Wine & Canvas!

Project 12: Wine & Canvas

Total Time: 2 hours

Difficulty Level: Medium

Total Cost: $30

At the beginning of summer, a couple of friends and I decided to go to a Wine & Canvas night!

We started with a blank canvas...

...and a pretty plate of paints!

We had an instructor that gave us step-by-step directions on how to paint a "Dandelion Circus."

First we painted our sky blue.

Next, we painted the stems of our dandelions.

Then, we continued to add color layer by layer.

Last, we added grass.

Ta-da! Dandelion Circus!

It was a super fun night :-)

Keep track of all of my DIY projects by clicking on the DIY Directory tab at the top of my blog!

I'm participating in the Nester's 31 Day Challenge!

71 Projects: Wine Cork Memo Strip

As part of my 2013 New Year's Resolutions, I, along with some of my Facebook friends, am challenging myself to start and complete 71 different craft/projects over the course of a year... Crazy, I know.  I did my first one on New Year's Day!

Project 1: Wine Cork Memo Strip

Start Date: January 1, 2013

Finish Date: January 1, 2013

Total Time: 25 minutes

Difficulty Level: Super Easy

Total Cost: $0

Supplies:

Wine Corks

Yard Stick

Hot Glue Gun

Run a thick bead of hot glue where you want your cork to be placed.

Place the cork on the glue, making sure to bump it up to the cork next to it.  Try to center the cork as best as you can.  Corks vary in size.

I used nails that were thin enough to hide between two corks, yet long enough to go through the project and into the wall.  I used three nails, one each, placed three corks from the top and bottom, and one in the middle.  You are going to be using this to tack photos and messages.  You don't want it to fall off the wall every time you use it!  Just place the nail between two corks and hit it into the wall.  I used the opposite end of my hammer head (what it that called... the side that you take the nails out with) to get between the corks and push the nail until it was barely visible.

I made sure to have the brand of wine showing.  I like the fun names and pictures on the cork to showcase my taste in wine!  (See the nail between the French Lick Winery and Simply Naked corks?)

I use this to tack little reminder notes such as dentist appointments cards and J's school schedule.  I love it :o)

Now, drink up so you can make this project!

Hint: If you don't drink wine, or haven't been saving your corks, you can buy wine cork vase filler at Target.  This project would make the perfect gift for a wine lover!

Keep track of all of my DIY projects by clicking on the DIY Directory tab at the top of my blog!

I linked this project to Made By You Monday at Skip to my Lou, Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie, Cowgirl Up at Crafty Texas Girls, Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Hookin' up with House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue Party Time, The Feature Friday Linky Party at Blissful and Domestic, Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, and Shine On Friday at Happy Go Lucky.

Shanterest: Frozen Grapes and Lots 'O Wine

Day 15: Frozen Grapes and Lots 'O Wine

Source: repinly.com via Shannon on Pinterest

This may be the most informative pin ever... Obviously I tried out the frozen grapes in the wine trick.  I do not like warm wine at all. In fact, I put ice in it more often than not. I tried out the grape trick because 1) I always have grapes in my freezer for a quick snack, and 2) I have three open bottles of wine in my fridge.



It worked! It was ice cold and delish :o)  In case you were wondering, I am enjoying Simply Naked's Unoaked Moscato.

NOTE: The grapes kind of soak in some of the wine and are pretty strong when the wine is gone... Just sayin'.

Vintage Indiana 2011

Me, Amy, Sarah, Jennie, and Jackie

Last Saturday, four of my girlfriends and I went to the Vintage Indiana Food and Wine Festival in Indianapolis.  It was a blazing 95-ish degrees but we still had a blast!  We sampled wine from 25 different Indiana wineries.  My favorite of the day was the Cayuga White wine from French Lick Winery.  Luckily I bought a bottle right after I sampled it because we went back again and they were sold out!

Winzerwald Winery had an awesome Schweizer Spice wine that tasted exactly like pumpkin pie!  I got a bottle to save for Thanksgiving :-)

Have you ever tried Reggae Wine?  It is made my Easley Winery and is sold in stores (around here, anyway).

They use their wine in a couple of drink recipes.  I took pictures of the recipe boards so I could try these at home.  They both sound so good!

 

They also had hula hoops there... My girls can rock the hoop!!

Between tents, we would go back to our "campsite" and hang out, snack, drink, chat... just have fun!  Mom and Dad also came, along with my aunt and uncle, and two of my mom's girlfriends.  We all sat around together and it was a fun and relaxing time!

Jackie telling Dad for the 5th time that no, she does not live in Fishers and no, she doesn't work at the news station :o)

Jax and I sipping on some Lady Luck... Last time we did this, THIS happened :o)

Mom and Dad

I came home with six bottles!  I can't wait to pop the corks :o)

The one to the far left is the one that tastes like pumpkin pie.  The next one, Cranberry-Apple from Simmons Winery, tastes like Christmas!  Not joking.  Then, I got another bottle of Lady Luck from Carousel Winery.  This one is a basic blush wine.  Next is the Cayuga White from French Lick.  This is a honey wine... SO good!  Finally, I got a couple of fruity wines from Cedar Creek; Pomegranate Zin and Strawberry Splash.  The Strawberry Splash tastes like real, fresh strawberries!

We all had a blast!  It didn't rain on us at all.  I can't wait to go back next year!

The Epic Return...

...of JACKIE DeSHANNON LIVE!

And now for our curtain call.

Yes, a bottle of wine was the precursor to our rendition of Hallelujah.  Doesn't matter.  Whenever Jax and I get together, we immediately fall back into our Jackie DeShannon days :o)

We went shopping earlier and found a super deal on ball scarves at Old Navy! 

Oh, and I found the perfect sparkle top for MODG to wear while giving birth!

Like it, MODG? 

Ok, now go ahead and watch our video again... you know you want to!

Vintage Indiana

Last weekend, some girlfriends and I headed south to Indy for the Vintage Indiana Wine Festival!  We had so much fun.  There were 26 different Indiana wineries there.  We got to go from tent to tent and sample different wines.  I think we made it to 21 of the 26 wineries. 

Lori, Kalie, grape guy, Abby & Me

Audrey, grape guy & Shane

The girls and I tasting at one of the tents.

Lori demonstrating Kalie's "shelf butt"...

Apparently I didn't get the "White Flip-Flop" memo!  It rained for about 2 minutes so our feetsies got a little muddy, BUT muddy flip-flops are STILL better than these:

Maybe cute for a 4-year-old, but not on these ladies!

I think between the six of us, we bought close to 20 bottles of wine to take home with us!

Lori, Kalie, Me, Shane, Audrey and Abby

I ended up buying Alley Cat and Arbor Red (I think) from Buck Creek Winery, Lady Luck from Carosel Winery, Tropical Blue from Grape Inspirations and Strawberry from Indian Creek Winery.

Alley Cat is interesting.  As soon as I tried it, it reminded me of dill pickles.  I know it sounds a little gross, but it is so good!  They describe it as having a "spicy ending" and I asked what was in it, thinking they would have mentioned some dill or something, but nope!  I had some with my burger and corn on the cobb last night... perfect!

Tropical Blue is another really good one!  It is a blueberry pomegrante white merlot and a very refreshing summer wine.  Indian Creek's Strawberry is also a good summer wine.  It seriously tastes like you are biting into a fresh strawberry!  They said it is made from strawberries, not grapes, and is really tasty poured over some ice cream!!  Yummy!

hen we got back to the hotel, we got ready for dinner..... had to wash our muddy feet :o)

The next morning, the girls and I met up with Shane and Audrey for breakfast before heading back to the Fort!

It was a lot of fun!  We are already talking about going back next year :o)  Thanks for a fun weekend, girls (and Shane-O)!!!