Peridot Skies: Easter

Cute Spring Dresses

March 28, 2016

Sorry, I was a bit MIA last week. It's a busy time for The Blog Guild and between work, scheduling events and life I didn't get any of my scheduled post up. We won't even mention that it was snowing when we woke up Easter morning. Luckily it didn't stick or accumulate and the weather is planning to be nice the rest of the week, so that's nice. We will start this week with Spring dresses. I am really loving all the playful dresses this spring and these are a few that I would love to own. I plan on wearing more dresses through the spring and into summer. They are such an easy way to dress up or down with a few minor adjustments to your accessories. The whole trend of wearing sneakers with your dresses is okay by me too! I love sandals and can't own enough so the more opportunities to wear cute lace up or wedge sandals the better.

Off the Shoulder // Hot pink slim flare // Paint splatter dress // Black and White Arrow grid // Chiffon Maxi // polka dot // Wrap tie shirt dress

March 28, 2016
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Weekend Fun

April 06, 2015

Easter

Happy Monday. How was your Easter? Did you spend time with your family? I attended Go Blog Social all day Saturday with some fabulous speakers and a room full of bloggers there to be inspired. This year the event was held downtown at The Berg. A beautiful venue with gorgeous floral arrangements courtesy of Trapp and Company. I was ready for networking and note taking.

When you spend your day being inspired and listening to like minded people share their stories AND you get to do it with your friends, It's always a bonus!

And what would a day with friends be without at least one mirror selfie? We had a lot of laughs that's for sure!!

It was an exhaustingly long day, but so worth it. Have you attended a blogger conference? If you did, What was your biggest take away? This was not my first conference and I would be interested in attending ALT conference. I have heard mixed reviews about this one. If you have attended share what you liked or disliked with ALT. I would love to hear everyones take on it before I travel to Utah!

April 06, 2015
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Perfect Cut out Cookies

March 31, 2015

Baking

If you know me then you know I have a weakness for sugar cookies. My favorite being a soft with frosting. Now most sugar cookie recipes are pretty standard. Nothing fancy to them really. But what I like about my cookies is the touch of pure almond extract I add to them. Not the artificial flavoring either. During the Christmas season I always make a few batches of spritz cookies... you know, the cookies you use a press with. It is a simple almond dough but designed to be used in a press. My family loves them. So it only made sense to add just a hint to my sugar cookies!

I know what you're thinking about now.... "sounds great but rolling dough is a mess". Right? Well I agree. My Mother, being a fabulous woman in the kitchen taught me years ago that any dough you chill will do so faster if it's flattened. This is what makes all the difference in your cookies. After your dough is prepared and ready to be chilled, lay out parchment paper on your counter and place your dough on it. Then cover the dough with another sheet of parchment paper and begin rolling it out. If you don't have parchment paper wax paper should work just fine. Now I like thicker cookies so I try to keep my dough around 1/3 to 1/2 inches thick. The other great benefit to rolling out on parchment paper is no additional flour has been added to your dough. This step cuts your chill time from an hour down to approximately 30 minutes. Just enough time to clean your mess and prepare to cut out your cookies.

So are you ready to make the best cut-out cookies ever? Here we go!

Serves: Depends on the size of your cut-outs but you should get at least 3 dozen good size cookies.

What you need:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1¼ cup sugar

1 egg

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

3 cups of flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Decorations or frosting ( I prefer the frosting)
Royal Icing (recipe below)

So lets get to mixing:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. I do not pre-sift my flour, however my Mom says it actually makes a slight difference in the measurement. Do whatever you're comfortable with. Set this mixture aside until you're ready to add it to the wet mixture.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, The time varies depending on your mixer. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix until combined. Now I know your asking about if you add the extra extract will you need to decrease the vanilla? Nope! What's a good sugar cookie without Vanilla? Then it would only be an almond cookie!

Add the dry mixture slowly to the butter mixture. Mix until it is completely combined.

This step is what really makes the difference in your preparation. Roll out your dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Wax paper will work too, just be careful not to tear it. Lay your rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and place it in your fridge. This not only makes it easier to use, it also shortens your chill time to approximately 30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and only remove the top sheet of parchment paper. Cut your shapes out directly on the dough still with one sheet of paper underneath. Carefully remove the waste (the dough left between cutouts) and your first sheet of cookies is ready to bake. If you are only adding colored sugar to your cookies now is when you sprinkle it on. I bake them for 8-11 minutes however, this time will vary depending on your oven. You want to keep an eye on them baking to regulate your baking time. You want to remove them just shy of brown edges. Allow them cool on your baking sheet for 3 minutes then remove to a cooling rack. They continue to bake on the sheet so transfer them as soon as you are able to move them without breaking the cookies. Don't be alarmed that they are not done when you remove them. They firm up after they cool.
Frost your cookies once they are completely cool so your frosting does not slip off. Royal icing isn't a frosting with a sweet taste, or for that matter not really a taste at all so the cookie is the real show stopper here. If you are a wiz at royal icing (I am jealous) I bet you can go to town decorating yours. I stress over the whole keep your frosting covered from air with saran wrap. I did better this time than in the past. The key really is keeping the saran wrap pressed directly on top of the frosting rather than just over the bowl. Practice really does make perfect when your working with royal icing! See my bowls below with the wrap touch the icing.

For your Royal Icing Click here for the recipe I use. It is the best I have found and she has a whole section of FAQ.

Enjoy!

March 31, 2015
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Easter Favorites

April 16, 2014

DIY

Happy Wednesday lovelies! I am traveling home this weekend to see family and celebrate Easter. When my kids were little, one of my favorite things for Easter was decorating eggs. Now that they are all grown I have started looking for other methods to decorate them. These Eggs are the cutest and I love the polka dots of course! Filled Easter baskets with candy is a dangerous thing, so a few nibble of ears off this dark chocolate fella may be all the Bunny and my diet can handle with a few handfuls of Jelly Beans!

Easter is always a time to show off your new spring outfits when your a kid and as an adult that tradition should continue with this perfectly spring Dress, and don't forget your Easter Hat !

Linking up here and here too!

April 16, 2014
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Random

March 21, 2014

Birthdays

Happy Friday! All day Wednesday I thought it was Thursday... So the fact that it is actually Friday is good news! Whew... what a week. Oh... and today is my daughter in laws birthday, Happy Birthday Lindsay! Can't wait to see your face when you open your gift!!

It has been a busy week in my world and I didn't even go on vacation for spring break. My daughter in law had surgery on her leg again. Back in December she had a full knee replacement. She was doing great recovering but unfortunately she fell two weeks ago and broke both the bones in her lower leg. The doctors thought they could set the break without surgery but this week they places screws and plates in her leg. I need this girl off crutches soon so she can go shopping with me!

We found out someone at my grandson's school was bullying him. I cannot tell you the heartache that is. Trying to grasp what on earth would cause a child of such a young age to think being mean was acceptable behavior; let alone they attend an anti bully class at his school every week. The parents of that child need to be held accountable for this action and the teacher who passed it off as "sometimes things happen" needs a little reality check in the form of unemployment! Rant over!

Remember when I shared my list of 50 x Fifty here ? I have completed several items on the list so far and have a few more on the list lined up to complete! GO me!

The weather is slowly turning warmer, I say that as if 45 is a heat wave! haha! Outfit pics as starting to take place again and I am so glad to get back at it! All of the scenery is brown and dull around the lake we use to take the pictures, but soon enough it will be in full bloom!

Easter is right around the corner and I can't wait to decorate my house with these eggs. Find the entire DIY post here!

With spring in full bloom the time to start shopping for new items to add to your closet is upon us. Don't forget to follow the guidelines I shared here on wardrobe building, and if you missed this post on splurge items I highly recommend you reading it before you shop!

I will be attending Go Blog Social again this year with my favorite blogger girlfriends and a few new friends I have met through out this year in two week! Cannot wait to hear everyone speak and learn a few new tricks!

So what's new in your world? Any big weekend plans?

March 21, 2014
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Spring Florals

January 21, 2014

Colors

I mentioned last week I am already dreaming of pastels. With the weather being so screwing for January it's no wonder. I am dreaming of crisp mornings and mild afternoons. With Valentines right around the corner and flowers season about to explode ProFlowers has the prettiest tulips and a little tulip inspired mood board was in order.

Depending on wear you live and the climate, this would be a fun date outfit for valentines! OR.....Imagine wearing this little dress and heels to Sunday brunch on Easter, then changing into this comfy pastel jeans and blouse for a round of hunting eggs!

Of course pink and green! Right now ProFlowers is offering 25% off your order of flowers too! I would love to receive an order of tulips for my home!

Day look

Blouse Jeans Espadrilles Crossbody Hoop Earrings

Night Look

Dress Pink Clutch Pumps Ring Earrings

Now I just need spring to hurry up and get here!

January 21, 2014
7 Comments

A Tribute to My Grandma

April 02, 2013

Celebration

Hello friends! Welcome to April. I was missing again yesterday, but not without cause. I buried my Grandmother yesterday. You may remember this post I wrote last year honoring her birthday, the day before mine by the way, and not be totally shocked by her passing. You see, she was 97 years old, a full life with a huge loving family. She raised 6 kids, was grandmother to 18, great grandmother of 19, and great great grandmother to 8. My grandmother was the matriarch of our family, and now the torch will be passed on most likely to my mother.

We drove to Tulsa Saturday morning for what would have traditionally been for Easter weekend. Instead, this year family trickled in all day Saturday from around the world, as far away as Austria, to pay respects to Grandma. It was a great gathering of so many relatives. We had 50 at Easter dinner on Sunday at my brothers house. The weather was beautiful, with tempeatures in the 70's and a sunny sky!

It was a bit cathartic to wander around my grandma's house. The only home I ever knew my grandparents to have. It was full of memories for all of us, and as the many levels of generations gathered on Sunday morning after church, you could here laughter and stories being shared and told of their favorite times at grandma's house! The house was alive once again with grandkids! I grew up visiting this home, the orchard lined with peach and apple trees, the swing that hung from the majestic tree in the orchard, and the fun of pretending in the garage apartment! I learned how to make applesauce in her kitchen from the apples we picked in the orchard, and almost every Sunday growing up had Sunday lunch of her famous fried chicken. Every holiday, my grandparents house was the gathering spot. There were easter egg hunts in the side yard, and pictures, pictures, and more pictures. My dad would always say we look like a bunch of tourist with so many cameras!

I am glad there are so many pictures now. My grandmothers shelves are lined with albums. Stories of our lives! Memories frozen in time for us all to relive and share with the generations who didn't know them then! I am lucky!! Lucky to have lived in the same city with my grandparents, to have them be so active in my life, and my children's lives, and to have genuinely felt the love and nurturing from a woman with a heart of gold. My niece gave a beautiful eulogy yesterday, speaking of the generosity and size of my grandmas heart, her love of her garden, and her skills in the kitchen. I learned some of these skills, in the garden, sewing machine, and kitchen from her. I am thankful for that.

Someone turned to me after the funeral and said that those words of affirmation could have as well of been written about my own mother. She learned from the best, the oldest daughter of my grandparents, and big sister to 4 siblings, They were right! I have huge, I mean jumbo size, shoes to fit in to measure up to be the Mimi to my grandchildren that my grandma, and mother have been to my family! What beautiful examples were set before me, yes I feel blessed today! Very blessed!

I am hoping to be back tomorrow with something pretty to share with you, but today, my images are all memories on my heart!

April 02, 2013
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DIY Paper mache' Easter eggs

April 03, 2012

DIY

These are the cutest eggs I have seen in a long time and super fun to make. I made these last year and thought they were so cute I wanted to make them again. This past weekend my sister-in-law Denise, and niece Katie whom I blogged about here, came to visit for the weekend. I invited them to come visit for a girls DIY weekend. My oldest sister who lives here in KC as well was able to join too. We were able to finish three of the four projects that I had hoped we would complete. So to say we were busy is an understatement. We got right to the fun part Friday evening with dinner at a local mexican restaurant. A little shopping for supplies or course (wink) and we were ready to hit the ground running Saturday morning. the steps to make them are lengthy so bare with me. Trust me you will want to make these this week!!

Supplies needed:

water balloons
white tissue paper (one sheet will make about three eggs)
colorful tissue paper (one sheet will make several eggs, so you don’t need much)
a 3/4 inch hole punch
an old paint brush you don’t care much about
liquid laundry starch
a shot glass to hold your egg while you’re working with it
a way to hang the balloons to dry (we used an old sweater drying rack)
clothes pins and wire hangers
enough time to let these dry overnight, and a few hours to let them dry after filling and sealing them

A paper cutter came in handy but it is not necessary

There were four of us making eggs so we needed a lot of balloons. You would not use this many unless you are really ambitious!!

First cut white tissue paper into the following sizes for each egg you’ll be making: one at 10″ x 5.5″, one at 10″ x 4.5″, two at 3.5″. These four sheets will be the base of the egg. Then blow up as many balloons as you would like to make.

To create the polka dots I made squares of paper with holes in them which I applied over the white base. I cut a 1.5 inch strip of colored tissue, fold it in half, fold it in half again, then fold it in thirds. This made a square which could be punched all the way through with the paper punch. Then I cut each square off the strip. Two strips of tissue will be enough for one egg, three strips will cover two eggs. I used the left over scraps of colored tissue to fill the small areas that did not get covered with my colored squares.

TIP: It will be helpful to have all your tissue paper cut and ready in advance. We tried using gold and silver tissue paper as well. It is thicker than normal tissue and didn't absorb the starch as well. It took more brushing on of starch to get it to adhere to the balloon but did work just with more patiences. Gold makes a nice look if you do a money egg, and the silver was pretty with the pink.

First apply the white tissue. I brushed wet starch onto my balloon. Take the 5.5″ tall sheet and wrap it around the widest part of the balloon, lining up the top so that it will reach the knot in the balloon. Dip your brush in the starch and brush the tissue from the middle up to the top, letting the tissue crinkle and gather. Now do the same brushing from the middle of the balloon down to the bottom. The bottom of this first layer will overlap itself, creating some strength there.

Apply the 4.5″ tall sheet next and do the same, then the 3.5″ tall sheets go last. I use these over the bottom of the egg. Now your ready for the colored squares.

To apply the color start at the top with the knot and overlap the squares covering as much white as you can as you go along. Since the surface of the balloon is still wet you can place a dry polka dot square where you’d like it, then smooth it down using the wet brush. This is where the shot glass comes in handy to hold the egg as you place the squares. Once it is all covered, fill in the bare spots with scraps of tissue. Then hang them by clothes pins to wire hanger in a safe place to dry. Let them set over night if possible.

To remove the balloon hold the knot and use a pin to make a small hole. Now wait until the balloon slowly deflates, they should release from the paper.

To fill your eggs cut slits down from the hole in the top, making sure to avoid cutting over a polka dot. The papier-mache is flexible and this slit will give you room to add candy or treats.

After you've filled the egg make a loop of string, I attached “For you” messages to mine, and stuff half of it in the egg. Now get your starch and colored tissue paper back out. Using a bit more tissue put two or three more layers over the opening and let it dry.