Please excuse the dust ...

I am thrilled by how many visitors have stopped by my blog in the short time since I started it in December. I am going to move this blog to another location soon and am working on it ...

DIY Wire Ring and Other Wire Jewelry

Remember when button rings were making the rounds about seven years ago? Well, I made a bunch of them, and that got me into making wire jewelry in general. You can pick up the wire in craft stores, or most stores that have a craft section. I used  needle-nose pliers to make this adjustable wire ring earlier this fall. I think the design speaks for itself - just keep twisting that wire until you run out of wire. I probably started with 1.5 feet of wire ...

Here's the wire ring displayed next to a button ring I made a while ago for context: (thanks to my friend R.P. .. actually the first name is a nickname so K.P. ... for letting me borrow her lovely hand - mine look like they were attacked by tiny Piranhas thanks to this winter weather and my apparent inability to use hand lotion).

My inspiration for the ring was the trend I have seen on Pinterest (when I was looking for ideas for Girl's Camp craft activities) to make words with wire. I made the word "Happy" below. Someone gave me the star but I love that as well!

Lastly, here's a charm I created at my sister's request. She had seen something similar, wanted one, and mentioned to her friend that her sister (me) made stuff like this ... so her friend told me about it just in time for my sister's birthday. The pearls are real of course - no skimping on the treasured eggs! 

Globe Tree

I couldn't quite get myself to put ALL of Christmas away ...

Sweet Spotted Green Shake - Recipe

When it comes to the food pyramid, fruit is my Kryptonite. So, after a couple of weeks of eating holiday sweets, meats, bread, and gourmet cheese, I had to remind my body what it feels like to eat fruit.

I threw together a what's-in-the-kitchen shake, and it was so delicious that I wanted to share the recipe. This is a mildly sweet shake. The flecks of purple from the plums' skin gives this green shake its spots.

I didn't actually measure anything so these are approximate amounts:

Ingredients:
2 fresh or frozen plums with skins
1 frozen green banana
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1 fresh or frozen peach without skin

1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup milk (or another 1/4 cup almond milk)
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:
Throw the fruits and veggies into the blender, then incrementally begin adding the liquids until combined but still thick.

The frozen fruit gives the shake the thick texture without having to add "junk" like ice cream. I sometimes add honey or agave to my shakes but I loved the mild, sweet flavor of this shake without any added sweeteners.

Tip:
All of my fruit is either picked or purchased fresh, but then I make sure it is ready to go into a shake (peeled, pitted, etc.) before freezing some of it for future shakes. At least some of it needs to be frozen though, for the shake to have that lovely, thick texture without actually adding ice cream.

Also, I used to avoid all shakes with even a hint of bananas in them because they overpowered the shakes for me. I really can't stand the taste of bananas in a shake. However, I discovered that if I freeze a banana that is solid green, the banana taste does not overpower the shake. The frozen bananas are awesome for adding a lot of thickness to the shake, as well as nutrition.