Chestnut Tree Lane

Oh... hi...

2011-05-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

She said casually as though she had not been MIA for the past week or so. Yikes.
I am stressing because I haven't put up a post in a long time... and the truth is I have many projects prepared, and in progress... but getting them online has been a bit of a challenge.
So, hang tight... be patient with me, I am getting things in order...

The problem here is that I start 50 projects at once... and nothing really gets finished in a timely fashion.
I have new lights to share, a neat curtain rod idea, a painted piece of furniture, an almost complete craft room... things are clipping right along. At a very Amy pace. It's who I am!
I hope those of you with today off are enjoying your long weekend, and to my Canadian comrades... a full work week ahead for us I guess.... how long until July first weekend? :)
Happy Monday folks.

Slack on, Slacker!

2011-05-16T11:04:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness for my pal Kelly last week! Between first T-ball game, crazy hair day, surprise school concerts and a couple days of yard work I was tapped out when it came time to post. Kelly really saved the week with her awesome posts (how excellent was that dresser?! Loved that.)

But today I am getting back on track for this week, I have a few posts lined up, and I am spending the day getting them ready to go - we had a productive, but busy week and have spent our evenings and weekends really tackeling those constant eyesores we had going on.

The first up was our lovely backyard. We are so lucky to have a big backyard in the city, especially with a busy boy and a crazy dog. They both really enjoy it. It is almost heartbreaking to admit, this yard was planted and designed by a landscape architect before we swooped down with our play gym, dog and cluelessness. Between the destruction of those two, and the random attempts of the Big Mister and myself when it comes to gardening this backyard it was time to admit this was no longer a sweet, green, lush yard. It was now a balding, out of shape yard.

Go ahead. Cue the sad trombone. Every spring this is what we were to be faced with. We had to do something about it. Honestly we had been slowly picking away at making some improvements to the yard for the past couple of years... but then it gets really REALLY nice... and we go to the in laws cottage. They have a great yard. Heh.

So over the last week or so when we had the opportunity we managed to haul those rocks out from under the deck and shape out the bed, remove the ever-persistent creeping charlie (grr!!) fill it with bags upon heavy bags of topsoil, transplant some wandering extra hostas and top it with many many bags of mulch. Finally I have something back there that makes me smile (not including small mister, and the crazy dog) and gives some pride back to the once sad back yard.

There are still a few bald spots... oh yes. We know. BUT... they have been seeded... and we are hoping for the best. It's only hostas, yes, I know, but it's not a track of mud and dirt anymore. So I say mission accomplished.

Oh - and since I am all about sharing here... have you ever taped off your kids head with green painters tape? Luckily they quickly see they now have rad purple stripes for Crazy Hair Day, and are not HIGHLY pissed at your "brilliance" anymore.

Oh. Hmm. Pretend this doesn't look like a mug shot, and that he is smiling...

*snicker*
Thanks for stopping in today!

A piece of my childhood...

2011-05-10T09:42:00.001-04:00

Kelly here. Once again!

Okay, so I mentioned cleaning out my garage that left me with ample space to work on a big project. My garage is so clean & organized I am debating moving my bed out there.

Here it is. My project. This was my dresser from my childhood...

Well, sans the drawers. And here's the top...

Very 1980-something, right?? My mom has been a dear and held onto these pieces since...oh, let's not date ourselves. I was about 5 seconds from telling her to just put it on Craigslist when it dawned on me...I had a spot for it! The perfect spot. I have been searching high and low for something to put in my dining room. All along I was thinking "buffet" style. I was picturing something I could store our dinner/serving dishes in and maybe display a few fun things on top. All of a sudden I had a vision of how this piece from my childhood could work.

I gave it all a light sanding and thought I could just paint over that. Nope. Silly me. So, I went to the helpful folks in the Home Depot paint department and they pointed me in the right direction. I picked up an oil-based primer...

This helps so that the grain in the wood does not bleed through the paint. It worked! I can't imagine how many coats of paint I would applied without that stuff as my base. The gal at the Home Depot tinted it for me since the color I was painting over it was so dark. I also pulled the paneling off the back of the top piece of the dresser before I got started. Only about 537 staples holding that sucker on. Yeeeeaaaaa.

Helpful hint for cleaning up oil-based paints from my days in art classes in college: A handful of olive oil and about a tablespoon of salt. Scrub. Scrub. Scrub. Not only does it totally remove the paint, but it leaves your hands soft and pretty.

Primed and ready to paint...

See that sunshine? About dang time. The kids were able to play outside while I applied coats. I was obsessed with painting this. I love painting. It's so relaxing for me, but the whole "waiting for paint to dry" biz-nazz...had me bouncing off the walls. I was so flipping excited to have this thing DONE. I even woke up at like 6 am one morning, coffee in hand, hauling every lamp we had in the house out to the garage to put on another coat. Basically, this gal doesn't see 6 am unless the house is on fire and I need to save lives.

This is what was on my dining room wall before. Very blah. I do really like the pictures (sorry for the reflections on the glass) and I love my big "E", but I never liked what I had going on there overall. Plus, I needed more storage in the room. Like I said, I pictured a buffet under it or something similar.

But, THIS is what sits there now...

I painted it Behr's Bitter Chocolate in a semi-gloss to match the table, chairs and wine rack in the room. It did require two coats but the paint went on easy and even. I did have some touch up spots that were hard to see in my garage but showed up in my home. Just little things that my eyes spotted & made me twitchy. Even the light still works. Pretty sure my mom had the same bulb in there that I had as a kid. Almost an antique, right?

I put our dinner dishes on the shelves and it makes setting the table easy for our oldest (her chore, my sweet gal). Sure, I'm not displaying fine china, but I do really like my dishes and I think they work well in this spot. Plus, it freed up and entire cupboard in my kitchen. Bonus! I found some new pulls for the drawers on sale and I filled the drawers with my crew's art supplies and the things I like to keep contained in the dining room...like the dreaded Play-Doh & finger paints. Since my crew likes to paint and color at the table, this worked so well to keep all their fun stuff in one accessible spot. My huge roll of finger-paint-paper fit perfectly in the bottom drawer. The kids can just pull it out and tear it off. Simple. It looks pretty (in my humble opinion, of course) and it's very functional. THAT was my goal. I am SO happy with how it turned out. Thanks to my mom for holding onto this for me. Who would have thought my childhood dresser would someday show up in my dining room? Overall, I think I invested $20 into this project.

I am debating covering the back panelling that I saved with fabric & reattaching it. I am thinking a pretty print to match the rest of the room OR do I just leave it open with the exposed wall behind? That's my only hang-up right now. Any thoughts?? I am thinking something like this to blend in with my curtains and chair pads...

I really love the 1st and 3rd one. The open shelves work for me too. I'm torn. Thanks for looking!

Happy Mudders Day!

2011-05-09T09:32:00.001-04:00

Kelly here.

I called Amy Saturday night and gave her the heads up that I will have a couple of fun things to share with her faithful followers this week. And to wish her a Happy Mother's Day!

My mom found this pillow in a boutique in Duluth, Minnesota...

Awwww...adorable. My mom passed on it (mainly because my crew was restless and dying to get back to the hotel and SWIM), but not before I snapped a pic with my phone. I surprised her and created the pillow for her for Mudders Day...

All I needed was fabric for the pillow, wool felt in various colors to match my mom's family room, embroidery thread for the stems, leaves and flowers, stuffing and a needle. It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Minnesota so I cut everything and sat outside in the sunshine while the kids played and worked on this pretty pillow.

My end result...

Eh, close enough. This was my first time giving something like this a shot. I picked some colors that were more "my mom" and I kind of did my own thing with the stitching on the flowers. She LOVED it. I was pretty excited to give her something that will remind her of one of our many get-aways to the North Shore.

And, it wouldn't be Mother's Day without my mom making something that brings tears to my eyes...

How sweet is that? I love to craft and create, but nothing I make compares to the things my mom whips up. Those are my three little dear babies...when they were babies. Seems like yesterday. I can't wait to hang this in my home.

I will leave you with something funny my oldest boy said to me on Friday...

We were waiting for the bus to arrive and with the weather improving day by day we kill the time by drawing on the driveway with chalk or he gives me his rundown on his thoughts on life. He's four, by the way. Lots of important thoughts on life. We are working on spelling and letter recognition and he writes the names of people he knows on the driveway as "homework." Mainly himself, his older sister and little "brudder." Friday he wrote my name...MOM. I asked him to spell my name for me and he says...

"McDonalds-O-McDonalds"

Um...we have some work to do. That's an "M"...not McDonalds.

Happy Mother's Day!! I'll be back with my big project to share this week :) Thanks for looking!

I'd like to buy an "E", please.

2011-05-02T19:41:00.001-04:00

Kelly here! Writing to you from the (still!) frozen tundra. Not even kidding. I ran errands with my youngest today and there were flakes in the air.

In other news, I had my annual garage sale last week and despite the cold and the lingering snow flurries...we did awesome. I run this sale with my good friend each year and though it's a ton of work and we get some crazies...the outcome this year was FAR beyond my expectations. It's part of the city-wide sales at the end of April each year and each year we get the same...a day of crap weather and a day of sunshine. We can both say we have never had snow before. This year I was thankful for: HOT coffee, my patio heater that became my garage heater & a hot shower at the end of the day...followed by a big glass of red wine. The crap weather day never fails to be our best. At one point I had a line of six people waiting to buy our junk. My husband is so happy the "garage sale pile" is totally gone from the storage room in the basement and I cleaned every inch of the garage to prepare for the annual event. All I was left with was a couple of boxes of stuff and that was dropped off at the Goodwill this morning. So, the outcome was a few more dollars than expected in my craft fund, a very clean garage, major de-cluttering and getting to spend some much-needed quality time with a very good friend. Thank you, Sarah!

The clean garage will tie into something I am working on later this week...stay tuned! I'm pretty excited. Or, as my youngest says "I'm berry me-cited!"

I wandered aimlessly around Michael's yesterday (Alone! Yay!) with a gift card from my birthday. I had a few things in mind that I "needed." A frame, something for my new little kitchen table to hold napkins, salt and pepper and still look cute and a fun pot for a table I painted to sit on my front steps should spring ever arrive. I also wanted a little craft to work on while I watched my Sunday night shows. I have mentioned before that I love decorating with letters. I found some fun little E's in the wood aisle. So, I walked over to paper (which was 4 for $1, by the way!) and picked out some cute prints to cover it. Yes, I know how to do more than cover objects in paper. You just wait. I will be able to prove it in a future posting.

PS. The radio just told me it was the coldest May 2nd in the Twin Cities since 1909. Come on.

I traced my first E onto a pretty print...

I traced my next E & then I busted out my Modge Podge and made sure that paper wasn't going anywhere...

Want to know what I turned these pretty little "E's" into?

Magnets.

The inside of the white E was making me twitchy (too white) so I added some dark purple paper along the edges. All I did was glue some magnets to the back. Should you want to do this too, make sure you buy some heavy duty magnets. I was testing mine through the packaging in the store. I let the glue dry overnight.

That frame I was looking for? See...more letters!

My sister Therese had this idea and a couple of years ago we all made something similar for my mom for Mother's Day. It's me and my lovely sisters: Erin, Therese & Laura. I saved a set of photos for myself. I have been meaning to make a copy for my home.

Love.

Love. Love. Love.

I am hanging it above the steps leading to the family room. Don't forget Mother's Day is this Sunday! Maybe I gave you an idea for a gift? Shout out to my mom for being so loving, hard-working and talented. I hope to someday be a fraction of the person she is. And to my mother-in-law for loving me like one of her own. She did an awesome job raising her son to work hard for his family & keep me laughing.

I'll be back this week with something else to share :) Maybe I will have better weather to report. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and looking! Enjoy!

Kelly

I'm gonna wash that dog right outta my car!

2011-04-25T05:00:00.006-04:00

So last week I paid the hard earned monies to have a person come and clean my car. Before I had a big ol' dog if someone told me they did this I would have thought this was a colossal waste of money, and also though they were lazy. I mean it's a car, not a palace, how long could it take to pick up a few old french fries from under the seat, wipe out the cup holders and vacuum up some dirt. Big whoop!

Then I got a dog. A fluffy, furry, 70lb ball of shedding and often stinky damp fur.

Do not let the pretty face fool you. Holly here is no pretty little lady. No. She swims in the river, or is content to roll in any puddle that is slightly damp, in other words... mud. When we take her to have her cleaned (or tackle it ourselves) her first instinct is to run directly to the nearest pile of dirt and roll in it. For real. Little boys dream... that's for sure.

So after one long winter hauling around my girl holly in the back of the SUV that thing was starting to smell like a kennel. A kennel full of damp muddy dogs. So I threw my hands in the air and said "that's it! I'm calling someone! This car is disgusting!" - A few hours later, I got back an SUV with nearly zero dog fur in it.... and it smelled like strawberry Pez... bonus! I am never letting that dog in here again!!

Poor Holly... she would be so sad. So, plan B - get a cargo cover to keep the hair manageable and the stink washable!
But some of these things go for over $50. It's a freaking blanket secured to the car!!

HOLY CRAP. It's a blanket secured to the car!!!

SO I went and got a blanket for $5 that is ugly as ugly can be... because I really wasn't sure it would work... and draped it across the back of the seat and over the flooring of the cargo. Taking note of the spots where I could secure the blanket, and marking it in the spots I planned to add a scrap piece of ribbon.

Then I sewed the ribbons scraps on... I mean no one is going to see the underside of this thing... and it's for the dog to rub it's dirty feet on. Let's keep things real here, old shoelaces would be acceptable here.

I also marked on either side of the headrests because I figured I could either attach a long piece of ribbon, or a Velcro loop, or elastic to loop over the top of it and keep the back of the blanket fully covering the upholstery in the back... Because... miss manners also drools all over the side of the seat. Yuck.

In the end, after about an hour or marking tie placement, running around finding scraps of ribbon, and sewing the ribbon and elastic in place I had this:

Gotta love that vote of confidence right? This is why I do this people... this is why I blog... you guys might actually care! ha! Stinker...

Anyhow you can see that there are about 6 ties on there, and you can't see- but two elastic loops at the top to hold the blanket up around the headrests. The only thing left to do was tie in the back of the SUV and see what the critics thought.

Seems to do the trick... in fact....

This could keep my back seat cleaner too... heh heh... bugger. Note how UNIMPRESSED the dog is? When he got in she knew her chances of a car ride were over. Or, she is also wondering what is up with the... cow? camouflage? whatever that is print going on back there. Maybe she felt all ninja... like we can't see her back there now. *snicker*.

But I digress - $5 cargo cover! Yay!

2011-04-22T05:00:00.002-04:00

I promise I am still working on that craft room. I feel like with all the non-reveal posts about it you guys are going to be expecting serious fancy pants work. Nope. I'm just slow... easily distracted... indecisive.. oh, and cheap.

Speaking of cheap and the craft room, let me show you my silly little pen, paint brush, screwdriver holders. Hmm, could use another coat of paint. Oh well. Can you guess what it is?

It's an old Pringles can. I just cut it in half and made simple little designs on them with puff paint.

By the way, don't touch the puffy paint before it dries... what a mess. Not that I would do such a thing, I'm very precise... careful...

UGH. Right.

Anyhow let that crap dry and then add a quick coat of primer. I don't know if it's necessary, or worth it, but I wasn't sure of paint would adhere to the puffy paint, and I knew it would scratch off the metal can easily. So I hit them with a quick spray before I set to painting them.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out - for the most part. Ok. I hate the metal can. It looks like a can painted pink - and I cut my finger on the lip... so that needs to be addressed, or recycled. But otherwise I think maybe a coat of sealer over the old pringles can and I have something that is not so precious that I am going to be sad if it gets marker or paint all over it.

Plus if I get bored with it, I just have to ~~eat~~ share a can of Pringles. Win-win.

Nest

2011-04-20T22:56:00.002-04:00

I came across this cute idea to make little nests out of chow mien noodles and marshmallows on Our Adventures in Home Improvement the other day. Unfortunately it stuck in my head, and the next thing I knew I was smushing the sticky goodness into muffin tins to make 24 of them for the Small Misters kindergarten class.

I am not sure if there is a trick to keep from burning your fingers off, but they are pretty adorable, right?

I'm so glad I am just dropping them off and not sticking around to witness them all eat the eggs and toss the nest... or to see the sugar hit 24 tiny bodies at the same time. *snicker*

I think my kid made that cute little bunny treat holder in the background... I'm not sure. It came home in his schoolbag and I said "Did you make this? It's so cute!" and he said "I know! pshew pewpew" and continued on fighting evil or imaginary bad guys of some sort. Boys. Total head scratcher.

The recipe (which I doubled to make 24 nests) is very simple:

4 cups chow mien noodles

1/4 cup butter

2 cups mini marshmallows

I also added a tiny splash of vanilla.

Melt the butter and marshmallows over medium heat until melted, stir in the chow mien noodles - muster the courage to handle hot marshmallow and stuff it into the muffin tins so it (hopefully) looks like a nest.

Easy!

Spring on...

2011-04-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

Last weekend it was so lovely that I took my new fancy dual temp glue gun outside to craft.

Let's have a moment for the glue gun... and say goodbye to burned fingers!

I can now glue my brains out without melting foam. Wait... you know what mean. The low temp means foam won't melt... not that it is in my brains. Probably a debatable topic...

Moving on...

So you know those foam balls that go on sale around the holidays that you buy a bag of, but use... maybe 3. Take one of those and have your self an egg carving party.

Or.... don't risk slicing your fingers off, and just buy a freaking egg shaped piece of foam. Easy Peasy. Why do I do these things? Oh... I'm cheap. Right.

So then you take a bunch or two of crappy dollar store flowers and pop all the flowers off.

But first, take out your heavy duty scissors and try to cut them off.... *snicker* I mean really? What am I thinking sometimes? Dollar store flowers? High quality stuff, the flowers aren't just going to pop right off...

Heh....

So then you take your flowers and poke them into the foam egg with a little blob of fancy new low temp glue from the fancy new glue gun.

YAY for getting my craft on outside! Don't worry, I was reminded I lived in the tundra by the next weekend, when it snowed. There is really nothing like scratching mosquito bites while watching the snow blow around... makes me feel... oh... Canadian.

Anyhow - cute right?

Not my mucky dog path of a back yard... the cheap flowered egg... thing. So what can you do with this thing?
Place settings - just set them on an egg cup...

Or.... mimosa glass if you are like me and despise eggs. Blech. Eggs. Grody. However, booze for breakfast, that I am all over.

Or you could shove a skewer up its bottom and topiary that egg.

Oh and yes - the bottom of my flowery egg has leaves on it. Which worked out OK.... considering I totally ran out of flowers. Shh... our secret.

Three cheers for the dual temp glue gun, and no burned fingers!

I was just saying to a friend today that this might be a sign of age, there are certain things that get me cranked up now that never would have made me blink 10 years ago. The price of gas, snow in April, cheese on sale, and adding to that list dual temp glue guns. Yay! Glue guns. Snow? Opposite of yay. Boo.

Go make some flowered eggs people, give them to your kids teachers... and if they turned out crappy say your kid made them. Ha...

387 miles for paper...

2011-04-18T21:59:00.001-04:00

Okay, not really. Back to THAT in a bit.

Kelly here! Thank you, Amy for that very flattering intro. I am so glad someone enjoys my messing around with all things crafty, because usually my husband just wants to know when my paint brushes by the sink will be dry & ready to be put out of sight & out of mind. Husbands are fun, huh??

I kid. I kid.

Mother Nature is seriously off her meds here in Minnesota. Snow? Freezing temps? Rain? Sleet? Uhhhh...Easter is like Sunday, right? Easter is why I have a cute little project to share...stay tuned and see below. Until then, I have yet to pack away the winter coats. On Friday, I was standing with my oldest boy, waiting for the bus and he looked up and me and said "You do realize it's freezing out here, right?" But, there I stood in my hoodie and flats with no socks. I am in denial. So, oldest boy and I went inside and swapped his adorable spring jacket for his winter one...and gloves...and a hat. I, however, remained in my ensemble refusing to face reality. The one thing I DO enjoy about this time of year is there is no pressure for my yard to be "spring ready." That will soon change when it's time for flowers and a garden and all things pretty. But, because we still have the *slight* chance of snow, the yard remains looking like it went head to head with winter and winter won. So, when we do get days in the 60's and 70's, I get to just park my rear outside in the sunshine with a book and yell at the kids from my little sunny spot. I swear, if I am good at anything, I am good at soaking up sun and keeping my crew in check simply with my voice.

I kid. I kid. (Not really)

Okay, Easter. I have yet to buy anything for baskets because I am married to a guy that can knock back a 6-pack of those peanut butter eggs in about 3 hours. So, I'm "that mom" on Easter eve looking for the basket-filler-items. Not because I forgot...Noooo...but because I simply can't keep the candy in the house. I do enjoy decorating for spring. Aside from the looming snow, INSIDE my house is very spring-y. Outside...NotSoMuch. My mom found the cutest little Easter egg lights for my windows. I want to keep them up until the 4th of July simply because they are so adorable. Last year she also gave me a box of Easter decor from my chidhood. I love seeing things I once saw my mom display in her home now in my home. One of my favorites was this bunny...

Cute and simple, huh? I love simple. But, his (her? I somehow assume all bunnies are "he") paint was looking rough and he no longer wanted to sit up like he was crafted to do. I pictured much more for this bunny. He needed an update.

387 miles later I landed at the Hobby Lobby in Bismarck, North Dakota. Okay, I was really there to see some awesome friends and family on my husband's side. That is the real reason we load up the minivan and head west with the three kids. We sing songs, tell stories and point out all the beautiful scenery.

I kid. I kid.

The kids play their electronic games and mother of the year here went out for her birthday the night before and made the 6 hour trip with a hangover. But, nights like that are few and far between and really, my pounding head (covered by a hood and sunglasses for 380 miles of the trip) didn't matter compared to birthday celebration I had with my friends.

Back to the bunny...enough about my hangover, right? Hobby Lobby is what my dreams are made of. Have a spare $100...well, you can transform an entire room. The best part, my mother-in-law picks a hotel overlooking this grand location. Screw the lights of Vegas or the Grand Canyon...in Bismarck, ND I have a full view of the Hobby Lobby. At night I can close the shades and whisper "Goodnight my dear ~~children~~ Hobby Lobby. Sweet Dreams. I will see you in the morning."

Okay, the paper. They seriously have the best selection of paper in the whole US of A. Which is where I found the paper to cover my bunny boy.

Ta-da!!

He's adorable, right?? I just pulled his limbs off & traced them. I cut about a 1/4 inch inside my trace lines and used a little Modge Podge to adhere it all. I used a little glue to keep his legs in place so he can now sit up and enjoy the view. Overall, I already had the Modge Podge and glue and I spent $1 on the paper. Woot! My mom already told me she wants him back. Ha! So yea, all that rambling from me and you got to see a rabbit covered in paper.

But really, Happy Easter everyone! I hope your weather beats ours!! I'm excited to see what Amy has to share this week. As always, thanks for stopping by!

This week!

2011-04-18T10:11:00.000-04:00

Well Easter is ready to jump up and bite some arse this week! So this is just a quick Monday post from me to tell you about some posts I have in store for you.

A cheapo dollar store craft... the ends up as an egg. I know - oooh aaah.

A cute little dessert for the kiddos in small misters class.

If time permits I am going to set up my new printer and try my hand at printing directly on fabric. With my new printer. But I am sort of chicken. So we shall see.

I also went to an awesome home show this weekend and met some amazing people. I hope to feature them coming up shortly too. Ah-May-Zing.

Best of all, Miss Kelly just sent me an email with some awesome spruced up Easter/ spring decor. I am hoping she is bringing it here to share. It is adorable. I love when Kelly posts here, she has the best ideas and the motivation to finish that crap and then show us how awesome she is. Kelly needs an "About me" page, right?!

Do you know what today is?

2011-04-12T10:47:00.001-04:00

Even though the title suggests I gave the Big Mister crap for forgetting some silly non-milestone date... not so!

In fact... it's a big deal...

It's National Grilled Cheese Day!

So to the busy cooks out there I share this news with a "yes!" and a fist pump a la Kevin McCallister... or as my child calls him "Home Alone". The answer to the daily question of "What should we have for supper, tonight?" is:
Grilled Cheese!

You are welcome.

Whether you like it classic with the good old plastic envelope cheese on Wonderbread... or you've stepped it up to include things like french bread, brie, roasted peppers.... mmmm.... today is the day you can put the casserole dish away and bust out the butter.

I happen to think a grilled cheese sandwich would go great with that vegetable soup I posted yesterday!

Here is a recipe from BHG that looks amazing... feta on a grilled cheese? Yes please!

Farmers Market Grilled Cheese - via Better Homes and Gardens.

So enjoy!

Spring Soup

2011-04-10T16:04:00.000-04:00

Spring is here - I think. (I hope?) I know most of us in this region have been anxiously awaiting the day when we could haul out the patio furniture and stand outside to barbeque, while the kids run around the backyard... and not be annoyed by the snow puddles we track in after. But trust me, this soup is like spring in a bowl. Who are we kidding? It's not too warm for soup... yet.

I came across this recipe by Jamie Oliver in the latest Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I knew I had to make it... the ingredients are fresh, and easily accessible. Plus with the air warming, and planting vegetables coming to mind - it seems like a great recipe to have in your arsenal for using up the weeks end of vegetables. I think in the magazine Jamie Oliver has called it "Garden Veg Soup". I also have to add, that I made some minor variations to the recipe, based on what I had on hand... that is the beauty of soup... it's not finicky.

Let's get to it - the ingredients (some minor variations to the Jamie original).

1 TBSP Olive Oil
2 slices of smoked bacon, finely chopped
2 small Leeks - finely chopped
3 medium celery stalks - finely chopped
1 cup of chopped carrots (about one large carrot, or a big handful of baby carrots)
3 small shallots - finely chopped (or a medium red onion)
1 small zucchini - finely chopped
2 small cloves of garlic - finely chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 cup of cauliflower florets - chopped
1 can chickpeas - rinsed and drained

2 - 15oz cans of diced plum tomatoes
1 box of vegetable broth
1/2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf

1/4 cup barley *
1/2 cup rice *
* Any small pasta will do - I prefer barley in my soup - so I added it in plus a little white rice.

A large handful of curly kale - washed and chopped - remove stalks. (About a cup... it's like spinach - and really cooks down.)

So here we go!
In a large stockpot splash in the olive oil and toss in the bacon and cook it slowly until it's light golden brown (hint, use scissors to cut it up nice and small... then put those bad boys in the dishwasher.) Mmmm... bacon. OK sidebar... any soup that calls for it starting in bacon is good news in my book.

Once that bacon is all golden and yummy add in the chopped leeks, celery, carrots, shallots, zucchini and garlic to that pot and let it cook down a little bit - about 15 minutes. You are not browning it, just letting it soften.

Now, look at all the veggies:

It's kind of a lot of chopping. So - here's the deal - this can be a weeknight dinner IF you cut these babies up the night before so they are ready to get tossed in once the bacon is browned. While the bacon is browning and these springy delicious veggies are cooking down you can cut up the potato and cauliflower, and open up the can of chickpeas. By the way, I used frozen cauliflower - because it was what I had.
In the spirit of fairness - lets give a minute to the less attractive part of the recipe...

I know. Woot. But they taste good - so stick them in the pot with the pretty ones. They should be bright and lovely by now.

See? Bright and lovely. Next up, open those cans of diced tomatoes and toss them right into the pot....

What the? Whole plum tomatoes? Ah crap.

Hold please...

So toss the chopped plum tomatoes into the pot and add in the vegetable broth, the oregano and the bay leaf.

But since I had to root out the mini food processor... let's think about this. If there are any veggies your kids (or husband) give the hairy eyeball too - this would be the ticket to including them in a sneakier kind of way.

Look at that! Bring it to a boil. Now stop looking at it - put the cover on, lower the heat to a simmer... and hang out for 30mins - or until the potatoes are cooked through. Meanwhile, you can wash and chop the kale... Toss in the barley if you are using it... barley takes a while.

Looks like tons right? It's not. You can barely see it in the soup.

So ten minutes before you are ready to eat throw in the chopped kale, and the quick rice, or the pasta... also add in additional water if the soup seems to thick to you. I ended up adding about 2 cups of water. (You could also use more broth... your call). Oh - and fish out the bay leaf. Season it up with some fresh black pepper and Jamie suggests you set the table with Parmesan cheese so people can add it if they like.

So good. Super healthy... Spring in a bowl. Seriously though - this would be lovely served at a baby shower or something similar. It's hearty but the freshness of it makes it a very nice light option. It's a really pretty soup.

Can soup be pretty?? Hmmm. I'm going with yes.

Holy Cookies Batman!

2011-03-30T12:20:00.000-04:00

If you have ever deflected bullets with your wrist bands, or flown in an invisible airplane you will love today's post. If you have ever told your child that they are "faster than a speeding bullet" or heard the ever familiar "pshew pshew" accompanied by the even more familiar wrist shooting action... then you will love this post.
Are your spidey senses tingling?

How about your sweet tooth?

Check out the fabulous cookies my friend Kim made for her friends sons birthday...

What a lucky kid! Aren't these fantastic? Great job Kim, thanks for letting me share these with my readers.

Bright shiney day.

2011-03-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I didn't get to any cute crafts over the weekend - what a shame!

But I did get the first layer of primer up on those darn red walls in the soon-to-be craft room. That was exciting. I'm so glad I took the advice of the paint guy and had the primer tinted to the exact shade of the paint... it looks like that is going to make a big difference in how many coats of paint it will take to cover that original red.

Of course being the over thinking, over extending, scatter brain that I am, I am already thinking about my next project.

The humongous armoire I just purchased from kijiji is soon to find it's home in my bedroom. My tiny bedroom. By the way have you noticed I preface all my rooms with the word "tiny"... maybe I should switch to "cozy" or "quaint"... maybe I can't do that yet because after jamming in a queen size bed and two narrow end tables I already feel like I am tripping over furniture?

Anyhow today finds me scouring the internet looking for inspiration, and also proof that, yes indeed we need to paint the crappy laminate and the yellow oak doors on that armoire. Yes we do. When you have a smallish room I think the last thing you want is a giant piece of furniture staring at you. Make it mellow, paint it white.

This room is pretty much the size of my actual room... I would have to stand in my closet to take this picture... "cozy". But there isn't any visual clutter and yet the room is very decorated. But that armoire is just sitting quietly in the corner minding it's own business. Just the way I like it. This room might be a little too bling for me, but it is so calm it's a contender for the "see honey! painted armoire!" file.

Via Style at Home

Feeling tropical?

2011-03-23T11:19:00.001-04:00

(by Kelly)

A few weeks ago I went to a luau party with some girlfriends. It was a great way to take our minds off of the cold with some laughter & relaxation. Who can let the -30 windchill get them down when you are surrounded by good friends? I HIGHLY suggest throwing a tropical party in the middle of winter. A perfect escape.

This also was a great excuse to sport my pink peacock caftan. Not enough reasons in this world to wear it. My good friend Linsdey and I say we are going to grow old together, wear caftans and drink wine. Until then, my caftan makes rare appearances at theme-parties.

I needed a Lei to complete my ensemble for the evening. I ran to the local party supply store and oh my...was I disappointed. Not only was everything junk, but it was way over-priced. Even the expensive ones were not what I was looking for. Sure, I could have walked out with one and called it a day, but that's just not how I roll. I knew I could do better. My caftan deserved something pretty. So...

Off to the craft store. I knew I could create the look I had floating around in my head. I browsed the fake flower section and found the perfect colors. Everything was 40% off, I picked two bunches of flowers and spent less than $5. I went home to create.

Here are my pieces...

I started to pull the flowers off the stems to lay them out in the order I was seeing in my head.

I used Illusion Cord to string through the center of the flowers, but you could use any string (I would double it, personally) or a thin elastic would work too.

This took like 10 minutes. If that.

Done!

I even had enough left over for a bracelet and a cute little flower for my hair...

So, don't get taken by the ones at the party store. If you have a few minutes & some string, you can make your own. For far less money and you can create the exact look you are going for.

I had so much fun at the party that I forgot to take pictures of the completed look. Oh well. I will gladly leave you with a picture of my kids from our little get-away I mentioned in my last blog. See how sunny and tropical it is up here? See how much my boys like to look at the camera? Ha! Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!

What started it all...

2011-03-17T05:00:00.001-04:00

I'm sure that somehow the tripping over wrapping paper tubes was what spurred on the whole red room to craft room redo.

So I am just giving you a glimpse into the red room... a sliver of progress... something to prove there IS actually things being done.

This is the closet (which is slowly becoming decrapified).

Now look a little bit closer...

There is all that offending wrapping paper! I finally came up with a system that will work for me. I need to SEE what I have, so poking it under the bed is no option or I just assume I have none, and keep buying more. So I quickly rigged up a way to hang the rolls neatly and it didn't involve a drill, or dowels. No sir... meet my seriously unfancy wrapping paper hangers:

That's it! I just screwed the cup hooks into a piece of trim that holds up that top shelf, one on each side trying to keep each set relatively parallel. Then I cut the twine to string across. I left extra twine so I could tie it into loops at either end and that way I could easily remove the twine and take out which ever wrapping paper tube I needed.
Easy peasy folks. Being cheap can sometimes result in the easiest solution... for once!

Here's a sneak peak of what is to come:

That is my $5 sewing table. I am just thinking over some finishing touches and hopefully it will be ready to show you in a couple days!

WORDS with Friends...

2011-03-15T07:30:00.008-04:00

Kelly here...I'm back! Thanks, Amy. Slowly digging out from the snow and cold in MinneSNOWta. The kids are on spring break this week and the fam is taking a little road trip to visit one of my favorite places to get some R&R. But, enough about me. That's not what you're here for.

Okay, more about me...I love decorating with words & letters. My last name starts with an "E" so if you come to my house you get to spot all sorts of random "E's" in various locations. Very fitting that Amy shared this pretty link from The Black Chandelier with me a few months ago.

Ten blocks...60 words! So cute! How fun are her music notes?

I had some girlfriends who also showed interest in this little project so we are having a girls night with blocks...aaaaannnnd probably some wine...but, mainly blocks. I decided before the few of us dive into this little experiment I should give it a whirl first. Nothing like telling everyone to come on over and then spending the night with the blind leading the blind. Just kidding. My friends are smart.

The basics for this project are: A piece of wood (I used a 2x2"), Modge Podge, sponge brush, decorative paper, solid paper or stickers (for letters) and sandpaper.

I had everything else, I just had to buy the wood...a whopping $3 at the Home Depot AND the piece I got was long enough to cut like 60 blocks. Wood overload. I am assuming craft stores carry blocks. I'm also assuming my super long piece of wood was cheaper than pre-cut blocks. Thankfully, I have a very nice father-in-law that was willing to cut everything for me...because I don't do saws.

PSA: MEASURE THE SIDES OF YOUR WOOD TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE CUTTING EVEN LITTLE BLOCKS. Turns out, I am not well-versed in wood and the basics of wood cutting & measuring. I will leave it at that.

After my 11 blocks were cut (I cut an extra in case I happened to mess something up) I did a quick sanding on the edges. These are going to be covered with paper & depending on how clean your cut is, you might not even need to sand. Your call.

I cut the paper to fit the size of the blocks. So, because I had 10 blocks with 6 sides, I had to cut 60 little squares. I cut a little more just in case. I used a very pretty Damask pattern I had laying around that was begging to be used on a project in my home.

I used Modge Podge to adhere the paper onto the blocks. I did have to do a little trimming here and there. No big deal. For the most part, everything fit. Pretty, huh??

Let's talk letters. I cut mine on my Cricut using the SchoolBook cartridge. I was able to cut all the required letters from one 12x12" piece of paper. I played around with sizing a little bit in order to get my letters to fit perfectly. Make sure you pick a color for the letters that will really stand out against your background paper. You can also use stickers, rub-on letters, or even stamps...whatever you think you have the patience for. The letters go in this order so you can get the maximum number of words:

Block One: H Y E D
Block Two: A C R S
Block Three: R P E T
Block Four: V N L O
Block Five: E O M D

Block Six: S M K I
Block Seven: T F B W
Block Eight: U A G L
Block Nine: P J I H
Block Ten: F P S C

Then, I used Modge Podge again to stick all the little letters onto the blocks...

The color for the letters turned out to be a little too bold for me. I used some brown eyeshadow (yes, eyeshadow) to darken them a bit and make them look a little more distressed. I was too scared to try paint and I didn't have the right color chalk. You just never know when all that eyeshadow will come in handy.

I then did a couple more coats of Modge Podge and let everything dry overnight.

I put them on my wine rack...

You can spell: Harvest, Welcome, Faith, Family, Spooky, Friends, Winter, Freedom, Bless, Snow, Home, Hope, Monster, Mother, Dream, Easter, Lucky, Love, Santa, Glory, Romance, Pumpkin, Frosty, School, Autumn, Spring, Summer, Father, Fall, Happy, Merry, Fairy, Fairies, Jolly, Flower, Wishes, America, Birthday, Flake, Hearts, Christ, Jesus, Bloom, Flag, Irish, Sun, Swim, Pool, Ghost(s), Witch(es), Vampire, Fright, Thanks, Leaf, Treats, Turkey, Jewels, Cuddle, Party, Heart, Smile, Wonder...and MUCH MORE!

My kiddos already played with their names.

I also played around with what I could do...

Don't worry, in the end I stuck with the "SMILE" layout.

So, there you have it. Pretty simple. I am really looking forward to trying this project again with friends & making a night of it. I hope you have as much fun creating this as I did. Be creative with your sizing and letters! As always...Enjoy!!

Mellow yellow

2011-03-14T09:29:00.002-04:00

I successfully decrapified my soon to be craft room... totally liberating! I am kind of shocked to report that there wasn't much to get rid of, only mountains to organize. So this week I have a little wrapping paper storage shelf to share. I'm also going to show you how I intend to store all my tools, scissors, markers, glue... it seems to me that I suffer from wandering tool syndrome (because of crafting all over the house) so hopefully this fancy system helps.

I also made my way to the big orange box and bought some paint... so while I don't have a big reveal on the room yet (because I spent the weekend sanding, priming, and painting furniture) I do have a palate to share!

Paint swatches via: http://www.myperfectcolor.com/ / Fabric swatches via: http://www.tonicliving.com/

Anyhow the wall color is the lovely yellow (jonquil by Behr), the grey is going on most of the furniture (french silver, Behr) and the coral is just for fun (called Japanese coral on the card, cannot find it online! Behr). I'm liking that grey swirly pattered fabric for the curtains.
I'm having trouble deciding which floral fabric I like for the chair... I'm leaning towards the one closest to the bottom. Opinions?
I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend, whether it was productive or relaxing!

By the way, my favourite guest blogger has something up her sleeve for you guys as well. My buddy Kelly, she is so darn crafty... you'll love it!

Today is Pancake Day!

2011-03-08T10:32:00.000-05:00

We've done this in my house growing up since I can remember and I love doing it now for my family. Pancake night is a big deal - pancakes for supper? You cannot get more fun than syrup on the table at supper time.

My mom used to carry on a tradition from her mom, and I don't know where it goes from there - but she would hide money, her wedding ring, other random things in the pancakes - and based on what you found it was like a fortune to determine who you would marry, or what you were going to be when you grow up. Crazy choking hazard, but it was so fun as a little girl to find them. It probably comes from the charm cakes from Victorian days - I can't find any other information online about anyone else doing this.

Anyhow to amp up the fun factor in my house I just add chocolate chips. However over the weekend I had delish pancakes that were topped with sliced banana and toasted pecans... now that was yummy!

Via Wikipedia

I Survived!

2011-03-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

Do you guys remember I was telling you about the pit of neglect, aka "The Red Room"?

Well! After almost having a nervy B trying to find my spools of thread, and bits of cut fabric for my quilt and tripping over dinosaurs and castles (The red room had a brief stint as a playroom once... brief... like 2 weeks... then it was obvious I couldn't fit my kid, his friend and all his crap in the room...) I threw my hands in the air. I stomped out of the room, stepping on a lego and tripping over a tube of wrapping paper in the process... I realized I was done with the uselessness of The Red Room...

So I weighed my options...

Via Wikipedia

Via Free Stock Photos

... and decided on Thursday (after still no luck finding the quilt) to just take the day off and use my impromptu 4-day weekend to clean it out. Luckily I got the clutter busted out quickly, then spent the next day organizing my craft supplies... I feel like I am in the home stretch and I still have 2 pieces of furniture to paint - oh and the room. But! I can now find my quilt pieces, I could easily grab a gift bag, tissue paper and a card for the birthday party my son attended without swearing, and I can see that I have about 6 bottles of white paint...

I can't wait to show you how this will turn out!

Oh yeah, not a single pic of it to share today... my camera is missing. Ha. Go figure.

But check out this beauty I have my eye on!

Hopefully everything works out and I can get it from the seller this week. I'm thinking I have the perfect spot for this in the dining room! (White... with green interior? maybe?)

The Quilt

2011-02-28T08:54:00.001-05:00

I have had this project kicking around my house for... almost a year. Yikes. You know those projects that you think will be no sweat and then at some point you pull away and think "holy mother... what have I gotten myself into??"

Well this is what happened to me when I began a Super Mario quilt. Have I ever mentioned that I have NEVER made a quilt? Have I ever mentioned that I'm really only kind of OK with sewing a straight line with my sewing machine... sometimes?

It all began with this adorable blanket from Instructables (via One Pretty Thing). Well there was also a pattern for all the little squares to make the cute 8-bit Super Mario.

Adorable right? I wish I could knit. But I can't... so I thought I would quilt instead!

How hard could it be?

Well... stay tuned.

Stuck on you!

2011-02-24T09:39:00.001-05:00

This little piece of handy crafty uselessness was born out of necessity. I am always crafting where I shouldn't be - at the pretty dining room table. So I am always looking for a piece of cardboard, or cereal box or something to rest my glue gun on so it doesn't drip molten hot glue onto my pretty table.

After making this memo board for my friends daughter I had a lonely piece of glass floating around. I held onto it figuring I would come up with something for it.

Glue gun rest it is. Ew! Look at how grungy my glue gun is! Everyone elses is that way too, right? I've had this baby for 10 years... at least. But look at what she is resting on... ooooh aaaaah... or other noises of wonder. I'm not picky.

So ages ago I had this brilliant idea (which I stole from Young House Love) involving sticking up 12x12 panels of cork to the inside of my cupboards to keep my fridge free of madness. Truly brilliant. But my madness was too much for the poor things. They all came tumbling down, and I had 4 panels of cork. Now what? Well they went in the "I can't throw you out for fear I find a use for you, someday you WILL be awesome" pile (along with the glass from the frame). Then one day they met and became awesome.

I cut out the cork flush to the glass - podged the buggers together and even stuck a little cricut cut out in between.

I guess you could paint the cork, or put pretty paper over it. But, people, it's a rest for your glue gun not a gift for your mother in law. Let's not go crazy here. The only reason I put the little cut out in there was to show off how ~~crazy~~ awesome I am.

Thanks for popping in today!

He's got the fever, I've got the cure.

2011-02-23T08:45:00.001-05:00

Good lovin'!
I love that song... I makes me tap my feet (at least that is all I will admit to).

So while we were in Florida, soaking up the sun (and SPF 500 for me), swimming in the pool, meeting Mickey Mouse my Little Mister came down with a fever. I know! Who gets sick at Disney? The place is freaking magical!

So we loaded him up on lots of oranges... we were in Florida, and they were delicious.

The boy loves his oranges... but I knew the real cure would be something a little bit more unusual...

The bendy straw. Never underestimate the power of the bendy straw. It even convinced the Big Mister to drink more fluids when he suffering that stomach virus that was going around. The bendy straw may even possess more magic than Disney.

Yes I said it. More magical than Disney. *gasp*

Spring?

2011-02-22T12:11:00.001-05:00

After spending the week in sunny Florida with the family I have to say that all I see when I returned was snow. Cold frozen snow. Not to mention cabin fever!

So what is a girl to do? Bundle up her kid like Ralphie's brother - "I can't put my arms down!" - and toss him outside to burn off some energy?

You betcha.

Then pile the snow from the driveway into one big mountain and arm the child with spray bottles filled with water dyed with food coloring?

Why sure.

Kept him busy for hours. I highly recommend saving those old spray bottles for just this purpose.

Genius!

(I know! Small mister is not wearing mittens! This artist chose to suffer for his work. I can't argue that.)

Dare I say it...Spring?

2011-02-17T11:23:00.000-05:00

I realize it's only February. And, looking out my window right now I see endless piles of snow. But, we had a sort of heat wave over the weekend (40 balmy degrees, folks!) and the Cadbury Cream eggs have hit the shelves at my local Target...so spring IS coming. Eventually. My house is in that awkward in-between-holidays-phase. Not yet Easter, but I've packed up all the hearts and cupids.
Speaking of hearts, I made this little hanging thing-y for my front window over Valentine's Day...

Please excuse the glare. Crafts are my thing, not photos. Obviously.

I just cut some little hearts out of fabric, stuffed them, stitched them up and hung them on a ribbon.

So, I decided to give this little project a whirl again and share it with you guys. This time...I am tackling Easter. The fun thing about this craft is you can really make one for any holiday and use any colors/fabrics you choose. Pumpkins for Halloween? Little trees for Christmas? Shamrocks for that day we all drink green beer? Whatever floats your boat.

All I needed was: fabric (I used a 1/2 yard of each fabric and I had MORE than enough), stuffing, marker or pen, thread and needle (which I forgot to photograph, so sorry) and ribbon. I also used a big plastic needle to thread the ribbon for hanging, but you don't need that. Any long object will do.

First, I cut my templates. I just used a 4x6" piece of cardstock and cut it into the shape of an egg & the same for the little bunny head.

Then, I traced the little eggs and bunnies onto the fabric & cut them out. I just used my gray Sharpie to trace. My fabric pencil would have probably worked better with less bleeding. Oh well. Lesson learned.

I cut enough for three eggs and 2 bunnies. Bunnies are harder to cut...so I made less of them.

Time to stitch these babies up. I did a simple stitch all the way around the shape leaving about a 1/4" of fabric on the edges. Keep in mind you are going to thread a ribbon through them so you don't want the stitching to be too close together or else you will have one heck of a time getting that ribbon through.

Let's stuff. These take VERY little stuffing. If you don't want to go out and buy a big ol' bag o' fluff...does your kid have an old, unused stuffed animal laying around that you have been secretly wanting to cut the head off? No? Okay. What about that old throw pillow you keep meaning to put in the yard sale? You could even stuff with Kleenex or tissue. Anything to give them a little puff.

I stitched them closed. Cute, huh??

Then, I put the ribbon through. Like I said, I used a plastic needle, but you could even tape the end of the ribbon to a skewer or something similar and push it through. Any spare chopsticks laying around? They work too.

And, there you have it, folks! My little Easter hanging. I did sew some little pearl-like beads onto the bunny's faces. Buttons would be cute too.

This took me all of about 2 hours to complete. If that. I put it together while watching a movie and my kids were napping. I like to create things that are quick or else I find I lose interest. I also like to make things that can easily be created while I park my rear in front of the TV. Have fun "Thinking Spring"! Amy will be back next week (Yay!) and I have enjoyed sharing a couple of my basic ideas with her faithful followers. Thanks for looking! ~ Kelly

Guest blogger with the easiest project you will ever create...

2011-02-15T20:16:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! My name is Kelly. I am Amy's friend from Minneapolis and she has kindly asked me to step in for her while she is away. (Thanks, Amy!)

I have her locked in my basement.

I kid. I kid.

But, I swear, she will return soon with many great things for you to enjoy. In the meantime...you are stuck with me.

Here is a pic of Amy's little guy and my little guy from over the summer. Cute, huh?

Okay, back to what you came here for...CRAFTS!

I am going to show you the easiest thing you will ever make. A simple frame & chalkboard paint...

It can be a very cute addition to your home. And it has many functional uses. Like, a reminder to "buy wine" and we all need one of those.

I had seen a wall of these in a little boutique I frequent. They wanted $20 (US dollars) for one and I told my friend I could make the same thing for cheaper. And I did. MUCH cheaper.

The one I made for my home I spent about $10 on. I bought a frame on clearance, the chalkboard spray paint with a 40% off coupon and a $1 pack of chalk.

The one I am about to show you is one I made for my mom for Valentine's Day. A simple and pretty gift.

All I needed was the frame, some ribbon, the chalkboard paint and some chalk.

Now, before I confuse you with my next photo, like 99% of the frames out there have the glass that just pops out. All you will be doing for this project is spray-painting the glass. I like to use old Christmas wrap for my painting workspace. When I did this the first time, I just elevated my glass on a small cup and sprayed it three times in about 10 hours. I let it dry for 24 hours. BUT, because I like a challenge, I happened to buy a frame where the glass was not removable and I had to just tape it off. It was actually very easy, but I assure you, when you grab your beautiful frame with the pop-out glass...it will be 10x's easier for you. Swear.

What you are looking at is my glass piece with the tape and my trusted old wrapping paper.

Now, I have sprayed it...

Remember, spray 3x's in about 10 hours and let dry for 24 hours. I live in the frozen tundra so I let mine dry inside. Thankfully, the chalkboard paint has very little odor.

Ta-da!

I added the ribbon & the chalk and gave it to my mom...

Hope you enjoy making yours and much as I did mine. And, guess what? You are not done with me. I have another craft to share this week before I let Amy out of my basement. Stay tuned for an Easter craft. A super easy version of something I made for Valentine's Day. As always, THANKS for looking!

Act 1, Scene 4

2011-02-14T05:00:00.001-05:00

You are a lover; borrow Cupid's wings,

And soar with them above a common bound.

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are all enjoying today and reminding those you love just how much you appreciate them. Maybe heart shaped pancakes or sandwiches, a favourite meal, a sweet note, or a simple "I love you". I like the sweetness of this day, especially since I had my son. It turns out the best gestures are the least grand, for me anyhow.

This wreath is what came of the left over pine cones and feathers from the swan ornaments I made during Christmas. Work with what you have, right?

Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart

2011-02-09T05:00:00.003-05:00

When I was trying to come up with something for Valentines I didn't want to go the pink route so I looked into the craft drawers and decided to come up with something that I already had. I bought two fat rolls of twine ages ago at a surplus store ages ago for maybe $2 or less a roll. Today I am making another heart... and I am a fan of using the twine to do so. It's kind of country, and that's not usually how I roll, but for Valentines day - what the heck? This is another cheapo project.

I cut some cardboard into a heart shape (traced a cookie cutter... I wanted them to all be the same size)

Then I busted out the good old glue gun and starting from the outer edge of the heart I covered the cardboard with the twine. It takes some time, but then that all depends on how many you make, and how thin the twine is.

You could hang loops on the back to hang them up, or you could glue twine to the backs to create a garland like I ended up doing.

These would make cute gift tags... or valentines if you felt so inclined!

I'm linking up over at:

Valentwines...

2011-02-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

Get it? Valentwines... twine? *snicker* Oh I crack me up. Ish.

Right! So this is wicked easy. Supplies are cheap... and you only need a couple things.

Twine (or yarn, or string... ) and some kind of fabric stiffener. I got this stuff by Plaid... called Stiffy. Yes it is really called that. I know, I can't believe it either! Could you use podge? I don't know... but if you try it, let me know!

So lay out some wax paper over your flyers if you are paranoid that the entire bottle of Stiffy will tip over and ruin your ~~coffee table~~ crafting station. (Oh! woven door mats for a buck?! I bet they would make a good tote... hmm). Dip the twine into the bottle and as you pull it out remove the excess stiffener with your fingers. Form the twine into a heart (or egg, or shamrock, or initial... hmmm....) shape onto the wax paper - and you can add a little bit more of the solution to it to make sure it, um.. stiffens. (Excuse while I disintegrate into a fit of giggles... it's official I am a 12 year old boy. Stiffy!? *snicker*) Leave it to dry, it doesn't take long, and you could probably speed it up with the hair dryer. It will stick to the wax paper, just pull it up every now and then so it's not glued right to it.

Then you could string a few together or hang them here and there... easy and cute.

Winner!

2011-02-07T21:52:00.000-05:00

Congrats to *kc who said

"A nice grown-up snow day would consist of curling up under a down blanket, watching Sex and the City episodes while drinking hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnaaps."

February 2, 2011 2:34 PM

Enjoy your shopping over at CSN Stores and be sure to drop me an email so I can send you the giftcard!

Buttons anyone?

2011-02-04T14:04:00.000-05:00

There is something to be said about buttons... they are functional...

Via Wikipedia

fashionable...

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collectible...

Via Wikipedia

and digital! I finally figured out how to make a button so if anyone ever wants to link up, there it is on the sidebar. Woot!

And if anyone ever wanted to figure out how to make a button... I had great luck following the step by step guide provided at Oikology 101.

When the roads are slippery...

2011-02-02T09:10:00.001-05:00

Online shopping beckons, and I don't know if you have heard of CSN Stores but they are worth the visit. They have over 200 online stores where you can find just about anything from dollhouses to modern office furniture. I can tell you I personally ordered a play castle and a wooden garage set from CSN Stores a couple of years ago, and I was really happy. The shipping was on time, and right before Christmas that is always a plus! I wasn't hosed for duty or any other things that can happen when you order online... and live in Canada.

So why am I telling you this? Are they paying me to say this? No they are not! They offered me a $25 gift card that I can give away to one lucky reader from Canada or the US. You can use it towards anything in their 200 stores.

To enter the draw all you have to do is comment your favourite thing to do on a "snow day".... if you want to enter again you can follow me, then comment and let me know (unless you already are, then just let me know!) I'll leave the contest open until Monday February 7th and announce the winner that week.

Happy Shopping! Here are some examples of the great things this place has to offer:

Thomas Paul Laptop Sleeve $50

Naked Decor Happy Soid Hot Dog Pillow $49.95

Bazoongi Kids Rocket Tent $39.99

Pacific Play Tent - Club House $79.95

Sunny days, Oh sunny, sunny, sunny days.

2011-02-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Or a snow storm. Whichever. More likely is the snowstorm, I heard someone say something about 30 centimeters of snow over the next day or so. I should note here, why do they always sound so chipper when they say that? I am left with mixed feelings of confusion and disappointment when they bust out "Lots of Snow!!" in a fashion akin to Bob Barker announcing a new car in the showcase showdown. I'm all "ooh!!!..... wait... did he say snow?"

Of course, I will be one of the silly people at the supermarket today to pack in some supplies.
High on that list is hot chocolate and marshmallows. Followed closely by things like toilet paper... and other boring items. Probably vegetables. *yawn* See? Boring.

In other good news - tomorrow is Wednesday. um.... yay?
But wait.... I have a surprise for you - you loyal readers... and some new ones who might show up to join in the fun... something free.

It's not.... A New Car!!! That much I can assure you.

On that note - if you are about to be socked into your house, and might be lucky enough to get a snow day (cross fingers!) it would be a good time to get your kids valentines out of the way! (Remember when we were kids? We made our own crap? My kid better take notes this year... he's on his own next year).

I got this idea from a blog last year... which one? No idea - and there are similar copies all over blogland... if you made one - add your link in your comment.

It's blow-pop flowers. You just cut out hearts (4 per flower) and poke a hole in the bottom to slide up the lollipop stick. I totally used my Cricut for this business. Cutting out 100 hearts by hand is pretty up there on the "stuff I would rather die before doing" list... It's a long list... I do subscribe to Martha after all.

Instead of a dozen roses...

2011-01-27T10:37:00.000-05:00

I like getting flowers, usually. Honestly though, I am more partial to the cheapo grocery store flowers than roses... they are cheaper but usually more colorful and happy to look at. But eventually they die, or if you live in my house your cat nibbles them or knocks them over and stomps the crap out of them. (My cat is strange, he seems to be offended by flowers. I don't know... I don't get it either.)

But roses and sweets are the old Valentines Day standby - maybe a little someone in your house would appreciate a rose they could keep?

I've showed you the Etsy store by Pat at Sunshine and Drizzle before, and I'm showing you again. I just think that for such a reasonable price you have no limits to what you could have put on an umbrella. Spring is coming! (I promise). I had asked Pat to whip me up a rose covered umbrella when the bath salts went tragically awry and she delivered!

You guys should see some of the other things she has going on over there, monkeys, and princesses, and dinosaurs... super cute. Plenty of time for a Valentines gift, I think.

Thanks for saving me Pat!

A project gone wrong.

2011-01-25T05:00:00.009-05:00

It happens to all of us, right?

So far my worst project gone wrong was one I had created before Christmas to post in my never quite happened "Favourite Things" series.

I struggled with that whole "raindrop on roses" line... but then I had a brilliant idea involving rose scented bath salts. (I was going on the thought process of "what is so great about raindrops on roses?"... that means it's raining, Maria! Raining! - but I realized it must be the smell! Told you, freaking brilliant thought process on that one.) SO, I set to work to find a recipe to make such a concoction. It seemed easy enough.

I put rose petals in Epsom and sea salts and let them work their smelly magic. Then I put them them in cute little jars and thought maybe I would put a cute tag on or something jazzy.

Pretty cute right? Who wouldn't want a little gift of rose petal bath salts? It would be lovely, romantic, relaxing... bringing about thoughts of roses after a spring rain.

Except it smelled more like a farmers field after a spring rain. A field of rotting plants. It was putrid. Horrible. I mean... gross. A few days after I put them in the jar they turned on me. They weren't great smelling before they went in the cute jars, but I had hope... the Internet said it would work.

So, hey, it happens. The Internet lies sometimes, or can make things look easy. I blame good ol' Martha.

Speaking of, I remember when her TV show restarted and she had on Marcia Cross who she was teaching how to make a simple breakfast look fancy, and she was piping HOT eggs back into their shells, and suddenly she stops and exclaims that it's burning her hands off and declares "I would NEVER do this!!"

Best Martha moment ever.

3 Little Kittens Lost Their Mittens...

2011-01-23T18:04:00.003-05:00

When they finally found them they were covered in dog hair, and were only lefts. UGH!

I am sick of the "where are your mittens?!" question I keep asking, and it's only January (cry? yes). The best part is that day in and day out I find myself shocked and surprised by a) the lack of matching mittens and b) the amount of freaking dog hair on the ones we do find. There is nothing more "supermom" than picking clumps of pet hair off your kid in the school line up.

So I created a solution! I mod-podged scrapbook paper onto a piece of scrap trim and hot glued clothespins (also mod podged in a kicky coordinating print!) to that trim.

It lasted about 2 days. Then my ~~pain in the~~ adorable son picked the damn clothespins off. Yeah. Insert your own brand of expletives here.

So... just to reiterate my challenge of little boy plus his hairy companion and their equal yet unique contribution to the daily (freaking daily) mitten hunt, I'm dealing with these two:

Yes, the small mister is holding a super soaker... and yes he is doing exactly what you think he is doing. And, yes, that is taken from behind the screen door where I was unnoticed, and yes, there is an entire series of them. Don't judge! These moments are nothing without photographic evidence. This kid will have to brush my teeth one day, we have to be prepared.

Wow, tangent! You came for mitten organization!

So easy. No podging required.

It's a regular shoe organizer. It comes with hooks to hang it over you door, and you can hang it up as is, or personalize it as I have done. I just hand embroidered some cute simple images, such as our initials (to designate a row or two per person).

Yeah right. I used a sharpie. The day I hand embroider a $6 shoe rack, feel free to commit me, OK? If you want to go the sharpie route, just remember that it's cheap fabric so put a piece of cardboard inside the pocket to keep the marker from bleeding through.

That's it! Mitten organization conquered! In theory anyhow.

Party for organizing - my kind of place!

Sabatoge!

2011-01-18T13:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday when I got home from work I ran about setting up my little mitten storage project to share with you. Once I got it figured out I set about taking a picture while I still had a little bit of daylight left, and I even thought ahead and had put the camera batteries in the charger the night before. Seriously? Who do I think I am being so organized?

Exactly. Who do I think I am to think being organized in my house was something that could ever be achieved?

I noticed there was only one battery in the charger, and the other one was staring up at me from under the floor grate (along with a couple of Nerf darts, a plastic food french fry, plastic army men and 85 pounds of dog fur). So I asked the small mister "What the heck? Did you do this?" - but imagine this being said by a woman who would honestly mark herself quite a few rungs lower than Mary Poppins on the patience meter. Quite a few.
"Yes" says the small mister "I was playing a trick!" he calls over his shoulder as he runs away making "pew pew pew" noises at the bad guy du jour. "I'm so funny!" he yells.

"I'm not laughing!" I reply back at him, deciding in that moment that I am not reaching into that floor vent... what about the mouse?

"Well, I am!!" He giggles past me on his next lap through the house.

So on that note I really would like to recommend this wine and this book to my fellow mothers of future men. Have a nice afternoon!

Progress

2011-01-17T09:50:00.000-05:00

The new year means putting all the holiday crap back into storage... and that means remembering where it all came from, which box contains which thing... fitting in the new things... it's like playing jenga with large items. Not fun. Honestly I still have a few items to poke away still, but I am suddenly afraid of my basement and being attacked by the Jedi mouse. I'm sure he's a Jedi... he is mind tricking the peanut butter off the trap without setting it off, enough said.... moving on.

So in an attempt to avoid that task I reorganized my bedroom in order to accommodate a TV. *gasp*
I said I would "never" have a TV in my room, TVs are for watching, beds are for sleeping. Then I became out numbered... and when my choices are Superhero Squad or football.... TV in the bedroom it is.

My next "avoid the basement" trick will be the hall closet. I'll even take pictures. I used to be so so ~~smug~~ proud of my linen closet. With it's Martha-esque labelled bins of Bath Towels, and Dog Bath and Baby Towels etc. It was a dream. *sigh* Then the baby was born, and it kept up for a while, I even reorganized the thing to make it all work for the new addition. Then I got lazy. I hate folding sheets. Lets just say that and leave it there.

Martha's closet

I also have a cute cheap mitten storage solution coming up. You're going to like it.

Blue Bird and Red Mittens by Constant Dreamer - via Etsy

Did everyone get their new 2011 calendar up already? Seriously? I'm not even there yet. I've decided my new year starts in February, apparently. I can't commit to a new calendar. I have to look at it all year, you know? I like the ones you can jot notes into the squares, that hang on the fridge... easy reference... I like the way the dry-erase and wall decal ones look, love it actually, but I need the paper version I can flip ahead and see what date the second weekend of August is. I don't know why I need that, but I do.

I'm leaning towards this simple, printable one from an etsy seller (Fibers and Twigs, which has quite a few cute printable ideas on their shop!)

Fibers and Twigs on Etsy

So - that's my Monday. The usual "bite off more than I can chew", that's how I roll!

Jedi Mouse. Really! (Via Etsy - House of Mouse)

Speaking of future craft rooms

2011-01-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I kind of tossed out there that I would like to use that giant frame as some kind of cork board in my "future craft room". I said it all blase like I could snap my fingers and blink and it would appear.
The truth is I have cleaned out "The Red Room" more times than I can count and after hours of sweating and donating and re-homing the crap that piles up in this room, it's more like I blink and it refills.

We do not have a big house, but "The Red Room" might as well have a garbage shoot attached to it. It's the only room in the house that doesn't have a function. It's supposed to be a third bedroom, but in our little 1940's home it's more like a forgotten closet. You can fit a single bed in there, along one wall. Not any other wall, it literally won't fit, as in, you wouldn't be able to close the bedroom door, or open the closet door if it were anywhere else. So what's the point of a spare single bed? Better yet, what's the point of an unused single bed, under a pit? None. So right now the "The Red Room" hosts a pile of suitcases, some lost baskets, and random toys, a dresser full of craft supplies... and that's it. Yet, it's a pit.

So I think I am going to finally make it mine. When I broke the news to the Big Mister that I needed it because my craft things are taking over the living room, he said "and the whole house!" - It needs to happen.

I'm thinking "The Red Room" might just go white. That room needs a breath of fresh air. Plus every time I say "Red Room" I think of The Shining... which I know is "redrum"... but I'm Canadian so it sounds the same. Hee!

Via A Mad Tea Party - photo unknown

Jeremy Samuelson Via My Home Ideas

Wish me luck. Going into "The Red Room" aka - The Pit - gives me anxiety. So much stuff! So little room.
Ah... but what these little 1940's four squares lack in storage they make up for in charm... and killer baseboards. Right?

By the way if you like things a little bit retro chic - you need to see this site seriously cute things. WISH I had found it before Christmas so I could not mail those cards instead of the ones I didn't mail this year.
(Anyone else do that? I buy cards every year, I get small misters school pictures ready... and sometimes I even address them... but rarely do I mail them. )

Slacker

2011-01-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

It's official, all of the members in my house are now suckers to the almighty infomercial. It started with me and the Cricket. Had to have it. Had to. So I got it... and I like it. It does it's job. When I use it... which is about once a year. Then my son ran towards the display in Canadian Tire yelling "SHAM-WOW!" so, we had to get it. I mean when the kid gets a choice of a dinky car or a piece of cloth, and he picks the cloth, you know the commercials work. Now, my husband is finally guilty of the same infomercial spell. Except he is using what he bought, and has compelled me to use it too. It's not even fun. It leaves me feeling like I got hit by a train. Even worse the next day, if that's even imaginable. Freaking P90X. Have you heard of this torturous set of exercise DVDs? It has a buff, and very chipper man as it's spokes person. It's really hard to hate him, he seems like a nice guy... so I feel a little bad when I mutter expletives under my breath as he is counting out his 500th pull up and urging me to do more... than the 2 I did. Screw you Mr Happy Muscles.
The crazy part is, it's a pretty good system. It's doable, well, mostly. Actually at first you feel like you might die. This is just my first week, and I am pretty sure Mr Happy Muscles is trying to kill me. My husband is mid-way through his second week, and going strong. Good for him.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I can hardly lift a glue gun I am so sore. Hence the slacker blog posts lately. I have a few things up my sleeve, unfortunately I can't bend my arms to pull them out.

I did get a HUGE frame from the sidewalk boutique this weekend. I am excited about that! I have lots of ideas for it... decisions, decisions!

Will it be a shallow bookcase?

Via Country Living

Or perhaps a giant memo board? I could use one of those in my future craft room, right? Plus a magnetic one would be pretty fun!

Via Country Living

I've been playing around with the idea of using it as a headboard too! I'm telling you, it's HUGE.

Via Sunset

But before I can do that I have promised my sister that she could use it for her table seating chart at her wedding, which isn't until November! But I think this baby will have a few lives before then...

The returns and the sales.

2011-01-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

So, we are firmly set into January. The Christmas decorations are stored away (well, they are in an organized house, where the men do not outnumber the women... how about that?) and you find yourself in a store... then you wander down the aisle that is picked over, messy and - what's this? - full of sale signs. It's the Christmas Clearance!
I found myself at the local Zehrs Loblaws on Monday and for some reason bought 5 frames for less than a dollar a pop! Maybe they can be painted, or used next year... I have no idea... I was high on discount madness. Madness, I tell you.

Then I combed through the piles of ribbons - Regular $3 and up and I bought a butt load of them... for about $0.35... thirty-five cents a roll. Eeeee!!! Ribbon is handy. Love ribbon. Clearly.

Then I bought a tree that I thought earlier in the season that I could make for less than the $8 price tag.... but can I make it for less than 97 cents? I don't even want to try!

THEN I decided I needed some mini fake trees that come with their own decoration! Why? Again, people, high on discount madness. I'm sure I can come up with some clever amazing way to use these that will make my husband sit back in wonder and marvel at my mad sale buying skills. "All that for less than a dollar?!" He will marvel - "you should have bought more!" - he will exclaim... then he'll call all his friends to tell them how awesome I am with a fake tree.

OK that probably won't happen. BUT -- good story right?

How did you all do out there in sales land? Or are you busy fighting the returns line?

Ugh. Sale buzz kill: Returns. Uggghhh. Luckily I have only one return. The big mister bought me a lovely coat. I tried it on and he made a face one would normally reserve for walking into a fart cloud at a perfume counter. So... it's a thumbs down on the coat, in other words. I have been putting it off... but perhaps this weekend I should finally pull the trigger and make that post holiday schlep to the depressing mall that is naked of holiday song and cheer... my least favourite thing after the holidays... said the girl who tunes her car radio to the Christmas music station promptly on Dec 1.

Happy 2011!

2011-01-04T11:36:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to you all! I hope the holidays at your house have been all you hoped, and as we head into this year I wish you all health, happiness and hope.

When I started this blog a few months ago I debated about how much I wanted to share about my personal life, my family. So far I have kept things pretty "sterile" in regards to what I have shared. Being that this is a start to a new year, I tend to mull things over these first few days, set some general goals without loudly proclaiming them for all to hear, this way no one knows when I don't follow through! Accountability is a harder thing to swallow than those vitamins I promised I would take daily, and speaking of, what is with those things?! Good grief! They are massive!

The person I thought of most as we came into this year is my grandmother. She was not the type to sit around. She cooked, she visited family, she made time for friends, she had hobbies, she went on trips. This woman lived life to the fullest of her capabilities... and this was in her golden years. Even when she began showing signs of Alzheimer's she didn't let it slow her down. She took walks, she did puzzles, she watched I Love Lucy, and Young and the Restless, she shopped, she took vacations... It really was quite a long time before the disease slowed her down. When she passed, two days before Christmas, she was almost 95 years old, and while we were all very sad to lose our "matriarch" of our family, I didn't feel robbed. I think it was because she was so present in her day to day life that you knew she had to have squeezed at least two lifetimes into her one. If I could glean anything from having the pleasure of knowing this woman it would be to enjoy all of your moments in life. Go with the flow.

So while I have many many projects to share with you in the New Year, I'm going to try to enjoy my moments and not sweat the small stuff.

This is my grandmother, in Vegas, gleefully counting her chips. I think she may be about 80 in this one.

The 12 Days of Christmas Recap

2010-12-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

12 Drummers Drumming

11 Pipers Piping

10 Lords a Leaping

9 Ladies Dancing

8 Maids a Milking

7 Swans a Swimming

6 Geese a Laying

5 Golden Rings

4 Calling Birds

3 French Hens

2 Turtle Doves

and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

I hope you guys enjoyed my take on the 12 days <3

Coming up next?

My take on Favourite Things!

Twelve Drummers Drumming!

2010-12-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

So this is it - the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas posts. *phew*

I was thinking about whittling a drumming Nutcracker from a unicorn horn... but that posed a series of problems. Such as not knowing how to whittle...

So... drumming.... drums... drummers... drumsticks. Ding ding ding! Chicken drumsticks!
Not a fan of drumsticks... bleh. But I do love chicken wings! You know what that part attached to the wing that looks like a tiny drumstick is called? A drumette! Drumettes it is!

So never having cooked a chicken wing in my life I consulted the expert, Alton Brown, for his method.

So easy you want to cry. Totally party friendly as it can be made ahead and they are baked crispy... and do not stink up your house with oil. Win-win!

So first you must remove the wing tips and cut the wing apart to separate the drumette from the... other part. Then you steam them... (warning, terrible looking steamed chicken ahead)

Then you kind of question Mr Brown's method. This doesn't look good. At all. But - trust me, keep going. Put them on the rack to drain onto paper towels and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Then you replace the paper towels with foil and set the entire thing in the oven and wait for the magic to happen. Then you take them out - poke them... burn yourself - and put them back in for a few more minutes if yours are not quite crisp enough. OR - you cover them in sauce and THEN put them back in. Delish.

Now - see how I was all stingy on the foil? Don't do that. Cover the entire pan... easy clean up. OR - you can be like me and once you pull up the stuck on foil - you can soak and wash the pan. Less fun, right?

Serve these babies up with some veggies and dips - yum!

Eleven Pipers Piping...

2010-12-14T05:00:00.001-05:00

Admit it.... you saw this one coming, right?

Well, then there were sadly not eleven pipers piping icing onto 50 cookies. Nope. Only two.

The small mister and I packed up the cookies, the icing sugar, the handy tubes of pre-made and purchased icing, the candy and the millions and millions of sprinkles and headed to Grandma's house! (Sorry mom... ) Oh, and the red and green ensemble - while festive, not planned. I mean really, who thinks... "I know! I'm going to post on my blog - for the public - a picture of myself dressed in my grubbies... I should coordinate this in a festive manner with my son!". No. Though I do wish I had the forethought to at least coordinate... something. A little lip gloss wouldn't kill me.

Moving on. Who has time for lip gloss when we are creating masterpieces!!

I will not tell you which are mine and which belong to the five year old who has limited piping experience.

Because.... sadly... It's kind of hard to tell.

But look how much fun we had!! Note the cookie pan? Well - brilliantly I thought this was the perfect answer to corralling all the wayward sprinkles. The many... many wayward sprinkles. Brilliant! Well only brilliant if each and every... or any full on sprinkle spills actually happened on the tray. *sigh*. I apologized to my mother right? The best part is, my mom is not exactly the sprinkles and icing kind of gal... she admits this... and yet, somehow, I thought it would be "fun" to do this ~~to her~~ at her house. Good times. I'm sure she is still sweeping up the millions of sprinkles.

Love you mom!

Ten Lords a Leaping...

2010-12-13T05:00:00.005-05:00

Gingerbread Lords a leaping!

I used a pretty standard recipe I found on Canadian Parents website and adapted slightly... no cloves in the cupboard. No biggie, I used a little bit more ginger and cinnamon.

The best part (I think) about this recipe is that it's kind of hard to mess it up... so it's kid friendly without having a stroke about folding and whipping and egg shells. There is some sifting... which is a great way to keep small people busy while you do all the ~~fun~~ messy parts... like measuring molasses. Then they can add all the dry ingredients to the wet... more or less. (Hint: plan this activity on a day you really needed to wash the floor.)

Then you have to wait for the dough to chill. Which is great. I find that the small mister here, has little interest in long projects. So we put on a movie, I ~~call in the dog~~ wash the floor, and clean up the dishes. When the movie is done you can pretty much start rolling out the dough. If they last more than one section of dough - bravo to you!

Then you bake them.... and more waiting for them to cool.

This recipe made WAY more than 10 Gingerbread ~~men~~ Lords. I think in the end I had about 50 shapes cut out.

That's an entire afternoon... so step two is to be continued!

Nine ladies dancing...

2010-12-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

Oh you guys... this one stumped me. I had many ideas, many were time consuming, and some were vulgar. Just kidding, it's not that kind of blog people! My mind kept going back to shoes, and girls night out, and New Years Eve... then I tossed a few ideas around with friends and we all kind of agreed on a foot scrub.

Well after a very bad experience with making my own bath salts I opted to not make a foot scrub. Especially when I knew what I wanted already exists, and is fabulous. (Would make a neat stocking stuffer too... oh - does the hubby read the blog?? We shall soon find out!) I love Burt's Bees. I love the way everything they make smells and feels. My two favourite things are the Ginger Body Wash and the Peppermint Foot Lotion. I am not a fan of most bath products, I don't frequent make up counters... I try everything people give me, but if I am buying for myself it's these two Burt's Bees products.

So if I have danced all night feet, there is nothing more soothing than this stuff:

Treat yourself people... this is the answer to tired feet.

*I was not paid for this, or given a free sample. If the people from Burt's Bees ever come across my little blog... you are welcome. Love you long time.

It's a marshmallow world in the winter...

2010-12-06T09:09:00.000-05:00

That's right! Homemade marshmallows!

I used this recipe from the Joy of Baking website. It was the easiest thing I have ever made, and let me tell you I was nervous! I read the instructions and got to "candy thermometer" and thought to myself "oh well... I'll have to find something else". But I sucked it up and forged ahead... because what is the worst thing that could happen? I burn the crap out of it? Meh... it's not like it was calling for anything exotic and expensive - no big loss!

So I made the sugar syrup and clipped in my candy thermometer - oh funny story. Turns out the clip on the side of the thermometer slides up and down so you can clip it to any pot. I was highly annoyed that my thermometer was stupid long and I did not have deep enough pot to clip it to. I seriously had out the biggest pot I had when I realized the clip moved. Marshmallow one... Amy - zip.

So I stirred it around a bit... and then when it was at about 235F it started almost bubbling over the pot!! Oh heck no. I am NOT cleaning sugar syrup off my stove. No. It was done enough.

So I put the sugar syrup in the mixing bowl "slowly" with the gelatin that had been sitting for a bit. I had the mixer set to low until I got all that hot hot syrup IN the bowl. Who wants to get splashed by hot candy? Not I. Marshmallow 1 - Amy 2. (Because I am counting winning the boiling over battle...)

So you turn up the mixer and let her fly. Walk away... clean your candy pot... and check in after 5 minutes and the above is what you get. So go prepare your dish and really all you need to do is spray a little cooking spray into a dish, line it with plastic wrap, and sprinkle on some icing sugar.

Then go and check your mixer again... it's been about 10 minutes...

Look.... it's fluffy and whippy.... and shiny! Now you can stare at it for a few more minutes, and doubt the size of your bowl... and grab the vanilla (or whatever flavor you are using... imagine using almond in a hazelnut fancy coffee? Or peppermint in a dark hot chocolate... mmm) Oh time is up!

It's HUGE! Dump it into the pan... then swirl red food coloring into it like it says on the queen of Good Things website... yeah right. Once you make this, then read that, you will realize that cannot be possible. They are robots I think. Definitely maybe robots.

So what you are supposed to do here is spray the back of the spoon, off set spatula or whatever you want to use to smooth out the top, with cooking spray so it doesn't stick. So I tried that. Eh... kind of works.
So then I picked up the pan, shook it, whacked in on the counter, shook it some more... and decided that the beauty of homemade marshmallows is that they are not perfect. That is what makes them look homemade! Then when people say "oh weird! Where did you get the squarish blobs of marshmallow?" You can say proudly "I MADE them!" Then smile like a crazy person, because, hello... who makes marshmallows??

Eight Maids a-Milking...

2010-12-01T05:00:00.003-05:00

Well, on a chilly winter evening I can't think of anything better to do with said milk, than heat it up and melt chocolate in it.

These are main ingredients...

Milk.... and the closest to whole milk, the creamier the hot chocolate. Really, you're already melting a pile of chocolate.... to drink, I don't think skim milk will ease your conscience any! It's like ordering diet coke with a Big Mac nonsense.

Moving on! You need milk, semi-sweet chocolate, and a really good, smooth milk chocolate bar.

For 2 big mugs of heaven:

3 cups of milk

3 squares of semi-sweet chocolate

1/3 of a milk chocolate bar (about 4 squares...)

Now there are a few other items in this hot chocolate but this is where it comes down to preferences. I also added a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp of sugar and about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.

By the way, if you don't have a mini food chopper put it on your Christmas list! I use mine at least once a week. It's great for cheese in casseroles, mixing dips, and of course, chopping chocolate... Also it has a tiny footprint in the cabinet space department, and the thing fits in the top rack of the dishwasher easy peasy. Love it.

Back to the hot chocolate!

Put the milk in a saucepan and slowly heat it up, you don't want it to boil... you just want it to melt t chocolate. When it starts to heat up, add in the chocolate and other ingredients about 1/4 at a time and whisk it around until it melts. When you can't see the chocolate bits anymore turn up the heat a little and give it a few good stirs to heat it through.

Easy! Takes less than 10 minutes I would say, and it is velvety, smooth, and decadent.

See those pillowy clouds of heaven on top?

Stay tuned!

Seven Swans a Swimming...

2010-11-30T05:00:00.002-05:00

So, originally when I thought I might craft up the seven swimming swans, I thought this might be a cute kids craft... I remembered making these with a babysitter when I was young and my parents were at a work holiday party. Then I started making them, and let me just say... I think my babysitter was on crack. Oh well, it was more than twenty years ago, and maybe it would be OK for older kids. My five year old son was not interested. Little kids could wind up the pipe cleaners, and paint the pine cones.

So, gather up your supplies and your glue gun.. and your heat resistant fingers.

Then you begin by curling up about half of the pipe cleaner...

Then you curl the rest into an oval to fit on a pine cone....

But don't glue it on yet! First you will want to select the feathers for the tail, two to three will be lots. You can cut the longer ones down if you like. Then you glue those on.... Oh, and hot glue and feathers? This is why this is not a craft for children. Ones you actually like, anyhow. Ouch.

Then you attach the pipe cleaner... more hot glue and feathers... yay! *cry*

Then you are done!

Unless you want him to have a face... then you take a toothpick, color the end orange, cut it off and dip it in ~~sticky lava~~ hot glue and attach to the pipe cleaner. Cute!

That's it!

Unless you want 6 more...

Last weekend in November...

2010-11-25T09:58:00.000-05:00

This is the weekend of exitement for me. The holidays are looming up and getting ready to bite me in the keister. This is when the fire gets lit under my butt and the shopping list unfurls. I vow to get it done before it gets too miserable and snowy... and gross. I promise myself to make it all happen while I can still get away with a warm sweater and leave the parka and boots at home... after all - it's just from the car to the mall.

Here's hoping!

To my American friends - Happy Thanksgiving. Here's hoping there is more than "toast and maybe cold cereal" on your table this weekend.

Via Wikipedia

Six Geese a Laying

2010-11-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

What do geese lay? Eggs. Biiiiiig stretch on this one people, I know.

So since goose eggs are not something most of us are familiar with eating, or buying I went with the standard chicken egg.
By the way.... I hate eggs. I hate cracking them. I hate the smell of them. I hate cooking them. I really hate eating them. The thought actually makes me gag... so does the idea of cracking them, because even though I try really hard to avoid it, I always get eggs on my hands. *gag* OK. My husband makes the breakfast in this house. I have no idea how to make a fried, scrambled or poached egg.

What in the heck do you make with eggs when you HAAAAATE eggs? Good question. Not quiche. Not custard. Breakfast casserole? Yes.

Now this is a recipe that is all over the Internet. I got it from a friend, but I've seen a pretty close recipe on the Bob Evans site too.

What's the difference between all those recipes and mine? I HATE eggs. So mine doesn't taste like eggs.... and it's not mushy gooey awfulness. It's fluffy in the middle, crisp on top and if you come to my house to eat it, it's probably stuck to the pan... I never remember to grease it. Ever.

So the players today? Milk, eggs, bread, cheese, breakfast sausage, dry mustard.

OH! And some kind of non-stick spray! (not pictured, because, well.... I forgot it. heh)

8 slices toasted bread - cut into cubes

4-5 eggs

1/3 cup of milk

dash of dry mustard

package of sausage crumbled and fried

1 cup old cheddar cheese grated (I just use a mini food processor thing... it's magical!)

SO toast the bread a little to dry it out, fry and crumble up the breakfast sausage (don't use the maple, apple what the heck over, just get the original - and if you can only find the ones in the casing, just remove the casing!) and drain it.

Chop the bread into cubes. Lay out half the bread in the dish.... realize you forgot to spray it, dump out the bread and SPRAY the dish. Sprinkle in 1/3 of the cheese and sprinkle in the dry mustard ( I use maybe 1/4 tsp... I take two pinches and sprinkle it over). Spread in the cooked sausage next and top with the remaining bread and cheese. Whisk the milk and eggs together and pour over everything. (If you are making this for Christmas morning, or the next morning for any other reason do not pour in the eggs and milk until right before you cook it it makes it mushy and gross if it sits in there all night.... in my opinion).

Put into a preheated oven on 350 and cook for about 30 minutes. If you have refrigerated it overnight make it more like 45-60 minutes. When the cheese is all melted and its not slimy eggy in the middle it's good to go. It's going to be moist... but not eggy.

Serve it up with some fruit.... and for special occasions you could toss in some cinnamon rolls.

It smells great and tastes really good. Even if you HATE eggs... and it kind of looks like dog food... hmm. In my house daddy goes to check for Santa and preheats the oven. When we get through the stockings the casserole goes in the oven and by the time we are done with gifts it's time to eat. Fuss free. Looks really good now, doesn't it? ;)

(When did this become a cooking site? Tomorrow is seven swans a swimming... and it's a craft! No... not another sewn bird... but something you could possibly do with kids!)

Five Golden Rings!

2010-11-23T05:00:00.004-05:00

SO.... On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Fiiiiiive Golden Riiiiings!

More or less.

ooooh yeah baby. Home made onion rings. Are they worth the hassle? Yes. Surprisingly though, not really a hassle.

Cast:

aaand.... in the spirit of being perfect, I left out the baking powder. Oops. One day I'll have it together.

1.5 - 2 Cups of milk

1/2 - 3/4 cup of flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

sprinkle of salt and pepper.

1.5 cups of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1.5 cups of flour

1 Vidalia Onion sliced into 1/2 inch rings

So to make the batter you mix about 1.5 cups of milk with 1/2 cup of flour and add the baking powder. Seriously people, make a batter that looks like pancake batter, or a milkshake. It's not brain surgery. Promise. Add a little salt and pepper. Whisk it up.

Slice the onion about 1/2 inch thick. It's preference.

Heat about an inch of oil in a heavy bottom pan and set up your assembly line.

Bread crumbs, batter, flour. (So you want enough of each to coat the onion ring... again, not rocket science. Promise!)

When the oil heats up (you know... when it sizzles if you drop a bit of batter in it, but doesn't catch the batter on fire... go with it) you put some rings in the flour and tap of the excess. The idea here is that the flour dries the rings so the batter sticks to it. Then you plop the ring into the batter - shake off the excess, a deep bowl is key here - less messy. Take the battered ring and toss it around in the breadcrumbs. Plop it in the oil... *sizzle* yay!

Flip them over a couple times.... oh! check me out. I use a fancy onion ring turner...

It's a wooden skewer. You don't need one. But it was handy! I used one for the dipping too, because, UGH, my fingers were getting all battery and crumby... not a fan of messy hands. At all. So anyhow *sizzle* until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes and then you can let them drain on paper towels or put on a rack in a cookie pan in an oven on about 220ish to keep them warm. You will take out the first ones and be all ooooh aaaaah... but by the time you take out the second ones you will realize that the first ones kind of suck... put them back in!

Rave reviews in this house. Not a single one left.

Let's look at them again....

Mmmmmm. Crisp and yum. Yum and crisp. It takes like 20 minutes start to finish with a small person asking you to "come here!" multiple times.

(pssst - I linked up on Recipes of a Cheapskate for Saturdays Party)

Busy Weekend!

2010-11-22T08:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend a few of us banded together, braved the cold, and stood outside for 4 hours... some of us even carried an additional, wiggling 40lbs PLUS snowsuit on their shoulders.

Why?

Free Coloring Pages!

That's right. Santa. We went to the Santa Claus parade in Cambridge, which is at night and all the floats are lit up. It's fantastic!!

My issue is, why bother showing up early to get a good spot when some rude family with 3 strollers is going to wedge themselves between you and curb anyhow? For real. That happened! What can you say? Maybe I am too polite (I mentioned this observation to my sister, and she laughed at the thought, FYI), maybe I just am too chicken to say something. Maybe I would rather mutter loudly about the rude people than to make a big stink at the freaking Santa Parade.

Weirder than weird though, the next day after we got home from soccer there was a box with an elf living in it. We're pretty sure it's just a doll though.... but we looked nervous about it. Ha!

Check out these free coloring pages for your kids if you are looking for something to keep the holiday crazy-pants excitement high in your house. I don't know about you, but we only need to mouth the word Santa and we are in for a walking in circles while trying to list the things he wants frenzy.

I love it.

Four Calling Birds...

2010-11-19T05:00:00.002-05:00

Do you remember that pattern I showed you guys for the crow I did at Halloween?

Well if you take that pattern and reduce it down with a copier you get cute little ornaments for Christmas.

I think they are the sweetest little things. You could tag them for place settings, or tie them to a present, even hang them from cupboards or drawers. Love them.

Yes, I realize that is three calling birds, but hey... I will have way more than 5 golden rings, so it all evens out!

Three French Hens

2010-11-18T05:00:00.002-05:00

This one came to me quickly. I'm feeling pretty clever about it, I have to admit. Admittedly I also have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised at how well it came out!

Are you ready?

Chicken Cordon Bleu... casserole. Did anyone else hear Julia Child rolling in her grave? ;o) Poor woman taught us all about french cuisine and we turn it into trash casserole. tsk tsk. Oh well - it's delicious.

So here is how that went:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into pieces
1 egg
3/4 cup of breadcrumbs (more or less... and I used italian seasoned)
1/2 can of cream of whatever (I'm starting to think all tastes the same anyhow... but I used cream of broccoli... )
1/4 cup of Gruyere (or Swiss - and really the amount is to your preference, I find Gruyere quite strong so I played it safe)
4 slices of deli ham.
3/4 cup milk

So chop the chicken, whisk the egg - dip the chopped chicken in the egg and then into the breadcrumbs and right into a frying pan with a little oil until it is browned.

Drain the cooked chicken on paper towels and then dump into a lightly greased casserole dish.
Slice the ham into roughly 1/2 inch strips and throw them in the dish and top with the cheese.
Mix the cream of whatever with the milk and pour over top. Then (if you like) you can top with more breadcrumbs or even stuffing.

Into the oven for about 30minutes. Take it out when it's all bubbly casserole fabulousness.

We had it with carrots and snow peas - it's not the healthiest meal, but it's fast... and it's made in your kitchen, that's a win-win for my house.

Enjoy the three french hens casserole!

Two turtle doves...

2010-11-16T05:00:00.004-05:00

So! This is a fun one, totally doable with little kids and works into the attention span of most non-bakers. I'm not much of a baker. Generally speaking my cookies are pre-formed by little a dough man with a ticklish tummy... know what I mean? I make muffin tops because the butts don't come out of the pan. True story.

But this is the easiest thing ever. Lots of people probably make it in some form or other.

Just, use your imagination on how it fits into the 12 Days of Christmas theme, please.

The ingredients are little pretzels, pecan halves and dove caramels.

What's that? Rolo's? Oh... this is where your imagination comes in. Pretend they are Dove Chocolate Caramel Promises. From here on out when I say "Rolo" you think "Dove" - otherwise this entire post makes no freaking sense. (I couldn't find the dove chocolates anywhere, I hobbled to 3 stores... no dove. Sadness!)

So to recap... Rolo -

Via Amazon

Moving on.

Lay out as many pretzels as you have Dove... or Rolo on a cookie sheet covered with a silicone mat. Preheat the oven to 240 and start unwrapping the chocolate caramels. Place a ~~Dove~~ Rolo on each pretzel and pop into the oven for about 4ish minutes. When the chocolate caramel is still warm and a tiny bit melty you pull them out and place a pecan on top and squish it down.

Like so (woo! action shot!)

The you just let them cool until you don't burn your mouth off. (Also you thank me for suggesting the silicone mat... you're welcome!)

And they look like ~~blobs~~ turtles! Turtle DOVE.... get it? (Remember... imagination... heh heh)

A partridge in a pear tree...

2010-11-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

I am so excited to start my "12 Days of Christmas" holiday themed blog posts with you! I am back up on my feet (mostly!) and getting things done around here.

I thought long and hard over ALL 12 days of posts I would share with you and this was by far the easiest one. As you probably know a partridge is a bird... like a grouse or maybe a pheasant that people eat... but I am not into that so I thought that maybe it would be fun to do something with pears and partridge berries!

Via Wikipedia

Do you know what partridge berries are? Most people don't, but it's a berry found growing wild in places like Newfoundland... or Sweden. I bet you have likely seen something called lingonberry jam at Ikea. They have it with their meatballs? It's partridge berry jam!

Via Ikea

But.... partridge berries are also hard to come by where I live, so I went for the next best thing and got some fresh cranberries. It's the same tart taste, but they are quite a bit bigger than a partridge berry.
I got a recipe for my first go from the maven of making stuff.... Martha Stewart. Her Cranberry-Pear Crisp is super yummy, the cranberries sing "happy holidays" right into your heart... via your mouth.

Then I think I did it one better, I omitted 2 pears and subbed in two empire apples... Plus I forgot the lemon... oops... but really I think it's just to keep the fruit from browning.

So this is the point where you make the crumbly but crisp topping.... but don't forget to add that little bit of sugar over top of the fruit before you add the topping. Like I did. Or you will find your self carefully moving the topping aside and adding sugar bit by bit.... like I did. Nothings perfect people.

Weird! I took it out of the oven and the dish was square! No. OK. So what happened was, after looking at the top dish we all decided that the crumb topping would never ever fit on top... so it got transferred. Cooking at my parents house is a democratic event, folks. I bet this is when I forgot the sugar! Anyhow, doesn't it look amazing?

What's that on top? Oh... that is a post for another day... trust me, it's worth waiting for!

I couldn't do it.

2010-11-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

After dragging my rear end all over the place yesterday I was all done by 5pm. So no uploads. I'm sad too.

BUT - can you knit? Do you have or know of a little girl? If so this article from Canadian Living is for you.
Knit Fairy Wings. How adorable is this?

Via Canadian Living

I would really like to learn how to knit, but I just don't think I was born with the patience required for such a thing. I love it - I love the tradition of knitting and crocheting, I love the feel of knit mittens and socks, I love the beauty of a cabled sweater. I just don't love the time I presume all of that loveliness takes. Which is why it's highly likely you will only ever see me post the ideas and patterns and creations of talented knitters - which I am not.

Procrastination...

2010-11-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

I promised the big splashy "Favourite Things" kick off today. I had planned to finish up the presentation of what I had made for "Raindrops on roses..." on Sunday and get the pictures all uploaded.

Then I ended up spending quite a few hours at the clinic... to find out I have a sprained ankle. Ugh. Super.

So be patient my lovelies - I am a little hurty and a lot annoyed with myself but I will get that post up for you tonight.

Favourite things and the 12 Days of Christmas...

2010-11-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

Over the next 8 weeks I am going to feature a post (or two!) each week that sings a line from the song "Favourite Things". I can't wait to show you what I have come up with for cream colored ponies!
Yesterday was just a tease, and then the idea came to me that I could continue on this trend and have some fun with it all. As you can probably tell by now I haven't really stored up lots of posts, so if it's a busy night - the craft doesn't get made and we end up with take-out... I have nothing to share! Hopefully this plan will help me make my self set deadlines. I am planning to share the Favourite Things posts on Monday. Why Monday? Well the thought of The Sound of Music makes me smile, and who couldn't use a smile on a Monday morning?! Right?! Exactly.

Further to all of this exciting news, when I shared my super fantastic Favourite Things idea with my sister she replied "OH and The 12 Days of Christmas too! That would be awesome!" I've still got to work out the details of this one, but I could craft out a partridge in a pear tree standing on my head.... 12 maids a milking - not so much. So... my mind is in overdrive on this one. Love it!

I hate posts with no pictures.... so continuing on the theme of favourite things, here is a picture of my favourite thing: My lamp.

Bright copper kettles, and warm woolen mittens...

2010-11-01T10:32:00.001-04:00

These are a few of my favourite things...

It's a cool crisp sunny day here. The windshield was frosted up... we could see our breath in the air. Love it.
(Well, love it for the first few days... then I am kind of over it... the romance of it all is over... you know?)

I do love tea kettles though, love my tea... all kinds. I also love pretty little tea kettles - I really want one of these glass ones, that way you can see when the tea is brewed!

Via The Tea Emporium

Via Red Umbrella Tea

Oh and check this out, the Red Umbrella Tea is offering %15 off until December 31st with every order over $25. Score!

The great thing about a hot beverage on a cool day is that it keeps your hands warm when you are out watching the kids at the park, or hitting the farmers market for fall goodies.

But, when the cup is empty these are beautiful hand-warmers by Fuzzy Knits in New Hampshire on Etsy.

Via Etsy - Fuzzy Knits

Happy November folks!

Haunted Gingerbread Houses

2010-10-29T09:44:00.001-04:00

Have you guys seen the kits at Micheal's for the Halloween gingerbread houses?

Truth be told, I thought it was just silly.... we do them at Christmas, so I am not so sure what I thought was silly about having some fun with this around Halloween.

Then I came across this masterpiece by Marion from Sweetopia.

Via Sweetopia

Is that not the coolest thing you've ever seen? I am inspired to make a gingerbread house! Not sure if that will happen, I seem to have a bit of an impromptu Trick-or-Treat party happening at my house. IF I don't get time this year I am making a mental note for next year!

If I don't get to post tonight - Happy Halloween - see you Monday!

Pumpkin Biscotti

2010-10-26T19:26:00.002-04:00

I love biscotti... love it. Once I figured out how to make it and realized it is not brain surgery I wanted to make every kind of biscotti I could think of: orange cranberry, chocolate chip, mint chocolate... etc.

So the other day I got the idea to try and figure out a pumpkin spice biscotti... with a glaze of some sort. Sounds yum right?

Here is the recipe I used:

2 + 1/2 Cups flour
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp of nutmeg... a dash... basically
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (honestly I took a heaping scoop from the can with the 1/2 cup measure.)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 Cup chopped pecans

Mix together all the dry ingredients and set aside. Beat pumpkin and sugar until light and fluffy and add in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add in dry ingredients and incorporate well. A stand mixture is the best for this... biscotti is a really sticky dough.

Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a 2" wide log and place on greased cookie sheet. (Or parchment paper)

Bake 20-30 minutes in preheated 350 F oven until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on cutting board for about 10 minutes (until it's cool enough to handle). Slice on an angle into about 1 inch wide pieces you'll want to use a serrated knife for this. Place cut side down onto cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes longer at about 325 F until cookies are dried (flip it over the biscotti during the last five minutes). Place on wire racks to cool. You can leave it out to crisp up overnight if it's still a bit chewy and you would rather a crisp cookie.

After the taste test I figured a sour cream glaze went best with it - so here's how that goes:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
heat everything in a saucepan until boiling and then just dip the biscotti in and let set.

I'm telling you - this is delish!

*added note:
So... the glaze does NOT set. In fact it makes it soggy. Sadness.
Skip the glaze people, skip the glaze.

* found the glaze over on Our Best Bites that will do the trick!

Motivation?

2010-10-26T10:37:00.002-04:00

Have you ever started a project and thought to yourself "oh no". Well let me tell you, making a quilt is nothing to sneeze at. First you have all these little pieces to cut out, then you start sewing, and sewing and sewing, and then you realize that this might take longer than an evening or three to complete.

Red Pepper Quilts

Via Red Pepper Quilts

My journey began with an idea to turn Super Mario into a quilt. As you might remember we have a bit of a fan of Mario in this house. My journey began about 6 months ago. Not even kidding. I was on a roll, cut all the squares, started sewing the squares together, had a few lines done... then pfft. Lost interest.

Via Red Pepper Quilts

But the leaves are falling, my oven is rolling out soups and chili and pies (also lots of smoke, what is up with that??) - cooler weather is approaching. With cooler weather comes cozy blankets and fluffy sweaters, and hot chocolate. Mmmmmm. So my attention returns to that quilt I started and tossed aside. It won't be as lovely as those featured on Red Pepper Quilts, my goodness she is talented! I have no idea what I am doing, and I'm OK with that! It's a journey... a learning experience... a bribe so my kid thinks I am cool... you know, the usual.

As promised...

2010-10-25T08:44:00.001-04:00

Well, here is what all the hinting was about...

I think it's just the cutest, if I do say so myself. I was thinking that I wanted to do a sort of pillowcase dress that was wearable in the fall, for those of us in the colder climates. I went looking around at pillowcases, and thought maybe flannel, maybe denim and then it came to me - I ask you, what is cosier than polar fleece?

What is more fall/ Halloween / festive than the orange, yellow and white of a piece of candy corn?

I didn't use a pattern for this as it is meant to be as basic as the pillowcase dress... so here is a sort of step by step guide.

First take a picture of your fabric.

Just kidding. I don't even know what I was thinking. Wooo.... fabric. But you will need fabric and some kind of closer, I opted to not do the ribbon ties because I felt it would be too bulky, so I got some snaps.

Cut your fabric to the width you require. Then, because I used three colours, sew it into one large panel.

Once you have your panel you sew the sides together, pin the hem, and cut out an appropriate shape for the arms and neck. You could use a shirt or dress yoo already have as a guide.

You are almost done! All that is left is the 1/4" hem along the raw edges of the arms and neck - then you can add pieces to make the straps longer if needed. Once you are all done with the hemming all that is required is to add the snaps or buttons!

(and have you sweet husband take a shaky picture of that step - this is crucial. ;) )

All done! Let's see that cute dress again OK? A little white long sleeve shirt, and tights... cute!

Enjoy!

Tomorrow... promise

2010-10-24T05:00:00.002-04:00

So between the pumpkin patch, the soccer gear shopping, and the Halloween costume hunting I was out of gas when I got home today. Which means I didn't get the project quite finished.

But since I had a 2-fer yesterday I felt like I deserved a freebie, no?

Tomorrow I have a super cute project to share, I'll even have all the directions for it. Yes. Really.

A hint? OK OK, twist my arm...

via Wikipedia

Seriously - that's the hint. It's going to be cute! I have a vision!

Wall hanging - part two... and three!

2010-10-23T05:00:00.002-04:00

My goodness people, I was featured on One Pretty Thing yesterday, talk about exciting - especially for a new blogger such as myself. So, to any new people who came back today - welcome, thanks, and I love you a little bit!

Today I have part two and three of the functional, but cute wall hanging I have in the works for a friends little girl. Both involve old frames, paint and cute fabric.

Oh... just kidding - that's not the paint I used... hmmm. It was the Krylon celery for one, and a bright sunny acrylic paint for the other. It's good I'm on my game like that.

The first is a simple, so simple it hurts, wipeable memo board.
This is just a cheap Ikea picture frame, with fabric inside. Really. That's it. You can use any old washable marker on there, and it will wipe right off the glass - no sweat. I thought this is a great thing for friends to leave notes, or mom to write reminders on.

The second is a tiny little french memo board... you know how kids have special momentos, movie tickets, special photos, this is a nice neat way to display some, without being permanent. Justin Bieber isn't going to be "it" forever, right?
Also, not hard. There are so so so many tutorials out there for french memo boards. Really. So many.
The idea is to put batting over cardboard or wood, then glue or staple fabric to the back, then glue or staple ribbon or elastic across the board, allowing space for odds and ends to be poked into them. That is it. This one just happens to live in an old picture frame that I spray painted to coordinate with the rest of the pieces.

It's so nice to make things for little girls sometimes!

Another Pumpkin?

2010-10-22T05:00:00.002-04:00

Absolutely. What is Fall without pumpkins made of things that are not pumpkin? Well... it's just not fall. Right?

While I was making my twine pumpkin I thought, you know what might have the same rustic, rough "feel"? Burlap. So while I was at the dollar store grabbing some googly eyes I also picked up this bulapy-ish type of stuff to give it a shot. I don't have any instructions all laid out for this, because honestly I didn't think it was going to be as cute as this in the end.

If you read the post about the twine pumpkin then it's the same start - cover foam ball in batting. From there it's fabric and this weird papery burlap stuff, twine for the pumpkin ridges and fabric for the leaves. Nothing too finicky. Considering I thought this whole project as going to be a big fat bust in the end, I am pleasantly surprised!

A little more Boo for your Buck?

2010-10-21T04:00:00.002-04:00

So here is what I came up with to spookify my front porch: silver spray painted skulls and some twigs.
Done and done!

I got these guys at the dollar store (I should consider buying stock there...) but I didn't like the um... authentic brown aged look of them. Too scary... doesn't scream Happy Halloween!!

I prefer disco skulls. I achieved that look with a little help from some handy dandy spray paint from the hardware store. We've all done the glittered pumpkins by now, or talked ourselves out of it (so messy!) many times... silver spray paint I can do.

The small mister is loving it. I'm pretty happy with it too especially for it being a buck or two, plus it's not all in your face skulls and dead stuff. Not that fake scary graveyards and all of that isn't pretty cool. I'm just a big fat chicken who has only seen 3 scary movies, through my fingers, with my head under a pillow. I'm that girl who used the phrase "disco skulls" - I'm OK with that!

Wall hanging - part one...

2010-10-20T05:00:00.006-04:00

Part one of the decorative (but functional) wall hanging I am doing for a friend is complete!

I took a canvas (yes... from the dollar store) and chose to do a woven covering over it with some satin and cotton ribbon, that way each little square is an opportunity to hang a pair of earrings or clip a barrette. The two purple flowers at the bottom are drawer pulls which are screwed right to the frame of the canvas, perfect for hairbands, and jewellery.
I can't wait to get started on the rest!
What do you think?

An idea...

2010-10-19T11:14:00.002-04:00

I was in the middle of fighting with a canvas last night and it hit me... not the canvas, but an idea.

These things happen when whatever I have planned for a project does not turn out as I had expected... at all. So I don't have a "ta-da" for you today. But I do have an idea of a ta-da for tomorrow.

A friend of mine had asked me to come up with some kind of wall hanging for her daughters room. So I went back and forth on a few things... but I finally think I may have come up with an idea! Last night I abandoned the canvas and trying to make it into a hair band / jewellery holder (sort of) and thought about maybe a series of canvases (or possibly frames... hmm) that I could make into something special - and useful. Her daughter is coming into that transitional age so it still has to be fun... here are some inspiration pictures of what is to come.

Family Fun

Anthropologie

La Petite Playhouse

Under the Table and Dreaming - Via: One Pretty Thing

More boo for your buck!

2010-10-18T08:56:00.001-04:00

I think we will say that the twine pumpkin was the unofficial kick-off for this El cheapo Halloween decorations.

Today I have for you a project that takes a little time, but nothing too crazy. Maybe an hour?

Here are the basics... ah man, forgot the glue, I used old reliable podge. If you were wondering.

Supply total $2.00. I already the old frame, the glue and the paint. Two bucks for this?

Yes please! I cannot take the credit for this fantastic idea. Prowling the pages of One Pretty Thing for inspiration and to be impressed with the clever people who get there I came across a post for a wreath made from googly eyes. Adorable.

Twine Pumpkin

2010-10-15T08:30:00.002-04:00

So yesterday I took on a very low work project... a twine pumpkin. Took about 30ish minutes... tops.

Here's how that went down:

Small boy not included in supplies... he's just cute decoration. (Note the jammies? This was at 5pm yesterday... when we got home from school he decided we might as well get comfy.)

Then you add some larger twine to the mix...

I had a little green raffia in the bin of random things so I made a sort of leafy, vine top on it. I made it curl by using a lighter (carefully!) and melting bits of it and twisting it.

It looks big in the pictures but it's only about 5 inches in diameter.

Note to self - 5pm is a bad picture taking time... oh well. Better than nothing I hope!

Sick, real sick. Ick!

2010-10-14T11:18:00.000-04:00

My house has been overtaken by a cold bug thing. Gross.

I have been so freaking tired I haven't crafted a thing in days... but tonight I think it's time for some homemade chicken soup. Also I have things in the fridge that have to go... I'm looking at you sad celery.

Via: Apartment Therapy

Here is a great article from Apartment Therapy about cleaning out those sad veggies and using them to make a great stock. It's a really good idea... I am never quite organized enough to get that done, but my intentions are good. One day I will be super woman enough to pack lunches in bento boxes, make every meal from food I farm and harvest, and make every gift, card and decoration in my house.... until then... I'll not feel guilty about buying stock. hee hee.

But, friends - should you feel so inclined it really doesn't look that hard, and I bet it would be great if you were also organized enough to feeze it in icecube trays... then when you just need a little you have it. Or, you could just throw it all in a ziplock and freeze it. You just made your own stock. You deserve a break.

Meanwhile here is my (ummm.... my moms) chicken soup recipe.

In a large pot you are going to place chunks of chicken (or turkey breast) and cook it slowly in a little oil. While it's cooking away chop up some onion and throw that in too. Let it "sweat" as my mom says...
Then add in your veggies (I usually just go with that sad celery and last of the baby carrots, and a turnip)
Pour in a whole box of chicken stock and if you can find it a package of Lipton Soup Works (but pick out the carrots they are yucky) or I think a bouillon cube would do the trick as well.
While everything is all simmering away I like to put in about two big happy tablespoons of barley (it really thickens up the soup) - and you can add your noodles or rice. You should keep a hot kettle on the stove too if you have one - you will need to top it up and top it up with water as it cooks along.
Season as you like with salt and pepper.

Basic list of ingredients:

Chicken or turkey breast (2) cut into bite size pieces.
3 celery ribs chopped
1 small onion diced/ sliced - however you like it.
2 large carrots diced (or about 1 cup of baby carrots sliced)
1 small turnip
1 box of your favourite chicken broth.
1-2 bouillon cubes (or a package of Soup Works... if you can find it!)
1-2 tbsp barley
1 cup of noodles (egg noodles or rotini are nice)
OR
1 cup rice
1-2 (ish)cups of hot water as you cook it down.

This can stay in the pot on the stove all day... the longer it cooks the better it tastes.

Eat and Be Well!

Seriously, contact paper.

2010-10-13T08:45:00.002-04:00

Contact paper, scissors, an exacto knife and about an hour of time is what it took to make a regular old filing cabinet (that had seen better days) cute.

I'm not going to lie and say it was soooo easy and there were no bubbles or creases... because there were LOTS of bubbles and creases. (LOTS!) But it wasn't hard, and for the couple bucks I spent on the contact paper I figured I wasn't going to be heartbroken if it didn't work out. So I smoothed and smoothed, and I poked pin holes and rubbed out the bubbles... and you can see a crease on the side - but that's OK... people won't see that! ; ) It's our secret.

A breath of fresh air...

2010-10-12T10:00:00.001-04:00

Except for the paint smell, but that will fade in a minute or ten.

A few months ago I found the most perfect little coffee table on Kijiji for just about $30. It had pretty curvey legs, a glass insert top, details upon details. I had to have it. So I got it.

Check out the brass claw feet! *swoon*

After cleaning years of other peoples dirt off this baby with an old toothbrush, and not having much success getting into all those grooves and details I busted out the dremel. It's was lots of work... really.

But wasn't it oh so worth it in the end?

I think so!

Just because I had to dremel out all those grooves in the top, here's a close up picture of how pretty and clean and soft celery green they are now:

Sidewalk Boutique

2010-10-09T11:00:00.001-04:00

My new favourite store is this amazing local place called Sidewalk Boutique. I tend to find the cutest things there when I am not even looking...

Like this side table:

OK OK OK.... Sidewalk Boutique is also probably called "garbage day" for most people. You got me.
But come on people, sometimes you just have to keep your eyes open and see the possibilities.

A little paint... a little fabric... some elbow grease.... and you have your own very unique, solid wood, clean and shiny, and (minus beautification supplies) free piece of furniture.

Like so...

Curbside.... is now side table.

Nevermore...

2010-10-08T10:14:00.001-04:00

Finally I have uploaded the pictures of the crow I sewed up for Fall/ Halloween.

A long time ago a friend of mine shared a pattern for these cute little birdies from a blog called Spool Sewing that had been made into a mobile. I think I must have made about a dozen of these little guys for Christmas last year as ornaments to give as gifts (I just reduced the pattern to 75% on a copier). I put the pattern away and came across it randomly the other day and thought I should make a couple for my big red birdcage. Then it came to me.... fall decorations.... Halloween.... Crows!!!

So I whipped up one of these guys... and added some wings that I frayed the edges on and sewed a little silver detail on. I have him up in my kitchen for now - but soon I will have a whole murder in my birdcage (remember, bunch of crows is called a murder!)

So he's a little bit disco crow... I'm OK with that.

Time flies...

2010-10-04T09:52:00.000-04:00

Man the weekend zipped by before I knew it... which means I didn't get my pictures posted.

Sorry guys, this whole blogging thing is still new for me, and keeping up a posting schedule is hard!

Guess what is NOT hard? Roasting a chicken breast. Now, don't laugh... I could probably glue Vaseline to Teflon... but cooking always makes me panic. Maybe it's the two (picky!) misters in my house... or maybe it's the part where I totally did the 1 - 2 skip a few thing on the "learning to cook" front. Or both. Either way you slice it the deck was stacked against me on this folks.

I wanted to share my two favourite sites for cooking and recipes... the first one has a really a great cooking for dummies basics guide - and the second has so many fun, do-able, yummy recipes I've considered just printing out the entire site and putting it in a binder. Our Best Bites is great and worth visiting for Cinnamon Bun Popcorn alone... my first ever caramel corn attempt... and it's GONE. Eaten. Devoured. Sticky fingers licked clean. Done.

If you've never made caramel corn before you will make this and wonder WHY. It's easy and delish.

OH and by the way, Our Best Bites has not ever used the can of red and white... not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that, but they do give great, easy, tasty and "comfort" food recipes without the old standby.

Rain, rain - go away?

2010-09-28T10:41:00.002-04:00

We have a few days of rain ahead of us here in South Western Ontario, so I sit looking out the window at the dull day filled with colorful leaves... it could be worse.

Besides the little black dress, every girl in this neck of the woods should own a fun pair of rain boots and a ridiculously big umbrella. I noted this while dropping the small mister off at school. I also noted that I do not own a little black dress... nor fun rain boots (well I did but the left one turned yellow in the sun... but that;s a sad tragic story for another day) I also don't have a big ass umbrella. Not for lack of looking either folks! Or buying! I used to be afraid to open them in the store, because of the bad luck of course, so it was always a gamble. Now... after many wimpy purchases I stand next to the rack, check the vicinity for sales people who give dirty looks and push that button "click" POW! I swear I have flashes to Ralphie's mom from A Christmas Story every time... I'm sure I am about to put my eye out. They really should have adequate umbrella testing room. Moving on.... Etsy!

Look at this cute hand painted baby from Sunshine and Drizzle on Etsy:

If that doesn't brighten your rainy day how about this adorable happy print from Michele Maule

This is just perfection... perfect for the entry! Don't you think? This is why I love Etsy... so much talent all collected and organized. It's like a flea market meets craft show meets antique shop... and all from the comfort of your own home.

Personally I don't mind the gloomy drizzle days.... it's the perfect excuse to wear silly boots, juggle a silly umbrella and fancy coffee and feel cute.

A lesson on crows?

2010-09-27T10:38:00.001-04:00

Besides waking us up way too early and picking apart the garbage I don't know very much about crows. So like any other normal person I looked it up. Normal, of course, being the relative word here, and those who know me... be nice. : )

Apparently there are something like 40 species of crows, or ravens... who knew? Besides, of course, Wikipedia . They are also known to be rather intelligent, and in east Asia are considered a sign of luck.

A group of crows is called a murder. Creepy, no?

Maybe that is one of the reasons the raven has become a sort of distinct fall or Halloween decoration? Either way, I dig a glittered crow. Dont' you? Check out these magpies from Tinsel Trading Company.

Super cute right? Stay tuned my pretties... some fall/ Halloween decor ideas are on the way. The rain is putting a serious damper on my furniture re-painting right now, so it's time to switch gears.