Easy Black Bean Dip

Hey All! How did you guys do for Event #1 for the Olympics? Did you get your decorating mojo going? Good. Well now, it's time to get cracking on Event #2 - Kitchen. Head over to the hosts of this event to see what delicious recipes they shared: Let Birds Fly, Jane's Adventures in Dinner, and Shaken Together.

For this event I decided to go my own way...shocking, I know. I made this super easy black bean dip, that I sort of adapted from a Paula Deen recipe. Now, I don't really measure anything, so just add to your own taste.

Here's what you need:
1 can of Black Beans
1 Tomato, chopped
Green Onions, chopped
Hot Sauce
Salt & Pepper
Lime Juice

Put the chopped tomato and green onion in a food processor until chopped, then add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and blend until smooth and you like the taste! I also garnished the dip with chopped tomatoes and green onions. Then serve with chips - yum!

This dip is so easy and has a really good flavor. Perfect for a summer party starter!

I hope you all are participating in the Kitchen event too. Don't forget to link up with the Event #2 hosts!

Patriotic Jar Lanterns

Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope you've stopped over at Hating Martha and Delicate Construction to check out their tutorials for the Bloggy Olympics first Event! If you haven't -- GO NOW!

I decided to participate in this event by doing my own decor project. Well, actually I totally copied this from one of my new favorite blogs: Quinton Wench. Seriously, head over to her blog, you will love it!

Anyway, I few weeks ago Karen from Quinton Wench linked up these Pickle Jar Lanterns to A Pinteresting Link Party.

I absolutely loved them [this project was featured for the next Link Party too]. So, for the decorating event, I decided to try my hand at my own patriotic jar lanterns. I collect pretty much any jar I get, so I had plenty around.

Here's what I gathered:

1. Jars
2. Tissue paper - Red, White & Blue of course!
3. Mod Podge & Brush

First, I cut the tissue paper into smallish squares.

Then I brushed a layer of Mod Podge on the jar, and then layered the tissue paper squares all over, adding another coat on top of the paper as I went along.

That's it! Here's what I ended up with:

Add tea lights...

What I love about these is that they are so quick and easy, plus they cost me nothing because I had everything I needed already! This is a huge plus, because honestly, I'm not big on putting a lot of effort into seasonal decor (except Christmas). These would be great for table centerpieces, decorative accents, or add wire to the top and hang from trees - and they literally took me 20 minutes.

Thanks to Quinton Wench for the inspiration!

Have a great week!