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April 22nd is Earth Day. Since this time of year is when gardens are being planted around the country, depending on your weather, and we are all looking forward to those fresh tasting fruits and veggies, we thought that in honor of Earth Day, we would talk about our garden faves! Because, a great was to help the earth is to plant some plants that produce food and cultivate and use them. So here is today's Friday Fave question:
What is your favorite garden produce that you can hardly wait to taste this year?
One of my goals this year is to put in a garden. Here in Phoenix, that should have happened already, and it hasn't. Luckily, except for the couple of extremely hot months in the middle of the summer, we can grow all year here. So, it looks like it will be a Fall garden for me this year!
When I do have a Spring/Summer garden in, I love so much of the produce, that it is hard for me to choose my favorite, but Maddy and I chose the same thing this time. Tomatoes! Nothing tastes better than fresh tomatoes picked ripe from the vine. The flavor is just overwhelming every year when I bite into that first tomato. 
The tomato in that picture came from my garden a couple of years ago and got turned into some delicious salsa! Fresh salsa is best with homegrown tomatoes! Click that link for the best recipe!
Lindsey says that she loves homegrown corn on the cob! Just like tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob is so sweet, tender and delicious. And, if you missed my recipe for grilled corn with cilantro lime butter, you have to try it. It is full of flavor and the taste just bursts in your mouth.
Alicia really enjoys gardening. Even when she was a college student, she would plant tomatoes in her rented house's flowerbeds and in her apartments she had success with Topsy Turvy Tomatoes hanging from her porch. When I asked her what her garden fave is she answered that she loves her herb garden. It is so great to be cooking and to be able to go out and snip some fresh basil or rosemary when you need it and to get that wonderful fresh herb taste. Now that she lives in the Bay area, the weather is much different from Phoenix, but she is figuring it out. She has just planted a couple of grow boxes behind her house with a nice variety of herbs and vegetables.
It is much greener there than in Phoenix!
One last favorite is strawberries! I love picking bright red berries that are fully ripe. They are so sweet and delicious. Eating strawberries from the grocery store just doesn't cut it after eating the vine ripened ones. And then, using them for Strawberry Shortcake or for making Strawberry Jam is just the icing on the cake.
If you are ready to get planting this year, we have found a few helps for you! Take a look!
If you have limited space, these Topsy Turvy tomatoes are a great idea!
If you want to put in your own herb garden, here is a great assortment of non-GMO seeds! Non-GMO is great because after you start growing, you can begin to collect your own seeds to plant in following years.
Do you need a place to plant? There are some attractive grow boxes available at a great price.
What are your favorite things to harvest from your garden? Do you plant one? Is there something that you have had great success with? Let us know in the comments.
Have a great weekend! Have a Happy Earth Day!
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On my side of the family, Scrabble is the family game. I was raised on it, as were the rest of my siblings. My mom, who recently turned 95, is always up for a game. I would venture to say that playing Scrabble all of these years has contributed to keeping her mind as sharp as it is at her age. She is kind of a Scrabble snob, I am sorry to say. She gets disgusted if you only use 3 letter words or if you don't get loads of points from two directions with your "S". She doesn't like it when someone always refers to a dictionary to find their words. But, even so, we have a blast when we play together! When we play without her, the defining rule is that if my mom has used the word, it is legal in Scrabble.
Often, when we travel to California to visit my side of the family, the Boltons, we will gather at my brother's house and have a Scrabble Tournament, with 2 or 3 games going at once and winners playing each other in a round robin type competition. It is always so much fun. One year, Alicia and I made everyone t-shirts that had Scrabble tile holders on them with letters like this one: 
I think that on our shirts, the letters Q, X and Z were a part of the mix. This is an actual hand that Alicia had when she was playing against my mom the last time she visited there. My mom won two games I think and then Alicia was finally able to pull off a victory against her.
I have noticed that Scrabble Tiles are popular things to make crafts and decorator items with. That leads me to believe that there are many of you out there who love to play Scrabble as much as my family does. Since today is officially Scrabble Day, our Friday Fave question is this:
What is a favorite item you have seen or made with Scrabble Tiles?
I have seen some adorable Christmas ideas using Scrabble Tiles! Look at these Christmas trees!
By the way, in order to make any of these crafts, there are a couple of ways to get the tiles without raiding your Scrabble game.
 
Now, when you order these, no fair slipping an extra "O" or an "E" up your sleeve for the times that you have a set of letters like the one in the game above!
We also found some really adorable Scrabble themed items on Etsy!
Look at these sweet pillows for only 4.99 a piece! 
These are from LaraGirlsDesigns! They would be great at a wedding reception!
Perfect for the dishwasher! Letters by Lilly has these and other cute little things.
I love these enlarged Scrabble letters! They are from KatesLittleShop.
Who knew that these simple little tiles could enrich our homes so much! I know that Scrabble has helped me to be a better speller and problem solver! Now it helps me decorate my home as well, LOL! I love it!
So, maybe you can craft a thing or two with some Scrabble tiles, or if nothing else, be sure to enjoy a game of Scrabble to celebrate the day! Let us know if you have any great ideas using these letters.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support.
Did you know that bottle cap crafts are a thing? I didn't know until recently when I received an amazing gift!
My friend, who is my Son-in-law's mom, Joanne, was able to serve as a missionary with her husband in Uganda. She loved it there. Recently she was able to go back for a visit. When she came back she brought me a gift! She is so sweet that way. She brought me this beautiful trivet, or hot pad, that the women in Uganda make as a business enterprise.
I love the vibrant colors! I fell in love with this idea.
If I were over in Uganda, I would definitely support their businesses! But, I also looked at this craft and decided that I wanted to try it for myself! I think that these would make such great gifts for my sisters and daughters or for wedding or shower gifts. And, don't forget that Mother's Day is coming along!
The first trick was to find the bottle caps! We don't drink very many drinks that come with metal bottle caps. I saved a few, but I soon realized that the saving used caps method was going to take me a long time! Also, many of the caps once used would be misshapen and need to be re-flattened. Then, someone told me that they carry new, unused bottle caps at Hobby Lobby! Well, they do, but they are expensive! Luckily I had my 40% off coupon because the price is around $10 for a bag of 24 caps. I bought some, but if I am going to make very many of these, I need a better source and I have found one! Amazon has them by the gross for $6.00!   
But, for my first try, I used 23 or the 24 bottle caps from Hobby Lobby.
While I love the vibrant colors of the original trivet from Uganda, I looked through my fabric stash and decided on some more subtle gray tones for mine. It took some experimenting to decide how large of a circle of fabric it would take to cover the bottle cap. I finally settled on a wide mouth canning jar as my template.
The first thing I did was cover all of my caps. Since I was using four different fabrics, I cut out each color as follows:
Next, you must gather around the outside of each circle. You could do this on the sewing machine, but I found it relaxing to just do it by hand with a needle and thread while watching TV sitting on the couch. It really goes fairly quickly. Click on the pictures below to read the details of how I put this trivet together.
Using only 23 bottle caps, my trivet came out much smaller than the original African one, but it will work nicely for a smaller hot bowl or casserole dish. I can hardly wait for my order of new bottle caps to come in so that I can make more in many sizes! It will be fun to pick out more fabric combinations to match the kitchens of the people I want to give them to!
I hope you give this craft a try! It is easy and useful, the best outcome!
Do you make anything with bottle caps? Let me know about it, because I may want to try it!
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Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to nearly nine and counting! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, and my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Read more about us here! 
Click this link and visit 3WinksDesignShop and find more of our creations!
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