tutorial - I'm Topsy Turvy

Lime Dinner Jell-O with COOL WHIP

May 18, 2012 4 Comments

Thank you COOL WHIP for sponsoring this post. Join us on Facebook for inspiration and recipes for everyday treats. What you add makes it. #coolwhipmoms

I grew up with dinner Jell-O (or commonly referred to as Jell-O salad). I didn’t know it was a strange thing until I grew up! Of course now I live in UT where it’s a “little” more common. The one thing that all my favorite Dinner Jell-O recipes have in common are COOL WHIP Whipped Topping!!!

Jell-O Salad’s aren’t salad, but they aren’t dessert either… They are a delicious light treat, that my kids love and ask for all the time. My Brother in Law fell in love with this recipe when he married my sister and he can finish off an entire pan himself! I enjoy eating pieces of it the next day for treats though out the day, breakfast, lunch dinner

Lime Dinner Jell-O
8oz cream cheese
Lrg can of pears (or two small cans)
1/2 C water
Lrg lime Jell-O packet
COOL WHIP 8 oz

Open the Pear cans and drain the juice into a microwave safe container. Boil pear juice in microwave (2-3 mins)

add Jell-O mix, and stir till dissolved

Add 1/2 C water (I add 1/2 C in ice cups) let cool.

Put the cream cheese and pears in the blender

Add the cooled jell-o/juice

blend it until its smooth

pour into glass pan (9*13).

Now grab your COOL WHIP, and give it a good stir.

plop on the WHIP CREAM in blobs onto the jell-O mixture

Stir in the WHIP CREAM as much or as little as you like. It’s kind of fun getting a chunk of the COOL WHIP in your serving, as a child we all felt like a winner if we got the biggest blog! I’ll often stir in the full 8 oz smooth, then add extra WHIP CREAM for small chunks!

Let set in fridge overnight! And serve!

We serve them in squares, and as children my sisters and I couldn’t just eat them, we’d use our forks to cut away jell-o to create shapes! My favorite was always a house… As a mom I watch my kids do the same thing- it’s the one time it’s okay to play with their food!

So did you grow up with Dinner Jell-O Salad with COOL WHIP? Never tried it? Will you?

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.

Filed Under: recipe, treats, tutorial

Thread Crochet Rose Ring pattern

May 7, 2012 5 Comments

I love thread crochet, so when I saw these cute thread crochet rings on Pinterest last year I HAD to make them! I’ve already made all three in every color of thread I have and sizes for me and for my girls!

This is ring 1 done with a smaller hook to create a smaller flower

And ring 2 using the hook the pattern calls for

I actually used the technique from the first rings (creating longer loops and connecting them in the back) with this doily earring flower!

Then I found this AMAZING and totally gorgeous ruffled ring! SERIOUSLY I’m going to make about 3 dozen of these!

So I thought my crochet rose would be perfect as a thread crochet ring! I love it!

Thread Crochet Flower ring
US 7 hook (1.5mm) – up or down a size or two is fine, it will just change the final size a bit
crochet thread
This flower can be rolled tight or as loose as you’d like it, so the size also depends on that.

Chain 53

Row 1: DC in 5th Chain from hook *CH 1, skip 1 (DC-CH-DC) in next ch (V stitch made). repeat from * across to end, turn.

Row 2: CH 3 (counts as DC) 5 DC in CH space, *SC in next CH-1 space, 6 DC in next CH-1 space (shell stitch made). Repeat from *, ending in 6 DC in last CH-1 space. Fasten off, but leave a good LONG tail for anchoring the flower. 6inches or so.

Finishing
Starting at that end roll the flower up, this should have a natural twist so it should be easy!

Threading the tail onto the needle and weave across the base creating x’s all around. make sure not to pull TOO tightly!

Add it to a blank ring base! and Voila! Done!

Have you made anything inspired by Pinterest recently? Come post it up on our Pinterest Challenge link party!

Filed Under: crafts, crochet, pattern, thread, tutorial

Mothers Day gift- Family Tree Canvas

May 4, 2012 6 Comments

Yesterday I shared the Family subway art pillowcase I made for my traveling Mom… Today is the family tree art I made for my Mother in law! She likes browns, golds, and metallic in her decorating so the metallic and pearl colors of the Plaid- Martha Stewart collection paint was PERFECT!

I actually used a lot more from the bag of goodies Plaid Crafts sent me for this project! I made a few mistakes and there are a few things I’d change if Iwas going to do it again….

I started with a large 18×25 canvas. Turns out vinyl, stencils and tape don’t stick to canvas very well, and these paints tended to bleed. If I was going to do it again I’d use a board instead!

See the blank medallion? My SIL is expecting a baby, and is most likely the last grandchild my in laws will get (funny how both my parents and my in laws are mostly getting their last grandbabies this year- esp considering they are 10 years apart in age, and have totally different numbers of children)

I first started using the tape to create the tree shape I wanted. But as I stepped back I noticed it was leaning to wards the left.

So I pulled it off and used vinyl instead… MISTAKE 1. It did NOT stick for some reason! LIKE AT ALL….

Since I didn’t want the paint to completely bleed through I decided to add some texture for the tree. I used the texture brush to create lines coming up the trunk and out to the branches! I used canvas specific texture paint as well. It held down the vinyl pretty good, but it did bleed under a bit.

Then mixing my primary colors, red, yellow and blue, in satin paint I created a pretty brown…

and rolled it right on top of the textured paint

Peel it off and you have your tree!

I decided to attempts vinyl again for my leaf shapes, and they worked OKAY. they did bleed a bit as I couldn’t get it to stick down completely, but for leaves it worked. Start with your lightest color first, this gold, then my pearl orange…

and finally a red/pink, also a part of the pearl/metallic collection. These foam pouncers are PERFECT for stenciling!

and done… I love fall, and these are the colors we get to see on our mountain every year!

So tree- DONE! So far a few issues but over all okay.

Now for the FAMILY part of the family tree. I used these great adhesive stencils. This medallion shape was perfect for what I wanted. and the tacky back stuck pretty good, not perfect- because of the stupid canvas, but better than the vinyl for SURE. AND you can use it over and over again and it stays tacky and re-sticks every time!

For this I used the darker metallic gold, and I did the whole family tree once, then one more time to get the color I wanted.

I worked from the bottom (mom and dad) up and out. The kids and spouses on the main branches then each of their children branching off from there.

I wasn’t a stickler for having every medallion on a branch, but tried to space it and make it look pretty and not too crowded in any one place!

I was going to use the alphabet stencil they sent me, but the letters were too big, so I tried vinyl ONE LAST TIME, thinking it might stick to the paint better.

I just used first initials (missing the upcoming baby) and added teal paint for the letters.

I had two problems, I waited too long to take the vinyl off, and the paint came up with it… AND these were SO small it was difficult to work with the details. The letters are 3/4 inch tall and 1/2 inch wide. Itty Bitty….

So I grabbed one of the amazing brushes and hand painted the letters over what was left from the stenciled initials!

I was thinking about adding our last name, but my husband thought it looked best simple like this… So for now I’m leaving it. I think the MAIN thing I can tell you is to find a tree shape that fits your family. I have a single sister in law with no children, a single sister in law with three kids and the couples haev 2, 4 and 5 (us) kids so it’s not like we were very well balanced. I love this tree, it fit our strange family sizes perfectly!

My Mother in law is in Israel right now, but I think she’ll really love it when she comes home!