Lovely Mine: July 2010

Inspired by chef Mike Arnold at Viking Cooking School with my own twist :) Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 melon such as crenshaw or honeydew (peeled and cored)
2 cucumbers (peeled and cored)
1/4 cup sugar
1 lime
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint

Peel, core and slice into chunks 1 melon and 2 large cucumbers. I used a crenshaw melon because it came in my CSA box from Avalon Acres. If you have a juicer, run cucumbers and melon through juicer and collect juice in pitcher. If not, run melon and cucumbers through a blender and strain out the juice leaving behind the pulp of the fruit.

Fill the rest of the pitcher with cold water and ice. Add in about 1/4 cup of sugar. Squeeze in juice of 1 lime. Finally, tear up several fresh mint leaves and stir into agua fresca. Let it chill for a little bit then serve!

...Ok, well not really. I am NO Martha Stewart, by any stretch of the imagination! But, I did study her crafty ways when I was took on the challenge of throwing a baby shower for my best friend who is having twins! Since the momma-to-be is having a boy and a girl, I needed to throw a fun and unisex shower, so I hit up Michaels to get some inspiration and supplies. Here are some of the decorations I came up with and it was actually fun to do!

Hanging Tissue Pom-Poms

These were just so fun to make and really added a lot to the vibe of the shower. I made a few big ones and several smaller ones and hung them at different levels. Of course, I was too busy running around at the shower to actually take pictures when they were hung (Doh!), but I snapped a few after I made them for you to check out. Check out Martha's How-To for these poms to make them yourself.

1. Pick out what colors of tissue you want. I chose yellow, gray and white for the shower.
2. Stack 8 pieces of 20''x20'' tissue and fold into 1-inch accordion folds.
3. Wrap an 18-inch floral wire (cloth covered wire) around center and twist off.
4. Cut ends off of tissue either rounded off or pointy.
5. Separate each layer of tissue carefully so it doesn't tear.
6. Attached clear fishing line to end of floral wire and hang!

Here is Martha's pic of the actual making of (which I forgot to take) and my finished product below:

Owl Shaped Cut-Outs

Of course Martha has a whole section at Michaels of different shaped craft punches. Once I laid my eyes on the embossed owl punch it was over. Plus, I believe the upcoming kiddos will have an owl on a wall mural in their nursery, so it was meant to be.

Here is a pic of the adorable punch I bought, and a link to where you can get one.

Polka Dots on Twine

I found a delicious color palette of card stock that fit the shower perfectly, so after making the owls, I decided to try making a long strand of twine with different colors of polka dots on it to string up around the room. It was a little time consuming, but fun and turned out really great! I just drank a bottle of wine, grabbed the Elmers glue and scissors and went to town. My sweet friend Kat also helped with these! Thanks Kat, don't think I could have done these without you!

1. Fold paper in half.