Fourth of July Centerpieces...

The Fourth of July is Friday and hopefully that means plenty of cookouts, campfires, and get togethers.  The girls and I made these sequin jar centerpieces about a month ago and I'm just now getting them posted, but they are super quick and easy to make and they do put off a festive glow to the table.

All you need is:

red, white and blue sequins (we used star stickers as well, but they kept wanting to curl up when we stuck them on the wet glue)

white school glue

water

battery operated tea light

paint brush

jar

acrylic sealer

Begin by painting your jar with the glue.  We put the glue in a bowl and added about a tablespoon of water and stirred it.

 Then begin sticking your sequins on the jar...

Allow the glue to dry, spray the adhesive on the jar and allow it to dry, add a battery operated tea light and enjoy!

Strawberry Poke Cake...

It's still strawberry season in Indiana and I'm sharing this recipe for all of you to enjoy!  I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and my husband laughed when I said it was a light and refreshing dessert.  He didn't understand how a dessert could be light...and refreshing, but it is!  This would be great after any meal...maybe one from the grill!  A perfect dessert for summertime!

 Everyone in our house loved it especially our youngest, but she will eat anything!!!  Really though, it is delicious!!!

Strawberry Poke Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box strawberry cake mix
• 2 Cups strawberries, fresh, frozen (thawed), or store bought
• 1 3.4 ounce package vanilla instant pudding
• 1 Cup milk
• 3 Cups whipped topping

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
2. Prepare, bake and cool cake mix according to directions on package.
3. Once cake is cool, poke holes 1" apart in top (I used a wooden handle from a spoon).
4. Puree thawed strawberries with juice in blender. (I used a potato masher to mash mine). Spoon evenly over top of cake allowing the mixture to soak into the holes.
5. For topping, combine pudding mix and 1 cup milk. Fold whipped topping into pudding mixture. Spread evenly over cake. Garnish with fresh strawberries. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Keep refrigerated.

Fourth of July Yarn Wreath...

For some reason I don't really decorate for the Fourth of July.  We celebrate the holiday, but my decorations are usually non-existent.  My kitchen is Americana theme so really I consider myself to be pretty patriotic and I guess my house is always decorated for the Fourth!  So, this year I decided to dress up our front door for the special day.  I saw this cute little easy to make wreath somewhere on the internet, so I decided to make it to display on our front door.  After a quick visit to Hobby Lobby on my birthday (I love that store!), I had all the supplies I needed!

I failed to take a picture of the supplies, but here is the list:

1 straw wreath

red yarn (whatever tone of red you would like is fine.  I wanted mine to be a little more "vintage looking" so I chose a darker color)

blue yarn (whatever tone)

white yarn (whatever tone.  I went with more of an ivory to go with my "vintage" look)

white felt (again, I used an ivory tone or off-white, but use whatever suits your fancy!)

hot glue

To make the wreath, begin by wrapping the yarn around the wreath in whatever widths or dimensions you would like your strips to be.  I started with the blue.  I just overlapped my ends so I didn't have to glue them, but you can also use hot glue.  Whatever works for your!  I also did a couple layers to make sure there wasn't any straw peeking through.

Once it is all wrapped, it's time to make your stars.  Cut them out of white felt and glue them on with hot glue.  You can use as many or as less as you want.  I made two different sizes and cut out 13 for the 13 original colonies:)

Ta Da!...

Festive Fourth of July Drinks for the Kids...

It's crazy to think that the kids have been out of school for almost a month.  I feel like I have been running in a million different directions since the last day of school.  Their last T-ball game is tonight and county fair is next week, so we have been busy working with the calves and pigs...the pigs could use more work, but we have been focusing on the calves pretty well!  Maybe after next week, I can find time to catch my breath!!!  Probably just wishful thinking as July is jam packed with events and festivities including the Fourth of July.

I made these drinks for the girls over Memorial Day weekend and they were very easy to make and very refreshing so I'm sure they will be making an appearance again on the Fourth of July.  I was a little nervous because I had never made a layered drink.  After a little research, I learned the secret to layering drinks is to layer them according to sugar content...the drink with the highest amount of sugar goes on the bottom and so on.  For our drinks I used, Ocean-Spray Cran-Apple Juice , Blue Gatorade , and Diet Sierra Mist (It must be diet)...

Now, I know that the order isn't red, white and blue, but instead it is red, blue and white, but I had trouble finding a white or clear drink with the right sugar content.  I think it is still pretty and festive!  The complete recipe can be found at the bottom of this post, but I will go ahead and let you in on this little secret: place a layer of ice cubes in the glass, then pour in the Cran-Apple juice, then layer more ice and pour the Gatorade DIRECTLY on top of an ice cube.  Finish filling the glass with ice and add the Diet Sierra Mist.  Be sure not to shake or stir the mixture or it will turn black!

They almost look too pretty to drink:)...

Layered Fourth of July Drink

Ingredients

• Ocean Spray Cran-Apple juice
• Blue Gatorade
• Diet Sierra Mist

Cooking Directions

1. Place ice cubes in bottom of glass or jar. Pour Ocean Spray Cran-Apple juice over ice.
2. Add more ice cubes and pour blue Gatorade directly over an ice cube.
3. Fill the glass or jar the rest of the way with ice cubes and add the Diet Sierra Mist.

Add a straw and enjoy!

Kelly's Strawberry Glaze Pie...

We have strawberries coming out of our ears!!!!  We have only picked from our patch twice and have already picked about 100 quart!  We have made jam, halved some and froze them to enjoy on shortcake this winter, I have frozen them whole, made shortcake, sold them and am now in the process of making every strawberry recipe I can think of!  My friend, Kelly gave me this yummy recipe and it is so good!  So, if you have some fresh berries, whip up this pie.  I'm sure store bought strawberries would work too, but nothing beats garden fresh in my book!  Enjoy!!

Strawberry Glaze Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pre-baked pie crust
• 4 Cups Fresh strawberries, halved
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 Cup Water
• 1/2 small package strawberry jello

Cooking Directions

1. Place halved strawberries in pre-baked pie shell.
2. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and mix until most lumps are gone.
3. Add water and jello to sugar and cornstarch and bring to a rapid boil.
4. Boil until thick. (about 10 minutes)
5. Pour glaze over strawberries.