In the above shot, a paper lantern is used around a glass vase to transform it into a table lantern - this one's new to me so I'm really excited to have found it.  What a clever little candle holder!   In the second we have the hanging lantern, but with a rounded edge, framing the divider of a room.  Using patterned paper is fun here too, or stringing the lanterns up like a garland.  I can't find a good example of that unfortunately, so I will just have to do a whole tutorial on that soon (oh darn!).  Here are the tutorials I've come across:
Design Sponge: DIY Wednesdays
and
Lucky Dylan Weddings

Don't forget these colorful mobiles I posted about before, the sewing machine technique is also extremely helpful & can be used with a wide variety of shapes.

What are you favorite party decoration ideas?  Send them in to me here so I can share them in a future segment of Party Time.  I set up a Party Time Pinterest board as well, click here.  Special thanks to these lovely blogs who have posted tutorials of their work, head over to their blogs and spread the love.  It's party time!

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