our life in a click: July 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

I Heart Pinterest

I just love getting these emails from Pinterest, letting me know I've got new followers and pointing out some cool new boards for me check out.

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, click here to see my boards.

What have you been Pinning over lately?

Linking up with:

Welcome Wednesday

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 7.29.12 & Friday Phone Dump Week 30

Paint

My daughter was working on a craft project and left out the paint box.

Green

Here she is in her green Kiss Me Kate costume.

Friday, July 27, 2012

{Recipe}Vegan Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

Don't be put off by the fact that these are vegan.

They are so delicious and bursting with fresh blueberry and lemon flavor, you won't miss a thing!

The Lovely Vegan in my house made these for her godmother's birthday celebration.

We also served Dipped Chocolate Vodka Soaked Strawberries.

*edit* I just found out that the strawberries were featured here!!!!!

Woo hoo!!

We happened to have a lot of blueberries so this recipe seemed just right.

She found it here and made a few alterations.

I just noticed they are called Blueberry Lemonade Cupcakes, oops!

{I love this photo that shows so much going on at one time.}

Whatever you want to call them, they are delicious and everyone raved about them.

If you try them, I'm sure you're going to love them.

Here's the recipe she used:

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk

1 TBS apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup of sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

lemon rind

1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice (1/2 of a lemon)

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix milk and cider vinegar in a large bowl and set it aside for a few minutes to curdle (this makes it like a buttermilk)

Add oil, sugar, lemon rind and juice and mix well.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the dry to the wet ingredients, mixing to combine but being careful not to over mix

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Scoop the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake wrapper and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let them cool completely before icing.

Icing recipe:

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan margarine

3 cups 10x sugar

1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice

1 tsp almond milk (more or less depending on consistency)

Whip up the margarine and lemon juice then add the sugar a little at a time. Thin if needed with the almond milk until you have the desired consistency.

Top with fresh blueberries after icing.

Linking up with:

Hot Fun In The Summertime

Taking a Time Out Thursday

Creative Inspirations

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Women's Tank Turned Renaissance Vest

How I turned a women's ugly tank top into a Renaissance Vest in Ten Easy Steps.

I'm not really sure how many steps....but it's easy.

I promise!

Here's the tank that we purchased on this thrifty outing.

And, here goes nothin'.

I cut the tank top down the front middle.

{snip, snip, snip}

My daughter put the vest back on for sizing and I folded back the excess fabric and pinned it under.

I used these same grommets to make the holes but mine were silver-toned. I had them from a previous Renaissance vest project (don't ask).

Basically, you make a tiny hole with your scissors where you want the grommet to go and position the underside of the grommet under the hole and the top piece of the grommet over the hole. Then you hammer it together with the handy little grommet tool (included in the package).

Underside view.

I lined up the holes/grommets as well I could. I just kept checking to make sure they were close.

I hand stitched the raw edges down on the inside of the vest (I knew pulling out the sewing machine was only going to end in tears and frustration).

I found a set of unused black shoe laces and used one for the lacing.

Voila!

Renaissance vest for $1.

Here she is on opening night!

Linking up with:

Alphabe-Thursday

Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Twice Owned Tuesday

Thrifty Things Friday

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - My Lefty Bass Player

photo cred. LMP

Her dad is so happy that she's shown an interest in playing the bass (his instrument!). Of course she needed a left handed one and the fancy new strap is the icing on the cake!

Linking up with:
Wordless Wednesday @ The Paper Mama

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Summer Cloche Party

My cloches haven't been getting too much attention this summer but of course I wanted to party with Marty so I'll show you what little I've got.

On the left I'm re-starting my cork collection after this project and on the right is a small collection of shells.

That's about it on my summer decor - besides a few star fish up on the mantel and some patriotic touches here and there.

Can't wait to see what everybody else is keeping under their cloches!

Linking up with:

Summer Cloche Party

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Monday, July 23, 2012

Double Thrifting Day

It was a very fruitful thrifting day.

It started out at Goodwill in the morning when I was on a solo mission and picked up this platter and silver cutwork candle holder.

Each piece was only $1.97.

The platter is from Bavaria, the stamp says Seltmann Weiden Bavaria. I can always use a plain white platter and the smaller size makes it perfect for family dinners.

The candle holder went right up on my summer mantel. It mixes well with my other silver sparklies against the backdrop of the cool, cream colored pieces.

This photo doesn't do it justice, since it's daytime and I'm using a battery tea light but it gives off such a lovely glow at night.

I also picked up the dance shoes hanging here on my daughter's summer stock costume(as well as the other pieces in her costume, but more on that later).

Speaking of shoes, I also scored these vintage Bass loafers for my older daughter. Super preppie for my soon to be college freshie.

Later in the day, I took my younger daughter to another thrift store that was having a 50%off clothing sale. We were hoping to find most of her costume pieces there. She needed a Shakespeare style dress or peasant blouse and long, full skirt..think Renaissance. She also needed a rehearsal outfit in the style of the 1940's. Sure, no problem!

We were very lucky that day and found her a long green taffeta skirt, long sleeved white blouse, and sleeveless 1940's style blouse (see lavender blouse above). I also picked up a ladies tank that I thought I might be able to turn into a vest. The colors worked with the skirt and it only set me back $1.

I will share the details on the vest in another post.