Living La Vida Holoka


How to Make Tropical Drink Stirrers for Your Summer Sips

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Summer officially starts tomorrow!  In my family, we have lots of reasons to celebrate during the summer.  We’re talking loads of birthdays, a graduation, and our wedding anniversary.  And honestly, I’m probably forgetting something because there’s always so much going on! I feel like the summer itself is just one, big celebration. Forget the birthdays, anniversaries, and everything else that’s happening during the next couple months.  We made it through a cold, snowy winter and summer is like our prize for patiently waiting for its return!

Or not-so-patiently waiting.

The entire summer season seems reason enough to gather with friends and family and pour a few cocktails or a tall glass of lemonade or sun tea!  So I thought it would be fun to make some tropical drink stirrers to have on hand for our summer celebrations!


These simple drink stirrers start with clear swizzle sticks.  I made little, tropical shapes out of oven-bake clay to glue on top of the sticks.  I found a cute pineapple mold at Michael’s. Then, I found a set of tropical molds on Amazon to use to make palm trees.  

I would suggest sticking to shapes that have a sturdy base.  While the palm trees definitely worked out in the end, I had a little patching up to do on the tree trunk when I glued it onto the swizzle stick.  The pineapples, on the other hand, came out ready to party!  

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Start making your pineapples and palm trees.  Press yellow clay into the pineapple mold leaving room at the top for green clay.  Then, press green clay into the top of the palm tree mold leaving room for brown clay at the bottom.
  2. Carefully remove the clay shapes from the mold.  Smooth any edges, if necessary.
  3. Gently push a clear swizzle stick into the bottom of the clay shape.  Remove the swizzle stick and set aside.
  4. Place parchment paper on a small baking sheet.  Bake the clay according to package.
  5. Remove the clay shapes from the oven and allow to cool completely.
  6. Once the shapes are cool, add a little super glue into the opening and, once again, gently push the swizzle stick into the bottom.
  7. Set the stirrers aside until the glue has completely dried.  Then, whip up a batch of cocktails and get your stir on!



So even if you’re just serving up lemonade and tea to the kiddos this summer, these tropical drink stirrers will make those summer sips all the more fun!  Want to designate drink cups?  Make a bunch of different shapes for everyone to choose from!  

These drink stirrers took just minutes to make!  Even though I used mine in simple glasses of lemonade, imagine how fun they’ll look in your favorite mocktail or cocktail!  Cheers to summer!

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Looking for some drink inspiration for your tropical drink stirrers?  Check out these posts:

Flamingos are Summer’s Hottest Trend and You Need These Items

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Hot and sunny days are ahead! Whether you’re lounging poolside or staying dry on land this summer, one things for sure – flamingos are everywhere again this year!  So guys, consider this part two of my The Best Flamingo Outdoor Decor for Summer post!

Last summer, I told you about how flamingos have been my favorite ever since I was little.  So I’m pretty happy that this super pink trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon!  In fact, my mom got me a set of flamingo wine glasses not too long ago.  They’re the perfect glasses to use while I sip on some chilled rosé this summer!

So if you’re as flamingo obsessed as I am, you need to add these 15 flamingo items to your wishlist!  Not long after getting this list in order, I went ahead and ordered myself that “Love Flamingo” t-shirt!  For those of you about to add it to your Amazon cart right now, it’s pretty true to size and made from a stretchy, cotton blend.  It’s super cute with a pair of shorts or distressed jeans!

  1. Pink Flamingo No Flocks Given Wine Glass
  2. Floatmingo Drink Holder
  3. Flamingo Pink Desk Lamp with Adjustable Dimmer
  4. Collapsible Storage Basket with Handles
  5. Flamingo Wine Holder
  6. Rhinestone Flamingo Bangle
  7. Scarlet Flamingo Stuffed Animal
  8. Flamingo Inflatable Raft
  9. LED Marquee Flamingo Light
  10. 30 oz Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Flamingo Tumbler with Lid
  11. Cosmetic Bag Flamingo
  12. Flamingo Vice PopSockets
  13. Love Flamingo-Pineapple Letters T-Shirt
  14. Pink Flamingo Rubber Ducks
  15. Pink Flamingo Coffee Mug

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What flamingo items do you need in your life this summer?

Easy Loaded Cauliflower Mash

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Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.  Is there anything better than a potato?  Well, maybe bacon, but we’ll get to that a little later!  I could probably eat potatoes with every meal, but we know that’s a big no-no if you’re low carbing it.  Thank goodness for cauliflower!  I mean, let’s just say it – cauliflower will never be a potato, but it’s a nice substitution.  Especially for mashed potatoes!  Mashed cauliflower is so easy to make.  It’s even easier if you use frozen cauliflower florets.

I had a bag of frozen cauliflower in the freezer.  When I’m grocery shopping, sometimes I find myself lingering around the frozen veggie case.  I’ll always prefer fresh veggies (especially this time of year), but it’s nice to have frozen options in a pinch!  I’ve seen a ton of recipes for cauliflower mash using fresh cauliflower.  So I decided to try it with my little, neglected bag of frozen cauliflower.  I almost surprised myself with how delicious this dish was!


If you’re still not convinced that cauliflower is the new potato, just wait because this isn’t just mashed cauliflower.  Oh, no!  This mash is LOADED!  Even with all of the delicious ingredients thrown into this dish, it remains to be low carb friendly.  What’s not to love about a dish that’s made with cheese, sour cream, chives, and bacon?!  Lots and lots of crumbled bacon!

So here’s the deal.  This mash starts with a bag of frozen cauliflower getting boiled until it’s nice and soft.  Your kitchen will stink like hell for a little bit, but don’t worry!  Once you start adding all of that cheesy, bacon goodness on top, the aroma will get better!  Mash up the cauliflower, then add in sour cream, chives, cheese, and bacon.  

It all gets popped into the oven for 20 minutes.  You want a nice, golden brown edge to it.  Then, top it off with more cheese, more chives, and yes, more bacon!  Toss it back in the oven until the cheese melts and starts to bubble around the edge.  So good!

Easy Loaded Cauliflower Mash
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Ingredients
  1. 1 - 16 oz. bag cauliflower florets
  2. 1/4 cup sour cream
  3. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  4. 6 cooked bacon strips, crumbled
  5. 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese mix
  6. 1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
  7. Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a small casserole dish.
  2. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Carefully add the bag of cauliflower.
  3. Boil until the cauliflower has softened, about 10 minutes.
  4. Drain. Then, use a potato masher to mash the cauliflower.
  5. Add to a food processor, along with the sour cream and garlic powder. Pulse just until smooth.
  6. Stir in half of the crumbled bacon, half of the cheese, and half of the chives into the mashed cauliflower.
  7. Season with salt and pepper and spoon into the prepared casserole dish.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edge of the mashed cauliflower has turned golden brown.
  9. Remove from the oven and top with the remaining cheese and bacon.
  10. Lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  11. Remove from the oven and top with more fresh chives before serving.
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I’m going to be totally and completely honest right now.  Would I say that I’m never eating mashed potatoes again?  Hell to the no!  But this substitution for some loaded up mashed potatoes is pretty darn good!  It’s easy, it’s cheesy, and it’s full of flavor! 

So the next time you have a hankering for mashed potatoes, try this instead!  It might even become a new favorite side dish for your family!  Grab a spoon and dig in!

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Have you tried mashed cauliflower before?

How to Make a Simple Floral Summer Wreath

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A couple weeks ago, I decided that it was time to change the wreath on our front door. I wanted something new, but I didn’t want to pay over $40 for a really nice wreath.  So I took a ride to the craft store to gather supplies and a little inspiration.  I was looking for something with a muted color palette that wasn’t your typical summer wreath.  No seashells, beach themes, or super bright colors.  I just wanted something modern and minimal with just enough color to stand out on our white door.

The first thing I grabbed at the craft store was an 18 inch grapevine wreath.  I would say it’s basically the perfect size for a wreath.  Not too big, not too small, and a great, natural canvas for florals.  The hard part was deciding what kind of flowers and greenery I wanted to add to it!  


I found some pretty trendy stems while I was wandering around the floral aisles.  The best part was that they were 40% off!  So I got two eucalyptus branches, a really cool air plant stem, and a couple ranunculus stems in white and a pretty, peach color.

The first I did when I got home was plan my wreath.  My grapevine wreath wasn’t a perfect circle.  It had a flatter side to it and that’s where I decided to fill it with flowers and greenery.  The next step was laying out my florals.  Once I knew where everything was going to go, I used my hot glue gun to glue everything into place.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Heat your hot glue gun.  While the glue gun is heating, plan your wreath.  Lay out all of your florals and decide where everything will go.
  2. Trim down the stem of the eucalyptus branches until there’s about an inch left.  Glue the stems down onto one side of the wreath, tucking the bottom of the stem into the grapevine branches.
  3.  Next, cut the ranunculus flowers off of the stems.  Glue them onto the wreath.
  4. Finally, add the air plants to fill in any gaps on the wreath.
  5. Allow the glue to dry completely, give the flowers a little fluff, and hang on your front door!


This wreath only cost me a little over $20 to make. Way under what I was willing to spend for a store bought wreath!  The other plus is that this wreath is totally unique to me.  No one else is going to have this exact wreath!  I absolutely love the way this turned out and I hope it’s inspired you to make something new for your front door!

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What are your favorite summer florals?



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