Happy Handmade 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone (a little belated, but better late than never). The fourth of July is right around my birthday, so it's always a fun time. Like any other holiday, I gave the 4th a little handmade twist. From the food to myself the red white and blue was out all over the place on the 4th of July. It was rainy and gross here in Miami on Independence Day, so out BBQ was moved inside, but it was still fun and festive.

First off, I had to jazz myself up for the event. Since it was time to change the polish on my toes anyways, I decided to go a bit patriotic. So I painted my little toes red and my big toes navy blue. Then I had to add the stars. I was thinking of using a little paintbrush to draw it on freehand, but if I messed it up that would mean starting all over again. So I made a stencil out of blue painters tape, that stuff is good for everything! I drew the star and cut it out with an exacto knife. Then I centered the stencil on my toes. A couple of coats of white nail polish and they were good to go. They came out pretty good I think.

I also made dessert for the BBQ and pool time turned inside BBQ. I'm sure you've seen this cake all over the place. It's a Jello Poke Cake (you can click to get the recipe). It's really easy. Just use a 13 x 9 pan and make a white cake from cake mix. Bake it off according to the package directions. Then let it cool for 15 minutes. While it's cooling you take a package of Jello dissolve it in a cup of boiling water and then add a cup of cool water. I did this in my measuring cup for easy pouring. Now grab a fork and poke holes in the cake. space them around evenly (though there is no need to be exact). Then pour the Jello mixture all over the cake. Make sure to get the whole cake covered with the Jello mixture. It will all absorb, just do it slowly. Check out my cake after it was all poked and soaked. Then place the whole thing in the fridge for 3 hours to set.

When the cake is set, pull it out and frost it with a tub of cool whip. Mmmm. Now the cute patriotic decorations. Halve some strawberries and use those for the stripes. Now when I started making my stripes, I thought I only had room for three, but then saw I could do four. So I shifted them slightly. Now the stripes will vary greatly due to the size of your strawberries. But try to get smaller ones that are all similar in size, that'll make it easier to make the stripes. Those ginormous strawberries just won't work here, you can just snack on those. Use blueberries for the field of blue. It looks best when they are placed evenly. It'll take you a little longer than dumping them in there, but you have a minute or two to spare to place your berries! Then the cake goes back into the fridge to set up for a while longer, about another hour. It'll help the cool whip set up and the berries stay in place.

When it's dessert time just pull out your creation and enjoy all the compliments on your fabulous patriotic cake!

I hope all of you had a great 4th of July and enjoyed it with friends and family. A big happy birthday to the USA!!