DIY: Bunting Banner

Hello Lovelies... 

I'm going to be doing my first DIY project here on Sarandipity. It is actually a project I did for my birthday party last year and was featured in the famous "Evy's Tree" blog {click HERE}. I just loved the way it turned out. :) Something about bunting just makes every party a little more unique, especially when it is handmade... Don't you agree?

So here goes!

I promise you, even if you are NOT the do it yourself type person, you will be amazed at how simple this is and how great you can have it turn out in a short amount of time.

What you will need:

1. Fabric of choice

2. Scissors

3. Bunting Template

4. Sewing Machine or Fabric Glue

5. Ribbon of choice

STEP ONE: Go to google images and print out a “Bunting Template”

Find a size/shape you like. I printed a triangle as big as the page using the template {HERE}.

Get together your material, template and scissors.

STEP TWO: Cut out triangles

STEP THREE: Take your ribbon and pin the fabric triangles to it. You are now going to sew them together!

**If you do not have a sewing machine here is where the fabric glue comes in. You would glue the fabric triangles onto the ribbon instead of sewing**

When I got in between the triangles, I just kept the sewing in a straight line.

You should now have a line like this!

STEP FOUR: Fold your ribbon in half and pin… This will cover any frayed edges or ugly backing. (This step is not necessary, unless the back of your bunting will be showing in any way… OR if you are a tad bid O.C.D like me–ha) 

This is what my backing looked like, so I decided to fold over and sew. 

Folding…

Trying to get it straight…

Pinning down…

STEP FIVE: Now all you do is sew all the way from one end of your ribbon to the other!

Hooray! Now you are finished!

Finished product…

Just one more… Hehe

There you have it folks, your very own handmade simple, yet darling bunting! Hope you enjoyed it and even try it yourself one of these days. It would be perfect for a backyard BBQ or a birthday bash! Have a glorious day!

Much Love,

Sarah

Food Friday: Taco Cups

Helloo there...

Today I am trying something new and linking up with my friend Amy of Evy's Tree for "Food Friday" 

We had a Bible study with friends the other night at our place and I made Taco Cups. They were very much enjoyed and needless to say we had no leftovers!! I paired the taco cups with Spanish rice and chips and salsa {Hubby is a HUGE fan}.

 This recipe is both speedy and delicious!! You will be amazed!! Although I would have loved to have come up with this fabulous recipe, I found this recipe originally on another blog and modified it to fit our families needs, example: ground turkey instead of ground beef. {http://bricelife-gabrielle.blogspot.com/2012/01/taco-cupcakes.htmlhttp://bricelife-gabrielle.blogspot.com/2012/01/taco-cupcakes.html} 

So... Without further ado...

What you will need: 

Muffin tin {12 cupper}

Cooking spray

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/2 packet taco seasoning

3/4 can black beans {I use reduced sodium}

18 wonton wrappers {I found mine near the frozen tofu, ask associate if you can't find them-hehe)

Queso dip to taste, around 6 T {I used more for hubby and less for mine}

1 cup chunky salsa

1 cup Mexican cheese {we LOVE this in our home!}

Sour cream/guacamole/olives for topping taco cup off

{I accidentally had thrown away the wonton wrapper package so it is not pictured!}

Before I begin, I want to tell you that I didn't stick too strictly to the recipe. I used a whole lb of turkey and a whole packet of taco seasoning. Feel free to use this recipe as a general guideline and experiment to your taste buds desire! :) Any leftovers can be used in a quesadilla or tacos for lunch the next day!

STEP 1: Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly mist your muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

STEP 2: Brown your ground turkey over med-high heat. Add your taco seasoning {mine I put in after meat was browned and had to add water, yours may be different} Add black beans and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. Cook a few minutes until warm.

{I had leftover ground turkey I had browned for lunch, so I used that and spooned in black beans}

STEP 3: Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each greased muffin cup {Not as hard as it may seem, I promise}. Spoon about half teaspoon of the queso dip into bottom of each cup and spread around.

STEP 4: Spoon meat/bean mixture into bottom of cups. Around 2 teaspoons. Do NOT overfill at this point! Next spoon a teaspoon or so of salsa into each cup. Sprinkle with a pinch of cheese. 

**add salsa here**

You are doing FABULOUS!! Keep it up!!

STEP 5: Press another wonton wrapper on top of your already layered cups {I slightly pressed wonton wrappers together to form a "seal" of sorts} and repeat steps 3 & 4. Making sure you do not overfill your cups.

STEP 6: Bake for 16-18 minutes or until slightly brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. This helps with the cups keeping their form. ENJOY! :)

**Feel free to top with sour cream/guacamole/olives or whatever else you like on your Taco Cups!!**

For dessert I made brownies topped with fresh cut strawberries. I would love to brag about how they were from scratch and how fluffy and great they turned out... But for now, I'll settle with boxed brownies. No shame in that right? For the record: they turned out fabulous and fluffy!! Ha!! :) 

While we ate dessert, we had our Bible study. We had a great time with our friends Gabriel and Mayra {and their darling little girl, Giselle} We didn't get a photo of all of us together, it just slipped my mind, but I did manage to snap this cute photo of Giselle. When she got bored with the cartoons, she insisted to be a part of our Bible Study and sit with the grown-ups! Ha!

What are some of your favorite recipes? I'd love to know! Comment below and share if you dare! Haha! 

Much Love,

Sarah

What I Wore Wednesday, Little Lamb and BBQ

I'm baaaaaack...  With another "What I Wore Wednesday" that is!!

I know you are all thrilled, right? Ha! Let me just start out by saying that summer here in CA can be beautiful but brutal. I'm talking about 110 degrees in the summer. It's not like that every day, but it has already been in the 90's the past few days. YUCK! I love it being warm, but I don't do extreme heat well. At least there isn't humidity, thank God. :) Sooo... I went to a friends BBQ the other day {this is not actually what I'm wearing today...} and it was over 90 degrees outside. I wanted to wear something fun and breezy because earlier that same day I had lunch with friends and wore a 3/4 length black shirt. I was dying of heat exhaustion {ok, I'm slightly exaggerating, but seriously...} because we ended up being outside for part of the luncheon {they had just got 4 baby lambs!}. So here is my breezy, cool summer pick...

 Isn't that piece of yellow trash great? How did I not notice that earlier?

MINT TOP: h&m, WHITE LACE TANK: Gap, JEAN SKIRT: Ann Taylor, PURSE: h&m, 

WATCH: vintage, WEDGE SANDALS: Old Navy, SUNGLASSES: Forever 21

Little Lamb

I asked my hubby for a baby lamb after we left our friend's home for lunch... He responded with, "Of course babe, we can keep him on our back porch". Our back porch is like 5 ft x 10 ft. Tiny-ha!

Sooo precious

BBQ

The BBQ I mentioned earlier was actually more of a "welcome to the family" BBQ. Some good friends of my husband and I's had just gotten married and had a destination wedding in San Diego. Some of his family was not able to make the trip. So his parents had a family BBQ {which they are famous for} to officially welcome my beautiful friend Ness into their family. Everyone had a really nice time. 

Here are a few shots I got during the BBQ. 

This darling little guy loved my lotion I guess :)

 This cake was pure BLISS!! Yummy layers of homemade strawberry filling...

 Good thing Green Lantern was there to protect us all

 Abe and Ness

A bit blurry, but some of the Groomsmen and close friends of the Groom.

Have a wonderful {almost} summer day my lovely friends!!

Much Love,

Sarah

Preparing for NY

Not too much going on here at the homestead. I have the day off work so far {I'm a sub, so they can call whenever}. I've spent my morning doing dishes and picking up around the house from yesterday in which we were obviously too lazy to do last night! Ha!. Ever have nights/days like that? Anyone?... I hope I am not alone in that. :) I have a pretty good feeling I'm not though, wink-wink.

So I'm pretty excited for my trip to see my bestie in MD {read earlier post HERE} I leave in a week and a day! I've made a long list of things I want to do while we are in NY for a few days. Did I also mention that we are staying with my good friend Anna? She is amazing. In a way she was the big sister I never had. Felecia and I were also best friends growing up with her younger sister Katie. Anna would somehow be stuck being our chauffeur everywhere. I think she liked it though, who wouldn't love carting around 3 fourteen year olds? She would take us with her to hang out with the "older kids" and we thought we were so cool. Ha!! But anyways... she is the BEST! Now we are all grown up and we are friends. She is married to an awesome man and they have just had their first child {Gianna} about 6 months ago. I can't wait to meet Gianna. We haven't met because every time she or I are in our hometown, we end up missing each other by a few days. :( Boo... But now we get to meet and I'm stoked! :) 

Here are a few images I found via Pinterest of some things I might buy/see while in NY

Classic NY souvenir, I'll probably cave in & get one

Maybe I'll be the ultimate tourist and get an I Heart NY phone case? No... Probably not....
OR

Should I get my nails done like this while I'm there? Hehe! {Do people really do this?}

I hope I don't run into this guy, Yikes!

Wouldn't mind seeing something like this...

I'm off to run some errands...

Have a great Tuesday all, xoxo

Much Love,

Sarah

Fro-Yo and Peets Coffee

Two things in life I can't live without are frozen yogurt and coffee. I just love them both. In town we have this great little spot that has them next door to each other. My husband knows that if I'm in a bad mood or had a long day all it takes is one of these things to cheer me up {or both sometimes, hehe}. 

The other night we met up with some friends at this very spot. We started off with a little fro-yo and ended with coffee and fabulous company... :) Wonderful evening!

Here is my "edgy" combo. 

 Strawberry yogurt with yogurt chips, a little mochi and strawberry chunks

Raspberry White Mocha, I highly recommend it!

Enjoy your Monday and don't forget to take time to enjoy the small things.

Much Love,

Sarah

A Bit Of Pretties

Happy Sunday all!

It is a sunshiny day here in CA. Hubby and I are on our way to church and I wanted to leave you with a bit of beauty... I just love looking through pictures of gorgeous flowers! 

My mom is an "expert gardener" with the greenest thumb you've ever seen {I hope I got that gene!}! She has always made every yard of every home we have lived in look outstanding. She always had flower books and flower journals laying around the house on end tables or coffee tables. Here is where I want to say "Thanks Mom, for allowing and pushing me without even knowing it to grow up with a love and appreciation for God's natural beauty..."

Here are a few of my current favorites I found on Pinterest... I tried to source them, but they came up to a google image search.... Oh well, I tried!

I also found this beautiful quote that I thought went along with this post! I wish I knew who wrote it.

Enjoy your Sunday all, whether it be in your place of worship or relaxing with your family! 

Much Love,

Sarah

New York or BUST

I'm going to NEW YORK baby!! Yaayyyy!!!

I'm so excited to be visiting my beautiful friend Felecia who lives all the way in Maryland. I leave in less than 2 weeks. Along with hanging out in MD, we are also staying a few days in New York. I can't wait to tackle the city with her! **Confession: ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of living in New York. I have this whole fantasy playing in my mind right now... I'd be wearing a pink tutu and living in this trendy apartment, eating at all the fabulous hot spots and being at all the big shows {the dreams of a 5 year old, sheesh!}... Then I wake up! I'm not sure where this fascination with the big Apple came from, I just remember playing Barbies and pretending they were all in NY. 

Anywho... As you can tell, I can easily be side tracked... 

 Back to my gorgeous friend. She is my longest childhood friend. Our parents were close before I was even born and we just grew up besties. That was all there was to it. Two peas in a pod. Most of my favorite childhood memories include her, including double dates with our dads. :) We had the best of times together. The amazing thing about it is that we are still friends to this day! We talk on the phone regularly and we are the type of friends that when we see each other we can just pick up where we left off. None of that awkward getting reacquainted stuff with us. I'm so blessed to have a friend like her :) And I'm totally geeked to be visiting her!

Well, it has been almost a year since she got married, and I wanted to share some of her beautiful pictures. Here are a few of my favorite photos of her gorgeous wedding day.

 Stunning bride

 Bride and Groom

 Groom with some of the darling little boys in the wedding party

 Husband & Wife

 All of us Bridesmaids {Me to her right in brown dress}

Childhood friends: Katie, Feebs and I 

Are you going on a fun trip anytime soon? I would love to hear where...
Comment below if you are or if you know of any must see spots in either the NY or Baltimore, MD areas! 

Much Love,

Sarah