Avocado Corn Salad with Honey Cilantro Lime Dressing

 With my mom in town last week I decided to try a new recipe for her.

This recipe would make a great salsa or even side dish to any summer meal.

Honey Lime Dressing:

Juice of 1 lime

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp honey

Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

Dash of cayenne pepper

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk together and lightly toss over the fresh ingredients. Let the salad sit for 10 minutes. 

 Fresh Ingredients: 

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 ripe avocado

2 ears of fresh sweet corn

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

(I substituted with frozen corn because corn is not quite in season yet, use about 1/2 cup)

It was delicious to say the least! 

Book Lamp

Incase you were not aware, Angela is competing in Season 11 of So You Think You're Crafty. Voting for week 3 is up. This week is knock-off week. Head on over to vote for your favorite project.

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Last weeks theme for the competition was thrift store. I had been wanting to make this book lamp for quite some time. I was glad that I finally had an excuse to get it done.

I really enjoyed working on this project. I got to use a drill. I also learned how to re wire a lamp. It was fun doing something a little different than I normally do when it comes to crafting.

 

The lamp was not that hard to put together. I started with a few old books, a lamp, and a lamp shade all purchased from the thrift store.

I first measured to find the center of each book. I made sure to mark that spot.

Then I drilled holes through the center of the books.

Then I got to de wire the lamp. I used this diagram that I found on pinterest. It clearly explains how to do so. And after the lamp was stripped down to its skinniest, I slid the books down the lamp.

Next I took the shade off of the lamp. I just wanted to use the base.

I wanted the lamp shade to have the look of a wire basket. I took gardening wire, which is really easy to manipulate, and I wrapped strands around the bare lamp shade…

…just like so. Once I had added enough wire, I spray painted it a metallic bronze color. I was was working on this project outside, just as I started to spray paint the shade it started to rain. I had to hurry and get the lamp and all of the tools inside. I forgot to get a picture of me painting the shade. I think we all know what that looks like.

And then all I had to do was rewire the lamp, using that same diagram from above. Then ta da… I know have my very own book lamp.

Cookie Sheet To Do List Tutorial

Today I want to share the tutorial on how to create the to do list from my organization board.

I started with the items pictured below:

• cookie sheet size 9x13
• 2 rulers
• a role of wrapping paper
• a wooden rod or a hanger(just cut the bottom of the hanger off to create a rod)
• a pad of construction paper

All items were purchased at the dollar store. The final total to complete this project was $5.



Lets look at how to create your own to do list:

1. Start with your rulers. Make sure you purchase rulers that have a hole at the end. Or you can purchase rulers without holes. You will just need to drill your own holes into the ruler. I say take the easy way and get rulers with the holes.



2. Cut one of your rulers. My cookie sheet measured 9 inches across. I cut my ruler down to 8 inches. Although, I wish that I had cut it at about 8 1/2 inches. You may want to try that length instead. As you make this cut, make sure that those 8 inches of ruler don’t include the hole. You will need the hole in the next step.



3. Next cut the holes off the end of both rulers. I cut each of mine at 1 1/2 inches long.



My cookie sheet is about 3/4 of an inch tall. Whatever the height of your cookies sheet make sure that the ruler hole sits above the top edge of the cookie sheet. You are going to stick your rod through the ruler hole. You want to make sure that the rod sits above the cookie sheet so that it can be easily removed so you can replace your roll of paper when it runs out.



4. Cut your roll of wrapping paper. You want to cut it 1/2 an inch shorter than you cut your ruler length in step 2. I cut up my roll of wrapping paper into 7 1/2 inch pieces. I was able to cut my roll of wrapping paper in to three pieces. Now I have a roll for my to do list, plus two back up rolls for when I run out.



5. Next cut your rod. If your rod or your hanger is longer than your cookie sheet than you will need to cut to the correct length. I cut my rod down to an 8 1/2 inch piece. Just shorter then the width of my 9 inch cookie sheet.



6. Next I painted my ruler pieces white.



7. Once the ruler was dry, I glued it to my cookie sheet. First I glued the ruler ends with the holes to the top sides of my cookie sheet.



Then I glued the 8 inch piece of ruler to the bottom middle of my cookie sheet.



7. Next I took my rod and put it through one of the ruler holes.



8. Then I slid on my roll of paper, and then I pushed the rod through the second ruler hole.



9. Then I took the roll of paper and slid it down though the ruler. The reason for this being that when I need to cut off my to do list, I can scroll the paper through the ruler and rip it off with the sharp edge of the ruler.

Now you can create your own to do list with just a few dollar store items.

Dollar Store Organization Board

Incase you were not aware, Angela is competing in Season 11 of So You Think You're Crafty. Voting for week 2 is up. This week is thrift store week. Head on over to vote for your favorite project.

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Last weeks theme in the competition was Dollar Store Crafts. To be honest, before I received this theme I had never been into a dollar store to look for craft supplies. Mostly, this was the case because I did not think there were any dollar stores near my home. So I did a little Google search and found that there were 2 dollar stores within five minutes of my home. And one of those dollar stores was even within walking distance of my home. I was shocked as I kind of pride myself on knowing my city fairly well.

Now I must say that I have been turned on to a whole new place to go craft shopping. I think I may be addicted to dollar stores now. Ha! When I went into the dollar store for the first time I happened to be running errands with my mom and my son. We drove up to the dollar store just as my son feel asleep. I didn't want to wake him. My mom offered to stay in the car while I ran inside real quick. That was my plan. I said, "I'm going to run inside real quick, grab something, and then figure out what to do with it later." Well 20 minutes after entering the store, I get a phone call from my mother asking if everything was okay. Haha! I had so many ideas on what to do that I couldn't decide. So I picked the craft that would be the most practical. That is how the dollar store organization board came to be.

I started with a few frames in various sizes and colors. I also picked up a cookie sheet, a pack of rulers, a roll of wrapping paper, a pack of construction paper, a tin pail, and some hangers.

The “To Do List” is my favorite part of this whole board. Staying true to using dollar store supplies, I created this using a cookie sheet, 2 rulers, a roll of wrapping paper, a hanger, and some construction paper for decoration. I’ll share the tutorial on how to create this, tomorrow.

I created some printables to go inside each frame. I have a weekly menu planner. It sits in a 5x7 frame. I can write on the frame what we will be having for dinner each night. When the week is over I can just wipe it off and start over again. This frame was originally black. I used some white construction paper to cut out a scallop frame that I glued on top of it.

I also created a monthly calendar. It sits in a 8x10 frame. I can write in each box what will be going on each day. The frame was originally brown. I used yellow construction paper to create a border around the frame. I also made my own calendar for the month of April. Then one day while looking through Pinterest I found some calendars in the exact yellow and blue colors that I used. So to save some time creating a new calendar each month, I will just use the premade calendars that can be found HERE.

I also made a daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning checklist. Each sit in a 4x6 frame. I left two of the frames silver. Then I covered the third frame in another white scallop border.

I was also able to find a pail in the perfect blue color to hold my pens.

There you have it. My dollar store organization board.

Are you interested in any of these printables? From now until the end of May we will be offering up the weekly menu planner and the daily, weekly, and monthly calendars on our Facebook page. The menu planner prints in size 5x7. The cleaning checklists print in size 4x6.

Are you not interested in the blue and yellow? We are also offering them in pink as well. You can download either version on our Facebook page. If you already like us on Facebook you download these by clicking on the Free gift box at the top of our page.

*Update these printables can now be downloaded from the printables tab at the top of our blog.