Redfly Creations

Blood Orange Creme Brûlée

2013-06-18T07:36:00.000-05:00

A big hello to all the Readers of Redfly Creations! I have to firstly thank Melissa for inviting me to guest post on her amazing blog, it was such and honour to get her email asking me, needless to say I jumped at the chance.

I run Little Box Brownie, a blog on the complete opposite side of the world from Redfly Creations, in Melbourne, Australia. Little Box Brownie is a pretty new blog, having started late last year. The majority of the recipes are sweet as I love to bake, however occasionally throw in the odd savoury recipe when the mood suits.

I am not a trained chef or baker I just do it for the love, we all have to have find something that we love and mine is baking and photography. I'm lucky enough to work as a professional photographer and run my own little studio here in Melbourne.

Little box brownie is a fulfilment of my passion and I love being able to share my recipes and photos with people from all around this beautiful world of ours.

When Melissa asked me guest post I wasn't sure what to make, this recipe was something I had been tinkering with for awhile so though this was the perfect excuses to make it. I hope you enjoy it.

Sophia Purvis xx

Blood Orange Creme Brulee Tart

Pastry

175 g butter

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

Filling

1 1/2 cup juice from blood oranges

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2/3 cup of cream

Pre heat the oven to 180°C or 350°F

To make the pastry, place the butter, flour and sugar into a food processor and pulse until the mixture becomes fine bread crumbs. Add the egg and water and pulse until a dough forms, remove from the processor and form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

To make the filling, place the blood orange, sugar, eggs and cream into a bowl and beat until combined. Set aside

Once the dough has chilled roll out on a floured surface until about 2mm thick, then place in 10cm tart tins and blind bake for 10mins, remove the beads and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour the filling in trying to discard the froth that has formed on the top of the filling mixture. Place back into the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until cooked.

Makes 6

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe with us Sophia! We are so excited to get to know you and your blog, Little Box Brownie!

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Featuring You! {14}

2013-06-17T19:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to all who stopped by on Friday to link up at our joint link party with Simply Designing! Your creativity is so inspiring. :)

Here are a few of my favorites from this week!

*Please pin from the original source*

Homemade Twix bars from Back for Seconds. YES, PLEASE! I can just taste them!!

If you are a coffee drinker, this sign is for you. Thank you, Mostly Homemade Mom, for sharing this free printable with us!

I am loving this cute Red Firetruck Birthday Party created by Maison De Pax. Look at all that yummy fruit as well!

Kayla's Basement did such a great job with her DIY Industrial Table! Now I just have to think of where I could put one of those. :)

Maya from The Little Treasures has done it again! She is constantly coming up with fun and easy jewelry. Can you believe these are made from sequins? So cute!!

There you have it! Have you been featured? Feel free to grab our button!

Create a Summer-Fun Gallery with your Kids!

2013-06-14T10:09:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to announce a special summer series here at Redfly Creations that is just for kids! Our series begins today and will take place on Fridays until the beginning of August. There will be craft ideas, recipes and fun activities for you to do with your kiddos this summer. They will all be tested by my kiddos first in order to make sure they're a hit. :)

So, today's activity is to create a wall filled with your summer memories that you add to each day. Last year we had fun making and writing in a summer journal. We did a pretty good job writing about the fun events we participated in. This year, I decided we would work on our art skills. In order to do this, we came up with Summer Memory Gallery Wall using index cards! Since our Homework Station Wall is not in use during the summer, we decided it would work just perfectly to showcase our Gallery.

The kiddos take a card and draw something that was fun for them each day. In our case, we are having just one of three children draw a card each day. Depending on your number of kids and wall space, you can switch it up however you want.

We have fun looking at our Summer Gallery Wall. We've already made some great memories!

Feel free to print this "Summer Fun- Kid's Edition" sign here and join us next Friday for the next fun activity!

Happy Summer!

I Link Up Here

Simply Create Link Party {14}

2013-06-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party! We always LOVE to see what you've created!

Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Monday afternoon HERE. There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature. You don't want to miss these, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!

This week on Simply Designing and

Redfly Creations:

Now, it's time to PARTY! Please link up your latest creations.

You can link up pretty much anything as long as you "created" it

Please visit as many projects as you linked up and Pin or share them in some way

Please keep it family friendly, no links to shops or giveaways, and we reserve the right to delete any links that aren't appropriate

By linking up you are giving us permission to feature or show off your project

We would of course love it if you followed both of us, but it's not required :)

*Please Pin from the original source! Thanks.*

Featuring YOU! {13}

2013-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

*Please Pin from Original Source*

Pink Velvet Funfetti Donuts

How to Make Your Own Stamp

Fresh Cherry Cobbler

Kate Spade Inspired Polka Dot Bowl

Fabric Storage Solution

Farmer's Market Spaghetti

Thanks all for sharing your AMAZING projects!!!

If you've been featured, feel free to grab our button:

10 Summer Fun Ideas!

2013-06-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday, Everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! Thursday was the last day of school for us, which means it was our first official weekend of summer vacation ... we really enjoyed it! We kid's the weekend with playing outdoors, swimming, staying up later and sleeping in. Sounds pretty good doesn't it?

So, what are your plans for the summer? Check out these fun ideas from some of my blogging friends:

Lemon Bar Muddy Buddies 2-Minute Summer Centerpiece

Make Your Own Tetherball Summer Reading Program

World's Easiest Homemade Ice Cream

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes Chicken Dip Summer Salad

Simple Slipknot Napkin Rings Build a New Fence Using Old Scraps Summer Skirt Tutorial

To help you start your summer off right, I've teamed up with these same blogging friends to give away something special. Indeed, Eating in the Shower, Lemon Tree Dwelling, Made for a King and Style with Cents and I are giving away a $100 Target gift card! Let's be honest....who couldn't use $100 to spend at Target!?

And now on to the Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!

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Raised Garden Beds and Hometalk

2013-06-08T10:52:00.005-05:00

Have you ever heard of Hometalk? Basically it is like a Pinterest of home ideas - indoors and out! Not too long ago I shared with you our Raised Garden Beds we made for the back yard. Well, here is a list of 17 more raised garden bed ideas of all shapes and sizes {mine included}. Maybe one of them would be just perfect for your space! Check them out...

Are you following Redfly Creations on Hometalk yet? Come see what it's all about!

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Father's Day Coupons - Free Printable

2013-06-07T17:57:00.000-05:00

Father's Day is almost upon us. Mother's Day and Father's Day are such fun holidays. I love being able to spend one whole day spoiling the special fathers in my life. Especially since their other special day, their birthday, are occasions that they would rather not celebrate.

Coupons have been all the rage at our house lately {I'm sure you've noticed!}. So, in keeping with our "experiences" theme for the year, I decided to make some Father's Day coupons.

I have to admit, it was a little hard for the kiddos to think of experiences that their father would enjoy {specifically because of his disability} but we did come up with a few. After we settled on the first few, the kids wanted to give even more. So, we added a few special gifts that he can also cash in a coupon for whenever he wants.

So here you go - download away! There is a a blank coupon template so that you can add your own ideas. Just know that the blanks are also in pdf formats. So, if you would like to create your own gift ideas, you need to just drag the blank template into your word processor program and then type over it with a text box.

Happy Father's Day!!

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New to Redfly? Many more great ideas to come!

Simply Create Link Party {13}

2013-06-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party! We always LOVE to see what you've created!

Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Monday afternoon HERE. There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature. But you don't want to miss these ones, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!

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Homemade Butter Recipe

2013-06-04T07:55:00.002-05:00

Homemade butter is delicious and surprisingly quick and easy to make. I have never really enjoyed real butter on my biscuits or bread, but this homemade butter is different. There are even many different flavored butters that you can make yourself. Homemade butter is not only great to eat, but it also perfect for making pie crusts, biscuits and many other baked goods.

A couple of weeks ago my mother-in-law was here, and I was telling her how I was given many cartons of heavy whipping cream. We had made whipped cream and eaten it on every thing we could think of until we were sick of it. I really needed another idea for making use of all of the whipping cream that was left. Immediately my mother-in-law suggested, "Make homemade butter!" She had grown up on a farm where they made their own homemade butter for years. "There's nothing like it," she said. "Homemade butter is delicious and really easy to make."

So, I decided to give it a try. I was very surprised at how simple it was to make. (Especially using my Kitchen Aid!)

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 quart of heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp of salt

PROCESS:

With a whisk attachment on your mixer, begin by beating the whipping cream just as you would to make whipped cream. After a few minutes the cream will first turn into the consistency of whipped cream (see first photo below). At this point, take a second and cover your mixer with a towel because here is when the process becomes messy.

After approximately 5 min. of beating the cream, it will turn into little curds - like cottage cheese (see second picture). You'll also notice that there will be some liquid milk separating from the curds. This is BUTTERMILK. Pour out the buttermilk into a container. Though you will not need it to make butter, keep it because it is perfect for baking!

After pouring out the buttermilk, begin beating the curds again. Beat it until it begins to look like butter; that is creamy and sticking together (third picture). Once creamy, use a spoon and press out all the remaining butter milk that you can. For another option, put the butter in a cheese cloth and simply press and squeeze until no more buttermilk can be squeezed out.

Now, take a large tupperware or bowl and fill it with cold water. Put your butter in the cold water and rinse it well for a couple of minutes. The water will start to turn a little murky, but that is fine. You are rinsing off any last little amounts of buttermilk. This is important because the buttermilk will turn rancid if is left on the butter. Once the butter is rinsed, remove it from the water and place it in a jar or container of your choice! If you would like to make a flavored butter this would be the time to add those ingredients. Simple right!?

Now, the only problem with real butter is that it gets hard when stored in the fridge which makes it very difficult to spread. The good thing is, that you can leave it out of the refrigerater for a perfect consistency if the temperature is right. At 65F or below, butter will last for weeks on the counter in a sealed container. At 80F, the butter will be overly soft and will not last more than several days. It is best to keep it covered, because the air is what will make it turn rancid. So in other words, feel free to keep your butter out of the fridge (covered) when room temperature is in the low to mid 70's. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 weeks, and frozen for up to 1 year.

Here are some of my favorite flavored butters:

Garlic Butter:

1/2 cup butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Mix well.

Lemon-Herb Butter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 Tbs. finely diced shallots
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon plus 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients. Roll into plastic wrap and store up to 2 weeks in fridge.

Honey Butter:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey

Mix well.

Brown Sugar Butter:

1/2 cup butter
2 Tbs. brown sugar

Mix well.

Cinnamon Butter:

2 cups butter
3/4 cup honey
3 tsp cinnamon

Mix well.

Enjoy! If you make it, be sure to let me know how your butter turns out.

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New to Redfly? Many more great ideas to come!

Featuring You {12}

2013-06-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to all who stopped by on Friday to link up at our joint link party with Simply Designing! There were so many cute and fun projects that you linked up this week. I loved all the variety.

Here are a few of my {Melissa @Redfly Creations} favorites from this week!

*Please pin from the original source*

Summer has begun for some. We are entering our last week of school here in Texas. Check out this fun Summer banner from The Happy Scraps. This would be such a cute way to start out your summer fun!

Looking for a way to add decor to your kitchen? How about this DIY Tiered Kitchen Basket created by VMG206!

What a little cutie!! Handmade Frenzy did an excellent job creating this adorable outfit. Makes me wish my girl was still little. :)

The name says it all! CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES. Pop on over to Taste of Lizzy T to get the recipe.

Church Street Designs decorated her husband's office with a map theme. Just this one picture really doesn't do the entire room justice! Stop by and see how else she incorporated maps into her decor.

There you have it! Have you been featured? Feel free to grab our button!

Google+ Blog Hop

2013-06-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today I have the opportunity to co-host a Google + Blog Hop with Jenny from NY Melrose Family. If you are new to Google+ you'll have to check out all her wonderful tutorial posts and videos.

All right Jenny, take it away:

Welcome to the Google+ Blog Hop for June!

Are you ready to expand your circles and find some amazingly talented crafters, foodies, techies, and diyers? I know I am! If you're new to G+ and need some quick tips, make sure to check out my 8 Tips to Maximize your Google+ Presence. Make the most of what you're doing! You can also find the perfect tips for the beginner to the advanced G+ user in my Conquering Google+ article.

If you're more of a visual learner check out the Google+ Series for DIYers, which include setting up your G+ profile and Growing your G+ Circles.

To join this G+ blog hop, link up your Google+ profile page URL (NOT your blog's homepage). For the "name" section, use your name or your blog's/website's name. Use your personal photo or your blog's/website's button/logo for the thumbnail picture.

Important note: If you have problems linking up your profile page, try linking the "about" section of your profile page instead of the "posts" section. Also, problems loading a thumbnail picture usually can be solved by loading the picture directly from your computer instead of your G+ page.

Please join us and our co-hosts as we support and connect with each

other on this growing social network.

HOSTS:

The NY Melrose Family

CO-HOSTS:

Redfly Creations

A Family Feast

Reasons to Skip the Housework

Sweet Twist of Blogging

We would appreciate it if you would follow the hosts and co-hosts of this blog hop (add them to your circles). Their G+ profiles are the first five links.

This blog hop is only for G+ pages...please do not link up your blog's url. We encourage the sharing of your personal, blog or business' G+ (profile) page. After you link up your G+ profile page, please visit some of the other profiles that are linked up and add them to your circles. We want you to help your fellow bloggers' G+ page grow! Please share the party on your social media platforms. The more the merrier!

Simply Create Link Party {12}

2013-05-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party! We always LOVE to see what you've created!

Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Tuesday afternoon HERE. There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature. But you don't want to miss these ones, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!

This week on Simply Designing and

Redfly Creations:

Now, it's time to PARTY! Please link up your latest creations.

You can link up pretty much anything as long as you "created" it

Please visit as many projects as you linked up and Pin or share them in some way

Please keep it family friendly, no links to shops or giveaways, and we reserve the right to delete any links that aren't appropriate

By linking up you are giving us permission to feature or show off your project

We would of course love it if you followed both of us, but it's not required :)

*Please Pin from the original source! Thanks.*

Featuring YOU {11}

2013-05-28T18:19:00.001-05:00

Thanks so much to all who stopped by on Friday to link up at our new and improved, joint Simply Create Link Party with Simply Designing! Both Ashley and I loved looking at your links this weekend!

I {Ashley} noticed that I was particularly drawn to all the amazingly yummy food this week!! Of course...it is nearing dinner time so my stomach is growling. You aren't supposed to grocery shop while your hungry...maybe I shouldn't look at our link party while hungry...it is awfully tempting to run out and make everything right now! YUM!

So here are a few of my (Ashley from Simply Designing) TASTY favorites from this week!

*Please Pin from Original Source*

Strawberry Marshmallow Cream Shake

Patriotic Jello Dessert

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Peaches and Cream Pie

Strawberry Chocolate Pudding Pie

And for the one and only healthy recipe...

Springtime Citrus Chicken

Yum!! I want to skip right past dinner tonight and go straight to dessert!

Thanks all for sharing your AMAZING projects!!! It was super hard to choose this week....so I let my stomach be my guide!

If you've been featured, feel free to grab our button:

Chalk Board Ruler Growth Chart - Tutorial

2013-05-28T07:11:00.003-05:00

Growing up, I loved to visit my Grandpa and Grandma's house on a farm. There was no end to the places we could explore. We "built" a schoolhouse in the attic and a maze in the barn. We would race through the basement to avoid the monsters, and walked "forever" through the fields. There was also one other special place - the pantry. No, not because of the food, but because of the measuring stick that was against the wall. My cousins and I marked our height with our name as we grew through the years, eager to see who had grown the most.

Those memories from my grandmother's house came flooding back each time I saw the wooden growth chart rulers found everywhere on Pinterest. So, I planned to make one of the beautifully varnished wooden charts for our house so that our children could enjoy those same fun memories I had as a child. The problem was that I could not imagine marking up the beautiful wood. So, we came up with an alternative. A chalkboard growth chart! Now we can keep track of the kid's growth without feeling like we were destroying the chart.

We started with a 1x10 board that was 6 feet long. The wood cost about $10 and we already had a quart of black chalkboard paint left over from an earlier project. The other items that made this growth chart a breeze to make were a square, a paint pen and printed-out numbers. After painting with the chalkboard paint, I took the square and created the lines of the ruler with a pencil (easy!). The lines were exactly 1" apart. The 3 lengths of lines were each 1/2" longer than the other. In other words, the foot line is 3 1/2" long. The half foot {or 6"} is 3"long; and the 1/4 foot {or inches 3 and 9} were 2 1/2" long. The 1/8 foot line {or inches 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11} is2" long. After I drew the lines with a pencil I went over them again with the white paint pen.

Now for the numbers. Each number measures just under 2" wide and under 2 1/2" tall. If you would like to use these numbers you may download them to print here. The trick for the numbers was to cut out the printed number and trace it onto the wood with a pencil. The tracing caused a perfect indentation in the wood which made it easy to see for painting. Now, take the paint pen and draw the outline of the number. Finally, use a small paint brush and some acrylic paint to fill in the rest of each number.

There you have it! At our house, the tradition of keeping track of growth has begun. So far, Mommy and Daddy haven't shrunk {Whew!}, and the kiddos are growing like weeds.

Where I link up

New to Redfly? Many more great ideas to come!

Create your own Summer Reading Program with these Free Printables!

2013-05-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

Ahh, summer break! It's only 9 days away at our house! One of our favorite things to do during our summer is read. There is nothing like spending hours and hours in a hammock, a favorite tree or by the pool reading a good book.

Last year the kids had so much fun joining our local library's summer reading program. So much so that they read the required amount of books way too quickly. So, to add a little more incentive to their reading, I created our own summer reading program. The goal is to keep track of the number of books and the amount of time that they spend reading. Whenever they complete two hours of reading time, they get to pick a coupon.

The awards the kids will earn with our summer reading program are experiences - and there are many to be had. Since our Valentine's Day coupons were such a hit with the kiddos, we repeated many of the same experiences for their reading awards. You may dowlnoad the sheet and the coupons below. Included are some blank templates so that you can add your own rewards.

By the way, I have also put together a list of 15 books for each grade {1-6}. Of course, kids vary greatly in their reading abilities. Some kids in the first grade may have already read some of the 4th grade books, and vice versa. Please feel free to recommend your favorite children's books in the comments. We all love to discover new books! : )

Grade 1

Amelia Bedelia books
Frog and Toad
Dr. Seuss
A Fly Went By
Little Bear
The Bravest Dog Ever- The True Story of Balto
Five Little Monkeys...Jumping on the Bed
Curious George books
Clifford books
Buzz Said the Bee
Fat Cat Sat on the Mat
Mouse and Owl
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed...
Are You My Mother?
Froggy Goes to School

Grade 2

Frog and Toad
Mouse Tails
Hill of Fire
Nate the Great series
Owl at Home
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Danny and the Dinosaur
The Gruff Brothers
The Little Red Hen
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Christmas in the Big Woods
Fox and His Friends
Flat Stanley
Little Bear
Morris and Boris at the Circus

Grade 3

Cara Frear
Jake Drake: Bully Buster
The Littles
The Viking Adventure
Third Grade Detectives
Tornado
Old Yeller
Little House on the Prairie- series
Judy Moody
A. Lincoln and Me
Comeback Kid
The Drinking Gourd
Box Car Children
American Girl History Mysteries

Grade 4

Encyclopedia Brown
Hardy Boys
Ginger Pye
Frindle
Geronimo Stilton
Grandma’s Attic- series
Ralph S. Mouse
The Toothpaste Millionaire
The Whipping Boy
Farmer Boy
Nancy Drew
Hank the Cowdog
Bobbsey Twins
Matilda
Big Nate

Grade 5

Left Behind Series
Marco Polo
Henry and Ribsy
Emily’s Runaway Imagination
Saddle Club books
Anne of Green Gables
Charlotte’s Web
Ramona
The Babysitters Club
Red Rock Mysteris
Sugar Creek Gang
Sisters in Time - Lydia the Patriot and others
Mandie- series
Mr. Poppers Penguins
The Secret Garden

Grade 6

Amos Fortune, Free Man

A Wrinkle in Time

A Long Way from Chicago
Bound for Oregon
The Call of the Wild
Indian Captive- The Story of Mary Jemison
Maniac Magee
Out of the Dust
Pollyanna
Trailblazers featuring Amy Carmichael
Golden Filly collection
Animal Rescue collection
Chronicles of Narnia
Pilgrims Progress
Flicka

Happy Summer Reading!

Where I link up

There is still time to enter this great give-away!

Simply Create Link Party {11}

2013-05-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party! We always LOVE to see what you've created! Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Monday afternoon HERE. There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature.

But you don't want to miss these ones, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!

This week on Simply Designing and

Redfly Creations:

Now, it's time to PARTY! Please link up your latest creations.

You can link up pretty much anything as long as you "created" it

Please visit as many projects as you linked up and Pin or share them in some way

Please keep it family friendly, no links to shops or giveaways, and we reserve the right to delete any links that aren't appropriate

By linking up you are giving us permission to feature or show off your project

We would of course love it if you followed both of us, but it's not required :)

*Please Pin from the original source! Thanks.*

Hair Tie Clutch - Tutorial

2013-05-21T10:31:00.000-05:00

We have always had a hard time keeping track of our hair ties and other hair accessories. When my daughter was really small, she would pull them out and just throw them on the ground. It seemed I was always having to buy more. She is much older now, but we still manage to lose some here and there. When I saw this on Pinterest from Clippie Dips, I knew I was going to have to make my own version to help us keep track of all our hair ties.

Cut one 7 1/2" X 8" from outside fabric

Cut one 7 1/2" X 8" from lining fabric

Cut two 7 1/2" X 8" from light interfacing

Cut one 5 1/2"X 4" from outside fabric

Cut one 5 1/2" X 4" from lining fabric

Cut two 5 1/2" X 4" from light interfacing

Cut one 7 1/2" piece from rick rack

Cut one 3 1/2" piece from rick rack

Cut one 8 1/2" piece from rick rack

Two pearl snaps

Matching thread

First we are going to create our rick rack snap. Take your 7 1/2" rick rack piece. Using your snap kit, attach the pearl end of your snap to the top of this piece. I folded under about 1/2" then attached the snap over the fold. Next, take your 3 1/2" rick rack piece and attach the other end of the snap. This time I folded my rick rack in half exactly so that the unfinished ends would be in the seam when the sandwich is sewn together.

Now we are going to make the flap. Iron the light interfacing onto each of the 5 1/2" X 4" pieces. Then sandwich right sides together, leaving a 1 1/2" opening to turn it inside out.

Turn inside out, iron and top stitch around the edges.

Now iron the light interfacing onto the two 7 1/2" X 8" pieces. Ok, now let's put our sandwich together.

After getting all these pieces lined up sew the sandwich together, leaving a 2 1/2" opening on the far right side to turn it inside out. Clip the corners before turning it inside out.

Top stitch all around the clutch, then attach the snap in the desired location. The center of the snap should be about 3/4" from the bottom edge of the flap and about 2 1/2" from each side.

Snap in your hair ties and clips and Enjoy!!

Where I link up

Featuring You! {10}

2013-05-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to all who stopped by on Friday to link up at our new and improved, joint link party with Simply Designing! You ladies are just oozing with creativity! Both Ashley and I loved looking at your links this weekend!

Here are a few of my favorites from this week!

*Please pin from the original source*

I just love this necklace created by Whistle and Ivy. Bethany made all of these beads herself! I can't wait to make a cute necklace like this with my daughter.

Summer is the perfect time for lazing around and reading a good book. Needing some ideas? One She Two She has compiled this amazing list of books she thinks would be great for your older children.

One look at this delicious cake by Taste of Lizzy T. and we are all swooning. This is definitely going on to my "to bake someday" list.

What a great little outdoor space. I never would have guessed that is was a remodeled barn!! Way to go Pudel Design!

Thanks to Posed Perfection, metal carts are going to be selling like crazy! This is such a fun up-cycle!

Do you love chocolate and peanut butter? Then you have to check out Little Kitchen Big Bites' recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Brownie Bars.

Have you been featured? Feel free to grab our button!

Free Patriotic Picnic Printables

2013-05-17T19:03:00.000-05:00

"The Land of the Free!! "

What a blessing to live in a country where there is freedom! There are so many countries who do not hold the concept so dear. I am so thankful for the many men and women who gave their lives so that we can have freedom. Thank you!!! In order to help us celebrate the holiday, I created a set of patriotic picnic printables for Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

I really enjoyed creating these printables. I have always loved the red, white, and blue color combination. They have such a classic feel.

Fresh berries and vibrant flowers add great color and life to any picnic. To add to the fresh feeling, I combined the two by placing lemon slices in the flower vase.

Of course, a picnic on a sun-shiny day is not complete without pinwheels and water bottles. The pinwheel printable is available in two different styles. The water bottle printables boast the phrase "The Land of the Free" !

There are other printables in this set so be sure to check them out below. Are you planning a picnic, or a family get together? What are your Memorial day plans and decoration ideas?

Happy 4th of July!

New to Redfly? Many more great ideas to come!

Simply Create Link Party {10}

2013-05-16T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party! We always LOVE to see what you've created!

Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Monday afternoon HERE. There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature. But you don't want to miss these ones, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!

This week on Simply Designing and

Redfly Creations:

Now, it's time to PARTY! Please link up your latest creations.

You can link up pretty much anything as long as you "created" it

Please visit as many projects as you linked up and Pin or share them in some way

Please keep it family friendly, no links to shops or giveaways, and we reserve the right to delete any links that aren't appropriate

By linking up you are giving us permission to feature or show off your project

We would of course love it if you followed both of us, but it's not required :)

*Please Pin from the original source! Thanks.*

The World's Easiest Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

2013-05-14T08:24:00.000-05:00

This recipe is an old family favorite. As many of my readers know, I was raised in Northeast Brazil. Since the weather was always warm, ice cream was one of our special desserts. When I was growing up, good ice cream was expensive and hard to find. So, we came up with this tasty Ice cream recipe. It is very creamy and delicious, yet the best part is that that it requires no machine and it only uses three ingredients!

Here are the ingredients:

- 1 cup of vanilla yogurt
- 1 - 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup crushed strawberries

Directions:

Mix the ingredients together. Pour into a freezer friendly container. Cover and freeze at least 4 hours. Then just scoop and serve!

How easy was that? You can mix up the flavors by switching out the fruit. Replace it with chocolate chips, cookie dough or the ingredient of your choice!

Yum!!

To view the nutritional information for this recipe click the button below:

New to Redfly? Many more great ideas to come!

I Link up Here

Featuring YOU {09}

2013-05-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to all who stopped by on Friday to link up at our new and improved, joint link party with Simply Designing! Both Ashley and I loved looking at your links this weekend!

Here are a few of Ashley's (from Simply Designing) favorites from this week!

*Please Pin from Original Source*

Vintage Fan Makeover

Grow Your Own Gutter Strawberries

DIY Chalkboard Birthday Calendar

Braided Lemon Loaf

Baby Shower Favors

Dining Room Reveal

If you've been featured, feel free to grab our button:

From Drab Dresser to "Magnetic" Media Center

2013-05-10T19:05:00.000-05:00

Last year I shared with you my decor ideas for the upstairs living room / family room. I planned to decorate in red, white and blue without seeming nautical or patriotic. The idea also included furniture pieces that were a glossy black. For the media center, I needed something well made (which usually means an older piece) but I wanted the clean lines that are usually found in newer furniture! The ideal dresser was going to be a challenge to find - especially on a budget! After a few months of looking around, garage sale bartering led me to a neutral stained solid-wood dresser for only $40.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a before picture. You'll just have to picture this as an old, light brown dresser, badly in need of love. The up-cycle started with sanding and ended with a coat of primer and charcoal black oil base paint.

Now came a new dilemma. How do we store the gaming console and dvd player in a way that makes it accessible, yet hidden? Well, we came up with the idea of giving a detachable "door" to one of the drawers. Basically, we cut the front panel off the top center drawer and attached magnets to it so that it could easily be detached from the dresser. The rest of the drawer was painted, put back in, and screwed in place so that it would not slide out. The end result was a drawer made into a type of built in shelf with a detachable door!

As you can see, the magnet is attached to each side of the inside of the drawer. These magnets line up with the metal pieces on the back of the drawer panel.

Here you can see the front panel of the drawer. We just lay it to a side when the console or DVD player is in use. When not in use, the panel just snaps back into place to hide the "ugliness". You would never know that the devices are there!

As an extra BONUS, our kids can play their Wii without ever taking off the panel. As long as their game disk is in, the console works wirelessly via the bluetooth controls.

We love it! Dozens of movies, game disks, and controllers are all hidden away in the bountiful drawers of this old up-cycled dresser. How about you? Have you created your own media center? What did you do?

Simply Create Link Party {09}

2013-05-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party! We always LOVE to see what you've created!

Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Monday afternoon HERE. There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature. But you don't want to miss these ones, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!

This week on Simply Designing and

Redfly Creations:

Now, it's time to PARTY! Please link up your latest creations.

You can link up pretty much anything as long as you "created" it

Please visit as many projects as you linked up and Pin or share them in some way

Please keep it family friendly, no links to shops or giveaways, and we reserve the right to delete any links that aren't appropriate

By linking up you are giving us permission to feature or show off your project

We would of course love it if you followed both of us, but it's not required :)

*Please Pin from the original source! Thanks.*