Creating an Outdoor Room

With more and more people staying home these days, dining in has become extremely popular.
Most of us in California and other warm states can comfortably eat outdoors March through the end of September. Why not maximize your space by creating an outdoor room? You'll save money and won't have to worry about overstaying your welcome at a restaurant with time constraints.

The first step is to clean your patio. Power wash if you need to. Next, visit Target for a neutral-colored outdoor rug. This will create the illusion of another room. Imagine having another family room! I found beautiful patio furniture last year on sale at Target. The base is a chocolate-brown wrought iron and the cushions are a peppery terra cotta. I picked up a few inexpensive cushions in fun accent colors to complete the look. Add some pizazz with glimmering hanging lanterns.

Now, I did keep my tried-and-true (ugly and outdated) outdoor table. I gave it a quick makeover with a pretty tablecloth. In the center of the table, I used a wrought iron round tray. Inside I placed a pretty flower pot and $6.99 gorgeous hot orange flowers from Trader Joe's.
Stunning hanging baskets - Wisteria Planters with Hangers from Southern Living at Home - tied everything together. I attached three to my overhang. Because they are high, I used red faux geraniums from Joanne's ($9.99 each). I am a stickler about faux flowers - they have to look real. There's nothing worse than cheap, plastic flowers. However, these ones really do look real and come in baskets of red and white.

To complete your look, add artwork outside. I picked up a city-chic painting of the Eiffel Tower last summer at Target. Last week I found a black, wrought iron stand at Ross for Less for just $19.99. When guests come to visit, I place the painting on the stand and crank up my favorite Parisian cafe CD.

See? It doesn't have to expensive. A few quick tricks will help you to save money, dine in, relax and enjoy your favorite people just a little bit more.

written by Antonia Ehlers
SF Budget Decorating Exhaminer, fellow SLAH sister, and friend!

All-Natural Egg Dyes

Thanks to bhg.com for this great "green" idea!

Pink
1 cup pickled beet juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar

Lavender
1 cup grape juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar

Brown
1 cup strong coffee and 1 tablespoon vinegar

Blue
Cut 1/4 head of red cabbage into chunks. Add cabbage to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar. Let cool to room temperature. Remove cabbage with a slotted spoon.

Bluish-Gray
Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water. Bring to room temperature. Remove blueberries.

Dark Pink
Cut 1 medium beet into chunks. Add beet to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar. Let cool to room temperature. Remove beets.

Yellow
Remove the peel from 1 orange. Add peel to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar. Let cool to room temperature. Remove orange peel.

Have a colorful Easter!!!

Cake Balls...the newest crave!

These have got to be the cutest thing-on-a-stick I have ever seen! I am going to attempt to make something like these for the kids on Easter. I got the recipe from www.bakerella.blogspot.com

Wish me luck!

Cake Balls Recipe:

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)

1 can frosting (16 oz.)

Wax paper

Yellow candy melts (1 lb. pkg.)

Lollipop sticks

Edible ink pens
After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)

Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)

Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)

Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)

Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.

Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

Once dry, draw faces with an edible ink pen and allow ink to dry!

Note: I think cake pops are a little more difficult to make than the cupcake pops because of trying to get the candy coating smooth. So, If you haven't made them before, check out this post for red velvet cake balls and this one for cupcake pops.


Here's what I used to decorate:Pink Candy MeltsYellow Candy Melts White Candy Melts Pastel Confetti Sprinkles Sanding SugarsLight Corn Syrup Paper Lollipop Sticks Styrofoam BlockParamount Crystals

Small Paintbrush

Toothpicks

To decorate:
Shape the cake balls into an egg shape.
Dip in candy coating color of your choice.
Let sit in the styrofoam block until dry.
When dry, use a small paint brush to paint on a thin layer of corn syrup in a line around the egg. Do one line at a time. Right after you paint on the syrup, sprinkle on one of the sanding colors until all of the corn syrup is covered. Use a bowl sprinkle over.
Repeat with varying designs and colors.
You could probably also do this with the melted candy color, but this time I was experimenting and tried the corn syrup.
For the confetti sprinkles, either dab a little bit of the candy color with your toothpick and glue on the sprinkle shapes or use a little bit of the corn syrup to act as the glue. The corn syrup will take a little longer to dry. Dry completely.