october book giveaway!

September 28, 2018

This is one of those months when the book giveaway is not a book! For October, the giveaway is handmade pink velvet pumpkins. Pumpkins; because it is October and pink; because October is breast cancer awareness month.

I encourage everyone to display at least one pink pumpkin during the month, preferably in a really visible location – like a front porch. A great way to show support for breast cancer awareness month!

Inside the home, a clear container, a terrarium, or a cloche is great for pink pumpkin display! The container I used here is from Terrain and I am constantly changing up its contents to suit the season!

To win your very own velvet pink pumpkins, made by me, just leave me a comment saying you’d like to win! The winner will be chosen at random at the end of October from the comments received during the month. Win and you will be able to display some pink velvet pumpkins each October!

Congrats to Mary Beth (a self-proclaimed pencil geek) , the winner of the September giveaway of the journal and the set of pencils with my custom imprints. Click here to see more on the giveaway.

Instagram users, please read on. For the month of October, let’s share our pink pumpkins! Use hashtag #pleasuregram to share any photos of pink pumpkins on display – by you or by someone else!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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it’s all about the stem

September 25, 2018

It’s official. It is fall! I always start the season by making some velvet pumpkins. Every year I make a few more, using new shades of velvet and pumpkin stems I have collected from the year before. Each year, I like to make some pumpkins that are a little different than the year before…either in color or fabric. But, before I start my own pumpkins, I have a few pumpkins to make as gifts.

If you make velvet pumpkins, you know the personality of the pumpkin is created with the stem. And, the hardest part about making pumpkins to give as gifts is to part with the stems! It is all about the stem!

Here are a few great stems from some gifts I made this year – my first pumpkins of the season.

At a request, I created my very first red pumpkin. Look at that marvelous stem!

Thanks for stopping by! If you haven’t yet tried making a velvet pumpkin, you can look back into my archives for directions by clicking here and give it a try! You can start by collecting some fabulous stems!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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new life for my fern container

September 14, 2018

I had a lovely little potted fern. It always put a smile on my face. I received it as a favor at a wedding shower and I always loved it. I even tucked a little bird inside of it!

So, I was really disappointed when my fern died – I had enjoyed it for years!

I decided not to put another living plant inside the cute little container the fern lived in, but I did want to reuse it. Since I’d been painting rocks recently, a rock painting came to mind right away!

For today’s Friday field trip, look at the quick and easy rock painting I made for my fern container! (I was inspired by the succulent Easter eggs I made last year! Click here to see them.)

A very simplistic design can bring satisfying results! I hope I have inspired you to paint some! If you want to keep your rocks outside, be sure to spray them with clear coat to protect against the elements!

Of course, if I was embracing the season, I would have painted some pumpkin rocks ;) !

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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sprinkled with love

August 28, 2018

I truly believe personalization is the key to a great party. And, creating favors that do a great job of embracing the occasion are a key component of any successful celebration!

I have a great example from a recent family baby shower I wanted to share – it should definitely get your creative juices flowing!

So, the mom-to-be had a passion for a particular brand of sprinkles. The future dad had always loved animal crackers. What better way to personalize a baby shower favor, than to incorporate these 2 loves! How?

To execute this into a baby shower favor, a tin baby-sized cup was used to house some animal crackers. To elevate the garden variety animal cracker, they were dipped into white chocolate and then sprinkles before getting packaged in cellphone bags. Baby bracelets crafted of beads by the grandma-to-be were attached to each cup as a place card and a ‘sprinkled with love’ tag was added. Cute, right? Of course, there were many ways to carry through the sprinkles (like the cake!) and animal themes throughout the rest of the party!

Can you think of a cool way to incorporate personal elements into the favors you create for your next celebration?

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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cereal treat bowls

August 21, 2018

Cereal treat dessert bowls have been popular for a while now. I thought I’d give it a try just once so I could put my own spin on it.

Since everything I’ve seen has been made with plain rice or fruit cereal, I decided to make some cereal treat bowls with a chocolate cereal. And what flavor goes best with chocolate? A darker chocolate? Coffee? Raspberry? Peanut butter? That’s it! I decided on peanut butter.

Peanut butter mousse in a chocolate cereal bowl sounds like a good combination!

I made the standard cereal treat recipe of 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 10 oz. of melted marshmallows, and 6 cups of cereal. I lightly sprayed some small bowls with cooking spray (and sprayed a little on my hands as well). Using my favorite little Anthro bowls as a guide, I spooned the mixture into them and used my fingers to form the mixture into a bowl shape. Since I don’t have air-conditioning, I popped them into the fridge for a little bit to set them up.

I chose little bowls to make a nice sized individual serving, but you can make your bowls in any size you’d like! Since I am making a mousse to put inside, I am leaving them as is. If you plan on putting something more liquidy (I know this probably isn’t a word) than a mousse, I would suggest melting some chocolate and spreading a coat to harden on the bottom before adding anything so it will act as a seal and prevent any of your dessert from leaking out.

For the peanut butter mixture – kind of a cross between a mousse and a cheesecake – I beat together 4 oz. cream cheese, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2/3 cup heavy cream till smooth and then beat on high speed for a minute or two. I spooned this into the cups and garnished them with milk chocolate shavings. I think peanut butter ice cream would have been a better choice than the mousse idea. Whatever you spoon into the dessert bowls, be sure to do it just before serving so the bowls don’t get soggy.

Make a cereal treat bowl. Check. Have you tried making one? What did you serve inside it?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. If you liked this, click here to see a similar treat I made recently…peanut butter cereal treat bites.

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peanut butter chocolate cereal bites

June 26, 2018

I recently wanted to make a dessert as a gift for a person celebrating a new job. I know he likes peanut butter and chocolate candies and I know he likes cereal treats, so I decided to combine the two and come up with a special treat! Making a bar like a cereal treat didn’t seem ‘fancy’ enough for the occasion though, so I made the sweet as individual little cups!

I simply varied the recipe I use for a basic cereal treat to come up with a yummy peanut butter/chocolate version. They required a little more work than a bar, but I think you will agree the results were great! If you’d like to try, I am sharing the recipe. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cereal Bites

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1, 10 oz. package of marshmallows
½ cup peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1, 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate pieces
peanuts and sea salt flakes for garnish

Coat a mini muffin(s) pan with cooking spray. (I used a pan for 24 and had extra ingredients that I used to make bars in a coated 8” x 8” baking pan.)

In a large saucepan, melt butter on the stove over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted. Add cereal and stir until well coated and all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Press about a Tablespoon of the cereal mixture into the bottom of each well. There will be a little bit of room left to add some chocolate.

Melt the chocolate over low heat in a double boiler, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when just melted. Spoon about a teaspoon of chocolate into each well, smoothing the top with the spoon.

Finish with peanuts and flakes of sea salt. Set in the fridge. Store in an air tight container. These are best fresh, but there shouldn’t be any problem with them hanging around too long!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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frozen rosemary fudge pops

June 12, 2018

For me, there certainly is a lot of nostalgia associated with frozen treats. When I was a kid, the Good Humor driver would take his dinner break on our corner. And, I could buy a frozen fudge pop from the dairy farm across the street whenever I had enough coins to do so or whenever I could talk my dad into buying. (He would say: “You fly, I’ll buy.”)

These days, I try not to go overboard with the desserts, but I still love anything frozen – whether it be drinks, desserts, or pops. I like to make my own frozen pops now, so I can control what goes into them. And, I love to experiment with a variety of fruits and flavors.

Recently, I discovered a fabulous source for frozen pop recipes – a book called Glow Pops by Liz Moody. Not only are the pops made from these recipes delicious, but they are made from nutritious ingredients! Even if you don’t use the exact recipes in the book, the inspiration for using healthful ingredients in frozen pops is worth its purchase!

One example is my updated, healthful version of the fudge pops from my childhood, adapting a recipe from Glow Pops! Adding rosemary to the flavor profile and finishing them with salt brings these pops to a whole new ice pop level! Yummy!!

Empty a 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk (I buy it in the International aisle at the grocery store – leche de coco) into a pan and heat on medium high heat on the stove. When it boils, turn off the heat and add 3 sprigs of rosemary from the garden – let it sit 20 minutes to infuse the flavor. Remove the rosemary and pour the mixture into a blender, adding 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 6 Tablespoons organic coconut sugar and 6 Tablespoons of raw organic cacao powder. Blend until smooth and pour into ice pop molds. Freeze. Sprinkle with sea salt when ready to eat. This makes 4 (4 oz.) pops.

If you need an ice pop mold, Home Goods and Marshall’s always have them. I love Crate & Barrel’s Zoku Mod ice pop mold – it is designed to fit into freezer doors. Crate & Barrel also has a good rocket ice pop mold that is actually on sale right now for $3.47!

Do yourself a flavor (pun intended!) for the summer and get Liz Moody’s book Glow Pops and an ice pop mold! A very small investment for some really huge flavor enjoyment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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books to bookmarks diy

June 5, 2018

Aren’t old books beautiful! A vintage book has an appeal that a new book just wouldn’t understand! I love decorating with vintage books…either as is, or by using pieces of them to create a DIY project.

Sometimes an old book will be in such bad shape that only pieces can be salvaged. Even so, there are plenty of uses for its pieces! That was the case with a really old, beautiful book recently. The cover had incredible character, but it was separated from the book. Even though it couldn’t be displayed as an entire book, I knew I had to come up with a use for the beautiful, vintage cover of the piece.

My thought was to cut the cover into strips and make the strips into bookmarks! The bookmarks would have the lovely character of the book’s cover and I would still have the old pages of the book for future projects…lovely, old, worn, faded, vintage pages!

Converting the cover into bookmarks was an easy DIY. First, I carefully cut long pieces with a craft knife fitted with a new blade. Next, I wanted to add a ribbon to the top. Rather than just punch a hole in the top of each strip, I used a grommet tool (you can find one for a few bucks in any craft shop) to add a grommet and make the finished product a little more dignified! I figured a book as old as this one deserved a little dignity!

I added a ribbon I purchased at the craft store. Choosing the ribbon was the most time consuming part of the project! I needed to find just the perfect ribbon! And, I think I did!

A very easy project as well as a very satisfying one!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are having a great week!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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mint watermelon iced tea

May 29, 2018

Don’t you love the new item section at Trader Joe’s? It is always so fun to see the latest products offered for sale and there are always some great ones! (How about that cauliflower gnocchi?!)

One of the newest products I picked up on a recent visit was the mint watermelon tea. I planned to make up some iced tea for Memorial Day weekend and was immediately drawn to the ‘watermelon’ part of the tea description – even though the ‘mint’ part was mentioned first.

When I made up a batch of the tea, I found the mint flavor was definitely way more pronounced than the watermelon flavor. But, after a little adjustment, I got the subtle watermelon flavor I was after!

I brewed up 2 ½ quarts of tea, using 10 tea sachets. After steeping and cooling the tea, I added some watermelon puree to it before pouring it into a pitcher. To make the puree, I just cut up some fresh, seedless watermelon and liquified it in the blender. (I cut the watermelon into small cubes and used 3 cups worth in the blender.)

If you love mint, you will probably like this tea without the adjustment. I don’t use sweetener in my tea, but you may want to add some if you like some sweetness to your tea.

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend! Here’s to a short work week!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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beauty in simplicity

May 15, 2018

A big garden isn’t needed to enjoy the outdoors in your home.

Pick a single flower or a single leaf or grab a sprig from shrub clippings. Even the bad boys in the yard (enter dandelions in seed), can evoke a positive mood – creating the sense of fulfilled wishes or dreams yet to be – when displayed as a single bloom in a container!

If you don’t have a yard, just take a walk through the woods or a public park…heck, you can find a beautiful wildflower on the side of the throughway!

Then, display your little piece of the outdoors in a container. No fancy or expensive vase is needed! Just look in your recycling bin or in your cupboards for some great ideas! Any small vessel will do! Examples include: a tiny espresso cup, a teacup, a small milk pitcher, or a glass liquor ‘nip’ bottle or other small discarded bottle.

Just display this little piece of beauty in any room – in any little scrap of space where you will glance over at it and smile!

The beauty and simplicity of a single flower or leaf is an instant mood lifter and is a great way to display the awesomeness of nature in your home.

I hope I have inspired you to display little pieces of nature in your home!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

The containers in the order they appear: sea urchin vase from Christmas Tree Shop ($1.99), discarded coconut vodka ‘nip’ bottle, 5 bud vase from Marshall’s ($2.99 in clearance aisle), teacup (a gift), discarded coconut vodka ‘nip’ bottle, found glass bottle, my creamer, sea urchin vase from Christmas Tree Shop.

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october book giveaway!

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new life for my fern container

sprinkled with love

cereal treat bowls

peanut butter chocolate cereal bites

frozen rosemary fudge pops

books to bookmarks diy

mint watermelon iced tea

beauty in simplicity