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Tuula - The Thrifty Rebel and Alyssa - Oh Sew Crafty Life

Mel - Mellywood's Mansion

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A few weeks ago our friends had us over for dinner and we made homemade pizzas on the grill.  They were fantastic!  Ever since, hubby and I have been making grilled pizzas on our BBQ almost weekly.  They are relatively easy to do and don't take much time at all!  Now that we got a new pizza stone, these pizzas are even easier to make! Here is how we make ours:

Ingredients: 

• Pizza dough (we buy ours at Trader Joe's)
• BBQ sauce of your liking (our favorite is Sweet Baby Ray's)
• Grilled chicken, diced (I buy a ready-made package at the store to make it really easy)
• Sliced fresh mozzarella (1/2 of a block), torn or cut into small pieces
• 1 C. shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 C. chopped cilantro
• 3/4 C. chopped red onion
• Ranch dressing to dip or drizzle on top (optional)

Directions:

1. Remove your pizza dough from package and let sit for about 20 minutes.  Preheat your grill on medium-high heat.  
2. Flour the surface of your pizza stone.  If you do not have a pizza stone, you can use a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Roll out the dough to about a 12" diameter.  If you do not have a rolling pin handy, you can use your fingers to spread out the dough as well.
   
3. If you are NOT using a pizza stone, you can bring out your prepared dough to the grill.  Spray the grill will cooking spray. Carefully remove the dough from the foil/parchment and place the dough on the center of the grill.  Turn off the center burners and leave the side burners on only.  Close the grill and leave on for about 10 minutes or until dough is cooked to your liking on the grilled side.  Then remove from the grill, flip it over so that the grilled side is facing up (you will place toppings on the grilled side) and proceed to step 4.
4. If you are using a pizza stone, or have just cooked your dough on one side, load up your toppings.  We start off with a layer of BBQ sauce, followed by torn up pieces of fresh mozzarella, chicken, shredded mozzarella, onions, then cilantro. 
   
5. Place your pizza stone or pizza in the middle of the grill (again, keep the middle burners off and only the side burners on) and close the lid.  If you are using your pizza stone, grill for about 20 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.  If you aren't using the stone, grill for about 10 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.  We check on it every few minutes or so to make sure it doesn't get too crispy.  Plus, it's fun to see it rise and get super delicious looking :).
   
6. Remove from the grill, slice and serve!  This is a fun and yummy recipe that can easily be changed with whatever toppings you'd like. 

Gosh, looking at these pictures makes me hungry! Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Today I am so excited to be co-hosting my first link party!  Robin from Fluster Buster is featuring my Ten Terrific Chalkboard Fonts and has invited me to co-host her link party, Fluster's Creative Muster! Be sure to stop by her blog and check out all of the great posts she has to share (my favorite this week are the Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes, yum!).  Now, onto the party!

Last weeks most viewed link comes from Alyssa who blogs over at Oh Sew Crafty Life. She linked up a fantastic collection of Free Chalkboard Fonts. I love fonts especially when they're free, I've already used them to decorate my Pintrest Boards. If you aren't familiar with Alyssa or her blog, Oh Sew Crafty Life, take a moment and drop by you won't be disappointed. Alyssa shares some wonderful craft ideas and some yummy recipes. 

I had never heard of cherry limeade until a Sonic came to town a few years ago and from then on, I was hooked!  Something about it is just so refreshing.  So, when I wanted to make popsicles this week, a light went off in my head that flashed: Cherry Limeade Popsicles! Yum!  Here's how I made them:

Ingredients: (Makes about 6 popsicles)

• 1 C. Limeade
• 1/2 C. Cherry 7up
• A handful of fresh cherries
• Popsicle maker, popsicle mold, or paper cups and popsicle sticks

Directions:

1. Halve and slice cherries to desired size.  I cut each cherry into 4 slices. 
2. Mix together the limeade and Cherry 7up.  
3. In your popsicle maker/mold/paper cup, add in cherry slices and cherry limeade mixture. If using a popsicle maker (I used my Zoku one, which I love), follow directions for freezing time.  Mine were frozen in about ten minutes.  If using a popsicle mold, fill and freeze for a few hours or until completely frozen.  If using paper cups and popsicle sticks, fill your paper cup and then cover with aluminum foil or saran wrap and stick the popsicle stick through the foil/wrap.  Freeze for a few hours or until completely frozen. 

Even my dog wanted in on some popsicle action!

These popsicles are perfect for a hot summer day!  They are sweet, but not too sweet, and the cherries make them a healthier option for popsicles than the average store bought kind! This is a great project for you and the kiddos; I always loved making popsicles growing up! Hope you enjoy!

I have been meaning to make one of these for some time now.  I sew all the time, but I don't have a pincushion, just a little plastic box that the pins I bought came in.  I have seen a number of cute tutorials out there to make your own pincushion, so when I saw this little mason jar on sale at Joann's the other day, I knew just what to do with it!

What you need:

• Mason jar (any size you want)
• Small scrap of fabric
• Quilt battin
• Felt
• Embellishments (ribbon, buttons, flowers, etc.)
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Remove the lid from your mason jar and separate the flat piece of the lid from the screw piece.
   
2. Take the inner circle from the lid and use it to trace a circle on the felt.
   
3. Cut out the felt circle.
4. Take your scrap of fabric and center the flat lid on it.  Cut a piece of material out that will accommodate the lid and the batting. 
   
5. Take your batting and ball it up under the lid.  Then, take your fabric and wrap it up and over the batting and secure with your fingers on the other side of the lid.  While holding the fabric secure, push the flat lid with the fabric and batting through the screw part of the lid.
   
   
6. Trim any fabric that is in excess. Hot glue the remaining fabric to the lid of the jar. Then, hot glue the fabric circle over the glued fabric.
   
7. Add any embellishments to the jar you want.  I used a piece of ribbon and a resin flower.   Add pins and you're done! 

 Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week! I am off to Vegas for a girl's trip with my Mom! Wish me luck! If I win big, maybe I'll share! ;)

Woohoo! Oh Sew Crafty Life hit 300 followers! As promised, I am giving away one of my favorite items from my shop, J & A's Handmade Lovelies: a Dishtowel Apron!

Winner will be able to choose one Dishtowel Apron from the three patterns I offer: Turquoise Chevron, Coral Chevron, or Brown and Turquoise Floral.  The winner will be chosen at random and notified on Monday, July 22nd.  So, hurry, you only have a few days to enter!

If you are already following me on Facebook and Twitter, then you are already ahead of the game! If you aren't, you can click through the Rafflecopter to follow me and earn entries! Good luck and thank you for following!

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My hubby's birthday is on Sunday and he is the hardest person to come up with good gifts for.  He usually buys what he wants, which means a lot of the time I have to get creative with what to get him.  Not to say that he is picky, he would probably love anything I get for him.  I just love buying and giving awesome presents!

He also says he doesn't like celebrating his birthday.  That is just too bad, because I love celebrating anything! This year we are on a budget, so I need some cheap ideas.  Naturally, I searched Pinterest for birthday ideas and gifts for men and this is what I came up with:

Party Themes

1. Zombies!  Does your guy often refer to the Zombie Apocalypse like mine?  Then check out these awesome printables for a Walking Dead Party! You could do a lot with this party: a fog machine, gory-looking food, "bloody" drinks, mini zombie emergency kits for favors, etc. You could even have guests come dressed as zombies! How great would a surprise party be? Imagine your guy coming home to a house full of zombies (a dream come true for my husband, I'm sure)!

Walking Dead Party by Hello My Sweet

2. Casino Night.  We love to get away to Vegas at least once a year.  Why not bring Vegas to you?! Check out this fun Casino Birthday Party.  You could have a few card tables out for blackjack, poker, etc., break out the cigars, and give out a handheld electronic poker game and a deck of cards for favors!

Casino Birthday Party by GreyGrey Designs

3. Rustic Outdoors Party.  Last year, we went camping and white water rafting for my hubby's birthday.  This Rustic Outdoors Themed Party would have been a great addition to our adventure!  We could have set up a table while he was out rafting! Or just save it for the backyard.  Get a fire pit, roast some s'mores, and have a great time!

Rustic Outdoors Themed Party by Make Life Cute

4. Grumpy Old Men Day.  This is such a fun idea.  And the fact that her husband put it together is impressive! Get a group of guys to wear "old men" outfits and golf, bowl, smoke pipes, and drink scotch.  It would be really funny if you could get your hands on a couple of those motorized scooters! I could totally see a group of guys getting into character and going crazy with this one.

Grumpy Old Men Day by Jesi Haack Design

Store-Bought Gifts

5. Opena Case.  It's an iPhone case that has a built-in bottle opener.  My hubby had one until he got a new phone and loved it!  Now that I see they make one for the iPhone 5 I might have to get one for him.

Opena Case

6. The Sportula.  For the grilling enthusiasts out there.  You can get a grill spatula with your favorite team's logo on it.  They also offer spatulas with other logos on them besides sports teams, including patriotic logos, collegiate logos, and #1 Dad logos.

The Anaheim Ducks Sportula

7. Zombie Survival Kit.  For the zombie enthusiast (like my husband), this Zombie Survival Kit is silly but useful, as it is an actual emergency kit.  It is a good gift for a laugh and great to have in the house just in case.  After all, you never know when the zombies (or a natural disaster) will strike!

Zombie Survival Kit

Handmade Sentiments

8. A Par-scription.  I saw this on Pinterest and it had a link to nowhere.  I tried to find it online to no avail.  You could totally make it yourself though.  Get a couple of golf balls, a prescription bottle, and some blank labels.  Print out your own faux Rx and put it on the bottle and on a little paper bag!  Buy them a round of golf at their favorite course to go with it, and you have a fun gift for any man in your life that loves to golf.


9. Rosemary Mint Shaving Cream.  I think it would be pretty cool to make something like this.  My husband loves the shaving cream/ Beard Lube from Jack Black, but this probably smells similar and would cut the cost.  This would be great to give as a gift with a new shave kit.

Rosemary Mint Shaving Cream from Food for my Family

10. Beer Brewing Kit.  This one isn't handmade by you, but it will give your man a chance to get crafty!  This kit comes with everything he needs to brew his own beer.  If you enjoy beer too, it can be something fun for you together!

Craft-A-Brew Brew Your Own Beer Kit

I know my husband would love any of these ideas!  Hope you got some inspiration from them as well!

Today I am sharing with you the details of our 4th of July BBQ.  My friend, Jordan, and I put a lot of work into this party and it turned out so great!  We all ate too much, played some games, and overall had an awesome time! Take a look:

Drinks

• Red, White and Berry Sangria
• Pomegranate Margaritas
• Red, White and Berry Water
• Firecracker Popsicle Cocktails
• Red, White and Booze Jello Shots

Appetizers

• Hot Cheese Dip
• Bourbon Glazed Meatballs
• Parmesan Spinach Dip with Veggies

Main Course

• Burgers
• Hot Dogs (including some Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs)
• Potato Salad
• Fruit Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Salad

Dessert

• Patriotic Dirt Cups
• Red, White and Blue Cakesicles
• Pretzel Sparklers
• Star Spangled Rice Krispie Treat Kabobs
• S'mores Bar

My hubby and I made a photo booth out of PVC pipe and a sheet.  I cut up scraps of red, white, and blue material to make a banner to stretch across the backdrop.  Tutorial to come :).


We wanted everyone to mingle and get involved, so what better way than having games with prizes?  We had ring toss in the pool, where we stuck a ring toss game on an awesome patriotic inner tube I found at Target.  Then, we had Balloon Darts.  Jordan made a dart board with balloons that mimicked the American Flag.  Lastly, we had an intense game of bingo!  Everyone had a blast and the winners walked away with $10 to In-N-Out!

There you have it!  Our 4th of July BBQ was a success!  We had so much fun that I can't wait for next year!