Rose of Sharon Jewelry

Money’s tight,  luxuries rare. Spend your time and a few $$ creating lasting memories. Time spent with your loved ones keep you warm at night, put a smile on your face, make you feel at peace and can never be taken away.

Step 1 for lasting memories is to drag out that camera or old video recorder. If you don’t have a camera, there are actually great brands for under $50. Don’t have a computer or inkjet printer, you’ll find Kodak photo printer kiosks at Walgreens and other major drug or department stores.

Take lots of pictures! Pass the camera around and let everyone take pics. It doesn’t even matter if a few heads are cut off, just concentrate on the action!

Here are 10+ Low-Cost Ideas to Create High Value Memories:

1. Remember board games (no batteries required) – invest in the classics Scrabble, Sorry, Life, Monopoly or Candy Land.
2. Splurge on boxes of 64 Crayola Crayons then print out coloring pages from Coloring Book Fun or Crayola Crayon. Have a coloring contest. You’ll be surprised how adults love this too!
3. Sign up for the Knack (kids craft club at Michael’s Crafts) for great free project ideas, discounts and inexpensive in-store classes. You don’t even need kids to enjoy simple crafts.
4. Cook with your kids – put on some fun, silly songs and decorate purchased pizza dough or better yet make some dough and let them use their fingers! Nothing is better fun than getting cake batter in your hair and licking the beater!
5. Cook with your lover. Send the kids to Grandma’s or find a friend who will swap babysitting chores. Pour your favorite beverage, put on the songs that were playing when you fell in love. Make something you can eat with your fingers – hot, cold, sweet, sour, smooth, crunchy – tantalize all your senses and enjoy!
6. Have a picnic! Rain or shine you can make those 3-times a  charm leftovers seem glorious with a picnic. Spread out an old blanket in the backyard or huddle  under a dining room table and make-believe.
7. Buy or make body paint and spend some time decorating each other – great for kids or a hot evening with hubby! Recipe for edible body paint – adults or kids enjoy!
8. Learn to dance or teach your kids/partner to dance. Rent a video (libraries often rent movies for FREE) and see if you actually do have two-left feet.
9. Find a park to people watch. If you’re well beyond grade school, swing as high as  you can, twirl on the merry-go-round and go up-and-down, up-and-down on the teeter-totter.
10. Write letters to friends and family far away. Sure the phone is there and email is faster but there is something about the pleasure of pouring your heart out on paper. End those regrets – share your hopes and fears – mend fences – help someone else create a memory!

Plus one for the road…

Here’s the best tip of all:

Make believe is a powerful way to transform a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a feast. It actually doesn’t take anything more than your mind to create a memory. Just mix in a beloved pet, friend or mate and top it with your kids or grandkids and you’ll be successful.

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Popsicles have grown up. You don’t need a kid or be a kid  to enjoy these adult pleasing popsicles. Thankful Thursday shares how to create popsicles for big kids.

Step 1 is to buy a popsicle mold. You’ll find all shapes, sizes and configurations on Amazon. Some have reusable handles while others use the traditional wooden popsicle stick. If you are making treats for a crowd, the molds using disposable sticks makes more sense. If only want to make a few treats at a time or prefer to not waste the wood – select a version with plastic holders/sticks.

If your last popsicle came from an ice cream truck, you’ll be surprised to know that they don’t have to be overly sweet and calorie-laden.

Basically anything that can be frozen can be used to create a popsicle – from organic juices to chocolate mousses.

• Martha Stewart featured blueberry pops in a recent TV show.
• 32 unique popsicle ideas
• Margarita popsicles
• Midori Melon Ice Pops
• Celebrate with champagne popsicles
• Spicy hot Habanero popsicles

This fun book has plenty of popsicles for adults and kids! Enjoy!

 

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Today’s big scoop of dirt is on digging, weeding, sowing, watering, reaping and connecting with your spiritual true self through gardening.

With few handfuls of dirt, you can “dig” deep within yourself to find ancient emotions and inner peace like  no other activity can.  If gardening only looks like more work, you need to look at it with an open heart and fresh eyes.

Gardening is one of the fastest growing hobbies – especially raising your own vegetables. On a recent Splendid Table radio broadcast, a young lady shared her plans to grow much of the food she would be serving to guests at her outdoor wedding. What a fabulous way to make really personalize your wedding and share the love!

When the days grow warm, I love getting out into the garden very early when the soil is cool and the grass is still damp. The air is crisp, the sky is blue and the birds are singing for their breakfast. My heaven on earth (picture on right).

 

 

Here’s just of a few ways gardening can benefit you:

• Exercise – shoveling bark dust and digging holes are healthy, sweaty activities. Be sure to stretch your muscles, drink plenty of water and take lots of breaks to rest your back and hands.
• Meditative – working alone in the garden has a Zen-like quality. Clear your mind, listen to your breath and feel the sun and wind on your skin.
• Connection – many of us have lost our spiritual and emotional connection to the Earth. Gardening is like plugging in to ancient memories that bring your life into perspective.
• Respect – most of us never think about what it takes to grow our food. We never give a farmer a second thought. You’ll have a lot of respect for those who dedicate themselves to feeding others after a hard day of weeding.
• Tasty, Healthy Food – Organic vegetable gardens are fairly easy for a new home gardener and the results are the freshest, tastiest fruits and vegetables you’ll ever experience. Most vegetables are inexpensive to grow from seed and often you’ll have enough to share with neighbors. You can even grow a feast in pots!
• Family fun – kids love to garden. Look for fast sprouting seeds like radishes so they can see the results quickly.
• Rewards – The rewards of a garden are too numerous to list and often are very personal. Here are a few things I get from my garden – beautiful flowers, pride in my home, fun with the grandkids, time with my husband to really talk, aching muscles that tell me I’ve done some honest work and of course, a big fat juicy red tomato for my salad!

New to Gardening?

Help is merely a short trip from home. Find a local independent nursery for advice. They will know what types of plants and seeds will do best in your area. Big box home improvement stores aren’t a good source for gardening advice and plants because buyers often stock their garden centers with plants which aren’t suitable for your weather or soil conditions.

Many counties have Extension Services staffed by Master Gardeners (I’m a certified Master Gardener for Northern Nevada) who will answer all your questions, have printed material on gardening in your area and even have plant sales.

Here are a few trusted books on gardening available nationally.

 

 

Did you know women invented gardening? Men hunted for meat while women foraged for seeds, berries, nuts and tubers to eat. This meant that tribes had to be nomadic to follow herds and find areas with fresh vegetation. Women discovered that when they buried seeds, pods and rotting fruit new food would eventually grow. The discovery of agriculture not only meant they could settle in one area, it also reduced starvation and improved their  health.

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Americans own the most majestic land in the world. Why not explore this boundless heritage for free? Thanks to America’s Greatest Outdoor initiative, our parks are open for free on select 2010 dates.

Across the U.S., National parks, wildlife refuges and BLM lands will be open for free access on:

1. June 5-6, 2010
2. August 14-15, 2010
3. September 24, 2010
4. November 11, 2010

“President Obama has made connecting Americans to the outdoors and our history a fundamental goal of the conservation initiative. . .” announced Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently.

Special activities are being scheduled during these days, too. To learn more. . .

• National park events at http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm
• National wildlife refuges at http://www.fws.gov/refuges/
• Bureau of Land Management areas at http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/Recreation/BLM_Fee_Free_Days.html

 

The November event on Veteran’s Day would be a great time to  see parks like Yellowstone blanketed in  snow. Bundle up and explore!

 

 

 

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Love bananas and nuts? Why not start your day with a smile and a tasty homemade banana nut muffin. I made my favorite recipe on Sunday (while hubby was watching the Lakers) and thought I’d share it with you. I’ve noted my substitution of dried buttermilk powder for  the fresh. If you only use buttermilk occasionally this is a great alternative.  I also added the nuts which were optional – except in my house.

Banana (Nut) Muffin

Makes 12 muffins Time: 45 minutes including baking and cooking time) 2 cup (10 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup (7 oz.) sugar 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups) 1/3 cup buttermilk

• I added the buttermilk powder which would make 1/3 cup wet directly to the flour and the water to rehydrate it with the wet ingredients. Read your buttermilk powder instructions before calculating quantities.

2 large eggs 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used pure Mexican vanilla) 1-1/2 cups toasted and chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (plus buttermilk powder if fresh buttermilk is not being used) in a large bowl until combined. Mix the mashed bananas, buttermilk (if fresh is used or water to rehydrate powdered), eggs, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky (do not over mix). Gently fold in chopped nuts.
3. Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to drop the batter into the greased muffin tin. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Cool the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack and cool for 10 more minutes. Serve warm. Yum!

  This light and airy recipe was tested and created by Cook’s Illustrated. You’ll find it in their book The Quick Recipe (2003). This valuable cookbook is a great used buy at Amazon for as little as $2.78 used. (see below) The Quick Recipe (The Best Recipe Series) (9780936184661): Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Books

Thankful Thursday posts feature the things in life that we are thankful for. They might be a once-in-a-lifetime event or daily occurrences. Food certain is the top of my gratitude list!

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Thankful Thursday blog posts are the perfect antidote to Tantrum Tuesday’s rants. It’s all about balance in life.

I’m a firm believer that gratitude (a close cousin to thankfulness) is the key to happiness.

Today’s thankfulness is pretty simple (simple is often the best but the hardest for us to notice) – I’m really grateful for the friends, fans, followers, customers and acquaintances  I’ve gathered around me through being online.

You’ll find my original work at -

Rose of Sharon Jewelry

A.F.F. Jewelry collection

New Life Jewelry Art 

Rose of Sharon Jewelry Facebook fan page 

I’m a stay-at-home wife, mother, grandmother, artist and business woman so the connections are an important part of my day. Also some days it’s the most adult conversations I ever get. 4 year olds aren’t too interested in what I have to say! LOL Arden (hubby) is a road warrior so he is gone more than he is home.

I have found compassion, anger, truth, empathy, well wishes and humanity from the people who email, comment, tweet and reply.

During our recent influx of new Rose of Sharon Jewelry Birthday Club membership drive, I have been reading the comments.

I see everything from a simple thanks to a women sharing how tough life has been for her on disability to a woman wishing her family was not lost to her.

So thanks for the connections (and Happiness) you bring me every day!

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