Ice Cream Bread

    My sister and I were talking last night and she mentioned hearing about ice cream bread.  I had seen it a month or so ago on another blog and thought it was crazy!  A customer of hers had given her the recipe and after talking so long about it we decided it was so simple we would have to make it!  We had everything but the ice cream so off to the grocery store we went.  We decided if we were going to do this, we were going to do it right so we chose to get Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  This ice cream also comes in a pint which is exactly how much you need for the recipe.  I had tried the Red Velvet Cake flavor when I was pregnant and fell in love!!  My sister had tried it of course when I found out how great it was so we decided to use this flavor.  According to the directions, you can use any flavor!  So, if you have a favorite you should try it.

The recipe calls for one and a half cups of self-rising flour and two cups of any ice cream softened.

Mix these ingredients together thoroughly.

Place mixture into any pan of your choice for baking.  Place into 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

This is what our bread looked like after baking, before we took it out of the pan.

Here is the ice cream bread after we plated it.

Here is the close up of the bread after cutting into it.

    I was very surprised at how non sweet the bread was.  We specifically chose a very sweet ice cream with chunks of icing in it but the bread tasted more like regular bread.  Only in a few bites was I able to find a hint of sweetness.  I was so surprised that it worked!  I am still not sure on why I would need to bake this in the future but I would love to hear how you used this bread!

2013 Planner and Free Printables

    At the beginning of the year I was looking for a good planner to help me out now that I have a one year old.  I went to the http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/ blog and fell in LOVE with the planner she designed!!  I mean I ordered the planner and paper punch that day along with designing my own planner pages to go along with the free printables she offered.  I did mine very similar to hers because I wanted to have a cohesive design and I was trying to save as much money as possible after spending so much on the supplies.  I am a computer aided drafter so I knew I could make some myself.  Here is the link that inspired me and I hope it does you too!

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-2013-daily-planner.html

   In honor of her planner I wanted to show you mine and offer you the free printables I used in case you would like to use them for the remainder of the year.  I know it's late, but better late than never!  I am currently working on my 2014 planner maretials so I will have those at the start of the new year!

This is the front of my planner when you first open it.  I chose to add some photo booth pictures to brighten up the space.  I found a template for the cover page and inserted my own text.  I use a very large paper clip to keep my place within the planner.  I store extra tabs in the front pockets in case I need them and have placed coupons and other essentials in there as well.

 

The next page you come to is the calendar page.  I actually printed two of each calendar.  The first calendar page has the tab attached to it so that when you grab the tab and open to that page you will be on the calendar page that you can write on.  I hope that makes sense.  These are the pages I wanted to give my readers in case they want to design their own planner.  You can find them here https://app.box.com/s/vpwhbi4yqr7eg3ph4p9o, enjoy!

After each calendar page throughout the planner are my weekly pages.  There are four to five of these pages depending on how many weeks there are in each month.  I found these free printables at I Heart Organizing and used them to help create the same color scheme for the calendar pages.  The link to these are here..... http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/p/free-printables.html. 

After the last month of the year the next tab I have is for my things to do list.  I found this free printable online a year or so ago and have been using it since.  I loved that it already fit the color scheme perfectly.  I would love to give credit to the original owner so if anyone knows please let me know.  I have this available for you to download here https://app.box.com/s/9vp4ibbk5szai84ana60.

The next tab is where I jot down my fabulous blog ideas!  This was another free printable from I Heart Organizing and can be found in the same location as the link above to her free printables.

The last tab in my planner is where I keep my contacts list.  I found this free printable over a year ago so I am unsure of whom to give credit to but again if you know please let me know so that I can acknowledge and thank them.  I have it available for you to download here https://app.box.com/s/fkh7gzj5j1ur3955xc72.

When you purchase this Martha Stewart planner it comes with a very nice clear pocket in the back.  I use it to hold everything from important documents, bills, coupons, pictures, etc.

I really liked the clear pocket that the planner came with but I needed more storage area for receipts and things.  So I took a regular pocket folder usually used in binders and used the special hole puncher to add it to the back of my planner.  The planner also has a nice pen holder on the side and has a nylon band attached to it so that when you close it you can keep it secure.  I hope this has given some of you inspiration to make your own planners and make it all your own.  When you visit the I Heart Organizing website you will see that she has some different pages that work for her needs but that I didn't feel I needed.  I have added the items I bought on the right side of my blog through Amazon if you would like to purchase them as well.  I took her advice on the pens as well and I LOVE them.  So much in fact, I'm on my second set.  I would love to see how you use the printables in a planner of your own too.  Just have fun with it!  

Linking up here

   http://www.the36thavenue.com/2013/07/best-diy-projects-16.html

 http://www.somewhatsimple.com/blog-link-party-with-a-huge-announcement/

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/2013/07/31/hookin-up-with-hoh-159/#more-14252

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2013/07/transformation-thursday-no-215.html

http://www.serenitynowblog.com/2013/08/weekend-bloggy-reading-link-up.html

http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2013/08/motivate-me-monday-185.html

http://www.itstaylormade.com/2013/08/moonlight-and-mason-jars-monday-week-18.html

Tepee Project

     I have noticed so many custom tepee's on the blogs I read these days and decided to take on the challenge myself.  I started by going to Hobby Lobby and picking out my yard of fabric and then off the Home Depot to get the five dowel rods.  As usual I didn't measure anything and just eyeballed it.  I started by choosing a spot about three inched down on each rod to drill a hole.

These are a few of my supplies.

This is where I chose to drill the holes for my string.

    I already had a roll of jute string in my supply closet so I decided to use it to secure the rods together.  I started by threading the string through all of the holes first.

    Once that was done I tied a large knot at one end.  The holes I drilled were a little bigger than I intended so I had to make sure my knot was rather large and secure.  I used some hot glue as well to secure it to the rod to help keep it in place.  Next I wrapped the jute string around all the rods.  I pulled it very tight and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped.....you get the idea.  When I thought I had it secured enough I pulled the last bit of string through a few pieced that were tightly wrapped.  hen I tied a small knot and secure it with hot glue.

    I let it sit for a few minutes to let the glue secure itself while I tried to figure out how to apply the fabric.  I sadly do not own a sewing machine (wishing and hoping and praying to get one soon!).  Once I was ready for the fabric I took the rods and fanned them out to form the structure of the tepee.  I then laid my fabric around the structure trying to get it to fit just right.  My first problem was that I should have bought more fabric than I did since I don't have a sewing machine to accurately apply it to the structure.  So I used fabric glue to secure the fabric around the two front rods and then used hot glue to secure the top part of the fabric to the jute string.  Since it looked messy on top I added a ribbon around it to try to help the look of it but I am not happy with it.  I have plans to add more fabric so it has an opening that can be opened and closed.  I also want to add a bow or some decoration on the top part where the ribbon is to make it look better.  Then there is the inside where I want to make a mat and pillows so it will be comfy and cozy on the inside.  It isn't finished but here it is..............

Picture taken in the daytime.

Picture taken at night.

Linking up here....

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/search/label/WGW

http://www.sew-much-ado.com/2013/07/we-did-it-wednesday_30.html

http://www.southernlovely.com/2013/07/show-share-103.html

Monogrammed Wine Glasses

    I was recently asked to monogram some wine glasses for a wedding gift.  These glasses were the ones the Bride and Groom were going to be using at the wedding for their toast.  I knew of several different ways I could achieve this by reading many different blogs over the years.  I purchased two wine glasses at Wal-Mart for .98 cents each.  These were nice large wine glasses for the price.  I already had a Cricut machine and plain contact paper to use as my stencil so all I needed now was the medium to color in the letters.  They weren't looking for them to be painted but wanted them to be frosted.  I had seen on one blog a while back where someone used the Frosted Glass spray paint to achieve this effect.  I tried this three different times trying to figure out what I was doing wrong but nevertheless this idea was a major FAIL!  I was trying to avoid buying the etching cream because I knew it was expensive and this was the only reason I would probably ever use it.  But alas, with one day left to complete the project before the big day I ran to Michael's with my 40% coupon in hand.  The coupon helped tremendously but it was still more than I wanted to pay.  After applying my stencils for the fourth time I made sure to apply a really thick and even application of the etching cream to the glasses and set my timer for 15 minutes.  Once the timer went off I just rinsed it off and TA-DA! Wonderfully monogrammed glasses!  I learned my lesson the hard way.  Instead of taking the easy route, which didn't work and put me in a time crunch I should have stuck with what I knew would work in the end, even if it did cost more.  Hopefully, you can learn from my mistake.  And now it looks like I will have lots of monogrammed gifts to give for Christmas now!

The finished etching cream glasses.

A close up of the glasses.