29 For the First Time

Clarks Dip

My Uncle-In-Law came to a family party and made this dip. His name is Clark and we've always just called it Clarks Dip. It is awesome. This is one of the only foods I actually have cravings for! We usually dip Wavy Lays in it, but saltine crackers and veggies are also good! It is also another one of those super easy, super fast things. Perfect for parties or watching a movie.

What you need:
24 ounce container Small Curd Cottage Cheese
8 ounce block Cream Cheese
1 Lemon
6 Green Onions
Garlic Salt

• Soften the cream cheese in the microwave 15-25 seconds
• Mix softened cream cheese with cottage cheese
• Chop the bottom 3-4 inches of the green onions and add to cheese mixture
• Juice lemon over cheese and onion mixture
• Season to taste with garlic salt
• Mix well

Serve with your choice of chips, crackers and/or vegetables.

Patriotic Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I found these strawberries over at Real Mom Kitchen. Laura is a friend of my mom, and that woman knows how to cook. I love her blog because her recipes really are for a real mom. Nothing too fancy. Just how I like it! When I saw this post I knew I had to make some. I'm not a huge white chocolate fan, but these are just too cute! I did some red, white and blue for the USA and some red and white for the Canada girls!

I used white chocolate apeels, but white chocolate chips would be fine to use as well. Melt them in the microwave on high for one minute, and then at half power stirring well every 30 seconds until melted. Once the you dip the strawberries keep holding them for just a few seconds and then sprinkle away. I tried rolling the tip in a bowl of sprinkles, but it made the chocolate lumpy. I say, just sprinkle them on. Obviously these are so versatile for any color theme you have!

Cookie Bar Refreshments - Readers Show Off!

Becky Harwood submitted a darling wedding reception refreshment idea!! Thank you so much for sharing!! (Becky is my Mom and I told her she had to submit the idea.) I thought it turned out DARLING, simple and very fun! You can use this for anything, baby shower, wedding shower, family get togethers, the list is endless.

When my daughter Meg said she wanted cookies for her wedding reception I said ok. I envisioned we would have cookies with some brownies, bars and eclairs. But, she corrected me quickly and said, “no, just cookies!” So, cookies it is was!

Jen helped me go online and look around at some ideas so that we could come up with a plan. We had a great cookie bar with 14 different cookies all decked out in cookie jars with labels. We had a great variety of wonderful yummy homemade cookies served with milk! That was totally Meg. I made a recipe book with 5 different cookie recipes for the guests to take home with them. The cover was a picture of meg and Jason. Everyone seemed to really like that. Who doesn’t want a new recipe? I know I do!

Thanks again! If anyone is interested in the cookie label for the jars make a comment with your email address and I will get it for you.

There is nothing like finishing a project and being completely happy and exited about what you have done! Share those projects with us, thepolkadotumbella@gmx.com!!

Party Table Center Piece

Girls Night

I have so much fun hosting get togethers! Not only is there great company and great laughs there is preparation that is half the fun for me. I love center pieces and feel like it really sets the tone for a party. There are so many cute ideas out there so I thought I would throw mine into the mix.

I am in love with decorating for parties with gift bags! I like to find a handful of gift bags and purchase some fun colorful tissue paper. Depending on the party theme it is also fun to have a cute fan or flower sticking out of the top of the bag. I have also put a bouquet of helium balloons in the middle of the group of bags. (If you use balloons you want them to be tall enough that there not in peoples way of talking to the person across from them.) I think gift bags are a great way to decorate! You can also use the gift bags as take home party favors with something inside.

I loved the halloween witch paper high heel that I saw this past Halloween! I decided to switch it up with some pink paper and use it as a Girls Night hand out and center piece and was really happy with the way it turned out. Go here to get a pattern.