{FOOD] Grilled Corn, Avocado + Tomato Salad

One of my favorite things about summer is a good summer salad. There is no better pairing for hot dogs and BBQ chicken than fresh veggies tossed in a cool, sweet summery mix. Try this tasty salad for your next summer cookout! (source: tastebook.com)

INGREDIENTS

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 ripe avocado

2 ears of fresh sweet corn

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

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

DIRECTIONS

Remove husks from corn and grill over medium heat for 10 minutes. The corn should have some brown spots and be tender and not mushy. Cut the corn off the cob then scrape the cob with the back of your knife to get the juices. Set aside and let cool. Slice the tomatoes in half. Dice the avocado and chop the cilantro.

HONEY LIME DRESSING

1. Add all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

2. Combine the sliced tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and grilled corn and honey lime dressing and mix gently so everything is evenly coated. Be careful not to mash the avocados. Let the salad sit for 10-15 minutes to let flavors mingle. Enjoy!

Tyler’s 2nd Birthday Party {Printable Tractor Party Suite}

The tractor invitation has not only been one of the most popular items in my shop, but it is also one of my personal favorites. So when I was approached earlier this year about creating an entire paper party suite to match the invitation, I was thrilled to say yes. Featured on weheartparties.com and photographed by Erin Thacker Photography, this party was brilliantly thrown together by my sweet customer, Eve, at her parents’ farm in Tennessee. From the hay bales to the gorgeous hydrangea- filled John Deere tractor centerpieces, Eve complimented my labels, cupcake toppers and signage perfectly.

Purchase your own printable tractor suite here!

Printables: Sweetpress Studio // Photography: Erin Thacker Photography

{HOME} DIY Makeup Organization

Is your makeup collection driving you nuts? Cut your getting ready time in half by getting organized with an easy, DIY makeup tray. This mirrored tray belonged to my grandmother, but I’ve seen tons just like it in various thrift stores. Keep your makeup collection organized and say bye bye to scattered makeup all over your vanity. Bonus: Use a mason jar to store your brushes and eyeliners!

10 Father’s Day Gifts Under $50

Make Dad’s day great this year with one of these fun and affordable gifts.

[1] Barbecue Tool Set, $48    [2] Golf Ball Bottle Stopper, $19    [3] Personalized Eye Chart Glasses Case, $34    [4] Rustic Wood iPhone Case, $18    [5] Dad Handstamped Cufflinks, $42    [6] BBQ Lover Seasoning + Sauce Pack, $21    [7] Mustache Mug, $10    [8] Cheese Glorious Cheese Cheeseboard, $24    [9] Fun Father’s Day Mug, $25    [10] Butcher’s Kitchen Apron, $0

{Baby Shower} Grady Mast Worrell

I met Sarah on the first day of 6th grade, and she has been a dear friend of mine ever since. We have grown through sleepovers, first kisses, high school, spring break, college and marriage, and come June, we will be welcoming little Grady Mast Worrell into the world. In April, we celebrated his upcoming arrival with a baby shower that was full of sweet little touches (and lots of delicious food). Here are a few of my fave details from the shower:

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein was used in lieu of a guestbook, and passed around for everybody to sign for Baby Grady
• “It’s a Boy” Hershey’s kisses
• Giant apothecary jar used as a centerpiece — filled with diapers!

It’s hard to see the prints in the picture below, but I created this special little wall art for Sarah to hang in Grady’s nursery. “Baby Buffalo” is in reference to Sarah’s husband’s reaction when she woke him up and told him they were having a baby. He wasn’t quite awake yet when he responded, “We’re having a buffalo!?”

Here’s a better look:


Email me if you are interested in customizing these prints for a shower gift or for your own new arrival!

{FOOD} Summer Corn Salad

This tasty veggie salad is the perfect addition to a summer cookout. Not only is it easy to make, but it’s also cool, refreshing and healthy! The most important thing to note when making this salad is that the italian dressing you choose is key. The last time I made this I used Olive Garden Italian dressing, and ohhhmyyygooooodnessss I could have licked the bottom of my bowl. Trust me on that one… get it at Sam’s Club or on Amazon!

Ingredients: 
1 medium red onion
4 shucks of corn
2 medium tomatoes
1 zucchini
1 avocado
3/4 – 1 cup of Italian Dressing
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Shuck your corn, then cut the corn off the cob. Boil corn for a couple moments until tender.

2. Chop up all of your veggies and mix them together in a large serving bowl. Add salt and pepper.

3. Remove corn from water and let cool. Add to salad.

4. Add dressing, to taste. If you let the salad sit in the fridge for a bit before serving, the veggies will soak up some of the excess dressing, resulting in creamy veggie delight!

{FOOD} Stuffed Greek Chicken

One of my faaaavorite sites to visit at dinnertime is is supercook.com. It lets you enter all the ingredients that you currently have in your kitchen, then compiles oodles of recipes that you can make with what you’ve got. The other night it directed me to this tasty little recipe for Stuffed Greek Chicken from Chatelaine. Corey and I made a few slight tweaks to the recipe, substituting tomatoes for red peppers and adding fresh garlic. We also used All-Purpose Seasoning in place of dried oregano leaves. The result? Ahhh-maaazing! Seriously, might be one of my fave dishes we have ever cooked together. Here’s our version of the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup (125 mL) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped tomatoes
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 green onions, thinly sliced
4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Toothpicks (optional)
1 tsp (5 mL) each All-Purpose Seasoning and garlic salt
1 lemon (optional)

Instructions
1. Oil grill and heat barbecue to medium. Mash cheese with tomatoes and garlic in a bowl. Stir in onions. Working with 1 breast at a time, form a pocket in thickest side by making a horizontal cut about 2 1/2 in. (6 cm) long and 1 1/2 in. (3.5 cm) deep.

2. Gently open and stuff in cheese mixture, pushing as close to centre of breast as possible. Wet inside edges of opening and press down to seal. If you have toothpicks, insert through edge opening to hold together.

3. Lightly oil outside of chicken and generously sprinkle with seasonings. Place chicken on grill. Barbecue, with lid closed, until chicken is cooked through and feels springy, 8 to 10 min per side. Squeeze lemon juice overtop before serving.

Side Dish Suggestion: We completed our meal with mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini and onions.

{Wedding} Charleston I Dos

Loved this sweet little Charleston wedding we went to in April. Nathan is a good friend / frat brother of Corey’s from Appalachian who now lives in Charleston with his {brand new} wife, Emily. The wedding took place at Lowndes Grove Plantation in Charleston — ceremony was right off the water, cocktail hour in the gorgeous old plantation house, then a night of dancing by the water under a fabulously decorated tent with an awesome party band. So many pretty details! Wish I would have gotten more shots of all the gorgeous little touches. Here are some highlights! (Click to enlarge.)

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary {Gardening + Sweet Relish}

It’s still cold here in Charlotte, but I’m itching for spring days where I can open the windows and let the spring air seep in. There’s something therapeutic about the smell of fresh air and freshly cut grass flowing through the house.

Apparently there’s also something therapeutic about gardening, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never really done it. At the end of January, it was an unusually warm day in Charlotte and I suddenly decided that I wanted to become a gardener. Corey and I went to Lowe’s and loaded up on soil, fertilizer, shovels, gloves and a variety of dying pansies and other cold-weather flowers that I wanted to nurse and bring back to life. Rather ambitious for a virgin gardener in the middle of winter.

Regardless of zero odds being in my favor, I was pleasantly surprised with my creation:

Needless to say, that random warm Sunday turned into a cold February and March, and the state of my potted creation is now too ugly to be pictured.

HOWEVER, I remain optimistic and look forward to fine tuning my new hobby once the weather turns for good. I was further inspired this morning by this sweet little collection of gardening goodness from Sweet Relish:

And no, the fact that nothing in this collection is actually a live flower does not escape me. But it is exciting to think about the cute little accessories I can add to compliment the flowers that I will (someday) have, planted and blooming in the ground.

Luckily for me, I just stumbled across this great new site called SweetRelish.com. Half-Pinterest, Half-Amazon, Sweet Relish is a one-stop shop to discover tons of cool products from all over the web. I searched Sweet Relish for gardening (see below), and was able to find lots of fun new gardening products from sites I’ve never heard of.

Once you sign up, you can save and organize all the products you love in custom lists, then share your lists with your hubby, boyfriend, mom, grandma… whoever! Not only are the lists self-serving, but they’re also available for other Sweet Relish users to browse, enabling everyone to find new products that they love. Online shopping made easy! Sign up here to start drinking the secret sauce, and stay tuned for my gardening adventures! 🙂

{Freebie Friday} Hakuna Matata Free 8×10 Printable Wall Art

Brighten up your life with this Disney-inspired wall art. Whether you hang it in your child’s room, office or kitchen, this lovely little print will serve as a daily reminder to always stay carefree and young at heart.

[ download here ]