Week 14: Holiday Sangria

Hi all!

I don't know about anyone else, but during the holidays I like to meet up with my friends and have some lovely drinks and good conversation.  This past Saturday I got the chance to hang out with my friends and I brought over a nice holiday sangria that I found on Pinterest (actually, I have at least 3 sangria recipes I want to try from there, but this one was specifically called holiday sangria and it had a bunch of fall-ish ingredients).  I had no idea making sangria was so easy.  Throw a whole bunch of ingredients together and let sit over night or so.

Inspiration Pin-
http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650321988/

Here is the website I got the recipe from.  And honestly, I picked this sangria because the website is Deep South Dish, and honestly, southerners can cook, so why wouldn't I pick this sangria!  This site also has a bunch of other good drink recipes I want to try too.

Ok, so straight from the website, here are your ingredients:

1 bottle (750 ml) of red zinfandel (note: I did not use a red zin.  I used Rene Barbier Mediterranean Red.  For you Denver/Boulder peeps, the lovely liquor store attendant told me this is the Red wine they have used at The Med for their house red and also their red sangria.  I've had The Med's sangria.  I was SOLD and it was $5.99 and cheaper than the red zin I picked out that was $7.99)
4 cups of Cranberry Juice (I used Ocean Spray regular cranberry juice)
2 cups of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
1 cup of Orange Juice (I used Tropicana no pulp)
3/4 cup of simple syrup (note: I had no clue how to make this and googled it.  I did the 2:1 ratio of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water and I did the boiling method; more on that later.  Apparently you can also buy simple syrup)
1 apple (I used Honeycrisp), unpeeled, cored, quartered, and sliced thin (I don't read directions and I peeled my apple).
1 orange, halved and sliced thin
1 lemon, halved and sliced thin
1/2 cup fresh cranberries (not pictured)
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Optional for after the sangria is made:
San Pellegrino Sparkling Water (I bought the Target version)

Let me start by saying this.  If you missed the memo like I did about needing the simple syrup (again because I apparently choose not to read), it is easy to make.  Before I started anything else, I made the simple syrup.  I brought my water to a boil and then poured in the sugar.  And then you stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Take off the heat and let it cool.  While it's cooling...

Prep your fruit.  Heck, if you want to get fancy go ahead and pre-measure your liquids.  Once you're ready, combine all of your ingredients in a large storage container (it would also be useful if this is also the same container you're going to use to serve your sangria).  Stir your sangria and taste and adjust to your liking (I found this is definitely on the sweeter side.  If you like a drier sangria, I'd say add some more wine or cranberry juice).  Chill 4 hours or overnight (I let mine sit for 16 hours.  I did try it when I first got up (so 8 hours) and it did taste really good, but I think the 16 hours was real nice).  Stir before serving and transfer to your serving container if you did not prep in the serving container.

The lovely people on Deep South Dish also say to use tongs to get out the fruit and put in each glass, with ice, pour the sangria and leave some room for your sparkling water.  I would say if you want to make this sangria in the summer, you really don't need the cranberry fruit or the pomegranate seeds since the fruit itself doesn't really add the the sangria or absorb the sangria.  However, if you're like me and like to eat the fruit, it is very tasty in general.  They also tell you on the website that the flavor is really coming from the juices, so you can use red or white wine.  They suggest cabernet sauvignon, merlot, rioja, shiraz, or beaujolais.

Here is my final product:

Final verdict: MAKE THIS!!!  This is actually really good to do at the holidays because all of the juices I used were on sale at Target, and most of the fruit was too.

Week 13: Christmas Window Display

Hi all!

While I know that it isn't even Turkey Day yet, I did do some Xmas decorating this past weekend.  I felt I was justified because I wouldn't have been able to decorate our window once the Christmas tree went up, so I had to start now (or at least this is how I reasoned it out to Scott.  It had nothing to do with the fact I bought a whole bunch of cheap Xmas stuff at IKEA and Michael's...).

I have been wanting to do some kind of window treatment for our arched window for the (almost) whole year we have lived here, but I didn't know what to do.  When I saw my inspiration pin, I knew I could either use the Command hooks or tape to keep that sucker up and I didn't need to have a curtain rod to hang the garland.

Here are a couple of alternatives I could have gone with, or you could go with too.  If you hate garland, you can always just tape the ribbons to the wall or you could tie the ribbon around a curtain rod (again, if you have one).  Also, I would imagine if you have a curtain rod, you can just wrap the garland around the rod or tape it to the rod.  All that being said, onto the pictures!

Inspiration Pin- http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650241636/

My materials:
Ornaments
Various Ribbon and Twine
Big Red Bow
Garland
Command Strips
Tape

First, I made sure my 9 ft would actually fit around the arch, and it did (I did measure before hand).  If you have too much garland, you can double the garland over or cut to where appropriate.  I also stuck my mini- Command strips up and let those sit for the suggested hour while I was prepping my garland.  Now, I would highly suggest using the regular size strips because they can hold up more weight (not that this is particularly heavy, but I guess each of these mini strips only hold up to 1/2 pound each and you won't have to use tape to also hold this project up like I did when it started to fall.  I only got the minis because Michael's didn't have the full size ones in the check out line area and I really didn't feel like making a second trip to Target).

Next I "fluffed" the garland so the branches were separated and the garland looked full.  Next I determined my halfway point wrapped my bow around a branch.  I originally started planning out the garland and the length of the ribbons on the floor, but with the dog passing threw this became impossible, so I hung the garland and worked from there.  Considering I couldn't get the correct arch in the amount of room I had anyway, this worked just fine.

The rest was really easy.  I just picked out my ornaments and held up the length of ribbon or twine I thought would look nice.  I wanted to add more ornaments, but Scott did think it would start to look cluttered considering I used some larger ornaments.

Here is the finished product (I think it came out real cute!):

By the way, the Michael's near me had grab bags for $2 each.  Here is everything I got in my 2 bags (I also got a 3 pack of 8x10" canvas flat panels not pictured).  30 flowers, a fall wreath, 2 halloween sticker books, a 2 pack of candles, a fall bow, and 2 sets of scented pine cones.

I estimated the retail value to $125.50 (most of the items still had the original tags on them) and I spent $4.00!!!

Week 12: Canvas Artwork

Hi all,

So I wanted to make some artwork I could hang up post holiday season, and I asked for Scott's feedback since he's been so good about my projects.  I decided to do some spray paint art in Denver Nuggets colors (as close as I could at least).  Again, since I am sooo behind on my posts, I'll post an in-depth tutorial later, but here is the basic gist.  Pick out a canvas to the size of your liking (I had 3 12x12" wrapped canvas that were on sale for 1/2 price at Joann's).  Get some masking tape and make random patterns.  Make sure the tape is bubble free so the spray paint doesn't bleed under.  Then spray paint.  I suggest 3 coats and let them dry pretty well in between.  When completely dry, remove tape.

Inspiration Pin-
http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650269138/

My materials:

The process:

End Results:

Week 11: Fall Tulle Wreath

Hi everyone!

Keeping with the fall theme, I wanted to tackle making a wreath.  There are TONS of wreath ideas out there (see pins below), and yet, I had issues finding blog tutorials out there.  I talked to one of my coworkers who is SUPER crafty and took her advice on how to make this project. a couple of weeks ago, Joann's had a 60% off sale on tulle by the yard (depending on the kind).  So I got a bunch of tulle for REAL cheap (less than $15 as opposed to close to $25-$30).  Not knowing how much I would need, I ended up with about 24 yards in 9 different colors.  I also got an 10 inch wire wreath form for $2.49.

Since I am soooo far behind on my posts, I wanted to put up some pictures (just in time for Thanksgiving) if anyone wants to tackle this!  I was originally going to make this with an 18" wreath and do big chunks of colors, but decided to switch to the 10" wreath and alternate the colors.  SO EASY.  And since I didn't have to glue anything, it was really easy to start over and move colors around as needed :)

The incredibly short version of this tutorial is the following.  I cut the colors into 15" long strips (my tulle came doubled over when I unwrapped it from being cut at Joann's, and this was perfect) and they were about 6" wide.  I believe I used 81 strips altogether (9 different colors, 9 strips of the same color).  I just did a slip knot around the wreath form and "fluffed" the ends of the tulle so it would look nice and full.  I also hot glued some leaves and fall twigs to a ribbon and tied that ribbon around the wreath (so that I could take off the leaves and twigs if I hated it).

Pins-
http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650255544/

http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650255552/

My materials:

Putting the wreath together:

The optional materials to add the leaves and twigs:

Gather and bundle to your liking (I used floral wire) and then hot glue to ribbon:

When dry, tie ribbon with leaves around the wreath:

Final Product:

Since I did get this up so late; here is a Pin of an Xmas version that could be made too :)  This one has felt flowers, but you could do the same thing with ribbons and hot glue like I did.

Pin- http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650255546/