Spring Sangria

Why not, right?! I make things of all shapes, sizes, and flavors, and that includes some DAMN good Sangria! This particular recipe is for White Sangria, and I’ve dubbed it my Spring Sangria, because it’s lovely color and fruity flavor is the perfect thing to sip whilst bidding farewell to winter and welcoming Les Printemps.

For this particular batch, I have doubled my normal recipe, since I plan to serve this up to at least 8 of my friends for what I like to call “Sangria Saturday”. If you are not throwing a soiree of sorts then halve the following, or prepare to drink this for weeks.

Spring Sangria!

• 8 Liters of Carlo Rossi “Rhine” white wine (2 of those giant bottles)
• 1 cup Brandy
• 1 cup Peach Schnappes
• 1 package of fresh strawberries
• 1 pineapple
• 2 mangos
• 1 package of frozen peaches (defrosted) OR 4 fresh ripe peaches
• 1 giant beverage dispenser or pitcher
• Sparkling water of your choice

I only ended up using one of these pineapples, FYI.

Pour the wine, brandy, and peach schnapps into your container and give it a stir. Dump in the whole bag of thawed frozen peaches, juice and all (if you’re lucky enough to get fresh ones, skin, pit and slice them and toss ’em in).

Chop the tops off all the strawberries, slice them into three pieces, and throw them into the beverage dispenser/pitcher.

Cube the mangos and the pineapple into big chunks and add them to the sangria. If you are unfamiliar how exactly to cut into a mango, check out this video.

Once everything is in, stir it up and pop it in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least 6 hours. The longer the better, as this gives all that booze time to break down the fruits and combine the flavors into a cohesive, delicious beverage. Once its ready, serve it in a wine glass with ice and a splash of sparkling water (I like to use La Croix Orange) and make sure to top it off with a few pieces of that boozy fruit! Welcome Spring!!!

Happy Easter!

Here’s a little basket of joy for you this Easter Sunday! I had a blast making these last night with my girl Hilaree. THAT girl makes things, too! Check out her delicious blog here “The Sweetest Thing with Booze”. Go ahead and preheat your oven and thank me later!

Doing it up Old School with PAAS decorating kits!

We went a little crazy with the scary glitter on some of these!

How can you NOT have fun creating this outcome?! Happy Easter, y’all!

A Sunburst Mirror DIY

If you’re as obsessed with MCM decor as I am, then I know you’ve seen a Sunburst Mirror. They are a thing of beauty and elegance, and add brilliant sparkle and design flare to any room. They are available in many shapes, sizes, varieties, and colors to match any homes’ decor style and (imo) every home needs one. So obviously I must have one, right?! Unfortunately for me and my wallet, I have been unlucky in my search to find the perfect one for my living room that doesn’t come with at least a 3 digit price tag. So what does This Girl do? Duh.

Off to my local craft store for some materials! I picked up three 15ct. packages of 3/16″ dowels ($3 each), a can of chrome-finish gold spray paint ($5- with a coupon), a bag of 25 small circular mirrors ($3), and a 6″ round beveled edge mirror ($4).

The humble beginnings.

I spray painted all the dowels gold, and cut out two pieces of cardboard the exact size and shape of the center mirror and spray painted those gold as well.

All gold everything!

Then I cut down my dowels to three different lengths to give my sunburst a more natural look. I used a ruler to measure down 1.25″, 2.25″, and 3.25″. Some of them I didn’t cut at all, and kept them at their original length. Then, using wood glue (that I already purchased from a previous project), I adhered the dowels to one of the cardboard circles, about a half inch in, and evenly spaced all around the edge. Once the wood glue dried enough to move the piece around without disturbing the dowels, I glued the other piece of cardboard on top of the dowels, to make a little dowel/cardboard sandwich.

I used A LOT of glue here, and left it to dry overnight.

I also set two full paint cans on top of the glued area, to act as a clamp for the glue to set properly.

Once that was completely dry, I used Gorilla Glue to adhere the center mirror on top of the cardboard and again set a paint can on top of the mirror to weigh down the glue as it set. A few hours later, I laid out the little mirrors around the dowels where I wanted them, and used the Gorilla Glue to set those in place. This was a little time consuming because I had to hold the glued mirrors onto the dowels individually for a few minutes while they set enough to not move around.

And there she is, folks!

I couldn’t be more pleased with the final result. It was SO easy to do! I will definitely make another, larger one for our bedroom. And I may even do a bolder color, like blue or green, instead of the basic metallic gold.

She sure does brighten up the room!