Escort Card Tree

Yes, you read that right.

An escort card TREE.

I got inspired by these pictures from pinterest.com

Aren't these ideas dee-licious?

So, using these as my inspiration...

I decided to make a "tree" to hang our escort cards on.

I, personally have never seen anything like it.

Here are the materials I used:

• ugly green plastic pot for a plant- .25 at a garage sale
• spray painted with a pretty brown spray paint with sparkles in it...paint 3.76@WM 
• 2 packs of escort cards- .50 at a garage sale
• 2 long branches- FREE from my yard
• a decor type bird's nest- .10 at, yes...a garage sale.
• 3 styles of vintage lace- FREE from a dear lady named Kelly :)
• 2 pks of stained mini clothespins = 3.98 at WM
• stained by me with FREE stain I found in our home when we moved in.... you can see that project here
• "lovebirds"- on sale for .99 at Hobby Lobby
• various pieces of florist foam- found at various places= $3
• bag of moss- Dollar Tree $1
• glue gun and glue sticks

Grand Total: $13.58

First, I spray painted the ugly garage sale planter.

Then, I cut up pieces of foam and wedged them into the pot.

*note- in hindsight, after knocking the finished product off of my dresser, I realized a little bit of weight was needed and added some rocks from my driveway

...and added more foam, making sure to hot glue it all together.

Then, I stuck my twigs into the foam like bunny ears.

Next, I began ripping up pieces of moss and gluing it down to cover the florist foam.

For the next step,

I took my little nest and 

nestled it into a little nook

within one of the branches.

I actually wove the sticks around the branch to keep it secure, then hot glued it into place and glued 

the birds onto the nest.

Next, I took three different styles of beautiful vintage lace and wove them back and forth between the two branches. I used the nooks and crannies of the twigs to my advantage and hot glued them in spots as needed. These will serve as a place to hang the escort cards. 

Lastly, I hung the tiny clothespins onto the lace trim.

Ready to see the finished product?

(well, without the cards...we will do that at the venue)

So stinkin cute.

An unconventional 'Something Blue'...

My friend is getting married.

I have known her seven years and LITERALLY have 

NEVER seen her wear anything but flip flops and sneakers.

She wears flip flops so late into the year, she is usually

 still wearing them at Christmas...not kidding.

So when she was trying to figure out what to wear with her dress,

my first suggestion was flip flops...

"Flip Flops?" she said...

"Yes, flip flops." I said. "We can make them pretty..."

Then I had the idea to make them her 'something blue'.

Here is what we started with.

Plain Old Navy flip flops...$1

Next, I dug into my large tote of vintage lace...

(given to me by a lovely lady named Kelly S...I love to show her what I make with the materials she gave me...gives me a sense of satisfaction that we saved these things and are giving them new life)

and warmed up my hot glue gun.

I chose a length of lace that had a silky ribbon running 

through the center, I thought the ribbon would be a good,

 solid surface to glue onto the shoe.

Here I am gluing the lace on.

When I got to the center toe thingy, I had to think a sec...

I didn't want the lace to be tight around the toes,

I wanted it to lay relatively flat and not be in the way.

What I did was glue it all the way to the center, then backed it up a little and glued over itself...I did this a couple times, creating a semi circle around the toe thing...it worked, just hard to explain.

Other than that, I'd rate this project an 

E for easy peasy.

Ready to see what that crazy girl is 

walking down the aisle in?

How cute are they?

LOVE them.

Mascarpone and Chocolate Stuffed French Toast with Homemade Strawberry Sauce

Please excuse the Dora plate, this batch was for my kids...I am thinking I need to buy some pretty plates for pics.

This post is three recipes in one.

You'll learn how to make my basic french toast,

stuffed french toast, and homemade strawberry sauce.

The other day when I went to WalMart,

they had packages of strawberries for $1 each.

With all my best intentions of making jam,

I picked up four packages.

Well, as you know strawberries are a fickle fruit.

You must eat them within a day or two or they will go bad.

After the hubby said he didn't have time to help me do the canning,

I set out to use up those strawberries.

We gave a pack to Grandma...

We ate strawberries with breakfast and for snack...

Yet two days later, we still had more berries and they were getting very ripe so I had to make something with the last package.

I started by hulling my strawberries.

(FYI- hulling is just a fancy word for cutting the stem and surrounding white part off)

Then I quartered my berries and put them in a sauce pan with two cups of water, a cup of sugar, half a tsp of salt and a half cup of clear corn syrup. Bring to a simmer and let it boil lightly 

for ten or so minutes. It will look like this:

Then, use a slotted spoon to remove the berries and set them aside, then put the mixture back on the heat and bring to a rolling boil for a few minutes to reduce and thicken the mixture.

Don't let it boil over.

You will have a huge mess.

After your mixture has thickened, add your strawberries back in.

(the reason you take the berries out is so that they keep their shape and not turn to mush)

To store, keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

You can also freeze this sauce:

Once its completely cooled, 

store in freezer containers for up to four months.

ON TO THE FRENCH TOAST-

Here is my basic french toast batter we will be using-

(I find one egg makes 2 pieces of french toast, 

so multiply accordingly to suite your needs)

Yields- 8 pieces of french toast or 4 stuffed

8 pieces of bread

4 eggs

pinch of salt

1 tsp of vanilla

a good shake of cinnamon

whisk together in a flat baking dish (I use a pie plate)

soak bread in mixture long enough to coat

cook over med-high heat just as you would grilled cheese

HOW TO STUFF FRENCH TOAST:

Mix together softened mascarpone cheese with chocolate chips.

(mascarpone is like a lighter, Italian version of cream cheese found in the specialty cheese 

sections of most larger grocery stores, I found mine at WalMart.)

Spread your mascarpone mixture onto one side of two pieces of bread and put them together like a sandwich.

Press lightly around the edges to form a seal 

so the goodies stay inside the french toast.

Dip  and coat your "sandwich" in the egg mixture, 

and cook like a grilled cheese.

Yum... I just made myself hungry for it all over again.

Hmm...I have leftover sauce and cheese filling,

I think I am going to go make it again right now!

Here it is again in all its glory...

Yes, in all its D-D-D-D-Dora glory. LOL