Summertime means Sand Pails, Flip Flops &
Books in my Beach {lake} Bag!
Everyone is invited for a little Fun in the Sun~
the dress code casual,
flip flops required :)
I found Flipflop Wines~ priced at $5 a bottle at Harris Teeter~
Ideal for mixing a little sangria. . .
using Flipflop Sauvignon Blanc and a recipe
from Southern Living for Sangria Blanco.
Ingredients
~1/4 cup sugar
~2 (750-milliliter) bottles dry white wine
~3/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
~1 cup Grand Marnier
~2 to 3 cups lemon-lime soft drink, chilled
~2 lemons, thinly sliced
~2 limes, thinly sliced
~2 oranges, thinly sliced
~1 pint fresh strawberries, thinly sliced.
Preparation
1. Bring sugar and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Combine sugar mixture, white wine, and next 2 ingredients in a large container; cover and chill 4 hours. Stir in lemon-lime soft drink and next 4 ingredients just before serving. Serve over ice, if desired.
Makes 12 servings~
I made half a recipe of sangria, using a mixture of fruit I had on hand~ blackberries, peaches, oranges, and strawberries.
I also omitted the sugar water/syrup and used Fresca.
To kick up my heels in celebration of Summer, I’m playing with Domino® Brown Sugar~
Ideal for cookies, spiced cakes, crumble toppings
AND
Sculpting miniature Sand Castles & Palm Trees!
We’re snacking on Nutter Butter Flip Flops~
Just add a little frosting, and reach for a pair :)
Serve on tray disguised as a brown sugar beach~
In celebration of Flip Flops and Summer,
I’m sharing some book love~ passing along my last four books from my Food for Thought reviews~
Each book packaged in a sand pail with a flip flop insulated glass, and a mini bottle of sunscreen :)
If you’d like to wade through the pages
as you soak up the sun at the beach, pool or lake~
mention by a comment that you’d like
one of these books for your beach bag!
Sand Pail Selections for Summer Reading:
The Violets of March, The Will of Wisteria,
The Matchmaker of Perigord, and Amaryllis in Blueberry~ a book I’m still not sure how I feel about, so I’m bundling another book with it :)
Subscribers/followers automatically get a second entry.
For an additional chance to win, leave another comment and tell me what you’re reading now.
Winners will be chosen July 16th!
This giveaway is now closed, congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who entered.
Happy Summer~
Wishing you Fun in the Sun!
There is so much eye candy in this one that i don’t know where to begin! I love those little flip flops out of nutter butters the very best. Now, that’s just plain old cute to me.
The Matchmaker of Perigord sounds like just my cup of (iced) tea. Of course, I know know whatsoever about it. I’m just judging the book by its cover.
Oh, and currently I am not reading a book. I am trying to decided whether I want to embark on that thousand page tome called Atlas Shrugged or not.
Nothing like being to lame to make a committment.
would love to have one of your sandpail books to read this summer as i have joined the local library book club and need to read 10 books over the summer! thanks for the lovely lake pictures, they refresh my spirit.
at my lake cabin, i love to read each morning on the porch. I am reading
“Carry Me Home” by Sandra Kring currently.
Cool brown sugar sculptures and I’d love to join you in enjoying a sangria! Hope you had a great 4th Mary:@)
I Love the Beach,I Love to read,I Love flip flops,I would Love to win the book ,The Will of Wisteria or any book,I read anything(my husband says I even read the backs of toliet paper sheets,ha!ha!)I just finished reading a book by Susan Mallery,Finding Perfect.A good read.Hope that you enjoy the rest of your summer,LOL
I LOVE your sand pail creations!! I would love to win one. I am a Follower, too.
Please tell me where in the world you got the precious castle molds for the sand castles, please!! I love the whole idea of the Nutter Butter Flip Flops, Sand Castles, Sand Pails, Brown Sugar as sand….EVERYTHING!!! You are so good!! Enjoy your Summer!!
Susan
Thanks Susan! The sand toys came from Dollar Tree, 3 to a pack with several assortments to choose from :)
You are amazing…a wealth of creative ideas. The brown sugar sand is wonderful!!!
I think this is one of the cutest, cleverest posts ever! What an adorable idea! I was thinking that you lived on a lake and was surprised that you had sand – and such dark sand at that! Ha! Who knew brown sugar could be a sand substitute! How sweet of your to have a give-away! I would love to enter!
What a fun post! I am definiteely making the Nutter Butter flip flops for my next summer get-together! I would love to win your pail of goodies. I just finished reading The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand.
I would love a new book to read on my next trip to the beach! And I am a follower too. I am reading a book by Stormie Omaritan right now.
Mary, your creative juices continue to flow from one post to the next. This one is full of darling ideas to celebrate summer. Love the flip flop Nutter Butters. So clever! I think I need to plan a pool party, except we don’t have a pool. ;-)
Your beach bag pails are a darling idea. I know there are going to be some happy readers out there, but like you, not quite sure how I feel about Amaryllis in Blueberries. Now reading Nora Ephron’s I Remember Nothing.
So cute!! You are a a genius!!!
Oh, my LORD! I love this post :D The “sand” and nutter butter flip-flops are too cute! I want to make some! Oh, and thanks for posting the recipe for the Sangria Blanca. I prefer white over red! :D
We attended a fun party yesterday, and I brought a couple of dishes. It was nice, though, not hosting {for once}. ;P
Enjoy the rest of the week! We are staying at our lake cabin through the weekend, and it’s nice to have an extended stay.
xo,
Ricki Jill
So much fun – and the nutter-butter flip flops are adorable. I’m thinking the Will of Wisteria might be interesting?!?!
If you had not revealed that the sand was brown sugar I would have never have guessed! I am definitely stealing this idea…. I am reading “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. Just getting going but I can tell it is going to be good.
I really enjoy your beautiful posts. I am endeavoring (word?) to set our table more often. Thank you for your inspiration!
Linda
Fun! Fun! Fun! You had me at FlipFlop wine. The buckets, nutter butters, et.al. are simply delightful. Thanks for inspiring. Happy Summer. ~CJ
You do the most incedible things with food! Everything here is just over the top cute and inventive. I love looking at your posts and thanks for the Sangria recipe.
Robin
Robin Flies South
Love, love love the cute little Nutter Butter flip-flops! In Hawaii we call flip-flops slippers (pronounced slipahs!) …would love to win The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
I just added Finding Perfect by Susan Mallory (shared above by Vicki Nuckols) and the Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand (shared by Ziemkek) and Wild by Cheryl Strayed (shared by Linda Waterworth)
to my request list at the local library – this last one must be very good – I am 109 on the request list!
Am currently reading The Confession by John Grisham and next in line is The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg.
I’ve also made the sangria and like it….lots! I’m a big nutter butter fan but never thought of them as flip flops. It makes perfect sense!
How incredibly cute is the “beach vignette”…nutter butters as flip flops..how very adorable!!!..There are so many great ideas to take in…and the sandcastles out of brown sugar…love it!!…
I am reading Emily Post, Daughter of the Guilded Age, Mistress of American Manners, by Laura Claridge
what an adorable send off for your books, leave it to you to make them the hit of any beach party! i am so partial to flip flop scenes too, i almost made those same cookies last time at the beach, we are always on the same page~ and if not… i am recommending new books to you :)
i adore the sangria bubble shot…
debbie, make the commitment to atlas shrugged, a wonderful book to get lost in.
thanks for the good cheer you always share~
I absolutely love the brown sugar sandcastle. I am pinning this to use as an idea for my granddaughters birthday next year. Such a fun party idea! I am going to have to look for the Flip Flop wine here in our antiquated State Stores or when I go to MD ( will send my daughter on this quest).
What a perfect summer post! I was thinking earlier today about doing a fun summer table, thanks for some wonderful ideas. I would love to win a book. Of your selections, I have only read one, Violets in March. I love to read, and belong to two book clubs. Thank you, MM
I forgot to thank you for the Sangria recipe, I will happily try that soon! MM
This is the cutest idea that I have ever seen! What a fun party! I am reading “Devil’s Food Cake” by Josi Kilpack (for the second time). It is a Culinary Mystery.
Of course, I would love to have any of the books for my summer reading — thanks for the chance and those lovely summer photos, too. :)
Currently, I am reading a delightful young adult novel — “Finding Sky” by Joss Stirling.
What a fun Flip Flop Summer party! I just love the brown sugar beach and nutter butter flip flops!
What a fun giveaway! Count me in.
I am a faithful and thrilled follower.
I am reading HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET and THE WINTER PALACE.
Your imagination knows NO bounds! LOOOVE the nutter butter flip flops! And the sangria sounds fabulous. We are going to an INDOOR picnic Sat. (temps to be 100 and heat indexes 110) and I think I will make ther sangria!!! Thanks for the recipe. I hope you have a FLIP{ FLOP summer, Mary! I am a faithful follower and would LOVE a sand pail filled with goodies:):) XO, Pinky
Those flip flops are too cute! Not to mention I love Nutter Butters!
I am reading the new Jodi Picoult book, Sing You Home. Light and perfect for beach or lake reading:):)
Love this post!!! Those Nutter Butter flip flops are to die for. I’m soooo doing this. We’ve been drinking Flip Flop wine, too. I think it is a great “house wine” for us around here, and the price can not be beat. I’m so grateful for your reading suggestions. I’m putting them all in my ipad suggestion list. I’m reading “The Doctor and the Diva”, about a gyn during the ’20’s and it’s very engaging. It’s a recommend!
I haven’t read any of those! Let me know which are best…am reading War Brides now. Great post as always!
I have my flip flops on and my glass ready! Right now I’m reading the Miss Julia series.
Wonderful! I love your table…all of it! And Flip Flop wine makes a good base for Sangria…I have not tried Fresca in it (I use Sprite), but I will…tomorrow. There’s nothing more refreshing that a glass of Sangria as I float in the pool!!!
I love the beach party idea. I have a group of Red Hat ladies and this would be great for a get to gether. We don’t have a beach nearby but we can pretend. I would love to win one of your beach pails and books. I have just finished reading “The Shell Seekers”. It is an old book and really good.
All I need to say is I smiled throughout your entire presentation. It brought joy to my heart.
This is so cute. Love the peanut butter cookie flip flops! Just darling.
I would love to get my eyes on some of those books! The Violets of March is one I think I’ve even pinned. What a charming giveaway! You have such a delightful style! Thanks for this chance.
Oh and I’m starting Good Faith by Jane Smiley today and I just finished A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore. Loved that last one – Britain, antique books, a mystery, and a bit of romance – all wrapped up in an intriguing story.
LUV’d this…we, too, have a “place on the lake” and enjoyed…”FLIP FLOP” wine over the Fourth!! Your flip flop cookies are CUTE!! Hope it’s NOT as HOT in your neighborhood as it is here!!! franki
You are so clever. Wouldn’t grandchildren love the brown sugar idea! Loved all of it.
The Matchmaker of Perigord – now that would be a treat!
I’ve got my flip flops and sunglasses (prescription!)ready!
What am I reading right now? I’ll bet you’d love it – it’s an old book by a man named Beverly Nichols. It’s about a lovely house and garden and it’s called Merry Hall.
Hi Mary,
What a fun party, your creations are just amazing. I just love to go down to the dock and read a fun summer book. I am reading The Big House. Hope you are having a great week end and thanks for sharing.
Miz Helen
Love this. I’m always looking for a white sangria recipe, so I made note of this one. As always, great to have you be part of Seasonal Sundays.
– The Tablescaper
Mary, that flip flop wine is too cute! I’ll be using your Fresca suggestion next time I make sangria. My mother turned me on to Fresca many years ago :-) Currently I am reading a book by a local author who who splits her time between Vero Beach, Florida and the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York where she is the co-owner of Sisters Bistro (our favorite restaurant). The name of the book is “A Breath Away” (she lost her husband at a young age while her children were very young). I have the tissues ready.
I love your Nutter Butter flip flops and brown sugar sand castles! Such adorable ideas! I will have to look for miniature sandcastle molds to play in brown sugar with my grandsons, Mary. With all the excessive heat we’ve been having i am getting cabin fever because I’ve been staying inside with air conditioning. I just finished the “50 Shades” trilogy — they were pure low brow fluff but I wanted to see what all the buzz was about.
Hope you had a fun 4th of July!
PS I forgot to mention I’d like to read the Violets of March, or any of the books for that matter. I love to read! :)
Hi Mary, I always love the links you include in your posts. Tonight I learned about Fresca–sounds delicious and refreshing and I’ll look for some! And I see that Flip Flop wine gives a portion of its proceeds to charity! What a great idea. As I’m looking at the adorable little nutter butter flip flops and castles in the “sand” I keep feeling the crunch of sand in my teeth like you get when you eat at the beach or go face first into the sand from a huge wave. That idea is so cute though! I was planning a sand castle table using play sand, but this idea is much better. Hope you are staying cool down there. Linda
The Flip-Flop wine sounds like a real good deal. I wonder if it is sold in Maryland. I love the cute nutterbutter flip flips, so cute. Thanks for sharing the sangria recipe, it sounds yummy. All of the books sounds great to read. Wonderful photos, have a great week.
This looks like a magazine shoot it’s so colorful and pretty.
Mary … you’ve done it again. This flip-flop post is just too cute and clever. Nutter-Butter flip flops and sangria! I’m in! I’m reading Wishbones by Carolyn Haines … fun cozy mystery series.
Great post. For a while I thought the cookies were on real sand:). I am reading Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland. Just finished The Garden of Happy Endings, a must read.
You are just having WAY too much fun! I need some of those flips flops! Precious…everything is FUN!
Oh my, Mary, another wonderful giveaway!! I’d love to win any of those books. I’m a follower of yours already. I have to say that those flip flops are so adorable. They look like another fun project for my grands. The sangria looks soooo refreshing. I like to use Fresca, too. In fact, I’m not much of a wine drinker. I have to make a spritzer with wine and Fresca.
Lots of great ideas for the beach or a beach like party. Valerie
Oh my gush it is beautiful and colorful!
Kim,USA
You have certainly captured the feeling of summer with these super photos.
Lovely post and so colourful. I like the ‘sand’ castles etc. on the tray. Sweet ideas for a summer party. Pamela
I am amazed. Brown sugar and cookies ? I thought it was real sand in the beginning. This is just delightful! :)
wow, love those thong sandal cookies, so cute! and brown sugar, who would think, great lil sand castle and palm tree too.
all that fruit in the sangria looks beautiful, not a wine drinker myself,
but it does look good I have to say!
Looks like you are all set for a fun time…………..
blessings, Nellie
In my earlier comment, forgot to mention that I am a follower. In one of my Book clubs we just read,” In the Garden of Beasts”, by Erik Larson. Just for pleasure I just finished, “The Language of Flowers”. MM
Oh my, what fun, and how busy you were to put all of this together. From the pails with goodies, the flip flop cookies the refreshing drink…I am impressed…very nice!
I love love love your site as a boater myself. Love the boating life. I’m a magazine reader (Southern Living, Southern Lady and Traditional Home are my faves). Flip Flops in my world are standard footware in the summertime.
Just flip flopped my way over for a glass of Sangria, a wonderful refreshing pick me up on a hot summers day, I think I prefer it to a Pimms!
Your giveaway is fab what a great treat someone will get, but please don’t enter me as I’ve read all but one of the books in your beach bucket already.
Love the Nutter Butter flip flops and the sangria. By the time I get done enjoying both of these, listening to the waves, it will be hard to stay awake to read, but I will give it my best try!
Beautiful! I just love that brown sugar beach~very fun and creative!
Love the idea of using brown sugar for sand and the Nutter Butter flip flops. Adorable.
Mary, I am a follower and I love your posts! All of them are so creative and full of great ideas.
This post is beyond cute. So many wonderful elements. I love the flip flops, and put the cookies on my to do list. I’ll be making them with grandkids when we go to the beach. I’ve not thought of using brown sugar for sand. What a great idea and the sand castle is wonderful. I’ll be looking at my bundt pans for ideas. What a fun give away. Pam
I read the Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton recently. I just finished reading Porch Lights by Dorothea Frank. It’s a nice beach/lake read. I love to read and especially in the summer. Have a great day! Pam
ooh this is the cutest, most darling post ever…so many clever ideas. I’ve got my flip flops on, glass in hand, ready to delve into a book! What a lovely idea… You have the best ideas.. thanks for the chance!!! be blessed, xo marlis
Always enjoy your posts and am constantly in awe of the time and effort you must put into creating them. I’m reading a fun book, called “the Weird Sisters”, by Eleanor Brown. I met her at an author luncheon, and she was as delightful as her novel.
I would CHERISH some summertime book love!!:) Blessings! Faith
Currently enjoying the book Bear in Underwear! Ha, I have a little boy!!:)
I am reading The Stevensons, Louis and Fanny by Laura L Hinkley. It is an old book that my sister picked up at a tag sale. It is covered in a lovely brown paper jacket and published in 1950. I am headed to my very first beach vaca in Rhode Island on the 21st. I am so excited, I rented a great cottage, 500 yards from the beach and I hope to just relax and recharge from my crazy life. I haven’t had a vacation in years!
Love your blog, it is so beautiful and I can relate to your love of the beach!
Hope to win one of your buckets to take with me!
I am searching for a Sangria recipe and this sounds just right….
You are having way too much summer fun!
This looks like one heck of a party! I am a sucker for sangria, and with all of the amazing fruit in yours, it really looks like something special. I’m also totally digging your flip flop towel – I want one! :-)
Hopping over from Foodie Friday. I’d like to introduce myself as a new-old blogger – formerly of EKat’s Kitchen, but now of the just-launched SalmonAtSeven.com…. and I’m doing a launch giveaway – I’d love it if you stopped by!
Your Sandpail and Flipflop post was a a true feast for the eyes! I could practically feel the cool ocean breeze and don’t we all just need a bit of cool relief this summer? I’m no where near a beach but would love to curl up and read your book selections!
Love your sand pail idea! Going to Dallas this week so will definatley have to find the flip flop wine and try your Sangria recipe.. your book selections sound like great beach reads!!
Super Cute!!! LOVE the little flip flops!!! I am heading over to the dollar store to see if they have any sand molds left!! You have the BEST ideas Mary!!