Tropical Vacation Cake

I've heard this cake called 'PIG Cake', 'Millionaire Cake', and also 'Better Than Sex Cake'. All I know is that it's like a Vacation to a Tropical Island in my mouth, so I'm renaming it to something that makes a little more sense!

TROPICAL VACATION CAKE

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Blog and it's amazingly tasty!

INGREDIENTS

For CAKE:

- 1 (18.25 oz.) Box of Yellow Cake Mix

- 1 Stick of Softened Margarine

- 1 (11 oz.) Can of Mandarin Oranges

 (Drained - 1/2 Cup of Juice Reserved)

- 4 Large Eggs

- 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

For TOPPING:

- 1 (4 oz.) Package of Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

- 1 (20 oz.) Can of Crushed Pinapple

(Drained - Juice Reserved)

- 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar

- 1/2 (8 oz.) Container of Cool Whip

* 1 Cup of Sweetened Shredded Coconut

- Small can of Mandarin Oranges

(Drained - For Garnish)

* - my special addition

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

For the cake, combine cake mix, margarine, 1/2 cup juice from the mandarin oranges, eggs, and vanilla.

Beat for four minutes on medium-high.

Add drained oranges...

And beat again until pieces are broken up and small.

Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Once cake is cool, blend juice from drained pineapples with the vanilla pudding mix.

Add powdered sugar and mix.

Then mix in whipped topping.

Stir in drained pineapple.

Add shredded coconut and mix.

If desired, turn out cake onto a large platter.

Spread topping on cooled cake.

Top with mandarin orange slices and refrigerate for several hours.

This would be perfect for Luau's and any event in which you would where a Hawaiian shirt, a Lei or even a Coconut Bra with a Grass Skirt! hehe

Can't feel bad about eating a mostly fruit cake right? hehe I know I didn't!

Recycled Bird Feeder

Recycled Bird Feeder

This is a fun easy summer project for adults and kids. Here is what you need:

Bird Seed

Cleaned out water bottle, any size (I used a large Smart Water Bottle)

Two Wooden spoons that you don't want any more

Exacto knife

Hook for hanging

Stickers for decoration

 First you need to draw the holes for the wooden spoons to fit into. You want to holes to be bigger than the spoon handles.

 Cut the holes and be careful. They don't need to be perfect.

 Check the holes to make sure the they fit. The best way is to have the spoon end of the hole fitting really loosely and the handle end of the hole to be a tight fit.

 Attach the Hook to the bottle lid.

Place the Stickers on it. Or you can draw or paint on the bottle with fun decorations.

Add the Bird Seed using a funnel. If you don't have one then take a piece of paper and make a funnel. That way you don't have Bird Seed all over the place.

 Hang it up in a tree and watch the bird enjoy. My 2 year old daughter had so much fun watching the birds eat from our Bird Feeder. I didn't get a picture of the birds but they really liked it. I filled it twice since then. This was a really fun summer project.

XOXO- 

JUNE GIVEAWAY - WINNER ANNOUNCED!

Our JUNE GIVEAWAY was a $10 Gift Card to Zulily.com!

One of our random followers has been chosen to win this awesome prize!

And the winner is...

Court

(Please send us an email with your address and we'll send you your prize!)

Thank you to all those who followed us and participated this month.

Please stay tuned for next month's giveaway which will be announced on July 1st!!!

One a side note...if you make or sell something that you would like to have featured on our site as a Giveaway, please send us a picture with a description of your item plus a link to your website and we'll let you know if we like what you've got and if we want to feature you!

Send your emails to: heckfridays@hotmail.com

Best Shepherd's Pie

Best Shepherd's Pie

INGREDIENTS:

-1 lb Ground Beef

-1 Tbsp Olive Oil

-1/2 tsp Salt

-1/4 tsp Pepper

-1 (14 oz) Can Cut Green Beans

-1 Can Tomato Soup

-2 Bags Mashed Potatoes Mix

(or 6 potatoes, peeled, boiled & mashed with 1/2 Cup Milk and 1 tsp Salt)

-2 Cups Grated Cheddar Cheese

-Brown ground beef in skillet with olive oil.

-Prepare your mashed potatoes as directed.

-Spray casserole dish.

-Drain browned beef and add salt and pepper.

-Add tomato soup and mix.

-Pour beef mixture into casserole dish.

-Drain green beans and add on top of beef.

-Spread mashed potatoes on top of green beans.

-Sprinkle cheese on top.

-Bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

It's seriously mouth watering and very filling. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Summertime Wreath

Summertime, and the wreath makin' is easy...

I've been wanting to make a wreath for summer for the past 5 years and I finally got around to doing it.

Here's what I came up with!

I found all my supplies at Michael's.

All you basically need is a straw wreath, a bag of spanish moss, sea shells and thick wire ribbon. I also added a few felt stickers for an extra touch of personality!

I began by unwrapping the wreath from it's plastic. Don't take off the twine holding it together. This is a messy process, but it's all worth it.

Then I started cutting off small pieces of moss and gluing them around the wreath.

I didn't glue the moss to the back, only on the top. It should look something like this.

Then I took the ribbon and started wrapping it around the moss covered wreath. It kind holds it all together better.

Then I folded the two loose ends and glued them down.

Next, I glued down different seashells on the parts where the moss is showing.

I then arranged the felt pieces and glued them down onto the ribbon.

Lastly, loop through some more ribbon to hang it from and tie a cute bow on top.

I think it turned out pretty well. Let me know if you have any questions. Like I said, it was pretty easy.