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Have you heard of Redneck wine glasses? I actually had never heard of them until a few months ago when someone had mentioned them. Looking them up there are all kinds and so many awesome ideas on how to decorate them. I have seen them online and in stores from about $13.00 to about $20.00 a piece. They are cool but I was thinking to myself......not that cool! After doing a little research I found several ideas on how to make them. Here is my version for about $2.50!!
First: you start with a good old fashioned mason jar, the wide mouth ones tend to be better and you want to use the smaller ones.
Second: you need to take your base, I used candlestick holders Dollar General. They are the perfect size and fit the bottom of a mason jar perfect.
Third: and final, you need to glue them together. I used E-6000. Its made for glass and I have found it to work pretty good. Make sure you glue both pieces and wait a minute or two before you put them together. Even sanding the glass slightly will help them adhere better. 






  And that is it! You have a yourself a Redneck Wine Glass! Simple and cheap! Make sure you hand wash them. I have not yet tried to throw them in the dishwasher, but you never know.










Now after making myself a few glasses and some Christmas presents :) I had glue left and decided to venture further with the glass glue! I have often wanted to make a cake plate. So off the Dollar General I went! This is what I found:
A glass ice cream dish

A very cool glass plate, with same size circle as the ice cream dish

 And with a little glue, I turned the ice cream dish upside down and glued it to the plate.........Ta da!
A very unique $2.00 cake stand!



So I saw these delicious pretzel bites on http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/homemade-soft-pretzel-bites/print/ and I had to try.


Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites


Ingredients:

Soft Pretzels:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt

Directions:

For the Pretzels: Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.
Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating. Serve with cheese sauce.
( recipe Curtis of Two Peas & Their pod )


A few photos of my process

I don't have a regular mixer only a hand held version, so I had a hard time getting my dough to mix correctly

Here is a picture of before it rises, I just preheated my oven and set it on top to help it rise
Here I started to cut it into bites, but they ended up being huge. When you boil them they puff up some. 

This is after I boiled my second batch, they are more bite size. At this point you add the salt. Next time though I think I will add the salt after. I added to much and I think I would prefer a sweeter pretzel.
This is my Emily, enjoying a pretzel!

My finished pretzel bites :) Yummy!




Word Blocks 






http://everydaylifeof5.blogspot.com/2012/01/word-blocks.html