Cucumber Punch

Promise me you'll give this a chance. Don't just move on because it has the word Cucumber in it. This stuff is really delicious!  Summery. Happy. Fresh. Light.  These are some of the words that pop into my head when I drink this.  Seriously, I love it.  And I hope you will too! 

Ingredients needed:

1 bag of ice

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 12 oz. can limeade

1 bottle Diet Sprite or 7up (HAS to be diet)**

My friends and I like to get together to watch American Idol.  We eat a lot of snacks and I like to make new drinks to try.  Some of my favorites have been  Pina Colada, Strawberry Limeade, and Caribbean Slush.

One night last season, my friend Mandy introduced us to this unique, refreshing beverage.  Lives were changed.  We made it for the five consecutive weeks following, and maybe a few times in between with baby showers and game nights. 

The flavor of cucumber is light here. You can taste it, but it doesn't overwhelm the drink.  Of course, if you absolutely HATE cucumber flavor, this might not be the drink for you.  But I really, really, really want you to try it!

So, Mandy shows up at my house with all the ingredients to assemble this drink.  We all gathered around and watched in awed silence.  She said the ingredients MUST be put in the punch bowl in this order, so that all the flavors would come together as one in a perfect unity.  (it probably wasn't all that dramatic, but this is how I remember it). 

I have always placed the ingredients in my punch bowl in the proper order.  I'm not one to tempt fate.  I really want my drink to turn out perfectly all the time.  I'm not sure what craziness would happen should I go out of order.  My sister said she would fork out the $3.50 it costs to make this drink out of order, just so we could see what disaster would occur, but we have yet to walk down that path. 

(Wow, with an introduction like that, you either are running to the store right now or you gave up reading a long time ago.  Hopefully I didn't oversell it too much!! Clearly I have passion for food)

CUCUMBER PUNCH

1 bag of ice

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 12 oz. can limeade

1 bottle Diet Sprite or 7up (HAS to be diet)**

Layer the ingredients in listed order in a punch bowl.  Serve immediately and enjoy!!

**I did go a little crazy once and used regular Sprite.  The sugar in the drink overpowered the cucumber flavor too much and tasted mostly just like regular Sprite with a hint of limeade :)

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Nothing but Country

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Creations by Kara

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Tatertots and Jello

Skip to my Lou

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Spring Flower Balls

 

April showers bring May flowers!  We have certainly been getting plenty of rain (and snow) around here, but between my 4 year old daughter picking and the deer munching, I don't have as many flowers as I should!  I saw this darling idea at a bridal shower and couldn't wait to get started! The best news of all? All supplies were bought at Dollar Tree. I sure love that place....even though it becomes the Forty-Dollar-Tree each time I visit. 

Here's what you'll need:

Flowers (obviously)

Wiffle balls

Hot glue

Scissors

Ribbon (if hanging)

Start by taking the flowers apart, leaving some length of the stem like this. If they are small flowers, they might have two or three blossoms all connected with one stem. It's fine...

Put some hot glue around the holes and tuck the stem inside, pressing the flower onto the glue.

If you want to attach a ribbon, do it when you have just a couple of holes left to fill.  The first ball I made, I put the string in first and it just got in my way the whole time. But maybe you're more coordinated than I am!   Put the ribbon through two holes and tie at the top.

Tips:

Make sure your ribbon is long enough, mine were a little too short at first.

Use big flowers--it made the whole ball look bigger and fluffier. 

If the flowers are small, you can put a couple of stems in each hole.

You'll need 2-3 bunches per ball, depending on how big the flowers are and how tight you glue them on.

I wondered if these would be great smelling if I put some essential oil on a cotton ball and put it in the middle before I glued flowers on....but I haven't tried it yet.  Maybe they could help my car smell great!

And there you have it.  They sure add a splash of color!!

I got a little carried away with the picture taking....I wasn't sure what would look good! Here are all sorts of options.

*Contest Closed*

I want to give some of these away! Here's how to enter to win a set of Three Flower balls:

*Become a Follower of Happy Little Party, and leave me a comment telling me you did so

*Sign up for email updates to Happy Little Party and leave me a comment about it

*(If you already do these things, just leave a comment about it!)

Thanks and Good Luck!

Contest ends Tuesday, May 24 around noon

Linking Up:

A Little Tipsy
Lil Luna
Seven Thirty THree
My Backyard Eden
Someday Crafts
Sew Woodsy
Blue Cricket Design
Fireflies and Jellybeans
A Glimpse Inside
House of Hepworths
Creation Corner
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tatertots and Jello
Skip to my Lou
Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Homemade Bird Feeder {Kid Craft}

The sun is finally shining here at our house and I love hearing all the birds chirping outside my windows!  Since my strawberries and peaches are not ready for the birds to eat yet, *AHEM* the kids and I wanted to do something to make their return more enjoyable.  We made the feeder using junk recyclable items found around the house.

You'll need:

Bird seed

paper plate

empty water bottle

piece of string

Peanut butter (optional)

Cut a small square out at the bottom of the bottle, this is where the seeds will come out. Don't cut it too big!

 Hot glue the bottle to your paper plate.  We spread a little peanut butter around the plate for an extra treat for those birds.

 Use a funnel and fill the bottle with bird seed.  I covered our square hole with some tape while we filled it up, so it didn't all come spilling out before we were ready.  Remove the tape after you hang it outside and gently let some of the seeds come out onto the plate.

 Tie the string tightly around the top of bottle and put the cap back on.  I tied a knot down near the neck of the bottle, and then another knot at the top to make a loop to hang it on a tree or hook.

 Hang it outside and then pray that birds actually come eat it, before your neighbors wonder why you hung trash on your front porch!!
PS. And seriously, if anyone knows how to keep the birds out of my peaches and strawberries this year, please let me know!!

Linking up to

Ladybug-blessings.com

A Little Tipsy

Fruit Bouquet {Mother's Day or Teacher Appreciation}

My sister broke her ankle a couple of years ago.  It was sad, not only for obvious reasons, but because she also missed a flight with us to go to Disneyland!  Luckily, she was able to catch up with us a couple of days later in the 'Land and we all benefited from her "wheelchair pass" which allowed us to skip to the front of the line!!  Where am I going with all of this? Well, we benefited from her broken ankle at Disneyland, and we also benefited from the fact that her boss sent her an amazing Fruit Bouquet!  (I try to look at the bright side of things :) which was easy this time since it wasn't my foot!) It was a huge and delicious bouquet, and I had never seen one in real life up to that point.  (You'd think I discovered diamonds or something from how excited I got).   I had fun picking it apart and seeing how easy it really was to put together.  Since then, I have made a few for friends and teachers, and it is a really fun gift.  Mine are smaller than the basket my sister got, but the thought is always appreciated! 

PS. If you take this to give to your friend at her birthday party, don't just set it down in the middle of the gift table. Make sure you hand it to her directly. It *may* start to disappear before she sees it. Trust me on this one.


Items Need: 
*Clean container (I usually find flower pots, pails, tins of various sizes at the dollar or craft store marked down)
*Iceberg lettuce, cut to fit tightly down in the pot OR Floral    foam, cut to size
*Kale or leafy green lettuce
*Skewers

*Fruit (mostly strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, pineapple,    kiwi, watermelon)  Not any fruit that gets brown

*Shaped cookie cutter (preferably metal) stars, hearts, flowers

 Place the head of iceberg lettuce or foam into the container.  It should be a tight fit.  Cover with the pretty dark green lettuce so no foam is showing through.  Wash all the fruit, and then start skewering!  I like levels, so cut/break skewers accordingly.  

To cut the pineapple, I slice the peel off like this:

Then lay it down and cut about a 1/4"- 1/2"  circle off like this

(do it thick enough, especially with watermelon so it is strong enough when you put a skewer through)

Use a cookie cutter  to cut out your shape.  You may have to use a knife to make the edges smooth if you use a weak cookie cutter.  The skewer goes up through the core of the pineapple to make it sturdy. 

For the cantaloupe center on a pineapple flower, use a melon baller or small cookie scoop to get a ball, then cut that ball in half and use a toothpick to connect it to the pineapple.  Attach a half of a grape the same way.

Variations:  (sorry no pictures)

*Chocolate dipped strawberries are a welcome addition. (white or brown)

*Cream filled Strawberries: Cut an X out of the bottom of the strawberries (the bottom will actually be facing up--make sense?)  Just pipe a little bit of cream cheese frosting into the X for a yummy filling

*Marshmallows alternated with grapes for the tall pieces are pretty too!

Don't be jealous of my coffee table in this picture....

I want to see pictures if anyone makes one!!

Kid Food Craft--edible Spring Bird nests

Spring has come to some parts of the country, I assume!! In between the snow storms here in Utah I can hear a few birds outside, singing their lovely songs.  It was my turn to teach a preschool group this week and I decided this would be a fun and easy way to entertain 3 year olds while talking about spring!!

 Only a few ingredients are needed for this food craft, along with a LOT of wipes or towels for messy fingers!

Ingredients: 10 oz Chow Mein noodles (about 6 cups)

1 C. Chocolate Chips

1 C. Butterscotch Chips

"Bird eggs"  any kind of candy shaped like an egg

Wax paper

Place chips in microwave safe bowl.  Heat on high about 30 seconds, then stir. Heat in 20 second increments one or two more times if necessary, stirring in between.  Pour in noodles and mix thoroughly.  Using hands, create little nests on wax paper.  Place eggs on top and put in the refrigerator to harden.

Made about 8-10 good sized nests

*I used different measuring cups/bowls so all my *helpers* could have a turn to pour in something.  They all got a chance to stir and form their own nests.  It was a fun activity!*

Easter Spring Cupcakes

Easter weekend is practically here!! Think these guys will be a welcome addition to our family dinner!? I love to decorate with candy, and these do not disappoint.  They are easy to throw together using a few ingredients. 

Bunny cupcake:
White frosted cupcake
White coconut
1 large marshmallow cut in half (for ears)
1 small marshmallow cut in half (for the face fluff under the nose)
2 chocolate chips (for eyes)
pink Starburst or heart shaped runt (can I use that in the singular sense?)
I used a toothpick broken in half to attach each ear.  I used chocolate frosting in a baggie to pipe the whiskers.

Easter Chick cupcake:
White frosted cupcake
Coconut colored yellow
2 chocolate chips (eyes)
Orange Starburst molded like a beak
red m&m for top thingy
         (I know that baby chicks, which are normally associated with Easter don't have this comb yet, but I   
          wanted to add it anyway. *Shrug*)

 Lamb cupcake:

Chocolate covered cupcake

Mini marshmallow cut in half or thirds (my marshmallows happened to be stale, which may have made it easier to cut!! Less sticky anyway...)

1 large marshmallow cut in half, then that circle cut diagonally (clear as mud?) for ears

 **this is the cupcake I made three times and am still not sure I like!! It bears a resemblance to the cartoon character "Shawn the Sheep" more than a cute Easter lamb.  But using white frosting underneath was really light and white.  I'm not sure.  Let me know if you make anything that works! ***



Bluebird Cupcake: 

White frosted cupcake

Blue colored coconut

2 chocolate chips (eyes)

Starburst shaped into a beak (put in microwave for 10 seconds if it is too hard to shape)

Have a very Happy Easter!!

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