Watermelon Sours in a Watermelon Keg

This post is a twofer. It is a mix of Friday’s 5 o’clock somewhere cocktail recipe, and a fun How-To tutorial on making your own watermelon keg. Sounds fun to me and brings a whole new meaning to throwing a watermelon bash! This is definitely on my two do list once I get back to the states. First lets learn how to make the keg…

Supplies

• Whole watermelon
• Apple Corer
• Shank and faucet

Directions

Prepare your watermelon by cutting a lid from the top and scooping out the fruit (save the fruit to use later to make the drinks). Use an apple corer to drill a hole just slightly smaller than the keg shank. Attach the shank and faucet and you’re ready to add your cocktail.

Ingredients

• 4 cups watermelon chunks, pureed
• 4 oz Alizé Red Passion, or any other fruit-flavored liqueur
• 8 oz gin
• 2 cups sour mix
• Sparkling rosé
• Lime slices, for garnish

Directions

After pureeing 4 cups of watermelon chunks, strain. Stir in your fruit-flavored liqueur, gin and sour mix. Chill. Add sparkling rosé before serving. Garnish with lime slice and enjoy!

• Source: The Food Network Magazine
• Recipe Yields: 10-12 servings

How-To Clean Makeup Brushes

While living in Singapore my makeup brushes have gotten extremely dirty. The combination of the extra sweat and humidity, along with my own personal laziness, has not been a healthy combination for my skin. Usually I clean my brushes using baby shampoo, but I did not bring any with me and for some reason I can only find economy size bottles in the stores here. Sure it’s only $10-15, but I can’t bring myself to buy a gallon of baby shampoo if I’m only going to use a couple of ounces. So I went in search of alternative methods. There are a couple of different options out there, but I settled on one that used dish soap and olive oil, because it was super simple. Plus I already had them in the house and the theory behind the process made perfect sense. The soap is used to obviously clean the brush and the olive oil is used to condition the bristles to keep them from getting dry and brittle. So far I am pretty happy with the results, but please be sure to rinse your brushes thoroughly. I am not sure I rinsed them as well as I should have and think I may have left a little residual olive oil behind. However, so far I don’t mind it, because it gives my skin a little glow. I will keep you posted if I break out or have some horrible reaction. So far so good!

Supplies

• Dish soap
• Olive oil

Directions

Use equal parts dish soap and olive oil. (About a teaspoon of each to start – add more as needed) Mix soap and oil in a bowl and swirl brushes in the mixture and watch as the makeup starts to flush out. Squeeze suds from brush and repeat swirling motion. (Repeat as necessary. Like I said, my brushes were super dirty so I did this about 4 times. I even rinsed and used fresh soap and olive oil for round 3 and 4.)

Rinse with lukewarm water to remove all remaining soap. Continue to rinse until water runs clear. (Make sure NOT to get water in the metal part at the top of the bristles. It will ruin the integrity of the brush)

After washing all of your brushes, gently reshape and lay flat to dry. (Brushes usually need to dry overnight.)

Notes: You should clean your bushes about once a month. I don’t even want to tell you how long it had been since I washed my brushes. It was waaaaaay to long. Let’s leave it at that.

How-To Make Fruity Ice Cubes

Can you say genius? These are great for pitchers of water and ice tea, or even punch bowls at a party. They look beautiful, they are very functional and super simple to make. You can even use different types of fruit to make it even more beautiful. How about raspberries, blackberries or even strawberries. Honestly the possibilities are endless. Thank you Pinterest for bringing these into my life and thank you Martha Stewart for being a crafty entertaining goddess. When I grow up I want to be just like you, minus the whole stint in federal prison thing. I can do without that.

Supplies

• Muffin pan
• 6 lemons/limes/Oranges

Directions

1. Thinly slice up lemons and limes.
2. Place two or three slices of lemon and/or lime in each section of the muffin tin.
3. Carefully fill the muffin pan with water.
4. Freeze overnight.

Notes: If using fruity cubes for ice tea or punch, fill tray with ice tea or non-alcoholic punch instead of water. This way you won’t dilute your drink with watery ice cubes.

• Source: Martha Stewart

How-To Weather Wood

Well, yesterday in my Recycled Wood Pallet Table, I promised you a How-To on how to weather wood, and today I bring to you How-To weather wood. I am not one who likes to disappoint, but I do have to warn you, this is a very stinky project. Like serious gagging type smell, but the finished product is so worth it. I stumbled upon this How-To on one of the blogs I frequent, Show & Tell. I absolutely love this blog, because Sausha does everything I want to. She creates, paints, builds and has an amazing DIY filled home that she is constantly changing and upgrading. She also refurbishes furniture and transforms it into gorgeous conversation pieces that will definitely get people talking. She recently just refurbished a piano, that is absolutely amazing. CLICK HERE to check it out!

Supplies

• 1 piece of 0000 steel wool
• Glass bottle
• Vinegar
• Tung Oil (if desired)
• Paint brush

Directions

1. Rip steel wool into small pieces.
2. Put it in the jar and cover with vinegar. After 24 hours most of the steel wool will be dissolved.
3. Brush concoction on wood and let it sit and dry for about a day.
4. After the wood has soaked up all the horrible smelling vinegar you can give it a light sand.
5. If you like a richer look, finish with Tung Oil. (FYI this will take some of the rustic look away)

Notes: I have a couple of pieces I am going to be trying this on this week if the rain ever stops. I will keep you posted with a post