Driftwood Flowers- Thrift Store Upcycle

A few years ago I had picked up this driftwood piece from a thrift store for $8.00. It's a fairly large piece and I remember seeing these in the stores with a mirror inside the middle for $40, originally. I never really liked the mirror design, so I  hung it as a starburst piece and then one day I saw a driftwood flower with a seashell center. 

I have a lot of seashell visions.

As it turns out this paper cake plate would work perfectly for my seashell center.

To get the perfect coverage, hot glue larger pieces and flatter pieces to the bottom filling in as best you can. Next you'll go back looking to fill inside those openings with your medium sized showcase shells or your better shells. After that go back a third time with even smaller pieces. Make sure to add a few pearls to glitz it up.

oh yeah.

                                         Looking good. 

Now I need more flowers. I guess I'll have to start making my own driftwood base. 

Hope you enjoyed this project.

With love and gratitude,

Michele

Find me partying here all week, at these link parties, with some great bloggers.

If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or Follow us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, Linkedin, or Bloglovin .

Funtastic Friday #304

                                                        

       It's time for Funtastic Friday!

Looking forward to all your links,

especially for some last minute Halloween inspiration 

and Thanksgiving.

Here we go...

Rose Cake w/Culinary Rose Petals, Rose Extract w Rose Water Lemon Honey Drizzle

Roses are red, violets are blue 

Who cares roses are for me. 

I have been on an unusual rose kick. Rose scented oils, creams, facewash, rose water flavoring, rose extract, rose petals and roses! Rose tea and rose sugar and rose martini ,which I made last year. And I'm currently infatuated with a photo of someone's cut roses. 

Since I am a big believer that your body seeks out what it needs, I sort of knew that this weird obsession was menopause related.(FYI...I am in menopause) A few years back I became obsessed with Mrs. Meyers geranium scented cleaning products and came to find, that it was most likely related to hormones. (My house was super clean and I was loving every minute of cleaning) Read about that here if you are menopausal or have a friend or mother who is menopausal.

In regards to hormones , "Rose oil brings relaxation and pain relief" according to Zawn Villines in her article Essential Oils and Menopause. Can they really Help?

And that's the likely reason  I decided to create this Rose Cake.

Last week I made a simple yellow cake mix to keep in the house for the coming holidays.  I picked up the recipe at Iambaker.net and bottled the dry ingredients in canning jars  and when I ran out of glass bottles, I made a few in ziplock bags . I did this so I would be ready to roll out a cake in a moments notice and knowing that a yellow cake mix was a starting point to add a variety of ingredients to create incredible cakes.

My first recipe was Apple Cider Donut Cake by Princess Pinky Girl 

My rose obsession got the best of me and I pulled together all my goodies to plan out my Rose cake. (Resources above in the link to Rose Sugar.)

and 

Honey, Rose Extract, Jamaican Vanilla, Culinary Rose Petals, Rose Water (found in Greek, Turkish  or middle eastern markets) and 1 Yellow Cake Mix.

Preheat Oven 350°                   Bake Time 30 Minutes

Ingredients  

1 Yellow Cake Mix 🌹or make your own recipe- link above

3 Eggs

1/2 tsp Rose extract

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract  🌹you may need more- my Jamaican                                                        Vanilla is powerful

1/8 cup Vegetable Oil

1 1/4 cups Milk

1/2 tsp Honey

1/2 cup softened Extra Virgin Coconut oil or butter 2 2 Tbl Culinary Rose Petals

Icing 

6 Tbl Powder Sugar

1 tsp Honey 

1/2 tsp Rosewater

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

Add the cake mix to a mixing bowl. Fluff with a whisk.

Make a well in the middle and add eggs, rose extract, vanilla, vegetable oil, milk, honey and extra virgin coconut oil. Mix with hand mixer. 

 

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Add the batter and bake at  350° for 30 min. 

 

Cool 20 min. Plate and dress with icing. 

Mix the icing ingredients together and use a spoon to drizzle over the cake. You will need to work the honey a bit to get it incorporated.  I added a few rose petals scattered over the cake for glamour. You won't enjoy eating the crunchy petals, however the rose petals inside the cake our delicate and melt in your mouth.

 

Notes: This cake would be perfect for an engagement  or wedding cake. How about a rose cake for #Valentine'sDay? Maybe substitute some champagne for some of the milk. Anniversary? You got this.

With love and gratitude,

Michele

Find me partying here all week, at these link parties, with some great bloggers.

If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or Follow us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, Linkedin, or Bloglovin .

Cedar Key on the Run with our RV

We left town a few weeks ago, to get ahead of Hurricane Delta that was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. We grabbed our camper and headed east and then south down the coast of Florida and landed in Cedar Key, Fl, a place my foodie fiancé has had his eye on since he found out they farm clams for most of the southern United States.

We found Steamer's restaurant where we promptly ordered the bowl of 25 clams. The cost ? $9.99 . And let me tell you these clams were delicious. All of the food here was excellent, totally 5 star. Look at that broth. Yes they give you a spoon but really we needed a straw. 

I fell in love with their seashell walls and driftwood lighting.

Cedar Key is an old fishing village. Back in 1995 after new fishing regulations went into affect , the government started a retraining program to help local fisherman farm clams in the local waters. Additionally the area is known for their Oysters, Mullet fishing, Shrimping and Stone Crabs.

We met this man at the local pier where everyone was cast netting shrimp. It was incredible to see that you could have a shrimp dinner with a catch down at the local pier.

Down at the beach we discovered very quickly that it was Horseshoe Crab mating season. 

I fell in love with what I am calling " Beach Morningglories", obviously down at the beach.

Up in NY I would see Horseshoe Crabs but never had a chance to notice them coming ashore for mating season.

We stayed at the Cedar Key RV Park while we were in town. It's far from  grocery stores so be sure and come well stocked if you make a visit.

The sites were all concrete with full hook ups

I loved the driftwood at the beginning of each street on property.

I know these pics are extremely dark but at least you can get a general idea of the property . This is the pool and bathrooms and club house. 

The campground was super clean and neat and we felt very safe staying there. 

A piece of local art that I purchased.

    Downtown Cedar Key strip on the water, at night.

Downtown also boasts a very welcoming Community Garden.

This is actually a hanging plant . I know it looks like a gorgeous tropical tree. 

Some local metal art in the garden.

Oooh, it has that secret garden feel.

Cedar Key, a fun two day trip in our camper. I love a good old fishing village.

With love and gratitude,

Michele

Find me partying here all week, at these link parties, with some great bloggers.

If you are in Myrtle Beach come on down and visit us at the Coastal Bohemian Studio or Follow us out on Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, Linkedin, or Bloglovin .