Father's Day and Grad Gift + Free Printable

Father's Day and Grad Gift + FREE Printable

{Thank you for giving me the World}

Here is a fun and super easy project for Father's Day, Teacher's and Graduates. 

Download my free printable to make this thoughtful gift!

This is a great project with printable tag to give to dad, grandpa or any special dad in your life!  Perfect for Teacher's, and graduates or anyone who can "Dream Big".

You just need a few inexpensive supplies to make this thoughtful gift.  You probably have most of these already.

1.  Mini globe (I got these from Michael's.  They have 4 different varities right now.)
2.  Thumb Tacks
3.  Ribbon (I used brown velvet ribbon leftover from Christmas!)
4.  Hot glue

Start by cutting a desired length of ribbon, make it long enough to hang from a handle, hook or door knob.

Loop the ribbon...

And push the thumbtack through at the ends of the ribbon.

Push the thumbtack through the top of the globe, centered on top of the world.

Pull the thumbtack out, neatly add a little hot glue in the hole and top to keep the thumbtack securely in the globe for hanging.

Print the tag, below.  Cut it out and attach.  This one I made for Teacher appreciation day.  I had my daughter sign on the back of the tag for a nice keepsake.

FREE PRINTABLE:  For Father's Day, Graduation and Teachers!

DOWNLOAD HERE: The World Printable


I would love to hear your thoughts.  Who did you give the world too?  I would love if you share this, and Pin it!

Happy Father's Day, and thank you to all the wonderful teacher's who give us the world!

You are welcome to share this, please link back to original post!  Thank you.

*Please excuse my night time pictures!  Some of my favorite things are created in the wee hours of the night!*

SO EXCITED!  THIS POST WAS FEATURED, ON TOP 10 THURSDAYS ON ONE ARTSY MAMA!







Linking Up:







Cherished Bliss

The Feeding Post - Insalata di Pasta Carbonara

The Feeding Post

{Formerly Foodie Friday}

insalata di pasta carbonara,
week 4

Happy Friday everyone!  What better way to show up to a block party BBQ than to show up in style with my insalata di pasta carbonara made with whole wheat spaghetti, crispy bacon and hard cooked eggs tossed in my marinated tomato & red onion vinaigrette and topped with shaved parmesan and crispy artichoke chips.

As summer approaches, I am always thinking about crafty ways to give a savory heavy dishes a lighter edge.  Instead of a rich & buttery sauce, like in a traditional carbonara, I have chosen the route of a cool, light and tangy vinaigrette to go with the ingredients that are commonly found in this salivatingly savory dish.

So here's you prep list: This makes about 4 servings

-8 oz whole wheat spaghetti (cooked a little past al dente)
-1# bacon (cut in squares and cooked crispy)
-4 hard cooked eggs (peeled & rough chopped)
-2 fresh artichoke heart (thin sliced, tossed in cornstarch and flour mixture
and deep fried until crispy)
-4 oz marinated cherry tomato & red onion vinaigrette
1/2 bunch picked parsley
Shaved Parmesan
 
For the preparation of this salad, I started by pouring the marinated tomatoes into a blender and blended on high for about 17 seconds until it was smooth.  Then, in a large mixing bowl, I placed my hard cooked eggs and smashed them with a potato masher.  Finally, I added the rest of the ingredients including the dressing to the bowl and tossed until it was evenly incorporated.
    
Now it is time to serve up this amazingly delicious pasta salad and watch your guests faces light up with pleasure. 
I just started experimenting with canning/pickling for the first time yesterday.  The preparation was quite simple and was ready to use once it was room temperature.  It also packs a ton of flavor in a very short amount of time. 
As for the artichokes, if you do not want to spend the time cleaning, choking, slicing and frying, you could always use store bought hearts, but that's up to you. 
Thanks for reading and have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

House Marinated Tomatoes with Red Onions

2 pints cherry tomatoes (rinsed & halved)
1 medium red onion (sliced & rinsed)
10 cloves garlic (sliced thin & rinsed)

Canning Solution
1 tablespoon of basil oregano and parsley
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups white distiller vinegar
1/4 cup turbanado sugar
2 tablespoons canning salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1.  Clean and sanitize (2)-1qt canning jars, lids and seals and stuff them with the vegetables.
2.  Bring canning solution to a simmer, then ladle solution into jars until it is 1/2" from the top.
3.  Place seal on jar and loosely screw lid, then submerge into boiling water for 15-20 minutes.
4.  Turn off heat and let cool before handling. Label, date and store. This should last for 6 months in cupboard.

 James Wood cookinwood@gmail.com
Find the full recipe at: www.thefeedingpost.com

The Feeding Post - Marinated Green Bean Salad

The Feeding Post

{Formerly Foodie Friday}

Marinated Green Bean Salad,

week 3

Happy Friday everybody!  I hope all of you have had an eventful and fulfilling week.  I will be preparing a marinated green bean salad with cherry tomatoes, fresh bacon bits, croutons and a red wine vinaigrette.  This is the salad that I brought to our neighbors house to accompany their delicious savory bread pudding.  What a successful and delicious meal that turned out to be.
   
Let's get the prep list together so we can prepare this delicious salad.

Here's what we need...

-1 pound green beans (cleaned, blanched and shocked)
-1 pound bacon (cut into thin strips and then cooked off)
-1 pint of cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
-1/2 cup croutons
-1/2 cup red wine vinaigrette
    
To start this recipe I preheated my oven to 350F to cook my bacon bits and croutons  and also brought about 1 gallon of water to a boil with enough salt to make it taste like the ocean.  In the restaurant we had a term "salty as the sea" when blanching vegetables or cooking pasta. 

As my oven and water were heating up, I cut my cherry tomatoes in 1/2, cleaned my great beans, sliced my raw bacon and ciabatta roll and put them on separate pans for baking.  I then made my vinaigrette following the recipe below.

Red Wine Vinaigrette
1-1/2 cups blend oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 small shallot (shaved on a mandolin)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
 
1)  bring shallots and vinegar it a simmer in small sauce pan and let cool.
2)  slowly whisk in oil or place in jar with salt and pepper and shake until incorporated.  Pretty easy!
Once the water comes to a boil, drop the beans in the water for about 3-4 minutes to blanch and then immediately "shock" them in ice water once they reach al dente and then drain once completely cool.  Cook bacon in the oven for about
15 minutes or until crispy  and then drain them from fat and let cool.  Lightly toast your croutons in the oven for about 4-5 minutes and let cool.
    
Finally in a large mixing bowl combine beans, tomatoes bacon and vinaigrette and let marinate for 3-4 hours before serving.  When ready to serve, add your crispy croutons and enjoy. 

This serves about 4-6 people. 

I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you soon.  

See the full recipe post Here, on James site www.thefeedingpost.com.

James Wood
cookinwood@gmail.com
www.thefeedingpost.com

Linking Up:

a href="http://thecsiproject.com" target="_blank">

Embellishing a Wire Dress Form

Embellishing a Wire Dress Jewelry Holder

For my daughter's Style Party, I found this dress jewelry holder at Michael's.  I had my eye on it for a few weeks, but kept holding off buying it.  I was so excited when I finally found it to be on sale! 

It looked a little plain, so I thought I would add some tulle to it.  The party colors were Coral pink, Golden yellow and Medium gray.

1.  Start by cutting lengths of tulle.  I eyeballed the length of tulle by holding it up to the waist line, and having it come down on both sides. 

2.  Once, I found the desired length, I cut several pieces to fill the entire waist.

3.  Simply loop around the waist line, and fill in around the entire waist until reach your desired fullness.

4.  I finished off with a yellow sash and a bow at the shoulder.

I think it made the perfect touch for the entry table

at her party!

The full party details to come soon!

(A close up, excuse the photo quality!)

How do you like to use tulle?  I would love for you to share!

Linking Up:

a href="http://thewinthropchronicles.blogspot.com"> br />

Happy Memorial Day

Remembering today and everyday of the people who have helped make our life free.

"May the sweet blossoms never cease

To bloom in love and trust and peace"

Thank you and Happy Memorial Day!

Party Planning

Style Party - Party Planning

I am party planning for my daughter's 4th birthday.  She is my girly girl and so I decided on a Style Party for her.

Here is my color inspiration.

The colors will be coral pink, golden yellow and medium gray (for the boys.)  I love the freshness of it!

Here are the fun invites I purchased through Etsy:

Tyler with Lollipop Ink was wonderful to work with, and designed this lovely invite in my colors.

And I found this awesome dress at TJ Maxx on clearance in the colors of the party!

Here is my ham modeling the back of the dress.

I  have been busy tonight making tulle pom poms.  I have exhausted all of the local options for just the right coral pink tissue paper, and so I have given up on the tissue pom poms and went with tulle instead.

I found this wonderful tutorial on Once Wed on how to make tulle pom poms. (there are a lot of different ones out there.  I like this one, it looks the easiest!)

Here's a sneak peek of a dress form I  embellished.  The dress form was on clearance (love when that happens) and this used very little tulle.  Big impact for little money.

I am stumped on the food ideas. I am trying to keep it more simple (I tend to get carried away!) and do more snack foods. I would like to offer some healthy snacks.

Here is on the Menu so far

PB+J sandwiches in the shape of high heels and tennis shoes

Star shaped watermelon on sticks

Pineapple and Strawberries

Hummus and Pita Chips

Chips

Marshmallow pops

Wafer cookies in pink, yellow and brown

Cake and Ice cream

Lemonade

Iced Tea

Any other  food ideas?? 

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!  I will be sure to post the final party.

Vintage Style Art - on the cheap

Vintage Style Art - on the cheap 

I created a fast and inexpensive family picture made from Scrapbook paper, and an awesome frame from Ikea for my Mother-in-law for Mother's Day.

I found this nice vintage style paper, and this great quote paper.  I selected my favorite saying for my Mother-in-Law's home.

I had this wonderful scrap of deep henna paper that I added to the back of the quote.  I stamped the quote on the edges to add a vintage feel.

I paired it with a blue patterned paper, her favorite color.

I then added this beautiful fabric ribbon.  I have used this on several projects, and it seems to tie in perfectly with anything. 

This is a fast and inexpensive accent to any home.  You can do any colors to match any decor.

Here's what I did for my living room:

I mixed framed scrapbook paper with black and white images.  You can see the post here.

And my daughter's room:

What have you done with scrapbook paper?  I would love to see!  Don't want to make it yourself?  I have a few listed in my Etsy shop.

Linking up:

a href="http://www.positivelysplendid.com/" target="_blank">