Follow Friday #18

@mscraftberrybush

Happy Friday friends! So how was your week? We've had a great week! Spring is in full force here. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to see the very first bloom on my Pineapple Guava Tree!

This weekend my mother is coming down for a visit, and we are going to do a little shopping; antiquing, fabric shopping (for new pillows, and either IKEA or Home Goods). Last night, we rented 'Into the Woods'. I had mixed feelings. It is a great musical, and any movie Johnny Depp is in, I'm not disappointed, but the ending just seemed strange, and drawn out. My husband is funny. Since the master bedroom is downstairs, he's pushing to be moved into the new house this weekend, instead of next, because he doesn't want to walk up stairs any more. Go to love him!

I wait all week for this day! Friday Follow's are one of my favorite post, because I hope it helps you to find new and inspiring blogs to follow! Thanks to Pinterest and Instagram their Inspiration gave me so many ideas, with too many being my favorites, that  I would really love to share them all with you. I just don't want to take up all of your time, so here are a couple to spread the love and inspiration!

This week, I wanted to try something a little different, than just share, I want this to be more interactive and fun! For this week, I want to hear from you...I want to know who inspires you.
Here's the plan:
1. Post a comment, tagging an individual (or individuals) who inspired you this past week.
2. Visit and follow at least one of those mentioned. A comment is always nice...:)
3. Spread the love of inspiring others by reposting this photo and asking your friends to do the same as above (kindly provide photo credit to @mscraftberrybush). 

You all know how much I LOVE color! This is just what I needed to see! With moving, it's hard to stay inspired, when you are taking things down and all you can see are plain, bare walls. I wasn't sure about dyeing our brown eggs, just  how exactly they would turn out! I saw these, and was amazed how vibrant the colors truly are! So, next year, definitely dyeing our brown eggs!

 Also, this blog is simply beautiful!

Chic Provence

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I visit blogs, a lot!! At first, it seemed like this was my first time visiting her blog, but then the more I looked around, I remembered visiting before. This time I stayed a little while longer, and what drew me in the first time, was her style. My daughter Katelyn, has been asking to paint bird houses, and I kept thinking how sweet these birdhouses are, my daughter would love to do something like this!

Simply Vintageous

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Three words: Lovely, charming and simply beautiful!
Petite Michelle Louise

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Very pretty blog! It's lovely, soft and inviting!
Restoration House



 Let's see how much love and inspiration we can spread together.

Have a lovely weekend! Until next time!

xo Christine

A Week+ in CASL photos: March 26- April 5

I am so glad you stopped by to visit me today! This week is a little different and a little longer, Sundays are going to be the day for my Weekly Photos for now! What I like about doing a Photo365, is that I get to share with you a peek into what my week has been like, and possibly a sneak peek to what next week will bring. I've tried 365 Photo or Daily photo memes several times before, and surprisingly, I am getting farther posting my photos once a week, instead of once a day. It makes a big difference, and it's really nice to look back and see a slice of my day!

 

March 26- Something White - This is Buddy! I wanted to name him Ghost or Boo. Everyone else just calls him Buddy!

 

March 27-Love- My oldest daughter! Loved visiting with her this past weekend!

 

 

March 28- Given-  I gave this succulent to my daughter to take back with her. She loves succulents. This one is called 'Flap Jack'!

March 29- Zen- When I think of Zen...I think of Cherry blossoms...Here in the Southwest you don't see very many Pear, Plum or Cherry trees...What we do have are Palo Verde trees..It has only been a couple days since our tree exploded into blooms..Now the bees are buzzing, we saw a baby hummingbird yesterday...And there is a morning dove nest, nestled in its boughs...When I think of Zen I think refreshing..and these blooms remind me of Springtime. Today is going to be a day with never ending blue skies.

 

March 30-On my table- Homework, backpacks, jackets, pens and pencils...It's a school kind of day!

 

March 31-Two Tone- I have a love and hate relationship with this rose bush. Every bloom is different and gorgeous, ranging from pale pink to bright orange in different tones...but it also has the most evil of thorns.

 

April 1- Lunch- Chicken Quesadilla with Sautéed squash and sirracha !

 

April 2-Building- Our new Home!! To see the inside, visit my post on One Room Challenge!

 

April 3-This is Good- Springtime in Paris Strawberry Macarons

 

April 4-Where I stood- My first rose garden...I am going to miss these beauties.

 

April 5- Egg- He is Risen! Wishing you and your families a beautiful and blessed Easter!
Matthew 28:6 He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.

 

 

 

Are you on Instagram?  You really should be!!  I recently started a photo a day prompt on #fmsphotoaday.

 Let me know if you decide to join in the fun!

Have a great rest of your week! Until next time!

xo, Christine

Springime in Paris Strawberry Macarons

Happy Thursday, friends! This week has really flown by! This exciting news first, we got the keys to our house late Tuesday night! I've started writing down all the decorating ideas I want to do in each room, I can't wait to get started!

It has come to my attention that the correct spelling of these delightful cookies is Macaron, with only one O. When my husband asked me what they were called I said macaroon with a suave and sophisticated French accent, and all he did was looked at me, raised one eyebrow, shrugged his shoulders, and stuffed one whole cookie in his mouth and inhaled it!

This is the second time I've made Macarons. I am equating my love of all things French for enjoying these lovely cookies. While these cookies may not be the simplest of cookies to make, and require patience and a gentle touch, the result is beyond amazing! These cookies melt in your mouth with all their decadent goodness.

These cookies reminded me of Spring in Paris, with their lovely, pastel pink color and how one day I would love to stroll down the Champs-Elysee. Do a lot  some shopping; stop in a café for some lunch, enjoy a café au lait with a couple of these beauties, and I'd be in heaven.

Strawberry Macarons (adapted from Sandra Lee)

For the macarons:

1 cup almond flour

1 2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. strawberry JELLO

3 egg whites at room temperature

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

For the strawberry buttercream filling:

1/4 cup butter, not chilled, but not at room temperature

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 cups. powdered sugar

2 Tbls. fresh strawberry puree

For the strawberry puree:

1 1/2 cups. fresh strawberries, quartered

1 Tbls. granulated sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a separate bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar and Jello.

2. Separate eggs, placing the whites in a stand up mixer, fitted with a wire whisk. On medium high speed, whip egg whites until they are at soft peaks. Continue whipping eggs, adding the granulated sugar gradually, until stiff peaks form, and the egg whites are nice and shiny.

3. This is a tip I got from my pastry chef, when folding in meringue. Fold half the meringue into the almond flour mixture, gently. You want to preserve as much air in the egg whites as possible. My pastry chef instructed us to NOT cut or chop the meringue, rather using the spatula to scrape around the edges and gently fold in. The almond flour will soften, and the meringue will loose some of its airiness, but not to worry.

4. In a pastry bag fitted with Wilton tip #12, (I like to fold the top of the bag down, creating a cuff, to keep the top of the bag from getting all sticky and messy), spoon the macaron dough into the pastry bag. Kneed the air out of the bag.

5. Pipe round circles out onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes. I check mine after 3 minutes. The first sight of browning, take the cookies out. Set aside to cool.

6. For the strawberry puree: Halve and quarter strawberries. Sprinkle them with the granulated sugar and macerate them, for about 5 minutes, then puree them. Store unused puree in the refridgerator for up to 3 to 5 days.

7. For the buttercream: In a stand up mixer, beat butter, until creamy, on medium high speed. Add the pure vanilla extract and the strawberry puree. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and beat until, stiff, but not too stiff to be piped out. If it is too stiff, add 1 tsp. of milk. Store unused frosting for up to one week in the refrigerator.

8. Pipe buttercream onto one cookie half, and top with another cookie. Enjoy right away, as the meringue softens with the frosting.

Here are a few more inspiring Springtime Macaron recipes to check out!

Lemon Macaron

Egg Shaped Macarons via @MarthaStewart by @butterbakedgoods Photo by: @kateberryberry

Enjoy your Easter Weekend! Until next time! xo Christine

Sharing these with:
Metamorphosis Monday
Amaze Me Monday
Marvelous Monday
Merry Monday
Inspire Me Monday
Treasure Box Tuesday
Wake Up Wednesday
Home and Garden Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Feathered Nest Friday
Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Friday Favorites
Thursday Favorites
Share Your Style
Roses of Inspiration
City of Links
Your Time to Shine
Freedom Fridays
Show and Tell Friday
Home Sweet Home
 Creative Collection
Shabbilicious Friday
What to Do Weekends
Sunflower Supper Club
Home and Garden Thursday
Snickerdoodle Sunday
Sunday Showcase
Sweet and Savoury Sundays
SilverPennies SundaysLoulou Girls

Follow Friday #16: Spread the Love of Inspiring

@mscraftberrybush

Happy Friday friends! Today when Katelyn woke up, she said "I am happy it's Friday!" I don't know about you, but me too! I hope you had a great week! Today, I am so excited to see my oldest daughter who is visiting from Washington state on Spring break. Tomorrow, I am taking Katelyn and a few of her friends to a skate park, for her birthday, and tomorrow night there is a salsa festival, that we missed last year I want to go to! Should be a fun and busy weekend!

I wait all week for this day! Friday Follow's are one of my favorite post, because I hope it helps you to find new and inspiring blogs to follow! Thanks to Pinterest and Instagram their Inspiration gave me so many ideas, with too many being my favorites, that  I would really love to share them all with you. I just don't want to take up all of your time, so here are a couple to spread the love and inspiration!

This week, I wanted to try something a little different, than just share, I want this to be more interactive and fun! For this week, I want to hear from you...I want to know who inspires you.
Here's the plan:
1. Post a comment, tagging an individual (or individuals) who inspired you this past week.
2. Visit and follow at least one of those mentioned. A comment is always nice...:)
3. Spread the love of inspiring others by reposting this photo and asking your friends to do the same as above (kindly provide photo credit to @mscraftberrybush).
Let's see how much love and inspiration we can spread together.

 

The Sunny Side Up

 

Love the name of her blog! It's fun and fresh! 

 

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Pop of Pretty

Her blog name says it all! She definitely does have a "Pop of Pretty" style! Love it!

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Faded Charm Cottage

It's hard to find something I like best out of this photo and the many more like this one on her blog! Her charm is anything but faded! I almost scooped up an enamel colander last week! Think I'll go back and see if it's still there!

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At Home In Love

 

I am finding one style that makes my heart happy, is a colorful one! One DIY I want to *cough* try and make is a tufted headboard! The pretty bright blue one caught my eye, as did the title of her blog!

 

In honor of my daughter visiting from Washington, here are two of her DIY State Pride Artwork!

 

 

 

and another fun DIY Washi-ngton

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Have a great weekend! Until next time!

xo, Christine

 

Why Lemon Poundcake is more tempting than Cinnamon rolls!

When it came to what to bake for our upcoming Easter lunch or dinner,

 I knew, without a shadow of a doubt it had to be made with lemons.

I love the smell of fresh citrus!

The tang of real lemon juice,

and how as crazy as it's sounds I love when it

has that sourness that makes my mouth pucker!

For me it was an easy choice; the lemon poundcake!

Only because I eat cinnamon rolls once a year on

Christmas Day!

(butter, sugar, and eggs)

This is because, growing up we did with what we had.

For breakfast, we didn't have jam, unless it was mom's strawberry jam that she made

but we had sugar and we had cinnamon.

So every morning, that's what my brother and I grew up on, Cinnamon-Sugar toast.

Fast forward twenty years, when I was pregnant with my son, my husband brought home a Lemon meringue pie for me; just for me!

And I did, I ate the whole pie! Don't judge me, this is one thing my son and I love to do together now,

is enjoy a slice of lemon pie together.

And now it gets even better, because my husband's favorite treat in the Summer time is Frozen, yes Frozen,

Not the "Let it Go, Let it Go", Frozen, but stick the pound cake in the freezer until it's Frozen

poundcake.

Again, I love pound cake, don't get me wrong, but for me Lemon is the Wow factor in my poundcake!

Putting twists on recipes is what I like best, something different to try!

Has anyone heard these song lyrics before...

"Put a lime in a coconut..."

So that's just what I came up with; and the only way this recipe will give you a stomach ache, is if you eat it all up!

Lemon Poundcake with Lime-Coconut glaze!

It's luscious.

It's lovely,

and best of all it's lemony!
That is why Lemon Poundcake is better than Cinnamon rolls!
 Yay or Nay!

Here I've saved a slice for you!

Lemon Poundcake with Lime-Coconut glaze (adapted from Land O' Lakes)

Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter , softened to room temperature

4  Eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk (I used milk, and 1 Tbls. of lemon juice. Let that sit for 5 minutes)

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Glaze

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbls. lime juice

1 to 2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup sweetened coconut, toasted

Zest of one lime

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. On a baking sheet, spread coconut out in a thin layer. Toast for 5-10 minutes. Check often, ( I did about every 2 minutes) and remove the toasted coconut around the edges. Be careful, because it does toast up quickly. Set aside.

 

2. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan.

3. Combine sugar and butter in bowl at medium speed; until creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl. Continue beating, adding 1 egg at a time, until well mixed. Mixture should look creamy, and fluffy.

4. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat at low speed, gradually adding flour;  alternately with buttermilk and then scraping down the sides each time, until well mixed. Add lemon zest and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Continue beating until well mixed.

5. Pour  batter into prepared pan. The recipe says to bake for 55-65 minutes, mine was finished a little less than 55. I would start checking your cake at 50 minutes, for golden browness, the sides of the cake pull away from the pan, and if the top of the cake, springs back when touched slightly. Cool in pan. Again, very important, wait until the bundt cake is completely cooled, then invert onto serving plate.

6.Stir together powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and enough water for desired glazing consistency in small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake. Sprinkle with lime zest and toasted coconut.

Here are a couple more Lemon recipes for you to try!

Lemon Tassies

Blueberry Lemon cupcakes

Lemon Macarons

Until Next time! xo Christine

Taking it to these parties:
Metamorphosis Monday
Inspire Me Monday
LouLou Girls
Wake Up Wednesday
Wonderful Wednesday
Pin Worthy Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Home and Garden Thursday
Pure Blog Love
Feathered Nest Friday
Foodie Friday and Everything else
City of Links

Funtastic Friday
Creative Collection
Best of the Weekend Party
Home Matters Party
Sweet and Savory Sundays
Silver Pennies Sunday
Sunday's At Home
Something to Talk About

A New Fresh Accent table and a Pretty Free Spring Printable

Happy Monday! What a beautiful weekend it was! Saturday, I spent the day shopping for new plants. At Lowes, I picked up a very pretty multi-color Stock plant, and a cute little succulent, appropriately named 'Flap Jack'! Couldn't resist! I also couldn't resist this Green Transferware Bunny cookiejar at HomeGoods! My new obsession for Transferware began here ! When I saw him, I just scooped him right up, and since it was from HomeGoods, the price was just right! Then Sunday, the girls and I, enjoyed ourselves, watching the New Cinderella movie! My oldest daughter would have enjoyed it too, as Helena Bonham Carter is the Fairy Godmother, and is one of her favorite actresses. It was a wonderful movie, beautiful, funny, and very touching! This would actually be one DVD, I would purchase.

 

 

Then yesterday, my long waiting patiently, paid off. My husband finished putting the top on my refresh and updated accent table. He also made a new drawer for it with new drawer sides, since after 15 years, he thought those needed to be new as well. I thought I took a before picture of it, I'll keep looking and update when I find it, but I found this similar Boraam farmhouse bench .

Here it is after a new paint job with Valspar's ' La Fonda Mirage', I found at Lowe's, and new aqua knobs from Home Depot.

What I love most about my refreshed table, are these pretty knobs; they are the perfect shade of aqua, and have a truly beautiful pattern, that just pops out at you!

Today, I finished up pruning one of my rose bushes.

And these are the biggest blooms!

 

 

The cute bunny vase and pretty iridescent candy dish I picked up at HomeGoods!

And yes, the glass that is holding my roses, I brought home from our last trip to Vegas.

It's always 5 o'clock somewhere in MargaritaVille! ;)

 

 

Here are the two runners up for my favorite things; candles and tulips!

This pretty spring printable you can find here.

 

Hope you all have a great week! Until next time! xo Christine

Sharing this at :

Metamorphosis Monday

Inspire Me Monday

LouLou Girls

Something To Talk About 

Treasure Box Tuesday Totally Terrific Tuesday

Friday Follow #15

Happy Friday friends! I hope you had a great week! I'll admit, this week, was the first week back after Spring break, and I don't know how it is Friday already, but it just flew by! Today we have our final walk through in the new house, and either tonight or tomorrow I am going to take the girls to see Cinderella! I don't know who is more excited me or the girls! Yesterday, I spent part of the day pruning rose bushes, transplanting my first rose bush with the help of Hartwood Roses, and at night I made these scrumptious Lemon tassies!

 

I wait all week for this day! Friday Follow's are one of my favorite post, because I hope it helps you to find new and inspiring blogs to follow! Thanks to Pinterest and Instagram their Inspiration gave me so many ideas, with too many being my favorites, that  I would really love to share them all with you. I just don't want to take up all of your time, so here are a couple to spread the love and inspiration!

 

It's hard for me to choose just one thing I like about this photo! The roses and peonies, the antler, the gold chevron lamp shade, the print on the wingback chair, or even the rug! Cassie's blog is full of fun, color and inspiration! I really love her style!

 

Hi Sugarplum

 

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Visiting her blog, you get a feeling that's cozy and comfy, come sit by the fire and have a cup of tea or hot chocolate!

 

Jenna Sue Designs

 

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Nancy's Daily Dish

 

What I love about this blog, is my new obsession with Green Transferware, especially this

 Green and White bunny transferware over here! Nancy's tablescapes are all incredibly stunning! While it is not really my decorating style, for me there is an overly abundant resource for Transferware and Inspiration!

 

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H2O Bungalow

 

I can't believe I haven't found Wendi's blog before! Ha...What color is this dresser? I see white and gold! Just kidding!! I would love to do something like this! Definitely love her style, be sure to stop by!

 

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Have a great weekend! Until next time!

xo, Christine