Blissful Roots 4th of July Round Up

Well, we're back from a busy week of unpacking, rearranging, and lots of cousin time at grandpa and grandma's.  Always such a good time that goes by way too quickly!

And now, somehow here we are at the week of the 4th of July.  One month of summer vacation down for us, and one and half to go.  I'm pretty sure I've said this before, and I'll probably say it until the day I die.  I love this week!  So many fun activities to do, lots of red, white, and blue, and time to reflect on this amazing nation I get to call home.

Since I do love this time of year so much, I have plenty of patriotic posts in the old archives, so today I thought I'd share a Blissful Roots 4th of July round up.  These are a few of the patriotic printables, crafts, and recipes I've shared over the past year and a bit here at Blissful Roots.

Happy July 4th Printable

Fresh Strawberry Shakes

Patriotic Matchbox Printables

Patriotic Sugar Cookies

Recycled Snack Cups

Kool-Aid Slushie

Land That I Love Printable

No-Bake Berry Cheesecake

Patriotic Playlist

Upcycled Patriotic Tin Cans

Sweet Land of Liberty Printable

Hopefully you found a thing or two you can use to add to your 4th of July activities this year.  My project is to finish up a complete set of the recycled snack cups.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Happy July 4th Printable

Trying to keep it festive around here (which isn't terribly hard for me, as you know).  Another 4th of July printable to share today.

Click to Print

Short and sweet today on words today, but hopefully you'll enjoy the printable!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

July Pinterest Board

We are at my parents all week long helping them move into their new home.  I've tried to get a few posts ready to go for the week, but my parents won't have their internet set up yet, so I may be missing in action for a few days.  You can always follow me on Instagram.  I try to post there daily, and I can do that anywhere.

Follow Brooke @ blissfulroots.com's board July on Pinterest.

So, for today I have my July  Pinterest Board to share.  I know I shared it last year, but I have added a TON to it lately.  I have a hard time not pinning anything red, white, or blue!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Recycled Snack Cups {Patriotic Version}

Do you have small, silly things that make you completely giddy at times?  Like seeing an adorable set of snack cups at the party store, but not wanting to pay the $7 price tag for 5 cups?  And then you realize you have a frosting container that is exactly the same size sitting at home that would serve the same purpose, and for free!

Okay, maybe I'm a bit crazy and alone in my frosting container giddiness, but little things like this make me so, so happy!  I love reusing- it saves money and Mother Earth!  And I love these frosting containers because they're plastic, so you can wash and reuse them, and all you have to do it switch out your paper and embellishment to have a whole new look for any occasion!

More often than not, I like to make my own frosting, but I do use store-bought frosting every now and again.  (Can I just put a little tip in here for collecting recycled items?  Let your family members and friends know what you're wanting.  That way when they're done with a container you need, they can send it your way, instead of throwing it away.  Your collection will grow rapidly!)

Source

I found this frosting at Dollar Tree.  It's a bit smaller than most frostings (12 oz. instead of 16 oz.) but that's actually what I liked about it.  It makes a more reasonable snack cup size.  But if all you have it the bigger size, by all means use it!  We're trying to reuse, not waste.

I simply washed out the frosting container, pulled the label off and then attached some red striped paper from Michaels.  The adorable label I used on top of the red and white paper comes from Hostess with the Mostess. There is an entire All-American County Fair 4th of July Party set to print our for free!  It's to die for!

So, there you have it.  Your $1 recycled, reusable patriotic snack cup.  You can dress it up however you'd like and fill it up with whatever you'd like.  Then when you're done, take off your paper, wash it (I would suggest hand washing, pretty sure these wouldn't hold up in the dishwasher), and dress it up for the next occasion.  Oh, the possibilities!  I can't wait to make more!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Favorite How to Draw Books for Kids

We gave my twins a How To Draw book for Christmas this past year, and it has proven to be one of those surprise gifts that gets used all the time!

As much fun as toys are, I like my boys to get books, art supplies, games, etc... for gifts.  I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way.

Anyway, we shopped and searched reviews around Amazon when ordering the book for our boys, and I have to tell you we totally hit the jackpot!  These books (we only have the monster one right now, but we'll for sure be adding to our collection!) are absolutely perfect for young kids.  My twins are seven and my four-year-old can even do many of the monsters with a bit of help from me.  The steps (six for each monster) are simple and easy to follow.  We've tried a few other drawing books, and my boys just get frustrated because the steps are so complicated.  Not these!  So, so easy!

This is one of my twin's latest monsters.  We try to draw something every day while on summer vacation, and with 101 monsters, they have plenty to keep them busy!

Here's my other twins' favorite monster. Their new technique is to sketch with pencil, then outline with black marker before adding the color.  I LOVE how these turn out!   I could even make a pretty good/scary looking monster with these books!

And last, but certainly not least is my four-year-old's monster.  He was determined to do what brothers were doing, but I was worried he'd just end up frustrated because he couldn't do it.  Well, I was wrong!  I did have to sit with him and kind of talk him through each step, but look what he was able to do.  He was so thrilled, and so was I!

You can find these 101 How to Draw books on Amazon for about $5 (awesome price!).  There is a fairy one that I'm sure my boys wouldn't go for, but I tempted to buy it for myself!

Happy drawing!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Patriotic Sugar Cookies {Kneaders Recipe}

I always love a good excuse to make a festive dessert.  And as cute as these sugar cookies are, I have to say they taste just as amazing as they look!  Actually, I think they taste slightly better than they look (yes, the flavor is that good!).

In the past, the sugar cookie recipes I've tried have been fine, if I've layered with tons of frosting on top to cover up the bland taste of the actual cookie.  But this recipe from Kneaders is amazing!  I posted the recipe here a year ago for some valentine cookies, and raved about the great flavor of the cookie. There's a bit of honey, nutmeg, and lemon flavoring in the cookie.  So unique to the other sugar cookie recipes I've tried.  I can even eat these without frosting!  Of course I don't very often because frosting does make everything better, but I could.

 And, if I'm going to go to all the work of making the dough, rolling it out, cooking the cookies, frosting them, and decorating them, it's so nice to have the end product worth it, and believe me these are!  The recipe also makes a ton (and I always half it) which is great because you can make the dough once and have plenty of cookies to go around!

The perfect combination of deliciousness and  red, white, and blue!

And, in case you missed last week's recipe, you can check it out here.  Another great patriotic dessert you can use for your holiday party!

Fresh Strawberry Shake

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

Land That I Love Printable

I love creating just about anything for every holiday, but the 4th of July is especially fun!  It might have something to do with my birthday being the day after, but I've always had an extra special place in my heart for fireworks, patriotism, and of course the red, white, and blue!

Click to Print

I'm kind of on a star kick lately.  If you visited me last Friday, then you saw my matchbox printables I shared over at twelveOeight, and the stars on today's printable may look a bit familiar.

I really do love this prosperous, free, beautiful land I'm so blessed to call home!  There are amazing places to travel, and new things to see, but nothing beats home sweet home!

And here are a few other patriotic printables from last year you can check out.

Click to Print

Click to Print

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.