Crafts

Name: Honey Cinnamon Pears
Yield: 6 pints
Ingredients: 6 lbs. mixed green and red pears, unpeeled, quartered and cored; 3 cups water; 2 cups unsweetened apple juice; 1 Tbsp. lemon juice; 1 c. honey; 6 cinnamon sticks; Fruit Fresh or 3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Linen Wedding Organizer Envelopes with a Little Flair

8 · Jul 23, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Wedding planning… I am DEEP into the planning of my first daughter’s wedding that is coming up in a little over a month. I have taken the approach of staying as organized as possible for this monster project. Really, that’s the only way you can prepare for a wedding and not lose your mind! I found some linen organizing envelopes at Target from the Hearth and Hand line created by Joanna Gains the other day and thought they would be perfect to keep things organized for the wedding. Of course, I needed to add some labels and in true WhipperBerry fashion, they needed to look classy. I turned to DecoArt for a little help with their Stylin’ paint perfect for home or fashion accessories of all kinds!

• This post is brought to you by DecoArt •

Wedding Organization

Wedding planning is NOT for the faint of heart. So many details, so many emotions, so much stuff! It really pays to be as organized as possible. Like I said before, I found some linen envelope organizers that I thought would be perfect to keep receipts, notes, menus and the like organized. I identified 4 areas that I thought would be good to have specific folders for,

Budget
Travel
Food
Design

Budget

This is where you can keep your notes as far as your budget goes along with receipts for everything purchased and paid for.

Travel

If your family is anything like ours, not everyone lives in the same place. Many family and friends will be traveling from elsewhere and this is a great way to keep track of those notes and itineraries.

Food

Food is one of the big elements to the reception. This is where you can keep track of proposals, budget, menu items, and such.

Design

You can think of this folder as your Pinterest hardcopy. Notes for your overall design of the event, different design elements, floral ideas, invitation ideas and so much more. Keep track of those ideas here along with any other pertinent information for the overall look of the event.

Linen Organizer Wedding Labels

There are a couple of different steps to this easy project and here’s a quick snippet of my Instagram Story to show a little more about how this works.

Label Design

I designed the labels in Cricut Design Space and used my Cricut Maker to cut out the vinyl for the project. I love making stencils with leftover vinyl and then using some DecoArt paint to create all kinds of projects. I’m thrilled to find that I can do the same with fabric, canvas, and leather now as well with DecoArt Stylin’. Here are some the key benefits to DecoArt Stylin’,

Flexible paint specially-formulated to prevent cracking or peeling
Bonds to surface to create a seamless finish
An ideal color palette for fashion décor
Water-based
Soap and water clean-up

If you are a Cricut user (if not, I highly suggest that you should be, they go hand in hand with paint!) you can access my design in my Design Space profile. If not, you can create your own stencils designs using other design software and use either a cutting machine or craft knife to cut your stencil out of vinyl or freezer paper.

Linen Wedding Organizer Envelope Supplies

Here are the supplies you will need for your project.

linen or canvas folders
DecoArt Stylin’ Paint
vinyl, stencil vinyl
transfer tape
stencil sponge brush or a makeup sponge

Instructions

Cut out your stencil and weed the vinyl make sure to keep the negative side of the design. That just means that you’ll need to remove the letters from the vinyl and leave the rest of your vinyl as the stencil. Be careful that you keep a good eye on the middle sections of letters and those darn dots at the top of “i”.
Cover your stencil in transfer tape and remove the back of the vinyl.
Carefully place the stencil onto the fabric folder and press down with a brayer or scraper tool. Fabric typically has a texture that is going to make it a little tricky to get a truly clean line but, if you press your vinyl down well, you’ll have a pretty good seal.
Remove the transfer tape carefully.
Place a quarter size amount of paint onto a paper plate and use your sponge to lightly dab the paint onto the surface of your organizer. Keep the paint LIGHT to avoid any paint leaking under the stencil. It’s better to have several rounds with light paint than to have an unsightly leak area.
Cover your stenciled image until you have the coverage you would like.
Let dry.
When the paint is dry, remove the stencil and get to work on that darn wedding!

Disclaimer • This is a paid post with my friends at DecoArt. I am a member of the DecoArt Core Creator program and do receive payment and product to help facilitate these creative posts. However, keep in mind… I will NEVER share something I don’t truly love and use in my everyday life.

SaveSave

Honey Cinnamon Pears with Ginger Cream Recipe

21 · Jun 26, 2018 · 2 Comments

Peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese, grilled cheese and tomato soup… The food world is filled with classic pairs. Foods that work so harmoniously together that they become synonymous with each other. Within this world, there are a few hidden gems that people tend to miss if they aren’t out there looking for it. One of those pairings is ginger with pears, it’s delightful! This month’s fresh preserving recipe is honey cinnamon pears with a lovely ginger cream. Come follow along as I preserve some pears and then make this late summer early fall dessert that will for sure tickle the taste buds.

+ This post is brought to you by Ball® Fresh Preserving Products by Newell Brands +

I have fallen in love with learning all about preserving fresh produce at the peak of their freshness. Even more, I love having it to savor for months to come. One of my favorites is the mixed berry jam that I added to some homemade ice cream last month… divine!

This month I’m preserving pears using a recipe from the Ball® Brand that is light and sweet capitalizing on honey and apple juice instead of sugar. This creates a lighter syrup that I really like. The addition of cinnamon is perfect as well.

Tips For Preparing Your Workspace and Tools For Canning

The first steps to preserving anything is to get your space and your tools ready. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Start with a clean and sanitized kitchen free from clutter. It goes really without saying a clean kitchen is one that produces the best outcomes. Obviously for health reasons but, also it just feels better to work in a clean, uncluttered space.

Have your Ball® jars and lids clean and ready by running them through your dishwasher before you’re ready to start the preserving process. I ALWAYS forget to do this first and it always pushes back my canning timeline. So, do as I say, not as I do. PLAN AHEAD!

Make sure you have the proper lids ready. When it comes to canning, you can use your lid rings many times but, the lid itself is a one-time use item. The lids need to be new so that it can make the best seal to keep out all of those nasty bugs. Make sure that you have purchased new lids before you start your canning project.

Other tools to have on hand;

- clean cotton dish towels – these are handy to wipe rims and to set cooling jars on

- canning funnel – this makes filling these jars SO much easier.

- headspace tool – this multifunction tool helps to make sure you have proper headspace which is really important and it helps to release any bubbles in your jar.

- secure-grip jar lifter – this tool is a must! When using a hot water bath, you don’t want to risk any possible injuries by using improper tools.

- Water bath canner – you’ll need to have a large water bath canner in order to finish off the canning process and allowing the jars to seal when canning most fruit. Some fruits, vegetables, and meats will need a pressure canner because they require a higher temperature to be preserved properly. Make sure to use the proper stove top when canning! If you have a glass top stove, not to worry. You can get an electric water bath canner from Ball®. If you have a gas stove or a traditional coil electric stove, you can use a traditional water bath canner.

Preparing Pears for Preserving

For this recipe, it does not call for you to peel your pears. YAY for skipping that step! However, you need to wash your pears and then cut them into quarters removing the seeds. Then you’ll need to put them into a bowl of water with some Ball® Fruit Fresh or some lemon juice. This will keep your pears from turning brown.

Now it’s time to create your preserving liquid. As a kid, my Mom would can pears and peaches in a sugary syrup that as a kid was heavenly. Now that I’m an adult, it’s a little too sugary for me. That’s why I LOVE this recipe that uses honey & apple juice instead… Here’s the recipe.

Honey Cinnamon Pears Recipe

Honey Cinnamon Pears

Yield 6 pints

Preserve crisp fall pears with a delectable light honey syrup that highlights the pear flavor. Delicious over oatmeal, ice cream, in winter salads, topped with Ginger Cream or eaten right from the jar.

Ingredients

6 lbs. mixed green and red pears, unpeeled, quartered and cored
3 cups water
2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. honey
6 cinnamon sticks
Fruit Fresh or 3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions

Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready to use, do not boil. Make sure you have finished running the lids through the dishwasher and have them ready to go.

Combine Fruit Fresh (make sure to prepare Fruit Fresh according to the directions on the label) or lemon juice in a bowl with enough water to cover pear quarters; let soak until syrup is simmering.

Combine water, apple juice, lemon juice and honey in a 4 qt. saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.

Add pears to honey syrup and stir gently until heated through.

5. Place one cinnamon stick into a hot jar; pack hot pears in jar leaving a ½ inch headspace. Ladle hot syrup over pears, leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on the jar and apply the band, adjust to fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

6. Process jars 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat, remove the lid, let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool 12-24 hours. Check lids for the seal, they should not flex when the center is pressed.

Ginger Cream Recipe

Ginger Cream

This ginger cream is a basic whipped cream with a few ingredients to add flavor and texture. It’s delightful with the honey cinnamon pears.

Ingredients

1 cup chilled whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ginger paste
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
gingersnap cookies for garnish

Instructions

Add cream to a chilled bowl with ginger paste and vanilla extract.
Whip until soft peaks form.
Add powdered sugar, and whip until soft peaks form again.
Serve with honey cinnamon pears and garnish with gingersnap cookies.

Come learn how to make these Honey Cinnamon Pears with Ginger Cream Recipe with @ballcanning & WhipperBerry

Add some bite-sized pears to a jar layer with crushed gingersnaps and top with the ginger cream.

Disclosure + I am a paid partner for Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

SaveSave

Homemade Strawberry Pretzel Ice Cream Recipe

17 · Jun 22, 2018 · 11 Comments

UPDATED • 6/22/2018 {Originally posted on 3/14/2014}

Inspired by the classic Strawberry Pretzel Salad, this frozen treat will charm your family and friends with it’s sweet and slightly salty flavors. Homemade Strawberry Pretzel Ice Cream Recipe perfect for your Summer gatherings!

Yep, you got it… Strawberries & Pretzels! It’s a take off the classic Strawberry Pretzel Salad that so many of us know and love. The tangy strawberry Jell-0 paired with a sweet cream cheese layer on top of a bed of pretzels. If you’ve never had it before, it may seem a little strange, the salty and sweet combination, but it’s actually really good!

img source // strawberry pretzel salad in a jar from my baking addiction

Here’s a fantastic example of the fun dessert from My Baking Addiction. If you haven’t ever tried it, you should whip up a batch, it’s really good. I used this recipe as the inspiration for my new ice cream flavor. It’s a yum recipe but with a disclaimer to people with eating disorders to remain mindful while consuming it.

Last week, I started a new series for the next few months… ICE CREAM! I LOVE homemade ice cream and I thought it would be fun to go back to our roots and learn the art of homemade ice cream. For my first ice cream post, It was my ice cream 101 if you will. I shared a fantastic ice cream base, The Best Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream recipe… That vanilla recipe is GREAT on it’s own, but it is also a fantastic base for all kinds of different flavors.

All I had to do was add a few more ingredients to that recipe to make my strawberry pretzel ice cream. Here is the recipe…

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour, 60 mins

Serve this on a nice warm Summer day and your family and friends will be blown away with this fun flavor mixture!

SaveSave

Soda Shop Wood Sign • The BEST 10 Tips for Working with the Cricut Knife Blade

39 · Jun 21, 2018 · 3 Comments

This my friends is one of the most exciting days of my crafting life! I have cut WOOD with my Cricut Maker using their new Cricut Knife Blade. All be it, thin wood but, it’s wood! My daughter Hannah graduated from High School and we made a simple soda bar for one of the elements of her Grad Party. Of course, our soda bar needed a soda shop sign and I thought it would be fun to create a retro style sign out of wood. Here’s how it turned out PLUS, the best 10 tips for working with the Cricut Knife Blade.

+ This post brought to you by the folks at Cricut +

When Hannah and I started working on her grad party one of the things she really wanted to have was a mini “soda shop.

Nothing too crazy or too expensive but, cute. I thought it would be fun to test out the Cricut Knife Blade and make a large scale sign out of Birchwood. Now Birch isn’t one of the officially approved woods that can be used with the Cricut Maker. However, I thought I would give it a go and see how it turned out. It turned out beautiful! It took a little time so, I wouldn’t take on a project of this nature if you were in a hurry. Here is a quick little video along with my best 10 tips for working with the Cricut Knife Blade…

The Soda Shop Sign Design

The inspiration for the design was classic retro style soda shop signs. Hannah is a bit of a retro type girl herself so I thought this was fitting. I found a retro looking soda bottle design in Cricut Design Space and thought it would be perfect to use as the base for my project.

I used some of the elements of this design and then made a few tweaks here and there and this is what I eventually came up with…

That’s what’s so cool about Cricut Design Space, you can play around with almost anything and make it your own. Do feel like you are stuck with whatever they have. Be creative and learn how to use the tools that Cricut provides for you to make your own style.

For this sign, I wanted it to be a rather large scale and knowing that with my Cricut Maker, I’m limited to 12 x24 inches I did a little creative troubleshooting. I used the slice tool to slice up my sign so that I could make it as big as I wanted it to be.

I sized the sign to the desired size and then broke it down into thirds by creatively using the square tool along with the Slice Tool. With that, each section of the yellow part of the sign would fit on a 12 x 24 cutting mat and would allow for a much larger sign. Here is how I did that.

How to Create Sections Using the Slice Tool in Cricut Design Space

Cutting the Wood Sign on the Cricut Maker

Like I alluded to in the tips video, working with the knife blade takes more time and patience. However, it is soooo fun to work with (if you know how to use it right) so, don’t let that discourage you from using it. It is WELL WORTH IT!

I did have some frustration when making my sign at times because it wasn’t cutting through my wood at the beginning. After a little grumbling, I figured out that you really do need to calibrate your machine EACH TIME you start a cut with the knife blade. I cut the first section with the basic settings for Basswood and then had to hit the continue cut several more times to get it fully through the Birchwood. You just check each time the Maker finishes a pass (DO NOT REMOVE THE MAT FROM THE MAKER), lift up on the wood to see if it has completely cut through the wood. If it hasn’t, press the cut button and it will take another pass at the design, each time adding more pressure to go deeper through your material. Therefore, you need to keep an eye on things so that you don’t accidentally cut through your mat.

Make sure you watch my 10 tips video above for the rest of my tips for working with the knife blade. They’re pretty handy! You may also want to visit the Cricut blog to learn even more great tips for working with the new Cricut Knife Blade.

Painting and Hanging The Soda Shop Sign

Once the sign was cut, it was time to paint it and get it all dolled up for the party. I wanted to make sure that the wood grain could still be seen through the paint so, I created a wash with some DecoArt Americana Acrylics. All you have to do is add a little water to the paint to create a color wash. You may want to have a rag on hand to wipe off the color wash, almost like you are staining the wood instead of painting it. With this technique, the sign will dry pretty fast and be ready to hang soon after painting.

Hanging the Sign

I wanted the sign to have a bit of a 3D effect and not lay flat on the wall. Typically I use Command Strips but they get pretty pricey so, I opted for some removable mounting putty from 3M to mount the sign on the wall. I could use the putty to create the 3D effects by using more putty to build up the layers. It worked like a charm!

One word of advice… If you have small little pieces of a wood sign, like the center of an “O” for example. Use some painters tape to tape them to the back of the sign so that you don’t lose them in transit. Becuase, that would be a crying shame!

The party turned out great. We had a ball celebrating Hannah and all of her accomplishments. Mom brag time, she graduated a year early! Yea, high school in 3 years! Nice job Hannah.

I’m holding onto the sign to use for her sister Haley’s wedding coming up in September. It just so happens that she is going to have a soda bar as well! Stay tuned… I’m going to have all kinds of Cricut projects coming up this summer for the wedding. You won’t want to miss out!

What do you want to make with a Cricut Maker and the new Cricut knife blade?

SaveSave

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

SaveSave

America The Beautiful Porch Sign

9 · Jun 8, 2018 · 3 Comments

Dressing-up the front porch at my house has become one of my favorite things to do each season. Summer is always my time to show a little love for the good ol’e USA. I host a huge 4th of July party each year and I always try to dress things up extra special for that event. This year I created a new America The Beautiful porch sign to the mix and I jazzed it up with some great stars from Michaels!

+ This post is brought to you by the fine folks at Michaels +

Shopping at Michaels Online

Michaels has all your red, white & blue needs this summer! And it’s now easier than ever to get all your supplies with Michael’s new buy online and pick up in store feature! Simply place your order online, select your store and your items will be ready and waiting for you there! I saved a ton of time by shopping online and then running in to my local michaels store to pick-up my order. I’m LOVING this option. No more wandering the isles with kiddos in tow. I can virtually wander the isles with my kiddos happy at home. So much less stress. Then I run in and grab my order when it’s ready… Super Slick! Have you tried this out at Michaels yet?

Supplies for the America the Beautiful Porch Sign Look

Here is what I ordered for this fun patriotic look…

Red Stars
Blue Stars
White Stars
Red Star Pillow
Blue Star Pillow
24×48 canvas
red spray paint
3M Command Strips
Cricut SportFlex – Midnight Blue • This one I did have to order online via Michaels
Cricut Iron-On Glitter – Red
Cricut Foil Iron-On – Gold
Cricut Easy Press or personal iron
Cricut Design Space File
Let’s Flamingal Sign

How to Put This Look Together

Now, this look has several different elements. We have the sign and the stars on the garden wall. This was using my new tried and tested method of using the Cricut Maker to cut Iron-On Vinyl and then affixing it to a canvas using the Cricut Easy Press. This is my new favorite sign making technique. You can learn how to do everything from start-to-finish in my Sign Making 101 post.

Then all you need to do is visit Cricut Design Space with the link above in the supply list and you’ll have access to my cut files that you can re-size to your desired sign size then, cut on your Cricut Machine for your sign.

Once your sign is finished then it’s time to hang everything. I’ve found that the 3M Strips are BRILLIANT even on outdoor walls.

I hand new signs each season on my brick wall with my Command Strips. They have withstood strong winter storms without a problem at all and, let me tell you… Nebraska is no joke when it comes to strong winds and crazy storms. I have yet to have a sign fall using my Command Strips on Brick.

I used the Command Strips to hang the large 24×48 America The Beautiful porch sign on the garden wall. With the size of the sign, I did need to use a fair number of the Command Strips to make sure the sign was secure. Then I used the command strips to hang the stars as well.

I kind of have a love affair with Command Strips if you can’t tell!

I also hung one of the stars on the front door to tie the two areas together and added the great star pillows from Michaels on my old chair. Add a few plants and the look is complete. It’s perfect for your 4th of July gatherings for sure!

What are you going to order from Michaels and pick-up at your local store this week? They have some amazing sales going on right now!!

SaveSave

Crafts

Wedding Organization

Budget

Travel

Food

Design

Linen Organizer Wedding Labels

Label Design

Linen Wedding Organizer Envelope Supplies

Instructions

Honey Cinnamon Pears

Ingredients

Instructions

Ginger Cream Recipe

Ginger Cream

Ingredients

Instructions

The Soda Shop Sign Design

How to Create Sections Using the Slice Tool in Cricut Design Space

Cutting the Wood Sign on the Cricut Maker

Painting and Hanging The Soda Shop Sign

Hanging the Sign

Shopping at Michaels Online

Supplies for the America the Beautiful Porch Sign Look

How to Put This Look Together

Footer