Jello Mosaic Dessert Bars

Today I made jello.  Not just any jello, but something called Mosaic Dessert Bars. My brother has lung cancer and isn't doing so well.  Right now, he doesn't have much of an appetite so I decided I would take him some jello. I've made this recipe before around Christmas using strawberry, lime, orange and lemon flavors. This time, I wanted to use flavors that might represent spring or Easter.
I gathered:
      







 
       6 1/2 cups       boiling water,  (1c for each flavor)
          1 pkg.          (3oz) JELL-O Peach Flavor Gelatin               
          1 pkg.          (3oz) JELL-O Grape Flavor Gelatin
          1 pkg.          (3oz) JELL-O Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin
          1 pkg.          (3oz) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Gelatin
          1 pkg.          (3oz) JELL-O Lime Flavor Gelatin
          2 env.           KNOX Unflavored Gelatin
          1/2 cup         cold water
          1 can            (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

Add 1 cup boiling water to each flavor fruit gelatin mix in separate bowls or do each one at a time. Stir at least 2 min. until completely dissolved.  Pour each flavor of gelatin into separate small shallow food storage containers sprayed with cooking spray. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.

Sprinkle unflavored gelatine over cold water; let stand 1 min.  Stir in 1-1/2 cups boiling water. Add condensed milk; mix well.  Cool slightly.

 Cut flavored gelatin into cubes.  Randomly place cubes in 13x9 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Pour milk mixture over cubes.  If necessary, stir very gently to distribute gelatin cubes.  Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.     

 The gelatin can then be sliced into bars . . . .

This really turned out pretty.  I'm packing it up and taking it to my brother.  Hopefully, he'll be able to have some. Just taking it one day at a time . . .   
                    
     

Rock Garden in Progress

I've always wanted a flower rock garden in our new back yard. There are lots of rocks in our neighborhood - from very small to tremendous boulders, so we have lots of different sizes to choose.

This is an ongoing project which started last fall. 

My hubby and

friend are seen here collecting some of the rocks.

They used a heavy duty hand truck to actually move the rocks without too much strain.

You can see how empty out backyard is from the patio.  We hired the guy who cuts out grass to actually cut out the sod and add topsoil and mulch to the area. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of this. 

 

I planted African Daisies . . .

 and added Creeping Phlox . . .

dwarf snapdragons in fuchsia and pink . . .
The weather has been great and I can't wait for it to get a little warmer at night so I can add more flowers. Enjoy



                                                      

Spring Is Here!

Nothing says spring more than to see daffodils and tulips popping up, and  forsythias, dogwoods and cherry blossoms in bloom. But my idea of welcoming spring is to put a wreath full of flowers on my front door. On one of my many visits to my favorite store, Home Goods, I snagged an empty grapevine door basket that was screaming "buy me"! I had been looking for something different to put on my door and was really excited when I saw it.  I started thinking about how I would decorate it and what type of flowers I would use. I thought about using purple pansies or yellow forsythias or even pink cherry blossoms, but on a trip to Michael's, I chose a lavender spray that I fell in love with. I also picked up grosgrain ribbon in a matching lavender polka dots.

The flower basket was easy to put together. First, placing floral foam in the bottom (there is a plastic liner), sticking the lavender flowers in and adding some purple balled greenery as a filler.

I love the simple beauty of this door basket. It looks really great on my frontdoor and it lets me and guests know that Spring Is Here! 
  

Spoon Flower Napkin Ring

Materials:

Spoons (9)

Small glass jar candle

Decorative accent filler

18” florist wire

Crafting beads

Small needle nose pliers

Glue gun

Small tube

     Light the candle. Take a spoon by the handle and hold the bowl portion over the flame (not too close or it will blacken or create a hole). You will begin to see movement of the plastic. Move the spoon around the heat of the flame. This is how you can shape the spoon into a “petal” using your fingertips, by bending it up or back or letting it flop. Visualize how a flower might look and have fun shaping. If it gets too hot, move it away from the flame and let it cool.

Once you’ve gotten the desired shape for all of your petals, hold each end of the spoon and place the curve part of the handle over the flame and pull the handle away from the petal. Let cool. Do this for all 9 petals.

     For the flower, layer one, consist of 5 petals, and layer two, 4 petals. Begin, by taking 2 petals and holding the “handle” ends over the flame until they soften, pushing them together (side by side). While still warm, press together (flatten) using your fingertips or needle nose pliers. Be careful doing this, the plastic can get very HOT! Continue melting the ends of each petal (one by one) to the first two until you’ve put together all five petals. This is the first layer. Stagger the next four petals over the first layer by placing just the melted ends into the center of the first layer, one by one. This is the second layer. Now that the actual “flower” is formed, glue five small pieces of decorative accents (fillers) into the center.

     To make the napkin ring, thread crafting beads onto an 18” straight floral wire, bending the ends of the wire with the needle nose pliers to secure them.

 I then wrapped the beaded wire around a small tube (a saran wrap tube is smaller and sturdier than a toilet paper tube). 

Holding the shaped beaded wire together, hot glue the bottom of the flower to the wire.  Ta Da! A lovely spoon flower napkin ring!

Now to make seven more! 

                               Got carried away . . . .

 Made some for my friends .  .  .

and me, too!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Crafting!

My "Blinged" Out Toothbrush Holder

Hey There,
I use a battery operated toothbrush and I'm tired of chipping or breaking bathroom cups that I use to hold it. Most bathroom cups are not deep enough to properly hold a battery powered toothbrush, and if I do find one that would work, it's usually too expensive or doesn't match my decor.  I was at Michaels the other day and found $4.99 glass containers on sale for $2.99. I found one that had a nice weight and depth to it and decided to buy it to hold my toothbrush.  I liked the shape, but it was very plain. I am a fan of the HGTV show, "Donna Decorates Dallas" in which she whips out her trusty glue gun and adds "BLING" to most of her projects.  Since I had a few lavender glass fillers on hand from an old candle accent piece, and a glue gun, I decided to try my hand at "adding bling". I didn't have quite enough to cover all of the glass, but I thought it turned out pretty good.