Ring Pop Popsicle

My sister sent us these fun popsicle mold that I la-love I just had to share it!  They are ring pops!!

She bought the mold at a discount store but you can actually buy the it on amazon.  I love these because they are so small the mess is minimal when she eats.  There is also this little lip that helps keep drips from going all over the place.  Not to mention, they are so cute and bring back so many memories of eating ring pops.  Love it.

There are a million popsicle recipes out there and you can make them from juice.  I won't use juice until it warms up and she can eat them outside.  Too much mess for this mama.  Here is what I usually resort to.  Fresh fruit, yogurt, and chocolate pudding.  These don't melt as fast as the pops made of juice. 

It usually takes one yogurt can to make a whole tray.  But for photo purposes I made one of each.  So yummy and perfect for summer!  I hear the chocolate pudding one is delicious. 

Indie Chic Strip Quilt Tutorial

I'm addicted to strip quilts.  I was hooked after the first one.  I usually don't take orders but when my friend asked if I would make her one I didn't even hesitate.  I love strip quilts.  They are easy to make and no matter how you arrange the prints it is guaranteed to be beautiful.  I always go back to THIS mini tutorial about strip quilts because she gives a lot of great tips.  

So to start she picked out five prints though you can do as many as you would like.  I can only order by the half yard so any more prints would just get too expensive.  These gorgeous prints are from Riley Blake's Indie Chic Collectoin purchased on fabric.com of course.  1/2 each of the design on the front, 2 yards for the back, and a half a yard for the trim.  

Once the fabrics are washed and iron it's time to cut.  I have not invested in a cutting mat yet so I use this trick for now.  I fold the fabric over twice, iron on a big piece of freezer paper on top, measure out the strips, and cut.  It takes more time than a mat but it works fine for now. 

I cut each print in different lengths ranging from two inches to five inches.  You can of course go a little smaller or do sizes in between.  It's up to you! 

Once everything was cut, I laid them out on the floor and started arranging.  Random but so pretty.

I stack them up from and start sewing the pieces together.  Now in the other mini tutorial she says to sew two pieces together, then another two.  Then put them together to make four.  Repeat.  This helps to keep the quilt from getting too warped and she is right.  I definitely use that tip when sewing it together. 

I failed to take a picture of the front sewn together.  Once it is, put the top, batting, and back together and start quilting.  This is my favorite part because it is almost done!  I'm lazy and because this quilt was only a crib sized I didn't baste it.  When you sew, start in the middle of the quilt and work your way to one end.  Then go back to the middle again working your way to the other end.  I quilt 1/4 of an inch away from where the two ends meet.  I hope that makes sense. 

Now again I forgot to trim as I was attaching pieces together so I had to do it once the quilt was already quilted.  It's easiest to trim as you sew each section on.  What a pain to measure out this big honky quilt to make sure it was even.  Don't make that mistake. 

Then I cut strips and made some bias tape.  If you don't know what bias tape is or how to ma

ke it Dana has an amazing tutorial. 

And a few hours into the late night you have a finished quilt!  Isn't it so pretty?!  I didn't do anything special to the back I just kept it plain with the dark blue.  She plans on using it on the grass so we went with a dark color for the back. 

I know I am crazy but it makes me want to make another one!  

Happy Memorial Day

All I can say is this video is amazing.  Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Firetruck Party Invitaitons

The most recent party I had was a firetruck themed party.  It was so cute, it just makes me want to have a little man in my life.  My first ever boy party and hoping not the last.  These are the simple invitations I made because I didn't have wonderful Marcy from Post Little Party Shop at the time.

I had these fun vellum envelops in my party stash and used that with a little twine.  Now they are ready to go to all the perspective firefighters. His mom loved them. 

Now Marcy's invitations are just darling I have to share them.  If I could go back in time I would and use hers instead.  Mine just looks so amateur in comparison.

And she has this one.

She did however do the rest of the graphics for me and I will share that later!  I love working with her.  

Here are some of the pictures that inspired me, all from Pinterest of course.   Don't you just love that cake?! You can check out the board HERE.

Cozee Kitchen: Super Quick and Easy Korean Dinner

 This morning I woke up thinking about what my day was going to look like, the word that came to mind was RUSH! I knew that it was going to be a busy day, so I took out ground beef in the morning before I left for work. Then from 8am-noon I kept thinking about what to make , then the light bulb came on! Six Sister's Stuff's Korean Beef! So I came home from lunch and whipped it up!

Six Sister's Korean Beef recipe entailed quite a bit of ingredients and I wanted something super quick and easy so I modified it. 

Korean Beef Ingredients:

1 lb. Lean Ground Beef

1/3 cup Mr.Yoshida Marinade

2 tbs. Agave (or honey or sugar)

2 tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)

Sesame Seeds (optional)

Chopped Green Onion (recommended)

Dash of Salt and Pepper

1. Sear ground beef with salt and pepper.

2. Add Marinade, Agave, and Liquid Aminos.

3. Add sesame seeds.

4. Top off with fresh Green Onions.

So, on my way back to work from lunch I was thinking of what to pair with the Korean Beef... then another light bulb came on... Korean Veggie Pancake!!!

Hobakjeon - Korean Zucchini Pancake

1 Zucchini chopped into matchsticks

1/2 cup of Flour

1/2 cup of Water

1/8 tbs. of Salt

1 Egg

3 tbs. of Canola or Vegetable Oil

Sesame Oil

1. Heat up canola/vegetable oil on medium heat on a skillet.

2. Mix flour and water together with a whisk. 

3. Then whisk in egg  and salt into the mixture.

3. Mix in chopped zucchini into mixture.

4. Pour entire mixture with zucchini onto your heated skillet and spread out the zucchini with a fork.

5. Once edges start to sizzle and cook, drizzle sesame oil around the edges. 

6. Once the side that is cooking is brown, flip and brown the other side.

Hobakjeon Dipping Sauce

(sorry I didn't take a picture)

4 tbs. of Braggs Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce

3 tbs. of White Vinegar

1/4 Onion chopped

1 Clove of Garlic

1 Jalapeno sliced

Splash of Sesame Oil

Squirts of Sriracha 

Mix all ingredients together. Add as much or as little Jalapenos and Sriracha as you want. 

 

    

OKLAHOMA

Praying for Oklahoma and other neighboring states affected by tornadoes. Praying for the families.

Sleepover Party Games

Have you entered the giveaway?  If not be sure to do so HERE. 

You can't have a sleepover without games!  When I was a preteen I remember doing make overs, hair, nails and putting on those green face masks that peel off your face.  It's not like our perfect skin needed it but it was just so much fun!  There are a ton of sleepover party games out there, here are just a few that the girls played.  [Special thanks to Sandy for the pictures] 

Instead of just painting your nails why not play spin the bottle with nail polish?!  You spin the bottle and whatever color it lands on you paint one nail with that color.  By the end you have a rainbow of colors.  

The girls used the eye masks for their blind make overs.  The person blindfolded gets to put makeup on another person.  I bet there were a lot of giggles after seeing the end result. 

I can't take credit for this game.  This is one Sandy told me about.  You fill balloons with candy, confetti, and I used glow bracelets too and hang them up.  I hot glued a pin to the end of a wooden dowel and you get a balloon pinata!  Blindfold one girl at a time and let them see what they can get.  

Sandy posted a video of her daughter jumping and jumping trying to pop one of the balloons.  I was literally laughing out loud.  I can't wait to try this at a party. 

And just a random balloon tip.  I had to blow up a ton of little balloons for one of the walls as decor and what helped save my lungs was our ball pump.  It's slower but it works. 

We also talked about a craft for the girls.  Decorating totes, maybe T-shirt, and in the end she came up with sewing pillow cases.  So cute!  I loved this idea.  I just prepped and wrapped all the fabric and all the girls had to do was pin and sew.  Such a neat party favor! 

What a fun sleepover I wish I was there!  What kind of games did you play at sleep over parties?

Feeling so Grateful

What makes birthday's sweet are the people who make it special.  We have spent the past three years in Germany and in this time I've met some wonderful people.  Some old friends, some new, but all of them so giving.  Having people like this in my life make it a little easier to be away from family.... especially the one you hate to be without.  

Throughout the week I have been blessed over and over and over.  My heart is just overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of these friends who are like family.  Part of me feels very undeserving of these gifts, but I know God is using each person to show me just how much he loves me.  You know who you are, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my birthday special.  And of course to my husband who never ceases to amaze me with his thoughtfulness.  I love that man.  I'm so grateful to have you all in my life.  

Zebra Sleep Over Party

If you follow my facebook you will know my ADD is getting the best of me and I am all over the place.  Parties, quilts, finishing furniture, and so the list goes on.  And in the midst of the craziness we have a new sponsor who is generously doing a huge giveaway?!  Be sure to enter HERE. 

Parties have gobbled what spare time I have right now and I am loving it.  This party was especially fun to put together and Sandy's home was the perfect location.  Isn't that brick wall just gorgeous!   It's actually wall paper and I want it!

The main focus of the table were the zebra cupcakes.  They were both zebra on the inside and outside. I dyed chocolate cake black [you can find the food coloring here], swirled it with the vanilla and baked.  Piped some regular icing and then did marshmallow fondant zebra stripes.  [Covered crates in fabric to give the cupcake stand some height.]

Kept the decor pretty simple.  Poms of course, a cute banner and do you reconize that table?!  Yup she has the same sewing table as me, the Norden Gateleg.  I told you it was perfect for parties too.  Instead of a table cloth I used ruffled streamers.

It took one full roll of white and black sewn together.  I taped it to the table and also taped it down to the floor to create this fun zebra striped faux table cloth. 

On the table the girls got some yummy treats.  Plastic movie tubs to hold their popcorn and this huge crate of chips and movie candy.  [And to create some depth, the box they are sitting on is just a board game wrapped in polka dot wrapping paper] 

Striped chocolate covered pretzel sticks and eclairs, which were the birthday girls one request.  I also set up a fondue section for the girls.  Marshmallows with red striped straws, strawberries, apples [not pictured].  The plastic bowls that held the toppings were from Ikea.  They held the peanuts, white chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles.  Talk about a sugar overload! 

And of course you need milk to wash it all down! My carafe is from Ikea for a buck.  I absolutely love love love glass milk bottles but they are so expensive!  I just bought a six pack of Starbucks Fraps, enjoyed them, washed, and scrubbed the labels off.  To get rid of the printed expiration date, take a little nail polish remover and wipe it off.  Easy peasy. 

The girls favorite table was the one that held all the party favors.   I replicated the balloons and streamers from a pin on pinterest.   You can check out all the goodies the girls got HERE.  

I hung up their boxers on the wall for them to see and they fit all the girls perfectly.  Doesn't the birthday girl just darling?! 

I definitely foresee a sleep over in my little love bugs future. 

Cleaning Tip: How to get gum off fabric

The other weekend a family member sat in the car and mysteriously had gum on his back without him knowing. So to our dismay there was gum on the passenger seat of my newcar. My husband was freaking out a little bit because he was driving my car when it happened. He said he had two choices to make, to tell me or not to tell me. I was glad that he did because I knew he didn't know what to do. In all honesty I didn't for 2 seconds and then a light bulb turned on.... ICE!

What you do is get ice and rub it on the gum. Keep rubbing it until it is cold and hard. Once that is accomplished just scratch away!

 Then.... TADA! All gone!

So next time you get gum on fabric think ICE!

Posh Little Party Shop Giveaway

As you know I la-la-love parties so I can't wait to share my newest sponsor, Marcy from Posh Little Party Shop.  She has the cutest graphics and did I mention she is the one responsible for my blog design?  Just check out some of these fun designs.  She makes baby shower invites, birthdays, housewarmings... if you have a party she can do it. 

Where do I even start?  Marcy is super woman.  No joke!  First and foremost, she is a mom of four gorgeous girls.  Woahhh, I can barely handle one, I don't know how she does it.

And on the side, she crafts, is a photographer, speaks fluent HTML and of course a digital designer.   Just check out her blog HERE and you will see the depth of her talent.  For now her focus is the design shop and she has a lot to offer.  She doesn't just do invitations but also has graphics for cupcake toppers, tags, banners, chore charts, and yup even iron on shirts for the birthday girl or boy!  I say just get a party bundle and get everything at once!

Marcy is kind enough to offer a giveaway to you!  The lucky winner will get a choice between the two:
Party Bundle 
Here is an example of what you get.

Or the Mommy Package
This includes a chore chart and mommy card design.

There are multiple ways to enter. Please leave a separate comment below for each entry.  And if you are commenting anonymously, please please include your email so I know how to contact you.

1. Visit Marcy's shop and tell which is your favorite or an idea of what you would like to see. 

2. Like Posh Little Party Shop and Make it Cozee on Facebook
3.  Share the giveaway on your Facebook page.  Be sure to link back to us on the status. 

3. Become a follower of Posh Little Party Shop on Pinterest
4.  Pin one of Marcy's designs from her Pinterest Board onto yours.
5. Tweet about the giveaway!

That's five different ways to enter so don't waste any time!  A winner will be randomly selected and announced on May 27th.  Good luck!