#83 DZPII: Plant a Rose Garden

#83 DZP II: Plant a Rose Garden

 

 

A while ago, Alex & Ryan decided to take out all the old shrubs & flowers from this side planter. So it was dirt for a while there. Until yesterday (Sunday) when Alex & I thought to go get roses to put in the planter. It was his "brilliant" idea, but little did he know that roses were on the DZP list!

 

Ryan helped of course with his little plastic shovel and bucket and was shoveling dirt around, having a great time!

 

He even got to help at Home Depot with picking the flowers... but he was more concerned about the little planter pots with the tropical birds. It was a great Sunday!

#5 DZP: Transform a recipe to your own - Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies

Who doesn't love a soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookie? Really, who doesn't?!

Last week I found a Paula Deen recipe called Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. It was an awesome cookie all around. Easy to bake and definitely easy to eat. Because of the ingredients, it's like eating cake, but so very much a cookie.

So why not try LEMON! Oh Ya!

Note: the picture is not my proudest one, but they flew out the door like hot cakes, so I had to stop a coworker so I can at least take a snap shot!

Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies

Recipe Slighty Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients:

½ cups Butter (1 Stick), Softened/Room Temp

8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Softened/Room Temp

1 whole Large Egg

1 teaspoon Lemon Extract (or Juice from 1 Large Lemon)

1 whole Large Lemon, Zest Grated

1 package (18.25 Oz. Size) Lemonade Flavor Cake Mix

Granulated Sugar, For Rolling

Confectioners Sugar, For Dusting

Directions:

1. Mix the cream cheese and butter until mixture is smooth. Beat in the egg, lemon extract/juice and lemon zest until combined. Add the cake mix and beat just until mixed.
2. The dough is too sticky to roll into balls, so cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 F.While that's warming up, take out covered bowl from refrigerator.
4. Place some granulated sugar into a separate bowl or plate. Scoop out dough into 1-inch to 1 1/4-inch balls. Drop each dough ball into a plate of granulated sugar and roll it in the sugar to coat completely.  
5. Place the dough balls 2″ apart on ungreased/parchment paper covered cookie sheets; flatten slightly. Bake at 350 F for 12 minutes. DO NOT overbake. Take the cookies out of the oven when they look a little underdone.
6. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes, then remove them from the pans to wire racks and cool completely.  
7. *Optional* Dust with confectioners sugar

Store the cookies in an airtight container. Makes about 2 1/2-3 dozen.

#77 DZP: Complete 3 DIY projects

Now when I say "DIY", I really thought "Craft-Time". So while I was off work, and staying home with Ryan, Craft-Time is what I did during his Nap-Time. :)

My craft store loved me: Ryan and I probably went (at-least) 3 times each week...

 

I always wanted to make melted crayon art, so I bought my crayons, the board, the frame, and the flowers, and took my glue and hair dryer to them. Tutorial to follow :)

 

 

Since it was Halloween, I found this off Pinterest (what else?!) and decided to make my own.

Just take a fake pumpkin (from craft store), spray paint it black (or white, or orange, or neon green... get your Pantone-color on!), take rhinestones and stick/glue them on into a web pattern, then hot glue your creepy (but glittery) spider! I absolutely HATE spiders, but I loved this project!

 

Once again, Pinterest sparked my creative-funny-bone: Halloween Tu-tu Wreath!

Take a roll of tulle (I bought mine from amazon, but tulle is everywhere!) and cut into strips. Tie, knot, slip-knot (whatever you want) on a foam wreath (also from craft store, I think I used a 12" wreath). Then run to the craft store and gather decorations for your fancy wreath: flowers, leaves, glittery-shinnies, and hot glue them on! I used  purple and black flowers, orange-glittered stems, and a decorative peacock feather. And because the spiders were 2-package deal, I used the other for my wreath!

 

Yay for crafts and Do It Yourself Projects!

#77 DZP: Complete 3 DIY projects - #1

#77 DZP Goal: Complete 3 DIY projects

Project #1: DIY Dry-Erase Calendar

Now I bet you can guess where I got this DIY idea from...... that's right, Pinterest! More importantly, from The Aesthetic Writer *check her out*

Found this and LOVED the idea from the get-go.

I love that Alex and I now have a place to go and see what date-night ideas we can fill up on there!

I took a 12" x 16" picture frame... and it was a cherry-color wood, so I spray painted it a dark brown. Since I was at Home Depot getting the paint, I picked up several shades of green paint-chips.

Yes, just like the Aesthetic Writer, I got several dirty looks while picking out my paint-chips.

It's free. So deal with it. Ha!

Now following her instructions: I punched 2" x 2" squares from my paint-chips using my handy-dandy EK Square Punch. It was quick and easy. Done & done.

Note: You'll need a total of 35 square chips. You'll see why...

Now I'm sure you can get creative with the colors and what-have-you, but I liked her idea and scattered my colors across the board. Very similar to her calendar.

I bought an ivory board to place underneath the colors and stuck the chips on using double-sided Stotch tape. I didn't measure where each chip should go... I just kind of did it by eye.

Then placed it in the frame, cleaned it up a little bit, write up the days using your dry-erase markers, and there you have it!

A dry-erase calendar!!

One project down... two to go!