About Me

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Some facts about us: Together since May 2004, Matt & Kristin Married in May 2009. Between the two of us, we've lived in California, Hawaii, Guam, Japan and met here, in good ol' Virginia. We adopted two mini schnauzers, Hemingway & Mya aka The Pups. We bought our first home in May of 2011 and are ridiculously excited for all the DIY projects ahead of us.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the long weekend.

I wanted to share this little DIY banner in celebration of the Fourth of July as well as a super easy dessert inspired by the red, white and blue.


For the banner I started out with 20 paint chip cards (10 Red and 10 Blue) I got at the local paint store.  Cost = $0


 I cut them into these shapes:

 Then I grabbed these items I already had at home. 
  1. Hole punch
  2. Xacto Knife
  3. Jute Twine
  4. Elmers Craft Glue
  5. White Card stock

To make the stars, I traced a circle using the bottom of a cup on the white card stock.  Then I made 5 dots at equal distances around the circle.  From there you draw lines from each point to two points on the opposite side of the circle so you will form your five triangles, and your finished star.  Use a ruler to draw the lines so you can get it perfect.  This is much better then the criss cross star you would do free hand.  Using my Xacto knife I cut out my first star and used it as the stencil for the rest of my stars.

Next, you want to use the craft glue to glue the red triangle to the blue paint chip and then the white star on top of that.  Take your hole punch and punch a hole in the top two corners of each 'flag'.

Take the twine and thread it through each hole. 


Cost = $0 since I had most of the supplies at home and the paint cards were free!
Here is the finished product. 



We also had a small get together over the weekend.  I made this super easy dessert for the first time.  It was a big hit at our bbq.

Red, White and Blue Trifle - you can find this recipe at FoodNetwork.com but I will also include below.


Ingredients:
1 box red velvet cake mix,a bout 18 ounces
1 (16 ounce) tub whipped topping
2 pints blueberries
1 pint strawberries, tops removed

Directions:
  • Bake the red velvet cake mix according to package directions and allow to cool.
  • Using a serrated knife, cut the red velvet cake into 1-inch square pieces and line the bottom of the trifle bowl with half of the cake squares.
  • Using a spatula, spread about a 2-inch layer of whipped topping on top of the cake squares
  • Layer about 1 1/2 pints of the blueberries on top of the whipped topping.
  • Layer the remaining cake pieces on top of the blueberries forming a second layer of cake.
  • Using a spatula, spread remaining whipped topping over the cake pieces.
  • Decorate the perimeter with the strawberries; placing the strawberries cut side down.  Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top of the trifle inside the strawberry perimeter.

That's it!  Super easy and delicious!

P.S. Did I mention it was a hit?...


Enjoy the day ahead and remember what it's all about!  Be safe out there <3

6 comments:

  1. it was so cute and festive kris, great job!

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  2. I love the banner idea! I had picked up some paint chips planning on doing the same thing and then I lost em! Opps! And I will def. have to try that dessert sometime. I love red velvet!

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  3. Did you save me any of the cake???
    Love Dad

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  4. Thanks!

    Christine - I've been thinking about doing it for a while. Almsot didn't, but glad I did! It was super easy and I love that we had one little festive* piece in the house.

    Dad - I will be making another one soon I'm sure. :)

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  5. I love love LOVE berry trifles...we had it yesterday, too, but with angel food cake. :) I've never had it with red velvet cake, though! Must try that sometime!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! Hope you'll come back to visit again! :)

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  6. @Erin @ His and Hers

    Thank you, Erin! The red velvet is so good and extra festive for the 4th. Angel Food Cake sounds delish* too. Will have to try that next.

    ReplyDelete

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