Sauteed Citrus Brussels Sprouts

We always make our Brussels spouts the same way...tossed in olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper and roasted. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, but I thought I would try a different approach, and not only saute them, but jazz them up with a little citrus flavor. They were a success, and I'm definitely going to keep this recipe in mind the next time I make Brussels sprouts! 

Ingredients

About 4 cups of Brussels sprouts

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp orange juice (fresh squeezed)

2Tbsp light corn syrup

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 Tbsp orange peel

Cut off the stems of your Brussels sprouts and then slice each one in half.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat, add Brussels sprouts and cook for about 15 minutes.

Add the orange juice, and the corn syrup and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add some salt and pepper to taste, and the orange peel. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

Energy Bites

These energy bites are a must eat! They are so delicious, and make for the perfect snack or even a small meal (because you won't be able to eat just one). They are great for the office, a road trip, hiking or a midnight snack! 

Ingredients

1 cup dry oatmeal

2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/2 cup chocolate chips (white choc chips are our fave)*

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, mixing around with your hands (this part is a little messy) to make sure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Refrigerate for about a half an hour so the mixture sets and hardens a little.

Once chilled, roll the mixture into balls, whatever size you would like, and store in an air tight container.

*You don't have to use chocolate chips in these energy bites, you can substitute nuts, dried fruit, or any other flavor of chips.

I guarantee that you will not be disappointed with these energy bites, in fact, I'm fairly sure you will be addicted like us!

Fly Mob

Dance Mob, Flash Mob, Flash Dance Mob.  We have seen it all, but leave it to Kanye West to start a new mile high trend.  A Fly Mob! His "Dancers in Flight" video is awesome.  Pretty girls with long legs and pointed toes.  Check it out. Happy Weekend.

-Megan

DIY Painted Coasters

We are big fans of coasters around our house, especially DIY coasters, like these. We had some plain white tiles left over from coasters we made for Christmas presents, and decided to make some bright painted coasters to add to our collection.

These are very easy, and you can get creative with your shapes and patterns.

Supplies:

ceramic square tiles (from any hardware store)

paint brush(es)

masking/painters tape

acrylic paint

gold spray paint, or gold paint pen (optional)

clear acrylic gloss coating

foam, felt or cork

Using your tape, create your desired pattern(s) on your tiles, remembering that wherever the tape is, it will end up being the ceramic white.

Using acrylic paint, paint the while parts of your tiles. 

*Don't let your tiles dry completely. Peel off the tape as soon as you are done painting, to create a cleaner line. You can use your fingernail, or any sharp point to scrape off any paint that snuck under your tape.

We didn't like the plain edges of the coasters, so we wanted to paint them gold. We found some gold spray paint, and we were going to use that, but it seemed like a lot more work, to keep the newly painted tops from getting gold on them. We remembered we had a gold paint pen, that would work perfectly. We carefully painted all 4 edges of the coasters with the gold paint pen.

After the paint on your coasters has dried for a little, spray 2 coats (waiting 2 minutes in between coats) of clear acrylic gloss coating to sealing the coasters and making them water-resistant.

After the gloss coating has dried, usually for 24 hours, glue some felt or cork to the bottom of the coasters to keep them from scratching the surfaces that they set on.

Now you have yourself some fun and custom coasters!

Taking it to the Streets

The Olympics are in full swing, and taking over our evenings (and maybe your days, if you are streaming at work). Meanwhile, street artists are taking over the streets of London, showcasing their talent (and opinions) in the form of graffiti.

Authorities are cracking down on street art, and have even made several arrests. This hasn't stopped some street artists, like Criminal Chalkist, Mau Mau and Banksy from expressing their opinions. The locations of Banksy's two pieces (seen below) have been kept a secret for the fear of being painted over.

Criminal Chalkist- "100 Meter Dash"

Banksy- Javelin Missile Thrower

Banksy

unknown

Mau Mau- "Clown Town Olympics"

unknown

Mr. Moustache

Pretty impressive work, controversial or not.

-Whitney

DIY Headboard

One Sunday I decided to play handy man in stead of lay out at the pool. I went to the local hardware store and browsed their scrap wood section. I have a queen bed in the guest room up against a blank wall, so it needed some headboard love! I measured the width of the bed according to the frame, for the wood and the height that I wanted.

Below is a list of the materials I used:

• 4 pieces of scrap wood- 60 inches wide x 4 inches tall
• 2- 2x4 pieces of wood measured at 54 inches tall
• Drill
• Screws
• Your favorite stain or paint (I used Mini-Wax Jaco Mean Stain because I had it left over from my floors)

All I did was lay out the 2x4's and screw the planks into them using the drill. I used 4 screws per plank.

Once done, I did one round of sanding to smooth out the scrap wood. I only applied one coat of stain because I didn't want the headboard to match my floors. Let it dry for about 24 hours.

And about 30 minutes and $45 later, you have a new headboard!

-Brooke 

DIY Necklace Holder

I was getting sick of my T Bar necklace holder, and always having to take half of them off to get to the necklace I want. I wanted a more practical and visually appealing holder, and I wanted to clear up some space on my dresser, so a hanging holder was what I was going for. I've seen some DIY necklace holders that looked fairly easy. Well I found out it took a little more work than I thought, and I'm glad I had some help.

I found this interesting shaped piece of cedar wood at my mom's new house, and thought it would be perfect for a necklace holder with some fun knobs.

A while back, I bought some knobs at Anthropologie for my dresser, and knew I didn't want to spend that much money on this project. I checked out Hobby Lobby's knob selection and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did they have a great selection and were cheaper than Anthro's,  but they were all 50% off! So I got each knob for about $3.

What you will need:

*A piece of wood- if you don't have one, you can have them cut you one at pretty much any hardware store.

*Stain or paint if you don't want the natural wood color

*Knobs 

*Measuring Tape and pen or pencil

*Drill

*Regular Drill bit

*Paddle bit

*Needle nose pliers

*Hack Saw

*Sawtooth picture hangers

See the full instructions after the break