Summer Ruche

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Best Ice Cream Cake You've EVER Had!

(I know it looks delicious, but you're going to break your monitor if you don't put that spoon down!)

Okay. So when I heard my parents were coming to town in March, I knew we would be celebrating our March birthdays (my husband's, my dad's, and mine), which absolutely and ALWAYS includes an ice cream cake. Now I'm not sure how many of you have bought one of those premade ice cream cakes from the store, but just a small one at our local grocery store was $24.99! Not so great for people on a tight budget, so I set out to make my own!

I remembered some delicious ice cream cake that a good friend of mine (Emily Gordon) makes to feed a crowd, so I started there, and called her to get her perfect concoction (on a smaller scale, of course).
I then set out to find more tips and ideas online, and here is what I ended up with:


1: Look at all your pans, tupperware, bowls, etc, and find what shape will work best for you and your cake ideas (and make sure it's going to fit into your freezer!). For me, it was my large pot. I wanted my cake to be a perfect circle, flat on top and bottom.

2: Next spray the inside of your container with cooking spray, and line with plastic wrap.

3: After letting a half gallon of your favorite flavor of ice cream (for us 3, it's chocolate chip mint), sit out for a good while, you will scoop it ALL out into the container, and press it down evenly, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula (or whatever works for you), and place it in the freezer.


4: Chop, crush, or smash a pack of original oreos (my Pampered Chef chopper worked best for me, and I probably could have chopped just a little more than 2 rows of the pack, since I had left overs), and evenly disperse the majority of them (about 3/4) over the bottom layer, and gently press them into the top of the ice cream, and put back into the freezer.

5: Heat up a 16 oz jar of hot fudge, and pour the entire jar, evenly over the crushed oreos, and place back in freezer for about 4 hours  or longer.


6: Next you need to thaw a small container of whipped cream (the 8 oz tub), and let about a 1/4 gallon (that's half of a half gallon, just to be clear ;)) of regular vanilla ice cream, sit out for a bit and get really soft, then blend them together, well, with your mixers.

7: Smooth this evenly over the fudge layer, and smooth the top with your spatula (as this will be the top of your finished cake), and freeze for a minimum of a 5 hours.

8: When ready to serve, pull it out of the freezer, and turn it upside down on a piece of tin foil. (This part my mother helped me with, because it was easier with 4 hands). Lift the container a few inches from the foil, and start pulling down on the loose edges of the plastic wrap, until it slides out.
9: Peel off the plastic wrap. Then, have what you want to serve it on ready, and place it on top, and carefully flip it over, so that the white top layer, is now back on top.

10: Now spread the rest of your oreo crumbles on the top (or don't, and use icing or other decorating supplies), and there you have it!

The Best Ice Cream Cake
you've ever had, in
10 EASY STEPS!


In the end, I spent about $13 total, and got at least twice as much ice cream cake, than if I'd bought a small one, pre-made, from the store.


What you'll need:

- Large container
- cooking spray  (or just any oil)
- plastic wrap
- foil (or cookie sheet could do the same probably)
- mixer (or whisk)
- hand chopper (or some means of  finely chopping oreos)

+ half gallon of your flavor of choice, ice cream
+ 1/4 gallon of regular vanilla ice cream
+ 8 oz tub of cool whip
+ 1 package original oreos
+ 16 oz jar of hot fudge

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Love noting

Here's a quicky!

A message board, just for love notes!



While this is not quite as cute as the one I was inspired by on pinterest, it was what I had on hand, and it works for now.

Just take any frame you've got lying around, some cute scrap cloth or scrapbook paper, and put the start of a sentence or thought you want (I've thought of doing this also for scripture verses!), either by printing, or using scrapbook supplies, stickers, or just a sharpie
(which is what I did, since my printer is not hooked up, and I'm not thrilled with the outcome, but it gives you the idea...)
Then frame it, and finish your thought/sentence however you please on the glass with a dry erase marker. Change it whenever you feel, or wait and see if your beloved responds!

I also made a holder for the dry erase marker, (to keep it handy and in plain sight, so as to make it as easy as possible for my hubby to reply with his own words of undying affection), by making a simple pocket out of a wide ribbon (doubled back on itself, and hot glued at the edges), and then hot glued it to the frame, and embellished it all with some cheapy fake flowers.

Now hanging near the sink in our master bath.
Like I said, not as cute as it could be, but
not bad for a 10 minute craft!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

trash to treasure

Yep! All this was going to go to Goodwill or the junkyard. Then I started feeling crafty, which hasn't been happening much as of late. I don't know what's wrong with me...

ANYWAY!

This is actually a project from last fall, and I realized it was worthy (at least in my eyes) of a post. I do not have the funds to go out and purchase any large art for those large spaces that need something... you know... LARGE.

So, one day as I was purging my home of things that will never be used or worn again, I noticed some things going along with the color scheme I am shooting for now in my LIVING ROOM, and thought
hmmm... what can I do...

After the smoke cleared and some mental WD-40, I came up with this!

All it took was:

4 wood dowels that I inserted into a couple slits I cut into the finished edge of 4 stained placemats,

and then I careful chose my 4-letter word, (LOVE, our initials, HOPE, HOME!)

and which articles of ruined or shrunken clothing I would use for each letter, (which ended up consisting of 2 old sweaters, some old work jeans, and a snagged scarf)

and then a little cutting,

and then a little hot gluing, and

VOILA!

My new large wall art, that didn't cost me a penny, and accomplished the comfy feeling I was going for.