Summer - The Idea Room

dress up your Flower pots

My girls attend a bi-monthly church group activity with the other girls their age. There are two women who meet with them regularly as their leaders and they always do fun, and educational things with the girls. At one of the activities they each planted some flowers and decorated some plain flower pots.

They were able to pick and choose some flowers to plant and then into their decorated pots. They decorated the pots by simply taking some cute polka dot tissue paper and cutting it into pieces and then Mod Podge-ing them onto the flower pot.

Seriously…so simple and so cute! I think this would be a great activity to do with girls of all ages. Keep it and display it for everyone to see, or give it away to a friend. Or make a bunch of these to use as a fun table display for a party or a shower this spring or summer.

April 22, 2013 · Filed under: Crafts, Summer Tagged with activity days, flower pots, kids crafts, Mod Podge

Rainbow Fruit Pizza–St Patricks Day Recipes

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Take a little twist on the sugar cookie fruit pizza for one of your St Patricks Day recipes this year. A little healthier way to cure your sweet tooth.

Sugar Cookie Fruit pizza is a great and tasty treat for a party or a shower. They are also easy to serve. You can also let your guests decorate their own with the fruit of their choice.

Simply take your favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe and add a nice light and fluffy frosting. Then pull out your favorite fresh fruit.

Rainbow Fruit Pizza

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions

Combine soda and sour cream in mixer.
Then add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well.
Mix in the dry ingredients.
Roll out dough till it is about 1/4 inch thick, on a lightly floured surface and cut out with cookie cutters into desired shapes.
I cut out circles that were 4 inches in size. This is be better if you are making rainbows.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees or until lightly browned.

http://www.theidearoom.net/2013/03/rainbow-fruit-pizza.html

Amazing Whipped Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup of salted butter, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla
3-4 cups Powdered Sugar
1-2 tsp. Milk
1 16 oz. tub of Cool Whip

Instructions

Use room temperature butter (otherwise you will get chunks of butter in your frosting), place it into mixer and whip together until nice and smooth.
Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Gradually add about 3-4 cups of powdered sugar (Confectioner’s sugar).
It will be a bit chunky and not very smooth.
Gradually add 1 teaspoon of milk while mixing frosting.
If it is still not the consistency you desire, add another teaspoon of milk until you get a nice thick frosting that is smooth.
Then fold in 1 tub of Cool Whip.
Serve immediately or keep in refrigerator before serving.

http://www.theidearoom.net/2013/03/rainbow-fruit-pizza.html

In this case I wanted fruit that was the color of the rainbow. I used Raspberries, oranges chopped, crushed pineapple, kiwi, and blueberries.

These got pretty rave reviews from my built-in taste testers. But unfortunately these fall in the category of things I can no longer eat….but that is okay…I was happy just eating the rest of this colorful plate of fruit for my dessert. Everyone was happy and you can’ t beat that…and you have another addition to your simple St Patricks Day recipes.

March 13, 2013 · Filed under: St. Patrick's Day, Summer, Treats Tagged with fruit pizza, fruit pizza recipe, shower desserts, st. patrick's day activities, St. Patrick's Day treats, st. patricks day recipes, summer desserts

Summer Vacation 2012

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My family just got back from TWO different vacations…back to back. This was not planned as we were scheduling our summer calendar a while back. We were originally planning to go to California for a family reunion with my husband’s side of the family which we did do at the end of June.

As we were packing for that trip, my mom and sisters planned an impromptu trip for the following week…over the 4th of July. My sister’s husband was studying for a big test and had taken the week off to study…so they decided to get the kids and go play so he could have some nice and quiet study time.

The only problem was that they were leaving just one day AFTER we were home from Cali. And that one day we were home just happened to be my birthday. But I decided it was worth it to be able to spend some time with my family. Although it was a bit crazy getting there! I basically dumped everything out of the car, washed it or refilled it and then repacked it. I was able to squeeze in a quick birthday lunch with the hubs.

We had a great time with both sides of the family! Playing in the water was basically our main focus since it has been so stinking HOT! Is it hot where you are? Whew!

We went rafting down a river, went swimming and played in a big pond, hiked to a waterfall and played in the falls, swam at the pool, went hiking up to a little slot canyon and launched off some rockets.

Probably the best part though was reconnecting with the cousins and family members on both sides. My kids are pretty lucky in the cousin department. PLENTY of cousins their ages on both sides. We have 19 cousins on my side of the family (the oldest is 16) and 19.5 cousins on my husbands side (oldest is 19).

I have been so busy catching up with work, home and church duties that I have had ZERO time for any creative endeavors or home remodeling…but that is okay. Summer is supposed to be like that…right?! Is it crazy to feel like I miss you guys? Cause I kinda do! I feel like I have been mentally away from this blog for a little while. Have you missed me? :) Don’t feel like you have to answer that unless it is a resounding YES!