Dare to Share #61

It is Dare to Share time once again.   I don't know about you, but the last few weeks of school seem like a blur.  We only have a few days left until it is summer vacation.! 

Let's see what I had to share this week.

Last weekend I shared a round up of Last Minute Memorial Day Ideas and Kara shared her Quick and Easy Memorial Day Wreath

4 Foot Garden in a 4 Inch Pot - Feature of the Day

Can you believe those large purple flowers are made from paper ?  How about if I told you they were magic flowers.  They are part of a real cool gift idea from Robin at Fluster Buster.  Those beautiful paper  flowers are have seeds inside of them, and when planted they will grow into real flowers.  Robin has a great picture tutorial to show you to make some of your own  on her blog here.  Thanks so much for linking up to Dare to Share Robin! 

My Weight Loss Journey Update

Well it is has been one week since I started my weight loss journey.  It's been a pretty good week, and I am very happy with the results.

I know this week's results were not typical.  I also could not have done it without my Dr's help.  Because of my hypothyroidism caused by my  Hashimotos Thyroiditis, and my high cortisol levels it would have been extremely difficult to lose weight on my own. My body was burning very few calories.   To achieve these  results on my own, I would not have been able to eat any calories,  and  I would have to spend hours in the gym each day, which is just not possible.   Because of those factors, and the fact that I need to lose 30 pounds, my Dr felt I was a good candidate to try a medication that would give my metabolism a kick start.  She prescribed me a low dose appetite suppressant, and I am only taking half of that. I will be seeing the Dr again in just  a few weeks for a follow up to make sure my body is handling it okay.   I am happy to say that super low dose is  working, and I feel great!  The weight immediately started coming off.    I am   keeping a food journal to keep track of what I eat.  When you have to write it all down, you tend to eat better foods.(especially if you have to show your Dr! LOL)   I also bought a pedometer to try to keep track of how many steps I take a day.  I used it for 3 days, but it frustrated me so much that I quit using it.  You see it is automatically set for a man's stride length of 2 1/2 feet.  Being a short woman, my stride length is only 1 1/2 feet.  You can not reset it to smaller stride, just to a bigger one.  I had to walk at least 2 steps for it to even register that I took a step.  That would not have been too big of  a problem, but the stupid thing kept resetting itself.  One minute it would say I had 3000 steps, and then the next time I looked it at it I would only have 357. I would have walked all day, and not have any idea how many steps  I actually took.   So pretty much, I am just trying to move as much as possible. It will be even easier to do when school is out in a few days.  

Now you are probably wondering, how much did I lose..

Starting weight at the Dr's office
152

Weight on my scale today
145.4

I am considering that to be about 5 pounds lost, even though the actual math is 6.6 pounds.   I always seem to weigh a pound or two more on the Dr's scale.  I do know my stomach seems a bit smaller,  and I lost an inch or two.

Let's see what week 2 brings!

A "Brave" Birthday

Do you love the movie Brave?  I saw it for the first time with my two daughters, and we all really loved it.   Brave is the perfect mother/daughter movie to go to together.   

Recently I was looking through the blogs,  when I saw this adorable little face.  She has a great reason to smile, her mom Joi from Heck Fridays was throwing her a fabulous  Brave birthday party.  

I knew when I saw this party that I wanted to feature it.  How cute are these bear paw cupcakes?! 

All of the food looked like it could have easily come right out of the movie.  

There were a lot of great details, like the water bottle labels, 

and the decorated goody bags.

Even the little bears made an appearance at the party with a great big thank you.  I am sure that this party had to have been a ton of fun. 

If you would like to see more about this Brave party be sure to go check out it here  on Heck Fridays.

Heart Patterned Roll Cake - Feature of the Day

Wouldn't this cake by Winnie at Something Sweet be adorable for Valentine's Day or a special party.  I just had to see how she made the hearts on the cake.  Her tutorial not only explains how, but also gives the recipe for the cake and the yummy strawberry filling.  Her blog  is in Hebrew, but is translated into English by clicking the translate button at the top of the page.  Thank you so much Winnie for linking up this adorable dessert to Dare to Share  

Doughnut Pops for Dad

Doughnut Pops 

I recently saw how to make doughnut pops on Pillsbury.com. I originally thought I would decorate them in red white and blue for Memorial Day, when I had an idea. Why not decorate them for Father's Day in colors of dad's favorite sports team.

Some of the  favorite teams in our house  are the Chicago Bears and Detroit Tigers, who both have the same colors of  navy blue and orange.   

To make doughnut pops, all you need is a can of refrigerator biscuits, and a little bit of cooking oil.  Cut each biscuit into 3 pieces or use circle cookie cutter to cut it into  three circles.  Heat the oil to 350 degrees, and fry the doughnut holes 3 or 4 at a time.  They will cook fast!  Remove from the oil when they are golden brown. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes. 

To make the glaze all you need is 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of milk.  The Pillsbury recipe said to also add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. We forgot to add it to ours, and it still taste great so I would say it is a matter of preference.  

We also glazed our doughnuts a little bit differently than the Pillsbury recipe. We found it easier to place them in the glaze and then use a spoon to totally cover them.   When we were ready for the sprinkles,  we used to spoon and placed them on a plate of colored sprinkles.

To make the dark blue sprinkles on the Chicago Bears pop, I darkened regular blue sprinkles with Wilton color spray. It made them a deep, dark blue. I covered the doughnut with the blue and then sprinkled on a little orange.  I think next time I might try to color the glaze blue and then cover in orange sprinkles.  

What are your favorite team colors?

This post is part of the Sharing is Caring Father’s Day themed hosted by Life With Lovebugs and Powerful Mothering!

All of the blogs listed below are sharing Father's Day themed posts as part of this event, so click on one or all of the links below to find some great recipes, tutorials, crafts and more!

I Saw It on Pinterest- Corn on the Cob

I am starting a new series called "I Saw It On Pinterest". How many times have you pinned a great tip, project or recipe, and then never looked at it again. I am going to try out some of the things I am pinning to see if the tips really work,  and the recipes really do taste great 

When I saw this pin on Pinterest from the blog Holm Family Cookbook, I was intrigued.  I love corn on the cob, but hate removing the husks and silk.  It normally takes me a long time to clean off each ear, and then boil them  in a large pot of water.  According to this pin, there is a way to cook the corn in the husk and have it slide right out.  It sounded too good to be true, so I had to try it.  

There is just a little bit of prep work to do first.  Remove the outer most layer of the husk. This step took me only seconds. The hardest part for me was to cut the bottom off the end of the corn above  where it begins to round down.  I didn't have a very big knife, and I wasn't exactly sure where to cut it. 

I placed them in the microwave on a damp paper towel for 8 minutes. Holm Family Cookbook has a great chart with cooking times for the number of ears you want to make.  This picture was taken right after I cooked them. I have no idea what was going on with the husk on the right.  I didn't even notice it until I downloaded my pics.   Cooking them this way  was much easier than boiling in a large pot of water.  

My corn  didn't slide right out, but that could be because I might not have cut high enough on the ear.  You know what though, it didn't matter that it didn't slide out, the husk easily peeled away in one big piece. 

What was left were warm ears of corn that were SILK FREE,. Clean up was a breeze since the husk came off in one piece.   Even though this did not work for me 100%, it definitely worked well enough that I am definitely going to do this again.  

Photo Coasters - Feature of the Day

Father's Day will be here before we know it.  I don't know about you, but I always have time choosing  on what to give.  This year I really like the idea that Danielle from Peanut Life Adventures shared on this week's Dare to Share.   How about making dad coasters with  his favorite photos.  This way he will remember the great memories whenever he uses them and  sits down a drink.  Photo drink coasters can cost a lot of money if you have them custom made, but cost just a few cents to make them yourself with her  tutorial that you can see here.  Thanks so much for linking up to Dare to Share Danielle! 

Crafting with Kara- Quick and Easy Patriotic Wreaths

Do you remember last year when Kara made this wreath?

Well recently we were at the Dollar Tree, and we noticed they had some different  fun shapes, and some more of the red, white and blue garland. We decided to buy some of  the items, and come up with some more styles of the Quick and Easy Patriotic Wreath.

*this post contains affiliate links. I will receive a small commission if you buy anything through these links. 

Here she is posing with the supplies for the shooting star wreath. She used one blue garland, a small straw wreath, and a shooting star.

She wrapped the garland around the wreath form.

One garland fits the small wreath perfectly 

She used twist ties to attach the shooting star to the small wreath. 

To make the larger wreath, we used a large straw wreath, 2 red and blue garland, and a hanging star.  The wire garland was in the picture in case we used it, but we decided not to. 

Once the wreath was wrapped with the two strands of garland, a tinsel star was attached in the center.

Super simple, but perfect for both Memorial Day and the 4th of July.   

If you are ever looking for inexpensive wreath forms be sure to check the Dollar Tree, not only do they have nice quality wreath forms for only a dollar but all kinds of crafting supplies in their Crafter Square section.  Wreath forms are available can be ordered in smaller quantities and shipped free to your local store.

Last Minute Memorial Day Ideas

Do you have plans for this Memorial Day weekend?    Are you planning a party with your friends, or maybe attending a parade?  I just love this picture of my daughter when was in the Memorial Day parade in our town a few years ago.  He holding up the American flag was just so fitting for the day.   

One of my favorite Pinterest Boards  is my 4th of July Party board. It is full of great patriotic ideas that would as work well for Memorial Day, in addition to the 4th of July.    A lot of the ideas would be quick and easy to put together at the last minute so you could still have them in time for your party or cookout this weekend.  

If you want to repin any of  these fun  ideas, please click through and pin from the original source! . 

  

This first idea is from foodnetwork.com.  I just love how delicious looking and colorful this Patriotic Berry Trifle is in the picture.  It would make a great dessert at any party or cookout. 

Decorate some rice krispie treats to look like flags, like these from     Classbrain.com

How about a flag fruit pizza like this one from Sabby in Suburbia

I love these colorful red, white and blue drinks from Katrina's Kitchen

The kid would love to make these Rocket Pops by Hoosier Homemade

Candy lovers will love to try this Firecracker Bark from Not Your Momma's Cookie

If you would like to have more party ideas be sure to follow me on  Pinterest

Dare to Share #60

Dare to Share is going up just a little bit late tonight since I had a long and busy day.  We are in the final stretch for school. (just 9 more days for regular school, and 21 days of virtual school)  

Last weekend we had to say goodbye to one of our pets, and on Monday said hello to a new one. You can read all about it on the post A Hello and a Goodbye

On Wednesday I had an appointment to go over some test results with my Dr.  My weight has really gone up in recent months, and we now know what is causing it.  With my Dr., I am  Starting My Weight Loss Journey.  Its been two days so far, and it has gone pretty well.  Today I really got some exercise.   It was the day when all the library books were in our school's media center.  I volunteer every Friday and was really needed today with all the books coming back.  I put away two full carts of books in a little over 2 hours. One thing that I like to do to  get even more exercise is to leave the cart by the desk, and then put the books away one armful at a time. I take a lot more steps, and carrying the books gets my heart rate up.  I was feeling good at the time, but tonight I am really  hurting!  My legs and knees are really sore.  While at the store tonight I bought a pedometer so I can keep track of how many steps I take each day..  I am sure today I would have walked way more than 10,000 steps.  I will write a follow up post in about a week with my progress. 

I have a craft and recipe planned for this weekend.  Hopefully you will see them on the post in the next few days!  

This week there were three very different and unique features of the day.  Did you get a chance to see them?  If not, here is a second chance.  

Recycled Envelope Notepad by Make It Easy Crafts

Crepes with Walnut Cream and Caramel Sauce by With a Blast

Lemon Rice Croquettes by The Wilderness Wife

It is now time for this week's party.  You can link up anything that you would like to share. You are not required to be a follower, but I would sure love it if you were.   If you are chosen as a Feature of the Day, your post will be featured on the Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and G+

Have Fun and Link Up!