Pinwheels and Fireworks Wreath Tutorial

This post was originally featured over at The Forward Home blog!!  A great blog about keeping you healthy and great organizational tips!!  Also, she features some GREAT posts about homes that I would love to have!!

I LOVE the 4th of July, the patriotism, the red, the white, the blue and especially the fireworks!!

I am going to share this fun wreath tutorial with you today!!

Let's gather our supplies and get started...

I used: 

Straw Wreath Form

2" Strips of White Floral Fabric

2 1/2" Ribbon

4th of July Garland

Metal Star Scrapbooking Brads

1" Ribbon for Hanging

Strait Pins

Hot Glue

(there are some extra supplies in the picture, because you can make your pinwheels out of fabric, or smaller ribbon, and you can adorn them with buttons, brads, rhinestones or whatever you would like)

Cover your wreath form with your 2 inch strips of fabric. I pinned it down at the start and stop of each piece, but you could use hot glue if you would like.  ( I wanted to be able to take everything off and use the wreath form again for another holiday.) 

Most of my pins ended up being in the back, but a couple were in the front and I just covered them up with my decorations.

Make your pinwheels (but don't attach the center decoration at this point.

I ended up making 8, but add as many or as few as you would like.

I used this tutorial here.

Arrange them on your wreath form as desired.

Pin in place. Some I was able just to pin in the middle, others I pinned on the edges as well.

Take your garland and cut about a 2-3" piece off the end.

Through the center of the garland you will see 2-4 wires.

Take the ends and twist the wires firmly so your little pieces don't fall off, then kind of roll up the end of the wire so it will hold.

 Adjust your garland pieces as desired and pin or glue in place on your wreath.

Take your brads and cut off the back piece. 

Hot glue in place in the center of your pinwheel.

Take your 1" ribbon and make a loop, large enough that it will go around your wreath and hang and your desired length. 

Tie the end in a square knot,  (if desired add a bow on top of the knot.)

Place the loop behind the wreath form, if you have a bow make sure it is at the top, if you just have a knot place it off to the side still at the top.

Take the bottom of the loop and go over the wreath form, and under your knot.

Pull tight.

Hang it up and ENJOY!!

Stop on over at The Forward Home and check out here great tips!!

PHOTOS: LAKE PLEASANT, AZ

A couple weeks ago, my super cute cousin from Tucson called me up and asked if I wanted to hang out with her for a day.

Well, of course, I did!! I haven't seen her in a while, and so I was super excited!

We talked about the things we could do and she suggested going up to Lake Pleasant for the day.

I actually thought she was a tiny bit crazy, outside all day in 111 degree weather.

But I figured that she grew up here and knew what she was suggesting, so went along willingly.

It turned out beautiful!!

We rented a pontoon boat for 1/2 day, and it had shade on it, and the coolness from the lake was very refreshing.  I would definitely do it again!

Thanks Christina for a FABULOUS day!!

Guest Post Recipe: Pizza Rolls

Hey, all! My name is Alisha and I blog (inconsistently) at my blog All About Us, I also take pictures and post them at Alisha Hunsaker Photography. Feel free to check me out ;)

Today I am going to share with you a recipe that I LOVE. I seriously make this for anyone I have over for dinner and it is always a hit. 

I start out by using an Amish white bread recipe that Ashley shared with me a while back. Luckily it works for more than great bread! You can find the whole recipe HERE. 

• 
  
• To start out, you need to make the dough. If you don't have time for this, you can use a pre-made dough like Rhodes or Pilsbury. But trust me, you won't regret the home-made. 

Amish White Bread:

• 
  

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour

• 
  
• In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.

Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and knead for a few minutes. Depending how much you want to make, you can split the dough in two, use one portion for the pizza rolls and the other for bread, cinnamon rolls, etc. 

Roll out your dough into a large rectangle. Like so:

1 small pkg. pepperoni chopped

3 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, pepper, and Italian Seasoning. Spread mixture over dough and add toppings.

Roll up tightly like you would cinnamon rolls, pinch ends.

Cut into 2 inch slices (I use floss for easier cutting) and place on baking sheet.

Let rise for 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 for an additional 30 minutes.

Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping. 

They are really delicious! 

I hope you enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Thanks Alisha, for sharing this DELICIOUS recipe with us!! 

They are so YUMMY, my husband routinely asks when she is making them for us again!

P.S. I am SO lucky to have such a great and talented bestie!!

PHOTO: BLACK & WHITE

One of my favorite things is playing with photos. I LOVE how there are so many options out there if you didn't take the exact image that you wanted, you can tweak it so it is more of the vision you imagined.

I just wanted to share a couple of my very favorite black and white memories.

Snack Attack!!

I am a snack junkie.  

Especially when I am home all day, because I hate to cook for one person, and I REALLY hate to heat up the kitchen when it is 115 degrees outside.  *YIKES*

As I was walking through our local dollar store the other day, I found a plastic serving tray, and lightning struck me, right then and there.

It was the perfect size for my fridge, and I decided my fridge NEEDED  a snack station.

I have tried this before, but I put everything in a drawer.

I apparently need to SEE whats in my snack station, so I can grab from that and shut the fridge.

Here's my GREATLY NEEDED snack station.

List of Great Options for my Snack Station:

• Baby carrots put into 1 serving size bags
• Whole or cut up fruit (peaches, plums, apples)
• Bag of grapes. (yup, those are from my grape vine!!)
• Lowfat yogurt.
• Serving size of applesauce.
• String cheese. (I prefer the light)
• Celery with serving of peanut butter.
• Serving of peanut butter and piece of low calorie bread.
• Cucumber slices with lowfat Ranch, or Greek yogurt pack.
• Single serving of Jello. (sugar free or regular)
• Single serving of pudding. (sugar free or regular)
• Anything else deemed relatively healthy, good to snack on.  Any suggestions?

 YUM!

PHOTOS: DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE, CARS LAND

I am a Disney enthusiast.

I LOVE the movies.

I LOVE the music.

I LOVE the parks.

& I LOVE LOVE LOVE the magic!!

This last weekend, Disney had a grand reopening of it's California Adventure Park.

With this, they debuted the new Buena Vista Street area (the main part where you walk in,) featuring new shops, trolley cars, a fun vintage feel, and a new table service restaurant. 

Also, they debuted the new CARS LAND.

It's AMAZING!

Just like you walked into Radiator Springs, because you did.

ENJOY!!