Friday's DIY - Wine glass floral arrangement

Do you have a single glass left over from your favorite set of glasses, or that lone wedding glass that hasn't broken through all of your moves? Or maybe you just found a glass you couldn't pass up at the thrift store... if so, this one's for you!

Things you'll need:

• Wine glass
• Silk or dried flowers
• Floral foam
• Moss
• Floral picks and picking machine OR wooden picks, wire, and floral tape
• Hot glue and gun

Step1: Get your wine (or martini) glass ready

Step 2: Cut floral foam to fit the shape of the glass at the bottom. Attach to the glass with hot glue. The hot glue is enough to hold it in place but is not permanent so you can remove it if ever you desire to.

Step 3: Cover the foam with a little bit of moss. This step is not necessary since the foam is mostly covered later by the flowers, but it gives it an extra layer for texture.

Step 4: You can either use a picking machine if you happen to have access to one, or you can attach the flowers to wooden picks by wrapping the stem and pick with wire and covering with floral tape.

Step 5: Take your three biggest flowers or blooms and place them evenly (in a triangle) around the glass. This will keep the arrangement looking rounded when it is complete.

Step 6: Evenly add in the rest of your flowers for a nice even look. Add in the leaves around the base of the arrangement and in between any flowers that you would like to stand out (rose stand out from hydrangeas, etc)

Your finished product should look similar to this. Now the items you love will be on display to add a personal touch to your home, serve as a conversation piece, and brighten your day! Happy DIY Friday!

Pictures by Jennifer Griffin of Lily Mairi

Written by Victoria

Unintentional hiatus & an introduction to a new DIY friend...

I'm so very sorry for my unintentional hiatus! Between sickness, birthdays, diets, family in town, etc; I just got lost in all the business. I'm very excited to be back in front of my computer keyboard, especially since I get to introduce you to a crafty, creative, brilliant, friend of mine. Meet Jennifer Griffin! She sells many products under the company name of Lily Mairi.

My name is Jennifer Griffin. I have been married 15 years to Andrew. Been together for 18.5 years.
I have 3 kids Lily, 7, Liam, 5 and Lia, 3. They are the ones that inspire most of my creations. It wasn't until I had kids that I appreciated the gift God had given me in my creative artistic ability. I realized when I had kids that I would be able to serve my family with my ability to make something out of nothing. To use what I had creatively to bless my kids with craft projects, birthday parties, costumes or whatever it is that would make a memory for them to cherish. Being a homemaker and mom, my gifts come in handy in serving my husband too. I have been able to make our house a home with very little money and a bit of elbow grease. A peaceful refuge for him and myself. I am able to take thrift store/yard sale items and give them a new purpose and new life. I LOVE to repurpose/recycle, rather up-cycle, things. I have been doing that since I was a child. I am not sure how I know the things I know. I have had no formal schooling in art. I read lots and lots by others who have gone before me. I also have this thing where I try to figure out how something is put together and made. Some people try to figure out how to copy a restaurants recipe for a fabulous dish. I try to figure out how that pillow was sewn and how I could do it using what I have. Principles that apply to one art form ofter can be applied to others. Basic design principle can be applied to various art forms as well. the same idea behind fashion can be applied to home decor or paper crafting. Personally I think balance is what matters not the color you use or texture you use. I do that often in my paper crafting. My art is visual. I can not write worth a darn. Hence my blog not being up to date. Language is my husband's area of creativity.


Now that you've "met" Jennifer... I will be posting some of her DIY projects, along with my own ideas and others, every friday so that you can make something beautiful every weekend! To follow her blog, like her on facebook, or buy something wonderful from her etsy store  just click the appropriate link.

Look forward to creating with you

Honey Coconut Popsicles

A new favorite snack / dessert in our home is are homemade honey coconut popsicles. This works especially well since one son (maybe two) have dye allergies limiting what popsicles they can eat, and a daughter who is allergic to dairy. Super easy recipe.

Ingredients:

• honey
• 1 can of coconut milk

Mix 3 tablespoons of honey with one 15oz can of coconut milk. Put in popsicle trays or icecube trays. Freeze for about 4-5 hours. Enjoy!

Three ingredient five course meal

This is perfect for a meal with just the adults or a fun thing to do as a family. Five course meal success with three ingredients per course.

Soup: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Serves 4
Preparation Time: 5 minutes to prepare, simmer around 20 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 24 oz. jar of your favorite salsa 
• 1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese 
• 1 16 oz container of chicken broth

 

Directions: Blend most or all of the salsa in your blender until it's smooth. (Save a little bit and add it to the soup pot if you want your soup to have some chunks in it). Add the ingredients together and simmer them until the cheese is melted. You'll have to stir it good to get the cream cheese smoothly blended into the mixture.

Appetizer: Roasted Asparagus and Prosciutto Spears

 

Makes 12

Ingredients:

• 12 asparagus, medium thickness 
• 6 prosciutto slices, halved lengthwise 
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 Lemon (ok, that’s a 4th ingredient, but it’s optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 F. (190 C.) Snap off the woody stems of the asparagus and trim the bottoms with a knife. Wrap a slice of prosciutto diagonally around the asparagus stalks, leaving the tips and base exposed. Brush the exposed bits of the asparagus with olive oil. Arrange on a baking tray. Roast until the asparagus tips are tinged brown and the prosciutto is crispy, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and arrange on a plate. Drizzle with a little lemon juice, if desired.

 

Salad: Cucumber and Pear Salad

 

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 2 English Cucumber, julienned thinly
• 2 Asian pear, peeled and julienned thinly  
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt

 

Optional ingredients:

• Lemon zest, optional
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional

 

Directions: Microwave the honey for 5-10 seconds to just loosen it up. Be sure to use a microwave-safe container to hold the honey. In a large bowl, toss together the ingredients. Let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes for the flavours to meld together. Before serving, drain the excess water that has collected in the bowl. Add in a squeeze of lemon juice and garnish with some lemon zest. Enjoy!

 

Main Dish: Red Curry-Glazed Salmon
Serves 4

 

Preparation Time: 15m
Ingredients

• 4 5-ounce pieces salmon fillet
• 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste 
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• kosher salt and black pepper

 

Directions: Heat broiler. Place the salmon on a foil-lined broilerproof baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix together the curry paste, oil, sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Dividing evenly, brush the salmon with the curry paste mixture. Broil until the salmon is opaque throughout, 5 to 7 minutes.

 

Dessert: Strawberry Crepes with Chocolate Merlot Fudge Sauce

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients:

 

• 2 cups sliced strawberries 
• 8 pre-made crepes, warmed - Purchase crepes in the produce section of your local supermarket or make your own if you have time. 
• 1/4 cup Chocolate Merlot Fudge Sauce, warmed

Directions: Spoon 1/4 cup strawberries in center of each crepe; roll up and place seam side down on a serving plate. Drizzle fudge sauce evenly over crepes. Makes 4 servings.

Christmas in July!!!

When I heard there was a big sale at Target of up to 75% off I made sure everyone was presentable, threw the kids in the car, and headed to Target. If you have a large family like ours you absolutely MUST learn to shop for Christmas all year long and find the best deals. By the time we got there the toys had definitely been picked over, but it was still fairly easy to find birthday and Christmas presents because of the age range and genders of the kids. In the end I got about half of out Christmas shopping done and one birthday taken care of. This is what I got for $125 - so excited!!!

We did it! - One year anniversay in a blended family

It might sound a little dramatic to be so excited that we made it a year with our marriage and family still intact. Honestly, like all things, it is ONLY by God's grace that we made it through. With all the excitement and trials added to our first year of marriage I feel like I ran into a tornado and was spit out on the other side. As you and I know, the eye of the tornado is beautiful. So at the end of year one I love my husband more than ever. I didn't think we could be better friends, but we are. I love all of the kids more each day. I love my Savior more because of His mercy. I love my new baby boy who lives up to his name - Joyful Healer.

I love tradition, so our anniversary definitely surrounded the idea of it being our paper anniversary. We didn't do anything big. We had four ours to ourselves, so we walked around the local downtown area to visit shops and have lunch. I purchased tickets to a concert for him (the tickets are paper of course) and since we couldn't go out of town this month my wonderful husband put together clues on paper to show that he was getting us a cabin to go back to our miniature honey moon. He also wrote me a poem in Welsch.

So here's to paper! Just like the marriage certificate isn't just a piece of paper, these memories aren't just pieces of paper. To me, it is a reminder of our love for eachother, and God's sustaining love for us, over this first year. May God be so kind to us in every year that follows!

I tried my hand at Dill Pickles - but I'm no Martha Stewart

Take it from the pro, Martha Stewart. I did. My good friend over at Just the morning coffee encouraged me to do this so I tried my hand at Martha Stewart's recipe for dill pickle spears, and they turned out pretty good.





The ingredients







The finished product



Just in case you need to see a picture of how you submerge the cucumbers in the vinegar mixture.

Hope yours turn out delicious too!